Time to Build God’s House Haggai 1:1-5

-God is calling His people to invest in His house

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon You Find Time for What You Love (Ezekiel 33:5)

When Farmer Brown met Farmer Smith in the market one day, he said to him, “Farmer Smith, I can’t think how it is you find time for hunting. Why, man, what with sowing and mowing and reaping and plowing, and all that, my time is so fully occupied on my farm that I have no time for hunting.” Smith said, “Brown, if you liked hunting as much as I do, if you could not find time, you’d make it.”

And so it is with religion. The reason why men cannot find time for it is because they do not like it well enough

I. Time to Stop Making Excuses vv. 1-4

In our passage this morning, we are looking at a critical moment in the life of God’s people:

After many years of Exile in Babylon, the people returned to their own country

For 2 years they established themselves

For 2 years they worked on the Temple, restoring the foundation and the altar of worship

However, for 14 years, the work has stagnated!

God speaks through Haggai to address their delay

Haggai forces them to face the excuses that they have been making all of this time:

Why don’t they think that “it’s time” to repair the Lord’s house?

They have been distracted by their own needs (and wants!)

They have been discouraged by their enemies

They have been satisfied with the essentials of worship (the foundation and the altar)

How does God receive their reasoning?

God, through Haggai, confronts the situation

They live comfortably in paneled houses while the Temple (God’s house) lies in ruins

The condition of the Temple, designated for worship, either glorifies God or it doesn’t

The condition of the Temple reflects our attitude towards God

They have misplaced priorities!

Tragically, we will accept conditions at our place of worship that we would not allow in our homes

What does this have to do with us here at FBC?

We have a couple of lingering facilities issues hanging over our head here at FBC:

We are dealing with the debt from our new building, as part of the recovery from the tornado (+/- $950k)

We have a number of deferred maintenance/renovation items ahead of us, especially in our Sanctuary

I believe that God has a plan for dealing with this and the plan is us!

Several years back, God and I were having a heart to heart on my way to church. Truth be told, it was a little bit of a lament about finances and the expenses of raising children. I really felt God speak to me about that and He reminded me of my prayers for my children. I wanted God to bless them and He has! He has placed me in their life to equip them to pursue all that God has in store for them. God is going to do the work He promises and I need to be found faithful to trust Him for it.

II. Time to Consider the Cost of Delay vv. 5-11

As Haggai confronts the situation, he invites introspection: “Consider your ways”

The people have been stuck in a pattern of delay: They don’t outright deny the need, so think that they are OK

Unfortunately, delayed obedience is simply disobedience; they are not in the right

This disobedience has already had consequences and will continue to do so:

They cannot see what is happening, but they can never find contentment or security:

They sow much and harvest little; there is not a good return for their work

They can never quite get ahead; they are trying to fill bags with holes

There is an active component to this:

God will not let His people find real satisfaction apart from His glory and His work

He prevents their labors from being fruitful sending drought

This is not intended as a condemnation; it ought to get their attention!

What must they do?

They must gather the supplies for the work

They must join together to do the work

They must make the glory of God the priority of their lives and they must do it now!

Until they do, they will never find real contentment.

Years ago, Russell Conwell told of an ancient Persian, Ali Hafed, who "owned a very large farm that had orchards, grain fields, and gardens... and was a wealthy contented man." One day a wise man from the East told the farmer all about diamonds and how wealthy he would be if he owned a diamond mine. Ali Hafed went to bed that night a poor man--poor because he was discontented. Craving a mine of diamonds, he sold his farm to search for the rare stones. He traveled the world over, finally becoming so poor, broken, and defeated that he committed suicide. One day the man who purchased Ali Hafed's farm led his camel into the garden to drink. As his camel put its nose into the brook, the man saw a flash of light from the sands of the stream. He pulled out a stone that reflected all the hues of the rainbow. The man had discovered the diamond mine of Golcanda, the most magnificent mine in all history. Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own garden, then instead of death in a strange land, he would have had acres of diamonds. 

III. Time to Make a Commitment vv. 12-15

Finally, we see how the people respond:

The leaders listen:

I don’t think that it’s an accident that Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest are called out at the beginning

If the leaders will not listen to God’s voice, then we cannot move forward together

At the heart of this is a genuine fear of the Lord, a desire to honor and obey Him

I can gratefully say that our leaders are united and believe that it is time to face this challenge together

The Lord promises His presence; if we listen to Him, He will be with us in it

The Lord stirs the spirit of the people:

There is a unity of purpose throughout the nation; we need this kind of unity, because it is going to take all of us!

God accomplishes the kind of work that only He can do

Being a part of the practical work of God is consistent with Jesus’s call: follow me! How is He leading you and leading us as a church in this?

What must we do?

As your leaders, we are of one heart and mind on this: we must retire our debt and move forward with addressing the need for renovations on our facility

We are committed to honor God in this and want you to be a part

I’m very simply asking you this: Consider your ways!

Are you walking with Jesus? This is the most important thing?

Will you join in as we pray each day at 5:17PM for this facilities need?

If you have never participated in giving to this need, now is the time to start

If you have been participating:

Will you continue?

Can you do more?

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