What Are You Waiting For?

[0:00] It's today, Haggai. We've been preaching through a series of the one-liners from some of the prophets, and we'll get to this line that's kind of a quick punch, a one-liner, but it'll take us a little while to get to it.

[0:22] So find Haggai in chapter number 1, verse number 2 is what we'll read to start. Are we there?

[0:41] Still give you, I'll stall a little bit. Last week the message was, Great is thy faithfulness from the lamentations of Jeremiah. The week before that was about a deceived heart.

[0:51] And Jeremiah says in chapter 17, verse 9, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The week before that was something from Amos, chapter 4, Prepare to meet thy God.

[1:05] This morning, look at verse number 2 of Haggai. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time has not come.

[1:16] The time that the Lord's house should be built. This people say, Not now. Some other time, But not today.

[1:28] Not now. It's not time for the Lord's house to be built. Now's not the time. And God then has a question. Notice verse 4. He says, Is it time for you, O ye, To dwell in your sealed houses, And this house lie waste?

[1:43] Is that what time it is? It's time for you, He says in verse 4. But people say, Not now.

[1:55] Some other time, The work of the Lord. But now is me. Now is us. Now is our house. And God's not happy with their response, With their actions.

[2:08] He wonders, Why is it time for you? Why are you concerned and worried about you, And your comfort, When my house, And the work that I called you to, Lies waste? The very reason that God brought them, Back into this land, Was to rebuild, Number one, To rebuild the temple.

[2:26] And there they are, Dwelling in the land, And they never finish the work, That God commissioned them, That King Cyrus commissioned them, To fulfill. People look at it, And they sit there and say, It's not time.

[2:40] It's not time. Time has not come. I wonder what time, When is it? Something is very wrong with these people, And I want to ask the question, If I could, From the mind of God, Say, What are you waiting for?

[2:54] What are you waiting for? When is it going to be time, To get busy, In the work of God? Or something is wrong, With God's people, When they turn their back, On the work that God gave them to do, And then go about, Getting busy with their own lives, And their own things, Squandering, What precious, Precious opportunity, They have, Neglecting a duty, Wasting years on themselves, And not on the Lord.

[3:27] I wonder if it's possible, That there's some of God's children, Here this morning, That are guilty of the same thing, And think the same way, A deluded belief, Saying in their hearts, It's not time.

[3:40] It's not time. It's time for me. And I want to say to you this morning, Oh, it's time. There's never been a better time, Than to be serving God, And to be putting your efforts, Into his work.

[3:53] Some teenager, Will sit here and say, Well, I'm just a teen. You know, What can I do? I'm just a teen. Serving God, If I'm going to surrender to God, It's in the future, When I'm grown, I'll serve him.

[4:05] And then someone, Someone in the strength of their youth, College and career age, Will look and say, Well, I've got so many decisions, To make right now, And serving God, I'll do that when I get established.

[4:18] And then somebody, In the prime of their life, Says I'm busy raising a family, And I'm trying to establish a career, And I've got so much to do. And, And, You know, When things settle down, I'll be able to put some more time, Into church, Or into the work of the Lord.

[4:33] And then somebody gets older in life, And says, I'm too old. What can I do? And the whole time, You're saying, It's not time. The time has not come for me.

[4:45] But no, The time has come. The time is short. Your time is short. And this life is but a vapor. And I want you to consider, Where you stand today, And ask you the question, That God might be asking, Exactly to his people, What are you waiting for?

[5:02] Now this people say, In verse 2, This people say, The time has not come. Who are these people, That make this comment? I don't want to, Well, I'm on the fence here, It could take some time, We'll just do a brief glimpse, Into this.

[5:20] Come back to the book of Ezra. We're going to be back here, Keep your place if you're able, And come back to Ezra, Chapter 1. That's all the way before the Psalms, And before Job, And Nehemiah.

[5:34] And you'll find Ezra, Chapter 1. And let me show you, By way of the first point, Breaking this down, Is the setting, That we find ourselves in, That Haggai is preaching, To a people.

[5:46] This people, And this people is, Is a special group, That are in a particular, A peculiar position. This is not a common thing, And it's something we can study, The history of briefly, Here in Ezra.

[5:59] And so notice, That God's people, Have been in captivity, For 70 years, According to the prophecy, Of Jeremiah. And now, And what he said was, The land is enjoying her Sabbaths, And so God kicked them out, Because they, For a portion of time, Refused to obey, And acknowledge his word.

[6:21] And so he, He was faithful to his word, Booted them out of the land, And now they're being released, To come back into their land, For a reason. And so little by little, They're coming back, But to begin, In chapter 1 of Ezra, Verse 1, Now in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, That the word of the Lord, By the mouth of Jeremiah, Might be fulfilled, The Lord stirred up the spirit, Of Cyrus, King of Persia, That he made a proclamation, Throughout all his kingdom, And put it also in writing, Saying, Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia, The Lord God of heaven, Hath given me, All the kingdoms of the earth, And he hath charged me, To build him in house, At Jerusalem, Which is in Judah.

[6:57] Who is there among you, Of all his people? His God be with him, And let him go up to Jerusalem, Which is in Judah, And build the house, Of the Lord God of Israel, He is the God, Which is in Jerusalem.

[7:08] And whosoever remaineth in any place, Where he sojourneth, Let the men of his place, Help him with silver, And with gold, And with goods, And with beasts, Besides the free will offering, Of the house of God, That is in Jerusalem.

[7:21] So God moves Cyrus, There's no question, That the intentions, And the calling of God, Is to go back to the land, To Jerusalem, And rebuild that temple.

[7:32] First things first, It's Nehemiah, Where he comes back, And builds the wall, Around the city. But before that wall, Is the temple, Priority, The house of God. And you can study this throughout, In chapters 1, 2, That who goes, Is about, Almost 50,000 Jews, And some servants, That make the pilgrimage back.

[7:55] They end up worshipping God, In chapter 3, And they set forward, The work, In verses 8, And 9. At the end of verse 8, It describes them, Setting forward, The work of the house, Of the Lord.

[8:10] So they get there, They offer sacrifices, They hold a feast, And it's a hostile situation, Because not everybody, Wants them there, But they need to get to work, And that's what they do.

[8:22] And in verses number, Look at chapter 3, Verse 10, When the builders, Laid the foundation, Of the temple of the Lord, They sent the priests, And their apparel, With trumpets, And Levites, The sons of Asaph, With cymbals, To praise the Lord, After the ordinances, Of David king of Israel, And they sang together, By chorus, And praising, And giving thanks, Unto the Lord, Because he is good, For his mercy, Endureth forever, Toward Israel.

[8:44] And all the people, Shouted with a great shout, When they praised the Lord, Because the foundation, Of the house of the Lord, Was laid, But in the very next chapter, Adversity arises, From verse 4, For the people of the land, Weakened the hands, Of the people in Judah, And troubled them, In building.

[9:07] And now there's some letters, Sent back to a different land, And some kind of lies, Poked, And some half truths, And then, And then comes back, The command to stop the building, And so in the end of chapter 4, The work ceased, In verse 24, Then ceased the work, Of the house of God, Which is at Jerusalem.

[9:32] So the work ceases, And then, Look at chapter 5, Look who it is. Then the prophets, Now some years pass here, And it could be, It could be a dozen years, Or better that pass, Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, And Zechariah the son of Ido, Prophesied unto the Jews, That were in Judah, And Jerusalem, In the name of the God of Israel, Even unto them.

[9:56] And so they get up and preach, And so the words preached, And then the work is resumed, In verse 2, And skip all the way to chapter 6, In verse 14, The elders of the Jews, Builded and they prospered, Through the prophesying, Of Haggai the prophet, And Zechariah the son of Ido, And they builded and finished it, According to the commandment, Of the God of Israel.

[10:20] So there's a quick, Real brief snippet, Of what was really, A longer, And quite a dramatic account, Of men and women, And their families, Leaving that land, Nearly 50 grand, And coming into this land, And getting to work, And rejoicing in the work, That God had done, And then dropping it.

[10:43] They dropped the ball, They go on to living their own lives, And God has to raise up, A few preachers, As we're reading, In the prophet Haggai. And so come back, To that book again, To the prophet Haggai, And notice, In this book, The message, The sermon.

[11:00] Because there's a turning point here, A message comes from God, That spurs these people, To get up, And to get back to work. And let's study now, What they preached.

[11:11] First the settings, And there's actually, Two prophets here, That are preaching, And we'll look at both of them, And let's study first, The sermon of Haggai. And notice this, Little line, That is a popular phrase, And it's, It's throughout these two chapters.

[11:30] Haggai chapter 1, And let's read from verses 2 to 7. Thus, Speaketh the Lord of hosts, Saying this people, Say, The house of, The time has not come, The time that the Lord's house, Should be built.

[11:42] Then came the word of the Lord, By Haggai the prophet, Saying, Is it time for you, O ye, To dwell in your sealed houses, And this house lie waste? Now therefore, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways.

[11:55] Ye have sown much, And bring in little. Ye eat, But ye have not enough. Ye drink, But ye're not filled with drink. Ye clothe you, But there's none warm. And he that earneth wages, Earneth wages, To put it into a bag with holes.

[12:06] Thus saith the Lord of hosts, There's the one liner, Consider your ways. Consider your ways. He says that very phrase, Twice here in this chapter, He says, Commands them to consider, A few more times, In chapter 2, Verses 18, And verse 15, Consider your ways.

[12:32] What are they to consider? Let's study this a little bit. He's not talking to the government, He's not talking about, The people of the land, That have weakened their hands, And the powers that be. He's talking to the Jews, That have laid down on the job, And decided, I'm just going to do, What I want to do right now.

[12:47] Consider your ways. Number one, Consider the attitude, That you've acquired. In verse number two, This people say, The time's not come, That the house, That the Lord's house, Should be built.

[12:59] It's not the time, For God's work to go on. Maybe later. Maybe later, Maybe some more convenient day, Maybe down the road, Maybe somebody else will, Pick it up.

[13:13] Consider the attitude, That they've acquired. They've come from that land, Commissioned, And God stirred, That king's heart up. Their job, Was to build God's house.

[13:24] And they end up, Building their own houses instead. Consider how complacent, They've become, About the work of God. They've picked up, A carnal attitude.

[13:38] Deceived about the very reason, They're there. That they exist, In this land. Remember, God had delivered them, From captivity. God's timetable, For his people, Is a turning point.

[13:50] The 70 years is up. He's bringing them, Back into their land, And he gives them, A job to do, And, Do you want to go back, To captivity?

[14:01] Do you not enjoy, This liberty, That God has granted you, And you're going to, Waste it and squander it? And say, It's not time for that. Yes, It is time for that. This people say, The time has not come.

[14:14] Consider the attitude, They've acquired. They have forgotten, A few things. One is that, They could still be, Back in captivity. They've forgotten, What it's been, That glorious, Jailbreak, That rescue, That deliverance, From captivity, And servitude.

[14:36] They've also forgotten, The shout, And the rejoicing, When the foundation, Was laid. I wonder, Christian, This morning, Have you picked up, That carnal attitude, Thinking, It's not time, For that.

[14:53] It's not time, For the work of God. It's time for me. It's time for me. Have you picked up, That carnal attitude? If you have, I guarantee, You've forgotten, A few things. You've forgotten, That you could still, Be in captivity.

[15:06] A servant, Of sin. You could still be bound, But Jesus Christ, Has broken you free, Loosed those cords of sin, And given you liberty, In your soul.

[15:17] Maybe you've forgotten, About that. Maybe you've forgotten, When that foundation, Was laid. Other foundation, Can no man lay, Than that which is laid, Which is Jesus Christ.

[15:28] Maybe you've forgotten, The joy, That came across your soul, When that foundation, Of Jesus Christ, Was laid in your heart, And you've just gotten, Complacent.

[15:39] And you just picked up, This carnal attitude, That says, It's not time. I ask you today, What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for, A disease to show up, In your life? For the doctor to say, Six months is all you got.

[15:53] Is that what you're waiting for? To say, Oh it's time now. It's time to start serving. Lord, I only have six months, I'm going to do everything I can. Is that what you're waiting for? You waiting for something, Drastic to happen in your life, Or in your family?

[16:09] You waiting for God, To do something, To wake you up, To get a hold of your attention? What are you waiting for? Consider, Perhaps you've acquired, That carnal attitude.

[16:22] It's time. It's time, That God's work be done. Consider, Secondly, In verse 4, Consider, In Haggai's sermon, The project, That you've preferred.

[16:37] In verse 4, It says, Is it time for you, O ye, To dwell in your seal houses, And this house lie waste? Instead of focusing, On the project, That God had called them, To fulfill, They made a choice, To work on their own projects, And they placed, You'd say, The priority upon themselves, And on their own comfort, And what we'll say, In type here, Is their house, Versus, The house of God, Or the temple of God.

[17:09] In the scriptures, The Bible says, Know ye not that, Your body is the temple of God? The temple of the Holy Ghost, Which you have of God, You're not your own. Why? Because you're bought with a price? The type here, Is putting, The priority on the old man, And not the temple of God, Where the new man dwells.

[17:29] The Christian, That thinks this life's about them. When Solomon built cities, He built some cities, He fortified some places, He built his own house, He built a house for his wife, And some amazing things, But you know what he did first?

[17:44] He completed the temple of God, He worked on the house of God first. Haggai says, Consider your ways, You're putting yourself, Ahead of God's work.

[17:56] You're putting yourself, Ahead of God. It's time to build upon, His foundation. It's time to focus on, What God has done here. What he's called you to do.

[18:07] In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, The foundation is laid, And you're called to build upon it. Gold, Silver, And precious stones. You're called to be building, And to be working, On the work of God.

[18:22] We, Are his workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus, Unto good works, Which God, Which hath before ordained, That we should walk in them. Keep your place, But notice, 2 Kings chapter 5, A quick verse, I'll have you, Take a peek at.

[18:37] 2 Kings 5, Back when, Back when, This mighty man, Naaman, Was a leper, And he came to Elisha, Looking to be cleansed, Of his leprosy.

[18:53] And he gets cleansed, In the Jordan river, And he, Elisha refuses, His rewards, And he sends them off, And his servant, Gehazi, Decides, Wait a minute, I want some of that.

[19:06] And so he goes, And he lies to Naaman, And takes, Some silver, And some changes of garments, And he comes back, To hide them.

[19:17] But when he gets back, Notice what Elisha says unto him, In verse 26, He said unto him, 2 Kings 5, Verse 26, And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, When the man turned again, From his chariot to meet thee, Is it a time, To receive money, And to receive garments, And olive yards, And vineyards, And sheep, And oxen, And men servant, And maidservants?

[19:43] Is it a time for that? The answer is no. No. Elisha's a prophet of God, The servant was there, To minister to him. It's not time for you, To be receiving, And to be picking up, Carnal things, Possessions, Material things.

[20:01] But this people say, That's what time it is. Is it time for you? Is the question in verse 4. Back in Haggai, He says, Consider your ways, Consider the attitude, That you've acquired.

[20:16] Consider also the project, That you've preferred. And then thirdly, In verse 6, Consider the frustration, That you've faced. Consider it.

[20:28] In verse 6, He says, You've sown much, And bring in little. You eat, But you have not enough. You drink, But you're not filled with drink. You clothe you, There's none warm. You earn wages. But you put it in bags, And you can't keep it.

[20:40] You put it into a bag with holes. Consider the frustration, That you've faced. Working, And working, And working for something, That is not satisfying.

[20:53] And working for something, That you can't hold on to. You can't keep. Now, Consider your ways. Is that who you want to be? Is that where you want to be in life?

[21:05] Is working, And working, And working for things, That you can't hold on to? Is working for things, That cannot satisfy? That's what he says, In verse 6, Build something, That God's not blessing.

[21:20] Consider your ways. In verse 7, He says it again, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. In verse 9, God takes credit, For the reason, Why these things aren't working out.

[21:33] He says, You looked for much, And lo, It came to little. And when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? Saith the Lord of hosts, Because of mine house, That is waste. And you run every man, Into his own house.

[21:45] What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Haggai has a sermon, And it's, Consider your ways. Now turn to, Just a page to Zechariah.

[21:56] He tag teams his partner. Zechariah is going to preach a message as well. And if, If, If Haggai says, Consider your ways, Then Zechariah preaches, Correct your walk.

[22:16] In verse 1, In the eighth month, In the second year of Darius, Came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, The son of Berechiah, The son of Ido, The prophet, Saying, The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers, Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye unto me, Saith the Lord of hosts, And I will turn unto you, Saith the Lord of hosts.

[22:37] Correct your walk. Turn ye unto me. Correct, Number one, The footsteps, Your following. Look at the next few verses.

[22:48] Be ye not as your fathers, Unto whom the former prophets have cried, Saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye now from your evil ways, And from your evil doings. But they did not hear, Nor hearken unto me, Saith the Lord.

[22:59] Your fathers, Where are they? And the prophets, Did they live forever? But my words, And my statutes, Which I commanded, My servants, The prophets, Did they not take hold of your fathers?

[23:10] And they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, According to our ways, According to our doings, So hath he dealt with us. He sure did. Correct the footsteps, That's your following.

[23:20] You're heading down the same road, That your hypocritical fathers were down. Correct your walk. Turn ye unto me.

[23:32] Wake up. And you're going to find out, That you're going to get it too, Just like they did. And what a pitiful commentary, On the children of God, God's people, How quickly they just drop God, And go off and focus on themselves.

[23:49] The apostle Paul said in Philippians 2, 21, For all seek their own, Not the things which are Jesus Christ. But God said, My words, In verse 6, Did they not take hold of your fathers?

[24:05] My words. You can't get around the word of God. Be sure your sin will find you out. If you sow to the flesh, You'll love the flesh, Reap corruption. When God sends his word, You better believe it's coming to pass.

[24:16] And thankfully though, God sends his word, Before he sends his destruction. He sends the reproof, Before he sends the correction. And he's telling them again, Turn ye unto me.

[24:29] Correct your walk. Zacharias says, One, Correct the footsteps you're following. Come to chapter 8, And notice he says, To correct the activity, That you're avoiding.

[24:41] In chapter 8, He tells them to get to work. Notice in verse number 9, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Let your hands be strong.

[24:53] He's telling them, Get to work. Ye that hear in these days, These words by the mouth of the prophets, Which are in the day that the foundation Of the house of the Lord of hosts Was laid, That the temple might be built.

[25:04] In verse 13, He says, And it shall come to pass, That as you were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah and house of Israel, So will I save you, And ye shall be a blessing. Fear not, But let your hands be strong.

[25:17] Get to work, And I'll take care of the rest. Just get to work. Come back to Haggai now. Back to our first preacher. Haggai says, Consider your ways.

[25:34] Zacharias says, Correct your walk. These two men are preaching. These are the sermons. There's the setting we've learned, The sermons, And finally then, The solution to all of this, Is in chapter 1 of Haggai, And we'll read verses 12 through 14.

[25:52] The solution. Then Zerubbabel, The son of Shealtiel, And Joshua, The son of Josedek, The high priest, With all the remnant of the people, Obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, And the words of Haggai the prophet, As the Lord their God had sent him, And the people did fear before the Lord.

[26:11] Then spake Haggai, The Lord's messenger, And the Lord's message unto the people, Saying, I am with you, Saith the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, The son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, And the spirit of Joshua, The son of Josedek, The high priest, And the spirit of all the remnant of the people, And they came, And did work in the house, Of the Lord of hosts, Their God.

[26:34] The solution here is letter A, The response of God's people, They obeyed. In verse 12, They obeyed the voice of the Lord their God.

[26:46] The obedience to the word of God, Church, Is the solution for all the problems, That we bring upon ourselves. And sometimes in this case, God brings a preacher, And he delivers a message, And he just declares the word of God, Thus saith the Lord.

[27:05] And then they're faced with a choice. They're going to respond, Or they're going to resist. And here we see the response of the people, Is to obey. But let me warn you, And let me admonish you, Don't allow your pride, To keep you from responding, To the voice of God, To the word of God, To a message from the Bible, That's preached, And you feel it, And it hits you, And you know it's you, And you know you're guilty, Don't allow your pride, To stand up and say no, Not me, No, It's not time.

[27:38] Be quick to respond, Don't be slow to respond, Come to church planning, Upon responding, If God has something for you. I generally don't do this, It always puts pressure on you, But you've probably heard it happen before, I've been in revival meetings, And evangelists will come in and say, Before we start, I'd like you to, To, Let's bow together, And you say, Who raised their hand and say, If God deals with my heart, I will respond, And it puts the pressure on you right away, Before you even know what's going to come out of the pulpit, You're like, I don't know if I want to raise my hand, And say that I promise God, I'll obey what he says, It's, It's, It's, It's, It's, It's, It's, I want to hear it first, And then I want to decide if I want to, And that's tough, But I, Man, Come to church, Prayed up, Come to church, Planning, On responding, To what God has for you from his word,

[28:39] The solution, For all of this, Is for the right response, It's obeying the voice, Of the Lord, The response of the people, Then in verse 13, We receive God, He replies, With a promise, Saying, At the end of verse 13, I am with you, When they obeyed, God's like, I'm with you, And he makes the same promise to you, That he'll never leave, Nor forsake you, Jesus Christ said, Lo, I'm with you all the way, Even unto the end of the world, He'll be with you, To help you do the right to obey, Obey the word of God, God's always with you for that, I can do all things through Christ, Which strengtheneth me, You know what that means, I can do all things, The right things, The things that I'm afraid to do for God, The things that I'm afraid, I just don't have the ability, If God's calling you to do it, You can do it through Christ, Which strengthens you,

[29:41] The reply from God with a promise, Is I am with you, And then we see, In verse 14, The revival of the project, That the Lord stirred up their spirits, And at the end of the verse, They came, And did work, In the house of the Lord of hosts, Their God, And we read in Ezra, They finished the work, They finished the work, So chapter 1 of Haggai, Ends far differently, Than it began, It took, Two preachers, To stand up, In their face, And to tell them, The truth about themselves, That, You're, You're dead wrong, With the way you're living your lives, Right now, And if you don't correct it, It's going to get worse, But when they responded right, To the preaching, God moved in, God did a work, Inside of them, And as the song says, He stirred the slumbering cords, And they got busy, And they could do the work then,

[30:43] And they could finish, The work, How important it is, To finish the work, Paul says, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, Christian, It's more important that you finish, That you finish, Now let's make some application, To all of this, If you haven't gotten any yet, God has delivered you, From bondage, If you're born again, He's delivered you, From the captivity, Of your sins, From being a child of the devil, To being a child of God, He's brought you in, To be partakers of his heavenly kingdom, He's made us, He's transformed us, Into the kingdom of his dear son, God has delivered you, From that kingdom, To a new one, The foundation, Has been laid, The Lord Jesus Christ, And you're called to build upon, That foundation, There's going to be adversaries, You know who it'll be, Just like it was in Ezra,

[31:44] The people of the land, There'll be adversaries, They'll make fun of you, They'll ridicule you, And for some, You might fall into this mindset, To say the time, Is not come, It's not time, To be building, Upon what God has laid, In my life, The time is short, Believer, Your time is short, You say, Well what do I do, It's not complicated, It's not complicated, For God's people, God said, Build the house, Well, We need material, Go get material, Look at verse 8, Of Haggai, Verse 8, He says, Go up to the mountain, And bring wood, And build the house, You know what to do, Just start doing it, It's not some magical thing, You're not going to get some, Revelation from God, Of how, You can obey him, Or serve him, You just let your hands, Be strong, Don't wait any longer, Decide in your heart,

[32:44] Now is the time, Now is the time, To start building, You can start building, The word of God, Is able to build you up, You ever read that, In the book of Acts, Chapter 20, You better get in that Bible, You get in that Bible, You'll start seeing God saying, I'm with you, I'm with you, They say this, That the will of God, Is a discipline, Before it's a direction, Before God points, And says, I want you to be this, Or to go there, Or to do this, It's a discipline, It's you disciplining yourself, To seek him, And to love him, And to fellowship, And walk with him, And as you abide in Christ, He begins to open your eyes, To what he'd have you do, Or to where he'd have you go, But he's never going to point this out to you, And just say, Go there, And then you say, Eh, I don't think I can, You just surrender to him, On a day to day basis, The will of God's a discipline, And don't wait any longer, If that's you,

[33:45] If you're a teen, Or if in your prime, Or middle ages, Or even later in life, What are you waiting for, What are you waiting for, It's time to build, Upon that foundation, Of Jesus Christ, I wonder if, As we close, I wonder about, Your soul, I wonder about your soul, I wonder if there's somebody in here, That would say, The time has not come, The time that I should be saved, That I should trust Jesus Christ, With my salvation, I wonder if somebody in here says, I'm not saved, And I'm just not, I'm not ready, You're saying, The time has not come, It's not time yet, Yet the word of God says, Now, Is the accepted time, Behold, Today, Is the day of salvation, If you're not saved, What are you waiting for, If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, As your savior, You're in your sins,

[34:46] And God is against you, Romans chapter 5 says, You're an enemy of God, But Jesus Christ can reconcile you, Back to God, Through his death, You can receive atonement, For your sins today, You can receive forgiveness of sins, And you can stand justified, Before God, Because of Jesus Christ, What are you waiting for, Some people put it off, And put it off, And put it off, And they put it off so long, They dropped dead, Didn't see that coming, And now they're in hell, And they're not getting out, And they had opportunities, They had chances, But they said, The time's not come, The Bible says, Thou knowest not, What a day may bring forth, There may be somebody, In this place today, That's listening to these thoughts, And thinking, I don't know if I'm saved, I've never trusted Christ, I don't know what that's all about, Don't sit there,

[35:47] And say the time's not come, You may end up in hell, Putting it off, And putting it off, Let's bow our heads together, With every head bowed, And every eye closed, I want to ask a question, It's an important question, Do you know for sure, Do you, Not me, Not the person beside you, Do you in your seat, Know for sure, That if you died, Right now, That you would go to heaven, And be with God, Do you know that your sins, Are forgiven, Is there somebody in here, That nobody's looking, Is there somebody in here, That say, I don't know, I'm not sure, But I sure would like to know, Could you just, Quickly slip your hand up, Put it down, Just slide it up, Nobody's looking, And I'm not going to call you out, I'm not going to make you come up here, If everybody's saved, That's, Praise be to the glory of God, If somebody's in here, And they're, Nervous about it, They're not certain about it,

[36:48] The time has come, You have an opportunity today, To hear the gospel, And to believe it, And to receive, What Jesus Christ has done for you, I meant it, I'm not going to call you out, But if you're unsure, Don't leave here today, Without seeking me, And just say, I'd like to talk to you, I got a question, I want to talk to you, I want to take the Bible, And show you, What Jesus Christ did for you, I want you to know for sure, You're on your way to heaven, Christian, Have you been, Have you been, Sucked into that mindset, That attitude, That carnal mindset, That it's not time, That it's time for me right now, I deserve some things in this life, It's time for me, Can I remind you, From the word of God, You're wrong, It is time, To build upon that foundation, Of Jesus Christ, In your life, There's never been a better time,

[37:49] Than now, You don't have much time, This life, Is like into a hand breath, To a vapor, It's going to be gone, So quickly, If you waste your life, Building your sealed houses, If you waste your life, On your comfort, You're going to regret it, And you're going to have to say, Well that preacher, He did tell me, But don't go that far, Surrender, Your time, To the Lord Jesus Christ, Surrender your heart, To him, And seek him, What can I do for you, Father, Please take these words, Take the message, Of Haggai and Zechariah, And apply them, Into our hearts, To the day, In which we live, And may we be, May we, May we take serious, In our lives, This thought, That our life is so short, May we not neglect, To build upon the foundation, That's been laid, In the Lord Jesus Christ,

[38:51] Lord give us victory, Over the sins in our flesh, Give us courage, To stand against the world, To stand up for what's right, God help us to strengthen, One another, By testimony, By edification, By prayer, And may Jesus Christ, Get the victory in our lives, We thank you for all, That he's done, Lord I pray you'll give victory, To someone today, We pray in Jesus name, Amen,