The Final Shakedown, Part 1 (Hebrews 12:26-27) | Worship Service

Kootenai Church

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October 2, 2023

The Final Shakedown, Part 1 (Hebrews 12:26-27) | Worship Service This stream is created with #PRISMLiveStudio

The Final Shakedown, Part 2 (Hebrews 12:26-27) | Worship Service

10:34: Good morning and welcome to Kootenai Church, we're glad you're here. Would you please stand this morning as we begin our call to worship with a reading out of Psalm 5, verses 11 and 12 say, but let all who take refuge in you be glad.
10:50: Let them ever sing for joy and may you shelter them. That those who love your name may exalt in you.
10:57: For it is you who blesses the righteous one, O Yahweh. You surround him with favor as with a large shield.
11:05: We're gonna sing together, let your kingdom come. For glorious cause,
11:18: O God, engages our hearts. May Jesus Christ be known wherever we are.
11:31: We ask not for ourselves, but for your renown.
11:37: The cross has saved us, so we pray, your kingdom come.
11:47: Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, so that everyone might know your name.
12:01: Let your song be heard everywhere on earth, till your sovereign work on earth is done.
12:14: Let your kingdom come, give us your strength,
12:26: O God, and courage to sing. Perform your wondrous deeds through those who are weak.
12:37: Lord, use us as you want, whatever the test.
12:45: By grace we'll preach your gospel till our dying breath.
12:53: Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, so that everyone might know your name.
13:08: Let your song be heard everywhere on earth, till your sovereign work on earth is done.
13:20: Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, so that everyone might know your name.
13:42: Let your song be heard everywhere on earth, till your sovereign work on earth is done.
13:55: Let your kingdom come. Your words are wonderful, unfolding like the dawn.
14:34: A wellspring and a rock we rest upon.
14:40: We trust your promises that keep our hope alive.
14:49: They steady us throughout life's weary night.
14:56: Where else can we go? Where else can we go?
15:04: You have the words of life. The words of life.
15:13: Lift your holy truth upon our longing hearts.
15:28: And strengthen us to shine against the dark.
15:35: Lord, guard us from the light. The enemy will speak.
15:43: No guilt remains for those you have redeemed.
15:50: Where else can we go? Where else can we go?
15:57: You have the words of life. The words of life.
16:07: Make your glory known. Make your glory known.
16:24: Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.
16:33: Help us in our doubt and unbelief.
16:41: Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.
16:50: Help us in our doubt and unbelief.
16:58: Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.
17:06: Help us in our doubt and unbelief.
17:15: Where else can we go? Where else can we go?
17:23: You have the words of life. The words of life.
17:31: Make your glory known. Make your glory known.
17:39: Through all your words of life. Your words of life.
17:47: Through all your words of life. Your words of life.
17:58: We're gonna sing a new song this morning called Come Praise and Glorify. Come praise and glorify our
18:17: God. Thus He has in heavenly realms
18:26: His blessings on us poured. For pure and blameless in His sight
18:34: He destined us to be. And now we've been adopted through His Son eternally.
18:47: To the praise of your glory. To the praise of your mercy and grace.
18:56: To the praise of your glory. You are the
19:01: God who saves. And glorified our
19:13: God Who gives His grace in Christ. In Him our sins are washed away.
19:22: Redeemed through sacrifice. In Him God has made known to us
19:29: The mystery of His will. That Christ should be the head of all
19:37: His purpose to fulfill. To the praise of your glory.
19:47: To the praise of your mercy and grace. To the praise of your glory.
19:55: You are the God who saves. Come praise and glorify our
20:25: God. For we've believed the word. And through our faith we have a seal.
20:34: The Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit guarantees our hope
20:41: Until redemption's done. Until we join in endless praise
20:49: To God the free and one. To the praise of your glory.
20:58: To the praise of your mercy and grace. To the praise of your glory.
21:07: You are the God who saves. To the praise of your glory.
21:14: To the praise of your mercy and grace. To the praise of your glory.
21:22: You are the God who saves. Amen. You may be seated.
21:38: Just one pertinent announcement this morning, and that is... My voice that bad?
21:44: It's got to be coming through. One announcement, and that is we have a baptism class after the service today about 12 -15.
21:50: You want to meet in this classroom right back here for that class. And we have four or so that are planning to be back there.
21:57: At least four that have talked with me. So if you're interested in baptism coming up on October 22nd, you'll want to be in part of that class.
22:05: You must attend that class so you understand what baptism is and why we baptize before you can be part of that baptism service in terms of being baptized.
22:14: I want to take this opportunity to apologize on behalf of my voice. I know that my voice is not easy to listen to on the best of days.
22:22: And today is not the best of days. So I want to apologize if I start coughing in the middle of the sermon or if I start whispering or even if I fall asleep.
22:32: My apologies ahead of time. Turn now please, if you will, to Psalm 97 for our
22:39: Scripture reading. Psalm 97, and we're going to read the entire psalm together.
22:59: It's only 12 verses. Psalm 97.
23:06: The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the many islands be glad.
23:12: Clouds and thick darkness surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
23:18: Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries round about. His lightnings lit up the world.
23:25: The earth saw and trembled. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord. At the presence of the
23:31: Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness and all the peoples have seen his glory.
23:38: Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, who boast themselves of idols. Worship him, all you gods.
23:46: Zion heard this and was glad that the daughters of Judah had rejoiced. Because of your judgments,
23:52: O Lord, for you are the Lord Most High over all the earth, you are exalted far above all gods.
23:58: Hate evil, you who love the Lord, who preserves the souls of his godly ones.
24:04: He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown like seed for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart.
24:12: Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, and give thanks to his holy name. Will you stand with me as we pray? Let's bow our heads.
24:24: Our Father, we gather here this morning to worship and to honor you, to hear of you in your word and to bring our hearts and our minds in subjection to your truth.
24:34: We want to honor you with the words of our lips and the meditation of our hearts as we reflect upon your word and hear it preached.
24:42: We pray that you would be glorified through our time here and our worship. We pray that you would give us hearts to sing with boldness and with clarity your truth, your words, and to honor your great name.
24:54: And we pray that the words that we sing may be a reflection of the sentiments of our hearts. Focus our minds and our hearts upon your truth this morning, that we would be transformed by your truth, conformed to the image of Christ, and that you would do this work in the hearts of your people.
25:11: We pray that through our worship you would be glorified, that we would be sanctified, that you would draw near to us in your word, that you would strengthen us to hear and to speak your word, and that you would unite our hearts in your truth for the glory of Christ our
25:25: King. In his name we pray, amen. Meekness and majesty
25:46: Manhood and deity In perfect harmony
25:53: The man who is God Lord of eternity
26:00: Dwells in humanity Kneels in humility
26:07: And washes our feet Oh what a mystery
26:15: Meekness and majesty Bow down and worship
26:26: For this is your God Father's pure radiance
26:39: Perfect in innocence Yet learns obedience
26:45: To death on a cross Suffering to give us life
26:53: Conquering through sacrifice And as they crucify
26:59: Praise Father for him Oh what a mystery
27:06: Meekness and majesty Bow down and worship
27:17: For this is your God Wisdom unsearchable
27:29: Godly invisible Love indestructible
27:35: And frailty appears Lord of infinity
27:42: Stooping so tenderly Lifts our humanity
27:49: To the heights of his throne Oh what a mystery
27:56: Meekness and majesty Bow down and worship
28:08: For this is your God In Galatians chapter 3 verses 13 and 14 it says,
28:20: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.
28:28: In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the
28:36: Spirit through faith. We're going to end our service this morning by singing
28:41: My Worth Is Not In What I Own. My worth is not in what
28:57: I own Not in the strength of flesh and bone
29:04: But in the costly bounds of love At the cross
29:16: My worth is not in skill or name In win or lose
29:23: In pride or shame But in the blood of Christ that flowed
29:31: At the cross I rejoiced in my redeemer
29:41: Greatest treasure Wellspring of my soul
29:48: I will trust in him no other My soul is satisfied in him alone
30:01: As summer flowers we fade and die
30:06: They mute their beautiful goodbye But life eternal comes to us
30:16: At the cross I will not boast in wealth or might
30:26: Or human wisdom's fleeting love I will boast in knowing
30:35: Christ at the cross I rejoiced in my redeemer
30:46: Greatest treasure Wellspring of my soul
30:52: I will trust in him no other My soul is satisfied in him alone
31:04: Two wonders here that I confess My worth and my unworthiness
31:15: My value fixed my ransom paid
31:20: At the cross I rejoiced in my redeemer
31:30: Greatest treasure Wellspring of my soul
31:36: I will trust in him no other My soul is satisfied in him alone
31:45: I rejoiced in my redeemer
31:51: Greatest treasure Wellspring of my soul
31:57: I will trust in him no other My soul is satisfied in him alone
33:04: Allow the light of truth to shine upon our hearts and our minds that we would grow in our love for Your Word and our commitment to it and our submission to it and that You would transform us and change us by Your Word more into the image of Christ.
33:22: We pray that our hearts would be bent by Your Word and even broken if necessary.
33:28: That we would both heed the warnings of Your Word and take comfort in the promises that are in Your Word as well.
33:36: And so we pray that You would bless our time here to that end in Christ's name. Amen. There is an unbiblical notion that seems to flourish among immature and untaught believers in Christian circles and it is the teaching that there is a difference between the
33:52: God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. If you follow or hear or listen to progressive
33:58: Christians or progressive Christianity then it's not uncommon for you to hear this notion put forth in one form or another.
34:07: According to this idea, this doctrine, the God of the Old Testament is filled with wrath. He is angry and seething at sinners.
34:15: Utterly devoid of mercy, grace, and love. His anger is overbearing and mostly unjustified.
34:21: He is like a petulant child who bursts forth with outbursts of wrath anytime he doesn't get his way.
34:27: And he can only be satiated and appeased by blood and death and all he is known for really is his judgments.
34:35: And then according to this same doctrine in the New Testament we have Jesus. He came to show us that all the
34:41: Old Testament writers got it wrong. They didn't know any better. They were simply products of their time and their culture.
34:47: They suffered from an ignorance of the one true God and were shaped by the superstitions of their age.
34:54: But Jesus came to show us a softer, more gentler God. He came to show us the softer side of Sears.
35:01: And he stressed love and forgiveness and tolerance and acceptance. And according to this way of thinking,
35:07: Jesus wants us to know that we have nothing to fear from God. He is not mad at you.
35:13: He is mad about you. He just can't get enough of you. He thinks you are fantastic. And he is okay with sin and unrighteousness.
35:21: And he will wink at violations of his law and unrighteousness and holiness.
35:27: And that idea of repentance, well that is an old fashioned word and one that certainly doesn't belong in any
35:34: New Testament understanding of God because God loves you just as you are. Now that message appeals to the fleshly man.
35:42: It appeals to us in our fallenness because really that is a God that is fashioned after our own image.
35:48: It is a God who demands nothing, expects nothing, and will hold nobody accountable for anything.
35:55: That portrayal of God is based mostly upon the most shallow of possible readings and understandings of both the
36:03: Old Testament and the New Testament. Yes, it is true that in the Old Testament we see the wrath of God on display.
36:10: You see it at Sodom and Gomorrah. You see it in the Judgment. You see it at the Garden. You see it at the
36:15: Tower of Babel. You see it all over the Old Testament. There are many examples of the wrath of God. But it is equally true that the love and the grace and the mercy of God is on display all the way through the
36:27: Old Testament as well. The Psalms are filled with references both to God's justice and to His loving kindness.
36:36: These are not mutually exclusive. In fact it is in the Old Testament that we read of God's redeeming love that He would send one who would be the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent's heel and redeem a people for Himself.
36:49: That is an expression of God's love. And that's all the way through the Old Testament. And it is true that in the
36:55: New Testament we do read a lot about God's compassion for sinners and His grace and His kindness is on display in the person of Christ and in the teachings of the
37:04: New Testament. That is true. But it is also true that the New Testament is filled with references to hell and damnation and God's righteousness and the justice that will fall upon sinners.
37:16: The wrath of God is described in the New Testament just as clearly and unequivocally and unapologetically as anything you will find in the
37:24: Old Testament. And to walk away from the Bible, reading of the Bible, with this idea that the
37:29: God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and the God of the New Testament is a God of mercy and grace. You have to ignore vast portions of the
37:37: New Testament. Certainly the entire book of Revelation, right? You have to ignore that entire book.
37:43: In fact, you have to skip over quite a few most of the epistles which warn of God's wrath and judgment and damnation.
37:50: In fact, you really have to just cherry pick a few references in the Gospels where Jesus talks about love and loving your neighbor and being kind to others and the golden rule and you have to cherry pick those verses and exclude all of the passages where Jesus talked about the wrath of God and warned sinners to flee from the wrath that is to come and called sinners to repentance.
38:11: You have to ignore all of that, the red words of Jesus as it were in the Gospels and just sort of cherry pick the ones that make you sort of have the feels, the warm fuzzies inside.
38:22: Just focus on those. Jesus not only warned of the wrath to come but the
38:29: Jesus of the New Testament promised that when sinners face that wrath, He will be the one that they face.
38:37: He said, the Father doesn't judge anybody as committed all judgment to the Son. That's John chapter 5.
38:43: Every man and woman who has ever lived will stand before Jesus Christ and will either be welcomed into His eternal kingdom based upon the merits of what
38:54: He has done or they will be cast into eternal damnation based upon the merits of what they have done and He will be the one who executes that wrath.
39:05: The passage before us in Hebrews chapter 12 is one such warning of that judgment. It is the fifth and final warning passage in the book of Hebrews.
39:14: There is implicit in this warning and we're looking specifically at verse 26 and 27 today but the warning passage is verses 25 through verse 29 the end of the chapter.
39:24: There is implicit in the warning the reminder that forgiveness is available in Jesus Christ for this judgment will fall, the judgment that is warned of here will fall upon those who are impenitent and hard -hearted and will not repent and turn from their sin and trust in the
39:40: Savior. Let's read together Hebrews 12 beginning at verse 25 see to it that you do not refuse
39:46: Him who is speaking for if those did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven and His voice shook the earth then but now
39:59: He has promised saying yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven this expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain therefore since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe for our
40:28: God is a consuming fire now we have in that passage four motivations for attentive obedience in light of the blessings that we have received in Christ.
40:39: Remember this follows on the heels of the blessings of the New Testament the new covenant that are enumerated in verses 22 through 24 and that is contrasted with the fear and trembling that accompanied the giving of the old covenant described in verses 18 through 21.
40:55: The first motivation for obedience is in verse 25 it is the pattern of past judgments against disobedience and we already looked at that last time we were together in the book of Hebrews.
41:06: God has a good track record of dealing in justice with those who have received the warnings of judgment and those who refuse his word and ignore the warnings will not escape just as Old Testament Israel did not escape when they were warned if they would not heed the warnings then they certainly would not escape the judgment that was to come.
41:23: Just like the generation that came out of Egypt did not escape the judgment when they refused to hear him who warned them from heaven.
41:31: The pattern of God's past judgments is a harbinger of what is to come. You can look at God's past activity and how he has handled sin and what he has done and every one of those is a foreshadowing of a much greater judgment that is to come upon sin and upon sinners, impenitent sinners.
41:48: So that was the first motivation for obedience verse 25 the pattern of past judgments against disobedience the second motivation is in verses 26 and 27 and this is where we're at today the promise of a final future judgment on the wicked.
42:04: That is what is described in verses 26 and 27. Verse 28 is the pledge of an unshakable kingdom and verse 29 the perfection of an unchanging
42:13: God. Those are our four motivations for obedience. Today we're just focusing on the promise of final future judgment on the wicked.
42:21: Read verses 26 and 27 with me again and his voice shook the earth then but now he is promised saying yet once more
42:29: I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven. This expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
42:41: Those two verses are describing an eschatological or end times judgment.
42:47: There is a judgment coming that will be so severe as to remove everything that is temporal so that only that which is permanent remains.
42:57: Verse 26 you will notice contains a quotation from the Old Testament and that is probably noted in your
43:04: Bible translation in some way either all capitals or by italics. Verse 27 offers a commentary or an explanation of the quotation from the
43:14: Old Testament that we find in verse 26 and there are a number of contrasts in these two verses.
43:19: I want you to notice them. The author contrasts the shaking of the earth that occurred at Sinai with the shaking of the earth and heaven that will occur at the end of time.
43:30: He describes the then versus the now his voice shook the earth then but now he is promised saying yet once more
43:37: I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven. There is the threatenings of judgment at Sinai versus the promise of a final judgment.
43:45: There is the contrast of temporal and created things with eternal and everlasting things and then there is the contrast with things which will be removed and then things which can never be removed.
43:57: The connection in verse 26 is with Sinai when the author says in his voice shook the earth then what shaking of the earth was he referring to?
44:06: He's referring to that monumental event recorded in Exodus chapter 19 when
44:12: God met with his people at Mount Sinai after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. It is described in our passage in verses 18 and 19 so look up at those two verses remind you of the context for you have not come to a mountain which can be touched into a blazing fire into darkness and gloom and whirlwind into the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.
44:38: Words were spoken to them at that point. God spoke to them and it was accompanied by the trembling of the earth and the mountain quaking violently and though that is not described in Hebrews 12 verses 18 and 19 it was something that accompanied that event we read of it in multiple places all the way through the
44:56: Old Testament like for instance where the incident is recorded in Exodus 19 verse 18 it says
45:01: Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked violently there are other passages that describe the same event
45:14: Judges chapter 5 Lord when you went out from Seir when you marched from the field of Edom the earth quaked and the heavens also dripped even the clouds dripped water the mountains quaked at the presence of the
45:26: Lord this Sinai at the presence of the Lord the God of Israel Psalm 68 verse 7
45:31: Oh God when you went forth before your people when you marched through the wilderness the earth quaked the heavens and the drops of rain at the presence of God Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God the
45:42: God of Israel Psalm 77 verse 18 the sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind the lightnings lit up the world the earth trembled and shook and what was the effect of that at Sinai it struck terror in the hearts of the people they got very clearly the impression that this was not a
46:01: God to be trifled with this was a God who warned them and if they did not heed his warnings then they would face the judgment at the hands of this
46:07: God who is a consuming fire standing at the foot of that rock mountain they saw that mountain and the ground upon which they stood tremble and shake so violently that the children of Israel felt as if these things which are immovable and impenetrable and unchangeable rocks, mountains of rocks would suddenly dissolve and fall apart into sand and they were terrified by that the effect was a terror and a dread and that was then now he says if you thought that was a precursor of judgment you ain't seen nothing yet we have the promise of a judgment that is to come that is an even greater judgment not just the shaking of a mountain but the shaking of every mountain not just the undoing of one rock but the undoing of every rock not just the terror and threatening upon one nation but terror and threatening upon all the nations not just the children of Israel but all who have ever lived that is the judgment that is to come if you think
47:11: Sinai was something and you think they were terrified wait until the unbeliever stands before a holy and righteous
47:17: God having violated his commandments and is forced to stand there before the piercing glory of his holiness and his righteousness and give an account for every thought word and deed that they have ever said or done you think the children of Israel were terrified that is nothing compared to the judgment that is to come that is the point of the author in Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 26 he quotes an
47:44: Old Testament passage but now he is promised saying yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven that is a quotation from the book of Haggai chapter 2 verse 6 and I know what all of you are thinking right now you are thinking
47:58: Jim I sure hope that you ask us to turn back to Haggai chapter 2 so that we can see the context of this quotation and what it meant to them and why the author of Hebrews quotes it and since that is what you are thinking that is what we are going to do so turn back to Haggai chapter 2 and this is where we are going to spend the remainder of our time there are a number of connections in the book of Haggai to the themes of Hebrews 10, 11, and 12 that I want you to notice now
48:27: I know that Haggai is one of those books that gets lost in the last 12 books of the Old Testament so Haggai in case you are still flipping and looking for it is the third from the last book of the
48:37: Old Testament third from the last book so find the division between the testaments start turning toward the left and you will eventually run into it rather quickly
48:47: Haggai is the second shortest book of the Old Testament the only book shorter than that is
48:52: Obadiah which is a prophecy against the nation of Edom Haggai is the second shortest book of the
48:58: Old Testament and it is only quoted in the New Testament one time it is in Hebrews chapter 12 which is something unique about the book of Haggai there are a number of connections with our
49:10: Hebrews passages the book of Haggai describes an unshakable kingdom that we are promised it describes a judgment that is to come it describes a reward for faithful saints who will be faithful to be obedient in the face of opposition from God's enemies and it promises a reward for those who will obey
49:31: God in the face of hostility now does that sound familiar if you have been with us through Hebrews you realize that those are the same themes of Hebrews 10, 11 and 12 that is the very thing that we have been looking at so it should not surprise us that the author would quote now from the book of Haggai let me give you a little bit of history and put this in some context for you for you to understand what we are about to cover here you are going to have to understand a little bit about the context in which
49:57: Haggai is written we are going to cover basically the entire book of Haggai today so I want this to be something of an encouragement to you on two fronts number one if you wonder why is it taking us so long to go through the book of Hebrews it is because we have to go back into the
50:12: Old Testament and preach whole other books of the Old Testament as we are going through the book of Hebrews two, let it be known that I am preaching through a whole book of the
50:21: Bible in one sermon today we are doing the book of Haggai in one sermon I am going to give you an overview of this whole thing
50:29: Haggai takes place in the closing decades of our Old Testament timeline in the
50:34: Old Testament era Haggai is the first post exilic prophet so when you are reading through your
50:39: Bible and you get to the end of the book of 2 Chronicles you are reading about the fallen destruction of the nation of Jerusalem and then you get to Ezra and Nehemiah and you read about Zerubbabel's return to rebuild the temple,
50:50: Ezra's return to reform the people and then Nehemiah's return to rebuild the wall, those events take place roughly four and a half, five centuries prior to Christ and that is basically the end of Old Testament revelation history by the time you get there so now we are going back in the book of Haggai we are going back to about five, almost five and a half centuries prior to the birth of Christ but it is keep in mind toward the end of our
51:15: Old Testament narrative storyline that we are familiar with in revealed scripture he is the first post exilic prophet meaning that he was the first prophet to prophesy after the
51:27: Babylonian exile, we have heard of the Babylonian exile, Babylonian captivity so to give you a little bit of Old Testament history
51:33: Israel had disobeyed the covenant that God made with them in this described actually in Hebrews chapter 12 verses 18 and 19 remember the
51:41: Sinai, the terms of that covenant, they had disobeyed that and God's patience ran out with that nation and he sent them into exile so in about 597 608 somewhere in that neighborhood
51:53: Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came in and laid siege to the city of Jerusalem eventually invaded it,
52:01: Jerusalem fell and that sort of ended the Davidic dynasty of that age and kings were taken, exiled to Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar led three deportations of Jews from the city of Jerusalem back to Babylon he destroyed the wall around the city he destroyed the temple, wiped out temple worship basically for that whole 70 years and left just a remnant of the poorest and the worst of the
52:23: Jews in the land of Israel and he took the best and the brightest and the best looking of all the
52:29: Jews back to Babylon to bring to sort of include them into his culture and his society and that's how
52:35: Nebuchadnezzar grew his kingdom, so he had conquered Jerusalem brought Jews back to Babylon and dispersed the
52:41: Jewish people, that was the Babylonian captivity, that started in 597 or around 600
52:47: BC, 70 years went by, during those 70 years we have Daniel and Obadiah and Ezekiel, those are exilic prophets,
52:55: Daniel writing from inside Babylon and his life span basically spans that entire 70 year captivity so 70 years pass and about 538
53:05: BC some Jews return to the land with the king's permission to rebuild their temple and one of the men who returned with that group that came from Babylon was
53:16: Haggai and he was accompanied by Zerubbabel who was a civic leader of the Jews and Joshua, a man named
53:22: Joshua the high priest who was the religious or spiritual leader of the Jews a couple of years later in 536
53:28: BC they started rebuilding the temple, that was what Zerubbabel went back there for, not just because he liked the barren desert of the
53:36: Judean landscape but Zerubbabel went back to rebuild the temple of his god, he did this of course with the king's permission and Ezra talks about these rebuilding efforts
53:45: Ezra comes later but Zerubbabel returned with Zechariah and Haggai and they started the rebuilding project but they came up against opposition from the enemies of God, the book of Ezra describes this opposition and the people stopped they faced opposition and the people suffered from a little bit of apathy and a little bit of indifference and so they stopped the building in the middle of it and they kind of went about their own lives for a period of 14 years passed, then in 520 something happened
54:14: Ezra chapter 4 says the work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia, second year of the reign of Darius the king of Persia what happened in the second year of the reign of Darius the king of Persia look at Haggai chapter 1 verse 1 in the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month the word of the lord came by the prophet
54:41: Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of Jehoshadak the high priest saying, and then you have this prophecy where the prophets of God begin to encourage the people to start the building project again
54:54: Ezra describes this and Ezra mentions both Zerubbabel and Joshua and Zechariah which is the next book in your
55:01: Old Testament and Haggai Ezra chapter 5 verse 1 when the prophets
55:06: Haggai and the prophet Zechariah the son of Edo prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the
55:12: God of Israel who was over them then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehoshadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them so God raised up two prophets,
55:25: Haggai and Zechariah and He raised up those two prophets so that they would preach to the people, prophesy to the people, encourage the people and the people then would be motivated to return back to the rebuilding project on the temple led by Zerubbabel and Joshua their ministry was to comfort and motivate the people, to encourage them to pursue holiness so the idea of holiness is all the way through the book of Haggai and through the book of Zechariah particularly their ministry was to strengthen the people to endure the hostility and to look forward to a kingdom that was to come, the kingdom being the ultimate reward for their faithfulness again these themes should sound familiar if you've been with us in the book of Hebrews there is a kingdom that is to come that will reward the faithful so endure in faith
56:12: Hebrews chapter 11 says so that you may receive having done what you were supposed to do and may receive that which is promised,
56:19: Haggai's ministry was to come onto the scene and to tell the people that, let's get back to building this temple understanding that God still has a plan for our nation, there is a kingdom that is to come, there is a king who is coming and with him will be his reward that's
56:32: Haggai and Zechariah, that's their ministry, that's their prophecy now Haggai is unique because we know the exact date of every message that he preached, they're given to us in his book, there are four distinct messages that are given over the course of 16 weeks so he preached four times in 16 weeks and each one of them is dated and given the amount of time that I've been here in the last couple of months you might think that I'm adopting the
56:59: Haggai model for ministry but that is not my intention at all look at Haggai chapter 1 verse 1 you will notice the date that is given in the second year of Darius the king we know that that's 520
57:09: BC the first day of the sixth month the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, that's the first introduction to the first message, then there was a second message,
57:18: Haggai chapter 2 verse 1 on the 21st of the 7th month the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, the third message is
57:26: Haggai chapter 2 verse 10 on the 24th of the 9th month in the second year of Darius the word of the
57:32: Lord came to Haggai the prophet saying and then the fourth message is Haggai chapter 2 verse 20, then the word of the
57:38: Lord came a second time to Haggai on the 24th day of the month so you may not think that he's preaching a lot but you have to give him credit because he preaches two messages on the same day, message three and four actually delivered maybe a morning and an evening service,
57:51: I don't know what but he preaches these four messages over the course of these 16 weeks the second and the fourth messages are the ones that are our focus, but in order for us to understand and appreciate his entire ministry and everything that he's kind of driving at here,
58:07: I'm going to give you briefly an overview of messages one to three as well, message number one is a reproof and an encouragement to build the temple, so remember the temple building had stopped and it stopped for 14 years, the
58:19: God raised up then Haggai and Zechariah and said go preach to the people, get them motivated, they will go back out and they will rebuild the temple, so chapter 1 verse 2 says, thus says the
58:30: Lord of hosts, the people says the time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt, then the word of the
58:36: Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panel houses while this house lies desolate, now therefore thus says the
58:44: Lord, consider your ways this message was really straightforward you people are saying that it's not time to build the house of the
58:51: Lord we've had opposition, now it's not a good time, it's really, it's kind of out of season we don't really want to do this, we've had some hostility,
58:59: God has sort of closed the doors I mean if God wanted us to do this it would be easy right, he would make it easy, it hasn't been easy therefore the time has not come and then
59:06: Haggai comes on the scene and says oh but it's time for you to build your own house and yet this place to worship me lies in ruins and desolate, you won't work on this but you'll build your own houses so consider your ways, and then in verses 6 through 11
59:20: God describes how he was chastening the nation disciplining the nation, does that theme sound familiar,
59:27: Hebrews chapter 12 remember our whole series on discipline that lasted like 90 weeks or something like that, we went through what discipline was,
59:33: God chastens the nation through that period of time and he says, I've withheld your blessing you go out and you sow and then you reap, and the reaping and the harvest is thin and you bring it home and I blow it away you're under a curse why you say, look at verse 9 of chapter 1, you look for much but behold it comes to little, when you bring it home
59:54: I blow it away, why declares the Lord of hosts, because of my house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house you have all the money and time and effort to spend on yourselves doing your own thing, building your own kingdom taking care of yourself, living in luxury but what
01:00:09: I brought you back here to do you have neglected to do for these last 14 years then verse 12 says the people obey the voice of the
01:00:17: Lord through Haggai the prophet there was encouragement in verse 13 then Haggai the messenger of the Lord spoke by the commission of the
01:00:22: Lord to the people saying I am with you declares the Lord this is the encouragement, just like Hebrews chapter 13,
01:00:28: I will never leave you nor forsake you that was God's encouragement to the nation I will be present with you chapter 1 verse 14 so the
01:00:36: Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealteel, governor of Judah and the spirit of Joshua the son of Hosea the high priest and the spirit of all the remnant of the people and they came and worked on the house of the
01:00:47: Lord of hosts their God, now here's another thing that makes Haggai unique among all the other Old Testament prophets and probably only thinking off the top of my head here probably the only one who had this kind of response like this was
01:01:01: Jonah but the people responded to Haggai's message and Zechariah's message that makes them unique especially when you compare them to the pre -exilic prophets,
01:01:10: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel when God said to them, you go to the people and you prophesy, but I want to give you a little heads up, they're not going to listen to you in fact they're going to stiffen their necks, they're going to harden their hearts and they're going to come after you but they're not really coming after you, they're coming after me because they have rejected me that they're going to reject you but go out and preach, it's going to be difficult it's going to be horrible, you're going to hate it they're going to hate you, you're probably going to die doing this, but you need to go out and preach to the people anyway and exactly what
01:01:37: God said was going to come to pass, came to pass people rejected their messages and Haggai stood up and preached, and the people said you know what, he's right, we need to get back to work let's get back to work, let's rebuild the house of God, and they did it, and they were encouraged and edified and strengthened through the ministry of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the second message begins in chapter 2, verse 1 and this really is one of the ones that we need to focus on because this is the message that the book of Hebrews quotes beginning of verse 1, chapter 2 on the 21st of the 7th month, the word of the
01:02:08: Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of Jehozadah, the high priest and to the remnant of the people, this was addressed to the leaders civil and religious and to the remnant of the people, that is those people who had come back out of Babylon and were here, and were doing the work speak to them and say, verse 3 who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory and how do you see it now?
01:02:36: does it not seem to you like nothing by comparison? what was going on? they were rebuilding the temple, but these were people who had just come out of Babylon, they didn't have a lot of wealth, they came into a land where commerce was nothing, industry was nothing trade was nothing, all they really had was the shirt on their back, and they're scraping together a living, and then they're called to go and to rebuild this temple, but what do they really have to offer to it?
01:03:00: so they start to rebuild the temple, and there were some among them, who were old enough to remember Solomon's temple, before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and they compared this temple, as small and meager as it was, to Solomon's temple, and said, man, we remember the glory of Solomon's temple, that was truly magnificent, this thing is so small, and they got discouraged could
01:03:20: God really be pleased with the work of our hands, when this is all we have to offer to Him? and so Haggai comes along to encourage them they wanted to do it right they were discouraged by the outcome of this what they were doing was inglorious compared to Solomon's temple remember,
01:03:39: Solomon was so wealthy that silver was considered as nothing in his days, why? because of the wealth of that land
01:03:45: Solomon had money to burn after he built his temple and then that was destroyed, and all of its wealth plundered by Nebuchadnezzar then they come back to the land, and they're doing their best to scrape together stones and timbers, they have almost nothing with which to rebuild that house and so they were discouraged verse 4, but now take courage
01:04:05: Zerubbabel declares the Lord, take courage also Joshua son of Jehoshadak, the high priest and all you people of the land, take courage declares the
01:04:12: Lord, and work for I am with you that's the promise again, right? I will never leave you, nor forsake you go about your work declares the
01:04:21: Lord of hosts, verse 5 as for the promise which I made when you came out of Egypt, my spirit is abiding in your midst, do not fear notice that the author connects the children of Israel coming out of Egypt into the land, with nothing and telling them to conquer the land with what he is telling them here, to rebuild the temple they came out of Babylon with nothing and he's saying rebuild the temple and the excuse of this generation could have been the same as the excuse of that prior generation now we don't want to go up into that land we don't have anything to fight those people with, and they're like giants and so he is comparing this generation with the previous generation, remember the previous generation, they disobeyed what they heard, and they were judged for it, and here the author is comparing this new generation coming out of Babylon with that old one, and he's saying the promise is the same,
01:05:09: God will be with you therefore build the temple and then there is the promise of this incredible glory that is to come, verse 6 thus says the
01:05:18: Lord of hosts once more in a little while, here's our passage, long time to get there, from Hebrews chapter 12, verse 26
01:05:24: I am going to shake the heavens and the earth the sea and also the dry land I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all nations and I will fill this house with glory says the
01:05:37: Lord of hosts the silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the
01:05:45: Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give peace declares the Lord of hosts here was the encouragement, though their efforts were meager, and though they were oppressed by their enemies, and they had to face all kinds of discouragements,
01:06:00: God called them because he was present with them, to continue in the course that he had laid out for them, to continue to be faithful and obedient and to see it through to the end trusting in his promises, trusting in his grace, and trusting in his provision, and this encouragement in verses 6 -9 is a reminder that they lacked provision and God was well aware of that, we're just building a small temple
01:06:22: Lord, and the Lord said I know that, but listen, the gold is mine, the silver is mine if I wanted you to have it I could just pour it out on you but he says there is coming a time when
01:06:32: I am going to shake the nations and they will bring gold into this house and there will be peace in this land, now
01:06:41: I ask you has that happened since that promise was given it has not happened it has not happened does that mean the promise of God's word has failed, notice in verse 9 that he says the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former glory, notice he is connecting here this second temple that they were building after the exile to Solomon's temple because in the plan and purposes of God, the temple that is built there is the same temple, it's just there's a former temple, there's the next temple but it is his house, he is connecting these two things, the promises that are offered here when all of the nations come to Jerusalem and pour their silver and their gold into that city, that has not happened yet, and this temple was never filled with that glory that the
01:07:28: Old Testament prophets promised so has the word of God failed or will this yet happen this will yet happen because there will be, listen very carefully a third temple built on that site in Jerusalem and that third temple will be filled with all of the wealth of the nations when
01:07:47: Christ rules and he is worshiped there and all of the nations come to the very center of world commerce and worship and bring their gifts and their offerings up to Jerusalem to worship worship at the feet of that divine king in the city of Jerusalem, that divine king who will sit on David's throne so that has yet to happen that will happen just as certainly as this temple was built that next temple will be built and it will be the house of God and the dimensions of that temple are given at the end of the book of Ezekiel that's the third temple that is described in scripture, neither
01:08:19: Solomon's temple nor this temple that was built fulfilled what was prophesied in Ezekiel which means only one thing not that the word of God is going to fail but that there's going to be yet another temple and I know right now there's a big dome on top of that rock and the world's second largest religion occupies that space the
01:08:40: Messiah is going to take care of that at some point and they will rebuild the temple on that site and the glory of that temple will be greater than the glory of Solomon's temple, that's the promise, so you see what he's saying?
01:08:55: He's saying I have a purpose, the Lord's saying through Haggai, I have a purpose and my purpose is to fill this land with glory so you just be diligent to do what
01:09:04: I've called you to do, be faithful in doing it, looking forward to and understanding the fact that in my time you will receive the reward that I have promised for there is still coming a king, there is still coming a temple, there is still coming a kingdom and if you are righteous and you're righteous by faith and you're obedient and faithful, you will participate in that kingdom, so all of this awaits yet a future fulfillment that's the second message notice again verse 26 sorry, verse 6 and 7
01:09:34: I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth the sea also and the dry land, I will shake all the nations, they will come with the wealth of all nations and I will fill this house with glory says the
01:09:42: Lord of Hosts the third message is a message to pursue holiness that begins in verse is it 10?
01:09:50: I think it's 10, then Haggai in verse 14, Haggai says so is all this people, he's talking about unholiness, the unholiness of the people and he declares that the people were unholy so is this people, verse 14 says and so is this nation before me declares the
01:10:05: Lord of Hosts and so is every work of their hands and what they offer here is unclean and so Haggai is encouraging the people in that third message basically to pursue holiness without which no one will see the
01:10:15: Lord and he gives them a little object lesson about holiness and why it's important to pursue holiness Haggai says, a little object lesson this is a contemporary example but if you walk in a house with your dirty boots on do your boots become clean when you step on the carpet or does the carpet become dirty the carpet becomes dirty, therefore what is unclean pollutes that which is clean, it's not cleanliness that makes something holy and so when you handle unholy things and unclean things and you don't pursue holiness then you become defiled, these people are defiled
01:10:41: Haggai says, so he encourages them to pursue holiness and the fourth message is a promise regarding the future temple and the
01:10:48: Messiah, verse 20 is the fourth and final message, then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the 24th day of the month saying, speak to Zerubbabel the governor of Judah, saying
01:10:57: I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth notice the same language, I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth, second message fourth message, same sort of language
01:11:06: I'm going to shake everything verse 22 I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations,
01:11:16: I will overthrow the chariots and their riders and the horses and their riders will go down every one by the sword of another he is prophesying here a complete political and military conquest and utter destruction of every nation in the world
01:11:32: Revelation 19 verse 11, and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and him who sat on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war, by the way, does this sound like Jesus meek and mild?
01:11:45: Does it sound like the Jesus who wants to sell us the softer side of seers? Not at all verse 12, his eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems and he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself, he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God, and the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses, from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the
01:12:16: Almighty and on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
01:12:22: It's the New Testament description of this event, shaking the nations, overthrowing kingdoms, destroying armies, that is going to happen just as literally as any prophecy of the
01:12:34: Old Testament has ever been fulfilled, that is coming to you. Psalm 2, verse 4, he who sits in the heavens laughs, the
01:12:41: Lord scoffs at them, them being the nations who plot together a vain thing to overthrow the
01:12:47: Lord and his anointed. Verse 5, then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury, saying, but as for me,
01:12:52: I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son today
01:12:59: I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession.
01:13:06: You shall break them with a rod of iron and you shall shatter them like earthenware. Daniel chapter 7,
01:13:12: I kept looking in the night visions and behold the clouds of heaven, one like the son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom.
01:13:25: Then all the peoples, listen, nations and men of every language might serve him.
01:13:31: His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.
01:13:39: It will what? It will remain. That's Hebrews chapter 12. This shaking will happen so that everything temporal will be taken out and only that which cannot be shaken will remain.
01:13:53: Daniel 7 verse 18, but the saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever for all the ages to come.
01:14:01: Look at Haggai chapter 2 verse 22 and 23. This is connected to this messianic rule which we just read about in Revelation 19 and Psalm 2.
01:14:12: On that day declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you as a rubble, but the son of Shittil, my servant, declares the Lord and I will make you like a signet ring for I have chosen you, declares the
01:14:19: Lord of hosts. That's a little bit more difficult to interpret, but I want to give you what is going on here in a very simple way and I'm not going to take a lot of time to go through this because we could take a lot of time to go through this.
01:14:31: Zerubbabel was in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. The signet ring was the ring of power with kingly authority and what the
01:14:39: Lord is saying to Zerubbabel is that on this day when all of this shaking happens and this kingdom is established, he's saying
01:14:45: I'm going to make you Zerubbabel, my servant. The phrase my servant was one that was used of the Messiah that was to come in the
01:14:50: Old Testament. He's not calling Zerubbabel the Messiah, but he is reminding Zerubbabel that there is a
01:14:55: Messiah who is coming and so he is saying to Zerubbabel that Davidic throne, that Davidic authority, that kingdom that you think has been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon that is no more
01:15:06: Zerubbabel I'm giving you that signet ring because there is coming one and as it would turn out it would come from Zerubbabel's line.
01:15:13: He's mentioned in both the genealogies of the Lord Jesus Christ there is coming one who will have that kingly authority.
01:15:19: Now Zerubbabel never ruled as king and no one ever ruled as king after Zerubbabel. So the word of the
01:15:25: Lord has not failed here, but the word of the Lord is spoken of one that would come from Zerubbabel who would then take the scepter of that Davidic kingdom and he would rule and he would reign in a kingdom forever and ever.
01:15:39: In the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ the right to rule the promised Davidic kingdom will rest upon the shoulders of the
01:15:45: Lord Jesus Christ the descendant of Zerubbabel. So Haggai was called by God to encourage a dejected people.
01:15:53: He encouraged them to be faithful and to remain true and obedient living even amongst God's enemies and to do what
01:15:59: God had called the people to do even in spite of the hostility of God's enemies around them.
01:16:05: God had called them to a work He had called them to faithfulness in Him and to Him and the righteous were to look forward to the promise of a
01:16:13: God which could not fail. So as Hebrews chapter 12 verse 26 says, His voice shook the earth then but now
01:16:20: He has promised saying yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.
01:16:26: That judgment is coming. These are the same themes that we see in the book of Hebrews.
01:16:32: The promise of a final judgment upon the nations a glorious coming of their Messiah the rule of Christ over David's kingdom the glory of future
01:16:40: Israel when the Lord rewards His people. It was Abraham who looked forward to that heavenly city. All the saints of old they looked forward to that day when they would stand in the land and the righteous would inherit the land.
01:16:50: That was what was promised to them and they anticipated that. And Haggai is reminding them the plan and purpose of God even through the disobedience of the nation has not been changed.
01:16:59: It has not been thwarted. God is still going to keep His promises. He's still going to fulfill His purposes. So be faithful to the end so that you will stand in that unshakeable kingdom.
01:17:08: For when He shakes all the nations and the whole world and that judgment comes He will give to you an everlasting kingdom and an eternal kingdom and the authority to rule rests,
01:17:19: Zerubbabel, in your line. And that one has come. He was crucified.
01:17:25: He rose again the third day and He is coming again to fulfill every last promise that we have read.
01:17:32: In the book of Haggai, in Revelation, in Daniel 7. He will rule and He will reign.
01:17:38: He will shake the nations and they will come and they will worship before Him and He will give to you an unshakeable kingdom.
01:17:45: That is His promise. Now, if you're an unbeliever, that should be a terror to you.
01:17:52: It should be a terror to you because God is a God who keeps His promise and He has promised yet once more,
01:17:57: I'm going to shake everything and only that which is eternal will remain. If you're a believer then this is a comfort to you because He has promised that yet once more
01:18:06: He will shake everything and that which is eternal will remain. To the unbeliever, a terror.
01:18:11: To the believer, a comfort. We are, and we're going to talk about this more next week, we are to take comfort in the fact that God will judge
01:18:20: His enemies. We are to take comfort in that. That is not given to us as something that we are to lament and clutch our pearls over.
01:18:28: That is given to us as something that we should rejoice in and delight in and it should encourage our hearts that God will have
01:18:34: His day with the wicked. Ours is to be faithful. We receive an unshakeable kingdom, not because of our merits, certainly not because we deserve it, but we receive that unshakeable kingdom on the merits of another, the
01:18:47: Lord Jesus Christ. The one who died in the place of sinners, rose again the third day and has promised to return and judge the world in righteousness.
01:18:55: It is His merits that we stand before God in. And if you have no Savior and you're not in Jesus Christ, then you are going to stand before Him in the robes of your own self -righteousness and give an account on that day.
01:19:08: So, we remember at the table of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all this can just serve as a reminder to us as we celebrate the
01:19:14: Lord's table of what it is that we celebrate, one who died in our stead, whose merit, whose blood, whose righteousness, and whose life avails for all who will believe.
01:19:25: And if you've never believed and trusted Christ for salvation, today is the day of salvation. I beg of you on behalf of God to repent and be reconciled to a
01:19:33: God of love and a God of justice. He loves you enough to send His Son to be the Savior for any and all who will believe.
01:19:41: There is room at the cross for your sin. There is payment at the cross sufficient to pay the price for your sin.
01:19:46: If you will repent and believe and come to Him, He will not cast you out. He will not turn you away. He will forgive your sin and He will give you an everlasting kingdom.
01:19:56: Repent today. For the believer, my encouragement to you is to reflect upon the truth of what that great sacrifice has accomplished on your behalf.
01:20:05: And as we do this, we want to pray and confess our sin to the Lord so that we may come to Him with pure hearts, recognizing again the cleansing that is provided for us in the death of His Son.
01:20:15: So I will ask the ushers to come forward at this point, and we'll serve communion after we have a time of quiet prayer.
01:20:21: Will the ushers come forward and join me, please? Let's bow our heads in prayer.
01:21:01: Our Father, we come to You recognizing that we have no merit in ourselves. We deserve nothing but Your wrath for our sin against You.
01:21:08: We are not greater than other men and women. We are not better, more pious, more righteous, more responsive to Your grace.
01:21:17: While we were dead in our trespasses and sins, You looked down in benevolent grace and sovereign kindness and love and wooed us to Yourself and changed our hearts and granted us repentance and faith to believe.
01:21:31: You have made us Your own by the purchase of the blood of Christ, and we thank You for that. We confess to You our iniquity and our sin, and we are grateful that we can find cleansing for our transgressions and our iniquity at the foot of the cross.
01:21:45: That with all of our sin and all of the weight of the guilt that we would bear, if You were to count them against us,
01:21:51: Lord, none of us could stand before You. But instead, You gather them all up and You place them upon the head of Your Son and then punish the substitute in our place.
01:22:01: And so we thank You for that sacrifice, a full sacrifice, a final sacrifice, and one that is sufficient to pay the price for all who believe.
01:22:11: And as Your people, we thank You that our sin is included in that payment and that You have punished another in our stead, so that we may enjoy
01:22:20: His righteousness and the blessings that come to us on the basis of faith. Thank You for forgiveness and grace.