June 9, 2019

Haggai 1

Preacher:
Series:
Passage: Haggai 1, Ezra 3:8-11, 4:3-5, 4:24-5:1
Service Type:

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