May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this morning as we consider his word. Let us turn
to the prophecy of Haggai, chapter 1, and we'll read verse 13. The prophecy of Haggai, chapter
1, and reading verse 13. Then spake Haggai, the Lord's
messenger, in the Lord's message unto the people, saying, I am
with you, saith the Lord. for the benefit perhaps of the
young people, to make you aware of the situation which existed
in these days when Haggai prophesied. In fact, Haggai and Zechariah
prophesied at the same time that Ezra and Nehemiah lived and wrote
their accounts. and it is interesting therefore
that these books are not placed perhaps alongside Ezra and Nehemiah
but you may be familiar with the fact that Israel had continually
disobeyed the word of the Lord and because of that the Lord
had spoke to them through the prophets But there would be a
time when they would be taken and would be sent down into captivity
into Babylon, and they would be 70 years there. And we would
think, I'm sure, that if we had a prophet of the Lord speaking
to us in our day and age, and he came and thus saith the Lord,
we would not ignore such prophecy. but generally Israel ignored
that prophecy which was spoken to them and the result was that
the Lord of course always is faithful always carries out those
things that he has spoken of and they were taken captive and
they were carried away down into Babylon and what was worse was
that Jerusalem was broken up and burnt with fire and the walls
broken down and the temple destroyed and everything in the temple
taken away into Babylon. Although we're not sure what
happened of course with the Ark, but we know lots of the implements
were taken away into Babylon. Now they lived there for those
years and then the Lord graciously, we should always remember the
Lord graciously caused them to be able to return. He changed
or gave the kings in Babylon that right spirit to encourage
Israel to return, or Judah more particularly, to return once
again to Jerusalem. And there were those people who
were raised up, Ezra and Nehemiah, who were to lead and direct the
people in those days. They came back. They commenced
the rebuilding work. And then there were those enemies
there who were very unhappy of the possibility of the Jews returning
to Jerusalem. And therefore they wrote a letter
to the king of Babylon saying, you ought to be aware that this
people are rebellious people. And if you let them continue
and rebuild this situation, you will have problems. Look in the
records. Have a look in the records and
find out whether it's true. Well of course it was true. And
the King of Babylon found it was true. So he issued a decree
that the work should stop. And sadly therefore, the work
in Jerusalem stopped for a good number of years. And it was really
then the Lord raised up Haggai and Zechariah to cause the people
to recognize the situation which existed and to encourage them
to return to this great work. Well we're thankful that the
word that the Lord spoke to them did encourage them and they did
return, they did rebuild the temple and they did rebuild the
walls of Jerusalem and it was finished. and it was finished
with the blessing of the Lord, the blessing of the King, King
Darius, one of those kings who encouraged them in this work,
and as we read here in this chapter, it was in the early time of King
Darius that Haggai was given this prophecy. Well, that's a
very broad background to the situation which existed, and
Haggai, of course, he speaks to the people and he directs
them to recognise their current position, what they were doing. And having then gone through
the situation, he is then encouraged to come to them with these words,
I am with you saith the Lord. Now we should not forget therefore
that really They have been criticised. These people have been criticised
because they were taking it easy, they were enjoying their own
lifestyle, they were living in their houses, and the Lord has
told them to consider their ways, consider your ways. And it's
good, you know, for all of us in our life to consider our ways. It's very easy for everyone of
us to continue in a situation and assume that it's all right. Well, the prophet here was told
to first of all tell them that they dwell in their own houses
and they weren't concerned about the house of God. Then he also
told them they'd sown much and hadn't got very much and that
they were clothed but they weren't very warm and they were earning
wages, but they put them into a bag with holes. So the situation
wasn't very rosy. And the admonition then was,
consider your ways. We should not therefore think
that this is a word which is irrelevant to each one of us. I'm sure in our lives we all
need to be able to come from time to time to consider our
ways. And the Lord graciously instructed
them. He told them to go up to the
mountain and bring wood and build a house. He said, I will take
pleasure in it and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Now,
how important it is that in our lives our concern should be that
the Lord God is glorified. and I will be glorified, saith
the Lord." What does that mean? It means that if we are following
the direction and the instruction of the Lord, then we can be sure
that he will be honoured and he will be glorified. And he tells us, ye look for
much and lo it came to little. Well, that may be so, mightn't
it? We may have looked for much, and it's come to little. And
when he brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. It's
good to have a question put to us and it's good to have the
answer given to us. The Lord gives us the answer
because of my house that is waste and ye run every man unto his
own house. The significant The point is
this, they were more concerned about themselves than they were
about the blessing of the Lord. And that was the real concern
and the real problem. And he says, therefore, the heaven
over you is stayed from you and the earth is stayed from her
fruit. What does it mean? It means it was a condition of
barrenness. There wasn't fruitfulness. we should be thankful that we
have accounts like this in the Word of God to encourage us in
our day, because we do come into those situations where there
doesn't seem to be much due, and we do seem to be barren,
and there doesn't seem to be any fruit really. Again, it's
good if the Spirit of God comes to us in this way, because it
really was in a loving way. The Lord came to his people and
just pointed out the situation, reminded them of what existed
and what was occurring. You look for much, the light
came to little. When you brought it home, I did
blow upon it. Why saith the Lord of hosts?
Because of mine house and his waste. And ye run every man unto
his own house." Again coming back to that great important
thought, whether we are more concerned about the honour and
glory of our God than we are about our own situation. And so the prophet goes on, therefore
the heaven over you is safe and due, and the earth is stayed
from her fruit, I call for a drought." And how comprehensive we see
this consideration. I call for a drought upon the
land, and upon the mountains, upon the corn, the new wine,
the oil, the ground that bringeth forth, upon men, upon cattle,
and upon all the labour of the hands. I suppose we could summarise
it very simply by saying, if we walk contrary to God, He walks
contrary to us. If we are not fulfilling the
will of God, He will not grant us the favour and the blessing. So we then read these words,
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Josaphat,
the high priest with all the remnant of the people, obeyed
the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet. Glorious statement, isn't it,
to read. All the people, they obeyed the
voice of the Lord their God. Their hearts had been touched.
They had been moved by the Holy Spirit of God. They
had been made willing in David's power. Here they were then, in
this situation, obeying the voice of the Lord their God, and the
words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent
him. And the people did fear before the Lord. We're told the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's a great blessing
to be favoured with that, to fear the Lord. And not just to
fear the Lord in a judgmental way, which we may feel we deserve. We look at our lives and we cannot
claim they're perfect by any means. We may perhaps tremble
to think the Lord will bring his judgments upon us. And that
may be, rightly so, the fear of the Lord. But then also, we
can think of that fear of the Lord, that we're offending such
a kind and gracious God, who has been so merciful. A God who has been so kind. A God who has brought to our
attention the actual situation which exists in our lives. How wonderful it is to have a
God like this. and to be reminded of the truth
of these words, the words as the Lord their God had sent him,
and the people did fear before the Lord. Then spake Haggai,
the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message unto the people,
saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. Now there cannot surely
be a more comforting and blessed word than to feel that notwithstanding
the situation which exists in the lives of Israel at this time,
notwithstanding the situation which exists in our situation,
in our lives today, to hear a word like that, I am with you, saith
the Lord. And that should be a very humbling
and a very blessed consideration to think The Lord should deign
to speak such words to such unworthy people, to encourage us to believe
the Lord is kind and gracious, and to believe these words, I
am with you, saith the Lord. Now, the effect was, the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shurti, the governor
of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Joseph, the high priest,
and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, to have our spirits
stirred up by the word of the Lord. See, these words, they
didn't fall onto stony ground. They fell onto that good ground
where the Lord had prepared the hearts of the people to receive
His word. And it had a good and a gracious
and blessed effect. Because we read, And they came
and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts their God. There was a fulfilment of the
LORD's word to them. They had taken to heart the kind
and gracious rebuke the LORD had brought to them through Haggai,
And sometimes we should be thankful that the Lord comes to us and
rebukes us perhaps. We may have been settled down.
We may have been very casual. We may have not been concerned
about the honour and glory of God. We may not have really been
concerned about our spiritual standing and our spiritual state
and the fruitfulness in our lives. And therefore then to hear such
a word from our God speaking like this and saying, I am with
you, saith the Lord. I believe if our heart's been
prepared to receive His word, it'll mean this. Our hearts are tender, our conscience
is tender to receive the word of God. We don't reject it. They didn't reject it. They were
words which on the surface may have appeared very harsh to them. But they knew it was true. They
didn't reject it. They received it in the love
of it. And they were encouraged then
by these words, I am with you, saith the Lord. And in the next
chapter the Prophet goes on to encourage them again And he asked
the question, who was there that had seen that house in its first
glory? And how was it now? It appeared as nothing. We might
think of that in a spiritual sense. We might think of it in
a spiritual sense in our own hearts perhaps. Perhaps there
have been those times of great blessing. And my friends, don't think a
little blessing is anything less than a great blessing. A little
blessing is a great blessing. Don't underestimate the favour
of God. And how do you see it now? Well,
it appeared perhaps as nothing. So the Lord then comes and instructs
them and says, Yet now be strong as a rubber ball, saith the Lord,
and be strong, O Joshua, the son of Joseph. the high priest,
and be strong, all ye people of the land. Saith the Lord,
and work, for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts." So
it's really a repetition and it's important to realise that
here the prophet brings this encouraging extension, as it
were, to be strong. It means that there will be opposition. There will be opposition. The
devil will never give up. Don't think the devil will ever
give up. He will always try and oppose the work of the Lord. He will always try and shut our
eyes from beholding the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, how good it is
to have a word like this be strong Yes, not only Israel, not only
the high priest, but all the people of the lands of the Lord
and work do that which God has instructed us in. For I am with
you, saith the Lord of hosts." And then the next verse, again
encouraging, according to the word that I covenanted with you
when ye came out of Egypt, the Lord promised Israel. they would inherit the land of
Canaan, they would find it a place of blessing, a place of favour,
a flame of milk and honey, and that he would be with his people,
and that he would continue to be with his people, and that
they are reminded, they are brought back to the promise, the covenant
of God. Sometimes that's what we need
in our lives, to be brought back according
to the word of the Lord that I covenanted with you." Well,
I wonder if we have a promise, if you have a promise, if I have
a promise from the Lord, and we were resting on it, we were
hoping about it. According to the word that I
covenanted with you, when you came out of Egypt, you may think
of that in a spiritual sense, coming out of Egypt. Yes, that
place of bondage. That place where we could not
escape ourselves. That place where the devil had
us in his clutches. We weren't able to free ourselves. The Lord brought Israel out of
Egypt. They could not be held there.
My friends, may God bring you and me out of spiritual Egypt. You can't be held there. Yes,
there's a way of escape. There's a way of deliverance. Well, I hope perhaps you can
look back in your life to a time when the Lord came
to you in Egypt and you were bound up. No hope. The Lord made a way of escape. And when the Lord makes the way,
the way is open. He went out with a high hand
to do everything with them. They could not forget such a
deliverance. And I believe when the Lord comes and moves our spirit, perhaps a particular moment,
particular day, perhaps a time in our life when there was a
change. We look back and we realise the
Lord was with us. The Lord brought us out. The Lord opened our eyes, our
spiritual eyes. And then he tells them this great
truth. So, my spirit, remaineth among
you, fear ye not." Now they needed a word of encouragement. And
here it was, you see. So, because the Lord had been
with them, what is he saying? He's saying, I will not forsake
you. And not only is he saying that,
he's saying it very positively, in this way, he says, and so
my spirit remaineth among you. What a blessing that is, isn't
it? To know that God's spirit is still with us. Perhaps the
scene seems dark. It would have done. It would
have done in Babylon. It would have done when those
who returned to Jerusalem, and the enemy had brought that decree
so they had to stop building, it would have appeared the Lord
had turned against them. My friends, that was the devil
had endeavoured to prove to them. But the Lord's time came when
he would once again send his prophets to encourage them, and
to speak to them, and bless them with a word like this, So, my
spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not. There's no need to fear, is there?
If the Spirit of God remains with us, in us, No, my spirit
remaineth among you, fear ye not." So as you may be fearful,
the Lord has left us, the Lord has forsaken us. Perhaps that
was the very situation which existed here. How faithful was
the Lord, how kind and gracious was the Lord in this matter. And I believe and thankful to
believe that we worship the same almighty great God today. And as he looked upon all the
people then, so he looks upon all his people now, and it's
true of everyone, my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not. Well, it's a good thing then
to know the Lord is with us. I am with you. saith the Lord,
I am with you." See, if God is with us, as the Apostle says,
if God is before us, who can be against us? We should not be discouraged. We should be encouraged to know
that the Lord is with us. David, when he spoke, He wrote
the 46th Psalm. It's not actually told it's David,
but it probably is that well-known psalm which starts with, God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. We go down a little bit and we
read, God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that
right early. The heathen raged. The devil
does rage. Be sure of that. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. Yet at his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Oh, the psalmist realised the
blessing of this. The Lord of hosts is with us. In the last couple of verses
in this 46th Psalm, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. A repetition of that encouragement. And when will we need God to
be a refuge? It'll be when we're involved
in the storms of life. It's when we're being shaken
about by the devil. When there's every evidence the
devil can bring into our hearts and minds to demonstrate that
we don't possess the life of God in our soul. God is our refuge
and strength. And so the Lord of Hosts is with
us. So He is. Don't forget what the
Prophet Isaiah said also. In a well known verse, 41st chapter
in Isaiah and the 10th verse. Fear ye not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Now, Israel in these days of
Haggai, they would have needed the continual evidence that the
Lord was with them. Yes, when they had to rebuild
the walls of Jerusalem, when they had to rebuild the Temple,
it was not an easy situation. They were afraid of the enemy.
You may remember how they rebuilt the wall. They rebuilt it with
those who had the sword in their hands. The sword and the trowel
they had to keep. The sword there, the sword of
the spirit. They were to continue to hold the sword there because
of the enemy. My friends, let us remember that
today. We need the word of God, the
sword of the spirit with us. to defend us against our great
enemy of souls, the devil. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. The Lord does not forsake his
people. That's why we have a statement
like this. I am with you, saith the Lord. Sometimes we may be surprised.
to think the Lord should speak a word like that. We dare hardly
hope our Lord would give us a word like that. Such an encouragement,
such a comfort. Yes, to realise what it is I
am with you, saith the Lord. And Isaiah also in the 43rd of
that same prophecy says, For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy
One of Israel, thy Saviour. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for thee, since thou wast precious in my sight.
Thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee, Therefore
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I am with thee." And what is he pointing out here? He's
pointing out the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour. Yes, I am the Lord
thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. But think of that
today. the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
with us. He is with us. He is going before
us. He is directing us. He is leading us into all truth.
He is speaking to our hearts. He is touching our hearts because
of His love toward us. He loved His people. He always
has loved His people. He loved ancient Israel. And
that's why although they were in this situation, He comes and
tells them, I am with you, saith the Lord. Yes, I am with you. Are you doubting it? Are you
fearful? Be encouraged, I am with you. And here we have, I am the Lord
thy God. That Lord who is with them, the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ will not
leave his people. He cannot leave his people. Why
can he not leave them? Because he's redeemed them. Because he's paid the price to
give them the great gift of salvation. Indeed, as the children in Sunday
School remember their text this morning, salvation is of the
Lord. That's where it comes from, the
Lord, their salvation. And to realise that it is this
Lord, thy Saviour, the One who has purchased them with His blood. They are His people. He will
not leave them. He will not forsake them. He never has done. He never will. We are encouraged this morning
to believe that this same God, who we read of here, I am with
you, saith the Lord, He is the Saviour, the Saviour of sinners,
and the one who has purchased their salvation at that great
cost, His life. It was of great value, wasn't
it? Your salvation, your soul, was so valuable to the Lord Jesus
Christ that he willingly gave his life so that you might receive
life. Is he then going to forget you?
Is he then going to cast you out? No. Who once he loved, loves, He
always loves. And He will be with us to the
end of our journey. I am with you, saith the Lord. Oh, what a wonderful blessing
it is to have a God who speaks like this and directs us to Himself. It is because of what He's done
for us. It's because of His great love.
That love from eternity, a mystery beyond our comprehension. To
think the Lord Jesus ever loved us, ever set his love upon us.
We look at our own heart, our own nature. We perhaps say, well,
can ever God dwell here in such a heart as mine? I am with you, saith the Lord. And it is a wonderful blessing
to think of that great salvation. And if the Lord Jesus Christ
has indeed given his life, it is a great salvation. It is because
we were precious in his sight. We were valuable. Perhaps look
at ourselves and think how can I have been precious? How can
I have been valuable? Well, it was not because of any
good thing in you. Not because of any good thing
in me. Because He set His love upon us. He set His love upon
us. We were chosen. We were elected. Wonderful favour, isn't it? To
think the Lord should come and choose such a people. and then to not only choose them,
but then to do all that was necessary to deliver their soul from the
wrath to come. And that which was necessary
was to give his life, to die, to suffer, to bleed and die,
to suffer so greatly so that you and I might be set free,
that we might receive the forgiveness of all our sins, we might be
amongst those to whom it is said, there is therefore now no condemnation,
to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Now, the blessing is that these
people then, they were moved by the Spirit, and they walked
after that movement. And they then did work in the
house of the Lord God, the Lord of hosts, their God. It is a blessing, isn't it? And we can claim this God to
be our God. Personally, you and me as unworthy
sinners can come and claim this God as our God. And so this Word,
there must be a word of blessing, surely. I am with you, saith
the Lord. And if the Lord is with us, you
know, he will never forsake us. No, he will never forsake us. He will be with us at all times,
through every situation that we come into. He will never leave
us. Jeremiah, in his prophecy. Remember, Jeremiah being one
of those prophets who prophesied against Israel. And he speaks
in his prophecy. And he says this. For I am with
thee, saith the Lord, to save thee. This is in the 30th chapter,
11th verse. Though I make a full end of all
nations, wither I have scattered thee. Yet I will not make a full
end of thee, but I will correct thee in measure, and will not
leave thee altogether unpunished." We need, do we not, sometimes,
correction. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. We don't like correction, do
we? We don't like to be chastened. Whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth. And we hear here these words,
I will not make a full end of thee. No, but he will correct
us in measure. Only in measure, he doesn't deal
with us as our sins deserve. Correct thee in measure and will
not leave thee altogether unpunished. That's in the 30th chapter. We read a very similar statement
in the 46th chapter, where again the Prophet speaks and he speaks
in this way. But fear not thou, the end of
this chapter, fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not
dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I will save thee from afar off,
and thy seed from the land of the captivity, and Jacob shall
return and be at rest and at ease, and none shall make him
afraid. Fear thou not, O Jacob, My servants, saith the Lord,
for I am with thee. For I will make a full end of
all the nations whither I have driven thee. But I will not make
a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure. Yet will I not
leave thee wholly unpunished." I believe the Lord brings us
through this way to bring those things into our lives so that
we remember. Thou shalt remember all the way
the Lord has led us. Led us to see ourselves, led
us to see our foolishness, our ignorance, and led us to the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, shall I remember? Oh, that's
a good thing. If God is kind and gracious to
us in these things, and may we be encouraged this morning as
we consider God's ancient people, and consider their position and
their situation and his love and his grace and his mercy toward
them in this way so that he speaks like this and says I am with
you saith the Lord and may we therefore believe in our little
life the Lord speaks to us in the same way that we may be encouraged
and strengthened this morning and to be able therefore to hold
on our way. Amen.