Some in here were not with us
when we began this study through all of the Old Testament books.
So look at Luke chapter 24. This is why we began to study
through all of the Old Testament books. We've looked at almost
every book now, and we're looking for types of Christ Luke 24, when we finished the
Gospel of Luke, we saw how that he preached to two of his disciples
on the road to Emmaus. And in verse 25, they were real
sad. They just didn't understand,
really, why Christ had come. And in verse 25, he says, O fools,
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
And this is what they spoke. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and enter into his glory? And begetting that Moses
and all the prophets He expanded unto them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning himself. That's what this, or rather who,
this book is about. And verse 31 says, He opened
their, their eyes were opened, they knew Him, and He vanished. And they said one to another,
Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by
the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures? The Scriptures
are open. The veil is removed when we see
Christ. Look at verse 24. He said, These
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law
of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then he opened their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures. How blessed we are,
we understand, don't we? We understand it all in the light
of Christ. So, now go to the little book
of Haggai. We've looked at long books like
Psalms. You know, the major and the minor
prophets, they all say the same thing. Long books like Psalms,
150 chapters, and Thaigai has two. But what's the subject? Christ. Christ and Him crucified. As Brother Darvin prayed, look
at, you found it? It's hard to find, isn't it?
All right, Haggai, look at verse 1. The second year Darius, Darius,
the king, you know that name? That's when Daniel was put the
lines down. In the sixth month, the first
day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai. This is
God's word. God who sundry times and diverse
matters spake unto us, unto the fathers, by the prophets. That's how God spoke. And God
still speaks to those prophets and the apostles and evangelists
and pastors and teachers. He still speaks that way. What
does He speak? What is the message? The Messiah
is the message. Christ is the message. So this
is the word of the Lord. Verse 2, Thus speaketh the Lord
of hosts, saying, This people... Now here it is. I want you to
consider three things with it. I want us to consider our ways. He keeps telling us that. I want
us to consider the end, and then I want us to consider Christ. Okay? That's what this is all
about. Verse 2, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts. 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? Do you dwell in your sealed houses
or houses with ceilings? And this house lie waste? Now
therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider your ways. Consider your worldly ways. Consider your ways. Consider
all that you've done, all you've accumulated, all that you're
about. Stop and consider. Stop and think about it. What
are you doing? Why are you doing it? What's
it all for? What's it all for? Consider your ways. See, verse
6, he said, you've sown much and brought in little. You've sown much and brought
in little. You eat, you don't have enough. You drink, you're
not filled with drink. You clothe, nobody's warm. Earn wages, put it in a bag full
of holes. Does that sound familiar? Ecclesiastes,
go over there, Ecclesiastes, right after Proverbs. This is
God's Word, God's truth to us, that vanity of vanity, all is
vanity. Ecclesiastes 1. This is the first
thing he's showing us. Consider your ways. Everything
in this world is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1, verse 1, the
words of the preacher, son of David, and this is what every
preacher will say, verse 2. Vanity of vanities, said the
preacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath
the man of his labor which he taketh unto the Son? There's no lasting profit at
all, right? He goes on to say, one generation passeth away,
and another generation cometh, and that one passes, and keeps
going. There's nothing new under the
sun, and man lives to accumulate, and this and that and the other,
and what's it all for? Nothing. Verse 7, all the rivers
run into the sea, the sea is not full. Verse 8, all things
full of labor, man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied
with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Nothing in this
world will satisfy. It will leave us empty. It will not fulfill. That's what
vanity means. It will not fulfill. It's empty. It leaves us empty. It leaves
us empty. Look at chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes. Chapter 7. This is how it began,
and this is how it ended. Verse 14, the day of prosperity
be joyful, and the day of adversity consider. Consider this. Stop and consider. Consider your
ways now. What's it all about? Consider
that God had set prosperity and adversity against each other
to this end. We need to understand that a
man's not going to find anything here. No matter what you accumulate,
you lose it. Job said, naked I came into this world and naked
I'll return. I've brought nothing in this
world and certain I'll take nothing with me. Right? Consider your ways, he said.
Now go back to Haggai chapter 1. Verse 7, I said to the Lord
of hosts, consider your ways. Remember, Moses said the same
thing. Oh, that they were wise and they
understood this, that they would consider their latter end. And it all ends. You say, but
I've just started. I've just started my marriage.
I've just started school. I've just started anything. Well,
All right. Time to shorten it. What is your
life but a vapor? It's a sleep. You go to sleep
and you wake up and sober. Is it not wise to consider that
the things that are sane are temporal, but the things that
are not sane are eternal? The story of a king who had a
court gesture. And they used to call them fools.
Court fool. A comedian, that's what they
are. And this king was dying. He called for his friend, the
court jester, and he came in to see the dying king. And the
jester said, Oh, king, what is going on? What's happening? He
said, Well, I'm going away from which I shall not return. And
the jester said, How long will you be gone? He
said, I'm never coming back. This is forever. He said, what
preparation have you made for this journey? He said, none. And he had his fool's cap on. And he took it off, put it on
the head of the king and said, thou art the fool. You're going
to a place from which you shall not return. You've made no preparation
for the journey. How foolish. Oh, that they were
wise, consider this. Consider your ways. Consider
your ways, he said. Haggai 1, verse 7. Verse 9, he
said, you look for much? It came to little. It came to
little. Why? Verse 9, the Lord says,
I blew on it. See that? I blew on it. It doesn't take much for us to
lose it all. My grandparents and my dad's
dad, John Mayhem, he was born in 1892 or something like that,
World War I. They went through the Depression
and raised two kids. Well, before that, they had a
nice home. They're married, had a nice home, and had the outlook
for a bright future. He had a good job at the steel
mill, and two boys and a girl, and lost it all. One night, 1929, lost it all. And they had to live for a rich
man. They lived in a little shack behind us, where my dad grew
up. A little shack behind a rich man's house, and they were picking
beans and stuff like that. And my dad says, we didn't like
for anything. We weren't sad. But my pop, Mahan, he lost it
all. Well, the Lord brought him through
that, and years later, in the 1960s, They had a nice little
country home in Tecumseh, Georgia, a farm with some cattle and all
that. I remember it well. I used to go there. All four
of us kids would sleep in the one bed, the feather bed. We'd all sink to the middle of
it. We just loved that place. Those cows and all that burned
down. All burned down one night. They didn't have any insurance. Consider it now. If you look
for much, it came to nothing. Wow, high blue on it. If you
belong to the Lord, He's going to blow on your house. Thank
God. The wind bloweth where it listeth. And if you're one of God's people,
that's what He's going to do. He's going to show you that this
is all for naught. Christ is all. Consider your
ways now, and consider God's way. Here in chapter 1, it talks
about worldly ways. You said you've got time for
your house, but not God's house. Now what are you saying, brother?
We don't have time to build God's house. We don't have time. We're
too busy. Hmm. It's one thing to eat for. Is
that most important? Our Lord said this, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All these things will be added
to you. Taken away, yes, but these are
just things. Stuff. Stuff. A whole bunch of
stuff. Consider that. Chapter 2 speaks
to the world, to the religious man. Kind of like Romans 1 and
Romans 2. Romans 1 is a Gentile world that
doesn't give God a thought. Romans 2 is a religious world
that thinks their religion is going to profit them. Look at
Romans 2. Look at it. Verse 11. Ask the priest concerning the
law. He brings up the law. If one bear holy flesh, Haggai
2. You wear your holy flesh in the
skirt of your garment, the skirt that touch bread, or pottage,
or wine, or oil, or any meat. Shall it be holy? The priest
answered, No. Verse 13. And said, Haggai, if
one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall
it be unclean? The spirit said, Yes. The priest
said, Yes. It's unclean. Verse 14. Haggai
says, so is this people, this nation before me. Every work
of their hands and that which they offer is unclean. Unclean. Isn't that what Isaiah said? He started out in chapter 1,
the whole head sick, the whole heart is fainting, the sole of
their feet, the top of their head, nothing but wounds and
bruises and putrefying, so unclean. Then he gets to chapter 64, verse
6, he said, all our righteousness is a filthy rag. We're all as
an unclean thing. And our religion, consider that
religion's not going to make you clean. Religion's not going
to do you any good. Job 14, Job asked that question
of questions. He said, who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean thing? Not one. Now, hold on, Job. Yes, there's one. You remember
singing that old song? Yes, there's one. Only one, the
blessed Lord Jesus. He's the one. Only one. You can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean. There's one. So let's now consider
the Lord's ways. That's the ways of man. All the
ways of man are right in his own eyes, but at the end they're
all just destruction and misery. It's of no profit. It's vanity
of vanity. But the Lord's ways now. He said
this. His ways are not our ways. His
thoughts are not our thoughts. How blessed we are. To know this, that all that time
we never gave God a thought that He was thinking on that. All that time we never gave Him
a thought that He was thinking on. He said, I know my thoughts
toward you. At a time when God was not in any of our thoughts,
we were in all His thoughts. I know my thoughts towards you.
Thoughts of peace to bring you to an expected end. His ways are not our ways. I'm
glad. I'm thankful. My, my. Alright, let's consider
the end. Haggai 2, look at chapter 2.
Let's consider the end. And Moses wrote that, that they
would be wise and consider their latter end. Look at verse 6.
The Lord said, once in a little while I will shake the heavens
and the earth. Verse 7, I will shake all nations.
Do you recall reading that anywhere else? Hebrews, and the end. Hebrews, the summary of the whole
Old Testament. And he ends Hebrews by saying, the Lord's going to
shake it off. And the only thing standing are
those things that cannot be shaken. The only person standing is that
one who's standing on the rock of Christ Jesus. That sure foundation
which cannot be shaken. Everything else is going to be...
And the world stays shook up, don't it? Everybody just stays
shaken up, like in Isaiah 29, it says, look to the earth and
nothing but anguish and vexation and darkness. And that's this world. You remember I told you about
having a worm farm. I had this worm farm. I put them
all in a big bucket or a big tote, plastic tote. I fed those
worms and I took care of those worms. Yes, I did. And I thought
about those worms. I did. I paid for those worms. You kidding? No, I paid money
for them. Anyway, every now and then I'd
go down there and I'd take that big, just because I could, I'd
take that big tub and just shake it. And I'd open the top, you
know, to feed them and all that. And those worms, they're lovers
of darkness. They live in the dirt, live for
the dirt. They eat dead things, but they'd be at the top, you
know, trying to get out. And then I'd open the top and
the light would come in and they'd all scurry back down into the
dirt. Hide themselves. From me. I'm the sustainer of their life.
But not once did any of those worms call out to me. Thank me. And I'd just shake their whole
earth, their whole world. It wasn't much for me to just
shake their whole world. They didn't call on me. And we wouldn't either. We didn't
either. But God. You've got to be born again. Change
from a worm into a butterfly. But he said, I'm going to shake
the world. Look at chapter 2, verse 22. I'll overthrow the throne of
kingdoms. I will destroy the... Verse 21. I'll shake the heavens and the
earth. I'll overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I'll destroy the
strength of the kings of the heathen. I'll destroy everything.
Do you remember last week we looked at Exodus 12? Remember
that? First day of the year. Exodus. The whole book means
going out. We're leaving here. This is not
our continuing city. This is not where we belong.
We're looking for another. The Lord brought them out. He
said, I'm coming through. I'm going to smite Egypt. That's
what He said. I'll pass through Egypt. I will
smite Egypt. And Egypt was smitten just exactly
like the Lord said. I will pass through. And He did. And He smote Egypt. But not Israel. Israel, he passed over Israel.
He brought Israel out. How? Why? Why did he bring Israel
out? Somebody give me one word. Blood. Blood. When I see the blood,
I'll pass it over you. He brought them out. Now let's
consider Christ. The Lamb's Light. Agai chapter
2, verse, chapter Look at this. He said, I'll shake the nations
and the desire of all nations shall come. And I'll fill this
house with glory. His glory. The glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The
desire of all nations shall come. What is your desire? Would you tell me, no, rather
tell the Lord. What is your heart's desire? What do you really want? What
are you seeking? Hmm? Isn't that a good question? What do you set your heart upon,
your mind upon? What is it? Job said to him,
he said, Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee. Thou wilt
have a desire to the work of thine hands. Only if the Lord
chose you and loves you and thought upon you will you ever have a
desire toward Him. But if His desire is toward you,
if you're an object of His love and His electing grace, your
desire will be toward Him. You will desire Him. And then
Job went over to chapter 19, and he said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. And he'll stand at the latter
day upon this earth, and after my skin worms destroy this body,
I'm going to see God. And he said, all my days I'm
going to wait till my change comes. That's what happened.
What are you waiting on, Job? Him. Listen to it. David. David said, the Lord's my life,
the Lord's my salvation. He said, one thing have I desired
of the Lord. One thing. This is my desire.
And that's what I'm going after, David said. And I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in his temple. See, David is the Lord's
bride. And that's who the bride I is. The bride I is not her garden,
but her dear bridegroom's faith. The friend of the bridegroom
rejoices at the voice of the bridegroom. This is my desire, David said.
The desire of all nations shall come. Is he your desire? Listen
to Psalm 73. I love this. Love, love, love
this. Psalm 1 through 150 are my favorite
Psalms. But Psalm 73, listen to this.
Verse 25. He said, Whom have I in heaven
but thee? There's none upon earth that
I desire beside Thee. One thing, one thing. All right,
look at our text again now. Now, who is this desire of all
nations? Who is it? Well, you know, the
Lord in all the Old Testament is hidden, but revealed unto
His babes. He's hidden. There's a man in
here called Zerubbabel. We've looked at this years ago.
Zerubbabel. Who's that? Now, Paul talked
about Melchizedek. Remember what he said? Consider
how great this man was, Melchizedek. I want you to consider with me
this Zerubbabel. We preached on this years ago,
and one of our men, they were getting ready to have a baby,
and he said, I'm going to name him Zerubbabel. His wife said,
no you're not. But if the Lord gets a hold of
you, and Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel is mentioned 22 times.
22 times. Zerubbabel built the temple. Zerubbabel built the house of
God. Zerubbabel is a picture of Jesus Christ. He's the desire
of all men. He's the captain of our salvation. Look at verse 1 of chapter 1. This became the word of the Lord
by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel. The word of God through the prophet
was unto and concerning Zerubbabel. This is who Haggai is talking
about. He's going to come and build
the temple. And Zechariah did too. You know,
Haggai and Zechariah were friends. They lived at the exact same
time. They helped the people while they were building the
temple. Didn't they, brother? The people were helped. The prophets
were right there beside them, helping them build the walls
and build these things. Zerubbabel was building the temple,
but the prophets were right there comforting the people and urging
the people on and strengthening the people's hand. That's what
the prophets did. But Zerubbabel, the Lord made it sound like Zerubbabel
built this whole place by himself. Well, Christ did. Christ did. But Zerubbabel's picture of him,
his name, look at chapter 2. Seven months, seventh month,
came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, verse 2,
speaking out to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. He's not only
the builder of the temple, he's the governor. He's the ruler,
he's the sovereign over the land. And then he mentions Joshua along
with him. Surely that represents Christ
also. His name. He's even... His name is Joshua. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. Verse 4. Be strong, all those
who are of the world, saith the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua. Be strong, all ye people of the
land. I am with you, saith the Lord. Who is He? He's God with
us. That's what He is. He's God with
us. Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel means
a descendant of Babylon. That's what it means. That this
man was born in Babylon. Well, isn't that our Lord? Huh? Was He not born in this world
of our captivity? Isn't that why he came? To leave
captivity captive? To set the prisoners free? You
know how many stories of men in the Scriptures went into captivity
to save God's people? Daniel? More in Babylon. Hm? Jeremiah? He was in Babylon,
probably. Joseph? The Lord put him in prison. Why? To bring the people to heaven.
Paul was a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you thankful
the Lord put Paul in prison? We have Ephesians, Philippians. And he put our Lord Jesus Christ
into this Babylon, this world. He came into this world, this
world, land of our captivity, because he came to set us free. Set us free. Chapter 2, verse
3, Haggai 2, verse 3. When He came, this place was
in shambles. Who's left among you that saw
this house in her first glory? Well, our Lord did. He saw man
when He created him upright. Oh, but He came to this world.
It was in shambles. Our Lord created man upright,
holy, walked with God. Oh, the ravages of sin upon mankind. Sad, isn't it? Our next message
is, Jesus wept. Sad, isn't it? What sin has done
to this world. If you want to see the end of
man, go to a nursing home. Look at a little child that's
born, you think, that's beautiful glory. What a creation, wonderful,
marvelous creation, the act of God. Now, just go down to the
nursing home. Leave the nursery and go to the
nursing home. It's that quick. And look at
it, bent over and broken and sad. When He came, it resembled
nothing of the former glory. When our Lord came, what's He
going to do? Build a new temple. He's going
to build us a new temple, a new body, a new Jerusalem. That's what Christ came to do,
isn't it? So the Lord says to him, verse
4, Be strong, Be strong. It's going to take a strong man
to do this work. Strong man. Listen to David in
Psalm 24. Listen to this. This is wonderful.
David said, Psalm 24, verse 8, Who is this king of Rome? Who
is it? It's the Lord. Strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. Who is this King of Glory? It's
the Lord of Hosts. He's the King of Glory. He's
going to build the temple. He's going to do the work. He's
going to save His people. He's going to do it all by Himself. He's going to sit down at the
right hand of the Majesty on High. Haggai 2, look at verse... Verse 19. I got two verse 19. Is the seed in the barn? The
vine? Fig tree? Pomegranate? Olive
oil? What's that all talking about?
Christ. He's the seed. He's the tree.
He said, from this day will I bless you. Beginning today, I'm going
to bless you. Starting with Christ. When you
come to know Christ, when you see Christ is all, you're blessed. And from then on, everything
will be a blessing to you. Everything. Verse 21. It's just
right at the end of the chapter. It says, Speak to Zerubbabel,
saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth, I'll overthrow
the throne of kingdoms. I'll destroy the strength of
the kingdom of the heathen. I'll overthrow the chariots,
those that ride in them, the horses, the riders, everyone
by the sword of his brother. In that day, verse 23, saith
the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant,
son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and I will make thee as a signet.
a sign, an ensign, a flag, a banner. You're the one I've chosen, saith
the Lord of Hosts, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And my
people are going to see you and flock to you. Now, our next study
is going to be in Zechariah. I told you he and Haggai lived
together at the same time. What's Zechariah's story all
about? Zerubbabel. Just look real quickly. Here's a preview. Chapter 4.
Look at it. Same message. Chapter 4, verse
6. Here's what Zechariah said. You
know, we may not live to next Sunday, so I can't wait. He said,
To the word of the Lord is irrevocable, not by might, not by power, not
by my spirit, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who
art thou, O great mountain, before is irrevocable? He'll make it
plain. He'll bring forth the headstone
thereof with shouting, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Saved by grace. The grace of
God that's in Jesus Christ our Lord. Builder of the temple.
Captain of our salvation. Amen.