Now Is The Time

Introduction

The Rolling Stone’s 1965 hit song (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no satisfaction

'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try

I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm drivin' in my car, and the man come on the radio

He's tellin' me more and more about some useless information

Supposed to fire my imagination

I can't get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey

That's what I say

I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no satisfaction

Some of us on this Sunday morning seem stuck in first gear

Transition To Body- Reason for the people’s delay in rebuilding the Temple in the book of Haggai

Haggai 1:1 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:

What happened in the past 80 years since Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great II?

Inability To Bridge The Gap

Ezra 3:11–13 ESV

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.

Mark 2:21–22 ESV

21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Adversaries of Judah & Benjamin Heard About the Temple Building

Ezra 4:1–2 ESV

1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.”

The People of the Land Discouraged & Made Them Afraid

Ezra 4:4–5 ESV

4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Thank God for the Prophets!

Ezra 5:1 ESV

1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

The LORD gives Haggai a word because the LORD God is a finisher

The LORD God wants you to finish what you start in his name

One of the most unappealing things in a city is an abandoned or unfinished building….

Body- The Word Of The LORD by the Hand of Haggai

Pretext For Procrastination (vv1-4)

“Later is the enemy of creativity and transformation” - Do the Hard Things First by Sott Allan

The word “procrastinate” comes from a combination of the Latin words pro, meaning “in favor of,” and crastinus, meaning “of tomorrow.” Broadly, procrastination means putting off a task or decision, even though you know you’ll be worse off for delaying it. More specifically, it means putting off a task that you intend to do.

Procrastination can show up in nearly every area of your life.

Though the most obvious form of procrastination might be putting off starting or finishing school and work assignments, procrastination extends beyond missing deadlines.

We also put off making phone calls, completing paperwork, doing research or studying, and asking for help.

Outside of work and school, we procrastinate on our daily chores, household maintenance, spring cleaning, buying groceries, or running errands.

We also procrastinate financially, delaying things like paying bills, setting a budget, refinancing loans, paying off debts, and filing taxes.

And we procrastinate socially, postponing making plans with our friends, calling our grandmas, and replying to RSVPs.

We even procrastinate personally, never getting around to making therapy appointments, going to church, reading books, or developing hobbies.

Health might be the sneakiest area of all: We put off making appointments for checkups, starting a healthier diet or exercise regimen, or quitting smoking or drinking. Anywhere there’s an activity, task, behavior, or decision, there’s room for procrastination.

We can procrastinate with essentially any task because the essence of procrastination is postponing one task and replacing it with something that’s less important or more tempting.

The LORD God Confronts- with people’s own words v2

The LORD God Challenges- with a question of reflection v3-4

Haggai 1:4 (Haggai, Malachi (NAC)): In response to the claim that the time was not right for rebuilding the temple, Haggai asks in the Lord’s behalf how it could be that the time was right for building their private dwellings.

The question invites reflection on priorities. Whose interests were most important to them—their own or those of their God? It is a question with which believing communities have often had to struggle. To answer the question properly requires breaking with the familiar and comfortable patterns of the past and turning to God with urgent sincerity.

If a choice is to be made with regard to which of the two “houses” should be built first, does it not stand to reason that the Lord’s wishes should take precedence over their own?

Determinant of Dissatisfaction (vv5-11)

Determinant- a factor which decisively affects the nature or outcome of something.

"pure force of will was the main determinant of his success"

the LORD of hosts is at work

Deuteronomy 8:17–18 ESV

17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Examine the results of all your labor

Haggai 1:5 ESV

5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

Haggai 1:7 ESV

7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

Reflect/Consider- connotations of a beam joining two animals (the OT mentions only cattle; see III.2 below) to pull a plow or cart; on both sides of the neck of each animal there are pegs to which cords (môsērôṯ) are attached; these are tied together under the necks of the animals.

Haggai 1:4–11 (Haggai, Malachi (NAC)): “Give careful thought to your ways.

The use of the word ḥārēb in v. 4 sets up a wordplay, forming a semantic link to v. 11, where the word for “drought” is the cognate noun ḥōreb. Haggai thus connects the “ruin” of the temple to the “ruin” of the land. The relationship, as will be made even more clear in the verses that follow, is one of cause and effect. It is precisely because of the people’s inactivity with regard to the temple that the Lord sent hard times to the land

Your ways= you paths

Do you know where you going to?

Illustration: Diana Ross’s Theme From Mahogany

Do you know where you're going to?

Do you like the things that life is showin' you?

Where are you going to?

Do you know?

Do you get what you're hopin' for

When you look behind you, there's no open doors

What are you hopin' for?

Do you know?

Haggai 1:5 (NICOT Hag & Mal): In Hag 1:5, 7, ʿal-darkêkem, “on your ways,” refers to the people’s life course or pattern, including but not limited to behaviors and their consequences. Potentially, a life course includes convictions or beliefs that lead to and sustain the behavior patterns.

Impetus for Inspiration (vv12-15)

What does true inspiration look like?

Obeying the word of the LORD spoken by Haggai (as God sent him)

Fearing the LORD God

Prophet Speaking the LORD’s message

And the LORD stirred the people’s spirit- governor, priest, & remnant people

People worked on the house of the LORD of hosts

Transition to Close: The LORD God Who Actually Does The Building

2 Samuel 7- David desiring to build a house for the LORD

But the LORD desires to establish a house for David

Acts 7:47–50 ESV

47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49 “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’

All These Things The LORD’s Hand Has Made

Isaiah 66:1–2 ESV

1 Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

Unless The LORD Builds The House

Psalm 127:1–2 ESV

1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

That’s Why We Are Building Ministry In the midst of a Pandemic

Now Is The Time!

This is the acceptable year of the LORD’s favor!

Illustration: Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand

1-Time is filled with swift transition. Naught of earth unmoved can stand. Build your hopes on things eternal. Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

Refrain: Hold to His hand, God’s unchanging hand. Hold to His hand, God’s unchanging hand. Build your hopes on things eternal. Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

3-Covet not this world’s vain riches That so rapidly decay. Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures. They will never pass away. [Refrain]

Jesus Came That We May Have Life and Life More Abundantly

John 10:10–11 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Close: Jesus Knew Now Is The Time!

Jesus Immediately Saw The Heavens Being Torn Open & the Spirit Descending on Him

Mark 1:9–11 ESV

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Spirit Immediately Drove Jesus

Mark 1:12 ESV

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

Mark 1:13 ESV

13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Mark 1:14–15 ESV

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

Luke 4:18–19 ESV

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Now Is The Time To Follow Jesus!

Mark 1:17 ESV

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

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.”

For By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Your Body Is A Temple

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Don’t Waist Your Precious Time With People Promoting Your Procrastination

2 Corinthians 6:14–16 ESV

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

You Are Being Built Into A Spiritual House

1 Peter 2:4–10 ESV

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Seek First The Kingdom Of God

Matthew 6:33 ESV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.