Mind your Busyness

Continuing this morning our study on Awaken.

And if you would with me grab your Bible, turn it to the tiny Old Testament book, Haggai.

Haggai, you flip there and you flip the page, and it's over.

So I'll give you about uh 20 minutes to get there.

Little Old Testament book called a minor prophet, but he comes with a major message.

And so as we look at Haggai chapter 1 today, you hear today in our culture a lot of sayings that sound like this.

Haggai 1 · chapter mention

I am swamped.

I am slammed.

I am buried.

I'm tied up.

I'm covered up.

I got the candle burning at both ends.

Man, I got a full plate.

I'm just trying to keep my head above water, Pastor.

I don't know if I'm coming or if I'm going.

We are busy.

Busy people.

And uh maybe you've heard I found some of these cute sayings about being busy.

And and maybe it's connect with you.

Uh our our southernness.

If you're real busy, you might say I'm busier than a one-toothed man in a corn cob eating competition.

If you're real busy, you might say I'm busier than a Jehovah's Witness at Doors Unlimited.

Some of y'all get that later on, you'll be laughing.

Busier than a hippie when there's tie-dye half off.

Some of y'all remember that, right?

And maybe maybe you're so busy you're busier than a church fan when the preacher's speaking on hell.

That's real busy.

Y'all with me?

You've seen that before.

And so we're busy.

That's busy.

Now I believe today that God has a great message to speak to us, but I'm gonna need your help when I preach, okay?

So I like to get you to interact with me.

So say something with me.

Will you say, we have an opportunity?

Look at the person next to you, say we have an opportunity.

Now mind.

Oh, that did not work.

Just Darren.

Okay.

We have an opportunity.

Now look at your neighbor and say, now mind your busyness.

All right.

Let's pray.

Father, I pray that you bless the reading of your word.

Speak through it to us.

Lord, we need you.

Otherwise, we're here and we're just a part of a habit and a tradition.

We don't need that.

So, Lord, speak to us today.

Change us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

In Haggai, the background is this: as the Jews that were in our exile that we talked about two weeks ago, that Ezekiel spoke about the dry bones, the same Jews had come out of exile.

God called them forth, and we get to Haggai, and they have been out of exile.

They've been exiled to Babylon and other places for 70 years, and now a remnant of them decided to come back to a city.

Now you've got to understand the picture of the city.

When the Babylonians came in and came through that city, they destroyed it.

It was rubble.

There was no place of commerce.

It was just a mess.

So the people that God called back to it were people that believed in something.

In order to come back, many of the Jews stayed in Babylon because they had gotten used to that.

But a remnant of them come back, and now Haggai, who's called to be a prophet, brings them a major message.

And his message is this.

Look at verse 1 and 2.

In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, the son of Sheel Til, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest.

This is what he says.

Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, This people says, the time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.

So, number one this morning that we see in this story is this there's a procrastination and a prioritization.

When you think of busyness, there's two important words right here: procrastination and prioritization.

And we see in verse 2 it says this, that these people have a saying.

Letter A under that is this your plans will reveal your desires.

The plans that you make reveal your desires.

It says, These people say, they have a saying.

There's some people in Alabama that have a saying I've picked up on since I've been here.

They say things like, I'm fixing to.

People always fixing in Alabama.

I don't know what they're fixing, but they're always fixing to do something.

And if you're in a church lobby after church and you see the husband who looks at his wife, and after the ninth lady she's talked to in the lobby, and he says, I thought you said we were leaving, and she says, I'm fixing to, you know that to mean I'm not ready yet, but I'm about to be.

Okay?

It's a saying for I'm about to be, I just haven't done it yet.

I haven't done it yet, but I'm going to be.

I'm fixing to.

Now, some church folk all over the place say something like this, Pastor, I'll pray about it.

That's KJV for I don't want to do it.

Y'all understand me?

That means I really don't want to do it.

I'll pray about it.

It's kind of like saying I'm fixed.

I haven't done it yet.

Maybe I will.

Uh maybe I don't want to.

So that what we see here is a procrastination.

They have a saying, it says in verse 2.

They say the time has not yet come.

They have a saying, the time has not yet come for us to do this.

Say this to your neighbor: mind your busyness.

Now you guys got to keep helping me today.

Galatians 6.10 says, as we have therefore opportunity, do good unto all men, especially the household of faith, the church.

So we have opportunity when we have opportunity to move, to act.

Some people, I'm gonna say this twice for everybody.

This is a good quote.

You might want to write this down.

Some people veil procrastination with the word patience.

Some people veil procrastination with the word patience.

Sounds a lot more spiritual that way, doesn't it?

I'm being patient.

I have a saying that comes from a rapper.

It says, yo lo, you only live once.

Now I like to do things.

I am excited about our new building.

I want our new building to get done.

And let's get in it.

I want to be, like James says, be a doer, not just a hearer.

There's souls to reach, there's things to do.

And so we have to understand procrastinations is not patience.

I used to run a youth rally in Indiana, and I would have to raise a budget for it.

And so I took the storm rally to the Fayette County Ministers Associated Association meeting, a meeting of 32 ministers that represented their churches, and I came with them and I poured out my heart about the need to reach our youth in the area.

And I began sharing with them statistics that were staggering about youth drinking and youth pregnancies and youth drugs and all this stuff.

And I said, Will you please consider being a part of that?

And I told him, I said, I gotta raise$15,000.

Or I said,$10 per kid.

Okay, 1,500 kids would show up at this event.

I said, I I really need to raise this.

And so I brought it before these people.

My hopes were so high.

And you know what they said to me, we'll get back to you about that.

We'll let you know.

And as I sat in the meetings, because I went to them for other things too, um, and I was a part of that association, I would see week after week this vision budget line, visionary budget.

And it always seemed to be sitting a balance in the vision budget line.

Okay, and at the this particular meeting, there was over$10,000 in the vision budget, and there I am pouring out to them about a vision God gave me to reach our community for youth.

And I cried a week later when they sent me a check for$100.

I thought, 32.

It broke my heart.

I can't, I couldn't understand why so many people had their minds set on a comfortable future when an opportunity was right here and right now.

I want to do something.

Do you want to do something?

Our future plans reveal our current desires.

The way we think about the next 10 to 20 years reveals our desires right now.

Psalms 37, 4 said, Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Proverbs 16, 3 says, Commit your works, and the Lord will establish your thoughts.

Heather typically goes to Texas for a couple of weeks every summer.

And uh she go visit family, her mom, and take the kids, and um leaves me home to uh work and get ahead and all that, and so they'd go and my heart would grow heavy during that time.

I'd miss her, I miss the kids, and and uh so usually when she leaves, I start planning something to do for her.

Okay, just something to do.

Um sometimes she's been gone and I had the carpet cleaned while she was gone.

Sometimes she's been gone uh and I painted.

Sometimes she's been gone and she would come back and I would have flowers there.

What I'm explaining to you is this.

You see, my plans were revealing a future desire.

Time with my lady.

Y'all hear me?

I delight in something, Scripture said, and so I do.

If I delight in something, I do.

And so what we are delighted in is something that we're taking part in.

They have a procrastinator's creed.

The time is not yet.

That's their creed.

The time has not yet come.

And so we see that plans, our plans, what we're planning reveals what we really desire.

Letter B is this the production reveals our direction.

What you're doing reveals where you're going.

What you're actually taking part in reveals the direction that you're going.

And I this is what I think about with this topic.

Okay, remember I said that these Jewish people, they believed in something.

They came back to something that wasn't, they weren't going back to a fruitful economy.

But I think what happens is this that distracted people go the wrong direction.

Let's look at verse 4.

Say, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses and this temple to lie in ruins?

And so we see distracted people.

I don't think it's satanic people that are missing Sunday services.

I don't think it's people serving Satan that are missing serving opportunities, but I think it's distracted people.

People with sports, or people with boats, or people that want to sleep a little longer, or something that's distracting.

See, these are God's people.

50,000 of God's people decided to return to ruin.

And they began to rebuild the temple, but they got distracted.

They got off the course.

They got suffocated by ideas to rebuild their own homes.

Well, we need to rebuild our homes.

That sounds right.

And in the corners of their mind, they said, one day we'll get around to it.

I got two lucky audience members in here today that received an envelope.

If you would pull out your envelope and pull out what you received in it.

Anybody in here?

Anybody in here like that?

We got one in the back, all right.

If you if you'll show that around to everybody and Kelsey put it up on the screen.

All right, so this is around to it.

I finally, two people got around to it.

Lucky people.

Around to it.

One day when all their homes were done, in the corners of their mind, one day they'd get around to it.

And one day when all the bills are paid, we'll get around to it.

One day when all the kids are out of college, we'll get around to it.

I know it's a good project, and this is what they believe.

It's a good project.

We believe in the temple.

We believe in God.

We know, but somewhere along for 15 to 20 years, these people stopped building the temple.

Somewhere they lost that fire.

And for maybe you and me today, I want you to check your heart and think about something.

Was there a time and place that you gave your life to Jesus Christ and you got excited?

And you were ready to go out, and you were ready to learn how to get in ministry or serve or find a way to get involved.

And then over time, busyness just crept in.

And it wasn't that it was a bad thing.

You weren't off at home worshiping your idols, but you were busy.

And it just became easy to miss that Sunday, and then it became easy to miss a few Sundays, and then it became easy not to give that check.

And then it became easy to just, well, my kids are in sport, and this is a really good thing because it's for the kids.

And later on, when life is more empty of distractions, I'll get around to it.

I'm gonna take this time off.

But I still believe this is a good thing.

I do believe in this is a good thing.

It's kind of like anybody ever go door-door fundraiser and somebody comes to the door and you say, uh, make sure you come back and see me.

Didn't you hate that person when you were a kid?

What do you mean come back and say I'm right here right now?

Where I come back, here's the opportunity.

I have these terrible candy bars that you need to have right here, right now.

And we would go with our kids and uh look, I'm telling you, I had I had the ultimate, you know, right here, I had Weston.

Okay.

The best thing to do if you're in door-to-door sales is have cute in your back pocket.

And so I'd pull out Weston and send him.

Look, they could say no to me, they could say no, you know, every now and then to Callie and White, but I send Weston and he he loved to say it.

He would love to give the reward.

We're uh going to camp.

What else do I say?

You know, people pull out money and just show it up.

If I was going to be a vacuum salesman door to door, I'd be taking Weston with me.

For sure.

But a lot of people will say, Come see me.

I'll get paid another day, but I'll send Weston, all of a sudden people would be pulling out change.

Oh, I got something for you, baby.

Like they got it.

But if they're just looking at me, I'll get around to it later.

Over time, listen, church, what happens is Jesus was the center of our life.

And I think over time he becomes just a slice of our life.

One day, I'll get around to it.

CCW, what you're doing right now reveals where you're going.

Reveals your direction.

Your ways reveal your direction.

Look at verses five and six.

Our ways reveal our direction.

That's why he says, Haggai the prophet says, Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.

Consider what you're doing.

Think about your ways.

Verse 6 is so disheartening.

He says, You have sown much and bring in little.

You eat, but do not have enough.

You drink, but you are not filled with drink.

You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm.

And he who earns wages earns wages to put into a bag with holes.

So in your notes today, I have a little section there.

They've forsaken the first place thing, the reason God had them back in this land.

Okay, and you've got to understand the temple was not just a picture of church or church building.

The temple was a place where the manifest presence of God was to be.

God's presence was to be in that place.

And they said, I'm gonna go get timber and I'm gonna go fix my house.

But I'm gonna I'm gonna get around to that.

I believe in that.

I believe in it, but just not right now.

I'm so busy.

And so look at what happens to their production.

The first thing under four marks of failed production is this.

We see faulty investments.

He said, You sowed much, but you reaped a little.

You reap what you sow, the Bible says.

You are going to reap what you sow.

Have you ever spent a lot of time and energy and money in something, and you felt like, man, there was so little reward.

When you look back and think about it now, think about some decade or era of your life, and you sowed a lot of time, a lot of energy into something, and you look back and you're like, I can't believe I was so into that.

I can't believe I spent so much money on that.

Now that you think about it, right?

Like, I'm a Red Sox fan, okay, and I'm not knocking it.

Look, I like the Reds, I like my sports stuff.

But when I look at the things in my office, sometimes I go, what a way, like, what a waste of money that is.

Like, look at that pennant.

It's I like the decoration, and if I'm gonna have decorations, it might as well be my Red Sox stuff, but it's a waste.

It offers me no yield.

I have never had one Red Sox call me up and say, Happy birthday, Pastor Rick.

They never have.

I've invested time and energy in them, but they have never cared about me back.

We sow much and we reap little.

When God talks to us so much about eternal investments and the great rewards of eternal investments, faulty investment, they said, You're sowing a bunch, but bringing a little.

Why?

Because they've forsaken God's temple.

The second thing we see about failed production is futile defenses.

Look at what he says.

You eat and do not have.

He says, You eat and you're not filled, you're eating and you're not filling.

And it says you drink, you drink, you drink, you drink, and you drink, and you drink, and you drink, but we never have enough drink.

I could go one of two ways, but we drink.

We buy lots of clothes and yet we're never warm.

You see, you gotta understand today something.

The harvest is tied to a harvester.

Our harvest is tied to the one who controls everything.

And it seems like, Pastor Rick, I always get a flat tire.

It seems like all the time, Pastor, that uh I'm getting a cracked glass, a water heater's going, the dog has to go to the vet, and my dryer broke.

It seems like all the time something's just popping up.

I worked and I worked and I worked, but and I bought, but my defense is cracked.

I forsook.

The main thing.

He says you'll have futile defenses.

The third thing he says is fleeting riches.

Marks of failed production.

He says, You earn wages, and you earn wages to put into a bag with holes.

Modern day we call that inflation.

Right?

Just drops right out.

I put it in, but it just dropped right out.

Solomon said it this way, church, that I gained wisdom.

And I gained all money.

And I built gardens and I built palaces, and I had women from near and far.

And I had parties that were so grand, and Solomon said that it was vanity.

Vanity of vanities.

All is vanity and vexation of my spirit.

All of this stuff actually has just vexed me.

It just made me angry.

It's just upset me.

It has not filled me.

And so he basically says, There's no satisfaction.

Say that with me, church.

No satisfaction.

No satisfaction.

I submit to you today.

I can submit to you.

Rolling Stones had it wrong.

Because Jesus is the great satisfier.

Jesus Christ shed his blood on Calvary's cross, and he satisfied the wrath of an Almighty God, where my life was separated from God the Father.

I couldn't get to God the Father, but Jesus Christ's blood became the satisfier of my sin.

And so, because of that blood, I can go to Jesus Christ and it satisfied the Jesus Christ-sized hole in my heart, my life.

It gives me purpose.

I'm far from God.

Jesus Christ allows me satisfaction.

In the New Testament, the rich man said this.

He said, Tear down my barns and build me bigger barns to fill up my stuff.

He was so distraught that he didn't have enough space for his stuff.

He says, Tear down my barns and build bigger barns to hold more of my stuff so that I can eat, drink, marry, and repeat.

I can eat, drink, be merry, and repeat.

And we spend our lives climbing a ladder to one day get to the top of that ladder and realize there's another wrong.

See, our riches are tied to a harvester.

You know, God gives a promise.

A lot of people use this as a tithe message, but God gives us a promise that if we'll give to him, that he'll open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing.

This isn't a tithe message, but I can tell you from from living a little while, God's never let us down.

The fourth thing about failed production is this a fruitless economy.

Think about our world today.

How quickly God's hand can direct change.

Fruitless economy.

Verse 10 and 11 says, Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.

For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain, and the new wine and the oil, and whatever the ground brings forth on men and livestock, and all the labor of your hands.

God caused a drought.

God's chastening hand causes a drought.

Because they had mixed priorities.

They were forsaking his temple.

And God, the scripture says he blew.

See what happens.

And like that.

You've seen what our fragile systems, what's happening in our world.

Why?

Have you thought about this?

God brought all this to me in March and He's telling me, why is it like this?

Why is this happening?

Is there just no point?

Is it just happening for us to go through a season where we're messed up and we're agitated?

I don't think it's purposeless.

Second thing we'll see this morning is this.

There's a proclamation and a profession.

Look down at verses 7 through 11.

There's a proclamation and a profession.

Twice we see him say, consider, think on this.

And he says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, this is the second time, consider your ways.

Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the Lord.

You looked for much, but indeed it came to little.

And when you brought it home, I blew it away.

Why, says the Lord of hosts, because my house that's in ruins.

While every one of you runs to his own house, therefore the heavens above you.

And that's where he says he withholds the dew, he withholds the ground, the livestock, and all of this.

And so there's this proclamation.

The proclamation is this church, consider your ways.

He says, consider your ways.

And so today you're here to think about your ways.

Not the world's ways, not the economy's ways, but your ways.

He says, consider your ways.

Verse 5 and 7, he says it two times.

And anytime a prophet of God says something twice, it's important to look at.

By the way, verse 4 and verse 9, he says twice, because my house is in ruins.

He wanted to give a convincing, convicting charge.

Is there a message to you today that every time you hear it, it convicts you?

Is there a convicting message in your life that it's convicting?

Maybe you haven't dealt with it, but it convicts you.

God would that today it leads you to confession.

2 Chronicles 7.14, our theme verse for this series, it gets to the part it says, if my people humble themselves and pray and seek my face.

And then it says, Turn from their wicked ways.

Consider your ways.

Consider what now we have, it could be multiple things in our life, but he says, consider today your ways.

So what?

So that you could be led to confession and change.

We've seen it in the life of David in 2 Samuel.

We don't have time to go to the whole passage, but in 2 Samuel 12, verses 1 through 6, Nathan the prophet reveals to David through a parable.

2 Samuel 12:1–6

He says, there was a rich man, David, who was exceedingly rich and had so much.

He had great flocks.

And there was a traveler that came into town, and then there was a poor man.

The poor man had one little ewe lamb.

It was like his little pet.

Okay.

His little sheep.

He loved that little ewe lamb.

It says that the rich man took the poor man's one little ewe lamb and gave it so that the traveler could have food.

He stole it from the poor man.

And David's anger raged in that scripture.

It says, This man must have justice.

I can't believe that he had no pity.

He should die.

And Nathan says, David, you're that man.

David, you took Bathsheba from Uriah.

You, the king who had much.

Think about Nathan's position that Nathan could have been killed.

He was so bold to look at truth or what it was.

Maybe you got a friend here today, and friends with friends, or a husband and wife.

You need to say, listen, call it what it is.

This has been sin.

This is sin.

And it's keeping you from God's blessing.

And he says, David, it was you.

You are the man.

And it was so convicting to hear those words.

And we know that it was convicting because immediately in verse 12 of that chapter it says that David confessed.

So what do we do when we're convicted?

We confess from our wicked ways.

We have to confess.

God will not bring an awakening if we don't humble ourselves, seek his face in prayer, and then confess our sins.

If we stay wrong with other family members of the body of Christ and turn our nose, God's not going to bless it and give an awakening.

If we keep sinning our life with our family, God's not going to bless it.

You can't be wrong with others and right with God.

If we continue on in the same patterns, we're going to get the same stuff.

We have to confess when we're wrong.

And so David confessed three important words that made David's life end up great.

It says, so David confessed.

He confessed.

I want you to turn for just a moment over to Psalms 51.

This is the resulting psalm that David writes.

He writes a song of his confession.

David was a great repenter.

Why was David called a man after God's own heart, after his sin with Bashe?

Because he was a great repenter.

David got repenting right.

And for a lot of the church today, the problem is we can't be wrong.

David was a great repenter.

And this is what he says.

He says, I've sinned against the Lord.

You know, my son Weston, he's learning and living through some things, and we're working through it.

But he maybe he's going to be a lawyer, Dave.

He wants to justify any argument.

If he's done wrong, he wants to give you a complete three-page explanation of the wrong.

And I'm like, Weston, listen to me.

I don't need to know why you did the wrong.

I just need you to get it right.

I don't need to know why there has been wrong.

Let's just get it right.

And I think that's what God wants from me and from you.

We don't need all this explanation or justification or why it happened that way.

We just need it to be righted.

And so David confesses.

Look at Psalms 51, verses 1 through 6.

Psalms 51:1–6

I'm just going to hit a few highlights.

But it says this.

He says, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness.

Blot out my sin.

Wash me thoroughly.

Hear the angst and the soul in this.

Wash me thoroughly of my sin and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my sin.

My sin is always before me, he says.

And so he acknowledged.

This is correct confession, acknowledging your sin.

So, husbands, when you do wrong to your wife, listen.

I'm sorry, I did wrong.

I'm sorry you felt that way.

Okay, I'm speaking to me, stomping my toes.

We confess the right way.

And when we wrong our kids, we say, I'm sorry that I did that.

I'm sorry for my wrong.

David confesses right.

He gets it right.

He's so convicted, and he gets his confession right.

And so it goes on, not just a cry of confession, but then a cry to change.

Look at verses 7 through 11.

He says in verse 7, Wash me so that I'll be whiter than snow.

I don't want this sin in me no more, Lord.

He says, Wash me.

Hide your face not from my sins and or hide your face from my sins and blot them out in verse 9.

Look at verse 10.

He says, Oh, create in me a clean heart.

Oh God, make me clean again and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Don't cast me away from your presence.

And so the second part of that proper confession is a cry to change.

God, change me.

Not just I was wrong, but don't let me do wrong again.

I don't want to do it again.

Create a clean heart.

Make me new.

Don't let me do this again, God.

And then it goes on.

Oh, there's so many good verses in here.

And he says, look at this.

I like this.

But it says in verse 13, if you'll fix my sin, if you'll fix my wrong, verse 13 says, Then I'll teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted.

He said, God, if you change me, I'll use it as a testimony.

I'll tell others what happened, and I'll tell others about my life and when I messed up.

And he goes on in verse 15 through 19.

It's a celebration of commitment.

He says, God, my mouth shall show forth your praise.

He says, and your praise, your delight is in this broken spirit, broken heart.

I'm broken about my sins.

See, this is the gospel, church.

I want you to understand this.

What David goes through is our gospel.

It's conviction of sin, which leads to repentance.

That's what the gospel is all about.

Jesus calls a lost sinner, and he says, I have come and I've given my son for your sins, but you have to receive it.

You have to be convicted of sins and repent and be changed.

And that's what David does.

For us today, a turn to God, I believe, begins with a commitment to a schedule change.

Enter COVID-19.

God says, mind your busyness.

Would you mind your busyness?

Psalms 46, 10, then our verse through it, be still and know that I'm God.

God said to people, mind your busyness.

I'm so thankful.

One thing that Pastor Danny has engraved in my mind in my five years here is you make time for what you want.

You do what you want, you schedule what you want, and you commit to what you want.

There's not a grown person here who does not do what they plan.

You schedule what you want to schedule and do what you want to do.

The most important things that are in your life happen.

That's what I know about people.

See, but these people, they said, we'll get around to it.

We believe in that.

We believe in that church.

We believe in Jesus.

And one day you see, Jesus wants us to make a commitment to make first things first.

Matthew 6.33, church, what's it say?

Seek ye what?

First the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And all these things will be added to you.

It doesn't say, add all these things to you, then seek first.

Build up your sealed houses, and then rebuild my temple.

He doesn't say, get your life in order, get your 401 together, get your He doesn't say all of that has to be happening.

He says, Seek ye first.

Seek ye first.

It's like a little while back, uh Callie and Wyatt and Weston all play soccer, but um, but pretty fast.

And so Callie decided this season to try out for the track team.

And I didn't know how to go.

I've never been involved in track.

Heather did a little bit, and so I'm like, first thing.

And and of course, but what what I'm telling her, the one thing I know to tell her is this be first.

Whatever you do, this is my tip, okay?

I want you to hear this, baby.

And I'm all I go into coach mode before whatever we're doing.

You know, we're we're we're committing money for things, and so you know how it is, parents.

You know, five dollars if you score a goal.

Uh if you win this race, look, you know, I don't know, we'll take you on vacation this summer.

You know, we're committing things.

I'll buy you a shirt, I'll take you to five below.

Woohoo! So uh we're committing things, and I'm like, being first, baby, just being first.

And so I got a little clip here I want you to see.

I think the second person on this track.

I guess who wasn't first?

That's my baby.

Y'all with me?

My baby.

So we went to a couple, we got to go to a couple of tracks meeting.

It got it ended up getting canceled about halfway through, which was really sad because she was doing so good.

But the the second meet we went to, there was a hundred and something runners in the 100.

This is her first time ever doing this, seventh grade and eighth grade.

So we're talking, you know, I'm sorry.

God forgive me, but I don't make big kids.

And so there were some much bigger and all this.

And she got up in that second one, and out of a hundred and something, she was number 11 out of that many.

But every heat she raced in, she won.

And it was like, yes, first, you know what?

Nobody gets that, no, nobody's like too excited.

Second place, yes, fifth place, yes.

But when they win that heat, when we're first, and I want you to understand what God wants from us.

He wants first place.

He wants first place.

Revelations 2, 1 through 4 talks about this.

When he came and talked to the church, he said, I have this one thing against you.

You've been faithful and you've been patient and you've been serving in the community, but I got this one thing, this one problem with my church is this.

You've left your first love.

You've stopped loving me.

And what he tells them is this repent and return.

Just repent and return.

Do what you did at first.

Remember me.

You see, you now hear this quote, you can be committed to our church.

You can be committed to the church and not be committed to Christ.

But you cannot be committed to Christ and not be committed to the church.

Say that again.

You can be committed to church and not be committed to Christ.

But you cannot be committed to Christ and not be committed to his body, the church.

Your commitment brings number three.

Presence and a promise.

Presence and a promise.

Look at verse 13.

Says this.

Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke the Lord's message to the people, saying, I am with you, says the Lord.

So the Lord stirred up the spirit, Zerubbabel, the son of Sheel Til, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehosedakh the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people.

And they came and they worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.

And so what we see happen, what we know that happens in between the last section of Scripture to hear is that the people have a confession that leads them to a commitment.

How do we know that they have a confession and a commitment?

Because the presence of the Lord is with them and stirs them.

And if the people of God didn't make any changes, they wouldn't be rebuilding the temple.

And so we know that they have had a confession.

So because of that commitment, and that confession, the presence of God comes in.

When you have a right confession before the Lord, the presence of God comes back.

Have you ever been in a place in a time where you knew the presence of God was there and you felt like, man, I've been dried up, and I haven't felt like I used to feel.

I don't know what's missing, but listen to verse 13.

Lord is with you, so you get stirred.

In Acts 3.20, it says there's times of refreshing that come from the presence of the Lord.

Scripture says that God inhabits the praise of his people, that God inhabits the prayers of his people.

It says, in your presence in Psalm 16, 11, there is fullness of joy in the presence of God.

You see, that temple was much more than just a building.

It was the physical dwelling place of the glory of God.

Don't be satisfied, church, with just having God in the vicinity of your life.

He's either there in the midst or he's outside.

He's right in the middle or he's outside.

It's not okay just to have him in the vicinity.

See, the presence of God causes a stir.

1 Timothy says the presence of God in our brothers causes a stir.

So the church is all about our brothers and sisters getting together and there being a stir.

It says in 2 Timothy 1, 6 through 10, that we get together and stir up the gift of God in us.

We better each other.

It's like ballpark.

We get better.

We stir one another.

That's why we meet together.

That's why we have a body.

And so we stir.

I want you to turn over to Hebrews for a second.

Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

I want you to look at something about this stirring.

It's important that you see this scripture.

And so the presence of God causes a stir.

But Hebrews 10, look at verse 22.

It says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised his faithful.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.

So we see a few things in these this passage.

One is clean hearts.

When we gather together, it's so that we can have clean hearts.

He says, Let us draw near with a true heart, that our hearts be sprinkled from an evil conscience, so that we will get convicted.

God wants us to meet together in his house so that we will get convicted of sin, so that we can be clean of our sin.

Then he says, not only that, but we're here together for one another.

So many times, church.

And it's not about that.

The church is about us.

We come together to stir one another up.

We come together because you and I are needed.

We are needed to stir.

And so he says, we have clean hearts to stir one another.

We hold fast so that we hold fast to the word of God.

And so the presence of God causes a stir.

Letter B is this the presence of God shakes the world.

I want you to turn over to Haggai chapter 2.

Haggai 2 · chapter mention

We'll move quickly to get through.

But in Haggai chapter 2, it's just a continuation in this letter, but in verses 6 through 8, it says this.

Haggai 2 · chapter mention

And I will fill this temple with the glory, says the Lord.

The silver is mine, the gold is mine, says the Lord.

The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than that of the former.

And so he says, I'm coming to shake up things.

I'm coming to shake up our world.

And so enter today, and our world has been shaken.

Why?

Why has this happened?

Have we questioned why things are the way they are?

I Heather's been pregnant three times.

All three times were significant.

None easy.

Right, baby?

None was easy.

Heather went into labor each time, and the baby was serving notice.

I want out.

That creates a shaky situation.

The baby is creating discomfort.

The baby is creating inconvenience, pain, anguish.

Listen, it's hard during pregnancy for a lady to walk.

It's hard for her to lay.

It's hard to sit, achy feet, achy back, all of it.

Why?

Something new is about to be birthed.

New will be breaking forth, something that never existed before.

That which was growing and developing is now on its way.

And when God is ready to deliver something, church, He creates labor pains.

Say that again.

When God is ready to deliver something, He creates labor pains.

God allows a shakeup.

Now, the shakeup in Scripture could be God setting the stage.

I submit to you that.

That God could be, in fact, setting the stage for his return.

I believe that's possible.

Scripture says three things have to happen in order for God's return.

Israel has to become its own nation.

That happened in 48.

That the European countries are going to be coming together and having economic unity, the Euro dollar and some things.

They're having that way, and the rise of Babylon.

Babylon is Iraq.

Iraq is going to be front and center in the news.

Could that be why God's shaking things up?

I suspect it's possible.

The Bible says I don't know the time or the place, but the things that are happening around it we'll see.

Or God is setting the stage for an awakening.

Something new.

He's shaking things up so that he can do something new.

You say, Well, but that's just that's just Old Testament, Pastor Rick.

That's not your reading from the Old Testament and turning it into today.

Well, I want you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

It's not the only time it says that God brings a shake up.

Hebrews 12, 25 through 28, it says, See that you don't refuse him, or other words, listen to the one speaking, for if they did not escape, who refused him, who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven.

And he says, Whose voice then, listen, God's voice then shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.

Now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of the things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God.

And so he says this that in the New Testament, God is still shaking the visible order of things.

God is shaking the visible things to reveal the invisible.

God is shaking what you can see in order that you will be able to see what you can't see.

And all we see, Pastor Rick, is just a bad financial market.

There's just chaos everywhere.

There's just corona.

That's all I can see.

But the spiritual connection, back in verse 9, chapter 1, he said, God just blew it.

And God caused a shake, and God just went, He caused a shakeup.

The shakeup is for you to see something new.

What he wants you to see is his unshakable kingdom.

You are secure, and everything in the world is insecure.

Why?

Because the righteous are never forsaken.

The righteous never beg for bread.

Scripture says, He says, I can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

It's shaky, but God has you.

God wants you to see He is God, even when all hell is breaking loose.

He'll send an interruption for our protection.

He'll send an interruption down because what God says is, I won't allow you to continue building on a foundation of sinking sand.

And so he throws in a storm because he would rather you have to rebuild than to live on sinking sand.

He would rather you have to change.

God shakes the world up for confession.

For repentance, for new life, for return.

And so God says to us, mind your busyness.

I want you all to bow with me.

I've got one more illustration to share.

In that conference, six men had begun praying for months before the conference was to take place.

This happened in Korea.

And as the meetings began, there was a leader, his name was Mr.

Lee, and Mr.

Lee asked if there would be somebody that would volunteer to pray to start off the meeting.

And as he asked for a volunteer, so many hands went up, and Mr.

Lee said, Okay, why don't everybody just go ahead and pray?

And so they began to pray out loud, and what they thought would amount to a confusing sound came together in a symphony of harmony.

And it wasn't moments later that in this prayer that you could hear men shouting confessions.

Men to begin to confess loudly their sins.

Men began to lie prostrate on the floor confessing their sins.

Men began to open their hands before heaven.

In the opening prayer of this Bible conference, men began to confess, and so it would go on and on throughout that evening.

Monday night of the conference started, and Pastor Kim, one of the spiritual leaders that was helping organize, he walked to the podium and he gripped and grasped the podium and he turned around and said, I have to confess before this congregation.

I have hatred in my heart for Mr.

Kang.

He says, I want to confess before you.

I know this is wrong.

I've been jealous.

I have hatred in my heart, and I want it right.

Mr.

Kang sat back on his place as one of the moderators and sat in his seat, unwilling to reconcile in that moment.

He sat for a little while.

Preacher came up and began to speak.

About halfway through his message, Mr.

Kang stood to his feet, moved by the Holy Spirit.

He came up to the podium.

He said, I have to make a confession.

He said, I have to confess that I have hatred in my heart for Mr.

Kim.

He said, not only Mr.

Kim, but I've been jealous and I have hatred for Mr.

Mosca as well.

And he turned with tears streaming down his face.

And he looked over at Mr.

Moss and he said, Could you ever forgive me?

Could you come and pray for me, brother?

And like a mighty avalanche, the Holy Spirit fell on this congregation.

The message did not go forth.

But the ministry of the Holy Spirit continued to that night, man after man getting things right with his brothers.

The spirit turning at the hearts of people to confess their sins and their wicked ways caused the revival to go out.

Jonathan Godforth would share about this revival and he said this.

He said, of the campaigns in six provinces all throughout China, he said this, I never once, never once asked one person to confess publicly.

He said, Never one time did I do that.

He said, I concluded every service with this statement.

You people have an opportunity to pray.

And he said this, and in the presence of God, many men would be seen confessing.

Public confession was marked throughout these, and he said, Many men turned from their wicked ways.

Fifty thousand men were added to the church membership the year of this Bible conference.

The churches were filled everywhere.

Men were making God's house their priority.

And it happened because they started with a confession.

To turn from their wicked ways, to mind their busyness.

Get their hearts in line with the Holy Spirit.

Listen, church, maybe none of this hit you, but all I can say is this this life is here and it's gone.

It's a vapor, the Bible says.

What are you doing with your time?

What are you holding on to that's worth holding on to?

And don't you want to be in the presence of God?

Fast.

Turn from it.

Change today.

This day.

Heads bowed, nine's quote.

The gospel is this, church.

Jesus died on a cross for your sins.

And he wants you to confess your sins before him.

Acknowledge who you are so that he can change you.

Maybe you're here this morning.

Say, Pastor Rick, if I'm real honest, I never accepted Jesus as my Savior.

He is not Lord of my life.

I'm not living my life.

And the reason I'm so busy is because I don't have a Lord that's first in my life.

You can pray a prayer like this, church, saying, Dear Lord, I know, I confess that I'm a sinner.

God, I'm sorry for my sins.

I believe that Jesus died, that he was buried, that he rose again.

I want to live my life for you.

Heads bowed and eyes closed.

Be any this morning that would uplift your hand in testimony saying, Pastor Rick, I just prayed that prayer.

I confessed before God, and I want to live my life for Him.

I want to give Him my life today.

I've prayed that prayer.

Would you just raise your hand up right now if that was you?

Body at all.