I had uh I was teasing in the
bulletin y'all get an at-home hobby kit. I thought I put that
article by Henry of Paul and Paul Mahan's bulletin in our
bulletin a couple months ago and I haven't I haven't I've
read it 50 times in my life and I want y'all to have that. And
so about four years ago, he had that bulletin. It was just such
a blessing to me. Every little, just the note in the top. He
said, we're not having services Wednesday. And somebody provided
for him, the Mahans and the Edmundsons to go to have a little vacation.
And I want to, that was a good bulletin. And I want to have
a good bulletin. I want that. But it's good, good
instruction to us too. And then like, as that article,
Greg was in there I have a desire to make people glad with the
preaching of the gospel. But if that's not to be so, my
job doesn't change. I tell the truth. This morning,
I don't really have a text for you. I guess that's a little
more fit as to the preachers of old. They would just get up
and talk to you. I talked to one of my friends
the other day, another believer. Basically told him everything
I was gonna tell you this morning, and I just want to talk to you
for this first hour I hope I don't go long And if it's real short,
I pray the Lord blesses it. I'd worked so hard on Joseph
revealing himself to his brothers And I wanted to be pointed with
that The only way someone is saved is if Christ reveals himself
to that person. He's salvation. There's a lot
of things that happen. And as soon as we think we got
it dialed in, we have a systematic theology that's watertight. You
go read about John the Baptist having the Holy Ghost from the
womb. We ain't going to put the Lord in a box. Now we know some
of his ways. We understand what happened to us through our experiences
and what his word says. The Lord's worked in some people.
And just as my friend had a bulletin that was instructive and good,
I was taught things. Me and Frank was talking about
that the other day. Our pastor taught us things. He told us
Ouija boards was a big deal in the early 90s in Eastern Kentucky.
I don't know why. And I was like, what is that
thing? And my pastor stood up and he said, you leave it alone.
I ain't saying there's no credence to him or nothing like that,
but don't do that. Mark it and avoid it. He told
me what that meant. Then he went and preached the
gospel to me. I remember those things. I remember those things.
I want us to consider some things this morning. If you got our
bulletin, if you look at that article I put in there, that's
my outline. You have my notes, and we'll go through it together,
okay? I was reading there in Haggai because Angus had preached
out of Zechariah. Despise not the day of small
things. What's that? That's practical too. God gave
us a building where we ain't got to sit out in the rain today.
I ought to be thankful for that. I had running water to take a
shower this morning, so I didn't smell too bad. I ought to be
thankful for that. My allergies are so bad, I coughed and coughed
and coughed, and hope I don't cough while I'm preaching, that
I got sick to my stomach, emptied myself, and my stomach's growling. I ought to be thankful for that.
It's something little, Lord gave it. He gave them little bitty
allergies. I ought to be thankful for that. And I went to thinking
of that, and I thought of Haggai coming through first. He was
like a good cop, bad cop is what we call in our day. He comes
through with a little bit rougher hand, only two chapters. And
then Zechariah come right behind him, said everything he said
is right. He told you what the Lord said. Now, let me explain it to you
a little bit more, a little sweeter. It says in Haggai 1-7, consider
your ways. Haggai wasn't telling the people
to consider their ways. He said, thus saith the Lord
of hosts. Consider your ways. God told
them. And I'm sure there was many there that said, Haggai
is mean. Why is he coming here telling us stuff like that? Why
does he tell me I ain't been saved forever and ever and ever and
ever? Why does he tell me I'm such a good Christian? Why ain't
he being nice to me? He said what God said. warned
them y'all consider your way god's gonna burn this place to
the ground he'll get ahold of you that's caring and loving that's
good what had happened there is the temple been destroyed
and it's gonna rebuild it and this rebel boy had been told
to have it rebuilt and told them fellas and all the men of israel
the elders said well it ain't time yet like we ain't gonna
get it as nice as it was before when Solomon had it and it's
just we we need to wait you know weather's bad and it's rough
time of year and I got crops cut my kids are about out of
high school if I can just get them kids out of high school something
we're putting off building God's house putting it back So Haggai
came, and he said, y'all have sealed houses. That's real fancy
cedar woodwork, like board and batten. What nice, I mean, expensive,
handcrafted. Small homes, it's wonderful,
and cozy, and the finest things. He said, you've got your living
in that, and God's house is just a foundation. Consider your ways. Tells him twice. And he gets
on to him. He says, this is the Lord's house.
He ain't gonna be robbed. But he told them, he said, consider
your ways. And I thought a whole lot about
it. That ain't just building that house. That's me today. I wasn't alive back then and
you wasn't alive back then. I'm alive right now. That word's
to us. The Lord said it. He said it
once. It's true forever. Consider your ways. So I considered
my ways. I thought about that a lot. What
should I think about? The ways of the whole of me.
Let this mind be in you. Is that right? That's what Peter
told us? What should a believer think about all day long? When
you're at a doctor's office, what should you think about?
When you're at the insurance company, what should you think? When you're at work? When you're at work, when you're
at school, while you're at home, what should you think about?
God tells us. I heard somebody, I don't know
who it was, I heard it secondhand, somebody told me, don't you tell
me what to think? I won't. God will. Shoot the message if you want
to. I don't care. You send me home. God tells us how to think. He
does. Pop Peter said, let this mind
be in you. What mind? He said, consider your ways.
What ways? What am I to consider? He tells us. Isn't that kind? We've offended a holy God, and
he bought us with his blood, and he's revealed himself to
us, and he teaches us things about him. This is a privilege,
a privilege. He gave us that commission, all
of us, not just me, you too. Go into all the world, preach
the gospel, make disciples, baptize them. If they believe they'll
be baptized, they'll tell you about it. The Ethiopian eunuch
did. He said, what keeps me from being baptized? There's water.
And then teach them. Teach them all my commandments.
Teach them all my words, everything I've said. Tell them things to
consider. I'm gonna tell you a thing to ponder
on. What are we to consider? That word consider in Haggai
1.7 and 1.9, it means to exercise the mind. We'll do some mental
pushups this morning. We're going to exercise our mind
and that's by fully observing. To fully observe, to behold,
to discover, to perceive. Do you ever perceive? I'm gonna tell you what to perceive,
because God's gonna tell us what to perceive. That's important,
isn't it? Turn over Psalm 8. Psalm 8. These things, every bit of them,
I want, I have an earnest desire, my new man desires to consider
these things, morning, noon, and night, left, right, and center.
He tells me to, I want to. I want you to. And if you're
considering these things, I'll give you the end up front. If
you're considering these things and I'm considering these things,
guess what we're doing? We're evenly yoked. We're probably
pulling something. Anyway, we're walking hand in
hand. We're in agreement. That's good. It's good. We're
to consider things that are much larger than we are. We're so
prone to consider ourselves. Not just our ways, but us, me.
I'm the most important person I've ever met. And that's true
if I was all alone on an island, isn't it? And that's the nature. We're to consider things bigger
than us. That we might consider how small
we truly are. Look here, Psalm 8. David did.
Psalm 8, verse 3. He said, when I consider thy
heavens, that's this whole universe. how big this universe is, how
big this globe we're on is. I consider thy heavens the work
of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained. I read an oracle the other day
about why they think the moon formed. God formed it. Here's why they
think it stays there. Because he wants it there. That's
why it's orbiting us. He put it there. Consider that.
Think about it. It's the same physics to remove
an electron from orbit around a nucleus as it is to get moving
out from orbit around that Earth. Our God changes not. That's what
I said when I was in math class. That's beautiful. Look at his
hand. David concerned. He said, I considered
thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars,
which thou hast ordained. Go outside and look up. What is man? Thou art mine. A chaplain told my pastor in
Louisiana when he was in boot camp in World War II, probably
the only good thing that ever came out of his mouth, that chaplain
told him, he said, you take an orange, hold it in your hand.
Imagine how orange is the earth. And then you draw North America
on it. Wouldn't be that big, would it? Now draw Louisiana
on it. Draw California. California's
a long state. Draw California in proportion
on an orange. It's a sliver, the width of a
Sharpie line. Now find San Diego County on
that orange. Now find Hamel, now find you. We ain't nothing. I ain't nothing,
I'm a worm. Boy, we think we're the biggest,
baddest worm that ever wiggled on this earth. Look around, go outside and look
up. What is man, verse four, Psalm
8, verse four, that thou art mindful of him and the son of
man that thou visitest him. For thou hast made him a little
lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Think about this. The Son of
God came to visit us and to live for us. He was made a little
lower than the angels, and he's been crowned with glory and honor. And because of that, us sons
of Adam, he come and visited us. He revealed Christ to us.
And we're a little lower than the angels. We're down here.
He's crowned us with glory and honor. What? That's amazing. That's amazing, isn't it? Think
about that. You're stuck in traffic in a
red light, and it won't change fast enough to suit you. Somebody
cut in front of you at the grocery store? Think about that. The Lord made
me a shopping cart, son. We call them buggies. He gave
me a buggy so I don't have to carry groceries through a store,
and then gave me groceries to put in it. And then he sent his
son to die for his people. Think of that. Our Lord told
us to consider those big things, things that are bigger than us
so we feel small and we see what a majestic salvation he's given
us. And he told us to consider things
that are smaller than us. Because you're gonna get sad
when that happens. I get sad. Don't you? Do you
feel all alone and itty bitty and overwhelmed and anxious or
anything else? Get worried? If I'm that little
and he's that big, he ought to crush me. I hope I don't have all this
just here in my head. This ain't a head knowledge.
I want this to be heart knowledge. Now, when that happens, you consider
something smaller than you. Turn over to Luke 12. Luke chapter 12. When you think too big of yourself, You go outside and look up, you
consider what the Lord's done, and that'll shrink you. And then
when you're feeling so small, you think the Lord just looked
right over you. Look at something smaller than you. Think about
ravens, think about flowers. They're abundantly provided for.
The Lord's provided for them. Look here at Luke 12, verse 22.
He said unto his disciples, therefore I say unto you, take no thought
for your life. What a statement. They'll kill me. Who cares? Don't
worry about that. Take no thought for your life.
What ye shall eat, neither for the body what ye shall put on.
The life is more than meat and the body is more than raiment.
Consider the ravens. You want to consider something?
Look at a raven. They neither sow nor reap, which
neither have storehouses nor barns. And God feedeth them. What's he talking about? I would
have put this second, but the Lord listed it first, so that's
how, that's the order I'm gonna give it. It's right. What are
ravens? They feed on dead things, don't
they? They feed on dead, that's the
goats, that's the heathen, that's the people, that's them parades
all downtown that curse God, and that's the churches all around
that you're all friends with, that used to be and they won't
talk to you no more, and they got pulpits and Bibles, and they're
feeding on death. God provides for him. He makes
it rain on the just and the wicked, doesn't he? He gives them corn
and green beans and hamburgers, everything else. He takes care
of those that are at war with him. How much more are ye better
than the fowls? That's just an old dirty bird.
The Lord feeds it. And which of you can take thought,
taking thought, that means considering, which of you considering can
add to his stature one cubit? Can you make yourself taller?
Can you make yourself more wealthy? Can you make yourself righteous?
Can you make yourself a better Christian by good, holy living? He's talking to believers. You
know better than that. And he's talking to his disciples.
He ain't talking to Joe Osteen in Texas. He's talking to his
disciples. You know that. You know that. God taught you
that. You can't do that. Verse 26, if ye then not being able
to do that which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
You know you can't provide yourself life. Why are you worrying about
everything else? Consider the lilies, how they grow. He grows
them. How am I going to grow in grace?
Same way the lilies grow. He did it. Consider the lilies,
how they grow. They toil not, they spend not,
and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass, which is
today in the field and tomorrow is cast in the oven, how much
more, you, how much more will he clothe you? Oh, you of little
faith. What kind of clothes you got
on? Well, I think it's from, I got this at Goodwill, but it
looks kind of nice. These pants are from Walmart. No, not that. You have a robe of righteousness.
That's what's required. That's what he gave. He required
it, he gave it. We're gonna have beans and rice.
What about them canned peas? It's up $2 a can on sale. This body might have a famine
and die. This soul ain't. He gave me a
new heart. He'll provide for it. Look at verse 29. And seek not ye what ye shall
eat or what you shall drink, neither be of doubtful mind.
For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and
your father knows that you have needed these things. He ain't
forgot you. Remember, he didn't forget the
raven. He didn't forget that little flower. He ain't forgot you. But rather, but rather seek ye the kingdom
of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell
that ye have, give alms, provide yourselves. Bags which wax not
old. What's that? A treasure in the
heavens that faileth not. Where no thief approaches. That
what's given to you cannot be stolen. Neither moth corrupted. It ain't gonna tarnish or rot
or go away. Be concerned about that. Consider that. Think about
that. Little bitty things. Now what
a great thing he's put on us. He ain't forgot us. He said,
those bags which wax not old. That's what Haggai was talking
about. He said in Haggai 1 5, now therefore saith the Lord
of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much and bring
in little. You eat, but you have not enough. You drink, you're
not filled with drink. You clothe, but there's none that's warm.
You earn wages, and those wages you put in bags with holes in
them. Our Lord says, get you a good bag. and don't grow old. Well, if it's going to be a bag
that doesn't expire carnally, he's going to have to give that.
Everything here rots. You put it in that. Our cup would
be another way of wording that, and my cup runneth over. Is yours? Verse 34 says, for where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also. Whatever you think
about, that's what you're going to think about. I want to consider
these things, don't you? What is all that? We consider
things bigger than us, and then we seem so small, and we feel
like the Lord will look us over, and then we consider things smaller
than us, and we realize He'll provide. He provided for those
itty-bitty things, for microbes in the ground. He's gonna provide
for me. Look at what He's already given us. This world ain't nothing. Why? Christ. Now what time you think about
that big old universe? Who did that? Christ did. What
time you think about them little bitty microbes in the ground?
Who did that? Christ did. So think about him. Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3 verse 1. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle, the high priest
of our profession, Christ Jesus. You think about Him. What about
Him? Who was faithful to Him that appointed Him. He was faithful
to the Father. As also Moses was faithful in all his house.
He fulfilled that which Moses did. He fulfilled the scriptures.
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Inasmuch
as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. for every house that is built
by some man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses
verily was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony
of those things which were to be spoken after." This is just
a picture of Christ. But Christ as a son over his
own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of hope firm to the end. He built his house. You consider him, he's the capital
A Apostle, he's the capital H High Priest, and he's the capital
B Builder. He's building a house. That's what Haggai was talking
about. There was a physical tabernacle they had to rebuild on this earth,
and that was just a picture. It just showed what was to come.
that that Christ would come and he would build his house, his
church, his body, and he's going to fitly frame it together, and
it's going to be perfect, and not one pinky finger is going
to be missing, and there ain't going to be an extra pinky finger
nowhere. It's just right. Think about him. Is that bad?
Is that bad? I can't ever encourage somebody
to go underneath the false gospel. And I always encourage somebody
to sit underneath the gospel at all costs. No matter what, that ain't bad
advice. You think about Christ and you
get around him, other people, it's considering how little they
are and how he takes care of little things like us. And he
did it all. He's building his house. That's
good. That's good advice. Whether they
ask for it or not, give it to them. We ought to consider those
things preached. The preaching of the gospel,
the preaching of this Christ, who has done all this? The King. By considering not just the man
that's preaching, but considering the message that God gave him
to say, don't get hung up on being mad at Haggai for coming
down here and getting on to some folks they need to get on to. He just
said, thus saith the Lord of hosts. And he got through, he's
like, what y'all wanna do for lunch today? You wanna go out
and eat? I was sitting at our kitchen
table with him and Zachary, I said, man, my neighbor's got a rooster.
There's people, there's passions like us, wakes me up every morning,
drive me crazy. There's stray cats running all
over the place. There's just like us, but he had a message
from God, about God, a picture of Christ and him fulfilling
the scripture. His person, his work, everything he did. Turn
over to Hebrews 13. I'll hurry. Hebrews 13. There's some instruction given.
There's some teaching going on, and these are good things. I
ought to hate them. Hebrews 13 verse one. Let brotherly
love continue. Keep doing that. We used to talk
all the time and hang out and visit one another. Yeah, keep
doing that. I ain't done it in so long. I'm horrible about that.
The longer I don't talk to somebody, the less likely I am to talk
to them. Because I think I should have talked to them a whole lot
longer, a whole lot sooner. And then I end up hiding. Let brotherly
love continue. Do that. Be not forgetful to
entertain strangers. For thereby some have entertained
angels unaware. Don't forget to entertain enemies,
neither. Remember that are in bonds, as bound with them, and
them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the
body. Marriage is honorable in all,
and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content
with such things as you have. For he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. What if somebody said, I got
nothing. I got Christ. He gave himself to me. That's
everything. Well, I'm in prison and I'm naked.
Well, maybe I'll freeze to death and I can go be with him. That's
a good thing, isn't it? So that we may boldly say, do
all these things. Let brotherly love continue.
Remember these things. Remember them that's in bonds. Don't forget to entertain
strangers. So that we may boldly say, the
Lord's my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. Remember them, consider them. Remember them which have
the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God. Like
Haggai did. Thus saith the Lord. Here's what
the Lord said. Remember them. Pray for me. It'll benefit you. Benefit me too. There's no negatives, it's all
positives. Paul said that often. Remember, pray for us, brethren.
Pray for me. Whose faith follow. considering
the end of their conversation. What's the end state? Why am
I here? It ain't to get popular, it ain't
to get wealthy, it ain't to make a bunch of friends. The end state
of my conversation, verse eight, Jesus Christ. Consider the message, consider
Him. Jesus the same yesterday and
today and forever. I want to listen. I talked about
Bruce Crabtree the other day and he was saying what a blessing
it was to be at the conference. He said, I get something out of preaching.
I get something out of studying. ain't nothing like sitting and
listening and i could tell you what text they might be turning
to next a lot of times somebody preaching they'll say turn here
and i'll have it turned to the next page it's halfway through
the chapter they're going to the second half that chapter
i know they are there it is i'm already turned to it saying it
again tell me one more time i love it that article and Paul's bulletin
by John Hall, the here I appreciate, one who prays for a blessing,
one who's punctual, and that teaches the family beside them
that this is important. Why are you showing up early,
daddy? This is important. This is important. One who's
got their Bible open, and they turn to it, that's a blessing.
Those Bereans, they were wealthy, and they had to go home after
the man stood up without notes and just told you what was going
on this week. what the Lord put in their heart. And then they
said, we have to go home and then go look at up ourselves.
I'll send you my notes. There's scripture references
and then bulletins next to everything that's in there. If you want
to look at it, read it right there and then go look it up.
That's a privilege, isn't it? Take a hymn book, sing along.
We got something to sing about. One whose heart joins in prayer
time, pray with us. One who remembers the presence
of God and bears himself with reverence in a manner and conversation. One who looks for Christ and
grace in the sermon and not rhetoric and elocation, fancy ways of
talking and clever statements. Guilty. Guilty. One who listens and takes a message
to himself and has a common afterword regarding the subject. So-and-so
needs to hear that. You ever said that? I have. Maybe
not you, I have. I wish so-and-so would have heard
that. That'd have been good for them, but they need to hear that,
because it'd been bad for them. I need to hear it. You talking
to me? No, God is. If he's with us. It ain't me. Tim. I pray it ain't me. I pray it
ain't me. one who has a look and a word
of Christian greeting for those near him in the church after
the service. Hebrews 13 verse nine, be not carried about with
divers and different and strange doctrines, for it's a good thing
that the heart be established with grace. That's good. Consider these things, not the
meats and which have not profited them that's been occupied there,
and not with the doing, and not with the keeping of the law,
and not with the getting the right doctrine, and not with sitting underneath
the right man. It's good to consider these things of grace, the heart
established. Now, with all these in mind,
that's a lot of things to think about, isn't it? Big stuff, little stuff.
Christ, what he's done for us. The message that's preached,
attending it, being there. With all that in mind, the heavens,
we're on earth. He's in the heavens, we're on
earth. And the heart, we don't even know our old heart, do we?
It deceives us. But the Lord's provided even
for them ravens and them little flowers because of Christ and
considering him and considering his gospel he's given us. With
that in mind, we're to consider one another. If he's done all
that stuff for us and he put that mind in us to consider such
things, we're to consider one another. Look back a couple pages,
Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 19. I hope the context, I pick a
little bit earlier in the text to read so we can kind of get,
we have these verses, these little proof texts, right? We have versitis. We can quote verses and we don't
really know, have a good handle what the context is. That brings
reproach sometimes, don't it? Because of this fool. I don't
want to be foolish. I want to read a little bit before
so we get the context of what's going on. Hebrews 10 verse 19,
having therefore brethren, who's he talking to? Brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil. That's to say his flesh. and having a high priest over
the house of God. He's sitting on his throne interceding
for us right now. Let us draw near with a true heart and full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith without wavering. How can I do
that? For he's faithful, that promised. And let us consider one another. Let us consider one another to
provoke unto love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembly
of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another. Not to help people to go off
and be by themselves in some other state. That's not good. Throw snowballs at me if you
want to. God says it. but exhorting one
another to come close, gather together, be with the Lord's
people. We'll consider Him together, worship Him together, sing together.
And so much the more as you see the day approaching. That's what I want to do. That
day's approaching. I guarantee you, I'm going to
see the Lord sometime in the next 80 years. I won't make it
past 120. I know it. He said so. That day
is getting close. It ain't gonna be as long as
it has been. Then you look around, you consider the world around
us. Lord's coming. It has to be. I want to consider
those things. That's the things I want to think
about. I want to think how great he is, how little I am, how he
provides for little tiny worms like me. That's good news. Consider him who came and hung
on a cross for us. And then he is an ascension gift
of Christ. After he bore our sin and rose
from the grave, he gave preachers. I'll tell you next hour where
one's going to be at the end of this month. He gave preachers
to give us gospel and they ain't nothing. I promise. I want to go, I want to hear
that gospel preach and I want to consider you. I pray for you. I pray for your fam. I pray for
your children. I pray they come sit next to you in a pew. in love and exhort one another.
That's what I do. Do you want to consider these
things? I pray he'll give us a mind. Let that mind be in us
to consider him, consider us, consider what he's done for us.
That'd be a good day, wouldn't it? It'd be a whole lot better
than worrying about a government shutdown. The tax bill coming in April
or something, wouldn't it? Let's pray together. Father, thank you for your word.
What good instruction you give your children. What a faithful
father we have. What a faithful elder brother
we have. What a faithful redeemer we have. What a faithful king.
Thank you, Lord. Put this mind in us and don't
let us be concerned about things of this earth and make us good
stewards of what you put in our hand. Don't let us be a reproach
to the gospel and to our family and friends. Don't let us lose
our witness in this world. Keep our hearts set on things
above, on Christ and Him crucified and where He is and Him building
His church. Thank you for revealing these
things to us, Lord. Don't let us take it for granted. Forgive us for what we are. Forgive
us our unbelief. It's because of Christ we ask
these things. Amen.