I ask you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Haggai. Haggai is about three
books before Malachi. If you're at Malachi, back up
just to Zechariah and then Haggai. Let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, You are our God.
Lord, we come this evening asking You, have mercy. Lord, would You bless the Word
to our understanding. Lord, bless the Word to our comfort.
Truly, may the Lord Jesus Christ be praised in all things. For
His name's sake, Amen. the temple that Solomon oversaw
in the building had been destroyed. And the book of Haggai is about
the rebuilding of the temple. Now, the people of Israel had
been released from bondage. in Babylon. And the time for
the construction of the temple had come. Now this book of Haggai,
when you just read it, I was thinking about that answer that
our Lord gave that we read again last Sunday when He was asked
by His disciples, Why do you preach in parables? And you know
the answer. Because it's given unto you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, the building of the kingdom
of God, the construction, the bringing out, the unveiling of
that which God Almighty has always seen and loved and established.
the kingdom of God. We're watching as God's kingdom
is brought forth and taught. When you read the book of Haggai,
it's actually talking about the rebuilding of the temple, that
building. There was a building that was
put. But the message of Haggai is the building of the temple,
the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. So remember that. When
we're looking at the building of that temple, remember the
spiritual significance of it. It's given unto you, the Lord
said. Why do you preach in parables? Because it's given to you. No.
The mystery of the kingdom of God to them, it's not given. Begin this in a few minutes and
we'll take this book. There are only two chapters in
this book and it's one of the shorter of the prophets. But as we look at this book,
we're going to find the people, and it shows their selfish indifference
to the building of the temple and how the Lord reprimanded
them for their selfishness and their indifference toward the
building of the temple. And what they were more concerned
about was their own houses, was their own buildings. You see
the significance of this already, how man by nature is selfish
and he is not concerned with God's honor. He is not concerned
with God's glory. So with that in mind, Let's look
at this book, the book of Haggai. The scripture says in verse 1,
and I'm going to pronounce it the way I see it written, the
second year of Darius. I always pronounce that Darius. And I looked at it and I said,
well, if punctuation marks mean anything, his name was pronounced
Darius in the second year of Darius, the king. In the sixth month, first day
of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet
unto Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua,
the son of Josedek, the high priest Now, here's a specific
message sent from God at a specific time, and it was actually addressed
by the prophet, from the prophet who heard from God, to two men
that are mentioned in this first chapter. The names of these two
men were Zerubbabel, the governor, or the captain. The second man
was Joshua, the high priest, meaning the mediator. Now, these two men in this address
to these two fellows that were heads, the governor and the priest,
and God spoke to these two men through the prophet Haggai, but
these two men, are beautiful types of our Lord, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Captain of our salvation, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
great High Priest. And in this word of prophecy
to the people through these two men spoken by the Prophet himself,
we are going to consider how Almighty God deals with His people
in the person of His blessed Son concerning His eternal mercy
and grace to them." So when you see Zerubbabel and you see Joshua,
these are two men. They were really there, but they're
pictures, they're types of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at
verses 2-4, "...Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This
people say, The time has not come, the time that the Lord's
house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord
by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to
dwell in your sealed houses? And this house lay waste. Now in that word, do we not hear
the message of man's insensitivity, inability, To do or to think
anything that might be God-honoring, God-pleasing. The people were
concerned about their stuff, their house, their place. But
God's house? No concern. Now let me ask you
this. Spiritually speaking, is it not
so? Who is man by nature more concerned
about? By nature. It's all about me. Man by nature is a spiritual
sluggard, because of sin, dead, procrastinator. Why? Because
there is no life, there is no interest, there is no thought
of anything except his own selfish man, me, my, unless Almighty
God intervenes. Man by nature is pleased to dwell
in his own sealed house, Wayne's cot, the house of his own pleasure,
the house of his own building, the house that he is concerned
about totally with absolute disregard for God's house, God's salvation,
God's kingdom, God's honor. Man by nature is not pleased,
not interested in the building of Almighty God's kingdom in
this world. The Lord says in verse 5, Now
therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. Set your heart on your ways. This, my dear brother and sister,
is a word of mercy, a word of kindness, compassion, that Almighty
God would send a word and say, about what you're doing. Think
about your thoughts. Consider your neglect of your
eternal soul. If the Lord was not pleased to
show mercy, you know what He would do? Just quiet. If Almighty God is
silent to any man, any woman, they have no hope. None. Consider
your ways. But in mercy, He reveals the
heart. Here's what He says in verse
6. If so much, you bring in little. You eat, but you have not enough. You drink, you're not filled
with drink. He clothed you, but there's none
warm. He that earneth wages, earneth
wages to put it into a bag with holes. Micah 6.15 says, Thou
shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap. Reap is diminished. There's nothing
there. You eat, but you have not enough. Man by nature thinks, I'm clothed. I'm warm. I'm full. I'm not thirsty. I've plenty to drink. And the
Lord says, you have nothing. Nothing. Isaiah 55, wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor
for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness." You drink, you are not filled
with drink. Why? Because man by nature does
not drink from the fountain of life. Not interested. You clothe you. There's none
warm. Why? Because man by nature is
satisfied with his filthy rags of self-righteousness. I've built
myself a goodly garment. Remember when the parable of
the Lord said that a king gave a wedding feast for his son. And all the guests were there.
The king came in and there sat one that had not on a wedding
garment. Beautiful picture of all being clothed in the righteousness
of Christ except one. It didn't say he didn't have
a garment on. It said he didn't have a wedding garment on. He
said, Friend, how did you get in here? What are you doing here
without a wedding garment on? Cast him out. He said, you're
clothed. You're not warm. You think you
are. And he that earneth wages, earneth
wages to put it into a bag with holes. There's no profit. Man,
by nature, thinks that he's earning himself a retirement. He's got
it in the bag. I've got it tucked away. I've
got many, many years left. I'll build me a bigger barn.
I'm fine. Verse 7, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring
wood, and build a house. I will take pleasure in it, and
I'll be glorified, saith the Lord. The Temple of Solomon, go back
and read all back. I was reading about Solomon's
Temple. Amazing! The gold, the pillars, the cherubims on the wall. It
was just magnificent. When Solomon is here, he was
talking about silver. It was just so common. Wealth untold at that temple. Unbelievable. This temple is
going to have to be built again. Thus saith the Lord, go to the
mountain. That former temple was one that
was a beautiful picture of the worthiness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the worth indescribable worth of Him, rich in mercy,
rich in power, rich in glory. No end to the describing of the
Lord Jesus Christ pictured by the Solomon's Temple, by the
Temple of Solomon. But here we see the Lord telling
the people, I want you to go up to the mountain. and bring
some wood. Get some wood and build a house. Build a house of God. We're going
to build it, and I will take pleasure in it, for I will be
glorified, saith the Lord." This temple was going to be a glorious
picture and type of the humility of the Lord of glory. I want
you to go to the mountain. Now, no specific. I looked and I tried to read
and I had speculation. Somebody can always have a thought
on which mountain. But no specific mountain was
mentioned. Go up to the mountain and bring
wood. Build a house. But even though
there's no specific mountain, and I do not, I'm not trying
to speculate, I was just thinking. These are my thoughts, not based
upon anything other than mountains that I've read about, considered
in God's Word. I thought about Mount Calvary. Go up to the mountain, that place
where the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied God's law, put away the guilt
of His people, atoned for His elect. How about Mount Sinai
where God's law was given? Where Almighty God set forth
that which He demanded. Set forth, this is the line,
this is the rule, this is the law. Mount Moriah, Which Abraham took Isaac. The Lord told him, He said, I
want you to take your son, your only son, sacrifice him unto
Me as a burnt offering. He said in three days, Abraham
came and he saw it. This is the place. This is what
God demands. God demands all. Which mountain? I don't know,
but I can tell you whatever mountain it was, go up to the mountain. and get the wood. It was a mountain
that spoke of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in being made
flesh. Humility. Verse 9 to 11, You
looked for much, and, lo, it came to little. And when ye brought
it home, I did blow upon it. Why, saith the Lord of hosts,
because of mine house that is waste. And you run every man
into his own house and therefore the heaven over you has stayed
from dew and the earth has stayed from her fruit. I call for a
drought upon the land, upon the mountains, upon the corn, upon
the new wine, upon the oil, upon that which the ground bringeth
forth, upon men, upon cattle, upon all the labor of the lands."
Everything that man thinks he can do or thinks that's going
to prosper by his hand is going to come to nothing. The only thing that God Almighty
is going to bless is what God provides. You go up to the mountain,
you get wood. You get what I produce. And you
build a house out of wood. Everything that you've tried,
everything that you've done, I blew on it. I dispersed it. Why? Because of the insensitivity
to my honor and my glory. The Lord is going to bless that
which God Almighty loves. But, oh, consider the mercy of
God to view His people in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verses
12 to 15. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
and Joshua, the son of Josedach, 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 as the Lord their God had sent
him and the people did fear before the Lord. Then spake Haggai the
Lord's messenger and the Lord's message unto the people, saying,
I am with you, saith the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit
of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit
of Joshua, the son of Josedach, a high priest, and the spirit
of all the remnant of the people. And they came and did work in
the house of the Lord of Hosts, their God, in the four and twentieth
day, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius, the King. I want you to notice how blessed
our acceptance in Him. Do you notice who the Lord mentioned
obeyed Him? The remnant of the people, but
the remnant that were found along with Zerubbabel and Joshua. They obeyed. And the Lord told
them I'm with you. I'm with you and with all the
whole, that's what, with all the whole of the remnant. Zerubbabel is a type of Christ. I want you to just take, if you'll
notice, Zechariah is the next book. Just hold where you are
right there. Just turn over to Zechariah 4, 6 to 10. Listen to this, these beautiful
scriptures. I was reading this concerning our precious Savior, Zechariah
4, 6-10. Then he answered and spake unto
me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,
saying, Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt
become a plain. He shall bring forth a headstone,
thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover,
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish
it, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me
unto you. For who hath despised the day
of small things? For they shall rejoice and see
the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. with those seven. They are the
eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth."
What a beautiful picture when we read of this man, Zerubbabel. Glorious picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ. So only in our great Zerubbabel,
our great Joshua, shall we hear the words said. Just like right
here. Well, we read that the Scripture
is talking about the Lord spoke, and Zerubbabel and Joshua obeyed
the Lord, and the remnant in Him, by Him, through Him, for
His honor shall it be said, well done, our good and faithful servant. Well, back in Haggai now, chapter
2, we behold the glorious promise of Almighty God assuring the
people of the coming of the Messiah, the one pictured by the temple
being built. Chapter 2, verses 1 to 3, in
the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month,
came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, Speak
now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah,
and to Joshua. the son of Josedek, the high
priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, Who is left
among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do
you see it now? Is it not in your eyes?" Catch
this. Is it not in your eyes in comparison
of it as nothing? Here our Lord speaks to His people
who must walk by faith. You that remember, the Lord said,
that first temple of Solomon, that magnificent structure, that
place of gold and stately pillars, how do you see this temple? that's being built now. How do
you view it? Is it not in your eyes in comparison
as nothing? Does this temple appear to you
to have the grandeur of the first? You know, I was reading that
And I was just thinking about magnificent church buildings. You know, there's some church
buildings that are, I mean, not only in Fairmont, but a lot of
places. I've just, I mean, I'm talking
about magnificent, magnificent. We were, I mean, I've been in
a few of them and looked at the, The architecture. I love old
architecture. I love old buildings. I just
marvel at the construction of those buildings. And I'm thinking,
wow. Let me ask you something. Do you think I'd take one of
those places over this one? Do you think I would take what
is said in that place, the God, the liturgy
God that's worshipped in that place above Almighty God that's
worshipped. Now, there were some that remembered
Solomon's Temple. They remembered, I mean, oh,
those lions, those great big lions. There was, you know, the
sculpture. This one that's built. This humble
place. How does it look to you? Verses
4-7, Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord, and be strong,
O Joshua, son of Josedek the high priest. Be strong, all you
people of the land, saith the Lord, and work, for I am with
you, saith the Lord of hosts, according to the word that I
covenanted with you You came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remaineth
among you. Fear you not. For thus saith
the Lord of Hosts, Yet once it is a little while, and I will
shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 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." Take heart! The Lord
is saying, Take heart, my people, though this building may be contemptible in your eyes, in the eyes of
some, it is a beautiful type of him who humbled himself and
made himself of no reputation and came into this earth, into
this world, Made of a woman. Made under the law. Made himself
the least. That's what he said. That's what
he meant. He that is least in the kingdom. And no one ever
humbled themselves as he. He that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is the greatest. Came into this world. honored God's law as the servant
of Jehovah. That's what that wood building
pictured. How does this look to you? How
does this compare to you? Though men saw in him no beauty
that they should desire him, through him The Lord said, I'm
going to shake all nations. I'm going to shake the heavens,
the earth, the sea, the dry land. And according to my eternal covenant,
I'll never leave you. My people will never be forsaken. The desire of all nations, not
everyone out of all nations, But out of every nation and kindred
and tribe and tongue, the desire of all nations, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the one that God's people look for, when He does come,
God Almighty says in power and grace, He'll shake. He's going to call His people
out. Out of all those places where they're found, This is
what Paul, mark your spot right there in Haggai and turn over
to Hebrews 12. This is what Paul was talking
about right here. That verse we just read in Hebrews 12, verse
25-29. This is what he's talking about.
Hebrews 12, 25-29. See that you refuse not Him that
speaketh. For if they escape not who refused
Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if
we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then
shook the earth. But now He hath promised, saying,
Yet once more I will shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those
things that are shaken as of things that are made, that those
things which cannot be shaken, may remain. This is what Paul
was saying. Everything that can be shaken,
everything that can be destroyed shall be. And one thing is going
to stand. God's Word. God's promise. God's covenant. The counsel of
the Lord. Standeth forever. Jehovah shook
this world when He descended upon Mount Sinai and gave the
law to Moses. If you want to turn to Exodus
19, I'll read Exodus 19, verses 16-20. Exodus 19, 16-20. The Scripture says, "...and it
came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were
thunders and lightnings and thick cloud upon the mount, and the
voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people
that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether
part of the mount, and Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke,
because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof
ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly,
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder
and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mount,
and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and
Moses went up." Almighty God shook this earth when He gave
His law. When our Lord came to this world,
when He satisfied Almighty God establishing the righteousness
of His people by His blessed obedience, God in Him shook this earth. The rocks were
rent. The Lord Jesus Christ died. Darkness upon the face of this
earth and God shook it. And now Almighty God is shaking
the very foundation of men false security in the calling out of
His elect. And He's doing it for His honor
and for His glory and doing it for their good. You think about
old Paul. When he was Saul of Tarsus back
in Philippians 3, he was so proud of himself. Oh, when he was circumcised
and his family, the tribe he was born in and on and on and
on. Concerning the law, he was blameless,
he thought. And on the road to Damascus,
God Almighty shook his foundation and knocked him down and called
that man out of darkness. And Paul wrote back. He was writing
to the church at Philippi. And he said, everything I trusted
in, he said it was lost. It was dung. I count it all as
done for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. God Almighty
shakes the very foundation of everything that is not going
to stand. And when He is done, the only
thing that stands is what God Almighty has established in righteousness
in Christ. Scripture sets forth, even this
earth is shaken. Again, I'll read Romans 8, 19. Romans 8, 19 to 20. The Scripture
says, For the earnest expectation of the creature, that is, the
creation. You see the word creature. Here's
the creation. For the earnest expectation of
the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. For the creature, the creation, was made subject to vanity, not
willingly, But by reason of him who hath subjected the same in
hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children
of God. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Right now,
this whole earth, the Scripture says, setting forth, well, we're
just having, I mean, it just has earthquakes and there's volcanoes
and there's just hurricanes. These are all natural. These
are just natural things. The Scripture says that this
earth groaneth. Groaneth. Moans jointly while
experiencing calamity. That's what the word means. Moans
jointly. with the redemption of God's
people that's coming forth to his moaning jointly, travail,
experiences pain, desiring relief. The scripture is setting forth
that this creation, because of Adam's sin, this creation, subject
now, because of one man's disobedience to decay, to death, to disease. But this state is not going to
stay forever. Now, the creation is going to
be delivered from this bondage just as the elect are. I'll show you that. 2 Peter 3.
2 Peter 3.13. The Scripture says, Nevertheless,
we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. This earth materially is the
same as it was before the fall. The earth was made, and it was
made good. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth, and it was good. This earth was good. as being made by Almighty God. But when sin entered this world,
this world was cursed. The ground was cursed for Adam's
sake. You think of the result, the
impact of one sin. One sin. One sin. By one man's disobedience,
this whole universe was corrupted. One sin. And man drinks iniquity like
water. I cannot not sin. I cannot. I cannot not sin. I cannot. I desire to walk before
God honorably. And I find myself, I can't do it. I don't have the
ability. The will is present with me.
But how to accomplish that which I would, I find not. One sin,
Pat. One sin. this whole universe, by one man's
disobedience, untold millions will be cast
into outer darkness because of one man's disobedience. The Almighty
God who is rich in mercy, who as we've said before, will not
allow mankind to perish. He chose to show mercy. He chose
a people. And the Lord Jesus Christ in
His humility, that glorious picture of that rebuilding of that temple. Go up and get the wood. Bring
the wood. Be precious in God's sight. This whole earth now is groaning
and travailing, waiting, waiting. God Almighty, is going to make
a new heaven and a new earth. It's going to shake it. It's
going to purge this one. It's going to destroy it by fire.
Look at verse 9 of Haggai 2. 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. Man alive. Boy, if that won't
preach, Neil. That glorious picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That building that is contemptible
in your eyes. The glory of this latter house. You talking about that wooden
structure? Yeah. Yeah. Going to be greater than
the former. You mean that one that had all
the gold and all that? Yeah, this right here. This is
my beloved Son whom I'm well pleased. You hear Him. It's going to be greater. Look
at verses 10-18. And we'll wrap this up. "...In
the fourth and twentieth day, in the ninth month, the second
year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet,
saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Ask now the priest concerning
the law, saying..." Now let me just explain this as I go. And
I pray God give me Some understanding. I pray the Lord will give me
understanding on this passage right here. And the Lord bless
it. The Lord sent a word through
Haggai to the priest. You ask the priest concerning
the law. I want you to ask the priest
this about the law. If one bear holy flesh in the
skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread or pottage
or wine or oil or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priest answered
and said, no, this is what he asked him. See, a portion of
the sacrifice, there was a portion for the priest. And the priest
could take that portion of the sacrifice. And he had a bag,
he had a place where he could carry it. And he was carrying
it in his garments. He had on the garments of a priest. And those garments were ceremonially
pure. It was a picture of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But those garments were ceremonially
clean. He had some of the meat, some
of the sacrifice in his pocket there. Now, if one bears holy
flesh, that which was sacrificed unto the Lord, ceremonially holy,
and the skirt of his garment Touch bread or pottage or wine
or oil or something else that was not part of the sacrifice. If he was walking by and he touched,
you know, just touched, just kind of touched it. There. What
do you ask him this? According to the law, shall whatever it touched, shall
it be holy? Did that law, did that garment,
according to the law, when it touched something else, Did whatever
it touched become holy according to the law? No. That's what they
said. They said no. That was right. Haggai, accepting that answer,
went on to the next question. Then said Haggai, if one that
is unclean by a dead body touch anything, if a priest touched
a dead body, if it was something there, an animal or something
dead that died, and you touched it ceremonially, They had to
be purged. They had to be clean. Now, they
were unclean and unfit, you know, to minister. Now, if one that
is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?
And the priest answered and said, it shall be unclean. Yeah. Uncleanness touches uncleanness
and it's unclean too. Transmitting of unrighteousness. Yeah. From Adam to me. Yeah. Yeah. Shall it be unclean? It shall be unclean. Then answered
Haggad, and said, So is this people, so is this nation before
me, saith the Lord. So is every work of their hands,
and that which they offer there is unclean." What he was saying
is this. You come here to build the temple,
that temple that is gloriously picturing my blessed Son. But
let me ask you this. Is the work that you're doing,
So is this people, so is this nation before me, saith the Lord,
so is every work of their hands that which they offer. There
is unclean." Is the work that you're doing toward my temple,
toward that building, does that make you clean? That's what he's
asking. It's unclean. By the law shall
no man be justified in God's sight. That's what he's saying.
So now I pray you consider this day and upward from before a
stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord. Since
those days were when one came to a heap of twenty measures,
there were but ten. When one came to the press fat
to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but
twenty. I smoked you with blasting, with mildew, with all hail in
the labors of your hands, yet you turned not unto me, saith
the Lord. Consider now, from this day and
upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, from
the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider
it." What he was saying was this. Of all these things that you've
done, the procrastination, that insensitivity, from all of this,
everything that you thought, God's with us. We're doing the
Lord's work. We're building the temple. God's
going to prosper us. We're worthy to be honored. We're
worthy to be praised because we're the Lord's people. We're
doing God's work. And God said, I tell you how
you how you're prospering was everything that you thought.
Verse 16, again, since the days were when one came up to heap
20 measures, there was 10. I diminished everything that
you thought. You came to the press, fat, to draw out fifty
vessels out of the press. There were twenty. I smote you
with blasting mildew, hail, labors of your hands, yet you turn not
to Me, saith the Lord." By faith, you turn not. You glory it in
your own honor. You glory it in your own praise.
You glory it in your own work. Verse 19, "'Is the seed yet in
the barn? Yea, as yet the vine, The fig
tree and the pomegranate, the olive tree, has not brought forth
from this day." Well, I bless you. Now listen to what he just
said in that 19th verse. Everything that you've ever trusted
in concerning yourselves comes to nothing. But then he asks
them in that last verse, the seed in the barn. Is it there?
Yea, yet the vine. Here's what's happened. The seed
was already in the ground. How do you know it's going to
prosper? How do you know it's going to be blessed? That last
verse, that last part of that last 19, from this day will I
bless you. I'll bless you because I've chosen
to show mercy. I've chosen to make you my people. Not because of you. Not because
of your worth. Because of me. Last verses. And again, the Word of the Lord,
verse 20, came unto Haggai in the four-twentieth day of the
month, saying, Speak as a rubbable. The governor of Judah saying,
I will shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow
the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of
the kingdoms of the heathen. I will overthrow the chariots
and those that ride in them. The horses and their riders shall
come down, every one, by the sword of his brother. In that
day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel
my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and I will make
thee as a signet. For I have chosen thee, saith
the Lord of hosts." has been given all authority,
all power in heaven and earth that he should give eternal life
to as many as God Almighty has given him. He is God's signet. He is the image of the invisible
God. He is the Lord's chosen and all
in him secure. The foundation of God standeth
sure. What am I going to do? I'm going
to shake this earth and I'm going to destroy everything that has
no sure foundation. But Zerubbabel, Joshua, you're
my chosen. I'm going to be with you. Oh,
child of God, thank God for God's merciful, electing grace. to keep His people. When the
last shot fires, I can tell you who's going to stand. Him and
all in Him for God's honor and the good of His people. Amen. Gary.