Consider Your Ways

then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins?

And then again in verse nine,

you look 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.

So the people are saying it's not time to build God's house, but they find the time to build their own, right? They busy themselves with their own houses. They say it's not time to build God's house as it lies there in ruins, but it is time to panel our houses and ensure that we are comfortable. In other words, their priorities are reversed. They care more about their houses than God's. Now, I would imagine in light of all of the obstacles and difficulties that they were facing, you know, they're not thinking to themselves, oh, we think our house is more important than God's temple. I mean, I doubt that any pious Jew would ever dare admit, even to themselves, that they thought their own house was more important than the temple of God. And yet the facts of their life betray otherwise. I mean, do you think if their own house was the one that was lying in ruins, that after 16 years, they would still be saying, the time to rebuild has not yet come? You see, at the end of the day, our priorities are tested by our perseverance and determination. And it's amazing how many obstacles we will overcome for what we prioritize. You know, just as an example of this, every Tuesday, I drive through Southwood, and we invite and pick up kids to come to Bible study, and countless times I hear, oh, I really wish I could come, but I've got homework, gotta babysit, I've got chores, I've got sports practice, I've got work. And the list goes on and on, and it's just this impossible list of obstacles. You think, yeah, I guess they just can't make it. And yet I've begun to notice this pattern where with many of these same kids, you know, some time will go by and there will be this shift where for some reason they really want to come. And I'd like to think that that's for spiritual reasons. Maybe it's because they have a crush on somebody else who's coming. I don't know. But whatever the case, there's this newfound determination to be there. It's become a priority. And all of a sudden, it's like the parting of the Red Sea. I mean, all of these obstacles just seem to move out of the way. I mean, it is remarkable how resourceful and ingenious teenagers can be when it comes to getting what they want. You know, and my point is, we overcome obstacles for what we prioritize. We make time for what we prioritize. We keep working with persistence and determination for what we prioritize. So are we prioritizing God and the things of God with our lives? Let's lay aside the excuses and the justifications Because the Jews of Haggai's day, they could say all they wanted about how much they wanted to prioritize rebuilding the temple, but this and but that and but this other issue. But the actual fact of their lives was that they were living in paneled houses while God's temple was in ruins, and they were okay with that. And just think about how opposite this is from King David. who was so bothered that God dwelled in a tent? And he wanted God's house to reflect the glory of his king? I just think about what the temple represented. This was God's dwelling place among his people. It represented his presence with them. And it was to be the central place to which all nations could come to see the glory of the one true God. So by not rebuilding the temple, the people are basically saying, we can live without God's presence. That's not the ultimate priority in our lives. And we're okay with the temple of the one true God lying here in ruins, even while all around us there are nations who have temples built to idols. It's also saying we're okay with the fact that even though God has been faithful to rescue us from exile, to bring us back into this land, to move the heart of King Cyrus, to issue a decree, to declare through the prophets that a new temple will be built and to commission us to do it. We're okay with responding to all of God's faithfulness and grace by just indefinitely delaying, rebuilding the temple like God has commanded us to do. You see, behind all of the people's lack of moving to rebuild the temple, the problem is not just fundamentally with their outward behavior. It's not just about the temple. It's about their hearts and about their posture and attitude toward God. The problem is that God and his worship is not their priority. They aren't in awe of Him. They don't really love Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. They don't care about His glory like they should. The priorities of their heart are out of place. So what about us? What do we prioritize? And how should this charge we read about to rebuild the temple translate over into our lives? Well, first of all, This passage should point us to Christ. Because the reality is that just like Israel, we too have failed to love and prioritize the worship of God like we should. And because of that, we don't just need behavioral modification. We don't even just need a change of heart. We need atonement. We need forgiveness for our sin. We need to be ransomed from it. You see, if the story ended just with their failure, their need to fix themselves, there's no real hope. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus has come to rescue sinners like us who don't worship God like we should, who haven't prioritized Him like we ought to. You know, if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, What I want you to see is that it's not enough just to try to be a good person and do no harm. Because at the end of the day, God is not merely going to judge you for how you've treated other people. He's going to judge you for how you've prioritized worshiping him. And the fact is you haven't. And I haven't. We fall short. But the good news of the gospel is that this God who will judge us is also the God who has loved us so much that he sent his son into the world to suffer and die on the cross to pay the price for our sins. So that if we put our faith in him and turn from sin, we can be freely and fully forgiven. So will you do that even this morning? Let this passage point you to your need for Christ. Now secondly, This passage should also point us to the kind of priority that Jesus demands from those who would follow him. So Jesus comes to offer forgiveness. but he demands that we prioritize him above everything else in our life. As we heard in our scripture reading from Matthew chapter six, he says,

don't worry about your life, don't worry about what you're gonna eat, what you're gonna drink, what you're gonna wear, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

In other words, Jesus is demanding that his kingdom come before even the essentials of our life. That's why when a man says to Jesus,

Lord, I'll follow you, but let me first go bury my father.

Jesus says,

let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

That's why when another says,

I'll follow you, but let me first say farewell to those at my house.

Jesus says,

no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

And he's telling us that he must be our number one priority. In fact, the call to follow Christ is a call to die. It's a call to lay everything else aside, including your own life, to take up your cross and follow him. So is knowing Christ and serving Christ and following Christ your priority? And are you seeking after Christ with all of the perseverance and determination that truly prioritizing something brings? Now, that brings us to a third point of application because at this point you might be thinking, well, yes, I know that Christ must come first. What should that look like practically in my life? Where should I focus my efforts? There's much we could look to in many parts of scripture to try to flesh that out. But for here, I just want us to think about, well, if Israel on Haggai's day was supposed to physically build a temple, what does that mean for us today? Well, as we saw in Ephesians chapter two, what is God's temple now? It's the church, right? That's the New Testament parallel to the Old Testament temple, Christ and his church. And so if Israel is supposed to rebuild the temple so that as verse eight says, it can be a place where God can take pleasure in it and be glorified, Well, then I think the correlating parallel would be we need to prioritize seeking to edify the church so that Christ may take pleasure in it and be glorified through his church here on earth. You see, the church is supposed to be the place where all the nations can see the glory of the one true God. The church is supposed to be the place where pure worship that's spiritual is offered to God. And so we should be thinking practically, how can we prioritize the upbuilding of the church with our lives as Christians? How can we devote our life to seeing lost people converted and brought into the church? How can we devote our life to seeing believers within the church being discipled and growing up in their sanctification? How can we make sure that the ministries of the church are being served so that they can flourish, that the financial needs of the church are being met, that the needs of other churches throughout the world are being supported, and that the worship of God here in our midst is pure? These are the kind of things that we are called to prioritize in our lives. And so we see disordered priorities and we hear this charge to reorder our priorities around the worship of God and the service of his church. Well, let's look next at a second thing from Haggai's prophecy. And that would be forfeited blessings. So there's disordered priorities and there's forfeited blessings. Look at verses 5 and 6. We read,

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.

Okay, so God says consider your ways, look at your life, reflect on your priorities, and also look at the outcome. And what's described here is a life filled with futility at every step. Right, I mean, you sow a lot, you harvest little. You eat and drink, but you don't feel full. You're collecting money, but it's just falling out of holes in the bottom of the bag. Right, so it's like everything you're doing is coming up fruitless and empty. The picture that comes to my mind would be like you're trying to throw a paper airplane, and this huge gust of wind just comes and blows it back in your face. Right, it just fails. Well, that's what their life is like. I mean, this is like those times when you just feel like everything's going wrong. It's like, is the universe against me? Is God against me? Well, in this case, God is saying that he is. Look at verse nine. He explains why this is. He says,

you look 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.

Right, so the cause of this futility is God himself. The people are gathering much for themselves and their lives and God says, I'm the one who's blowing it away. The crops are failing and times are hard and God's saying, I'm the one who has called for the drought. Why? Because of their disregard for his house. God is disciplining them for their sin. And so instead of experiencing blessing, they're experiencing curse. And instead of all the hardship they're facing being a reason why they should delay rebuilding the temple, it's actually being caused by them not rebuilding the temple. In other words, their disordered priorities have led to forfeited blessing. Now, what does this mean for us? I mean, does it mean that whenever we face hardship or futility in life, it's a sign of God's displeasure? Well, it possibly can mean that in some circumstances. Paul tells the Corinthians when they were abusing the Lord's Supper,

for this reason many of you are sick and some have even died.

James 5 also seems to be saying that there can sometimes be a link between illness and sin. So I think illness or hardship in life can be an indication that God's disciplining us for sin. These are times to consider our ways and whether or not God might be trying to get our attention. But I think it's also important to interpret Haggai 1 in light of the old covenant and with an awareness of the discontinuity between the old and the new. So in Deuteronomy 28, God specifically promised blessing, fruitfulness, and rain when Israel was faithful to the covenant. And he also specifically promised barrenness, futility, and drought if they broke it. Okay, so the Israelites had every reason to expect rain and fruitfulness if they were being obedient. But the lack thereof should have been a sign to them that something wasn't right between them and God. That the promised blessings of the covenant were being forfeited. And it seems that they were just being oblivious to that, so God has to send them a prophet to point it out. But under the new covenant, we don't have exactly those same Deuteronomy 28 promises. We look forward to a new age, an age to come where there's perfect fruitfulness and blessing. But here now, we're actually promised suffering when we obey and follow Christ. Okay, so we certainly should not think every time I'm facing hardship, this is a sign of God's displeasure. It could be a time to rejoice that we're actually being faithful to Christ. So we shouldn't bring this over in just a totally one-for-one way. But one thing that definitely is consistent is the faithfulness of God. He is a God who is always faithful to his covenant promises. And therefore anytime his people, under I think any covenant, aren't experiencing the blessings promised under that covenant, That would be a time for us to consider our ways and consider whether we may or may not be forfeiting those blessings by our own disobedience. So just think for a moment, what would be some of the blessings promised under the new covenant that we can and should be experiencing right now? Well, there's fellowship with God. Right, 1 John 1,

our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

We can know God and be in relationship with Him. There's hope, joy, and peace. You know, a tremendous assurance of salvation and a peace that Christ promises that surpasses understanding. There's the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God who bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. There's power to overcome sin, to no longer be enslaved by it, but by the spirit to put to death the deeds of the body. There's some degree of fruitfulness in ministry. Jesus tells his disciples,

I've appointed you to go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain.

There's answered prayer. And Jesus says,

anything you ask in my name will be given to you.

There's basic provision. Jesus says,

seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

I mean, these are blessings that are promised under the new covenant. And at some point, if we are just not experiencing those things at all, I think that would be a time, just like the Jews in Haggai's day should have considered their ways, I think that's a time we should consider ours. You know, are there disordered priorities in our lives that might be leading to the forfeit of some of these blessings? Now, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that there's some sort of perfect correlation, you know, where you can just sort of exactly how faithful you are is going to translate to, you know, sort of exactly how fruitful in ministry or how many prayers are answered or how close you feel to God. Well, no, I don't think there's this perfect correlation. We need to be very, careful about saying that, but I am saying that when there's just a clear and obvious lack of experiencing blessings that God has promised, that should provoke prayerful self-examination. And that's a reason to consider our ways and ask, is God trying to get my attention? Is God lovingly disciplining me for my good? As Hebrews 12 says,

my son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.

You see, it's the love of God that causes him to reach down and even withhold blessings in our lives. so that we would learn to prioritize his worship, and so that we would learn that all true blessing doesn't come from our efforts to try to get it for ourselves, but comes from the hand of our gracious and kind God. So we should consider our ways. Are our priorities right? Are we experiencing or are we forfeiting God's blessings? And that brings us to the third point, because if not, well then what we need is the exact thing we see from the Jews of Haggai's day. Point number three, godly repentance. Look down at verses 12 through 15.

Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words Haggai the prophet and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him. 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 stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Jehoshaddak, the high priest, and the spirit of 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.

So the people recognize that Haggai was sent to them by God, they fear the Lord, and they obey his word. And by the 24th day of the month, so in just over three weeks, they resume the construction of the temple. Now as we reflect on this, I want to focus in on three things that we see here about their repentance. And the first is that it was motivated by a fear of the Lord. Notice a little comment there at the end of verse 12,

and the people feared the Lord.

So they didn't just obey outwardly. Their whole attitude toward God changed. Now, what does it mean to fear the Lord? Well, it's not merely to be afraid of God's judgment, though it certainly includes that. But I think at root, fearing the Lord is really about recognizing that he is the Lord. That he is the one who sits on the throne of heaven. That he and he alone is the creator and sustainer of all things. That he is the one who controls everything and holds the very future in his hands. That he is the God who is altogether righteous, holy, and true. The one who will judge the world. And at the same time, he is the God who is altogether good, and gracious, and glorious, and worthy of the utmost honor, love, and respect. You see, to fear the Lord is to be brought face to face with the reality of who God is. and to be overwhelmed by His majesty and glory. In other words, it's the opposite of complacence. It's the opposite of taking God lightly. It's the opposite of fearing man or thinking that what man can do to you is of any significance in light of who God is. And it's the opposite of thinking that sin is ever justifiable, that sin could ever be excused or will ever be gotten away with. That's why the one who fears the Lord trembles at his word. And the point here is that repentance flows from a fear of God. And if I am going to repent of disordered priorities, It's not enough to just try to modify my behavior on the outside or just to have a different to-do list for tomorrow. No, sin comes from the heart. And therefore, repentance must come from the heart as well. It must flow from a newfound growing fear of God. And therefore, what we need most of all if we are gonna walk in repentance is a growing vision of the glory and the grandeur of God. We need to be like Isaiah, who when he saw God on his throne cried out,

woe is me, for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Or like Peter, who when Jesus told him, well, cast your net on the other side of the boat, and all of a sudden he hauls in this huge catch of fish while he falls down before Jesus and says,

Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.

It is an awareness of who God is and a fear of him that produced in them a repentant heart. So as we read our Bibles, don't just ask, what am I supposed to do? But ask, God, what are you revealing to me about who you are? And as you pray, don't just ask God for things, but take time to think about who God is and to praise him for his attributes. And then ask God to show you more of himself. As Paul prays in Ephesians 1, pray that God would give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Or in Ephesians chapter 3, that God would give you strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And then as we go about living our lives, Don't let yourself live like a practical atheist. But strive to be consciously aware of God's sovereign hand in every circumstance and every situation. Strive to look around you at the world that God has made and behold his glory. That as the angels in heaven say

the whole earth is full of his glory

, well take the time to look around and notice. And then look for God's grace. in your life and the lives of other believers as he goes about this great work of sending forth the gospel to call people to himself. Repentance is motivated by a fear of God. Now a second thing that we see about repentance here is that God responded to their repentance by being with them. Verse 13 says that after the people feared the Lord and obeyed,

then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, I am with you, declares the Lord.

Now remember, by not rebuilding the temple, the people were basically saying, we don't need God's presence. And now the moment they've resolved to rebuild it, God speaks to them, I am with you, and he encourages them and strengthens them with his own presence. You know, friends, one of the most amazing things about God is that he is a God who draws near to the repentant. He doesn't wait for us to clean ourselves up. He doesn't make us have to make up for our failures and earn our way back to him. No, he immediately, freely and fully embraces the repentant. He moves toward the repentant one. He calls out,

let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord,

not that he may punish, but

that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

As he cries out at the beginning of Zechariah,

return to me, and I will return to you.

Or in James chapter four,

draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Friends, once again, it's like the story of the prodigal son. There he is, just donning the horizon. Father doesn't wait for him, he runs to him, he draws near to be with him and celebrates. You see, God does demand that we put his worship first. And he will discipline and withhold blessing when we don't. But he does so so that we will repent and he can bless us with the greatest blessing of all, which is his own presence. And Jesus himself promises to us who repent and believe,

I will be with you always.

So repentance, the repentance is motivated by fear of God. God responds by drawing near. And then thirdly, notice that their repentance is enabled or energized by God. Verse 14 says that the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel and Joshua and the people.

and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.

So they obeyed, but God stirs them up to obey. So is repentance the work of man or the gift of God? Well, I think we see here, just as elsewhere in scripture, that it's both. Repentance is something that we do, but also something God enables. It's something we're responsible for, but also something God grants. We fear and obey, God stirs up. And practically, this tells us two things. First, never delay repentance. When you feel that twinge of conviction, the spirit of God stirring you to change, don't suppress that. Don't put it off. Don't think, yeah, I know I need to change some priorities, but I'll just do it later. Realize that to delay is to harden your heart against the work of the Spirit within you, and to act like it's in your own power to just repent at any time. But the fact is, repentance is a gift of God. You need God's grace. So today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. Call on the Lord while he is near. Don't miss the opportunity. Now, second, the fact that God energizes and enables repentance should encourage us that repentance is possible. I mean, if it was just up to me and my heart, I wouldn't have much hope. I mean, I know something of how hard my heart is. But the great encouragement here is that God stirs up his people's hearts to obey. Think of what Paul says in Philippians chapter two. He says,

work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Why?

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So we work, but God works within. God is the one who will energize, who will help. And so as you think this morning about your priorities, about your failures, and about your need for repentance, take heart that when you hear God's word and you fear him, he is a God who works within us, who stirs us up so that we might obey. So we've seen this morning disordered priorities, forfeited blessings, and godly repentance. We've seen also that God is a God who speaks, who disciplines, and who draws near. And we've seen that the overarching point is that the worship of God must come first. He's a God who wants his house to be built so that he may take pleasure in it and be glorified. But as we close, I want you to see that as important as our role in all of that is, I want to remind you that ultimately, This is primarily the great work of Jesus Christ. Because when God told David,

you won't build me a house, but your son will,

that was only partially fulfilled in Solomon. And even as God is commanding the Jews in Haggai's day to rebuild the temple, God already knows that there's a day coming when those stones too would be thrown down. But Christ is the one who comes to build the temple made without hands. Christ is the one who came to establish His church that will never be thrown down because the gates of hell will never prevail against it. Christ is the one who has come and who can say,

I always do what's pleasing to the Father. And I have glorified His name.

And Christ is the one who by His own blood has sanctified his people, has sanctified his church, and formed her together into a holy temple in the Lord. And he is the one who, by being lifted up, is drawing all people to himself so that every tribe and tongue and people and nation can be part of that church and can join in the worship of the one true God. So brothers and sisters, in light of who God is, And in light of all that he has done for us in Christ, let's join that chorus of all the nations in praising and worshiping God, prioritizing him above all else. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word to us through Haggai. We thank you for your mercy and your grace that though we fall short, yet you forgive. God, we pray that by the power of your spirit, you would stir us up to get our priorities straight, to put you first, to recognize the great privilege we have to be called as your people, that we might glorify your name. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. And now please stand and we will sing as our song of response. I love that kingdom.