Considering Our Ways

The contractor replied, "Because I have a crew of rednecks laying sod across the street and I have to keep reminding them, GREEN SIDE UP."

Listen, when it comes to building a church, we do not know the first thing about it and that is why the Lord said, “I will build my church!”

But the Bible does say we are laborers together with the Lord in the kingdom work. Look at 1 Cor. 3:9, it says, “FOR WE ARE LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD.”

In the Old Testament we see a good example of how God wants to build His church. For example -

• In 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar invaded and overthrew Jerusalem. The city and the temple of God were destroyed. God’s people were taken into Babylon as captives and there they remained for seventy years.

• Later Cyrus of the Persians defeated Babylon, and brought the Babylonian Empire to an end.

• He allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem.

• Among the returning exiles were (probably) the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.

About 18 years went by between the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the temple. This delay is what brings forth the message of Haggai.

Let’s look at some of the things that Haggai talks about.

First let’s look at .....

I. THE PEOPLE’S AFFECTION

God sent Haggai to tell them to rebuild the temple, but he ran into some difficulties.

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM? The problem was that the people loved THEIR HOUSES more than they loved GOD’S HOUSE.

Look at Haggai 1:1 4, “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built. Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?”

Haggai is preaching a blistering sermon. He is reminding them that they live in their luxurious homes while the House of God lies in waste.

The problem was that they were eaten up with SELFISHNESS! Selfishness leads us to do whatever it takes to LOOK OUT FOR OURSELVES!

There are many miserable people on the face of the earth and the reason is because people today are the same as they were in the days of Haggai, and all they can think about is themselves.

Illus: I received a little printed form the other day with a rather intriguing title: “How to Be Perfectly Miserable.” It lists a few things you can do that will make you miserable and keep you that way.

1. Think about yourself constantly

2. Talk about yourself constantly

3. Use the personal pronoun "I" as often as possible in your conversation

4. Demand that everything be done your way

This is a recipe for sadness!!!

The people in Haggai’s day had their priorities all mixed up. Haggai cut them no slack about how they were only concerned about their houses and not the house of God. Their priority consisted only of ME FIRST!!!