Chico Alliance Church
Pastor David Welch
"Consider Your Life” Pt 3
Review
God had given favor in the eyes of Cyrus the Persian ruler and he allowed them to return to their homeland. God stirred the hearts of nearly 50,000 people to pack up and leave their familiar surroundings. Some of the young people had grown up in Babylon and had never even seen their homeland. The stirring was to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of the Lord a place demonstrating the centrality of God in their nation. As soon as they arrived, they began work on the temple. Their enemies to the north had a different idea and told the new king of Persia that the Jews were building a fortified building in order to rebel against him.
The Persian ruler put a stop work order and the Jews stopped working for the next 16 years.
The reality is that the stop work order was obtained under false pretenses because Cyrus the previous ruler had in fact given them permission to build the temple. Because they Jews failed to assert their actual authority to build, progress was stopped, the stirred hearts went cold and God allowed their lives to turn difficult. They turned their passions to their own priorities in their own timing. Not unlike what happens when we let Satan, the enemy of our souls, threaten us under false pretenses. God sent Haggai and Zechariah to let them know just how He felt about the whole situation. We have been revisiting the 5 messages of Haggai.
I. Message One -- Consider your calendar (timing) and adjust it to God’s 1:1-2
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
The finishing of the temple was frankly not even scheduled.
The second message came through Haggai on the same day.
II. Message Two -- Consider your priorities and get to work on God’s stuff first 1:3-15
A. Haggai proclaimed the message from God 1:3-4
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
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
Get back to work on the temple in order to please me and that I may again manifest my glory.
B. The people responded to the message
1. The people heard with their heart
2. The people demonstrated reverence for God
3. God affirmed his commitment to them “I am with you!”
4. God stirred their heart for the work 1:14 (Second time)
5. The people went to work (obeyed the call)
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
They went to work in spite of the enemy’s treat. They should have stood up to them 16 years earlier. They lost 16 years of pleasing and glorifying God as well as 16 years of fruitfulness. The consequences of listening to the enemy’s treats were real. They ended up with a self-centered focus. They were displeasing to God. They put themselves under discipline – the Lord “blew” on their life. This time, they stood their ground. This time, the Persian Rule Darius checked the facts. They indeed had permission to rebuild. Darius was familiar with backfires on the enemies of the Jews. His father was married to Queen Esther who saved her people from annihilation due to the conspiracy of Haman who ended up on a gallows along with his family.
God LOVES to turn it back on His enemies. The message thus far is to give God’s projects first priority.
III. Message Three - Consider the future glory and be encouraged 2:1-9
These people had become thoroughly discouraged when they compared the present temple with what some of them remembered of Solomon’s glorious temple. These were probably some of the same people who had been discouraged at the completion of the foundation.
In comparison to Solomon’s glorious temple, this rebuilt version seemed lame. Solomon’s temple had been a glorious building: one of the great wonders of the world. It had been built with the imported cedars of Lebanon, had been decked out with precious stones and the whole thing had been overlaid with tons of gold and silver. The altar, the cherubim, the floor, the front porch and the holy of holies were all covered in gold. Even the nails were gold.
Now a month later, the people who remembered the glory of Solomon’s temple found this task discouraging. They found no delight in completing the task because it seemed anticlimactic. Often our work seems to be inadequate and inconsequential. We can get discouraged at what things look like compared to history or even other churches.
I understand the discouragement of some of you old time members here at Chico.
You remember the “glory days” of Chico.
You remember 250 kids in Sunday School.
You remember youth quiz teams and music teams.
You remember choirs and a flurry of activity and building projects.
You remember young families all over the place.
We sometimes lament that our church is not like the one up the street or doing the things that they are doing. We might even feel discouraged that our church is not like the early church in Acts when thousands were added to the church and huge growth realized.
Some of you lament that your walk is not what it used to be. Some may remember when you had all these dreams and now you are older and your dreams will most likely never materialize in the years you have left. I realized one day that the dreams I had as a pastor will never come about the way I envisioned them I the years I have left on this earth. Some may long for a return to some mountaintop experience you experienced years ago. I can’t tell you that this passage is a direct promise from God. This passage and its promises applied directly to Israel at that particular point in history. I can tell you that there is a timeless principle everyone can hang on to for our day. God sent a message through Haggai to encourage their discouraged thinking. So often God helps us survive the present problems by reminding us of the future possibility. God’s message through Haggai went first to the leaders -- the governors and priests and then to the people. God did three things to deal with their discouragement
• God acknowledged and candidly addressed their discouragement.
On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet saying, "Speak now to Zerubbabel and to Joshua and to the remnant of the people saying, 'Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?
“How do you see it now?”
“Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?”
God didn’t sugar coat it or deny the hurt. God deals in reality. He wanted them to deal with what they were feeling so He could redirect their thinking. God is keenly aware of our life.
• God affirmed His abiding presence – I Am with you!
'But now take courage, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD, 'take courage also, Joshua and all you people of the land take courage,' declares the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts.
The antidote for discouragement is encouragement. God repeats the command “take courage” three times; one for each level in the community. God affirms His power – and promise “declares the LORD of hosts. It is a Hebrew term meaning to hold on, take courage, be encouraged, and be strengthened, stand. The best encouragement ever is to realize that God is in it. God is with us and if He is with us, who can be against us. After Jesus commissioned His disciples with a seemingly impossible task to take the Gospel from the innermost to the outermost He reminded them, “Take note, I am with you even to the end of the age.”
That promise was for ALL believers because those guys died and the end never came before they did. “Take courage and keep engaged in kingdom work because I am with you.”
Sometimes all we need to know is that God is in it. God is with us. God is directing us. He told them not to be afraid because He was with them as He was when they came out of Egypt.
'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!'
Not only can recognition of His presence encourage but bring peace rather than fear.
It is interesting that God spoke to Zerubbabel along this same line through Zechariah.
Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6
Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. "For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth." Zechariah 4:8-10
Do you feel like God has abandoned you? Get back in the game. Get back to work on kingdom work. He promises to be with you and empower you by His Holy Spirit in spite of our weakness.
• God accentuated the future
God moved them from a depressing focus on the past to an encouraging focus on the future.
"For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts. 'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of hosts." 2:1-9
The problem with their external focus on the beauty and size of the first temple was that it is not always the physical that manifests glory; it is God’s presence. The first temple as beautify as it was, forfeited its glory when the presence of the Lord departed.
Glory does not always come from external beauty but the manifested presence of God. God wants his glory to be evident in His followers.
Thus says the LORD, "Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? "For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. Isa 66:1-2
God promised
“I will thorough shake the political systems.”
“I will bring you all the wealth of the world”
“I will fill this place with greater glory than ever before.”
“I will bring peace”
This is a difficult prophecy to pin down. It kind of has a dual fulfillment. The political shaking unfolded in the shaking of Persians by the Greeks and the Greeks by the Romans followed by the presence of Jesus; the Lord of Glory and of Peace in that particular temple. He brought glory and peace between earth and God. But that specific temple was later destroyed by Titus in 70 AD.
There is yet to be a worldwide shaking referred to by Paul in Hebrews as well as a rebuilding of the temple.
This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:27-29
What about us?
In spite of how things look on the surface, if God is in it, there is glory and peace.
His Spirit continually abides with us and eliminates all need to be afraid.
It must be His presence among us that distinguishes us from all others.
He can bring all the necessary resources to accomplish His agenda for us.
He can cause the latter glory of this place to outshine the former.
He can cause us to be at peace and contentment in His presence.
You may think you are on the shelf and you no longer have the resources and energy to make a difference for the kingdom the message is clear. If you are still alive you have responsibility in kingdom service. Don’t’ focus on what you used to be able to do. What does God want you to do right now? When God is in it, the possibilities are endless and glorious. God may do something more glorious now than He did before. We may never see these seats full again.
For sure we won’t if we stop work for the kingdom and focus on the past. We won’t if we let the enemy terrify us or discourage us or distract us. God’s presence opens every and any possibility in the future.
Keep laboring for the kingdom
with a focus on His abiding presence and the promise of future glory.
The promise of His presence certainly does apply directly to us today in kingdom work. Jesus promised He would build his church and even the formidable gates of hell and all the armies of hell can’t stop Him. Peter called those struggling to keep a positive outlook in a horrific present to fix their eyes on the end.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13
Paul called encouraged the Colossians to keep their eyes fixed on the eternal.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4
The writer of Hebrews exhorted his readers to lay aside every sin and encumbrance and run the race of life with endurance by fixing their eyes on Jesus who is perfecting their faith. 12:1-2
Paul told the Galatians not to become weary in well doing because they would see the reward in due time. Will we believe that promise for Chico? Will you believe that promise for yourself?
Keep laboring for the kingdom
with a focus on His abiding presence and the promise of future glory.
They were able to complete the task because they believed God and stopped focusing on the enemy or the externals and celebrated by resuming the sacrifices. Ezra 6:14-18 The following month they reinstated the Passover celebration. Ezra 6:20-22 God was not yet done speaking through Haggai. God not only wanted them to get their priorities and perspective straight but their walk as well.
IV. Message Four - Consider present sin and repent 2:10-19
This message deals with the problem of sin and the promise of fruitfulness.
• The Problem: Sin in the life
On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Haggai the prophet, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Ask now the priests for a ruling: 'If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?' "
And the priests answered, "No." Then Haggai said, "If one who is unclean from a corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?" And the priests answered, "It will become unclean."
Then Haggai said, " 'So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,' declares the LORD, 'and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.
In doing the work of the Lord, we must come with a clean heart and life. A single drop of dirty water can pollute a clean glass of water. A single drop of clean water will not restore a glass of dirty water. The unclean always defiles the clean. Only sacrifice can make the unclean clean.
God was not just interested in just getting work done. He knew His glory would only be reflected by the purity of the people. When we seek to do God's work with an unclean heart we will not realize the fruit of our labors.
'But now, do consider from this day onward: before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD, from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there would be only twenty. 'I smote you and every work of your hands with blasting wind, mildew and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,' declares the LORD. Haggai 2:17
We may work hard in ministry trying to make things work but find that everything we try to do takes us back two steps. It can be due either wrong priorities or sin in our lives.
• The Promise -- future fruitfulness
'Do consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the LORD was founded, consider: 'Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you." ' 2:18-19
Consider your fruitlessness. Acknowledge the problem of sin. Take care of the sin and even though there may have been no fruit before, God promises to bless in the future. Sin does not block blessing forever. Even though there has been sin, God always blesses repentance.
What about Chico?
Do things feel like a blasting wind has hit us? Perhaps there are issues among us that need to be addressed. Perhaps there are things that need to be confessed and cleansed. Disobedient lives hinder effective ministry. Only God can bring the necessary cleaning and He promised that if we confess our sin He will forgive us of that sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Forgiveness and cleansing and pruning produce fruitfulness. God prunes His vineyard that it may bring forth much fruit. (John 15) He will bless us if we humble bow before Him.
V. Message Five -- Consider future Victory and rejoice 2:20-23
• Future Victory for God’s people
Then the word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, "Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, 'I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 'I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another.' 2:20-22
• Future Vindication of God’s leaders
'On that day,' declares the Lord of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel, My servant,' declares the Lord, 'and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,' " declares the Lord of hosts. 2:23
What about Chico?
There are those who have continually cursed this place and these people. God promises to overthrow all those who stand against His work in this place and through these people. God promises ultimate victory and success in Him. Will we trust Him? Will we take courage and get to His work? The message of Haggai is to give careful thought to what is going on in your life for it is a barometer; a measure, an indicator of what is going on in your heart.
• Consider your schedule and adjust it to God’s
• Consider your priorities and ways and work on God’s stuff first
• Consider the promised glory from His presence and take heart
• Consider your fruitlessness due to your sin, repent and come back to Him.
• Consider the victory that God promises to those who serve His agenda and rejoice
After all our consideration we need to hear and obey. We need to hear what God calls us to do and then do it first. Get busy with the business of the kingdom. Instead of dryness we will experience fruitfulness. Where will you serve? What will you do?
