Relationship Maker
Notes
Transcript
Clear vs. Color
Clear vs. Color
Water experiment.
By pouring the clear water into the colored water does that make the colored water clear?
No.
By pouring the colored water into the clear water does that make the clear water colored?
Yes.
Why?
B/C, the color is stronger than the clear. Clear water cannot be involved w/ colored water w/out becoming colored.
How do you clear up the colored water?
It takes something similar, a liquid, but stronger, not susceptible to the affect of the color.
It has to be all in.
Can’t be just around it . Can’t be just in the vicinity. Can’t be just where other clear water exists doing what clear water does.
If the colored water wants t/b clear it has to allow the only thing that can clarify it all in, mixed into every area of it’s jar.
This experiment explains why Jesus came the way He came at Christmas and why He was treated the way they treated Him at Easter.
It also explains why Jesus came the way He came at Christmas and why they treated Him the way they treated Him at Easter.
Jesus came as relationship-maker, not a rule-enforcer.
He came to perform an act of love, not to enact another law.
So, in order to take full advantage of everything God offers us, we have to surrender everything to Him.
Once we’ve done that, we consider ourselves Christian. It’s by faith. We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t believe in it.
So, once we’ve done that, what next? Do the rules take over?
No. The relationship needs t/b developed.
Even once we’ve come to faith we miss out on so much of what God offers if we only hang out in the vicinity of Jesus, sit by other Jesus followers, and act like them.
We have to surrender everything. And once we have, our tendency is to start taking things back, thinking we can serve ourselves by managing them better that Jesus can.
It doesn’t matter how far away you are from God. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only wandered away this morning or if you’ve been wandering for a long time.
It doesn’t matter if you’re kind of close, or really far.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve never been close. It doesn’t matter if you used t/b close.
You’ll get everything from God and experience everything w/ God by surrendering everything to God.
This is the message of .
Rebuild It
Rebuild It
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: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’ ”
The priests answered, “No.”
The date. By our calendar it was Dec. 18, 520 BC. 2 months after the last message and 3 months after the 1st one and restarted building on the bare foundation of the temple.
God had promised big things in the end but for the present they needed hope.
They were being disciplined and it hurt. After the last message they appeared to get it. They repented. Changed their behavior.
Would it stay that way? Would their changed behavior pay off for them?
The meat in his illustration was prepared for sacrifice to God. It had been purified, made holy. It was clean.
They would carry it in the fold of their garment, like in a folded apron. It was big, and it needed to stay clean.
Like your grandmother, or g-gmother who would pick fruit and vegetables from her garden and carry them in the fold of her apron. They were heavy. And if she dropped them, they’d get damaged, bruised.
The point is, if something clean touched something dirty, would the dirty become clean?
If clear water is poured into colored water does the colored water become clear?
No.
Why ask the priests about this?
B/C God had already explained all this. Not only about the meat, but about the lives of people who were made holy by Him who came in contact w/ the dirt of the world.
He had explained it in words, His words were written down by Moses. And, the priests were experts in the word of God that Moses wrote.
He had explained it long ago. Go back to the word of God.
In some ways, a relationship w/ God is like any other relationship. When trust is broken it needs t/b rebuilt. And that doesn’t happen overnight.
How many times have I met w/ a husband who is having an affair, been caught, and immediately apologizes. But, the question is what’s he sorry for? Only time will tell.
Is he sorry for the wrong he has committed? Or, is he sorry everybody’s mad at him?
Is his apology about the wrong he did to his wife, family, friends, church, God? Or, is his apology about relieving his own pain and guilt?
Is Israel sorry for messing up their relationship w/ God so badly? Or, are they sorry they are hurting so bad b/c of the consequences of their mess up?
Is it about God? Or, is it about them?
Getting right w/ God does not automatically happen by hanging out in the vicinity of those who are right w/ God.
That’s where Haggai goes next w/ this illustration.
Dirt Damages It
Dirt Damages It
Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”
Then Haggai said, “ ‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
What’s the deal w/ dead bodies?
When there is a mass-casualty event; a natural disaster or a terror attack; why do the rescuers wear hazmat suits?
B/C dead bodies carry disease and can make those who come in contact w/ it sick and kill them too. And, the disease can be passed from the rescuers who had been healthy to other healthy ppl.
The law, among other things, kept Israel healthy and alive.
Long before a scientist discovered germs and what they can do to us, God included germ-management in the law.
Don’t touch dead bodies. If you do, don’t touch anyone else for several days. Go outside camp until enough time goes by and you prove you won’t get sick and the priest approves.
Kosher laws.
Some time in the 70s there was a Jewish comedian on the Tonight Show being interviewed by Johnny Carson.
Explained he and his wife were trying to keep a kosher house. One night during a steak dinner he stuck is steak knife in the butter to butter his potato and his bread.
His wife made him take his steak knife out in their back yard and bury for 2 weeks. That is the law.
Why? B/C, before modern processes, if you mixed your meat w/ your dairy the chemical reaction would make you sick. And, burying the utensil was a natural cleanser.
The water pots that Jesus used to turn the water into wine. The water was for ceremonial cleansing by law.
The religious leaders had made it into a religious rite when the law just intended for ppl to wash their hands before they ate.
If something dirty touches something clean, it makes it dirty.
And, the dirt was killing ppl.
Very practical, but also a picture of sin. Dirt kills. Sin kills relationships and creates a distance between you and God.
God had explained all this. They should have known better. When certain things started happening they should have recognized what was going on.
But, they missed it.
Don’t Miss It
Don’t Miss It
“ ‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord.
The Abrahamic covenant, the promise God made Abraham, was a one-sided agreement that had 2 parts. God would have descendants as numerous as the stars and they’d get land.
Unconditional. No matter how Israel acts or believes and it’s in force forever. Still is. That’s their land.
In Deut. God made a covenant, a promise, w/ Moses. It was a conditional promise where both parties had responsibilities and it ended when Jesus died on the cross.
God gave Moses the law, beginning w/ the 10 commandments, and said, if Israel will live faithfully and obediently in the land, then they can stay in the land, God would protect them and the land would produce.
It ended when Jesus died on the cross b/c He fulfilled the law w/ that act. No longer in force.
All 10 commandments are repeated in the NT and are applicable. It’s still bad to murder, commit adultery and covet your neighbors stuff.
Our sabbath rest will come when we get to heaven. But, it’s still important to set time aside to do relational things like worship God and spend time away from work w/ family.
The conditions. If they live faithfully and obediently, they can stay in the land, God will protect them, and the land will produce.
They were just returning from getting kicked out of the land, their enemies were winning battles, and their harvest was down as much as 50%.
What should that have told them?
But, they missed it.
The are the consequences of a distant relationship w/ God.
We’re talking about keeping the law. What was law #1?
When Jesus was asked what was the most important command, what did he say?
So, understand, keeping the law began w/ believing in God, loving Him above everything else, having no other gods, meaning, even in OT times having a relationship w/ Him.
The first 4 commandments are about a relationship w/ God. The last 6 are about our relationship w/ ea other.
You can’t skip the first 4 and get right to the other 6, and then on to the rest, some 700 by the time Jesus showed up.
Give careful thought to this. Consider it carefully. Your harvest is off by half. And, it started about the time you stopped building.
Ring. Ring. Ring. It’s the clue phone. It’s for you.
You’re missing the clues, thinking you could be self-sufficient, but it wasn’t working.
The climate was performing, their crops weren’t producing and it was their own fault.
They had distanced themselves from God.
If you’re not getting all that God says is possible from Him then it’s very likely you have distanced yourself from Him.
God doesn’t move.
Israel had been self-serving, building their own houses and businesses instead of serving God by building the temple until Haggai confronted them.
And, remember, the bldg wasn’t the point. The bldg facilitated worship which facilitated their relationship.
The relationship was the point.
When they realized their mistake they repented. They changed their ways. No longer self-serving to God serving.
They had a change of heart b/c they got it.
They Got It
They Got It
‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.
“ ‘From this day on I will bless you.’ ”
Think carefully about this. You’ve apologized. What are you sorry for?
Are you sorry that you had been living your life for yourself. Looking out for yourself. Thinking only of yourself. Which all showed itself when you built your own house and neglected God’s.
Or, are you sorry that your life is tougher right now b/c your crops aren’t producing, you don’t have as much money, you’re not as comfortable as you’d like to be?
Is it about God? Or, is it about you?
It’s December. The fall harvest is behind them. They have to make do w/ what they have until spring and the next harvest.
They will have several months to demonstrate that their hearts changed.
If they were changing for themselves, self-preservation, then it wouldn’t last.
If they were changing for God, then they changed for good. And, their actions would prove it.
Then, the next harvest would show it. They could expect something different, more.
They couldn’t produce any more right now. They had to wait until the spring harvest to prove how serious they were about their repentance.
This would be a new age of prosperity, per God’s promise to Moses.
Repentance changes everything. Surrender and see everything change.
Admit it. Apologize for it. Amend your behavior about it.
Stop short of a change in behavior and fall short of true repentance.
Follow thru w/ the changes, God would follow thru w/ His full blessings.
If their lives prove anything it’s that anyone can be fully blessed by God no matter how far away from Him they were.
As a nation, they couldn’t get much farther away.
Therefore, they were kicked out of the land. God let them back into the land, and gave them the opportunity to get close to Him again.
And, b/c they did, he blessed them again. He gave them everything that comes w/ a close relationship.
That’s it. That’s what IT is.
So, what’s the point? What is it?
What Is It?
What Is It?
Haggai 2:
The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: “Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
“ ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
They, their ancestors, lost it and they needed to rebuild it.
They needed to understand the dirt in their lives damaged it.
They should have recognized what was going on but they missed it.
Then, finally, they got it, repented for it, and it was restored.
What was it?
A close relationship w/ God.
When God shows up to do battle the earth shakes.
And, He fights for his own. He fights for the ppl who have a rel. w/ Him. And, He never loses.
He makes it possible for us, a sinful unholy lot, to have a close personal relationship w/ a holy God.
The significance of when He put Zerubabbel means Israel was back on track and in the right place w/ God.
A 3rd covenant is referred to here. The covenant God has w/ David is that a descendant of his will always sit on God’s throne.
Zerubabbel is a descendant of David. And, this points us to Christmas and Jesus.
Matthew lists Jesus’ genealogy. Zerubabbel is in the list.
The law was fulfilled at Easter. The Mosaic covenant is no longer in affect. Jesus died as the Lamb of God. No more animals need be slaughtered.
Though we are spiritual descendants of Abraham, we’re not living in the land.
Israel’s lack of faith, lack of a relationship w/ God, rendered their sacrifices unacceptable. God wanted their heart, not their worship.
That’s what Saul learned in
But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
For us, Paul wrote
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Live as if you’re dead. You have no rights. You have no right to demand anything. Don’t be self-serving, be Savior serving. Don’t build your own house until you’ve built God’s.
The temple today is the church body made up of all of us.
Build into the body of Christ then God will build into you.
The Mosaic covenant is no longer in affect. So, is there anything that is conditional about the Christian life?
Conviction is conditional. If you sin, then you will feel it b/c you will suffer conviction. When you do, what do you do?
Repent. Jesus drew this picture when he washed the disciples feet. Peter confronted Jesus on it Jesus on it b/c foot-washing was done by the lowest of the low servants.
It was a nasty job.
Jesus replied to Peter:
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
Those who’ve had a bath, their bodies are clean. Those who have believed in and received Jesus, they are clean.
But, we live in a dirty world and pick up the dirt and nastiness as we live our lives.
We have to let Jesus clean up the dirt we pick up.
If we leave the nastiness on our feet we push ppl away. They are not going to want to sit near us when we eat.
If we leave the spiritual nastiness on our feet, we push God away. When we do that we don’t experience everything that’s available to us.
This is the point of
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
If we leave the dirt on our feet, we’re still saved, but we won’t experience all the patience, joy, self-control that’s available to us.
It doesn’t matter how far away you are, you can get close again and experience every blessing God offers.
You can get everything by surrendering everything.
Why did Jesus come the way He came? B/C he needed to deal w/ our hearts not his rules.
The next time He comes, He’ll enforce the rules.
But, the rules begin w/ a relationship.
That’s the message of Haggai. They had wondered a long way away. But, God welcomed them back when they surrendered everything.
We can too when we surrender everything.
Applications
Applications
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
That’s the clue phone and it might be ringing for you.
If you’re not experiencing the patience you need, the self-control, or joy; then it’s likely you’ve picked up some dirt and haven’t let Jesus clean it off.
Those might be clues that something needs to change.
It’s not that you don’t have those things in you and the amount you need. But, you’re trying to muster it up on your own.
Present your feet to Jesus, and whatever else has picked up some nastiness from the world and let Him clean you up.
What do you need to confess? What do you need to get cleaned up?
Vicinity
Vicinity
We don’t get right w/ God by being in the vicinity of other ppl who are.
Church attendance, sitting in on a BS, playing w/ other Christians won’t clear you up entirely.
Engage w/ God and let Him in every area of your life. Let Him clean out the corners, nooks, and crannies.
Engage in worship. Let the Word of God into your life. He’s explained everything we need to know. It’s in there.
If you’re just hanging out w/ Christians even here today, thinking you’re better w/ God but haven’t believed in and received Jesus personally, then you’re right w/ God.
Believe and receive. Surrender everything to God.
Rebuild it
Rebuild it
Don’t let your past keep you from a blessed future.
It doesn’t matter how far away you’ve been. Come home.
Jesus will clean you up and bless you w/ every spiritual blessing in full measure. Just come home and rebuild your relationship Him.
Jesus came to deal w/ our hearts and not to establish any more rules.
That’s why they rejected Him when was here. They didn’t want to surrender their lives. They wanted Jesus to surrender to their rules.
They wanted to build their own lives and not the life God wanted for them.
That was self-serving. But, God wants us t/b Savior-serving.
Jesus came to be a relationship-maker, not a rule enforcer.
He came to perform and act of love not to enact another law.
It doesn’t matter how far away you are from God. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only wandered away this morning or if you’ve been wandering for a long time.
It doesn’t matter if you’re kind of close, or really far.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve never been close. It doesn’t matter if you used t/b close.
You’ll get everything from God and experience everything w/ God by surrendering everything to God.