Sunday Evening, January 6, 1974 — Richmond, Virginia
Ministry through Brother Stephen Kong
One thing have I desired of the Lord,
That will I seek after:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me.
Lord, create in us and strengthen in us that desire for Thyself, that truly we may desire one thing of Thee, and that is to dwell in Thy presence forever, to behold Thy beauty, and to inquire in Thy temple.
Lord, we do desire to be where Thou wantest us to be, and to be what Thou wantest us to be. We want to be one with Thee, not only in life but in purpose. We want to see Thy glory, and we want Thee to be glorified. Lord, this is the desire of our hearts.
We commit this time into Thine hand, trusting Thee to work out Thy purpose among Thy people—not only here, Lord, but everywhere throughout this world. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Do you thank the Lord for giving us another opportunity to be together? We would like to read from Haggai. It is very easy to find because it is near the end of the Old Testament. The last book is Malachi, the second-to-last is Zechariah, and the third-to-last is Haggai.
Let us read Haggai, chapter 1.
In the second year of Darius the king, 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 Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
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.
Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste?
Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 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.
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of My house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own house. Therefore over you the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth her fruit.
And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed 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 feared before the Lord.
Then spake Haggai the Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord.
And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, 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, their God, in the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
Lately, we have been considering together this matter of recovery. We have seen how the remnant of the children of Israel returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, how they rebuilt the temple under Zerubbabel, and how Ezra later beautified the temple. Then, after many years, Nehemiah came back, and under Nehemiah the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt and the order of the city was restored.
Now, all these are history. But behind this history there are spiritual principles of God that never change. Today, God is still doing the work of recovery among His own people—not as a physical thing, but in a spiritual sense.
The temple must be built. The life of God’s people with God must be restored—not only our individual life with God, but our life together as a people with God. We are living stones, being built up together into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So, brothers and sisters, the temple must be built. We must be built up together as a spiritual house for God to dwell among us, for His name to be exalted, for Him to receive the worship that belongs to Him, and for us to serve Him as a priesthood. Our life with God together must be restored.
Not only that, but the wall of Jerusalem—the city—must be restored. In other words, not only must our life together with God be restored, but our life with one another must also be restored.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
We do believe that in our days God is doing the work of recovery: to recover our lives with God and to recover our lives with one another. Only when these two aspects are being recovered will the testimony of Jesus be established on this earth.
We have the historical part of recovery in the two books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Together with these two historical books of recovery, we have three other books: the book of Haggai, the book of Zechariah, and the book of Malachi. These books give us the prophetic utterances alongside the history of recovery.
Or, to put it another way, prophecy—prophetic utterances, God’s messages sent directly from God—plays a very important part in the history of recovery. Without these prophetic messages, the recovery cannot be accomplished. It was through the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah that the temple was eventually rebuilt.
Since we are considering the history of recovery, I feel that it would be a loss if we neglected the prophetic part of recovery. So, God willing, this time we hope to consider together at least one prophet, the prophet Haggai, and to see what his prophetic ministry meant to the history of recovery.
Before we go into Haggai, probably we should lay a little foundation. God raises up three different orders, or offices, or ministrations: the prophet, the priest, and the king.
These are the three orders, ministrations, or offices that God raises up among His people. The prophet speaks the mind of God. The priest serves God. The king governs and rules for God.
Priesthood and kingship are permanent orders. Prophecy is a temporary order. In other words, God raises up a prophet that His mind may be made known to His people. Thus, prophecy will pass away, while kingship and priesthood will continue even into eternity.
You remember that we are redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus. He has not only washed our sins away, but He has made us priests and kings. We are to serve Him and rule for Him—not only now in a spiritual sense, but even in the age to come and throughout eternity.
When you read the book of Revelation and come to the last two chapters, you find the church serving God as priests and reigning as kings, but there are no more prophets. Prophecy is very important today, but the day will come when all prophecy will be fulfilled and there will be no more prophecy. Yet we shall serve the Lord as kings and priests.
Another thing to notice is that, especially during a time of spiritual declension, you find prophets raised up in great numbers.
In a very general sense, all the patriarchs were prophets. Abraham was a prophet; Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and even David. In that general sense, these great men were all prophets. Yet, in a more specific sense, prophets formed a class by themselves.
Historically speaking, this class of prophets began with Elijah, the representative of all the prophets, and ended with John the Baptist. You remember that in Matthew 11:13 it says that the law and the prophets were until John the Baptist.
No doubt, in New Testament times there are prophets. In Ephesians 4, we find that God has given to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints with a view to the work of the ministry—the ministry of the Body. There are prophets in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, though there is a difference. We will not go into that tonight, but I mention that there is a difference.
In the history of the children of Israel, especially during the time when they were falling away from God, you find that God raised up many prophets to tell them how God thought about them and to tell them of God’s plan.
At the end of the history of the nation of Judah, in 2 Chronicles 36, before Judah was taken into captivity, we read:
And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending, because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling-place:
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
So you find that prophets are raised up by God especially in a time of declension because God has compassion upon His people. God wants to restore His people, if only they will listen to His messengers.
There is one more thing to observe. Whenever we think of prophets and prophecy, probably in our mentality we put great emphasis upon foretelling. We think that prophets predict events that are coming, that they tell the future, that they foretell what will happen afterwards.
But, strictly speaking, prophecy in Scripture is more forth-telling than foretelling. Basically, prophecy is to tell forth the mind of God. Here is a situation: what does God think about this situation? How does He look upon it? What does He expect of it? What does He want His people to do concerning such a situation?
So prophecy is basically the telling forth of the mind of God, more than merely foretelling things that will happen in the future. Of course, there will be things foretold, but forth-telling is the basic meaning of prophecy.
Why is it that we always think of prophecy in terms of foretelling? It is because our natural mind is built that way. There is a curiosity in our minds; we are always curious about the future. Because of that, we tend to think of prophecy in terms of the future.
But, as a matter of fact, prophecy is more concerned with the mind of God concerning a situation and with what God wants. For this reason, you find that prophecy is very much related to recovery.
In order that the work of God may be recovered, God says something. God sends messengers with messages from Him. Through these prophetic utterances, the people may be encouraged, comforted, edified, stirred up, awakened, and brought to respond to God. This is what prophecy really is.
Now, brothers and sisters, we need prophets today. Oh, how we need God to raise up people with vision—people who know His mind, people who can tell us what God thinks about us and what He expects of us.
Again, I say that I am not speaking about prophets who will tell us what we should do tomorrow, where we should go, or who will try to predict our future. I do not say that God cannot raise up a prophet and give such a prophecy, but I certainly say that it is very extraordinary.
In New Testament times, God has given us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, and He is to teach us in all things. We do not need someone to prophesy over us that tomorrow we should marry a certain girl. The Holy Spirit will teach us in all things.
There are cases; I am not ruling that out completely. But certainly that is not the ordinary way. The ordinary guidance should be through the guiding Holy Spirit.
But we do need prophets who have discernment concerning the situation among God’s people and who are able to tell us what God thinks about us and what He wants to do. That is what we need.
For the recovery of God’s testimony today, we need such prophetic ministry. We should ask the Lord that He will raise up real prophets who can tell us of God’s mind, that we may respond to God and that the testimony of Jesus may be restored.
We do not know much about the background of Haggai. Of course, the name Haggai means festive, or the festival of the Lord.
Actually, Haggai faced a very specific situation. The remnant had returned to Jerusalem. They had come back to rebuild the temple, but the work of building the temple was not going on. It was a pathetic situation, and yet his very name tells us that he was festive and joyful—the festival of the Lord.
If all you can see is what is around you, you will truly be a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. But if you have faith and can see beyond what is around you, if you can see what God intends to do, if you are joined with God in His purpose, and if you have faith in God that He will do it, then in spite of everything there will be joy in your heart.
Haggai was probably, at that time, an old man. Very likely, he was among the few who had seen the former temple, the temple built by Solomon.
The Babylonian captivity began at approximately 600 B.C. After seventy years of captivity, it came to 536 B.C. The remnant returned under Zerubbabel in 536 B.C., and the next year they began to lay the foundation of the temple and intended to build it.
But because of opposition, they became discouraged. The work of rebuilding the temple was stopped for a number of years—perhaps about fourteen years. When Haggai began to prophesy in the second year of Darius, it was around 520 or 519 B.C.
So, after seventy years of captivity and another fourteen or fifteen years after their return, Haggai began to prophesy. Probably when he was taken captive, he was only a child. If he had been a child at that time, he would now have been over eighty years old—perhaps eighty or ninety.
Most likely, this man was among the few who had seen the first temple, the temple built by Solomon. After seventy years of captivity, the impression of that temple must still have been very deep in the mind of this former child, now an old man.
He was among the remnant who returned with the one purpose of rebuilding the temple. Yet he had been back for fourteen or fifteen years, and nothing had been done beyond the laying of the foundation. You know, this old man’s heart must have ached over the whole situation.
For seventy years in captivity, he must have been among those who longed to see the temple restored. That was why he came back as an old man. But years and years went by, and nothing was done. No doubt this old man was deeply exercised before the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, it is true that God can raise up anybody according to His pleasure to be His messenger, His prophet. It is the sovereignty of God, and that is true.
But, on the other hand, it is also true that if your heart is exercised before the Lord, if you inquire of the Lord, and if you seek to know His mind, God may call you to be His prophet.
Why is it that God calls this one to be a prophet and not that one? Even in 1 Corinthians 14, you find, “Seek earnestly the greater gifts,” and the greater gift is prophecy.
Why, among all the people, did God raise up an old man to be a prophet at that moment? We might say that he was too old to be of any use. It is true that if God intends to use a person, usually He begins to deal with that person while he is young. That is true. But that does not rule out older people.
Thank God for Haggai. He should give older people great encouragement. Nowadays, you often hear encouragement given to young people, and older people sometimes sit there and say, “Well, probably we have passed our time.” Not yet. Not yet.
Here was Haggai. He must have been in his eighties or nineties, well beyond what people would call the time of usefulness. But notice one thing: this old man had a heart for the Lord. He had a vision. He was exercised before God. He sought the mind of the Lord.
If you seek the mind of the Lord, you shall know His mind.
Several months ago, I was asked whether I believe there are still prophets in the church today. My answer was yes. I do believe God still raises up prophets in the church—not merely in the small matter of predicting something, but in the real matter of forth-telling the mind of God to His people today.
I was asked whether I could give an illustration of someone whom I thought was probably a prophet. This man has passed on now, but I can tell you that although I heard him only once in my lifetime, I read his books. To me, I feel that T. Austin-Sparks was a prophet.
If you read his books, you will find that he did know the mind of God. One day, as I read his biography, I discovered why God seemed to give him the mind of God concerning His people. In his own writing, he described how he sought God that he might know God’s mind concerning His people.
He was not content merely to give sermons or to entertain God’s people. He was seeking the Lord that he might know God’s mind and speak as God’s spokesman. Because he sought in that way, God gave him something.
Brothers and sisters, I am using that only as an illustration. But in the case of Haggai, you find the same principle. Why was this old man raised up by God to be a prophet at that time? Because he was one whose heart was exercised before God.
Whether he was a priest or not, I do not know. Some people even think that he was a priest, because although Haggai has only two chapters, you find a theological question asked and answered in the second chapter. But that does not matter—whether he was a Levite or not, whether he was old or young. God is no respecter of persons.
What is important is this: is your heart exercised? When you see the things around you, are you exercised before God? Do you enter into His presence and inquire of Him?
“Lord, what does it mean? Does it mean that things are to go on like this forever? What is Your word to Your people today? Is there any word? Do You have any message to send to Your people? Is there any hope? Can there be any recovery?”
Brothers and sisters, this is not a time to be concerned with and occupied by small things. One thing for which we need to be really exercised before God is this: What is God’s mind for us today? Does God have a message for us? Is He satisfied with us? If He is not satisfied, where are we wrong? Why? What can be done? What does God require of us, that we may give Him what He wants?
Brothers and sisters, we need prophecy. We need vision.
In the days of Eli, visions were rare and the word was scarce, because their eyes were dim and their ears were dull. Oh, how we need God to open our eyes, open our ears, and stir our hearts, that as we see the situation around us—and even the situation within us—we may know God’s mind.
Is God satisfied with us? How can we satisfy Him? What is His word? Oh, if there is no word, we are as good as dead.
The concern of the prophet Haggai only reflected the concern of God’s heart. God was concerned. He had compassion on His people, and that was the reason why He spoke.
Let us go back and see the situation. The children of Israel had been taken into captivity for seventy years. Then, suddenly, the call came through a Gentile king, Cyrus king of Persia. A royal decree was issued saying that all who were God’s people might go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God.
As we have mentioned several times, most of the Jewish people were so content with their lives in a foreign land that they had no desire even to go back to rebuild the temple. But thank God, there was a remnant—about fifty thousand people.
They were willing to be uprooted. They were willing to go through the perils of travel. They were willing to go back to Jerusalem, a city in waste. They were willing to go back to nothing in order to rebuild the temple of God.
In other words, here was a people whose sole purpose in returning was the rebuilding of the temple. Their purpose was definite. Their hearts were pure. They went back for one thing and one thing only: to build the temple of God.
They were a people to live for God, to work for God, and to do everything for God—nothing for themselves. That was why they went back.
They wasted no time. On arriving in Jerusalem, they came together as one people, built the altar, offered sacrifices to God, and the very next year began to lay the foundation. They were going to build the temple. They were a single-minded people for God.
Then something happened: opposition from their enemies around them. This opposition weakened their hands. It discouraged them so much that they stopped the work of rebuilding the temple.
They had come back for one reason—to rebuild the house of God—but now they stopped working altogether. Why? Did they forget why they had come back? No, of course they remembered. Did they really give up the hope of rebuilding the temple? No.
They said only one thing: “The time has not come, the time for building the house of God.” They had not forgotten to build the house. They had not given up building the house. They merely said, “This is not the time. Let us wait until it is more convenient. Then we will finish our job.”
In other words, they rationalized the whole thing. If they had completely given up building the house, their conscience would not have allowed them to be at peace. But by rationalizing—“This is not the time; we have not given up; we will do it when the time comes”—somehow their conscience was at peace.
But human life is such that you have to be occupied one way or another. You cannot be completely at leisure. Even when you are at leisure, you make leisure your occupation. You must be occupied.
If you are not occupied with building the temple, then you will be occupied with something else. Since they were not occupied with building the temple, what did they do throughout those fourteen years? They started to build their own houses.
What kind of houses did they build? The Bible says they dwelt in their ceiled houses. In other words, they built houses with paneled walls. They did not simply build temporary shelters; they began to live in luxury. They did a great deal for themselves while the house of God lay waste.
Even in the beginning, when they stopped building the temple, they were still telling themselves, “We are just waiting for the right time. We will do it.” When they saw the temple in waste, their conscience still troubled them. But after fourteen years, after they had built their own houses and lived in comfort and luxury, gradually a kind of indifference developed.
They could walk by the ruined temple site and see it as though they saw nothing. You get used to it. Brothers and sisters, very soon the sharpness, the keenness, the sensitivity, gradually goes until spiritual inactivity prevails among God’s people.
Still, they did not say they would not build. They said they were waiting for the time. But the time for which they waited would never come. They became spiritually numb.
Brothers and sisters, this was the situation—a most subtle situation. If God had not sent His prophet to arouse them and draw them out of their spiritual slumber, they could have gone on indefinitely improving their houses and leaving the house of God in waste.
Gradually, they would have forgotten even the building of God’s house. Why did they come back? To build the temple. But now the whole thing was in danger of being completely lost. Was this not a serious situation?
Nobody seemed to notice it. Spiritual lethargy had developed among them. Dear brothers and sisters, there is nothing more serious with God’s people, who once have seen the vision, who once have known the will of God, and who once have offered themselves for God’s purpose, than to have that sensitivity gradually dulled.
For people who have not seen, they need to see. But for people who have seen, who have even gone a step further, who have come back to Jerusalem and laid the foundation, their greatest danger is spiritual indifference. That is the greatest danger.
Brothers and sisters, have you heard the call to rebuild the house of God? Have you not given up much for that purpose? Have you not come back to Jerusalem—to that simplicity which is in Christ? Have you not laid the foundation and seen that nothing but Christ is the foundation? You began well.
But, brothers and sisters, to build the house is not an easy job. You cannot expect the enemy to allow you to go on smoothly without interference. Satan, the enemy of God and of man, is around. Whenever he sees anyone who intends to do God’s will, he will do everything to discourage, distract, deceive, and attack.
Is the opposition too much, so that you are beginning to say, “This is not the time”? If this is not the time, when will the time be?
Jeremiah prophesied that after seventy years of captivity, the children of Israel would go back to Jerusalem, return to Judah, and rebuild the cities. It was God’s word. Why did God raise up Cyrus king of Persia to issue the decree? Why did the Spirit of God stir the heart of Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant in the first place? If this was not the time, why should the whole thing have been done at all?
Why not wait eighty years, one hundred years, or one hundred and fifty years? Brothers and sisters, the word was given. This is the time. When we say, “This is not the time,” it is because we consider ourselves too much.
It is almost like Peter. The Lord said that He would go to Jerusalem, be killed, and on the third day be raised from the dead. Peter took hold of Him and said, “Lord, be kind to Yourself. Consider Yourself. Do not be so foolish. You do not need to do that.”
The Lord turned and said, “Get thee behind Me, Satan,” because Peter’s mind was on the things of men and not the things of God. Brothers and sisters, if we consider ourselves too much, we will fall into the same trap.
Thank God, He allowed the people to go on for about fourteen years. God was patient. But after those years, I believe that God had been exercising the heart of Haggai. As Haggai was exercised before the Lord and inquired of the Lord day after day, when it came to the second year of Darius, in the sixth month, the word of the Lord came. God had a word for His people.
You know, Haggai was an old man when he was called to prophesy. How long did he prophesy? Four months. How often? Three different days, altogether five utterances. That was all.
But was God wasting something? Not at all. Even though he began to prophesy when he was quite old, and even though his prophecy extended only four months and then he seemed to disappear, yet what was the result? The prophecy of Haggai helped the remnant finish the rebuilding of the temple.
Of course, God also raised up Zechariah to continue the work. Evidently, Zechariah was a young man, a young man with a great imagination—sanctified imagination. God seemed to use him for a longer period.
The cooperation of Haggai and Zechariah is wonderful. Haggai, being an old man, did not use much imagination in his prophecies. What he said was very concise, very direct, and very much to the point—like a mature old man. Zechariah was given a young man’s freshness and imagination, sanctified by the Spirit of God. There were many words, but they were the word of God.
Through the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, the people were stirred to rebuild the house of God. Thank God.
Brothers and sisters, we need to hear the word of God. In the last days, people will be hungry and thirsty—not because of food and water, but because of the word of God.
Many words have been uttered, but where is the word of God? Do we hear the voice of the Lord speaking to our spirit?
The prophet speaks; he challenges. Oh, how we want to hear something that will soothe us. How we like to have somebody pat us on the shoulder and tell us that everything is all right—it does not matter.
But, dear brothers and sisters, it does matter. If we are not in the right place, in the right attitude, and in the right spirit, we need to be challenged. We should be challenged. We should be convicted in our conscience.
May God not give us rest until He can rest among us.
Here you find that on the first day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius, the word of God came to Haggai: “Speak to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.” Through these two leaders, the word came to the whole people.
God challenged them. There was a controversy between God and His people. This controversy did not concern the nation; it concerned God and His remnant.
God did not seem to argue with those who had remained in Babylon. In a sense, those Jews who did not return could have a good time. They could live in peace, do what they liked, and God seemed to say, “Let them go.”
But God had a controversy with the remnant. Why? Because this was the people upon whom God’s eyes were fixed.
The controversy between God and His people was this issue: “This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” But God said, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste?”
The whole controversy was over the matter of time, not a matter of purpose. The remnant had not given up the purpose of building the house. That was why they had come back in the first place. It was a matter of time.
They said, “This is not the time.” But God said, “If this is not the time for Me, can it be the time for you? You are a committed people.”
Brothers and sisters, if you are committed to God, God’s time is your time, and your time is God’s time. If you are committed to God, you cannot say, “This is not the time for God, but it is time for me.” There is no such thing.
If it is God’s time, it is your time. If it is your time, it is God’s time. The time is now—right now.
In this prophetic utterance, God wanted His people to do one thing: “Consider your ways.” Consider your ways. The word “consider” means to set your heart upon your ways.
Think about it. Reflect upon it. Put your heart into it. See through it. Do not simply live on as if nothing had happened. Stop. Think. Put your heart into it, and discover something.
God said, “Consider your ways” twice, but the two times are different. The first is negative, and the second is positive.
The first time God said, “Consider your ways.” What were they to consider? Consider what had happened through the years. You sowed much, but you brought in little. You ate, but you were not satisfied. You drank, but your thirst was not quenched. You put on clothing, but you were not warm. You earned wages, but the wages were put into a bag with holes. Why?
Because they had left the building of the house of God and had begun to build their own houses, God’s disciplinary hand was upon them. Strange to say, they did not know it.
How can a person be under God’s discipline and not even notice it? This shows how dull the heart can become.
When they left the building of God’s house and began to build their own houses, they who were supposed to live for God and work for God were now living for themselves and working for themselves, just like those who did not return.
God could not allow such a thing to continue. So God’s disciplinary hand was upon them. They sowed much, but got little. They tried to enjoy, but they could not enjoy.
Oh, brothers and sisters, if you are committed to God, He will not allow you to enjoy apart from Him. Thank God for that.
But the strange thing is that they did not even notice it. They knew that they ate much but were still hungry. They knew they did not get warmth from their clothing. They knew they sowed much but received little, year after year. Yet their spiritual sensitivity was gone. They did not understand.
Is that not pathetic? How many of God’s children today are in that situation? They are under God’s disciplinary hand, and yet they do not see it. All they see is, “Why are we not satisfied? Why is it this way?” But they do not recognize the hand of God.
So the word came: “Consider your ways.” Why did all these things happen? Because you ran to your own houses and left the house of God. God said, “My hand is upon you. I am trying to bring you to your senses, but you are so dull that you do not understand.”
Dear brothers and sisters, if you are committed to God, God will never allow you to be satisfied with anything else—with anything less than Himself and His purpose. Is it because He does not like you? No. It is because you are one with Him. He cannot allow you to be satisfied with less.
Then again, God said, “Consider your ways.” This is looking forward, and it is positive. God said, “What you should do now is this: go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified.”
Dear brothers and sisters, on the one hand, we need to consider our ways and see how we have drifted away, and because of that how we are under His discipline. On the other hand, when we repent, we should go up to the mountain.
In other words, we should climb. We should go to the Lord in fellowship with Him, and there gather the material from Him to build the house, that God may be pleased and glorified.
What was the purpose of the remnant in coming back? To please God and to glorify God. That was the one purpose of their life, but they forgot.
What is the purpose of our life? If it is not to please God and glorify Him, is there anything more honorable than that? God says, “Do it. Do it. I will be pleased, and I will be glorified.”
Thank God, He stirred them. Brothers and sisters, if God should keep silent, then we are really in a desperate position. I cannot bear to think about that. But as long as God still speaks to us, there is help. There is hope.
Here you find that God began to stir. It was the Spirit of God, not the human word of Haggai. It was the word of the Lord, and the Spirit of God behind the word stirred Zerubbabel, stirred Joshua, and stirred all the remnant.
They said, “We will start to do it.” As soon as they responded, a second word came on that very day. Haggai said to the people, “The Lord says, I am with you. I am with you.”
Brothers and sisters, in one sense, He is always with us. Has He not said, “I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee”? Has He not said, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the age”? He is always with us. He never leaves.
But in another sense, so far as our experience is concerned—not our position, but our experience—sometimes we lose His presence. Why? Because we are not with Him.
If we are with Him, He is with us. The Lord said, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” When we are with Him, we are given the assurance that He is with us. His presence goes with us.
Brothers and sisters, if He is with us, if His presence goes with us, then we do not need to worry. Whatever He has called us to do, He is faithful to accomplish. Leave it with Him.
It was on the strength of this promise that the remnant rose up and put their hands to the work of rebuilding the temple.
Oh, Lord, speak to Thy people, that we may hear Thy voice. Thou knowest our situation. Thou searchest the heart. Oh, we are laid bare before Thee.
O Lord, search us. If there is anything wanting, cover it with Thy precious blood. We do repent before Thee.
Lord, once again we offer ourselves to Thee. If our first love has grown cold, restore our first love. If our sensitivity has grown dull, restore our sensitivity.
Oh, Lord, we want to be with Thee, that Thou mayest be with us. Lord, Thy presence is our desire. If Thou shalt go with us, we have no fear.
Oh, Lord, as Thy people, we just lift our hearts to Thee and look to Thee for mercy, for grace—not only for a few here, Lord, but for Thy people all over the church.
Quicken our ears and our hearts, that we may hear Thee speak. Thy servants hear. Amen.