Address—A.C. Hayhoe
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I There's much for us to learn from the first chapter, but I just thought we might share a few thoughts which I know others have enjoyed from chapter two of the Prophet Haggai.
In the seventh month, in the one and 20th day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, Speak now to the rubble, the son of Cialdio, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jonathan the high priest, and to the residue of the people saying.
Who is left among you that saw this house?
In her first glory. And how do ye see it now?
Is it not in your eyes, in comparison of it as nothing yet? Now be strong, O the rubble that the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua son of Joseph the high priest.
And be strong all the people of the land, saith the Lord.
And work.
For I am with you, saith the Lord of Hosts, according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt. Though my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye none.
What I said, 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 nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. Now we will fill this house with glory, that the Lord of Hosts, the silver is mine, and the gold is mine, said the Lord of Hosts.
The glory of this letter house shall be greater than of the former that the Lord of hosts.
And in this place will I give peace that the Lord of hope, you know, four and 20th day of the ninth month, in the second year of the riots came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying thus that's the Lord of hosts.
Ask now the priest concerning the law of saying if one barely flesh.
In the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt to touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, Shall it be holy? And the priest answered and said no. Then said Hanky, I hit one that is unclean.
By a dead body touch any of these shall it be unclean. And the priest answered and said it shall be.
And clean.
I believe that our tremendous lessons of encouragement and help for us in these verses.
Right near the end of Israel's Old Testament history, And it's so wonderful, is it not, to think that the eye of the Lord rested upon that people, and He not only knew their day by day circumstances, but He knew what was going on in their heart.
And there were some among them who were very discouraged.
They were really disappointed. If you wish, and you know that matters to the heart of the Lord Jesus. Isn't it interesting to think that he looked at every one of us tonight and he knows and he cares if you are happy, if you are sad, if you are encouraged, if you are discouraged, it really matters to Him.
And the occasion that is being referred to here, I'm sure you are aware.
Is that which took place at the time when a company of God's beloved people.
The Jews had returned from their long years of captivity in Babylon, had come back to the place where the Lord had set His name, and there in the days of Ezra and of Nehemiah.
The altar was set up upon his bases, the foundation of the House of the Lord was laid, and Israel was privileged to be restored again to that wonderful place where the Lord had set His name.
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They ought to have rejoiced at such a wonderful privilege, and some of them did. They were just so happy to say we are here.
Where Jeopardis set his name. What an honor, what a privilege, what a joy to be here and to see the foundations of the House of the Lord laid before our very eyes. Oh, let's praise his name. And they did, and they joined in songs of praise.
But there were some who were present who were very, very old. They had been 70 years in captivity.
And the old one could remember what they had seen in that very place before they had been carried away captive. There, in that very place had once stood Solomon's glorious temple, in all its splendors, in all its magnificence. And they could remember this, they could picture this. And now.
After 70 years in captivity, they're back there, in that place where the temple once.
It had been destroyed, and now before their eyes they see the foundation of the House of the Lord. All they knew it's been laid in a place where it ought to be, where it rightly belongs. God, in His grace and faithfulness, has brought us back from our captivity, and here we are where He wants us to be.
But look at this House of the Lord.
Compared to what we can remember, why we can remember a glory that is far greater than this little insignificant House of the Lord. And they began to leap, and they wept aloud with disappointment.
I think that's the right word to use. They were disappointed because what they could see was so small compared to what they could remember in time past.
And the Lord heard that weeping, and the Lord heard the singing.
And this is the message that he gives to his servant Haggai, he says.
And verse, who speak now to the rubble, the son of Cialtio, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Joseph Deck the high priest, and through the residue of the people.
Right away, I believe we have a lesson here.
Why are these two men singled out by name and then the rest are simply spoken of as the residue of the people?
Well, let's look down at verse four. Although we see the significance of verse 3 yet now be strong Ozer Rubble, says the Lord, and be strong, oh Joshua son of Jose, deck the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land. Here it is again, the same two men are singled out.
By name, with these words, Be strong, the rubble, be strong.
Joshua, and be strong, all the people of the land. Again and again I find this same pattern in the Word of God. Certain ones are singled out, and solemn, faithful words of exhortation are addressed to them, and then others are included. And I believe, my dear brother and sister.
That this should be a lesson to you and to me.
Well, you know you have an effect upon your brother's and sisters.
You either encourage them to live to please the Lord. You either encourage them by your own examples to be strong.
And walk in the fear of the Lord, and live to please the Lord.
Or else your life and testimony bad to say will be the opposite. Let me give you 2 little examples. I'm sure you're aware of them. In Song of Solomon chapter one we read these words. Draw me.
We will run after thee. Now me, that's one individual. Draw me. We will run after the the effect of one individual.
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Part of devotion to the Lord Jesus in that verse has an effect upon others. And they say we will run You like that kind of energy, don't you? We will run after these. But sad to say, we discover the opposite pattern pool.
We remember these words.
Peter said.
I go efficient. I I go a fishing.
And the next words are We also go with these.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, and it most certainly applies to my own heart, I repeat, your life and testimony, spoken and unspoken, is an encouragement to others to follow the Lord Jesus.
Or to turn aside that those things which I believe are pictured in the words of Peter.
I go efficient. We're not condemning that occupation, but Peter had been called from it to serve the Lord and he was turning back to it again. And I want to repeat, dear brothers and sisters, and I say it primarily to the meat of my own heart, that your life, do you hear these words? Your life and mine is either the one or the other.
Others are being affected by your devotedness.
For your carelessness, and I will say this, that I thank God with all my heart that when I was a young fellow in Ottawa, I looked back to my early teens in Ottawa and I can truly stand here and say that I thank God with all my heart.
For those who were a bit older than myself.
Whose testimony and whose pattern of life was a help and an encouragement and an example to me?
I thank the Lord for that and when I see these two men singled out and the residue of the people.
I don't stand here as a Zerubbabel and I don't stand here as a doctor, but I do feel the Lord would speak to each and every one of us and remind us that.
Your object in life, your affection for the Lord Jesus, your desire to please Him, to live for Him.
It's going to have an encouraging and helpful effect upon others. Or the very opposite. Speak now to Zerubbabel and to Joshua and to the residue of the people. We won't take time to turn back to it. But in the 8th chapter of Ezra, when we read of those who did go back from the land of captivity to Jerusalem, there were certain ones who were set aside. You remember? And to them.
Were entrusted.
Sleep treasures lift these words, watch thee, and keep them until you weigh them in the courts of the House of the Lord at Jerusalem. Here are treasures entrusted to you, and when you get to the end of the journey, you'll find that there will be a written record waiting there of everything that was entrusted to you.
Watch the and keep them. But you know when that group of men stood there and those treasures were put in their hands, this is what we read.
I think their names were Hashabaya and Sharabiya and ten of their brethren with them two names again, and then just the rest of them dismissed as ten of their brethren with them again. I believe we are being reminded that your testimony and mine will be a good example.
Example or a sad hinder?
We certainly don't like to point the finger at Peter because not one of us here could stand beside Peter, could be in his devotedness and his faithfulness. But there are unusual scriptures that come to mind. You remember this one, Peter and they that were with him were heavy with fleet. Did you ever think of that? Why does the Scripture say that? Why does the Scripture single out theaters again? I believe, dear brethren, that.
Watchfulness. Your wakefulness is going to be a good and godly example to others, or it's going to be a sad hindrance. Remember those words, Peter, And they that were with him were heavy with sleep.
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The Lord recorded that statement. And again I say, dear brothers and dear sisters, and Please remember, I include myself in this, that we are in the very last moments of waiting. The wonderful truth of God has been entrusted and some of us.
Some of us have had it handed down to us.
So easily and so richly. And I know tonight as I look around this meeting room.
I'm looking into the faces of those who can look back to father and grandfather who love this book and love the truth of it and love the Savior of whom it spake. And you saw it in their life, and you heard it from their lips. And now, my beloved brothers and sisters, here we are, if you wish, so near the end of our record here.
We're soon going to be in the glory.
And May God grant that everyone of us may hear these words addressed to us. No man liveth to himself, and no man dies to himself. You are having your influence upon others. So notice in verse 3, which we bypass. The Lord knew the occasion of their discouragement. He knew all that was going on in their hearts. And it's the same with you and me tonight.
It's the same with you and me tonight. If there's someone here who is sad.
Or discourage. The Lord knows the depth of it. He knows the cause of it in every last detail. And so here he refers to those who were weeping with disappointment. And notice, please, what he says to encourage their heart. He doesn't just simply say Kira. Now cheer up, sing to him, and you'll feel better.
You know, we hear a great deal about that today, that you can work up a kind of artificial excitement and enjoyment by just pretending all is well and that the problems don't exist.
What? What do we have here in verse four? I'll read this again yet now be strong, O the rubble, saith the Lord, And be strong, O Joshua son of Joseph the high priest, and be strong all the people of the land, says the Lord, and work.
For I am with you.
Saith the Lord of Hope.
Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that enough to make the heart rejoice? I am with you, saith the Lord of Hosts.
Did he say this when the Tabernacle was set up in the wilderness? No. Did he say this when the temple was built in the land? I don't remember that he did this time. He says Tell them I am with you, says the Lord of Hope. What a triumphant title that is. Why does he tell them that here? But he didn't say that specifically in the wilderness.
In the days of Solomon and his glorious sample, you remember that when a Tabernacle was set up in the wilderness, the cloud of glory descended immediately upon that Tabernacle, A pillar of fire by day in a pillar, a pillar of cloud by day in a pillar of fire by night. And the evidence, the public evidence of the presence of the Lord was there.
For everyone to see.
The visible sign of the presence of the Lord was among them. You find that when the temple was built in the days of Solomon, in the very spot where this house was built, no sooner was it finished than the glory of the Lord again healed that temple, the visible witness of the presence of the Lord promptly.
Immediately that presence was seen there among them.
But what happened? Well, Israel became careless. Their ways became increasingly grieving to the Lord. And he reminded them.
From the lips of one servant after another. But they paid no heed. And what happened to that presence? What happened to the glory that's gone in that temple? It was removed from the temple and rested upon the threshold. Then it was removed from the threshold and rested upon the hill that overlooked the city, as though he who had been, shall I say, eager.
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To show his presence among them was loath to leave them.
The threshold and then the hill. And still they didn't mend their ways, and the glory departed and never returned.
The people came back, rebuilt the House of the Lord, but the Lord doesn't say, now I will come back, and again shall the glory of my presence among you. Beloved, I believe this, that the word of God would plainly tell us that when a testimony was established in the early days of the book of the Acts, we can see the visible sign of the presence of the Lord which was witnessed.
By everyone around it was seen and heard, and there was.
The visible sign of the presence of the Lord, but I believe as His beloved people.
Turned in heart and ways from Him, in carelessness and in disobedience.
Those signs departed slowly, and where it dawned.
And now, by the grace of God, if a prayerful search of this precious volume, the Word of God has directed the feet of some of God's people to share in a precious and wonderful privilege of being found again, gathered around a person and unto the worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alone. What should we do? Should we ask him to please bring back again?
Those visible, those outward signs that were present at the time of Pentecost, did. Those who were gathered together here in this day of restoration after departure, did they ask that these signs that were seen in the wilderness and in the land might be restored to them? Oh, how wonderful are these words.
I am with you, saith the Lord. That visible sign never did recur, nor did they even ask for it. How thankful they must have been for these words.
I am with you, saith the Lord. Take it to heart, dear brothers. Take it to heart, dear sister. He who delights to be surrounded by his own says to them, I am with you, saith the Lord. Wasn't it a privilege yesterday to come forth from our homes? What for? To look one another in the face? That was a.
I was going to say a bonus it was, but the purpose of our coming forth from our homes was surely.
To respond to the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ to be where he delights, to be in the midst of those gathered to his precious and worthy name. So he says, I am with you, said the Lord, according to the word that I covenanted with you when he came out of Egypt. The second wonderful resource.
This precious book, the word of God, of what our resource, the gladden our hearts.
May I pause and ask you, do you read this precious book?
As faithfully as you eat your meals.
Well, sometimes I'm too busy.
Sometimes too busy. Ah, beloved, you and I ought to value, ought to thank God for this precious, precious book.
And here I believe we see two resources. I am with you, says the Lord, according to the word that I committed with you when he came out of Egypt.
If you and I realize that God, in His gracious faithfulness, has entrusted to us this precious book, then I'm going to ask you and my own soul as well. Do you and I faithfully be upon this precious book that from its pages we might find light for our footsteps and food for our souls?
Why do we go astray?
Two reasons.
Either we don't read this precious book and discover in it like for every step or else and how serious this is, we have read it and we know the next step but in self will and stubbornness we don't want it and turn from it.
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These things are solemn, beloved brethren. The first resource is the presence of the Lord, the 2nd is His precious living Word, and now the third one is.
Though my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not.
My Spirit remaineth among you here. He not. Oh, feel love, it. Isn't this glorious? These three resources, which of them can we with thankfulness, claim to day? Are they not all true, All available, all to be enjoyed, all to encourage and challenge and strengthen our hearts? I am with you, saith the Lord.
According to the word that I counted with you, so my spirit remaineth among you.
Fear ye.
Now if we go down please to verse 9, the glory of this ladder house shall be greater than of the former, said the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give peace that the Lord of hope.
It seems to me that he is telling them you have been looking.
In the wrong direction. You have been looking back to a glory that is now only a memory, and what you see before you is now so small, so insignificant, that you're cast down, you're discouraged, you're even weeping. But turn around, look ahead, and I, the Lord of Booths, promise you this.
A new translation reads the latter glory of this house. I believe that's the thought here.
There was a glory that was a head that would far outside the glory of Solomon's temple. Can you and I do the same? Can you and I look ahead tonight and say with absolute confidence that there is a glory which lies ahead?
That will far outside the glory of Pentecost or any day of blessing that has ever been known since the day of Pentecost. Yes, they love it. And to sit down from time to time in the presence of two or three, to share in a precious, unspeakable privilege of the presence of the Lord and the joy of remembering Him in death.
Oh, I tell you, my beloved brethren.
Long time.
In situations that are so primitive and in numbers that are so cute, you will see on the table a loaf.
And a cup.
Is that a time to be discouraged? Is that a time to weep because things are small and numbers are few and weakness is so evident? Oh beloved, it's a time to thank God with an overflowing heart.
That in his very wonderful faithfulness and love he has preserved.
In these last moments of waiting, that testimony to the proof of God, with the joy of looking ahead and knowing that there is a glory that lies ahead that will never, never fade away, all the splendor of Solomons temple was utterly wiped out.
But that which lies ahead, beloved, will shine with a splendor that will rapture our hearts and the Lord Jesus Christ himself the center of it all. Is it a time to be discouraged? Is it a time to weep? Ah, true, as we are aware of the weakness of the failure of our own heart.
Of our weakness in being a testimony for the Lord, we might well bow our head.
Before the Lord and own our weakness, but at the same time I believe we can hear him say.
That there is a glory that lies ahead that will far outshine anything that we could ever read about in this book or anything that any of us could ever remember. And it's not far away, beloved. It's not far away when from every kindred and tongue and people and nation, the redeemed of the Lord will be gathered. What I say that will be.
And the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst. And if you and I are looking toward that day.
Although conscious of our weakness, I trust we will rejoice, beloved. Yes, we will rejoice.
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The wondrous privilege. You know, I think of dear John in Revelation chapter one. He was there in exile on the Isle of Patmos.
And you can kind of understand how he quite possibly felt. He looked across the sea and there was a land where he had served the Lord. There were the locations of the churches to which he addressed those letters inspired of the Lord.
But I quite expect John was not feeling too happy as he looked Yonder and realized that he had been exiled to spend those last days on The Lonely Island of Patna.
I've seen that lonely island, and I wouldn't wish to be in exile there. And I kind of feel for what must have passed through a heart of John as he looked around him and found himself alone, looked across the sea and saw the land of his laborers off in the distance. But what did he hear? It's remarkable, isn't it? I heard behind me.
A voice as of a trumpet speaking unto me. That's rather unusual, isn't it?
Did John hear the voice behind him? When you go to speak to someone, you don't usually walk around behind them, do you? But Don heard this voice behind him. And we read, and being turned I saw. And the whole wondrous panorama of revelation was displayed before the eyes of John when he turned around.
Oh, I meet Christians who are facing, I'm afraid, the wrong direction if you and I turn and face that which lies ahead, beloved.
Our hearts will be filled with gladness. Our hearts will be encouraged in the Lord. I don't mean by that, that we need not be continually aware of our own weakness and cry to the Lord in our need, that He might strengthen us, that He might encourage us.
You will forgive me, but just a very short time ago I went to prayer meeting.
The island of Saint Vincent.
I had gone there particularly because I heard of the devastation caused by Hurricane Alan and I felt sure my dear brothers and sisters there would be in desperate need. And I went to the prayer meeting. And when that prayer meeting was over, I thought, I am mistaken. They certainly haven't suffered any loss. If you had heard them sing, if you had seen their faces as they sang those hymns of praise, if you had heard.
Pourings of Thanksgiving to the Lord on their knees in that little meeting room. You would have said they've got no problems at all. So after the meeting, brother, what about your home? Was it damaged? Oh, yes, brother, a little bit. What do you mean a little bit? Well, good part of the roof is gone, but we can shelter in the other part. And what about your crops? Well, they're, they're all gone, brother.
And what about your crops, brother?
They're all gone where they cast down, where they discourage, where they pointing at God as though He hadn't been very kind to them all. Beloved, in the midst of those circumstances, they were singing His praises, They were thanking Him with an overflowing heart. And now, dear brethren, I know that there are those things which cause us to bow our heads, which cause the tears to flow.
And I don't say it need not be so. I believe the child of God is one who, according to the language of the word of God, can be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
Just one thing more. I didn't intend to take so much time, I'm sorry, but in the.
12Th verse.
It seems rather strange that.
The pattern of the chapter suddenly seems to change. Verse 12. Verse 11. To get the connection. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garments, and with his skirt to touch bread or pottage, or wine or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priest answered and said, no. Then said Hagia, If one that is unclean by a dead body, such any of these things.
Shall it be unclean? And the priest answered and said It shall be unclean.
Doesn't it seem unusual that this should suddenly appear after what we have just read? This is a remnant picture of a restored testimony toward the end of Israel's recorded history in the Old Testament. There they are, back in the land. There they are at the place where Jehovah had chosen to put his name.
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There the foundation of the House of the Lord is laid before their eyes, and suddenly this basic principle is brought to their attention.
If a priest bearing holy flesh touch something else, will that other become holy? No, says the priest. Well, if one that is unclean.
By a dead body touch any of these. Shall it be unclean? The priest says yes. Now I believe, dear brethren, and here is a song and needed reminder for us.
We know from the Word of God and by matchless grace that the Lord delights to be in the midst of two or three gathered together under His worthy and precious name. We know the wonder and joy of such a privilege.
But what about those things that had been laid down as faithful principles?
A way back here, long before the days of Haggai. Have they changed a little bit?
Because so many years have passed by, because this is a day of restoration after failure and weakness, have the principles of God changed? No, beloved.
Contact with evil still is.
Filements in the sight of God. And may I say this, dear brethren, gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, do we not need still to remember this?
I remember the Lord Jesus, and so do you as a member of the body of Christ. What an unspeakable privilege this is to look upon that loaf on Lords Day morning and realize that in that loaf we see represented every member of the Body of Christ Very well. A member of that body comes to the door and wishes to share in the remembrance of the Lord.
This principle, beloved, I feel still should ever be remembered.
Contact with evil is defiling, and I feel that as we look around about us today and see in the systems that men have set up and to which they have given names of their own choosing, we see that which is.
Now I say.
Unscriptural doctrine.
And we see.
Evil allowed without discipline. And so I believe beloved things of God, and I know you agree with me in this, that even though we are living in remnant days characterized by so much weakness and failure, yet encouraged by the faithful hearing words of the Lord Himself to be strong and worked with.
Ever need to remember beloved brothers and sisters?
That all the faithful and wise principles laid down in the Word of God for our guidance and instruction, as gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, are still as applicable as ever they were.
There is a danger I feel because of the conditions and because of our own weakness, that perhaps we let down the bars a little bit here and there. And when I read this chapter and see the Lord sending this message of encouragement through his faithful servant Haggai, I want to take those encouraging and challenging words to my own heart.
And I hope you feel the same way.
I hope, dear brother and sister, that you will rejoice with me in claiming these three wonderful resources that God has given His presence, His words, His Spirit. And I hope that you will take the heart and that I shall do the same. A challenge of these words. Be strong and work, saith the Lord. And then I hope that we will all take the heart as we read.
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This remarkable introduction of those principles that were laid down long ago.
That we may remember that as gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, there remains the responsibility of faithfulness to the principles of truth and separation laid down in the Word of God, not because of who we are, but because of the one in whose presence and to whose name, by the grace of God, we are gathered.