Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to four 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    
                                                                                        Consider Our Lord's Promise - Haggai 2:18-23    

Haggai 2:1-5 reads, “In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory?  And how do ye see it now?  Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?  Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.”

The Book of Haggai is an Old Testament book of only two chapters.  Five times in those two chapters, our Lord instructed His people of that time to consider (in 1:5, 7; 2:15, 18).  They were to consider their self-centered priorities and to reestablish their priority on the things of the Lord.  They were to consider the Lord’s pleasure and to return unto the way of the Lord’s pleasure upon them.  They were to consider the Lord’s purpose in chastening and to receive it with meekness unto fruitfulness for the Lord.  Finally, they were to consider the Lord’s promise and to set the faith and focus of their hearts upon the Lord. 

In particular, the Lord promised that if they would reestablish their priority on His work, and would return unto the way of His pleasure, and would receive with meekness the purpose of His chastening, then He would be with them in the fellowship of His presence and would pour out upon them the enabling of His Spirit.  In fact, these very two promises are given in Haggai 2:4-5 – “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.”  In like manner, in the New Testament the Lord our God has also promised the fellowship of His presence and the enabling of His Spirit unto us who are His people today.

Yet these promises were not and are not to be an end in themselves.  Rather, these promises were then to move and motivate God’s people unto the work of the Lord for that time; and these promises are now to move and motivate God’s people unto the work of the Lord for this time.  Yea, in Haggai 2:4-5, on the grounds of our Lord’s promise to be with them in fellowship and to place His Spirit upon them for enabling, He gave a three-fold instruction unto His people.  Brethren, through these three things we are to be claiming our Lord’s presence.

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.

Weekly Sermon

This sermon is a companion to two previous sermons:  Consider Your Priorities - Haggai 1:5    
                                                                                       Consider the Lord's Pleasure - Haggai 1:8      

Haggai 2:10-19 reads, “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, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy?  And the priests answered and said, No.  Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?  And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.  Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.  And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.  I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.  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.”

In the opening portion of Haggai 2:15, the Lord our God instructed His people in that time, saying, “And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward.”  Again in the opening portion of Haggai 2:18, the Lord instructed them, saying, “Consider now from this day and upward.”  Finally, at the end of Haggai 2:18, the Lord instructed them, saying, “Consider it.”  Yet what specifically were they to consider?  In Haggai 2:15-17 the Lord focused their attention upon His hand of chastening in their lives, saying, “And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.  I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.”  This is what they were to consider – the Lord’s chastening upon them and the Lord’s purpose in that chastening.  In like manner, we ourselves today must consider our Lord’s purpose in His hand of chastening upon our lives.

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?

Weekly Sermon

Haggai 1:1-11 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.  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.  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.”

In both verse 5 & verse 7 the Lord our God delivered this challenge to His people in that time – “Consider your ways.”  The context of this challenge from the Lord concerned a contrast in values.  It concerned a contrast between what the people valued and thus chose to do and what the Lord our God valued and thus desired for them to do.  Yea, in its context the challenge to consider their ways was specifically a challenge for them to consider their priorities in relation to the work of the Lord.  Even so, the challenge from our Lord for us today is just this – Consider your priorities.