church

INI
3rd Midweek Advent Service
December 16, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

The Name Which is Above Every Name:
"THE DESIRE OF NATIONS"
Haggai 2:6-9

Grace and Advent peace be multiplied in the name of Jesus Christ, the Child of
Bethlehem, the Prince of Peace, Amen. Today the Holy Spirit directs our
attention to the Word of God in the book of the Prophet Haggai, chapter 2,
verses 6 through 9, as follows:

"For thus says the LORD of hosts: `Once more (it is a little while) I will shake
heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 `and I will shake all nations, and they
shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,'
says the LORD of hosts. 8 `The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the
LORD of hosts. 9 `The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the
former,' says the LORD of hosts. `And in this place I will give peace,' says the
LORD of hosts." This is the Word of God.

In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Name Which is Above Every Name,
Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Desire is a fickle thing. Different people find different things desirable. Some
women are irresistibly attracted to chocolate. Some men have a burning desire
for the latest electronic gadgets. Some desires change over time, become
stronger or weaker. In addition, some desires vary according to geography – that
is, certain items are considered desirable in some cultures, but are treated with
indifference or even despised in others.

Is there anyone or anything that everyone desires? The obvious answer would
seem to be no. But our text for today says yes. Though many don’t know it, and
though some would vehemently deny it, the truth remains: what our Savior
Jesus Christ has is what everyone wants! Through the Old Testament prophet
Haggai, the Lord issues a prediction that all nations will come to the promised
Savior, to whom He refers with a very special name, “The Desire of Nations.”
As part of our series, “The Name Which is Above Every Name,” we’ll take a
closer look at that prophesy this morning. Our theme:

THE DESIRE OF NATIONS
Three promises accompany His Advent:
I. “I will shake heaven and earth”
II. “I will fill this temple with glory”
III. “I will give peace”

It was the year 520 B.C., and the returning Jewish exiles had an attitude
problem. They were discouraged. Though it’s hard to see why - everything had
been going great for them. Cyrus, king of the Persians had released them from
captivity and allowed them to return to their homeland. He and his successor,
Darius, had encouraged them to rebuild their Temple, and had even given them
money to do it with. But the work wasn’t progressing. In Ezra we read that,
after the foundation was laid, “…many of the priests and Levites and heads of
the fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud
voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes.” --Ezr
3:12. They remembered the glory of the previous temple, the Temple of
Solomon, a building larger and far more grand than this second temple would
ever be. And it made them discouraged. The work gradually tapered off in
apathy and indifference. They could see nothing special in this more modest
second temple.

Boy, were they wrong! God sent the prophet Haggai to shake them up and
make them come to their senses. There was a truth here that they couldn’t see.
God had great and glorious promises to fulfill in connection with this temple,
and with the Savior who would one day walk there – THE DESIRE OF
NATIONS.

The first promise connected with the Savior’s advent was this: “I will shake
heaven and earth.” It may seem like nothing is happening, God said, but
something BIG is going to happen! "For thus says the LORD of hosts: `Once
more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7
`and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations.”

Why does God say “once more”? Because He had shaken heaven and earth
once before, hadn’t He? On Mount Sinai, at the occasion of the giving of His
holy Law, Scripture says Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet
with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was
completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke
ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
-- (Exo 19:17-18 NKJ)

That was the giving of the first covenant, the covenant of the Law. But leading
up to the giving of the second covenant, the covenant of grace, God would
once again shake all nations. The 500 year period between Haggai’s prophesy
and the coming of the DESIRE OF NATIONS was filled with tumult and war.
It culminated with the great Roman census, where the entire then-known world
had to move, just to get a young man and his expectant bride the 70 miles from
Nazareth to Bethlehem, the little town prophesied for the birth of the Messiah.
All nations were shaken, and it was God’s doing.

Sometimes we need some shaking up in our lives, don’t we? Months and years
pass, and nothing much seems to change. Here we are, we’re members of this
little church on Waller Road, there’s nothing particularly imposing or impressive
about this place (certainly not outwardly). Yes, our Lord has promised to return
to His believers, with power and great glory, at His second Advent. But day
follows day, and nothing’s happening. And you might start to think that nothing
ever will happen. But don’t fall into that trap. That’s the attitude the
unbelievers take, says the Apostle Peter: Scoffers will come in the last days,
walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His
coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of creation."--2Pe 3:3-4.

But we know the real truth. We know that the ultimate fulfillment of Haggai’s
prophesy, of course, lies yet in the future. It may be a very little while, now,
before God for the last time shakes the heavens and the earth. Peter continues,
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat;
both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (2Pe 3:10 NKJ).
On that great Day of Judgment, the Bible says, Jesus truly will be the DESIRE
OF ALL NATIONS. On that day every knee will finally bow. A few faithful
believers will welcome Him as their one Desire whom they longed to meet all
their lives. But the vast multitude will come to their senses too late. Suddenly
they will have the same desire – to be saved by Jesus – but that desire will be
beyond their reach. "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, `Depart
from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels: (Mat 25:41 NKJ)

But there is another promise connected with the Savior’s advent in this
prophesy of Haggai. God says: “I will fill this temple with glory! They shall
come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the
LORD of hosts. 8 `The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the LORD of
hosts. 9 `The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says
the LORD of hosts.

This promise of the Lord must have seemed fantastic to those old-timers in
Jerusalem. How could anything exceed the glory of Solomon’s Temple?
Consider just the gold: nearly everything in the first temple was made of gold or
covered in gold. The Bible says that 100,000 talents of gold were used in the
building of the temple (II Chron. 22:14). A talent was approximately 75 lbs. If
you have a calculator, that’s over 3700 tons of pure gold. Gold stands at about
$1100 an ounce right now, so that would be…well, my calculator doesn’t go
that high. But that wasn’t where the glory of God’s house lay. It wasn’t then
and it isn’t now. God doesn’t need gold. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness
thereof, says Scripture. `The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the
LORD of hosts. And then He goes on to make that astonishing promise: `The
glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of
hosts.

What will be the great glory of this second temple? Why should the believers
wake from their lethargy and take up their work with eagerness and excitement?
Because this temple would see the glory of the Son of God Himself walking
amongst its courts and columns. The prophet Malachi predicted the day when
the DESIRE OF NATIONS would arrive there: the Lord, whom you seek, Will
suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom
you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts. (Mal 3:1 NKJ)
When was that prophesy fulfilled? Eight days after our Savior’s birth, when
Joseph and Mary brought him into the Temple for the first time, the day on
which aged Simeon said, "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in
peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring
revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel." (Luk 2:29-32
NKJ) You and I have seen His glory, too, haven’t we? It’s not a coincidence
that those are the same words we sing after receiving in the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper. For what could be more glorious than receiving the true body
and blood of our Savior as a pledge and seal of God’s forgiveness toward us in
Christ?

And that brings us to the final promise connected with the Savior’s advent. It is
the most poignant and comforting promise of them all for us: “And in this place
I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts. Why is Jesus THE DESIRE OF
NATIONS? Because through Him God gives peace to the world. Not political
peace- that’s a pipe dream, of course. Even our president admitted this week in
Oslo that “…armed conflict will not be eradicated in our lifetimes.” That’s a
safe bet, isn’t it? He might as well have said “in anyone’s lifetime.” For war will
never cease while sinful human nature is what it is. Man is born to trouble, As
the sparks fly upward. (Job 5:7 NKJ)

And yet we have this promise. The Lord says, I will give peace, and He
connects it with the Church. It’s a promise we hear again and again in Scripture.
Zechariah says of THE DESIRE OF NATIONS, He shall speak peace to the
nations; His dominion shall be `from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends
of the earth. Zec 9:10. Isaiah predicted, His name will be called Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6 NKJ).
And at the birth of the Desire of Nations, the angels sang over Bethlehem,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE, goodwill toward men!”

And here’s the main reason we can truly call Jesus THE DESIRE OF
NATIONS. Because what everyone, down in their deepest soul, wants and
desires – that’s exactly what Jesus supplies. Not political peace – we’ll never
have that. But the kind of peace that really counts to you on a personal level.
Spiritual peace. You could call it “the peace of NEVERTHELESS.” For
Scripture says that, despite the fact that you are a wretched sinner,
NEVERTHELESS God loves you. Despite the fact that you have offended
against God’s holy Law in countless ways, NEVERTHELESS, God has
provided a Savior for you. Despite all your failings and shortcomings, and good
intentions unfulfilled, NEVERTHELESS, Jesus shed his blood on the cross
specifically so that you could live forever by His side in heaven! Be at peace!
For today your Lord Jesus Himself says to you, "Peace I leave with you, My
peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (Joh 14:27 NKJ).

It was Lebanese-born American philosopher Kahlil Gibran who said, "Desire is
half of life; indifference is half of death." Through the prophet Haggai, God
showed the returning exiles why they simply couldn't be indifferent to the holy
work that lay before them. The Temple they were building, though less
imposing outwardly than the Temple of Solomon, would in fact be far more
glorious. For into that building, one day, would come the Messiah, the Savior of
the world, THE DESIRE OF NATIONS. Can you and I be indifferent about
the holy work that lies before each of us Christians? Impossible. For we too
worship THE DESIRE OF NATIONS. We too serve a Savior whose name is
above every name, and at whose name every knee will one day bow, AMEN.