Chico Alliance Church
Pastor David Welch
"Consider Your Life” Pt 1
Introduction
Have you ever worked your head off and found little satisfaction when it was all over? Do you feel like the more money you earn the less there seems to be? Does whatever you do feel like a pointless chore or a bitter task generating little results? Do you try to save, but when it comes to spending what you saved or set aside, it obtains far less than expected? Do you feel like you are consuming more and enjoying it less? If you find yourself answering yes to any of these questions, you may find a cause and a solution by considering five little messages sent by God to the Israelites through the prophet Haggai. The same things that caused the Israelites to experience many of these things are true in our generation as well. God called them to consider life from an eternal perspective.
God called them to consider their calendars.
He called them to consider their priorities.
He called them to consider their future potential.
He called them to consider their failure to fully follow God.
He called them to consider His promise of victory.
Background
The united kingdom of Israel had become a good sized and notorious nation under David and Solomon. Solomon's son did not follow good advice and caused the kingdom to split into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern kingdom (Judah). A splinter group that occurs from dissension rarely does very well and thus the Northern kingdom continued in sin their whole existence; both the people and the kings. In 722BC God finally followed through on numerous prophetic warnings of judgment by sending the ruthless Assyrians to ravage the land and deport the people. The Southern kingdom roller coastered up and down until God administered final judgment and captivity at the hand of Babylonians about 586BC. After 7 difficult decades of discipline by the Lord, the Jews finally realized their reoccurring rebellion and idolatrous ways.
In answer to their prayers, God caused them to find favor under Persian ruler and allowed them to return to their own land in various caravans. These were the remnant. These were not the same rebellious people who refused to give up their other gods earlier. These were those who had been humbled and finally learned the lesson of trusting God alone. A group of these god-fearing people returned under the leadership of Zerrubabel. Upon arrival, they immediately set up an altar to the Lord and set about to rebuild the temple. Within the year (536) they managed to restore the foundations for the temple. They had sacrificed their resources and managed to gather significant financing; nearly five million in gold and another half million in silver had been collected. However, due some hardship and preoccupation with other things, construction on the temple came to a halt up till the time of Haggai and Zechariah. (520 -- a period of about 16 years). That is the state of things at the time that God commissions Haggai to address the situation.
These were good people, in the right place who got sidetracked along the way. These were people used to sacrifice and hardship leaving the glory of Babylon with all its wealth to start over and scratch a new world in a decimated land. Somehow, in spite of their devotion to God, they found themselves sidetracked from the goal. God used Haggai to deliver five pointed messages delivered over a four month period to get them back on track. We will consider those messages today and next week looking for what principles and similarities can be drawn and applied concerning the people of Chico Alliance. What can we learn about how God feels and what He expects of us from His words spoken through His faithful ambassador some 2500 years ago?
I. Message One -- Consider your calendar (timing) and adjust it to God’s 1:1-2
These people had taken it upon themselves to dictate the timing for doing God’s will.
In the second year of Darius the king (of the Persian Empire), on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, Zerubbabel was the one who had lead a caravan from Babylon back to Jerusalem. (BC 538)
Within 2 years of their return they began to rebuild the temple (BC 536). They got a foundation laid and then all work stopped. Sixteen years later, God sent Haggai to the civil and religious leaders. The “word of the Lord” indicates a direct message for a specific situation. This would be considered a “rhema”. This was the Lord applying the written word to a specific situation and time.
Notice two time stamps on the message.
A Gentile stamp – 2nd year of Darius the Persian Emperor.
A Hebrew stamp – 1st day of the sixth month (Our August / September) – new moon.
Haggai identified the Lord as the Lord of hosts or the Almighty; commander and chief of the heavenly army and the world. Haggai was faithful to pass on exactly what this Almighty said.
This is what the Lord Almighty says:
"These people say, `The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built.'" 1:1-2
Notice that the Lord did not address the people as “my people” but as “these people”. There seems to be an atmosphere of disconnect. God is not pleased about something. At the moment, He does feel that endeared to them or by them. They had put God’s priority project of building the temple on the back burner. They were operating on their own time table; their calendar. At the moment their calendar did not have a date circled for resuming work on the temple. When we ask our children to do a job we often hear, “Yea, I’ll do it latter!” Sometimes that may be all right, but sometimes the timing is as crucial as the task. When we take it upon ourselves to dictate when we will do the Lord's work, we can always find reasons to put it off a little longer and still feel spiritual about it. There is always more we could do with the family. There will always be more urgent things to consume resources. As long as we intend to obey, we figure God understands and is pleased.
We so often evaluate ourselves by our intentions rather than our actions. Conviction and repentance (change) are not the same. One precedes the other. Conviction without repentance is incomplete. Delayed obedience is disobedience and disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft and idolatry. (1 Sam 15:23).
Doing God's will has as much to do with the timing as it does the task itself. God is outside of time but He operates in time. Jesus came “at the right time”. God’s timing is critical and He determined that rebuilding a place for the community to gather to focus on the Lord was of first priority. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own things that the work of the Lord gets delayed, put aside and even forgotten. “But my family IS the work of the Lord.” “I have to make a living and support my family don't I?" Yes, God has given us a ministry to our families.
Remember, these people had families too.
Notice, they were not refusing to work on God's things. They just were doing it on their own time table. Time is life and life is time. Therefore, it is important to do things on God’s timetable because we never know whether we even have a tomorrow or if what God asks us to do now will save our life tomorrow. God called them to consider their calendar and His calendar. They are not always the same. We need to let God’s calendar dictate our calendar.
Most of the time, if it doesn’t get scheduled, it doesn’t get done. There are two things that reveal a person’s real value system; their calendar and their check book. What we do with our time and treasures indicate what we value most. They don’t lie. They can’t be faked.
In this case, the calendar of the Hebrews did not have a date to finish what God considered vital to their community.
What can we learn in relation to Chico from these messages?
God’s temple was an earthly window into a spiritual reality. The earthly reflected the reality of an unseen temple in the heavenlies. The temple was where connection with the Almighty took place. The temple was where God manifested His glory to and through the community. It was where connection in the community took place.’ It was a place where the community heard from God. It was where learning took place. It was where relationship was restored through regular acknowledgment of sin and atonement.
It is clear in the New Testament that for the Christian, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
It is within our regenerated spirit that these things take place. This building and grounds is not Chico Alliance church. It is more accurate to say that Chico Alliance local family meets here.
However this building and grounds do belong to God and how we take care of “His house” and its inhabitants does make a statement concerning our values and our priorities concerning His stuff which is an indicator of His priority in our lives. Like the Hebrew people of that day, there is a history of hard work, devotion and even sacrificial giving of the people of Chico.
Some who were in on the ground floor of the building and the ministry are still here. Most have a true desire to see God’s presence reflected from this place and the glory of God evident in all that we do. Yet it seems some of us have become sidetracked along the way. When are we going to do God’s work on God’s timetable? We know what needs to be done. Are we willing to do what needs to be done now before our “stuff”? Will you consider your calendar and adjust it to God’s calendar. What would God saying to us today?
“This people say…”
The Lord spoke to Haggai a second time with another observation related to the first to pass on to the leaders and people. (Most likely on the same day.)
II. Message Two -- Consider your priorities and work on God’s stuff first 1:3-15
A. Haggai proclaimed the message from God 1:3-4
In putting off what God wanted them to do, these people demonstrated that their priorities were misplaced which God’s second word through Haggai pointedly addressed.
Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" 1:3-4
The expected or implied answer to this question would have been, “NO”! Not only had the people become indifferent concerning God’s time table but to God’s priority. God rebuked the people for minding their own things first to the neglect of His temple. Their priorities were out of place. It was not a matter of sacrificing one for the other. It was a matter of which held first priority.
“I will concentrate on the Lord’s business when I finish mine.”
“I will give money to the Lord when my income grows bigger.”
“I will dedicate time to church family ministry when I retire or the kids are grown.”
God said that this was NOT the time. There would be time later. NOW was the time to finish God’s house first. The problem wasn’t that the people worked on their houses but they were already into remodeling and accessorizing. It had been 16 years since anyone had worked on God’s stuff. They were not content with the basics. They had progressed from basic living conditions to extravagance. They not only had walls and ceilings but now they were adding all kinds of extras. Decorations, wanes coating tapestries etc. while the temple continued without basic walls or ceilings. Their own stuff was their focus. God’s stuff was still on hold; way down the priority list.
The principle of first-fruits is intended to keep our focus on who is first and the reason we even have what we have in the first place. The priority of Jesus above all is the Father’s ultimate goal. God’s agenda is that Jesus might come to have first place in everything. The principle here is the same as Christ's admonition in the New Testament to seek the kingdom of God first and then God will supply the necessities of life. As a result of following faulty priorities, they ended up loosing the very thing they had worked so hard to accomplish.
God called them first to “Consider your priorities!”
Haggai then exhorted the people to consider their ways.
Literally the Hebrew reads “set your heart on your ways” Think about where you are in your journey. It indicated an intentional and intense focus. Set your heart on figuring out what is happening. He urged them to think about what was going on in their life and why it might be that way.
Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways! "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." Haggai 1:5-6
These people were struggling in life in spite of their hard work. We have a tendency to adapt to difficult situations and not question why. We forget that things may sometimes be happening for a reason. God may be trying to get our attention. Our struggles may be the consequence of our own actions or inaction. Instead of looking at what God may be trying to say or the fact that we might be on the wrong track, we sometimes even blame Him for not blessing us or we try to redouble our own efforts. We may get angry and disappointed at God when it is really us who have the problem. The things of eternal value have slid down the priority scale.
God called them to think about their priorities, consider what was going on in their life and then to get to work on His stuff first.
Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!”Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD. 1:7-8
Again He called them to an intentional and intense focus. Do something about it NOW!
Work on the My temple NOW! Why?
To please the Lord
To glorify the Lord
Why should we give God’s things first priority? It pleases Him! It glorifies Him!
It is possible they needed to get more wood because all the wood set aside for the temple project had been used up on their own houses. How many times have we spent precious resources intended for God’s eternal project on our own temporal project? When we give attention to God’s work, it draws attention to Him. When we make Him our first priority it warms his heart and puts a smile on His face. Of course the opposite is also true. God reinforced the consequences of not giving His agenda first priority.
"You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.
"Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. "I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands." 1:9-11
God told them that the reason they had to work so hard to achieve and get ahead and yet never seem to arrive is because their priorities were not right and He blew it away. He blew it away to get their attention and to get them to consider their ways. It was not just a coincidence or fate but God actively took action against them. We can never go wrong giving God first priority.
We don't like this but Jesus made right priorities clear.
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26
Friends, we can't afford not to give God priority over our time and resources. The reason for their troubles was failure to do what God had asked when He asked them and to put His agenda first. God called the people to evaluate the things going on in their lives.
• Little harvest
• Little satisfaction
• Continual thirst
• Not warm enough
• Not enough paycheck to go around
• Shattered dreams
• Little accomplishment in spite of much labor
• Dwindling investments
All because they failed to consider their ways in relations to God’s ways. They put their agenda first and put off God’s agenda. Their heart was set on themselves ahead of God which amounts to idolatry. Whenever we serve someone or something else ahead of God or in place of God is idolatry. What was the people’s response to this piercing proclamation of Haggai from God?
This was a piercing message that pricked the heart of both the leaders and the people.
B. The people responded to the message
There are five things that happened as a result of Haggai’s message regarding priorities.
Not all proclamations of the Word result in such wonderful result. This is a pastor’s dream come true.
1. The people heard with their heart
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed (listened) the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him.
The word for obey can also be translated “hear”. There was really no concept of hearing without obeying. The people heard and understood. The reason I opt for translating the word as hearing here in this passage is because the actual active obedience didn’t come until a bit later. Therefore, I think that something first transpired in their heart. There was a heart change before there was a behavior change. They experienced renewed thinking before transformed living.
They were convicted about their neglect and actually heard what God was saying to them about priorities; ready to do something about it. They understood the cause of their troubles and took responsibility.
2. The people demonstrated reverence for God
And the people showed reverence for (feared) the LORD. 1:12
Because they understood the message, they responded from the heart in worship. They demonstrated reverence and awe in a true fear of the Lord. We’re really talking about a repentant heart in response to hearing God’s voice. They took to heart how they had treated God. They turned their heart toward God again to give Him his rightful place.
Worship is more than singing a heart-stirring song. It has to do with bowing in submission and serving God as He deserves. As a result of a repentant heart, God responded in return.
God loves to respond to repentant hearts. Much of the time why we don’t hear from God is because of a heart problem. He speaks but we have hardened our heart to hear.
They went from a messed up priority and a selfish heart to listening to and fearing God.
They brought His stuff to the top of the list. Their value system changed.
3. God affirmed his commitment to them
As a result of the softening of their heart and their attentiveness to God, He spoke through Haggai again and affirmed something that has inspired people from the beginning of time and occurs all through the Bible.
Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke by the commission of the LORD to the people saying, " 'I am with you,' declares the LORD." 1:13
“I am with you!” What a change from “these people.” There appears to be a restoration of relationship. This is a phrase that indicates commitment. When God promises He will be with us, He means He is committed to us. He wants our company. He is committed to our welfare.
“Be with me” is a plea for intimacy and support. God’s declaration of “I am with you” indicates support and intimacy. Jesus told his disciples who were about to embark on an impossible ministry of world-wide impact, “I am with you always even to the end of the age.” Nearly every effective leader in the Bible heard these words at one time or another. It is our only hope.
All of their success is attributed to the fact that “God was with them.” Here, God reaffirmed his support and commitment to see them through and show His presence. God promised that because they made Him first, He would hang with them.
4. God motivated their heart for the work 1:14
Not only did God promise His presence, He also motivated their heart.
So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people
This isn’t the first time God caused a sweeping awakening among a people. It began with the civil and religious leaders and spread to all the people. The word means to awake, stir up something dormant or sleepy. Do we need the coals of our heart fired up for the things of God today! Not just our emotions but a genuine moving of our inner spirit to genuine life change.
5. The people went to work (obeyed the call)
Just what did that stirring bring about?
and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king. 1:14-15
Twenty-four days after the first call to consider their ways the people obeyed and focused on rebuilding the house of the Lord. This is a sequence that any true messenger of God lives for.
Not applause, not fame, not fortune or even a pat on the back, although that is nice. It was Paul’s passion. It is my passion.
• That people would respond to the Word of God and take it to heart (listen).
• That people would be inspired to worship God in reverence and awe.
• That people would hear God reaffirm his commitment to be with them
• That people would sense a stirring within the depths of their heart to kingdom work
• That would will actually accomplish God’s agenda for their life and truly obey.
What about Chico?
Oh boy! Have we failed to always put God first? This place represents God in the community.
This place reflects our commitment to God. Whether we like it or not, some people judge our level of commitment to God by the way this place looks. This place ought to be the first priority in all out lives. If we can’t do the work ourselves, pay to have it done.
It should be the sharpest property in the community!
Not only the property and grounds but the things we are called to do in ministry.
We need to look around. Not just to be negative about things but to be honest about the state of affairs. Sunday School, children’s church, small groups, fellowship times, services, opportunities for caring, follow-up, outreach, commitment to prayer. We wonder why things may not be going so well in our life or the life of our church family. We wonder why we are not experiencing the glory of a vibrant ministry. Perhaps, in part, it is because our priorities are not in line. Perhaps it is because our stuff comes before God’s stuff and God is blowing our stuff away in order to get our attention.
I am calling us to really hear God’s voice this morning and respond.
Show Him reverence by putting him first and acknowledging our inadequate response.
I can assure you that God has promised never to leave you or forsake you. He is here even this moment talking and moving among us. Listen!!
Embrace Him.
“Be the first not the last or even the second.
“Be my Lord not my servant.
Submit to Him
I will listen and obey
I will worship you
Be with me
Stir my heart
I will get to work on…
