Haggai 1
Bible Text: Haggai 1, Ezra 3:8-11, 4:3-5, 4:24-5:1 | Preacher: Henry De Oliveira | Series: Haggai |
Haggai should have a practical impact upon our lives
The people had neglected God
God sent a prophet to wake them/stir them up
God did stir them up
Quote from AW Tozer
Do you agree?
What is a church that does not have the Holy Spirit involved?
A church should be captivated by Christ
Quote from Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones
Superficiality
Is there a depth, reality and heart?
Quote from RT Kendall
Asleep
There are exceptions
Example of Sri-Lanka
What of the Western Church – is it asleep?
The words of God through the prophet Haggai were a challenge to the people back then
May it be a challenge to us today
God says – consider your ways (four times)
A challenge to renew our lives and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
The Jews had arrived in Jerusalem and had seemed to learn their lesson
The temple started to rebuilt in 536 BC
They recognised they needed God’s presence
Haggai – 520 BC
The work had stopped
Haggai challenges them
Haggai shows us that we need God’s presence
v1 – The word of the Lord came to Haggai
Little is known about Haggai
We know he is in the time of Zechariah
We know he was a prophet
We concentrate on God and not the man
The word first came to the two leaders – Zerubbabel and Joshua
The first message was for the leaders
If you are a leader – have you fallen short or forgot your responsibility before the Lord?
v2 – The people are saying the time hasn’t come to build God’s house
Not a ‘no’, but a ‘not yet’
If we live life like this, nothing will get done
Example
v3-4 – God speaks to all the people
Can you live in your comfortable houses when My House is in ruins?
Is it time to prioritise your own life over God?
A joy in Ezra of laying the foundation of the temple – but 16 years later nothing had been done
Yes – they faced hostility and poor economics, but these were superficial reasons
The problems lay deeper – in the hearts of the people
It shows a faltering of faith and the neglect of God in their hearts
v5 – The first exhortation: ‘consider your ways’
An easy life is not life, is not Christian living and is disobedience to God
God requires a Christian to give their whole life in furtherance of the kingdom of God
The people became lethargic and lost their focus on God
They were living in the midst of the consequences of neglect
v6 – Great are the consequences when we neglect the Lord God Almighty
You have so much but bring in little
Deut 28:1-2 …
Haggai does not quote these blessings but curses
Deut 28:15-16, 38
Are we non the wiser to our current situation?
Explanation
Quote from JJ Packer
Do we have depth in our relationship with God?
What are we seeking? What do we desire?
v7 – The second exhortation: consider your ways’
v8 – Build the temple
Bring what is needed
Go back to Jesus Christ
If not, the church will remain fruitless
v9-11 – God brings chastisement on His people
He withdraws His blessings
He caused a physical drought to bring them back to Him
He had left them to their own devices
In love God causes droughts to cause us to turn to him
Quote from Alexander McLaren
If you desire only a little – that is all you will have
If you desire much of God – He will shower you with blessing
He desires that we would turn back to Him – a repentant heart
v12 – Obedience came
Repentance brings on obedience and the fear of the Lord
God is our loving Father, Jesus is our friend and Saviour, the Holy Spirit is the Comforter
Yet God is the Lord Almighty, the Lord of Hosts
The awesome, the mighty, the majestic
God desires a relationship with us despite our shortcomings
v13 – God is with the people
When we repent – He says ‘I am with you’
Jesus said at His ascension – “I am with you always, even unto the end of the age”
v14-15 The Lord stirred up their spirit
Pray the Lord would stir up our spirit
Look at the periods of time when the Church was stirred up by the Holy Spirit
Lives are changed and God is glorified
We cannot stir ourselves up – we must open our hearts and our minds to God
They came to work on the house of God
Closing Remarks