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Elevate - The Story Pt 20 - Haggai - Build the House
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The transcription is a sermon discussing the importance of staying faithful to God and not being distracted by worldly desires. It mentions the story of Israel being exiled and the subsequent rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The sermon urges the audience to prioritize personal worship and obedience to God in order to experience a fresh outpouring of His Spirit. The message concludes with a call to return to a higher level of personal worship. Be honest with yourself. What have you set before you that you're thinking, whether or not you're having those conscious thoughts, if only I had this, then I'll be okay. If only this situation was better. If only my boss was like that. If only I earned this particular amount. If only I had. If only I went. If only I was. Then, I'll be okay. Consider your ways. Welcome to Elevate, from Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama, with Pastor John DiQuatro. We hope it builds your faith and helps you to live a life for God that you've always wanted to live. We hope it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the message, and welcome to Elevate. We are continuing in the story series that we've been in, and what a series it's been as we are looking at the entire narrative of the Bible. And what we've learned and what we've been talking about is ultimately, the Bible is a story of God revealing Himself to mankind, but that revelation ultimately is revealed through Jesus Christ and through what He did on the cross of Calvary. So the Bible, it's a story about the Israelites and the surrounding nations and all the things that God did, but ultimately, it's the story of Jesus Christ. It's the story of the redemption of mankind, and what a story it is. And we've seen battles, and we've seen rodents of unusual... Oh, wait, that's the Princess Bride. I'm sorry. We've seen all kinds of things, right? And it's a fantastic story, and we followed it up to this point, right? We started with creation and original sin, and then God takes this and begins to work, and He chooses Abraham to build a nation for Himself, and through this nation, God is going to reveal Himself to humanity, ultimately bringing salvation through Jesus Christ through the nation of Israel. But we've seen here how Israel has struggled to remain faithful. God brought them into the promised land where they can flourish and grow as a nation in order to be a light to the surrounding nations and a light to the world, but they've struggled to remain faithful. They've been disobedient often, and they've continued to turn to false gods and worship idols and to all the detestable pagan practices of worship. And so they continually found themselves in need of being corrected by God. I don't ever want to find myself in need of being corrected by God, although I do find myself there often. But you know what? He says that He chastens the ones that He loves. Amen? And He loves Israel, and He's not okay with them just straying and worshiping other gods. He wants them to truly be His people. And so, last week, we talked about some of this correction that was taking place. Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, had been exiled to the nation of Babylon, and they were conquered, and Solomon's temple was actually destroyed, and many of the people were carried from Israel into Babylon. And it's in that time where we hear the story of Daniel and his friends that remained faithful while they were in exile. We didn't get a chance to talk about Daniel and the lion's den and his faithfulness and the dreams that he interpreted, but please, make sure you're staying current in your book. We just finished chapter 19. I believe it was 18 or 19. But make sure you're remaining current so you can get all of this story. But last week, we focused in on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and how they refused to bow to the narcissistic, ego-loving order of the day by bowing to a false god, to an idol, and because of it, they found themselves in hot water, or shall I say, hot fire. But we know that Jesus stood with them in the fire. We learn that if you are willing to stand against the evil of the day and refuse to bow to the pressures of culture and godless philosophy, then Jesus will stand with you too. Right? That story's not just about, hey, when you find yourself in hot water, Jesus will be with you. Yeah, He's always with us. But specifically, the story tells us that when you stand up for truth and you refuse to bow to the god of this world, that Jesus certainly is standing with you. So let me encourage you, don't bow to humanism. Don't bow to wokeness, or what we're calling women's reproductive health, or pride, right? This is pride month. We're not bowing to pride, or any other philosophy that stands in opposition to the truth of God's Word. And when you stand for truth, Jesus will stand with you. Amen? So we move on with our story. Israel has been exiled into Babylon, but Babylon eventually falls. They are defeated by the kingdom of Persia. And this takes about 70 years from the time that they were exiled, and this was prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah. But Persia then destroys Babylon, at least conquers it. And now a new king is ruling in that city. And the king, his name is Cyrus. And Cyrus, God talks to Cyrus. Somehow God gets through to Cyrus, and He declares a decree. He issues a decree into the nation. This is what He says. This is in Ezra, chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. It says this, In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord, and let me just say that, if you ever wondered what all the prophets are doing in the Old Testament, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Hosea, Job, they're mostly giving Israel encouragement for what they're experiencing in exile. They're not able to be in their homeland. Some of them are giving them a warning. If you don't look out, you're going to go into exile. And then once they're there, they're giving them encouragement. Hey, God's going to bring you back. And throughout all of these prophetic words that are given through all of these prophets, there is the foretelling of the ultimate Savior that is going to come. But that's the purpose of the prophets. And so it says here that this is fulfilling the word of the Lord that was spoken by Jeremiah. The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing. So when the king speaks in those days and it gets put in writing, it becomes ironclad. This is what Cyrus, king of Persia, says. The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Remember, when Assyria or Babylon, when they carried off the people from Jerusalem and they conquered, they destroyed the temple. It was destroyed. So now Cyrus is saying they're going to build a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem. How about that? Cyrus is just giving them a blank check and letting them leave Persia and go back to Jerusalem so that they can rebuild the temple and reestablish worship among their people. The temple was the focal point of worship for Israel. It's where God dwells. It's where the Ark of the Covenant was. It's where the brazen altar was. And so he's going to reestablish worship. But not only that, he instructs the people of Persia to provide all of their Jewish neighbors that are leaving to go back to Jerusalem, give them silver and gold and materials and livestock in order to aid in the rebuilding. That in itself is a miracle. But God will provide where He calls us. Amen? So a group from Persia, or from Babylon, they return and they rebuild the foundation of the temple. And they're facing opposition from their neighbors as they're trying to rebuild Jerusalem. And their neighbors are fearing that the rebirth of a Jewish nation in that area is going to upset the political stability of the day. And so they were just constantly coming against Israel as they're trying to rebuild the walls of the city and rebuild the temple. And Israel got weary of the opposition. And so ultimately, after 16 years, they just abandoned the project of rebuilding the temple of God. They just let it go. And all they had completed to that point was the foundation of the temple. But after that, after they just got weary and they stopped the rebuilding project, they turned their attention to their own houses. And they started building their own homes. And they started settling into their lives. And they were prioritizing their own lives over the work of reestablishing worship and honoring God. God released them from Babylon specifically to go to build this house so that worship could be once again reestablished among Israel. And there they are, working on their own homes, doing renovations, upgrading their bathrooms, putting a new master suite in, doing all that stuff. And the house of God lies uncompleted and there is no worship happening. And so that's when Haggai, the prophet, comes on the scene and begins urging the people to restart their work. And so this message today is a call to return to a higher level of personal worship. We've been believing God to pour out His Spirit in a new and a fresh way. And I'll tell you something, the flame is not fanned once a week on a Sunday. It's fanned daily through the choices and actions of God's people to put Him first, to obey His voice, to prioritize their lives according to God's will and not our own desires. That's what it's going to take when we all do the personal work of revival in our own hearts. That's what it's going to take to see God pour out His Spirit in the midst of us. Amen? We're going to begin in verse 1 of chapter 1. In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth 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 Jehoshaddak, the high priest. Thus says the Lord of hosts. Remember, he's saying this to Zerubbabel and to Joshua, the high priest. He says, Thus says the Lord of hosts. These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. Now, Zerubbabel is the appointed governor. He's Jewish, he's in the lineage of David, but he's been appointed by Persia to be the governor over Judah, which is where Jerusalem was. And then you've got Joshua, the high priest. He's the one that's responsible for the spiritual direction of the people. So understand this. The word of Haggai from the Lord came to leadership for the people. It came to leadership, the governor and the high priest, but the word was for the people. Now listen, I'm not a governor, I'm not a high priest, but I am the leader of this church. And I believe that God speaks to me, not just for me, although sometimes it's just for me, but usually when He speaks, it's for all of us. And God has been urging me for quite a while. He says, I want to pour out My Spirit, but there needs to be a change. There has to become a higher level of pursuit of Him, of His purposes, of His Word, of His presence, of holiness, of living for Him, of dying to our flesh, of following Him. We've got to come up another level. So He's speaking this to me personally, but also to us corporately. And I'm saying that because that's how God often works. Haggai, we see, speaks to the leadership, but it's for the people. It's for the people, and I believe that today God has given me a Word that He's spoken to me, and it's for you. Amen? So it says in verse 2, these people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. Notice how God is speaking. He says, these people. Now if you look throughout most of Scripture, when God refers to Israel, He refers to them as My people. But in this instance, He is saying, these people. There's a distance there. You can almost sense God's frustration in this moment, like, I just got you out of exile, and here you are, doing home improvement projects, and new landscaping in your houses, and you haven't built a temple. And remember, that's why they were brought back, to restore worship. Remember in Ezra, chapter 1, verse 2, he says, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of earth and has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem and Judah. This is priority number one. Get the temple built. This was the command. Rebuild the house of God. Restore worship. So what do they do? They get there, they build up the walls of the city, they repair the gates, they lay the foundation for the temple, and then they just stop. Once they felt safe, once they felt protected from their enemies all around, once they were comfortable, they're back in Judah, they're back in Jerusalem, they're living in nice homes, everything's peachy keen, everything's fine, that's when they turn their attention for themselves. But they still have not returned to worship. There's no worship happening. But still they have not rebuilt the house of God. And understand this, that it's not about a structure. It's not about a building. But it was truly about restoring proper worship among the people. And the structure facilitated that worship. So let's ask this question. What is worship? What is it that God was reestablishing among the people of Israel that spent the last 70 years in a foreign nation in exile? Well, for the Israelites, worship was a continual cleansing of sin by making sacrifices in order to be forgiven for their sin to be atoned for. Right? The wages of sin is death. So it wasn't their death, but it was an animal's death that was covering for their sins. And part of their worship was also celebrating God and all that He had done by observing festivals and feasts. And listen, there were a lot of sacrifices that they were required to make. There was a lot of festivals that they were required to hold. There was a lot of days and feasts that they were required to take part in and to celebrate what God had done. Why was there so much? Why were there so many sacrifices? Why were they told to observe so many days and so many festivals? To keep them focused on God. That's why. Continually remember what God had done, what He had promised them. Keeping them in a relationship strong by constantly making sacrifices to atone for their sin and always remembering and always focusing and always prioritizing God over everything else. That's why God set it up the way He did for the people of Israel. But what about us? What is worship for us? Worship for us is more about how we live our lives and go about our daily lives. We're already forgiven. The final sacrifice has been made. However, Jesus did not call us to just say, thank you for that and then move on with our lives. He tells us to take up our cross, to deny ourselves, to die to ourselves in order to follow Him. And that is a reasonable act of worship. Remember Romans 12, it says, Be a living sacrifice. This is your reasonable act of worship. And so that means continual death to self so that we can be alive in Him. Following Jesus. Staying in relationship. Obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit. Not allowing our fleshly desires and wants to take priority over God's Word and His voice. Choosing Him first always. Repenting when we do stumble into sin. Receiving that atonement and that righteousness that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. But then reorienting ourselves towards God and towards His Word. That's worship. When we come together and sing songs, that's like this much of the worship that we do. I would equate that to like the Israelites observing their festivals and their feasts together. They came together to celebrate, to have a party, to enjoy the goodness of God and to remind one another, right? And so that's what this time is for us. We come together corporately. We are reminded of the goodness of God and the power of God and the faithfulness of our God. But this should only be an extension of your continual lifestyle of worship. The Israelites were content with just a little bit. They were happy with just a little bit. Hey God, we're back in Jerusalem. Look, we got the walls rebuilt. We started the foundation of the temple. We're good. I'll give You a little bit. And really, that's all we want from You, God. Just a little bit. Can we be honest? Sometimes we're like that. Sometimes we're just like that. Okay, God, I'll do just enough. I'll punch my ticket. Get my parking validated. And I won't ask for much. Just keep me saved so I can get to heaven. But I'll handle things from here, God. I'm good. Look what Haggai says next in verse 5. He says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. That's the sobering challenge now that God is giving to the Israelites. Consider your ways. Think about what you are doing. And I present that challenge to you, to me, to all of us this morning. Consider your ways. Think about how you are relating to God. Because the Israel, he's saying, Guys, stop. He's saying, why did I go before you and drive out all the inhabitants of the land? Why did I bless you so much? Why did I bring you back from exile? Was it so that you could live like everyone else? No. He's saying, Israel, you're supposed to be my special possession. You are a nation that is to shine light to the rest of the world, to be the beacon, the display of God's glory. But now, what are you doing? Consider your ways. And to us, he's saying, alright, Mobilians, stop. Why did I sacrifice my son for you? Why did I ever give you the Holy Spirit? Why did I rescue you from your addiction, your depression, your aimless life? You're supposed to be my light in this world, my beacon, the display of God's glory. What are you doing? Consider your ways. So Haggai moves on to verse 6. He says, You've sown much, and you've harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourself, but no one's warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them in a bag with holes. You know what God's telling him here? You're spinning your wheels. You think you're getting ahead. You think you're making your own way by neglecting Me and just going on with your lives however you see fit, but you're doing it without My blessing. You're never really satisfied. Why? Because you're looking for satisfaction in the wrong things. Israel, you think that if you focus on your crops and on your food and on your clothes and on your money, then you'll be satisfied. But it will never be enough. You're always going to want more. Hear Me today. Your career, your hobbies, your money, it will never satisfy you. It won't. Whether you have a lot or whether you have a little, whether you do a lot or whether you do a little, it will never satisfy you. It's like a bag with holes. Look what Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Beginning in verse 13, He says, Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Jesus offers us something that's going to keep us satisfied. I promise you, I've lived long enough now. I know some of you think I'm still just a young pup up here in the pulpit. Because you tell me as much. But I've lived long enough to know that having a nice car and having a nice house and having all of my needs met and having no worries about financial problems. I've gone through some of those real abundant times and I've gone through some really, really lean times and I was never satisfied here and I was never satisfied here by all those things. Listen, I recently started riding a motorcycle. I love it. I ride as often as I can. You know what? It still doesn't satisfy me. We recently got ourselves a camper. We've been going away on the weekends. We've been having a good time enjoying God's creation, enjoying nature, reconnecting with the Lord. And that's the part that's bringing satisfaction. Not the camping. Not the swimming. Not the fishing. That doesn't do it. It's God. It's the Lord. It's the water that He gives that brings us satisfaction. But we get stuck in this trap, folks. Let me be real here for a minute. If only X will happen, then I'll be good. If only this thing happens, if only X will happen, then I will be good. So what is X for you? What is it that you think is going to finally make you feel better and to feel satisfied in your life? Is it a certain amount in your savings account? Is it a particular annual salary that you can be able to say because it makes you sound important? Is it a particular relationship that if you just found the man of your dreams, if I just found the right woman in my life, then I'll be fine? Is it a vacation? Oh, that's all I need is a vacation. Is it a house? Is it a car? Is it another toy? Another jet ski? Nintendo Switch or whatever? What is it that you have set before yourself as a false idol that you think will satisfy you? And be honest with yourself. Don't be like, no, I don't want anything with God. Be honest with yourself. What have you set before you that you're thinking whether or not you're having those conscious thoughts? If only I had this, then I'll be okay. If only this situation was better. If only my boss was like that. If only I earned this particular amount. If only I had. If only I went. If only I was. Then, I'll be okay. Consider your ways. What carrot is just dangling before you that keeps you running a pointless race? The carrot that you'll never catch that's always before you. And if you think you've caught it, there's a bigger carrot right behind it. Where does God fit into all of that? Look at what Paul says to Timothy. He says, But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. I've heard it said, I've never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. Living water satisfies, regardless of what you have physically, what you have in this world, living water satisfies. So what is distracting you? What are you running after? Look at what God says to Haggai next, verse 7. He says, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways. He says it again. He says, Go up to the hills and bring wood and build a 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 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, the earth has withheld its produce, and I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain and the new wine, the oil on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast and on all their labors. Here's my translation of this particular passage. You want to stop spinning your wheels? You want to find contentment and see the blessing of God? Prioritize properly. Put me first. Put worship first. Then, you'll be satisfied. He's asking them to put in the work to make sure that the temple of God is a suitable dwelling for His glory. Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16. It says, Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? See, everything from the Old Testament, right? We see the pattern. You pull it through the cross of Jesus Christ, right? And then we see it at work in a different way today. We see the ultimate fulfillment of that, that God never meant to live in a temple that was built of wood and stone. That's not enough to contain God. You know where God wanted to live? In you. Ultimately, the goal was that you would be His temple. That you would be His temple. And His Spirit lives in every single one of us. And go to the church down the street and the Spirit of God lives in every single one of them. And you go to the church two miles the other way and the Spirit of God lives in every single one of them. And God no longer is confined to a little space between the Holy of Holies and the temple. He's all over the place. Because we are the temple of God. So let's bring this home. Let's make this personal. You are the temple of God. He dwells in you now. So what's the condition of your temple? Is it a place suitable for God's glory? Or does it lie in ruins as you build everything else up in your life? Do you have just the foundation? I believe in Jesus. I come to church. I feel good about that. But really, your focus is on everything else but your temple. Your temple. You, the place where the Holy Spirit dwells. And I hope you don't see this message in saying that it's wrong to build your life well. That somehow it's wrong to have wealth or to have a good job or to enjoy living. That's not what I'm talking about, but I am going to ask this question at what expense? Because do you have all those things and your temple lies in ruins? Because if you have all that stuff and your temple is in ruins, you have lost and you have nothing. He's saying prioritize the temple first. Prioritize worship to make a place that's suitable for the glory of God to dwell. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We hope this message encouraged, inspired, and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website, AuthenticLife.tv for more information about Authentic Life Church. To find out what we have going on or to make a donation, you can also find us on Facebook. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. For Pastor John DiQuatro, I'm Scott Chestnut. Thanks again for listening and God bless you.
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