Text: Haggai 2:10-19, Title: Any Seed Left in the Barn? Date/Place: NRBC, 3/18/07, AM
A. Opening illustration: American Christianity is has many wonderful, deep, steadfast, passionate believers among its ranks. But on the whole our commitment to the Christian faith is marginal at best. Take the month following the attacks on 9/11. The Apathy Club
B. Background to passage: Haggai wants December 18, 520 BC to be a transforming day in the life of the remnant of Israel. God finds them busy about the work. Great right? Well, not exactly. Did you know that you could be doing exactly what God wants you to do for all the wrong reasons? Haggai really gets at the heart of the matter with this message. Sheer obedience is great, but obedience from the heart is what brings pleasure to the heart of God. And anything else is sub-standard. God admonishes the people today, not simply to work, but to love to work for the kingdom and to prioritize your heart and not only your calendar.
C. Main thought: In the text we will see for truths about cultural, casual believers with shallow commitments to the Kingdom of God.
A. Third-party transfers (v. 11-13)
1. God begins by engaging these culturally, externally religious people in a religious question, similar to the dialogue between Jesus and the woman at the well. He first asks them a question about the possibility of holiness being transferred. Explain the distinction between those things set apart to be in God’s presence and those not, and also the difference between 2 and 3 – party transfers. The answer from the priests who have the commission to instruct from the law is “no.” 2. Next God asked about the transfer of impurity. And the opposite is true. Defilement is easily passed on to third and fourth and fifth parties. Then God says, “you are the man.” Note that He refers to them as “this people” again.
2. Ex 29:21, Lev 22:4, 1 Cor 15:33, Gal 5:9, Pro 14:9
3. Illustration: this is like that Catholic guy who used to let us use his place because I was the preacher, getting him points with God, potatoes and health and contaminated blood and brownies, the Catholic practice of doing whatever and going to confession, The Midas Touch
4. The SS answer for transfer of holiness is no, but in practice this is what we do. Cultural Christians believe that just by being associated with the church, or other Christians, or charities, or a good family, so that they are getting a little something added to their account. Coming to church or having Christian family members is good, but it does you no good as far as your right-standing with God. It is not enough just to be around those who are holy, you are to be holy yourself. Your life is supposed to radiate Christ. Casual Christians are those associated with the church, but whose lives do not reflect holiness. Casual faith affects a couple of aspects of your life, genuine faith affects it all! 2. And we treat it like we are immune. We have stopped being legalistic about rules and regulations for what you don’t do, but now we have opened the floodgates of sin. The things that we watch on TV, read on the internet, magazines that you look at (swimsuit issue), places we go, people that we hang around with, etc – it all affects your life. Even reducing our sensitivity and numbing us to sin’s offensiveness to God. Casual Christianity treats sin lightly. As long as it is not public, it is not a big deal. As long as we keep certain religious behaviors, it’s really not that bad, right? These things are the subtle influences that allow pathways of sinful thoughts to let sin take root. And they will lead to your destruction, and the destruction of your family, your finances, your prayer life, and maybe your eternity. These things are not toys; they are poison! And we must make war! This is the reason that our country has been in spiritual and moral decline for years, and unholy church. This is the reason that church is in decline, young people are the most amoral, pluralistic, narcissistic generation on record—the failure of the church to be pure. Then we infected a nation and a generation.
B. Unacceptable labor and sacrifice (v. 14)
1. In a sense here, God says that if you are living as a casual Christian, you are wasting your time. Specifically, He tells Haggai that these defiled people are laboring without effectiveness because everything they touch is defiled. Two things that cover most of the life of faith are mentioned: service and sacrifice. God says that whatever work that you do in a defiled state comes to nothing. It will be burned up by the trial of fire. This temple was defiled because they took sin so lightly, just went through the motions out of constraint or guilt. He also says that the early passion that they exhibited to sacrifice was no longer there; and the sacrifices made will be unacceptable. Worship is only acceptable when done in holiness.
2. Ezra 3:2, Ecc 9:10, Lev 10:1-2, Amos 5:21-24, Matt 5:23-24, 1 Chron 16:29,
3. Illustration: “Like a cancer that has invaded the human body, bringing destruction and disintegration to the cells it comes in contact with, so these people were bringing spiritual defilement to everything they touched” There isn’t time to go get fresh eggs, so I say to myself, "I’ll just mix this rotten one in with the good ones and they’ll never know the difference." In a few minutes when I serve the omelets, you begin sniffing the air. "What’s that funny smell?" "Oh, don’t worry about that. One of the eggs was rotten, but I just mixed it in with all the rest." Would you accept that omelet?
4. We need to remember that it is not just obedience that God is looking for, it is a heart-felt obedience, because you want to do what God wants you to do. Being right with God precedes doing right. Proper motivation and proper holiness either contribute to or nullify a good work. And when you know that you have unconfessed, hidden sin in your life, it not only poisons you spiritually, but it poisons everything you do. We must get back to hating sin, fearing God, fearing His displeasure, and realizing what an affront to His character and to His sacrifice sin in our lives is. When you are doing something because you feel forced, and your heart is not in it; it is of no value to you. When the pattern of your life is to do religious things and keep up religious appearances with you heart not in it, it is all vanity. Serving because you are keeping appearances or because no one else will do it, or because it is a ministry that benefits you, are not proper motivations for service. It was the passion for sacrifice that was being lost. Casual Christianity produces worshippers with no passion because of the apathy and sin in their lives. And God is not worshipped if you do not cleanse yourself from sin before you come to offer yourself. And our sacrifices of our lives, our gifts, our kindness, our faith, are all worthless when they come from a thin venire of Christianity covering filth and apathy within.
C. Recipients of Restorative Fatherly Discipline (v. 15-17)
1. Assuming that this remnant of Israel are truly believers, God points out to them again his fatherly discipline. God says, “I struck you…” these natural disasters and an unfruitful harvest. God take full responsibility for disaster. Note the harvest was reduced by 50%-60%. And it was all for a purpose—so that you would return to Me. God’s discipline is always for the purpose of turning His children’s heart back toward Him. That is why it is called discipline instead of punishment. It is restorative in nature.
2. Heb 12:5-11
3. Illustration: “I have a friend who in a time of business recession lost his job, a sizable fortune, and his beautiful home. To add to his sorrow, his precious wife died; yet he tenaciously held to his faith -- the only thing he had left. One day when he was out walking in search of employment, he stopped to watch some men who were doing stonework on a large church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of rock. ‘Where are you going to put that?’ he asked. The workman said, ‘Do you see that little opening up there near the spire? Well, I’m shaping this stone down here so that it will fit in up there.’ One man spoke to me once about the disciplining of American Christianity through the use of Islam in order to strengthen us.
4. If you are experiencing difficult circumstances go through your sin list, and think about what God might be wanting out of your life. Don’t mistake God’s mercy for His approval. If you are truly His child, you will be chastened, but you don’t have to wait on a particularly bad chastening to repent. If you can continue in patterns of known sin in your life without the chastening hand of God, you are not a son. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether someone is a casual Christian with small weak, but genuine faith, vs. the person who puts on well, but never has been in the transforming presence of Jesus. Some of you are casual and you need to throw off the hardness of your heart. Some of you never have been changed by Jesus; you are not a new creature, there is no good fruit, and you will perish if you persist in that state.
D. THEREFORE (v. 18-19):
1. God asks a question before he promises blessings. He asks if there is any seed left in the barn. This was a year of low harvest, and the winter planting has already been planted. They will have to rely on what they have until the next harvest. God know that there is little grain left, and they know that He controls the harvest for next year. It is almost like a threat. It is what I would like to call forced obedience. Are you going to really turn to Him, or will you continue to go through the motions of church and find your own way out of the circumstance
2. REPENT, don’t just stand there and look at God as if He doesn’t really know what you watch on TV or the thoughts that you think, or the love you have for the world and its things.
3. DRAW NEAR WITH YOUR HEART, God is not saying do more, serve more, come to church more, follow more rules. He is saying don’t be dull of hearing, hard of heart, don’t go on hearing and not listening. Don’t be like those that Jesus quoted Isa 6:9-10 that “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.” Do what Joel 2:13 says, and “So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.” Beg the Lord to root out routine and motion in your walk and put in place joy and passion and Christ-exalting desire.
4. LOVE ME, NOT MY THINGS, NOR MY WORLD’S THINGS. This is the real heart of the matter. God wants you to love Him. Upon this hang all the commandments, principles, precepts, and promises. Love God will all that you are, then work. Love Him enough to rid yourself of filth and wickedness, then worship. Pray that God would rivet a passion for His glory to your soul, so that all other things fade in importance.
A. Closing illustration: William Pitt was one England’s great prime ministers and a great intellect. He was a friend of William Wilberforce, who was a great proponent of abolition because of his Christian convictions. Pitt was a nominal Christian, as most were in his day, but Christianity did not mean much to him. Wilberforce invited Pitt to hear the great preacher, Richard Cecil. After many excuses, Pitt finally agreed to go. Cecil was at his best, and Wilberforce was uplifted as never before; he was glorifying God and praying for his friend Pitt. When the service ended and they were going out together, William Pitt turned to his friend Wilberforce and said, "You know, Wilberforce, I have not the slightest idea what that man was talking about." C. S. Lewis suggests, “If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet – getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God – it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence.” “Our denomination, whether we live or die, and the lost of our people whether they be saved or perish without Christ, is determined by whether we care or are filled with vast abysmal indifference. “O that my head were waters…that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.” Jer 9:1.” –Criswell
B. Oh, New River, please be deathly afraid of casual Christianity. Abhor it. Be hot or cold! Weep and wail and be broken over a people who act out a hollow faith, who go through the motions with no real change, who are clean on the outside, but inwardly full of dead men’s bones, worldly lusts, pleasures, and priorities.
C. Invitation to commitment
