Quit all the comparisons: IT IS ABOUT GOD’S GLORY. HAGGAI and ZECHARIAH LEARNED TO ENCOURAGE THOSE THAT WERE DOING A WORK THAT SEEMED SMALL IN THEIR OWN EYES. Get excited.
Haggai 2:2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
Haggai 2:7 (KJV)
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
A SNOW STORM? SMALL? BIG DEAL? TRAVEL WITH ME TO JANUARY 6, 1850 IN COLCHESTER, ENGLAND. It was a bitter cold Sunday. Few people attended church that day in the PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHURCH ON ARTILLERY STREET. It was so bad that not even the pastor showed up. The service appeared to be a BIG LOSE. A man in the crowd that was not a speaker or a preacher took his Bible and turned to ISAIAH 42:22 and read and briefly spoke. The text did not make a lot of sense. One word: RESTORE.
Isaiah 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
It was such a bitter cold blizzard. A young 15 year old boy came in the church to warm himself. The young boy accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior that day after hearing the sermon as crazy as it was.
YOU HAVE PROBABLY HEARD OF THAT 15 YEAR OLD BOY: HIS NAME IS CHARLES SPURGEON. Charles Spurgeon was known as the PRINCE OF PREACHERS. Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached to millions in every country of the world. Spurgeon preached on the average of 13 times a week. He drew crowds up to 23,000 people. His written work sold over 56 million copies in 40 different languages.
***SPURGEON WROTE: DON’T HOLD BACK BECAUSE YOU CAN’T PREACH IN ST. PAULS CATHEDRAL. BE CONTENT TO TALK TO ONE OR TWO IN A COTTAGE. YOU MAY COOK IN SMALL POTS AS WELL AS IN BIG ONES. EVEN A SMALL DOG CAN BARK AND WAKE UP THE MASTER AND SAVE THE HOUSE. DO WHAT YOU DO RIGHT THOROUGHLY, PRAY OVER IT HEARTILY, AND LEAVE THE RESULT TO GOD.
Spurgeon was invited to preach in ISLEHAM, England. The team borrowed the largest church in town. They were expecting hundreds of people. There were 7 people there. 7! His sermon was one of the greatest sermons he ever preached, remember to 7 people. At that night service the church was filled beyond capacity, standing room only… GOD DOES NOT CALL US TO SUCCESS, GOD CALLS US TO FAITHFULNESS. Preach to the invisible.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Lift up your head. Be faithful to your post of duty.