THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS #2
Haggai 2:1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
In order for the desire of all nations to come, the Lord God first states that he will shake all nations. For he ordained all nations of mankind to exist in order to bring forth his elect people to form the Bride and body of Christ! This was even stated as far back as in God’s dealings with the Patriarch Abraham. Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
And the actual issue of Abraham’s faith was to separate from his natural kin! Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
And that is the same issue of faith for the believer’s today! Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Luke 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
For the Lord Jesus did not recognize those born of the flesh – those of the natural birth – as his kin. His definition of kinship was of those born of the Holy Spirit, whose life’s aim was to do the will of the Father! Matthew 12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
The Lord described Peter as blessed for he had received the understanding of who Jesus was, not by human ties, but by his Father’s revelation. Matthew 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
For is is by the Holy Spirit alone that one enters into the spiritual kingdom of God! Not one individual enters by the relationship to the flesh! 1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
And in order to shape his disciples and apostles’ minds concerning the kingdom’s relation to the nations, he gave specific instruction at the time of his ascension. For the nations would be shaken as the gospel was sent forth to effectually call forth his people. Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
These are the only souls who know and can sing the song of experiential redemption. Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Someone has well said; “The kingdoms of the world are but the scaffolding for God’s spiritual temple, and will be thrown down when their purpose is completed.” (Jamieson, Faussett & Brown) Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
And of course, this is exactly the issue which God made in the matter of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in the time of Israel’s and Daniel’s captivity. The Lord God let all know his purposes for the succeeding ruling nations right up to the time of his Son’s spiritual kingdom. Daniel 2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
The golden head was Babylon. The silver breast and arms were the Medes and Persians. The belly and thighs of brass were the Greeks. And the legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed with clay were the Romans. All this was foretold hundreds of years before it occurred. But it transpired exactly as God set forth.
Then God is said to have set up a kingdom like a stone wrecking ball with which man hands had nothing to do, which shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. THAT was the spiritual kingdom of heaven. THAT is the spiritual kingdom of the Lord Christ! For it would supersede and rule over all the physical nations, drawing from them the elect of God, whose times and places he had also chosen for their coming in contact with his gospel!
And it was not a kingdom which conquered by physical force. John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
He conquers by instantaneous grace, effectually imparting spiritual life to those given ears to hear the gospel! For they were dead in trespasses and sins, (Eph. 2:1). Therefore like dead Lazarus, there had to be an enabling call to make his ears alive to hear, while at the same instance, giving his body the ability to obey the command! The Lord Jesus plainly spoke of this. John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Therefore,as has been stated, he placed these souls in the proper place and time in order to send the gospel to them for their calling from the darkness of spiritual death into the life and light of the spiritual kingdom. Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being;
And entrance into this kingdom is gained only be the new birth! John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
In verse eight of our Haggai text the Lord speaks of gold and silver. He is telling them that his holy temple (the Lord Jesus and his church), will not be decorated by physical materials, for he owns all gold and silver, and could have that if it where a physical temple. And in verses seven and nine, we see that he will ‘decorate’ his spiritual temple with “glory!”
And then we hear in the New Testament what the gold represents. Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
But what is the spiritual gold? It is tried and proven faith! 1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: For it provides the victory to overcome the world’s temptations and trials. 1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Without faith one cannot please God! Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We are cautioned concerning establishing our religious practices with materials that may be acceptable to the religious community, and we may assume to be pleasing to God, but are not tried and true faith! 1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. (Notice that it says, what SORT it is, and not what SIZE it is! For quality is the issue, and not quantity.)
Then in that Revelation 3:18 verse the need for the anointing eye salve. And that anointing is but the application of the Holy Spirit, granting discernment and wisdom. It is sometimes referred to as “unction.” 1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (That word, “unction” in verse 20 is the same Greek word translated “anointing” in verse 27.)
And in that Revelation 3:18 verse we read, “buy of me.” James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Faith, as well, is the gift of God! (Ephesians 2:8,9).
Pastor Gene Breed
January 28, 2018
