Experiencing Victory in the Battle

How many are ready to receive the word of the Lord now? Haggai, the book of Haggai. It is a very small book found there; it is the third-to-last book of the Old Testament. Then comes Zechariah, and then Malachi, if I am not mistaken. Haggai, the third-to-last book of the Old Testament. Let us go to Chapter 1.

The Lord has been speaking to me about this book and the other two books that follow it, and this morning I want to share with you something that has to do, in part, with the time of scarcity and economic hardship in which we are living.

I want to share with you some thoughts from Chapter 1. I encourage you to read the entire book; it is only, I believe, three chapters—two chapters. I am going to read from Chapter 1.

It says: “…In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came through the prophet Haggai…”—that word came to two people, two officials—“…one was named Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, who was governor of Judah, and the word also came to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, who was the high priest, saying, thus has Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, this people says the time has not yet come, the time for the house of Jehovah to be rebuilt….” That is what the people were saying, and God is paraphrasing what the people of Israel are saying out there.

“…the time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt. Then the word of Jehovah came through the prophet Haggai, saying, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?...”

What house was the Lord referring to? The desolate house—His house, His temple. “…for thus has Jehovah of hosts said: Consider your ways carefully. You sow much and reap little; you eat and are not satisfied; you drink and are not filled; you clothe yourselves and are not warm. And he who works for wages receives his wages into a bag with holes. Thus has Jehovah of hosts said: Consider your ways….”—a second time He tells them, consider your ways—“….Go up to the mountain and bring wood and rebuild the house, and I will take pleasure in it and will be glorified, Jehovah has said. You look for much…”—here the Lord again emphasizes what the problem is—“…you look for much and find little; what you bring home, I will blow away. Why? says Jehovah of hosts. Because my house lies desolate while each one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the rain, and the earth has withheld its produce; and I called for drought upon this land, upon the mountains, upon the grain, upon the wine, upon the oil, upon everything the earth produces, upon men, upon beasts, and upon all the labor of your hands…”

Notice how detailed the Lord’s description is of what is really happening behind an economy that is not working as it should. Then it says:

“…and Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people heard the voice of Jehovah their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, as Jehovah their God had sent him, and the people feared before Jehovah…”

There is the solution to the problem. Instead of hardening their hearts, how did the people respond? They listened and brought their hearts into alignment with the Lord’s message through His prophet.

“….Then Haggai, Jehovah’s messenger, spoke by Jehovah’s command to the people, saying, I am with you, says Jehovah. And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius…”

May the Lord bless His holy word. What a beautiful account. Let us give thanks. Lord, we commit this reading and this meditation to You, and we ask that Your Holy Spirit guide us and bless us, Lord, at this moment as we meditate on Your word. Give us Your teachings and open our hearts and minds so that we may understand You, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.

Yes, this text has been part of my meditation in recent days. About three years ago, God activated the words of this book in my heart concerning things to come and matters of the future. Haggai is a very prophetic book, not only because it was written by a prophet, but also because it contains sections that speak about times far beyond those in which the prophet himself preached. At certain moments, the prophet Haggai, perhaps without knowing what he was saying or truly seeing, reached forward to the coming of the Lord, and this text at times seems to usher us into a prophetic vision of the last days without telling us when one thing ends and the other begins.

But the time that concerns Haggai is a time when the people of Israel had only recently returned from captivity in Babylon. God had exiled the Hebrew people because of their sins and idolatry, had taken them captive to Babylon, and had kept them there for 70 years. God had said that the people would be in captivity and had prophesied it through the book of Daniel. The people remained in captivity all that time, and as the end of that period drew near, God first moved the heart of King Darius—and before him, King Cyrus—so that he would begin allowing the Jewish people to return from captivity to their land. And, of course, before the captivity, the temple had been destroyed. The Hebrews had resisted the Babylonian Empire, and the order had been given for the temple, that beautiful temple built by Solomon, to be completely destroyed. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem, there was no temple, and they had to begin rebuilding it all over again.

How interesting that today, in the twenty-first century, once again there is no temple in Israel. The temple was destroyed in the year AD 70 by Roman troops during another act of resistance by the Jewish people, a rebellion, and the Roman Empire ordered that temple destroyed again. And since then, for the past two thousand years, the Jews have had no temple.

Incidentally, if you go to Jerusalem, as I have had the grace to do, what stands today on top of the temple compound is an Arab mosque called the Mosque of the Golden Dome. It is a marvel, absolutely beautiful. I have been there. You cannot enter it because only Arabs and Muslims may enter, but it is an immense work of architectural beauty. Today the entire area where Solomon’s temple once stood is governed and guarded by Muslim authorities—even within Jerusalem, mind you. The Jewish authorities cannot enter that area. They have entered once or twice, and people have thrown stones at them and all that. They did it as if to establish their… but even within Jerusalem itself, and within Israel, the Jews cannot enter that area.

Do you know what they do? They worship below, where the wall is—the ancient wall—which they know is where Solomon’s temple stood. I do not know why I am saying this, but it must be important. And do you know what that wall is called? The Wailing Wall. I have been there too. It is a very moving place. The Jews are there 24 hours a day, praying and crying out and mourning because their temple has still not been rebuilt. And they want to rebuild their temple, but right now it remains unbuilt.

And I personally believe that these books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi have to do with the rebuilding of the temple thousands of years ago, but that they also have a prophetic dimension reaching forward to the present time, when the Jewish temple is also expected to be rebuilt once again.

I tell you, brothers and sisters, the day you see the Jewish temple being rebuilt, make yourself a reservation in a very tall building and expect the Lord to come at any moment to take His church away, because the doors will be very close to opening for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

But—oh my God—someone has told me, “Turn off your cell phone, brother.” That one is mine, imagine that—the pastor setting a bad example. We all sin. And incidentally, someone told me—Anita came last Sunday—“Pastor, tell the people to turn off their cell phones.” I told her, “Of course, Anita, I will tell them.” Now I am telling you. All of that was carefully calculated. I put it there so it would ring like that and remind me that we should turn off our cell phones. I do not know who that inconsiderate person is, but I am going to speak with him so he will leave this place. Listen, he had to choose the most dramatic moment to interrupt.

The point is, brothers and sisters, that I believe God is speaking to the church at this time about the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. And let me tell you something here that I should not even say. I believe that we—this church, which is now involved in a project to build its temple—brothers and sisters, I feel that there are some distant parallels there regarding the construction of our temple. The church of Jesus Christ needs to be rebuilding temples at this time as a sign that the devil has sought to destroy the testimony of God’s people, but he will not be able to do it. The devil has sought to supplant God and set himself over those places where a temple dedicated to the true God ought to stand, and the church of Jesus Christ must resist that and must be rebuilding and building its temples.

Here in Boston, in this city, where the church’s witness is now dimmed, this nation, this New England region, was the cradle of the Gospel. The first Puritans and Pilgrims arrived here in Plymouth to establish what would become the most powerful nation on earth, a nation that for centuries was founded upon biblical values, and now that has disappeared. Today, many of New England’s churches are occupied by doctrines of demons—Unitarianism and a host of other things—where the word of God is not being preached. And there are people there who ought to be sitting down and listening to the word of God, yet they are shepherding people and do not know the true God. And I say that humbly. God knows my heart. I do not consider myself better than they are, but the truth is the truth.

There are temples in New England that have been taken over by heretical doctrine and by people who do not know the God of the word of God. That is why those churches are dying, and we must ask the Lord, “Father, breathe, so that those temples may be reclaimed by the Spirit of God and so that, once again, from those pulpits the word once delivered to the saints may resound.”

But there is something God wants: His temples rebuilt or built, brothers and sisters. And these are not the best of times to be building temples. Look at what it says here. The Lord calls His prophet Haggai to prophesy to the high priest and the governor—that is, to the civil authority through the governor and to the religious authority through the high priest—so that these two men, who exercise authority over the people, may receive the word of God as representatives of all the people who must receive that word. And the Lord tells him, “Tell those people that the people are saying, the people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come, the time for the house of Jehovah to be rebuilt.’”

He is saying that what the people are saying is that this is not the right moment; it is not the right time. Let me say something first of all, brothers and sisters. Look, there is never an ideal time to give to the Lord or to build the Lord’s house. There will always be problems; there will always be shortages. I do not believe that any of us here can say, “You know what? Wow, my credit account is in such good shape and my bank account is so full and crammed with money that I have to start giving to the Lord because it is the only way I can get rid of a little of all the money I have.” How many can say that is your problem, so I can speak with you immediately after the service and ask you for a loan or something like that?

I believe that, for all of us, you know what? Giving to the Lord has to be a matter of principle and faith, of spiritual discipline. That is the only way, because the flesh and the devil will never let you be generous toward God. You kind of have to make up your mind; you have to struggle and wrestle with the Bible until the matter is settled and you are convinced that giving to the Lord is good and brings blessing, and that come rain, thunder, or wind, whether I like it or not, I am going to be generous with the Lord. I am going to make sure that His house is full and blessed and has everything it needs for its needs and its ministries.

Many people say, “Oh, the time has not come. I am going to wait until I win the lottery. I am playing the lottery and praying that the Lord will give me a winning ticket, and when I hit the jackpot, then I will start giving to the Lord.” You know what, brothers and sisters? The time will never come.

We must give to God by faith; it is a matter of faith. It is a matter of whether I believe or do not believe, and this is either a lie or it is the truth; and what God says and promises will be fulfilled in my life if I am faithful to Him. And the more negative the circumstances around me become, the more I will believe the Lord, and I am going to throw those dollars in the devil’s face so he gets upset; I am going to give them to the Lord in the name of Jesus.

And that prophetic anointing of God’s people breaks the yoke. The Hebrew people, this Jewish people—notice, this is long, and from what I can see, I may have to take another sermon to finish this. It seems there are two or three people who are happy about that. You know, brothers and sisters, that word from Haggai has quite a story behind it, because about 18 years before that word from Haggai came to the Jewish people, the Hebrews had begun to build their temple. They had faithfully begun to build, and they had begun to lay the foundations of the temple. But do you know what happened? Opposition came, and if you like, go back with me for a moment to the book of Ezra, another one of those books hidden away in the Bible. It is next to Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah are sister books as well, because they speak of God’s people returning to Jerusalem after the captivity.

These books, Ezra and Nehemiah, although they are quite far away from Haggai in terms of their location, are almost contemporary with it. Ezra and Nehemiah are from just a little before Haggai was written; remember that, those of you who are new to the Word. Just because one book is physically far from another does not mean that it is equally far removed in terms of time. Ezra and Nehemiah were written more or less around the same time, a little before Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

And look here at the history of what happened. When God tells Haggai, “Go and preach to the people and prophesy to them,” what is happening is that after the people began constructing the temple, difficulties arose, and they became frightened and stopped the work. And nearly 20 years passed without the work continuing. That is when God sends the prophet Haggai and Zechariah to prophesy, and He says to them, “Prophesy to the people and tell them what is happening here. Why have you stopped My work, and why are you saying that the time has not yet come? Let us see when the time comes; let us see.”

And meanwhile, you are building your houses and paneling them and putting mahogany on the walls, and you are buying 600-dollar windows, while you say that the time has not yet come to work on My house. And that is the context. Look in Ezra. What happened is interesting because—what happened?—this spiritual process teaches us a lesson; it is very enlightening. That is why the Bible was written, brothers and sisters.

Why does God write the Bible and give it to us? It is because, as we read these events in Scripture that happened hundreds and even thousands of years ago, we can extract—we can take from them—principles that are not limited by time or space. They apply to our own time and our own experience. So what ultimately happened in the past is not really what is important; what is important are the principles contained in that narrative that we can apply to our times. So when we go back to Ezra, chapter 4, we can see some principles there about how to act in times of crisis and opposition.

Here in Ezra chapter 4, we see what happens when God’s people faithfully begin to build the temple, because the temple—the worship—was important to them, and they had learned their lesson. They had suffered greatly because of their neglect of the temple, and now they wanted to build their temple. And look at what happens. It says, in chapter 4, that they begin to build the temple, and it says:

“…when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that those who had returned from captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel—the same Zerubbabel to whom Haggai prophesies—the governor, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for like you we seek your God, and we have offered sacrifices to Him since the days of,’ etc….”

They come hypocritically to tell them, “Let us work with you to build the temple,” but what they wanted was to spy. Besides, they were ungodly people who did not have the same vision as the Hebrews. And so the people of Israel answer them in verse 3:

“…It is not fitting for us to build a house to our God with you; rather, we alone will build it to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus, king of Persia, commanded us….”

They have a good desire and say, “No, let us build the house of the Lord.” Brothers and sisters, the things of God must be done by the people of God…. I ask the Lord, “Father, bless Your people. Prosper Your children so that we will not have to go to outside financial authorities and pay them twice or three times what the temple costs in interest in order to build Your house. Your house ought to have people who can give the money to build Your temple.” And God wants to bless His people; God wants to prosper them.

With the Lord’s help, I hope that as the years go by, if Christ has not yet come, Lion of Judah will be filled with people prospered by God, people who are faithful to the Lord, who give to the Lord, and whose prosperous and blessed children can give to the Lord for any need in order to advance the Kingdom of God. That is our desire: that this community may prosper and be blessed, because God is a God of blessing, and that God’s people may be filled with every provision so that nothing is lacking in the house of the Lord and we ourselves can do God’s work without having to give our money—God’s money—to the ungodly and the unbelievers, because we can do it ourselves.

But then, what happens? Look, when God’s people try to do something, brothers and sisters, the devil gets upset and always puts up opposition. When something is going to bless the Kingdom of God, I assure you that they immediately activate some little devil who is sleeping somewhere and tell him, “Pounce on that Christian and make his life impossible so that he cannot move forward.”

A sister recently told me, “I am serving the Lord, and as soon as I tried to serve the Lord, opposition immediately came against me.” I told her, “That is the best indication that you are walking correctly in God’s ways.” Because when we want to serve God, the devil immediately begins wagging his tail in anger, and a struggle begins to see whether you are going to give up. And what one must do, as the writer of Ephesians says in chapter 6—what must we do?—is stand firm and put on the armor of God, so that after the evil day has passed, we may stand firm, and having done everything, we may stand firm.

This is a time to put on the full armor of God and to be filled with the Word of God. This is a time for you and me, more than ever, to be immersed in devouring the Bible with all our might. We must weep and fast so that the Lord may strengthen our emotions and our minds, because these are difficult times, and we must be planted in the Word of the Lord in order to fight.

Look at what happens when times of difficulty and crisis come. What you have to do is wrap yourself in the blessing and the Word of God, and let the windows roar, and let the hurricane pass. Then, when everything has passed, you open the window again, the little birds are singing, and you return to normal life once more.

But the devil will always attack us when we want to do something for God. Look, opposition comes, and if you do not know how to fight in the spirit, they will walk all over you. That is why God’s people must understand the art of spiritual warfare and God’s prophetic Word.

As for the construction of that sanctuary we want to build there, the thing to do right now would be for me to take all the plans, close them up, have them stored in a bank vault, and say, “I am going to wait until all this is over before thinking again about building a temple.” This is the worst time for us to be doing it. As it says here in Haggai, “It is not the time,” and one could say, “It is not the time to continue with the construction.”

Nevertheless, we have a clock ticking on behalf of the city and state governments here, compelling us to move forward with the plan to build this sanctuary. At some point, we are going to talk a little more about that. Because that is what I am telling you: I believe this is involved in it. We are living in prophetic times, brothers and sisters, and right now, if I were a prudent man, I would say, “Let us stop this.” But do you know what? There are times when we have to be foolish in the Lord, when we have to be prophetic and say, “Even though this is not the best time, even though there are difficulties, we are going to believe that God will perform a miracle and that God will bless His people.”

Do you know what? When Haggai preaches to God’s people, “Let us rebuild the temple,” there is an economic crisis among the people. There is an economic crisis, and that is why the people are saying, “The time to build the temple has not come.” And the Lord is telling them, “You say that the time for the temple has not come, but I see things differently. Consider your ways and understand instead why what is happening is happening.”

And then there was opposition from these people, and they wrote a letter to the king accusing the Jews of building the temple without authorization. Do you know what? “They have not obtained the permits, so cancel their construction.” They write to King Artaxerxes, I believe it is—or one of those kings; what he is called does not matter that much—but they wrote him a letter. Interestingly, when Nehemiah tried to build the wall, the same thing happened: opposition came. The adversaries wrote a letter to the king.

It says, then—look at chapter 4, verse 4: “…the people of the land intimidated the people of Judah and frightened them so that they would not build. They also bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purposes throughout the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, and until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. In the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote accusations against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem; they sent a letter from Jerusalem to Persia to tell the king, ‘Do not allow these people to build the temple….’”

Why? Look at the accusation they make against them. Read those chapters later, but verse 16 of chapter 4 says, “…we inform the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are raised, the region beyond the River—that is, Jerusalem and Israel—will no longer be yours….”

Do you know what happens, brothers and sisters? The devil knows that when the church rises to its feet and begins to establish its presence in the city with glorious temples and powerful worship, that city will no longer belong to him. The neighborhoods will begin to be blessed, people will begin to be converted, blessing will come, and the demons will have to loosen their grip.

And that is why, in this time when I believe God wants to restore New England and plant His flag once again in New England, the devil is struggling and resisting, because he does not want revival in New England. And only through spiritual warfare will this region be reconquered for Christ. The Lord says that when you want to plunder a strong man’s house, unless you first bind him, you cannot plunder his house. And the devil is not going to let go of what he has. The devil is going to struggle and try to prevent the things of God from being done.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “From the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven advances forcefully, and the valiant take it by force.” That is the only way. The Kingdom of God always advances in warfare mode because the devil never wants the Kingdom of God to advance, for the Kingdom of God stands against him and against his illegitimate occupation of the earth. And when the Kingdom of God advances, it does so by fighting against Satan’s empire. Therefore, no one should think that he is going to do anything significant for God unless there is first a struggle. Now, never struggle directly with the devil; struggle through the Word of God, through God’s principles, and with the weapons of the Gospel and the Word of God.

But these people knew this, and they told the king, “If they erect their temple, they will grow strong and will no longer serve you.” And that is what the enemy knows, and he does not want God’s people to be strengthened, to occupy territory, to become strong, to have their physical facilities, to grow, and to have… Satan does not want this church to grow. Satan does not want this church to have a larger place so that more people can come and so that we can do more things. He wants a tiny church crammed into a 20-by-20 space, with people sitting on top of one another there, praising the Lord, as I sometimes see in so many little churches.

Near our house there is a beautiful Brazilian church. They are people who love the Lord. I always see them painting the little place they have rented, and they do everything they can. I always see some new thing they are doing every time I pass by. The thing is, I am nosy, always looking to see what they are doing when I turn toward our house; I am always able to look over there to see what they are doing. It is a lovely church, but they have a rented building, and recently our street was made residents-only, and now they can no longer park in any of the spaces where they used to park. The church has dwindled tremendously. And I say, “Good grief, what that little church needs is a good temple where they can worship the Lord and serve the Lord.” And do you know what? Unfortunately, this city and this region are full of dead, empty temples, with one or two frightened people huddled inside, dying, and with a watered-down, diluted word, while crying out for the people to be fed and for growth to take place.

Because the devil does not want living, revived churches filled with the Holy Spirit to have their own buildings. And there are many church buildings in New England today that do not have the word of God, and I ask the Lord, “Lord, do something, bring about a massive redistribution, because churches need their own places in order to strengthen their people.” I thank the Lord for the blessing we have—two buildings. Every time I take people to the new building over there, their mouths drop open. Those businesspeople who gave Samuel the two thousand dollars—or gave it to the Academic Resource Center—I took three or four of them over there, and, brothers and sisters, they were astonished at what this little church has been able to accomplish there; their mouths dropped open. And now they want to bring even more people so that we can show them the building and what we have done here. We built these two buildings through sheer effort, wrestling with Satan and with circumstances. If we had waited until everything was fine and things were rosy, we would never have done anything.

Because God must be glorified when things are not going well for you. Those are the times when God’s people must rise to the occasion and do what they have to do, brothers and sisters. And that is where you truly learn to trust in the Lord—that God is faithful, that God gets us out of tight spots, and that when scarcity comes, we can always say, “I shall lack nothing, because the Lord is with me in the valley of the shadow of death. I will not fear.”

When trials come, that is when God’s people should put on their lipstick, apply rouge to their cheeks, keep moving forward, and celebrate the Lord all the more. It is not a time to become depressed, brothers and sisters; it is not a time to sit there crying as though we did not have an almighty God.

God’s people allowed themselves to be intimidated. The letters were sent, and the king himself gave the order for the work to stop. Eighteen years passed, and the people remained there, listless, without building the temple. And look at what happens. Let us go to verse 23; then verse 24 says:

“Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased and remained suspended until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia”—which is where our story in the book of Haggai begins. It was a long journey, but we got there, and we learned a couple of things along the way. Isn’t that right? That is how the word of God is; it is so beautiful.

Now look at what happens in chapter 5, still right there in Ezra. How beautiful the Lord is, how one thing fits together with another, because we are reading history; we are not reading fairy tales. Ezra chapter 5 says:

“Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied”—now we are where we were in Haggai—“both prophets prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. Then Zerubbabel arose...”

Do you remember Zerubbabel? That is a difficult name to forget. “...son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jozadak, and they began to rebuild the house of God that was in Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God, who helped them.”

How beautiful. And you know what? I have decided that I am going to finish in about seven or eight minutes. Everybody say, “Glory to God!” And I will continue next Sunday, if God allows me, because this is beautiful; this is so beautiful, everything God has for us there. But I believe that what God is telling us is precisely this: do not be intimidated. Tell the brother or sister beside you, “Do not be intimidated.” Say it like this: “Do not be intimidated.”

Do not fear. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let yourself be intimidated; do not be intimidated.

Do not be intimidated when problems and difficulties come. If God has placed something in your heart, conceive a dream for the Lord and do not be intimidated. Do not let the enemy, do not let the devil, do not let circumstances, do not let people and their murmuring—people who do not know the Lord—intimidate you and take your eyes off God, who has told you, “I am faithful; I will be with you wherever you go. Do not fear; only be strong and courageous, because I will be with you. I have given you all the land on which the soles of your feet tread,” says the Lord.

That is the word of God, brothers and sisters, for those who believe. So the work ceased, and they listened to the word of the Lord. Then it says in verse 5:3, “At that time Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, his companion, came to them and said to them, ‘Who gave you an order to build this house and raise these walls?’”

Notice how interesting this is. They began to build and said, “You know what? Despite that order from the king, we are going to begin building; we will deal with that when the time comes.” Sometimes you have to be bold in the Lord. I am not saying that you should break or violate the law, but in this case that is what they did. There was an eighteen-year-old order issued by another king that said, “You cannot continue building.” When the word of God and God’s prophetic word came, they were filled with—because you have to believe the Lord—the word of God breaks structures. When you receive a word from God, take it to the bank, because that word is a magic key that opens the door to God’s mercy and blessing. And they said, “If God has told us this, we are going to launch out in the name of the Lord.”

All I say to the Lord is, “Father, is it your will for that temple to be built? Because if it is your will, no matter what happens, it will be built.” The only thing that matters in your life is that God has spoken to you. If God has spoken to you, throw yourself upon the dragons or whatever it may be, and keep moving forward, because the Lord is with you. God will open doors for you. You do not know how, but he will do it. Launch out in the name of the Lord.

If God has spoken the word to you, if you are sure of the word that God has given you and you are sure that you are acting within the Spirit of God and his will, go for it. Do not be afraid; do not be intimidated. Whatever comes out of the mouth of the Lord, you can take it to the bank. You can believe that you will be blessed. It does not matter how difficult the circumstances are; it does not matter how adverse the situation around you is or how many people oppose you. Just go; keep walking in the name of the Lord and let your faith break through the mountain. You will reach the other side. We have to believe in the word of the Lord.

In this case, they faced opposition from the king of Persia himself, and they began to build. Of course, what happened? They were reported again. They were asked, “Who gave you an order to build this house and raise these walls?”—verse 3. “They also asked, ‘What are the names of the men who are constructing this building?’” Wow, that would frighten anyone.

“But the eyes of God were upon the elders of the Jews...”

When you are doing the Lord’s will, brothers and sisters, the Lord’s eyes are upon you, and God’s blessing will come; sooner or later, it will come. Do not fear the devil; do not fear circumstances. In fact, do not even fear your own heart. Pay no attention to the cries of your flesh, and say, “I am going to do what the word of God tells me.” Because there are many things that we must do against our own flesh and our own minds. And sometimes, when we are taking steps of faith, everything within us will be saying, “You are going to die; they are going to get you; they are going to imprison you.” You must keep moving forward in the name of the Lord. Take steps of faith. Do not be led by emotions. Anyone who is led by emotions accomplishes nothing.

We do not live by emotions; we live by what has come from the mouth of God, by what God has declared, by the principles of the word of God. We must live according to principles. Brothers and sisters, it is time for God’s people to learn to live according to the word of God—God’s radar, God’s map—not according to what their minds or emotions tell them. God wants to raise up a battle-hardened people. That is why he sometimes allows giants to come and pursue us, so that we may learn what warfare is. If everything always goes well for God’s people, they never develop spiritual muscles.

Do you know when it is time to grow? Times like this. When there is prosperity, forget it, because no one grows when everything is fine. But when there is a trial and you have to put the word of God into practice, that is where growth takes place. And afterward, when you have your medals, you sit at home having a little cup of coffee and remember, “I earned that one on such-and-such a date.” Then you are prepared for the next battle, and you have authority to speak and testify to others about God’s mighty deeds.

Some people cannot testify about God because they have not experienced victory in warfare. And God sometimes allows war to come into our lives so that we may develop warriors’ hearts, brothers and sisters, so that we may prophesy to others, evangelize others, comfort others, encourage others, and always give glory to the Lord in our lives.

Then they made the work cease, and then the Hebrews sent a letter to the king; they sent a letter. Notice that God gave them the intelligence to remember the original order Cyrus had issued decades earlier, when Cyrus, another king of Persia, had ordered that the Jews be permitted to build their temple. And they remembered that. You see, brothers and sisters, when you are doing the will of God, illumination comes, wisdom comes, understanding comes, and God then allows you to find the opening through which you can reach the other side.

That is what I have believed: when I am in the will of God, God will give me wisdom to move forward through any trial, through any difficulty. That is what we have to ask: “Lord, give us wisdom. Help us to be so filled with your Holy Spirit that when the problem comes, my mind will receive illumination from you and I will know which way to move forward.” That is what a person has. In these times of trial and economic scarcity, there is a solution to your financial problem. And if you are filled with the Spirit of God and are doing the will of God, God will give you that wisdom so that you can move forward, provide bread and food for your family, and not have to go around begging.

I always say, “Lord, help me to remain in your will so that I may receive the wisdom I need to continue doing your will and prosper in the midst of difficulty.”

God gave the Jews wisdom, and they sent a letter saying, “Cyrus, who is an authority in Persia, issued an order decades ago for this temple to be built. Search the archives; search Persia’s legal records, and you will find that letter there. And if that letter is there, it takes precedence over the current order. That letter is a legal document, and you are obligated to let us build our temple.”

Notice how the Lord gave them wisdom. And I do not have time to read it all. Look at what chapter 6 says:

“Then King Darius gave the order to search in the house of the archives, where the treasures were stored there in Babylon. And in Ecbatana, in the palace located in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which the following was written...”

Wow, I feel as though I am going to break my promise of five minutes, because this is beautiful. This is beautiful. It says that they found the legal document there, and it says: “Memorandum: In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus himself issued an order concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, that the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices and that its walls be firmly laid...”

Brothers and sisters, the walls of God’s temple must be firm; the foundations of God’s temple must be strong and firm. The house of the Lord must be well built: its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, with three courses of large stones and one course of new timber; and let the expense be paid from the king’s treasury. Also, let the gold and silver utensils from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple and carried to Babylon, be returned and taken back to their place in the temple in Jerusalem, and let them be placed in the house of God.

Brothers and sisters, when God’s people put on their pants, believe the Lord, and are filled with the power of God, the devil has to release everything he has seized, and even human beings—the secular authorities—have to give God’s people what they need to carry out the work of God.

When these Hebrews dared to believe God and set to work, God provided the solution. And not only that, but it was also found there that Cyrus had said that the cost of building the temple was to be paid.

And look at this—you have to read it before you leave. Then, when the king, whatever his name was, found the letter, he issued an order. Look at what it says in verse 6:

“He issued an order, saying, ‘Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and so forth, let the work on this house of God proceed. Let the governor of the Jews and their elders rebuild this house of God on its site. And I hereby issue an order concerning what you must do for these elders of the Jews in rebuilding this house of God: from the king’s revenues received as tribute from the region beyond the River, let the expenses be paid promptly to these men, so that the work may not cease...’”

Glory to the Lord. “...And whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil—according to what the priests who are in Jerusalem say, let it be given to them day by day without fail, so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons...”

Wow. Glory to the Lord. Brothers and sisters, you know, God wants these authorities—we are saying, oh, these authorities are not believers. Look, these kings were among the most bloodthirsty there have ever been in all of history, and God appointed those kings to bless the people of God so they could build his temple, and he tells them, and pray for us too, just in case.

God wants the church one day, brothers and sisters, to have such authority that governors and kings and presidents truly, not ceremonially, ask Christians to pray for them and bless them. That king says in verse 11, “...And I issue an order that if anyone alters this decree, a beam shall be pulled from his house, and he shall be lifted up and hanged on it. And his house shall be made a dunghill because of this; and may the God who caused his name to dwell there destroy every king and people who would put forth a hand to change or destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree; let it be carried out promptly....” Glory to the Lord.

How beautiful the word of God is. Brothers and sisters, all of that comes when God is believed; all of that comes. The circumstances were painful, terrible, tragic, impossible; it could not be done. But the word of God came; the prophetic word came. Brothers and sisters, I believe that I am—today I am preaching in the prophetic power and authority of God, and I am preaching this word to tell Satan: Take your hands off this project, in the name of Jesus! And may an order be given to whoever needs to receive it, so that this house may be built in the name of Jesus and for his glory.

And what is needed is a people who believe the Lord, brothers and sisters. I have told you that God is taking away your baby fat and wants to give you the bodies of men and women of the Spirit. God wants a people—brothers and sisters, let me tell you—God is dealing with Lion of Judah. The days of playing like children are over, and this church is going to have to learn to be the church, or something is going to happen. We now have to go from being children to being men and women of God. This church—we have to stop talking and talking, and we have to put our lives where our mouths are. We have to learn to live as male and female warriors. We have to place our lives on the altar of sacrifice and say to him, Lord, we live for you; our lives are for you, our money is for you, our time is for you, our talents are yours, our homes are yours, our jobs are yours.

We have a place not built by human hands, and that is where our affection lies. One day you may live in mansions of immense size and abundance, but now, here on earth, while you are able, work for the Lord and press forward in the name of Jesus. Give your life to the Lord. Remember last Sunday’s message: invest where moth does not corrupt and where no thief steals. Invest there; place your treasure there, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Live as a child of God; live as a man or woman of the Kingdom of God. Do not live with one foot in the world and the other foot in the Kingdom of God; live with both feet in the Kingdom of the Lord, in the word of God. Either you are or you are not; either you live according to the word of the Lord or get out of the Gospel, brother. Believe the Lord. God wants a renewed mind among the people of God. I tell you, in the name of Jesus, God wants to renew our minds in this season. God is doing something different in a different time. We must change our way of thinking; we must change our hearts; we must change our mindset; we must change our attitude and willingness.

God wants men and women filled with the Holy Spirit, men and women who know how to march like a well-formed army. That is why those sermons on authority were preached. God gave them to you and gave them to me because God is telling the Lion of Judah congregation: Learn to march like soldiers and warriors who know how to submit to the authority of God and of his spiritual authorities.

God is preparing this church; he is speaking to this church. What we are preaching is a prophetic word from God, and that word is going to open things up, brothers and sisters, and it is going to release things. It is time to enter into maturity now; it is time, because God wants to bless us. God wants a harvest for his people, but he is not going to give it to an indolent, lukewarm people. Oh, brothers and sisters, if you want to receive God’s blessing, get moving, put on the armor of God, and receive the word of God, because there is blessing in that word.

Let us stand, brothers and sisters, and give glory and honor to the Lord. Ask the Lord to put this word deep within your heart this morning. And make it your purpose in life to walk as a son and daughter of God who brings joy to the Father’s heart. Give your life to the Lord; give your treasure to the Lord. For God there are no difficulties, there are no impossibilities; for God everything is possible and easy.

In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, we ask right now that the principles of the Kingdom of God take hold of our minds. Father, begin with me, Lord.

Begin with me, Father. I pray that you will change my heart, my mind, my spirit, my outlook, Lord, and make me what you want me to become, Father, the leader that you want me to become, whatever it is that you want us to do, Father. Conform us to you, conform our minds, conform our spirits to you, Father. We need you.

We want to change; we want to be different; we want to be your warrior people, Father. We want to know how to deal with the enemy’s bonds and obstacles. Give us the power, Lord, because you prosper your children in the midst of difficult times. Oh, Lord, we have the victory.

We have the victory, Father. We have the weapons; the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. They are weapons of warfare in the Spirit; they are weapons of light; they are weapons of truth, of goodness.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, says the Lord, but mighty in God for the destruction of strongholds. Oh, Lord, revive your people, renew your people, fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit, Lord. Renew our minds; give us a warrior’s heart, Lord. Give us a heart that knows how to plunder the enemy’s kingdom, Lord, and bring lives to the knowledge of Jesus. We worship you, Lord; we bless you and exalt you this morning. To you, Lord, be glory and honor.

Give glory to the Lord. Make a commitment right there, brothers and sisters; commit yourself this morning to being a man or woman of God. Commit yourself to living; repent of lukewarmness; repent of a divided mind. A divided mind does not please the Lord; no one can accomplish anything with a divided mind. Let the person who thinks that way not believe that he will receive anything from the Lord, says the Apostle James. Renew our minds, Father. Renew the Lion of Judah congregation; raise up a bold, warrior people, outrageously courageous and daring, Lord. Oh, Father, cleanse us, cleanse us; purify us, purify us.

Thank you, Father, thank you. We commit ourselves, Lord, Father, so that not a single letter of this word will fall to the ground, Father, nor will it return to you empty; I believe it. Thank you, Father. We worship you; we bless you. Send your people away in peace this morning, Lord, and give them a week of blessing, success, and triumph, Father. Provide for your people, Lord; provide for your people and bless your people. We thank you in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. Glory to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, I bless you in the name of the Lord. Greet your brother or sister and encourage them. Go with the peace of the Lord. We will see one another, God willing, next Sunday or Wednesday. May the grace of the Lord be with you. You are blessed.