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You can turn to Haggai chapter
1. We'll at least start there this morning. It's a little bit of a different
sermon in the sense that this is part two of part one, which
was a month ago almost exactly. And I should have mandated you
all listen to the sermon of a month ago twice this week so you can
remember what was said. But hopefully there will be some
remembrance of what happened a month ago. And a month ago
we surveyed all of the book, the small book of Haggai, which
was meant to be a first of two sermons, but a month apart. At
that time, a month ago, it was the time of year that we focus
on the incarnation of Christ. So we purposely surveyed Haggai
to find Christ. prophesied and seen in the midst
of this little book of prophecy. But then the point was that now,
a month later, in the time of year where we focus on the Church
of Christ, we wanted to return to Haggai to find the Church
in those same prophecies, in those same teachings. And one
of the themes of Haggai is rebuilding the temple. The Jews rebuilding
the temple that had been destroyed and had been laying in waste
after they returned from their exile. And you must remember
that the tabernacle, or the temple, represented God with us. God's
meeting place with his people, his people's access to God, and
his communion with his people. And so the temple prophecies
of Haggai ultimately point to Christ. And we spoke of that
a month ago. Christ who is God with us. But
we also said that they also point to the church of Christ, which
we see from the New Testament is the temple of God now. And
it's this fulfillment in the church that we'll emphasize today.
In fact, a month ago, when we went through Haggai the first
time, we said something like this. We said, and so we will
today survey Haggai to focus on Christ prophesied and glorified,
and then next month we will resurvey Haggai to focus on the Church
prophesied and exhorted. Well, the month ahead is now
here. This is a month from then, and so it seems fitting to now
on our 12th anniversary as a church to look back at Haggai, looking
again at the church prophesied and exhorted in it. And in your
bulletins, there's a very simple outline. We'll look first at
the church as the temple in Haggai, briefly. We'll then look at the
church as the temple as the New Testament tells us. Then we'll
take a brief look at the end before we sign our covenant today
of, our church is the temple. How might we be building up our
church and not allowing her to lay in waste? And so first of
all, the church is the temple in Haggai. I do assume you've
probably forgotten something about what was said a month ago.
But remember that the book of Haggai records four oracles or
sermons through Haggai over about four months in 520 BC. And these words were largely
used to exhort the rebuilding of the temple that had lain in
ruins for 70 years, before the Persian king Cyrus decreed the
sending back of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem,
and in particular, the temple. But then 16 more years went by
after they went to start rebuilding, and the temple still lay in ruins. And that's how we get to Haggai.
The king Darius now re-decrees and enforces what Cyrus had decreed
earlier. We need to send the Jews to be
rebuilding the temple. And so the four oracles by God
through Haggai are an exhortation and an encouragement to the Jews
to obey and to rebuild. And the first and third oracles
are rebukes, if you remember, but then followed with encouragements.
God does that. while the second and fourth oracles
are really promises of blessing and not so much rebuke. So look
at Haggai chapter 1, starting in verse 2. We won't go through
the whole book. We will focus our attention most
of all on this first chapter and a little bit in chapter 2.
But in Haggai chapter 1 verses 2 through 11, We see really the
theme for the whole book. Thus speaks the LORD of hosts,
saying, This people says, The time has not come, the time that
the LORD's house should be built. This is actually a negative statement.
I hope you understand that. Then the word of the LORD came
by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you yourselves
to dwell in your own paneled houses, your decorated, finished
houses that you built for yourselves? You took care of yourself. But
this temple, my house, is to lie in ruins. You see what's
going on, that the Jews have taken care of their own glory,
but they've not paid attention to the righteousness and the
glory of God and what they're supposed to be doing. And verse 5 says,
Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider your
ways, set your heart upon what you're doing, You have sown much,
and bring in little. You eat, but do not have enough.
You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves,
but no one is warm. And he who earns wages, earns
wages to put into a bag with holes." Understand, you're laboring,
but you're Your daily needs, your daily bread, your daily
blessings are not being provided. And so in v. 7, thus says the
Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways, look at your heart. Go
up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, build
My house, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says
the Lord. You looked for much, but indeed it came to little.
And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the
Lord of Hosts. Because of My house, My temple
that is in ruins. It's dried up. Well, every one
of you runs to his own house. Therefore, the heavens above
you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For
I called for a drought. If my house stands dry, there'll
be a drought called on the land, and the mountains, and the grain,
and the new wine, and the oil, on whatever the ground brings
forth, on men and livestock, and in all the labor of your
hands. We went through this a month ago, but obviously what's happening
here is that God's people were so interested in their own glories
and taking care of their own houses that they were not attending
to God's house, God's temple. And as a result, God was chastening
them by not providing for their daily needs, which he says he
will. They were not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things were not being added unto them. I think
I mentioned last time that The temple in the book of Haggai
is a picture of Christ and is fulfilled in Christ as the ultimate
God with us, but it's also a picture of the church of Christ. And
when you see it that way, I find it a stunning warning for us
to not be neglecting Christ by neglecting his church. It's a
stunning warning. Maybe it's because I'm a pastor.
For us not to be neglecting His church, to see it be lain in
ruins while we're busy doing our own things. Because if we
love Christ, we'll love His church because that's what He loves.
When I see meetings of the church neglected in empty seats, I think,
are we in ruins? Do we need to be built up? When
I see a member of the church that maybe I or somebody else
is not noticing there's a need here to be made and we're neglecting
that fellow brother or sister in Christ. The picture in my
mind is of a temple that's left in ruins. If the Word of God
would be neglected in our church, or any church, or the worship
of God would be neglected, it's pictured in the church being
in ruins because it's not being built up and being the glorious
structure it's meant to be for God's glory. And in the rest of Haggai chapter
1, We see the Lord saying, I am with you, which is a wonderful
thing. They weren't about to the temple, which is where God
is with them. But he says, I am with you. Take
heart. I am with you if you read the
rest of chapter one. And he says, his spirit will
stir up their spirits to return to the work of God's house in
obedience. And they do. God is good at those kind of
things. He will provide you what you need to do what he asks you
to do for his glory and for your good. And then if you look at
Haggai chapter 2, you can turn the page if that's what it takes
to be in Haggai chapter 2. Again, at the first part of chapter
2, the Lord says, I am with you and I will strengthen you by
my Spirit. He says it again. He's not just
rebuking and walking away. He's rebuking but encouraging
and providing for them. And then in verse 6, we read
in Haggai 2, For thus says the Lord of hosts, Once more, it
is a little while, I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and
dry land, I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the desire
of all nations, and I will fill this temple with glory, says
the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, the gold
is mine, says the Lord of hosts, and the glory of this latter
temple shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of
hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of
hosts." What had happened here in chapter 2 is that the people
were dejected, they were discouraged at how this rebuilt temple that
they were trying to build, it wasn't anything like the former
temple. They are discouraged. Now God
enters in and He promises them a greater, latter temple, which
is, yes, ultimately Christ, who is the, I am with you, temple
of God. But it also includes Christ's
church, where God is with His people, since Christ ascended
to the right hand of God. And it's in Christ's church where
God's glory and His peace is known with His people and offered
to those outside of Christ. And we said last month that this
shaking of the nations that's mentioned here in chapter 2,
and the filling of the temple was in part fulfilled when the
Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost next, chapter 2, with
the sound of the mighty rushing wind thundering. And the new
covenant church was formed and filled by the Spirit and the
glory of Christ was there. And then the church, the temple
of God expands and takes the gospel. So the earth shook as
the world was turned upside down by the new covenant church in
the expanse of the kingdom. And we're still part of that.
And all this glory of Christ, but yes, even the glory in his
church, the temple of his church is far greater than any building
of stones and jewels and polished metals. We spoke about that a month ago.
So that's our review of where we're at with Haggai. And we've
kind of moved into the New Testament then with Acts chapter 2. You
might be saying, well, how can you say that this is the temple,
the church is the temple in the book of Haggai? It doesn't say
that. But you can say that because when you look to the New Testament,
you see the church described as God's temple with Old Testament
language quite clearly. And so I want us to take the
bulk of our time that we have left this morning to look briefly
because there's much more we could be looking at that the
New Testament references to the church as the temple of God.
If you turn to 1 Corinthians 3, we're gonna be looking at
scripture so it might be good to Do something with that little
electronic thing in your hand, or if you have a real book, this
way is nice. You can turn the pages to keep active with me.
So if you're looking at 1 Corinthians 3, I think one thing that's interesting
as you're turning there, though, is in 1 Corinthians, we have
two entities referred to as the Temple of God. And sometimes
we get confused about that, but in 1 Corinthians 6, The body,
the physical body of the Christian is called the temple of God.
It's in the context in 1 Corinthians 6 of sexual immorality, that
sexual immorality is a sin against the body. And Paul writes to
the church in Corinth saying, don't you know your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? So a Christian could
be called a temple, and then the scripture calls the Christian
a temple. Why? Because God is with him.
When you're born again, when you come to God in repentance
and faith in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of God comes in you, changes
you, and God is with you. And in that sense, your body's
the temple of God. But in 1 Corinthians 3 and verses
16 and 17, the yous, Y-O-U, in this passage, these are plural. So one thing I do like about
the King James, the plural you's are ye's. And so you can tell,
is this a singular person or is this the group being talked
to? But in the New King James, in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16,
Paul writes, do you not know that you, this is plural, maybe
in Missouri and Kansas language it would be, do you not know
that you all, you, the church in Corinth, are the temple of
God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles
the temple of God, to show you how important this is, God will
destroy him. For the temple of God is holy,
which temple you all are in the church of Corinth. So turn to
1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. As you're turning
to 1 Peter 2, we'll start with verse 4. But I think it's interesting
the context here when Peter's writing two churches. In 1 Peter
1, and Our Lady studied that not too long ago, I hope they
haven't forgotten, but in 1 Peter 1, the emphasis is the great
salvation and the inheritance that we have individually in
Christ. And so the first chapter of 1
Peter is emphasizing the great salvation, the inheritance we
have individually in Christ. And then we get to 1 Peter 2,
starting in verse 4, now we're collecting those individual Christians
into the Church of Christ, which is a nursery for Christians and
a place to be building up and to be built up in so that we
actually can then go out into the world and do what God has
called us to do. And so in 1 Peter 2, verse 4,
Peter begins with saying, coming to him, now the him is Christ
Jesus, As to a living stone, which means Christ is the living
stone, capital L, capital S, rejected indeed by men, but chosen
by God and precious. The point is, the foundation
of the church, the cornerstone of the church, even more precisely,
is Christ Jesus. And so we come to Christ, He
is a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God, and there's
warnings about rejecting this Christ. But then in verse 5, you, and
this is plural, Speaking to churches, you all also as living stones,
you have Christ as the living stone, but then the individuals
in the church as living stones, plural, being built upon the
life-giving living stone of Christ Jesus. You as living stones are
being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The word temple is maybe not used here, but it's certainly
the words that we see here speaking of a temple. Christ is a living
stone, the rock and the foundation, the giver of life, and we come
to him as living stones with life from him and in him to be
built up into the living temple of God. Temples need priests. Christ the final priest, but
we can be priests in Him and we're called to be priests in
Him. Temples have sacrifices and Christ gave the final and
it is finished. There's no more but our lives
that are to be lived as spiritual sacrifices to God through Christ. And we see that from Romans chapter
12 verses 1 and 2 as well. You have a picture of building
up with living stones on the living stone. This is far greater
than the dusty stones carved out of granite, trying to be
built up into something. This is a living temple of God,
of God's living people built on the life of Christ. In verses
6-8, we see that Christ is the cornerstone of the temple. He's
precious to His members, but a stumbling block and a fence
to those who reject Him. I urge you, if you've not bowed
before the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, do not
reject Him. Christ is a rock of refuge and rest for the believer,
but He's a rock of crushing and judgment to those who would not
come to Him because of your sin. Then look at verse 9. But you,
again, you all, are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation." This is Old Testament language for the people of God.
"...his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises
of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,
who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." And so it's interesting, again,
here in 1 Peter, that after teaching of salvation and the inheritance
we have in Christ individually, then he moves to having those
Christians being built into the temple, the church. But if you
read further now from this point in the book of 1 Peter, we don't
have time for that, but if you continue reading, you'll see
that Peter then, after taking the believers into the church,
Peter will then go on to teach how they are to live in the world,
how they're to submit to the government and to masters and
employers, and then how to act in their homes, and how to act
and live and to suffer for Christ with Christ as an example. There's
a pattern then of sinners being called out of the darkness and
death of their sin in the world, and then into the light and the
life of Christ Jesus, and then build up in and into the church
of Christ, so that then they can be light and life in the
world for Christ. And this shows the glory and
the importance of the local church that should not lay in ruins,
but should be built up joyously so and gloriously so. Turn to
Ephesians chapter 2. In Ephesians chapter 2, again
what we see in Ephesians is similar to what we saw in 1 Peter, that
in chapter 1 of Ephesians, and the first 10 verses of chapter
2 of Ephesians, We see the emphasis is on the great salvation and
inheritance we have in Christ Jesus, individually in Him. And
then in verses 11-18 in Ephesians 2, Paul then explains the great
mystery that's wonderful, but the great mystery that the Gentiles
and the Jews who hated each other are now brought together in one
body, one church, one temple. And then in v. 19 of Ephesians
2, we read this, Now therefore, because of His great salvation,
because of this great Christ who saves us, and because of
the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles being broken down,
you're being brought together. Now therefore, you are no longer
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God, having been built built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being
fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you
also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in
the Spirit." It's a beautiful picture of living stones. Why
are they living? Because of the living one, Christ
Jesus, the rock, the cornerstone, and now the living stones are
being fit together so wonderfully and delicately by our Lord into
the local church. And it's much greater and much
more attractive, even though you're looking around and seeing
who's being fitted together with you, it's much more attractive
than the glorious temple of gold and silver and all of that, even
in the Old Testament. And it's interesting again that
after teaching of salvation, and then being built into the
temple, the church, Paul then... He goes on to teach more in chapter
3 of the mystery of the Jews and Gentiles being together.
And then he details the life in the church, how it's meant
to be, walking in unity and love, using our spiritual gifts, not
for our own benefit, but for the good of others. And then
growing as new men in Christ, growing together as the new man
in Christ, which is the Church of Christ. And then, Paul, as
you go through Ephesians, he then begins teaching then how
we are to live in the world, in the home, in the workplace. And so again, there's a pattern
of sinners being called out of the darkness and death of their
sin in the world, into the light and life of Christ, and then
being built up in and into the church, the temple of God. So
then they can be light and life in the world for Christ. And
this shows the glory and the importance of the local church
that should not lay in ruins, but instead should be built up,
cherished, and nourished into a holy temple of God, as Paul
says. Of course, near the end of Ephesians,
in Ephesians chapter 5, Any wedding has to refer to Ephesians
chapter 5, and any married couple should at least once a year refer
to Ephesians chapter 5. But in Ephesians chapter 5, we
see that Christ loves the church so much that He gave His life
for her. And He promises to nourish and
to cherish the church and to build her up into a spotless,
blameless bride. And that leads us to Revelation
chapter 21. You can turn there if you like, but I'll just briefly
mention in Revelation chapter 21, The new heavens and the new
earth has been created, and New Jerusalem comes down, and New
Jerusalem represents the church now made by Christ, blameless
and spotless, as a bride adorned for her husband, Revelation 21
says. It's interesting, we keep talking
about the temple, the temple, the temple, but now in Revelation
21 it says there is no temple now. Why? Well, because God is with his
now perfected people and his now perfected church forever.
God is permanently with us. There's no need for a temple.
And so in Revelation 21, verse 22, John writes that there's
no temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
We are forever together with our God and Savior with no sin
between us. And so we see the church in Haggai.
We see the church as a temple in the New Testament. What about
our church as a temple? The Reformed Baptist Church of
Kansas City. And if you're visiting, what about your church? These
things still apply. And if you're looking for a church,
find one and apply these things in a local church. That's what
we're called to do as believers. There's much more that could
be said and seen from the scriptures about the church as the temple
of God, where God is with us. which is for God's glory, it's
precious to Christ, it's essential to the Christian for his walk
and his witness. I hope we can be encouraged to love Christ
and to love his church, to love the things that he loves, and
to be motivated to not let it lay in ruins, but instead to
build her up for God's glory and for our good. You might have
the question, but how do we do this? How do we build up the
church? How do we build her up and not neglect her? as a temple
of living stones built upon the living stone. Well, one tool
that we have, it's a man-made tool, but it's thoroughly based
on the scripture, is the covenant that we sign every year as believers. If you look in your bulletins,
there should be one of the many inserts. There should be an insert that has our church
covenant, and we're soon going to read it as a church family.
and sign it. It's not legalistic righteousness,
it's just we love Christ, we love one another, and these are
the things we think the Scripture tells us to do, and we want to
pledge to do it for His glory. Not perfectly, because we can't,
but this keeps us firmly in the mind. So because of it, I think
one tool that we have is how do we know how to build up the
church and not let her lay in ruins? Well, follow these items. There's 13 of them in our church
covenant. We believe all Christians should strive to be active and
dedicated members of a local church. And so the first two
items, and they are numbered this year so you can tell, the
first two items show us that those who have been redeemed
by Christ are to join the Church of Christ and walk together in
love of Christ by the Holy Spirit. And this and these following
items build us up together as living stones fitted to form
the temple of God. Built together as a dwelling
place of God by the Spirit, as Paul tells the Ephesians. Then
items 3 through 5 speaks about our desire to be faithful in
the activities inside the church, to assemble together and use
our spiritual gifts for each other, to participate in the
ordinances and the unity of doctrine, and even the formative, which
is the day-to-day life of the Christian, of just spending time
together, the formative discipline of one another, but even the
corrective discipline of one another, out of love and out
of grace, and contributing financially to the needs and purposes of
the church. Then in items 6 through 7, We desire to be faithful in
these activities outside the church to encourage one another
to pursue the living of a holy life of Christ in the world as
salt and light. We do it together. We're not alone. Then items eight
and nine, we desire to pursue the purity in the church, encouraging
one another to personal and biblical purity, both in belief and practice,
graciously, prayerfully, humbly. In items 10 through 11, we express
a desire to pursue edifying relationships in the church. We live life together.
Relationships of helps and humility according to those wonderful
one another's of scripture, which is on the back side of your covenant.
Being quick to love and slow to take offense. And then in item 12, we desire
to pursue the godliness of Christ in our homes. We want to encourage
one another, pray for one another to do so, to pursue personal
and family devotions, instruct our children in the Lord if we
have children, praying for others' children in the same way, and
seeking the salvation of the lost in our families, in our
neighborhoods, in our lives. This is what we're to do. We
want to do it. But if we're not proactive about
it, it kind of gets laid aside. The last one is an interesting
one, which always may be bothering. We promise that if in the providence
of God we leave this church, what? We're having something,
our covenant? Well, it means that this is not
a for-life agreement. There are times moving. There's
times with changes of doctrine and changes of things that you're
called and led to go to another church. But when that happens,
because of the importance of a local church, part of our covenant
is, let's work together in this. So it's done graciously, kindly,
in love, because you need to be planted in a church someplace.
And so there's some easy things that you have before you that
will be helps to building the church. And so as we renew our vows together
for Christ and for one another with our covenant, be encouraged
that these items that we agree to are wonderful means to build
up the church, biblically, graciously, prayerfully. for God's glory,
for the proclamation of Christ, for the building up of one another,
and for the witness to the lost. And let us love Christ by loving
his church in this way, building his temple as we love one another
in him. Let's pray. Dear Lord, help us to love you
more. Certainly help us to love Christ
more. and to be more desirous to live
for him and tell others about him. And mold our hearts that
we'd love the things that Christ loves, which has to include his
church, his people that he nourishes and cherishes, he loves and dies
for. And we ask that we'd humbly be
seeking the glory of Christ as we'd be built up together in
these ways. And Lord, as a result, Lord,
that others would see that we are disciples of Christ by the
way that we love one another and love Him. And they too, Lord,
would come to Christ as well for the glorious salvation that
can only be known in Him. It's in Jesus' name we pray these
things, Lord. Amen.
Haggai: Temple Prophecies Fulfilled in the Church (RBCKC 12th Anniversary)
Series RBCKC Anniversary
This sermon was given as a charge to RBCKC on her 12th
anniversary, exhorting them to love and build the church,
based upon the Scripture's portrayal as the temple of God
from both OT and NT. May the church indeed be built up and
not allowed to lay in ruins!
I. Church as Temple in Haggai
A. Haggai 1:2-11
B. Haggai 2:6-9
II. Church as Temple in New Testament
A. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
B. 1 Peter 2:4-10
C. Ephesians 2:19-22
D. Revelation 21
III. Our Church as Temple
(how to build and not neglect her!)
(Church Covenant as a tool)
| Sermon ID | 131201855552130 |
| Duration | 29:42 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Haggai 1:2-11; Haggai 2:6-9 |
| Language | English |
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