Text: Haggai 2:1-9 Title: God First Overcoming Discouragement

Transcription

1 Text: Haggai 2:1-9 Title: God First Overcoming Discouragement ILLUSTRATION There s an old fable where the devil advertised that he was putting his tools up for sale. They were displayed for prospective buyers to inspect Hatred, Envy, Doubt, Lust, Lying, Pride, and more. Each had a price tag. But off to the side was one, well-worn tool without a price tag. A customer asked why it had no price tag. The devil replied, It s not for sale. It s more useful to me than all the other tools. With this tool I get inside a person s heart and keep them from doing God s will. The customer asked, What s the name of that tool. The devil replied, It s called Discouragement. And today, discouragement is still one of Satan s most devious tools and one of our greatest challenges. It causes us to lose our motivation, our confidence and our will to keep going. It takes the wind out of our sails. We all battle discouragement at times. Open your Bibles again to Haggai 2. God raised up the prophet Haggai at a time when His people had compromised their priorities. Instead of being faithful to God, which in their case meant to rebuild the Temple of God that had been destroyed, they spent their time and money on their own comforts and pleasures. They neglected God s worship and God s work. So Haggai comes with the message that it s time for them to get their priorities straight and to put God first. Amazingly the people respond to the message of God with repentance. They obey the Lord and God stirs up their spirit to begin work rebuilding the Temple. But before long their spirits began to sag and the rebuilding comes to a standstill. So Haggai comes with yet another message from the Lord. Read Haggai 2:1-4. According to v.1 about a month into their rebuilding project the work came to a halt. They may have been discouraged because of the opposition from some who didn t want the Temple rebuilt. And they had to make sacrifices to get the job done so maybe that commitment was wearing thin. But we also know that part of their discouragement comes from disappointment and disillusionment. The Temple they were building wasn t very spectacular. That s why in v.2 the Lord addresses Zerubbabel (the political leader) and Joshua (the spiritual leader) and the rest of the people, asking them Haggai 2:3 - 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?

2 Some of the Jews could actually remember Solomon s Temple in all of its magnificence built on that very spot. They could remember the breathtaking beauty of that first Temple. They remember the glory of God filling the Temple when it was first dedicated. Those were the days! But now, because they had disobeyed the Lord and turned their backs to Him the Lord had allowed Jerusalem and the Temple to be destroyed by the Babylonians. But now it s a new day and God has brought them back to rebuild the Temple. But it is becoming apparent that what they are building isn t anywhere near as glorious as it was in the good ol days. It was small and shabby compared to the great Temple in Solomon s day. And they re discouraged. Listen, comparing ourselves to another time or to another person can cause us to despise what God is doing with us now. You see, God was at work among His people. He is the one who stirred them up to begin rebuilding the Temple. So God is working, just not in the way He did in the past. Maybe you remember a time in the past when you felt your life really mattered and that God was using you, but now that doesn t seem to be the case anymore, even though you ve tried to be faithful. So what s the use? It would be easy for us to do that as a church. There was a day when our church was larger than it is now one of the largest in the SBC. This building, when it was built, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the country. Some of you remember those glory days. But things change. We are retooling and rebuilding. It s a new day, but if we re not careful we can get caught in the comparison trap and despise what God is doing now. It s one thing to remember the past; it s another thing to live in the past. So what do we do when the dark cloud of discouragement hovers over us? In the face of the Jews discouragement God commands them to do three things. And it s for us as well: 1. BE STRONG. We see in v.4 that everyone needs this admonition to be strong Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the people. The sense of the words be strong is focused on becoming on growing stronger. It s not that we instantly become a spiritual super hero and the discouragement disappers overnight, but we begin to take steps of courage. Ephesians 6:10 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

3 We re to be strong in the Lord, not in our own power. This strength is found as we depend on Him. And the next: 2. KEEP WORKING. Haggai 2:4b Be strong And work. For I am with you, declares the LORD Almighty. The Lord is saying, Do what you don t feel like doing. Don t quit. I ve called you to do this work; stay at it. And here s the reason they are to keep working I am with you. Now this is the second time that the Lord has reminded His people of this. We saw it last week in Haggai 1:13 where the Lord told them, I am with you. And He always has been. Haggai 2:5a - This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. All the way back when God first took Israel as His people, when they were still in bondage in Egypt, the Lord gave His word that He would be with them to deliver them. And His Spirit remains with them now. God keeps His Word. The same God who delivered them from Egypt through the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army is the God who is helping them rebuild the Temple. God is in this work with them. They are not doing this for God; they are doing it with Him. It s hard to keep going when you think you re in it alone and when you think that what you re doing isn t going to amount to much. Keep on working; be faithful! God s work for you as a mom, a manager or a minister is not always spectacular, but God is with you even in the mundane drudgery of life. Keep working. The next command is 3. DO NOT FEAR. He says that in v.5. I think their greatest fear was the fear of failure, the fear that what they were doing wouldn t be as great as it was in the past. Don t be afraid to fail at something God has asked you to do. He is with you; leave the results in His hands. This little phrase do not fear appears hundreds of times in the Bible. God knows our fears and constantly comes to encourage us to face our fears and not let them cripple us.

4 Isaiah 41:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Now the reason that we are to be strong and not be afraid to keep working is that God is up to something glorious in the future. Haggai 2:6 - (For) this is what the LORD Almighty says: In a little while That signals to us that God is up to something. Be strong; you re part of something bigger than you realize. So along with the three commands to battle discouragement, the Lord promises to do three things: 1. HE WILL ACT. Haggai 2:6 - 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. Notice how the Lord identifies Himself. He is Lord Almighty or Jehovah Sabaoth the Lord of the Armies of Heaven. The Lord wants His people to turn their eyes away from their discouragement and disappointment to see God for Who He is. He is greater than anything they face. No one can stand against Him. No one can defeat His purposes. EXAMPLE: This is the God who stood with the shepherd boy David in the Valley of Elah when he faced the giant Goliath. David said to Goliath, You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. And David took his sling and planted a stone in Goliath s forehead and Goliath went down. Get your eyes on the Lord who is mighty to save. Let your heart be saturated with that vision of God. Then circumstances can t get you down. The Lord will act. He said in v.6, I m will once again shake everything in the heavens and on the earth. This would remind the Jews of what God did on Mt. Sinai when God gave the Law to Moses. There was lightning and thunder and fire and smoke and the whole mountain trembled violently. That day marked a turning point for Israel when God established His covenant with His people. And in v.7 he says, Not only that, I will shake the nations. The Lord shook the mighty nation of Egypt when He brought the Israelites out and defeated the Egyptian army. And the Lord will act with power once again.

5 The book of Hebrews quotes this passage in Haggai to tell of a day at the end of history when Christ returns and everything that can be shaken will be shaken. And the only thing that will remain is the unshakeable Kingdom of God. So the Lord is asking His people to keep their eyes on their eternal Lord Almighty who can shake entire nations to bring about His purposes. Don t be discouraged; I will act. And not only that 2. HE WILL GLORIFY HIMSELF. Haggai 2:7b - I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD Almighty. The Lord said, You do what I have told you to do with all of your strength and then I will make it something glorious something that will glorify Me. And in v.8 He says, The silver is mine and the gold is mine Everything necessary for the house of the Lord would be supplied. God owned it all. But there s more: Haggai 2:9a - The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, says the LORD Almighty. The Jews didn t think they were doing anything very glorious. And what you are doing may not seem very glorious. But it s not what you do that makes it glorious. It s what God does through you. We have no control over how much glory God shows to us. We only have control over how much glory we give to Him. That s all! And we may never see the glory that God brings through us. ILLUSTRATION - In the 1700s a young missionary named David Brainerd felt called to take the Gospel to Native Americans. But they resisted the Gospel and for the first years of his ministry there was very little fruit. Brainerd became terribly discouraged. He wrote in his journal of how weary he was laboring where there was no success. Finally after more than three years of witnessing he saw about 150 people come to Christ. That wasn t a huge harvest, but it was a start. Sadly just a year later, at the age of 29, David Brainerd died. But God wasn t finished with David Brainerd s ministry. The great preacher Jonathan Edwards was so inspired by Brainerd s faithfulness that he published Brainerd s journals. Those journals fell into the hands of man named William Carey. William Carey ignited what is called today the modern missionary movement which resulted in millions upon millions coming to Christ among the nations. When someone asked William Carey what inspired him to devote his life to missions, he pointed to the journals of David Brainerd. Brainerd died not knowing how God would use him.

6 So God told the Jews, Take courage; you re building something more glorious than you realize. The glory of the new building will be greater than the old. Now there s one more promise God makes: 3. HE WILL GIVE PEACE. Haggai 2:9b - And in this place I will grant peace, declares the LORD Almighty. The word for peace is the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom peace is much more than just peace of mind. This word means wholeness, completeness, health and safety. When we are faithful to be strong and not be afraid to keep working, we can be certain that God is at work. He will glorify Himself through our faithfulness. And He will give us His peace. God promises that peace will be restored to Jerusalem. Now just think about this. About 500 years after the day of Haggai, the temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel and the people was still standing when the Romans occupied Jerusalem. A king named Herod would rebuild the temple from Haggai s day into something truly magnificent. It was into that very Temple that a new mother by the name of Mary and her husband Joseph walked into to dedicate the baby named Jesus. The Gospel of John introduces Jesus to us by saying, The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelled among us (like God dwelling in the Temple) and we beheld His glory. He s the Prince of Peace. Through His death and resurrection we can peace with God through Christ who said to His discples: John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. So God s message through Haggai is His promise to us today. Be encouraged. Be strong. Keep working. Don t be afraid. God is working. He will bring glory to Himself and peace to others through what you are building with your life. Be faithful in the little circle where God has placed you. You are part of something great than you realize.