This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "The Consequenses Of Ignoring God's Commands", 6/1/2014

THE CONSEQUENCES OF IGNORING GOD'S COMMAND TO GIVE

 

Haggai 1:1-11

 

V:1. " In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:"

A. God worked in the heart of Darius the King of Babylon to enforce His previous

     decree to King Cyrus to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and to restore all the

     assets  taken from the temple when it was destroyed.

    1. When the children of Israel returned to the promised land, they refused to follow

         God's command.

    2. They rebuilt their homes, but neglected the building of God's temple.

    3. Their political government was restored while under the Babylonian control.

        a. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah.

        b. Joshua was the High Priest of Israel.

        c. Haggai was the Lord's prophet after the captivity.

        d. God re-established the order of government in Israel.

  B. God allowed a transition time for Israel to regain full control of the  promise

       land.

      1. They were still under the discipline of the Babylonian King.

      2.  The Israelites were a hard headed people and still not able to govern themselves

            according to God's commands. 

 V:2. " This is what the Lord Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet  

   come for the Lord's house to be built."

     Defn: Lord= Yehovah= The eternal God.

               Host, almighty= tesbaah= mass of persons, army

  A. The Lord is not satisfied when we put our needs before His commands.

       1. We must be careful not to get into a habit of putting off what God told us to do.

       2. God's commands should be an immediate concern for us.

  B. The Israelites, by the Grace of God were allowed back into the promised land.

      1. God gave them a command to rebuild the temple.

      2. God gave them the resources to rebuild the temple.  Ezra 5:14

      3. God gave them the support from a pagan king to rebuild the temple.

      4. God gave them protection from the enemy by their enemies to rebuild

          the temple.

      5. God gave them the plans to rebuild the temple.

          a. In this case, God only required their time and devotion in the building project.

          b. Giving priority to the Building of the temple required their love for the Lord.

      6. They gave their interest priority and refused to rebuild the temple.

           a. They refused to worship God with their obedience.

  C. In their hearts, they told God it is not time to follow your commands.

       1. In effect, they were saying, God we don't have time to serve you.

       2. In effect, they were saying, God you don't know what is best for us.

       3. In effect, they were saying, God we are not grateful for what you have done

           for us.

       4. In effect, they were saying, God we don't love you enough to put you first. 

 

 V:3. " Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai."

   A. The Lord always has a spokesman.

        1. In the mist of corrupt folk, God has someone who listens to him.

        2. In the mist of corrupt folk, God has someone who is obedient to His

            commands.

   B. Each of us has an assignment in God's plan of redemption for man.

       1. Each of us has an assignment in the Body of Christ (the Church).

       2. Haggai's job was to remind Israel of God's commands.

           a. His job was to relate the Word of God to God's people.

           b. The general body had the job of rebuilding the Temple.

           c. Everyone is important in the Body of Christ.

           d. God expects us to be about His business first.

   C. We are to do what God has gifted us to do.

       1. We should not worry about someone else's gift but concentrate on our

           assignment.

       2. Do what God designed you to do.

           a. God will select others to do what He didn't call you to do.

 

 4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house

      remains a ruin?"

   A. We need to continue to look into the mirror to see if we are treating God with

        reverence, love and respect.

       1. Are we working for God or ourselves?

       2. Are we willfully disobeying God's commands to pursue our goals?

   B. Have we made ourselves number one and God number two?

       1. Are we grateful enough to put God before our desires?

       2. Can we say thank you Father with our service?

       3. Will we continue to give God lip service but no hip service?

           a. Do we just say we love the Lord, but have no evidence to prove it?

           b. If we claim we love the Lord, there ought to be something to prove the claim.

 

 V:5. "Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways."

    A. We are accountable to the Lord for what we do.

        1. God is longsuffering. He will tolerate our disobedience for a while.

        2. Most of us have a history of God's love in our lives.

        3. We are in the Body of Christ because He chose us.

        4. God chose us for service, not for our own pleasure.

    B. God has a way of getting our attention.

        1. God put the history of Israel in print to show us how He deals with His people.

        2. He promised to bless them when they were obedient and to punish them

            when they were disobedient.

    C. God says don't neglect to look in the mirror. You might not look so good.

        1. Don't forget to look in the mirror, you might be ready for God's chastisement.

     

V:6. " You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

 A. Sometimes, you need to consider what is happening in your life.

     1. The Lord might be working against you and you don't even know it.

     2. You might be suffering the effects of your disobedience.

     3. You might be under the chastisement of the Lord and  blaming the "man".

 B. Your disobedience might be the reason there is no money in your checking
     
      account.

    1. God's says that if you fail to take care of My House, I will withdraw the

        protection  of your house.

    2. The Israelites may have thought they were having a rough time because of the

        economy. They were having a rough time because of their

        disobedience.

     3. Every once in a while you need to ask the question are God's commands

         important  enough for me to obey them?

         a. Am I the cause of my troubles?

         b. Is my disobedience the cause for my lack of success?

 

V:7. " This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways."

  A. Do you want to continue living from paycheck to paycheck?

     1. The abundances of the Lord are available to you.

     2. Because you have a relationship with Jesus, you are a heir to the Kingdom of

        God.

  B. God promised to bless the works of your hands if you are obedient to His

       commands.

      1. God did not promise to bless you if you did not obey His commands.

      2. Consider your ways. Are you following God or are you following the world?

      3. Are you seeking the Kingdom or is that just something you say?

      4. Maybe obedience sounds good on Sunday, but you can't handle it on Monday.

 

 V:8. " Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I
   may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the Lord."

 A. Once we have considered our ways, we should be convicted to do more for the

      Lord.

    1. When we think about what the Lord has done for us, we should be grateful

        enough  to be obedient.

    2. The Israelites had been in captivity for 70 years because of their disobedience.

        a. Now being free again, they went back to their disobedient behavior.

        b. They came back and there was no place to worship the Lord.

        c. They came back and there was no place to offer sacrifices for their sins.

        d. Their whole system of worship had been destroyed and they thought nothing of

            it.

    3. The Chief Priest didn't enforce God's commands.

        a. The Chief Priest, in charge of the Temple worship should have been the first to

            push the building of the temple.

        b. The appointed governor of Israel didn't enforce God's commands.

        c. Without an active spiritual leader, Israel had gone astray again.

        d. There should have been someone who said, hold on, let's bless the Lord.

        e. Just because everybody has gone astray, does not mean you need to follow.

 

V:9. "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I

  blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which

   remains a  ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house."

A. God is not mocked! God is not mocked!

    1. You will not go unpunished disobeying God's commands.

    2. You will not go unpunished putting God second in your life.

    3. God has to be THE PRIORITY of your life.

    4. God can not be a priority, because that implies that something else is THE

        NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.

        a. If God is not THE PRIORITY, that implies that you are listening to another

            voice.

        b. The other voice that provides nothing has become the god of your life.

 B. When you neglect God, you bring negative actions on to your life.

     1. When you neglect God, you bring a negative economy into your life.

          a. Things could be good, but neglecting God brings the bad into your life.

     2. When you are listening to another voice, you are walking away from the GRACE

          of  God.

          a. If you are listening to your voice and not God, you are in a negative economy.

          b. If you are listening to voices other than God, you are in a negative economy.   

 

V:10. " Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth

  its crops."

  A. God controls the entire universe.

     1. The conditions of the atmosphere responds to the commands of God.

     2. God can cause a drought in your life while everyone else is having rain.

     3. God can lock the doors of opportunity in your life and open opportunities

         in the lives of others.

  B. The devil is not always the cause of your troubles. Sometimes it is the devil in you.

     1. None of us are perfect.

     2. We all have some growing in the Lord to pursue.

     3. There are times when God has to get our attention by withholding His grace.

     4. By withholding His grace, God is actually preparing us for more grace.

 

 V:11. " I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new

     wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor

     of your hands."

  A. God is sovereign.

       1. God does what it takes to reminds us that He is God.

       2. God has a way to bring misery into our lives.

       3. It is the misery in our lives that causes us to call on God.

       4. Sometimes it is the misery in our lives that develops our prayer life.

   B. To get our attention, God can effect every area of our lives.

       1. Notice, God affected the weather around  Israel.

       2. The rains affected the ability to produce crops.

       3. The rains affect the health of the animals that ate the produce of the ground.

       4. God affected the works of the hands of man.

       5. The effects of the hands of God can be negative or positive based on your

            obedience to His commands.

   C. This text is a warning to all believers that the God we serve is a jealous God.

       1. God reminds us that He will not share His worship with anyone.

       2. God is center stage and there are no other players.

       3. The sooner we make God the center of our lives, the sooner we will enjoy all

            the blessings of God.  

 

Amen

 

Rev. Mitchell, Asst. Pastor of GMBC