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Last week we started Haggai chapter 1, and this week we're going to end Haggai. So we're there in chapter number 2. Look at verse number 3, it says, Who is left among you that saw this house, speaking about the temple, in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of... Sorry, let me read that again. Is it not in your eyes in comparison of... It is as nothing. I think I read that wrong. Hold on. All right. Anyway, look, as I said there, is it not in your eyes in comparison of... So the title of the sermon tonight, brethren, is In Comparison. In Comparison. So we know the book of Haggai is about encouraging the Jews to rebuild that second temple. Now there are some that are comparing the second temple with the first temple, and the reason I chose this title in comparison is that as we go through this chapter, you're going to notice that this theme keeps coming up over and over again, comparing certain things. And brethren, we need to be careful about how we compare things, right? We should not compare, you know, ourselves with someone else in the church. Like, you know, somebody might be able to serve God in one capacity, and someone else can serve God in some other capacity. We should not come into comparison and say, well, who's doing more for the Lord? Or, you know, I'm able to do, you know, this many hours of soul winning. You're only able to do this many hours of soul winning. You know, it's a bad thing, brethren, when we compare ourselves one toward another. All right? And you're going to start to notice, you know, the construction of the second temple, if you don't already know, was inferior to the construction of the first temple. Solomon's temple was something to be amazed at, you know. It was amazing. It was rich. It was great. And, you know, everybody was impressed by the construction of the first temple. The second temple, not so much. It was still great, but it wasn't to the same level as the first temple. And what we're going to be looking at in this chapter is the people comparing between the two temples. Now, we're going to notice an interesting truth of God as we keep going through this chapter. So let's start there in verse number one, Haggai chapter two, verse number one. Now, Haggai chapter two is broken up into three prophecies or three sermons from Haggai. So we're looking at the first prophecy right now. In the seventh month, in the one and 20th day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai saying, speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Sheltiel. So just a reminder, Zerubbabel was the man who would bring in the first wave of the Jews out of Babylon into Judea for the purpose of rebuilding the house of God, rebuilding the temple. Zerubbabel ends up becoming the governor of the land in these days, okay. So Zerubbabel really, he's the boss, he's the guy in charge of the construction. And as a reminder, they had stopped the construction of the house of God. So God sends Haggai to encourage them to get back into the work, okay. Speak now to Zerubbabel, son of Sheltiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, remember Joshua was a high priest, the son of Josadak, the high priest, there it is, and to the residue of the people saying, who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? So Haggai's asking the question, who among you have seen the first house? So obviously, those that had seen the first temple, they would be very aged right now, right, because they were in captivity for 70 years. I think it's estimated that they may have been in captivity by about 66 years, by the time Haggai was preaching these words, okay. So anyway, let's say you were 20, when you were taken into captivity into Babylon, you're returning back say 70 years later, now you're 90 years old, all right. And so you would say that generally speaking, it's the younger generation that would have seen the first temple, and they can compare it to the beginning stage of construction of the second temple. Now it's interesting, Haggai's basically saying that some of you here that have seen the glory of the first temple, when you look now at the second temple, he goes, is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? So there are some that had seen the first temple, and they're looking at the beginning stages of the second temple, the foundation being laid, and they go, man, it just doesn't measure up to the first temple. It's not as good, it's not as glorious as the first temple, and they feel, well, this construction work, it says nothing. It really doesn't measure up to the first temple. Again, what are they doing? They're comparing the first temple to the second temple. We need to be careful, brethren, must be careful not to compare one thing after another. We are, relatively speaking, a smaller church. We meet in a building that doesn't really look like a church building from the outside, you know, and we can have the attitude, well, what about that IFB church out there? You know, they're running 100 people, they're running 200 people, and they've got their own building, Pastor Kevin. We are like nothing. That's a bad attitude to have. That's not how God looks at a church. That's not how God looks at individuals, all right? So we need to keep this stuff in mind. Now, I want you to keep your finger there. Go back to Ezra, please. Go to Ezra chapter number three. Ezra chapter number three. Now, obviously not long ago, I preached through the book of Ezra chapter by chapter, and I had made a comment in the book of Ezra in chapter number three that I want to go back and, well, not so much rectify because I didn't really say anything wrong, but actually I've got something more to say about the book of Ezra there. So let's go back to Ezra chapter three, verse 11. Ezra chapter three, verse 11. So we're looking at, in Ezra chapter three, we're looking at the foundation of the second temple being laid, all right? And in Ezra chapter three, verse 11, it says, And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. So you can see the people getting involved in the work, even though all it is is a foundation. You know, it doesn't compare yet to the first temple, but they'll be rejoicing. Hey, we got the project started. They're so happy the foundations have been laid. Now, when we got to verse number 12, as I was going chapter by chapter through the book of Ezra, I kind of explained that I didn't really understand why some group of people are weeping, okay? But now I do. Now I do as we looked at the book of Haggai, because again, Haggai brings to light that those that had seen the first temple, they thought the second temple was as nothing, okay? They were making comparison. They were not really excited about the construction of the second temple. It just didn't measure up to what they remembered the first temple to be like. So it says in verse number 12, but, so obviously they're rejoicing, they're happy, but, okay? But many of the priests and the Levites and the chief of the fathers, look at this, who were ancient men. So obviously these are men that were old enough to have seen the first temple. Ancient men, look at this, that had seen the first house when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes wept with a loud voice and many shouted aloud for joy. So you see, there are some of the ancients that wept and then there are others that shouted out of joy, meaning that those that are weeping, they're not rejoicing. They're the people that Haggai's speaking about. They're saying, man, you're weeping about the construction of the second temple because to you it's like nothing. They're like, they're weeping about, well, man, it's just not as good as the first temple. We're not gonna be able to build it as good as the first temple. And so they're weeping about that. Now, when I went through the book of Ezra, I didn't really explain, I didn't really know why they were weeping to be honest, but again, you know, we look at the book of Haggai, when you stop and study the Bible, then you can start putting things together and it's beautiful that the Bible, it always connects, it's always supporting, the scripture supporting one after another there. We can see that that was a problem. The ancient men that had seen the first temple comparing the construction of the second temple, they were weeping, they were not happy. They did not feel that it was meeting up to the standard of the first temple. Verse number 13, so that the people could not discern the voice, sorry, the noise of the shouts of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a great shout and the noise was heard afar off. So there's a great noise when the foundation's being laid. Some people are rejoicing, yeah, woo! Others are weeping, ah, but the noise is, it's all together, you can't even tell. You know, are happier people sad? You know, that's what was happening in the book of Ezra. As I said, Haggai explains these people weeping is because they felt it's nothing. You know, it's not gonna be as good as the first temple. Let's go back to Haggai chapter two, verse number four. Haggai chapter two, verse number four. So you can see, you know, when you're trying to do a work for God, internally, even people that are supposed to be brethren in the Lord, people that love the Lord, may be a discouragement, all right? You're trying to do the best you can, you know, with your foot, and it's just not good enough. It's not as good, Pastor, as the other church. You know, Pastor, it's just, we're not up to the standard of some other IFB church out there that's been, you know, 20 years old and they've got this many people and they've got this many ministries, we're just not up to speed. And sometimes when you've got those kind of words that come internally, that can cause discouragement, okay? So that's why when we get to verse number four, Haggai says to Zerubel, yet now be strong, O Zerubel. Because Zerubel's getting discouraged, man. Why are these ancient people, these elders, discouraged? You know, why are they casting doubt on our construction projects? And we need to remember, doesn't matter, you know? People aren't always going to be happy. People aren't always going to be supportive when you're trying to do a work for God. And it says here, now be strong, O Zerubel, saith the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua son of Josadak, the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work, for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts. I am with you. So be strong, God says. You know, this is such an encouragement to me, because we have a small church here. We have a small church in comparison, but you know what? If we just compare numbers, yeah, I guess, you know, where's everybody? You know, why are we growing? You know what? But you know what? The Lord says, look, just go to work, saith the Lord, and work, and I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts. Brethren, if we're just serving the Lord Jesus Christ, if we're busy in his work, Jesus is with us. It doesn't matter if we're a church of 10 people. It doesn't matter if we're a church of 50 people, a church of 100, 1000 people, as long as we're doing the work, he's with us. You see, there are many churches that are running the hundreds, running the thousands, but they're not doing the work that God has left them to do. They're doing everything else but the work. They're a social party. You know, it's just a place of getting together, and it's just a bit of a club, a bit of a friendship getting together, but God has given us work to do, to preach the gospel, to complete the Great Commission, to teach people the whole counsel of God. And brethren, as long as we're doing the work, God says he's with us, so be strong. Be strong, all right? Let me encourage again, the men that will preach here, have been preaching on Sundays, it doesn't matter, brethren, if there's two, three of you, Jesus Christ says he's going to be in the midst of us. You preach like there's a thousand of us. You preach like there's a hundred of us. Whatever it is, brethren, you just do it for God. You put your head down, and you serve the Lord God, and he'll be with you. He'll give you the strength to keep pushing forward. So there's no need to make comparisons, but we do that, don't we? We compare ourselves amongst ourselves. You know, we compare, oh man, I wish my family had 11 kids like Pastor Kevin. Who cares why? You know what, this is what God's done. You don't have to have 11 kids like me, okay? You know, for some people, God's only given you one, and if that's God's will, then praise God for it. We don't need to compare ourselves. Oh, I wish my husband was more like that husband. I wish my wife was more like that wife. I wish my pastor was more like this pastor. I wish my church was more like, you know, forget about it. Blessed are Baptist Church is the house of God. He's here in our midst as long as we're doing the work. Let's keep going there. Verse number five. Now this is really interesting. We're not going to, we're going to skip verse six. I'm going to read it, but we're going to kind of skip over it, and I'll return back to it later in the chapter. But the next words are extremely deep, okay? It says, Just a couple of things there. God is saying that he has previously shaken the, shaken, what is it? Yeah, the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land. And then it says, and I will shake all nations. So God is basically saying, just for you guys to keep it in mind as we keep going into later on. God has said, in the past I have shaken the earth and I'm going to shake it again in the future. All right? Now, don't worry about that right now. We're going to get back to that. But the end of verse number seven says, and I will fill this house, that's the second house, that's the second temple, with glory saith the Lord of hosts. So even though the second temple is not as beautiful, it's not as fantastic as the first temple, God says, He, I, He says, I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. Now, I want you to keep your finger there and turn to Luke chapter two. Turn to Luke chapter two for me, please. It's going to feel like we're all over the place a little bit, but it's all going to start to come together. All right? Go to Luke chapter two, verse 25. Now, when God speaks about the glory of the house, all right? Now, sorry, have you still got a finger there in Haggai? Maybe just go back to Haggai chapter two just quickly, but, you know, go to Luke chapter two, but look at Haggai chapter two, verse number three. So remember you got the ancient men that are comparing the old temple with the new temple? Well, look at verse number three again. It says, Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? Okay? So the ancients are comparing the appearance of the temple, the quality of the temple, to one another, okay? And they think, well, this temple is a higher quality, therefore it's more glorious, okay? They're looking at the outward. They're looking at the construction. God says that this second temple will be filled with his glory, you see? So the ancients are looking at the physical building. God says, no, I'm going to send my glory, okay? This is what's going to actually cause the second temple to be even of a greater quality, of greater glory, than the first temple, okay? You say, in what way? Because the second temple never, on the outward, looked more beautiful, like Solomon's Temple. Solomon's Temple was definitely a marvelous sight, okay? But look at Luke chapter two, verse 25. Luke chapter two, verse 25. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. So you've got this old man, he's waiting for the consolation of Israel. That's Jesus Christ. He knows that he's going to see the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse number 26. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So there it is, okay? He's waiting, he knows, the Holy Spirit has told him, you're going to see Jesus before you pass away. Verse number 27. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. This is the second temple. This is the one that, you know, Haggai is encouraging the Jews to rebuild. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou has prepared before the face of all people. Now look at verse number 32. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things, which were spoken of him. So when Simeon speaks about Christ, he says Christ is a light of the Gentiles, but then he's the glory of Israel. You see, God did bring his glory into the second temple. It was the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, what made the second temple even more beautiful, more amazing, more glorious was the fact that Jesus Christ entered that temple. That's the glory of the Lord. You know, that's the glory of the Lord. Not the outward appearance. Not the outward appearance. That's what man looks at, right? The outward appearance of the Lord looks on the inside. The Lord looks on the hearts. The second temple, yeah, it wasn't so great on the outside, but Jesus Christ would come there when he was just a little babe. And of course he would frequent into the temple, especially when he would go to the cross. That final week, he spent most of his time every single day teaching in the temple of God. Jesus Christ is the glory of the temple. Now let's keep going there. Go back to Haggai. We're going to keep going on this thought. I want you to just keep all these thoughts in mind as we start to put it all together. Go to Haggai chapter 2, verse number 8. God then explains, the silver is mine, and the gold is mine, save the Lord of hosts. So now we start to understand why was it that God wanted silver and gold to beautify the temple? Because if God is going to fill the temple with his glory, the silver and gold would be a picture of that glory. Okay, that's the whole point behind it. It wasn't so much that it's just this rich place, but these are beautiful, beautiful metals which signify, which picture the glory of God. Because he keeps going there in verse number 9. Look at this. The glory of this latter house, that's the second temple, shall be greater than of the former. That's the first temple. Save the Lord of hosts, and in this place, I will give peace, save the Lord of hosts. All right, so you can see that Haggai is definitely prophesying that the second temple is going to be even more glorious. Okay, because God's going to fill it with his glory. And we already saw that was a picture of Jesus Christ, or Jesus Christ was that glory. Now, can you please keep your finger there and go to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse number 12. Yes, it is a bit of a Bible study today, brethren. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12. As I said, the title of the sermon tonight was In Comparison. And there's a danger in comparing one to another. This was a problem that was occurring in the Corinthian church. And the Apostle Paul comes in and starts to fix this thought about comparing one to another. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12, Paul says to the church, for we dare not make ourselves of the number, look at this, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. So there are certain people in the church that are commending themselves, patting themselves in the back. Man, I preach a great sermon tonight. And Paul says, look, I didn't compare myself to those people. You see, in this Corinthian church, they had some false brethren. They had some false prophets. This is what they do. They commend that. They speak highly of themselves. Look at this. But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. Brethren, comparing yourself to another person is not wise. Get it out of your head. Please, if you start to have the thought, you know what, I'm more spiritual than brother so-and-so, than sister so-and-so. Brethren, you're not wise by doing it, okay? It might give, it might make you feel a little bit better, you know, temporarily, but it's not going to help in the long run. Please, whatever capacity you find yourself in, if you're able to do something great, God has given you a special gift. And let's say, you definitely are the best in the church in whatever issue that is. You know, don't glory in yourself. Glory in God. God's the one that's giving you that ability. All right? So comparing yourself one to another, it's not wise. Verse number 13. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God have distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. He says, look, we're not going to boast of our measure. We're not going to boast in comparison to one other. What we are going to do is measure ourselves with the Word of God, with the rule of God, what God says. That's how I'm going to measure myself. Brethren, we compare ourselves to Jesus. That's what we do. We don't say, well, at least I'm better than brother so-and-so because I attend more church services. At least I'm better than sister so-and-so because I actually go soul winning and she doesn't. No, you compare yourself to Jesus and brethren, you'll always be humble when you compare yourself to Jesus, okay? It's a high standard, okay? But we are called to live Christ-like, to follow after these steps. Let's keep going there. Verse number 14. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure. So it says, look, we don't talk highly than what we really are beyond our actual measure, okay? In other words, there are other people in the church that are doing this. That's the comparison. He's comparing himself to false brethren, to false prophets. As though we reach not unto you, for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ. Not boasting of things without our measure, that is of other men's labors, but having hope when your faith is increased that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly. So what he's saying is, look, we don't enter into other men's labors and boast of how much I've done for the Lord, right? I mean, they're not coming in and saying, man, you know, brother so-and-so, sister so-and-so, whatever. You know, they've done all these great things and they come in, they boast, well, it was actually me. I achieved all these things when it was actually someone else. He says, we don't do that, all right? We don't go into someone else's work and think, oh, look what I did. You know, no, no. You know, you're trying to steal the thunder from someone else. Meaning, again, there were false prophets that were doing this. There were false brethren that were doing this in the church. And you can read the whole 1st and 2nd Corinthians, you know, that's a major issue. So what was happening is, Paul is the one that got these people saved. Paul is the one that started the Corinthian church. Then there were others coming in, entering into Paul's labors and going, look at all the great work we've done, you know. Paul says, look, I'm not that way. Okay, he's differentiating himself, a true believer, someone who loves the Lord in comparison to those that want to compare themselves to one another, you know, think of themselves more highly than others. Verse number 16. To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. Look at this, verse number 17. But hear that glory of, let him glory in the Lord. Okay, that's it, brethren, right? You've done something good. You've done something for the church. You've served in a mighty way. Just glory in the Lord. Thank you, Lord, that you've used me in such a way. Thank you, Lord, for giving me the gift to serve the brethren. Thank you, Lord, for making me, you know, helping me win these souls to the Lord this week. Glory in the Lord. Don't compare yourself one to another. And then he says in verse number 18. For not he that commendeth himself is approved. He goes, people that commend themselves, oh man, I'm so good. Look how righteous I am, okay? Then that approves by God, but whom the Lord commendeth. Let God approve of you. Let God commend you. Let God lift you up. You know, that's the problem with comparing one to another. We're trying to lift ourselves up over our fellow brother or sister in the Lord. Brethren, it's wicked. It's unwise. It's foolish, okay? It's the practice of the false brethren, false prophets. Please don't get into that line of thinking that you need to compare yourself to another person in this church. All right, can you please go back to Haggai chapter two, verse 10? Haggai chapter two, verse number 10. Now, verse number 10 begins the second prophecy, the second preaching in this chapter. And you know, because it gives us the time and the days that this happened. So in verse number 10, it says, in the fourth and 20th day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, Saint. So he's got a new word. He's got something new to preach, something new to say. Okay, verse number 11. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, if one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garments. Now, when it says holy flesh, the word holy, it means the word sanctified. It means the word separated, okay? So the flesh, of course, is the sacrifice. It's the animal flesh, right? When you bring an animal sacrifice, it's holy, it's sanctified, it's separated unto the Lord, all right? Now, he's saying, look, if you as a priest carry, you know, in your skirt, I guess, with your clothing as a support there, this holy flesh, and then, and with this, and with his skirt, do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? So if you've got sanctified sacrifice, the flesh of an animal, that's been separated unto God, and with your skirt, you touch something else that hasn't been sanctified, is that holy? And the priest answered correctly, and the priest answered and said no, okay? Because those things haven't been sanctified. Actually, when the clean touches the unclean, the clean becomes unclean, okay? And in fact, that's the next point in verse number 13. Then said Haggai, if one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, that's like touching the bread, the pottage, the wine, the oil, and the meat, okay? So if you've touched a dead body, dead carcass, and according to the Bible, according to the Lord of Moses, that was unclean, all right? If you had done such a thing, you would consider unclean, you have to go through wash-ins, and et cetera, a certain period of time. But anyway, if you've done that and touched any of these, shall it be unclean? So are these other things unclean because you've touched something unclean? And the priest answered and said, it shall be unclean. So the priests are answering correctly, okay? If you take something clean and you touch something that is unclean, it makes the clean unclean. It makes the clean unclean, all right? These words don't sound the same to me, all right? And so you say, what is this all about? Well, obviously, it's about the ritual wash-ins, okay? The Levites understand this. This is part of the practice. Part of the command is to go through this procedure of wash-ins and purifying things and sanctification and holiness, because that's how God accepted the service in the temple by people that were cleansed and sanctified. This is why I also say, if you're going to come and serve in the house of God, yes, if you're preaching, even if you're song leading, if you're going to get up and preach, I mean, read the Bible, whatever aspect of service you're going to do in the house of God, be sanctified, be clean, okay? Go to God, just bow your head. You only need a few seconds and confess your sins to God and say, God, please forgive me for the sins I've committed and the sins that I've forgotten about, Lord. You know, I want to come into your house and be a holy vessel for your service. Please start to apply this thought when you serve in the house of God. But let's keep going. What's the point that Haggai is bringing forward here? Verse number 14. Then answered Haggai and said, so is this people and so is this nation before me, save the Lord. And so is every work of their hands and that which they offer there is unclean. God says, you guys are coming, the temple's not being built, but they are doing the sacrifices. This is your coming, you're offering the sacrifices, but you yourselves are unclean. He goes, therefore, that which they offer there is unclean. Your sacrifices are unclean. I'm not receiving this worship. I'm not receiving this service that you're doing because you're unclean. Brethren, we need to keep this in mind. We can apply this today. If you have unconfessed sin, you're being rebellious against the Lord. You don't want to go before God and just humble yourself and be willing to just open up and say, God, please forgive me a sinner. Then he's not going to receive your worship. Your worship is unclean to him. Please, again, keep this in mind when you come to the house of God. You see, there's a few things that we learned in the Book of Ezra. Number one, or actually, what we did learn in the Book of Ezra was that the people were taken ungodly wives. Remember that? They were taken heathen wives, unsaved wives amongst themselves, and then they were still doing the practices, but they were unclean. You know, they're living sinful lives. They're committing fornication and marrying unsaved wives. The other thing that we learned in Haggai chapter one, well, actually, we'll go there in a moment, but let's keep going there in Haggai chapter two, verse number 15. He says, and now I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord. Since those days were, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. He says, look, there was a time, and we saw this in chapter number one, when you went to heap twenty measures of whatever, you know, your crops, let's say. He goes, but there were ten. Okay. When one came to the press fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, but there were twenty. Verse number 17, why is it that they were working so hard for the twenty, but only got ten? Why are they working so hard for the fifty and they've only got twenty? The reason is, in verse number 17, God says, I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands, yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord. Now, that should remind you of Haggai chapter one. So let's go back to Haggai chapter one and verse number nine. Haggai chapter one and verse number nine, you may recall these words. God says, you looked for much and lo, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why, saith the Lord of hosts? Because of mine house that is waste and ye run every man unto his own house. So you may remember in chapter number one, the people were more preoccupied with their houses, with their prosperity, with their possessions, and they left God's house in waste. And so God removes his blessings. In fact, God causes that their hard labour will only produce very little. This is what chapter two is saying in a different way. You know, you've gone and tried to get the twenty measures and you only found ten. God is the one that smote them because they neglected God's house. And so chapter two just reminds us of this truth. You know, if you want to be blessed by God, you have to prioritise the house of God. Okay, it's just, it's what God says. I'm not saying this because I'm the pastor and I just want to see a full house and well, I do want to see a full house. You know, it is a blessing, it is an encouragement, really brethren, I just don't want you to lose the blessings. I want you in God's house, prioritising God's house, serving in God's house, so God will bless you. Let's keep going there, verse 18. Haggai chapter two verse 18. Consider now from this day and upward, so it goes from this day forward, all right? For from, sorry, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? Yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, have not brought forth. From this day will I bless you. God's encouraging them, get back in the work. Get back rebuilding God's house. Get back serving me. Get back being clean as you offer your sacrifices to the Lord. Just do things the right way. And God says from this day forward, I will bless you. Brethren, we need God's blessings. We live in such a unsettled world. We live in such, with such contradictions, all right? So many politicians who are hypocrites. You know, who do we trust? You don't trust the Lord. This is his house. Blessed are Baptist churches house. We need to be blessed by God. We need to be blessed by God. We want to make sure that all our service, all our work, whatever we do, even if it's just work outside of God's house, as long as we're prioritizing his house, God says he will bless us. He will give us above and beyond as long as we make sure we prioritize the church, his house. And that's what, again, it's a temple in these days, okay? But that's the lesson that God is repeating. He's once again repeating the fact that he's removed the blessings and he wants to bless them once again from this day forward. So that's the second prophecy, all right, in the book of Haggai, or chapter number two, I should say. Then we get to verse number 20. And now we have the third prophecy in this chapter. It says in verse number 20, Now, I told you that we're going to come back to verse number six and seven. The reason is because verse 21 starts teaching the same lesson there, okay? So let's look at verse number six and seven again. So notice Zerubbabel has been told God's going to shake the heavens and the earth. Meaning this is some future event. All right, let's go back to verse number six. We already saw the glory that God is speaking about is Jesus Christ. But one thing I want you to understand in the second chapter, and when we looked at the glory of the Lord, we saw his birth. But this is more than just the birth of Christ. This is also about Christ's second coming. When he comes and he rules and reigns from Jerusalem, okay? So because it says that God will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory. So all the nations at some point, every nation on this earth, their desire will be toward Jesus Christ. And we know when does that happen? On Christ's millennial reign, okay? That's when it happens. Now, this verse here in verses, in Haggai chapter two, is repeated for us in the book of Hebrews, okay? So let's go to Hebrews chapter 12. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 24. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 24. Because when we speak about the Old Testament temple, our mindset immediately goes to the Old Testament, the old covenant, and it should do. But when God speaks about the glory of the house, he's outside the first covenant and he's speaking about the new covenant. The fact that Jesus Christ is the glory of the temple, he is the one that brought in the new covenant, okay, by the shedding of his blood, all right? Now look at Hebrews 12, 24. Look at the context that we find this verse repeated for us. In verse number 24, it says, You see, what is associated with the second temple is the fact that Christ was arrested, was crucified outside of the gates of Jerusalem, which brought in the new covenant. This is what makes the second temple even of more importance, even of greater glory, is the fact that Christ walked into that temple, was arrested, was beaten in there, and then ultimately was taken from there and crucified, bringing in the second covenant. You see, the first temple did not exist during, sorry, the second, the new covenant, the first temple did not exist during the new covenant times. It only existed within Old Testament times, okay? And now we keep going there, verse number 25. Hebrews 12, 25. Speaking about God, don't refuse what God says. Now the one that's spake on earth, I believe if you look at the whole context of this, I believe it's speaking about Moses. Moses is the one that brought in the old covenant, okay? Mount Sinai, God gave Moses that old covenant. So if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaker from heaven. So one that speaks from heaven, of course, is Jesus Christ, the bringer of the new covenant. The one that spoke on earth was Moses, the bringer of the old covenant, okay? Now look at verse number 26. He shook the earth, but now he have promised saying, yet, and these are the words in Haggai chapter 2, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. That's coming from Haggai chapter 2, being fulfilled here in Hebrew chapter 12. So you see the connection of the Bible once again. You know, these words that probably when you read the book of Haggai, just go over your head, okay? And then when you read the book of Hebrews, it's like, what's this about the shaking? Yet once more, that's exactly what it said in Haggai chapter 2, I'll shake not the earth only, but also heaven, okay? So there was a time when God shook the earth only, but there's coming a time when God's going to shake the heavens also. All right, now keep your finger there in Hebrew chapter 12. We're going to go to another passage. We're going to go a little bit deeper here, okay? Let's go to Exodus 19. Exodus chapter 19 verse 16. Exodus 19 and verse number 16. So where did Moses get the first covenant, the old covenant, the Old Testament? He got it from Mount Sinai. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, that's actually the covenant, okay? And then God obviously added all these other things that Moses wrote about, but it all started with the Ten Commandments that he got in Mount Sinai. It says in Exodus 19 verse 16, So the Lord descends upon Mount Sinai. There's thunders, there's lightnings, there's trembling, people are afraid. You know, what's all this noise? Verse number 17. Notice the next words. So the whole earth, the whole mountain is just shaking. It's like this earthquake, okay? So God says, we saw that already in the book of, sorry, Hebrews, sorry. Yet once more I shake not the earth only. Well, he shook the earth when he brought in the old covenant. He shook the earth when he gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Go to Exodus 20 now. Go to Exodus 20 verse number 18, which is the next chapter over. Exodus chapter 20 verse 18. And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpets and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, speak there with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. I mean, he was so fearful. They didn't want to hear from God anymore. It's too scary. It's too loud. It gives us great fear. Moses, you speak to us. And of course, Moses did speak to them. He brought in the old covenant. He brought in the Old Testament, okay, by the laws that God passed down from Mount Sinai. All right, go back to Hebrews chapter 12, please. Hebrews chapter 12. So you can see why when you look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 25, where it says, See that you refused not him that speaketh, for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, it's because they wanted to hear from Moses. Moses is the one that spoke on behalf of God, bringing in that old covenant, and then don't turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. Okay, so we're not to turn away from the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks to us. All right, let's keep going there. Verse number 27. It says, That's interesting. What was shaken? Mount Sinai. Okay, what has been done away with the old covenant? Okay, so these are symbolic one of another, okay. Yet what's more signified the removal of things that which were shaken as the things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Brethren, what will not be shaken? What's going to remain? The new covenant. The new covenant remains. It's an eternal covenant to all that have believed on Jesus Christ. Okay, the old covenant was shaken. Mount Sinai shook by the power of God that symbolized the fact that this covenant was not going to last forever. But the new covenant that came by the voice of the one in heaven is to last forever. It cannot be shaken. Okay, it'll remain. What is the picture of that? Verse number 28. Wherefore, we receive in a kingdom which cannot be moved. What cannot be moved according to this passage? The kingdom. That we're going to receive that kingdom. When does the Lord Jesus Christ rule in that kingdom? When he returns, when he comes back, and he rules for those thousand years. Help your scientists understand what is developing here, okay? It's very deep. Haggai chapter 2 is very deep, okay? Now, you can move away from the book of Hebrews. Go to Matthew 24. Go to Matthew 24. Now, before Jesus Christ comes to this earth, and before he rules for that thousand years, we know that the rapture takes place. Okay, we know that the resurrection takes place. I just want you to notice the words that are here in Matthew 24 verse 29. Now, before we read Matthew 24, 29, you guys know this is about the end times, but remember God said that yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. So there was a time when God shook the earth only. That's when Moses brought in the first covenant, the old covenant, okay? But now God says it's kind of time when he's not going to shake the earth only, but the heaven. All right, Matthew 24, 29. Matthew 24, 29. When God says that he's going to be the one that brings glory. Hey, yes, the birth of Christ. That temple received the glory of Christ in Christ's first coming, but there's a greater glory when Christ comes back in the second coming. All right, when not just the earth is shaken, but the heavens are shaken, and we see the glory of Jesus Christ, and he rules and reigns for a thousand years. This is all really interesting. I don't know about you, but Haggai, you know, this is all, you start with Haggai chapter two, and this is where it leads. Okay, this is where it leads. I mean, obviously Haggai had some great insight. And thank God for the New Testament. The New Testament draws out the great truths that we read about in Haggai chapter number two. All right, so Jesus Christ is that great glory, okay? Christ on the earth. And now you can understand why the nation's desire will be toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he's going to be ruling. He's going to be the king over all the earth. And we have that wonderful blessing of being able to rule and reign with Christ during that time. Back to Haggai chapter two, verse 22. Haggai chapter two, verse 22. So when we get to Haggai chapter two, verse 22, we're now talking about the end times. Okay, we're talking about the end times. Because it says in verse number 22, And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen. And I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them. And the horses and their riders shall come, every one by the sword of his brother. So God's going to destroy all these kingdoms. It's most probably Armageddon. When Christ comes and destroys the armies of the Antichrist. And in his glory, ushers us into that millennium. Verse number 23. Verse number 23. So we're up to the last verse now. Now this is really interesting for Zerubbabel. In that day, what day? In the day that God destroys all these kingdoms. In the day when Christ comes back to establish his kingdom upon this earth. Okay. In that day, sayeth the Lord of hosts, Will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant? Say, Zerubbabel's dead a long time ago. Yeah, but don't forget the rapture. Don't forget the resurrection. Don't forget the saints that Christ brings with him. Okay. You know, Zerubbabel's coming back. When we rule and reign on the earth with the Lord Jesus Christ, we're going to be shoulder to shoulder with Zerubbabel. With Moses. With David. With Joseph. All the great men of God, we're going to be shoulder to shoulder with them, brethren. We're not just going to be reading about them in the Bible. It's like, oh, there you are. You know, we're going to ask them all the questions that we probably thought about as we read through the Bible. Okay. Zerubbabel is coming back. Okay. God's telling Zerubbabel, I've got a job for you in the millennium. I've got a job for you when I destroy all the kings on this earth and establish my glory on this earth, Jesus Christ. Let me read verse number 23 again. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take the old Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and I will make thee as a signet. For I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts. What I love about that, brethren, Zerubbabel's given a great job. Go and rebuild the temple. Okay. And he gathers a whole bunch of people. They get there. They have enemies. They get discouraged. All right. 14 years goes and they're just, they're slack. They're not doing the work. But then Haggai comes in and encourages Zerubbabel and they finish the work. They finish the temple of God. Okay. And yet, you know, that was great. That was great in those days. Okay. But there was a greater glory to come for that temple. That was the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Zerubbabel's been reminded, you know, all the sacrifice, all the hard work, you know, all the affliction, the persecution you went through, it's all going to be worth it, Zerubbabel. You know, you, God will make thee a signet, you know, as to some type of authority, some type of special role for Zerubbabel in the coming of Christ. For I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts. You know, there are two applications that we can take from this. Number one, as I said, Zerubbabel himself, given that special office, that special position in the millennium. And I believe that is definitely a legitimate reading of that. But, you know, many times in the Bible, things are a little bit deeper than what we just first see. Okay. Because I also believe this is speaking cryptically of Jesus Christ. Okay. Who is Zerubbabel? Well, have a look at that verse number 23 just once again. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel. I want you to remember those two names. Zerubbabel and his father Shealtiel. Okay. Now, can you please go to the book of Matthew? Go to Matthew chapter number one. Matthew chapter number one. Matthew chapter number one. If you know your Bibles, Matthew chapter one contains the lineage of Christ's birth. Okay. The ancestors that came before Jesus Christ. The people that God would use to bring forth Jesus Christ into this world. And in Matthew chapter one, verse 11, it says, And Josias begat Jeconias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon. Verse number 12, And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconias begat Salaphiel, now that's Zerubbabel's name, father's name, and Salaphiel begat Zerubbabel. That's Zerubbabel. Okay. It's the same person. So you can definitely see Zerubbabel and his father are in the lineage that would bring forth Jesus Christ. So while God says, hey, you know, I've got a special role for you, Zerubbabel, in the millennium, I think we can also cryptically, you know how sometimes I think we can also cryptically, you know how sometimes Jesus Christ is referred to as the son of David, for example. And he's also the son of Zerubbabel. Okay. Because it's in that same kingly line. And so we may very well be seeing cryptically, verse number 23, speaking of Jesus Christ sort of in the loins of Zerubbabel, you know, to be brought forth. But also Zerubbabel himself, you know, that he will get this great honour for building that second temple, for getting busy in the work of God. So what's the conclusion of the sermon today? Well, as I said, you know, we should not compare ourselves one to another. Okay. We should not compare one church to another church. We should not think, oh, maybe God's not blessing us because we haven't got all the wonderful gold and silver that some other church has and all the materials and ministries and whatever the other church. You know what, let's get busy in the work. Let's get busy in the work. And Reverend, whatever you sacrifice, Zerubbabel sacrificed a lot. Whatever you sacrifice, God will remember. God will reward you when Christ comes back and rules and reigns on this earth. Whatever you give up, Reverend, whatever persecution, whatever suffering you go through for the name of Christ, God's going to reward you a hundredfold. God's going to bless you. God's going to be not just bless you on this earth, but he's got a great position. He's chosen you to be one of the kings and priests that will rule and reign with him in the glory of Jesus Christ. So that's the lesson that we learned in Haggai. It's not just the temple. The temple is just a physical building. You know what, it's about the one that walked into that temple. It's about Jesus Christ. What are you doing for Jesus? You know, and he's given us this house. He's given us blessed up at this church. What are you going to do to serve this church? Whatever you offer, Reverend, whatever you lose, whatever sacrifice. You know, coming for a midweek service, it takes time. It takes effort, I know. For those that work, you know, pretty much it's hard to get to church, right? Do you know what? You sacrifice your time. You sacrifice your car, your fuel to come to God's house. You know, you prioritize God's house. You know, you give toward God's house. Whatever it is that you give, whatever you sacrifice. Don't forget, number one, do it as a clean vessel, okay? Make sure you're holy. Make sure you're sanctified. You make sure that God receives whatever you have to give at its fullest. And don't forget, whatever you give, whatever you lose, whatever you sacrifice, God's going to reward you in that millennium to come. Okay, let's pray.