Be strong believer and keep on working
Date 09 10 19 Text Haggai 2:1-9 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
We are looking at the prophecy of Haggai. It is a very short book and the events it describes took place over a very short period, a matter of a few months - from the first day of the sixth month to the 21st day
of the ninth month.
We know this because Haggai dates each of his four prophecies.
The book begins In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai.
At the end of Chapter 1 we read that 23 days later the people came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
Chapter 2 begins On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: So on the 21st day of the next month another prophecy comes. This is the prophecy we want to look at tonight. There are two more after this, both come on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month.
In the first prophecy Haggai is urging the people to get to work on building the Temple in Jerusalem which has been long neglcted. By the end of the first chapter they have begun the work. In the second chapter he is seeking to encourage them to go on working. He does this by encouraging them to see what lies ahead.
When a man preaches those are the two basic things he is trying to do. He is trying to get people started on the Lord's work. He is preaching to see the unconverted converted and the backslider restored.
But then he is also trying to encourage those who are doing the work to go on with it. He speaks to the discouraged, especially, but to everyone who is actually trying to do the work.
Different sermons will have different emphases, of course, due to various circumstances. Tonight my emphasis is on the latter - becasue it is a Wednesday night and this is what the passage in front of us deals with. I want to encourage you to go on doing the work of the Lord.
There are two main lines of argument here in Haggai 2:1-9
1. Believer, despite outward appearances be strong, work hard, fear not, for God is with you
So the chapter begins On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people.
The prophecy would have been given around this time of the year when the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot was being celebrated and so large crowds were in Jerusalem and there was a good sense of unity and religious fervour.
What he is told to do is to ask them a series of questions - 3 Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?
Very few but perhaps some would have memories of the previous Temple, Solomon's Temple. They all knew what a glorious temple it was but now they were building a necessarily less grand temple. Solomon had been a great emperor himself but now they were under Cyrus the Persian king. The beginnings were far from auspicious.
He then exhorts them to be strong and to do the work adding the promise of God's presence. We can say four things here then.
1. Do not let outward circumstances loom too large in your thinking
Today we may feel that we are living in inauspicious times. These are not days of revival for us, not days when the work of God seems to be going forward on every front. It is easy to be discouraged when things are like that. We must not be. Rather
2. Be strong and do the work
4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, 'and work.
It is common for God to urge his servants to be strong. Think of Joshua or Solomon. We have to stand firm. We have to seek strength from God. It is no good running away.
1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
Titus 2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Remember Paul's words in Ephesians 6:10ff
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, etc.
Solomon had been told to Be strong and courageous, and do the work and now the people are being told the same thing. We too must be strong and do the work that needs to be done.
Having found the strength we need from God we need to do the work.
3. Remember that God is with you as you work
There is a great promise at the end of verse 4 For I am with you, declares the LORD Almighty. This repeats what is said in Chapter 1 (verse 13) and reminds us again of the importance of the withness of God. Verse 5 expands on this This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. In the wilderness, the tabernacle had been established in the midst of the people, as promised in Egypt. Now this was the time to build the second temple and again the promise of God's presence by his Spirit is there. Now, with the coming of Christ (Emmanuel) the promise is of the indwelling of the Spirit. How thankful we should be for such a privilege.
In Zechariah 4:6 God says
4. Do not fear
The last thing here is God's exhortation Do not fear. Over and over again the Bible tells us not to be afraid. We are all prone to it. The moment we take our eyes off God we grow afraid. It is like Peter walking on the water. Looking at Jesus all is fine but the moment he looks down, he is sunk.
2. Go on, believer, for God is active, his glory is growing and he grants peace in these last days
In verses 6-9 there is more. In order to help the people not to be discouraged God speaks to them about the future. He talks about a great shaking that is going to come on the world and how the Temple they are building is going to be filled with glory. He goes as far as to say that The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house. When we think how magnificent the Temple of Solomon must have been in comparison with this second temple, this is quite a statement. Thankfully, we live the other side of the great things Haggai is talking about and so it is much clearer what he is saying, although some of it is still a little difficult to follow. There are probably four main promises here that have been partly fulfilled by today.
1. God has shaken all the nations
6, 7a "This is what the LORD Almighty says: In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations,
The promise is quite a general one. God is going to do something. He is going to act. Often the coming of God is described as him shaking things up. Here is the promise of the whole world being shaken up.
That is exactly what has happened with the coming of Christ. At this time the Persians were in power but soon after this it would be the Greeks beginning with Alexander the Great's amazing transformation of things. The Romans would come next and then the Messiah would come and everything would change.
2. He has laid claim on what is rightfully his - all things
It goes on and what is desired by all nations will come, not the desire of all nations as in the KJV but what is desired by all nations will come and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.
The silver and gold is his and everything else and he has begun to bring everything back to himself. Frst this second tmple was transformed so that it looked wonderful. But that is nothing cmpared with what happened after it was destroyed. Then the gospel began to go out to all peoples and all sorts of people were converted and changed. From all the nations they are still coming and putting their faith in Jesus Christ.
3. Greater glory than ever has come
It goes on The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. Yes, the second temple didn't seem a patch on the first but it is to this second temple (or one very much like it) that Jesus comes and with him greater and greater glory - glory that goes on beyond the destruction of that Temple in 70 AD.
4. Peace is now here
'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." With the Lord Jesus Christ comes peace. Already by faith in Christ we have peace with God bt that peace is extending further and further and deeper and deepr in the lives of more and more.
Keep these things in mind - God's power, his gathering of the nations, his ever increasing glory, the peace he alone can give.
Luke is careful to describe to us how when Jesus was but eight days old he was taken to the Temple. He describes him being there again when he was 12 and at other times. The Lord has appeared in his Temple and so glory has come, glory that leads to peace for all who trust in him. Such truths should make us strong and diligent to work.
