Sermon - Building the House of God
Preparing this sermon was really an incredible experience. As we are currently doing a series on the minor prophets, I had originally wanted to preach from the book of Malachi and had spent a week doing the ground work for it. I had thought Malachi would be a nice and safe topic, and I could teach on something familiar, like worship. But on the Friday this sermon was delivered, I had this increasing dread that this wasn't what I was supposed to be preaching on. And it was confirmed at 5pm that day when I found out that another preacher had already booked Malachi for his slot, and so all I could do was to surrender to God and ask Him to provide the sermon.
Which I should have done much earlier.
Anyway, this sermon from the book of Haggai speaks to me as much as it speaks to the people in our church, especially in such a season as we are in now. Hope you will be edified by it. God Bless!
Excerpt -
The people of Judah had put other priorities ahead of the building of God’s work which he had called the people to do. Here God is saying to the people of Judah that the building of the temple should be their number one priority. And yet the God’s people - the people of Judah were lazy and making excuses. You know in FCC, to build this church, its ministries, this house of worship, requires everyone of us to make this house our priority. So many times we see spiritual consumers - shopping around for the church of their choice like shopping for a car. But God says 'no, you need to be planted in this house, in this family and you need to make the building of the church your priority for my glory.'
BUILDING THE HOUSE OF GOD
- A message from the book of Haggai
13 May 2007
Gary Chan
Free Community Church
+ + +
Father we thank You for gathering us here this morning that we can come to Your house to worship You. We thank You for Your presence here this morning to minister to us. Lord as we look into Your word this morning, we thank You that Your word is inspired, it’s alive and it’s powerful. And I pray that You will speak into every one of our hearts and minds this morning. And everyone that’s awake say a good amen!
Introduction
We have a started a series on the minor prophets of the Old Testament. I actually didn’t want to preach on this series until Susan called me up last week and asked me if I could take this week.
Initially I really struggled with this message. The minor prophets? The Old Testament? I’m more of a New Testament kind of guy. Don’t we live in the new covenant after all?
But as I was preparing, God laid a message in my heart for the church this morning, and looking back, I’m truly thankful that Susan asked me to do this. So this morning we are going to be studying the Book of Haggai.
Background to Haggai
There is a great harmony in story of the Old Testament even though it was written by so many different authors. After the fall and exile of Israel and Judah documented in 1 and 2 Chronicles, the book of Ezra follows on the story of the return of to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the second temple. This was during the time when the books of Zechariah and Haggai were written. Here’s a quick timeline to provide a historical background to understand the events that occurred during the time of Israel’s history.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO HAGGAI
597BCEJudah surrenders to Babylon, Jews exiled 587BCEKing Nebuchadnezzar II destroys entire Jerusalem,
including Solomon’s temple 539BCEJews return to Jerusalem from captivity
Start rebuilding the temple but work stops
after the foundations and altar is built 520BCEGod raises prophets Haggai & Zechariah 516BCE Second temple is completed
In 597BCE, Judah surrenders to King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon and all Jews are exiled to Babylon. Mass deportations was the foreign policy of the Babylonians to demonstrate their might. It separated leaders, created labour for the military, construction and farming.
Then in 587BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar II proceeds to destroy the entire city of Jerusalem (capital of Judah) and the temple that Solomon built.
Almost 50 years later, in 539BCE, the Jews return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity, and start rebuilding the destroyed temple but work stops only after foundations and altar are built. Ezra 4 tells us that they met a lot of opposition and were discouraged in their building project and stopped work completely
About 18 years after that, in 520BCE, God raises Prophets Haggai and Zechariah to provide correction to the people of Jerusalem and encouragement to continue rebuilding of the temple.
In 516BCE, just four years later, the second temple is completed - 70 years after the first temple is destroyed.
Overview of Haggai
Haggai is a very short book, only 2 chapters, recording the ministry of the prophet Haggai - a ministry that spanned only 4-months. It contains 4 messages to the people of Judah to get on with the rebuilding of the temple.
The temple at that time played an incredibly important place in the lives of the Jewish people - it was the place of God’s presence and of their worship.
Why Haggai?
Today, there are several lessons that we can learn from Haggai that are as important today as it was back then for the people of Judah. We are again entering a new season of our church as we enter our fifth year as a full fledged church.
I’ve been here since the very first service on Easter Sunday, April 2003. And since then we have shifted venue 6 times already! From 90 Zion, to 40 Zion, to Utterly Art, to Mox, to the Attic (now Bianco), and we’ve been here at Yangtze since February 2005. This week we renewed our lease here for 6 more months with no option for further renewal.
By October we will be a church without a home again, like the Israelites in the wilderness, or the people of Judah in exile.
The Church I See
I left my previous church to help plant this church because I saw in the spirit a very clear vision from God of what this church could be. A large and strong church, filled with people who worshiped and focused on God. Where the manifested presence of God would be strong and His glory would be felt by anyone stepping through the doors of the church. Where people will be drawn to the love of God and the love for people. Where every member would be effective ministers to reach out to those communities that God placed on our hearts and were not reached by the government or other churches. Where members would be quick to act and obey the call with humility and authority. Where a new kind of Christian that reflected the love and life of Christ would be discipled.
This vision was shared and confirmed by different people I have met with over the last 4 over years. And you know what, I am still waiting for this to come to pass. In some areas, I see this happening already, but it seems that over the years, we keep struggling, and face so many difficulties.
Many times I’ve been discouraged, and felt like giving up on building this house. Some of my cell group members had to put up with my constant frustration and me saying that I had enough and wanted to leave.
In fact, for those who have been around for a while, you have seen many people, including leaders who actually leave the church. Some from frustration, disappointment, some from apathy or complacency.
If you look at the attendance statistics, we haven’t grown very much as a church either. Not only do we lose members, we don’t reach out to enough people.
The focus here isn’t just numbers in this church, but there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who are not in a relationship with Jesus Christ or are far away from God, especially in the communities that God has raised our church to reach - like the GLBT people.
God is saying to us today that this church, this house of God needs to be built. The outward form may be the things you see - a building, the service, the ministries, and the events. But ultimately, it starts and ends with us - the people, the leaders of the church.
Today I want to share 4 things from the ministry of the prophet Haggai to the people in Judah as we enter as a church into this new season of building this church.
The message of Haggai
1. The work of God in building the church and His Glory must be our number one priority.
Hag 1:1 (NIV)
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
So here we see God raising up the prophet Haggai to speak to the people of Judah through the leaders of Judah responsible for leading the people.
Hag 1:2 (NIV)
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.' "
Here we see the issue: people were making excuses and were complacent in building the temple.
Hag 1:3-4 (NIV)
Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"
The people of Judah had put other priorities ahead of the building of God’s work which he had called the people to do. Here God is saying to the people of Judah that the building of the temple should be their number one priority. And yet the God’s people - the people of Judah were lazy and making excuses.
You know in FCC, to build this church, its ministries, this house of worship, requires everyone of us to make this house our priority.
So many times we see spiritual consumers - shopping around for the church of their choice like shopping for a car. But God says 'no, you need to be planted in this house, in this family and you need to make the building of the church your priority for my glory.'
Other times we see people making excuses.
Can you help me out? I’m busy with work. Can you give to the offering? I’m very tight this month. Right now we are in this dilemma as a church where to go next because of our budgets. And we are looking for a new property to rent, to go to a cheaper property because the rental at this one has gone up more than 60%.
It was the same during Jesus’ time and He spoke about it:
Matt 9:59 - “let me first go and bury my father” - people were putting family ahead of God; waiting to collect the security of one’s inheritance.
Luke 9:61 - “let me first say good-bye to those at home” - is there room for double-mindedness in our commitments?
Luke 14:18-20 - “let me first go and see the field I have bought; let me go and try the five yoke of oxen I bought; I just got married” - is the ministry our priority? Are we committed to building this house?
Or are we complacent, making excuses, or like the people of Judah are saying (v4) - now’s not the right time and have fallen away?
A leader of our church wrote this email to another leader in July 04 at the annual church retreat and copied it to me.
“Dear XXX (names removed to protect their identities),
It’s not easy trying to put vision into words. Sometimes it’s a gut feel. But I try. Here’s how I see FCC in the future and more specifically how I think I can contribute to that vision.
A church who truly worships God with
• songs, always singing in our hearts because God is good!
• thankful hearts, remembering God for his goodness by giving back in return either in financial offerings, time, effort etc…
• faith, believing in God through the good times and the bad
• obedience, following the commands of Jesus
• hunger for God’s words - to know more of Him, a people eager to hear the preaching of Christ
• hunger for God’s touch (to experience Him) - a personal walk with God
A church who truly cares for one another (following the commands of Jesus to love one another)
• cares for each other’s welfare - career, living space, health, family - by actively helping out or supporting when someone is facing difficulty in one of those important areas.
• developing specific ministries to address needs
• effective cell groups
• discovering and developing spiritual gifts, God-given skills, to build the church
A church who is the ‘Light of the World’ and the ‘Salt of the Earth’
• spreading the gospel of Jesus, sharing Jesus with others
• showing good values, attitude, behavior and actions to be a positive example of an ambassador of Christ - being a Christian, developing the fruits of the Spirit
• becoming good Samaritans through community service
• becoming Esthers through our efforts to speak up for the minority, the marginalized and the oppressed.
My Contribution
I currently see myself in 2 areas:
1) Developing the worship service to enable and even enhance the worship of our members
2) Developing more members to have the passion and the skills to serve one another”
You know, both the person writing this letter and receiving this letter are no longer in FCC today, and my hope and prayer is for the 2 of them and for all those who have seen the vision that God has given them for the church to come back to Him and make building the church their priority.
Hag 1:5-7 (NIV)
Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.”
So what happened to the people of Judah as they made their own work and own lives a priority ahead of God? What happened when they got complacent and made excuses? God reveals to them that they struggled in vain on their own, that they got frustrated, that their work was futile.
What about us? At the end of our lives, what will we say on our death bed before we pass on and meet God?
I wish I had worked harder and spent more time in the office? Or played one more round of mahjong? Or earned more money? Or bought one more BMW or one more property? Or will it be about what we leave behind? The relationships with people? The lives that have been changed by participating in the ministry of this church?
Jesus says, and we all know this famous verse:
Matt 6:19-20 (NIV)
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
2. God is with us and will encourage us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Haggai 1:12 (NIV)
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
So the word was given to the leaders, Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest, but look at the response of the people - the responded together and obeyed the voice of the Lord.
You know, it is not enough to hear the word, claim it by faith. The bible says faith without deeds (or action in obedience) is dead (James 2). The people of Judah heard and obeyed the message that the prophet Haggai brought to them.
And notice, they had a change of heart as well - they feared the Lord. This was very different from the beginning of Haggai when the people were complacent or making excuses.
So it is important for us to check ourselves. When we serve God, are we doing God or our leaders a favour? Or are we doing it because He is the Almighty God, the Soverign King, the Lord of our lives?
Look what were the results:
Haggai 1:13-14 (NIV)
Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: "I am with you," declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God.”
God says to the people of Judah - “I am with you”.
He takes them back to the time in the Exodus wilderness and reminds them of the covenant that with Moses, and the same Spirit of God who was with them to protect and provide for them.
What’s the secret to doing God’s work? It is the presence of God!
Jesus gives the same motivation to the disciples when He commissioned them. Matt 28:20 says, “Make disciples of all nations… for I am with you to the end of the age.”
That same Holy Spirit that was there with Moses in Exodus, the same spirit that stirred up the people in Haggai to rebuild the temple, the same spirit that Jesus promises to be with the disciples as they went into the world is with us today. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. His promises are “Yes, and Amen!”
So this morning God is saying to us, “I am with you”. You are not labouring on your own strength to build this house. My Spirit will go with you and stir you up, and encourage you.
3. We need to persevere through the difficulties not for present but future glory.
Hag 2:1-3 (NIV)
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 'Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?
What has happened is that two months after the people get back to work after the message in Haggai 1, the work on the temple stalls again due to the discouragement by the people of Judah. The people got “sian” - frustrated, discouraged.
God knows their frustration, and asks the people of Judah 3 questions to tell them, “hey I know what you are going through”:
1. Who is left among you who saw the vision of the former glory?
2. How do you see it now?
3. Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison to the first temple?
For FCC It has been a journey of more than 4 years and for those that had seen the vision like those former leaders did, many are discouraged because the vision has still not come to pass. And discouragement turns into frustration, disappointment, and disillusionment.
But God knows that we get discouraged, frustrated, disappointed, and disillusioned. And here’s where I love what God did, look what God says to the people of Judah.
Hag 2:4-9 (NIV)
But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
Look what God says to the people of Judah. He’s not a God so far off and distant, he came near them and practically addressed the things that discouraged them.
Hag 2:5 - They were afraid that God didn’t love them, wasn’t with them. So God says, “My spirit remains among you. Do not fear.”
Hag 2:8 - They were afraid that they didn’t have enough money to complete the building. So God says, “All the silver in the world is mine and all the gold is mine.”
Hag 2:7,9 - They were frustrated that they could be doing all this building for nothing. What’s the point? So God says, “I will fill this house with glory. The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house. And in this place I will grant peace.”
Your know, before coming to start FCC, I was a member of City Harvest Church for more than 6 years from 1997 to 2003. It was where I had grown as a Christian after I rededicated my life in 1997 and I was planted in the church and grew there.
I participated in the cell group ministry, I tithed and God challenged me to stretch myself and participate in the building fund over the years. I served in the worship team and the choir. And over the years, I saw the vision come to pass as the church grew and found its home in Jurong West.
And then God convicted me to come over to be a part of FCC. Leaving a comfortable ministry in a large church with my friends, and the resources, and the vision, to come to a startup church.
I tell you, you have no idea how difficult it was going from a 20 piece worship team and a congregation filled with expectation to come and worship to just one portasound or a guitar which didn’t always show up and a congregation as few as 3 people when we started. It was very difficult.
And it took up so much time, so much difficulty, and so little results to show for it.
But God showed me a vision of the church he wanted to build, so I stuck with it through the difficult times. And it’s still very difficult, but I can only persevere so far, because I know that regardless of the difficulty, God is with me. And that He will honour the work and that lives will be changed through this church and I will grow and be blessed from the experience.
To recap the message of Haggai to us today:
1. The work of God in building the church and His Glory must be our number one priority.
2. God is with us and will encourage us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
3. We need to persevere through the difficulties not for present but future glory.
But Haggai had one more very important message to bring to his people, and if we miss this, we miss the forest for the trees.
4. We need to consecrate our own lives for our work to be accepted and blessed.
Hag 2:10-14 (NIV)
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Haggai: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Ask the priests what the law says: If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?' "
The priests answered, "No."
Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?"
"Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."
Then Haggai said, " 'So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. 'Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
So the work of building the temple was now underway, but God had to address one more area of the lives of the people of Judah.
What’s going on here? God draws an analogy by using ceremonial law to demonstrate how you can’t catch Holiness, and then compares it with how Sin on the other hand, contaminates everything around it.
v12: “If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?” And the priests answered, “No.”
Here we see that holiness is incommunicable. It cannot be transferred. But look at v13:
Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?"
"Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."
But uncleanliness is communicable, it can be transferred! It’s just like how a mother caring for her sick son cannot transfer health to her son, but the son can transfer the illness to the mother.
So look what God warned the people of Judah in v14: “So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. 'Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.”
God is saying here that it is not enough that you are doing my work on the outside. You need to get right with me on the inside. And that is called consecration.
Do you have areas in your life that you know are not right with God? Maybe it has to do with your thought life, or an attitude like unbelief, pride, or arrogance?
Do you have unforgiveness in your heart? Remember what Jesus said in Matt 5:21-24?
Matt 5:21-24 (NIV)
"If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
Look at what God says? "Never mind you are giving to the church or worshipping me. I will not accept it until your heart is right. Go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."
Or maybe there are some things you do that you know isn’t right with God - succumbing to lust of the flesh, or the eyes, or an addiction (substance, alcohol, gambling, pornography).
You know I have been serving God in leadership role in this Church for the past four years. And constantly, I see God working on different areas of my life, bit by bit, working on the areas that are not acceptable to Him. One time, about three or four years ago, I woke up all of a sudden in the middle of the night. And I felt the Holy Spirit saying to me to go to my computer, to stop downloading pornography from the Internet and to delete all the porn from my hard drive.
My first instinct was to ignore the prompting. After all, it had taken me years to build up such an extensive library. But God was saying, “look, I’ve come to give you freedom in all areas of life, and here you are enslaved to pornography. If you want to serve me, you need to consecrate all areas of your life to me, including your thought life.” So I decided to stop the downloads, dragged the files into the ‘recycling bin’ and went back to bed. But while I was trying to get back to sleep, the Holy Spirit, went “one more thing, get up and empty the recycling bin before you go back to bed!”
In Psalms 51:17 - David speaks of what is acceptable to God:
Ps 51:17 (NIV)
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
So it doesn’t matter how loud our praises are, or how many events we organize, or how beautiful a church we build God. God says it comes to nothing if we do not consecrate our lives to Him.
So, we need to consecrate our own lives for our work to be accepted and blessed.
The result - God goes before us, we receive the blessing!
But God doesn’t end there, He promises that as we make the building of this church a priority in our lives, as we listen to His word and obey it, as we are patient and persevering, as we consecrate our lives to Him, He will abundantly bless! He will go before us!
Hag 2:19b (NIV)
" 'From this day on I will bless you.' "
Hag 2:21-22 (NIV)
I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
Closing
I would like the musicians come forward as we close. This morning, I believe this is a word of our church as we once again are shaken out of our comfort zones.
We have been here at Yangtze for 2 and a half years, and within the next 6 months, we will have to leave.
Even though this isn’t the greatest place, many of us call it home. Many members like myself don’t want to leave. It is hard work to move again. It is hard work to continue building this church. And where we go to may not be our final destination.
But today God is saying to us:
1. His work in building the church and His glory needs to be our number one priority.
2. He is with us and will encourage us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
3. We need to persevere through the difficulties for not present but future glory.
4. We need to consecrate our lives for our work to be accepted and blessed.
Today, sense in my heart that many of you are disappointed, and discouraged. Frustrated, disillusioned. Some of you don’t come very often any more. Some of you are thinking of leaving the church altogether. Some of you don’t really care for the church any more. If it weren’t for your friends or cell group members, you would have stopped coming altogether.
Some of you are wondering, why are there so few people in ministry? Every week, same faces. Some of you are burnt out, doing the same thing week in week out with no results. Some of you ask yourselves, why isn’t this church growing? Is there a clear vision from God? Why are we struggling, why aren’t we blessed?
Today God wants to encourage you. He wants you to know that He is with you, just like He was with the people of Israel in Moses’ time, the people Judah in Haggai’s time, the disciples in Jesus’ time. He wants to stir your spirit today, fill you again and refresh you so that you will have the supernatural energy that comes from His spirit.
Lift up your hands all over this place. Just receive Him this morning!
Let Your Spirit Come
Let Your Spirit come
Let Your will be done
Let Your presence fall on me
Christ, You’ve set me free
You’re my liberty
Let Your presence fall on me
Let the power of the Holy Ghost fall in this place
Come and change my heart, renew me
With Your mercy and Your grace
Let the love of Christ surround me
Come closer to my side
Let Your Spirit fall on me
“Father we thank You for Your word this morning. We thank you that you have raised FCC as a Church. We thank You for bringing us into this spiritual family. We thank you that you have called us to partner with you in building FCC together. Lord this morning, we declare as a church that we will make your work and your glory our number one priority! We declare that we will persevere through the difficult times so that Your work is completed, that the vision you have laid on the hearts of the leaders will come to pass! Lord this morning we consecrate our lives to you Lord, every part of our lives. Lord, we ask you to bless the work of our hands. We thank You for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We thank You for stirring our spirits, for filling us once again, for refreshing us as we continue into a new season of building the church. In Jesus name we pray, amen!”
Which I should have done much earlier.
Anyway, this sermon from the book of Haggai speaks to me as much as it speaks to the people in our church, especially in such a season as we are in now. Hope you will be edified by it. God Bless!
Excerpt -
The people of Judah had put other priorities ahead of the building of God’s work which he had called the people to do. Here God is saying to the people of Judah that the building of the temple should be their number one priority. And yet the God’s people - the people of Judah were lazy and making excuses. You know in FCC, to build this church, its ministries, this house of worship, requires everyone of us to make this house our priority. So many times we see spiritual consumers - shopping around for the church of their choice like shopping for a car. But God says 'no, you need to be planted in this house, in this family and you need to make the building of the church your priority for my glory.'
BUILDING THE HOUSE OF GOD
- A message from the book of Haggai
13 May 2007
Gary Chan
Free Community Church
+ + +
Father we thank You for gathering us here this morning that we can come to Your house to worship You. We thank You for Your presence here this morning to minister to us. Lord as we look into Your word this morning, we thank You that Your word is inspired, it’s alive and it’s powerful. And I pray that You will speak into every one of our hearts and minds this morning. And everyone that’s awake say a good amen!
Introduction
We have a started a series on the minor prophets of the Old Testament. I actually didn’t want to preach on this series until Susan called me up last week and asked me if I could take this week.
Initially I really struggled with this message. The minor prophets? The Old Testament? I’m more of a New Testament kind of guy. Don’t we live in the new covenant after all?
But as I was preparing, God laid a message in my heart for the church this morning, and looking back, I’m truly thankful that Susan asked me to do this. So this morning we are going to be studying the Book of Haggai.
Background to Haggai
There is a great harmony in story of the Old Testament even though it was written by so many different authors. After the fall and exile of Israel and Judah documented in 1 and 2 Chronicles, the book of Ezra follows on the story of the return of to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the second temple. This was during the time when the books of Zechariah and Haggai were written. Here’s a quick timeline to provide a historical background to understand the events that occurred during the time of Israel’s history.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO HAGGAI
597BCEJudah surrenders to Babylon, Jews exiled 587BCEKing Nebuchadnezzar II destroys entire Jerusalem,
including Solomon’s temple 539BCEJews return to Jerusalem from captivity
Start rebuilding the temple but work stops
after the foundations and altar is built 520BCEGod raises prophets Haggai & Zechariah 516BCE Second temple is completed
In 597BCE, Judah surrenders to King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon and all Jews are exiled to Babylon. Mass deportations was the foreign policy of the Babylonians to demonstrate their might. It separated leaders, created labour for the military, construction and farming.
Then in 587BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar II proceeds to destroy the entire city of Jerusalem (capital of Judah) and the temple that Solomon built.
Almost 50 years later, in 539BCE, the Jews return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity, and start rebuilding the destroyed temple but work stops only after foundations and altar are built. Ezra 4 tells us that they met a lot of opposition and were discouraged in their building project and stopped work completely
About 18 years after that, in 520BCE, God raises Prophets Haggai and Zechariah to provide correction to the people of Jerusalem and encouragement to continue rebuilding of the temple.
In 516BCE, just four years later, the second temple is completed - 70 years after the first temple is destroyed.
Overview of Haggai
Haggai is a very short book, only 2 chapters, recording the ministry of the prophet Haggai - a ministry that spanned only 4-months. It contains 4 messages to the people of Judah to get on with the rebuilding of the temple.
The temple at that time played an incredibly important place in the lives of the Jewish people - it was the place of God’s presence and of their worship.
Why Haggai?
Today, there are several lessons that we can learn from Haggai that are as important today as it was back then for the people of Judah. We are again entering a new season of our church as we enter our fifth year as a full fledged church.
I’ve been here since the very first service on Easter Sunday, April 2003. And since then we have shifted venue 6 times already! From 90 Zion, to 40 Zion, to Utterly Art, to Mox, to the Attic (now Bianco), and we’ve been here at Yangtze since February 2005. This week we renewed our lease here for 6 more months with no option for further renewal.
By October we will be a church without a home again, like the Israelites in the wilderness, or the people of Judah in exile.
The Church I See
I left my previous church to help plant this church because I saw in the spirit a very clear vision from God of what this church could be. A large and strong church, filled with people who worshiped and focused on God. Where the manifested presence of God would be strong and His glory would be felt by anyone stepping through the doors of the church. Where people will be drawn to the love of God and the love for people. Where every member would be effective ministers to reach out to those communities that God placed on our hearts and were not reached by the government or other churches. Where members would be quick to act and obey the call with humility and authority. Where a new kind of Christian that reflected the love and life of Christ would be discipled.
This vision was shared and confirmed by different people I have met with over the last 4 over years. And you know what, I am still waiting for this to come to pass. In some areas, I see this happening already, but it seems that over the years, we keep struggling, and face so many difficulties.
Many times I’ve been discouraged, and felt like giving up on building this house. Some of my cell group members had to put up with my constant frustration and me saying that I had enough and wanted to leave.
In fact, for those who have been around for a while, you have seen many people, including leaders who actually leave the church. Some from frustration, disappointment, some from apathy or complacency.
If you look at the attendance statistics, we haven’t grown very much as a church either. Not only do we lose members, we don’t reach out to enough people.
The focus here isn’t just numbers in this church, but there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who are not in a relationship with Jesus Christ or are far away from God, especially in the communities that God has raised our church to reach - like the GLBT people.
God is saying to us today that this church, this house of God needs to be built. The outward form may be the things you see - a building, the service, the ministries, and the events. But ultimately, it starts and ends with us - the people, the leaders of the church.
Today I want to share 4 things from the ministry of the prophet Haggai to the people in Judah as we enter as a church into this new season of building this church.
The message of Haggai
1. The work of God in building the church and His Glory must be our number one priority.
Hag 1:1 (NIV)
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
So here we see God raising up the prophet Haggai to speak to the people of Judah through the leaders of Judah responsible for leading the people.
Hag 1:2 (NIV)
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.' "
Here we see the issue: people were making excuses and were complacent in building the temple.
Hag 1:3-4 (NIV)
Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"
The people of Judah had put other priorities ahead of the building of God’s work which he had called the people to do. Here God is saying to the people of Judah that the building of the temple should be their number one priority. And yet the God’s people - the people of Judah were lazy and making excuses.
You know in FCC, to build this church, its ministries, this house of worship, requires everyone of us to make this house our priority.
So many times we see spiritual consumers - shopping around for the church of their choice like shopping for a car. But God says 'no, you need to be planted in this house, in this family and you need to make the building of the church your priority for my glory.'
Other times we see people making excuses.
Can you help me out? I’m busy with work. Can you give to the offering? I’m very tight this month. Right now we are in this dilemma as a church where to go next because of our budgets. And we are looking for a new property to rent, to go to a cheaper property because the rental at this one has gone up more than 60%.
It was the same during Jesus’ time and He spoke about it:
Matt 9:59 - “let me first go and bury my father” - people were putting family ahead of God; waiting to collect the security of one’s inheritance.
Luke 9:61 - “let me first say good-bye to those at home” - is there room for double-mindedness in our commitments?
Luke 14:18-20 - “let me first go and see the field I have bought; let me go and try the five yoke of oxen I bought; I just got married” - is the ministry our priority? Are we committed to building this house?
Or are we complacent, making excuses, or like the people of Judah are saying (v4) - now’s not the right time and have fallen away?
A leader of our church wrote this email to another leader in July 04 at the annual church retreat and copied it to me.
“Dear XXX (names removed to protect their identities),
It’s not easy trying to put vision into words. Sometimes it’s a gut feel. But I try. Here’s how I see FCC in the future and more specifically how I think I can contribute to that vision.
A church who truly worships God with
• songs, always singing in our hearts because God is good!
• thankful hearts, remembering God for his goodness by giving back in return either in financial offerings, time, effort etc…
• faith, believing in God through the good times and the bad
• obedience, following the commands of Jesus
• hunger for God’s words - to know more of Him, a people eager to hear the preaching of Christ
• hunger for God’s touch (to experience Him) - a personal walk with God
A church who truly cares for one another (following the commands of Jesus to love one another)
• cares for each other’s welfare - career, living space, health, family - by actively helping out or supporting when someone is facing difficulty in one of those important areas.
• developing specific ministries to address needs
• effective cell groups
• discovering and developing spiritual gifts, God-given skills, to build the church
A church who is the ‘Light of the World’ and the ‘Salt of the Earth’
• spreading the gospel of Jesus, sharing Jesus with others
• showing good values, attitude, behavior and actions to be a positive example of an ambassador of Christ - being a Christian, developing the fruits of the Spirit
• becoming good Samaritans through community service
• becoming Esthers through our efforts to speak up for the minority, the marginalized and the oppressed.
My Contribution
I currently see myself in 2 areas:
1) Developing the worship service to enable and even enhance the worship of our members
2) Developing more members to have the passion and the skills to serve one another”
You know, both the person writing this letter and receiving this letter are no longer in FCC today, and my hope and prayer is for the 2 of them and for all those who have seen the vision that God has given them for the church to come back to Him and make building the church their priority.
Hag 1:5-7 (NIV)
Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.”
So what happened to the people of Judah as they made their own work and own lives a priority ahead of God? What happened when they got complacent and made excuses? God reveals to them that they struggled in vain on their own, that they got frustrated, that their work was futile.
What about us? At the end of our lives, what will we say on our death bed before we pass on and meet God?
I wish I had worked harder and spent more time in the office? Or played one more round of mahjong? Or earned more money? Or bought one more BMW or one more property? Or will it be about what we leave behind? The relationships with people? The lives that have been changed by participating in the ministry of this church?
Jesus says, and we all know this famous verse:
Matt 6:19-20 (NIV)
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
2. God is with us and will encourage us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Haggai 1:12 (NIV)
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
So the word was given to the leaders, Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest, but look at the response of the people - the responded together and obeyed the voice of the Lord.
You know, it is not enough to hear the word, claim it by faith. The bible says faith without deeds (or action in obedience) is dead (James 2). The people of Judah heard and obeyed the message that the prophet Haggai brought to them.
And notice, they had a change of heart as well - they feared the Lord. This was very different from the beginning of Haggai when the people were complacent or making excuses.
So it is important for us to check ourselves. When we serve God, are we doing God or our leaders a favour? Or are we doing it because He is the Almighty God, the Soverign King, the Lord of our lives?
Look what were the results:
Haggai 1:13-14 (NIV)
Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: "I am with you," declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God.”
God says to the people of Judah - “I am with you”.
He takes them back to the time in the Exodus wilderness and reminds them of the covenant that with Moses, and the same Spirit of God who was with them to protect and provide for them.
What’s the secret to doing God’s work? It is the presence of God!
Jesus gives the same motivation to the disciples when He commissioned them. Matt 28:20 says, “Make disciples of all nations… for I am with you to the end of the age.”
That same Holy Spirit that was there with Moses in Exodus, the same spirit that stirred up the people in Haggai to rebuild the temple, the same spirit that Jesus promises to be with the disciples as they went into the world is with us today. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. His promises are “Yes, and Amen!”
So this morning God is saying to us, “I am with you”. You are not labouring on your own strength to build this house. My Spirit will go with you and stir you up, and encourage you.
3. We need to persevere through the difficulties not for present but future glory.
Hag 2:1-3 (NIV)
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 'Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?
What has happened is that two months after the people get back to work after the message in Haggai 1, the work on the temple stalls again due to the discouragement by the people of Judah. The people got “sian” - frustrated, discouraged.
God knows their frustration, and asks the people of Judah 3 questions to tell them, “hey I know what you are going through”:
1. Who is left among you who saw the vision of the former glory?
2. How do you see it now?
3. Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison to the first temple?
For FCC It has been a journey of more than 4 years and for those that had seen the vision like those former leaders did, many are discouraged because the vision has still not come to pass. And discouragement turns into frustration, disappointment, and disillusionment.
But God knows that we get discouraged, frustrated, disappointed, and disillusioned. And here’s where I love what God did, look what God says to the people of Judah.
Hag 2:4-9 (NIV)
But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
Look what God says to the people of Judah. He’s not a God so far off and distant, he came near them and practically addressed the things that discouraged them.
Hag 2:5 - They were afraid that God didn’t love them, wasn’t with them. So God says, “My spirit remains among you. Do not fear.”
Hag 2:8 - They were afraid that they didn’t have enough money to complete the building. So God says, “All the silver in the world is mine and all the gold is mine.”
Hag 2:7,9 - They were frustrated that they could be doing all this building for nothing. What’s the point? So God says, “I will fill this house with glory. The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house. And in this place I will grant peace.”
Your know, before coming to start FCC, I was a member of City Harvest Church for more than 6 years from 1997 to 2003. It was where I had grown as a Christian after I rededicated my life in 1997 and I was planted in the church and grew there.
I participated in the cell group ministry, I tithed and God challenged me to stretch myself and participate in the building fund over the years. I served in the worship team and the choir. And over the years, I saw the vision come to pass as the church grew and found its home in Jurong West.
And then God convicted me to come over to be a part of FCC. Leaving a comfortable ministry in a large church with my friends, and the resources, and the vision, to come to a startup church.
I tell you, you have no idea how difficult it was going from a 20 piece worship team and a congregation filled with expectation to come and worship to just one portasound or a guitar which didn’t always show up and a congregation as few as 3 people when we started. It was very difficult.
And it took up so much time, so much difficulty, and so little results to show for it.
But God showed me a vision of the church he wanted to build, so I stuck with it through the difficult times. And it’s still very difficult, but I can only persevere so far, because I know that regardless of the difficulty, God is with me. And that He will honour the work and that lives will be changed through this church and I will grow and be blessed from the experience.
To recap the message of Haggai to us today:
1. The work of God in building the church and His Glory must be our number one priority.
2. God is with us and will encourage us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
3. We need to persevere through the difficulties not for present but future glory.
But Haggai had one more very important message to bring to his people, and if we miss this, we miss the forest for the trees.
4. We need to consecrate our own lives for our work to be accepted and blessed.
Hag 2:10-14 (NIV)
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Haggai: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Ask the priests what the law says: If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?' "
The priests answered, "No."
Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?"
"Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."
Then Haggai said, " 'So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. 'Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
So the work of building the temple was now underway, but God had to address one more area of the lives of the people of Judah.
What’s going on here? God draws an analogy by using ceremonial law to demonstrate how you can’t catch Holiness, and then compares it with how Sin on the other hand, contaminates everything around it.
v12: “If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?” And the priests answered, “No.”
Here we see that holiness is incommunicable. It cannot be transferred. But look at v13:
Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?"
"Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."
But uncleanliness is communicable, it can be transferred! It’s just like how a mother caring for her sick son cannot transfer health to her son, but the son can transfer the illness to the mother.
So look what God warned the people of Judah in v14: “So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. 'Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.”
God is saying here that it is not enough that you are doing my work on the outside. You need to get right with me on the inside. And that is called consecration.
Do you have areas in your life that you know are not right with God? Maybe it has to do with your thought life, or an attitude like unbelief, pride, or arrogance?
Do you have unforgiveness in your heart? Remember what Jesus said in Matt 5:21-24?
Matt 5:21-24 (NIV)
"If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
Look at what God says? "Never mind you are giving to the church or worshipping me. I will not accept it until your heart is right. Go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."
Or maybe there are some things you do that you know isn’t right with God - succumbing to lust of the flesh, or the eyes, or an addiction (substance, alcohol, gambling, pornography).
You know I have been serving God in leadership role in this Church for the past four years. And constantly, I see God working on different areas of my life, bit by bit, working on the areas that are not acceptable to Him. One time, about three or four years ago, I woke up all of a sudden in the middle of the night. And I felt the Holy Spirit saying to me to go to my computer, to stop downloading pornography from the Internet and to delete all the porn from my hard drive.
My first instinct was to ignore the prompting. After all, it had taken me years to build up such an extensive library. But God was saying, “look, I’ve come to give you freedom in all areas of life, and here you are enslaved to pornography. If you want to serve me, you need to consecrate all areas of your life to me, including your thought life.” So I decided to stop the downloads, dragged the files into the ‘recycling bin’ and went back to bed. But while I was trying to get back to sleep, the Holy Spirit, went “one more thing, get up and empty the recycling bin before you go back to bed!”
In Psalms 51:17 - David speaks of what is acceptable to God:
Ps 51:17 (NIV)
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
So it doesn’t matter how loud our praises are, or how many events we organize, or how beautiful a church we build God. God says it comes to nothing if we do not consecrate our lives to Him.
So, we need to consecrate our own lives for our work to be accepted and blessed.
The result - God goes before us, we receive the blessing!
But God doesn’t end there, He promises that as we make the building of this church a priority in our lives, as we listen to His word and obey it, as we are patient and persevering, as we consecrate our lives to Him, He will abundantly bless! He will go before us!
Hag 2:19b (NIV)
" 'From this day on I will bless you.' "
Hag 2:21-22 (NIV)
I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
Closing
I would like the musicians come forward as we close. This morning, I believe this is a word of our church as we once again are shaken out of our comfort zones.
We have been here at Yangtze for 2 and a half years, and within the next 6 months, we will have to leave.
Even though this isn’t the greatest place, many of us call it home. Many members like myself don’t want to leave. It is hard work to move again. It is hard work to continue building this church. And where we go to may not be our final destination.
But today God is saying to us:
1. His work in building the church and His glory needs to be our number one priority.
2. He is with us and will encourage us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
3. We need to persevere through the difficulties for not present but future glory.
4. We need to consecrate our lives for our work to be accepted and blessed.
Today, sense in my heart that many of you are disappointed, and discouraged. Frustrated, disillusioned. Some of you don’t come very often any more. Some of you are thinking of leaving the church altogether. Some of you don’t really care for the church any more. If it weren’t for your friends or cell group members, you would have stopped coming altogether.
Some of you are wondering, why are there so few people in ministry? Every week, same faces. Some of you are burnt out, doing the same thing week in week out with no results. Some of you ask yourselves, why isn’t this church growing? Is there a clear vision from God? Why are we struggling, why aren’t we blessed?
Today God wants to encourage you. He wants you to know that He is with you, just like He was with the people of Israel in Moses’ time, the people Judah in Haggai’s time, the disciples in Jesus’ time. He wants to stir your spirit today, fill you again and refresh you so that you will have the supernatural energy that comes from His spirit.
Lift up your hands all over this place. Just receive Him this morning!
Let Your Spirit Come
Let Your Spirit come
Let Your will be done
Let Your presence fall on me
Christ, You’ve set me free
You’re my liberty
Let Your presence fall on me
Let the power of the Holy Ghost fall in this place
Come and change my heart, renew me
With Your mercy and Your grace
Let the love of Christ surround me
Come closer to my side
Let Your Spirit fall on me
“Father we thank You for Your word this morning. We thank you that you have raised FCC as a Church. We thank You for bringing us into this spiritual family. We thank you that you have called us to partner with you in building FCC together. Lord this morning, we declare as a church that we will make your work and your glory our number one priority! We declare that we will persevere through the difficult times so that Your work is completed, that the vision you have laid on the hearts of the leaders will come to pass! Lord this morning we consecrate our lives to you Lord, every part of our lives. Lord, we ask you to bless the work of our hands. We thank You for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We thank You for stirring our spirits, for filling us once again, for refreshing us as we continue into a new season of building the church. In Jesus name we pray, amen!”