Sermon Tone Analysis

RECORD

Well welcome back once again to our series Major Messages From the Minor Prophets

Last week we looked at the prophet Obadiah and his stark warning about allowing Pride of the Heart to take us over and rule us

You may recall that his message was to the Edomites after they stood by and allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to attack and destroy Israel, tearing down the temple and hauling all of its treasures, as well as many of the people, back to Babylon

Fast forward 70 years and King Cyrus of Persia has conquered the Babylonian empire and he has issued a decree that the Jews are allowed to return to their homeland and rebuild

Now many of the Jews decided to stay put right where they were, after all they had established themselves over the past 70 years but a brave group of people made the choice to return and begin the extensive rebuild process

With great hope of the returned presence of God they began to rebuild the temple

It wasn’t long before the Samaritans took exception to the work for they believed that the temple and priesthood were illegitimate and that they were the true people of God and so they sent word back to Persia and had the work halted

Now move ahead another 14 years and we have the setting for today’s minor prophet, Haggai

Unlike the other books we’ve looked at, Haggai is not a message of condemnation and judgement but actually is a message of encouragement

Actually Haggai is 4 messages in one, but instead of doing an exegesis of those 4 sermons, this morning I simply want to use the overall theme of the book to bring a message of encouragement to us here this morning, coincidentally in 4 points

To do that we have to understand what the temple represented to the Jewish people

The temple was where God resided, where His presence camped and His power poured out

1 Kings 6:11-

1 Kings 8:

This was no religious structure, this wasn’t a building or a church, this was God’s dwelling place

Now here we are today and the power and presence of God are not restricted to a geographical location but instead WE have become the temple, God has taken up residence in those who have received Him

Listen to what Paul wrote in Ephesians,

Ephesians 2:19-

It’s important moving forward that we understand this because as much as Haggai was an encouragement to the Israelites to overcome the obstacles they are facing in the rebuilding of the temple, this morning I want to encourage you to overcome these same obstacles in when it comes to building the temple of God in You

The first of these 4 obstacles is the one that I have already mentioned, opposition

Paul warned Timothy, and all of us for that fact,

2 Timothy

If you are trying to live a Godly life you should expect some opposition, and the reason is that the world in which we live does not like God, or His Son

Jesus said,

John 15:18-

The exiles who had returned allowed some opposition to sideline them, to keep them from building the temple, to keep them away from God’s presence but we don’t have to, just a few verses later Jesus continues,

Jesus has overcome the world so don’t allow the things of the world to rob you of all that Christ has for you

The second obstacle that you need to overcome to experience more of the presence of God in your life is procrastination

Haggai 1:2

Too many people put off for another day what God wants to do in them and for them today because what God wants to do in you and for you requires effort on your behalf

It was hard work for people to rebuild the temple

Let’s go back to 1st Kings again,

1 Kings 5:15-

I have stood at the western wall and looked at those “large blocks”

There is one in the corner that, based on dimensions is estimated at 500 tons

AND THAT’S JUST ONE BLOCK!

The work of rebuilding was difficult, and time consuming and so they were happy to put it off until another day

What about us are we procrastinating and putting off the work that needs to be done in us because it is too difficult or too painful or just because we don’t want to do it?

In doing so we are putting off the building of God’s temple and as a result are missing out on His presence in our lives

Are holding onto a grudge, or perhaps some anger, or perhaps a habit you haven’t relinquished,

Maybe just maybe there is something that God has brought to your attention but you have put it off for another time

DON’T!!!!

Ephesians

The third obstacle that I would encourage you to remove is the obstacle of distraction

It’s not as if the Israelites were just sitting back enjoying life while putting off the building of the temple

There were plenty of other things that needed doing

Remember that Nebuchadnezzer had laid waste to EVERYTHING, their homes, their barns, their fields, their wells

Not to mention that in 85ish years the fields were overgrown, the vineyards were full of weeds etc. etc.

They had lots to do and so they got distracted and forgot about the temple, forgot about God’s presence amongst them, forgot about their need of Him

Haggai 1:

Not only had they rebuilt there houses but as long as they had the time they went off to foreign lands and brought back fancy woods to panel them

They were distracted from their purpose

But they aren’t the only ones, remember the story of Mary and Martha when Jesus stopped by their place for dinner?

And when Jesus told the Parable of the Sower He warned,

Mark 4:

In 1st Corinthians Paul laid out some teachings about marriage etc. and then he qualifies the purpose of this teaching

1 Corinthians 7:

“In undivided devotion” or as the original NIV says, “undivided attention” that’s a fancy way of saying not to get distracted from our purpose to build the temple in us

The author of Hebrews said, “Let us FIX our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.”

Let us focus our attention and not turn from our purpose

Now there’s nothing wrong with living, in fact Jesus wants us to have the fullest life possible but not at the expense of God’s presence in us

We need to be more like Mary and not get distracted by the things of life like Martha

The 4th obstacle I want to encourage you to get over is this, indifference

Dictionary.com defines indifference as “A lack of interest or concern”

The people had settled in their minds that things were okay the way that they were and so there was no interest in doing anything about it

Twice in the first chapter of Haggai God says to His people, “Give careful thought to your ways.”

Two of the most dangerous words in a Christians vocabulary are “Good enough”

I feel God’s tug to go on a missions trip but things are good enough the way they are

I know that God wants to work on this or that in me but…ah, things are good enough the way that they are

Can I just give you an objective opinion from a neutral third party?

THEY’RE NOT!

You’re not enough like Jesus yet.

You don’t have enough of the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life yet.

You don’t have enough of God’s presence in you yet.

The temple is not finished yet.

Paul said this to the Philippians,

Philippians 1:

Notice he doesn’t say that God will carry on the work until you say it’s good enough

He will carry it on to completion which doesn’t happen until the day of Jesus Christ

The Message Bible translates it this way

(The Message)

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

God loves you way too much to leave you the way that you are, you are His workmanship and He is continuously working on you, a little here and a little there

That is unless you have told Him that you think it’s enough

Haggai encouraged the people to overcome their obstacles and get back to work on the temple and the result was that they listened which resulted in God’s presence and blessing once again being restored in their midst

You are the temple of God, but the temple is not yet complete

Don’t let these obstacles prevent you from continuing to build the temple:

The obstacle of opposition

The obstacle of procrastination

The obstacle of distraction

The obstacle of indifference

Let’s pray