complete dependence upon the
Holy Ghost for all needed help this morning, would wish to direct
your very prayerful attention to the prophecy of Haggai, and
by way of text, the first six verses. The prophecy of Haggai, chapter
1, and the first six verses. In the second year of Darius
the king, in the sixth month, in the 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 saying thus speaketh the Lord
of hosts saying this people say the time is 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 or
ye to dwell in your sealed houses, and this house lie waste? Now
therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Ye have so much, and bring in
little. Ye eat, but ye have not enough. Ye drink, but ye are not filled
with drink. Ye clothe you, but there is none
warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into
a bag with holes I know we are no followers of
the theology of Mr Spurgeon here certainly in his distinctives
but there was a anecdote spoken by his own tongue which says
everything about the prophecy of Haggai and everything about
you and I in our right state. As you know he preached to a
congregation of about 9,000 and I suppose even in those days
people had a tendency to sit at the back. This young man of
about 8 or 9 years old would sit on the edge of his seat with
his ears cupped behind his ears like this, he'd lean forward
and after one or two weeks Mr Spurgeon said to him, do you
have a problem hearing me? He said, oh no pastor I don't
know but my mother tells me that if the Lord God of heaven is
going to speak to me He's going to speak to me by your voice. And thus, it's always been that
way. In every age, in every generation,
in both Old Testament and in New, whenever the Lord has anything
to speak, He always sends a preacher. Always. That's His appointed
means. often very despised means. In fact I had this conversation
with one of the Lord's servants the other evening and I said I was asked on one occasion
who the people were to hear preach in our circles and I said well
before I answer that question I'm not going to give you the
usual names I don't need to say who they are. But often the very
best of the Lord's servants are those who people hardly recognize.
Now, we have before us this man Haggai. Now, if this man Haggai had been
an evangelical, he'd have been pensioned off 15 years before. He was about 80 years old when
he came to preach. this prophecy, particularly write
this prophecy. He'd been ministering for some
time. I make this point because very
often the most fruitful and the most useful years of the Lord's
servants are their final years. Now, I'm not saying that it's
wrong for a man to retire. Sometimes health and strength
fails and that is the sensible and correct thing to do. But
this man here had some health and strength. The prophecy in
its entirety only goes on about four months. But you know, everything in his
life had come to this point. You know, there was a point in
my life, very early on, actually, where circumstances were such,
I wondered if I would ever preach again. But you know, everything in my
life had pointed to that occasion. Divine Providence works like
that. Everything, everything, everything
is overruled for God's glory and for the benefit of His elect.
and thus we find ourselves in exactly that situation here at
Haggai, in this prophecy in 520 BC. We don't know very much about
him at all, actually. Not much at all. Only that he
ministered in Babylon most of his life. But here, And I read very deliberately
from Ezra chapter 6, because that gives us the historical
background and the historical context of the circumstances
that we find ourselves in here. You know the Lord had not spoken
by His prophets for some 16 years. And the circumstances in which
this came together were nothing short of miraculous. Here we have Darius, a pagan
king, and we have Cyrus, the means
of which deliverance was brought unto Israel. In Providence, that was how it
was. Overruling for the Lord's elect. Now, for those who are under
this foolish mistake, mistaken thought, that the Lord simply
deals with Israel as a nation, and is doing so today, would
do well to read this prophecy. Because most of Israel died in
Babylon. In fact, they were quite happy
in Babylon. But the Lord brought out a remnant. And thus, it's always been that
way. In every age, in every generation,
the Lord brings out a remnant. According to the election of
grace. for His glory and for the witness and the continuance
of the truth. But notice this, it came the
Word of the Lord by Haggai the Prophet. Haggai the Prophet. This is how the Word came and
needless to say He had some observations to make. Observations that were quite
unique to his ministry. As we read in Ezra chapter 6, Zechariah also preaching and
being a contemporary. It was an interesting period
in Israel's history. But you know Haggai wouldn't have made much headway
in pulpits, many pulpits today. Because he spoke things that
were not palatable. He said things that were not
altogether favorable. Notice again with the Word of
the Lord there is always a negative and a positive. Haggai first deals with the problems. Then, if the Lord will, this
evening we'll see of the promises that he gives unto his people. But notice here, we also have
Zerubbabel, who was the governor. Note, he was not the king because
Israel had a kind of freedom in a, what we might say today,
a colonial sense. Britain is still, to a limited
extent, a colonial power. But all the colonies of Britain
have their own local governments, if you like. And this was the
sort of arrangement that Israel had. Zerubbabel, the governor, Thus speaketh the
Lord of hosts." This was some claim. This people say, the time
is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.
Now, the last time that the Lord had spoken to Israel was some
16 years previous, by the hand of Daniel. In fact, we have it
recorded, I'll just turn to it, in Daniel chapter 9. And thus
again, do we not see Christ in all the Scriptures? Christ in all the Scriptures.
Daniel here prophesying the end. Verse 20, 4 of Daniel 9, 70 weeks
are determined upon thy people and upon thy city to finish the
transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation
for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and
to seal up the vision and prophesy and to anoint the Most Holy. know therefore and understand
that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah." Notice that, unto the Messiah. It's all unto Christ Himself. This here, what Daniel was prophesying,
is also what Haggai makes known in his little prophecy. That
there is a greater day. We'll come to that later. But you see, under the hand of
Providence, the people had begun to rebuild the temple, but quickly
become discouraged. so that only the foundations
were to be found and thus you and I would do well to learn
the lesson and to learn the truth that it's he that endureth unto
the end the same shall be saved the same shall be saved You know I always reserve judgment when we don't have it perhaps
in our chapels today as we used to but there would be on occasions
when causes like this were built 10 or 12 people baptized together. then yes, that's an occasion
to mark the Lord's favor and mark the Lord's goodness unto
us. But you know, it's not how people start that matters, really. It's do they go on? Do they go
on? You say, and is this not the
difference between free will and free grace? my secondary
school years, I met quite a number of people who put on professions
in a fit of emotion at some charismatic meeting. And occasionally, if you go back
to Leeds, you might happen to see such people if you're in
the supermarket or in the city centre, and you'll speak to them
and you find they're nowhere at all. You see, the Lord keeps His people. He keeps His people. That is
not to say that His people never backslide. One statement that was made,
which made a remarkable impression upon me, was this. They said, if your affection
for the Lord and for His glory is any less than it is now. Then we're already in a backslidden
state. We do well to heed those words. We do well. Now, this people say, the time is
not come. In verse 2. the time that the
Lord's house should be built. We sung of Zion in our opening
hymn very deliberately. Because, I'll say this, there
is nothing that will matter to us more than the cause of God
and truth. and Zion at large. The rebuilding of the temple
here was what Haggai was concerned
with and you know you and I will meet people every now and then we'll meet
people and they'll say well I don't
need to go to chapel chest puffed out They'll say, I can worship
God anywhere. Now that of course is true, but
we know this. If we won't worship Him in His
house, on His day, we won't worship Him anywhere else. That's a fact. It's just a fact. The time that the Lord's house
should be built, Now, we are living today in a
day of declension and decay. A bit like the days of Hezekiah,
a day of blasphemy and rebuke. But you know often, as you observe
people, you'll notice the things that consume them are not the
things that ought to consume them. They get all bent out of shape about things
the world are doing. Now, I'm not saying that we should
be indifferent to what's happening in civil government around us. But you know, none of the things
that are happening are new. We've seen them all before. Perhaps
in previous civilizations and perhaps in previous lands. But
we've seen them all before. What we ought to be concerned
with is the state of Zion and the state of our own denomination. I had a very profitable conversation
in going to preach somewhere where one of the Lord's servants
happened to have been elsewhere and he came back for the evening
service. And he was in quite a distressed state. He says,
you know I go over the country and I preach in the chapels and
all they seem to want is to be confirmed in the state that they're in.
Go through the motions. Have a service. See it through. It's a bit like that here. When
he said, are you to dwell in your sealed houses? And this
house lie waste? Now the word sealed, in that
sense, has been left as the original Hebrew. It really means panelled. Secure. Safe. well presented. Now by that, this does not mean
that we're to glory in a hole in the roof and to have our own
dwellings a mess. That's not what is meant here.
This is actually what is meant here and what the Prophet is
taken up with is what it really concerns us. He then goes on
to say now, Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your
ways. Consider where you are. Consider
what troubles you. Consider what bothers you the
most. For where your heart is, there
will your treasure be. Also, The people here had become utterly
lethargic. And they were simply focused
in their own minds on the present. That's where they'd come. Now, we can become just like this. Very easily. Yes, the foundations
of the temple were laid. They'd been delivered from Babylon.
And thus everything looked alright. You know, there's no bigger problem
in our denomination than when things look alright. We need more than that. We need
more than that. And I'm not undermining at all
the distinctives. That's not my purpose. Nor am I undermining venturing to live a positive
and constructive life in the civil sense. But what does the Prophet say?
He says, Ye have so much and bring in little. Ye eat, but
ye have not enough. Ye drink, but ye are not filled
with drink. Ye clothe you, but there is none
warm. And he that earneth wages, earneth wages to put into a bag
with holes. This is actually speaking of
what it is to live for the world. Now we read at the very fall
of man, in the third chapter of Genesis, that when Adam sinned,
the Lord cursed the earth. And thus, to live for the world
is to live under the curse. And thus here, we have the true
example and the true meaning of what it is to be worldly. Now, this is precisely the case because
religious people usually very pious religious people, who are
the worst type, think that worldliness is things. A television set. A pint of bitter. This sort of
thing. Now, I don't have a television
set, I don't want one really, but things in themselves are not
worldly. Worldliness actually is a spirit.
It's about what we live for. It's about what consumes us.
It's about where the heart is. And thus here, very, very quickly,
very quickly, and this is what also speaks to us. You think
of what they'd experienced and what they'd seen. These people,
had been delivered from a gross bondage, awful oppression. But you know they'd forgotten
the reason why they were found there. Which was because of their idolatry.
Because they'd become imbibed in the heathen practices that
had surrounded them. and the Lord in judgment had
sent them into Babylon but here we see the Lord had delivered them but
they were still in a poor way very quickly and thus Haggai He's sent forth
to preach unto these people and he says in verse 5, and he repeats
in verse 7, consider your ways. Now in the scripture, when something
is repeated, it's never vain repetition. It's said there and
it's spoken there for emphasis. And thus, he sets it to them straight,
as it were, about the way they were living. Sowing much, eating
much, but never filled. And you see, that is the problem
with the world, isn't it? Satan is a very, very subtle
foe. And thus, when he came into the
garden, what did he promise? He shall be as God's. He promised
much. It's always been that way. The
world and Satan promises much, but delivers on absolutely nothing. The devil is a liar from the
very beginning. From the very beginning. And
thus, if we follow after this pattern, whether we're in a religious
profession or not, we will find ourselves as those who earneth
wages to put into a bag with holes. Notice again the emphasis. This is quite different. You see the right way of viewing
these things is as the wise man who said there's nothing better
than a man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his
labor. One of the Lord's great provisions
for us is food, raiment and good company. The Lord is created as a social
beings. They all have their place. But you see that's not the end
of everything is it? And thus Haggai here addresses the lascivious nature of the
human condition which is to get to covet the I see and desire and thus satisfaction though is never
found wages are earned and money is
spent but it's like putting it into
a bag with holes and thus that was all they lived for now contrast
that with what they ought to have been living for that which they didn't see but what Ahaggai was setting
before them which was the temple the Temple. And, as you know,
the Temple was never to be an end in itself. The Temple was representative
of David's greater Son. And thus, we have here before
us a picture of the Lord's blessing and the
Lord's judgment. You see, when the Lord's blessing comes, Zion
is built. Zion is built. And the ordinances
of the Lord's house are re-established. Notice whenever Israel was delivered,
whether it be from Egyptian bondage, or the eventual rebuilding of
the temple, there was the re-establishment of the feast days. Now, we know that in the New
Testament there is but one feast day. There is the Lord's Day. There's no other feast days.
There's no such thing as the church calendar. with its pagan
practices of Christmas and Easter and all the other nonsense. There
is but one day, that is the Lord's day. And thus, when the Lord
pours out His Spirit, causes are established, His days observed,
and the people venture unto Zion. As the hymn writer says, how
pleased and blessed was I to hear the people cry, come let
us seek our God today, yea with a cheerful zeal we haste to Zion's
hill and there our vows and honours pay. Zion therefore does not
become a drudgery to us, does not become a pain to us, oh it
becomes a glory to us. And thus, the rebuilding of the temple. The bricks and mortar had their
place just as they have their place here. We're thankful for
God's cause. We give thanks that there is
a public building in which we can come. That's not an end in
itself. Dear soul, we gather that we
may see Christ and we gather all that we may see Christ in
our souls that we may be delivered from the world and that we may
be delivered from simply earning our wages
putting it into a bag with holes because it's all going to go
All of it. All of it. And thus, here, Haggai
gives a great exhortation to consider their ways. The Lord
will consider these things further. But, oh friends, the rebuilding
of the temple and thus it was indeed that which speaks of Christ,
a foreshadowing of himself. Now Christ has come in the likeness
of human flesh. Died rose again the third day
and is now ascended on the right hand of the Father. We have had,
we have seen the real Temple. We won't go back to types and
shadows. Where is the Lord now in heaven? It's the same glorious body that
is magnified in heaven. This is what Haggai was pointing
to. Now, you and I need to be concerned
as to whether we have a saving interest in the temple. in Christ Himself. And this is
no universal offer before you. This is the truth. This is the
way. And dear soul, the Spirit stirs
these things within us. Are we stirred to see and are our eyes enlightened
to see that everything around us is crumbling really it's all decaying it's all dying it's all change isn't it but
you see here we have a glorious picture of the Lord himself Oh dear souls, consider your
ways. Amen.