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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.
The Money Pit
| Sermon ID | 731141210467 |
| Duration | 34:27 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Language | English |
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