All right, you're there in Haggai chapter one, look at verse number five, Haggai chapter one, verse number five.
Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.
The title for the sermon tonight, brethren, is Consider Your Ways. Consider, what is your way?
How do we consider our way? Well, our way is obviously the way we live our lives, the things that we do.
The Lord is asking the Jews to consider their ways. What are you doing with your life?
Now, why did I choose Haggai? It seems like just a random book to choose from.
It's not really random. I chose it on purpose because we've recently finished going through the book of Ezra.
Ezra was all about the rebuilding of the new temple, the rebuilding of the house of God as the Jews came out of that Babylonian captivity.
Now, to remind us as to why we're looking at Haggai here, let's keep our finger there and go back to Ezra.
Let's just build some context around this. Why are we looking at Haggai?
Now, go back to Ezra chapter number four, please.
Ezra chapter number four.
Ezra chapter number four and verse number twenty-three.
So it says in Ezra four twenty-three,
Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rahim and Shimshi the scribe and their companions,
they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews and made them to cease by force and power,
then ceased the work of the house of God, which is at Jerusalem,
so it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.
So remember King Cyrus gave Zerubbel and the Jews permission to go back and rebuild the temple,
but then some lies were said about the Jews. They were rebuilding the walls and they weren't doing that.
They were trying to rebuild the temple and then King Artaxerxes, who came after King Cyrus,
put a stop to the house of God, put a stop to the work of,
and you notice it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king.
So it ceased until that point to the second year of Darius, king because we've got a new king on the scene
and what the Jews should have done is when King Artaxerxes had passed away
because they hadn't gotten clear commandments about stopping,
once King Darius got on the scene, they should have just continued the work.
Now let's go to Ezra chapter 5 verse number 1.
Ezra chapter 5 verse number 1, you may recall, the work stopped for about 14 years.
They laid the foundation and then it stopped for 14 years.
Well, Ezra chapter 5 verse 1 says,
Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet,
now you know why we're going for the book of Haggai,
Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Eru,
so Zechariah is the next book in the Bible,
another prophet, we may look at that later on potentially,
the son of Eru prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem
in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.
Then rose up Zerubbel the son of Sheltiel and Jeshua the son of Josadak
and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem
and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
So we've really gone for the book of Ezra, we understand.
They started the work, it got paused for about 14 years,
these two prophets Haggai and Zechariah are the main ones
that encouraged the Jews to get back to the work,
so I thought it would be worthwhile to look at the book of Haggai.
What did Haggai preach exactly?
What was it that caused them, by his preaching,
to be encouraged to get back into the work?
So this is why I've chosen the book of Haggai, it kind of makes sense.
We're still in that mind frame, the rebooting of God's house.
So let's go back to Haggai chapter 1, verse number 1, let's start there.
Haggai chapter 1, verse number 1.
As I said to you, the title for the sermon is Consider Your Ways.
Haggai chapter 1, verse number 1.
In the second year of Darius the king, that makes sense,
they ceased until the second year of Darius the king,
we read that in the book of Ezra.
Well now, in the second year of Darius the king, makes perfect sense,
in the sixth month, in the first day of the month,
came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet,
unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah,
and to Joshua the son of Josedek, the high priest's saint.
So this is the preaching of Haggai, and he says this in verse number 2.
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying,
This people say, the time is not come,
the time that the Lord's house should be built.
And so the Jews of the land, they were saying,
yes, we do need to build God's house, we do need to build the temple,
but it's not time yet, the time is not come.
That's what the Jews are saying amongst themselves.
Now, I completely understand.
Because King Artaxerxes stopped the work.
And while they did stop that work, under that king,
God did not rebuke the Jews for stopping.
They were following orders, they were following the instruction of the king.
But now King Darius is on the scene, alright,
and they should do the work.
I mean, what's stopping you now, Jews?
What's stopping you from doing the work of God?
Well, they're still saying, the time has not yet come.
The time has not come, they're saying, right?
The time for the Lord's house should be built.
So under King Artaxerxes, it's a fair point.
But under King Darius, it's not good enough.
The excuse, well, it's not time for God's house to be built, okay?
It's not good enough.
Now, look at verse number 3.
Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your sealed houses,
and this house lie waste?
So God says, you're saying it's not time to build God's house,
but it's time for you to build your houses?
It's time for you to build your own properties?
It's time for you to go and build your own places?
You know, you're taking care of your own personal needs,
but God's house lays waste.
Now, brethren, we need to think about this,
because sometimes we can get so busy in our lives,
so busy building our house, so busy looking for our own properties,
so busy taking care of our own personal needs,
that we set aside God's house.
That we say, well, I've got just too much to do,
and I can just set aside and let God's house go to waste.
Now, don't forget, what is God's house in the New Testament?
Well, for you, it's this church.
For you, it's Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
This is God's house.
And we need to be careful.
God is not saying it's wrong to care about your houses.
We need a place to live.
We need a roof over our heads.
God understands that.
But listen, when you start to prioritize that,
and you leave God's house to waste,
then God's not going to be happy about that.
Or you say, well, now's not the time.
Now's the time for me to take care of my needs.
You know, brethren, we need to learn to have a good balance in the Christian life.
I've seen many Christians go to one extreme or the other.
You know, one extreme is, well, I'll just care about my own things.
Who cares about the things of God?
Then they drop out of church.
They don't care about God.
They're not interested in things of God.
And that Christian becomes a backslidden Christian,
far from the will of God, okay?
That is one extreme.
There's another extreme that says, well, you know,
I've got to surround my entire life around church, you know?
And I just, you know, forget everything else.
Forget my relationships.
Forget my friendships.
Forget even working.
I'm just going to focus on God's house.
I mean, I'm going to quit everything.
I'm just going to go soul winning every moment, every hour of my day.
That's another extreme.
You know, God, you know, there are plenty of things to do.
There's a time for everything, you know, under heaven.
You know, there's a season for everything.
And, you know, when it comes to living our life,
we need to prioritize our house, yes, but at the same time prioritize God's house.
You know, these things are important.
Just like you prioritize, you need to get up, you know, and get ready,
you know, eat something, eat a meal, go and work, go and provide,
go and be productive.
You know, these things, we know they're priority analyzed.
We go and do it.
But we need to remember that God's house,
the church needs to be on that same level of priority.
You know, never let it be something in your mind that says,
well, you know, let's make a decision whether we go to God's house.
You know, don't let church attendance be a decision that you have to make.
Just set God's house, the service is open, I'm going to be there.
You know, I understand things come up, I understand situations turn up
and you can't be in God's house at certain times,
but, you know, we need to prioritize God's house
just as much as we prioritize our own needs and our own house.
So this is what's happened.
You know, they've gone, they've gone uncomfortable, right?
I mean, at the beginning, King Atzaxerxes' command to stop building
was an inconvenience, right?
They were excited to build God's house.
But as the years went on, they got lazy.
Oh, who cares about God's house now?
It's not time now.
You know, we've got other priorities, we've got other things to do.
And brethren, you know, if you one day have that heart and you say,
and look, you probably will have that heart at some point,
will you say, you know, I'm just too busy with my own things.
You know, I'm going to neglect God's house.
Well, as we'll see here, you're going to start to find that God's blessings
will be removed from your life, okay?
And that's what the Jews start to see as we keep going through this chapter.
Now, it says in verse number five, look at verse number five.
Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.
That's where it comes from, consider your ways, all right?
You care too much about your own life, your own needs, your own house,
you've not cared about the things of God.
And brethren, if church is not a priority to you,
and I'm speaking not just to the people here, but those that listen online,
you know, if church attendance does not become priority for you,
you need to consider your ways.
Just stop and start to reanalyze, you know, where are your priorities?
And, you know, if church is not that, you know, again, midweek service, I understand.
People go to work, people travel far.
Sometimes you can't even make it to church on time.
I understand, I understand people get sick.
I've got 11 kids, kids get sick, they're sick one day,
next kid gets sick two days later, next kid gets sick five days later,
and before you know it, you don't have your whole family in church
for like three weeks because you've got this person sick, you've got that person sick.
I understand, things happen, things develop,
but we need to remember to make God's house a priority, okay?
You know, this bothers the Lord when we don't prioritize His house.
Consider your ways.
As I said to you, you know, the house of God in the New Testament is your local church.
1 Timothy 3.15 says,
So as we read these stories of the Jews,
and we start thinking, man, these crazy Jews, you know, how is it,
they've gone 14 years, we've got a new king, there's no excuses now,
you know, how is it that they're so busy doing, you know, with their own lives,
well then what about our church?
What about Blessed Hope Baptist Church?
You know, has there been times in your life that you forgot to prioritize this church
and you've prioritized other things in your life?
Reverend, we've got to be balanced.
The Christian life is about balancing all these important things in our life.
Look at verse number 6.
God says you have sown much so that they're out sowing their fields,
they're out planting in their vineyards, planting in their farms.
He says you have sown much, they're very busy working and bring in little.
Normally the more you sow, the more you're going to bring in.
God says naturally you're bringing in little.
He says you eat but you have not enough.
You've got some food but you're still hungry.
No, it's not satisfying your needs.
You drink but you're not filled with drink.
He says you've got drink but it's not enough to satisfy your thirst.
Ye clothe you but there is none warm.
You've got clothes but it's not keeping you warm enough on the cooler seasons.
And he that have earned wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Speaking to you guys just recently about how my van's broken down
and the potential costs $3,000 potentially if the whole turbo needs to be replaced.
That's like a bag of holes.
I mean $3,000, oh man, go into something that should just be working.
But sometimes these things happen.
Sometimes you can be very productive, very busy trying to earn a big paycheck,
trying to clothe yourself, trying to feed yourself,
just focus on your own personal needs and you're finding I just can't get there.
It seems like we just never achieve what we're trying to achieve.
And I want you to consider your ways because then in verse number 7 it says
Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.
God is saying something very unique there.
When you find that you're just so busy in your own life, working so hard,
trying to make as much money as you can, trying to be as productive as you can
to satisfy all your needs and you find it's still not enough,
God says consider your ways.
Maybe your priorities aren't right.
If you don't prioritize God's house, God is basically saying
He's going to remove His blessings from that.
You know, there's something special about being a Christian,
something special about being a child of God.
I'm not just saying about salvation, all those things are wonderful.
Salvation, going to heaven, being forgiven by God, those things are wonderful.
But you know what, this world thinks that if I just increase my income,
then I'm going to be better off.
No, because if you go and you increase your income and neglect things of God,
neglect His house, God removes His blessings.
So you may increase your income but your expenditures are going to go crazy
because God just removes that blessing.
You know, many times God just holds things together for you so it's sufficient.
I just mentioned my broken down van.
What a blessing that it got me to Queensland and then it got me back to Sydney
and it got me back to Queensland and then it broke down.
What a blessing that is actually.
You know, I can get frustrated, God, why did this break down?
But actually I'm rejoicing.
You know, I don't think this is far-fetched to say.
I truly believe God just kept that van together
and let it break down when it wasn't so inconvenient to break down.
And those things are the blessings of God that usually go just unseen.
You don't realize, you know.
And you know, if we neglect God's house,
and look, you might add another stream of income to your life potentially,
but if you neglect God's house, He removes His blessings and you're going to go without.
You're going to work hard, you're going to sober, you're going to bring in little.
You know, you're going to have food but it's not going to be sufficient to feed you.
You know, please consider your ways.
Many times we neglect God's house because we just think,
if I just got another job and if I just go and work on Sunday,
and there's nothing wrong with working on Sunday by the way,
but you know what, if you just go and say, you know what,
forget church service and then I'll go and work and work the hours of church service
and neglect God's house, don't expect God's blessings.
This is what the world does, they just increase income streams.
Yeah, but brethren, we've got God's blessings on our side.
You know, I'd rather have God's blessings with one income,
than having two or three incomes and losing God's blessings.
Because it's still not going to be enough.
The bills are going to be higher, something's going to break down.
The kitchen's going to blow up, the stove's going to break down.
Things happen when God removes His hand of blessing.
Look at verse number 8, Haggai chapter 1 verse 8.
Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house
and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified saith the Lord.
So God says, look, just go, like who cares about bringing,
you know, I think from the first temple they went,
they got like trees and wood from Lebanon,
like they got like really good quality things.
God says, look, just go to the mountain, just go and get any wood,
just bring something and get back to building God's house.
You see, brethren, we are all in this work together
as we build God's house together, okay.
Blessed Our Baptist Church needs to, we all need to, you know, get together,
you know, go up to the mountain, bring some wood
and lay it to work for this house.
You say, what does that, I'm just saying bring something, do something,
some service for God, find a place that you can,
something, some task, some job that you can accomplish
in the house of God and do it.
There are a lot of opportunities to serve in His house.
You know, yes, go and sow wood in His service, amen.
Song leading His service, amen.
Reading the Bible is service, amen.
Preaching a sermon, it's service.
But so is picking up the rubbish.
So is tying up that bag.
So is making sure that all the seats are in the right place.
You know, so is collecting the hymn books and putting them back in the right place.
You know, all the little things that go unseen.
That is service for God.
You know, yes, we come to God's house but find a way
that you can go to the mountain and bring some wood and get busy.
You know, whatever you bring for God, it says,
I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.
Isn't that why we come to God's house?
To please God, to make Him happy.
It's not about pleasing Pastor Kevin to Paul,
it's not about pleasing brother so and so or sister so and so.
It's about pleasing the Lord, about glorifying God.
It pleases Him to be in His house.
You know, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 18,
but now have God set the members, every one of them,
in the body as it have pleased Him.
You know, the body here is the body of Christ, the church.
You know, and God has set every member in this church
and it pleases God to do so.
You're here to operate as a body of Christ.
We work together, we serve the Lord,
we do the work that God has left us to do and it pleases the Lord.
So if we neglect church, you know,
we neglect the service that we can provide to church.
Brethren, we're not pleasing God, we're not glorifying God.
You know, thank God that we've got blessing at our Baptist church.
Thank God we have an opportunity to be with the brethren.
You know, even if it's a few.
I know midweek services we're going to have less people, I understand that.
It doesn't matter. It's so important.
We still come to please God.
I want to put a smile on God's face.
I want to make him happy. I want to glorify the Lord.
That's what it's all about, brethren.
Verse number nine.
So God's saying the same thing.
You want a lot, but you don't have much.
And when you brought it home, I did blow upon it.
God says, look, you brought all your resources, your wealth, your prosperity,
you brought it all home.
God says, he blows it. He blows it away.
Why? Why? Why does he do it?
Save the Lord of hosts.
Because of mine house that is waste.
And you run every man unto his own house.
You notice that once again.
You know, God repeats this.
That God will take away his blessings.
You know, even the things that you earn.
You know, if you neglect God's house, he's just going to blow it all away.
God can do that if he wishes.
You know, you neglect his house, of course he's going to blow away his blessings.
Of course he's going to blow away the things that you try to bring
and the material wealth that you try to gain.
Yeah, expect God to blow it away because you've left his house to waste.
And brethren, again, we've got this house.
We're not talking about a physical building.
We're talking about the congregation of believers coming together to just serve the Lord.
Please, brethren, it's fine to take care of your own house.
Please don't walk away from this sermon thinking that it's wrong to buy a house.
Don't think it, you know, please don't walk away thinking that it's wrong to build a house.
You know, we need to have a roof over our heads.
We understand this is just a basic need of human beings.
Okay, that is perfectly fine to take care of those things.
But at the same time, do not neglect God's house.
This is God's house.
This is where God, you know, when you think about a house, it's a place that you dwell.
You know, when we come together as believers, Jesus Christ is here in the midst.
His Holy Spirit is working in our hearts by the preaching of his word.
In the fellowship that we have together.
You know, God is at work in this house right now.
You know, this is his house.
This is what God loves.
And don't forget your temple.
Your body is the temple, I should say, of the Holy Spirit.
Hey, take care of the house that you have within as well.
Take care of this body.
This body loves to sin.
This body loves to do the things that are contrary to God.
Don't forget this is God's temple as well.
The Holy Spirit dwells in his body.
Be careful about what you do with this body.
You know, it's your choice whether you sin or whether you walk in the ways of the Lord.
So you must balance the Lord's house as well as your house and your own personal needs.
Verse number 10.
So God is saying basically, look, there's been a lack of dew in the morning.
Okay, because you're neglecting God's house.
The earth is not produced in her fruits.
You know, they're not being fruitful.
Yeah, they're sowing a lot, but there's not enough fruit.
And God says it's because you've neglected his house.
Verse number 11.
So they're not fruitful.
Brethren, if you neglect God's house, you will not be fruitful.
You will not be productive for the Lord.
Okay, keep this in mind.
Now, keep your finger there. Please turn with me to the book of John in the New Testament.
John chapter 15.
John chapter 15, please, in verse number 4.
John chapter 15, verse number 4.
Why is it that if we neglect God's house, we're not going to be fruitful?
Now, when you think about being fruitful, we can think about many things.
We can think about being fruitful in our soul-winning efforts.
Alright?
You know, maybe if you go a long time...
And I'm not saying that this is always the case, okay?
But if you go a long time going soul-winning and you're just not being fruitful,
I would encourage you to consider your ways.
Start thinking about how important church is to you, actually.
Okay?
Start thinking about these things.
You know, what other fruits do we have in the Bible?
We have the fruit of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit that produces these fruits in our life as we walk after his ways.
You know, if you find that you're lacking in the fruits of the Spirit,
let me tell you, consider your ways.
Think about, hey, how important is church to you?
You know, I mean, there are many things.
The words of our mouth can be fruitful things as well.
You know, maybe you're lacking in wisdom and knowledge
and the blessings that you could be to your brethren.
You know, I'd say consider your ways.
I'm not saying just because there might be a lack in these areas
doesn't mean you're neglecting God's house,
but that could be part of it.
It could be part of it.
Okay?
John 15 verse 4.
Jesus Christ says,
Abide in me and I in you,
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine,
no more can ye except ye abide in me.
I am the vine and ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit,
for without me ye can do nothing.
Say, Pastor Kevin, how can you preach this sermon?
Yeah, I can't.
I really can't.
You know, getting behind this pulpit
and proclaiming God's word,
if it was just me coming in my flesh, impossible.
It'd be hopeless.
You'd get nothing out of it if it was just me, brethren.
You know what?
We need to abide in Christ.
Christ says this is his body.
Christ says he's in the midst
when we're gathered together for his name.
This is the place that we come in God's presence.
Church is so important, brethren.
Church is so important.
You know, I love church because you're the pastor.
I love church before I become the pastor.
Now look, I admit to you,
I grew up in a Christian family.
I grew up going to church.
Going to church for me wasn't that exciting
because it was something I did every week.
And part of it was the preaching was a bit lame.
Part of it was just we're not reading from the King James Bible.
It doesn't have the power
that the King James Bible has, of course.
Lots of reasons, you know,
why church was a bit of a bore to me.
But as I started to develop into a teenager
and then into an adolescence
and started to think like a man,
I realized I needed direction.
I needed a place where I can hear the truth.
And I found out about the King James Bible.
I realized, man, this is the perfect word of God.
What am I doing wasting my time reading the NIV
or the New King James Bible?
That NIV went straight to the bin, brethren.
But then it was like, I need to find a church.
I need to find a place that's preaching from the King James Bible.
And that's when I started to find
the independent fundamental Baptist churches.
Praise God for that.
And that's when I started to love church
because I started to grow.
I started to learn.
I started to memorize scripture.
I started to understand.
And I understand what God required from a man.
It was perfect timing for me.
I needed to understand those things, you know.
And I've learned to love church.
And why did I become a pastor?
Because I love church.
You know, I want people to experience church
and have that excitement
and have that knowledge and that wisdom
grafted into your heart
so then you can be fruitful in your life.
You know, I'm not here to be served.
I just want you to live the best Christian life you can,
being empowered by the Lord God,
being fruitful in your family,
being fruitful in your life,
being fruitful as you win souls.
That's my heart for you, brethren,
to prioritize God's house.
You know what?
You start to neglect God's house.
You're going to lose the fruitfulness.
You're not going to be abiding in Christ
the way he wants you to.
And brethren, we abide in Christ in his house
where his presence is.
Then you will be fruitful.
Then God will bless you in many areas of your life.
Where are we up to, brethren?
Verse number 12.
Back to Haggai chapter 1, verse number 12.
Haggai chapter 1, verse number 12.
Obey the voice of the Lord their God
and the words of Haggai the prophet
as the Lord their God had sent him
and the people did fear before the Lord.
Brethren, I want to leave you a fear of God tonight.
I want you to prioritize God's house.
Understand how important blessed our Baptist church is.
And brethren, once again,
if you find yourself in another church one day,
okay, it doesn't bother me.
I just want you serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
Be in his house.
Be amongst God's people.
God will bless you with this.
You know, brethren, please,
I want to leave you a fear of God
because if you neglect God's house,
God will remove his blessings from your life.
For sure, this is why God has his stories for us.
You're going to be working hard for yourself.
You're going to be trying to accomplish things for yourself,
but as a child of God, you'll lose the blessings.
You'll lose the rewards.
You'll lose the opportunities
that you have neglecting God's house.
I don't have time, Pastor Kevin, to go to God's house.
You don't have time to neglect God's house.
You can't afford it, brethren.
You can't afford to neglect God's house.
But if I just stop giving my tithe,
I'll have more.
No, you stop giving your tithe,
you lose the blessings.
You will live a better life on 90%
and give your 10% to the house of God
than trying to live on 100%.
You'll be more fruitful.
You'll be more productive.
You'll pay more bills.
You'll be better off financially.
You sound like a Pentecostal, Pastor Kevin.
The truth of God's word,
if you just give your tithe to the Lord,
he'll bless you.
Don't neglect.
We give the tithe to the storehouse
in the house of God.
That's the whole point behind it.
God blesses it.
It's amazing.
It doesn't make sense.
Take 10% of your income
and give it to the house of God.
How's that going to make your life better?
It does.
Because God steps in.
How can 5,000 people get fed
by two fishes and some loaves?
Because God steps in.
He blesses it.
He multiplies it.
You don't have to necessarily
multiply your income streams,
though it's not a bad thing to do
if you can,
but it's more about
what can God do with his blessings,
with what I have?
He can multiply things,
you know, just by his hand.
Just if you prioritize God's things first.
Prioritize God's house.
So Zerubbabel and Joshua,
they get encouraged
by the words of Haggai.
And if I can, can you please
keep your finger there
and turn to Jeremiah, please.
Turn to Jeremiah, chapter number 7.
But it's said here,
what I love about verse number 12,
it says,
they obeyed the voice
of the Lord their God
and the words of Haggai the prophet.
Okay?
So they're obedient.
They say, okay, you know,
let's get busy, man.
We better get back to building
this house of the Lord.
It's been 14 years.
What have we done?
Why have we waited so long?
The other thing that I want you
to remember about
when it comes to God's house,
or you turn to Jeremiah, chapter 7,
we've got this famous verse
in 1 Samuel 15, 22 that says,
behold, to obey is better than sacrifice
and to hearken than the fat of rams.
To obey is better than sacrifice.
Please remember this.
Okay?
Sometimes we think,
if I just sacrifice it all,
if I just give it all, then I'm right.
Obedience is better.
Okay?
Now, I won't give you
the context of that,
but the fact is
that these people obeyed.
And the reason I wanted
to bring this to our attention
is because if you may remember
the book of Ezra,
even before they started
to build God's house,
they already started
to offer sacrifices.
Because to offer a sacrifice,
you just need it all the time,
at the end of the day.
Even before God's house was built,
yet they're offering sacrifices.
Okay?
And that's fine.
That's what God wants.
But then they neglect God's house.
But they're still offering sacrifices.
They're still doing the sacrifices, God.
But hey, you're not obedient anymore.
You're not doing
what God's asking you to do.
You know, this might be,
I don't know,
and I'm just throwing that out there,
just as a situation.
But Pastor Kevin, you know,
I've given $10,000 to the church.
I've sacrificed so much.
I mean, that's great, I suppose.
But are you being obedient?
Are you taking
what is being preached
behind this pulpit?
Are you taking the words of God?
And are you doing
what God wants you to do?
Because you think your sacrifice
will somehow outbalance disobedience?
It doesn't happen.
It doesn't work.
You want to have
the blessings of God?
Obey Him first.
And once you obey Him,
then offer the sacrifices.
Okay?
Obedience is better.
Jeremiah 7, verse 21.
Jeremiah 7, 21.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
put your burnt offerings
to your sacrifices,
and eat flesh.
For I spake not unto your fathers,
nor command them in the day
that I brought them
out of the land of Egypt
concerning burnt offerings
and sacrifices.
So what we find
in the book of Jeremiah,
you know that the book of Jeremiah
is shortly before
they're being taken over by Babylon,
before God's hammer of judgement
falls upon that nation.
And God says,
all right, you're offering sacrifices?
Yeah, go ahead,
keep offering your sacrifices.
But He goes,
when I got your fathers
out of Egypt,
when I delivered them out of Egypt,
I didn't even speak to them
about sacrifices, He says.
Look, it says this in verse number 23.
But this thing commanded I them,
saying, obey my voice,
and I will be your God,
and ye shall be my people,
look at this,
and walk ye in all the ways
that I have commanded you,
that it may be well with you.
So what does it mean to obey God?
To walk in the ways
that He's commanded you.
Yeah, okay, sacrifices,
that's great.
That's part of it.
But listen, some people think,
if I just sacrifice,
I could get away
by being disobedient.
You've lost it.
No, God wants your obedience.
God wants you to walk
in the ways
that He's commanded you.
And you know what?
God wants you in His house.
God wants you at church.
God doesn't want you
to neglect God's house.
He keeps going there,
verse number 24.
But they hearken not,
nor incline their ear,
but walked in the counsels
and the imagination
of the evil heart,
and went backward
and not forward.
So they became backsliders.
They went backward,
not forward.
Notice this.
You can be offering
all the sacrifices,
and you're just living
in disobedience.
God says, well, you know what?
You follow after the imagination
of your evil heart
when you do that.
You know why?
Because a lot of us,
or a lot of people,
can potentially just go
to church out of habit.
This is my sacrifice.
I know I've got to be in church.
Tick the box.
I've got to sing a few hymns.
Tick the box.
I've got to sit there
listening to preaching.
Tick the box.
That's all good.
All right?
But church can become this
sort of, just this religious
thing you go through
where your heart's
not really in it.
You know, in fact,
you've got wicked imaginations
in your heart,
and you know full well,
yeah, I'll go to church.
I'll hear some preaching,
and you know full well,
but I'm not going to do it.
I'm not going to apply anything
that I've heard today.
You know, I went to church.
At least Pastor knows
I got to church today.
At least brother and sister
knows that I was there.
I offered my sacrifices.
Yeah, but, you know,
take what God is speaking
to you about and just do it.
Just apply it.
All right?
That's what God really wants.
He wants your heart
to listen to his word
and do it.
Walk in his ways.
That's what's important.
The Jews of this day
had forgotten to obey God's word.
They'd forgotten
to build God's house.
Yes, it's fine
to build your own house.
It's fine,
but they neglected God's house.
Brethren, don't fall in this trap
and think, well,
I'm offering my sacrifice.
I go to church every week.
I'm fine with God.
Are you obedient, though?
Are you taking what you've heard?
Whether it's this past
or if it's some other man
that's preaching behind the pulpit
and they're teaching you
great truths from God's word,
are you taking it?
Are you applying it?
Because, brethren,
if you're not applying it,
you're in disobedience
and your sacrifice means nothing
when you're in disobedience.
And, brethren, I understand
we can't apply everything
that we hear,
but same thing that I've told
in your life at this church.
Take one thing.
Just take one truth,
one application that you've heard
from the preacher and say,
I'll do this one thing.
You know, it's hard to do everything
that you hear behind this pulpit,
but every sermon,
just put it in your heart.
Take one thing.
What is one thing that I can do
in obedience to my Lord God?
And this will please the Lord.
He'll bless you for it, right?
He'll bless you for that.
Back to Haggai 1.13.
Haggai 1.13.
Then spake Haggai,
the Lord's messenger,
in the Lord's message
unto the people,
saying, I am with you,
saith the Lord.
So, yeah, you know what?
They were a little bit scared,
I suppose, to rebuild God's house.
You know, what would the authorities say?
What are the people on the land going to say?
We know they suffered some contention
amongst the people in the land.
You know, but God reminds us,
I am with you,
saith the Lord.
You know, sometimes doing God's work,
doing God's service,
is challenging.
You know, going soul winning is hard.
Right?
Going to some stranger's door,
knocking the door,
giving the gospel,
it can be challenging.
But you know what?
Christ says he is with us.
Matthew 28.18.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you,
and lo, I am with you all the way,
even unto the end of the world.
Amen.
The words of Jesus Christ.
The great commission that he's left us to do.
He says, I'll be with you.
All the way.
You go and preach the gospel,
Jesus is with you.
You know, I've got a brother,
it's brother Michael again, right?
Sometimes he goes soul winning by himself.
And I say, oh, you know,
are you going by yourself, brother Michael?
Oh no, Jesus is with me.
I'm going with Jesus.
Well, it's true.
It's true.
Jesus says, I'm with you all the way,
even unto the end of the world.
You know, baptisms,
when we did the baptism a couple of Sundays ago,
Jesus was with us.
That's part of the great commission.
What does it say?
Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you.
When we come to church,
we hear the teaching of all things,
of all the things of God.
And if we're doing that,
he says, lo, I'm with you all the way.
Jesus is here right now.
He's listening to this preaching.
He's judging whether I'm doing a good job or not.
He's judging whether you're receiving this or not.
He's looking at your heart.
Do you love God's word?
Are you going to apply it?
You know, are you interested in obedience?
Or are you just interested in sacrifice to look good?
I'm doing the bare minimum.
Look at all the things.
Are you just doing the simple things
that God wants you to do?
Are you applying God's word
the way, you know, he wants you to apply?
Are you serving God's house?
Are you prioritizing God's house?
These things are important in our lives as Christians.
Back to Haggai chapter 1, verse 14.
I think you're there anyway.
Verse number 14.
And the Lord, I love this,
stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel,
the son of Sheltiel, governor of Judah,
and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josadak,
the high priest,
and the spirit of all the remnant of the people.
And they came and did work
in the house of the Lord of hosts.
The hosts, their God,
in the four and 20th day of the sixth month,
in the second year of Darius the king.
All right.
Can you please turn to Philippians chapter 4.
Turn to Philippians chapter 4.
But what I loved about that verse there,
it says the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel,
and the governor, sorry,
and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josadak.
You see, brethren, when we seek to obey,
when we seek to apply,
when we seek to serve in God's house,
you cannot do it alone.
You cannot do it in this flesh.
We need the Holy Spirit of God.
We need God to do a work in our spirits,
to motivate us, to push us,
to do something great.
And brethren, if you're motivated by this sermon,
you know, it's not pastor Kevin.
I want you to understand.
If God is touching your heart about something,
about your obedience,
about the love for God's house,
about your service,
it's the Lord that's stirring up your heart.
It's the Lord that stirs up your spirit.
You know, when I get up to preach, brethren,
it's got to be the Lord, right?
I mean, I sometimes,
I look at my sermons and I think,
man, why am I yelling?
Like, why am I full of energy
when I'm so tired?
In fact, I am tired.
You know, why?
It's got to be God's spirit.
It's got to be his work.
It's got to be his leading.
Philippians chapter 4 verse 13.
Philippians 4 verse 13 says,
I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me.
Brethren, you know,
if you want to serve God,
if you want to be obedient,
it's got to be Christ that strengthens you.
It cannot be done in the flesh, right?
Whatever task it is, brethren,
for those of you that will be preaching
Brother Anthony on Sunday,
the rest of you guys,
as your roster goes on,
remember you cannot just come in the flesh
and preach.
You need God's spirit.
You need God stirring your heart,
stirring your spirit.
Stirring your spirit
to do a great work for him.
Seek the Lord God.
You know what?
When we look for our own strength,
this is pride.
Look what I can do.
Look how I can preach.
Look how I go soul winning.
Where's everyone else going soul winning?
Forget that.
It's pride.
You know what?
We need the spirit of God
to touch our hearts.
We need the Lord's help
to do a great work for him.
I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me.
All things.
Anything.
Any service for God.
I can't go soul winning, Pastor Kevin.
Yes, you can.
You can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth you.
You just need the Lord to do it.
You need the Lord to do a great work
in your life.
Just one more passage.
I'll just read it to you.
Ephesians 5, 15.
See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise,
redeeming the time
because the days are evil.
Wherefore, be ye not unwise,
but understanding
what the will of the Lord is.
Then it says in verse 18,
And be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess,
but be filled with the Spirit.
I just want to end on this
because maybe I haven't preached
too much on this.
But the Holy Spirit does
an amazing work in our lives.
Number one,
we've been born of the Spirit.
The moment we believed on Jesus
and got saved,
we were born again.
Not born in the flesh,
but born of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gave birth
to the new man that is within us.
That's work number one.
Work number two
that the Holy Spirit does
in the New Testament
is that he indwells each believer.
You know, as I said,
your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost.
Each of us has the Holy Spirit
living within us.
You know, that Holy Spirit works
with our new resurrected Spirit
that we will do a great work
for the Lord God.
That's number two, okay?
But then we also have
this instruction
to be filled with the Spirit.
You see, we can increase
the Holy Spirit's work
in our hearts
by filling ourselves
with the Spirit.
Some people fill themselves
with wine.
Some people fill themselves
with alcohol.
The Bible says,
we're in is excess,
meaning that when you fill yourself
with alcoholic things,
you will be excessive
in what you do.
You know, people that are drunk,
they can't control their emotions,
all right?
They either get too excited
or they become weeping
and mourning, crying,
all right, excessiveness.
They can't control their emotions.
God says,
don't be filled
with that type of spirit.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit
because when we have
the Holy Spirit within us,
yes, we can do excessive as well.
We can do more than what
we can normally do
in our own bodies.
You see, we have the Holy Spirit,
but we need the feeling
of the Holy Spirit.
You know, when I get up to preach,
I ask God,
can you fill me with your Spirit?
Many times, I think even
when you pray today
that the Holy Spirit would fill me
as I preach God's Word.
Brethren, when you sing,
when you come to church,
ask God to fill you
with the Spirit.
We can do more works
and do greater things for God
when we find ourselves
filled with the power
of the Holy Spirit of God.
Even when you go out soul-winning,
pray that God will fill you
with the Holy Spirit.
It's not that the Holy Spirit
has left you.
He's there,
but for his influence
to be greater in your life,
you know,
then you're able to accomplish
so much more.
As I said there in Haggai 1.14,
and the Lord stirred up
the spirit of Zerubbel,
the son of Sheltiel,
and he went and did a great work.
He finished building God's house.
Brethren, God wants to do
a great work in you,
but you've first got to
consider your ways.
Stop.
Are you prioritizing God's house?
Stop.
Are you being obedient
to what God wants you to do,
or are you just offering
the sacrifices?
Then you've got to stop.
Are you more concerned
about this world
and your wealth
and your prosperity
and your own house
and you're forgetting
the house of God?
Stop. Consider your ways.
You know, I want to see
God's blessings upon
each one of you,
each family,
each man, each woman,
each child,
but it comes,
what we have to do
is prioritize God's house.
We've got to love God's house.
We've got to appreciate
that we have this church
in our place
that we can hear God's truth
and then ask God
to fill us with his spirit
so we can do great works for him.
Let's pray.