When God Is Second

***Ethan, as you arise each step. Repeat, “I believe in the Holy Ghost.”***

Introduction

Good morning! I want to invite you to a place in the scriptures that folks do not typically read or even more rarely hear a pastor preach from. And that is the book of Haggai. We are going to be in Haggai Chapter One. If you do not know where that is, it is near the end of the Old Testament starting from the back you have Malachi, Zecariah, and then Haggai.

The sermon title today is “When God Is Second.” There are moments in believer’s lives and churches, communities of people that the positioning of the Lord changes. And what I mean by that is, the priority of the Lord no longer remains the chief, upmost, highest priority in people’s lives. Now, I’ve been pastoring long enough that this is not a strange thought to any of us. It is not unheard to go through a day or season where the Lord is not number one. While there are a variety of reasons that this happens, I’m just suggesting that it does occur. Where God himself, and his commandments, are on the afterthought , not the forefront, of our lives.

My desire for you is that by the end of this sermon, that today if you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you have drifted away, that you would return to him and that he would sit on the throne of your heart. And for our church family, that this would bind us together, and compel us outwards as we prepare for a new year of ministry beginning on January 10th.

May the Holy Ghost captivate us all as we see his word and how powerful it truly is.

Let’s read.

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.”

Context

Haggai is a prophet in the Old Testament. God would communicate his word through chosen persons to the nation of Israel, and Haggai (whose name means “my feast”) would be one whom God would powerfully use to call the Israelites. The nation of Israel has been through much up until this point. They have returned to Jersualmen under the leadership and guidance of Ezra, and in the Holy Land, there is a primary task at hand.

Restore the temple.

After captivity from the babylonians, the temple has been destroyed. Understand, this is a significant deal. Today, the Holy Spirit lives within you and I, we are the temples of God. But here in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God, the presence of the Holy One dwelled within the tabernacle. And this temple was destroyed.

So the task at hand is straight forward, rebuild the temple. This is critical to the nation of Israel as they return back to the Holy Land and continue following the father.

Transition

Now, let’s read the next few verses and see what is going on with the people of Israel and the task they have at hand.

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.”

What have we witnessed here? Haggai receives the word of God and asks them… Why are you dwelling in paneled house, while my house (The temple) is in ruins (verse 4) and then busies themselves with their own houses (verse 9). He is saying, you are choosing what is important to you over what is important to me. You are choosing and doing things for your own comfort and pleasure OVER what is necessary for me.

Let me put it like this.

Right now, in my own personal home. You learn very quickly that if you are homeowner, maintenance has a way of snowballing over time. And that deferred maintenance becomes desperate maintenence as I’m calling my dad to come help me catch up. Well how did I get there? Well, I initially blame school, because I was going through a season of finishing up at seminary and I was just working every single day and I was tired. And so any time a task would pop up like, I need to repair a fence, or I need to fix a leaky faucet, or I need to fix the porch light, I would “nah, I got something more important to do”. Y’all feel me on that right? Don’t we do that for everything?

So I have steadily growing list on my iPhone of things that I gotta do, BUT, BUT, despite the challenges of the semester, having a baby, and everything else… I still managed to catch every single episode of The Mandolorian and every other TV series that me and Lexi don’t miss a beat on. So I’m literally sitting in a house falling apart yet justififying my reasons for letting it fall apart but my actions not matching what I say is important to me.

What’s the point? My words may say what the priority here is (To work on my house), but my actions would say otherwise.

This is exactly whats happening here. They are the people of God. They are followers of God. They proclaim and testify to God. Yet, their actions and obedience are far from him. Insteading of building the house of God, they are building their own.

The problem is simply this: God is second.

God is second, and he is not the priority. This does not go without effects. As I mentioned earlier, I believe this happens more often that naught for believers today, and in this passage we see two things. We see the effects on believers when God is second, and the effects on believers when God is first.

Let’s observe the effects on believers when God is second.

I - When God is Second

Effect #1 - Apathy to God - verse 4, 9

4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

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.

With God as second, the nation is completely apathetic to God and his will for them. And he calls them on it.

They obviously have the time to work on the temple, but they would rather serve themselves. Its like any priority we may have in this life, yet we sacrifice the priority of live for the pleasures of life.

We have a natural bend towards comfort and satisfaction over what he needs to be done. Isn’t this what happens to churches? I’m afraid COVID has birthed consumerism within many believers. If we can watch a church service at home, check it, done. Yet not live missionally in a community, make disicples, and serve those far from him. You must fight this.

John talks about this reality in revelation, right? He talks about Apathy in a different light, being lukewarm. To the church of Laodecia he writes...

15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

He said to the believers in Laodecia, they are lukewarm. For me, if I have to choose between a hot cup of coffee or a cold cup, I choose hot every single time. But the worst is when a hot cup of coffee becomes lukewarm. The same for a cup of tea. Its no good anymore and you just want to spit it out.

That is what God says he does to lukewarm believers. He would rather you be all in or completely out. Do not sit in the middle. So if you are listening as a believer, you exercise nothing towards the Lord, he is warning you here. Be all in or be all out, but do not be in the middle.

There is work to be done for God, yet, the pleasures of life wage war against it.

You must choose between priority or pleasure, the faithful will choose the priority and follow God.

Effect #2 - Barreness from God - verse 5,6

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.

Then in verse 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.”

Apathy bred barreness in the nation of Israel. Their apathy, their lukewarm behavior led to the Lord witholding blessing and punishing them for it. He told them that they would labor hard, havest little. Eat and be hungry. Be clothed and yet be cold. And continually lose wealth. The Lord also to change the worth and the landscape so that they would bear no fruit or reap a bountiful harvest in their day. This picture of complete barreness.

It makes me think of when the lockdowns happened earlier this summer around the nation, for one moment you have bustling life, activity, and much happening in major citiies. And in the blink of an eye, you see images of Times Square in New York City and there is not a soul in sight as everyone in at home. What a drastic change. So much activity, efforts, plans, yet visibily everyone is stuck at home.

The people of Israel felt a barreness from God in their efforts, and it was 100% intentional from him.

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I whole heartily believe you cannot sit apatheticly in your walks with Christ, and simultenaously feel the full effects of him. How can one be far from the Lord, with the prioirities of the Lord as an afterthought, yet be in tune to the full blessing of his presence. Yes we are saved by his grace. But we would be wrong to assume that because we saved, we are released from any responsibility and duty to Christ.

You do not pledge to your spouse, covenant with your spouse, proceed to never live in accordance with him or her, love them, care for them, and yet expect the relationship to be the same as it would be if you did. Thats madness.

I believe the same is true here. To be in Christ, means that we strive towards Christ, and if we do not, we should not expect the fullness of his presence in our lives as we do not live attuned to him.

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So we see apathy towards God, Barreness from God when God is second. But what about when he is first. Haggai in his prophecy see a turnaround from the people of Israel. Their hearts and priorities change, and now they fully embrace the Lord and his mission.

The effects on believers when God is first.

II - When God is First

Effect #1 - The Purpose for God - verse 12

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.

The people had a change of heart and recognized their purpose for God when he was placed as first. It says in verse that they obeyed the voice of the Lord and feared the Lord again. They moved from apathy to obedience.

With God as number one, you will see your purpose in him.

Effect #2 - The Presence of God - verse 13

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

In obedience to God, what did the Lord say. He is with them. The presence of the Lord was manifest with them again.

With God as number one, you will see the presence of him.

Effect #3 - The Power from God - verse 14

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.

In the presence of the Lord, what did he do? He stirred the Spirits of all the people, and they moved to work on the house of the Lord.

With God as number one, you will see the power from him. ‘

Conclusion

Here is my question for you today to close. Is God first, or is he second in your life today? Does he sit on the throne of your heart and mind? or do you sit on the seat? Only one can remain on that throne.