WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.260 You're looking in one of the Pew Bibles. 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:08.160 As we prepare for the beginning of a new year, it's a good opportunity to consider 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:13.439 as a church, as families, as individuals, where we've been and where we're going. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:21.580 Roughly twice a year, I take a day for a personal retreat. It's a practice that I was required to do 00:00:21.580 --> 00:00:27.900 when I was on staff with the campus ministry, and I've continued as a pastor here in this church. 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:32.799 But it's been a beneficial time. What I usually do now is I'll go for a long bike ride 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:38.560 and stop a couple places along the way to read some Scripture, to pray, and reflect and write 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:43.899 about what's going on in my life. And I keep a folder with my notes from these retreats that I 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:51.200 take about every six months. And I'll usually read at least the last, what I wrote the last time. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:57.079 And often I'm surprised at how much has happened and how much has changed even in just six months. 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:02.659 Or a year. Someone said most people overestimate what they can do in a day 00:01:02.659 --> 00:01:08.959 and underestimate what they can do in a year. And the problem is, I think many of us get so 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:14.799 caught up in the day-to-day that we rarely step back to ask, where am I hoping to be in a year? 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:22.259 Or in ten years? And even if we do have clearly defined long-term goals, we can easily get 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:27.820 sidetracked along the way. Every so often we need to step back and reconsider our priorities. 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:35.240 And priorities is a theme of the book of Haggai. It's a short Old Testament book, two chapters. 00:01:35.380 --> 00:01:39.900 We're doing chapter one this week, chapter two next week, and that's it. We'll be done. 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:46.400 But I want to look at this theme of priorities as we begin, prepare to begin a new year. So, 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:52.880 Haggai chapter one, we're going to read that chapter together. Let's listen to God's word. 00:01:54.740 --> 00:01:58.640 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:02.080 the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:07.360 the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:15.939 Thus says the Lord of hosts, these people say, the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the 00:02:15.939 --> 00:02:21.780 Lord. Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, is it a time for you 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:29.659 yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:37.680 the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much but harvested little. You eat, but you never 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:43.539 have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. 00:02:43.539 --> 00:02:49.819 And he who earns wages does so to put them in a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:57.479 your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house that I may take pleasure in it 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:03.000 and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You look for much and behold, it came to little. 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:10.099 And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why, declares the Lord of hosts, because of my house 00:03:10.099 --> 00:03:15.979 that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house? Therefore, the heavens above you 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:20.180 have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:26.479 on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, 00:03:26.539 --> 00:03:31.859 on man and beast, and on all their labors. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, 00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:38.079 the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord, 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:44.500 their God. And the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:51.060 feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, 00:03:52.180 --> 00:03:59.280 I am with you, declares the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:03.880 Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:09.699 and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord 00:04:09.699 --> 00:04:16.620 of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:25.719 of Darius the king. There are two key phrases in this chapter, which I want to focus in on today. 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:33.680 The first phrase is found in chapter, verse 5 and verse 7, where Haggai says, consider your ways. 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:41.280 The second phrase is found in verse 13, where Haggai says, I am with you. And I'm not choosing 00:04:41.280 --> 00:04:48.420 these phrases arbitrarily, they both appear as well in Haggai chapter 2, which we'll see next week. 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:57.500 But what we'll see from these two phrases is two things. First, God confronts us about our misplaced 00:04:57.500 --> 00:05:08.000 priorities. And second, God encourages us when we listen to His Word. So first, God confronts us 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:14.680 about our misplaced priorities in verse 1 through 11. Technically, there are two parts to this section, 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:19.959 verse 1 through 2. He's speaking specifically to the leaders, to Zerubbabel, who is the governor, 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:28.280 and to Joshua, who is the high priest, the leader of the priestly group. And then verse 3 to 11 is 00:05:28.280 --> 00:05:34.399 spoken to the people as a whole. But really, the message is the same. So it's two messages packed 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:42.040 together on the same day, and it's the same point. So verse 2, thus says the Lord of hosts, 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:46.580 these people say the time has not yet come, the time to rebuild the house of the Lord. 00:05:47.200 --> 00:05:53.140 You might ask, what exactly is the house of the Lord? What time is it? A little historical 00:05:53.140 --> 00:05:58.980 background, 586 BC, the city of Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians, the temple was destroyed, 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:08.320 and the king was taken into exile. Forty-eight years later, in 538 BC, the Persians defeated the 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:15.019 Babylonians and the Persian emperor Cyrus sent a first group of Israelites back to Jerusalem, 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:22.360 back from the exile. The exile was probably the biggest national tragedy of Israelite history. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:29.800 And so the return from exile was an exciting time. The group was led by Zerubbabel, who was descended 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:35.519 from the kingly line. And the book of Ezra describes how they built an altar, 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:42.279 and they laid the foundation for the temple, and they celebrated. And then some of their neighbors 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:47.919 didn't like them rebuilding the temple and didn't like them rebuilding the city, and so they began 00:06:47.919 --> 00:06:54.599 to cause trouble, and they began to send a bad report to the king of Persia. And so they gave up. 00:06:55.139 --> 00:07:01.779 They stopped. They laid a foundation, they had an altar to offer sacrifices, and they had nothing else. 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:08.579 It was sort of like an abandoned construction site with just a foundation and nothing else, 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:15.299 downtown in the center of the city, and it was lying there for 18 years. 18 years later, 00:07:16.099 --> 00:07:21.819 nothing had changed. But Haggai came on the scene in 520 BC, the second year of King Darius. 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:31.500 And you can almost hear Haggai's tone. He's indignant. These people say, the time hasn't yet come 00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:36.620 to rebuild the house of the Lord. It's been 18 years that they haven't been doing anything. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:43.659 He's annoyed at their perpetual procrastination. And so he begins by appealing to the leaders, 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:50.219 saying, look, we have an abandoned construction project sitting here for 15 years. 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:57.260 This is not good PR for our city, but even more than that, this is supposed to be the dwelling 00:07:57.260 --> 00:08:06.220 place of God himself. This isn't just a monument or a city hall building for our ingenuity or for our 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:15.100 reputation. This is God's reputation that's at stake here. And it looks neglected and ignored. 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:22.680 Now, of course, people had all kinds of reasons for not rebuilding the temple. Some of their reasons 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:28.600 might have been, we're too poor. Right? They could look back to the glory days when their ancestors 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:35.019 were far wealthier. They were a bunch of refugees who had barely resettled a devastated land. 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:41.540 The economy was struggling. They might have thought, you know, that's an ambitious project to rebuild 00:08:41.539 --> 00:08:48.419 a glorious temple. We won't be able to do it well, so we won't do it at all. Or maybe they thought it's 00:08:48.419 --> 00:08:54.139 too risky. If we start building again, our neighbors will cause trouble and they'll send bad reports to 00:08:54.139 --> 00:09:00.799 the Persian king and then we don't want to deal with the king of Persia being mad at us. Or maybe some of 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:05.819 them had a sort of religious motivation. They said, well, we should wait for the Messiah to come. 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:12.400 Because until the Messiah comes, nothing's really going to change. We should just wait for God to do 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:18.340 what he's going to do, and it won't really do any good to act before then. But Haggai said no. 00:09:19.680 --> 00:09:27.320 Haggai said those are not good reasons. Those are fearful, lame excuses. Because God had told the 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:33.600 Israelites in his word to build a temple so that he might dwell among them. Exodus 25, 8. He said, 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:40.100 let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. There I will meet with the people of 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:48.540 Israel. I will dwell with them and be their God. You see, God had made it very clear, and the people's 00:09:48.540 --> 00:09:56.220 lack of follow-through on God's explicit command represented their lack of desire for the Lord to 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:05.440 dwell among them. The people were disregarding God's command as well as God's promise. And so Haggai 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:13.720 confronted them. He said, people, your priorities are completely out of whack. Verse 4, is it a time for 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:20.940 you to dwell in paneled houses while the house of God lies in ruins? Now, what exactly were paneled 00:10:20.940 --> 00:10:25.460 houses? Well, at least that means they were finished and functional. The last stage of construction, 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:34.019 was putting the wood paneling over the stone or wooden structural walls, sort of like putting the 00:10:34.019 --> 00:10:41.800 drywall and paint on, or plaster. But the same word is also used in 1 Kings 6 and 7 to describe 00:10:41.800 --> 00:10:49.420 Solomon's palace, which was paneled with cedar. Haggai's saying, look at the contrast. You live 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:57.259 infinite, you live in finished, functional, maybe even beautiful homes, and the house of God is a 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:02.379 neglected construction site. And he says, look at where your misplaced priorities have taken you. 00:11:03.819 --> 00:11:08.860 Consider your ways. In other words, look at how your life is going and take it to heart. 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:14.959 Verse 6, he says, you've sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:20.500 You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:26.280 wages does so to put them in a bag with holes. We didn't deliberately leave the heat off as an 00:11:26.280 --> 00:11:34.379 object lesson. It just happened someday, you know. But they, now notice, they weren't living in abject 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:40.940 poverty. Okay, they weren't starving. They weren't totally broke. They didn't harvest nothing. They 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:48.740 weren't naked, but they were lacking satisfaction. They were lacking a sense of fulfillment and abundance 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:57.080 because they were lacking contentment. Haggai says, you put all this effort into your beautiful homes, 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:02.760 into your bountiful harvest, but your priorities are out of whack, and God is frustrating your ungodly 00:12:02.760 --> 00:12:09.900 ambitions in order to get your attention. Verse 9 through 11, God takes responsibility 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:16.620 for what's going on. Verse 9, he says, you look for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:24.740 brought it home, behold, I blew it away. Verse 11, I have called for a drought on the land and the hills. 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:31.340 In other words, God says, your lack of fulfillment, your lack of prosperity is not an accident. 00:12:32.019 --> 00:12:39.019 It's the result of your lack of obedience and lack of desire for God. Now, let me be very clear here, 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:45.600 because this is a challenging issue. There's not a one-to-one connection between obedience to God 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:53.120 and material prosperity. It's not true that if you just have enough faith, God will deliver you from 00:12:53.120 --> 00:13:00.579 all sickness and put thousands of dollars in your bank account. It's not true. Sometimes the wicked 00:13:00.579 --> 00:13:08.419 prosper and the righteous suffer because we live in a fallen world, and we're waiting, longing for the 00:13:08.419 --> 00:13:15.399 redemption of our bodies and of all creation. On the other hand, God's still the creator of this world, 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:22.719 and God is not distant and detached from our daily circumstances. He made the world, and when our 00:13:22.719 --> 00:13:28.120 priorities are not aligned with His, we're going against the grain of His creation, the world that 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:35.860 He made and still upholds, and it will not ultimately go well for us. And sometimes God sovereignly 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:44.159 brings trials into our lives in order to expose our misplaced priorities. The people were neglecting 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:50.080 God, the source of every good thing, and so the good things that they were so actively pursuing were 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:55.860 constantly slipping out of their hands. Charles Spurgeon wrote, 00:13:55.860 --> 00:14:03.180 If people are selfish and keep their wealth to themselves and rob God of His portion, they shall not prosper, 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:07.500 or if they do, no blessing shall come with it. 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:16.860 Has God frustrated some of your ambitions and plans, even though you've diligently pursued them? 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:25.639 Or are you constantly wanting more, even though you've perhaps advanced materially in some ways? 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:34.680 Is your lack of satisfaction an indication of a lack of desire for God, a lack of obedience to God, 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:41.259 a lack of finding contentment in God? Psalm 139 says, 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:47.559 Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there be 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:51.319 any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:59.759 Twice Haggai says, consider your ways. Consider your priorities. Don't begin another new year without 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:06.500 considering your priorities. You might say, what does that look like practically? Well, here are three 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:12.000 concrete questions you can ask yourself. First, what are you spending your time on? 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:20.080 As verse 9 says, what are you busying yourself with? Literally, that word can mean running off, 00:15:20.259 --> 00:15:26.019 sort of constantly running. What are you running around to do? What are you keeping busy with? 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:32.440 Now, maybe you're considering actually literally buying a house, or doing a renovation project, 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:40.860 or an interior design project. Ask yourself this question. Am I doing this as an expression of wise 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:48.200 stewardship of the resources God has given me in order to serve my family and extend generous 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:57.300 hospitality? Or is this an expensive and time-consuming distraction, driven by a desire for more and better 00:15:57.299 --> 00:16:03.939 things that will never be filled? Or maybe you're spending a lot of time at work. Work is a good 00:16:03.939 --> 00:16:11.559 thing. It's part of what God made us for, and what made us to, what He made us to do. But is your work, 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:19.240 but many times work can be constantly demanding more. Is your work hindering you from biblical rhythms of 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:26.740 work and rest? Is it making it, is it preventing you from caring for your family, or investing in other 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:33.740 people in the church? Consider your ways, Haggai says. Is it worth it to invest your time this way for 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:42.940 the next year, or for the next 10 years? Now, maybe the answer is yes, for a time. Perhaps you must endure 00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:50.440 an ungodly work environment, or an ungodly schedule for a time. But are there changes you can make 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:58.280 or request in order to invest faithfully in your work and in your co-workers and in your boss, 00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:03.840 while also investing fruitfully in the other areas of life that God has entrusted to you? Haggai says, 00:17:03.920 --> 00:17:12.680 consider your ways. How are you using your time? Second, what are you consuming in order to be full? 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:17.820 In order to be filled up. Verse 6 says, you eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never 00:17:17.820 --> 00:17:24.200 have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. Now, food and drink and clothing are all 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:32.120 generous gifts from our Heavenly Father. The passage we heard earlier says, if God clothes the lilies of 00:17:32.120 --> 00:17:39.940 the field, how much more will He clothe you? Oh, you of little faith. They're gifts from God that we can 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:45.640 joyfully and gratefully receive. You know, God gives us food not only for our bare sustenance, 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:51.400 but also for our enjoyment. He even commanded the Israelites once a year to go and feast and eat 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:58.559 whatever they want for a whole week. We all just did that, so we fulfilled that command without 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:05.279 intending to, right? But it's easy to allow food and drink and clothing to become our masters 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:13.139 instead of our servants. And instead of receiving them gratefully as God's gifts, we fantasize about 00:18:13.139 --> 00:18:20.639 them or grab them or hide them or consume them in a compulsive and greedy and later guilty way, 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:29.160 and we are never satisfied. What are you consuming in order to be filled up? Third, what are you spending 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:36.279 your money on or saving your money for? Verse 6 says, he who earns wages does so to put them in a bag 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:43.360 with holes. I had this sense that they would earn their money and it would slip out of their hands. 00:18:44.140 --> 00:18:50.940 Inflation was probably very high in that context. But Jesus said, don't store up treasures on earth 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:57.019 where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store up treasures in heaven 00:18:57.019 --> 00:19:03.099 and where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Have you taken a hard look at your budget? 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:11.960 What are you spending? What are you saving? What are you giving? Do you even know what you're spending? 00:19:12.099 --> 00:19:18.960 Many people don't. You can't effectively make a budget if you don't even know where your money is 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:28.559 actually going. Sometimes all you know that it is that it's gone. What needs to change so that your 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:35.360 budget increasingly reflects godly priorities? Generous giving, responsible saving, wise spending. 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:42.700 Now maybe you can't immediately change your budget because you're paying off long-term obligations, 00:19:42.980 --> 00:19:46.500 school loans, or other kinds of debt. But take a long-term view. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:52.519 Think about not just the next year, but the next 10 years. How can you make decisions now 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:59.500 that in 5 or 10 years will give you increasing freedom to give generously? That will give you 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:06.440 increasing freedom to invest your resources in the things that matter? 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:15.140 Some time ago, an older man said to me, don't get into the rat race of buying a home that you can't 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:19.800 really afford, buying a car that you can't really afford because you can't afford it, being pressured 00:20:19.800 --> 00:20:24.820 to work more, and then you have neither time nor money to spare. And once you get in, it's even harder 00:20:24.820 --> 00:20:35.700 to get out. Haggai says, consider your ways and begin turning to the Lord now. Verse 7, he says, 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:40.500 consider your ways, go up to the hills, bring wood and build the house that I may take pleasure in it 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:46.400 and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. Haggai says, make it your priority to build the house 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:51.400 of the Lord. Now you might say, where is this guy going with this? He's talking about money, 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:55.519 he's talking about building a house. He must be announcing a church building project. I'm not. 00:20:59.099 --> 00:21:03.319 The only time I've heard Haggai preached was when we needed to buy this building, 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:11.019 nine years ago. It's a somewhat legitimate secondary or third-level application. It's not 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:20.379 the primary meaning of this text. What does this mean for us, right? We're not Jews returning from 00:21:20.379 --> 00:21:26.779 the exile to Jerusalem. We're followers of Jesus, who is our ultimate prophet, priest, and king. 00:21:27.899 --> 00:21:32.819 We're not following Zerubbabel the governor or Joshua the high priest or Haggai the prophet. Ultimately, 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:38.859 we're following Jesus, who is the fulfillment of all of them. What does that look like? Well, 00:21:38.879 --> 00:21:45.159 in the New Testament, God hasn't commanded us to build a physical temple in the earthly city of 00:21:45.159 --> 00:21:51.099 Jerusalem or any other earthly city in particular. He hasn't promised his presence in that way. 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:56.919 Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, the time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem 00:21:56.919 --> 00:22:02.039 will you worship the Father. The time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:08.559 the Father in spirit and truth. We see in the New Testament that in Jesus Christ, God is building 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:16.960 a new temple, not of stones, but of people. Ephesians 2 says Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone, 00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:23.299 and the whole structure being joined together in him grows into a holy temple in the Lord. You are 00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:29.000 being built together into a dwelling place for God by his Spirit. First Peter 2 says, 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:34.759 you yourselves, you yourselves, like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house. So what does 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:39.400 it mean to make it your priority to build the house of God? It means to prioritize the people 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:48.420 of God. What would this look like? It might mean spending time with someone who's exploring Christianity 00:22:48.420 --> 00:22:55.519 and has a lot of Christianity and has a lot of questions in order to seek to lead them to see 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:03.360 and put their faith in Jesus the Savior and become one of his people. It might mean discipling a newer 00:23:03.360 --> 00:23:07.720 Christian, spending time with them one-on-one and reading the Bible and praying together. 00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:15.560 It might mean writing a note, dropping it in the mail, sending an email to encourage a fellow believer 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:21.759 who's going through a hard time, saying, I'm praying for you. Here's how I'm praying for you. 00:23:23.159 --> 00:23:30.339 It might mean taking time to listen to someone who's been hurt and burned by the church and is 00:23:30.339 --> 00:23:36.919 hesitant to come in and get involved again. It might mean faithfully preparing to teach the Word of God 00:23:36.919 --> 00:23:41.539 in your small group or in your Sunday school class, or making time to pray together regularly with your 00:23:41.539 --> 00:23:47.379 family or with your roommates, or giving generously to the local church and to those who proclaim the 00:23:47.379 --> 00:23:56.299 gospel around the world and care for the poor in the name of Christ. All of those are aspects of what 00:23:56.299 --> 00:24:03.480 it means to prioritize building the house of God, investing in the people of God. 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:11.819 Haggai says, make it your priority to build the house of the Lord. 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:21.099 So God confronts us about our misplaced priorities, but he also encourages us when we take his Word to 00:24:21.099 --> 00:24:27.700 heart. This is the second phrase in verse 13, where Haggai says, I am with you, says the Lord. 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:36.580 In verse 12 through 15, we see a three-part sequence. We see obedience, encouragement, energy. 00:24:38.100 --> 00:24:42.420 We see obedience first in verse 12. You know, one of the most encouraging things about the book of 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:49.940 Haggai is the people actually listened to his message. They actually listened and obeyed. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:54.920 Most of the prophets in the Old Testament were ignored or persecuted. 00:24:54.920 --> 00:25:04.400 People actually heard what Haggai said, and they put it into practice for once. 00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:09.519 Verse 12 tells us the people obeyed because they feared the Lord. 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:18.140 And that doesn't mean that they were threatened into unwilling compliance. It doesn't mean they were 00:25:18.140 --> 00:25:22.820 terrorized by the Lord, but it means they were filled with reverential awe. 00:25:22.819 --> 00:25:30.399 They recognized who they were dealing with. The holy God who had promised to dwell among them. 00:25:31.220 --> 00:25:36.139 And so when they heard God's Word, they knew where it was coming from, and they were motivated to listen 00:25:36.139 --> 00:25:45.179 and obey. And then when they responded with reverence and obedience, God immediately sent encouragement. 00:25:45.180 --> 00:25:54.980 I am with you, declares the Lord. You know, God didn't stand back and wait for them. He didn't say, 00:25:55.560 --> 00:26:00.840 hmm, well, they seem to be listening and wanting to obey. Let me see if they actually follow through. 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:07.060 And then if they actually follow through, then I'll pour out my blessing on them. No. 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:15.779 When God calls us to obedience, He doesn't leave us alone and step back and fold His arms and say, 00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:24.259 let me see if they do it. He comes alongside us and He says, I am with you. He encourages us with His promises. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:34.700 You see, they were undertaking a difficult task. They were poor in some ways. It was risky. 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:38.720 The Messiah hadn't yet come, but God said to them, I'm with you. 00:26:40.500 --> 00:26:43.319 Brothers and sisters, God calls us to some difficult tasks. 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:46.039 Maybe it seems like too much. 00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:53.160 Maybe you can, maybe you feel like the call to obey, to listen and obey God's Word, 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:58.600 it's just, you're never going to achieve it because it's too hard. 00:27:00.080 --> 00:27:01.480 Maybe you think, I'm too poor. 00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:04.240 I don't know enough of God's Word. 00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:07.720 I'm not where I should be in my walk with God. 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:09.319 I'm not worthy. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:15.660 Maybe you think it's too risky, being up here in the godless Northeast. 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:19.420 Right? There's always potential opposition out there. 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:24.000 Sometimes we can imagine it when it's not even there. 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:28.200 Or maybe you think we should wait for the Messiah to come. 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:32.340 When Jesus comes back, He'll fix everything. 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:33.920 And until then, nothing's going to change. 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:34.779 So why work? 00:27:37.120 --> 00:27:41.059 But Haggai has a simple and powerful word of encouragement 00:27:41.059 --> 00:27:48.960 that outweighs every one of those objections and difficulties and excuses. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:54.340 I am with you, declares the Lord. 00:27:54.779 --> 00:28:02.100 Not I will be with you in the future only, but I am with you in the present now. 00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:10.259 Now, one commentator said, without making specific promises, these words promise everything. 00:28:12.459 --> 00:28:13.259 Isn't it true? 00:28:13.259 --> 00:28:22.920 And it's no accident that the Gospel of Matthew concludes with Jesus' great commission, but also His great promise. 00:28:24.019 --> 00:28:25.960 I am with you always. 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:33.380 God gives encouragement to us through His Word. 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.279 And not only does He give encouragement, He provides energy by His Spirit. 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:45.160 Verse 14, the Lord stirred up the spirit of the leaders and the people. 00:28:46.779 --> 00:28:55.640 And they came and worked together on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the 24th day of the month. 00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:08.059 Just 23 days after Haggai's initial message challenging them about their 18-year history of neglect, 00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:12.600 they were on the construction site working. 00:29:13.740 --> 00:29:16.779 Because God, the Lord, had stirred up their hearts. 00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:23.940 The Lord had roused them from their spiritual apathy and sleepiness and energized them by His life-giving Spirit. 00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:33.460 Do you need the encouragement of God's Word? 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:39.600 Do you need the energy of His Holy Spirit in this coming year? 00:29:40.740 --> 00:29:43.000 God confronts us with our misplaced priorities. 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:44.720 Consider your ways. 00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:48.960 But God also encourages us when we take His Word to heart. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.160 I am with you, declares the Lord. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:53.240 Let's pray. 00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:07.860 Our God, we thank You that You are a faithful God. 00:30:07.859 --> 00:30:17.319 Lord, we thank You for sustaining Your people so long ago who thought they had lost everything in the exile 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:22.879 and had blown it forever. 00:30:23.539 --> 00:30:24.839 But You brought them home. 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:30.839 And You promise once again Your presence, Your merciful presence among them. 00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:43.619 Lord, thank You for the hope that You give us as we look into the future. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:48.939 Lord, thank You for... 00:30:48.939 --> 00:30:55.439 We pray that You would help us to take to heart this challenge, this rebuke, to consider our ways. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:02.680 We pray that we would consider our priorities and that our priorities would increasingly be drawn into line with Yours. 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:07.680 That You would give us a reverential awe of who You are. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:10.580 A holy fear of You. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:14.759 That would lead us to respond in obedience. 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:22.599 And Lord, we pray that we would know that encouragement from Your Word and that energizing power of Your Spirit. 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:25.420 Lord, may that be true in our individual lives. 00:31:26.660 --> 00:31:28.200 May that be true in our families. 00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:30.859 May that be true among us as a church. 00:31:32.119 --> 00:31:34.140 As we go forward into this next year. 00:31:37.980 --> 00:31:40.000 Would You be glorified among us, we pray. 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:41.339 In Christ's name. 00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:41.960 Amen. 00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:46.400 We're going to close with a great hymn. 00:31:46.840 --> 00:31:48.500 The music team can come forward. 00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:50.620 Come thou fount of every blessing. 00:31:51.620 --> 00:31:52.140 Tune...