"But Do you HEAR me?"
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Jonah and the fridge. (But do you Hear me?)
Jesus shared a story in Scripture about two different people who both built houses. One built a house on a very sandy foundation, with no anchor and no roots.
And when the storm came, it devastated it. The other man built his house on a solid rock, tethered and anchored in deep. And when the storm came, it remained.
Too many have been neglecting God's attempt to pursue them and their need to follow Him.
Instead, many follow their own way and when their foundation is shaken, they seem caught off guard and unprepared.
You cannot build up this phenomenal castle that would fulfill every aspect of the American Dream and ignore God and expect to be fulfilled.
My advice last week, and the advice every week is to pursue Jesus.
This is where we will pick back up today my friends. Last week we left off with the people of Israel being called out by God.
Through Haggai, God reminded them He rescued them once again from their enemy and they abandoned their worship of Him.
They built home after home. They rebuilt their city, and livelihood. But when it came to the temple, they got the foundation built and … well… not much of anything.
At the first sign of a slight pushback, they threw in the towel. After the foundation went up, they abandoned their work on the temple.
Haggai comes along and shares that God is displeased. So, here’s the question. What’s the response of the people? What did they do? What would you do in this moment?
In the past the response of the Israelites, and to be honest, this is many of us today, was one of ignoring God. But this time, this time it was different.
Read Passage: Haggai 1:12-15
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, 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 feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares 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 Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,
15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
God had spoken through Haggai, and the people heard God’s voice and responded obediently. As the high priest responded, so too the people responded.
All of this, then, was advances by one significant event: the proclamation of God’s words.
The significance of God's word in the Jewish people should not be downplayed here.
When God’s word penetrates us, it can lead us to real change. The key is we must be a people who are hearing and not just listening.
When we really hear God’s word it will stir us. The first benefit it can have is ...
1. God’s word can bring obedience
1. God’s word can bring obedience
Read: Haggai 1:12
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, 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 feared the Lord.
The first noticeable response from the people is one of obedience. The passage tells us the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord.
Now it was not audible voice of God speaking from Heaven, so how is it God spoke to them?
1. God’s word can bring obedience
1. God’s word can bring obedience
Through this one verse we find two important realities about God's word and our obedience to it. First, we must take note that God's word is powerful and effective. Read: Hebrews 4:12
We must not forget God's words are from God. They are designed to effectively and quickly cut through our chaos and straight to our hearts.
This passage is a strong and compelling argument for the word of God being enough to break through any barrier, even our stubbornness.
We also learn from verse 12, God can effectively deliver his word through a preacher.
Make no mistake here, Haggai is a preacher.
Not only do the Israelite people respond to God’s voice, but they respond to Haggai’s voice, because he spoke as a representative of God.
Haggai was a prophet, delivering God’s words, under God’s power and because of God’s authority.
This message should not have been casually dismissed, and thankfully the Israelite people did not make that tragic mistake.
It is no small thing, when confronted by God’s words, the Israelite people repented, but only after the high priest, their spiritual leader, first modeled repentance.
You want to see more repentance in this world, then model it yourself.
The leaders of the church should model it, the parents of children should model it, and every believer hoping to make an impact in the lives of others should model it as well.
When we become aware of God's word being direct with us, we should be driven from our heart to our knees in confession, humility, obedience, and change. Read: Psalm 51:17
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
My prayer is all of us would be so impacted today by the word of God that we bow down in obedience because we have come into the presence of God and are confronted with the reality of how great He really is!
When we really hear God’s word it will stir us, and the second benefit it will have is ...
2. God’s word can bring comfort and blessing
2. God’s word can bring comfort and blessing
I want to give you a little insight to me as a preacher each week. It may not seem like it to you but I want you to know I am a nervous wreck every single week I get up here.
I have been preaching for 25 years now and not a single Sunday goes by where I don’t feel the pressure and nerves of preaching.
While I know this may seem odd to some, I will explain why it is the case. This is heavy stuff to get out.
The weight of the Word carries so much, and while I know it can be convicting, I also know it is uplifting in many cases. To maneuver through that truth each week brings on many nerves.
I pray each week for the conviction, but the other part is just as key, comfort and blessing. Look at what Haggai delivered from God again in verse 13 again. Read Haggai 1:13
13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”
First, we see this promise of comfort. God has not forgot them. "I am with you" he tells them. This theme is seen throughout all of scripture.
When God's people find themselves alone or in pain, God reminds them He never abandons. Read: Deuteronomy 31:6
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Such is the way of Israel and with us, this fact is often forgotten. All too often we forget His promises and fail to see His provisions.
When it's forgotten His people often complain and attempt to abandon Him. From the Israelites to us today, not a lot has changed.
Much like Peter in the courtyard when Jesus was on trial, we will be tempted to believe that God is not what we thought He was and that He is not able to do what He promised He could do.
When we do this, we shift our focus from God and what He can do and turn to ourselves for any source of hope.
Haggai spoke this beautiful piece of comfort. God is with you. God is our God, and we are His people, and we should be comforted that He does not leave us, and He is not changing.
Along with this comfort we also find much blessing. If you remember in last week’s message the people had been planting, drinking, dressing, and earning and yet never satisfied; they never had enough.
Yet during this, God was still very present. Even during their dismissing of Him in their lives, He blesses them by reminding them they can persevere!
They can be confident because of God’s great affection for them and His advocacy on their behalf.
I don't know how much more we can be blessed than with this reminder. God is with us, death has been defeated, and evil will be conquered in the end.
So finally, when we really hear God’s word and it stirs us, the third benefit it will have is ...
3. God’s word promises grace
3. God’s word promises grace
The response of God is incredible here and should not be missed. This is a bit of foreshadowing with our own repentance today.
When the people of Israel believed and were moved, they turned from their sins and God welcomed them back into His loving arms. In fact, God had never left them.
This is the greatest truth in scripture, grace. God is faithful and unwavering in His love for us. In the face of our disobedience, He is faithful, loving, and forgiving. Read: 1 Timothy 1:15
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
While we stand as perpetually unfaithful, unforgiving, unloving, and ungrateful, God stands, with affection and grace, ready to usher us into His family.
It is through the redemption that is offered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and all because of His radically sufficient grace. (Platt)
This promise of God being with them is deeper than most probably see and so I pray you see it today. It is the most breathtaking proclamation of love.
It points directly to the coming Christ and the message of Jesus. Read: Romans 5:8
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Let's take note of how the passage ends. Notice what happens next in verses 14 and 15. Once the heart was secured, the hands followed. Read: Haggai 1:14-15
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 Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,
15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
True heart change should always lead to the hands that follow. They take the energy they were spending towards their own kingdom and pour it into the Lord. And look when it’s happening.
15 "on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king." Twenty-four days after Haggai first came, God has now seen His people transformed.
I promise you your foundation will be shaken in this life, and putting your faith in Christ doesn’t mean you are free from that, but you’ll be sown into the rock of salvation.
And Christ will re-frame everything for you. He loves you. He’s been pursuing you since before you were born.
And right now, I believe louder than ever He is wooing you to Himself if you would just surrender. The nation of Israel is commanded to pursue God and there would be peace in the land.
Instead, they forsook that and pursued themselves, but...but God pursued, and they returned and served their King Who freed them once again.
This is the Gospel my friends. We were judged and enslaved to the captivity of our own sin. And at the right time, Jesus Christ’s blood was offered.
He was sacrificed on our behalf and in our place, and we can all be reconciled to God in faith through Christ. We have been redeemed from that captivity. How do you respond to that today?
Will you do something radical today? Will you pursue His kingdom first, trusting Him in the radical call of discipleship and obedience so we might penetrate this culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
I’m arguing for you to use the resources, the time, the treasures and the talents that God has given you and has given us as a church for His redemptive purposes.
You are in one of three places today, needing to repent and give your life for the first time today, needing to repent and giving your life back to Christ today, or living in a life of repentance and grace and ready and working to winning the world to Him.
There is no way around it. How you respond is truly the answer of where you are, and no matter what, He is ready with arms wide open and loaded with grace.