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What are We Working for?

Haggai 2:10-19

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Scripture Reading

Haggai. We are in the second chapter of Haggai. We’re going to begin at the 10th verse.

On the 24th day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet. Thus says the Lord of hosts, ask the priests about the law. If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garments and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy? The priests answered and said no. Then Haggai said, if someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean? Priests answered and said, it does become unclean. Then Haggai answered and said, so is it with this people and with this nation before me declares the Lord and so with every work of their hands and what they offer there is unclean. Now then, consider from this day onward, before stone was placed upon stone and the temple the Lord, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of 20 measures, there were about 10. When one came to the wine vat to draw 50 measures, there were about 20. I struck you in all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail. Yet, you did the turn to me,“ declares the Lord. Consider from this day onward, from the 24th day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Consider is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on, I will bless you.

(Haggai 2:10–19)

Opening Prayer

Let’s pray. Father, we do thank you that you are a Lord who blesses us and blesses us and blesses us over and over. They’d be convicted of their sins. They would repent of their sins and turn and trust in you and the finished work of your son Jesus. Help us Father to be people who put you first. Who put you first, who seek your kingdom first in all things. A people who walk after your manners and walk in your ways and seek to glorify you in all things. May you be lifted up in our midst today we praise in Jesus name. Amen.

Recap and the Priests’ Question

Okay, a quick recap for the book of Haggai. This is occurring. Haggai comes onto the scene as part of the first wave of the exiles that are coming back to Jerusalem and to the land after they’ve been exiled for 70 years. So the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC has been destroyed. 10 tribes that comprise the northern kingdom.

They’re all basically scattered, and that’s kind of where you get the Samaritans from. They kind of intermix and intermarry with the Assyrians. But the Babylonians come along, and they take Jerusalem and all the Israelites in the southern kingdom in 586 B.C., and they are deported because of their sin. And 70 years is what Jeremiah and the other prophets said it would be, and after 70 years they’re brought back.

There’s three waves that come back, and Haggai is preaching as part of the first wave. So the first wave, really the main leader, is Zerubbabel. So he comes back, then you have the second wave, Ezra, the third wave, Nehemiah. But we’re in the first wave, which is really the largest.

It’s tens of thousands of people, I think between 30,000 to 50,000, come back in that first wave, and that’s where we’re at. The first couple messages we’ve looked at and now this is Haggai’s third message. There’s a total of four messages. This is his third message and here’s the setting with the third message.

Two months have gone by since Haggai gave his last message. He starts here by addressing the priests and he’s really questioning them and he’s implying actually a couple things. One, he’s implying and asking do they know the word? Because he’s asking them about some finer points of the law in terms of cleanness and uncleanness.

And the priest’s job was in part to know the word. But then really he’s also implying, are you teaching the people the word? Because the priest’s job was not just to know the word, but it was to teach the word. So in fact, when Ezra comes back, which is the second wave, his focus really is on teaching the and getting that back.

So Haggai is kind of realizing by God revealing it to him that there’s an issue there with the training. In fact, in Leviticus 10 we see this. You are talking to the priests. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the clean and the unclean.

And you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses. So, I mean, Haggai’s not stupid, like he knows the answer to these questions. What is he doing? Why is he asking these questions?

Well, I mean, one, that’s an effective way to make points at times. So he’s making a point. He wants to make sure that the priests, one, one, are catechizing the people. That they’re teaching the people.

So they know the word, they can answer the questions, but have they ensured that the people know the word? As the leaders, they needed to, in fact misled the way.

Holiness and Uncleanness

There’s numerous laws about being clean and unclean in the Old Testament. All sorts of different categories for what is clean, all sorts of different categories for what’s unclean. It’s actually interesting when you start to look at it, because when you talk about uncleanness, there’s actually categories of uncleanness. Some of it lasts a long time, some of it lasts a short time.

So you can have holy things that become unholy. You can have holy things that make nothing else holy. Like if you come to the temple, the temple is holy. But that doesn’t make you holy just by coming to the temple.

You can have the holy that makes something else holy. Now that’s very rare. The holy makes something else holy. But it does happen.

Very rare, but it happens. Then you can have the unholy that makes something else unholy. Well, what we see is a couple of things. When you look at the cleanliness laws, One, holiness doesn’t chain transfer.

So on the very few times that holiness can make something else holy, it’s very limited, and whatever it makes holy, it can’t make other things holy. But the flip side is, all contact with un the cleanness results in the transmission of the uncleanness. So something that’s unclean can transmit that uncleanness, and depending on the particular type of uncleanness, That uncleanness can be passed on to others. So the Lord takes all this serious.

When there’s unauthorized touching of holy objects, the result’s not good. Anyone think of the story in the Old Testament? Remember his name? Uzzah?

What did he do? Yeah, he touched the ark. They’re bringing the ark back. The ark is holy.

There are rules and commands for touching holy things and bad things happen When those rules aren’t followed, what does Uzzah find out? Well, he finds out the hard way. Don’t touch the ark. He ends up dying.

The holy is touched by the unholy. There’s no transferring. Uzzah doesn’t become holy. No, he’s a defiled person.

And he is forfeits his life because of it. So let’s talk about this passage here. The people are unclean. Look at verse 14.

It says, so is it with this people and with this nation before me declares the Lord. And so with every work of their hands and what they offer there is unclean. So the people are unclean, the nation is unclean, and what happens with uncleanness? Uncleanness is perpetuated.

So this present community is defiled and guess what they’re doing? Continuing to be defiled and they’re defiling others perpetuating the uncleanness. They are defiled, they make others defiled. This is why Haggai says that impurity travels more easily than holiness.

A corpse, that’s his example, a corpse defiled tperson defiles what he touches. One unclean person can touch a whole bunch of people and make them unclean. You touch that corpse that you are unclean and anyone else you touched, that day, unclean. Holy meat does not r keep passing holiness down the line.

That’s his second example. Just because the meat’s holy, it doesn’t make anything pass down the line holy. So the people are passing along uncleanness. They are unclean, that’s what they do.

What’s the answer for uncleanness? It’s repent for the people. If something is unclean, there’s something that it can go through for it to be cleansed, so to speak, but when it comes to people, the people have to be cleansed. How do they get cleansed?

Well, in the Old Testament, it was through a sacrificial offering. It might be through a ritual washing, depending on what the uncleanness is. But they are unclean.

Trust in the Lord for Salvation

So my first point for us today is one, we need to trust in the Lord for salvation. So we see this language of them working with their hands. Look back at verse 14 again. It says, and so with every work of their hands, everything they’re doing, every work of their hands.

And we see this imagery a few times in the Old Testament. It can refer to when we’re working with our hands. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. A couple examples of bad Deuteronomy 31 29.

This is Moses speaking. For I know after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. In the days to come evil will befall you because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands. This idea of working with your hand.

You’re gonna do something good, you’re gonna do something bad. Working with your hands. Jeremiah 25. Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will do you no harm.

Yet you have not listened to me declares the Lord that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. So the Israelites, as we know the history, like what did they do time and time again? They provoked the Lord to anger. Why?

Well, with the work of their hands. Well, what was the work of their hands? What is that an imagery for? Well, they’re doing bad stuff.

They’re doing evil deeds. But there’s also a flip side to it where we can do positive working with our hands. In Deuteronomy 16, it says this, for seven days, you shall keep the feast of the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you all be together, joyful. And again in Deuteronomy 24, when you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it.

It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. So we see these examples of either things that we’re doing that are good for the Lord or things that we’re doing that are bad for the Lord. We’re working with our hands one way or the other. We’re either working for good and righteousness, or working for evil wickedness.

But we will do something with our hands. What will it be? Well here we have the nation is unclean and so guess what happens? What can unclean people do Well they can only pass on the uncleanness.

And what do they offer to the Lord? Uncleanness. That’s what he’s not happy about. They’re offering unclean things.

Why? Because all the works of their hands being unclean can only offer unclean things. Consider this, here’s what one person said, Haggai then draws the We repent and turn to the Lord. Do we have examples of the Lord refusing people’s offerings to people, sin and unrepentance?

Yes, we see that in the Old Testament. We also see that in the New Testament. We have this clear command for husbands in 1 Peter 3, likewise husbands live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life so that your prayers may not be hindered. So the Lord can refuse prayers if a husband is not acting accordingly, graciously, and lovingly to his wife.

That’s what it says. So we need to repent and trust in the Lord for salvation. Listen, make a couple things clear. First, works don’t save, right?

So you don’t work for your salvation. It’s a task that you can’t do to earn. The Israelites in this case were going through the motions, but it was just the external motions. I mean, they’re still doing the work.

They’re still making the sacrifices. They’re still going to the temple. The temple can’t make them clean. So the inner man must be changed.

Salvation, yes, it’s external, absolutely, but it starts internal. The internal man has to be changed. So the people had actions, but it was heartless. It was devoid of anything on the inside.

They’re just going through the motions. All works, no heart. So empty actions due to an empty heart. You know why the actions are empty?

The actions are empty because the heart is empty. So there’s two ditches to avoid. One is all heart, no action. That’s not what we’re talking about today, but that is a ditch to avoid.

All heart, no action, if that’s even possible. But the other is all action, no heart. And what’s going on here is the latter, all action, no heart. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 15.

Empty Actions and Empty Hearts

He’s quoting from Isaiah. He says, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. That should be sobering for all of us, because that means that it’s possible for us to do external things with our lips, in this example, we can come here and we can sing, but our heart can be far from the Lord. Well, what’s the antidote?

What’s the cure? Repent. Repent. Hard hearts are cured by repentance.

God is gracious to quickly forgive. Think of the Pharisees. I mean, they do all the right things. They say all the right things, but empty on the inside.

Whitewashed tombs, that’s what Jesus says. Woe I do you scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful. Right.

They had all the works. Everything looks great. I mean, like man, those Pharisees, like they’re ruling the society. They’re tithing.

They’re doing all those things. For you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. All the right actions, but nothing on the inside.

No right heart. Now, you ever realize like this passage and when he’s rebuking the Pharisees, this is actually when you think about it. It’s one of the most loving things Jesus ever did. We think, oh wow man, he’s being so harsh.

Well that is true. He’s being pretty straightforward and blunt. But it’s one of the most loving things Jesus ever did. Why is that?

Because when you don’t care about people, you brush people off. You know, like forget them. But when you care, you speak even though it’s a tough word. And actually you speak because it’s a tough word.

Anyone can speak the easy gracious words. Up here and out there. The tough ones? Well, what do most people say?

I will let the pastor do that. Thanks, guys. Let’s let him take all the heat. Let him have all the arrows flying at him.

Now, which is what happens here to Jesus, right? I mean, they hate him for it. He tells them the truth. It’s a loving thing to tell the truth, even when it’s a hard truth, but what’s the result?

They still hate him for it. But consider that he loved his enemies. How much more should we love our brothers and sisters and be willing to give them tough, but loving words. So it’s a loving thing.

This word from Haggai, all four messages, some of them are pretty tough, but it’s a loving thing. Whenever the Lord delivers a message, regardless of how tough or harsh it might seem, it is a loving and gracious thing. Why? Because the Lord is delivering a word that each one of us needs to hear, that people needed to hear that.

God, in His mercy and grace, delivers the word through Haggai. Listen, there might be people here who have all their ducks in a row? Outwardly? And if people were asked, we’re like, oh yeah, yeah, that person’s saved, definitely, they’re definitely saved.

Be careful, brothers and sisters. We are commanded in the scriptures, 2 Corinthians 13, we’re commanded in the scriptures to examine ourselves. So when we talk about introspection, some people, again, there’s probably two ditches there. Some people, all they do is, you know, gaze at their navel.

But there is a good way to do it, an introspection. Hey, am I walking right with the Lord? Am I really one of his children? Am I really trusting in him?

Does this message today apply to me? Am I full of dead men’s bones on the inside and it’s just external? Those are the questions you should ask. And when a message like this comes, it’s not for the person next to you or behind you in front of you, it’s for you.

And sometimes it might be a wake-up call for you as a believer, and sometimes it’s a call to salvation as an unbeliever. But the message is for you. Anytime you ever hear a message and you’re like, oh, I hope that person across the room gets that message, that’s not a good place to be. You need to receive the message for you.

The Lord will take care of that person. The Lord has a message that He’s trying to deliver to you, whatever the message might be. I mean, you believe in the sovereignty of God, right? So whether you’re at this church or you’re visiting another church or whatever might be, like that message for you is for you that day, right?

He’s appointed that and had you in that place to hear it. He knows what you need to hear.

A Loving Hard Word

So there might be people who seem to have all their ducks in a row, be careful. What does the sister say? Lest you stumble. Be careful, lest you stumble.

So we can do the right things. We can say the right things, but we can be empty, empty, empty, empty, empty on the inside. And you know what? If the Holy Spirit is looking into your soul right now, if you’re not saved like he’s seeing emptiness, there’s an easy solution.

Trust and believe. Repent of your sins. It, good. We- we a, so we do good works because we’re saved.

I mean, we’re called to do good works. But you don’t do good works to get saved. You do good works because you are saved. All right.

You don’t do good works to get saved. You do good works because you are saved. We r just had the anniversary of 9 11 25 year anniversary. After the two towers fell.

But they brought in search dogs, about 300 search dogs from all over the country. And what’s the search dog’s job? They’re looking for life. That’s what they’re looking for.

They’re trying to sniff out any signs of life amongst the rubble. Guess what happens? Day after day after day after day goes by and the dogs find nothing. Nothing.

In fact, of all those 300 dogs that were brought in, I think there was only a total of 27 people that they found in the rubble. Thousands and thousands died. Only 27 people found in the rubble and the dogs only found after they were brought in, there was just one person left that the dogs found. Out of all those thousands there was very very few survivors in the actual buildings.

Day after, day after day these dogs are looking and something happens to the dogs and obviously the handlers noticed it at first. The dogs were changing, their tails stopped wagging, their tails are down, they’re not eating. They would come off the pile and just lie flat on the ground and not look at anyone. So what did they do?

Well, they got the volunteers. They pulled everyone out of the rubble, and they got the volunteers, police officers, and they went into the debris and hid themselves. Why? So that the dogs could have some wins.

They could have some victories. So they went and hid and acted like they were hurt and needed help. Well, what happened? Well, the dogs changed, just like that.

They caught the scent, they’re barking, they’re digging, they’re wagging their tail, they’re excited, right? The handler. Handler comes along after the person is found and it’s like good dog, they get their treat, they’re excited. Think about it.

And they did it for the dogs, right? They called them mock finds. But they They did that so the dogs would be reminded of what they’re there for. I mean, think about it, doing a task day after day but not accomplishing it would be pretty discouraging.

Day after day after day after day. Right, the dogs really weren’t that successful. 20 people found total, dogs only found one, 300 dogs. Doing a task day after day after day but not accomplishing really what they’re made for, it affects you, it affects you.

Created for Good Works

Well, guess what we’re created for? Look at Ephesians 2, because I want you all to see this. Hold your place in Haggai because we’re coming back, but go to Ephesians 2. Let’s start in verse one.

Ephesians 2. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of the sons of the sons of the sons. Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,I and we’re by nature children of wrath like the rest. What kind of children were we?

Wrath, that’s not good, is it? I don’t want to be a children of wrath. You want to be a children of wrath? No.

But look, verse 4, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. OK, at what point does it say God loved us? I mean, verse 5 gives the answer, even when we were dead in our trespasses.

I mean, we’re just sinning and sinning and sinning and sinning and sinning. And God loves us. In fact, it’s a great love because of the great love, verse 4, with which He loved us. Verse 6, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages He might show the im measurable riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

(Ephesians 2:8–9)

And by the way, this is a great verse. I know sometimes, I know not all Catholics, but some Catholics believe that works play into the salvation, okay? This is a great verse right here, a little great little passage to share if they’re kind of struggling or dealing with that.

Or if you talk to anyone who thinks that they’re saved by works. I mean, it can’t be any clearer. For by grace you have been saved through… In fact, he says it, if you noticed in verse five, almost like as a little insert at the end of verse five, by grace you have been saved through faith.

Then he keeps going on, right? And then he comes back to it in verse eight, for by grace you have been saved through faith. Okay, how are we saved? We’re saved by grace through faith.

Okay, it’s the grace that saves you. The instrument is the faith. So regardless of your theological convictions, Calvinism, Arminian, somewhere in the middle, like you’re saved by grace. It’s the vehicle of faith that God uses to give you the grace, but you ain’t got nothing to do with your salvation regardless of where you appear on that spectrum.

It’s just true. God saves you by grace. Dead man can’t do anything. You are dead.

That’s how the passage starts. Verse 1, you are dead in your trespasses and sins. Dead man can’t do anything. They need someone to come and make them alive.

Or as Jesus calls it, be born again. So by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works. Right there, I couldn’t be clear. It’s not about works, works don’t save.

So that no one may boast. And then here’s really why we turned here. Verse 10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So we’re created in Christ Jesus to do the good works. Well, the creation happens first, then the works come after. I mean, it’s pretty easy to see that. We’re his workmanship, we’re creating Christ Jesus.

Oh, what are we been created for? Past tense, oh, we’re created for these good works, right? And then look at that, oh, God’s prepared them beforehand. Long time ago, God prepared these good works for us to do.

And he wants us what? Oh, to walk in those good works. So we’re incomplete when we can’t do the tasks that we’re created to do. We’re just like those dogs.

So God doesn’t rebuke the Israelites for doing the work, notice. They’re doing the work, it’s getting done. They’re just going through the motions. Now we have to do the work, but we have to have the motions, not just empty motions.

Our heart has to be there. He rebuked them for it was being empty. Listen to me. Because a lot of you haven’t heard

Mortify Your Sin

All right, do you all know what the word mortification means? It means like to put something to death, right? It’s kind of the, there’s really two sides to sanctification. Some of you haven’t heard this before, so listen, there’s really two sides to sanctification.

You could call this like the negative side, not in the bad sense, but the negative side in terms of it’s more like don’t do this, but it’s putting its sin to death. So you’ll hear, sadly, you don’t hear it talked about much these days, but you’ll here some of the older theologians, they’ll be like mortify your sin, mortify your sin, mortify your sin, right? Well, what are they doing? What are they rippin’ from?

Well, they were just rippin’ from the Scriptures. That’s what the Scriptures say. There’s two key verses. Turn back a couple books to Romans chapter 8.

They’re just saying what the Scriptures say, and they’re just putting a fancy word to it. Verse 13, Romans 8, for if you live according flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.“ That’s the idea. Put to death the deeds of the body. Mortify your sin.

I forget what the allusion was, but it was basically kill your sin or it’s going to kill you. Look at Colossians 3. Similar. Colossians 3 verse 5:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

(Colossians 3:5)

And he goes on in verse 8, But Right. Put it to death. Mortify it.

Now, most people, when they think about their Christian walk, when they think about sanctification, they might not think about that word, but they think about this aspect of sanctification. I don’t do it. I don’t do it. I don’t do it.

I don’t do it. I don’t do it. That’s what they focus on. They focus on the don’ts.

But there’s another aspect to it. It’s called, the fancy word, is vivification. Vivification. What’s vivification?

Well, that’s the positive side of sanctification. That’s you doing something. Specifically, it’s the idea or act of giving life or energy or vigor to something. So that’s great if you’re not doing all the things that the Bible tells you not to do.

Awesome. But the Bible tells us a whole lot of things to do as well. That’s the vivification. That’s the positive side of sanctification.

That you’re walking it out. So when you think about this, I’ll probably get into it more later at a future date, but when you think about it, you know, we all have agency. And so it’s in one sense, it’s very easy in one sense to abstain from negative things. You just don’t do them.

But when you think about positive things, because you can be passive in not doing those things. You don’t actually have to do something to not do something, if that makes sense. If you abstain, you can literally just sit in your house all day and you can abstain. You can sit in your same chair for 24 hours and abstain.

And will you have followed the negative command? Yeah, you will have. But does the Lord want you staying in that chair H 24 hours a day? No, he wants you doing stuff.

That’s the vivification. So is it wrong to sit in your chair? No. Is it wrong to sit in your chair day after day after day and not do anything?

Well, yeah. There’s vivification. You’re supposed to be doing good works. You’re supposed to be walking in those good works.

So when James comes along in the book of James, and what does he say? As the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. I mean, he’s just saying what we’re saying. A saved person will do good works.

A saved person doesn’t do it to be saved. They do it because they are saved. It’s the indicative before the imperatives, all right? We are who we are before we go and do what we need to do.

God does good work in you. And then you do a work for him. Not to earn anything, but because he already earned it for you. Consider this.

If a guy today walked up to you and gave you $100 million, no strings attached, anything, which would be pretty cool, right? Probably ruin your life. But we all think it would be cool. But he walks up and gives you $100 million, no strings attached.

Anything you do for him from that point forward, there’s no strings attached. So anything you do for him from that point forward is not to get the hundred million dollars You’ve already got it. It’s in your bank account You have the money he’s given it to you. You have ownership of it So any action from that point forward are based on the fact that you have that money now Well a hundred million would change your life, right Well God’s gift of eternal life It changes our life.

It’s worth way more than a hundred million dollars So it changes your life. Your life is changed. You’ve received the hundred million, if you will. And when things change, right?

You’ve already got it. You’ve got the hundred million. There’s no trying to pay it back. K That’s why the parable of the talent, that guy’s trying to pay back that debt or whatever.

He doesn’t realize that what he’s been forgiven. He doesn’t realize what he’s received. So you have the hundred million. You have the eternal life.

That’s the basis from which you’re operating. You have the greatest gift possible. And so that’s why James is saying faith without works is dead. I mean, if you have that faith, if you have that 100 million and that’s not changing you, then you probably don’t really have the 100 million.

You say you have the eternal life, but it’s not changing you. There’s no drastic difference, and you probably don’t really have the eternal life. What is Paul saying to Ephesians? I say in testifying in the Lord, chapter 4, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds.

Like we have changed minds. Change hearts and change minds. The Lord in His graciousness disciplines those He loves. Does it in the Old Testament and He does it in the New Testament.

He He uses all sorts of things, all sorts of circumstances, all sorts of situations to bring us back to Him. This is such unpopular today, which is unfortunate because the Lord’s probably disciplining a lot of people out there. He disciplines those He loves. There’s a lot of believers out there.

They don’t even understand this or realize this or believe it. But over the Lord disciplines those He loves, Old Testament and New Testament. I mean, it’s just like us as parents, right? Because we love our children, we discipline them.

So, receive the Lord’s discipline. How does He deal with His people? We’ll go back to Han. So you see it.

What does He tell them there? He says, In. In the middle of verse 15, before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord. So before you started rebuilding, how did you fare?

When one came to a heap of 20 measures, there were but 10. When one came to the wine vat to draw 50 measures, there were about 20. And look what he says, I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight with blight and with mildew and with hail. You did not turn to me,“ declares the Lord.

Now that word turn, repentance, depending on what version you use, or repent depending on what version you use, you won’t see that word a lot in the Old Testament. It’s there. The ESV is probably about 15 times. King James is probably about there, but some will use some other terms, which is actually fine, but the term that you will see is turn or return.

That’s the word that you’ll see, but when you see that, that’s the word that some versions translate as repentance. So here that’s what he’s telling them. I brought calamity verse 17 yet you did not turn to me. Now think about that for a moment.

We like to think that calamity and hardship normally turns people away from the Lord. That’s probably our normal thinking. Clamity and hardship, but it’s meant to bring us back. Any, any even natural disaster is meant to bring us back.

I mean, when you talk about it, what’s happening? What does he say? I struck it with blight and with mildew and with hail. I mean, those are just natural things.

So the people could have just written that off. The hail is just doing its hail thing and the blight is just doing its blight thing. Things get moldy and mildewy. Now that was from the hand of the Lord.

He was trying to get their attention. He was trying to get them to turn back to Him. We don’t like thinking of it that way, but nature is under his control. He’s a sovereign God.

And the point of anything something bad happens, it’s meant to one, wake us up and to have us get back where we need to be with the Lord. This is what Jesus says in Luke 13. It says, there were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood pilot had mingled had mingled with their sacrifices and he answered them do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way no I tell you he’s like are they being punished for something they did he’s like no I tell you but look where the focus is unless you repent you will all likewise perish he goes on or those 18 on whom the tower and Siloam fell and killed them. Do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?

So this tower Siloam falls, 18 die, and people are like, oh man they must have been doing something wrong and and the tower fell on them. No, God’s saying hey those people died but the warning is for you. They can’t do anything. They’re dead, the warning is for you.

He says, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you You will all likewise perish. Even the flooding in Nepal, it’s awful. You saw the videos atrocious.

At least thousands of people dead. But that is a dark country. That is a dark country.

God Loves to Bless

False religion, false religion, false religion. That is a wake up call for those people. To have them turn to the Lord. The light shines in the darkness.

Darkness doesn’t understand. Brothers and sisters, one, take heart because if you have the Lord, He’s on your side. Or maybe you want to say it, if you have the Lord, you’re on His side. That’s fine.

But you can’t lose if you’re on the Lord’s side. And look what He has. Blessings for the people. Look back in Hegai in verse 18.

Consider from this day onward, onward, from the 24th day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, considered, is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing, but from this day on, I will bless you.“ The Lord never looks to withhold his blessings. He doesn’t look to do that. He looks to bless.

He wants to bless. It’s in his nature to bless, to give good things. James 1 verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from where? It’s from above.

Coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. But you know what’s interesting about that verse? Well, the very previous verse. What it says right before it, James 1 verse 16, Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.“ Well, why does James say that?

Because he knows it’s easy for us to think, oh, the gifts are from my own doing, or the gifts are just naturally occurring, or the gifts are something that I’ve done to earn. No, don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. He knows we can be duped into thinking that. Every good gift, every perfect gift is from our Heavenly Father.

He’s a good God who loves to bless. At times, keep this in mind, at times, He overblesses us. That’s not really a term, all right. But He overblesses us.

He abundantly gives us a blessing. And the idea is for us to see how good and gracious and generous our good God is. Blessing after blessing after blessing after blessing. Like we don’t have storehouses enough.

And if that’s how we want God to be with us, and he is, like we should want to be that way with others. And that is how God is with us. He blesses and blesses and blesses. Listen, if you can count all the blessings of the Lord in your life, then you need to go back to math class because you can’t do it.

You just couldn’t do it. His blessings are too numerous to count. But here’s our problem. We always make it about material blessings.

And most of us, if we’re honest, we’re very one-dimensional. What do we link blessings with? We just link it with financial prosperity of some sort. So it’s very simple.

Oh, do I have a good job that pays me well? Yes. Oh, I’m blessed. That’s how we think.

And we also think the other way. Do I have a good job that pays me well? No. I don’t have a good job.

Well, I’m not blessed. Now, that’s false thinking. If that’s your only measure, then you’re doing a huge disfavor to the Lord and missing a whole lot of what he’s doing in your life. So finance is not the measure of whether the Lord is for you or against you.

There’s the poor widow of Zarephath. I mean, she’s still a poor widow after Elijah left her. But that didn’t mean she was any less blessed. We can do this with our job.

We can do this with our retirement. Like we look at our 401k, oh, I have enough, I’m blessed. I don’t have enough, I’m not blessed. Rump by that nonsense.

We had a guy years and years ago, we had a guy going here, I mean, he was flat out broke. Flat out broke. Had to live in an apartment because he couldn’t afford a house. Couldn’t even rent a house.

He had to live in an apartment. Not a penny to his name, except his meager social security check that came every month. But, I mean, you talked to that guy, and that guy knew he was blessed. And he was.

In countless ways. So the Lord blesses and blesses and blesses. He seeks to bless. They’re walking in disobedience, and what does the Lord say?

I mean, the message comes, think about this. The message comes this third message comes to the people and They receive it and. They’re hearing it, but they haven’t even had a chance to repent yet, and the Lord already promises blessing Is I I’ve I’ve inflicted you with these things and you haven’t turned and I’m telling you now to turn and guess what? I’m gonna miss you That’s our Heavenly Father.

He blesses and blesses. We don’t deserve any of those blessings. And a lot of times He blesses us in spite of us, but He blesses. So God blesses us and He blesses our works.

Whatever we put our hand to, God is gracious to bless it. It’s possible to work because of what we have from Him. He makes our works worth something. And he takes our actions and uses them for kingdom purposes.

So two things as I wrap up. One, where’s your heart at with with the Lord? And there’s probably maybe two ways you could go. One, if you’re not a believer, and maybe you don’t even know it, I don’t know.

That’s possible. But Are you empty on the inside in terms of the Spirit of God is really not living inside you? That’s not good. Because you’re on your way to hell.

So if that’s you, today’s your day for salvation, for you to repent and turn to him. There’s that type, but there’s the other, where we’ve just kind of have an apathetic attitude, and we’ve just been going through the motions. And so we might have the spirit of God living in there, but man, everyone else, if they looked inside your heart, sure, wouldn’t be sure about that. Well then, we need to repent.

Not for a salvation experience, but for our apathy and our lack of heart for the Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, that’s the first commandment. So if that’s us, then repentance is required in accordance with that. Get right with the Lord.

Remember, it’s not the works that save us, it’s the works that we do once we’re saved. We’re privileged to be able to serve His kingdom. I mean, we get to serve Him. We get to help advance the kingdom.

What does Jesus tell us? Seek first. What? His kingdom.

His kingdom. And then, man, what a promise, and all these things will be added to you. Seek first His kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. So we’re seeking first His kingdom.

Part of seeking is working. Seeking him, part of it is the mortification of sin. Part of the is the vivification. So we’re putting sin to death, but we’re also doing good works.

We’re taking agency. We’re not just sitting in the chair at home for 24 hours. No, we’re looking to actively do things for the kingdom of God. That looks differently at different stages.

But the older generations, like now that maybe you have a chance to breathe, because most all your kids are out of your house. Like you’ve got different opportunities that present you and your ministry to your family is more like an extended ministry to your family or a ministry to extended family. They’re outside your house. So your ministry looks different, but all sorts of doors open to you.

All sorts of doors. So you can do works that maybe weren’t available to you before, that you couldn’t do before. Your primary ministry, if you got kids in the home, That’s your primary ministry. And don’t feel bad about that.

You’re raising the next generation. You are raising immortal souls. You couldn’t be given a greater task. Hey, someday, you know, like the Lord comes to you and he hands you your kid, a little baby.

And he’s like, someday this precious child is going to go to heaven or hell. And I’m putting him And you’re in charge of that little baby. Well, that’s a little sobering. And so for whatever, you’re gonna toil and toil and toil and cry, probably a whole lot.

For what, a decade or two? And it is worth it, brothers and sisters. I’m telling you, it’s worth it. You toil and toil and toil.

And those that have kids outside the house, Maybe they’re not walking with the Lord. Look, as long as there’s breath, there’s hope. So you keep praying for them. You still, you keep looking for opportunities.

People get saved at all ages of life. So as long as you’re breathing, as long as they’re breathing, you a praying. That’s what you’re doing. All right, the God who saved you can save your kids.

True? So we press on and we trust him. The work is for him to a please him, to honor him, and to glorify him.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. Father, thank you that you do save us by grace. It’s nothing that we’ve done. You save us. You are gracious to save us over and over and over again. Lord, you are there for us. So thank you for redeeming a people for your own pleasure. Thank you for the salvation that we have. It’s only in Jesus that we have it. I pray Lord for anyone here who might be empty on the inside, empty of your salvation, that today they would truly trust and repent. And I pray for others. They’re saved, but they’ve just been going through the motions. I pray they would get right with you. they would repent. As John talks about in Revelation, they would return to their first love. And Lord, yes, let us be putting sin to death and putting into action the righteousness that we have from you, doing the works you’ve given us to do, all for your glory. Amen.