Series: A Time To… [#3]
A TIME TO ENDURE
Haggai 2:1-9
Introduction:
Signing up to do something is not that difficult. Sticking with it when there are many valid reasons to quit is not so easy.
Haggai 2:1-5 (NIV)
1 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
Endure when…
1. You are discouraged.
In Ezra 5-6, we find that there was a governor in the area by the name of Tattenai who did not want the Temple to be rebuilt. He sent a letter to King Darius with the intent of stopping building. You can imagine the discouragement experienced at this news; but God told them to be strong because He was with them.
Endure when…
2. You are tired.
Not only was there the stress of Tattenai trying to shut them down, but as the Temple was being built, they were becoming tired. God told them to be strong because He was with them.
Endure when…
3. You are doubting.
There were some who remembered what Solomon’s Temple looked like and this Temple was not going to be anything like it. The people were beginning to have doubts that their efforts would even matter. They were insecure about the size and value of this new Temple. Would God’s presence be found at this lesser Temple? Again, God’s answer was, “Be strong, I am with you”.
Haggai 2:6-9 (NIV)
6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Endure because…
4. God is in control.
Our measurement of success is not like God’s measurement of success. God assured them that He was going to enable them to complete this Temple and it was going to be just like He wanted it. God assured them that He was going fill the Temple with His glory. God reminded them that everything comes from Him and therefore they were not going to run out of anything they needed.
Endure because…
5. God will be victorious.
God is going to shake this world. There is none that can stop God. There is none that can “out smart” God. God and His people will be victorious.
Endure because…
6. God gets the glory.
When God works in our lives, give Him the credit. As the hymn says, “To God be the glory for the things He has done”.
