Sunday October 18 - Haggai (Part 2)

I'm continuing a sermon series that I interrupted last week because of the storm.

And this is called Built for Blessing.

And this is part two, prepare for glory.

So I want you to go ahead and turn in your Bible to the book of Haggai, chapter 1, verse 12.

Haggai 1:12

It's near the end of the Old Testament.

If you're new to tree Bibles, okay, you can go to the table of contents in the beginning and you're looking for H-A-G-G-A-I.

In the South, we always call it Haggai.

If you're really into it, you call it Haggai.

But the brother is Jewish and his name is Haggai, okay?

And so we're gonna go with that this morning.

I am going to preach as hard as I can through whatever this sinus infection is that has settled into my uh the region above my shoulders.

What is that called?

My head?

I missed a little bit of sleep last night, so I take no responsibility for any words that come out of my mouth.

And you will forgive me for whatever I may or may not say this morning, okay?

Fair enough.

Amen.

Sure, bud.

Thank you.

So two weeks ago, we studied most of chapter one from Haggai, and we learned, this is important, we learned that God's people had returned from exile.

They had been carried away into a foreign land, and now they had come back, and the temple had been destroyed.

But the people did not immediately rebuild the temple because, as you heard a couple of weeks ago, they were discouraged and they were distracted.

Have you ever had a dream or a calling or a hope in your heart that when discouragement and distraction set in, that it disrupted you from following what you felt like God had asked you to do?

Anybody ever had one of those things come into your life that stopped you, that delayed you, that discouraged you?

I know I have.

And we saw Haggai the prophet calling them to consider their ways because by neglecting rebuilding God's house, it actually impacted the state of their own homes and lives.

And as we'll see today, when we honor God's house, we are preparing for the glory of the Lord to come, not just for God's house, but for our house.

Now put your hand on your heart with me and breathe real deep.

And let's pray.

Father, speak to my heart and change my life in your precious name.

Amen.

Let's listen to the word of the Lord.

Haggai chapter 1, verse 12.

Haggai 1:12

Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehosadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him.

And the people feared the Lord.

Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message.

I'm with you, declares the Lord.

How many of you this morning needed to hear those words right there?

That God is with you, not against you.

And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehosadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people.

And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, the sixth month, the second year of Darius the king.

In the seventh month, on the twenty first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet.

Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua, the son of Jehosadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, Who's left among you who saw this house in its former glory?

How do you see it now?

Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord.

Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehosadak, the high priest.

Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord.

Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.

My spirit remains in your midst, fear not.

For thus says the Lord of hosts.

Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.

The silver is mine, the gold's mine, declares the Lord of hosts.

The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts.

And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.

The message of the prophet is heard by three people or three groups of people.

Zarabbabel, you might notice the word Babel in the end of it, the Persian appointed governor, Joshua, the Jewish high priest, and the remnant, most likely those who came back from exile with Hagiah the prophet.

And their response to this message was twofold.

Number one, they obeyed the voice of the Lord through Hagiah the prophet.

How many of you know if you will listen for what God has to say and do it, that God will bless you?

Verse 2 literally reads, And he heard.

Hearing doesn't mean the sound waves rattle around in your ears.

In Scripture, there is no difference between hearing and obeying.

It's the same thing.

You do not hear God if you don't obey God.

How many of you are parents and ever say to your kids, Do you hear me?

And what you're not worried about is that they have hearing loss.

What you're worried about is that your hand is gonna have to be applied to their rear end if they don't hear you.

Now I'm not endorsing spanking.

I'll tell you my mother did though.

To be the people of God means that when God speaks, we obey.

She always says, I'm lying about that, but I remember.

And number two, they fear the Lord.

So they obey the voice of the Lord and they fear the Lord.

Now, fear is one of those words that something gets lost in translation.

It doesn't mean they were afraid of God.

It meant that they had holy awe and reverence for the Lord.

And when the people obeyed and stood in awe of the Lord, the Lord met them with this reassurance.

I am with you.

My friends, do you want a life that is marked by God's presence?

Do you want a life where you walk in the blessing and the power of the Holy Spirit?

Do you want a life where you're scraping to get by?

Do you want a life where you're struggling all the time?

Do you want a life where you always feel out of source?

Or do you want the kind of life that God has designed for each of us, which is accessible to all of us, not because we're so great, but because he's so great.

And what we see in this passage right here is there are two attitudes and actions that attract the favor and the blessing and the presence of the Lord.

If you will hear God's voice and do what he says with an attitude of awe and reverence, the Lord says, I'm with you.

Obedience to the word of the Lord is costly.

It will cost you your reputation, it will cost you your resources, it will cost you your convenience.

But how many of you remember the words of our Lord who said, Nobody's left father, mother, sister, brother, or lands, that I have not given them more in this life and will give them more in the life to come?

You see, you cannot outgive God.

It doesn't make any sense that people give money that they could use on a boat payment into the house and the work of the ministry of the Lord.

But you're not just giving it to the house of the Lord, you're giving it as in worship unto our Lord.

And the Lord sees that.

Do you not know that everything that comes into your life comes from the good and generous and gracious hand of your Father?

Don't think that you earned it because, brother, your strength can go away in a New York minute.

Everything you have, everything you've received, all the goodness of the Lord in your life is not because you're great, it's because God is great even when we're not great.

So we want to honor the Lord.

We want to obey the Lord.

We want to say, Lord Jesus, have everything because I can't out give you.

You can have everything I've got, God.

It's all yours.

I'm just a steward.

I don't own a thing.

Everything is yours.

And what was the result?

What was the result of their obedience?

What was the result of them saying, God, we honor you.

We are in awe of you.

The result was that the Lord stirred up their spirits and they got to work.

You see, our vision here is to see just one more person encounter God, experience belonging so that they can make a difference.

We want all three things for every person that comes to this house.

We want you to encounter God.

We want you to experience belonging.

That's why every person needs to be in a small group.

And we want you to make a difference.

A lot of people come to the house of the Lord and they just want to be stirred up by the Spirit of God.

They just want a little pick-me-up.

They come in and they want to feel better than whenever they leave than when they came in.

And you know what?

I get that too.

Sometimes you just gotta be in the house of the Lord and get stirred up.

But the stirring that God wants to do in your life is so He can pour you out.

He wants to stir you up so he can pour you out.

This isn't about an experience for me.

This is saying God use me to bless the world.

Now, in chapter 2, verse 1, listen to this.

In the seventh month of the 21st day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet.

I love that Haggai doesn't think it's his word, he's just carrying the word to the people.

How many of you know when God speaks to you to share something with a friend, a family member, a boss, a colleague, that it's not your word, it's God's word through you to them.

And so if God says, tell that person that you're praying for them, you know what you ought to do?

You ought to say, hey dude, I'm praying for you.

If God says, buy that person lunch, you know what you ought to do?

You ought to buy that person lunch.

Because it's not about you, it's about what God wants to do through you to them.

So the word of the Lord comes through or by the hand of the prophet Haggai.

He says, Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Sheeltiel, governor of Judah, Joshua, the high priest, all the remnant of the people that came back with you, brother.

Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory?

How do you see it now?

Is it not?

Is nothing in your eyes yet?

Be strong, be strong, be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord.

Work for I'm with you, declares the Lord of hosts.

According to the covenant, listen to this, that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.

My spirit remains in your midst.

Fear not.

This is gonna blow your mind.

This is thousands of years ago.

The exact date that this prophecy was given thousands of years ago, according to the Jewish calendar, was October the 17th.

We're sitting on October the 18th.

And I don't think that's by accident.

That's as close as we can get to a moment in time when the Lord had a word for his people.

And the reason I think this is not just for them, but for us is because I recognize that the glory of the Lord wants to come upon us just like he came upon those people.

So if we'll hear this, not as for them, but for us, for this house, I believe this positions us for the blessing of God in our lives.

I love the month of October.

I love the weather.

I especially love the redfish bite in the month of October.

If you can't catch a redfish in the month of October, brother, go back to brim fishing.

Thomas Merton, one of my favorite writers in the Seven Story Mountain, captures how I've long felt about October.

He writes, October is a fine and dangerous season in America.

It is cool and dry, and the land is wild with red and gold and crimson, and all the lassituds of August have seeped out of your blood, and you are full of ambition.

It is a wonderful time to begin anything at all.

October is a month of new beginnings.

One year ago in October, our beloved pastor, my mentor and leader, Pastor Phil, resigned after 40 years of ministry, and it was a brand new season.

October for me has always been a month of new beginnings.

And October for God's people was and is a season to celebrate a new beginning of their own.

Every October, the Jews to this day, they keep the feast of booths or the feast of tabernacles.

Now, what is that?

When God brought them out of Egypt, they didn't have houses on foundations, they had to make little huts to live in and to follow the cloud by day and the fire by night of God's presence from bondage to the promised land.

And they remember it every year with a seven-day feast.

You know, as Christians, we have Christmas and Easter.

They have festivals as well, and this was one of them.

It's a reminder: do not forget the one who brought you out of bondage.

October 17th was the date of this particular event, and it was celebrating the seventh day of that feast.

When they were remembering that God brought them out of Egypt.

So catch this.

When Haggai speaks the word of the Lord to them in chapter 2, verse 5 about honoring the Lord and the covenant that he made with them, when he brought them out of Egypt, it's meant to remind them you've got a hot mess on your hands here, guys.

This house is an absolute ruin.

But do not forget, I'm the same one.

I'm the same one.

I'm the same one when you cried out to me in Egyptian slavery.

I'm the same one.

I'm the same one.

Whenever you were getting your backs whipped, I'm the same one.

I'm the same one that raised up a stuttering prophet in Moses.

I'm the same one.

I'm the same one that whenever they wouldn't release you.

I said all of the plagues and I just beat them down and down and down until eventually they released you.

I'm the same one.

I'm the same one that when you came to the Red Sea and you didn't know how you were going to cross it.

Then Moses took his staff and I parted the waters of the Red Sea.

I'm the same one.

I'm the same one when you walk through the parted Red Sea.

Then when they followed you in, I caused those water walls to fall and to crush your enemy.

I'm the same one.

I haven't changed, declares the Lord.

And what I want to say to you this morning, He's the same one who delivered you before, and He's the one who will deliver you now.

Our God does not change.

Remember that the God who got you here is the God who will get you there.

So, on October the 17th, and I think right here, on October the 18th, the Lord asked them a question.

Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory?

How do you see it now?

Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

More than six decades has passed since the temple was destroyed, and some of the people who returned as the remnant remembered the former glory of the house of the Lord.

Now it was rubble.

Now it was destroyed.

But back then they remembered it like a good old gospel Gaither gathering.

They couldn't get enough of the memory.

And the Lord says, Who remembers how it was?

Who remembers the glory days?

How do you see it now?

Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

As I see it, you can read this in at least two ways.

Listen to this.

Those who remembered the glory days were discouraged.

Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

They were discouraged.

They have memories when things were just like they wished them.

How many of us have said, I miss the good old days?

God, I love the good old Sunday today.

Sure, I miss when the kids were little, but I love them as they are now.

The Lord encouraged them to be strong and work.

My spirit remains in your midst.

Some of you are discouraged because things aren't how they once were.

Your marriage, your children, your job.

The things that used to come easily, now you have to work for them.

Early in the marriage, everybody is in love.

They fall right into love.

But when the dishes pile up and the bills pile up and the laundry piles up.

You gotta do the things you did in the beginning to bring back the feelings of the beginning.

You don't need another spouse.

You need to love the spouse you got better.

You don't need another house.

You need to learn to take care of the house you got.

You don't need better kids.

You need to learn to be a better mom and dad to the kids you've got.

And even if they don't change, at least you'll be better.

You don't need a better church, you need to learn the church, love the church that you got right now.

You don't need another day or a better day to get involved.

You need to get involved right now.

Don't make an idol out of your memory.

Because I'll tell you, you were griping about your life back then, too.

Don't let the memory of what once was drowned out the potential of what can be.

It'll look different, but the spirit is the same.

Or, number two, perhaps those who remember the glory days were dissatisfied.

The rebuilding had been going on for a few weeks.

They didn't improve of some of the changes and all the change orders.

They didn't like it.

They compared everything against the glory days.

Here's what I want to say to you.

Either way you read it, the command is the same.

Whether you are discouraged or dissatisfied, get to work.

Get after it.

Quit leaning back and relaxing.

You're not retired from the kingdom of God.

There's no retirement from the kingdom of God.

Your pension's in heaven, brother, and you ain't there yet.

Get on with it right now.

God has an assignment for you right now.

Don't believe nostalgia's lie that your best days are behind you.

The days of the righteous grow brighter and brighter.

If you're getting just bitter and grumpy, repent.

God's good.

Now quit being cranky.

We're all tired of suffering with you.

I say that to both of the people who needed to hear it.

And both of those are me.

You must build for the coming glory, not relish in the former days.

I remember the former glory days of this house.

I've been around a long time.

I've been the pastor of this church for 15 minutes.

Actually, almost a year.

But I I've been here eight and a half years and I was gone for 10 years, but before that, I was here for seven years.

I remember the glory days.

I remember the Easter production.

I remember Sister Kim just burning up that keyboard.

I remember that choir.

Oh my God, the choir.

I remember it.

I remember all the outreaches.

I remember the Michael French Revival.

I remember Boyce Tees.

I remember Jay West.

I remember Ed Deming.

Of course, I remember Pastor George and Charlotte Skipper.

I remember, I remember, I remember.

But you know what I remember more than anything?

I remember a people of God on fire, seeking the glory of God, who weren't stuck in the trappings.

They just wanted to honor Jesus.

And that's why I'm so excited about this church.

That's why I'm so excited about the changes.

I mean, look, if you liked boring, drab gray on the outside of the building, fine.

I don't like being depressed when I look at the house of the Lord.

We did the best we could with what we got.

If you like not having a sign, fine.

I like to know where I'm at.

Sometimes I forget, I'm getting older.

But I'll tell you something.

The glory of the Lord that's gonna hit this house is the same glory of the Lord that has always been in this house, only it's going to get brighter and brighter and stronger and stronger.

Because the same God that was with me, that was with you, that was with us back then is going to be the same God.

And one day, who knows how long from now, we'll hand it off to the next generation.

And we want to hand them something that's burning with a passion for Jesus.

Amen.

I'm so grateful to be in a church where when I call for a work day, 75% of the people who show up are over the age of 75.

Some of you youngins need to show up and stretch a little bit and try and keep up with the old timers.

And now we've come to the most powerful words in the passage.

I love these words.

Yet now.

In verse 4, yet now.

It's like the Lord's been talking about some things.

And he's getting some stuff off of his heart.

And now he says to Haggai, yet now.

Listen to what he says.

Yet now it's a new day.

Yet now quit dwelling in the best of the past.

Yet now I'm doing a new thing.

Yet now be strong, says the Lord.

Work for I am with you, declares the Lord.

Yet now I'm the one who brought you out of Egypt.

Yet now my spirit remains in your midst.

Yet now, if any person is in Christ, you are a new creation.

The old is gone.

Behold, the new has come.

And then the final, yet now, yet now, and he's sticking the landing.

Yet now, fear not.

Why fear not?

Because he says, I'm about to shake things up.

It's about to get a little bit shaky up in this place.

Verse 6, yet once more, in a little while I'll shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.

I'll shake all the nations.

And when the shaking starts, everything not grounded and founded in the Lord would wobble.

How many of you know when God's spirit begins to move, there is a shaking in the awakening?

Say amen.

How many of you know that when the wind starts to blow, there's gonna be some things that were established for a long time, and those things are gonna be uprooted, but those things need to go too to make room for the new growth, say amen.

Some relationships that you held fast have to be released.

The job that brought you here may not be the job that'll get you there.

The addiction that you've clung to needs to go away.

The house of worry you've lived in for so long needs to be torn down and let the Lord build a house on the rock that will stand.

Amen.

When God starts to move, things start to shake, but our Lord says, look me in the eye, fear not.

And if Jesus isn't afraid, I'm not afraid because he's going to shake away the old to make room for the new.

You might be going through some shaking and some quaking, and it might be getting a little bit scary.

The wind outside is starting to rattle your house, and unidentified flying objects are pattering against your roof.

I'll tell you, friend, the greatest thing you can do is hunker down and say, Jesus, if you're with me in the storm, I'm not worried.

And the promise, I love the end of it.

I'm not a health and wealth preacher.

Neither am I.

You got to be a poor preacher in order to please Jesus.

I say that the richest people in the world is whatever they have is enough because their God is enough.

And they live open-handed because the days of the righteous are going to go brighter and brighter, and the world of the generous is going to grow larger and larger.

I love what the promise is.

He says the wealth of the nations was going to flow into the house of the Lord.

And not just into the house of the Lord, but the people would experience the shalom of God.

It's one of the best words in the whole Bible.

The shalom of God, the peace of God that touches their bodies and their homes and their minds and their bank accounts and their favor and their jobs.

When the shalom of God descends on your life, it makes everything whole.

The blessing of the house of the Lord will overflow into the blessing of the homes of the people.

So, my friends, if you're not blessing the house of the Lord, if you're not with your words and with your energies, with your resources, if you're not saying, God, I want to build the kingdom of God in this city, I just want to build my own thing.

God will bless the energies that are put toward building his house.

And if you'll do that, he says, I'll take care of your house.