well if you came eager to hear philippians again tonight i'm sorry i have to let you down i mentioned this morning that i was thinking of maybe trying to do that this afternoon and i thought i don't want to rush through a section on contentment and i thought that um i should be content with the book of haggai as i'm working through that so tonight we're going to go back and continue our study in the book of haggai that's found on page 1005 in your pew bibles 1005 we have um looked at the first section of haggai the first chapter this comes to us in four oracles i do want to um to read all the way from chapter one to two nine uh to set the context this is um the word of the lord the old testament little book of haggai let us give our attention to the word in the second year of darius the king in the six month on the first day of the month the word of the lord came by the hand of haggai the prophet to zerubbabel the son of shealtiel governor of judah and to joshua the son of jehozadak the high priest thus says the lord of hosts these people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet. Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You've sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. and he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes thus says the lord of hosts consider your ways go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house that i may take pleasure in it and that i may be glorified says the lord you looked for much and behold it came to little and when you brought it home i blew it away why declares the lord of hosts because of my house that lies in ruins while each of you busies himself with his own house therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its produce and i have called for a drought on the land and the hills on the grain the new wine the oil on what the ground brings forth on man and beast and on all their labors then zerubbabel the son of shealtiel the and joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest with all the remnant of the people obeyed obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet and the Lord their God had sent them and the people feared the Lord then Haggai the messenger of the Lord spoke to the people with the Lord's message I am with you declares the Lord and the Lord still stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehoshadat, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the 24th day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. And now our text. In the seventh month, on the 21st day of the month the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtel governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest and all the remnant of the people and say who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory how do you see it now is it not as nothing in your eyes yet now be strong oh Zerubbabel declares the Lord be strong oh joshua son of jehoshadak the high priest be strong all you people of the land declares the lord work for i am with you declares the lord of hosts according to the covenant that i made with you when you came out of egypt my spirit remains in your midst fear not for thus says the lord of hosts yet once more in a little while i will shake the heavens the earth the sea in the dry land and i will shake all nations so that the treasure of all nations shall come in and i will fill this house with glory says the lord of hosts the silver is mine and the gold is mine declares the lord of hosts the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former says the lord of hosts and in this place i will give peace declares the lord of hosts and There ends the reading of God's Word. Well, last time we considered the first oracle in Haggai here in which God called this prophet to go to a people and administer in the Old Testament what were known as covenant lawsuits and confront the people with a very serious problem that had happened in the remnant that had returned from Babylon. Remember, they had come back from Babylon after being taken captive in Babylon, and it started building the temple in about 538 B.C. But a series of attacks from the outside and discouragements had brought the building project to a halt. It stopped until almost 520 B.C., which meant for almost 20 years, nothing was going on. Simply put, the people were discouraged, the people had become complacent, the ruins and lazy in their calling to build the temple. There was that little phrase in the first part of the book that was very important that we considered last time. They said, the time has not come to build the house of the Lord. The time has not come. And the Lord sent an indictment. Oh, really? So is it time for you to build up your paneled houses? Is it time for you to spend so much time on your houses and neglect my house? It's hypocritical to tell me that the time has not come. I see what you have time for. Your own homes. You're inlaid beautiful wood in your homes, he said. And through the message of Haggai, the Lord seriously challenged those returnees to consider their ways. They were under, in the Old Testament, you had a series of covenant curses that they were under and they were experiencing because of it. The Lord had sent what the Psalms call leanness into their souls. In other words, since they weren't trusting him and listening to him, anxieties filled their lives when they shouldn't have faced those things. And because of that, they were very needy. Their money went into bags with holes. They never had, even though they had. They were never satisfied, even though they were given so much. The Lord blew it all away. It's really a remarkable thing that the Lord can do that when you have a lot in your hands. A double curse of leanness upon the land and judgment for neglecting to build the Lord's house. And we left off last time with one of the most encouraging sections all the way, right out of the beginning in the first section of Haggai. The people repented. they listened to the voice of the prophet they listened to the voice of the lord and this figure rose up zerubbabel who was a great encouragement to them for almost out of nowhere then they realized that was a direct descendant from the line the kingly line of david and he is meant to stand out here the lord's project is not over the lord is continuing his covenant the lord is continuing to do what he said he would do that there would always be a king on the throne that there would always be a kingdom that can't be shaken and then Joshua the high priest shows up and through the hearing of the word of Haggai they participated in the building project they built the temple well we ended up last time that it said in verse 14 they came and worked you'll notice that there um on the house of the lord of hosts their god on the 24th day of the month in the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king now remember at this point Haggai is divided into these four oracles and it seems that as we come now into the second oracles we come into the second section here the lord needed to come back to them with his word again because something else went wrong something else happened what notice on what 2 verse 1 says you have all these time markers here in this book that are telling you to consider the the span of time that has gone on in the seventh month on the 21st day of the month the word of the lord came by the hand of haggai the prophet at this point the people had been working on the temple about three and a half weeks why does the lord send haggai to them again well we know that zachariah's ministry begins shortly after uh from the second oracle and zachariah exposes the fact uh you'll notice in the if you ever read through the book of zachariah and what he's dealing with that the people he confronts them for not being a part of the lord's project with a genuine heart and love for him and he Reminds them of what happened to their fathers. But when we come to Haggai's second oracle, something else is revealed about what was going on in the minds of the people. What is happening in the course of the building project? They got it started, they started to build, and we're giving insight into what's happening. Look at it at verse two. Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehoshadak, the high priest. and to all the remnant of the people, and say this, Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? You hear the issue? God is responding to something that He sees happening in the hearts and the comments of the people. God recognizes things are not so good. What's the problem? what's happening here he says one of you he says who of you remembers what the old temple looked like in all of its former glory what a question what a question solomon's temple this was no small issue of contention on ezra 3 12 which is a fascinating section i just want to read this Listen to Ezra that describes what happened among the generations as the temple's being built. You're going to see how much this applies to today. Listen to this. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets. And the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David, king of Israel. And they sang responsibly, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever towards Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid. though many shouted aloud for joy. So that the people could not distinguish the sound of joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping. For the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away, Ezra 3. I have a lot to say about that. That is really interesting. You have a generational struggle going on. The younger generation is shouting with joy at what the Lord is doing in this new temple project. But the older generation, the old men are weeping. What in the world's going on? Well, the Lord sees it. He says, I see it. Look at the question he asks now. Who among you is left who saw this house in its former glory? you older men and you remember what that house was like don't you how do you see it now how are you looking at the project they were building a vastly inferior temple in light of the former young people had no idea this is wonderful the old people are weeping three and a half weeks into the project it's quite evident that what they are building will never attain to the glory of what was back in the old good days see it you can only imagine the differences of opinion as the building's going up right i'm so glad we're building a nicer building than this right you see some of you should laugh at that all of us together can laugh at that one the older generation was discouraged They were discouraged. Knowing what the temple once was and thinking, those were the days. Those were the good old days. This new generation doesn't seem to get it. The new generation was optimistic. Come out of Babylon and brought back and here they are and they're seeing a temple go up. This is really exciting. It's all brand new for us. They hadn't known what it once was. The former glory. you can imagine the struggle as the younger people are standing back saying i don't get it why in the world would they be weeping and as the blocks were set and the young bricklayer is setting them you could hear one of the old ah that is not how it's supposed to be done let me tell you right now that is not you said it this way this is how it's supposed to look when the old testament um prophets prophesied and you can't fault the older generation here uh when the old prophets prophesied jeremiah ezekiel they spoke of the restoration and the temple that it would be of much more glory than the former this is not it this is not it that's what they're thinking this isn't even close to solomon's temple so here we are what's worse the furniture's missing we don't even have the ark this is this is this is all wrong this is all wrong how is god's blessing gonna be on this where was the ark we know that history what has happened is they have lost heart the camp is divided the whole thing is split you can't even distinguish between mourning and praising it's so together it's so loud now this is um this is a very fascinating issue to discuss and to consider from the scriptures is there really blessing with an inferior temple is there really blessing with an inferior temple we don't seem to have some of the key ingredients that we do from the past this is all pretty relevant isn't it this is all pretty interesting isn't it not so far removed from us we take a golden age view of history we look at the past and and and we wish it were this way we look at the early church for studying acts right now in the mornings and and and the lord was daily adding to the church those who were being saved. That was the greatest church growth program and it took off. I don't see that. I don't see that. You begin to look at all these things. What's your conclusion in the present? Well, where are the greats today that we study about in the past? Where are the Calvins? Where are the Luthers? Where are these men? Where are they? Or some might say the Spurgeons who could really preach. Bad times, bad times, bad times. We are in really perilous times. Even worse is when we begin to compare churches and do this and we tend to look elsewhere for something more glorious, something that we think will be more satisfying or something that works better, willfully ignorant of really thinking about is God doing anything among us? If you ever look at churches that are divided this way, of the generations and split, and one looking at things this way and another generation looking at things this way, if you ever look at churches like that that are split in this kind of way, those are churches stuck. They go nowhere. They're full of unhappy grumblers. And they wonder why their church is stuck in a rut. Again, I just have to say the most beautiful thing is to see all the generations together in the project. All of them. I've seen the younger generations disregard the older generations, saying they're just stuck in the past. And I've seen the older generations refuse to listen to the younger generations. It's wrong. It's wrong. Something's missing. Something's missing. If you ever look at a church that's full of people who understand what God has especially called them to do and to be as a particular body in service in His kingdom, through the ministry, as the Gospels advance, you're going to see a people there who are joyful in the work of the Lord. Together. Together. We may not always like how new things happen, simply because we don't like how things are done. But that doesn't mean that elsewhere the building project is better. If you look carefully into the words of Haggai here, the Lord is in a kind of sense rebuking the older generation. Because they didn't like, and I don't fault them, they didn't understand how the new temple, in light of the promises of God, how the new temple was meeting that and fulfilling that. they couldn't see that it didn't match the old one and the lord holds us out having them think about here what the lord is doing among them this is where we're starting to get to an answer to this dilemma the issue with haggai is the same god had raised up in front of them figures god had raised up zerubbabel god had had raised up joshua the high priest We looked at a prophet, priest, and king aspect to these figures last time. With Haggai the prophet, all of it's in place. Now it isn't, their thought was, it isn't time because we disagree with a building that does not equal the splendor and the glory of the past. This was a real test for the remnant. This was a real test for the remnant. Will they recognize God's hand in this that He actually has ordained? Now listen for a minute. What I'm about to say, you'll see where I'm going with this. He's actually ordained a temple of less outward glory. Or will they continue to be frustrated with the building project, with doubt, with complaining, and a lack of trust that he's really in control even though through their hard circumstances and trials that they're facing. The Lord sent Haggai to this people to warn them and to think about what the Lord's doing. Your external situation may not look so good. What you're building may be far less than the glory of the former temple of Solomon, great Solomon. And maybe even it appears to you is wrong. but that's only an outward appearance not in essence not in what the temple is supposed to be what it's supposed to produce and the lord is about ready to show them through this book that the temple the latter temple will far exceed as the promise states the glory of the former temple this is what they have to see what seems to them as the wrong way the wrong way the discouragements the real tears the pain of having something good in the past and all of it lost and that's real i understand that that god would make this temple exceed in glory you would look at it and you'd say how in the world is he going to do that how is he going to do that not in what i'm looking at not in what i'm seeing happen so he sends haggai the prophet to challenge and encourage them to see where the glory of the new temple would be found and that's verse um verse four yet now be strong ozerubbabel declares the lord be strong o joshua son of jehoshadak the high priest be strong all you people of the land declares the lord work for i am with you i love that that is so beautiful I am with you declares the Lord of hosts according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt my spirit remains in your midst fear not you know at that moment I don't know if there could have been more helpful and encouraging words and comforting words that the Lord could have given be encouraged be strengthened in the work I'm with you that had a loaded history that had a loaded history some of the key furnishings of the temple are not there things are not don't seem to be right the ark that symbolized god's presence and he just says to them something shocking i'm with you where's the ark i'm with you how many times had he said this throughout history to israel right before moses died greatest discouragement to them upon entering the land here was the here are the lord's words be strong and courageous do not be terrified of your enemies for the lord your god goes with you he will never leave you nor forsake you the lord said the same to joshua be strong and courageous do not be terrified do not be discouraged for the lord your god will be with you wheresoever you go when david charged solomon to build the temple he said be strong and courageous and do the work which is a direct play on this and now in light of this terrible sin that has happened of discouragement he says be strong i am with you i made a promise that i always would be You remember Moses wrestled with whether God would go with them in the wilderness. And when that was stated, the Lord said, I will be with you. Imagine hearing the words and now realizing that the dawn of something new was coming. Foreshadowing that God would be present with His people through His Spirit. Did you see that? The Spirit is all of a sudden introduced here. The Holy Spirit. That something so glorious was happening that what was in the past would pale in comparison to what the Lord is now doing. But you'd never look at it immediately and see that. You'd never. The external was being diminished to prepare the way for the spiritual kingdom of living stones with the coming of Jesus. It always seems that what we're doing is not working at the moment. You understand that? Anything that immediately happens so fast, so quick, will go away so fast and so quick. Look at the history of that in the church. We might always have answers as to what there needs to be. I always think, what did the disciples, how pressed were the disciples when they're looking at the ministry of the king and he's walking among them and he's preaching jesus is preaching the kingdom and people are getting so offended by him that they're walking away in john 6 and droves you don't think the disciples stopped and said what are we really a part of this is not working this is not working doesn't make any sense we're losing be strong for i'm with you It may not seem that the Lord is present with us. All of history, though, has told us something about His presence and His wisdom that differs in every way from what we think and how we think it should go. His glory was veiled by the rags of our human nature, wasn't it? In a body that was prepared that showed no outward glory, nobody looked and said, there is our Messiah. It was concealed and veiled as He hung on a cross to win the victory. Hard to be reformed today, isn't it? It's hard to be reformed today. And because of that, many of those who have these convictions are even there on a downgrade because it's the last thing we think will work. You hear what the Lord is saying? Look at verse 6. For thus says the Lord of hosts, yet once more in a little while I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations so that the treasure, the old translations say, the desire of the nations, they will come in to the desire of the nations. And I'll fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver's mine. You're looking at silver. The gold is mine. You're looking at gold. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former. says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give peace. Wow. What the Lord is describing is the complete overthrow through the building of this kingdom and this temple, the complete overthrow of all the kingdoms of the earth. All the worldly kingdoms and their kings will be brought to the desire of the nation. If you were to study the history that followed, 515 BC when the temple was completed, we see immediate fulfillment of this that Persia would soon fall before Greece and Alexander the Great would arise and soon fall and his four dynasties would fall before each other and then would come Rome. And yet this shaking of the nations would pave the way for something so great like never before that Alexander's Greek would influence and spread the Greek language across Europe to make way for the word of a king. And that Rome, through the Pax Romana, would create the most elaborate road system so that the gospel would go out to the ends of the earth. Nations were shaken for the purpose that they would come and fill this latter temple with glory. the desire of the nations the as it says in the esv the treasure of all the nations the treasures of all the nations would be when all the peoples from every part of the earth would be brought into this kingdom into this temple who is this what are we talking about what you're in you've entered it you see how wrong it is to want to go talk about rebuilding the jerusalem temple at this point the whole new testament has told you that temple is his body destroy this temple and i'll raise it in three days i'm talking about my body jesus was talking about himself his kingdom his righteousness that he's going to bring the nations to him they're coming under his feet and this temple would be built up with living stones a multitude so great no man could number from all the kingdoms of the earth he would plunder a temple whose glory far excels stop looking at gold we no longer worship god on this mountain or in that mountain said jesus we're not doing that anymore whoever calls on the name of the lord will be saved and he enters and is born again in Zion there. Psalm 87. Haggai finishes his oracle by saying, in this place I will give peace. Haven't you enjoyed it today? Didn't you hear a whole message from your king on peace? I want to close tonight with Hebrews 12 that picks up on Haggai. Listen to this. See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth much more will we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven whose voice shook the earth but now is promising yet once more i shake not only earth but also heaven did you see verse seven of chapter two and i will shake all the nations so that all the treasures of the nation shall come in hebrews is picking up on this now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made that the things which cannot be shaken may remain therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken let us have grace by which we may serve god acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our god is a consuming fire consider the project you're a part of the time of fulfillment has come the kingdoms of the earth are being shaken and being removed right now to make way what kingdom has stood what kingdom has stood only one now i go back the people had no idea that what they were a part of and their building project of the temple in faith was paving the way for something far glorious than what solomon had built did they see it did they see it the outward circumstances seem so different so bad so bad so bad Do you see it? Look around you. Look at people brought in. It seemed that God was not working. And yet, they were participating in anticipation already of a greater and glorious temple and a kingdom that could never, ever, ever be shaken. That's what you're a part of. Don't be discouraged. The Lord says, I am with you wherever you go. I'm with you in the Escondido URC. This is my project, says the Lord. Be together in it, generation. Be together in it, generation. Listen to each other. Talk to each other. Love each other. Don't be separate. That's how we go stagnant. Join in the project in love and harmony and in peace, for that's what He wants from us. Don't be discouraged through it when it seems that nothing is happening. Continue in the calling that He's given us to build. And I'm not talking about that. That serves the purpose of the true building project of souls and people. Build while it's still called today, said Jesus. For the night is coming when no man may work. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for encouraging us with this glorious text. Thank you for helping us from the Old Testament to see your plan unfold throughout history and to realize what we are a part of. Let us be a people united together in the project, letting your word guide us in all truth and realizing that your hand is with us and that you have promised that you will continue to build and that the gates of hell will not prevail. Thank you, Father, for giving us a place to serve. in your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.