Morning, Merry Christmas. Good morning. What's up? We're praying. In order to help you have a good day on Christmas Day, as we celebrate the coming of Christ to Earth, we pray you would, um, bless our time in your word now, as we study this passage from Haggai, and the conclusion of this passage in Haggai. We ask that you would help us to see how this applies to our lives. We pray that we be teachable, that we be humble, that we remember things, that we not use for people who are disputing a day. We bless you. So today we're back to Haggai, and it's a Christmas sermon, but it definitely relates to Christ, and that's what we celebrate on Christmas Day, is the coming of Christ to the world. And so hopefully, by what we see here today, we'll appreciate more the significance, what a big deal it is that Christ did come, and how that was a major step in God's plan of redemption throughout history. Our text today is going to be Haggai, so if you want to start turning towards Haggai in your Old Testament. That's going to be right between Zephaniah and Zechariah. So if you find a book with a Z, you dig closer. It's only a couple pages in there. So we'll be in Haggai chapter 2, verse 20 through 23. Before we read through the text, I want to review where we've been so far. Remember, we talked about Haggai a lot in the toolbox. And sometimes you might have a tool you don't use very often, and you're like, what's this tool? What do we use this tool for? Haggai might have that, or it's not a place to go for preaching, but what's with the Haggai? They all use the tool, the truth that is found in Haggai. So we've been wanting to include this tool, Haggai, in our toolbox of his word. And we've seen that, overall, in Haggai, it's about being the people of God. And it's a description of what it would look like to be the chosen people of God. And we've seen that, just like the people on Haggai's day and what it looks like for them to be the chosen people of God, we see a lot of implications and applications for our lives. Because we're now the chosen people of God in Christ. And so there's a lot of similarities between our position and the situation of people in Haggai. We've been summarizing the overall story of Haggai, saying that God causes people to join in the great work that only He can accomplish. And that's what we've seen overall and we've been working through. There's four prophecies included Haggai and today we'll be on the fourth one But if you think back the first one we saw the people were focused on their personal houses their lands They were focused on their own their own building out their own houses and things weren't going very well It seemed like everything they tried to do was cursed, you know They plant much but says they harvest little they put on more clothes, but they're still cold When they earned money to put in their purse, it's like the purse had holes in it. They couldn't get ahead in life. And we see the problem, the Lord tells them, the problem is because they're neglecting what's truly important, what he calls them to do. And he gives them a command to rebuild the temple. We summarize the theme of that first prophecy, he said, don't focus on the gifts, pursue God himself. God wants people to stop looking at just pursuing their personal gain and start doing start focusing on God and building the temple that He's called them to rebuild. And so then, remember, at the end of Haggai 1, our Lord stirred up the hearts of the people, and under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest, they began to rebuild the temple. So that was the first prophecy. Then we came to the second prophecy, and there we saw the theme that God's people should stick to the work that God gives them because His plan is perfect. And remember how they started to build the temple, and then they're feeling discouraged because they look at what's being built, and they realize, This isn't going to be as good as the first temple that Solomon had built. And so they're discouraged. But then God sends Haggai with this second prophecy and he encourages them. And he says that carry on with the work. I'm with you." And he tells them, ultimately, I'll bring this work to a glorious end. In that prophecy, he talked about shaking the heavens and the earth, and he'll provide everything that's needed for the work to be completed. And we saw also how that prophecy was quoted again later in Hebrews chapter 12, and another shaking of heavens and earth. And we saw that the believers hope today is no longer in a physical temple, but in the kingdom of Christ, which can never be shaken. Then we came to the third prophecy, which was given on December 18th, 520 BC but very similar this time of year and in the third prophecy we saw the theme that although we are unworthy God's gracious promise allows us to expect his blessing remember how Haggai went to the priest he had a question two questions that God had sent with them a question about holiness and question about uncleanness and we saw the work that people are doing in is tainted by their uncleanness. And we saw that this shows us that they're not worthy of God's blessing. But then in the end of that prophecy, God tells them why he's going to bless them. Not because they're so good or they've earned his favor, but because the foundation has been laid. And he says, from this day on, kind of before and after picture, look how things have been not going well, but from this day on, I'm going to bless you. And we saw how that points us to look at Christ, who is the perfect cornerstone that's been laid and has secured the blessing for God's people. So as we see, being the people of God and Haggai, we saw they're focused on God. We saw they're diligent in God's work. We've seen how they're hopeful of God's blessing. But now today, I want to consider that God's people are confident in God's promise. Our theme for today is we're going to read the text in a minute, but you can start watching for the theme as we read it. Our theme is no matter what, God's people can rely on God to keep his promises. No matter what, God's people can rely on God to keep his promises. The road ahead for God's people isn't always going to be easy or smooth, but in the end, God will keep every promise that he has given them. So let's look at our passage for today. I'm going to read through Haggai chapter 2, verse 20 through 23. Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the 24th day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms. and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another. On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shelteel, my servant, declares the Lord, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts. So again, our theme for today is, no matter what, God's people can rely on God to keep His promises. We're going to see from the first verse of this prophecy that this was given the same day as the third prophecy, the 24th day of the ninth month. So again, that would be about December 18th. And after the prophet has addressed the priests and the people in general, he turns into rubble with this one last prophecy from the Lord to close out this book. The prophecy speaks of a day to come. A day of great turmoil. A day of reckoning. A day of careful preservation of God's chosen man. We might refer to this day as the day of the Lord. That's a theme we're going to see throughout scripture. Haggai is closing that series now. This is the last thing God wants to communicate to his rubble. There's something big going on. They're just building the temple or just restoring and blessing their farms. God says in a second prophecy he was going to bring his people peace. How would they have that peace? Or how would that come about? When will be the time when God's people will ultimately enjoy God's blessing, God's favor? Today in our text, we're going to be considering the day of the Lord. We're going to see the day of the Lord described, the day of the Lord observed, and the day of the Lord anticipated. So starting up, we'll consider the day of the Lord described, and that'll be our portion where we look through what we see here in the actual text. The first thing we're gonna see is that, I'm gonna break this into three descriptions about the day of the Lord that Haggai gives us here. We'll see God's power is displayed, God's enemies are destroyed, and God's servant is exalted. So first we see God's power will be displayed on that day of the Lord. Look at Haggai 2, verse 21, and the first part of 22. He says to speak to his rabble, the governor of Judah, saying, I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth. I'll overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. So on the day of the Lord, nothing will stand in the way of God's plan. His power is sufficient to accomplish His purposes. He speaks of shaking not only the physical realm, but also the political realms will be overturned. Remember, we said in the second prophecy, God spoke about shaking the heavens and the earth. In that verse, he had said, once more, a little while, I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also, and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. So we saw the shaking there, but it's more in relation to how it will relate to God's work. He'll be shaking it, almost like he's shaking a fruit tree to harvest the fruit. He'll be bringing in everything that's needed to accomplish his work. Now, in this passage, when he talks about shaking the heavens and earth, it's not so much about how it relates to finishing his work as it is how it's going to impact all the other nations and everything else that's going on. And so, we see the power of God will be displayed on the Day of the Lord. We also see on the Day of the Lord that God's enemies will be destroyed. We look at the end of verse 22, it says, And I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone, by the sword of another. It says chariots and riders will go down. They'll go down by a sword of another. If you're reading the ESV, and I think it's probably a good translation, it says everyone will go down by a sword of his brother. It's the army fighting against each other. For the Israelites, these pictures would bring to mind some historic battles they would remember from earlier in the scriptures. Specifically, I think they would remember the battle of Egypt or the Red Sea when God destroyed the Egyptian army Remember if you look back Exodus 14 God brings people out of captivity in Egypt He leads them to the Red Sea and the Egyptian army thinks they're trapped up against the sea And so then they come to pursue the Israelites God leads Israelites through on dry land when the Egyptian army pursues God throws the army in a confusion right there in the middle of the Red Sea and he closes the water back over him destroys the Egyptian army and So that's, and if you read that passage in Exodus 14, there's lots of comments. Horses and chariots. Horses and chariots. You see that phrase repeated over and over. When you see it here in Haggai, that's at least where my mind went right away. Oh, horses and chariots. We're thinking back to Egypt. One kind of description of the kind of victory Lord will have over his enemies that day. There's another battle I think also might, this passage in Haggai might pull their attention back to. And that would be a lesser known battle, although equally spectacular, in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. There we read about a king named Jehoshaphat. This would be one of the kings in Judah, sometime after David and Solomon, a couple kings later. And he's a relatively good king. And one day, or at a time when an army is approaching his country, He goes to the Lord in prayer, and he prays in 2nd Chronicles 20, verse 12. 12, O our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us. In order we know what to do, but our eyes are on you. So again, God's people are overwhelmed by this great, threatening enemy. And then the Lord answers the prayer of King Jehoshaphat, and he tells them that the battle is not theirs, but the Lord's. He tells them that they don't need to fight in this battle, but merely stand by and see the salvation that the Lord will provide. And the next morning, King Jehoshaphat and the people go out to battle, and they're singing praises to God. And then it says in 2 Chronicles 20, verses 22 and 25, when Jehoshaphat and the people began singing and praising, the Lord sent ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, that was the army that was attacking them, who had come against Judah. So they were routed. For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying them completely. And when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. So that's that phrase we see in Haggai. It says, when Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold, there were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found much among them, including goods, garments, and valuable things, which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil, because there was so much. So like the victory over Egypt at the Red Sea, God again defeats his enemies on behalf of his people. So this is the sort of victory that Haggai anticipates will come on the Day of the Lord. God's enemies will be destroyed. The last description about the Day of the Lord that we see here in Haggai is that God's servant will be exalted. God's servant will be exalted. Look at verse 23. On that day declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, my servant, declares the Lord, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts. So here we see three descriptions about Zerubbabel. First he describes him as my servant. This pulls our minds, so your first point there is servant. This pulls our minds back to the song, back to Isaiah's servant songs. If we look to Isaiah 42, 1-4 We can see, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. Do not cry out or raise his voice, or make his voice heard in the street. A bruised wreath he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands will wait expectantly for his law." So Isaiah, this was written before the exile, Isaiah speaks of this My Servant who will come, and there's a series of several songs in Isaiah speaking about this My Servant character, and so When we hear that prophecy today, we automatically know that's talking about Christ, and that's, I think, where it's fulfilled. But people in Haggai's day didn't have Christ yet to see the fulfillment. They're just looking for this My Servant person who will come. And so in Haggai, when he refers to his robber as My Servant, their ears would perk up. Oh, here's something related to the come Messiah, and that would catch their attention. We also see Haggai is described as being like a signet ring, like a signet ring. This shows how precious the rubble pool is to the Lord. Let's talk for a minute about signet rings, because it's not something I use on a regular basis, probably not you guys either. The signet ring would be a ring with a unique stamp. You could stamp that in wax. It's like signing your signature. You kids hear the similarity. Signet, signature. And so that would be a way to show the contents of a letter or a place for a secure. You can remember back to the story of Daniel and the lion's den. Daniel was thrown into the lion's den. They put a stone over the mouth of the den. And then it says in Daniel 6.17, the king sealed the stone with his own signet ring to make sure, nope, nobody came and went last night. Daniel was in there all night long. So a signet ring is something to be careful with, something you wouldn't want to lose track of and be precious to, because it has a lot of authority. If we look at the story of Esther, remember King Ahasuerus, he gives a signet ring to Haman, which is a bad idea, Haman's evil, and Haman signs a decree against the Jews. But then later in the story, they have the same signet ring, the king takes it away from Haman, and he gives it to Mordecai, and showing his trust in Mordecai with that authority. So we see the authority, we see that, you want to be real careful with your signet ring, because whoever is doing that is doing it on your behalf. And so, here God says that Haggai, or no, here Haggai says on behalf of God that Zerubbabel is like a signet ring. I think the key for us to understand this verse actually comes in a verse that came in the prophecies of Jeremiah, earlier in the prophecy, earlier in the, before the exile. In Jeremiah chapter 22, verse 24 through 30, God's speaking of rejecting a bad king, and he also uses the same phrase about a signet ring. Listen to Jeremiah 22, 24 through 30. As I live, declares the Lord, even though Coniah, that's a king that was in Israel, one of the last kings before the deportation to Babylon. As I live, even though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, wore a signet ring on my right hand, that I would pull you off, and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life. Yes, into the hand of those whom you dread." That would be Babylon. Even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. And history shows that's exactly what happened. Jeconiah, he's taken away into Babylon, he never returns to Judah. So I think that's a significant prophecy that now Think about the Israelites who were tracking the lineage of the Davidic king. We're watching for the Messiah who will come from this line. And we've seen how Jeconiah is rejected. He's cast out. And they might be scratching their heads saying, OK, we came back from exile. We're here in the land. But what happened to the Davidic line? Who should be the next one in that line? Well, this prophecy from Haggai clarifies it. He said, just like Jeconiah was rejected like that signet ring, well, now Zerubbabel is like a signet ring to the Lord. That's the second description. And also interesting, if we were to go back and look at the genealogies of Christ in both Matthew 1 and Luke 3, and there's a lot of names, and actually there's a lot of differences in names, and I'm going to try to sort that out today, but one thing we see in both is that Zerubbabel is mentioned there. So somehow, very clearly, Zerubbabel is definitely here, and that's something we see there. So also, the third is, we see, the last description about Zerubbabel is that he's chosen. and says there in the end of verse 23, the Lord says, I have chosen you. So in some ways Zerubbabel, he's not only the signet ring, but also like the sign or the seal that those promises will be fulfilled. The people could look at Zerubbabel and see, ah, here's evidence that God will keep his promises. He's chosen another man to continue that lineage of David towards the Messiah. Zerubbabel is God's servant. He's like a signet ring and he's chosen. These are all very honorable positions. We see that God's exalting this servant of his. at the Day of the Lord. And remember, this is a prophecy that Haggai writes, so it's going to happen sometime in the future. But when exactly does that happen? Did Zerubbabel see those prophecies fulfilled? If we look back at Zerubbabel's life, we don't see a very good fulfillment of that. You know, in some ways, God displaces power over the nations when he gives them a favor from Persia to continue rebuilding the temple. We can see that in Ezra. Or in some ways we see how God's enemies are pushed back when even opposition to building the temple in the days of the rebel, God shuts that down so they can continue building the temple. And we see Zerubbabel is exalted. In some ways, they finish the temple, but overall, there's not really a good picture in Zerubbabel's life of how this prophecy was fulfilled. I don't think we should have to stretch the prophecy to try to say, oh, it's all satisfied there. They'll show you something better. We shouldn't have to squint our eyes and say, I think everything fits. And so we look forward to what else is coming that would fulfill that prophecy. So our second point is going to be the day of the Lord observed. I think we see a good picture of the day of the Lord and a much better fulfillment in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. So, at the crucifixion and resurrection, we see, first of all, God's power displayed. In John 1, verse 14, it tells us, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God's coming to be among His people, and here, He will be able to display His power for them to see easily. In Mark 1, verse 22, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, and it says, they were amazed because He was teaching as one having authority. God's power is displayed in the life of Jesus and in His ministry, but even more so in His death and His resurrection. I think of the power of God in all these parts about the crucifixion story. Christ had the power to submit himself to God's will at Gethsemane, even though he went against what he would have wanted to do. And Christ has the power to calmly accept arrest by the angry mob there at Gethsemane, even though it says in Matthew 26 that he could have had 12 legions of angels come to defend him, but instead he allows his own arrest. What power would it take for Christ to accept unjust condemnation when he stood trial before the religious leaders and they condemned him wrongly? Or what power for Christ to stand before Pilate meekly and take Pilate's poor handling of the situation when he deserved better justice? What power would it take for Christ to take the scourging of the soldiers, the mocking of the crowds, the nail that went through his hands and his feet, And we also see the power of God displayed at the cross when darkness sweeps over the land at midday for three hours. And then we see the power of God displayed when there's an earthquake, shakes open even the graves. And it says in Matthew 27 that even some of the saints were raised back to life at that point. There's the power of God. We see the power of God so strong as to rip open the curtain in the temple, top to bottom. It's a unique power, a strong power. It's a power that could defy the Roman guards standing at the tomb. Break the seal. What's put on the rock, that's another place we see the seal. Break the seal, roll back the tomb on the day of the resurrection. We see the power of God is clearly displayed at the crucifixion. We also see that at the crucifixion, God's enemies are destroyed. God's enemies are destroyed. And there's lots of enemies of God we see in that story, and they all show up in full number. We have religious leaders. They're opposing true justice. They allow Jesus to be condemned. They frame him. They have a trial. We see the finicky crowd who loves Jesus at first, but then they're crying for Him to be crucified when they're standing before Pilate. We see Pilate refusing to protect Jesus, who is an innocent man. We see the Roman soldiers who are carrying out the evil scheme. God has a lot of enemies that are working against Him that day. But unexpectedly, who is the one who takes the wrath of God? The wrath that should be due to the enemies of God. It doesn't fall on all those people. It falls on Jesus. In Isaiah 53, verse 6, we read, The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. It's actually, that's one of the sermon songs talking about, my servants will come, but ultimately it's pointing to Jesus. You also see in 2 Corinthians 5.21, God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf. Throughout history, the righteous man could always turn to God as a refuge and never be forsaken by God. Even in their worst hours throughout history, men and women could always call it to God. They would find a comfort, a refuge. But now here at the cross, Christ, the perfectly righteous one, God forsakes him there at the cross. The cross is not a case of God's people trying to uphold God's justice, or a case of men that are fighting against God's enemies. Like the victory over the Egyptian army at the Red Sea, and like the multitude that's destroyed before King Jehoshaphat, at the crucifixion, God's the one who's fighting against his own enemies. He took that wrath upon Christ, and it was a very thorough victory. Christ exhausted the wrath of God. In 1 Corinthians 15, verses 54 and 55, Paul is rejoicing. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. At the crucifixion, God's enemies were destroyed. God's power was displayed. We also see God's servant is exalted. God's servant is exalted. You see, we can see how Jesus was celebrated in many ways in his first coming as a baby. We saw angels are singing, the shepherds are rejoicing, the wise men are coming to worship. And we also saw in the ministry of Christ, he's lifted up and we see that people are delighted by his healing. People ate what he provided and some even swore they would never deny him, abandon him. But nothing exalted Christ so much as his death and his resurrection. In Romans 1 verse 4 it reads that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. And in Philippians 2, 9-11, because Christ humbled himself and became like a bondservant to do God's will, it says, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We see he is exalted because of his death and resurrection. And also it's because of Jesus' death and resurrection that we can see the four living creatures and the elders, the 24 elders in Revelation 5-9 as they sing, speaking to Jesus, At the cross, the enemies were seeking to lay Jesus low, to get rid of Him, get Him out of history. But ultimately, it was actually Christ's very death that God used to exalt Him as His servant above all others. So we've seen Harai's description of the Day of the Lord, and we saw how that would not have fit Zerubbabel's life very well. And we've seen now also how it's a lot better fulfilled at the crucifixion. and how Jesus was exalted there. But honestly, even the crucifixion doesn't fully satisfy what we see here as the coming day of the Lord. And so, for our last point, I want to consider the day of the Lord anticipated. It seems to be our human nature, we want to anticipate certain days. So if you're a kid, you might have a birthday coming, and you're asking your parents, how many days to my birthday? How many weeks to my birthday? It might feel like, how many years to my birthday? It's a long time. And then we also have Christmas. And you look forward to Christmas. You've probably been looking forward to this day. And it's a good day to look forward to. You have your family together, gifts will be given, be enjoyed, be celebrating Christ's birth. There's a lot to look forward to today, but then tomorrow, it'll be a whole year until Christmas again. Christmas is an ultimate. Or maybe if you're single, you're looking forward to a day of your marriage. That's another day. We look forward to our wedding day. It's a day marked by joy and celebration. We don't want to rush it, but when it comes, it's a big deal. And the closer that day gets, the more excited you get. Birthdays, Christmas, weddings, these are all great days to celebrate, but there's an even better day in scripture that we can look forward to. It's the final day of the Lord. I say it's the final day because the day of the Lord in a sense has already come. We've seen pictures of it throughout scripture and like, here's the day of the Lord, here's the day of the Lord, the crucifixion, here's the day of the Lord. But there's a better day of the Lord coming. We can see examples of the day of the Lord. Picture it if we look back at Noah's flood. In Genesis 6, actually it's God's flood, and Noah was part of the story. In Genesis 6, we see God's power is displayed. That's one of the things we said happens on the day of the Lord. There's this flood, and surely that overthrew a lot of nations. We see God's enemies are destroyed in the flood, and we see that God's servant Noah is preserved. He's chosen to carry on this lineage of the Messiah towards Christ. Another example of the Day of the Lord could be the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot is saved out of it. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. God's wrath is against His enemies. Or we consider the exodus of Egypt. Again, these examples of God destroying his enemies, but saving his people. Another good one is King Hezekiah in the days of Isaiah 37. We can read King Hezekiah is there in Judah, and the Assyrian army comes and surrounds him. It's a hopeless situation. But then the Lord destroys his enemies. It says 185,000 were killed that night by angels, and the Lord delivers people. These are all days of the Lord. But there's a final day of the Lord that's coming. And if we look at Revelation chapter 20, it's a description of this final day of the Lord. It says in verse seven, seven through ten, when a thousand years were completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also. And they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever." So like the time of the crucifixion, again, the enemies of God will be gathered to oppose God. And at that time, just like we see for the Day of the Lord, God's power will be displayed over all the kingdoms of the earth. The enemies of God will be utterly destroyed, this time cast into the lake of fire, never to oppose God again. There too, on that last day, we'll see Christ, the servant of God, exalted. We read about the new heaven and new earth, or the new Jerusalem, in Revelation chapter 21, verse 22 and 23 talk about Christ being exalted. John writes, I saw no temple in it, speaking of that city, I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has loomed it. And if the Lamb is the Lamb, Christ the Lamb will be highly exalted on that final day of the Lord. This is a day worth looking forward to. And there we'll finally see the answer to Haggai's prophecy, the full fulfillment of what we read there in Haggai chapter 2. So now what do we do with this passage? Let's pause for a couple minutes, just a few more minutes, to consider the application. What does this passage mean for us? I have two applications for us to consider today. First of all, If we see the day of the Lord is going to be a time when God's power will be displayed, God's enemies will be destroyed, God's servant will be exalted. First of all, I think we should do not fear when turmoil arises. Do not fear when turmoil arises. We're going to hear about wars and rumors of war. That's to be expected. As we read in Matthew 24 this morning, verse 6, Jesus tells his disciples, you will hear wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place. That is not yet the end. See, it's going to be rough days ahead, but nothing gets out of God's control. This is history. History. And we know that God will keep everything on track. He has the power to keep that going where it should. Our second application is, remember who wins in the end. Sometimes it might look like the world has a lot to offer for us apart from Christ. Sometimes it might seem like the wicked men are succeeding. Or sometimes the enemies of God might seem to have us outnumbered or have us beat. But we remember what it says in Haggai 2, verse 22. On that day, God will overthrow the chariots and the riders, and the horses and the riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another. When the final day of the Lord comes, God's enemies will be destroyed. Now, whose side are you on? If you're not yet on the Lord's side, there's still an opportunity to turn. In Acts 3, verses 13 through 15, the Apostle Peter is addressing the crowd that had previously called for Jesus' crucifixion. He says, starting in verse 13, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. But you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked for a murder to be granted to you. but put to death the Prince of Peace, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses." So Peter's speaking to the very crowd that called for Jesus' crucifixion, the enemies of God, but then he says, a couple verses later, "'And now, brethren, I know that you acted with ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand, by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he has thus fulfilled. Therefore, repent and return.'" so that your sin may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshment may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, the Christ, appointed for you." He calls God's enemies to repent and return. Peter also speaks of the final day of the Lord, specifically in 2 Peter 3, 7-10, which Josiah read for us. But by God's word, the present heaven and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow, but has promised, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. The final day of the Lord hasn't happened yet, but it will come one day. That delay is an opportunity for the enemies of God to repent and escape the coming wrath of God. If you see yourself opposing God, you're in a dangerous position. Don't wait until a better day. Repent. There may not be another day. Now for those of us who are already on God's side, we have good news. If we remember who wins in the end, we need to know God wins in the end. 2 Peter has a word for us as well, continuing in chapter 3, verse 11. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat? But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. We should keep cultivating that righteousness and godliness that will characterize the new heavens and the new earth. And this isn't always going to be an easy task. Peter also wrote back in 1 Peter 4, verse 12 and 14. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also, at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the sake of Christ, you are blessed. because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. We don't need to be discouraged. We know who wins in the end. So now in conclusion, we've seen the fourth prophecy of Haggai. He's described as coming day of the Lord. We've observed that in a very significant way, Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection is a big picture of the day of the Lord. It's a, in many ways, fulfillment of that prophecy. But we know that ultimately, believers are still anticipating that final day of the Lord at the end of time. Some parts of history are going to be rough, and rough in between, but we can remember, as our theme was for the day, no matter what, God, we can rely on God to keep His promises. No matter what, we can rely on God to keep His promises. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for the confidence that we can have from Your Word, and we see in history, Your Word never fails, and You always bring it to completion. We also look in Your Word, and we see that There's parts that haven't been fulfilled yet, and we're still waiting for them to be fulfilled. We pray as we're waiting and looking, we pray that you would help us to be confident, help us to be, that these would impact the way we go through life, the things we hope for, the way we respond to trials. Even as we're celebrating today the birth of Christ and seeing that as a fulfillment so many of your promises pray we remember To continue to remember that the day of the Lord is yet to come and we would look forward to that with hopefulness And that would give us joy not just for today, but throughout the rest of the year and next year We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen Okay, that's all I have for you guys today open now for any of the men who have questions Comments that there's other ways that this passage calls us to worship the Lord. Love to hear those. I But you opened your message by saying it wasn't a Christmas message. I'll have to disagree with you. One, I think every message is a Christmas message. Two, I think that, and you pulled this out really good, I just want to tie it to Christmas since we're here at Christmas. that if we have that promise, and Zerubbabel became a sign and bring a seal of that promise, I just want to read out of Luke 1. We already heard from Mary this morning that he remembered his promise to his fathers, but then Zechariah says this after John the Baptist is born. He says, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. As he spoke, by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show us the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant. The oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." So I think Drebbel's a beautiful picture of just a waypoint between the promise to David and the fulfillment