First Things First: God's Presence is Priority

Communion

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

matt 26.26=29

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Cor 11.232

Vision Minute

A big thank you to all who gave in the children’s ministry offering a couple of weeks ago (Just a little over $900). Some of those funds are going towards helping to sponsor some children for Kid’s camp July 8-12th. ($160.00 - Give online, use offering envelope or see Pastor Robin). We must be strategic about reaching the next generation!

Introduction

Leadership Journal - “Churchgoers may seek a ‘life-changing experience’ but only if it doesn’t affect their lifestyle.”

Two Part Series: A Minor Prophet with a Major Message

First things first: God’s presence is priority

Don’t Quit: the best is yet to come!

The Book of Haggai, the second shortest in the Old Testament (38 verses)

It was written to people like us, who would say that God must be first, but they had drifted away from this truth.

It was written to people like us, who would say that God must be first, but they had drifted away from this truth.

They lived with misplaced priorities. Haggai was sent to help God's people get their priorities in line with what they knew they should be.

The phrase “thus says the Lord of hosts” (and its variations) occurs 29 x’s pointing to a sense of urgency!

Background

First of three books (Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi) written after people returned from exile.

Israel (north) & Judah (south) fell to the Babylonians by 586 B.C.

Persians came into power 539 B.C.

King Cyrus issued a decree allowing Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple

Isaiah & Jeremiah prophesied about this event

Jeremiah 25:11–12 ESV

11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.

isaiah 45.

Isaiah 45:1–3 ESV

1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: 2 “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

Jeremiah 25:11–12 ESV

11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.

jer

First company of Jews returned to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for a new temple in 536 B.C. with great excitement.

Ezra 3:7–13 ESV

7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia. 8 Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. 9 And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Workers soon encountered strong physical opposition (Samaritans) ()

Ezra 4:4 ESV

4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build

Workers became discouraged - project stopped in 534 B.C.

Spiritual apathy and laziness took the place of excitement

The people turned their attention to rebuilding their own houses and personal lives.

In 522 (14 years after the project started) Darius the Great came to power (ruler of Persia - Persians replaced the Babylonians)

He had great interest in the religions of his kingdom

In 520 Haggai began urging Zerubbabel to resume rebuilding God’s house

With Darius’s full support, the workers overcame discouragement and opposition and according to finished the project four years later.

During a four month period in 520 B.C. Haggai delivered four brief but firm messages.

Each of the four messages are introduced by the phrase “The Word of the Lord”

Haggai 1:1–15 ESV

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.” 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.

Haggai’s message was blunt. He pulled no punches and wasted no words. Haggai spoke like a foreman on a construction project. With a hard hat and a tool belt, walking around the construction site, he bellowed out orders.

Haggai 3. Haggai Exposes Their Wrong Priorities (3–4)

The prophet Haggai was like an alarm clock—unwelcome but necessary.

Twice in these messages the prophet urged them to “Consider your ways” or “Give careful thought to their ways.” (NIV) In response Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the people were overcome with Godly fear. As a result they started to work on God’s temple.

“Churchgoers may seek a ‘life-changing experience’ but only if it doesn’t affect their lifestyle.” (Leadership Journal)

Today I want to present to you a few practical steps about putting “First Things First”

1. Stop Making Excuses

Haggai 1:2 ESV

2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

There were some good reasons why they might say this; The land was still desolate after 70 years of neglect, The work was hard, They didn’t have a lot of money or manpower, They suffered crop failures and drought, enemies resisted the work, and they remembered easier times in Babylon.

Excuse #1 = The people were waiting for a “convenient” time.

Excuse #2 = The Lord had not blessed them with a good harvest.

Excuse #3 = The Fear of the Samaritans (they opposed the work before & would not allow the Jews to gather timber)

Haggai 2. An Excuse for Not Rebuilding the Temple (2)

The people made their excuse sound spiritual. The couldn’t speak against the idea of building the temple, so they spoke against its timing. “It isn’t God’s timing to rebuild the temple.”

The people made their excuse sound spiritual. The couldn’t speak against the idea of building the temple, so they spoke against its timing. “It isn’t God’s timing to rebuild the temple.”

Guzik, D. (2001). Haggai (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

Luke 9:57–62 ESV

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

“This People or These People” vs. “My People” = When you begin to ‘Make Excuses’ instead of simply doing what God tells you to do, you remove God’s favor from your life!

Benjamin Franklin wrote, "I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else."

“Everyone has enough time to serve God. Everyone has enough money to give to God. But we have become consumers, so we serve ourself first” Francis Chan (Crazy Love)

(vs. 2) “This People or These People” vs. “My People” = When you begin to ‘Make Excuses’ instead of simply doing what God tells you to do, you remove God’s favor from your life! (Example: how I jokingly say to my wife “your son” or “she is your daughter”)

2. Stop Being Selfish

Haggai 1:3–4 ESV

3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Closely aligned with excuse making is a selfish mindset that permeates everything. Haggai challenged the people's selfish behavior.

Paneled houses = They had finished the walls of their homes with costly woodwork. (possibly with the timber (Cedar) that was to be used for building the temple)

This was a practice which was considered luxurious even for a king! Jeremiah’s prophesy harshly condemned King Jehoiakim for his cruelty and injustice in governing the people of Judah. He was later taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during his first invasion of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 22:11–15 ESV

11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.” 13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, 14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,’ who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion. 15 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

Malachi 3:6–12 ESV

6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

Nothing is wrong with having a nice home. This statement is not an attack on riches or big houses.

What's wrong is spend all your money on selfish needs while ignoring the things of God.

What's wrong is to spend one's time, one's best hours, and one's talents on selfish pursuits while the things of God are left undone.

It is easy to drift away from God's agenda to our own. It is easy to pursue selfish desires while ignoring God's. In fact, it is the default mode of our lives.

Like William Cowper, the hymn writer and pastor, penned: "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love." (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)

“Whenever we place a higher priority on solving our problems than on pursuing God, we are immoral.”

3. Don’t Miss God’s Blessing

As a consequence of their excuse-making and selfish living, the people in Haggai's day experienced hardship.

Haggai 1:5–6 ESV

5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

They sowed plenty of seed, but there was a drought and the crops didn't yield as much as they had hoped. They were laboring but showing no profit. No matter how hard they tried, they seemed to be spinning their wheels. No matter how much money they made, they could not keep it.

Haggai is saying, “It pays to serve God.”

What they did not see was that God caused their predicament. They hadn't stopped to consider that God was trying to tell them something.

Haggai basically said: "Hey! It's God who controls the rain and the harvest. He is withholding his blessing because your priorities are not right. Put his house first and he will bless you.”

Matthew 6:25–33 NLT

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Conclusion

A church that has the right priorities is a passionate church where "Discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks fees up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior of the entire world is lifted up."

How will we know that we have put first things first? How will we know that God is first place?

Here are three indications:

1. We Are Active in the Right Things

Haggai 1:8 ESV

8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.

Those who put first things first are up and doing the right things: spending time with God daily, serving people, honoring him with their time, talents, and financial resources. For the Jews living in Jerusalem, it meant cutting down trees to build God's house.

2. God is Glorified

Haggai 1:8 ESV

8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.

Why should the Temple be built? That God may be glorified. His fame and his reputation being spread.

Haggai 1:12 ESV

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.

Why should the Temple be built? That God may be glorified. His fame and his reputation being spread.

“The people feared the Lord” =

3. God Blesses Us

Haggai 1:13 ESV

13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”

When God is first, he blesses us. And the sure sign of his blessing was his manifested presence.

If God seems distant in your life, perhaps your priorities have gotten mixed up. When you put God first, you experience a new awareness of his presence. That is true blessing.

Socrates wrote: "The unexamined life is not worth living.”

“Give careful thought to your ways.” The Prophet Haggai

“Consider your ways” ESV

The Hebrew figure of speech for this phrase is literally “Put your heart on your roads.” Basically, Haggai asks God’s people to consider what direction their life is headed and if they really wanted to continue that way.