003 A Crystallization of Discontent or A Holy Discontentment? (Part 2)

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Haggai 1:1–11 ESV
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”
003 A Crystallization of Discontent or A Holy Discontentment? (Part 2)

1. God delivered a message to His people.

Haggai 1:1 ESV
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

2. There was an indifference to the mission.

Haggai 1:2–4 ESV
2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

2. There was an indifference to the mission.

(1) A. Being indifferent to the mission impacts our fellowship with God.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people...”
Here is another detail we don’t want to miss.
Isaiah 26:20 ESV
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.
2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Jeremiah 30:22 ESV
22 And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

(1) A. Being indifferent to the mission impacts our fellowship with God.

God has an affection for His people.
He loves them as a father loves his children.
Yet here God simply says “these people”
It reminds me of when I come home and Amy says: “Guess what YOUR kids did today.”
That is never followed by something good.
In reality this is much more serious.
Our sin is a serious thing.
It is directly against God.
Psalm 51:4 ESV
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
If we find our selves in the same position as the Jews then we have sinned.
Psalm 66:18 ESV
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

(1) A. Being indifferent to the mission impacts our fellowship with God.

Our relationship as God’s child is never impacted, but our fellowship is.
The people of Judah were still part of God’s chosen nation.
They were still the ones He loved.
But their sin had caused a rift in their fellowship.
God simply refers to them as “these people”.
This should cause us to think about the seriousness of what is happening in the book of Haggai.
The Jews had been disowning God with their actions for 16 years.
Now God uses terms that acknowledge their choices.
1 John 2:15 ESV
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

(1) A. Being indifferent to the mission impacts our fellowship with God.

I have become convinced that the responses I’ve seen by Christians to everything that has happened in the last couple of years has been because of an indifference to the mission.
A love for worldly things has crept in.
We have become more focused on our worldly comforts than carrying out the mission God put us here to do.
Thus, when those comforts get challenged we respond negatively.
Because what we truly love is being taken away.
Because our fellowship with God has been compromised.

(1) B. Being indifferent to the mission causes us to make excuses.

They are saying the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.
Notice they are not telling God the WON’T do it.
They are saying they won’t do it now, they want to do it later.
According to the leaders and the people, the time isn’t quite right yet.
They fully intended to do the work.
They may have even truly believed that the time was not right.
They seemed quite confident in their excuses.
They believed what the were saying.
They were looking for...
A better time to rebuild.
An easier time to rebuild.
Ezra 4:1–6 ESV
1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” 4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

(1) B. Being indifferent to the mission causes us to make excuses.

Rebuilding the temple had been difficult.
Rebuilding the temple had been dangerous.
They were looking for an opportunity when it would be easier.
Their mission was hard, but God didn’t expect them to stop.
God didn’t cut them slack because they were being persecuted.
2 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV
3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

(1) B. Being indifferent to the mission causes us to make excuses.

Jesus didn’t tell us that our mission would be easy.
Jesus simply said carry out the mission.

(1) C. Our focus on self causes us to be indifferent to the mission.

Notice he condition of the temple.
The foundation was laid but sat for 15-16 years.
Weeds were growing through the cracks.
There were places it was crumbling and falling apart.
Every day the Jews would walk by and see it.
The temple was in ruins and destruction.
Notice the condition of their houses.
They were living in paneled houses.
Houses that were ceiled.
They were made of tongue in-grooved wood and ceiled tightly together.
The didn’t run down to Home Depot and pick up some wood.
This took time.
They were living in nice luxurious houses.
Most of us in America live in much nicer houses than the rest of the world.
Taking care of your family is not wrong.
But the people had spent so much time focusing on self that they had become indifferent to the things of of God.
They had become indifferent to what really mattered.
Let’s not rush past this...
There is an indifference to the mission in Christians.
You and I fight that indifference everyday.
That’s why Paul tells us...
Ephesians 5:15–16 ESV
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

(1) C. Our focus on self causes us to be indifferent to the mission.

I am going to transparently share my heart with you.
Talk to pastors anywhere and they will tell you...

a. Christians are indifferent to church growth.

All across America, churches are declining or even at the end of their life.
And in many cases there is an indifference in the leaders and the people.
They lament the decline of their church...
But the raw truth is that they don’t understand what the heart of the problem is.
There is a lack of love for their neighbors.
Romans 9:1–3 ESV
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

a. Christians are indifferent to church growth.

Often we are not concerned enough about their spiritual lives and eternity to pursue them the way we should.
Church growth is not the problem. It is a symptom of a greater problem.
They often don’t want to put in the work and suffer through the hard things.
Often the blame goes to the pastor.
There is blame to be put there.
But there what many Christians want is church growth while they sit and watch. Cheering from the stands.
We generally don’t tell God “no”.
I’ve never had someone come up to me after preaching or teaching on evangelism and tell me “NO”.
But I could write a list of excuses I have heard about why the time has not come for them to actively begin praying for and pursuing someone for the gospel.
I have to continue to work to make sure I don’t become indifferent to church growth either.

b. Christians are indifferent to church attendance.

Church attendance is not a legalistic thing.
There are many churches that are dropping services because nobody is coming.
Scripture tells us that regular, faithful church attendance is vitally important to you and I as a Christian.
Dropping services is not the answer.
Remember being reminded from James to be quick to listen to “the word of the Lord” and slow to argue with Him...
Hebrews 10:23–25 ESV
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

b. Christians are indifferent to church attendance.

Are you losing hope?
Hold fast to the confession of our hope!
The problem is we are indifferent to gathering with our family to be encouraged. - ONE TIME A WEEK IS NOT ENOUGH
You have probably heard me say that attending church gatherings is not about you!
We have a list of expectations or preferences and when a certain gathering doesn’t match up, we don’t go.
Not only is your not going harmful to your spiritual life, but it is harmful to others.
Do not abandon the gathering together as some have the habit of.
But gather and encourage one anther.
That is impossible to do if you only gather once a week.
The problem is we have become indifferent to gathering with the body because we are often self focused.
If you don’t regularly gather, what keeps you from it?
What keeps you from getting some good bible study and fellowship in Sunday School?
What keeps you from regularly being here on Sunday mornings and sticking around to fellowship and encourage others?
What keeps you from being a part of Sunday nights or Wednesdays?
What has caused you to become indifferent?
I am not talking about missing here and there, but a habit of what Hebrews calls abandoning your brothers and sisters?

c. Christians are indifferent to their own spiritual growth and the growth of others.

2 Peter 1:3–9 ESV
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

c. Christians are indifferent to their own spiritual growth and the growth of others.

Because of God’s great gift...
Because of all that God has done, do your part (for this very reason)
The people had forgotten everything God had done for them to get them to Jerusalem.
We lose site of God’s gift to us.
Give all possible effort to add to your faith.
That means doing everything we can.
We can’t be complacent.
We can’t be indifferent to our growth.
We can’t put worldly things above our growth.
If it is that important and we love God and our brothers like we should, we will make every effort to help them grow.
1 Peter 5:8–9 ESV
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

c. Christians are indifferent to their own spiritual growth and the growth of others.

d. Christians are indifferent to doing their part in the local body of Christ.

When something is wrong in our physical body we feel it quickly.
It often can be a small thing but it will ruin our whole day.
Our prayer lists is full of people who are struggling physically.
Not because their entire body is malfunctioning, but because one or two parts are not working properly.
We have become so indifferent to the church body as a whole that we don’t recognize when it is happening and especially if you or I might be the one causing it.
Have you ever though that your indifference can stunt the growth and functionality of the church?
Ephesians 4:16 ESV
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

d. Christians are indifferent to doing their part in the local body of Christ.

In Haggai the mission the people had grown indifferent to was building a physical temple.
A representation of God’s presence.
Today the mission we have grown indifferent to is spiritual but really is the same thing.
We are indifferent to the Christ.
We may not think that we are.
We won’t say that we are.
But we have become focused on our own lives and indifferent to God’s Kingdom.
We have a greater view of self than we do of God.
We think our way is better.
We think our stuff is more important.
We don’t actually say NO - but we have a huge list of excuses.
Think about your life this week.
What excuses are you making for not doing what God is asking you right now?
What excuses might we be making as a church and as your leaders for not doing what God is asking?
In what ways have you become indifferent?
What might God be asking you to do that you have been putting off?

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