Advent in Haggai: Part 1, Misplaced Priorities

ADVENT IN HAGGAI

Haggai 1:1-15

Part one- “Misplaced Priorities”

Haggai is a very important little book in the Old Testament. It’s really the rest of the story. They have been in captivity for 70 years for their unbelief; but what happens next? Is there a future hope? Can and will they rebuild their lives?  The answer to that prayer came in 520 BC when the Persian Empire allowed the captives from both Israel and Judah to return to their homes.  These folks have packed their things and returned. They’re home.

Haggai prophesies over four months. Haggai is a book of Advent and there are four truths that I would like to set forth in the next four weeks that will hopefully help us in our Advent celebrations. Misplaced Priorities (1:1-15), Shattered Expectations (2:1-9), Bad Company (2:10-19), and Aimless Living (2:20-23).

MISPLACED PRIORITIES- (1:1-15)

Haggai accuses the returnees of misplaced priorities because they were rebuilding their houses while the temple still lay in ruins.  The issue is how do we spend our time and resources? The Temple has been in ruins for 70 years. We are looking at spiritual neglect. SPIRITUAL PRIORITIES MUST BE OUR FIRST PRIORITIES.    Do I live my life putting Christ first in everything?

CONSIDER YOUR WAYS- v.6 Regarding the futility they have experienced- Haggai does a summary of the effects of God’s displeasure. There would be covenant curses if they failed to worship Yahweh rightly (Deut. 28:15-40). Israel read these warnings like fine print in their sales contract, before they drove away in their new car.

We have similar warnings in the New Covenant too. Mark 8:38; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 Peter 3:7; Heb.21:25-29; THE LORD CARES. This comes down to where our allegiances really lie.

CONSIDER YOUR WAYS- v.7 Notice how the LORD steps in and stirs the hearts of the people- Christmas is a great time to reset your priorities. God seeks your heart to take pleasure in it and to be glorified (v.8). When your priorities are set right you WILL experience a genuine joy in life. There is no real loss in following the LORD, but great delight and great benefit to your own life and work.

APPLICATIONS

All of Christ for all of life

Personal- Are you putting Christ first or the world? Romans 12:1

Marriage- Are you going to live your life seeking God first in everything or are you going to place God into your life as some add-on? 1 Peter 3:1-7

Raising our children- Are we trying to prepare them for a life of success at the expense of a life of service to Jesus Christ? Ephesians 6:1-4

In business-  Are you going to run after the world or the mighty dollar or are you acutely aware of the calling to bring your business into a place where God is glorified? Colossians 3:23

In the church- Are we caring more about getting people into the building or into a saving relationship to Jesus Christ? Do you know what Jesus said right after he said, “Ask anything of me and I will do it”- He declared, “If you love me, keep my commandments”? John 14:15

The Power of Thankful Prayer

THE POWER OF THANKFUL PRAYER

James 5:16-18

 “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Prayer is like breathing- It indicates that you are alive! (Acts 9:11) When all we can do is barely breath; there will still be breathing prayers of Thanksgiving. There are three conditions set forth in James for truly effective prayer. We’ve recently gone through the armor of God and the LORD’s Prayer, now we shall look at what empowers our prayers. But first we will look at what might be hindering our prayers. Sin hinders, and thankfulness empowers.

EFFECTUAL- Confession brings inward peace and makes prayer effective- It’s not the prayer that hinders, it’s the praying one (Luke 18). The human body cannot bear the weight of sin and associated guilt. Psalm 32:1-5.   If you are not a confessing Christian, then you are stuck in a spiritual ditch. Satan would love you to stay stuck.  Satan hates the doctrine of forgiveness, maybe more than any other doctrine in the scriptures. Every time a Christian confesses his or her sins it is like they get crowned again (1 John 1:9).

FERVENT- [energeo]  If life is daily, then prayer must be daily too. Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) means to pray daily. When prayer becomes operative, it carries a wallop – it is powerful in its effect.

BUT -without confession, your prayers are HINDERED, powerless or worse - they are self-condemning. Isaiah 5:18 / Psalm 66:18 / Proverbs 1:23-28 / 1 Peter 3:7--All these warnings of hindered prayer mean the church lacks power that they could have experienced.  

RIGHTEOUS MAN- Where are we going to find righteous men and women, boys and girls? 

This is not a discouragement for prayer, but the greatest encouragement! Any man or woman in Christ who prays, reaches into the power of Christ Himself. Any man in Christ is a man who has Christ as his head and righteousness as his power. You are the man or woman for THIS DAY that the LORD has made.

Example of Elijah (1 Kings 18:41-45). A man who declared war against the false gods of Baal.  The point is that Elijah was a great man, but just a man. He had no other supernatural characteristics. His nature was just like ours. Why does James point to this fact? It is for our encouragement. It’s a “how much more”, argument. James leaves the application of this illustration for us to figure out on our own, in our own prayer lives. You fill in the blank.  If God answers the prayer of a godly man like Elijah, and you, a child in Christ face similar trials, what could you expect from your prayers?

PRAYERS GIVEN WITH A THANKFUL HEART - In Psalms 103-107 we have a series of prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Each see the world in a different light. Psalm 103 looks at the nature of forgiveness and God’s great mercy, Psalm 104 looks at God’s sovereignty and providence. Then in Psalm 105 and 106, we have two Psalms of Thanksgiving; Psalm 105 is a summary of Israel’s family history from Abraham to the entrance in the Promised Land. In Psalm 106 we find a detail of the sins previously unmentioned in the family, and they are covered, and forgiven.

Securing the Next Generation

SECURING THE NEXT GENERATION

(OUR little guys…)

THE BOOK OF NAHUM

The Old & New Testament saints looked at life generationally, and that is how we should think as well. (Proverbs 30:11-14; Matthew 12:38-42; 24:34).

CONTRASTS AND COMPARISONS BETWEEN NAHUM AND JONAH

·         Jonah sent his message to Nineveh with a lesson for Judah, whereas Nahum sent his message to Judah (80 to 100 yrs. later) with a lesson to Assyria (and us).

·        The same key opens both books-mercy and justice (Exodus 34:6-7; Nahum 1:3; Jonah 4:2).

·        The Conclusion of each book leaves you with an unanswered question.

NAHUM’S WORLD

·         Ten of twelve tribes were already in captivity and Judah was a vassal to Assyria.

·         Assyria had decimated the Northern Kingdom and many southern cities as well (722BC).

·         Outline of the book: (1) A Prologue of ‘Who God Is’ both in mercy and justice. (2) The fall of Nineveh. (3) The fall of Assyria (612 BC) by the Babylonians.

·         Nahum’s message is harsh and filled with graphic language of death, destruction and war. Some have wrongfully said of Nahum “The paradox of the book is that the literature is as good as the religion is bad.”

·         Our response should be imprecatory Psalms- It is a picture of gratitude for the removal of evil and that’s not bad religion. But it’s not a delight in their demise.  Psalm 69:24 "Pour out Your indignation on them and let Your burning anger overtake them." Nahum is a blood-curdling song of rejoicing that Nineveh has fallen…for they trampled God’s mercy.

THE GREAT LESSON

Nahum proclaimed destruction to Nineveh because the saints in Nineveh had failed their generation (LK.12:48). Generational crop failure is a real thing: We can lose the next generation due to spiritual neglect.  Judah had watched Nineveh squander their repentance. But what have they learned?

We forget that perseverance is the only biblical means of assurance: Behold the goodness and severity of God (Rom.11:22). We need to finish the race before we start fitting ourselves for the crown (Heb.3:10).

HOW DO WE SECURE THE NEXT GENERATION?

1. Our children must be born again- They must know the mercy of God. “Our children are conceived and born in sin, and therefore children of wrath, insomuch that [they] cannot enter the into the kingdom of God except [they] be born again” (London Baptist 1689, WCF).

2. Parents must nurture heartfelt obedience to God- (Proverbs 22:6; 23:26). Covenant unfaithfulness is not always the parent’s fault, but it is their responsibility. We can all say, “I could have done more.”

3. Godly parenting requires us to instruct our children in the Christian faith (2 Sam.6:20; Ps.34:11-14; 90:16; 105:5-6; 118:15; 132:12; 147:13).

Jonah: God's Unrelenting Mercy, Part 3 - For God So Loved the Ninevites

JONAH

God’s Unrelenting Mercy

Chapter 3 – “For God so Loved the Ninevites”

Jonah 3:1-10  /  Romans 10:1-13

Review: “I will keep”- What things has God asked us specifically? Don’t be controlled by any vain schemes of compromising living.  In Jonah chapter 3, we are confronted with the amazing mercy of God, giving a second chance to even the most unfaithful servants of God.

SAME PROPHET, SAME MESSAGE v.1-2    So, was this good news?

Yes, because it was the truth…

THE MAN- Those who have known grace can preach grace. Those who have been delivered by it can be declarers of it. An equipping/shaping grace in the preacher must come before an evangelistic/saving grace to the people. (Psalm 51:12-13; Ezra 7:10; 1 Tim. 4:16).

THE MESSAGE- “Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed”.  5 WORDS in the Hebrew. A very short and very odd sermon, stressing the urgency of the message. 40 days- This speaks to a significant time of proving and testing under God. Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days (Matt. 4:2). Jesus’ generation was given a period of 40 years to repent and believe (30-70AD).

Could this be a prophetic sabotage? No mention of Nineveh’s sin, no instruction on how to repent, in fact no mention of God at all. Well, these are the words which God gave the prophet.  It was true- Nineveh will perish if they do not repent.  ‘Overturn’= to destroy --- or ---  to change, transform (1 Sam.10:6).

OLD CITY, OLD PROBLEM v.3-4                    So, just how lost were they?

They were rebels in disobedience more than they were pagans in blindness…         

THE CITY- Jonah heads to Nineveh, the jewel of the fertile crescent- At the optimum of greatness, the model city. Standing for a millennium or more, it was built by Nimrod (Gen. 10:11). The city was three days walk. This was not an ignorant city, but a rebellious city. Tri-cities of Resen and Calah.

THE PROBLEM- The universal problem of sin has a universal remedy, a remedy which Jonah was reluctant to share. How does the LORD destroy His enemies? Not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance.

NEW PEOPLE, NEW LIFE v.5-10    So, how do we account for this revival?

Our God delights in mercy….

THE PEOPLE-. Here is another great miracle in Jonah- similar to Jonah in the fish. From death to life, from darkness to life, from unbelief to faith in Jesus.

·         “They believed GOD, proclaimed a fast” – bringing this city to its knees.

·         “From the greatest to the least of them”- Not a great day for the doctrine of “free-will”

·         “Then the word came to the king.”- Proclaimed a fast -reflecting the conscience of the nation.

THE LIFE- They all repented, and God relented. The tension is resolved by God.  He hurls a storm of words and brings the calming of their hearts. Relent [Nachem} to sigh, to breath strongly, to pity, to console. (6x) (Gen. 6:6; Ex. 32:14; Jer. 26:19)  This lesson is for all of us- What did Jonah learn in the belly of the fish? There is mercy to be had for anyone, if we would only believe. He saved you, didn’t He? If His Word can bring a whole city to its knees it can accomplish what it is intended for Wallowa County (Isaiah 55:11).