God's House or Mine?
Haggai 1v3-11
21st August 2020
Last week we looked at Haggai's first prophecy, which was simply:
Haggai 1v2
This is what the Lord Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not
yet come for the Lord's house to be rebuilt'".
His second prophecy follows on from it:
Haggai 1v3-11
Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:
"Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while
this house remains a ruin?"
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.
Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I
may take pleasure in it and be honoured," says the Lord.
"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home,
I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which
remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.
Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its
crops.
I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new
wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and
livestock, and on the labour of your hands."
Having accused His people of saying "The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be rebuilt" he now identifies why they were saying it:
Haggai 1v4
"Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while
this house remains a ruin?"
God's people then - and since - tend to put our own well-being ahead of God's glory, our own comfort ahead of God's temple, our own lives and families ahead of God's worship. Even since Jesus came, we forget to:
Matthew 7v33
... seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.
God's house - the temple - lay in ruins, while God's people had built their own houses and were now installing wood panelling in them - making their own homes luxurious while God's house was still a ruin.
You might not see the church in Britain today as a ruin, but it's surely not what God intends. Church attendance has fallen drastically for 100 years. Many church buildings have closed, or been converted into shops and nightclubs. Many church leaders teach doctrine that's not Biblical. During the Coronavirus pandemic, many churches have stopped meeting. Look at the British church and you will clearly see that it's nothing like the fulfilment of God's heart.
Today, as in 520 BC:
Haggai 1v5
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways."
Don't let the British church sleepwalk into oblivion!
Haggai 1v6
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."
Many individual Christians have laboured long and hard to make a good living and provide for their families, and have found it very difficult. Many local churches have worked hard to get the Gospel of Jesus out to those around them, but have found their numbers dwindling rather than increasing. Both financially and spiritually, we've planted much but harvested little.
Many Christians, who should be filled with the joy of the Lord, feel dissatisfied. They feel like they're always hungry or thirsty for something. Perhaps not for actual food and drink, but for something. They feel unfulfilled. They feel like everything they've worked for, both financially and spiritually, is leaking away from them.
This can't be because God doesn't love us, and it can't be because God is too weak to act. Through Haggai, God tells us why this has happened to us, and what to do about it. First he says - again:
Haggai 1v7
This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways."
Oh, if only we would!
Then God says:
Haggai 1v8
Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I
may take pleasure in it and be honoured," says the Lord.
I don't know what the mountains and timber signify in your situation but Haggai is telling God's people to work. God is calling the British church to rebuild His house. Let us seek God in prayer, so that we might hear from Him what we need to do to rebuild that part of His house which is our local church. God has the right to take pleasure in it and be honoured. We must do all we can to make our local church something God can truly take pleasure in. We must honour Him in praise and worship, in the faithful preaching of the Bible as His holy word, in the breaking of bread, and in the love of the fellowship of believers.
Many, many of us - including me - will identify with the next verse:
Haggai 1v9
"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home,
I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which
remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house."
I first believed in Jesus 47 years ago. At that time, my head was filled by well-meaning church leaders with visions of revival, the outpouring of God's power in salvation and healing, and the return of our nation to godly values. It has not happened. And it's not God's fault.
Haggai 1v10-11
"Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth
its crops.
I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new
wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and
livestock, and on the labour of your hands."
Please, please, hear the cry of God's heart. Please hear the message of these words. If God's people - the Christians - will neglect the building of God's temple - the church - then God will call for a drought. That drought may be on grain, new wine, oil and other crops, or it may be a drought of God's power to save and heal. God withholds His blessing when we neglect His temple.
God will not be mocked. If we will not seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, if we will not dedicate ourselves to building His temple - the church - then we will live in want and hardship. For some, that will be financial hardship. For others, it will be emotional or spiritual hardship. For the church, it will mean a further reduction in membership and attendance.
Until we repent.