"A Time for Rebuilding" Haggai 2:1-9

SHARING LIFE AT FBCBF BY DR. BOB BENDER, PASTOR ON JANUARY 18, 2009
“A TIME FOR REBUILDING” FROM HAGGAI 2:1-9

Webster defines a partner as "one of two or more persons engaged in the same business enterprise." I wonder how many partners we have here today. Even if you've never considered yourself a partner, you probably are. For instance, marriage is partnership. Also, being a Christian is a partnership. You are in partnership with God.

To be reminded of our partnership with God helps us to avoid two extremes: First that God does not need my help; He is going to do what He needs done on this planet in building His kingdom with or without my involvement. As William Carey, the father of the modern missions movement, sought support to take the gospel to unreached people groups, he was told, “Mr. Carey, if God wants to convert the heathen He will do it without your help.” As if God was going to send angels down from heaven to preach the gospel. And then the other extreme is seen in the words to the song, “We’ll work ‘til Jesus comes” as if to say, let’s forget our Bibles and prayer and just work until we get blisters from dawn ‘til setting sun and then worry about what has been left undone--as if it all depended upon us.

We must avoid both extremes and embrace the Biblical approach which is a balance between the two: we are partners with God in His work. What work? Jesus said, "I will build my church." And then He said, “I am with you as you go and make disciples.” God is at work through us building His church and expanding His kingdom.

What time is it? We have experienced a time for reflection, and a time for renewal (ch. 1); now it is time to rebuild (2:1-9). There is "a time to tear down and a time to build up" (Eccl. 3:3). Haggai 2:1-9 refers to the time of rebuilding the temple. In the life of our church, now is the time to rebuild God's work in God's church. We are building a new temple for His glory, not made of physical stones but of living stones (Christians), filled with the glory of the living God. The church body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in which God's glory resides.

When I mention rebuilding, I am thinking more of staying “ahead of the game” in maintaining our structure as opposed to starting all over in our building. If you don’t keep on top of repairing a home or church building, the needed repairs will catch up with you and you are saddled with a major renovation project. Perhaps that is what has happened in your life in 2008—ignoring needed repairs and you need to refocus on the state of your “building.” That is what life commitment month is all about.

Now to build or rebuild takes the cooperation of different people. When you hire a builder to build a home, he subcontracts framers, carpenters, plumbers, etc. to do the work. His reputation is at stake in the workmanship of those he oversees. God's name is at stake in His workmanship. He uses various ones of us to do His work, as each of us have different gifts to be used in the building of God's church; but His name is on the finished product.

In order for God's work to be rebuilt in this place, we must cooperate with God. We work with God meaning it is a divine/human
combo plate (see Ph. 2:12-13). Henry Blackaby reminds us that we are to join God in what He is doing, not expecting Him to join us in what we are doing. We see this principle of joining God at work here in Haggai 2 as we are reminded of this big idea: We must cooperate with God in building up His kingdom. Here we see that God makes some commitments to us, and He expects us to make some commitments to Him in order that together we might build and rebuild His kingdom in this place--FBCBF. Notice how we are to cooperate with God in these verses in the building of His church and expansion of his kingdom.

I. TO EXPERIENCE RENEWAL GOD SAYS, "I AM WITH YOU; BE ENCOURAGED AND WORK” (VV. 3-4).

Ezra 3:12 says that when the foundation of the temple was laid, some of the older men wept with a loud voice, because they remembered 67 years ago when the former temple of Solomon stood in all of its glory. As they reflected on the past, they thought and said, "Things will never be the same. We'll never build the great temple we had before. There's no use trying. Let's just quit." Ezra 4 tells us that the people of the land also discouraged the people from building.

Like the poor, the naysayers are always with us. They feel like they have the spiritual gift of discouragement and must use it. Be careful to not kill the vision and dreams of youthful and spiritual enthusiasm. The Lord had stirred up the spirit of the people as they were fired up in chapter one and now in chapter 2, the cold water brigade had come and put out the fire. Paul commands us to be careful and not quench the Spirit. Their negative influence had in filtered the remnant, and now they were discouraged. Why even try? We cannot build a work that even compares to our former temple. And then you have the people who live in the past. “The old days were better. Why can’t we be the church of yesterday? Things were better then. Remember the good old days.” Well I remember some of those good old days and they weren’t as good as you might imagine. The only thing about this life that is permanent is change.

God says, "So what if this temple is smaller than the former one?" God says, "Do what you can with what you have and I will make it greater." We are encouraged to join God in what He is doing right now in preparation for a blessed future. Shamgar slaughtered 600 Philistines with an ox goad, and he saved Israel (Judges 3:31). Shamgar did what he could with what he had. He joined God in doing what was to turn out to be a great work.

Three times in verse 4 God says, “Take courage” or “Be strong.” First He says it to the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. Leaders (and everyone is a leader in some way), you are to be strong. Stay focused, be encouraged. The way is hard, but the Lord is near. He is with you in your endeavors. Thirty-seven times in Scripture God tells us to be strong.

Later in the verse the rationale as to why and how we are to be strong or encouraged--“’for I am with you’ declares the Lord of Hosts.” “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power” (Eph. 6:10). Turn with me to Colossians 1:29 for an interesting insight into this principle of cooperating with God in building up His kingdom.

God says, "I am with you. Be encouraged and work”. Jesus' question to you is the same one He asked in Matthew 20:6, "Why do you stand idly by?" That's God's question to you. What are you doing standing idly by while God does a great work in this place? God tells Moses in Exodus 14:15, “Why do you cry to Me; tell the people to go forward!”

I Corinthians 3:9 says, "We are laborers together with God." Paul did not say, "I am a laborer together with God." We are in it together. God is at work. We are at work with Him. Would you join God in his work? This is a message of encouragement for rebuilders. It's so easy to become discouraged in God's work, but God’s prophet encourages us to work saying, "Work, for I am with you."

II. TO EXPERIENCE RENEWAL GOD SAYS, "MY SPIRIT IS IN YOUR MIDST; DO NOT FEAR"
(V. 5).

The people of God were discouraged and fearful of the antagonists and the opponents. They were fearful of failure. They were fearful that their feeble efforts would not result in great good, so why even try. The people were overcome with fear, and that fear immobilized them and de-motivated them. So God says, "Look; My Holy Spirit is abiding in your midst. My Holy Spirit is dwelling in the middle of you. My Holy Spirit is at work." As the Holy Spirit brooded over creation, He broods over us. As the Holy Spirit fell on the 120 at Pentecost and filled them with boldness to speak, He wishes to fall on us.

Folks, God's Holy Spirit is at work in our midst. Do you believe it? Do not fear. God is with us. There are 365 "fear nots" in the Bible. That's one per day. Today God says to us, "Do not fear, for My Spirit is abiding in your midst." In fact the reference is to when God promised His presence with them when they first came out of Egypt (see Ex. 19:4-6). The coming out of Egyptian bondage illustrates the believer coming to faith in Jesus in the NT. Remember that time when God saved you? Remember those first days? If you were anything like me as a new believer, you were ready to take on the world. Nothing made you fearful for you were keenly aware of God’s presence guiding you and using you. Some of us have lost that zeal and fearlessness and the fear of man rules us silencing our voices and compromising our influence. We need the bold confidence of a new believer and God promises that to us here.

If anything characterizes our day it is fear. Fear of terrorism; financial collapse, job loss, or making our income match our commitments to name a few. But God says, “My Spirit is with you; fear not.” It does no good to lie awake at night fearful of making it in 2009 (see Heb. 13:5-6).

I start teaching a preaching class in our Southern Baptist seminary in Denver tomorrow night. I will confess I am a little concerned about it having never taught preaching before. To make matters worse, there are four from our church in that class. I can imagine one of them raising his hand after I teach them how to preach saying, “I’m a little confused because that’s not how you do that when you preach in your church!” My father was a professor in one of our Baptist colleges. I miss him especially in times like this when I need his advice on teaching or testing my students, as he is no longer here having passed away in 2005. This week while preparing to teach with a little fear, my father’s voice came to me in my spirit, “Fear not, I am with you.” And there is a very real sense in which this is true not in some mystical, ghostly way but in reality as I am a chip off the old block as I have his nature running through my veins.

When we make commitments to follow the Lord, we are filled with fear and doubts concerning our ability to fulfill them. And then the still small voice comes to us from our Father, the Lord God Almighty, a much greater one than my earthly one and says, “My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear.” May I remind you that you are a chip off the old block spiritually as God’s nature flows through your veins. You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves us.

We must be aware of the obstacles, but we must also be made aware of the presence of a greater One who promised to be with us to overcome them. God says, “I am with you to help you to overcome external opposition. My Spirit abides in you. Do not fear. I am with you to help you to overcome internal discouragement.” The greater the objective; the greater the opposition will be, but if God be for us who can be against us?

III. TO EXPERIENCE RENEWAL GOD SAYS, "I OWN IT ALL; GIVE" (VV. 6-8).

God says to His people of old, soon there is going to be a shaking up. Soon the Persian Empire will begin to shake and topple, and you will have all the resources you need to build your temple. You will have resources you know not of to accomplish this work. Ultimately, as Jesus came into the world the wise men represented the wealth of all nations, coming to Jesus with gifts. This shaking of the nations began in Haggai's time and continued until the time of Christ and still continues till every power which rises against Almighty God and His Son is broken.

God says He owns it all (v.8). The silver is His, the gold is His. All of it is His. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” (Ps. 24:1). He owns the cattle on a thousand hillsides. But in order for God to put His resources to work to accomplish His purpose, He must shake things loose. We are called stewards because He has given us the responsibility over the stuff He allows us to have in this life. How are you handling God’s stuff? A good rule of thumb is to save 10%; give at least 10% away and spend the rest.

Many of you probably grew up in homes similar to mine. When we grew up there was not all this concern about spanking and child abuse and what not. Now I knew I was really in trouble when either one of my parents would sit me down, put both hands firmly on my shoulders and say, "Robert Lee Bender, what's gotten in to you?" And they would take me by the shoulders and just shake me. Now I know what you are thinking, “So that’s the reason he is like that—he’s suffering from shaken head syndrome.” But no; my parents were disciplined in their disciplined. They shook me up to get my attention. Perhaps that is what God is doing in your life; I don’t know.

When Jesus shows up, He shakes things up. When Jesus showed up in the temple He shook things up by turning over the money changing tables (Mk. 11:15-17). John the Baptist said that when Jesus came that He would come with a winnowing sword in His hand to shake things up (Matthew 3:12). When Jesus was on the cross, He shook things up with the tearing of the temple curtain and shaking the earth. There is going to be a final shaking up (Heb. 12:25-29). Soon this earth shall pass and only what is done for Christ will last.

Is God trying to shake things up in your life? Is God trying to get your attention? Is God calling you by your full name, shaking your life? Perhaps God is trying to shake things up in your life to shake loose your close-fisted attachment to the things of this world. He is saying, "Give me at least a tithe that I might be glorified in your church. Give so that my kingdom may be built up.” God says, "I own it all. Could you not give me at least 10% back of all that I have given to you?" You have heard it said that God doesn’t need our money. While technically that is true as God has need of nothing. we do need to give in order to cooperate with Him in the building of His kingdom. I like what Charles Stanley says better, “God can do without your money, He can just do a lot more with it.”

IV. TO EXPERIENCE RENEWAL GOD SAYS, "I WILL DO A GREATER WORK; BELIEVE" (V. 9).

The poverty and smaller size of this new building set before their eyes and the sorry spiritual condition of the people gave rise to a question as to whether God was even with them, and whether this second temple would have any glory in it at all. How can God bless us? These questions and doubts and fears are met with a divine promise of the latter glory of this house being greater than the former glory of Solomon's temple.

Now Solomon's temple had some glory, as the Shekinah glory of God filled that temple. But the glory of this temple was to be greater even than that one, because the glorious Lord Jesus was to enter this temple personally. The Lord Jesus is the latter glory of this temple. God wants to be glorified in His house and in His work. Ephesians 3:21 says, "To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

God is saying in verse 9, “You ain't seen nothin' yet." God is at work bringing a greater glory. God wants to do things in this church in 2009 He has never done before. God wants to do things in your life in 2009 He has never done before. He doesn't want to do it in this church because I'm the pastor or because you're the parishioner. He wants to do it that He might receive greater glory.

Do you see it? Do you see God doing a greater work? Folks, if we can't see it, it's not going to happen. Where there is no vision the people perish. Someone once spoke to Helen Keller, who, of course, was blind and said, "It must be a terrible thing to be blind." Helen Keller responded, "Yes, but I suppose a far worse thing is for one who has sight but has no vision." When Billy Graham spoke at the inauguration of then the new president of Southern Baptist Seminary, Al Mohler, who was just in his thirties saying, "The Bible says young men shall see visions and old men shall dream dreams. Older men's dreams should be to see that the young men's visions become a reality." Would we together--young and old--see a vision of God's new work in our church. God says, "I'm going do a greater work. All I'm asking you to do is believe it." “According to your faith be it done unto you” (Mt. 9:29).

God's greater work includes a greater glory. God's greater work includes a greater peace. Oh how God wants to continue to bring peace here in this place. How He desires peace in His church. How He desires peace in your life. Will you let Him? You will not have personal peace until you have the perfect peace of the Prince of Peace. God wants to do a new work, a good work. He wants this church to end well. Who knows when Jesus may come back?

God says it's time to rebuild, and God says, "Let’s do this together. You need Me to be the brains and heart and I need you to be the hands and voice." We are in it together. What kind of building will we have? A man inherited an ancient castle in Londonderry, Ireland. It was old and unattended to for some time. It had been looted many times, and the looting continued. So the new owner hired a stone mason to build a wall around the castle to keep people from looting it. The owner left for several months and came back, returning to check and see if the wall had been built. Sure enough, a great wall had been erected surrounding the castle, keeping looters out. But as the owner came to where the castle stood, there was no castle. He inquired of the wall builder as to what had happened. The wall builder said, "Why should I bring in stone to build the wall, when the finest is right here in the castle?"

Let’s join hearts and hands and resources to join God in rebuilding His work in this place. In the rebuilding of it we must be very careful not to be so concerned about building a wall representing lesser things, that the castle--the greater work of God--is destroyed. Partners--join God in rebuilding His work today by being encouraged; by working; by giving; by believing. Specifically I am asking you to consider making commitments that become the spiritual brick and mortar in the building of God’s work in this place.