Sermon Tone Analysis

Cleansing is Pre-Requisite to Refreshing

Cleansing is prerequisite to seeing the refreshing, the revival, the outpouring of God's spirit on his people and on the earth.

In order to be vessels of honor, fit for the masters use we have to go beyond mere repentance and change.

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to change us.

Part of that change is allowing him to cleanse us of things that would be between us and him.

Things that would impede the free flow of the river of refreshing flowing out of us as Jesus cried out on the temple steps if any man thirst let him come into me and drink and out of his belly will throw flow rivers of living water and he was Speaking of the spirit.

So to begin, let's go back to the Old Testament and see that God has created this law of cleansing.

The people had returned to Jerusalem after 70 years in Babylonian exile.

The people were very excited and ready to rebuild Jerusalem, the temple, and reclaim their land.

They found Jerusalem in ruins.

Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed and burned the temple so the temple was a big pile of rubble.

After a short time, the people became discouraged and began building their own houses instead of building the temple of the Lord.

So the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai.

In response to this word from the Lord, God stirred up the spirit of two men zerubbabel and Joshua who was the high priest at that time and on the 24th day of the six month in the second year of king Darius according to verse 15 of that same chapter, they began the work on the House of the Lord.

In chapter 2, we see that the people were discouraged again but this time for another reason.

As they begin to build the House of the Lord, those who had come back from exile who had seen solomon's temple in all of its glory, began to complain that this house that was being built was going to be nothing in comparison to the way it was in the good old days.

So the word of the Lord comes to hagai to encourage zerubbabel who is being a attacked along with Joshua by this constant complaining.

And I believe that the word of prophecy given to Haggai applies to us today.

The desire of all nations is used to refer to Christ.

So haggai is receiving a dual prophecy, not only referring to the house that was being built but also referring to a last days revival that I believe we are on the brink of today.

The revival that's coming is going to be the greatest outpouring of God that this world has seen.

However, it won't look like any house you've seen before.

It won't look like any revival you've seen before.

God knows how to bring good things out of bad things.

We are heading into a time of uncertainty like nothing we have ever seen before.

If you're paying attention at all, the baby formula crisis is only the beginning of the shortages that are headed our way.

Do a little bit of research and you'll see that supply chain shortages are going to be affecting all of us.

We are already seeing those who are protesting currently directly attacking Christianity.

So this move of God is going to come.

But it's going to come in a time that is not going to look like anything we've known in the past from any outpouring that we've been a part of.

I encourage you to make some preparations.

Buy some extra food-staples like beans and rice that you can store.

I'm not saying this to create any panic because we have a God who takes care of his people.

I'm not saying this for any political motivation.

I'm saying this for the people of God in genesis chapter 12 verse 2 God says to Abraham I will bless you and because we are the seed of Abraham through Jesus Christ, that promise comes to us as well God will bless us!

But the promise doesn't end there.

He says I will bless you and make you a blessing.

God wants his people to be prepared to be a blessing to those who are unbelieving.

God wants his people to be prepared by building the House of God now so that we are ready for this last days revival.

But you might say, pastor, we already have a building.

It's pretty nice.

We don't need to build a new church.

And we do have a nice building.

But a physical building doesn't function as the House of God.

Not unless the spiritual building inside that house is also complete.

Often, we work with a skeleton crew.

Because we have a physical house, but people are missing in the spiritual house.

We cannot reach this community, this region, this state, this nation, or the world, unless the people of God stop focusing all of their attention on building their own house and begin to build the House of the Lord.

It's time we climb the mountain and find some wood.

We want the fire of God.

We want the fire revival.

But we're not willing often to climb the mountain and get the wood for the fire.

God wants us to shift our attention from our selfish pursuits toward his Kingdom.

I told pastor Keith standing in the altar area last Sunday that we've stopped asking the right question.

We ask do you believe in God?

We ask, are you a Christ follower?

What we used to ask, is this: are you living for Jesus?

That's an altogether different question.

We have many who believe in God but according to scripture, the devils believe in tremble.

We have many who say they are Christ followers, but who are living for themselves with the name of Christ attached loosely.

The only thing they've really changed, is their title.

It's time we, as the people of God, stop living for ourselves and start living for Jesus again.

God has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light, according to Peter, so that we may show forth his praise.

In other words, that we might demonstrate with our actions that we are truly Christ followers.

That we are disciples.

We call ourselves disciples, but when Jesus called his disciples the Bible says they forsook all and followed him.

Peter and John left the biggest catch of fish they had ever encountered as fishermen.

Matthew left a very prosperous job as a tax collector who could basically set his own salary at any rate he wanted.

Luke left his position as a doctor.

I don't think that God asking us all to quit our jobs.

rather, I believe he is asking us to make him the focus of everything we do.

This verse is about focus.

It's about taking the focus off of you in your pursuits and putting the focus back on the Kingdom of God and his righteousness in whatever you're pursuing.

God is calling us all to be full time ministers.

That's kind of a misnomer.

We think a full time minister is someone who makes his living, his career, in ministry.

And while that's true, all of us are called to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ wherever he has placed us.

In whatever scenario we find ourselves in.

Understand, you're not on the job that you have by mistake.

You don't live in the neighborhood you live in by mistake.

You don't shop at the store you shop in by mistake.

God has strategically placed you in the Kingdom for such a time as this so that you can show forth the glory of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

God wants us to be ready to minister, at anytime, for his Kingdom and for his glory.

What I have been sensing strong is my spirit, is that God is ready to do something big in his people and in the earth.

At the same time, I have been sensing that God is tired of playing church with us.

It's time that we cleanse ourselves from those things that distract us and draw us away from God and his purpose.

God cannot accomplish what he wants to accomplish in the earth with half hearted, half committed Christians.

God wants all of you.

So let's go back to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and look at what's happening.

They began building in the six month, started complaining in the 7th month, and on in the 9th month they started complaining again.

But this time for a different reason

Haggai 2:15-19

The people are wondering that since they're building the House of the Lord, why are they not being blessed?

I mean after all, they're coming to the temple, they're doing the work, they're doing all the external things, but they're not being blessed and so they're discouraged again.

God gives Haggai the reason and he goes to the priest with a question?

Here we find the law of cleansing.

The clean thing touching the unclean thing does not make it clean.

However, the unclean thing touching the clean thing makes it unclean.

This is the law of cleansing.

We see this again in the New Testament