The Best Is Yet To Come

THE BEST IS YET TO COME  I started in Haggai last week and I brought the first part of the message. I want to continue in the second chapter tonight. I am moving through the Minor Prophets and I have had the surprise of my life because I have discovered there is a keen interest on the part of the congregation to hear what God has to say in these neglected books of the Bible. I have been especially interested in the response of our young people—to see how interested and responsive they have been to these messages. In your Old Testament there are twelve books, which fall into the category of the Minor Prophets. The first nine of these prophets are what we call pre- captivity prophets because they spoke to God's people before the time of the captivity. The last three are called the post-captivity prophets because they spoke to God's people after they had returned from the land of captivity. Haggai is one of these post-captivity prophets--Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. These three men God used to speak His message to the remnant—the people who had returned. You will find references in the book of Haggai to the remnant. It is a reference to that faithful few people who were willing to obey the word of the Lord and to go back to the land which God had given to them. They were good, godly people. They loved the Lord and were willing to pay the price to be God's remnant. They were the right people in the right place at the right time for the right purpose. When I read about that and thought about that I couldn't help but think about God's faithful remnant in the fellowship of the First Baptist Church. So many of you love the Lord, so many of you pay the price to serve the Lord and give of your time and give of your money and give of your effort. You are the right people in the right place at the right time for the right purpose. Even sometimes God's very best people need a special word from the Lord. So, God gave to Haggai the prophet, a series of messages. These messages are intended to challenge the people to continue the work. Its purpose is to arouse the people and to get them going again in rebuilding this temple that God had assigned to them. I. SELFISHNESS. In messages, which are carefully dated in the book of Haggai, the Lord gives 4 words to the people of God in that day. The first message was given on September 1, 520 B.C. That's the substance of the 1st chapter. It is a message concerning selfishness. Even though they were the remnant, even though they loved the Lord, their enthusiasm and interest in completing the temple had waned and they had become preoccupied with their own activities. They were building their own houses. They had said it was not time to build the house of the Lord. But Haggai is saying to them that they need to examine their selfishness and rearrange their priorities. The New Testament commentary on the message he gives in chapter 1 is Matthew 6:33 where the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." So, the first message was a message concerning selfishness. The second message and the date is given in chapter 2, verse 4. This date is October 21, 520 B. C., approximately seven weeks after the first message was given. The people responded in a marvelous way to the message concerning selfishness. We read in the closing verses of chapter 1 that they begin to do the work of the Lord with renewed enthusiasm and renewed commitment. Then the second message comes some seven weeks later. It is a message concerning greatness. II. GREATNESS. As you read through you will notice that the work of the Lord is going on. The temple is being built. As the people began to look at that temple, there were some old timers among them. There were some folks who remembered Solomon's temple in its glory. They thought about Solomon's temple and they looked at this building, which was a smaller building in proportion. So their hearts were filled with discouragement. Instead of looking forward to the future and claiming God's blessing for the future, they were looking backward and as result their hearts were filled with discouragement. That's what he means in verse 3 when he says, "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now?" He is saying—are you discouraged by the comparison? "Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing." He is saying—you are looking in the wrong direction. You don't understand what greatness is really all about. He is trying t o point out to them that greatness is not the equivalent of bigness. Bigness does not necessarily mean greatness. There is a tendency for God's good people and a special tendency for people of my generation and above to begin to dwell on the past and think about all the things of the past and look back to the past. They compare and if you are not very careful you will get yourself into a frame of mind, you will get yourself into a spiritual posture where you are always comparing the presence with the past. The older you get the bigger the past gets. The more wonderful the past gets. Sometimes if you are not very careful—old times, instead of being an encouragement, can become a discouragement. If you don't watch it very carefully the old times can be a hindrance instead of a help. You begin to throw cold water on what God is trying to do today. I was thinking about this companion passage in the 3rd chapter, 12th verse of Ezra. The Bible says that the ancient men (the old guys) when they saw this temple, they began to weep because it was not as big as the previous temple. They were filled with discouragement. That's the danger today. Sometimes you have a great service and the tendency is to say, "Well, that service was alright, but boy, we really had a good one. You should have been here so and so." You hear some good music and somebody says, "Isn't that wonderful music!" "Well, that music was good, but boy, we had a concert here a few years ago and this one ain't nothing compared to that." You hear some Bible teach and you say, "Isn't that great Bible teaching!" "Well, that's good, but boy, you should have been here when so and so. We really had some good Bible teaching back then." If you are not careful you'll get hung up in the past. If you get hung up in the past, then the tendency is to become critical of the present. You start criticizing everything that's going on. You don't like this. And it's not the way we used to do it here. And it was better back then. Before you know it, you become a wart inspector and a collector of barnacles. You begin to criticize. I've asked the Lord to help me not to become a critical old man. I don't want to become a sourpuss in my last years. I want to be positive. I want to be forward thinking. I want to look at what it's really all about. The past is not to be an anchor, which holds us where we are. It's to be a rudder that moves us toward the future. The past is not to be a parking lot. The past is to be a roadmap to get us going and doing God's will in the days ahead. Haggai is saying to us tonight—you must understand what greatness is. Notice what he does in verse 4. Three times he uses this word, be strong. Three times he says it to governor Zerubbabel. He says it to Joshua the high priest. He says it to the remnant of the people—be strong and work. Then he gives a marvelous three-fold encouragement to keep us moving toward doing the work of the Lord. Here's the first encouragement. He says in verse 4, "I am with you." In the latter part of verse 5, he says, "So my Spirit remaineth among you." We are to be strong and do the work of the Lord because we have the promise of God's presence. Dear one, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same God who blessed us in the 90s is the God who will bless us now. The God who blessed us in the 70s and the 60s and on back beyond is the same God who moved in mighty spiritual power on the day of Pentecost. He's the God today who can move in our midst and stir and save the lost and win great victories for the Lord. Be strong. We have the promise of His presence. We also have the promise of His own promises. He says in verse 5, "According to the word that I covenanted with you." God is talking about His promises—His agreements. The promises of God are still the same. You can do something for the Lord in this day. God has promised He will be with you and will bless you. Then there is the promise of His power in verse 6. "I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land." That is quoted in the book of Hebrews, the 12th chapter. This particular verse of Scripture in the 26th verse is quoted in a very interesting way. It says, "Whose voice then shook the earth, but now has he promised saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. This word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." The Bible teaches that one of these days God is going to shake this heaven and earth. One of these days the heavens and the earth shall pass away. God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. Don't put your roots down too deep in this old world. Get your eyes on the things that cannot be shaken. God's throne cannot be shaken. God's Word cannot be shaken. God's promises cannot be shaken. God's child cannot be shaken. Eternity cannot be shaken. Heaven cannot be shaken. God says, "I'll shake all things with my power that the things which cannot be shaken may remain." Turn back to Haggai. He wants us to see what greatness is all about. Greatness is not to be paralleled with bigness. He says in verse 7, "I will shake all the nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory… the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former." He is saying that something is going to happen in this house that's going to be greater than anything that happened in Solomon's temple. The years move forward. We fast forward from the book of Haggai all the way to the New Testament. There we are told about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. When it came time for the Lord to be purified according to Old Testament law, the Lord Jesus Christ was brought into the temple in the hands of His mother and Joseph. The Lord Jesus visited that temple as a baby. Then when He was a 12-year-old boy, again the Lord Jesus Christ came to that temple and the Bible says that He asked the questions and the scholars were confounded by the answers that He gave and the questions that He asked. Then as a grown man, the Lord Jesus Christ came to that temple and He made a whip and He drove out the moneychangers. When Jesus walked into that temple there was far greater glory than any glory they had ever experienced before. Greatness is not a place. Greatness is a Person. That Person is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what filled this church with glory. That's what gives greatness to this church. It is not this building. It is not this preacher. It is not these wonderful musicians. What gives greatness to this church is the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in this church. The greatest thing that could happen in this church in a week's time is for a rumor to get out that Jesus is in the house. When Jesus is here the Bible says the people will come. There is a sermon on greatness. There is a sermon on selfishness. In Verse 10 about two months later, on December 24, it says, "The Word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, (this is tricky, follow it very carefully, you'll miss it if you don't watch it). Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Ask now the priests concerning the lay, saying." Haggai is to go ask the priests some questions concerning the law. Here's the first question. "If one bear holy flesh…" That is, some meat that had been dedicated to the Lord. If it was dedicated to the Lord, it was holy flesh. "...in the skirt of his garment." If they had some sacred meat in their garment. "And with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy?" In other words, whatever the sacred meat touched—would that make whatever it touched holy? Their answer was, "No." The point of that is that you cannot transmit holiness. I'll explain it in a moment. The second question is in verse 13. "Then said Haggai, if one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?' In those days if you came in contact with a dead body you were ceremonially unclean. So if one who is unclean touches any of these things—the wine, the oil, the bread, the pottage, the meat—is it unclean? In other words, if something unclean touches something clean, will it be unclean? "And the priest answered and said, It shall be unclean." Let me unwrap that for you. What's he talking about? This is a sermon now about- III. CLEANNESS. The people had started the work again. They were expecting God's material blessings to come down. But those blessings had not come down. So there has to be a message on cleanness. God has to teach a truth here about cleanness. The message is this. You cannot transmit holiness to another, but you can transmit contamination to another. That is true in every realm of life. Think with me. It is true in the realm of health. You cannot transmit your health to someone else, but someone else can transmit his or her disease to you. If they sneeze on you and they have a cold, chances are pretty good that you will get a cold. The principle is true in the realm of health. It is also true in the realm of chemistry. This one will be even clearer to understand. Let's just imagine that right now I have up here on this pulpit two glasses of water. One of these glasses is filthy. It is polluted. It is dirty. But there's another glass of water over here and it is crystal clear. Absolutely clean. Watch it. If I take this filthy glass of water and pour the filthy into the clean water, what happens? Does the clean water transmit purity to the polluted water? No. Does the polluted water transmit impurity to the clean water? The answer is yes. See the point? You cannot transmit cleanness, but you can transmit filthiness. It is true in the moral realm. I would encourage our young people. It is very important who you run around with. It is very important who your friends are. You are not going to transmit holiness to them, but they may transmit their uncleanness to you. How many a Christian has lost his testimony because he's in the wrong crowd. You get out there with the old bear- guzzling crowd and the honky tonks in this city of ours—you are not going to win them, they are going to win you before it is over. The Bible says, "Come ye out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord." There is a place to be a witness. There is a place to make friends for the Lord Jesus Christ, but if you go among the lost world and they compromise your testimony, their dirt and mud is going to get on you. You are going to become like them; they are not going to become like you. The message is a message on cleanness. He says in verse 14, "So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord: and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean." He is saying that it is also true in the spiritual realm. You cannot get clean on the inside by outward ceremony. You been baptized? That doesn't necessarily mean you are saved. Are you a church member? That doesn't necessarily mean you are saved. You attend all the services? That doesn't necessarily mean you are saved. Outward ceremony does not cleanse the heart. It takes a new birth experience. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away…" It has to be something that happens on the inside. Now, I want to show you the glorious exception to the principle that has been established here on a human level. On a human level you cannot transmit holiness, but you can transmit contamination. On the human level you cannot transmit your cleanness, but you can transmit your uncleanness. But there was one named Jesus. And Jesus came walking on this earth. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Jesus never did sin. In fact, Jesus said one time, "Who convicteth me of sin?" There is nobody in the universe past, present, or future who could ever convict Jesus of sin. Is there anybody in this building who can stand up and say, "Who convicts me of sin?" I got news for you, if your wife is here you can't get up and say that. I'll guarantee you that. But the Lord Jesus Christ could because He was absolutely pure. Do you remember what happened the day the Lord Jesus Christ saw that leper? The leper was there and the putrid corruption of leprosy was eating away at him. he had to put a rag over his face and when people came near he had to shout "Unclean. Unclean." He couldn't sit down on a rock because somebody else might come and sit down and he would transmit his uncleanness to them. This man saw Jesus and came running to Jesus. Everybody around Jesus went running from them because they didn't want that leper to touch them. But I want to show you what Jesus can do. Here is that old corrupt, filthy, polluted, unclean leper. The Lord Jesus Christ touched that leper and He didn't get his contamination. That leper got His holiness and Jesus made him pure and saved him. That's what Jesus can do for you. You are filled with the corruption of your sin. the pure, spotless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, can come where you are and He can touch you. When He died on that cross for your sins, He took all of your uncleanness, all of your sin, all of your damage and He put it on that old cross. Now he says, "I'll give my cleanness to you. It's a message on cleanness. There's a fourth message. It is delivered on the same day. It is down in verse 20. "And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai on the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day says the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and I will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts." He is connecting with the message in verse 10— December 24 in our calendar. What is this message about? This is a message concerning— IV. FAITHFULNESS. It is a message that is personally delivered to the leader—the governor Zerubbabel. Keep in mind that Zerubbabel was the governor of a little group of people. A little remnant of people. He was trying to lead them to do the work of the Lord. There was opposition on the outside and there was opposition on the inside. God sends a message of faithfulness to His servant Zerubbabel. God's servants need encouragement from time to time. They need to be challenged to keep on being faithful. That's one of the things I'm so thankful for in our church. Almost everyday I get encouraging words from our congregation. Sweet letters and testimonies that people send. I stand up here and you think, "That guy is just happy all the time. He's never discouraged. He never gets down in the dumps." But you don't know my heart, do you? Sometimes it's easier to smile than it is to cry. There are times when the old heart gets heavy and there are times when the burden of the work of the Lord bears down upon you. You need a special message from the Lord. Here was Zerubbabel. Satan attacks leaders. Think about Elijah. What a prophet of God he was. Yet, Elijah became so discouraged he wanted to take his own life. He said to the Lord, "Lord, just let me die. Let me go on to heaven." But what he needed was a message of encouragement from the Lord to keep on going. God says to Zerubbabel, "You be faithful because I'll manifest my power." He reiterates again, "I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth." You and I can be faithful because God's power is behind us. When you are doing God's work you can be sure that God will provide the power to do His work. you don't have to do the work of the Lord in your own strength. You don't have to serve the Lord in your puny power. Somebody says, "I'm just serving the Lord in my little meek way." Well, stop it! Stop it! quit serving the Lord in your little old meek way. Start serving the Lord in His mighty powerful way. Claim the power of God in your work. Then he says, "I'll manifest my prince." He says in verse 23, "I'm going to take you, Zerubbabel. I'm going to make a signet ring out of you." In those days, most of the communication was on clay tablets. The king would have a ring. Sometimes he would wear it around his neck on a string. Many times he would wear it on his hand. When a document had been composed and written, making commitments from the king, then the king would take that signet ring and imprint his signet ring in that document. Guaranteeing, putting his authority, putting his power behind the commitments in the document. The Lord says, "I have chosen you, Zerubbabel. This is the work I have given you to do." This is kind of a pre-picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Zerubbabel is mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord. You read Matthew 1:12 and you will find that Zerubbabel is mentioned there. He's a pre-picture of the Lord. The Lord Jesus is God's beloved Son. The father said, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." Jesus was God's signet ring. When Christ comes and puts His stamp upon your life, when Christ comes and puts His image in your life, oh, how special. God said to Zerubbabel, through Haggai, "I have chosen you. I've looked the field over and I have picked you" Is there somebody here who has some work you started and it needs to be finished? You have a Bible class and you've just started the work and you need to finish it. Maybe you have a little boy or girl at your house. You've started a work on their life and you need to finish it. Maybe it's a business that you have dedicated to the Lord and you got it started, but you've been a little bit discouraged and you need to keep on and finish that work for the Lord. Let me give you three promises to encourage your heart. Chapter 2, verse 4, "I am with you, saith the Lord." Claim the promise that the Lord is with you. In verse 19 is the second promise. "From this day will I bless you." Here's the third promise in verse 23, "I have chosen you, saith the Lord." There is nobody else in the whole world exactly like you. You are an original. You are brand new. You are unique. There is something you can do for the Lord nobody else can do. So God says just be faithful. Keep on keeping on for the Lord.