Introduction
2nd part of a two week series on Haggai.
Haggai- book w/end time message, but it contains eternal truths we can apply to our lives today.
Last week- looked at- importance of making Eternal Investments-how can we invest in God’s Kingdom
Today talk about- importance of having an Eternal Perspective-to properly respond to God in our day.
If our goal as a Christian is to be saved/go to heaven- we are living far below God’s purpose for our lives
God saved us to build something eternal- here/now.
Historical Setting
Judah had been conquered,
Jerusalem burned,
Solomon’s temple had been destroyed, and
the people were carried away into captivity.
After being captive- 70 year- amazing thing happens.
Ezra 1:1-3
God put favor in- king’s heart- for God’s people.
If God can move a king-can move president/governor.
What moves the heart of God- PRAYER!
Who is called to pray- the CHURCH!
Ezra 1:4-6
Everyone has a role- all called to support God’s work.
Offering
Good place to pause and take up our weekly offering.
Sent letter- God has richly blessed us this year.
However, our offerings have taken a down turn, perhaps due to- combination- economy/summer.
We have exhausted our reserves- proposed a plan to FOC- to cut most of our discretionary spending.
The only thing left to touch is salaries and what we give as a church to local ministries/missionaries.
Pastors- more willing to cut salaries than cut giving.
2 Cor 9:6-7, 10-11 Principle- sowing/reaping
Joe MacDonald- missionary we have helped some …
Sent a small check to COTR because we have been a blessing to him/he wanted to bless us.
I wrote the letter for three purposes …
1. Information
so family/friends-understand-financial situation
2. Ask for prayer
wisdom to know what to cut/what to pursue
not a time to retreat-push ahead w/wisdom/faith
3. Appeal for you to ask God how you can help
how can you help-build God’s Kingdom-COTR
I see three types of givers at COTRM, those who …
1. are giving all they can- give faithfully/sacrificially
2. have discretionary spending/giving- could redirect
3. have not yet taken the challenge to give Biblically
God says everything we have is His- stewards
Praying w/city pastors-Pastor David Lindsay- picture-
I see a big rock impeding your ministry and God is calling you to speak to the Rock and it will move- I felt the rock was our finances.
Anna Fetterman- encouraging testimony.
Prayer- speak to the rock!
Take up the offering- PLAY VIDEO.
The Story
Under Cyrus 50,000 Jews returned to Israel.
Built an altar- began to rebuild- foundation- temple.
They encountered resistance from their enemies, got busy w/their lives- stopped work for 15 years.
The enemy hinders us today from doing God’s will.
Hag 2:1-3
Some older men remembered Solomon’s temple.
Foundation- new temple- paled to Solomon’s temple.
Ez 3:10-13
It is easy to look at the miracles Jesus performed and the miracles we read about in the book of Acts,
and be discouraged with what we see today.
Ecc 7:10 Don’t long for "the good old days," for you don’t know whether they were any better than these! TLB
Instead we need to thank God for what He is doing today, in our generation, in our time.
The people were instructed to worship God and all they had was a foundation- hardly a temple.
1 Chr 16:29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; Worship the Lord in holy array. NASU
Ascribe- to give to God what He is due.
Look at God’s response to the people’s complaints …
Hag 2:4
God says three things …
1. Take courage (be strong)
What is happening today might pale compared to what we read in the NT,
but God’s answer is … take courage!
He says it three times – to the civil leaders, the spiritual leaders, and to the people.
2 Tim 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. NASU
We need to walk boldly in the grace God has given us for this day in which we live.
2. Work
Regardless of what you see or how you evaluate the situation spiritually-continue to build My Kingdom
2Th 3:13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. NKJV
In the end, it is God who determines how and when He is going to show Himself mighty.
3. I am with you.
What greater motivation can there be?
Temple was the place of God’s visible glory/presence.
God’s glory/presence had left the temple long before it was destroyed- people had become disobedient.
So what the older men were mourning over was an outward glory that was little more than ceremony.
It is better to have- small temple w/presence of God than an elaborate temple w/o God’s presence.
Religious activity- not a substitute for God’s presence.
We need a correct perspective on …
what is real and what is not real,
what God is blessing, what He is not blessing.
Hag 2:5-9 (20-22)
Haggai is prophetically looking into the future.
God was trying to get their minds/hearts/eyes off of that which is local, small, limited, immediate.
God was trying to get their eyes fixed on His greater purposes for them in His eternal Kingdom.
He wanted them to live w/Kingdom perspective that was larger- than the temple they were building.
If you close one eye, take a quarter and hold it up close to the other eye, it will blot out the sun.
We get so involved with our present situation that it blots out God’s greater purpose/plan for our lives.
We get our nose pressed right up to the window of the present, and we don’t see anything else.
J Vernon McGee
We must not get discouraged when current circumstances do not seem to be working for us.
Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. NASU
The good is not always immediate- but in the future.
God has great things for His people today.
The church’s finest hour is still ahead of us.
Haggai was encouraging the Jews to build their temple in the face of hostile neighbors.
God is encouraging us to build His house today.
That house is His Church- one made of living stones.
Eph 2:19-22
God was encouraging the discouraged builders to …
see their temple in the light of eternity.
to look at their lives in the perspective of the ultimate purposes of God.
Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
We must not let- immediate- block the bigger picture.
Hag 2:10-14
Simply stated …
1. When something holy touches something unholy, that which is unholy does not become holy.
2. When something unholy touches something else, that something else becomes unholy.
Holiness cannot be communicated by contact, but unholiness can be communicated by contact.
You cannot take a healthy boy and rub him against a boy with measles to make him well.
If you add a drop of dirty water to a glass of clean water, the clean water becomes dirty.
If you add a drop of clean water to a glass of dirty water, the water remains dirty.
A man’s evil heart cannot be made clean by …
performing good deeds,
attending church, or
even building an altar or a temple.
Religious ceremony does not make a sinner righteous.
You can be baptized in water and held down until you drown, but it will not make you holy.
Baptism- important- it will not change a man’s heart.
1 Peter 1:18-19
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
The only thing that can change the human heart and make it holy is an encounter w/Lord Jesus Christ.
Hag 2:15-17
One of the clearest pictures of how- the adversity a nation experiences- result of national disobedience.
Improper priorities brings about a lack of fruitfulness.
If we continue to give the building of our own houses priority over God’s, we will find God resisting.
Hag 2:18-19
The people had a change in heart-an encounter w/God
They gave themselves to building God’s house and saw His resistance change to blessing.
We can trust God to bless us, if our hearts are united w/His, and- we- doing what He has asked us to do.
Conclusion
First, God is calling us to look at what we are investing our time, resources, our lives into.
Are we investing in His Kingdom, His house?
Second- do we have- eternal, big picture perspective?
Have we allowed the urgency of our current situation rob us from-greater purpose God has for our lives?
Have we allowed the present to limit our focus to the immediate and miss the eternal.
