Sermons
September 22nd, 2019 by Pastor Solley092219AM Message to the Remnant
Sub. Haggai
Theme: Haggai’s message
Text: Haggai
“Message to the Remnant
“Message to the Remnant” Haggai
Introduction
I want to speak to you this morning about a message to the remnant of Israel from the book of Haggai. A remnant is a smaller portion of something, usually a bolt of cloth or a carpet of which the greater part has been cut or sold. The remnant would be the surviving piece. It is also a word used of Israel and in our day the Seventh Day Adventist claim to be a remnant.
I. Haggai was a prophet sent to the remnant of Israel: Hag 1:1-3 It was Darius who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland after seventy years captivity in Babylon and the while decree of the king was for all the Jews only a small percentage returned to Jerusalem. Ezra and Nehemiah give a detailed account of those that returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.
A. Why did most of the Jews stay in Babylon and the countries to which they had been dispersed? They became settled in the world. They did maintain their national identity, but they had become settled in the world.
1. So it was just a remnant that returned: They did number in the thousands, but they were still a remnant, a smaller part.
2. To those ones Haggai was sent with a message from the Lord: Hag 1:3
B. There are three areas addressed by the Lord that I want to look at this morning: The phrase “The Word of the Lord” is found five times in the book of Haggai so we do know God is speaking to them. I want to look at three things the Lord laid upon my heart.
II. Why are these three things relevant to us this morning? Because we make up part of a remnant: We are not Israel and we do not follow the false claims of the Seventh Day Adventist, but we do make up part of a remnant.
A. What if everyone who claims to be a Christian, who claims to be saved would show up in churches this morning? All of the Bible believing churches in this area would be filled to captivity and we would be building yet again to accommodate everyone.
1. But most who claim to be saved, claim to know Jesus are not here this morning nor will they be tonight or Wednesday night: Most are someplace else, most have something else to do, most are indifferent to the Lord. Even in the best of churches there will be a drop of from Sunday morning to Sunday night and from Sunday night to Wednesday prayer meeting.
2. So you do make up a remnant this morning: Even within the remnant there is a remnant. Not all who attend the services have their hearts in them. Even within the remnant there is a remnant.
A. What God gave to Haggai to give to Israel God gives to us this morning as well: There are three tings the Lord has laid upon my heart, three things for the remnant this morning.
PROP: It is important that we see these things today. TS. Because they are for us, they are for a remnant of Christians.
Body
I. Three things God had for Israel from Haggai: We will make an application to us today after we look at these three things.
A. Stop spinning your wheels: Hag 1:3-11 The remnant that came back did clean up the city, did clean up the temple, they did those things. But they did the bare minimum.
1. We find in the book of Nehemiah that they left more undone than they did: Neh 1:1-3; Neh 2:11-17 In the area of cleaning up and restoring the city and the temple they did the minimum. What happened?
2. They became more interested in secular things than they were in spiritual things: Hag 1:6-9 I say secular things and not worldly things because the things they were doing were not and are not sinful things in and of themselves. Consider…
a. They were planting and harvesting, working. – Hag 1:6
b. They were providing for their households. – Hag 1:6
c. They were trying to put money away. – Hag 1:6
d. There was and is nothing wrong with any of those things.
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3. But they were never satisfied: Hag 1:9 They never found satisfaction in any of those things, they were never full. They were spinning their wheels through life, never satisfied, never fulfilled, they were spinning their wheels through life.
4. So God calls for them to consider your ways: Hag 1:5-7 It is interesting that God does not call for them to give up what they were doing, to stop working, to stop providing for their homes, to stop trying to put money away. God does not call for that.
a. But God does call for them to pay attention to Him, to pay attention to spiritual needs. – Hag 1:4, 8
b. God wants their time and attention, their devotion as well.
c. Until they give that to the Lord they will never have satisfaction, never find fulfillment, never find real purpose in life.
d. As soon as they would give God first place in their lives they would find that purpose in their lives.
5. Stop spinning your wheels:
B. Give attention to what God wants you to do, has for you and not for others: Hag 2:1-4 Some of those who returned to Jerusalem saw the city before it was torn down, some saw the temple of Solomon before it was destroyed. – Hag 2:3 – Some were children, some young men, perhaps some a few years older when dispersed, but they saw the glory of Solomon’s temple.
1. What they were being called to build did not compare to what Solomon built: Hag 2:3 They looked at what they were building and saw it as nothing when compared to what Solomon built. One was greater, the other did not compare. – Hag 2:3
2. But God was not concerned with what Solomon built, God was concerned with what He called them to do: Hag 2:4 Don’t worry about what Solomon did, be concerned with what I have for you. – Hag 2:3-4
a. To compare themselves with Solomon would leave them feeling inadequate.
b. To compare themselves with Solomon’s temple and the temple of the remnant would leave them disappointed.
c. To compare themselves with Solomon would leave them feeling useless.
3. But God had something for them: Hag 2:4 Don’t be concerned with Solomon.
4. Give attention to what God wants you to do, has for you and not for others:
C. One day you will give account before God: Hag 2:20-23 These verses do speak of judgment and there was a time coming when the remnant would give an account before God as well. What would they give an account for?
1. Not for how much money they made, how hard they worked and provided secular things: Those things brought them no satisfaction in this world and will matter not at all at the judgment seat when they stood and gave account of their lives.
2. Not for what Solomon did: Solomon would give an account of that, Solomon would give an account of himself.
3. But for what they did for the Lord, their love and devotion to the Lord: Hag 1:7 The first two areas are important because of this third one, because one day they would give an account of their lives before the God of heaven:
4. One day you will give account before God:
D. Three tings God had for the remnant: (1) Stop spinning your wheels. (2) Give attention to what God has for you to do. (3) Because one day you will give an account of your life before God.
II. We need to stop spinning our wheels through life: There are many Christians who find no purpose in life, no satisfaction, no fulfillment. They seem to be on an endless cycle going nowhere, just spinning their wheels.
A. For many it is not that they are doing anything wrong: Hag 1:5-6 In fact these things we are commanded to do.
1. They worked, we are commanded to work: 2 Thess 3:10 God wants us to work.
2. They provided for their household, we are commanded to provide for our households: 1 Tim 5:8
3. Those would include putting money away for the future: Being sure our needs are met in the golden years.
4. Many more things we are commanded to do in this realm: Working and providing are not all and these things command our time.
a. Parents are to train their children. – Prov 22:6
b. Grandparents are to be a spiritual influence on their grandchildren. – Lev 19:32 – Honored because of Godly influence.
c. The husband is to meet the needs of his wife. – 1 Peter 3:7
d. The wife is to a helpmeet meeting the needs of her husband. – 1 Peter 3:1
e. There is to be time for rest and refreshment. – Mark 6:31
5. None of these things are wrong, as well as many other things found in the Bible: They are not wrong when kept in proper balance.
B. But none of those things bring fulfillment, bring lasting purpose, none of those things completely satisfy Why? Because many get them out of balance and that leads to want and not satisfaction.
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1. I can point to Solomon who let his desire for money get out of balance: He ended up living an empty life, spinning his wheels.
2. I can point to Eli, Hezekiah and others who did not train their children: They could find no satisfaction in their children.
3. I can point to David who should have been on the battlefield instead of resting on a rooftop: That led to emptiness.
4. Even the things God calls us to do will lead to emptiness if we get them out of balance:
C. So we need to consider our ways: The only thing that will give me purpose in life, will bring me satisfaction, will make me fulfilled are the things I do in the Lord, the time and energy I choose to give to the Lord.
1. God wants my heart, all of it to be given to Him first: Mark 12:30
2. God wants my service, my time and energy to be given to Him: Rom 12:1-2
3. When I give God my love and devotion, my time and my service then everything brings me purpose, fulfillment and satisfaction: Even the other things I am commanded to be given to when done with a love for Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ first satisfy me.
4. When we feel like we are just spinning our wheels through life we have things out of balance:
D. Stop spinning your wheels:
III. Give attention to what God wants you to do, has for you and not for others: The remnant in Israel was disappointed when they remembered what Solomon did, but God did not call for them to do what Solomon did.
A. There are times when we may look at what others are doing or have done for the Lord and think that we are capable of doing nothing: We compare ourselves to others and what they have done and see ourselves of little value before the Lord.
1. Billy Sunday is my favorite evangelist of the past in America: Tens of thousands would come to his meeting for weeks at a time packing his tent full by noon for an evening service. Last fall holding evangelistic meeting in the south about 25 a night attended.
2. TT Shields, WB Riley, J Frank Norris, John Straton, fundamental pastors all and all influenced a nation in the 20’s & 30’s: They pastured churches with membership built into the thousands, ran Sunday Schools with thousands attending. Here I am in a little church in a little corner of PA.
3. Look at the camps the Wilds have built: Look at our little camp.
4. You can feel like you can contribute nothing to the cause of Christ when you look at what others have done:
B. What we need to pay attention to is what God has called us to do, you to do, me to do: I need to find what God has for me.
1. I am not to seek God’s will for another, I am to seek God’s will for me: Eph 6:6; Col 4:12; 1 Jun 2:17 If you do a word study on the will of God in the New Testament you will find many things that are God’s will for you in a general way. If you expand that to the Old Testament you will find many more things that are the will of God for you in a general way.
2. Then if you are willing to seek His will in a specific way that will be revealed to you as well: Not only does God have a will for you that you share in common with other believers, God also has a specific will for you: Rom 12:1-2 As you seek His will out in prayer it will be revealed to you. I know God’s will for you in a general way because it is God’s will that we obey His command. I can’t tell you what God’s specific will is for you, only for me.
a. I know it is God’s will that I preach. I can share the testimony of that calling with you if you ask.
b. I know it was God’s will that I marry Dena Tubbs. Much prayer went into this union, much more than you would think.
c. I know it was God’s will that we buy the car we are driving. Much prayer when into that purchase, more than you would think.
3. We can know the will of God for our lives: And when we find out what His will is we then need to be given wholly to it.
4. So it does not matter what others have done or might do: I am to give my all to what God wants me to do.
C. Give attention to what God wants you to do, has for you and not for others:
IV. One day you will give account before God: 2 Cor 5:8-10 We will all stand before the God of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ and give an account of our lives. This is not an account of salvation but of what we have done with our lives after salvation.
A. And what will we give an account for: We need to keep a proper perspective here. The throne of God is a place of love, a place of reunion, a place of peach and joy, but it is also a place of judgment, a place where we will give and account. – Eccl 11:9; 12:14
1. I will not give an account of how much money I made in my lifetime:
2. I will not give an account of how much money I saved:
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3. I will not give an account of what others have done:
4. I will not give an account of good intentions:
B. I will give an account of what I have done for Jesus, how much I loved Jesus, what I have done and not another: As you study accountability before God you find it is complete.
1. My motive for serving will be judged:
2. My devotion to him will be judged:
3. My walk as a Christian will be judged:
4. The Bible says that even my idle words will be judged: God’s judgment is complete.
4. I then ought to be living with that in mind: God wanted the remnant of Israel to live with accountability in mind.
5. If I do live with these tings in mind there will be more reward than loss: 1 Cor 3:11-16 I have a good friend who tell me that he “Wants to keep his bonfire as small as possible”. So should we all.
C. One day you will give account before God:
Body
Having looked at Haggai and his message from God to Israel what can we say this morning?
I. God gave them at least these three things:
A. Stop spinning your wheels: Hag 1:3-11 The remnant that came back did clean up the city, did clean up the temple, they did those things. But they did the bare minimum.
B. Give attention to what God wants you to do, has for you and not for others: Hag 2:1-4 Some of those who returned to Jerusalem saw the city before it was torn down, some saw the temple of Solomon before it was destroyed. – Hag 2:3 – Some were children, some young men, perhaps some a few years older when dispersed, but they saw the glory of Solomon’s temple.
C. One day you will give account before God: Hag 2:20-23 These verses do speak of judgment and there was a time coming when the remnant would give an account before God as well. What would they give an account for?
II. We need to stop spinning our wheels through life: There are many Christians who find no purpose in life, no satisfaction, no fulfillment. They seem to be on an endless cycle going nowhere, just spinning their wheels.
III. Give attention to what God wants you to do, has for you and not for others: The remnant in Israel was disappointed when they remembered what Solomon did, but God did not call for them to do what Solomon did.
IV. One day you will give account before God: 2 Cor 5:8-10 We will all stand before the God of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ and give an account of our lives. This is not an account of salvation but of what we have done with our lives after salvation.