Haggai chapter one. There was a time when I was a
young man that I thought like most do about preaching, that
preaching was simply a matter of studying and instructing men
and women in the truths of God's word. And I felt very comfortable
and confident that I was capable of doing that with little trouble,
and I was anxious to do it. And in the process of time, I
came to discover that preaching involves a man finding a message
from God Almighty, a message, not a lesson, Not a sermon, a
message. I've got a message for you. It's
my responsibility every time I stand to preach to you or to
any other congregation, be it one or two or one or 2,000, it
is my responsibility to seek and get a message from the throne
of God that you must hear a message. And, Darvin, no man
alive is able to do that. Not this one, not any other. Only God can do it. And it's my responsibility to
deliver that message to you. But to deliver that message to
your heart, by the power of God, and no man can do it. No man
can do it. I've begun to realize something
of what the prophets talked about when they talked about coming
to men with the burden of the word of the Lord, with the awesome,
indescribable, heavy weight of a message from God that's going
to make a difference in the lives of those who hear it forever. Oh, preacher, that's putting
too much on your shoulders. Believe me, I know it is. Too much on my heart. Well, no
man can do those things. No man can. No man can. No man
can. But every man who stands where
I stand tonight is responsible to. You men who have the opportunity
and privilege of preaching here or elsewhere, when you stand
to preach to men, don't dare take it lightly. Don't dare take
it lightly. You're responsible to find a
message from God that his people must hear. A message for eternity
bound. men and women. I remember several
years ago, it's been, oh, 25 years ago or more, when the Mahan
and I were preaching up in Detroit. And he was sitting there. I was sitting right behind him.
And he was burdened by the message. His heart was heavy, apprehensive,
quiet, trying to seek God's direction. And a fellow came up, sat down
beside him, kind of talking lightly and frivolity. And he said to him, said, Brother
Mahan, if you don't feel like preaching, I'm ready. And Henry looked at him like,
you fool. He didn't say a word. You absolute
fool. Haggai chapter 1. 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 Sheateel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua,
the son of Joshadech, the high priest, came the word of the
Lord by Haggai. Oh, God, will you do that by
your servant tonight. Came the word of the Lord by
Haggai specifically to Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high
priest. Now watch verse two. Thus speaketh
the Lord of hosts. This is God's word. This is what
God has to say. And this is how he says it. This
people say the time is not come that the house 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? Oh, ye to
dwell in your sealed houses and this house lie waste. Now, therefore,
thus sayeth the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have so much and bring in
little. Ye eat, but you have not enough. You drink, but you're not filled
with drink. You clothe you, but there is
none to warm. And he that earneth wages, earneth
wages to put into a bag with holes. The prophet of God says,
thus speaketh the Lord of hosts. I'm interested in that. How does
God speak? When does God speak? What's the
result of God speaking? Does God still speak? If God,
the Holy Spirit, will give me grace and power to do so, I want
to talk to you this evening about when God speaks. Years ago, I read a story by
Mr. Spurgeon, a true story. He pastored
that huge congregation in London. And there was a young boy, eight
or nine years old, started sitting right on the front row, right
in front of the preacher. And Mr. Spurgeon couldn't help
but notice him. He would sit on the edge of the
pew and lean forward with both hands cupped behind both ears,
just like that, and just listen intently. And so Spurgeon would
kind of pick up his voice and talk a little louder. And he'd
lean forward, see those hands cupped behind his ears, listening
to every word. After a couple of Sundays, Spurgeon
stepped down and spoke to the young fellow. He said to him,
I said, son, are you having trouble hearing me? He said, oh, no,
sir. I said, I noticed you sit with
your hands cut behind your ears like he's having trouble hearing.
I thought maybe you're having some trouble. He said, oh, no.
He said, Mama told me that if God speaks to me, he's going
to speak to me through you. And if God speaks, I sure do
want to hear him speak. If God speaks, I want to hear
him speak. The word of the Lord came by
Haggai the prophet, and it still does. And let me show you three
or four things. I believe they're very important.
Number one, God doesn't always speak. I have prepared a message
for you. I have prepared a message that
is doctrinally sound and orthodox. I prepared a message that is
accurate according to the context of the scriptures in which it
is found. I prepared a message about which
no flaw can be found theologically. I find some flaws with it grammatically,
but not theologically. It's well prepared. And I'm going
to give you out the things I prepared. But I could stand here and read
it word for word and it all be true. And God not speak. God doesn't always speak. And
God may speak to you and not to the one sitting beside you.
He may speak to one or many, but not to all. And he may speak
to none. And fact is, God does not always
speak to men upon the earth. I'm confident that God never
has left himself without a witness, not from the beginning of time.
The gospel for the first 2,000 years was passed on from generation
to generation by word of mouth, by one man speaking to another.
It was passed along by men hearing the word of God and at last the
first books of the Bible written by Moses some 2,000 years. after
God first spoke the word of grace to Adam in the garden. God doesn't
leave himself without a witness. And faithful men always proclaim
God's word faithfully. In that sense, the Lord always
speaks by his word. But God doesn't always speak
through his servants, even when they faithfully preach the word.
We would be wise to pray that the Lord God might speak to us
by his word every time we come to his house to hear his word. Turn to Psalm 35. Psalm 35, verse
22. This is how David prays. This
thou has seen, O Lord, keep not silence. O Lord, be not far from
me. Lord, you've seen my need. You've
seen my desperate need. You've seen the enemies surrounding
me. You've seen the enemies within
and without. Stir up thyself and awake to
my judgment, even to my cause, my God and my Lord. Come back
to Psalm 28. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord,
my rock. Be not silent to me. Lest if
thou be silent to me, if thou be silent to me, I become like
them that go down into the pit. I become like the dead who have
no hope. Hear the voice of my supplications. When I cry unto thee, when I
lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle, when I come to your house
and lift my hands to you, Lord God, don't be silent. He cries
again, keep not thou silence, O God, hold not thy peace and
be not still, O Lord. We would be wise ever to cry
to God just like that when we come to his house. Having said
that, we see in the scriptures that God often speaks at unexpected
times. That certainly was the case back
here in Haggai. The band of exiles who returned
from Babylon to Judah and Jerusalem at Cyrus's decree, 50,000 of
them had come back to Jerusalem, and they had not heard the voice
of a prophet for at least 15 or 16 years. Imagine that. They hadn't heard the voice of
a prophet, no prophet. It wasn't that they came to church
and heard somebody preach and just didn't hear anything. They
didn't hear anything. They didn't have anyone speaking
to them. God had not sent a word by a prophet since they heard
Daniel speak back in Daniel chapter 9, 15 or 16 years earlier. They had come to Jerusalem. They
come to Jerusalem by the decree of the king. They come there
by the order of God, exactly as God had said he would bring
them back to Jerusalem by his servant Jeremiah. And here they
were sent here to rebuild the house of God, to reestablish
the worship of God, to rebuild the city of God. And they had
not heard a word from God in 15 years. Not a word. They hadn't heard from heaven
since God spoke That tremendous word by his servant Daniel. Turn
back and look at it. Daniel chapter 9. Now Daniel
is here speaking about the return of Israel out of Babylon. Judah's
deliverance from Babylonian captivity. He's talking about the rebuilding
of the temple, the rebuilding of the city, but he's not talking
about that at all. He's describing those things.
He's assuring them that those things shall be done. But as
you read Daniel's prophecy, it is obvious that Daniel understood. He was not just talking about
the physical regathering of Israel in Babylon and the physical rebuilding
of that physical city and that physical temple. He's talking
about what those things represented. Daniel chapter 9, verse 1. In
the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus of the seed
of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans.
Now this is not the same Darius we read about in Haggai chapter
1. This is a different man. This is not the Persian king,
this is the Median king. In the first year of the reign,
of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years. I understood by the word of God
the number of the years. Whereof the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years
in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord
God to seek my prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and
ashes. And then he makes this great
exemplary confession of the sins of the fathers and of the people.
Now verse 23. At the beginning of thy supplications,
that is when you first began to pray, The commandment came
forth and I am come to show thee for thou art greatly beloved.
Therefore, understand the matter and consider the vision. The
Lord God sends his messenger to Daniel and says, now, when
you began to pray, God sent me with a message to you. And it
tells you to understand what I'm telling you. Consider the
vision. Verse 24, 70 weeks are determined upon thy people and
upon thy holy city. to finish the transgression,
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
the prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Now, anybody who suggests
to you that that's talking about the rebuilding of the Jewish
temple is an absolute fool and doesn't understand what his book's
all about. The building of a temple in Jerusalem will not make an
end to sin, will not bring in righteousness, will not anoint
the most holy. This is talking about the accomplished
redemptive work of Jesus Christ the Lord. Read on, verse 25.
Know therefore and understand. That from the going forth of
the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah
the Prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks.
The street shall be built again and the wall even in troublesome,
troubleless times. And after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. And the
people of the prince shall come and shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with flood unto the
end of the war of desolation is determined. He says, when
Messiah is cut off, when redemption is accomplished, when sin has
been put away by the sacrifice of God's Son, and He's seated
again on His throne in glory, He's going to send His armies
and destroy the city that I'm sending you back to rebuild.
Verse 27. And He shall confirm the covenant
with many for one week. And in the midst of the week,
He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And
for the overspreading of the abominations, he shall make it
desolate. Even the consummation and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate. And thus it came
to pass in 70 AD. That was in the first year of
Darius, the king of the Medes, the first year of his reign.
Then in the second year, Darius, the king of Persia, God spoke
by his servant Haggai. The interval of silence is terminated
and the lips of the prophet are opened to give out the word of
God. What folly it is for us to presume
that God will always speak or that he will speak when we want
him to speak or that he will speak at our behest or that somehow
we can count on God speaking just because we come together
in his house and he's going to speak. No, no, no. Let us beseech
him to keep not silence. For 16 years, these folks didn't
hear God speak. But God always speaks at the
appropriate time. We get pressed with circumstances
and tend to think that God must do something now. And if God
doesn't begin to do something, when we think he must do something,
we'll start trying to force things and make them happen on our own
and make a mess of things. Wait. The clock of heaven always
keeps perfect time. We often speak when we ought
to be silent and often remain silent when we ought to speak,
not God. When the hour comes for God to
speak, so comes the man by whom God will speak. And here he is,
this man Haggai. Haggai was exactly the man for
the hour. Exactly the man for the hour.
This man Haggai was at least 80 years old, maybe a little
older. He is sent to the children of
Israel who said the time has not come that the Lord's house
should be built. And it comes with a message from
God to these people who needed to be roused from their indolence.
They needed someone to stir up their souls, to rebuke their
unbelief, and yet someone to comfort them in their disheartened
state with their heavy heart. Someone that would strengthen
their knees and lift up their hands and stir their souls. They
needed a man in their midst with a message from God who had come
fresh from the throne of God with a word that got to here
and Haggai is that man. He was just the man needed and
he brings the message. Now, God's message and his messenger
are never redundant. Let me say no more than should
be said and no less. We live in this great electronic
age. We have opportunity to send the
gospel message around the world by tape, by CD. You don't even
have to have those. You just put it on a wire and
out it goes. It just goes through the air. Go around the world.
Let me tell you something. Don't ever imagine that, well,
I don't need to be with God's people in his house today. I
don't need to go hear the preacher. I can stay at home and listen
to a tape, or I can stay at home and watch a video, or I can stay
at home and watch a preacher on television. God Almighty meets
with His people in His house. And it is here in the assembly
of the saints where our Savior promises He will meet with two
or three gathered in His name. You cannot put the Spirit of
God on a CD. or in a computer, or in a television. So I hear the same message. Try
it and find out. Just try it and find out. Messages
are good. You fellas take these messages
back here and listen to them. I get a chance to drive down the road,
plug things in, listen to them, and I profit by them. But I'm
going to tell you something. It ain't like sitting here and
listening to it. Is it? Bear me witness. Is it? Is that
the same thing? Why? Because God Almighty can't
be put in a box. He meets with his people in his
house and his message nor his messengers can ever be looked
upon as redundant. Noah, God's messenger, the man
of the hour with the message of the hour. Moses, at just the
right time, God appears to him in the burning bush in the backside
of the desert and sends him back to deliver his people. God's
servant, Nate Samuel, was exactly the man needed during the days
of Saul's reign, exactly the man needed to anoint David his
king. Nathan comes. Oh, what a messenger,
what a prophet he was. coming to David, sticking his
finger right in David's heart, saying, thou art the man. No
man, no man, no man in the history of this book could have prophesied
in his day, in the circumstances in which he prophesied, like
Elijah did. You read about Elijah, things
transpired. Oh, what a man. No, no, no, no,
no. What a messenger from what a
God for his people. And so it is all the way through
history. Here's the second thing. God
doesn't always speak. But when God speaks, he uses
a man to speak to me. Now, I know folks yak. I let them yak. Well, you're
saying, God, is limited to the use of man. No. No. If God Almighty
purposed to do so, were it His will and pleasure to do so, He
could cause one of those boxes right there, one of those offering
plates, to fly around the room and talk to you. Well, now you're
being silly. About as silly as most people
who object to what I'm about to tell you. God Almighty has
ordained by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. I call on you without hesitancy
to support the preaching of the gospel around the world, to assist
in supporting missionaries, to give sacrificially to maintain
the cause of the gospel around the world. And I make no apology
for doing so. I call upon myself and my family
to do the same thing. Why? Because this is how God
saves his people. This is how it pleased God. by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Is that what the scripture teaches?
Turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans 10. Brother Frank was just asking
me back there in the office a little bit ago about Philip and the
eunuch. About what transpired there.
Philip was in the midst of a tremendous meeting in Samaria. And God just
took him out. He just took him out. He took
him out in a whirlwind by some miraculous way and caused him
to be planted right on the road where this Ethiopian, this mighty
Ethiopian eunuch is coming back from Jerusalem. He was a Jewish
convert and he'd been up there observing the feast and he comes
back from Jerusalem just as empty as he was when he went up because
God had forsaken Jerusalem. And he's reading the 53rd chapter
of Isaiah. And I don't know whether he's reading that loud or not,
but he's reading Philip just Suddenly, he's walking alongside
his chariot. And he looked up at him. He said, Do you understand
what Isaiah is talking about? And the fellow said, How can
I? Unless some man show me. And Philip said, I was hoping
you'd say that. Slide over and I'll tell you all about it. And that's why I sent him down
there. Except some man showed me. Lydia was meeting by a shoreline. down in Philippi with some women
and met together because it was the Sabbath day and they hurt
all their lives. They ought to go to church on every Saturday
and read the scriptures. They didn't have any priest,
didn't have any sacrifice, but they're doing the best they could.
They're just down there trying to pray and read God's word.
And when Paul came to town, he said, is there anybody around
here who worships Jehovah? And they said, who? Jehovah. We heard about some old women.
who meet down by the lake down there somewhere, who talk about
Jehovah once in a while, you might go check them out. Saturday
morning came around, down he went. And he opened to them the
scriptures. And God opened her heart. That's
how God speaks to man. Romans 10, verse 9. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. With the heart man believes with
reference to righteousness. Not by believing you obtain righteousness. By believing you believe with
reference to righteousness already accomplished by Christ. And with
mouth, confession is made not to the obtaining of salvation.
No. You can confess all you want
to. It's not going to perform salvation. But confession is made with reference
to salvation. Read on. For the scripture saith,
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is
no difference between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord
over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Verse 13. For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, whosoever shall
worship the Lord, God shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they've not heard, not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? Well, surely Paul doesn't mean
for us to understand that it's impossible for a sinner to be
saved without the preaching of the gospel. Why don't you read
that again and then tell me that? That's how God saves sinners.
That's how God saves sinners. Verse 15. And how shall they
preach? Except they be sent. You may
have observed, I very commonly write something down up here
right before I get up to preach. Turn to the back of my notes
and I write something down sort of like this. Oh God now, send
me with your word. Because I keep preaching, not
for a second, except God send me to you. And all I do, all
the study, all the labor, is of absolute uselessness, except
God send me with His Word to you, right now. That's the importance
of the Savior. And those men God sends, They're usually the men that
you'd say, well, no. Not him. Not him. Not him. We like to think we see things
and understand things. Oh, boy, he'd make a good preacher.
He's so smart. He's so gifted. He's so talented. He'd make a good preacher. No,
he wouldn't. No, he wouldn't. I qualified by one-man standards.
Some of you remember Brother B.B. Caldwell. He used to say,
he said, God never did call any of you pretty boys to be preachers. If you've got something that
qualifies you for the work, you're not qualified. Oh, he's so smart. You're not qualified. He got
such a good education. You're not qualified. I have
some dear friends who love the gospel, love Christ. recently
asked me about, you know, you know, don't you think it'd be
good for us to send a pastor to, to get some more training,
more training for what? Do you reckon he could preach
a better gospel? Oh no. Do you reckon he could preach
it better? Oh no, no, no, no, no. But take
some of the rough edges off. God uses rough edges and all.
Oh, you see your calling brethren, not many wise, not many mighty,
not many noble are called. God's chosen the foolish things
to confound the wise, the weak things to confound the mighty,
the nothings and nobodies to bring to nothing those that are. How come that no flesh and glory
in his presence? Well, Brother Don, surely those
men that of being God used for prophets and preachers of old
were not like you're talking about. Moses was a wanted criminal. A wanted criminal. A stranger
in Midian wanted for murder down in Egypt. God called him in Midian
and sent him to Egypt. Elisha, say, well, man, he's
an old hayseed boy. Yeah, that's what Elisha was.
He was a hayseed plowboy. That's all he'd ever done till
God sent him out with his word. Amos spent his life as a herdsman. Habakkuk. Do you know how much
we know about Habakkuk? Do you know how much we know
about Habakkuk? I know his name, and I know he
wrote a few words in the back of this book in the Old Testament.
And that's all we know about him. That's all we know about
him. John the Baptist. Oh, he was a remarkable fellow.
Yeah, he was. He was a remarkable fellow. If he came to town, wouldn't
one of you come here and preach? He wouldn't dare. He was a wild
man. Nobody could control him. I mean,
no telling what he's about to say when he gets in the pulpit.
Why, he might embarrass people. You can count on it. He would.
He would. He was just the man needed. A
voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the
Lord. Saul of Tarsus, oh, now we're
coming to a man who was brilliant. He was learned. He was an academic. He was all that. And a stinking
self-righteous Pharisee like you couldn't imagine. And when
God called him to preach the gospel, this man who grew up
all his life hating Gentiles, he grew up all his life, God,
I thank you. I'm not a woman, a dog, or especially
a Gentile. I mean, you talk about a man
growing up with bigotry and prejudice based on his religion. But God
sent him to preach, and this is what he said. God has given
me this great grace that I should preach among the Gentiles, the
unsearchable riches of his grace, the unsearchable riches of free
grace in Christ. He's given me this privilege,
me and less than the least of all saints, Peter. People give Brother Peter a hard
time. I'd like to be half the man and
half the preacher Peter was. Oh, but Peter was so volatile.
Good preachers usually are. But Peter was so outspoken. Good preachers always are. But
Peter always had an opinion. Good preachers do, and they're
not always right. Peter had a backbone as wide as a freeway, and he
seemed to fear nothing. And he was a man made fully aware
of his weakness and his sin. And God used him on one occasion
preaching the gospel at one time to send his word to 3,000 lost
sinners, giving them life. Haggai was just the man needed
for this occasion. He had spent almost his whole
life in captivity. He's 80 years old, 70 of those
years he spent in bondage. He had seen the former temple. He had seen that temple in all
its radiant glory. He had seen Solomon's temple
in all its magnificent beauty. And he knew all the complaints
about this smaller temple that's being built. He had heard God's
word by his prophet Daniel. And Haggai understood that Daniel
was talking about something more than this temple. Daniel was
talking about this temple as it is but a stepping stone moving
toward the revelation of God's grace in Christ Jesus. Haggai
standing on the edge of eternity as an old man now speaks with
the wisdom of an old man. And he knows the vanity of building
your sealed houses while God's house lays in waste. The vanity
of gathering your riches and sticking them in a bag with holes
in it. The poverty of all the wealth this world can provide.
The insecurity and instability of all that men call stability
and security in the earth. Haggai comes, whose name means
festive one, and oh, What a festive message he has. He comes and
tells the children of Israel, in spite of everything they've
done and experienced, in spite of all their evil and wickedness,
in spite of all their unbelief, God is faithful to his covenant
and faithful to his people. And the Lord God says, from this
day forth, I will bless you. See that stone? See that stone? Five times in these two chapters. Haggai says, no. God says by
Haggai, consider. Consider. That is, set your heart
to consider this five times. Consider your ways. Consider
your ways. Consider what has brought you.
Consider your emptiness. And at last he says, consider
this foundation. Consider it. Look at it. The message is very, very personal.
He says, he says, consider this foundation that I have laid back
in chapter over chapter two, verse 18. Consider now from this
day and upward and from the four and 20th day of the ninth month,
even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Consider it. Consider it. Now look all around you. Is there
seed yet in the barn? Yeah. As yet the vine and the
fig tree and the pomegranate and the olive tree have not brought
forth. You look at all you've done.
You look at where your way's got you. You look at it. You
got no seed in the barn, no money in your pocket. Your bag's got
holes in them. Everything you do comes to nothing. Consider it. and consider the
foundation of the Lord's temple that was laid. He wasn't just
talking about that foundation. The Lord God refers to this very
thing. In Isaiah 28, verse 16, He says, Behold, I have laid
in Zion a foundation stone. And we're told repeatedly in
the Psalms and in the New Testament that foundation stone is Jesus
Christ the Lord. And he that builds on this foundation,
he that believes on him shall not be confounded. He shall not
be confused. He shall not make haste. He shall
not be ashamed. He that believes on the Son of
God, this one who accomplished redemption by the sacrifice of
himself, shall never be put to shame. Even in that day, when
I lay righteousness to the line and justice to the plummets,
he'll not be confused. He'll not be confounded. Consider.
Consider the laying of the foundation on which we are and must be built. Jesus Christ, Lord, set your
heart on him. And this is what it says. From
this day, from this day, from this day, I will bless you. Oh, now hear me, eternity bound
sinner. Hear me. Set your heart on Jesus
Christ, the Redeemer, who has made an end to sin, who has brought
in everlasting righteousness. This one who has fulfilled all
the will of God as the sinner's substitute, now anointed with
the oil of gladness above his fellows, sitting on the right
hand of the majesty on high. Set your heart on him. Believe
on the Son of God. And I'll tell you what you can
expect from this day, January 6, 2008, forever. God says, I will bless you. Amen.