Consider Your Ways…
Haggai 1:2-8…
2 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.
3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
(Intro.)
Tomorrow, we celebrate Pan American Day, or what is also know as Columbus Day. Named after the famous sailor, and explorer of the Americas, Christopher Columbus.
You may have heard the famous little rhyme, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”
Columbus began his voyage with his crew and those three ships, the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria.
Wanting to discover a direct trade route with Asia, he set sail in September of 1492, and landed in what is now San Salvador on October 12th, 1492.
Not realizing that he had actually discovered the islands in the Caribbean, he thought he had found Asia.
He spent most of his life convincing himself, as well as, others that he had landed in the islands off of China’s coast.
All of his life he believed, and lived for something that was not true, something that was not accurate. Convinced he was right, he never stopped to evaluate that he might be wrong.
(Summarize Events…)
The Israelites had been driven from their country and had been held in captivity in Babylon for seventy years. King Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed their land, he had broken down the wall surrounding Jerusalem, and had torn down the Temple that Solomon had built for the Lord.
As the children of Israel returned to their land, they began the repairing of the wall, and the rebuilding of the Temple. They laid its foundation once again.
But, over time they received some opposition. Many times the opposition was fierce, even life threatening, as their surrounding enemies tried to stop their progress. But, their enemies alone did not defeat them, for they, themselves, with their priorities misplaced caused themselves to halt the reconstruction.
For fifteen years after their return the Temple remained devastated. The people made excuses, and even convinced themselves they were right. While they stopped the work, while they stopped the progress of the rebuilding of the Temple, they never stopped to evaluate that they might be wrong.
Haggai the prophet comes upon the scene. In the days of the OT, God would often speak to His people through a prophet. They did not have all of God’s Word, the Bible, at that time. So God sends His man, with His message to the people.
Here in the book of Haggai, the shortest book in all of the Bible, only two chapters, only 38 verses total, we have recorded one of the greatest messages, one of the greatest challenges from God to His people.
2 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.
Because of the opposition they faced, the people reasoned that maybe God did not want His house, did not want His Temple rebuilt. They thought that maybe the time was not right.
We also, see in this verse very quickly God’s displeasure with their reasoning. Rather, than saying “My people” as God often did when talking about the children of Israel, He called them, “This people”. That doesn’t mean that God abandoned them, or that He disowned them, but that He was letting them know how unhappy He was with their decisions.
3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
God questions, and rebukes them...
You don’t think it is time to rebuild My house which was destroyed, but obviously, it must be time for you to build your own personal houses!
The words, “ceiled houses”…refers to the fact that their homes were built beautifully. They were crafted well. Much time and money had been spent on their own homes.
As one commentary best put it… “God asked His people, “How can you live in luxury when My house lies in ruins?” The Temple was the focal point of Judah’s relationship with God, but it was still lying in ruins. Instead the people put their energies into rebuilding and beautifying their own homes.” -Life Application Bible Notes
And in verse 5, God gives them a strong rebuke…
5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Hey, stop and think about what you are doing! Stop and think about where are your priorities! Stop and think that you might be wrong in your decision. That you might be wrong in where you are placing your efforts.
God goes on to make His point by telling them…
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
“Ye have sown much, and bring in little;…”
You work and work and work, and it is still not enough. You have little to show for all of your misplaced labor. You are busy, but you have nothing of real value to show for it.
“…ye eat, but ye have not enough;…”
After all of your efforts, you are still hungry, you are still in need and want more.
“…ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink;…”
You try and meet your needs, but you just can’t seem to make ends meet.
“…ye clothe you, but there is none warm;…”
You think you have what you need. You think you have what will satisfy you and make you happy, but you find out it doesn’t. You find out that it doesn’t provide for you like you thought it would.
“…he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes…”
You are always short of money. Something always goes wrong which robs you of what you labored so much for. You tried to gain riches, but you will never get ahead. You will sink farther and farther into debt.
Someone will get sick, some unexpected expense will arise, and the money will go out faster than you can make it come in.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
These are your futile efforts because you have not obeyed God, because you have not put forth God first in your life. You have thought your physical needs to be more important than your spiritual need.
God instructs them…
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
Set your heart now to build My house. “I will be glorified, saith the LORD.”
It was more than God’s desire for the people to put Him first, to worship Him…It was His mandate, His command!
God will be glorified! He would be glorified in their worship. He would be glorified in their obedience. He would take pleasure in it…It would please Him!
Today’s Application…
What do we do with the message that the prophet Haggai took to Gods people that day?
We too must consider our ways!
We too must learn the principle that God comes first!
That God will take pleasure in our obedience to Him!
That God still demands to be glorified!
I am not talking to you today about rebuilding, or remodeling this structure for the Lord, though you can also apply this message here. A lot of work, and a lot of effort, and sweat, and money has gone into the physical repair of this church building. And, there is still more to be done.
But, that isn’t what I want to declare to you today!
Today, I declare to you that you consider your ways for the temple that you are!
1Co 3:16 ¶ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
If you have accepted Christ as your Saviour, then your body is the temple of God. The Holy Spirit dwells within you.
It is possible that you will, or have already reached a point where you have quit building your temple.
You have shifted your focus, your attention from the things of the Lord, to things of self.
Your life lays in ruins, it lays in waste because you have turned to what you can do for yourself, or what you can get for yourself, rather than what God can do for you.
You are choosing to be willingly ignorant of the fact that God will be glorified.
It isn’t that He just wants to be!
It isn’t that He would like to be!
It isn’t that He thinks it would be nice to be!
Isa 45:5 ¶ I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Re 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
God, Almighty demands to be glorified! And, for those that choose to put Him first in their life…He will take pleasure in it!
As I have told you before, I do not believe in “prosperity Christianity”.
By that I mean, that I do not believe that because you are saved, and worship God that you will have riches. I do not believe that you are guaranteed wealth.
But, I do believe that if you worship God, and put Him first in your life, if you put Him in His rightful place…your needs will be met.
Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
If you feel like you work and work and work and can’t ever seem to get ahead.
If you feel like that despite all of your labor, your pockets have a hole in them…if you feel that there is not enough food on the table. If you feel there is not enough shelter to keep you warm at night, or keep the rain away…
Then, out of love people, I say this to you…Consider your ways!
You put God first…You come to church…You pray, You read His Word, or meditate on His scripture…
And, I promise you, your life will turn around. God spoke through His prophet then to correct the people’s way…
And, today He speaks to us by His Word to show us His way…His Word will not fail.
Today, Consider your ways.
