Shall we look to the Lord in a word of prayer? Our gracious God and loving Father, what a joy it is to be here this morning to study your word. We ask that you would use it and bless it in our hearts and lives. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Thirteen long years have gone by of captivity. They've been hard years. Ezekiel hasn't been heard from. We wondered what's been going on in the land of Babylon, but the mail hasn't come through and no word has come. And year after year we've waited and we've listened, but nothing has come. And we wonder, what happened to Ezekiel? Is he still alive? Did they finally put him to death? What's going on over there in the land of Babylon? And then all of a sudden, 13 years of silence, and suddenly Ezekiel begins to speak again. The city of Jerusalem has been laid in ruins. The temple is gone. The children of Israel are scattered. The prophecies of Ezekiel have been fulfilled. What about Ezekiel? He's alive. He's well. And he's going on a trip. Oh, his body isn't going to go. But that's all right. God's going to take him on a trip back to Jerusalem. What day is it? Well, it's the beginning of the preparation of Passover. There isn't any temple in Jerusalem, so why go back? There isn't any tabernacle. The ark is gone. The candle is gone. The table of showbread is gone. The holy place isn't there. The high priest is gone. Ah, but come along with me, Ezekiel. We're going to see something good. In the fifth month, in the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year, after the same city was smitten, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me there. Ezekiel, come along! We're going to go to Jerusalem! Oh, Lord, I don't want to see it. Lord, I don't want to have to look at that rubble. I don't want to see the ruin. I don't want to see all of those people. Isn't it enough that I've had to go through the hardship of captivity? Oh, Ezekiel, I'm not going to show you Jerusalem as it is today. Ezekiel, I'm going to look into the millennium. Ezekiel, I'm going to show you that day when I come back. I'm going to let you look at that future world that's going to be there for men and women someday. And in visions, God brought me into the land of Israel, and he set me on a very high mountain. Ezekiel, what mountain are we on? Doesn't seem to be the Mount of Olives. It's too high for that. Maybe it's Mount Hermon. No, I don't think so. It's Mount Zion. That's where we are. We're up on Mount Zion and we're looking down and there's Jerusalem below us. And look, there's a foundation and a frame. It's a temple. It's a beautiful temple. I've never seen a temple like it. Is it Solomon's temple? No. It isn't Solomon's temple. There's a man over there, Ezekiel. You see him? Oh yes. He has an appearance like bronze. He has a line of flax in his hand. That's a long rule. It's a hundred foot rule. Two hundred foot, whatever you like. And he has a reed. That's a little six foot rule. You go with him. Who is that man? It's the Lord. His appearance was a bronze. This reminds me of John in the book of Revelation. He was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and the Lord called him up. The first thing he saw was a man, a bright, shining man, an individual of glorious appearance, whose countenance was radiant, who was covered with white, who shone, who was so magnificent and so wonderful that when John saw him, he just fell at his feet. And his feet were like bronze. Bronze symbolizes strength in the Word of God. Bronze in the Word of God symbolizes that one has the authority and the power and might of God, the strength of God at his disposal. It symbolizes steadfastness, the immutability and the character of God that he never changes. And bronze symbolizes judgment. And who does judgment belong to in the Word of God? John chapter 5 tells us that God has given all judgment to the Son. And God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ has come to meet with Ezekiel here and to take him on this great and glorious tour of this beautiful temple. You see, we're looking through the corridor of time We're looking out ahead of us this morning. We're looking past the end of the church age. We're looking past the rapture of the church. We're looking past the tribulation period. And we're looking into that glorious day when Jesus Christ is going to come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to rule and reign over the household of Israel and to bring forth a reign of righteousness here upon the earth. Ezekiel has none other than Jesus Christ. You say, wait a minute, Pastor, it doesn't say it's the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastor, it says it's a man. How do you know it's the Lord Jesus Christ? Turn over to chapter 44. You knew I had a verse, didn't you? Turn over to chapter 44. Notice what he says there in verse 2. The same man is giving him the tour, and suddenly he says, He says in verse 1, He brought me back from the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary, which looked toward the east, and it was shut. And then said the Lord unto me, This is the gate, this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it. Who spoke to him? Jehovah. And so he gives us a name for this messenger, this guide, and the name of the guide is Jehovah, the Lord. Jehovah said unto me, verse 5, And Jehovah, my guide, said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold. Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to realize that God himself has a desire for personal fellowship and a personal walk and a personal relationship with every believer. And you know, dear Christian, do we not know this morning by experience that each one of us who have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, do we not have the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Isn't it a wonderful thing this morning to be able to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and on a one-to-one basis talk to Him and fellowship with Him and commune with Him and pray with Him and walk with Him through life? Isn't it a wonderful thing to know that Jesus Christ has made a commitment to each one of us? I will never forsake you, so that you can boldly say wherever you are at any time, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. And every day of my life I rejoice this morning in this one-to-one relationship that I have with Jesus Christ. Ever since that day that I, by faith, trusted Him and accepted Him as my Savior, He's been in my heart, and He's been in my life, and I've had fellowship with Him, and He has fellowship with me, and there's never been a time when He wasn't there. Someone has written the song, My God and I, We Walk the Fields Together. And that song is true. Dear Christians, let me say something to you. I think oftentimes our view of eternity is different. Our view of eternity is this, that we envision ourselves in eternity and in heaven as part of a vast company of people that stand and behold the Lord Jesus Christ. And truly this is going to be part of our existence up there. Oh, what a wonderful day it's going to be when we arrive there in the courts of heaven, when all of the saints are gathered together and we stand in those great choruses and we sing those heavenly anthems. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We hear John as he listens, and John is overcome as he great swelling tones of those songs fill the courts of heaven. And you're going to be in that choir, and I'm going to be in that choir, and we're going to sing, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the earth. Oh, it's going to be a great day. I get excited when I think about it. I'm sure there'll be an orchestra of some kind, for God is the author of music, and my, what a thrill it's going to be to hear the organs of heaven play, and the trumpets blare, and the crowds of heaven sing. But dear friends, there's more to that for us in eternity. I believe the Word of God indicates to us that the personal relationship which we have with Christ right here in this life is going to be maintained in eternity as well. And we're not going to be a crowd, but we're also going to have a one-to-one relationship with Jesus Christ. There's not going to be John and Peter and Paul and a few at His feet, but every one of us, you and me and every believer is going to have time to talk to Him personally. You say, Pastor, that's not possible. With God, all things are possible. And I don't know how it's going to be done, but I know this, that Jesus Christ, the same one who is giving Ezekiel a personal guided tour here, is the same God who at the same time was taking care of the universe and doing everything else, and was ministering to Jeremiah and to other prophets in other places. And the Bible says to me that him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne. And I'm looking forward to being a part of the group in heaven, but I'm looking forward to those times when Jesus Christ and I are able to commune face to face. You say, Pastor, I'm not worthy. I know you're not, and neither am I, but we've been made worthy by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which has cleansed us from all sin, from all sin. You know, I just got so thrilled this week when I read this chapter, and I saw that there in my Bible, and I saw that Jesus Christ came in person to walk with Ezekiel and to show him through this new temple. You know, when Stephen died, he said, I see the heavens open. He said, I see the Son of God standing at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus Christ was there to personally enter him in. How many other believers do you think were dying at that moment? How many other things were there to do at that moment? Yet at that same moment, Jesus Christ was there to personally greet Stephen. You know, dear friends, I know this, that when we die and if we leave this world through the portal of death, I believe that each one of us as members of the family of God, I believe that we're going to be personally met by Jesus Christ as we enter heaven. I believe that. I believe that with all my heart. I don't believe that Stephen was special. Why? The Bible says the Lord, Jesus Christ, God is my shepherd. And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. Why? For thou art with me. Thou art with me. He's the God of the masses, but he's the God of the individual. And Jesus Christ is the Savior of the masses, but Jesus Christ is the Savior of the individual. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the fiery furnace, the King looked in, and there was the Son of God standing with them in the midst of that furnace. Yes, dear Christian, him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne. And I believe that means exactly what it says. That every member of the family of God is going to have the ministry of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in eternity. He's our bridegroom. We're his bride. And it's so good not to be a number, not to be a part of a group, but it's so good to be a person. with Tim. Isn't that wonderful? It's a great expectation, isn't it? Alright, we move on. The Lord spoke to Ezekiel. He said, Ezekiel, look at what I'm going to show you. Verse 4, listen with your ears. Concentrate with all your heart on what I'm going to show you. For I am giving this to you because I want you to declare this to the whole house of Israel. To let them know. To let them know. And then he begins to describe this temple. He gives the dimensions of the porches. He tells about the courtyards. He tells about the gates. He tells about the designs that are to be built in the wall. He tells about the altars. He tells about all of the things that are in this temple. And as Ezekiel looks at this temple, it's a beautiful temple. Now, I read all of these chapters, and I'm not going to go over all of these things with you today. I don't think you came to church today to have a diagram of the temple that's going to be in the millennium. or that Ezekiel saw. And another thing that I will confess to you today is this, that I have a handicap. Any of the men in the church that have worked with us on buildings would be able to tell you about this. I am absolutely baffled by plans. It's not a matter of intelligence, it's aptitude. And I just don't have an aptitude for reading plans or visualizing things. You see, if there's one thing I cannot do, it's draw and paint. I am the farthest thing removed from an artist that you ever saw. I finally got a C- in an art course in college, which I had to take in order to get a California teaching credential, but the teacher was kind. For some reason or another, I can sing a song and I can speak and I can do lots of things, but when it comes to visualizing things and putting it down, I just can't do it. And when you show me a set of plans, I have the slightest idea of what the building is going to look like. I have no way to appreciate elevations. I don't know if Ezekiel was like that or not. Thank God there are some people that can. And there are some architects that have taken these plans and they've gone over them. And there are some artists that have taken these plans and they visualize them. And you can open up encyclopedias and Bible dictionaries, and there in these dictionaries you can see this temple come to life before your very eyes. And the architects tell us that the dimensions here are perfect, and that if the plans are followed as Ezekiel lays them out, that this would be a beautiful structure, a sound building of magnificent proportion. A building that would exceed the glory and beauty of Solomon's Temple of old. Ezekiel was a prophet. He was a priest. He wasn't an architect. How did he do this? God inspired this book. How could Ezekiel lay out the plans for a structure like this? If you would ask me to design a building, I don't think you'd find permission in the Santa Rosa building department for its construction. I'm sure the stresses and strains would be all off. I'm not going to talk to you about this building, but I would urge you to do this, read about it. Read these chapters 40, 41, 42, 43, and just look at the detail. that Ezekiel put in here about this temple. You say, how did Ezekiel know all this? Well, because God Himself was going along and measuring things. And so the Lord would go along and He measured the wall. He said, Ezekiel, you see this wall? He took out the reed. He said, it's this long. Write it down, Ezekiel. Ezekiel wrote it down. You see these porches? How many porches are there? Count them up, Ezekiel. Write it down. We want people to know about this. You see the inner courtyard? It's this long. See the gate? It's this high. Write it down. And so Ezekiel went along, and he wrote it all down, and the Lord measured it out. And it's all there in the book. And it works out perfect. Isn't that great? Oh, it's a marvelous book. It's a wonderful book. I have such confidence in it. I never doubted. Everything about it proves to me that it is the book that it claims to be. There are several things that we don't find in this temple. We don't find the day of Pentecost. We find offerings. We find sacrifices. We find an altar of incense. In chapter 43, we find the priest offering bullets on the altar. We say, wait a minute, Pastor Graves. What are they doing with sacrifices and offerings in the millennium? I don't know. I don't know. But Ezekiel saw them doing it. Maybe this was the temple that they built. Maybe Ezekiel was looking at the temple that Ezra built. The restored temple that was there when Christ was on the earth. No. That temple didn't even approach the dimensions of this temple. And it didn't come close to the grandeur that's depicted here. No, it isn't that temple. Well, why are they sacrificing? I don't know, but I know this, that Daniel chapter 9 tells us that when the tribulation is taking place, and Daniel's 70th week is being fulfilled, that sacrifices are going on in a temple back in the land of Jerusalem. Well, you say, Pastor, I thought that Hebrews chapter 9 says that Jesus Christ in his death on the cross of Calvary fulfilled all of the types and sacrifices of the Old Testament and that he did away with those sacrifices so that they no longer had to be offered as an act of faith. And that's exactly true. As far as the law is concerned, the sacrifices were done away with. and were no longer needed after Jesus Christ has shed his blood on the cross of Calvary. But listen, let me make it absolutely clear, the sacrifices in themselves were not efficacious. It was the thing that they symbolized, the blood of Jesus Christ, that was efficacious, or that washed away our sin. And the sacrifices were offered as an act of faith, symbolic of the fact that the offerer believed that Christ was going to come and that a sacrifice would be offered. And so he offered the animal as a substitute in his place until the perfect lamb of God would shed his own blood on the cross of Calvary. I believe that if there are sacrifices in the millennial kingdom of animals, I believe there will be sacrifices similar to our Lord's Supper today. Why do we partake of the Lord's Supper today? Why do we take of the cup? Why do we take of the bread? We take of the bread because it symbolizes and reminds us of His broken body, doesn't it? We take of the cup as a symbol of His blood, which was shed for us. And why do we do it? As a memorial! Because he asked us to do it until he comes. And if there are sacrifices in the Millennial Temple, then there will be memorial sacrifices done in the same vein in which we participate in the Lord's Supper today. They will do them in memory of what he did and what he accomplished on the cross of Calvary. There's some things missing. There's no ark in this temple. Ezekiel looks all through it. Lord, where's the ark of the covenant? There's the holy place. We found that. He finds that here. There's the eastern gate. He measures that. And there he sees the holy place and the holy of holies, but he doesn't see the ark. Why? Because it's not there. What was the ark? The ark of the covenant was the place where God dwelt in the midst of his people. Upon the top of the Ark of the Covenant were the cherubim, and between those two cherubim, that was the mercy seat. And it was there between those cherubim on the mercy seat that the presence of God was known to dwell in the days of the Old Testament. In the tabernacle and in the temple of Solomon, the high priest would go in once a year on the Day of Atonement and he would sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat. And so solemn was that occasion that the high priest had to wash himself and prepare himself. And as he went in, he went in at great personal risk. For if there was anything wrong in his heart or in his attitude or with the nation, there was a possibility that God might not accept his presence and he might be struck dead. And so they wore, they attached bells to the high priest's clothing so that they could hear and tell if the bells were ringing as he moved about. as he dared to go within the holy place and offer the blood on the day of atonement. Why? Because God dwelt there in the midst of his people. When we look at this Millennial Temple of Ezekiel's, there is no ark. Why? Because God is dwelling there in the person of Jesus Christ. The King has come back! Jesus Christ, the God-man of eternity and of heaven, has descended upon the earth, and he is there in person. So there is no need for the mercy seat, for God is dwelling in the midst of his people. Jeremiah told us about this. Chapter 3, verse 16. Let me read it to you. He wrote about this same temple. Notice what he said. It shall come to pass that when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in other words, when the millennium begins to dawn, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall no more say the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they miss it. Neither shall that be done anymore. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of God." The Ark of the Covenant is not in Ezekiel's temple. Why? Because God is with Ezekiel. God is with Ezekiel, and God is with every believer in the city at this time. There's no high priest. Ezekiel sees some of the members of the family of Zadok, but he doesn't see any high priest. ministering in this temple. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest. He is so designated in the book of Hebrews. And the Great High Priest has returned to personally fellowship and commune with men. There's no table of showbread. There's no candlestick. Why? Because the bread of heaven has come down to live with men. Because the light of heaven has come down to live with men. In the Old Testament holy place there were no windows and so to light that holy place there was that candlestick and there was a table of showbread. But in this temple it's not there because the bread of heaven and the light of heaven has come into the earth to be with men. And there's no need for the symbolism. There's no king! Why? Because the King of Kings has come and Jerusalem and this temple is his throne. Can you imagine the excitement that courses through the heart of Ezekiel? Can you imagine the joy that floods his soul? As he comes out of the background of dismal defeat, of sin, of scattering, of destruction. And he stands on this mountain and he sees the future that's there for the people of God. Dear Christian, Ezekiel's future and Israel's future is your future too. Why? You say, Pastor, I thought we were going to be raptured. I thought the church was separate from Israel. We certainly are, but we're going to be raptured to be with Him. And the Bible says that once we're raptured out of this world into the presence of the Lord, you know why I like so much what it says to us there? In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, it said, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain, we will not precede those who are asleep. But the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And it says, what does the next thing say? And so shall we ever be, what? With the Lord. And so wherever he is, we are. And so when he comes back to be king, then we're going to come back to be king with him. If so be that we suffer with him, that we shall also reign with him. And when Jesus rules over Israel and rules over the earth in that great millennial reign, then the Church of Jesus Christ and every member of the Church of Jesus Christ is going to rule and reign with him. You're going to be there. You're going to be a part of this great future that Ezekiel is looking at right here. Afterward he brought me to the gate even the gate that looketh toward the east And now he's gonna give Ezekiel One of the greatest blessings That could come to the heart of this faithful prophet Do you remember in chapter 11 what happened? You remember the story of chapter 11 that was when Ezekiel got the helicopter ride remember that I How many of you remember that helicopter? Right. In Ezekiel chapter 11, that's when God came down and picked him up by the hair and dangled him and hauled him off toward Jerusalem. And set him on that mountain outside the city and had him look at the temple. And as he looked at that temple, he saw all of the idolatry and all of the sin and all of the wickedness. And he dug through the wall of the temple and he went into the temple and he saw things that just absolutely turned his stomach. And he was sick at heart and he went out and he removed from the city and he looked at the city and as he watched the city he suddenly saw the glory of God come out of the door of the temple and come up over the threshold and then he saw the glory of God leave the temple and God was through with Israel. And his presence was removed and they were lost. And Ezekiel saw it all take place. His heart was broken and he cried out within him and he said, Oh God! What shall it be? But God says, Ezekiel, watch. And Ezekiel watches. And he said, I looked at this new temple. And he said, suddenly I saw something coming out of the east. And he said, I beheld, it was the glory of the God of Israel. It came from the way of the east, and his voice was like the noise of many waters, and the earth shined with his glory. Ezekiel said, suddenly the place began to come alive with light. He said, I saw this glow come out of the east, and it grew and it grew, and I saw immediately that it was the glory of God. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision I saw when I came to destroy the city. that I saw by the river Chibar. And Ezekiel says, when I saw it, he said, I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate, whose prospect is toward the east. And he said, the spirit took me up, and he brought me into the inner court of the temple. And he said, I watched, and he said, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. Ezekiel had the joy here of seeing the glory of God come back. And God came to live and dwell in the midst of his people once again. Can you imagine what must have gone through the mind of this prophet Ezekiel as he had the joy of seeing that God was going to be with his people again? I can imagine Ezekiel, he was flat on his face because he was a mortal man and he was beholding the glory of God. But I imagine even when he was flat on his face, Ezekiel must have been jumping up and down and shouting, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Oh my! Ezekiel must have been saying, Oh God, thank you for this day. Oh God, what a great day this has been. Nothing around me but gloom and doom. And now this. Now this. Isn't God good? Isn't God good? There's one other thing that I see in this chapter that I think is worth making mention of. It's this. If I see anything here, I am reminded of the fact that our God is a great God. And that when our God Designs worship that he designs worship in such a way That those who come in contact with it are overwhelmed God says if you want to worship me then build a temple And God says, when men come to worship me in the millennium, this is where they will worship me. And Ezekiel stands in this magnificent structure. He is overcome. I think today that the attitude of many who name the name of Jesus Christ is greatly remiss when it comes to the recognition of God and who he is and the worship of God. When we can flippantly talk about God as the man in the sky or the man upstairs and we talk about God and come casually and flippantly into his presence, there's something wrong. Ezekiel didn't come that way. Those who have been closest to God, when they come into his presence, they are aware of the fact that God is a being of such great, magnificent proportions that when you come before him to worship him, then you must come with an attitude of mind that fully embraces and recognizes his person, who he is. Two weeks ago, I was in San Francisco and I parked next to a huge cathedral. It's Grace Cathedral. I'd never been in it. So I walked through it. It's a magnificent building. And just walking into a building like that, where the pillars just go up, it gives you a sense of awe, You just don't feel like shouting and bean-flipping. I thought to myself as I was reading this chapter this week, if you feel a sense of quietness when you enter a structure like that pitiful little cathedral, what would come over your soul? And what must have come over the soul of Ezekiel? as he entered and walked through the hallowed courts of this magnificent structure that God had designed in which men might worship God. Too many of our songs today, too many of our expressions, Would be totally out of place in this scene They wouldn't be spoken Yet he's the same God this morning as he will be then Let us come before his presence with reverence, with thanksgiving, with exaltation. But let us come in recognition of who He is and how great He is. God. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and loving Father, we are grateful for the privilege of having this brief picture of you. Lord, what a thrilling thing it is to behold and contemplate these things which are ahead. We thank you, Lord, that you're coming back to the earth, that your glory Is going to fill the temple That your presence will be personally seen and recognized and known throughout all the earth That men will worship you From the very depths of their soul Will god help us today to worship you To know lord the magnificence of your character and of your person to express Lord and to know your love and your holiness your omniscience, your immutability, your veracity, your justice, your sovereignty. We ask these things in your precious name. Amen. This message has been brought to you by the Santa Rosa Bible Church. Our mission is to see the lost reached and believers transformed by Jesus. You can find out more information about us at our website at srbible.org. Or you can visit us in person at 4575 Badger Road in Santa Rosa, California. You can also reach us by phone at 707-538-2385.