The Is the Year to Put it into Gear!

The Year to Put It Into Gear! 1-25-15

Haggai

Let’s read Haggai 1 to 2:9

Since you are in this church in 2015, you can expect that God will offer you and require more of you than you have experienced before.

When revival comes to America and the world in our lifetime—which I am convinced it will— God will look to churches like us to help disciple the multitudes who want to know Jesus and grow into His image, have godly families, have healed bodies, emotions and relationships.

Here is the fresh and clear mandate from God for 2015:

This is the Year to Put It Into Gear

We have prayed for years. We have obeyed for years. We have hoped for years. This is the year God will release us to put into action many of the dreams He has put into our heart for ourselves and for others.

That’s what He told me. But it’s our choice.


God will respond to us according to our choices. Remember the words of James, the brother of Jesus: “Be doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” (James 1:22).

God speaks to us in the Bible as well as in our hearts to move us to action—not just contemplation. God is a God of action! His word does not go forth without something good happening.

So, to repeat—2015 is a time for action. The time to wait is over. This is the Year to Put It Into Gear—whatever the Lord has told you to do. Get out of Park or Neutral! Move out! It’s time to Go and Do.

2500 years ago, God sent a humble man named Haggai to tell God’s people a similar message: it’s time to get moving and do what I told you to do.

Now, while we examine this important message from God’s prophet Haggai, let’s also learn how to teach the Bible so each of one us can help others learn the Bible better!

Someday, God may need each one of us to disciple new believers. When revival comes, there will not be enough church staff or SS teachers to handle the large crowds of new believers. God will need every soldier in His army to be ready to serve in bringing in the harvest!


Bible Teaching TipsSo, when you are teaching someone the Bible, here’s the best way to teach them a passage. Answer these three questions”1. What does it say? 2. What does it mean?3. What does it mean to me?

Say= What do the words and grammar mean. What is the historical setting, who are the characters in the passage and what message is the writer trying to convey.

Mean= What are the themes, principles and truths we can glean from this book?

Mean to Me: Knowing all that, how will I apply this passage to my life.

What Does It Say

This part comes from researching in a Bible dictionary or online about the history of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews.

God sent the Babylonian Army to destroy Jerusalem in 586 BC due to gross and persistent sins, especially idolatry. Jeremiah


29:10 promised that the Jews of Jerusalem would be in captivity for 70 years in Babylon and then God would bring them back to Jerusalem. That 70 year period apparently began around 605 BC with the capture of Daniel and others and is called The Babylonian Captivity—one of the darkest times in Israel’s history.

When the Persian King Cyrus defeated Babylon, one of his first acts in 538 BC was to start sending Jews back to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 4:1-4) and their temple so they would pray for his success. Smart man!

But Cyrus had help from the Holy Spirit! That’s right, this pagan king was being guided by the Spirit of God: God prophesied through Isaiah that Cyrus would rebuild God’s temple:

Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid (Isa. 44:28).

In fact, the Bible says in Is. 45:1 that this pagan king was actually anointed by God to do His will.

King Cyrus, pagan worshipper, was the only other person in the Bible besides Jesus who is called “His anointed” in the Bible! Amazingly, the Lord took His people back to the Promised Land through a pagan king’s edict, not David’s line.


See—God’s ways really are not our ways as Is. 55 warns us!

Perhaps the comment of theologian John Calvin will help us make sense of this: “This is appropriate…“God deigns to call [Cyrus] his ‘Anointed,’ not by a perpetual title, but because he discharged for a time the office of Redeemer; for he … delivered [the church] from the Assyrians.” ( Actually the Persians)

So, as the Book of Ezra records, the Jews have been sent back by Cyrus to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the Temple of God within the city walls.

Now, in 520 BC when Haggai writes, the problem is that the resettled Jews are too busy working on their own houses to rebuild the house of the Lord, His Temple—even though they know God wants His temple rebuilt—as Isaiah prophesied years earlier.

So, God sends Haggai to lovingly but clearly rebuke them by reminding them that God has held back some of his blessings due to their sin of not building His house on time.

Now, it is good to know that Haggai’s prophecy came at a time when the people of Judah were extremely vulnerable and not doing that well emotionally.


1. They had been humbled by their exile to Babylon but hopeful in their return to their Promised Land,

2. They were discouraged by the local and vocal opposition in their rebuilding of the temple, so they had quit (Ezra 4:24).

3. Now, sixteen years later, with Haggai blaming their lack of food, clothing, and shelter on their failure to rebuild the temple, the Jews were receptive to his message of rebuilding the Lord’s house.

Haggai is Unique in the OTBut here’s where Haggai stands out from all the other OT prophets sent to call Israel to repentance: the people actually obeyed the prophetic word of Haggai!

No other prophet’s message in the OT saw that happen when they prophesied. The stubborn chosen nation was finally ready to obey God when Haggai spoke!

Four Promises to Reward RepentanceSo, when the people all repent, God’s Spirit helps them really go to work with zeal. God also makes four promises to them that really encourages them.

1. “I am with you”-twice (1:13, 2:4) and “My Spirit will be with you!” (2:5)

2. I will fill this house with people from the nations and with my Glory. (2:7)

3. The glory of the new temple will be far greater than the first temple that was destroyed. (2:9)

http://biblia.com/bible/nlt/Ezra%204.24


4. I will make Zerubbabel, your governor, like My signet ring—a sign of great authority on earth for the Jewish nation. (2:23)

What Does It Mean?What are the themes, principles and truths we can glean from this book?

1. Truth: Sin Is Often Reasonable

Why did the remnant stop building the Temple?

Well ,Ezra tells us that the local Samaritans around Jerusalem forced the returning Jewish exiles to stop building through legal action. Life was hard then, too. The people were living in a shattered city of rubble, oppressed by enemies and and there was much to do to just to live and survive in this newly rebuilt city.

Understandable? Reasonable? Yes—sin is usually very reasonable. It usually makes some sense why people commit some sins. But it is still sin.

It’s easy to understand why the husband got into internet pornography. His wife was not interested in much physical affection and the husband craved affection so he sought to fulfill that legitimate need the wrong way


It’s easy to see why the businessman cheated on his taxes. He has four kids to send to college and business is slow.

It’s easy to comprehend why a local worship leader now lives like he is a homosexual. He was repeatedly taught as a child to act that way by another man.

It’s easy to understand why a local pastor has made some poor choices that hurt many people. He became so successful in ministry that he felt like he had so little time for God since so many people now wanted his attention. His faith eventually became weak and he lost touch with the Holy Spirit, depending more on his leadership gifts than His relationship with God.

Yes—sin seems so reasonable, so logical at times. But sin is still sin and we always lose something good when we sin—which is point # 2.

2. Principle: When We Sin, We Lose

Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but 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.”


The Bible consistently proclaims that God always delights to bless His people. I love Is. 30:18. The Lord even gave me a tune for this verse:

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

However, delayed obedience or disobedience is not rewarded with all the gracious things God has for us.

On the contrary, this passage seems to teach us that God will withhold some blessings that He longs to give us in order to motivate more us to repent and obey Him.

As a wise and loving Father, God will give His disobedient children loving but firm reasons to pay more attention to Him and His commands.

Why? God knows we always lose something good that He wants to give us when we disobey God.

Obedience is an important and required proof of our love for God. “If you love Me, Jesus said, keep my commandments.”

When we deliberately sin, we say to God,” I really don’t love you that much right now in this situation.” So, God says, “That’s too bad, child, because I really wanted to bless you with so much


more but now you cannot have all of it. You have forced Me to limit the good I would have done for you.”

But God is so good, He longs to be gracious to us—even if He has to discipline us so He can bless us more. He will find a way to motivate us so he can bless us more.

He could easily write us off when we sin—“O, there he goes again. I guess he’s not worth my effort to love him”—but He doesn’t. He continues to pursue us to restore us to Himself.

He always starts with the loving appeal, the soft reminder—but if those go ignored, He will make a more forceful statement of our need to return to Him in obedience.

Israel was sent into full captivity in 586 BC only after they disregarded 200+ years of tender appeals and verbal rebukes from God’s prophets and increasing disciplines on the nation of drought, famine and wars.

3. Principle: God Rewards Repentance: 1:13-15He Promised to Be With ThemThen Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” twice! (1:13, 2:4)

God Gave Them a Heart to Obey!1:14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of


Jozadak, 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, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.

So, after God sees their sincere repentance, God makes their obedience easier! Just as Phil. 2:12-13 says for us today:“…work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

If you give God an inch of repentance, He gives you back a mile of grace!

Peter knew that when he repented of denying Jesus. Jesus not only took him back as a disciple but made him head of the 12.

The Prodigal Son in Luke 15 certainly got more than he ever imagined when he repented: Here’s what he planned to tell his father when he went home:“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.

But after his father had run to him and kissed him, the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it


on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

God always rewards repentance! If you need to repent of something, do not delay. God will reward your repentance.

What Does This Mean to Me?

How do we apply these passages to our lives today? This is the most important part of the Bible study process.

Here’s one place where God and the devil agree: Neither cares much about what we know of the Bible if we do not obey what we know.

Hearing without doing = delusion as James 1:22 warns.

The devil loves such people. They play right into his hands.

So, what does God want us to know about how the message of Haggai applies to our lives today in 2015.

Perhaps God has spoken to you through the the Bible in the past about something that He wants you to obey more.


Perhaps the Holy Spirit has highlighted someone recently that you need to get right with.

Perhaps God has put His finger on a habit you have or a choice you have made that he wants adjusted.

Perhaps God has warned you about something and you have still not taken that warning seriously.

Perhaps God just misses you and wants you to make more room in your life for Him, to turn off the TV or internet and just hang out with Him more so He can bless you more.

Let’s take 60 seconds and ask Him.

Listen!

Pray.

Dismiss with blessing on the food and offer for prayer in classroom with Esther, Lori, Minnichs, Ryan, etc.

Ask for guys to help set up.

Education

The Is the Year to Put it into Gear!