Consider Your Ways

As we begin the sermon this afternoon, I want to reintroduce you to three people. We don't talk about these men in the Bible very often at all, but they are key in the Bible, and they performed a tremendous service in times past for God, and God shows as He commends them that their names will be remembered in the future. The first one I want to talk about is a man named Zerubbabel. It's a difficult spelling, if you will. It begins with a Z. He has a couple Bs in it. Zerubbabel actually means out of Babylon. Zerubbabel was a direct descendant of David. He was governor of Judah during the time when the Jews came back from exile to rebuild the Second Temple, and he led the rebuilding of that temple. It took several years. For a while, the temple was being built, and then it was interrupted because of opposition, laid there for several years, but then Zerubbabel is the one who was able to bring that to finish it up, as God had directed him to do. Zerubbabel is actually mentioned in the lineage of Jesus Christ under both Mary's lineage and under Joseph, her husband's lineage as well. God had some interesting things to say about him. If you will, turn with me to Haggai, the little book of Haggai. It's the third book from the end of the Old Testament, and Zerubbabel is a key figure in this book. But at the end of that book, in Haggai 2 and verse 23, God opens with words in that verse that shows us that of Zerubbabel, he's talking about a future time in addition to what Zerubbabel did while he was on this earth. He says, in that day, whenever we see in that day, we know God is talking about a future, a time when Christ will return, a time yet ahead of us. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, and I will make you like a signet, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.

You know, a signet, if we have something, a signet, ring as it says there, it means this is a position of authority. This is someone who people look up to. God says of Zerubbabel, based on the work that he did and the faith that he showed in God during that rebuilding time. Zerubbabel, your name will be remembered. There will be someone like you pointing to Jesus Christ and His return that's yet ahead of us.

One book forward from Haggai is the book of Zechariah.

And Zerubbabel's name shows up quite a bit in Zechariah as well. In Zechariah 4, some notable words. We do quote these words quite often because we know that the work that God does is His work. It's not done because of our might, our smarts, our intelligence. It's what His Spirit leads us to do. In Zechariah 4, 6, He answered and said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the eternal of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you will become a plain, and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. We see what God is picturing here as He mentions Zerubbabel. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, verse 8, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple. His hands will also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.

So Zerubbabel will look at him today because of the men of the Bible, he's one that God commends very highly. Another one we will look at is someone who served at the same time as him. While Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah during that time that the temple was being rebuilt, the high priest during that time was a man named Joshua. Of course, he wasn't the same Joshua that we know from the successor to Moses, but a successor, a high priest as well, and he served in that function side by side. The two of them together finished the work that God wanted to have done.

We read a little bit about him in Zechariah 3. Zechariah 3. And in verse 6, it says, The angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, this high priest, the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, If you will walk in my ways, if you will keep my command, then you shall also judge my house, and likewise have charge of my courts. I will give you places to walk among these who stand here. Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign. For behold, I am bringing forth my servant the branch.

For behold, the stones that I have laid before Joshua upon the stones are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription, says the eternal of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, says the eternal of hosts, everyone who will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree. Zerubbabel and Joshua, and yet there is a future, a future Zerubbabel and Joshua, or the spirit of them that God points to, and what they were able to accomplish in their lifetimes as God led them.

The third person we'll talk about today, that we very, very rarely talk about, is the prophet Haggai. H-A-G-G-A-I. He is the minor prophet we just turned to in the book immediately before Zachariah. Haggai, prophesied, prophesied, remembers that he would exhort, he would expound, he would let the people know what the will of God was, not just prophecy as in what's coming next or when is it coming, but prophet, as we talked about on the Bible study, meaning exhort to explain, get the people to be motivated, fire them up, if you will, and Haggai was during that time that Zerubbabel and Judah, not Judah, Joshua were on earth.

He was there at that time and came to Zerubbabel and Joshua at the time that they were in Judah and the temple that had been begun 15, some say 15, some say 17 years before, had begun, but it was just laying there, not being paid attention to at all. And Haggai came with a very real message to Joshua, to Zerubbabel, and to the people of Judah who were there for their purpose was to complete a work, but somewhere along the line they had forgotten it or laid it aside and thought it's something that can be done later.

Now, before we get to the book of Haggai, I do want to remind you that God is building a temple in you and me. Solomon, God had Solomon build the first temple. It was a glorious temple. He had the people of Judah build a second temple. It existed through the time of Jesus Christ until 70 AD when it was torn down. And in today's age, God is building, he says clearly in the Bible, a temple in you and me. Building a temple in us individually, building a temple in us collectively.

It's the temple to which Jesus Christ will return. Let's, before we get to Haggai, you're there and Haggai just put a bookmark in there. Let's just look at a few verses to set the setting here for us of what God is doing because as we look at Haggai and what he says to Zerubbabel and Joshua, and what happened in that day is actually a message for us today as well.

Just as important to us today as it was to the people back in the sixth century when this rebuilding of the temple was occurring. Well, let's look at a couple verses in Acts. Acts 7.

Acts 7 and in verse 48 as Stephen. Do you remember Stephen? He was giving his discourse to the leaders of Judah, the leaders of Judaism, the Sanhedrin, and he goes through the account of the history of Israel and he says something in verse 48 that probably those leaders didn't understand as he's winding up his witness to them, if you will. In verse 48 he says, excuse me, however, the Most High doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says. The Most High doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He did in Old Testament times. He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands today. He's dwelling in you and me, those who create that place of abode for him when we live by his way, when we're led by his Holy Spirit.

It repeats the same thing in Acts 17. Acts 17. We haven't gotten to Acts 17 in our Bible studies yet, but we will in a week or two. Acts 17 and verse 24. Paul, as he is speaking in the Areopagus and has quite a message for the people there who are looking for a God, and he introduces them to the true God. In verse 24 he says, God, who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. You know, you have all these wonderful buildings, but you know what? The temples of old, the temples, the buildings, never made people holy. As beautiful as Solomon's temple was, it never created the people that God wanted them to be. The second temple that lasted longer than the first temple didn't result in holy people. But the temple that God is working today and building today will result and will reveal people who are living his way and become holy people. Over in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul further explains this, and I'm going to just read through these verses again just by way of background, just so we know what God is doing. And as we look at Zerubbabel, Joshua, and Haggai to see what God is doing with us today, because the words of Haggai back then are for us today, as well as everything in the Bible is. 1 Corinthians 3. Let's begin in verse 9.

We, not you and me, everyone God calls, we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. According to the grace of God, which was given to me, Paul says, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. We all have the same foundation laid. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. We have the doctrine. We have the word of God. That foundation is laid, and then we grow, and God brings us along as we build that temple more and more as each year goes by to the place where it will be complete for God to bring glory to it when Jesus Christ returns, if the building is built to his specifications. Verse 11, no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, because it is our choice which building materials we use, whether they're very fine materials or very weak materials that can fall apart.

Now, if anyone builds with any of these materials based on his desire, based on his intent, based on his commitment to God, each one's work will become clear. For the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work, which he has built on it indoors, he'll receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Don't you know, Paul says, that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Just like the Spirit of God, God dwelled in those temples of old, he dwells in us today when we have his Holy Spirit. Don't you know that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are. So, with that background, let's go back to the little book of Haggai and see what God led Haggai to prophesy to Zerubbabel and Joshua and the people of Judah who were there, whose purpose was to build that temple of God that they were instructed to build during that time. No different than the temple of God that you and I are being instructed to build during this time. Again in Haggai 1 verse 1. There's actually three messages, actually four, but I'm going to talk about the first three messages that Haggai delivers to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people of Judah. And Haggai, you notice, is very exact. He keeps his records well. Very in the very first verse there of Haggai 1. It says, 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 Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, here's God. I'm sending this messenger to you. This is what he's saying as he watches over what's going on down there where that temple was supposed to be being built. Verse 2, Haggai says, thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, this people says, the time hasn't come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.

Well, that's an interesting comment for him to open up with it, isn't it? Now, I hit a little bit on the history. You can go back if you want later and read through the book of Ezra. You'll see in the first four chapters of Ezra, the temple begins to be built. Opposition occurs, in Ezra 4, the king at that time halts the construction of the temple, and it lays there. For some commentary, say 15 years, others say 17 years, it's just sort of sitting there.

And so, the people who have been sitting there waiting, I guess, have somehow become just a little bit not so interested in that temple anymore. It's not so urgent for them to go back to work on it. They've got accustomed to just doing things their own way we're going to see, following their own ways, paying attention to things that really interest them, and it's like, it's not important for us to go and build that temple back. It's just been sitting there. We know it's there. We understand what it is. We just don't see that today is the day we need to pay any attention to it. Now, that might remind you of an attitude that's extant among the people of God at the end times, and that would be the Laodicean attitude that we talk about so much. Keep your finger there in Haggai, and let's just read through briefly what that Laodicean attitude is, and as we go through the first, the next few verses of Haggai, we will see that that attitude that God says is there at the end time was there at the time of the building of the Second Temple as well. Revelation 3. Revelation 3 will begin in verse 14. To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things, says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, God says. I know that you're neither cold nor hot.

We know the temple is there. We'll get to it one day. Now is not the time for it. We've got other important things to do. We don't have to worry about that right now. I know your works that you're neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. I wish you would either just say, we're not going to do it. We don't care about the temple anymore. We have no use for it. Or, I wish you would get the zeal back and get this thing done. It's been sitting there for a long time being built. So then, verse 16, because you're lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I'm rich, I become wealthy, I have need of nothing. And you don't know that spiritually you are in God's eyes. You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

And as we go through the next verses in Haggai, we'll see the people had plenty during that time. They had resources that they could use for everything else, but not a whole lot to be expend on God's building and his temple. Verse 18, God says, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be closed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eyesab that you may see.

As many as I love, God says, and he loves every single one of his people, every single one, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. I may send messages to you, just like he sends Haggai to the people of Judah, he'll send messages to us. One of those messages we've talked about lately is, wake up, wake up, look around, see what's happening. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, he says, be zealous. Be zealous. Not, nah, the time hasn't come for this yet. Nah, we can put that off for another day. Be zealous, repent, do the things that God said. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. And we'll see, to their credit, the people of Judah did listen to that knock on the door. It was one of the very few times in the Bible that a prophet was sent to Judah, and they actually listened. They actually listened to what the prophet said, and they actually did what he asked them to do. So let's go back to Haggai. With that background and looking at that attitude, that is certainly evident here among the people of Judah at this time as they're building the second temple that God says is we're in our day and age when we're about building the temple of God he is building in us individually and collectively, that some would have that attitude as well. When I get to it, when I have time. Not that important right now. So we read verses 1 and 2. Haggai opens up with this. There are some among you who have this attitude, he says. In verse 3, then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses in this temple lie in ruins?

You have plenty of time to build your own house. You have plenty of time to do all the things that you want to do. There's no shortage of times when it's what you want to do when it creates your interest. No shortage of time when it benefits you. You've got plenty of money to do these things. You've got plenty of time to do it, but no time for me? Not enough time to pray. Not enough time to study. Not enough time to do whatever it is. But boy, you've got plenty of time for everyone else.

The message that Haggai will be bringing is here. Who do you put first? And the people in Judah at that time, rebuilding the temple, were always putting themselves first. What do I want? If it comes between what God says and my kids say or a family member says or whatever, I'm going to choose that. I'll be where I want to be as opposed to where God wants me to be. And God sees that in the people here. And Haggai spells it out pretty clearly in the verses when we put them and look at the meaning behind the words that he says and apply them to the situations that we live today. Because I think all of us could read that and say, yeah, you know what? We do have plenty of time for everything we want to do. We have plenty of time for that. But hey, you know, at the end of the day, I didn't take time for prayer. I didn't take time for Bible study. Hey, I was too tired to come to church, too busy, too busy to do that, or I just needed to stay home and whatever, you know, when there was no reason to stay home. Plenty of time for what we want. And that's one of the things that Haggai will point out to them here in the next verse. Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses and this temple to lie in ruins? You know, I'm reminded, too, when I read that verse, Solomon. Remember Solomon? He built the first temple, and in the in 1 Kings 7, says he it took Solomon seven years to build God's house. And the very next verse is, but he took 13 years to build his house. Seven years to build God's house? Good for you, Solomon. He did it exactly to God's specification, but when it came to what he wanted, he took 13 years to do that. And then we see Solomon slide more and more away from God to the sad, the sad example that he left. So we consider here in verse 5. It says, God asks this question or sends it to Haggai and says, you got plenty of time for everything you want to do. Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Look and see what you're doing. What are you telling me, God said?

You know, often we might want to stop and think, okay, I'm going to make this decision. I'm going to make this choice. And sometimes I will even see what I'm doing. And I think, what does God hear me saying when I make that choice? What does He hear me say? He, I can justify anything, right? We all can justify anything. But what does God hear us say? Well, we make a choice. Well, choosing yourself again. You're not really concerned about what I want. You're concerned with what you want. You may have masked it. You may have disguised it. You may have justified it. It's your will that you've justified into thinking it's God's will. We can all justify ourselves, but God says to this group of people, He would say it's us today, consider your ways. What are you doing? What are you here for? These people were there to rebuild the Second Temple or to build the Second Temple. We know what we're here for. What are we doing? What are we doing? Where is our emphasis? Where is our, where are our priorities? What are we doing? Where do we spend most of our time? What do we spend most of our time talking about? Where do we put most of our money? Where is most of our attention? Is it usually about us and what we want to do? Or is it about what God wants us to do? It might be something all of us, me included, need to look at. What do we tell God by the choices we make and how we live our lives? You know, I read someplace. I think I just repeated it, actually. There's three ways you can tell what someone's on someone's mind. What they talk about, what they spend their money on, what they think about. We can all look at ourselves. Where is our interest? What do we do?

Are we here to serve God? Are we here to do what he wants? Or is it more about what we can do, building our paneled houses or doing whatever it is that we want to do? Consider your ways, he says in verse 5. And then he talks about, look at everything you've done. You've sown much, you bring in little. You know, it's us individually, but as a church, too.

What do we do? We do it our way or do we do it God's way? What is the purpose for the things that we do? You've sown much, you bring in little. You eat, but you don't have enough. You drink, but you're not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. Look at how you spend your time. Does it satisfy you? No. The self is ravenous. It will continue to say, feed me, feed me, feed me, clothe me, serve me. God says there's no satisfaction in the things you do for yourself. The satisfaction in life comes from serving God, from doing things his way, and seeking his way, and not fooling ourselves, thinking that we might be doing it his way when it's really what we want.

Disguised as, well, we're here. We know there's a temple to be built. We're aware of it. We just don't want to really put the time into it right now. There at the end of verse 6, you know, he makes a statement that talks about inflation, something that this country is beginning to experience, that more and more will understand, you know, what this means. He who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. It's all about yourself. The money is going to mean nothing. It's not going to satisfy. It's not going to bring this, not bring the joy and the peace and the fulfillment that we want when our focus in life is what we want, what we do, where we want to be, how we want to serve God. Thus says the Lord host, he says it in verse 7 again, consider your ways. Think about it. Take some time. Get rid of the TV. Get rid of the video games. Put the cell phones away. Maybe on the Sabbath. Eliminate all that stuff and spend some time considering your ways. What is it that God wants of us? There's nothing that says we have to have a cell phone turned on every day. Now, I find I have to have mine turned on, but I don't look at it unless I hear it ding. So if you call me, you'll do it. But other than that, I don't pay attention to it.

And our children in our homes, you know, there's nothing wrong with the parents saying, no cell phone today, no internet today, no video games today. We don't need any of that. This is God's time. And parents can look at the same thing. It's God's time. Maybe that's the time. If nowhere else, God gives us the time. 24 hours, one day a week, totally devoted to him. Other times, I hope as well, that we do consider your ways. And then Haggai tells them what to do. You need to get to work again. Go up to the mountains. Bring wood. Build the temple. That I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the Lord. Get back to work. You know, I read mountains. And when I think of mountains in this context, I think of, you know, we just talked about it at the Feast of Tabernacles. Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. Let's go there. Let him teach us his ways. Let us be taught in his laws. Let's seek his will. Let's go to him and get this done. Go to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple. Interesting word, wood there, because we know the temples are made of stone. They certainly had wood in them. But when you look at the Hebrew word translated, wood there, in other places it's translated, trees. Go up to the mountain and bring trees. Psalm 1 verse 3. In fact, let's just...you don't have to turn to Psalm 1-3. I will read it to you. You certainly can't turn there if you want. It's the same word when God is talking about those that he plants by the river. Psalm 1-3, he, that's people, shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does will prosper. These are people whose delight, it says in verse 2, is in the law of the Lord. This is where their mind is. That's where their life is. They do all the other things in life. They go to work. They take care of their homes. They take care of their lawns. They're good neighbors. They're good students. They're hard workers. They do all the things that the Bible says to do. But overriding it all is a commitment to God. God first. Homes structured the way God wants them structured. Families living the way God says and instructs to families. All that's there in the Word of God, go up to the mountain, he says, and bring wood. Bring people. Bring trees. That's what God's temple is being built with today. You and me and his temple and his Holy Spirit in us. Go up to the mountains and bring trees and build the temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says God. Do something for me. Do what pleases me instead of just you. Verse 9, he says, you looked for much. Indeed, it came to little. Ah, we thought we'll do these great things. You know what? We'll do this. We'll throw money at it. We'll do all these things. We expect this and this and this to happen, but it didn't happen that way.

It just sort of didn't happen what we thought. You looked for much. Indeed, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Even when the little came, it's like, I'm not even going to bless that, God said. You did it your way, not my way. You sought what you wanted to do, what I wanted you to do. You looked for much. You came to little. When you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? Says the Lord of hosts, because of my house that is in ruins while every one of you runs to his own house. My temple's not being built. No one's looking to see how to build that and finish the job that God has called us to do. But they all run to their own house. They all run to do their own things. Hey, whatever we want to do, forget it. Forget it. Well, we know that's there. We know it has to be done sometime. And we kind of fool ourselves into thinking it's there. And as long as we pay lip service to it, it's good enough. God says, through Haggai to the group back then, it's time to build the house. It's time to pay attention to the temple that God is building. He goes on and he explains it more. It's because you love allowing my house to lay in ruins. You're not actively building it. Your heart isn't in this. 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, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands. It's me who did it. I'm not going to bless you. Your heart's not doing what I called you to do. Do it my way. Consider your ways. God says twice, and he'll say it again later on in Haggai. Well, you know, to their credit, Haggai said some pretty stern words. Zerubbabel, as I mentioned, kind of almost unique in Bible history when someone, a prophet, comes and gives it to the people of Judah that they actually pay attention.

Verse 12, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, the leaders agreed and the people agreed with them. They listened to the words, and they obeyed the voice of the eternal, their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And what did they do? They feared. They feared God. They feared the presence of the Lord. We've forgotten Him. We've gotten all caught up into great things of life. God has blessed us with so many things. We have so many comforts, so many things we can do, and we've become guilty just as He warned us in Deuteronomy 8. When all these things happen, don't forget me, God said, and yet they forgot Him. They kind of had this little link. They justified in their minds, and maybe, just maybe, you and I have forgotten the same thing. Maybe the same thing has happened to you and me. Maybe there's not enough focus on the work of God. Maybe there's not a focus on building the temple of God. That's what God called us to do. When we were baptized, that's what we committed to Him we would do. Self-second, or even further down the list, God and His will first. They feared. They recognized. You know what, Haggai? That's exactly what you are telling us. It's a timeless message.

And then verse 13, God encouraged them. When God saw, they get it. They're listening. They intend to change their ways. They intend to put me first. Then verse 13, Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke God's message to the people, saying, I'm with you. God says, Jesus Christ says, I'm with you. I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Remember, we say it often, it will never be God who forsakes us. It's us through our actions, through our choices, through our decisions that leave Him behind. It's us who leaves Him. He will never leave. And as the people have this realization of what they've done and how they've let God's temple just lay in ruins, nothing happening, the same old, same old, they recognize we have disappointed and we have and they fear God. They recognize we haven't done. We haven't been doing what God's will is, but God assures them, I'm with you. I'm with you. So the Lord, verse 14, stirred up, stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, gunriner of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, 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 24th day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius. 23 days later, they had some time to think. They recognized what was going on and they got to work. Okay, it's time to build. It's time to finish this project that God has given us to do. It's time to put our priorities where God wants them to be, not our way, not our will, His way, His will. Good for the people of Judah, good for Zerubbabel, good for Joshua, good that they listened to God, awesome that they listened to God. Will we listen to God? Do we? Can we consider our ways? And can we look and see how we've done things and have been doing things for a while and maybe seek God and see what He wants us to do. Well, that's the first message of Haggai and the people get to work.

But Haggai is not done. God is working with the people right along. He gets a message. The Spirit of God is stirred up in them. They get to work on the 24th day of the sixth month and then a month later on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, it turns out in Haggai 2, Haggai comes again.

God is working with them step by step. I will help be with you to help you build a temple. I know that the thoughts you might have. I know how you might look at it and say, what is the other thing that might interrupt our building process? In the seventh month, on the 21st of the month, like I mentioned, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, speak now to Zerubbabel and Judah, the governor and Joshua, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory?

You know, you might hearken back to Ezra 3, and when the foundation of the second temple was laid, the people who knew the first temple, they actually wept because it just didn't have—it wasn't the same size. It wasn't big enough. It wasn't going to have the same glamour as the first temple, and they wept because it just didn't fit their expectations. It didn't have what they expected it to be. Yet God was with that temple. God was working in that temple. He said that glory, his glory would be in that temple. It's the temple actually that Jesus Christ went in when he was on earth. But here, you know, there's maybe some among them, as they've been working on the project now and building the temple for a month, it's like, well, what are we doing? Who is left among you who saw the temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? It's really small, isn't it? It doesn't have the grand effect that you thought it would. It's not gaining worldwide attention. It may not even be gaining citywide attention. It may not be even on the scope of most people's radars. Do you give up and say, what is God doing? What are we doing this work for? You know, there was a time in the Church of God in this era that there were a lot of people in the Church. It had some beautiful buildings and beautiful campuses. Millions and millions read its publications. Millions listened to this TV broadcast week after week. It was something to behold that God could do that with that small of a group of people that's quite larger than the number of people in his Church today. And God took it all away. And we learned in that time the same thing we learned of the temples. The buildings didn't make the people that God wanted. Most of the people at that time just left. Just left. As soon as someone said, hey, you don't have to do this and you don't have to do that, they just left. All those buildings, all those activities, all those things that the Church was involved in week after week after week, they didn't make a holy people. Well, today the Church is smaller, if you will, and God says, no, he never says I'm going to build a Church of a million people or two million people.

And we might compare and say, well, God must not be with us if there's not millions of people listening to us and millions of people knocking down our doors. God can work through any size of a group of people. It's people that have his heart, we'll learn in the next message, that God is looking for. That's the group that God will look to. Let's go back to or go forward to Revelation 3, because there's another group of end-time people that have the same kind of outlook, I guess, maybe, as the people who took up the chore then to complete the temple, that second temple building at the time of Hezekiah—not Hezekiah, Haggai—Revelation 3, verse 7, of course, is the Philadelphia church. We'll just read through it. You can draw some comparisons as we talk through that to where we are today, to where that second temple was that was smaller in scope, not as grand, not as spectacular as the first one, but God was going to do his work through that, and the people had to do that work. Verse 7 of Revelation 3, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write, these things says, He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens, and no one shuts, and shots, and no one opens. There at the time of that second building, God clearly said, I'm shutting. I'm shutting what you're doing until you kind of do it my way, until that's your priority in life. He who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens. I know your works. I've set before you an open door, and no one can shut it. If it's my will, if it's doing your, if you're doing it my way, no one can shut it. You have a little strength.

You're not going to be the biggest church on earth. You're not going to be the biggest church in the city, not the biggest church in the community. You have a little strength, not grand, nothing to be ashamed of, something to be very grateful for, and grasp that God would call us into his work and make us part of this little flock that he has called. You have a little strength. You've kept my word. You haven't denied my name. Verse 10, because you've kept my command to persevere, I will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I'm coming quickly. Hold fast what you have that no one may take your crown. So if we go back to Haggai and we look what Haggai is saying here in the second message, on your way back to Haggai, let's stop in Luke, Luke 12.

Luke 12 and verse 32.

Christ says, words that he said to his disciples then, words that he says to us, all the words that Christ said then apply to us every single one of them. Don't fear, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It's your Father's desire to give you the kingdom.

And he goes on through that, and he talks about where our treasure is. That's where our heart will be also. Where we spend our efforts, where we spend our money, where we spend our attention, where our heart is. God sees. Where our heart is, we should look and see where it should be, where it should be.

Now we can go back to Haggai.

And we were in verse four.

Every time I look at this verse, I think of another verse. In Zechariah, it also says, God tells Arubabel, don't despise the day of small things. Right? God isn't going to always be the flashiest. He's not going to always have us be the one. Don't despise the day of small things.

Don't look at God and say, we must not be having much of an impact.

Now we need to consider our ways if we aren't having much of an impact and see where we're going and how we're doing it and whose will we're serving. That's part of the considering the ways. But in verse four, as Haggai goes on, and as he draws this to attention, you know, as you're dealing with this temple, don't get discouraged. Build it. Build it the way God said to build it. Be strong, verse four, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Joshua, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, says the Lord, and work. Get to work. Just do it. God will build it. He will lead. He will provide the materials if we seek them, if we go to the mountain and find out what they are, if we go to His Word and build it the way He said to do it, if we let His Holy Spirit lead us and not stand on what our will is, our ways, our ideas, but seek His ways, the work will get done. And He reminds them in verse four, I am with you, says the Lord of Hosts. According to the Word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remains among you.

It's still here. God's been waiting for us. Don't fear. The same thing He said to Israel when He brought him out of Egypt. Don't worry about it. Have faith in Me. Trust Me. I will bring you to where I promised I would. He says the same thing to you and me. Don't worry. Don't fear. Work. March forward. Seek God. Follow Him. Trust in Him. He will show the way, and He gives us all the instructions to build this temple that we're building today in His Word, just like all the instructions for the temple. The first and second temple are there in God's Word, too. All I have to do is read through the book of Exodus twice. He gives all the details of how to build that temple. How we build our temple is here, too. For thus says the Lord of Hosts, verse 6, Once more. Now, here's a prophetic verse. This is showing what He's saying. That guy is saying, it fit for that day. It fits for us. Once more, it is a little while. I will shake heaven and earth, sea, and dry land. Same thing that God says in Hebrews 12, verse 26. Once more, I will shake the heaven and earth. They will know who I am. And I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations, speaking of Jesus Christ. And I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of Hosts. But it's our job to build it to His specifications. It's our job to look clearly and not worry about this, but follow His way and let Him provide the results that He wants. Get out of the way and see clearly when He's giving a message of, I'm withholding this. My blessing is not with you. You're paying too far to much attention to your own personal desires and doing the things that please you rather than what really please me. The silver is mine, God says. The gold is mine. The glory of this latter temple will be greater than the former. Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that the temple that God is building today in you and me and in the church around the world is going to be greater than any physical building that Solomon built or the people of Judah built back there in the 6th century BC? No, it'll be greater. This is what Jesus Christ is returning to. This is the temple that will reveal His firstfruits, the ones who will work with Him, the ones who will receive eternal life and be part of that time when He is King of kings and Lord of lords, working with Him to make it happen and all the things that He is training us for now to do.

The glory of this latter temple will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts. There's never been peace in Jerusalem.

There will be peace when Jesus Christ is on earth. There will be peace in His kingdom. There will be peace in Jerusalem at that time. There will be peace where the temple, the physical temple, is at that time. There will be peace on earth at that time. What Haggai is talking about here is a message for us today as well as it was for the people back then.

Verse 10, on the 24th day of the ninth month, well, that's the second message, right? Two months later, on the 24th day of the ninth month, we've got a three or four month period of time here, on the 24th day, the people hear what Haggai says, they continue building. They continue working. God has taken away one of the things that might have been among them, saying, what about this? What about that? It doesn't look the way we thought it would look.

On the 24th day of the ninth month, on the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai, the prophet, saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, if one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy? While the priests correctly answered, no. Holiness does not rub off on someone else. Holiness does not rub off on other people.

Our children aren't holy just because we're holy. God makes it clear in Ezekiel 14, just because Noah followed God. Just because Daniel, if he had children, followed God. Just because Abraham followed, they have to work out their salvation and know God as well. We teach. We make sure they understand it's our job to do that, but it'll be their job, their job to follow God and make that choice along the way as well. So this holiness? No, holiness does not rub off. That's just not the way of God. Everything, everyone must become holy. Jesus Christ said, work out your own salvation with fear and troubling. The priest correctly answered and said no. And then Haggai asked another question. If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean? And the priest correctly answered, and they said yes, it'll be unclean.

Holiness doesn't rub off on the other person. It can certainly have an influence. We can certainly be an inspiration to other people. We should be an inspiration to other people. They should see how we behave, and that should encourage them to be the same way. We should work with people who we see that are not doing God's well and encourage them and exhort them to follow God's well. But just because we may be holy doesn't make them holy. But uncleanness does have this way of rubbing off on other people. God says as much in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33. They're hidden in the middle of the resurrection chapter. He says, evil company corrupts good habits. Evil company corrupts good habits. Uncleanness does touch other people. In 2 Corinthians 6, God says, don't even touch the unclean. Come out of it. Be separate from it. Don't even let it come close to you. Don't let it rub off on you. You don't want to become unclean. People in the Old Testament, if they touched a carcass and they came in contact with someone who touched a carcass, they were unclean.

So Haggai is throwing a couple of principles here to them about what to do. And he's leading up to something here that can be a little difficult until we decipher it to figure out what he's saying. So they answer these questions correctly. And then Haggai answered and said, so is this people. So is this nation before me, says the Lord. And so is every work of their hands.

And what they offer there is unclean.

They were doing the work of God. They were about all the physical things that God said to do.

They were actually doing the physical building. Well, God looked at it, said, what they're doing is unclean. It's not of me, not of me. Let's go on and see what he has to say. Verse 15, as Haggai, as God has Haggai say that, he says what he's said in his first message. Now, carefully, this time there's that adverb again. Whenever we see an adverb or an adjective, pay attention to it. And now carefully consider from this day forward, from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord. Since those days when one came to a heap of 20 ephas, and there were but two, it simply wasn't what you thought. It didn't produce what you want. There was less there than what you thought it was. There were buttenant when one came to the wine vat to draw 50 vats from the press, but there were only 20. God's blessing wasn't on it. It didn't produce the fruit and the bounty that happens when God were doing God's things. He says, I struck you with blight. I struck you with mildew. I struck you with hail and the labors of your hands. You were doing these physical things.

Yet he says, yet you didn't turn to me.

Says the Lord.

You were about all these activities. Everything you did. You loved the activity. You loved pounding those nails. You loved being there. You loved doing that. But you never turned your heart to me.

What I was looking for, God said, was turn your heart to me.

All the activities in the world, all the service in the world, good that we do it, good that our hearts are in it. If we don't have our hearts in God, then we're in essence wasting our time. Consider your ways, God said. Are you more into the activities, but you're not dealing with me and the things that I want you to do. You didn't turn to me, God said. Busy, busy, busy people, but not busy turning to God. People of the Old Testament here in this time, they didn't have God's Holy Spirit. And so we don't see them turning to God, but God is giving us a message. We have His Holy Spirit. Where is our heart? Is it, first and foremost, turning our heart to God? How many times did Jesus Christ say, turn your heart to me? How many times did God say in the Old Testament, turn to me? He didn't mean pound more nails. He didn't say, do this more. That's great that we do it. We should do it. When our heart is in it, those are the good works. But if it's at the excuse and at the absence of doing and turning our hearts to God, it is meaningless to God. That's why He says, I haven't blessed your ways. That's why you thought there'd be more there, and it's not. Turn to me, God said. Turn to me with your heart and your soul. That's where the priority has to be.

Put God first. Put building His house first. Everything else, including yourself, second. Do what it takes to build the house of God. He teaches us how to do it, and in the future, we'll talk a little bit more on how to build those pieces and put those pieces into place. First, heart. Not being so busy with things, fooling ourselves, thinking we do all these things, and, hey, we're out building the temple. We're out building the temple, but we're not building the temple that God wants. Let me just leave that at that. Had another thought in my mind, but I think I'll just leave it there for now. Okay, so verse 17. I'm going to read it again, because it is a huge message to us. I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in the labors of your hands. Yet you did not turn to me, says the Lord. None of us want God to say, you know, yeah, did all those things, but you never turn to me. You never put into practice in your life the things that I said to do. You didn't change you. You didn't let the Holy Spirit change you. You didn't fix the things in your personal lives that could have been fixed if you put the time into it and had the Holy Spirit working with that. You didn't put the time into those things. You did the busy things. Great! But you didn't do the important thing, and that's what the people here were doing. They were busy. They were busy physically, but they weren't busy spiritually. What God is saying here to them is, I want it being preached. I want it being taught. I want people to know what they need to know. And He says again, consider now in verse 18, consider now.

Consider now from this day forward, from the 24th day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple is laid, consider it. Is the seed still in the barn? As yet, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, the olive tree, they haven't yielded fruit.

If they're not yielding fruit, what are you doing? When we're doing things God's way, fruit results.

If the trees are dormant, there's a problem, and the problem's us, not God. But from this day, God says, I will bless you. And then I'm going to just, that's what God, that's His message to us. Let me just complete here what we've been reading in verses 20 to 23, as God commends Zerubbabel and talks about the future. Again, the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the 24th day of the month, the same day, saying, speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake heaven and earth.

I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots and those who righted them. The horses and their riders shall come down, everyone by the sword of his brother. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts. God has chosen every single one of us. We chose God. We could have said, no, no, don't want to do that. I'll just continue to cling to the world and do the things that I want to do. But we promised God we vowed to him when we were baptized from here on out, your way, your way, your will, no longer my way, my will. The people back then, they simply had no sense of urgency in building the temple. They were okay with the things that were going on. Oh, it's okay. You know what? I got my house. I got these things. All life is pretty good. And you know what? And I got kind of this like semblance of things that I'm kind of close to God and I can allow myself to sleep thinking that I'm close to God. That's why Jesus Christ says in Luke 21 verse 34, wake up, wake up, see what's going on. And as we're in the time that we're in now, as God works with you and me, he says, wake up. It's time to finish the building that he began. And Jesus Christ said, what I have begun in you, I will finish. He'll finish it. He's true. He's there. He's always been there. He's just waiting for you and me. So from here on out, let's remember the message of Haggai. Consider your ways. Carefully consider your ways.

And let's do and build the house that God wants us to build.