Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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Like to turn first of all to Isaiah chapter 40.
And the 26th verse.
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who have created these things that bringeth out their host by number. He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His might, for that he is strong in power, not one faileth.
Why sayest thou or Jacob and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of His understanding.
He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might.
He increased the strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young man shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
I believe the greatest weapon that Satan has is discouragement, is he always tries to get us discouraged. Before we were saved, He did his very best to keep us from coming to the Lord Jesus, from finding in Him the one who would meet our need, the one who would be sufficient for all our pathway. He did everything he could to hinder us from seeing that blessed One who is the captain of our salvation.
And after we are saved, he does not want.
Us to enjoy our portion and he's going to do everything he can to hinder our enjoyment because he knows he can't rob us of it when we are saved. Why God has made us eternally secure, not through anything that we have done or could do, but only through what the Lord Jesus did for us upon the cross of Calvary. That blessed work that he accomplished lays the ground, has laid the ground, I should say, for all our blessings for time.
Time and for eternity. And now, as we had in the meetings when we were together, it tells us about Him as the captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory.
And I just like tonight to look at some passages that have to do with God's dealings with His earthly people when they have failed, and how they had got away, and finally how He brought them back, that little remnant in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. But I just thought of these few verses here because I believe in looking at these things we can make a personal application to ourselves.
The things that were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. And so, in this 40th chapter of Isaiah, he tells us about the greatness of God as Creator, the one who made all things, who weighs the mountains and balances and the hills and scales.
The One who knows all about this universe and controls it. And he says, just lift up your eyes on high and see the great display of God's greatness and power. For the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Anytime you're in doubt about God's wisdom and power, just take a look up in the starry night and think of the One who made all those things, who calls all those stars by name.
And then to think that He has a care and a concern about you. And so He tells us to lift up our eyes, for He's strong that not one fails. And then He asks the question in this 27th verse.
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel? My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God.
Have you ever felt that way?
You sort of felt as if the Lord didn't fully enter into what you were going through, that your way was actually hid from Him and that.
Things that were happening in your life were so hard to understand. Surely He wouldn't have allowed those things if He fully knew what you were passing through. All those natural thoughts can come into our minds and hear The Creator, The Maker of heaven and earth asks us this question. Why sayest thou? My way is hid from the Lord, My judgment is passed over from the Lord. In other words, He hasn't taken personal notice of me, but He has.
He has, He has a personal interest in you. We see the wonders in creation and then, as we see in this world, all His wonders in connection with all the creatures that He has made. Can we doubt His care and that love that has been so fully proved to us by giving His son?
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So he says, Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, Neither is weary. Are you and I weary? Are we discouraged? Are we cast down? Well, the Creator is not. He doesn't faint. And then it goes on to tell us, He giveth power to the faint. And so I say tonight, if you're feeling discouraged, the Lord wants to give you power.
And oh, what power.
Can give, for if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God indwells your body. Could you have any less power than that? And he giveth not his spirit by measure, and that is, he's a divine person. And you and I who are saved are indwelled by the Spirit of God. We also possess a new life, the very life of Christ. So you do indeed have power. He gives power to the faint.
And to them that have no.
Might he increase his strength? He often brings us, brethren, to the end of ourselves. That's what he did with the apostle Paul. He raised him up to do a great work, and then he allowed him to have a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet him. You say if he was to do such a great work, why would God allow him to have this? Wouldn't he be able to do his work better if he didn't have that thorn in the flesh, that messenger of Satan, to buffet him?
Well, Paul couldn't understand, and he asked the Lord three times to take it away, and the Lord's answer was.
Now my grace is sufficient for Thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And what was the response of Paul's heart to this? He said most gladly. Therefore I rather glory in mine infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He goes on to say, When I am weak, then am I strong. And so he brings us, brethren, to the point where we realize that we have no.
Strength of our own. He brings us down to that point. He allows things that teach us our own utter weakness because He wants us to lean upon Him. And then when we lean upon Him, it says it's not a natural strength to use. Will faint and be weary. The young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And that's the way it is. He gives new strength for each day. He doesn't give us strength for a long time.
Time ahead, so to speak, but each each day as that day dawns, he's sufficient and he gives grace, the need of grace for the day. His mercies are new every morning. And so it tells us here.
They shall mild up with wings as eagles. I get some consolation as I read these things here, because first it says about mounting up with wings as eagles, then it speaks about running and not being weary, and then it talks about walking and now not fainting. Well, you know the bird, the eagle that mounts up with wings, it rises above everything. If there's any difficulty in the way, it can get up on its wings and be above that.
Together. But you say I, I don't seem to be able to get above things. Well, then it tells us if we're not able to get above things, then he gives us strength to run. Oh, you say I can't even run. I just get really slowed down. And he says they shall walk and not faint. What a wonderful savior we have. Truly. He knows our frame. He understands that we're but dust. And if there's anyone here tonight who is discouraged, I trust what we have before us.
Will be an encouragement to us because God delight does delight to encourage us. I believe I say again that Satans greatest weapon is discouragement. If you can only get us discouraged by then we get our eyes off the Lord.
And God wants us to be encouraged, not in our own strength, our own wisdom, but in him, says David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. I believe too that as we have in first Peter chapter 5, that the time that Satan is brought before us as the roaring lion is not associated with persecution, but with discouragement. Did you ever notice where it comes in there in first Peter 5?
It says casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. And the next verse says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. When I don't cast my cares upon the Lord, that's when Satan comes in like the roaring lion.
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In persecution, Christians are usually happy.
Some of the most happy Christians have been those who have gone to the flames for Christ, who have been thrown to the lions for Christ. But I've seen some very, very unhappy Christians and they weren't facing literal lions or flames, but they were discouraged. They got their eyes off the Lord, and Satan was right in there to take full advantage, seeking whom he may devour.
Well, we have a God who does care, your way and my way.
Is not hid from the Lord. He knows the way that we take. He knows all about us. There isn't a thing in our lives that he doesn't see and know. And that beautiful 139 Psalm brings before us how he knows everything it says He searched us, He's known us down sittings uprising our thoughts, everything.
Well, now I just like to turn over to the 45th chapter to speak a little of what I particularly had before me about God's ways in connection with Israel that show us how He knows everything beforehand. Turn to the 45th of Isaiah, the first verse.
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have Holden to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the two lead gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before him, and will make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in Thunder the bars of iron.
I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret.
Places that thou mayest know that I, the Lord which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have called thee by thy name I have surnamed thee, although thou hast not known me.
Then the.
Nine verse Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, that the potsherd strive with the pots of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What makest thou or thy work? He hath no hands.
Well, I've just read these passages here to show that this passage, this prophecy was given me long before, I think it was about 300 years before Cyrus was even born. And God is telling about this man long before he was born. And he said I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. Now, I suppose when Cyrus was born and his mother gave him a name, she didn't know that she was actually.
Doing what God said would take place when she decided to call his name Cyrus. But long before that, God had not only surnamed this man, He had told what he was going to do. Well dear friends, I, I bring this before you and I bring it before my own heart because it shows us that God knows the future. He can look long, long ahead, not only as to the future that we are looking for with Christ in glory.
But as to the future, in the years that lie ahead of us? And so God takes up this man and calls him by name, and tells the work that he was going to do. This ought to be a consolation to our hearts.
No one can tell the future but God. People can make predictions, but they don't know the future. But when God speaks as it says, nothing fails because he knows.
I sometimes said people, I know people that don't believe in predestination, but I say if I didn't believe in predestination, I wouldn't believe in prophecy. Because if I didn't know that God knew things beforehand, why? How could I believe in prophecy? Because prophecy tells what's going to happen in the future, tells about a man who's going to come up and what he's going to do. Does God not know what the man is going to do beforehand? By of course he does.
No one under God or all his works from the beginning of the world.
And so here this man is named, and it's interesting to look at it. In the prophet Isaiah, Israel at this time were dwelling in their land in a measure of prosperity. Things weren't, shall I say, on the horizon that would have made them think about the time when they were going to have to be brought back to their land. They were dwelling safely in their land at this time. But God is telling about what this man is going to do.
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And.
How he is going to.
Notice a little further in this 45th chapter.
The 12TH verse. I have made the earth and created man upon it. I even my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness. I will direct all his ways. Notice He shall build my city, and he shall let my let go my captives. Not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts.
Why the people weren't even in captivity. But he was telling.
What this man would do and how he came up, you know, And Nebuchadnezzar was the one who first LED God's people into captivity, but then he was succeeded later by Belshazzar, and then by Darius and then Cyrus. And here we find that God is telling about what happened long before and how.
It says in the fourth verse, For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel 9 elect, I have called thee by thy name. God had a special purpose. His eye was upon his people. Oh, it's a wonderful thing to belong to the Lord, to know that you're His and He has a special eye upon you. He's the preserver of all men, especially of those that believe.
The Lord Jesus is the head over all things to the Church.
Which is his body. And so here he has foretold what this man's name would be, that God would go before him, that he would direct his paths. He came up and became king in Babylon. And he let the people go not for Christ nor reward, and let them go back to their land. And we'll see the sequence of events how this took place. And I say again, because I want to bring before you.
A comfort and an encouragement to your heart and divine. God knows everything beforehand. Oh, what peace it gives in our souls. What comfort it gives. It keeps us from fainting when we know that He is over all these things. Turn over now to Jeremiah chapter 25.
Jeremiah chapter.
Excuse me, I'm not too sure of the chapter in Jeremiah, but yes, the 25th chapter of Jeremiah and the eighth verse.
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, because ye have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring him against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing and perpetual desolation.
Moreover, I will take from thee the voice of mirth and the voice.
Of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years.
Things are moving on now. God's people haven't hearkened to His voice. They're going on in their willful way. And God raises up Jeremiah to tell them that because of their sin and departure from him, he was going to allow this king of the north, Babylon, to come under the hand of Nebuchadnezzar and take them away captive. And he calls Nebuchadnezzar.
My servant, just as he called.
This man, this King Cyrus, he called him his servant. You know, God can use anyone. He can use a Hitler, He can use anyone whom he pleases to accomplish his purposes. And this gives us peace in our souls when we see that God is over all things that take place, He's behind all the scenes. There's nothing happens in this world.
But what he is in control, it says, Who hath purpose and brought it to.
Pass when the Lord commanded it not. And so he warns them here of what is going to happen, and he tells them they're going to be carried away captive. And he sets a limit on the time that they would have to spend in the land of Babylon. You know, if God has to speak to us in any way, He not only knows what's going to happen, but He has everything timed out right to the ear, right to the minute. There is nothing that's uncertain with God.
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He's always on time.
When the when they planned to invade Europe during World War 2, they had all their plans made, but the plan was not carried out. On the day that the invasion of Europe was planned, things happened that it was not exactly on the day that was planned. But God always moves perfectly on his own timetable and so before they were ever carried into captivity.
He could tell he had told that Cyrus would be the one who would deliver them. Now he tells them that they're going to be carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar and that the captivity would last for 70 years.
Now let's turn over to the prophet Daniel.
And the 9th chapter of Daniel.
The first verse in the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Mead.
Which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans in the first year of his reign. I Daniel understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made.
My confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants, the prophets, which spake in Thy name to our kings, our Princess, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces as at this day, to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near and that are far off, to all the countries whither thou hast driven them because of their trespass, that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of faith to our kings, to our Princess, and to our fathers, because we have.
Sinned against thee. To our God, to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, Forgiveness as though we have rebelled against him.
Well, here we find not King Nebuchadnezzar, not Cyrus, but here we find a real believer, Daniel, a man of God, and he has been one of those who were carried captive into Babylon. It hasn't been very easy for him down there.
We know that when he was getting his training in the school in Babylon, things were rather difficult for him and he had to take a stand for the Lord because the king wanted him to be just like the rest, to eat the King's meat and drink the wine that he drank. But he was a separated person. And we might say, well, if God's over all, then we just have to in Rome, do as the Romans do and go along with things. Oh no. And Daniel was down in Babylon, we find.
That he still feared the Lord and sought to honor the Lord even though he was in a very difficult spot. And I just pause here to encourage you. To young people, things are dark. You say, well, if the Lord knew all beforehand, why has he allowed it to be like this? Well, he gives us opportunities to shine. Sometimes when I put my headlights on a dusk, I'm not very sure whether they're on because they make such a little light on the road, it's very hard to tell whether they're on or not.
But it's no problem when it's really dark. They shine really brightly when it's dark. And you know, God delights to have those who shine for Him in dark times. And if things are dark and hard for you, I want you to remember, as I've been saying, that God's hand is behind all the circumstances. But that becomes, O fresh occasion for you and for me to be a shining light for Him.
The path of the just is of the shining light that shineth more and more until the perfect day. In other words, my light shine more and more as the darkness increases because the darkness causes them to be more apparent. And so Daniel was a bright shining light. His three friends were bright shining lights. They didn't go along with things at the level as they were.
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I've often said Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego might have found an easy way out. They might have said, well, we can just put down our heads and he'll think we're bowing. That's the easiest way we can think of in this situation. But they remembered that the Scripture said thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them. So their heads wouldn't go down. They would not worship the image that Nevada had set up. It wasn't easy for them. The nation were under God's government and they were part of that nation.
And we're part of the ruin of the Church of God, and we have to sometimes feel the conditions as they exist in the world and in the professing church. But we can see grace to be faithful to our Lord Daniel later on. He did his job well, but he was cast into the den of lions, as all the children know, just because he wouldn't stop praying. Oh, don't stop praying.
Don't stop praying, no matter what. Things may get hard. Things may get difficult.
But keep on and don't stop reading the Bible because here, dear Daniel, as he searched the word, he tells us that he found out what the Scripture said. God had measured the length of their captivity. And you know, God measures everything. As I said, nothing happens by chance. And the length of time that these things take in our lives, the length of time that you have problems and difficulties.
They're they're all measured by God, not only the fact that there is a difficult, but the language of it too.
And dear Daniel, he was reading the word, and he discovered that God had not only told that they would be in captivity, but also that there was a length of time that God said they would be there. And so when the time came toward the end of the 70 years, what did he do? Did he say, oh, it doesn't matter, 70 years were almost up and we're going back? No, we see with him a suited state of soul.
To that time when God was about to work a revival. And I believe, brethren, that we ourselves are often a hindrance to the revival that God wants to work. We're not like Daniel. We're neglecting the reading of the Word and prayer. Daniel wouldn't give up his praying, not for anything. Even being thrown into the den of lions wouldn't stop him from praying and wouldn't stop him from reading God's Word. And those two things so important in our Christian life were very important.
In his life and so God revealed this to him and I'm sure that was a consolation to his heart because he must often have been cast down as he saw all God's people out of their land. But he bows to the hand of God and we see that lovely humility and God it says God resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace to the humble to this man will I look to him that is poor and of a.
Great Spirit, and the trembler at my word. And so he humbles himself. He takes his place before the Lord. He said to us the long confusion of faith. Who of us could think of how little we have responded to the Lord's claims without our heads going down too? How little we have given the Lord Jesus the place that we ought to give Him in our hearts and lives?
And so we find this in Daniel.
He takes this humble place, and while he recognizes this and owns God's hand upon them there in the captivity, it's beautiful the way he closes this prayer.
In the eighth verse.
O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of faith to our kings, to our Princess, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses. Though we have rebelled against Him. If there was that true brokenness on His part, there was mingled with it the knowledge that to God belong mercies and forgivenesses. And so it does, no matter how far we have got.
Away from him, he delights in mercy. Judgment is his strange work. He wants to bless, and he wanted to bless his people. He wanted to bless Daniel.
And Daniel might have said, well, our people have got pretty far away, but I've tried to be a faithful one. I think I'm a little better than some of the others. But we don't find that spirit with Daniel, do we? He identifies himself with all the rest.
He didn't say that he, and surely of all the people in captivity, he seems the brightest light of them all. I don't think there's any character in the Scripture that doesn't shine so brightly in such adverse conditions as Daniel did. And yet we find him, this man, humbling himself. What is the secret of humility? Is it something that we just pretend or put on? Is it just words that we repeat? Brethren, I believe the secret of humility.
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As being consciously in the Lord's presence.
I don't believe that it's possibly consciously in the Lords presence without being humble. If I thought I was a very good musician and then I found myself in the presence of some great fame musician, wouldn't be hard for me to feel that I didn't know too much because he would so much excel me that I would just feel that I.
Couldn't do anything. And you know, we don't need to try to be humble. A man said to me, how can we try to be humble? I said, just be consciously in the Lord's presence. That's all. That's the secret. That's where Daniel lived. He lived in the presence of God. So we see a man here in captivity and he valued the word. It's nice to trace this. God told about how he would have a deliverer before he told about the captivity. He told about the captivity.
And how long it would last. He let them get there. And now he raises up a man who reads the Word and prays. And this man is concerned about the condition of God's people, is praying about it, and he has confidence that God is going to be a God who fulfills his Word and a God who is merciful and who forgives.
And now let's turn over to the book of Ezra.
That's four books before the Psalms.
Ezra, Chapter 1.
Now in the first year of Cyrus King of Persia, I'm sure you recognize that name. The Lord named this person hundreds of years before he was born, and here he's on the scene now. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his Kingdom and put it also in writing, saying.
Thus saith Sarah, King of Persia. The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Isn't this remarkable? This man is only a heathen king. God calls him his servant.
And God can use whomsoever he pleases to accomplish his purposes. You might say that man would never do that. But if God works in that man's heart, he may be an unbeliever. But God may use that man to accomplish his own purposes, just as he used Cyrus here. He called him my servant, and he later called Nebuchadnezzar his servant, because he was doing what God planned. And sometimes God may use another person even as a scourge.
He might use another person for our blessing and for our good. These things ought to give us peace. Brethren, we're living in days when we see the shaking of everything, but nothing is going to shake the Kingdom of that. As the Scripture says, we have a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. So here is this man. The Lord said He would send the people back, not for price or rewards.
He doesn't ask anything from them. He doesn't say they have to give something. He's the one that does all the giving. He sends back the vessels, He provides the wood for the building and the house. He undertakes the whole thing. Why? Oh God said he would do it, and he touched his heart.
How the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Now he turns to the people in the third verse. Who is there among you? Of all his people is God. Be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the House of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem, and whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts beside.
The free will offering for the House of God, which is at Jerusalem.
We see here that it wasn't for price or reward. And it gives full liberty to these people who had been slaves for 70 years. And now he gives them full liberty and says that if anyone's heart stirred them up, they could help them. And then it says the fifth verse. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah, and Benjamin, and the priest, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the House of the.
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Lord, which is at Jerusalem. And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with good, and with beast, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the House of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the House of his gods. Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand.
The Mithridath, the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazar the Prince of Judah. Oh how interesting this is to see God working. And you know our God is the same today. Israel's God is ours. The Lord Jesus is still head over all things to the Church, which is His body.
When Paul was in Corinth, he had had a lot of persecution and.
Some of the cities, but when I came to Corinth, the Lord said no man will set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city. And God kept back all the forces that would have hindered that work in Corinth because he had a work to be done. And there was no one in that city that could stop the work that God had to be done. He was in control.
And so here we find this man Cyrus named before he was ever born, is this.
Fulfilling what God has done.
Now we see another thing. Isn't it beautiful to see this response in the heart of God's people? Are your hearts and mind responding? Oh, are we looking at the difficulties? Perhaps even the day before they might have all said, it's impossible. We're slaves here. We'll never, never get back to our land. But God said they would. And God touched the heart of the king of Cyrus. And then when the time came.
They might have said, well, we've got pretty well settled here. I don't think we'll rise.
Comes up, but it's nice to see that the Lord also stirred up the hearts of the people. Oh brethren, may the Lord stir up our hearts. We only have a little time left.
And the Lord is over all and.
We ought to be so thankful in this land for the liberties that we enjoy.
The Lord said to the disciples, say not there are 12 months and then cometh harvest. But I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are quite already to harvest. That is as they looked out, they said, oh, it isn't harvest time yet.
The Lord said it is the fields are white to harvest. And I believe that if we who belong to the Lord were stirred up like dear Daniel was, if we were stirred up like these people was, we would see how the Lord would come in, in blessing and we would enjoy a share in some of that work that He is doing because He gives us the privilege of being workers together.
For him.
And, as I say, Cyrus gave them back all these vessels that had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar.
And now I won't read through this 2nd chapter, but I'm sure that if you're a name or mine was in here, we'd certainly want to read it. You might say, well, why are all these names here? I always find these names kind of dry as I read through a chapter like this. But you know, I say again, if your name or mine was here, we'd be interested. Sometimes when names are published of those who have passed their examinations, we don't mind looking over that part of the paper.
To see if our name is there. I can remember when entrance time came for high school, I was very, very anxious to look over the list of names. And you know, it's wonderful to me that God puts down all these names. He has the book of life where all the names are listed. More than this, he has a book of remembrance where our names are written. When we even think upon his name. When we visit in people's homes, sometimes they, they have a guest.
But for people that visit there, but I often say they don't, they don't have a book for the times we think about them. Nobody could be so much, so thoughtful as the Lord, for He has a book and He even puts it down when we think upon His name. He just values even one thought of Him and of His love and of His grace and all that He's done for us.
Well, it tells us here. And then just an interesting little thing in the.
End of this 2nd chapter. The 65th verse. Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were 7000.
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330 and seven. And there were among them 200 singing men and singing women. Their horses were 730 and six their mules, 240 and five, their camels, 430 and five, their ***** 6700.
27 You say, why would God all record all this kind of detail? Oh, he cares about our cars. These were necessary to get them up to Jerusalem. He cares about our transportation. There's everything that brought before us here, even their servants, the the people that worked for them. To me this is almost beautiful, as a little hymn says. Why should I ever careful be?
Send such a God is mine, can I say?
Oh, he doesn't know about me. That's why the Lord asked that question. Why sayest thou, O Jacob? My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment from my God. All He knows about you, He's got your name recorded when you even think about Him. He knows all about your car, whether it's in running order. He knows all about everything in connection with you and I. So all these details are given just to show us these beautiful little points.
Then we come to the third chapter.
And when the 7th month was calm and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
Then stood up Joshua the son of Jarzadek and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealdiel and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.
And they set the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
Here we have a beautiful picture. We've been talking about all these different names. They're all individuals and they're servants and their ***** and their mules and so on. And you know, as individuals, God knows all about our home life and the car we drive and all these details. But it's nice to see here they gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Oh, how God delights to see that recognition of the fact that He has a way of gathering.
That is according to His Word, where we can gather, just as when the Lord Jesus in resurrection wanted to meet His own. It tells us they gathered to a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. Oh brethren, what a privilege it is to realize that He has marked out for us in His Word how we can gather and how we can gather according to His Word. People talk about the Church of their choice.
There's only one church, and that is the Church of the living God, those whose names are written.
In heaven and it's a privilege to be gathered on the ground of the one body to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. Isn't it lovely to see this whole company of people some 40,000 and they're gathered together as one man Have God centered the place where God had put his name was Jerusalem. And then what was the first thing they did that they all start to think about the homes that were going to build and about.
Getting swords and Spears ready.
I've been very struck by this. The first thing they did was to build an altar to the Lord. That was the first thing. And what's the secret of going on? What's the secret of? We're just reading today in Joshua chapter 1.
What was the secret of Joshua's success when he entered the land of Canaan? The Lord said if you listen to all my word, you talk about it in the daytime, you talk about it and you meditate upon it, and you do what I've commanded. Then he said you'll make your way prosperous and you'll have good success. And these people said the most important thing is not that we have a big army here, but rather that we gather together.
To the place where the Lord has put his name, and build an altar and give him his rightful place. Oh, brethren, may it be more so that we'll give the Lord Jesus his rightful place. And so they built the altar, and it says a rather unusual thing for fear of the nations. What, What protection would an altar give them from the nations round about them? Well, not anything as far as nature was concerned. And altar was no.
Protection as far as the natural thoughts of man are concerned. But to the man of faith it was a tremendous thing. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. So they put the altar on its base, and they offered the sacrifice the morning of the evening.
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And the enemy has got into many homes because the Lord didn't have his rightful place. There was no morning and evening sacrifice. The day didn't begin with the Lord and didn't end with the Lord. And the enemy got in. They can have all kinds of plans and all kinds of schemes, but oh, rather than it's to give the Lord his rightful place. And I think this is very, very beautiful to see this. It speaks to my own heart.
It's burned offering and I might just say briefly that the burnt offering.
Is really what the work of Christ means to God. It's really giving the Lord His rightful place. The sin offering has to do more with the meeting of our need, but the burnt offering has to do with how that work of Calvary told out the heart of God in all its wondrous love and grace. He gave his Son, who paid my debt. It wasn't a stranger. It was the very God that I sinned against who gave his Son.
Well, they offered these sacrifices, and they were careful to do it as it says in the end of the second verse, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.
In the fourth verse they kept also the Feast of Tabernacles as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required.
Well, you know, this is interesting too, the Feast of Tabernacles, because the Feast of Tabernacles was the last feast in the year. It was really a feast when they remembered all God's goodness to them, and they dwelt in booths and remembered how God had delivered them out of their captivity in the land of Egypt. And so they didn't forget that. And we should never forget, brethren, the rock from whence we were young, and the pit.
From whence we were dead, let us never forget how far away we were and what it cost the Lord to bring us to Himself.
And then it tells us in the seventh verse, they gave money also to the Masons and the carpenters, and meat and drinking oil unto them of Zidane, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of the king of Syria had of Cyrus king of Persia. Notice what it said way back hundreds of years before.
By it said that he would let them come back not for.
Price and a reward. He didn't say you've got to pay for these trees now to build a house now, he said just take back all those vessels of the House of God. And when you build a house, why I'll give you a grant so you can get the necessary lumber for the building of the house. Oh, how wonderful to see this provision.
And then it says in the 10th verse.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites.
The sons of Asaph with symbols to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David, King of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because He is good for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the House of the Lord was laid.
Well, I am sure that our own hearts can enter into something of the joy of this.
Seen God has been faithful to his word and he always will be. He would have faith to count upon him. Sometimes the reason we don't enter into these things is because we're not prepared to show that spirit that Daniel showed. Daniel took the humble place. Daniel acknowledged the sin of the people and that with God there was forgiveness. And so this was the beginning of the blessing and May God grant that we will be willing.
To take that place now they see the Lord working His hand is being manifested in real power.
And so when the foundation of the house was laid, why here were all these people singing and rejoicing and praising the Lord? As we think of His goodness to us, there surely ought to be more praise in our hearts. Sometimes I'm sure it makes our hearts sad when we gather around the Lord that there isn't more praise to Him.
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Sometimes as I sit in the meeting and think that here we are around the Lord Jesus.
With the tokens of his death before us, I often wondered the coldness of my own heart. How little we respond. The foundation has been laid, Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. He's the cornerstone. The building is going up. Every believer is a living stone in God's building. The foundation is the Lord Jesus. And so here they are, rejoicing when the foundation was laid. But it says.
That the house hadn't actually been built here, they just were rejoicing because the foundation had been laid. But now there's an interesting little thing I want to point out before I close, and that is what we have in the 12TH and 13th verse.
But many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the Fathers, who were ancient men.
That had not that had seen the 1St house when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes wept with a loud voice and many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a loud shout and the noise was heard afar off.
This is the generation gap brethren. This is the generation gap here where the older ones that had seen the 1St house in its original glory and they were making comparisons.
And you read about it in the Prophet. I think it's Haggai. He says, who they say to one another, Who among you saw this house in its first glory? Is it not in your eyes, in comparison as nothing? And they made comparisons. They looked back and they said, well, it isn't like it used to be. This house doesn't have the same glory as the first one. Haggai says the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former. He points it on because it was just.
A little picture of a coming day and you know, whether there is, as there were on the day of Pentecost 3000, gathered with one heart and one soul to give the Lord, or whether they're just two or three, if we're gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, that's what counts. That's what counts. But this generation gap, you know, I say again, we who are older, we do tend to make comparisons. I can look back a few years. I don't think I'm that old, but I can look back a few years and I can think of things.
In the past, and I have to watch myself that I don't stop at making comparisons. I think it's nice here to see the younger ones. What were they doing? They couldn't make any comparisons. They never saw the 1St house. They didn't know what it looked like. What were they shouting for? Well, because they looked into the word and they had found that according to the word, this was the spot and this was the way the house was to be built. And all they were doing was just trying to follow the word and that was why they were rejoicing.
And brethren, we're living in the last days. We're not living in the days of Pentecost. There's only one ground, and this house was built in the same place as the old one was. It wasn't a change of position or anything like that, but it didn't have that. That was seen in the 1St house because they were living in days of ruin and we're living in the last days. And so gotta seek grace then to realize that there was such a thing as this even at this time.
There were those who made those comparisons and they saw that things were not as they used to be, and they wept. And we can't help but feel it. But you know, we rejoice to see any desire and even the youngest believer to simply follow the word of God, to be gathered according to the Word, to be giving him his rightful place. As time went on, we see great progress. Up to this point, nothing but the foundation was laid. But there was much more.
To it than that the house afterwards went up and we'll see. And perhaps with the Lord's help we can look further on in this book. There were adversaries they didn't even like to see the foundation laid. And there's always adversaries when we try to follow the word. But isn't it beautiful, brethren, to see how that God's hand was behind all these things, to trace back and see how that God knew all the things that were going to happen?
The church's history has gone on for almost 2000 years.
But if we have a little insight, we'll see that God fornew everything that was going to happen in the church too. And we see in those seven letters to the churches that God foreknew exactly what would happen in church's history too. But we're living in the last days. Is it possible to follow His word? Yes, God has a path marked out. It's possible there's weakness, there's failure. But may we value the privilege of seeking to go on and according.
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To His Word Let's shout for joy that the foundation has been laid, and that it's laid in the old spot that we're seeking. In our weakness and in our failure to follow the precious Word of God, that's what counts. Well, may the Lord give us grace then in our personal lives, to realize that He knows everything beforehand. Is there a trouble you're going through? The Lord knew all about that before you were born.
Then he knows all about how long it's going to last and where it's going to end and everything about it.
Everything is known to Him. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Yes, he knows all about it and also in the church's history. What a confidence this gives. Surely we don't need to be discouraged so we can sing in the words of that little hymn. Why should I ever careful be, since such a God is mine? He watches or me night and day and tells me Thou art mine.