Haggai II
Sermon Notes
First
Things
10/25/2015
Lynchburg,
Virginia
First Things- Lock the doors, it is
stewardship Sunday.
Christians go to church ever Sunday.
Christians tithe 10% of their increase.
This truth is not the pastor’s ego
builder. It will definitely benefit the church both on attendance and finances.
Why? Because the people of God will be more blessed. This is a message of
blessing, not another burden to place upon you.
Exodus 23: The
first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the
LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
This
is said after he tells them to love their neighbor as themselves. Don’t lie.
Don’t steal. Don’t defraud. Don’t commit perjury.
Then he tells them to remember the
Sabbath.
Then he tells them to keep the memorial
feasts.
Then he tells them to tithe.
Then he says, Thou shalt not seethe a
kid in his mother’s milk. v.19. What is going on? These things are graces,
gifts from God. They are meant to impart life. But if you use them for ill, or
consider them to be a burden, then they will impart death instead. Don’t do
that!
Time and Money and not just in the abstract.
Why? Because God knows that your biggest problem is with your time and your
money. If you won’t give Him those things, you won’t really give Him yourself.
Time- work- a big part of who you are.
Leisure- you need time for rest, the harder you work, the more you
need a Sabbath.
Rest starts in Jesus
Hebrews 3:12-4:1 12 Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in
departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another
daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers
of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the
end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his
voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke:
howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was
it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the
wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not
enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because
of unbelief.
Heb. 4:1
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of
entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
We fail to enter the rest of God through
unbelief. Jesus, Himself, is now our rest. Does it not follow that resting,
then, is a primary means of grace?
Limited- There is only so much
time. Even more than money, time is limited. Thus, we are prone to be very
selfish with our time. But God can even restore the years the locust has eaten.
He can give us what seems like more time. In reality, we all have 24/7. Some
men get a great deal accomplished in that amount of time. Work, family, church,
rest. Others find their time fritters away with not much to show for it. This,
too, is a matter of faith.
Kids and studying- Sat. Sabbath start. Kids are not
always 100% but usually that is because of laziness or lack of planning, not
because there are too few hours in the day. They do not suffer for their
Sabbath. They benefit. This has to be done on faith.
Men and work- Kinko’s 24/7. Really, honestly cannot
get it done? Then, it is the wrong job.
Saints and Covenant
Renewal-
How much more?
Heb. 10: 16 This is the covenant that I will make
with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is
no more offering for sin.
Heb. 10:19
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an
high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
We could take this as the new ‘spiritual’ way of
worship, no longer requiring much of us in the way of attendance. But he goes
on.
24 And let us consider
one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin
wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
God requires regular Covenant Renewal Worship
because WE need it! It is a means of grace, not a burden to bear. If we do not
see this, then we do not agree with God.
We are taking those things meant for graces and
making them like a mother goat’s milk used to boil her own kid.
And he goes on.
28 He that despised
Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was
sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
We do not say that these things no longer apply
in the New Testament. The writer to the Hebrews argues that if they applied in
the Old Testament how much more do they
apply in the New!
I think this is not at all a stretch to apply to
regular Covenant Renewal and tithing.
Please keep in mind, I am not trying to guilt
trip anyone. I am trying to get you to see how you are hurting yourself, your
spouse and your children.
Money-
working hard, it represents what you have earned by the sweat of your brow.
Thus, it is easy to see your money as yours. It is easy to convince yourself
that it is not a gift, a blessing, the result of God’s grace. But if you convince
yourself of that, you are lying.
Tithing- We teach tithing at
this church. We believe that all of your money comes from God’s blessing and
that God requires you to give 10% of your increase to Him to acknowledge that
blessing. Furthermore, we believe that you will live more bountifully on 90% of
your blessed money than on 100% of your unblessed money. My experience as a
pastor is that this is absolutely true. Those who can never seem to bring
themselves to tithe 10% of their increase, seem to always struggle in financial
difficulty. I have no doubt that there are plenty of well off people who never
tithe but they have their own sets of problems that are not my concern.
Saving for
Responsibilities-
Saving for the future is wise. But if you don’t have enough time and enough
money, saving is unlikely. You’ve got holes in your pockets. Would it surprise
you to know that God cut those holes?
This is not just Dave Ramsay stuff. It takes
faith to worship God and work and tithe and trust God for the future. But
weddings are coming. Your car is going to break down. You will have to go see
the doctor. Your roof will need re-shingled. For all of this, will you have to
work harder? Will you need more time and more money? Is your answer to pull
back from the Lord’s Day and tithing? Consider your ways.
Kingdom
building-
We are all kingdom builders. We are living stones in God’s house. We are
building God’s kingdom one marriage at a time, one child at a time, one person
at a time. This is God’s ordinary means for saving the world. He can do it
without you here. He can do it without your money. He has all the resources He
needs. But in order for you to be blessed in this kingdom building and to
participate in this kingdom building, He does want you to see and to know that
His ways work. The only way you can know that is to participate by faith.
Plants produce 30,60,100 fold by the miraculous
mathematics of God. He gives the increase. But they don’t grow if there is no
seed. Cast your seeds and see the Lord’s increase.
These are starting points. How do you
ever expect to get on if you don’t start? These are not the words for mature
Christians. I have wanted to feed you meat but fear that you are in need of
milk again.
The Old Testament is full of references
about God’s people not honoring the Sabbath and not honoring Him with tithes.
EXHORTATION
Ezra 6:20-
The result of the finishing of the Temple is that people sat down at the
Passover and renewed Covenant with God.
Haggai
2:7-9
7 And I will shake all
nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house
with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8 The
silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of
hosts. 9 The glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I
give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
The Lord shakes the nations and the desire of
the nations comes. It is then that the Lord fills the house with glory. He says
the latter glory will be greater than the former. We know for sure that this
was not true of the Temple itself.
Nor was their peace. Israel was subject to her
enemies. The only place where this glory
is greater is in the one who is the Temple of the Lord, the Lord Jesus. He
fills His latter house with greater glory.
2:18-19 18 Consider now
from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth
month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid,
consider it. 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the
vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not
brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
The blessing begins when the foundation is laid.
Jesus is the chief cornerstone.
Hag. 2:20
And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and
twentieth day of the month, saying,
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah,
saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
22 And
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the
kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride
in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the
sword of his brother.
The Lord overthrows the nations in Jesus.
23 In that day, saith
the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of
Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen
thee, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zerubbabel is in the line of David. This is a
reiteration of the promise that David will always sit on the throne. This is
the promise of the Messiah.
God had said that Johoichin was a signet ring
that would be pulled off his hand in Jer. 22:24-25. Zerubbabel would be a
treasured signet ring that God would not discard.
Wise men
bring wealth of nations to the new Temple, Jesus, the Christ. Matt. 2. Into a
new temple of living stones made without hands. 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 1 Pet. 2:4-10.
Heb. 12:26-29, Ex. 19:18, Matt 27:51.
Get right with God first, then get your house in
order. And this is not marked merely be heart commitment. It always sounds self
serving to tell people to go to church and to tithe in order to blessed. I
assure you, it isn’t. I don’t need your attendance at church or your money to
stroke my ego or fill my pocket book.
But let’s reason together for a minute. Let us
consider. You don’t have enough time to get all your work done. So, you need to
work your fingers to the bone and have earned Sunday for yourself and for your
family. And the more time you spend, it seems like the less time you have. Your
money won’t stretch to the end of the month and so you never have any left over
to tithe. If you could only get over that hump, you think, then you would give
to the church.
But that kind of thinking is part of your
problem. You think you would give your time to the church or your money to the
church or the tithe box, or the elders or the pastor. And so you justify not
doing so because the church doesn’t really need it. But that is not what is, in
fact, happening.
God doesn’t need your money, either. He doesn’t
need your presence at church in order to see you. You are in His presence 24/7.
But God wanted the Temple built because the
Temple represented the glory of God. And we exist in the new Temple, built
without hands, the Temple that is Jesus
Christ, filled up with His Holy Spirit.
You see, withholding regular Sabbath worship
costs you time. Withholding regular tithing costs you money. It is the clear
teaching of the Word. Why? Why do you have to go to church to get time? Why do
you have to tithe to get money? Because you are a people of faith who give all
the glory to God. You have to live on less time than you have to understand how
this gets you more time. You have to live on less money than you have to
understand how this gets you more money. Why? Because this gives God glory and
you are called to glorify God.
I see many of you suffer needlessly. You are
Christians but you do not fully trust God. He withholds from you and you keep
doing the same things, putting off being obedient to Him and hoping you will be
blessed anyway. Lay it down. Do what He says and see His glory.
I mention church attendance and tithing not
because these are the most important areas of life. They aren’t, necesarrily.
But they are foundational. They are often the rub for most of us. Tell me lots
of things, pastor, but just don’t tell me what to do with my free time or with
my money. Okay, I won’t but take that argument up with God and see what He
says.
My experience as a pastor is that those who do
not go to church regularly, like every week forever, unless there is sickness,
are those who constantly struggle in the faith. My experience of those who do
not tithe, is that they struggle financially, and they also have a host of
other besetting sins that eventually push themselves to the surface. These are
indicators that you have not given yourself to God.
Consider
your ways and determine if this is not so.
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