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Sermon for Lord's Day December 10, 2023 "Swept up in the Moment and Lost in the Whirlwind" (pt9)
Debbie and Tyra, being so willing to stand, you all did fantastic, as you always do. Thankful so much for all of you, as a congregation, again, I mention this in Sunday School, but I would like to mention this here at the beginning today, who do so much behind the scenes, just to make things as they are, so we can come into the church, the church is clean, the church is fresh, stuff is done, it's like Christmas elves live in the church.
But truly, we are thankful, for there is so much that happens that most and many of us do not even see or aware of, so make sure, if you just don't want to leave anybody out, just look at somebody around you when we're done today, and thank them for what they do, because it's likely somebody that you look at, that you make eye contact with, is doing something to help, so how grateful we are for that.
If you would, this morning, turn to the book of Ezra, Ezra chapter 5, and then after you mark your place in Ezra chapter 5, turn over to the book of Haggai, and mark your place there. Before we turn to it, before we stand to read Ezra chapter 5, verse 1, let's go to the Lord in a moment.
Lord, in prayer this morning, our great God and heavenly father, as we come before your throne this morning, we come with gratitude, we come with joy, we come with praise, we come with hands lifted high in exaltation unto you, God.
You have made the heavens and the earth and everything that is in it, you have made man according to your image, after your likeness, and today, God, we praise you and we thank you for that. Lord, as we are in prayer before you this morning, God, it's obvious, every local congregation, God, is going to have unique things that are going on, unique challenges that each and every member faces.
And Lord, it just seems like this week, there's so many in the church here, God, have been so busy, and I know folks are so tired, God, but I pray, God, that as we take this time in your word, that you, through and by your Holy Spirit, would cause the hearts and the minds, and yes, Lord, even the bodies of your people to be refreshed, God, as we are entering in upon this new week, that we would be renewed, that we would be strengthened, that we would be restored, that our hearts and our minds would be turned unto you, oh God, today.
That we might worship you in spirit and in truth, for of a truth according to your word, oh God, you are the bread of life, you are the water of life, you, Lord, are our sustenance, you, God, are why we are here.
Help us to magnify and to worship you today in spirit and in truth, for it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Stand with us, if you would, as we read Ezra, chapter 5, verse 1. This is the word of the living God.
Now the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Edo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. Thus far is the reading of God's word.
You may be seated this morning. As we closed out last week, we alluded to the fact that we were going to be looking at Haggai's first sermon today. Again, remembering the very purpose and the aim that we are in Ezra is to understand the context of the sermons of Haggai and Zechariah.
We are here to, again, as a reminder, to consider the fact of just how important the preaching of God's word has been and continues to be and shall ever be until Christ comes again to his church. So our goal and our aim today as we enter into the book of Haggai, looking at Haggai's first sermon, is to do two things today.
We're going to give exposition of Haggai's first sermon and our aim is to make practical application as we close today to our congregation here at Reformata. So, if we begin here in the text, as we begin here in the text, Ezra chapter 5 verse 1, we have it in the word of God.
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Edo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of God of Israel, who was over them. It's important for us to understand and to know if you go one verse back to the last verse of chapter 4 and we read these words.
Then the work of the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. The Lord is so gracious. The Lord is so good to us that when we simply take time to read the text, the text communicates truth to us, the truth of who God is to us.
As we turn over now to the book of Haggai, as you turn to the book of Haggai, this is what we're going to find today. In the very first verse of the book of Haggai, notice how that by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we have the day recorded for us that Haggai delivered his first sermon to the children of Israel.
And it says in the second year of Darius, the king, we have it given to us in Ezra as the retrospective account of what took place, of who preached and what was preached. Again, the beauty of it, we don't have to speculate.
We don't have to assume. We don't have to read into this text. We have it here before us. We have the transcripts of Haggai's sermons to the children of Israel. We have the transcripts, if you would have it, of Zechariah's sermons to the children of Israel.
And we find it to be in agreement, the second year of Darius, the king, in the sixth month. So we know it was in the sixth month of the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the month.
And the word of God says, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua, the son of Jehoshaddek, the high priest. So we have this plain and clear.
So when we began to examine, when we began to examine this book of Ezra, by the way, this is part nine, if you want to put a header on your notes, I have swept up in the moment, lost in the whirlwind, because this is what we're going to see happen.
As the children of Israel got swept up in the joy of returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, was their purpose, was their goal, they got swept up in the moment, and then they got lost in the whirlwind.
They kind of lost their footing, they lost their bearings for just, for 18 years, remember this, 18 years. And so this is where we pick up. So again, our aim was to glean an understanding of what was taking place, both when Haggai and Zechariah preached the first sermons they preached.
And I know it's been two months ago, but two months ago, we called them on once again, the importance and the significance of preaching through church history. Very, very important. It's also very important for us to understand that church history did not start in 1531 at the Reformation.
We have church history from Genesis to now. We have it all set before us. What a blessing it is that we have this. So it has been said this, Stephen Lawson said this concerning preaching, again, because that's one of the focuses, the significance of preaching.
That's why we're examining these texts. It has been said by Steve Lawson, he said this, The preaching of the word of God is so critically essential for the spiritual vitality of every church because it is the primary ordinary means of grace.
You take preaching away and you have removed from the church God's primary means by which he is pouring his grace into the lives of the congregation. Bob Godfrey, I guess they call him Bob on the panels at Ligonier, but Robert Godfrey, if you haven't got to read much of his work, I encourage you to read his work.
He's a very good author. He's a pretty funny dude as well. Nevertheless, I began to read an article from what I realized after I began reading it from 1992. And this is what Robert Godfrey said in this article.
He said, perhaps the weakened state of the church today. Again, remember, he's writing this in 92. He said, perhaps the weakened state of the church today can be attributed in part to a loss of conviction about the spiritual importance of preaching.
The spiritual importance of preaching. He went on to say this. One of the central acts of worship is hearing the word preached. Calvin said this. Calvin said that where the word is not preached and heard that there is no church.
That's how valuable the reformers held concerning the importance of preaching. To be the body of Christ and to worship God, we need preaching. Robert Godfrey went on to say this. He said a neglected element of faithfulness today, often neglected by preachers and by congregations is time.
A preacher who does not take time or had time to study is not faithful to his calling. A good sermon, Godfrey said, requires time to prepare. John Stott, in his book for preachers entitled Between Two Worlds, suggests this, that the preacher needs at least 12 hours to prepare a sermon.
Most preachers probably need more time than that and must insist as part of their pastoral responsibility that they be given that time. Congregations must not grudgingly grant that time, but must insist that the preacher take that time.
Hopefully none of y 'all are looking for a church, unless you're visiting. But if you're looking for a church, one of the chief things that you should be looking at is, is the preacher prepared? Does the preacher take time daily in the word, studying, praying, preparing to feed the congregation?
Guess what, congregation? You are worth every single moment of every single hour that we tend to put in to prepare to preach to you. Because you deserve the pure word of God. You deserve to be fed, not only from the milk of the word, but the meat of the word.
For you need both to be a mature Christian. God foreclosed his statement by saying this, preaching is important. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation and it must be valued by the Christian community as families value food.
It is that important. Preachers must use the best of their time and their abilities to nourish their flocks with the word of God. This is why we are taking this time in this series, looking at Ezra and the sermons of Haggai and Zechariah.
Because we want you to understand and to know, if you don't already know, that preaching matters. Preaching has been the means by which God has proclaimed his word throughout history. As a matter of fact, in the scriptures we read this, that it is by the foolishness of preaching that God chooses to save those that believe.
It is foolishness to the world for us to do such things. It is foolishness to the world for us to preach particularly the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified. But it is the only saving message. The church is sustained by the preaching of the word of God.
The church needs preaching and therefore the church needs preachers. For it doesn't just happen, right? Preachers don't just appear out of a vacuum. The Lord calls men into the ministry in order to feed and to nourish his congregations.
It has been the hope and the desire of our hearts to see the Lord bring men to this congregation who will be both called and qualified to serve in this capacity. So, now, with that being said, let's dive into Haggai chapter 1.
For it is the entirety of chapter 1 that is the sermon. We're going to see five to six things in the sermon, really. But context for this sermon. Remember, 18 years have passed since the first wave of the Jews returned to Jerusalem.
18 years have passed. The altar was raised, remember, early on in the second year. Spirits were high. Then came the difficulty. Then came the troubles. Then came the trials. Then came the persecution.
And then came what we're going to refer to as the great lull in the action. Now, concerning the lull in the action, I want to say this. A lull in the action means a break in the activity. A break in action can be a good thing, if used rightly.
But if taken advantage of, it can be detrimental. So, certainly, and I want to be plain when I say this. Certainly, we all need rest. And we all need to be refreshed from time to time. This is, in fact, true.
However, we must maintain a balance in our lives. There is nothing, nothing inherently wrong with leisure and taking time to relax. There is nothing inherently wrong with working steadfastly and constantly.
But the error of our ways takes place when we fail to recognize and we fail to discern the immediate need of the hour. The immediate need of the time that is set before us. And so, this is the case for Haggai's first sermon.
The people were, as the title of the sermon says, they were swept up in the moment, but they got lost in the whirlwind. So, let's notice here first. Notice, in verse 1, we have the time. Spurgeon said this, God keeps an almanac.
And the date on which he speaks is always important. As you look back through church history, you'll see most times on titles, and you'll see it on the titles for the sermons as we post them up as well.
Sermon for the Lord's Day, December 10, 2023. Guess what? The Lord knows what day it is. And the Lord is able to recall to your mind the day that you heard the gospel message proclaimed and to cause you to understand and to know that you need to carefully consider your ways.
Spurgeon went on to say this, there is a set time for each of his messages to come to men. And God would have them give heed to every message as soon as it is delivered to them. If they do not, he keeps count of the days of their delay.
And therefore, he is, God is particular in causing his servants to record the exact date when his message was delivered. It was in the second year of King Darius in the sixth month on the first day of the month that the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet.
In the word of the Lord came on this day of this month of this year of this king to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, Joshua, the son of Joseph, the high priest. And Spurgeon said this, oh, that God would make this very day notable in our history by speaking to the hearts of many here.
Notice too, that God also takes care to direct his messages to those for whom they are intended. The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel and to Joshua for God knows to whom his message is especially addressed today.
I am so thankful for that. And he will not let it miss its mark. Oh, that someone here, Spurgeon says, oh, that someone here would cry unto him and say, Lord, speak to me as you spoke unto Zerubbabel.
So number one, the first thing we're going to see in verse two, number one, and I'll list these out for you before we go through them. Number one, we're going to see the Lord's complaint. Number one, the Lord's complaint.
Number two, the Lord's question. Number three, the Lord's call and command to his people. Number four, we'll see in the text, the quick response of the people. And number five, we'll see the Lord's quickening spirit is given to the people once again.
So number one, the Lord's complaint. We hear it in verse two. Thus says the Lord of hosts. These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. How many years passed? Eighteen years.
A lull in the action.
Complacency sets in. Complacency will sneak up on you, by the way. Complacency is shifting. Complacency had set in on the people of God. Calvin gives strong words concerning the mindset of the people.
Luckily at the time, Calvin said this, the kindness of God had been especially worthy of being remembered. The glory of which ought to have been born in the mind to the very end of time itself. The people, they had been restored from exile in a manner beyond what they had ever expected.
What they ought to have done, but devoted themselves sincerely to the service of their Deliverer. But, Spurgeon says, they built. No, not even a tent for God, and sacrificed in the open air, and thus they willfully trifled with God.
But at the same time, they dwelt at ease in houses elegantly fitted up. So this was the complaint of the Lord. The Lord brought this complaint before the people. But as we consider this complaint to the people here in context, how easy it is for us as individuals to be unbothered by matters of worship.
How easy it is for us to lessen the importance of the worship of the triune God. How easily this comes upon us at times. But I would ask you this question, should we not rather be concerned and take great care for the worship of our Lord?
Should we not be on the highest of our priorities? Why? Because He is God. The psalmist declares this in Psalm 96. Psalm 96, beginning in verse 1, the psalmist declares, O sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name. Tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glorious name among the nations. His marvelous work among all the people. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.
He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are worthless idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the people.
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, the Lord reigns. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. He will judge the people with equity. Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all that fills it.
Let the field exult and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord. For He comes, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness. And the people in His faithfulness.
This was the complaint. Why do you let the Lord's house lie in ruin? Number two, we hear the Lord's question. So we heard the Lord's complaint. Now in verse three and four, we're going to hear the Lord's question to the people.
Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet. And he asked this question. Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses or sealed houses while this house lies in ruins?
Make note here and remember. Remember, as we communicated over the last few weeks, worship is the focus here. Worship of the true and the living God is the focus. The people became content with their houses being covered and the house of God being without cover.
The worship of the true and of the living God was relegated to a lesser or a lower priority. So this question that the Lord asks. This question that the Lord asks is a probing question. Listen, to be honest, most of us do not like probing questions.
What most of us like are rhetorical questions. Questions that you don't really have to give an answer for. Questions that you don't necessarily have to give a count, personally and individually. But this question that the Lord asks is a probing question.
This question is not rhetorical, but it is a question that demands an honest and a thoughtful answer from the people of Israel. For 18 years, they became so complacent. They became so content with things as they were.
And the Lord's house, even though sacrifices were still going on, that's the thing. Sacrifices were still taking place, but there was no cover. There was no house being rebuilt and being restored. Which, by the way, was the very purpose that they were sent back by King Silas.
So, as we consider this, it's not a surface level question. It gets under the skin, forces an answer. Now what this does, too, is it forces us, as we communicated last week, too, to consider our motive.
The people had to consider the motives of their hearts. In Proverbs, chapter 21, verse 2 and 3. Proverbs 21, verse 2 and 3. The scripture says, Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.
And to do righteousness and to do justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. So, a reasonable question for us to ask ourselves here at this moment, as we're moving through the text, is this concerning what we read.
Was it acceptable? Was it acceptable for the people to have left off building the Lord's house for so long? After all, again, benefit of the doubt here. After all, it's likely that they were still making sacrifices.
Remember, they were still making sacrifices. So, why would not rebuilding the temple be unacceptable to the Lord? Once again, I want to go to Calvin here. Calvin gives valuable insight here. He says this.
He says, We may also suppose that they took another view of the time as having not yet come. Because that's what the Lord said. This people say the time has not come for the Lord's house to be built. They all were well aware.
Eighteen years beforehand, that was the very reason they came. That was the very reason they reared up the altar at the very beginning. Calvin said this. Easily, this objection might have occurred to them.
And as though the people are saying this. He says, It is indeed true that the worship of God deservedly is to be preferred above all other things. But the Lord grants us this indulgence so that we are allowed to build our own houses.
Do you see the familiarity in what might likely have been thought by the people? If you don't see the familiarity, then all you need to do is pass by a mirror. And see that we are all everyone guilty of making these senseless excuses for not doing the work of the Lord.
But Calvin goes on as though an imitation of the people. And in the meantime, the people said we attend to the sacrifices. And besides, had not our fathers lived many ages without a temple? I mean, 70 years have gone by.
Does the Lord really need this? The answer rhetorically would be, no, the Lord doesn't need it, but the Lord commanded it. God was then satisfied, the people would say, with a sanctuary. There is now an altar erected and there are sacrifices offered.
The Lord will then forgive us if we defer the building of the temple to a suitable time. But in the meantime, we may all build our own house so that afterwards the temple may at leisure be built even more sumptuously.
They wanted it on their schedule, they wanted it to be easy. Listen, the Christian life, if you've ever been told that the Christian life is easy, you have been sold a bill of goods. You have been lied to.
You have been lied to. For the scripture tells us that all who live godly will suffer persecution. Persecution should be an expectation for every believer. Glory be to God the whole. Because Paul said it like this, that I reckon that the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed unto us.
So the people likely may have made this speech. And Calvin comes back in and he says this. However, this may have been, we find that true, which I have often stated, that the Jews were so taken up with their own domestic concerns.
They were so taken up with their own ease. They were so taken up with their own pleasures that they made very little account of God's worship. This is the reason why the prophet was so greatly displeased with them.
So we heard, right? We heard and we saw first here the Lord's complaint. We hear the Lord's question. And here again, it is needful for us as we're considering the importance of preaching. Because in the New Testament, in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, we have the text that likely many of us know.
If you don't know it, I encourage you to set it to memory. All scripture is breathed out by God. And it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. In the New Testament, we have this set out.
And this is the very pattern for Haggai's sermon to the people. For we see this set before us. So number three, number three, we hear the Lord's call to the people. The Lord's call to the people. In verse five, in verse five, this is the word of the Lord.
Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Consider your ways. You have so much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill.
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord, consider your ways. Now, repetition is important here in the text. This statement that the Lord makes, this call to the people that the Lord makes here, is bookended by the same phrase, consider your ways.
This term, consider, in the Old Testament, to give you a scripture comparison, if you go to Jeremiah chapter 31. Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 21, the word of God states this. And the context of Jeremiah 31 is the people to go into captivity and to be brought out of captivity by God as well as what is taking place.
But Jeremiah 31, 21 uses this term. Set up road markers for yourself.
Make yourself guideposts.
Consider well the highway, the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. The call to the people is to consider, to actually stop, to look around, to think about where they have come from.
For the last 18 years they spent here with a ruined temple setting before them, having been delivered out of Babylonian captivity by the sovereign hand of almighty God, which they themselves got themselves there.
But the Lord is gracious. The Lord is merciful. And the Lord is faithful. And the Lord delivered them out of that captivity. Moving on. Notice the command. The command of the Lord is plain there in the text.
Verse six, or verse, I'm sorry, verse seven. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.
Now, the Lord was not telling the people, pointing out a mountain, showing them where the wood was as though it were some new and interesting thing that had just crept up. They had been given, God told, God made Cyrus provide for them the very, every element that was necessary to rebuild the tabernacle.
They knew where it was. It was there the whole time. But God said, go, go to the hills, get wood, bring it back here.
Notice.
And then he says this. He said, you looked for much and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Again, this consideration of the fact if we stop and we look back over our lives.
And I can't remember if it was this morning or last night in a conversation. But how often when we look back over our lives. Oh, no, I know it was with Josh yesterday. As we as you stop and look back over your life and you just really consider you examine where you've been personally in your walk with the Lord and where you are now.
Is it not amazing to you that God was so kind, so gracious to bring you where you are and you can look back and you can recognize the incongruity or the insincerity or the untruthfulness of what you deemed to be high, holy and reverent and respect as the word of God.
That was not the word of God at all. It was a lie that had been concocted by the minds of men.
Consider your ways.
That's what that's what the Lord said to them.
Consider where you've come from.
And he even puts it in such plain language. In Jeremiah, make road signs. When you go on a trip, what do you look for?
Road signs.
Cameron went to Disney World. He's seen a bunch of signs that said clean restrooms. He stopped at every rest stop to clean the bathrooms. The signs are there for us to know where we are and where we're going.
And we had the word set before us plainly and clearly. And the Lord says, why? He asked the question when he says, you brought it home, I blew it away. And the Lord asked this question, why declares the Lord of hosts.
And he said this because of my house that lies in ruins. While each of you busies himself with his own house. The Lord is clear to them. He's not. Listen, there are times where certainly as as parents, we should be gracious, loving, kind, gentle, tender, patient with our children.
But there are times where we have to just say what things are. And this is what the Lord does. He states things as they are. You wonder why it seems that your pockets have holes in them. You wonder why you look and expect so much, but what you expect comes to nothing.
And the Lord says plainly, it's because I did this. I took this away. Therefore, the Lord said, the heavens above you have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land, on the hills, the grain, the new wine, the oil and what the ground brings forth on man, on beasts and all of their labors.
The psalmist says in Psalm 127, verse one and two, unless the Lord builds the house. Those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stay awake in vain. It is vain, the psalmist said, that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil for he gives to his beloved sleep.
The rest that they needed would be found in their obedience to God. There are certainly times, sir mentioned this in Sunday school as well. There are certainly times when the Lord chastises his people and we should rightly see chastisement as a blessing.
Because it lets us know that we are not bastards, but that we are sons and daughters of the living God. There are certainly times when the Lord chastises his people. We must always remember what the writer of Hebrews said about the chastisement of the Lord.
Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse five. The scripture says, have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? This is written to the people of God. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when you are reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them. But he, God, disciplines us for our good. Why? So that we may share in his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant.
But later, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Discipline does no good to the stubborn, the stiff-necked, the hard-hearted, and the rebellious sinner.
But discipline does much good to the child of God who has been born again of the Spirit, who has the Spirit of God that lives on the inside of us, who has adopted us, who makes us to be able to cry to God and to call him Abba, Father.
Discipline is what God is giving to the people here. Next, notice number four. Notice the quick response of the people. In verse 12, the quick response of the people. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehoshadec the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, and if you want to underline this, they obeyed the voice of the Lord their God.
We hear in other places in the Old Testament, obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken unto the Lord than to offer him the fat of rams. So the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared the Lord.
So the best and most beneficial way to respond to the Lord's chastisement is to repent and to do it quickly. Not just repent, but repent quickly. Because it will be much better on, it's much better for me when I am in sin and I am rebelling against God, but it's much better for me when chastised to say, Lord, I repent, I'm sorry, I confess my sin, and because I know that you are faithful and you are just to forgive me and to cleanse me of all unrighteousness, I trust in you.
Than to say, God, I don't think you know what you're talking about. God, who do you think you're dealing with? That's what you're saying when you're rebelling against God without words. I'm stronger than you, but you are not, and I am not stronger than the Lord.
The best and most beneficial way to respond to the Lord's chastisement.
Is to repent quickly.
In Acts chapter 26, verse 13 through 19, we read of Saul, Paul's testimony before King Agrippa. And in Acts 26, verse 13, the Apostle Paul says, At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goals. The King James says to kick against the pricks.
Imagine taking your shoe off and kicking a nail of any size, really. Stupid would be the word if you do that intentionally. Ignorant is how many people do when rebelling against God. But God said to Saul, Saul, Saul, why do you kick against the goals?
And I said, Paul said, and I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise, stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those things in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and find a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Revelation chapter 2, another example of quick repentance. Revelation chapter 2, to the church at Ephesus, the word of the Lord comes.
Revelation 2 verse 2 through 5, the Lord said, I know your works, I know your toil and your patient endurance and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and have found them to be false.
I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake and you have not grown weary, but the Lord said, but I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. The King James says that you have left your first love.
Remember, therefore, do you see the consistency in the Lord's call, in the Lord's command to the people? Remember, consider, consider, think about. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works.
If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. So repentance is not only beneficial for the sake of God when we know that we are in rebellion against God, but quick repentance really becomes a necessity for the believer when we understand who we are before a holy God.
That we are but dust. That we are made from the dust of the earth. That we are created and we worship and we serve the creator of all. And lastly, fifthly, notice how beautiful in the text here. How beautiful the Lord's quickening spirit is given to the people once again.
And I think about the psalmist in the psalmist prayer, Psalm 51. Really, it's the prayer of David after his sinning with Bathsheba. Psalm 51, if we could just back up to that for just a moment. Psalm 51, hear the words of the Lord, of the psalmist here.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steepest love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. So that you may be justified in your words and that you are blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being. And you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness.
Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide not your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Again, this goes back to the very core of salvation. My friend, when you were regenerated, when you were born again, when God made you a new creature, when you got saved, what God did was change your will.
Your will was no longer stubborn and rebellious. You became willing to worship the truth and the living God. And what happens as complacency set in? The people just kind of rested on their laurels as the old saying goes.
They rested on their laurels and they were swept up in the whirlwind.
Time just got away from them.
Listen, that's something about time. You can't get time back. But you can consider the time you lost and why you lost it. And you can make changes and you can make adjustments. That's the beauty of the grace of God.
That God gives his people as he does here in the text. He gives his people revival in their hearts. He gives his people revival in their minds. So what happened in that section there? Notice the Lord's quickening spirit.
Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message. And hear the word of the Lord to the people. I am with you, declares the Lord. Would you rather hear I'm against you or I am with you?
Amen. I am with you, says the Lord. That is the word of the Lord to the people here. Despite 18 years of lost time. I am with you. And the Lord, notice what the text says. The Lord stirred up. Remember, we read that at the first of Ezra.
The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Joshua. The Lord stirred up the spirit of the heads of the houses. The Lord stirred up the spirit of the people together.
The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah. And the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest. And the spirit of all the remnant of the people.
And look what took place. They came and they worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God. On the 24th day of the month. In the sixth month. In the second year of Darius, the king. Now, if you're very articulate, you might think 24 days.
That doesn't seem like quick repentance. But remember, they had a task. They had to go get the wood and to bring it back.
That took time.
And the very fact that they went and got wood and began to work. Is a demonstration of repentance. Because repentance in our lives is a change of direction. It's a change of thoughts, of our thoughts and of our minds.
That is worked in the individual believer by the Holy Spirit of God.
So what happened?
I would say revival happened again. Some folks will argue against the idea of revival being necessary. Some folks may say that revival isn't a reality unless it happens on their terms. Let me say something.
Revival is a work of the Holy Spirit of God. Revival meetings. Yes, our plan, right? We see in years past we've done it. We've had revival meetings. But my friend, we don't schedule revival. Revival comes when God sets in on the heart and the mind of an individual.
And He serves us up. Genuine Holy Ghost revival only takes place when God serves the hearts and the minds of His people by His Spirit.
Okay?
So here, we see the people return to the work of worship. Worship is the goal and worship is the aim of the Church of the Living God. We exist to worship God. I .M. Murray, in his book, The Puritan Hope, on Revival and Interpretation of Prophecy, I .M. Murray said this, The advancement of Christ's kingdom stands directly related to the work of His exaltation, in which He now exercises His rule by the Holy Spirit.
Thus, Murray said, the conversion of the 3 ,000 on the day of Pentecost, the great number who believed in Antioch, and the whole magnificent success of the Gospel in the apostolic era are spoken of as things which Christ brought.
Christ is now going forth conquering. And it is by His coming, by His Spirit, among His enemies, in converting sinners, in converting power, which explains every revival that has ever taken place in Christian history.
And it is this which explains this revival that took place under the preaching of Hey God. In closing, what is our application? The application to our text today is really quite simple. It's really quite plain.
The application of this text to the congregation here at Reformata, it's straightforward. And it's so easy to understand that Theo and John would be able, probably, to tell you what it is. How are we to apply this truth to our lives?
Number one, how are we to apply this truth to our lives? Number one, we should recognize and know this, that the people of Israel were no different in their nature than we are. No, stinking heathen. Ain't that so easy for us to say?
But they were no different in nature than we are. They had wants and they had needs. And we, like them, were a lock in what we have been delivered out of, the slavery of sin. And we have been brought into the marvelous and the glorious light of the gospel by and through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Like the children of Israel, we are prone to wander. And like them, we have a heavenly father who loves and who cares for us so much that he seeks his sheep out from the wilderness. Second and lastly, application.
The Lord never changes. His holy desire and His call to worship Him remains unflinching and unwavering.
Never changing.
So, what does this mean for us? It means this, that because our great high priest has made atonement for our sin once and for all, that we can come boldly into His throne of grace to find mercy when mercy is needed.
To find grace when grace is needed. And to help us in our time of need. We worship a great God. I'll leave with the words of the old song, Immortal, Invisible God, Only Wise. The words say this, O God, our help in ages past and our hope for years to come.
Our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home. Under the shadow of Thy throne, Thy saints have dwelt secure. Sufficient is Thine arm alone and our defense is sure. Before the hills an order stood or earth received its frame.
From everlasting Thou art God to endless years the same. A thousand ages in Thy sight are like an evening gone. Short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun. Time, like an ever rolling stream, bears all its sons away.
They fly forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day. O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. Be Thou our guard while life shall last and be our eternal home. Stand with us if you would this morning.