CONSIDER YOUR WAYS: A CALL TO HOLINESS
LOOK OUTWARD
Haggai 1:1-6
Big Idea: When we allow the common to take priority over the call of God we will sense an emptiness that can only be solved by returning with a repentant heart.
Supporting Scripture:
• Psalm 51:1-12
• Lamentations 3:31-40
• Romans 12:1-3
INTRO:
You are looking at a series of pictures on the screen. As you look at each I want you to try and figure out what they all have in common. Did you catch it?
• Yes, they are all broken down buildings.
• Yes, they are all churches.
Its kind of sad isn’t it? Some of those structures were magnificent cathedrals while others were small country churches but in each case they show the signs of neglect and deterioration. Not only that, there was a time when each was filled with hope and faith. Those buildings were prayed over and dedicated to God’s glory. There was passionate worship and dreams of changing a world … but now …
It often happens over time … the house of God, “the temple” is neglected. At first the signs are subtle but they gain momentum as they continue to be neglected. All that is needed is for nature to take its course and, low and behold, you have atrophy.
Now hear me, what is true of brick and mortar is true of the soul as well. All you need to do to watch “nature take its course” is neglect the temple within and, sure enough, slowly but methodically it begins to deteriorate … to erode.
We never meant for that to happen.
There were times when we filled this “house” “this temple” with faith and hope. We worshipped fully. We even dedicated ourselves to God’s glory and His work in the world but, by assuming things will always be well and letting things run on autopilot, we all but guaranteed deterioration of the soul.
Haggai speaks of the neglected temple of Jerusalem. He calls God’s people to something better. He holds them accountable. He sees a glorious revival as a result.
The Spirit today uses the words of Haggai and calls God’s people to look at the neglected temple too. The only difference is the temple of our age is within us. Many New Testament writers frequently refer to Christians and Jesus’ church with temple imagery.
• Peter uses temple imagery when he says, “As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)
• The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
• And again, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
• When speaking of the church, Paul tells the Ephesians, “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:18-21)
• Even Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)
The Spirit calls today with the prophetic voice of Haggai. He calls us to holiness. He calls us to repentance and repair.
God wants His temple restored for worship and service.
“Consider Your Ways.”
Four times in this short book of 2 chapters and 38 verses Haggai says, “Consider your ways!”
He points out the desperate need for God’s people to examine their hearts and to search out the direction of their lives. He shows them that they have allowed common, work-a-day, items to take precedence over God’s call and … well … hasn’t that always been the genius of idolatry? Putting any idea, person, goal, or commitment on a par with or above the Living God?
Four times Haggai says “Consider your ways.” He challenges God’s people to look in 4 different directions (or from different perspectives) at the neglected temple.
• In 1:1-6 he suggests they need to “LOOK OUTWARD” and see the very clear signs of neglect.
• In 1:7-15 Haggai challenges them to “LOOK INWARD” and see the spiritual atrophy.
• In 2:1-17 the prophet says to “LOOK BACKWARD” and see what God can do.
• In 2:18-23 he says to “LOOK HEAVENWARD” and discover the only source for ongoing help with holiness.
“Consider your ways”
I think the Spirit is charging God’s people to give careful thought to the direction of the paths and plans of their heart today as well. Like Haggai’s day, the Spirit is not asking us to revel in what we have done but rather to consider what we have not done.
Let’s read Haggai 1:1-6 (ESV).
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: CONSIDER YOUR WAYS. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
Haggai 1:1-6 (ESV)
Today, as we “LOOK OUTWARD” at the evidence of neglect we must:
I) STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR DISOBEDIENCE AND NEGLECT
Verse 2 suggests Haggai’s neighbors had well-rehearsed excuses. There was, in fact, probably a common saying that they all used to excuse their neglect of the temple and manage their other priorities.
Their excuse was, in effect, a roundabout accusation that it was God’s fault things had not improved. They were, in essence saying, “If God wanted us to give the temple attention then he’d bless our other endeavors so we had time.”
Trust me on this … if the house of God, the temple, which is your life, is in disarray – sin is present. And if sin is present it is because you have chosen to be disobedient … to not live by the truth of Scripture.
I am working on a series of sermons for this winter about Evangelism from the Book of Acts. One of the books I am researching is looking at the lives and lifestyles of the first-century Christians. Listen to what Michael Green says about obedience.
“Those disciples discovered that they had to get right and stay right if He was going to be able to use them. … It is plain that obedience had proved the path to usefulness.
It would probably not be an exaggeration to say that disobedience is one of the main characteristics of modern Christianity. We know what Jesus teaches but we do not do it. Disobedience in sexual morals, in relationships, in attitudes, in begrudging our money, in unwillingness for change. Our disobedience is not marginal to our lives; it is central. We do not make time to spend with God, but give it all to our work and pleasure. We do not set our affection on things above and find treasure in heaven, but are more materialistic that any previous generation has ever been.
God can do wonders through an obedient person, however limited their capacities. God cannot and will not use a habitually disobedient person, however great their talents. The obedience of these first disciples … was one of the main reasons for the spread of the early church.”
{Michael Green, “Thirty Years that Changed the World” P. 43-44, portions}
But God is again saying, “Hey! Look around. Do you know why it seems like your bags have holes in them and you never get satisfied? It’s because you are chasing the wrong priorities. If you’ll seek me first and my righteousness all these other things will be added to you!”
The fault, you see, for not tending to God’s temple, “this house,” is ours and ours alone.
And the first step in considering our ways is to stop making excuses and rationalizing our behavior.
I) STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR DISOBEDIENCE AND NEGLECT
II) WE MUST MAKE GOD’S PRIORITIES OUR PRIORITIES
Making God’s priorities our priorities is what this little book is about. And God’s priority is to worship him. And there’s the conundrum … he is to be worshiped in the temple and they had neglected the temple.
Nothing has changed in our day. The temple is still the worship-center of God. Paul knew that when he wrote: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-3).
Priority #1 for the believer is our relationship with God. When anything else supersedes that we will feel like we have bags with holes in it – we will be empty.
So let me ask you … Do you feel empty?
• Are you sowing more and harvesting less?
• Are you eating and drinking more and enjoying it less?
• Are you wearing more and feeling less warmth?
• Are you earning more and able to buy less?
May I suggest that the reason for your emptiness is that God is trying to capture your attention?
You see, all too often we have placed other goals, interests, and joys ahead of the place we should have reserved for the Living God. These other things may all be good and important but they have usurped a priority that belongs to God.
• Our children’s educations
• Our children’s little league games
• Our advancement in the company
• Our leisure time on the weekends.
The priorities we chase in our day-to-day lives testify to our buy-in with modern advertisements that we should “have it our way.” But God calls us to make a radical break. Doing anything less is simply a modern form of ancient idolatry. The result has been calamitous.
The more we seek self-satisfaction, the less we achieve it.
God’s house in in ruins. It is a warning sign to you that your priorities are out of whack. That alone is a call to repentance.
I) STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR DISOBEDIENCE AND NEGLECT
II) WE MUST MAKE GOD’S PRIORITIES OUR PRIORITIES
WRAP-UP
III) WE MUST CONFESS AND ABANDON THE SELF-CENTEREDNESS
Do not miss this … the religious condition of the people’s hearts could be directly gauged by their attitude towards God’s temple. Their lavish spending on themselves exposed their hypocrisy and sin.
“Consider your ways” … those words could almost have been written yesterday couldn’t they? Like the people in Haggai’s day we have our priorities wrong.
• Yes, we believe in God
• Yes we mean to spend more time with Him
• Yes we are planning to come to church more regularly
• Yes we … and the list goes on
But deep down we put our families, our work, our stuff, and sometimes even our leisure time first. And Haggai’s call to us is to LOOK OUTWARD and ask, “just what place the Lord has in our lives?”
As with any Old Testament passage we have to read Haggai’s words alongside the words of Jesus. I will close with these words from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
He who has ears to hear
Let them hear
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
First Church of the Nazarene
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
www.banazarene.org
