Build My House

Introduction

Haggai 1:2–11 KJV 1900

2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, And this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; Ye eat, but ye have not enough; Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; Ye clothe you, but there is none warm; And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; And I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; And when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, And ye run every man unto his own house. 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, And the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, And upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, And upon that which the ground bringeth forth, And upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

Pray - Be Seated

Body

One day as many times before in a small country town a little boy walked into a barbershop. As this was the only barbershop in town it was always filled with customers. Looking at the little boy, the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the most foolish kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”

Everyone stopped doing what they were doing and watched the barber go behind the counter and call the little boy to him. While behind the counter the barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other. As the little boy comes over the barber asks him “Which do you want, son?”

The boy takes the quarters, thanks the barber and leaves. “What did I tell you? That kid never learns! He’s been coming here every week for a couple of years now, and he always takes the two quarters.” the barber said laughing. Some customers laughed and agreed with the barber that the boy was foolish for doing so. But there was one customer that just couldn’t accept this thought.

As this customer was leaving the barbershop he decided to walk around a little bit and maybe find the boy and tell him to take the dollar next time he gets the chance. And with a little bit of luck, the customer, sure enough, came across the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. Trying to do a good deed that day he first asked the boy “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?”

The boy licked his favorite ice cream looked at the customer and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over.”

When the customer heard that he finally understood what happened before in the barbershop and who is the real fool.

In our scripture text, God issues two different exhortations:

Consider your ways

Build My house

Consider Your Ways

General Principles

Self-examination and introspection are disciplines that must be cultivated in a Christian’s life if we are to excel spiritually.

Children and immature adults live for the moment. They seek instant gratification and give no thought to tomorrow.

Mature adults consider how our actions, choices, and decisions affect the future.

We’re commanded to examine ourselves

Psalm 77:6 KJV 1900

6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: And my spirit made diligent search.

2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV 1900

5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Self-examination should take place on the basis of God’s revelation of Himself and the example He sets for believers in Jesus Christ. This is because without His help we cannot see our own faults.

Psalm 19:12 KJV 1900

12 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Jeremiah 17:9 KJV 1900

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

We need God to help us in our self-examination

Job 13:23 KJV 1900

23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin.

Psalm 139:23 KJV 1900

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts:

Scripture Text

In our scripture text God is telling His people to consider their ways.

Stop and think for a moment why these things in your life are taking place.

List everything that was going wrong for the Israelites.

Consider all these things that are against you. Why are they coming against you?!?!?

God may be causing them. At the very least He’s allowing them. Why?

Build My House

General Principles

In the O.T., God meant literally He wanted His house built. Constructed. He wanted His temple rebuild.

Today, God is not so concerned with a building. What does He mean?

He wants the Church built.

He wants His saints perfected.

Build His Church

God is interested in numbers!

It’s God’s will to see the entire city saved!

Perfect the Saints

Salvation is not the be-all-end-all. It’s the beginning!

It’s God’s perfect will for every child of God to grow to perfection.

God is interested in BOTH numerical AND spiritual growth! Neither one is more or less important than the other.

Scripture Text

The reason all these things were happening was because:

They left off building the house of God.

They instead pursued their own agenda.

And this is the crux of the sermon: Put God’s will first in your life!

Forsake your own plans, hopes, dreams, and dedicate yourself to pursuing after God’s plan for your life.

God wants His house built

Rededicate yourselves. Refocus yourselves on eternal things.

We’ve gotten our eye off the ball - we’ve got to get our eye back on the ball.

COVID is a distraction

Why are all these things happening to us as a nation?

Speak of the Save our Nation event coming up

Prayer and fasting every Tuesday and Thursday until May 23rd from 7-8 PM.

Pass out cards.

Look at the website - youtube videos on outreach, altar work, and retention.

Believe that God will move miraculously in our city!

This event is not a one-off, but a launching point for us to take this city, but we’ve got to be committed. Dedicated. Willing to pay the price asked of us.