It tells us here in verse 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 She-alateah, governor
of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Joshedek, the high priest. This message was directed mainly
to the governor, the rebbeble, and to the high priest, Joshua. Now, we'll look at verse 2 in
a moment, but Cyrus had ordered the Jews to rebuild the house
of the Lord. The house of the Lord not only
lay in ruins and waste, but there wasn't anything left but the
foundation. Sixteen years ago, Cyrus had
brought the message that the Lord said, rebuild the temple,
rebuild the house of the Lord, and they had not done it. So in verse 2, Haggai speaking
to the governor, the rebel, and to the high priest Joshua, He
said, thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, the people
say, the time is not come. The people are saying, this is
not the time to rebuild the temple. The time is not come. The time that the Lord's house
should be built is not time. We don't have the time. Someday we'll rebuild it. But right now we don't have the
time. This is not a convenient time.
This is not the time. That's what the people were saying,
to give attention to the house of the Lord. So in verse 3, then
came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet. See God,
Paul told us in Hebrews, he spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
And so the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
is it time for you, O ye that dwell in your sealed houses, and my house lie waste? You find the time to build your
houses. You find the time to do what
you choose to do. You find the time and the leisure
and the convenience for your own interest and to please your flesh, but
you have no time to take care of the matters concerning the
house of the Lord. That word C-I-E-L-E-D is not
in your dictionary. It's a Hebrew word. Evidently,
when they They left the word like it is, I suppose. But anyway,
here's what it means. It means paneled. It means wainscot. Some of you carpenters know about
wainscot that you put around the paneling of rich cedar and
oak, fine decoration to cover. And this is what he's saying
to them, you have plenty of time. Plenty of money to take care
of your own houses, even very nice houses, paneled houses with
cedar and oak, but you don't have time to take care of the
things of God. Now he says in verse 5, Now therefore,
thus saith the Lord, consider your ways. He says to these Jews,
you consider now this situation. The Lord could judge you and
destroy you. You're so careful about natural
things. Here's what he's saying to them
in verse 4 there. You have the time to do what
you want to do, even fine things and luxurious things, but you
don't have time for spiritual matters. You're careful about
natural things, but so careless about spiritual things. You are
continually employed in making your lives on earth more comfortable. And you're putting off matters
of the soul, matters pertaining to God. Oh, you intend to do
it, you say, but this is not the time. This is not the season. And you're enjoying, he says,
the material favors of God, and you're neglecting to go to the
house of God and acknowledge those favors and give thanks
for those blessings. That's what he's saying to them.
You find the time to do what you want to do, but you don't
find the time to deal with spiritual matters.
Now therefore, he says in verse 5, consider your ways. He says,
I would have you sit down. And consider, seriously meditate,
seriously think about where you are, and what you're doing, and the
things you're neglecting. And I want you to consider, as
our Lord Jesus said, what shall it profit a man if he gain the
whole world, but lose his soul? Then in verse 6, this is a remarkable
verse. One time in a message I talked
about the merry-go-round of natural life. I used an illustration.
Some of you may remember it. I heard it many, many years ago,
many, many years ago. The merry-go-round of natural
life. A preacher used this illustration. He said that this The county
fair came to town, and this old farmer and his wife decided to
visit the fair. And they had a Ferris wheel,
and they had a merry-go-round. And this old man had never seen
a merry-go-round, and he stood there deep in thought and watched
that merry-go-round go round and round. that instrument play. And he said to his wife, he said,
I want to ride that. And she said, it costs a dime.
He said, well, I got a dime. And she said, well, you're just
wasting your time. He said, but I want to ride it.
So it stopped in a moment. He paid his dime and got on.
And she just stood there clutching her purse, you know, and watching
him as he went around. He rode that merry-go-round.
Round and round. And finally he got off, out there,
where he got off. And she said, now you done spent
your dime, and you rode and rode and rode, and you got off right
where you started. You wasted your money. You ain't
been nowhere. And that's the way natural life
is. Job said, naked I came into this
world, and naked I'm going out. And as far as this world's concerned,
when I go out, I ain't been nowhere. Done nothing and accumulated
nothing. That's exactly right. Been nowhere. And look at the next verse, 6.
You have sown much. You have sown much seed, much
seed, and bring in little. You sow much and you reap, and
you sow and you reap, and you fill that barn a hundred times. And in time, it stands there
empty. You filled it a hundred times. And now drive down the road to
Kentucky sometime. and see the empty barns. One time they were full. One
time farmers just filled those barns with hay and tobacco and
all their crops, and you drive down the highway now, they're
sitting there desolate, deserted, and empty. That's the way it
is. You sow much and reap little. Every abandoned, empty barn proclaims
the uselessness of this natural merry-go-round. Then he said, You eat, but you
have not enough. You eat, you're never satisfied. You've got to eat again and again
and again, never enough for tomorrow. We had supper last night and
I pushed my chair back and I thought, I'll never eat again. I got up
this morning starving to death. It's every day that way. We just
keep eating. And it doesn't matter whether
we eat fine food or nothing but cornbread. It just doesn't matter. It's gone. We're empty again. Round and round. I've been doing
that for 70 years. Eating, hungry, eating, hungry. Never satisfied. Never. I do know a bread that satisfies.
I do know the living bread satisfies. I do know a treasure that can
be laid up, not in a barn here, but you read about it in his
presence, and never lose it. It's laid up and reserved for
me." Then he says, you drink, but you're not filled with drink.
We read the other day about the best wine on the leaves, a long
time, refined, Wonderful. You eat, you drink, but you're
never full. You're never able to sustain
that feeling for even one day, not even for a few hours. You
have to drink again and again and again. You ain't been nowhere. You've got the same need, the
same emptiness, the same craving that you had two hours ago. You
were so satisfied and so full. And so it is, but here we go,
got to get something else. And then you clothe you. We clothe
ourselves sometimes with the best or whatever, but it doesn't
matter. Doesn't matter. There's none
warm. That outward clothing can give
no inner warmth. Just can't do it. You can put
on the finest clothes, and the most expensive clothes, and deck
this body with the most beautiful clothes, and inside there's a
crushed heart, and a broken heart, and a weary spirit, and a frightened
heart, and a heart like the waves of the sea, troubled all the
time. It won't give you any warmth,
it won't give you any peace, it won't give you any contentment,
and it won't give you any rest. things of this world, just we
can put them on, we can step into the finest car, we can drive
down the prettiest highway, we can look at all the scenery. And sometimes we think I'd be
happier in a log cabin somewhere by the river if I could have
some peace, have some joy, have some rest. I tried, round and
round. And watch this, this is, look
at this, and he that earneth wages, and you men sitting here,
some of you have worked for 35, 40 years, you've made thousands
and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. Think of
what all, take all these men and women in this building tonight
who've worked all these years in these occupations and how
much money, be millions of dollars, wouldn't What do we have? You earn wages, put it in a bag
with holes. Where is it? It's as if we had
taken all that we made through the years, every weekly check
or two weeks or a month, and spent it. It's just gone. It's
gone. It's all run out, not anything
left. And so the Lord says in verse
7, now you've given, I've told you to build my house and worship
and study the Word, preach the Word and rejoice in the Lord
and offer up sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving I was glad when
they said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. But no,
you don't have the time. But you have time for all these
other things. But they hadn't amounted to anything.
Thus saith the Lord, consider your ways. Stop and think. Sit
down. Ask yourself, who am I? Just
a son of Adam who got off where I got on, naked. Or am I a son
of God with an inheritance reserved in heaven? Consider, where am I? Where am
I? I'd like to ask some of the folks
out in the world, where are you? Where are you? Are you in Christ
in peace and joy and rest? Your soul settled on the foundation
of Christ Jesus? Are you in turmoil and trouble
and unhappiness in trial? Where are you? Consider. Think
about this. That's what he tells them here.
Consider your ways. Who am I? Where am I? What do
I have? What do I really have? What do
I have? What can I call mine? Most of you here tonight can
say, I have an inheritance eternal in the heavens. reserved for
me, that fadeth not away, that knows no corruption, that awaits
my Lord's return. Do we have that? Or many in the
world say, well, I don't have anything, nothing but wood, hay,
and stubble. Over here in Isaiah, this was
one of the charges that the Lord brought against the people of
Israel. They would not consider. He keeps
using that word, consider your ways, consider who you are, consider
where you are, consider what you have. In Isaiah 1, He brings
this charge against them here. Listen to Isaiah 1, verse 2. Here, O heavens, And give ear, O earth, for the
Lord hath spoken. I've nourished and brought up
children, and they've rebelled against me. Now the ox knows
his owner. Talk about a dumb ox. Well, the
dumb ox knows his owner. And the ass, he knows his master's
crib, and every evening he'll come in to his master's crib
to eat. But Israel does not know. My
people does not consider. Ah, sinful nation of people laden
with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters,
they've forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One
of Israel to anger. They've gone away backward. Turn
to Isaiah 5. I'm going to read this, and then
I'm going to give you five things for us to consider. Profitable things to consider. That's the title of this message,
Five Things to Consider. Look at Isaiah 5, verse 11. Woe
unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may
follow strong drink, that continue until night, till
wine inflame them, and the harp and the vowel the tabret, the
pipe, the wine are in their feast. But they regard not the work
of the Lord. They don't think on God. They
don't consider. They don't consider the operation
of His hands, the work of His hands, the wonderful works of
His hand. Therefore, people are gone into
captivity because they have no knowledge, and their honorable
men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore
hail! Hail hath enlarged herself, and
opened her mouth without measure, and their glory, and their multitude,
and their popt, and he that rejoiceth therein shall descend into it." I don't want to be like that,
do you? I want to consider the work of
God, the hand of God, the grace of God, my relationship with
God. I know you do, and so I've selected
in the Scripture five things for us to spend our lives considering,
these five things. This, to me, is the five most
important things to consider. The first one we'll turn to Psalm
8. Now David was a shepherd, and many nights David would take
his flock out on the mountainside or out through the day out on
the fields, and at night he would lie there on the ground and look
up at the heavens while his sheep would sleep or graze or whatever
they'd do at night. But David would lie there and
look into the heavens, and this is what he wrote. In Psalm 8,
verse 1, O Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth,
who has set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of
thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
And when I consider, when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, The moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful
of him? And the Son of Man that thou
visitest him?" When I consider the heavens, there are three
things that are manifested to me. Number one, the greatness
and wisdom of our God. The heavens, the things God has
made, reveal the greatness and wisdom and power of our God.
I consider the heavens. O Lord my God, when I in awesome
wonder consider all the worlds that thou hast made, when I consider
them, think on them, how great thou art, how great thou art. Turn to Psalm 115, and listen
to David here. In Psalm 115, he says, Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for
thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is now thy God? Where is your God? Our God is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. That's what I see when I consider
the heavens, the things God's made, the greatness and power
and glory of my God. Spend a lifetime considering
these things. And then it reveals something
else. It reveals the weakness of man. David said, when I consider
the heavens, what is man? It's art mindful of him. a service when I was 17, 18 years
old in the Navy. And I never met a chaplain the
whole time I was in the Navy that said anything. But this
one did. I remember this message he brought
from this scripture right here. What is man? When I consider
the heavens, the things thou hast made, what is man that thou
art mindful of him? And he said, I want all of you
to imagine something. I want you to imagine you're
holding an orange in your hand, just a regular orange. He said,
I suppose that's how big the world is in relation to all the
planets and stars and the things God's made in the universe. Here's
an orange. That's the earth. That's the
world. Now he said, imagine on that orange this continent, North America.
Just pick out a spot on that orange in relation to the size
of the orange. How big would North America, the continent
North America, be? About like that. Now he said,
imagine the United States. Now imagine we were in Louisiana,
the state of Louisiana. How tiny it would be. Now then,
pick out New Orleans. It's so tiny now you'd need a
microscope. Now find you." He said, Oh, when
I consider what God has made, what in the world is a man, that
the almighty, eternal, sovereign God is even aware. You see these fellows strutting
around like peacocks. I see preachers strutting like
peacocks, talking all about spouting off about God and heaven and
all these things, and they're just an infinitesimal atom in
space, a measly spot on the universe. I mean a spot you can't even
see with the naked eye. But I'll tell you something else,
if we'll consider God's His creation, His greatness and power and how
insignificant. What is man that's not even aware
of Him? But here's the wonder of His
grace, thirdly, that you visited Him, that you were mindful of Him.
Now try to consider this. The great God of the universe
was so mindful of us, worms in the dust. that the great God
of infinite wisdom and power and holiness and righteousness
actually came down here and joined us, made himself of no reputation,
took upon himself the form of a servant, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Well, that's just beyond my imagination. without controversy. Great is
the mystery of godliness. God, whom the heavens can't contain,
the earth is his footstool, who considereth the inhabitants of
the earth as grasshoppers, and yet chose some, loved them, came
down here and became one of That's the reason the thief on
the cross said, Lord, if you just remember me. I hear people talk about all
the crowns they're going to wear and the streets they're going
to strut on and all that sort of thing. He said, if you just
remember me, I'll be much obliged. If you just think on me. But
I'll tell you, it may be that if we'll consider
him, that he has in turn considered us. So let's consider him, the works
of his hands. Secondly, turn to Luke 12. I
want us to spend some time considering the heavens, the work of God's
hands, and then secondly, I want us to consider the lilies and
the ravens. Why should I consider the birds? A raven is just an old, ordinary,
common, nothing blackbird, a worthless bird to many. And yet, my Lord
tells me to consider the ravens. He says here in Luke 12, verse
24, consider the ravens, the birds. They neither sow nor reap,
which neither, they don't have storehouses or barns, And yet
God feeds them? How much more are you better
than the ravens? And which of you, with taking
thought, can add one year to your life? That's what that means
there, stature, one cubit, is one year to your life, or a day
to your life. If you then be not able to do
that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
Consider the lilies. Oh, how they grow. They toil
not, they spin not, and yet, I say to you, Solomon, in all
his glory and riches and gold and silver and fine linen and
satin, was never afraid like one of my lilies. Therefore,
if God so clothed the grass, which is today in the field and
tomorrow is cast in the oven, How much more shall he clothe
you? You know, no matter how we try,
much of our time is spent worrying. We call it anxiety. We call it,
I care, I know. I do too. I call it that. It's
unbelief what it is. That's what it is. And our Lord
reminds us of who it is that feeds the ravens who it is that
clothes the lilies, and he reminds us that he cares more for us
than he does the blackbird and the lilies, and he'll feed and
clothe us. He always has, and he always
will. And we can't, by taking thought,
create these things. So he says, rather, let's do
this in verse 31. Rather than worrying and fretting
and murmuring and complaining, let's seek the kingdom of God.
And all these things will be added to you. A farmer cares
for his cattle, but he cares a whole lot more for his children. Consider these things. Thirdly,
turn to Hebrews chapter 3. These are five things to spend
our lives considering. Consider the heavens, the work
of his hands. Consider the lilies and the ravens
and the things that God cares for so carefully and completely. Now Hebrews 3 verse 1. This has
the priority. But we consider all of them together.
You don't have to put them in order. They all go together.
Wherefore, holy brethren, believers, that's who you are, children
of God, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the high priest,
consider the apostle and the high priest of our profession,
Christ Jesus, consider Christ Jesus. What a subject to consider,
inexhaustible, unsearchable, Higher than the heavens, deeper
than hell, broader than the sea, past finding out, but worthy
of a lifetime of consideration. Unspeakable gift of God. Tonight
in the study, Brother Cecil read Hebrews 1. Let's turn over there
a minute and let's consider Christ Jesus, the apostle, that's the
messenger of the covenant. the high priest appointed of
God to make sacrifices and to intercede for his people. Here's
who he is, Hebrews 1 verse 1 and 2, God who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
that's who he is, Son of God, Who is He? He's the heir of all
things. Who is He? He's God by whom He
made the worlds. What is He? He's the brightness
of His glory. What is He? He's the exact image
of His person. What is He? The power, the God
who upholds all things by the word of His power. What did He
do? by himself purged our sins. Where is he now? Sat down on
the right hand of God, being made so much better, so much better than the angels. His is a better covenant with
better promises and a better sacrifice that prepares us for
a better home and a better resurrection. Consider it. consider Christ
Jesus. And he says here, Hebrews 3 says,
he's the apostle. He's the messenger of the covenant.
He's the apostle. He's that great prophet Moses
said would come. And he's the high priest by which
we come into the presence of God. Now, here's the fourth thing
for us to spend a lifetime considering. We consider the heavens. the work of our hands. We consider
the smallest and meanest things, the grass, the flowers, the blackbirds. We consider the greatest, the
apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, better
than the angel. Now Hebrews 13. I appreciated what Brother Frank
said in his prayer, prayed in his prayer, about the importance
of the pastor and preacher, elders, men who minister the Word. God
says consider them. Hebrews 13 verse 7, now listen,
remember them which have the rule over you, that's They're
your guides. See that number four in many
Bibles in your center reference? They're your guides. God gives
them to you. Well, you know, I just read from
Haggai. Haggai was a man, earthen vessel,
human being. But God spoke to the governor,
Zerubbabel, by this man. Zerubbabel is not going to know
what God has for him, unless God sends him a prophet. He spoke
to the high priest, Joshua. This Haggai came, sent of God. And he told him, he said, now,
you better rebuild the house of God. You better start taking
care of some spiritual matters. You're taking care of all these
other things. God, he said, I'm warning you. And God speaks through
His servants, raises them up to teach His people. Now watch
this, "...who have spoken to you the word of God." Not their
ideas and thoughts and doctrines and theology, His work. Don't follow any man who doesn't
speak to you the word of God, but when one comes bringing the
word of God, thus saith the Lord, whose faith follow, whose word
follow, whose instructions follow, whose teaching follow, and following
them, considering the end of their conversation,
considering the subject and object of their conversation, what is
it? The next verse tells you, it's
Jesus Christ. That was Paul's subject. He said,
I preach Christ. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ the Lord. I'm determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said, I want
to preach Christ, I want to know Christ, I want to win Christ,
I want to be found in Christ, and I want you in Christ. At
the end of our ministry and conversation and behavior and preaching and
coming together, consider it. Consider the message. Christ
Jesus, who's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And verse 17, and obey them that
have the rule over you. Obey their admonitions. Take
their counsel when it comes from the Scriptures, and submit yourself
to their teaching. They watch for your souls. Consider them as they that must
give an account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief. We're all going to give an account.
Every man's going to give an account of himself before God.
I'm going to give an account for whom I preached, what I preached, how I preached. And you're going to give an account
for now you heard. Consider the heavens. I spend
a lifetime. Consider the common things. God's
in little things. Common things. Consider the greatest
one, Christ Jesus. And consider those who bring
the Word. Consider the end of their message,
Christ Jesus. That's what the message is all
about. He said, I hope I can give a
good report. All right, the fifth thing, Hebrews
10. I can confidently and sincerely
say that I believe these four things I mention are the greatest
things a man can consider, I really do. And number five goes right
with it. out with it. Hebrews 10, 24,
and let us consider one another. Let's consider one another to encourage, to inspire, to
provoke unto love in good works. Association with some people
bring out the best in you. Association with some people
somehow bring out the worst in you. Consider one another. And I must tell you what I believe
about this. I believe what causes the most
unhappiness and sorrow in this world, I really believe that
Most unhappiness and sorrow and broken hearts in this world is
caused by one thing, selfishness. I really do. Inconsideration
of others. I believe that's hurt more people,
broken more hearts, turned more black heads white, and sent a lot of people to their
graves. Grief and sorrow because somebody's inconsiderate. and
selfish, and doesn't care that they've hurt a person. I, me,
and mine, first and foremost, that's the thinking of most worldly
people, and it causes more unhappiness and broken homes than any single
thing in this world, and hurt more children. If the greatest of these is love,
then the worst loss is an absence Is that correct? Paul said, now
by faith, hope, and love. The greatest is love. So if the
greatest is love, then the worst is for it not to be there. And when we consider the feelings
of others, and the happiness of others, and the well-being
of others, and if we love them, we'll act accordingly. That's
just right. Now, that's just right. That's
just so. Reach out. Love gives and forgives. Love understands and sympathizes. Love seeks not her own. Love
seeketh not her own, but the well-being of others. Selfishness. Selfishness in consideration. And Paul says here, You who consider
the heavens, what is man that art mindful
of me? How could you not consider a fellow creature, especially a
loved one? When I consider how God cares
for the smallest thing, the flowers and the birds, how can I neglect
and not care for someone put in my keeping? Scripture says for a man not
to provide for his own household is worse than an infidel. You
know what it says? A man that deserts his children
and wife is worse than an infidel. You know what Scripture says?
Doesn't provide for them, care for them, not only physically,
materially, but spiritually. And if I consider Christ Jesus
who loved me and gave himself for me, why would I not consider
What a small sacrifice it is to give myself for somebody else. Give myself, just give myself.
Just whatever, if I have to do without for them to have, then
do without. I watched my parents do that as I was growing up.
I watched my mother take food off her plate and put it on mine.
Some of you have seen that before. Parents give you all they have,
work like slaves from morning to night to provide a little
comfort for children. That's what Christ did for us.
He gave himself. And I don't believe I can consider
him very long and not consider you. That's just so, isn't it? That's
just so. Five things to consider. May
God give me the grace to, like you prayed also, set your affections
on things above, not on the things of this earth, because we're
going to get off where we got on, naked. But it will be so
profitable from this moment on just to consider these things. All right, let's sing, Take the
World, But Give Me Jesus. I like this song. It's got some
good words. 385. 385.