We're going to start verse 6 and just read down to verse 13 just to get the context and see what's going on here about the foundation of the temple of the Lord and how that all comes about. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters, and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Sidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the Sea of Joppa according to the grant that they had of Cyrus, king of Persia. Now in the second year of their coming, unto the house of God at Jerusalem. In the second month began Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtieb, and Jeshua, the son of Josedach, and the remnant of their brethren, the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Cadmeel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together to set forward the workmen in the house of God, the sons of Hanadad, with their sons and their brethren, the Levites. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priest and their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals 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 endured 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. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men that had seen the first house That was Solomon's 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 the weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard far off. Let's pray. Father, I ask you tonight just to be with us. Lord, we come to you by faith. We trust in you to work in our hearts, to work in our midst. Certainly, we thank you for the spirit of the people tonight that you have put in us, Lord, that thanksgiving, that ability to reflect on your goodness towards us and to put it in words, Lord, before you and to praise you because of it. Father, we are so thankful for how you care for us Every day in the small things of life, you are so faithful, even the details, yet even in the big things of life. Father, we know you're in control of life and death. Father, we thank you. For those that you spared this week, just hearing these stories of people, real people that you have saved from danger and and and saved their lives and gave them time back to serve you more on this earth. So Father, we thank you for these lessons. And Father, we know that were you not guaranteed tomorrow, any of us, Lord, could depart from this life before midnight tonight. We don't know. But Father, you know all things, and our lives we put back into your hands, Lord, that you would take us, make us the vessels of honor that you want us to be. And father, as we consider this theme of building the house of God, help us to look at it from a spiritual aspect. Obviously, we're not laying a foundation yet on a temple, uh, on a, on a physical house of a church building, but Lord, maybe one day you'll give us that blessing. There's some things we can learn about that as well, but father, we want to build the house of God while we're here. Lord, and help us to understand what that is today and to be busy about building the house of the Lord. And we'll thank you for it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So we know that the major task of them coming back. Oh, to Jerusalem, we go back, keep that up for a moment, was to build the temple God's house of worship. That was the goal. For years, their hearts had longed to return to their homeland so that they could rebuild their homes, their nation and the temple of the Lord. Verse six implies that while their new beginning of rebuilding the altar was good, something major was still missing. That's why it says it. Remember, we read here. Verse six. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings. And that's a great thing. Remember, they restored that worship and those offerings, the altar unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. There was something still missing. And when we look at this passage, we find three references to the temple. Verse 6 and verse 9 and verse 10. And five of them where it's called the Lord's house. Amen. So this is the house of the Lord. This is where God dwelt among his people. It was amazing when he came down and he filled the Holy of Holies and upon the mercy seat, his glory was there and. He blessed the people of God with his presence. His people went there to offer the sacrifices for sin. They went there to give sacrifices of thanksgiving for his goodness. It was a place of corporate worship where all Israel gathered three times a year for the Feast of the Passover, March, April, Pentecost, May, June, and the Feast of Tabernacle Rebouth, September, October. The restored nation could not properly worship the Lord until they rebuilt the house of the Lord. That's kind of the backdrop here. Now, we want to get some principles out of this about building the house of the Lord. Number one, make proper preparations. Amen. It says in verse six, the foundation of the Lord was not yet laid. Think about the people coming back. They were gone for some 70 years of captivity. They didn't have a lot. You know, what they came back to was a pile of rubble. And it wasn't easy to face this. But I want you to know that something happened, and I think I bring it out later in the message, the time frame here. So the date was the second month of the second year when they started building. But there was time in between the arrival and the building. It wasn't like they got right to the work. And this is a message in itself, because at this time, there was a prophet named Haggai. And he had to preach unto the people, these same people, brethren, that built the altar, that restored the worship. Something happened in their lives. And I think there's some lessons for us to learn tonight what happens in our lives when it comes to the work of the Lord. So let's go to Haggai chapter one. This is three books back. You go to Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. If you want to do it that way and go in reverse there, you have Zechariah, Malachi, Zechariah going backwards, Zephaniah. No, Haggai's right before Zechariah, between Zephaniah and Zechariah. Haggai chapter one. He's preaching now. And this is something I look at that we ought to understand in the work of the Lord. We need preaching. You know, we ought not to minimize this. Because preaching does a great work. I hope you look at this passage and you see what God did through the preaching of his word. And never, you know, I think all of us need preaching. Even the preachers need preaching. Amen. We all need preaching. In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel. the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosein. The people say the time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. See, this is the attitude between that delay. The altar was built, but the foundation was not laid. Now they're entered in an attitude that hindered the work of God. And this is what he's addressing now. The people had it in their heart. Well, it's not time, not time that we should build God's house. Then came the word of the Lord, verse three by Haggai the prophet saying, is it time for you, O ye that dwell in your sealed houses? And this house lie waste. Now, therefore, thus sayeth the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Even then, brethren, even in the midst of what we're reading, God had to send a prophet to deal with them. He says you have so much and bring in little. You eat, but you have not enough. You drink, but are not filled with drink. You clothe you, but there is none warm. And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the house. And I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. You looked for much, and lo, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why, saith the Lord of Hosts? Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man into his own house. Therefore, the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, upon the corn, upon the new wine, upon the oil, upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men. upon cattle and upon the labor of their hands. Let's keep reading. Then Zerubbabel, this is where I want you to see the preaching of God's word, and I hope it's effectual in your heart as well. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiev, and Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God. And the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord. Then spake Haggai the Lord's messenger and the Lord's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. Now look at this. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel. governor of Judah, the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josedec, the high priest and the spirit of all the remnants of the people. And they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God. In the four and 20th day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius, the Kings. So you see the preaching. the preaching, God had to send the message again, and why? Because it's like all of us. It's easy to procrastinate in the work of the Lord. It's easy to put the spiritual matter secondary in our lives, And we do know this, it's very seldom that we procrastinate in our own work, in our projects. But the Lord's work becomes secondary. And I think that's what happened to them. You know, they came back, they had to rebuild their homes. They had to rebuild their nation. And they got so caught up in that that they forgot about God's house. in God's work. And so procrastination. In spiritual matters, brethren, results is a result of deficiency in our devotion to the Lord. That's the problem, our walk with the Lord, our our worship to the Lord and our private lives are, you know, how much And I think we need preaching just as much as they need preaching. Amen. And that's what I see here, that God stirred them up. And I hope there's times when the Lord gets a hold of your heart, when you hear messages about the Lord's work and the need, you know, to be faithful and to be involved, that your heart gets stirred by the preaching of God's word. And they didn't look at, you know, they looked at him as the messenger of the Lord. It wasn't like, you know, this man is attacking us or no, he was preaching the message. God sent him. That's what the Bible says, preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering in doctrine. I mean, this is not something that is from man. You know, it's not the idea that a man comes up with this plan to preach the word and that, no, you preach the word. You preach the word of God as it is written. You deliver what God's put in his book to the people of God. And, but we have to understand, we need to reprove, we need to rebuke, we need to exhort. And yes, we have to do with patience. Amen. Doesn't just happen overnight, but you have to teach doctrine. And God begins to work, amen. So I thank the Lord. How the prophets preach the word of God. But then the people gave sacrificially to the work of God. Look at this going back to the book of Ezra. We're talking about making proper preparations for the house of the Lord. Verse seven, they gave money also unto the masons, to the carpenters, meat and drink and oil. Unto them of Zion and of them of Tyre to bring cedars from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. So here was an offering for the reconstruction. And the people gave sacrificially. They hired skilled workers, masons and carpenters. The food, the drink, and the oil were given so that a trade agreement could be made with Sidon and Tyre for the cedar that they needed to build the house of the Lord. They just returned from the land, returned to the land from captivity. and think about their source of income when you're in captivity. What would be your income? And then think about this, that they had to make a trip of four months to get there. That's a long trip. They had no crops waiting for them to be harvested. They had no jobs. They had no economy. They were not wealthy after that captivity. But when they saw the house of the Lord being a pile of rubble, they gave sacrificially. Brethren, God, building God's house, it says it right there, requires money. And this is a Something that continues on the work of the Lord all around the world everywhere. We send missionaries everywhere They're preaching the gospel. They're building churches. They're doing the work of the Lord it requires Sacrifice it requires money But you know what Jesus said He said that we are to lay up our treasures in heaven and And there are rewards in heaven for everything. You can't take it with you, but you can send it ahead. You can send it ahead. That's by your faithful giving and your stewardship to the Lord, you have rewards in heaven, you're laying up your treasures in heaven and you're laying up your treasures and things that are eternal, which are souls. Amen. This is eternal. The word of God, the souls of men and the church. When you're involved in all three of those things, sacrificially giving and doing your part, you have rewards in heaven. You're laying up treasures in heaven, amen? This is real, amen? And Jesus said, if you're faithful in that which is least, in mammon and money, God won't trust you with true riches. So they gave sacrificially. But I want you to see, not only did they give sacrificially, The people united themselves to work in harmony under godly leadership. Verses 8 and 9. They worked in harmony. They united. Said, you know what? We're going to do this. We're going to unite together. We're going to do the work of God. Let's read verses 8 and 9. Now in the second year of their coming under the house of God, that's Jerusalem. Now remember, they just received the message, amen? God stirred them up. Began Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel. and Jeshua the son of Josedach, and the remnant of their brethren, the priests, and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity under Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Cadmele and his sons, the sons of Judah, together to set forward the workmen in the house of the Lord, of God. The sons of Hanadad with their sons and their brethren, the Levites. Amen. These people united. They said, you know what? We're going to do the work. We're going to work as a team. We're going to work in harmony. Remember, going back to verse 1, and this is how you get things done for God. And in the seventh month was come, the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man. We need unity in the work. Amen? Unity in the work of God. Why? Because the enemy outside wants to destroy the work of God. And you know what he wants to do? He wants to bring disunity inside the work of God. You're going to see there's a real enemy. We're going to learn about some of that spiritual warfare in this book as well. So the leaders wisely delegated the work. so that it did not just fall on just a few. And that's one thing we need to keep in mind, that we are a body and every member has a function. You don't just say only one member is going to do all this and this member. No, we all share in the body of Christ. We all share in the work of God. And so we all need to work in harmony, just like your physical body. We know, we have all the stories everyone here could tell about their aches and pains and all their sicknesses and diseases that we carry around, all of us anyway, amen. This is corrupt flesh, just the way it is. But, Isn't it nice when your body starts functioning again like it should, amen? You can get around and you can do the things that are important in life. And that's the body of the church, amen? We all have a function, all of you. Not just, I mean all, all means all, amen? Every member, that's what the Bible teaches. And everyone has a gift and different functions. And what does the enemy do? Of course, the enemy wants to get in and he wants to disrupt the unity so that the work ceases. Now, when there's disunity in the church, what do leaders do? What are they tempted to do? I'll tell you what they're tempted to do, to compromise. Because they want to compromise for the sake of preserving unity. meaning they're going to compromise the word of God. They're going to compromise some things because they don't want to lose, you know. And this is a, it's always going to lead to a greater disaster down the road because we're undermining God's word. So compromise is never the answer. Compromising truth. And so many churches have gone down that road and I'm just learning, you know, a lot of times getting back to America is an education, because we're so busy on the mission field. I mean, I do read and I, you know, I try to keep up with what's going on and I hear this and that and try to stay informed, but sometimes it's just good to work for God and forget about all that. You know, there's a place for that as well. But I want you to know, There's been some big ministries in the last couple decades that were built and they were the greatest thing on earth. Pastors were flocking there and learning all these principles and going back and trying to apply. They literally do not exist today. They are zero. from tens and 20s, thousands of people down to nothing. And it's all because of what I'm trying to tell you. Compromise of God's truth. It does not work. It will never work. It will come to an end. Now, that's a great temptation when disunity comes. And so, brethren, we must we must like even Ephesians 4 says we need to guard the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. You need to guard it. You need to you need to preserve it and really understand this is something that is from God. And we need to do all we can to keep peace and unity in the church. Amen. Leaders can also react in the flesh and they can lash out in anger. There could be attacks on a leader. And you know, if you act, lacked out in the flesh, then it tarnishes the qualifications of spiritual leaders. That's another temptation. Then there's gossip that goes around and false rumors. spread through the body because people start listening to those who are disgruntled in the church and they don't go directly to the source to ascertain the truth. You know, that's our lower nature. Do you know our sinful nature is like entertained? Oh, yeah. You know, they're in. Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you. You didn't even go and ask the person. Well, did you say that or did you do that or what do you think about this? This happens every day, even on the level of pastors and churches. It's just nothing but sin. So, you know, the Bible functions at every level, amen. It actually works when you follow God's instructions. You don't listen to gossip. You go and say, you know, I heard this. What's the truth? You know, what do you say about it? Go to the source and ask for the truth. But I want you to understand that when all this stuff starts happening, it's because the enemy is real. The enemy wants to destroy the unity and the work of God. And they're going to face these battles very shortly. We'll see it as we move through this book. And what happens? Satan has a heyday and many of the Lord's people, I mean, good people of God, end up hurt and out of church. It's terrible. So whatever we do, let us value that they were as one man. And when they started doing the work, they said, no, we're all going to do it. We're going to unite in harmony. We're going to follow the leadership that God gave us, and we're going to do the work of the Lord. Amen. I like verse 3 just to remind us as well that they had courage to stand, stand against a hostile world. Brethren, we're in the midst of a hostile world. Remember when they set the altar there in verse 3, and they set the altar upon its basis, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries. We need to have courage in the work of the Lord. We need to have boldness that comes from our God, not that we, you know, make ourselves strong. No, but we receive it from the power of the Holy Spirit, from the power of the truth of God's word. We stand firm. We know God's word is true. What would have been the temptation back then? The temptation, as always, it is. Oh, instead of. focusing in on the work of God, they could have built a militia. They could have said, you know what? We're just gonna get a well-armed militia here. That's the main thing we need to be doing around here. Do you know that vain is the help of man if the Lord's not in the midst? I don't care how strong your militia is. If you don't have the Lord, What good is it? So let's focus in on where the Lord needs to be and have his rightful place in our lives, his rightful place in the work of God, his rightful place. And so the first thing they did is rebuild the altar. Amen. And they believe, you know, everything we do, we do by faith, we just go forward and say, you know what, we're going to do God's work and we're going to trust him. And that's what they did. They built the altar because they knew they had to worship the Lord. And that was more important than trying to build an army to fight the enemy out there. So they put God first. And they realize this, God's going to protect us from our enemies. Amen. If we seek first the kingdom of God, he's going to take care of the rest. I don't think that principle is changing. That's what wasn't Haggai the prophet saying. Consider your ways. You know, put God first is what he's saying, just like Matthew 633 from the lips of our savior, Jesus Christ. Put God first. And so courage in the work of God doesn't mean that we lack fear. We may have fear. There's a lot of things going on. But it's gonna be boldness to stand firm in the face of that fear, in the face of circumstances, because we trust in the Lord, and our hope is the Lord, amen. There's something in here for Brother Jose, what he mentioned in his testimony. A courageous Christian will admit, I could lose my friends or my job, perhaps even my life. And yes, that is a scary thought. But I will not compromise my commitment to Jesus Christ to preserve any of those things, which are all going to perish soon anyway. and I will stand before God. Listen, the courageous Christian has his priorities straight, amen? Build the house of the Lord. And brethren, we must fear God before we fear man. You know what's good about all this? If you have a body of believers who stand together. and encourage one another in the face of all this hostile world. We need to stand strong, stand together, and encourage one another and pray for one another. That's what we need in this difficult time that we're living. So we see proper preparation, are we making that? But then we need to lay proper foundations, amen? That's what they did. Look at verse number 10. And when the builders lay the foundation of the temple of the Lord, it's amazing that this was the second month of the second year when they returned April, May. And this is the same month that Solomon, it's interesting that the same month that Solomon began the construction of the first temple. Amen. So you had two project superintendents, Zerubbabel and the high priest, Jeshua. You had the family heads of three clans. A number of Levites were appointed as foremen. And once construction finally began, the foundation was quickly laid. That's what God wants. We need the proper foundation. I want to remind you of a couple of foundations we have. Because, yes, we're not building a physical temple, but let me just tell you about the house of God today. We have the foundation of the Savior. Jesus saith unto them, did you ever read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? The same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Amen. He's Peter's preaching. He says, this is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved. We have the foundation of the Savior. Go to first Corinthians three. Just some verses there that we need to keep in our heart right now when we think about the foundation. beginning in verse 10. 1 Corinthians 3 10 according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon for other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ and we need to build upon that foundation are you thankful today we have the foundation of the Savior But I want you to see we have the foundation of the saved as well. Go to 2 Timothy 2.9. And this is a sure foundation, brethren. A sure foundation. 2.19, I'm sorry, 2.19. 2 Timothy 2.19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his. Amen. The Lord knows them that are his. And let everyone that name it the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Amen. This is a sure foundation, the same go to first Peter chapter four. Remember, Peter is also using this analogy of being built. And I want you to see what I'm getting at today is. We are a spiritual house. Built upon Jesus Christ. This is not the church. Do you understand this is not the house of God. You are the house of God. The house of God can meet in a field. The house of God can meet under a tree. 1 Peter chapter 2, I said 4, but chapter 2, verse 4. To whom coming as unto a living stone, That's Jesus. Amen. Disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful passage. So we have the foundation of the Savior, the foundation of the saved, but I want you to see another foundation, the scriptures. Amen? What did Jesus say? He said, and everyone that heareth the sayings of mine and doeth them not, or sorry, that therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. Amen? And the rain descended, and the floods came, and winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, doeth them not. It's obedience and disobedience to the word of God. Please understand, it's not Jesus here, it's the word. It's obedience or disobedience to the word. And your foundation is sure when you're obedient to the Word of God. It is a sure foundation. I think of what it says over there, and we do have to go back there to lead into the next point, Ephesians chapter 2. I think I mentioned, no I didn't mention that yet. But Ephesians 2 talks about we're built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. Brethren, let me tell you something. This is the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. Right here it is. It's the word of God. It's the teaching that they brought to us, the truth, the revelation of God. And we're built upon this foundation. This is the work of God. Go to Ephesians two, if you're not there yet, because you want I want you to see the spiritual aspect of this so that we really understand the church. Amen. Sometimes we get confused. I jumped to chapter three. That's a good verse to come back to chapter two. Chapter 220 in our buildup on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building. Now he's speaking to a church, brethren, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye ye Members are also building together for an habitation of God through the spirit. So we have the foundation of the Savior. We have the foundation of the same. We have the foundation of the scriptures, but we have the foundation of the spirit. Amen. Do you know that we are God's house? We are God's dwelling place. This is amazing, is it not? You know, even in the same chapters, or later in the book, he starts teaching us how to walk in the spirit and be filled with the spirit and controlled with the spirit because we're a habitation of the spirit. First Corinthians three, go back to that same passage we were dealing with about Paul being the wise master builder. And. He's laying that foundation of Jesus Christ and he's building gold, silver, precious stones, amen, that which is eternal. He's using the wisdom of God. You can all find that here in this whole chapter. He's not using the wisdom of men, but the wisdom of God to build God's work. But go to verse 16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Brethren, you are the temple of God now. The church body is the temple of God, not this. This is not the temple of God. This is not the house of God. This building is not the house of God. You are the house of God. You are the temple of God. And we need to understand this foundation that we have. Amen. This is a place where God's house, the building we're in is only a place where God's house meets. where God's house gathers to worship. Amen. God's house can meet in private homes. God's house can meet in a park. God's house can meet in a barn. This place, this building is not sacred. You are sacred that fill this building. Don't get confused between the two. You are the church. You are the house of God. You are the temple of God. And Jesus said, where you're gathered, two or three, in my name, I am in the midst of you. The very presence of God, the presence of Christ, the presence of the Spirit, amen, is with us. This leads us to the last point, but not the least. And I, I knew we had to get the praise tonight because when all this happens, what do the people do? Yes, they make the proper preparations. We need to do that. They lay the proper foundations, amen. And, but yet when that's done, they offer the proper praise unto God. And that's what we do as a church. We ought to be doing it. Go back to our text and we'll try to wrap it up. I say try. I do my best, amen. And I think you know that because my messages could be 30 minutes, sometimes they're 45, sometimes a little longer, but it's not because there's a magic number there, right? It's because we gotta do, we gotta deal with what God puts in our hearts and leads us to preach, amen? I wish it was a perfect timer every time it's not. Verses 10 to 13, just finishing out this chapter. I love this part. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priest and their apparel with trumpets. the Levites, the sons of Asaph with symbols to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David, king of Israel. And I think we learned we could go back to Chronicles, first and second Chronicles and Psalms and learn about how that God is, uh, uh, how he puts it all together for them to, to teach how to worship. Amen. Verse 11, they sang together by chorus in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord. Because he is good and his mercy endureth forever. Amen? 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. And so, they assembled. What do you assemble for? We need to assemble for the right reasons. This was a dedication service. They assembled to praise the Lord. We assembled to praise Him, brethren. You come here to offer up your praise to God when you're singing. You're not singing to each other. You're singing unto the Lord. Keep that in your heart and your mind at all times, that the Lord wants to hear your praise. Amen? They dressed in their priestly robes and they secured their trumpets. They took their places, you know, and God had an order and God raised up some skilled men, musicians there. And, uh, but I want you to notice. Yes, worship requires skilled musicians, but if the focus is on them, it's entertainment and not worship. That's what many churches do today. They entertain. They don't worship because the focus is on musicians and on men. True worship praises the Lord. Amen. It's all about him. And so when they assembled the praise, it was the Lord, not themselves. Amen. That leads us to that principle. They focused on God and not self. Remember, they're crying out. What are they saying in their praise? What do we hear tonight at Psalm 136, verse 26? It says, because he is good, his mercy endureth forever, amen? This is the theme of praise. God is good and he is merciful and we thank him. What did they do? Brethren, verse 11, they sang together by course in praising, what? And giving thanks to the Lord, amen. Just think about 70 years they were gone. How did that feel? They lost their loved ones. They lost their possessions. They lost their homes. Jerusalem fell. You know, if they were focused on themselves after losing all that, they would just go back there and they would complain about everything. That's not what God wants. He doesn't want murmurs and complainers. Even the Bible tells us in Philippians chapter two, I think verse 14, do all things without murmurings. Don't complain about anything, the Bible says. Then it says that we're as we don't complain, we're being lights under the world because it's easy to complain. You know that that's the flesh. But when you focus on God, you lose sight of all that, amen? And that's what our worship. You know, when you complain, you're impugning the goodness of God in your life. You're saying God's not good every time you complain. Amen, I need that. Do you know what they knew by faith? That if the Lord afflicted them, it was out of His goodness. Even the afflictions were out of the goodness of God. And I know we don't understand. His ways are above our ways. His ways are past finding out. But I know what the truth of God's word says, that even in affliction, even in suffering, Then we see in verses 12 and 13, and I hope we understand that our praise can be done expressed with emotions. It involves our emotions, brethren. And I'm not saying, you know, we have to kind of just go crazy and, you know, only emotions. I'm not. Because we understand that everything needs to be subject to the spirit of God. and subject to the word of God. So we do it with a sound mind, but we are made of emotions. God gave us these emotions. Amen. And so they expressed it. And, uh, I don't mind if you express it from time to time. It says in verse 12 and 13, but many of the priests and the Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men that had seen the first house when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept. They wept with a loud voice. And many others shouted for joy. You know, the younger ones are like, hey, this is a great work. And the older ones say, man, you never saw what we had here. We lost it all. You know, and they were weeping and others were shouting. So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of weeping. For the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. See, they weren't, they had that courage, amen. They didn't care if these other nations were saying, what are these people doing in here? We're gonna go shut this thing down. No, they just praised God, amen. Certainly, there is a danger of emotion pumped up by sentimental things, only sentimental songs singing over and over, kind of produce a desired state of ecstasy. And that's not what we're talking about. That is wrong. But when we focus on a great God, a faithful God, a loving God, a covenant keeping God and the truth of his word, it should affect our emotions. That's what I'm saying. God, God, His truth, His person, His faithfulness, His mercy. It should move us, amen? How can we not be moved when we think of His abundant grace? Amen. I see these deep and different emotions among the people here. And as I think of Solomon's temple, this, pales in comparison to Solomon's temple, what they did. And that's not the point, but Solomon's temple was a great temple. And these ancient ones, the older folks were flooded with a deep longing for those old days again, you know? But the young crowd, they were excited, as they could be, because the temple of the Lord was under construction. Joy flooded their hearts. And that's how it should be for us in God's work. All of us, you know, whether you're in the church 30 years or in the church three months. Everyone should have joy. Everyone should express praise and not, you know, weep for what you don't have. Let's be joyful for what God gives us, amen? Because he's a good God every day, and he's just gonna keep pouring out his blessings every day. Let's just not live on all the past blessings, amen? We're thankful for them, but let's get fresh blessings from God, and he will do that if we seek him. And we do what this message is teaching, brethren. They laid the proper foundations. Amen. They rejoice over that. And when we lay the foundations that we see from God's word, the savior, the saved and the scriptures and the spirit of God. We also will have that same joy. And we're going to rejoice over that foundation in our lives. The foundation is Jesus Christ. Do you have him? He's the basis of everything. Amen. He's our peace. He's our security. He's our provision. He's our fulfillment. He's our assurance. He's our hope of being accepted by God and given eternal life. He's everything to us. And brethren, we ought to praise him for that. Will you stand with me tonight, building the house of