7/10/2021 Seventh Day BAPTIST Edgewater Pastor Andrew Samuels “Be Builders of God’s Kingdom” Haggai 1;1-15
There once was a house contractor getting ready to retire and his boss asked him to construct one more house. Reluctantly he consented and went about buying the building supplies needed. Only this time he bought the cheapest supplies instead of the more expensive construction material. Whatever the store had on sale is what he bought to hastily construct this final house before he was to retire. At his retirement dinner, his boss praised the contractor for his long years of dedicated, outstanding work. The boss then gave the contractor the keys to the last house he had just completed as his reward.
In life we are all builders of a house and we will all have to live in our houses. So watch out for the type of materials you use to build your house with. The book of Galatians lists the Fruits of the Spirit and these are what we should build our house with: love, joy, peace, self-control and faith. In our text the Israelites was allowed to return to Israel from Babylon after 70 years of slavery. They began to rebuild the Temple but later abandoned the work. God ordered them thru the prophet Haggai to start to rebuild the Temple again and they completed it four years later.
**The Conditions God Permitted**
AMEN
There once was a house contractor getting ready to retire and his boss asked him to construct one more house. Reluctantly he consented and went about buying the building supplies needed. Only this time he bought the cheapest supplies instead of the more expensive construction material. Whatever the store had on sale is what he bought to hastily construct this final house before he was to retire. At his retirement dinner, his boss praised the contractor for his long years of dedicated, outstanding work. The boss then gave the contractor the keys to the last house he had just completed as his reward.
In life we are all builders of a house and we will all have to live in our houses. So watch out for the type of materials you use to build your house with. The book of Galatians lists the Fruits of the Spirit and these are what we should build our house with: love, joy, peace, self-control and faith. In our text the Israelites was allowed to return to Israel from Babylon after 70 years of slavery. They began to rebuild the Temple but later abandoned the work. God ordered them thru the prophet Haggai to start to rebuild the Temple again and they completed it four years later.
**The Conditions God Permitted**
- Delaying of God’s Work: The Lord let them delay the building. They had stopped making God a priority and instead built their own homes. What caused them to stop and neglect God’s Temple? It was their own thinking about their hostile neighbors and this thinking is what stopped them. God said to them that they were living in their own nicely built houses while His Temple laid wasted.
- God is not against folk having nice things or having careers. But you must have time for His work and His Word. For 70 years the Israelites were in slavery for their rebellion against God. Now they are free, they once again turned their back on God and His Temple and focused on themselves. They were all wrapped up in their affairs and didn’t remember God’ house. God’s Word and house was delayed, put on hold and set back. We all have had delays in our own projects but we should not be discouraged it will be completed. Praise God for everything and be encouraged.
- The Disciplining of God’s People:
- The disciplining of God’s people is in verse 5 to 9. God tells them what happens when He comes 2nd in their life. They are hungry and can’t enjoy life. Got a raise and still are broke. They can go and do what they want and still are not satisfied. When we minimize God, we will have trouble and be perpetually frustrated. This is not just for the Jews before Christ but for us in 2021. If you spend your time always seeking worldly things and ignore God, this will lead to much frustration and lack.
- God’s Workers were Deployed:
- The Israelites listened to the prophet, feared the Lord and worshipped God. They stated again the work of the Temple after they repented. God’s Sprit energized the people to complete the building of His Temple.
AMEN