STARTER VS FINISHER (2 CHRONICLES 24:1-25)

 

STARTER VS. FINISHER

BIBLE PASSAGE: 2 CHRONICLES 24: 1-25

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons

January 10, 2021

MEMORY VERSE

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

ECCLESIASTES 7:8

 

INTRODUCTION:

You already have idea what our lesson will talk about today because of the bible passage posted. We’ll talk about some points in Joash’s life. Joash was blessed with spiritual privilege. What do I mean?

 As Joash grew to manhood, he had to be impressed with the fact that the hand of God was on his life in a unique way. Why were his brothers slaughtered and he alone was spared? He was only a year old at the time, so he certainly had nothing to do with it. And why was he saved by his godly aunt and uncle, who raised him in the ways of the Lord? His aunt was the daughter of the wicked King Jehoram, who had slaughtered his own brothers. She was the sister of the wicked Ahaziah who was slain. She easily could have been as self-serving as her wicked mother, Athaliah.

Or Joash’s uncle could have easily decided that he enjoyed his position of power as the regent until the boy-king came of age. He could have refused to yield power, or he even could have poisoned the young Joash. But none of this happened. Truly God’s providential hand was on Joash in a remarkable way. He was blessed with great spiritual privilege.

So are we, If I’m not mistaken, in our present situation here in CBT, I seldom see Christians persecuted by their parents compare with the past years. Young people are blessed to have Christian and godly parents.

But some of you may be thinking, “Yes, but I didn’t have it like that. I grew up in unchristian home. My parents are worldly and right now we don’t have peaceful family or my parents are separated. I never felt loved or accepted. I never received any spiritual training or encouragement as a child.”

But you, too, are spiritually privileged. That is shown by the very fact that you are sitting here in church today, hearing God’s Word. You don’t live in a country like Tibet that is 100 percent Buddhist, where there are no Christian churches. You live in a land where we are still free to worship God, where there are many churches which preach the gospel. You can read and you probably own at least one Bible (if not several); if you don’t have, you can go into any bookstore (or even supermarket) and buy one. You can turn on your radio and hear programs where the gospel is preached and God’s Word is taught. We all are people of great spiritual privilege!

Joash demonstrated early spiritual zeal. Joash directed the priests to restore the temple. We don’t know how long things dragged on, but in his twenty-third year (2 Kings 12:6; Joash was 30) things weren’t moving quickly, so he even confronted Jehoiada (who was about 120 years old, which probably explains why he wasn’t keeping the project moving!). They got the job done so that worship was restored (2 Chron. 24:14).

Just as Joash was zealous about the things of God as a young man, so should we be. Youth is the time when you’ve got the ideals and energy to pour yourself into serving the Lord. What a great thing it is to see young people with a burning zeal to see their junior high or high school or college campus reached for Christ!

But with the zeal of youth goes an inherent danger: it’s possible to get swept away with enthusiasm to do great things for God, but in the process you fail to build a foundation for a lifetime of ministry. It’s easier to build the temple than it is to walk in personal reality with God. People can see the temple and exclaim, “That Joash is quite a king! He must really love God!” But it’s all outward. What people don’t see, but God does, is whether you spend time each day with Him, whether you deal with sinful thoughts, whether you seek and submit to God in the trials of life. If you aren’t growing in personal holiness and devotion for God, then all your zeal for serving God in your youth is just a hollow shell that will crumble under temptation someday.

The Christian life is not a chicken coop; it’s a skyscraper. If you’re throwing up a chicken coop, you don’t have to worry too much about the foundation. But if you’re going to build a skyscraper, you had better dig deep and make sure that the foundation is solid. Like the seed sown upon the rocky, shallow soil in Jesus’ parable, it’s possible to spring up quickly, but if you lack sufficient roots, in a time of temptation you will fall away (Luke 8:13). And you will face temptation!

 

Today is our commitment service and through all the years, we have seen many Christians just take the commitment not seriously. Some are zealous in a few months and after that, the zealousness faded away. This morning, we will think about what we have going on in our life both spiritually and in the natural and ask ourselves, “Are you a starter or a finisher”. Now you may think that you cannot be finisher unless you are a starter, so everyone starts out as a starter. Finishers are all starters, but starters are not all finishers.

 

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  BETTER IS THE END THAN THE BEGINNING (ECCLESIASTES 7:8)

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Better is the end than the beginning is the first point that’s really caught my attention when I read the connecting verse from Ecclesiastes. This verse supports this point, and it implies that it is always the end that matters and not how we begin but of course it’s far better if we begin and end right - both. Over the years we are in the ministry I know you’ll agree that we have seen a lot of people who began well but ended very badly or sometimes not even to be seen. On the contrary there are few others who had very simple and humble beginning who do well phenomenally till today.

Back to Joash’s life, we know how he was started; he had spiritual privilege and yet he ended up wrong.  Imagine from one-year-old until his manhood, he was guided spiritually by his uncle, the priest, Johoaida but still he ended up serving other gods. Therefore, it’s not a guarantee that you grew up in a Christian family to become strong spiritually. Being strong is strengthening your covenant connection with God. I felt sad when I read the end of his life. The issue is not where you were with the Lord twenty years ago, ten years ago, but where are you with the Lord today. Not what you did for the Lord twenty years ago, but what are you doing for the Lord today.

2.  TO BECOME FINISHER, BE CAREFUL WHEN GODLY INFLUENCE IS GONE (2 CHRO. 24:17)

We read (24:2) that “Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” But Jehoiada finally died and then Joash was faced with a spiritual test (24:17). This was a hinge-point in his life, and Joash failed the test.

Our enemy, the devil, is neither stupid nor impetuous. He is waiting in the wings, biding his time for the right moment to attack. The officials of Judah did not approach Joash while Jehoiada was alive--the time was not right. But as soon as he was dead, and Joash was vulnerable, they hit and he fell.

Joash’s temptation was a common one. In Deuteronomy 31:29 Moses warned Israel that after his death, they would act corruptly and turn from the way which he had commanded them. In Joshua 24:31 we read that Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the leaders who survived Joshua, who had known all the deeds which the Lord had done for Israel. But then comes the book of Judges, when everyone in Israel forsook the Lord and did what was right in his own eyes.

The time comes for us all when we can no longer lean on those who have nurtured us in the faith. We must be weaned and learn to stand on our own spiritual legs. We must develop and maintain our own walk with God, or else we will fall when Satan comes, as surely, he will, to tempt us. The story of Joash shows how Satan often uses to test those who are spiritually privileged:

What happened to Joash after Jehoiada’s death? The key verse is verse 17: began taking counsel from the “officials of Judah.” Obviously, some influenced him by convincing him that in order to keep peace with the people they needed to reintroduce “Asherim and the idols”. Be careful of the “THE DANGER OF SPIRITUAL PIGGYBACK.”

Those who grow up in a spiritual atmosphere are prone to ride on their parents’ faith instead of developing a strong personal walk with God. Joash did fine as long as Jehoiada was around. But the fact that he fell apart immediately after Jehoiada died suggests that he was riding piggyback.

We usually see family when walking, the parents usually carry their kids, especially toddlers. As the kids grew older, though, they had to do more and more of it themselves. Now, they’re too big to carry at all.

Spiritually, it should be the same. If you’re growing up in a Christian home, it’s great that your parents walk with God. But what about you? Do you have your own faith in Christ as Savior? Do you have your own quiet time with Him? Do you have your own desire to fellowship with God’s people and to serve Him? The older you get, the more you need to be walking on your own.

Other scenario, though you’re not raised in a Christian family, you started growing in the church and situation comes that you needed to migrate or go to a different place and the question is, do you still have the Christian values with you? This is what happened to Christians sometimes.

What happened to Joash after Jehoiada’s death? He was tempted experimenting sin. We aren’t told exactly what the officials of Judah said to Joash (24:17-18), but they convinced Joash; they appealed to him to be more “free” than he had been under Jehoiada. Perhaps they said, “Listen, King! All your life you’ve been restricted by Jehoiada. You’ve been cooped up in the temple. You’ve obeyed the old man’s rules. But you’re missing out on the excitement of life. Be your own man! Be more open to other forms of worship.” And he fell for it! The appeal of idolatry is that you can make a god in your own image, according to what you like and how you want to live, and you don’t have to submit to the living God.

If you’ve been raised in a godly home, you face the same temptation of experimenting with sins that have been off limits. But this situation is not only for christians who’ve been raised in godly home, it’s for all christians who spend their time: home, school and church only. As you get into your teen years and beyond, your friends are going to say, “Listen, you’ve been missing out on the fun! You’ve never been drunk? You’ve never smoked pot? You’ve never had a bf or gf? You don’t know what you’re missing! Don’t be so up tight! You’re only young once! Enjoy yourself!” But, beware! It’s Satan’s lie!

What happened to Joash? Joash treated the holy place a commonplace. He grew up in the temple and when he turned from the Lord, we find him giving the command for the godly Zechariah to be stoned to death in the temple precincts (24:21). Joash should have at least regarded that place as sacred. His uncle Jehoiada wouldn’t allow Athaliah to be executed in the Lord’s house (23:14), but for Joash, it didn’t matter. When you grow up surrounded by the things of God, you’re always in danger of treating that which is holy as commonplace. You become irreverent or even joke about God, His Word and His church. You don’t have a sense of awe about the Lord. It ought to be a warning light on your spiritual dashboard!

Joash became ungrateful. Joash didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada had shown him, but murdered his son (24:22), “Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it”. How tragic! Those who are born with spiritual privilege tend to take things for granted. They don’t appreciate what a great blessing it is to know Christ. The parents know that God has rescued them from a horrible pit, but the kids have never known the hard side of sin. They’re like rich kids who never know the value of a dollar because they’ve never had to do without.

If you come from a Christian home, you need to stop often and think about where you would be without the Lord. What if you had been born to pagan parents who abused you? What if you had been born under the domination of Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism? You would be without hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2:12). That’s why our Lord calls us frequently to His table--to remember the kindness and grace which we’ve been shown at the cross.

Whosoever is your spiritual or godly influence make it sure that you lean on God more. You cannot lean on man because there’s big possibility that they would leave you.

3.  YOU COULDN’T BE A FINISHER IF YOU STOP WALKING WITH GOD

In verse 19, “Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.” In verses 20-21, Zechariah, son of Jehoaida warned Joash and the counsel but they didn’t listen instead, he commanded to stone him to death. Life or leadership without God is tragic.

Do you have second thought in committing? One of the ways of disobedience is not committing to God’s service.

Have you ever witnessed anyone stopping short of the finish line in any race and were declared the victor? Have you ever seen anyone compete at anything and did not finish and was declared the winner? It does not happen!!! In order for us to win, we have to finish. Sometimes we may not finish first and we still win because the first place winner gets disqualified for some reason. However, even in that case we still must finish the race. I want to make this very clear – unlike some things, when we walk with Christ we must finish. Starting does not get us credit, finishing does.

 

CONLUSION:

·       One of the most tragic events during the Reagan Presidency was the Sunday morning terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, in which hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded as they slept. Many of us can still recall the terrible scenes as the dazed survivors worked to dig out their trapped brothers from beneath the rubble.

A few days after the tragedy, I recall coming across an extraordinary story. Marine Corps Commandant Paul X Kelly, visited some of the wounded survivors then in a Frankfurt, Germany, hospital. Among them was Corporal Jeffrey Lee Nashton, severely wounded in the incident. Nashton had so many tubes running in and out of his body that a witness said he looked more like a machine than a man; yet he survived.

As Kelly neared him, Nashton, struggling to move and racked with pain, motioned for a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote a brief note and passed it back to the Commandant. On the slip of paper were but two words&md;"Semper Fi" the Latin motto of the Marines meaning "forever faithful."

With those two simple words Nashton spoke for the millions of Americans who have sacrificed body and limb and their lives for their country&md;those who have remained faithful.

·       A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." 

THE DEPTH OF GOD'S LOVE (1 JOHN 4:7-21)

 

THE DEPTH OF GOD’S LOVE

BIBLE PASSAGE: 1 JOHN 4:7-21

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

FEBRUARY 06, 2022

MEMORY VERSE

 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him..

1 JOHN 4:16

 

INTRODUCTION:

When we talk about the word “love” we don’t see it in line or connection with God. First, it comes to their minds the love towards their loved ones, girlfriends or boyfriends. Some people give their meanings based on their experiences in life. Most of the times this is said casually especially in other countries. Christians also say, “God loves you” and at some point, we are misunderstood because people don’t see evidence in their lives that they are loved.

 

Today we will study one of the attributes of God; we will look the nature, sovereignty, glory, and His holiness. But in two verses, verse 8 and 6 we’ll find this sentence, “GOD IS LOVE.” In other words, any discussion about love has to start with God because that who He is. It’s God’s identity; therefore, it didn’t start with you and didn’t start with me because love has been there before we were created. God is eternal then love is eternal. Let’s read John 5:17-20.

¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. ¹⁸ Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. ¹⁹ Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. ²⁰ For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. ²² For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: ²³ That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

We can see so many verses telling the Father loves the Son. In John 3:35 says, “The Father loveth the Son”, in John 10:17 “My Father love Me, in John 15:9 “As the Father Hath love Me” and John 17:23-24 “As thou hast love me… for thou lovest me.” So you see how the Father loves the Son.  The Father loves the Son so much that the connection is so tight that they live in love. It’s all love because that all the environments. The way they love each other makes them glorified The Father loves the Son Then God the Holy Spirit jumped into the plan and said He came to glorify the Son. We can see the Trinitarian Love Fest. They live in love. God does everything to glorify the Son and so is the Son to the Father.

God came to the idea to create the human race. In Ephesians 1:4-6, we can see that created humanity for the love of the Father to the Son for the human race to sing praises to the Son. In John 17: 24 says, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”  In tagalog, “Ama, yaong mga ibinigay mo sa akin ay ibig kong kung saan ako naroroon, sila naman ay dumoong kasama ko, upang makita nila ang kaluwalhatian ko, na ibinigay mo sa akin: sapagka't ako'y iyong inibig bago natatag ang sanglibutan.” 

The same way God the Son wants the humanity to give back praises to the Father, the Son leads the humanity to give praises to the Father and tell them to pray to the Father “Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name…” Then the Holy Spirit is there to guide them in prayer. Humanity was created to celebrate God’s love to the Son. John 1: 1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Before the foundation of the world, He decided to create us. Jesus has been there since then.

Then, Satan comes in and gets man to sin against God. Somebody has entered to remove us from our created purpose to bring glory to God through our relationship with the Son and interfere with the love affair and man rebel against God. Now people are away from the Son and the Father. Sin needs to deal with- 1 John 4:9-10 say, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Propitiation means satisfaction, pangpalubag in Tagalog, He sent Jesus Christ to satisfy the problem that would benefit Him.  Father created humanity for the Son then people got messed up. The Father wants to bring the humanity back to the Son so that they glorify Him. Then the Son would glorify Him too. “Only Begotten Son” means one of a kind and unique because nobody who fits the description of deity. God sent the Son to pay the price for all the people.

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  HE LOVES YOU WHEN YOU WERE TOTALLY WRONG (ROMANS 5:8)

 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God loves the Son so much that He would willing to sacrifice His Son to die for all the people just to fix the relationship and bring back the people so that the Son would be glorified.

John 13:31 says, “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.” Therefore, when the Son is glorified, God is glorified in Him and then the Son glorified the Father. When the problem (fall of man) is fixed, more glory will the Son receive and the Father will be glorified too. John 17:1 says, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

Sometimes we see the concept of God’s love in one angle and we don’t see the totality of God’s love. Before the fall of man, we can see the love of the Father, the love of the Son, the love of the Holy Spirit in the book of Genesis. When we say God’s love, it’s not just merely the casual love we’re thinking – it’s TRINITARIAN LOVE FEST. We fully see it when the fall of man. To restore the relationship, God the Father sent His Son, the only begotten Son to die for us. After three days, He was risen and Then He went back to heaven. His care for us is there, He doesn’t want to leave comfortless, He sent God the Holy Spirit.

2.  YOU CANNOT HAVE INTIMATE EXPERIENCE WITH GOD IF OTHERS CANNOT HAVE INTIMATE EXPERIENCE WITH YOU (1 JOHN 4: 8, 11, 16)

 ⁸ He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

 

God says, “I AM LOVE” and that’s God’s nature and we can’t change that. Love is seeking the best for another. The Father is seeking the best for His Son and seeking the best for His Son, He created the human race to seek the best for Him. When the human race seeks the best for Him, the Son, then the Son gives the Father more glory.

 

Illustration: If we hang out at the flower shop, the smell of flowers rubs on you. If we hang out at a perfume store, you start the smelling like cologne.  Your environment affects how you look or smell. If God is love and that’s His nature and you are in the environment where love is the nature, then you smell like the environment you hang out with. Then if we are loveless Christian, then we are not in the environment of God’s nature. If you are not loving

God will determine how much he deals with you by how much you deal with others. Let’s read again verse 8, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love,” in verse 12, “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us,” in verse 16, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him,” and in verse 20, “If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” So, we cannot have intimate experience with God if others cannot have intimate experience with you.  If we do not know how to love or refuse to love, we won’t feel His love. He restricts the experience of Himself to believers who are functioning in love as a lifestyle. God is love and that’s Who He is and so He hangs out with love. So, since He is love and He only hangs out with love if that’s not how you row, He cannot hang out with us. He won’t hang out that something that’s does not like Him. Who we are and who He is even though we’re God’s child; because He talks to Christians, He says, “We ought to love one another”- Love in the family of God. That’s why the devil can make you selfish, hateful, mean, nasty and unforgiving because you won’t hang out to God. Bible says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” He that dwell (hang out) in love, God dwells in us. The more you love, the more you’re in the environment He’s comfortable with. So, if it’s only “ME, MYSELF AND I,” if it’s “Being blessed but not being a blessing” or it’s only about you. If it’s only about you then you’re not hang out with God because God is love. If we want to hang out with God, we need to hang out with love. One of the reasons why many Christians are not experiencing God is because they are loveless saints. They don’t ask the question, who can I love today or how can I love today in the family of God? We cannot love everybody, but we can love somebody. To love means is a decision. Love is different from like. Like is a feeling therefore don’t say, “I love chocolate” instead “I like chocolate.” Biblical LOVE is a decision regardless of an emotion. In emotion, you may love something you like but you can also love stuff you don’t like. You don’t feel good about it, but you made a decision regarding it. You made a decision to eat vegetable, you may not like it, but you love healthy food and nutrition. Because you love that, you choose and decide to eat what you don’t like. So, love is the decision to compassionately, righteously and responsibly seek the well-being of another. God does that with His Son. To love God means to passionately seek His glory. The more glory of God you seek, the more you are loving God and the more compassion to others you give to the more you are loving people. When God sees the compassion, he translates that to passion so that His passion can refer to your compassion so that His love can enter your love so that we can get more of Him.

 

In 1 John 3:18, 22 and 23 say, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

Based on these verses, the way to get you’re a prayer answered is to start loving.

In verses 34 and 35 of John chapter 3 say, “³⁴ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. ³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”  How can other people know that you are Christ’s disciples or truly Christians? It’s not how you sing, it’s not how you talk, but it’s because how we love one another.

 

CONCLUSION:

Let’s see the story in Luke 15, the prodigal son. Remember God demonstrated His love to us when we didn’t deserve it- but while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. We know the story, he decided to coming back home and asked for forgiveness. When he was seen by his father – “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” Then to make the story short, the father threw a party but the older brother wasn’t happy about it. We can see in verse 28 and forward:

²⁸ And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. ²⁹ And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: ³⁰ But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. ³¹ And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine

But the father said, “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

The story ends there with that father’s reply but we never know what the older brother does. He needs to decide to hang out with his father or not because his father will go hang out with that’s brother that comes home. What’s the point? Be careful with older Christians, sometimes we ourselves think “we’re better” and don’t hang out with folks who have been forgiven and who’ve been redeemed and don’t hang out with compassion for those lives who have been broken and beaten. Actually we will know better when Jesus died for us. In fact, if it wasn’t for Jesus you would be the same person as you are right now. 

IS IT TIME FOR YOU? (HAGGAI CHAPTER 1)

 

IS IT TIME FOR YOU?

BIBLE PASSAGE: HAGGAI CHAPTER 1

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-1-putting-first-things-first-haggai-11-15)

/tonyEvansSermon

 APRIL 03, 2022

MEMORY VERSE

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

HAGGAI 1:4-5

 

INTRODUCTION:

I am sure every one of us have an alarm clock or we use our phone; we set the alarm for a specific purpose. It has a major assignment and that’s to let us know that it is time to get up. They are set at night to go off in the morning and telling us we should no longer be sleeping or slumbering.; it’s time to wake up. Alarm clocks can go off at the most inconvenient time. They can go off when you’re not ready to get up. They can go off when you don’t want to get up. They can go off and resist them; you can snooze them; That’s where you’re resisting the call of the alarm that’s demanding a response right now. That means the comfort of the bed must be left, the convenience of the covers must be rejected because you’ve got to get on with your day. The alarm clock is critical if you want to accomplish something in life. God had an alarm in the Bible, and they were called “prophets.” Our theme for this month is revival and regularly throughout the Bible God would call the people to a revival through to an alarm system called the prophets. Now let’s look one of the prophets whose name is called “Haggai.” He is known as a minor prophet.  Haggai has only two chapters; you flip the page, and you’re finished. Though he’s a minor prophet with a great message.

 

Let’s see the context of this book. Israel has been under the judgement of GOD in Babylon for 70 years. They rejected the earlier prophets like Jeremiah and others. For 70 years, they have been living in this foreign place; it’s not home, they’re unhappy, miserable and wanting to come out of judgement.  At the end of 70 years, God’s grace and mercy intervened and God brought them out of captivity from Babylon. The book of Haggai is written to the returning Jews who are now returning back to Israel. In fact, they have now been back in Israel for over 15 years. When the book of Haggai and when the prophets come on the scene they’re back in Israel for 15 years. Let’s see what this prophet has to say to these returning Jews. In verse 2 says,

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.

So, these returning people who have been back home now for 15 years, have not started to rebuild the temple which was destroyed when the Babylonians came many years earlier to take them in captivity. The temple has been left in ruins. When asked why, the people said, “WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE.” We know that one of the reasons that they don’t have time because it is recorded in the book of Ezra.  Let’s read from chapter 4 verses 4 and 5,

⁴ Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, ⁵ And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The people had become discouraged, they had some opposition, they had some resistance, they had some inconvenience and said we’re not fooling with this temple because we don’t have to go all this inconvenience so rather than deal with inconvenience, they said, “we don’t have time for this” so they left the house of God on hold. So now, not dealing with the temple was major. It was major because in the Old Testament the temple is the hangout of the manifest presence of God. In the temple was where the glory of God came where God sat in the midst of His people. So, when they said we don’t have time for the temple, they were not saying we don’t have time for this temple but also, they were saying is, it’s not that a big deal not to have God in our midst.

Let’s look not at the temple as the building merely it was a building, but it represented something deeper. Zechariah chapter 1 verses 2-4 urging the Israelites to return to the Lord. In verse 3 says,

“Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.”

IS IT TIME FOR YOU… TO BE BUSY WITH SOME OTHER THINGS (verse 4) AND YET NO TIME TO RETURN TO THE LORD? We always say or hear these words, “I’m Busy” and that’s sad. Don’t say I go to church and that’s enough, sometimes going to church is just a kind of obligation and your heart is not there. You just want to show you’re attending so that the pastor won’t bother you or ask you something personal about your time. It might be that you don’t say these words, “it’s not time” but your action speaks and sometimes, it pops in your mind. Even you’re signed up for commitment, you are not that Christian who are visible in the church, but you see to it that once in a while they can see your presence. Another question, how do you know you are returning to God?

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  WHEN YOU PUT GOD FIRST (HAGGAI 1:2)

In terms of our sin, we know if we are returning from sin if you’re not doing it anymore so we can measure that.  You know you are returning when you put God first. When God is first, you are returning because that means you have now reprioritized Him and you have now repositioned Him in your life regardless of what your emotions are at any given moment.

Let’s look at what is “first” mentioned in the Bible: you ought to bring your firstborn to the Lord – Deuteronomy 15:19, Jesus Christ is the firstborn of many brethren that he might be first place in everything– Col. 1:18, you have left your first love which mentioned in Revelation 2:4. When you put God first, once He becomes the priority, now you’ve not only turned from your sin, you are returning to your first love. You are putting God first and now calling God in your midst.   Our problem is, we are satisfied with the left-over relationship with God, and we are satisfied with leftovers, but we’re satisfied spiritually with is giving God leftovers which means we are not returned to Him.

How you know you’re not putting God first?  First you have no time for spiritual matters.

Next, let’s look on verse 5, “Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” Tingnan ninyo ang kalagayan ninyo (Tagalog). You have so much work hard and harvest little, you eat but no have enough to be satisfied… let’s read verse 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.”

How to know you’re not putting God first? Second, you are living in a dissatisfied life. The money can’t satisfy you, having a nice food can’t satisfy you, having nice clothes can’t satisfy you. Why are you living in unsatisfied life? God says, “I will make sure that all your hard work does not satisfy.” It won’t satisfy and be enough for you. And I will make sure that what you get and put in a pocket full of holes. Soon as you get it, you lose it. Soon as you pay off one thing, something else break down and so it keeps going up and you keep trying to get more and more. Like our pastor said, there’s nothing wrong in accumulating money but the problem is, you leave God behind. Bible says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)

Philippians 4:11 says,

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 

Paul had learned to be chill whatever situation he was in, whether the economy is high or low. God will not grant contentment without Him in our lives but if we return to Him which means we put God first, then we’ll have contentment. Don’t say I go to church that means you put God first because you can come to church every week and still not put God first.

 

2.  RETURNING TO THE LORD HAS TO BE DEMONSTRATED ON WHAT YOU DO NOT ON WHAT YOU SAY (HAGGAI 1:8-9, EZRA 3:7)

 

In verse 8 says, “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.”

 

Go in the mountain and bring wood to make God happy. It’s good to prioritize God and make Him happy first before anyone else. Going up in the mountain and chop wood makes you sweat. It’s inconvenient to go up in the mountain; it’s uphill. So, returning to the Lord has to be demonstrated on what you do not on how good you sound. Nice to talk with good words but go up to the mountain and bring wood to build the temple. Now the problem with that request is that the Bible says in Ezra 3: 7 that when the people went back from Babylon to Israel, the king of Persia gave the Jews the wood to rebuild the temple. It says,

“They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.”

 

Why they had already the wood, but God still told them to go up in the mountain to bring wood. What happened? The truth is the wood they got when they left Persia, they used in their homes.

They took the goodness of God and used it for themselves rather than for the glory of God. They got it but nothing came back for God.

 

We are all prone to put our prosperity above God’s house. If we give no thought to how we’re living, we will naturally live for our agendas, not for God’s. All of us who have trusted Christ as Savior know (intellectually) that it is foolish and vain to live for the things of this world. We know that these things never deliver the satisfaction that they promise. We know that we will not find true happiness apart from God. And yet we keep drifting towards loving the world if we don’t fight against it. Note three things about those who put their prosperity above God’s house:

·       Those who put their prosperity above God’s house have “Reasons” (Excuses) for their lifestyle. They were saying, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt” (1:2). If you had asked them why the temple had not been built, they would have responded, “Don’t get me wrong! I’m all for rebuilding the Temple. It’s a great cause. But the timing just isn’t right. We’re in an economic downturn right now. Everyone’s pinched for money. There aren’t enough good jobs. It’s all I can do to provide for my family. But times will get better, and then we’ll rebuild the temple!”

·       Those who put their prosperity above God’s house are blind to God’s chastening hand. The people in Haggai’s day were having problems. They sowed plenty of seed, but there was a drought, and the crops didn’t yield as much as they had hoped. That meant that they had less to sow the following year, even though they needed to make up for the previous bad year. No matter how hard they tried, it’s still the same, nothing left. They were working harder but going behind faster, but they hadn’t stopped to consider that God was trying to tell them something. Haggai came along and said, “Hey, folks, it’s God who controls the rain and the harvest. He is withholding His blessing because your priorities are not right! Put His house first and He will bless you. Seek first His kingdom and all these things will be added unto you.”

·       Those who put their prosperity above God’s house never get what they’re after. Some of these people had a measure of material success. They lived in fine, paneled (ceiled) houses (1:4). But the point of verses 6 & 9-11 is, even if you get what you’re working for, it never satisfies.

 

CONCLUSION:

There’s a story of the time management expert who was speaking to a group of business students. He pulled out a large, wide-mouth jar and filled it with fist-sized rocks. When he couldn’t put any more in, he asked, “Is this jar full?”

The class responded, “Yes.” He said, “Really?” Then he pulled out a bucket of gravel and poured it in, shaking it down through the cracks. Then he asked, “Is the jar full?”

The students were onto him, so they said, “No.” “Good,” he replied. He dumped in a bucket of sand. Once more he asked, “Is the jar full?” “No,” they shouted. Again, he said, “Good.” He poured in a pitcher of water until the jar was full to the brim.

Then he asked, “What is the point of the illustration?” One student ventured, “No matter how full your schedule, if you try hard, you can always fit more in.”

“No,” the speaker replied, “that is not the point. The point is, if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.” (First Things First, by Stephen Covey, Roger & Rebecca Merrill [Simon & Schuster], pp. 88-89.)

What should your “big rocks” be? God and His house! Put them into your life first!

(https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-1-putting-first-things-first-haggai-11-15)