When Revival Comes

Introduction

This morning, we looked at verses 1-11 of this passage as the people of Israel were not being responsible with the House of God. They were delaying the building of the temple, but had no trouble building their own houses, and building their own lives.

So, God sends His prophet, Haggai with a reprimand in verses 3-6, the Word from God was a question, He said, Haggai 1:4 “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, And this house lie waste?” He thens tells them that they are not being blessed because of their neglect of the house of God. They are like people that earn money, but put that money into bags with holes in them.

In verses 7-8, we find the remedy to this problem. God says, “Consider your ways, and get to work!” - It’s interesting, in reading Haggai 1:8 “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house...”

The people had actually brought in cedar trees from Lebanon according to Ezra 3:7…I wonder if these were the trees they ended up using on their own paneled houses I talked about this morning?..

It was time for God’s people to start being concerned with pleasing God instead of themselves. In their nice houses and prosperous lives they took pleasure and were glorified; now it was the LORD’s turn.

God further gives them a rebuke in verses 9-11, and tells them they have been under judgment; the reason their crops never returned what they expected was because God was literally blowing and scattering their work!

Why was this? He tells them because they built their own houses and lives, but not His...

In the remaining verses of Haggai chapter 1, we find the reaction of the people, look at it with me:

Haggai 1:12–15 KJV 1900

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord. 13 Then spake Haggai the Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

If I could sum up what happens in verses 12-15 into one word, I’d say “REVIVAL”

Revival comes when God’s people hear the word of God, heed the word of God, and honor the God of the word. When the saints are revived, the sinners will be redeemed.

Hey, I’m praying that God will revive His work and revive His people!

These final verses of Haggai chapter 1 reveals some of the results of God’s people responding to Him the right way.

Let’s take a look at them this evening:

1-We will believe the Word of God.

Haggai 1:12–13 KJV 1900

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord. 13 Then spake Haggai the Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord.

Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah who represented the secular leadership.

Joshua was the high priest who represented the spiritual leadership.

Obedience had to begin with the leadership.

God spoke to both the government leaders and the religious leaders, as well as to the people, and they responded to the word of God. The people responded to Haggai’s message! They believed the word of God.

We will never truly experience revival in our own lives, in this church, in this county, state, nation, or world until we believe the word of God.

Verse 12 states the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God.

The people didn’t mock or murmur against God’s word!

They didn’t resist or refuse God’s word!

They didn’t denounce or deny God’s word!

They didn’t defy or despise God’s word!

They didn’t complain or correct God’s word!

They didn’t fight or forget God’s word!

They didn’t grumble or grudge God’s word!

They didn’t hate or huff at God’s word!

They didn’t pout or puff at God’s word!

They didn’t rebel or reject God’s word!

They didn’t withdraw or withstand God’s word!

The people obeyed the voice of the Lord.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “When God speaks to us by His Word, there’s only one acceptable response, and that’s obedience. We don’t weigh the options, we don’t examine the alternatives, and we don’t negotiate the terms. We simply do what God tells us to do and leave the rest with Him.”

Luke 6:46 KJV 1900

46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

This warning of Jesus applies to people who say “Lord, Lord” and yet their spiritual life has nothing to do with their daily life. They go to church, perhaps fulfill some daily religious duties, yet sin against God and man just as any other might.

Trapp writes, “There are those that speak like angels, live like devils; that have Jacob’s smooth tongue, but Esau’s rough hands.”

Jesus put this in the form of a question: Why? “If we are disobedient, why continue the profession of obedience?…

John 14:21 KJV 1900

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Jesus wants people who not only hear him, but who obey him.

It’ll do us no good to ask God to revive us if we aren’t willing to believe and obey His Word!

God will send revival to His people based on their response to His Word!

When revival comes, we will believe the Word of God…The second thing that will happen when revival comes is:

2-We will behold the worth of God.

Haggai 1:12 (KJV 1900)

12 ...the people did fear before the Lord.

God’s Word will bring forth the fear of the LORD!

When revival comes we will not only believe the word of God, but we will also behold the worth of God. The people feared the presence of the Lord.

Fear means to be afraid, or to stand in awe or fear.

Godly fear means that we do not run away from God, but run to God. To have godly fear means that we draw near to God. We honor His name, His house, His word, and we have reverence for Him.

F. Duane Lindsey wrote, “They had a new awe and reverence for God as they pondered the significance of their past disobedience and self-centeredness and their new sense of obedience and divine priorities.”

We need a new sense of obedience on divine priorities.

Proper fear of the Lord always leads to obedience!

The people of Israel beheld God’s worth.

They realized that God was worthy of their best.

They realized that God was holy, above reproach, and that He is their Awesome God.

Only when a people will fear before the Lord will revival come.

Isaiah 6:1–6 KJV 1900

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: The whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

When Isaiah saw the LORD, he knew what kind of man he was. As poorly as he compared to the seraphim, that was nothing in relation to how he compared to the LORD. This vision (or actual experience) of the throne of God did not immediately make Isaiah feel good. The more clearly he saw the LORD, the more clearly he saw how bad his state was.

He says “I am undone” - That’s not a bad place to be ya’ll…Spurgeon wrote, “God will never do anything with us till he has first of all undone us.”

When revival comes, we will believe the Word of God, we will behold the worth of God, and thirdly,

3-We will begin the work of God.

Haggai 1:14–15 KJV 1900

14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

This was the remedy to great injustice of the Jews we’ve been talking about today.

Verse 14 says the Lord stirred up their spirit. Stirred means to awake, stir up, rouse oneself; or to rouse. God woke the people up. God shook the people up. God stirred the people up. God aroused the people up. Where God is there is always life.

Verse 14 says that God stirred up all the remnant of the people.

One author said, “There was not an idler amongst them. Every person was engaged at something in connection with the building. Not one required to be coerced or in any way dragged forth against his will.”

Some churches function like this: We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much for so long with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing!

The people believed the word of God, they beheld the worth of God, and they began the work of God.

We cannot believe the word of God, behold the worth of God and not begin the work of God.

It had been 16 years since the people returned from exile, and they were busy, but they were barren. They were doing their own thing and not doing God’s thing. The people were concerned about their own will and not God’s.

The people were building their own kingdom and didn’t worry about God’s. They were building their fine, fancy houses that they were working very hard to pay for, but God’s house lay in ruins. God’s house represented a place of God’s presence, the place of worship, the place of sacrifice, the place of prayer, the place of fellowship, joy, and peace. The people were more concerned about doing what they wanted to do than what God wanted them to do.

When Haggai preached the people were convicted of their sins and responded to the word of God by obedience. Hal Lane, (pastor in South Carolina and author) said, “The people saw the connection between their misfortunes and the discipline of God. Haggai aroused their consciences, and they repented of their sins.”

Conclusion

I heard about the story of a church, which had four members whose names were Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

The church had financial responsibilities and Everybody was asked to help. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it. But you know who did it? Nobody.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Lost people lived in the community that needed to be visited and witnessed to, and Somebody was asked to help. But Somebody got angry about that, because Anybody could have done it just as well and, after all, it was really Everybody’s job. In the end, the witnessing and visiting was given to Nobody, and Nobody did a fine job.

On and on this went. Whenever work was to be done, Nobody could always be counted on. Nobody visited the sick. Nobody gave liberally. Nobody shared his faith. In short, Nobody was a very faithful member.

Finally, the day came when Somebody left the church and took Anybody and Everybody with him. Guess who was left. Nobody!

God is willing to send revival to His church, but we must be willing to receive it. When revival comes we will believe the word of God, we will behold the worth of God, and we will begin the work of God.