indebted to him. Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Haggai tonight, please. Haggai, and that's just two books earlier than the book of Malachi, which was the last book of the Old Testament. So, if you want to go to Matthew chapter one and go back three books to Haggai, we're going to be looking at chapter one and the first part of chapter two tonight. It's good to have Dr. Doyle Robertson with us, he and his wife and three other children, two sons and daughter, also the in-laws. It's great to have them with us tonight. It's interesting that he was here because one of the illustrations that I'm opening with has to do with somewhere he was closely associated with for years, and that was the Bill Rice Ranch. And that's where I can remember the very first time I remember Doyle Robertson was at the Bill Rice Ranch with his trumpet and leading the music there in the evening services. I can remember I was seven years old and The very first time went to the Bill Rice ranch and my parents sent me with a certain amount of money and I can remember Spending money and I can remember my mother saying to me now son Be wise with this and make sure this has to last you the whole week And so you just have to make sure that you understand that and I said yes, ma'am And I can remember my dad looking at me and he says Boy, you heard what she said Yes, sir. That's all you got for the rest of the week. You can call home while you want to, but that's all you're getting. Yes, sir. I can remember when we went off to the ranch, that Cowboy Town was my first time to ever be exposed to Cowboy Town. So many. You know, we went to Disney World recently, and Disney World has taken your money down to a science. I mean, they have got it well-oiled, a well-oiled machine of how to do it. Cowboy Town is like Disney World for a seven-year-old his first time at camp They just they have it down all the trinkets everything that you walk into there well, I went there and and and and when I went there the amount of money that I had I Spent probably the good portion of it, but I know that I did not spend near as much of it as What seemed to be when I got back to my cabin that night? You know, I pulled the money out of my pockets and I thought, I know I didn't spend that much. And so the next day, we went back out and I wore the same, I think I wore the same outfit all week. You remember that? I came back with the same amount of clothes in my suitcase as I left with. They were all clean. Something's wrong with that picture. But I can remember the pants that I wore were, How many of you guys in here, you wore tough skins? You remember those kind of jeans? Bought them at Sears when we were kids? Yeah, I wore tough skins. And of course, I wore the huffy size of tough skins. And these were a dark green pair. And I can remember the pair of pants that I wore, and they were my favorite pair of pants. And I can remember that that next day, I was trying to be really, you know, judicious with the money and not spending it. Sure enough, I got back to my cabin and it was practically gone. I mean, there was just a few coins left. And I can remember being so upset that the rest of the week I was going to have to go through the entire week without any money. So at that point, you know, you start bartering with the campers around you and start, you know, wheeling and dealing. Well, what happened, what I found out is that finally, the one time that I did take those pants off, is that when I took them off, I noticed that there was something wrong with the pocket. And I looked at the left pocket of the pants, and there was a slit down in the little seam there that had come loose, and it was about that long. There's no telling how much of that money. Now, I have claimed that my entire life. My parents still don't buy the story, but I've claimed that my entire life. I did not spend near as much of that money as I lost. And I can remember even thinking, it's like, I remember Dad saying to me, son, it's like it's burning a hole in your pocket. Little did I know that's exactly what it had done. He never bought it, but I'm telling you that's what happened. It's as if there was a hole in my pocket that the money just went out of it as soon as it went into it. You ever felt like that in life? Man, I tell you, the hole in the bottom of this bucket is a lot bigger than the opening on the top of it. Because as much as I put in, there's more coming out the bottom. I want you to consider tonight a potential reason why that may be true in your life. I'm not saying this is true for everyone, but I will say this. If you're being disobedient in the area of giving, I believe that it probably would be almost certain that it's at least one of the reasons why this situation is being true in your life. What happens here is the people of Israel, they had ignored the temple of God. Zerubbabel was rebuilding the temple. They left it sitting there with its foundation unfinished for years and years. And yet they were going on and they were building their own houses. They were building their own mansions. They were continuing on with their business. They were building all the commerce and they were building all their residences. But they refused to address the need to finish the house of God. And so in the book of Haggai, Haggai is really bringing down a judgment. God's rebuking them for in the midst of building up their own businesses, in the midst of building up their own incomes, their own residences, that they failed to give the money that belonged to God and God was wrong. He was angry. So, once you want to start reading Haggai chapter one and look, if you will, at verse one. In the second year of Darius, the king in the sixth month in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, undeservable, the son of Sheol, the governor of Judah and Joshua, the son of Joseph, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts. Stop right here. Who's talking here? Who's speaking here? God speaking. Don't ever let it be assumed here that this is. Well, that's just the preacher that's talking. The Lord man wanted it to be very clear. Yes, he's speaking through the instrument of the prophet, but this is God speaking. He says thus speak of the Lord of Hosts. Verse two saying this people say The time is not come the time that the Lord's house should be built. In other words, we're not worried about that. We're not going to be worried and encumbered with giving toward the Lord's work. That's something that's really secondary to what we're trying to accomplish right now. Verse three, then came the word of whom? Whose word came thought back to me, whose word came, the Lord's word came. This is not Haggai's word. This is the Lord's word saying. By Haggai, the prophet, is it time for you? Oh, ye to dwell in your sealed houses and this house lie waste. Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. In other words, check up on yourself. Do an accounting of yourself wreck and do a reckoning with yourself. Consider your ways. Analyze how you're living life. Notice verse 6. Ye have so much. In other words, you've worked very hard. And yet, and bring in little. Ye eat, but ye have not enough. Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink. Ye clothe you, but there is none warm. And he that earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. What a picture. He says in this passage of scripture, he goes, You're working harder than you've ever worked, and yet you're making less than you've ever made. You're eating more than you've ever eaten, yet you're hungrier than you've ever been. You're drinking more than you've ever imbibed, and yet you're thirstier than you've ever been previously. It's as if when you're making your wages, when they're giving you the paycheck, it's as if you're putting it into a money bag that has a hole that it falls right out the bottom of. You look back inside there and it's nowhere to be found. Verse 7, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, as a result of what I just told you, listen to what I say, consider your ways. Do a checkup. Analyze your life very carefully. Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little. And when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why, saith the Lord of hosts? Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore, the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land and upon the mountains and upon the corn and upon the new wine, upon the oil and upon that which the ground bringeth forth and upon men and upon cattle and upon all the labor of the hands. Number one, I want you to see tonight in this thing called the money pit. I want you to see the immediate problem. As you study this immediate problem, what you have is you have the people working harder, making more. They're they're they're bringing more money home, yet they seem to be keeping less. and God's making it very clear to them. This is not a governmental problem. This is not a problem that you're going to solve through November elections. This is not an issue that has anything to do with anything other than your relationship between your God and yourself. This is not a money problem. He's saying this is a spiritual problem. Because in your life, what has happened? He says this to the children of Israel. You look for much and low. It came to little verse 9 when you brought it home. Oh, man, we finally made more than we've ever made. And then you brought it home. He said, I blew up on it. You know, he's literally saying there, I blew the money right out of the house. Why, saith the Lord of hosts, because of my house that is waste, you've forgotten my work. You wanted to build your career. He worked at building your own personal house. He wanted to take care of your own personal issues and you let my house go to waste and every one of you, he's saying to the children of Israel, every one of you, you run to your own house, you take care of your own needs, you make sure that everything that has to do with you is taken care of first and foremost and you've forgotten me. So then what? Verse 10, therefore, the heaven over you is stayed from do. and the earth has stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land and upon the mountains and upon the corn, the new wine, the oil and upon that which the ground bringeth forth and upon men and upon cattle and upon all the labor of the hands. He says you can work as hard as you want to work. You can you can punch in as many hours as you want to punch in. You can have all your little side businesses going on as long as you want to have your side businesses. But I'm telling you, the harder you work, the less you're going to have, the more that you make, the less you're going to have to spend as long as you keep me in a forgotten place. You know what he's saying here? He's making a claim to ownership. he's making a statement very clearly all that there is comes from me so my question is for you tonight you say man I just I don't understand I'm working so much harder and And you know, we're doing so much more and we're you know, we're trying to cut costs here and there and we're trying to work everything. And it seems like on paper, this thing should be working out. But I don't understand. It's like it just vanishes out of nowhere. Where does it go? Well, I ask you the question. Did you acknowledge God in your giving? Through the tide. which is the primary way we knowledge. Through the offering. The same Lord, I love you. This is my expression, not just of obedience. But also want to express to you my generosity, my love. Can I can I tell you something that we've heard, but now we see it played out in Scripture? How else do you need to be reminded tonight? God will always get what belongs to him, always. And because he loves you and me, he will never fail to continually try to mold us more into the image of his son, Jesus Christ. That is what we have been predestined to. So you say, well, how could God be so cruel? How could it be so mean? No, no, no. Stop. Wait just a moment. I think there's a better question here. How can you and I be so forgetful of where our blessings come from? Well, you know, it's coming to the to the end of this month, and I always hold off because I always want to make sure that that I have enough left over in order to give tithes and offerings. Well, let me tell you something. If you wait for that, you're never going to have it. And you know what you're going to find sooner than later, you're not going to have enough for all that other you were trying to pay off either. Why? Because the Lord said, you have forgotten your forsaken mine house. And every man, you run every man to his own house. That is the immediate problem. I do appreciate over the past couple of days, I've gotten several texts. A couple was on Sunday afternoon, a couple more Monday, one more on Tuesday that said, Pastor, we just want to let you know that we've been wrong. We've not been involved in giving of tithes and offerings. We've just been wrong. And one of them said, I want to tell you as a church member, I know that this is an issue between God and I, but I know that you and the rest of the staff have to carry the brunt of this. And I just want to tell you how sorry I am that I've not been a part of what I committed myself to. I think that's wonderful. I hope that that is true six, seven, eight months, a year from now. and I thank God for that. But I will say this on the basis of Scripture. As much of a blessing as that will be to this church body, I think in turn it's going to be a great blessing to you. I believe that wholeheartedly. Wholeheartedly. Until you get to the place that you do something that only God can sustain you through, then how will you ever know that God is more than willing to sustain you through it? See, there are those of us in here that what we've done is we've said, well, I just don't see it. I don't see how it will work. Can I instruct you with something from the Word of God here tonight? Now, you've got to choose whether you believe it. You can beat your head up against a brick wall the rest of your life. But he's saying very clearly It does not matter how much you make. Because I love you and because I'm determined that you're going to be like my son Christ and because a loving father chastises his children, you can make all the money that you desire and it will never be enough. You will always have this overarching sense of this lack of peace, this tension, that this this great this great dread and empty feeling of why is there not? Well, we have to go get another job and we have to work a little longer and we have to do just a little bit more and spend a little more time away from our family when the entire time the answer is right in front of us. But because it requires faith and not sight, we refuse to be obedient. So in other words, if I do this, if I step out and. Well, let's look at their immediate response, number two, he's told them the reason that this is happening with you, no matter how long you work, no matter how many jobs, how many promotions, no matter how much money you bring in, because it's never enough. It's because my house is laid in waste. And you run every man into his own house. So he lays out to him. So I'm giving you the choice. I think he's doing the same thing to us as some of the badness. I think he's given us a choice. Are you going to be obedient to me? You're going to be obedient to the vow that you made or not? Watch their response. Verse 12. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel and Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people. Watch what's the next word. Say with me what's the next word right there changed everything. The Christians, I'm telling you that word by itself. Tells the rest of the story. If he stopped right there. You can almost write the remainder of the story. And yet I look at among you and you see faithless eyes. Well, I know what you said, Pastor. We're just not going to do that. OK. Then let me tell you what's going to happen in your life. Verses one through 11 of Haggai chapter one is just going to be a constant recurring theme of your life over and over and over again. Why? Because God is determined that he'll be first place. they heard the word of the Lord, they heard what he said, the high priest, the remnant of the people, and they obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people did fear before the Lord. They said, Lord, we believe you. Lord, we trust you. Lord, we know that what you're saying is true. That, Lord, our lack of acknowledging you and giving to your work, our lack of acknowledging you being obedient, as it says in the book of Malachi, by bringing the tithes and the offerings into the storehouse, our lack of faith by making sure that our needs, running to our house first before we run to yours, are all taken care of and working these longer and harder and more hours even for better pay. And it still comes out in the red at the end of every single month. We trust you. Lord, we've heard what you said. And now, Lord, we change our ways. Can I tell you what comes from obedience? Don't tell me that you trust him if you don't obey him. You hear what I'm saying? Oh, I trust the Lord. Then obey him. I can remember that we stayed at, years ago, we stayed in a Holiday Inn. And I remember that they had a little, it was a little higher diving board. than normally you have, and I was just a little guy, and I can remember Dad was down in the pool, and he was looking up at me, and he said, all right, son, jump. And my sister, you know, she was four years older than me. She was out ahead of me, and you know, she had already jumped off and dove and all this, and I can remember walking out to the end of that diving board and looking down at him, and he says, come on, son, jump. Jump. And I would turn around and I would walk back and there were other boys back behind me. They were starting to make fun of me. You know, the guys are in the motel and they were starting to laugh and snicker and I'd get off the board. And then finally I'd mustered up enough and I'd get back up on the board and I'd walk out there and dad says, come on, son, I'll make sure it's OK. I'll catch you. I'll make sure that you don't go under. I'll be right here waiting for you. Now, I have a question for you. I could tell you all day long that I trusted my father. Oh, I trust my dad. I trust him. My dad would never lie to me. I know. I know that my dad would always whatever he said he was going to follow through on. Would you believe me at that point? No. He would say, well, then, if you trust him. John. Oh, but I can't do that. I can't do that. I'll drown. He just told you he would catch you. He just said you'd drown. I know, but I'm hyperventilating already just thinking about it. I mean, I can't do that. We weren't born to jump off high places into deep places like that. It's not natural to me. It's not my gifts. It just doesn't make sense. Why would I want to do this? Why does anybody want to do this? Why don't I sit over there with the rest of the moms and watch the other little kids out there? I can remember it was after a few times I did that, that dad simply said to me, go sit down. Oh, but dad, I want to... Go sit down. When you're willing to jump off this diving board, then you can swim. I can remember finally it was toward the end of the night. I said, well, this isn't cutting it. So I remember going on that diving board. I remember closing my eyes and saying into thy hands, I give him my spirit. And I remember jumping off that board. And he was there. Just as like he said he would always be. How much more I would have enjoyed that night. How much more fun I would have had. If I would just trusted him at the beginning. Can I tell you something? When we get to heaven. You can doubt me all you want to. When we get to heaven, everything that we are saying here from the word of God. is going to become immediately clear and immediately condemning the faithless. The immediate problem was every man ran to his own house instead of the house of the Lord. The immediate response is that they obeyed and they feared him. They trusted him and they feared. Lord, we're afraid if we don't, then nothing is ever going to change. Lord, you're going to keep following through with your word. Now notice if you were thirdly, we're finished. Look at the immediate response. The immediate problem, they were given to the house of the Lord. It was immediate response. Now watch the Lord's immediate reaction back to them. Verse thirteen. Then spake Haggai, the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message unto the people saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. and the Lord stirred up the spirit of the rule of the son of the governor of Judah and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Joseph at the high priest and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and did work in the Lord of hope in the house of the Lord of hosts. Their God can stop you see what's happening. By the way, can I tell you that these two always tied together in the local church body? You will notice that whenever a person is active in giving, That they're giving their stewardship does not just exclude itself to finances. That when a person has a heart and a spirit of giving, they'll also give of their talents and their time as well. Stewardship is an all encompassing part of our life. It's not just the treasure, but notice now they're giving their time and they're giving their hard earned labor. Lord, we're going to work on your house as well. There's nothing that's gone wanting in the house of the Lord now. They're not hiring people to do what they should have been doing all along. So they're not just giving their money, they're also giving everything else of themselves. By the way, when a person's heart is right in the area of giving, it's not just money that they're going to be giving. Because it's themselves that they gave first. He continues on verse fifteen and the four twentieth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king and in the seventh month in the one and twentieth day of the month came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shiitel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying... Who's he talking to? The exact same people he talked to at the beginning of chapter one. Who is left among you? that saw this house in her first glory was referring to your friend of the Temple of Solomon. And how do you see it now is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing. In other words, this house is nothing compared to the Temple of Solomon. Its glory is nothing compared to what was first built here. Yet he said, but listen, that's fine. We're not trying to compare with what I what happened before. We're working in this generation with what I've given you. So, now you in this generation, yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedek, the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work. Why? Well, he just told us in chapter one that the more we work, the less we're going to have, and the more hours we spend, the less there's going to be to spend. Now he's telling us to go to work. What's the difference? What's the difference? The difference this time is that the Lord is in it. He says, and I will be with you. I'm going to give you my strength. So now you go back to work and that work in my strength in my presence is going to have my dividends attached to it. He continues on. According, verse five, to the word of the Lord that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you. Fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. The silver is mine, the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of Hosts, and in this place will I give... You ought to underline the next word. What's the next word? Peace, saith the Lord of Hosts. Well, my pastor, what you're saying is that that when I when I make the Lord's work first in my treasure, then that will also, when I give of myself, it will also be my time and talents. So then the Lord in turn, I'm going to be making more money than I've ever made, and I'm going to be accomplishing more as far as the flesh is concerned that I've ever accomplished. No. That's not what I'm saying. If you watch television at 2.30 or 3 in the morning, that's what you'll hear. But that's not what the Word of God is saying. Can I tell you what it is saying? How many rich people have you ever run into that have no peace? Their life is a wreck. The sense of dread about their life is as strong as anyone that's ever struggled They never had money. Their homes are falling apart. Their marriages are falling apart. They live with incredible insecurities. They have no peace. And furthermore, not only is it that they don't have any peace, but all this work that they're doing, none of it is of eternal value. It goes to the graveyard with them. You know what he's saying here? He's saying, look, you be strong and I'm going to bless you. I'm telling you, I'll pour my blessings out. He said that just two books later in the book of Malachi. He said, I'll bless you that you can't contain it. But look, it's not just monetarily that I'm going to bless you. I guarantee it that I'll bless you. I will take care of your needs. But in addition to taking care of financial needs, look, there's so much more that I'm going to bless you with when you obey me in the area of finances. I'm going to bless you not only with that, but I'm also going to bless you with peace. When you lay your head on your pillow at night, You're at peace with God. Have you ever laid on your head on your pillow at night and wondered? What is this all about? Man, I just can't keep going through all this. This crazy cycle has got to stop somewhere. I mean, What is the point in all this? Why do I keep going on this thing? I end up the same look in the same faces in the same darkness on this carousel over and over and over again. There's none of it that makes sense to me. God's saying, I'll give you peace. Peace that passes all understanding. It'll keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. He says, I'll give you something that when you lay your head on your pillow at night, Thank you, Lord. Thank you. If you've never been there, then you don't know what I understand. If you have been there, then you know exactly what I'm saying, though I've not said it so well. There's nothing like knowing that everything between you and your God is well. Then he says this, and you thought that the house underneath Solomon brought me glory. You thought that what David planned and that Solomon enacted, you thought that that brought me glory. Oh, no. Listen, child, when you're obedient to me, when you follow my word, when you hear the word of the Lord and you say, Lord, I'm just going to be foolish and reckless enough that I'm going to trust you. I'll meet your needs. I'll give you peace. Peace that only comes from me. And I will make the glory that comes forth from your life greater than anything you've ever seen before. You'll bring me greater glory than you've ever seen to this point. What is that? I'll tell you what that is. That's an investment that goes right through the valley of the shadow of death with you. That's an investment that accompanies the words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You were faithful and little, now enter into the joy of the Lord. Money can't replace that. Your promotion that you've been hoping for and wishing for, that can't replace that. The way you've been trying to wheel and deal, and the last thing you need is the preacher preaching on money, because you've compiled debt to the point, oh, I'll get all that paid off, and then I'll give to God's Word first. It's never going to end. But when you finally say, Lord, it's Yours, I mean, right off the top, Lord, I'm going to Your house before I ever get to mine, then watch what He'll do. Pastor, are you sure? I'm as sure as Calvary. I'm as sure as that this word, not one word of it will pass away. That his word, it's true, it's preserved for all generations forever. That's how certain I am of it. My friend, you can take that to the bank right up until eternity. Quit living in a money pit. Quit working harder, longer. Quit worrying more. Just say, Lord, I'm giving it to you. And watch what he'll do when he puts his hand to your lunch. Let's stand together.