CONSIDER YOUR WAYS
Haggai 1:4-15; 2:18-19
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: THE FAILING TELEMARKETER
1. I heard that leading up to Christmas, telemarketing companies were giving away Christmas Hams and having good reactions from those they called, except one telemarketer, named Larry.
2. He was given a list of 300 names, and began by saying, "Congratulations! You've just won a Christmas ham." For four hours, as soon as he got the opening line out of his mouth, the prospects hung up.
3. Meanwhile, the other telemarketers were making sales right and left. When his supervisor came by, Larry asked what he was doing wrong.
4. “Perhaps it’s the list,” said the supervisor, handing him another list. "You've been trying to give away hams to Orthodox Jews!"
B. SCRIPTURE
4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while [My] house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but [aren’t] full. You put on clothes, but aren’t warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.” 12 Then...the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord....14 They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
C. BACKGROUND OF THE STORY
1. RETURN FROM EXILE. After the 70 years of exile because of their sins, God brought the Jews back to Palestine, to their own land, in 537 B.C. As soon as they came up out of captivity, they set up an altar for sacrifice, and started building the foundation of the Temple, Ezra 3:10. They worked off-and-on for two years.
2. OPPOSITION ENCOUNTERED. Their work was strongly opposed by other nations, who had moved into their lands, and they were forced to quit working. In time the opposition ceased, but they didn’t renew their work on the Temple. Sixteen (16) years passed with no more efforts to build the Temple. Then God began to speak to them through the prophets Haggai & Zechariah.
3. The title of this message is “Consider Your Ways.”
I. WHY WEREN’T THEY WORKING ON GOD’S HOUSE? (OBEYING GOD?)
A. “IT’S NOT THE RIGHT TIME TO BUILD”
1. They had time to build their own houses, but not to work on God’s Church.
2. People say, “Church is important, but some other things are higher on my priority list...”
• Ball games are more important,
• Fishing, hunting - more important,
• My hobby is more important,
• Taking Sunday off is more important,
• Making money is more important.
3. God says, “Really? You’re going to put Me & My Kingdom below your own common activities?”
4. DOES THE DEVIL HAVE MORE DEDICATED WORKERS THAN GOD? The kingdom of darkness has many champions for its cause, people working to move society into darkness and atheism.
5. Where are the servants of God? Where are those who labor to serve in God’s physical House? Doesn’t God deserve higher devotion than the devil? Are we treating God as He deserves? Another thing the Israelites said was...
B. “IT’S NOT CONVENIENT FOR US TO WORK”
1. The Roman Prefect, Felix, told Paul he would postpone making a decision to receive Christ until a “more convenient season.” People say, “I’ll obey God, just not now.” How many of you know that delayed obedience is really disobedience?
2. People say, “If God wanted me to do something, He’d make it easy for me.”
3. ILLUS.: EASY BUTTON. The Staples Company has made a fortune with their “easy button” commercials. In the commercial, when you pushed the button, whatever you’d been wanting to get done was instantly done. It would be nice if there was such a thing as an easy button. It’s just not that way.
C. OBEDIENCE IS USUALLY NOT AN EASY THING
1. Jesus going to the cross, wasn’t easy. Abram offering his son, wasn’t easy. Deborah leading the army into battle, wasn’t easy. Paul & Silas facing hostile mobs, wasn’t easy.
2. Obedience is the test of our love for God. Difficulties are God’s way of testing our courage and faith; so let’s don’t blame God for OUR neglect of duty!
3. If there was ever a time when we ought to be busy building God’s Church, it’s NOW! Why?
II. WHY BE WORKING? PERILOUS TIMES
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” 2 Tim. 3:1. We live in a DANGEROUS time. What makes it so perilous? It’s a time of...
A. DEADLY VIRUSES
1. Chinese scientists have “created” a new covid strain that’s 100% lethal in humanized mice. They discovered it in an armadillo-like creature called a Pangolin, in Malaysia.
2. Experts say it might be as fatal as the Black Plague. The virus is unique in that it attacks the eyes & brain. Part of the funding is coming from the USA! https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/chinese-scientists-create-covid-strain-with-100-kill-rate-in-mice/ar-AA1n4GCd
B. ARE WARS THROUGH-OUT THE WORLD
1. RUSSIA & UKRAINE WAR. It’s likely to pull in NATO countries as early as July 2024, according to leaked documents from German military, and announcements from Sweden, Estonia, and the UK. In other words, the Ukraine war is about to get a lot bigger. Some are calling it the onset of WW3!
2. The ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR, which probably will soon involve Hezbollah in Syria, & Iran.
3. IRAN has, this week, bombed Iraq & Afghanistan.
4. CHINA is threatening to annex (attack & seize) TAIWAN. 66% of the world’s advanced computer chips are made in Taiwan. Our cars, planes, water & sewage plants, phones, electrical grid, weapons, etc., can’t run without them. The loss of Taiwan chips could put the world economy into depression. (Not to mention that Taiwan is adjacent to S. Korea & Japan – our main steel producers.)
C. PERSECUTION IS ON THE RISE WORLDWIDE
Since 2014, persecution of Christians has risen significantly on every continent. Over 360 million Christians are suffering persecution.
1. MUSLIM countries are the biggest persecutors.
2. COMMUNISTS – 118 million Chinese Christians.
3. INDIA – 70 million Christians face hatred.
4. CENTRAL & S. AMERICA – Drug Cartels attack Christians in their vicinity.
5. In THE WEST – atheists & LGBTQ are attacking Christians for their beliefs, & persecution WILL come. [“Persecution Trends to Watch in 2024: examples of Christian persecution today,” 1/12/24 by Abigail Hart]
6. Then there’s always NUCLEAR THREATS from North Korea and Iran. A 4th reason to be working...
D. JESUS’ 2ND COMING IS NEAR
1. If there was ever a time we ought to be serving God with all our hearts, it’s now! Paul said, “The night is nearly over; the Day [of Christ’s coming] is at hand. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” Rom. 13:12.
2. If the church was in the “Last Days” 2,000 years ago, then we must be in the last “moments” right now. The SIGNS of Jesus’ coming are all around us. This is no time to goof off, daydream, or get caught up in this world.
III. GOD SAYS, “CONSIDER YOUR WAYS”
A. NEGLECT TURNED-OFF THE BLESSINGS
1. When the Israelites quit working for God, God turned off their blessings. The Israelites claimed they couldn’t afford the time; they needed their time to provide for their families, but it backfired. Poverty came on them because they were poor towards God.
2. God said (Hag 1:6), “You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
3. Do you think the Jews were praying daily? Yes. Were they reading their Scriptures? Yes. Were they going regularly to the Temple? Yes. BUT GOD WAS STILL NOT PLEASED WITH THEM! Why? Because THEY WEREN'T WORKING ON HIS HOUSE! The same is true of us today, if we're not helping build Christ's church, we're still displeasing Him! HOW ARE YOU HELPING HIS LOCAL CHURCH TO GROW? Jesus said, “I will build My Church & the gates of Hell won’t prevail....”
B. ILLUS.: TEAMWORK ESSENTIAL
1. [Take a broom. Cut out a handful of straw.] Call up 3 volunteers to the front. Give each of them a single straw. Then ask them to sweep the foyer floor with their one piece of straw.
2. IS IT POSSIBLE? NO! Why? Because it takes all the straws united into a broom to be able to sweep. So it is with the church; it can’t do its job if only a few of the members are trying to sweep. It requires a unified effort!
C. PUTTING GOD’S KINGDOM FIRST
1. As Paul lamented in Phip. 2:21, “All the others are looking out for their own interests. They are not looking out for the interests of Jesus Christ” NIRV.
2. That’s why the Lord Jesus said in Matt. 6:31-33, “So do not worry [about what you’ll] eat...drink...wear ....But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If you seek God’s best, God will look after your best.
D. ILLUSTRATION: The Unseen Hand
1. One Queen of England called in a leading British businessman and asked him to represent the UK government in S.E. Asia for 2 years. He said, “Your Majesty, I can’t possibly be away from my business for that long without financial harm!”
2. The Queen locked eyes with him and said, “Sir, if you take care of MY business, I’ll take care of YOUR business!” He did what she asked, and when he returned, he found his business had grown significantly due to the Queen’s favor.
3. GOD will do the same for those who sacrifice their own interests in favor of His interests! You can’t out-give God!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: Danger of Playing with Sin
1. Newsweek Mag. reported in May, 2022, a story entitled, “Snake Charmer Dies After Playing With Cobra.” It was about a 60-year-old snake charmer, named James Henry, well-known & experienced, for his ability to catch, handle, and kill highly venomous snakes in northwestern Tanzania.
2. James Henry was called into a village to remove two cobras, when an incident occurred, East African news, “Tuko” reported.
3. Henry caught and killed one of the cobras, only leaving one still loose in the village. He was able to capture the remaining snake; however, he began playing with it, in order to enthrall the villagers.
4. “The snake lunged and bit Henry on his finger and mouth,” said James Manyama, assistant commissioner of police. “He was immediately taken to a local hospital where he was treated with anti-venom, but he died during treatment.” [“Snake Charmer Dies After Playing With Cobra,” by Robyn White, 5/16/22, NewsWeek.]
5. WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THIS MAN? He began believing he could play with danger, that he could manage his environment, that he could ignore the red flags and warnings! That's like a lot of Christians today who think they're an exception and will still go to Heaven even though they're disobedient to God.
6. We have been raised to believe that God will lower the standards for us, that we are an exception to the rule. We've been raised with the Bell Curve, so we think that our teacher, our employer, and even God must bend the rules for us. Surely God won't condemn everyone. But we're wrong; we've forgotten about the Flood of Noah, how only 8 people were saved! God didn't care about numbers, and He's NOT going to bend the rules for you! You need to repent and start obeying God!
7. The poison of sin is in our veins NOW. There’s only one Anti-venom – the Blood of Jesus. We must have a transfusion! Jesus gave ALL His blood for you. Will you receive it?
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you need the Anti-venom of Jesus’ blood to cleanse you and make you whole?
2. “Is it time for you to be living in your paneled houses while God’s house remains a ruin?" GOD SAYS, “CONSIDER YOUR WAYS. ARE WE PLEASING GOD?
3. I’m opening up the altars for all who want to take God’s words seriously. Let’s come down and spend some time praying and asking God to forgive us and help us to do His will. PRAYER
