God's prophet Haggai was a divinely
appointed revivalist. Now, let that word settle in
for just a second. I don't mean that he was what
men call revivalist today. He wasn't a religious showman.
He wasn't sent to stir folks up to excitement and collect
his money and leave town. He was specifically chosen of
God, equipped of God, given a message from God, and sent by God to
stir up his people, a people who had shamefully and sinfully
ensnared themselves with the things of this world. How quickly. how commonly we
do. He was sent for the reviving
of a people. A people who had been marvelously
delivered by God's hand, exactly as God in his words said he would
deliver them from Babylonian captivity. And yet these people
having been delivered from captivity in Babylon, made themselves by
deliberate, willful choice, slaves to their own lust. Now, I realize
that the Jewish nation, this portion of the kingdom of Israel
called Judah, was but a type of God's church. The Old Testament
nation of Israel was only typical of the Israel of God. But understand
that in all things the nation of Israel in the Old Testament,
Abraham's physical seed, was by divine design typical of you
and me. Typical of God's elect in their
experiences, in their blessings, in their chastisements, and in
the warnings that were given them again and again. In their
failings in their times of darkness, in their times of captivity,
and in their deliverances. They were typical of us. As such,
they were a divinely chosen people. They were a people who were blessed
of God because of a covenant God made on their behalf with
their father, Abraham. They were a people specifically
redeemed. When we think of the word redeemed,
we generally think simply of the sin atoning sacrifice of
our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. But the word redeemed
means delivered. Not just bought and paid for,
but delivered. Israel was redeemed by blood
by the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb, typically so. Redeemed
by blood sprinkled on the mercy seat, typically so. They were
bought by a sacrifice. And Israel being purchased was
brought out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God and brought out of
Babylon and brought out of difficulty after difficulty after difficulty. And Israel was a miraculously
saved people. Over and over again, the Lord
saved them. Not because of anything in them.
I think it's Psalm 106 verse 8. Repeatedly speaking, the psalmist
does of Israel's failures. He says, nevertheless, he saved
them for his namesake. He saved them for his namesake.
And they were a wondrously, wondrously preserved people. But oh, how
they forgot. Forgot God's goodness. Remembered
not his mercies. And went a-whoring again and
again and again and again after other gods. Nevertheless, he
saved them for his namesake. In a word, Israel was a typically,
was a people exactly like you and me. And yet this people to
whom the Lord had been so gracious, this people whom he had greatly
and distinguishingly blessed as he had no other people, this
people for whom he had done everything devoted themselves to their lust. While the house of God, excuse
me, while the house of God lay in ruins. They devoted themselves,
running every man to his own house, running every man to that
which concerned number one, as they say, me. running every man
to his own things, while the house of God lay waste before
them." Every day, every day, they'd walk by the ruins of the
temple and look at it, and I suppose at times we somewhat stirred
a little bit with some nostalgic religious feeling about what
they ought to be doing and they'd make some excuse and they'd go
right on serving their lust. The Lord God wasn't worshiped. His name wasn't honored. His house wasn't built. No good was being done for their
souls or the souls of men. Nothing for the preserving of
God's truth and God's glory and the testimony of those things
in the witness of the things of God. But they diligently served
their own lust. When I was a young man and I
thought of this so much in preparing this message, I would read the history of that
nation and I would read it as it's given in the Old Testament.
I would read it as it's spoken of repeatedly in the Psalms. And I would arrogantly, self-righteously,
presuming I wouldn't behave in such a way, think how could they
do such things? Perhaps I didn't know myself
as well as I should have. Perhaps I just refuse to acknowledge
what I really did know. The fact is, we're just like
them. We're just like them. God Almighty, oh, what he's done
for us. Oh, what he's done for me. Our hearts, our hearts ought
to burn with consuming, passionate, fervent love for Jesus Christ
our Savior all the time. I'll not speak for you. I won't
presume to do so. I'll speak honestly to you about
your pastor. Most of the time, I find it hard
to find any reason from my own experience of things in my soul
to imagine that my heart has ever burned with passionate,
fervent love for him. Most of the time, other things
are far more exciting. Most of the time, other things
are far more likely to stir my soul than Christ, my Redeemer. Is that the way it is with you? Well, tonight I want to talk
to you about one promise. that ought to revive all the
time. Haggai was sent of God to rouse
these people up from their horrible lethargy. He was sent of God
to stir them from their indifference. That was his mission. Lord sent
Haggai and he said, my people, They despise my house. They despise
my worship. They despise my goodness. They
go about life in this world as if God Almighty did not exist. They function day after day as
if I did not exist. You go and spare this people
for me. What a task. How? By what means? What message? Shall I deliver? What shall I
proclaim to them? How shall they be stirred? If
I've read this prophecy correctly, and I'm confident I have, the
message God gave Haggai is just what I read to the men back in
the office. It is exactly the same message he gave to Isaiah.
Exactly the same message he gave to John the Baptist. Exactly
the same message he gives to every man he sends forth to speak
in his name to eternity bound men and women. It is just a twofold
message. All flesh is grass. And I'm talking to you. Behold your God. What do you say to the people?
Well, when all is said and done, you
tell them this, I didn't expect any better from you. I didn't expect any better. All flesh is grass. Oh, I deserve better, but I didn't
expect better. You ought to have done better,
but I didn't expect better. All flesh is grass. That includes you, and that includes
me. First, Haggai with scathing terms
exposed the sin of the people to whom he was sent, declaring
all flesh is grass. Let's read it one more time.
Verse three. 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 lie waste? Is
it time for you to to dwell in your fine, private, palatial
dwelling places, and my house lie in ruins? Now, God never
asked anybody to build him a house. David wanted to. Solomon was
devoted to do it. God said, I don't dwell in houses
made with hands. But having built the house, having
laid your hand to this, to build a house for my honor, what honor
is it that it lays waste now before you and before me? Is
it time for you to devote yourself to infinitely lesser things,
while my house and my name and my worship and my glory lies
waste before me? Now therefore, thus saith the
Lord of hosts, God who rules everybody and everything, consider
your ways. You've sold much and bring in
little. You eat, but have not enough.
You drink, but you're not filled with drink. You clothe you, but
there's none to warm. And he that earneth wages to
put into a bag with holes. In other words, everything you
serve, all the things with which you serve your lust, Everything
you crave, everything you seek, everything you devote yourself
to is utter vanity. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Consider your ways. Consider
your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring
wood and build the house and I will take pleasure in it and
I will be glorified, saith the Lord. But that's not you. You looked for much, and lo,
it came to little. And when he brought it home,
I'll tell you why it came to nothing. I blew it away. I blew upon it. I made it nothing. Why? Why, saith the Lord of Hosts? Because of my house that is waste. And you run every man to his
own house. Look, not every man on his own
things, but you do. Therefore, because you serve
your own lust with willful, deliberate choice, neglecting me in my house. Therefore, the heaven over you
is stayed from due. The earth has stayed from her
fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains,
and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and
upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon
cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands. I made all you
devote yourself to vanity. I made all your work. All your
work by which you hope to increase yourself and improve yourself.
Vanity. Haggai was a faithful prophet.
He told the people plainly in scathing terms that they were
a corrupt, sinful people. A people who fully deserved to
be utterly abandoned by God forever. Now hear me, my brother. Hear me, my sister. You who are dear, dearer to me
than my own flesh and blood, hear me. You who are yet far
off from our God, hear me. Do you sense that God Almighty
has forsaken you? You deserve to be forsaken. Does it appear to you that God's
mercies are clean gone forever from you? You deserve that they
should be. Does it appear to you that When
you cry to God in your time of need, the heavens are brass and
God will not hear you. You deserve that he should not
hear you. Does it seem to you that God
has cast you off? You deserve to be cast off. Oh,
pastor, I'm so in such darkness. I'm shut up in darkness. The
Lord has abandoned me. That's exactly as you deserve. Now you understand I'm talking
to you. To you. To you. It's exactly what we deserve.
Oh, how we abuse his mercies. How we presume upon his goodness.
How we trample upon his loving kindness. If ever there was a
person on God's earth who deserved to be cast into hell, Darwin
Pruitt, that person is you. Shelby Fortner, that person is
you. And above all, that person is
the one talking to you. Now that's just plain There's not an exception in this
building. We are very well described by
Isaiah, if you want to look at it, in the first chapter of his
prophecy. Actually, it's God's description,
not Isaiah's. Verse 2, Hear, O heavens, give ear, O earth,
for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought
up children. Larry Brown, did he nourish you
and bring you up as his child? And I'll tell you how they respond.
Not one or two of them, every blessed one of them. They have
rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and
the ass her master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my
people doth not consider, our sinful nation, a people laden
with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children, not that just are corrupt,
children that are corrupters. They have forsaken the Lord.
They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. They are
going away backward. Why should you be treated like
children anymore? Why should you be stricken anymore?
You'll revolt more and more. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart faint from the sole of the foot even to the head. There
is no soundness in it. There are wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. They have not been clothed, neither
bound up, neither mullified with ointment. Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire.
Your land, strangers devour it in your presence. And it is desolate as overthrown
by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left
as a cottage in a vineyard, a lodge in a garden of cucumbers as a
besieged city, except the Lord of hosts. You might read that,
but God who is rich in mercy. Except the Lord of hosts had
left unto us a very small remnant. We should have been like Sodom
and we should have been like Gomorrah. Our sins scream for God's judgment. Our sins scream for God's wrath. But blessed be His name forever. The voice of our Savior's blood
drowns the sound of our screaming guilt at the throne of God. And God will not impute sin to
a people redeemed by the blood of His Son. Though we forsake
Him, He won't forsake us. Though we rebel, he won't turn
away from us to do us good. Though we believe not, yet he
abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. So I bid you, I bid my own soul, in the teeth
of all our depravity, In the teeth of all our corruption,
in the teeth of all our nothingness, look away to Him and behold your
God. Of Him alone it is written, He
delighteth in mercy. Look to Him who loved you with
everlasting love. chose you in his marvelous grace,
redeemed you with his own precious blood, called you by his spirit's
sweet, constraining, effectual power and mercy and grace, and
holds you in his hand and will not let you go. Here is a promise. A promise
from the lips of our God. A promise from the lips of our
Savior of whom the psalmist spoke and said, Grace is poured into
thy lips, a promise from him that ought to revive our souls
from our deepest lethargy. It's a promise by which God revived
his people in Haggai's day. May it be a promise spoken from
his lips to our hearts this day. Haggai chapter one, verse 13. Then spake Haggai the Lord's
messenger in the Lord's message unto the people. Now I'm dead
sure I've got it right this time. This is the Lord's messenger.
He's speaking the Lord's message to the Lord's people. These people
he's just described in such scathing terms as withering grass. Now listen to what he says. I am with you, saith the Lord. I am with you. Who? You who run to your own
houses and despise mine. you who enslave yourselves day
after day to your own lust, you who trample under your foot every
day, my boundless mercies upon you. I am with you. I am with you, saith the Lord. Now, let me show you how this
exact promise is given at least six times to God's people in
the scriptures. Turn back to Genesis, chapter
26. This is God's promise made to
his chosen Isaac, Abraham's son. Isaac, in weakness, goes down
to Abimelech and brings shame upon himself. But the Lord preserved
him even by the hand of a heathen king, and now Isaac has left
Abimelech. And in verse 24 of Genesis 26,
the Lord appeared unto him the same night and said, I am the
God of Abraham, thy father. Fear not. But Lord, don't you remember
what I've just been through? Don't you remember how I behaved?
Don't you remember what I am? Don't you remember what I've
done? Fear not for I am with thee. You run after your mad lust.
I'm with you. I'm with you. Peter, Satan desired
to have you that he may run you through his sieve, and I've said
run him through the sieve. But I'm with you. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. I am with thee. And when he says, I am with thee,
this is the sure thing to follow. I will bless thee. How come? I will bless thee and
multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake, for the sake
of him with whom I made my covenant, to whom I gave my promise, in
whom I placed my glory. All right, turn over to Genesis
28. Isaac had two sons, one a reprobate, one God's elect. The elder, reprobate,
who despised birthright. The younger, Jacob, God loved. And Jacob had taken his brother's
birthright, and he's fleeing from his brother Esau. And he
comes to Bethel, this place he calls the gate of heaven. And
down here in verse 15, behold, God says, I am with thee. Now let me give
you the background. Jacob's asleep, and he sees a
ladder. He sees a ladder. and God's at the top of it. It's
set up on the earth, and the angels of God are descending
and ascending upon it. Romans 10, don't say in your
heart, who shall descend to the deep? Who shall ascend back to
heaven? It's already been done. The word
is nigh, even in thy heart and in thy mouth. Thou shalt confess
the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved. That's what
Jacob saw right here. Christ is the ladder that reaches
from heaven to earth and brings God's mercy down to sinners upon
the earth and carry sinners in mercy back up to glory. And the
Lord God spoke to Jacob and he said in verse 15, behold, see
this ladder, see this substitute for sinners. I am with thee. What does that
mean? What does that mean? What does
that mean for me? Everybody wants to know that.
What does that mean for me? Let me tell you what that means
for Don Fortner. God says, I am with thee and
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest. And will
bring thee again into this land, into the land of blessedness.
For I will not leave thee. until I have done that which
I have spoken to thee of." All right, here's the third one.
Isaiah 41. Jacob's been dead for a long,
long time. He'd been dead for a long, long
time. But Jacob has some sons and some
daughters. of people chosen and redeemed
by God Almighty who are just like Jacob. Just like Jacob. Chosen of God, blessed of God,
redeemed by God, kept by God, just like Jacob. Worthless, withering
grass. Isaiah 41, verse 10. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God, your God, your God. I'm so sick and tired of hearing
and reading that which preachers and religious folks write to
me. Now, you can't have any assurance unless you, you know, you've
got to do this, you've got to do that. If there's any unconfessed
sin in your life, it's time for preachers to declare man's sin. The only claim you have on God's
goodness is your sin. That's the only claim. There's
not a promise given in this book to any man except that man who
acknowledges that he's nothing but sin. That's all. Read on. He says, I'm with you. I'll strengthen thee. Yea, I
will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of your righteousness. No. With the right hand of my
righteousness. and everybody who's opposed to
you, I'll make them silent and they'll not be found. There'll
be a thing of naught. Skip on down to verse 13. For
the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying, fear not,
I will help thee. Fear not thou worm, chick. There are lots of words for worm.
There are earthworms and grubworms and cutworms. There are lots of worms. This is the best one to describe
Jacob. Fear thou not, thou filthy maggot,
Jacob. You that are nothing but the
result of putrefaction and death, weak and worthless, fear not. And you men of Israel, well,
how on earth can you say that to such a man? Call him a maggot
and tell him not to be afraid. I will help thee. saith the Lord
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Turn to Jeremiah. We move now from God's people to God's servant,
his prophet, Jeremiah. God calls him to go to the people. He says, I've set you to tear
down. I've set you to destroy every
false refuge. I've set you to destroy every
confidence my people have made outside me. I've set you to destroy
their idols. I've set you to destroy the gods
to whom they lean. I've set you to destroy every
false hope. I've set you to destroy the word
of every false prophet. And Jeremiah says, I can't do
that, God. I'm a child. I'm a child. Would to God I could find a man called of God to the work, knows
he's called of God to the work, who knows he's just a child and
utterly insufficient for the work. I'm fearful of men who
Have got everything it takes. I'm ready, boy, I'm ready to
go tackle the world. I'll preach. I'll, I'll pastor. I'll do this.
You ever meet God in his glory and find out what the work's
about. God, I can't do that. I'm a child. Verse 18. God put it. He said, you'll speak
what I command you. Be not afraid of their faces
for I and with thee, to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Verse 17,
thou therefore gird up thy lords, arise and speak unto them all
that I command thee. Be not dismayed at their faces,
lest I confound thee before them. You start fearing them, and I'll
make you look like a fool in front of them, for behold, I
have made thee this day a defense city and an iron pillar and brazen
walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against
the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, against
the people of the land, and they shall fight against thee. But they shall not prevail against
thee, for I am with thee, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 30. Here God makes this promise to
you, his elect. Verse 11, in the midst of all your difficulties,
in the midst of all your troubles, I'm going to send you down to
Babylon. And I'm going to, I'm going to sift you. Now I'm going
to separate the precious from the vile. I'll distinguish those
that are mine from those that are not. And you're going to
go through great trouble. You're going to go through horrid
darkness, great calamity, great trial. But hear me now, I am
with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee. Though I make a full
end of all nations, whither I have scattered thee, I will destroy
everybody around you. I'll destroy every nation, that
includes the one in which we live today. I will destroy all
the nations where I've scattered you. But remember, I'm with you. Yet will I not make a full end
of thee, but I will correct thee in measure. I'll do it in such
a way as I will not leave thee altogether unpunished. That is,
I'll not leave your sins altogether uncorrected. You're going to
know that I'm displeased with the evil, but I'll deliver you. Verse 11 of chapter 42, he says,
I'm with you to save you and deliver you. Chapter 46, verse
28, fear thou not. Oh, Jacob, my servant, sayeth
the Lord. For I am with thee. Now, turn to Matthew chapter
28. This is our Lord's word to you,
his people, his church, as he leaves us in this world. Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, verse 18, All power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. This is why you're going through
this world. As you, when you get up tomorrow, you're on your
pilgrimage, you're headed to glory. Go, tell the people who
I am and what I've done. and low, I'm with you. I'm with you. How long, Lord,
till I get done? I'm with you even to the end
of the world. Amen. But Lord, we have difficulties
and trials and people oppose us. People set themselves against
us. What do we do? You don't need
to turn there for this. I'll just give it to you. The
Apostle Paul was in such a position. He'd gone to Athens and was despised. He'd gone to Philippi and was
despised. He's at Corinth and he's being
despised. I can just picture him ready
to give it up. What's the use? Shoot, I'll go
back and do something else. What's the point? Then spake the Lord to Paul by
night in a vision. Be not afraid, but speak and
hold not thy peace. For I am with thee. And no man
shall sit on thee. No, that's not what he said.
That's not what he said. But this is what it said, no
man shall set on thee to hurt thee. No man going to harm you. Not you, because I'm with you.
For I have much people in this city. Now, David Burge, that promise
from God. or to keep our hearts revived
24 hours a day, 365 days a year, all the time. Come in cold and vanquishing
that promise. Oh God, never again! But it's gonna take more than
me preaching the promise. You reading the promise. and
you hearing the promise for it to revive our souls. Go back
to our text. Haggai 1 verse 13. Then spake Haggai, the Lord's
messenger, in the Lord's message unto the people saying, I am
with you, saith the Lord. Now this is what it takes for the reviving of our souls. And the Lord stirred the spirit
of Zerubbabel and Joshua and the people. Oh God, come, stir my spirit. Come stir the spirits of your
people and graciously force us to set our hearts upon our Redeemer. Amen.