Redeemed from Defiled
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
MIDAS TOUCH!
History of the Midas Touch (Greek legend about King Midas who gets given the ability to turn anything into Gold! It’s great… until he touches his daughter. (Sometimes we want holiness and salvation to work like this! We say “oh my dad is saved, oh my mom is saved, oh I go to church!” But that isn’t what saves us! for the Israelites they thought- “Abraham is my father; therefore, I am saved!” Haggai 2 puts that into perspective.)
Today as we pick up in Haggai 2, we are going to see a passage that deals a lot with holiness like I just mentioned. Before we go any further, I want to actually direct us to the OT law to help us better understand what we are going to see.
Under the law there were basically two ways a person could be described.
Either you were UNCLEAN, or you were CLEAN. Sometimes this was also discussed as “DEFILED or PURIFIED”
What this was really getting at was not about physical cleanliness, this wasn’t because someone smelled bad, or was physically dirty; this was ALL about SPIRITUAL defilement.
The result of this spiritual defilement was simple- people were not allowed to enter the presence of God.
See, this spiritual defilement was a result of SIN and sin cannot be in the presence of God.
So, the people of Israel had to CLEANSE THEMSELVES.
Numbers 19:20 says it well!
20 But a person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the assembly because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
Today, as we look at Haggai 2:10-19, defilement and uncleanliness is a HUGE part of what we are going to see, so I want to make sure that we are all on the same page- when you hear DEFILEMENT, understand that this is THE CONSEQUENCE FOR SINS!
Main Point- We are PURIFIED by Jesus!
Main Point- We are PURIFIED by Jesus!
Body
Body
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: 11 “This is what the Lord of Armies says: Ask the priests for a ruling. 12 If a man is carrying consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and it touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any other food, does it become holy?”
The priests answered, “No.”
13 Then Haggai asked, “If someone defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?”
The priests answered, “It becomes defiled.”
Previously in Haggai we have seen God speak in the 6th month and then the 7th month. Now we are looking ahead at the 9th month.
This is essentially our December. In fact- a good way to think about this is that Hanukkah is celebrated starting on the 25th day of Kislev, which is the name for the 9th month.
Now at this point in time there is no Hanukkah, but for us I think that can be a helpful point of reference.
And remember, Haggai is giving us these dates so that we can see the RELIABILITY of what is recorded here. GOD TRULY SPEAKS TO ISRAEL AND THESE EVENTS TRULY HAPPENED!
So here we are in December of the second year of King Darius who is the king of Persia.
THE LORD speaks to Haggai and gives Haggai a message.
God- called the LORD OF ARMIES- remember- that’s saying, YAHWEH IS SOVEREIGN- tells Haggai to go to the priests.
He is to go tot he priests for a ruling, or in other words for them to interpret the LAW given in places like Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
God gives two situations to the priests- the first is about a man carrying consecrated meat.
Consecrated meat was meat set aside for God.
In the OT, under the OLD COVENANT, the Levites were entitled to eat a portion of the meat that was sacrificed to God. This was part of how GOD provided SPECIFICALLY for the Levites!
So in this question, Haggai is essentially asking- “If a Levite is carrying some of this “holy” meat that GOD HAS GIVEN TO HIM, then touches something else, does the other item become HOLY?
The answer to this is simple- NO!
No! Listen- the NEW COVENANT equivalent is this- my roommate, or my parents, or my sibling is saved- does that save me?
The answer is- NO!
Another way to look at it is this- Holiness isn’t like the Midas touch that I mentioned earlier!
Consecration ISN’T SOMETHING THAT CAN JUST BE HAD WITH A TOUCH!
HOLINESS wasn’t- and still isn’t- something that can be passed by a physical touch.
So does the consecrated meat make the other object holy?
NO!
But then God gives Haggai a second question- this time it is essentially the opposite.
If someone who is defiled, or COVERED IN SIN, touches something, does it become defiled?
And the answer to this is YES!
Let me explain it like this- I love pancakes, waffles, french toast, all of it! And listen, I love maple syrup.
But hear me out on this- when syrup gets on your hands and you touch something, it gets sticky.
I’m speaking from personal experience here- I used to work at a day care. Trust me- when we would give the syrup bottle to my 9 and 10 year olds that thing came back SO STICKY!
Please hear me- I’m not saying that Maple Syrup is defiled- but hear this- sin gets everywhere and it defiles people. (Expand! In Matthew 24:12 Jesus talks about this! )
12 Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.
God is going to make this point that ISRAEL IS DEFILED VERY clear through Haggai in Haggai 2:14-15.
Haggai 2:14
Haggai 2:14
14 Then Haggai replied, “So is this people, and so is this nation before me—this is the Lord’s declaration. And so is every work of their hands; even what they offer there is defiled.
Haggai is going to explain what’s going on. The example of the defiled person? That is the ISRAELITES!
They are DEFILED! They are covered COMPLETELY in their sinfulness. Everything that they do is MARKED BY THEIR SIN! THEY ARE TOTALLY DEFINED BY SIN!
The Israelite people are covered in their sin even as they rebuild the temple!
EVERY WORK OF THEIR HANDS IS DEFILED!
See, the Israelite people could offer sacrifices that covered the guilt for a time, but then as soon as they sinned, they needed that sacrifice again!
It was impossible! And that was the point. Because the OLD TESTAMENT LAW; the OLD COVENANT was always about pointing people to GOD IN FAITH!
The Israelite people are finally starting to understand FAITH in Haggai 2.
Really, what we are seeing here is a deep seated rebuke of the sinfulness of Israel!
The Israelites have walked in sin for so long that they are SPIRITUALLY DEAD! GOD HAD GIVEN THEM OVER TO THEIR SIN IN THE EXIL, LIKE ROMANS 1:24
24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.
No longer do they burn for God, no longer are they EXCITED to follow God. Instead, they just float through life looking for sin!
God is rebuking that and is calling them to NEW PASSION and to HOLINESS!
And let me just challenge us that this isn’t the only place we see this GOD CALL HISV PEOPLE FROM SIN TO LIFE! Revelation 3:1-6 tells us about the Church in Sardis who also deals with defilement.
1 “Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. 3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you. 4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.
5 “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.
6 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
We won’t spend a ton of time looking at this, but let me bring out two things- first, the church in Sardis is marked by defilement- instead of being pure it is covered in son and instead of being alive it is “DEAD!”
But- here’s the second thing- it isn’t hopeless! Instead of giving up, God calls on the believers in Sardis to WAKE UP!
This is what’s going on in haggai 2! God is calling the Israelites TO WAKE UP!
And I want to make this more personal for us.
See, we are each DEFILED BEFORE GOD!
AND THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY THAT OUR DEFILEMENT GOES AWAY! (GOSPEL!)
But we can also find ourselves walking without fire for God. We can find our faith fading and being choked out by the cares of the world. We stop pursuing God and we start “FLOATING!”
Quickly we can go from FOLLOWING GOD PASSIONATELY to being like the church in Sardis, or the Israelites returning from exile- dead and walking in sin!
We’ve talked a lot about restoration and renewal during our Titus series and in our Haggai series.
This is a renewal situation. But can I encourage you in something- God was not done with Israel in Haggai 2, God wasn’t done with Sardis in Revelation 3 and God is not done with THE CHURCH TODAY! Just hear me- God isn’t done with our world! God isn’t done with Champaign!
But we ARE called as believers to WALK WITH GOD AND TO HAVE A RENEWED AND ON FIRE WALK WITH GOD!
We are called to RENEWAL! WE ARE CALLED TO FAITH! And in verses 15-19 God is going to tell the Israelites what is to come!
Haggai 2:15-19
Haggai 2:15-19
15 “Now from this day on, think carefully: Before one stone was placed on another in the Lord’s temple, 16 what state were you in? When someone came to a grain heap of twenty measures, it only amounted to ten; when one came to the winepress to dip fifty measures from the vat, it only amounted to twenty. 17 I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you didn’t turn to me—this is the Lord’s declaration. 18 From this day on, think carefully; from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid; think carefully. 19 Is there still seed left in the granary? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet produced. But from this day on I will bless you.”
GOD IS NOT DONE WITH THE ISRAELITES! GOD HAS BEEN WALKING WITH THE ISRAELITES THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT SITUATION, USING THEIR STRUGGLES TO WAKE THEM UP!
And NOW GOD HAS SOMETHING ELSE FOR THEM! THEY HAVE WOKEN UP!
So what all is going on here?
God brings the Israelites to a time of reflection- WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE BEFORE THEY STARTED REBUILDING THE TEMPLE?
And remember- like we established in Haggai 1, the temple is both physical, but it was also about the people returning to worshipping God rather than themselves!
So God starts off by talking about their physical position. This was mentioned in Haggai 1 too.
The Israelites were dealing with famine and never having enough. Everything they touched didn’t work. they thought they had one amount of food, but then they’d find a smaller amount.
EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BE FALLING APART!
They were struck with blight and mildew and hail- their crops were ruined, their lives were in shambles. Everything seemed disastrous- and EVEN IN THAT the people didn’t turn to GOD! (AND HOW OFTEN CAN WE RELATE? HOW OFTEN DO WE WALK IN SIN; RUN IN SIN; and then wonder why life is hard?)
But something happens in verse 18.
In verse 18 the tone shifts. The tone is no longer about what HAS BEEN, instead, God now speaks about what is to come!
No longer will they be starving, instead, in verse 19 we see a promise- FROM THIS DAY ON I WILL BLESS YOU!
That’s a promise from God to the Israelites!
We talked last week about promises of God and here’s another one!
God promises the Israelites that HE WILL PROVIDE!
See, God’s people have RENEWED THEIR FAITH IN HIM and they have SHOWN THAT through rebuilding the temple!
And now God BLESSES THEM!
So what does this have to do for us?
I want to be clear- I’m not here to preach a prosperity gospel message, but I will say this- when you go through hard times where it seems like everything is against you; when you go through trials, make sure your walk with God is good.
Listen, trials and the testing of our faith isn’t always bad. James 1:2-4
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
But what we do need to make sure is that WE ACTUALLY HAVE FAITH!
Sometimes trials are less about testing and are more of a wakeup call!
Sometimes these hard times really warn us of our NEED FOR GOD AND FOR GOD’S GRACE!
And so let me challenge you CORNERSTONE FAMILY, WHEN FACED WITH A DIFFICULT SITUATION RESPOND TO IT BY FALLING ON YOUR KNEES!
Before you call a friend to complain; before you go vent to someone; before you get angry, FALL ON YOUR KNEES BEFORE GOD!
Because listen, GOD’S GRACE AND GOD’S MERCY IS RIGHT THERE WITH YOU IN THAT SEASON!
Application
Application
Be Purified
Be Purified
Everything in Haggai 2:10-19 really starts with purification. We see it all throughout this passage.
We NEED to be PURIFIED by God. Can I tell you the beautiful thing about this passage?
It emphasizes the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN HUMAN HISTORY!
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT WE COULD EVER DO IN LIFE IS BE PURIFIED BY GOD!
And this happens when we enter into a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS!
GOSPEL
Bring out the following:
Our Creation
Our sin
The need for faith- All throughout the OT! One of the greatest misconceptions is that the Israelites were saved by works. They WERE NOT! They were saved by faith!
But we can’t be saved by anything OTHER than our OWN faith.
The Israelites tried to be saved by some actions, or by the faithfulness of their parents. It was never going to work.
And as they suffered, they continued to try to find salvation in anything else.
it was never going to work, but things weren’t hopeless!
JESUS!
Perfect, FULLY GOD AND FULLY MAN, WAS TEMPTED and NEVER SINNED (Hebrews 4:15)
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus was crucified for us and took all of our pain and guilt for our sin so that WE CAN BE SAVED!
Now we can experience newness of life! We just have to Romans 10:9
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
DO THAT TODAY!
Haggai is a book of renewal. And whether you have never heard about Jesus before, or if you’ve known Jesus for 80 years, this is a message you need to hear!
(Repent, Believe! If your life doesn’t reflect that, CHANGE IT!)
(Call for response- salvation, renewal, BAPTISM!)
Live a Consecrated Life!
Live a Consecrated Life!
Being consecrated starts with us being purified and with us FOLLOWING GOD!
Being consecrated is literally to be put apart as holy. The Israelites are called to LIVE AS THOUGH THEY WERE HOLY! In other words, they were to throw sin and embrace GOD’S DESIGN!
And I want to challenge us to BE CONSECRATED!
See, the Israelites weren’t just supposed to be PURIFIED, they were also supposed to BE HOLY MOVING FORWARD!
Here’s another way to say it- the ISRAELITES WERE CALLED TO HOLY LIVING! THEY WERE CALLED TO LIVE A CONSECRATED LIFE! AND SO I WANT TO CHALLENGE US WITH A SIMILAR THING THIS MORNING!
CALL TO ACTION!
Give your life to God!
Evangelism
Discipleship
Missions
Ministry
Serving Others!
EVERY DAY, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, SERVE GOD!
That is our top priority! WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE A CONSECRATED LIFE WHERE WE ARE SET APART BY GOD AND FOR GOD!
This is what Jesus is referencing in John 17 when he talks about us being IN THE WORLD AND NOT OF THE WORLD! It isn’t just a saying for us to repeat; It’s a LITERAL CALL TO LIVING A CONSECRATED LIFE THAT IS SET APART FOR SERVING GOD!
