Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to three previous sermons:  Consider Your Priorities - Haggai 1:5    
                                                                                         Consider the Lord's Pleasure - Haggai 1:8      
                                                                                         Consider Our Lord's Purpose - Haggai 2:10-19    

Haggai 2:10 gives the report, “In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying.”  Then in Haggai 2:18-19 we come to the conclusion of that message where our Lord declared through His prophet, “Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it.  Is the seed yet in the barn?  Yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.”  Finally, in Haggai 2:20-23 our Lord delivered a second message on the same day through His prophet Haggai.  There we read, “And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.  In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.”

In Haggai 2:15-17 the Lord had instructed His people at that time to consider His hand of chastening against them and to consider His purpose in that chastening.  Yet in Haggai 2:18-19 the Lord instructed them to consider another matter.  In these two verses, the Lord gave promise to reverse their situation.  Until that time His hand of chastening had been against them, but from that time forward He promised to open His hand of blessing upon them.  At the end of verse 19, the Lord proclaimed, “From this day will I bless you.”  He had confronted them and chastened them for their sinful priorities and ways, and they had repented of those sinful priorities and ways.  Thus from that day of their repentance forward, the Lord promised to bless them.  Even so, the Lord instructed them to consider His promise.  In like manner, we ourselves also need to consider our Lord’s promise to those who will repent of their sinful ways and return unto the Lord.

Outlines in Psalms

Psalm 145:1-2 – “David’s Psalm of praise.  I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.  Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.”

1.  The Lord is to be praised greatly for His greatness. (Psalm 145:3-6)
2.  The Lord is to be praised greatly for His goodness. (Psalm 145:7-9)
3.  The Lord is to be praised greatly for His gloriousness. (Psalm 145:10-13)
4.  The Lord is to be praised greatly for His graciousness. (Psalm 145:14-20)

Psalm 145:21 – “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”

Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to a previous sermon:  Consider Your Priorities - Haggai 1:5    

Haggai 1:1-8 reads, “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.  Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?  Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.  Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.  Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.”

In the time of Haggai the prophet the Lord’s people were neglecting the Lord’s work.  The specific work to which they had been called was to rebuild the Lord’s house, the physical temple in Jerusalem.  Yet they were allowing the Lord’s house, the Lord’s temple, to lie waste.  They had a problem in their priorities.  They had set their priorities upon their own interests rather than upon the Lord’s work.  In the use of their time, they claimed to have no time for the Lord’s work.  Yet the Lord indicated that they seemed to have plenty of time for their own interests.  In Haggai 1:2-4 the Lord confronted them, saying, “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.  Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?”  Also in the work of their effort, they completely disregarded the Lord’s work while they ran with all effort after their own interests.  In Haggai 1:9 the Lord confronted them, saying, “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.  Why? saith the LORD of hosts.  Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” 

Because of their wrong priorities, the Lord brought His hand of chastening against them.  In Haggai 1:6 He declared, “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”  Again in Haggai 1:9-11 He declared, “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it [to blow it away].  Why? saith the LORD of hosts.  Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.  Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.  And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.”

Yes, the Lord confronted them for their wrong priorities, chastened them for those wrong priorities, and challenge them to consider the sinfulness of their wrong priorities.  Haggai 1:5 proclaims, “Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.”  Again Haggai 1:7 proclaims, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.”  Yet then the Lord counseled them on how they might correct their wrong priorities.  In Haggai 1:8 He declared, “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.”  First, they were to consider their priorities.  Then they were to consider the Lord’s pleasure.  The Lord’s hand of chastening was against them because of their wrong priorities.  Yet the Lord was willing to place His hand of pleasure upon them if they would correct their wrong priorities.  So then, brethren, what about us today?  Do we at all desire that the Lord our God should take pleasure in our lives?  Do we at all desire that the Lord our God should take pleasure in our work and service for Him?  Would we rather have our Lord’s hand of chastening against us or His hand of pleasure upon us?

Outlines in Psalms

“Praise ye the LORD.”

 I.  Praise the LORD from the heavens. (Psalm 148:1-6)
II.  Praise the LORD from the earth. (Psalm 148:7-14)

“Praise ye the LORD.”