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Look What You've Gotten Into Series
Contributed by Carl Willis on Apr 10, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: Holiness doesn’t rub off very easily, but sin defiles quickly. God looks past the exterior and examines what is on the inside.
Look What You’ve Gotten Into!
Time to Rebuild – Part IV
Haggai 2:10-19
April 15, 2007
Haggai 2:10-12 (NLT)
On December 18 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord sent this message to the prophet Haggai: [11] "This is what the Lord Almighty says! Ask the priests this question about the law: [12] If one of you is carrying a holy sacrifice in his robes and happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?"
The priests replied, "No."
It’s Not Contagious
The example of consecrated meat
The consecration doesn’t transfer by contact
Consecration does not occur by accident
The unholy remains unholy
Haggai 2:13 (NLT)
Then Haggai asked, "But if someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then brushes against any of the things mentioned, will it be defiled?"
And the priests answered, "Yes."
That’s Going to Leave a Stain
Contamination
Occurs easily
Negative influences easily spread
Gossip
Slander
Moral compromise
Haggai 2:14 (NLT)
Then Haggai said, "That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled.
It’s All About the Heart
Religious activity doesn’t purify
The purification process
Repentance
Obedience
Examining what lies within
It Gets on Everything
Sinful living spreads
To others
To every area of life
Even to our religious practices
Selfish motives
Only God’s cleansing will remove the taint
Haggai 2:15-17 (NLT)
So think about this from now on—consider how things were going for you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple. [16] When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty. [17] I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy all the produce of your labor. Yet, even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.
Comfortably Numb
God disciplines His children
Hand of correction
Financial
Relational
Quality of life
The numbing power of sin
The longer we ignore discipline
Becomes easier over time
Haggai 2:18-19 (NLT)
"On this eighteenth day of December—the day when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid—carefully consider this: [19] I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn, before you have harvested your grain and before the grapevine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have produced their crops. From this day onward I will bless you."
Incentive to Work
God honors obedience
Sending encouragement
Giving increase
The incentive of blessing
Provides encouragement to do more
Sustains during the hard times
Keeps us moving forward
**powerpoint available on request