1. But it only took 3 ½ weeks for the people to get very discouraged about their task. HOPE FOR THE DISCOURAGED: BUILD GOD S HOUSE (Haggai 2:1-9)

Transcription

1 HOPE FOR THE DISCOURAGED: BUILD GOD S HOUSE (Haggai 2:1-9) It took Thomas Edison about 10,000 tries before he found the right filament for the incandescent light bulb. One day his wife said, You must be pretty discouraged, Tom. He replied Discouraged? Certainly not! I NOW know 10,000 ways it won t work! HE HAD PERSEVERANCE! A. Perseverance seems to be an outdated concept in our day of instant gratification. 1. But it only took 3 ½ weeks for the people to get very discouraged about their task. a. Less than a month after their enthusiastic return to the Lord s work they are running out of gas. b. Their heads hang low. The hammer strikes are few. The workers are sparse. 1. If it doesn t come easy, forget it. If it s hard to do & takes endurance, let someone else do it. 2. Once again Haggai came confidently into town, but this time with a message of hope (Hag 2:1-9). a. It s easy to get married. It s really hard to hang in there & work through problems over a lifetime. a. There is not one of us who has not been struck by the debilitating effects of discouragement. b. The same is true for diets, New Year resolution, shepherding, preaching, & daily discipleship. b. It is one of Satan s most effective tools to render us both inactive & ineffective in our work as Christians. c. It s easy for us to get discouraged when we have a difficult situation facing us. B. The word discouraged described the people in Haggai s day. {Review: First things First: Build God s House.} [Haggai s message: God understands & cares about the discouragement His people face in serving Him. So as we look at these ancient builders, we ll see three reasons we get discouraged in serving the Lord & building His house today, & how to persevere through it.] 1

2 I. THE WORK SEEMS SMALL A. That s the attitude Haggai addressed: 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 (2:3)? 1. Unmet Expectations: For 45 years in captivity they had been listening to Ezekiel tell them about a great deliverance & a marvelous Temple. (Ezek 40-48). 2. Pessimistic Comparisons: Having seen the foundation & the beginnings of this new Temple, the older generation can see that it will not hold a candle to the old one. B. One reason we get discouraged about our work for the Lord is that it can seem so small & insignificant by comparison. 1. We have our own Unmet Expectations: a. I thought if we preached the same gospel as the apostles did, then we would have the same results. b. I thought we could build up this church from 60 members to We have our own Pessimistic Comparisons: a. You should have seen the church in my day; we had better preachers, more enthusiasm & faster growth. b. What can we do with so few members? The church in Irving or Kleinwood has hundreds of members. c. We can bring that down on a personal level too: - I thought I would be able to save more souls. - How does she get so much done, & I so little. 3. Well, you can just hear the air coming out of the tires; when we have unmet expectations & make pessimistic comparisons the progress on God s house, the church, will slow down to a crawl. 2

3 C. Don t despise the small things; the Lord may be working in it (Hag 2:4-5; Zech 4:8-10). a. The people of Haggai s day seemed to forget that the first Temple was gone, destroyed When God begins a work, He usually starts in a very small & humble way. a. The nation of Israel began with Abram & Sarai. b. Egyptian deliverance began with Joseph s slavery. c. Salvation began w/ a baby born to a virgin in a barn. d. Jesus first disciples were common fishermen. e. The gospel went into the entire world by means of a little Jewish Rabbi known as Saul & his companions. f. The Parable of the Leaven illustrated the humble beginning of the church, the kingdom (Matt 13:33). D. Don t view success in the short term; the Lord works in the long term (Hag 2:6-9; 1 Sam 16:7). 1. If God doesn t view things in the way we do, then what makes us think that what appears to be success really is success? - The point is that God is not impressed with man s accomplishments. - The only thing that impresses God is the obedience of His people. b. God s people can meet in multimillion dollar facility, but if they despise the small things & have a wrong view of spiritual success, then their work is in vain. c. Building God s House requires that we look beyond the physical things that are seen temporal to the spiritual things that are unseen eternal (2 Cor 4:18). - The people of Haggai s day wouldn t live to see it, but that little Temple would be around to see a glory that far excelled Solomon s the establishment of the church. - True success is measured in the light of eternity, not in a lifetime the harvest comes at the end of the age, not at the end of a g. meeting. [So when the work seems small, don t get discouraged!]

4 II. THE WORK IS HARD A. Any time you take on a construction project, many things can come up to increase the difficulty of completing it that can be discouraging. 1. So also in the construction of the Temple, many things came up to increase the difficulty of finishing it it was discouraging. 2. Every time a Christian or a congregation makes an attempt to build God s house, to do the Lord s work, Satan will stir up the opposition (Eph 6:12). a. The enemy might be within your own desires: - You just can t work with so & so. - You just can t make time for it. - You have too many other interests. a. Inconvenience of setting new priorities. b. The blood, sweat & tears of the work. c. The clutter & mess in the community. d. The wearing thin of patience & initial enthusiasm. e. The opposition from authorities (Ezra 5). f. The opposition from enemies (Neh 4-6). b. Or the opposition might come from without. - Bosses, Teachers, Coaches. c. Building the Lord s house is hard work. d. We re in a battle! We can expect opposition! Polly Powell a veteran piano teacher described how most people feel about learning to play the piano. She writes, People usually have some goal or dream that inspires them to take up a musical instrument. But after the initial excitement has worn off, it s not uncommon for them to give up. Many decide that it s too difficult, or they re too busy - & though they would really love to be able to play well, they get stuck in a rut without making progress. The fact is mastering a musical instrument is difficult. To succeed, you will need to build your skills in self-control, discipline & determination. [You see, when you begin to think that what you are doing in the Lord s service is too small & requires too much work, that s when you ll get discouraged & want to quit. One more thing that will discourage us from building GH.] 4

5 III. THE WORK IS LONG 2. But then our work is not completed, it has only just begun (Eph 4:11-16). A. I wonder if Israel thought that once the Temple was completed, then all their work was finished & all their former problems would just go away? 1. Future prophets Zechariah & Malachi indicate that Israel did not follow through with the Lord s work (Mal 1:1, 2, 6-9). a. Oh they finished the Temple alright, but they weren t that careful & attentive to the service of the Temple; the Lord s service. B. I think we can see ourselves in this aspect of Israel s attempt to build God s House. 1. We, like our ancestors in the faith, can take upon ourselves the great work of restoring & maintaining NT Christianity, by teaching the doctrine of Christ & by following all the apostolic patterns for the work, worship & organization of the church. [So to prevent us from getting discouraged during the long & arduous days it will help us to keep in mind the words of Haggai.] CLOSING: REMEDY FOR DISCOURAGEMENT A. The Right Attitude: Be Strong (Hag 2:4). B. The Right Action: Work (Hag 2:4). C. The Right Reason: His Presence (Hag 2:4, 5). D. The Right Outcome: The Work You Do For The Lord Will Last (Hag 2:9; Important application: Heb 12:26-28; 1 Cor 15:58). However discouraging things might be, Take courage, be strong in the Lord, & work with all your might! That is Haggai s message of encouragement. 5