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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Haggai chapter 2. Haggai chapter 2. Several weeks 
ago we looked at chapter 1. We noted the primary emphasis 
was on seeking God first and His kingdom and His righteousness. 
This particular historical situation we'll review in just a moment, 
but the primary emphasis of the prophet was to exhort and encourage 
the people of God to build the temple of God. And one man said, 
the house was the outward form of the real presence of the Lord 
among his people. To refuse to build the house 
was at best saying that it did not matter whether the Lord was 
present with them. And so that's why the emphasis 
here on building the temple for the Lord. It was a communication 
at the time when it was not built that they did not really want 
the Lord. And so Haggai is dispatched to 
call the people to repentance and to engage in this work. I'll just pick up reading in 
Haggai chapter 2 at verse 1. In the seventh month, on the 
twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai, 
the prophet, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, 
governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high 
priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Who is left 
among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how 
do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this 
not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, Zorubabel, 
says the Lord. And be strong, Joshua, the son 
of Jehoshadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people 
of the land, says the Lord. And work, for I am with you, 
says the Lord of hosts. according to the word that I 
covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit 
remains among you. Do not fear. For thus says the 
Lord of hosts, Once more, it is a little while, I will shake 
heaven and earth, the sea and dry land, and I will shake all 
nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations. 
And I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 
The silver is mine and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter temple 
shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in 
this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts. On the 
twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of 
Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai, the prophet, 
saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts. Now ask the priests concerning 
the law, saying, If one carries holy meat in the fold of his 
garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or 
oil, or any food, will it become holy?" Then the priest answered 
and said, no. And Haggai said, if one who is 
unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it 
be unclean? So the priest answered and said, 
it shall be unclean. Then Agai answered and said, 
So is this people, and so is this nation before me, says the 
Lord, and so is every work of their hands, and what they offer 
there is unclean. And now carefully consider from 
this day forward, from before stone was laid upon, stone in 
the temple of the Lord. Since those days, when one came 
to a heap of twenty ethos, there were but ten. When one came to 
the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were 
but twenty. I struck you with blight and 
mildew and hail and all the labors of your hands. Yet you did not 
turn to me, says the Lord. Consider now from this day forward, 
from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day 
that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Consider it. 
Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, 
the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. 
But from this day I will bless you. And again the word of the 
Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, Speak 
to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake heaven and 
earth. I will overthrow the throne of 
kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of 
the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots 
and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders shall 
come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, 
says the Lord of hosts, I will take you. Zerubbabel, my servant, 
the son of Sheolgiel, says the Lord, and will make you like 
a signet ring. For I have chosen you, says the 
Lord of hosts. Amen. Well, I did want to mention 
before we pray, Mrs. Van Schaaf wanted to communicate 
her thanks for all of our prayers. It's good for her to be with 
us this morning. So she did say thank you to everyone 
for your prayers on her behalf. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we come now to consider this prophet, this very relevant prophet, 
to the situation we face in our own generation. God, we just 
pray that Your Spirit would move upon us, that You would increase 
our faith in the living and the true God, that You would cause 
us to see our utter dependence upon Your Holy Spirit, and to 
take the admonition to be strong, to be faithful, to be those who 
have been called to serve You in this lower world. We just 
pray now that you would forgive us for all of our sins, that 
you would cleanse us from all transgression and anything that 
would darken our minds and our understanding from appreciating 
the truth of your holy word. We ask in the name of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, this morning, because 
chapter 2, verses 1 to 9 are so pertinent and so relevant, 
we are going to focus on that section, and God willing, take 
up the remainder of the chapter next Lord's Day. But I've entitled 
this message, Encouraging Words for Discouraging Times. Encouraging 
Words for Discouraging Times. It had been just about a month 
since the prophet's first message to the people of Israel. And 
they had undertaken now to build upon the foundation and to begin 
to construct the temple or the house of the Lord. Discouragement 
had set in, and so Haggai comes in the second message to encourage 
that, to set before them a view of God's faithfulness, a view 
of God's future glorious healings, with his people. That's the whole 
context of chapter 2 verses 1 to 9. It is an encouragement in 
the midst of a discouraging situation. Just to remind ourselves of the 
overall history of the time, this is after the Babylonian 
captivity. Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi 
are what's called post-exilic or after the exile prophets or 
prophets of the restoration. The restoration meaning that 
time when Israel or the tribes of Judah came out of Babylon 
after a 70 year captivity under the decree of Cyrus they were 
free to go back to their land. And both Cyrus and Darius gave 
them the authority, gave them the permission. Darius even gave 
them government funds to rebuild the temple in the city of Jerusalem. Well, when they first returned 
in 538, they began the foundation. They laid the foundation for 
the temple in 536. There was a bunch of opposition 
from peoples in the land. They put the building process 
or building program on hold. And that lasted for 16 years. And that brings us to the time 
when Haggai prophesied in 520. They lay dormant for those 16 
years. Haggai and Zechariah come and 
they call the people to build the house of the Lord for him. Remember the indictment in chapter 
1, verse 4. Is it time for you yourselves 
to dwell in your paneled houses and this temple to lie in ruins? You have sought your own comfort, 
you have sought your own benefit, you have sought your own leisure, 
you have sought your own in neglect of the house of the living God. 
So that's the context. The people act upon His preaching, 
and then they begin to undertake construction. As we consider 
these encouraging words for discouraging times, in chapter 2, verses 1 
to 9, there are three observations we want to make on the text. 
The first is the discouragement of the people. The discouragement 
of the people, verses 1 to 3. We know they're discouraged because 
of the question that Haggai asks them in verse 3. But we also know they were discouraged 
because of the reference to the seventh month. If you're thinking 
biblically, and perhaps you have put this out of your mind for 
just a moment, so I want to remind you, it was the seventh month 
in which Solomon's temple was dedicated. It was the seventh 
month when that glorious structure that had been built, that showed 
or demonstrated the presence of God, it was the seventh month 
wherein that temple was dedicated. It was also the seventh month, 
with the dates from the book of Haggai, it was the last day 
of the Feast of Tabernacles. in which Haggai delivers this 
particular message. The Feast of Tabernacles was 
at that time when the people of God lived in booths, and they 
recalled how the Lord sustained them. in the forty years in the 
wilderness, and how the Lord had brought them out of the exodus. 
That's why there's a reference to God's covenant in verse 5, 
when He brought them, or when they came out of Egypt. So there's a lot of things going 
on in this particular time. The actual date of this prophecy 
was October 17, 520 BC. So they're thinking about what 
they used to have. They're thinking about the feast 
that they're undergoing. They're looking at the structure 
they're building and they're making the obvious connection, 
this ain't what we're used to. And the Prophet speaks that for 
them in verse 3. He's not introducing this concept 
to sort of bring up complaint. He's not introducing this concept 
so as to cause them to murmur. He is simply addressing a reality 
that the people were undergoing. It happened previously when they 
first laid the foundation for the Second Temple in 536. There was a mixture of joy and 
grief. And the reason for the grief 
is that the old-timers saw the foundation and they said, this 
is nothing in comparison with Solomon's temple. It would be 
sort of like if our church building got burned down and then the 
construction-minded brothers came to lay the foundation for 
the rebuilding of a church and it was just a small fraction 
I mean, we're already dealing with a small church to begin 
with, but if we made it a small fraction in terms of a foundation, 
there would perhaps be some of us thinking, wow, this certainly 
isn't what it used to be. The prophet is addressing that 
sentimental mindset that says, oh, it was so much better in 
the past. I imagine that some of the older 
people in our audience or in the church here can think back 
to a day when women weren't in the ministry, when churches weren't 
debating whether or not homosexuals can be legitimate heirs to the 
kingdom of God, unrepentant homosexuals. You come from a day and age where 
people were more reverent, and people respected the authority 
of God's holy law. You came from a day and age where 
things were not like they are today, and the temptation is 
there. Maybe you don't do this, but 
the temptation is certainly there to look backward, to say things 
aren't like the way they used to be. Things aren't the way 
it once was, and that's what the prophet Haggai is addressing. 
Notice in verse 3, "...who is left among you who saw this temple 
in its former glory?" He is speaking primarily to the older people, 
to the Horiads among them, to those who are probably 70 plus 
years old. Who is there left among you who 
saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it 
now? In comparison with it, is this 
not in your eyes as nothing? You see, he's speaking to a very 
real discouragement that the people of God were undergoing. 
What is one of our temptations? We judge things based on outward 
appearance. We judge things based on externals. We look at the building, we look 
at the size, we look at the structure, we look at the ornamentation, 
we look at all those things, and it never dawns on us that 
perhaps that massive structure exists, but the Spirit of God 
is not there. And we neglect the fact that 
perhaps God is dwelling in its ends, that there is just a few, 
that there are those who are faithful, those who are persevering, 
where God does come and commune with them. Remember the church 
in Philadelphia in Revelation chapter 3. You have a little 
strength. That spoke to their resources. 
That spoke to their numbers. Didn't mean that they weren't 
persevering. Didn't mean they weren't overcoming. 
Didn't mean they weren't fighting the good fight. It meant that 
they were a small church with limited resources. And yet, according 
to chapter 1, Christ dwells in the midst of that particular 
lampstand. So that's the historical occasion, 
the lack of former glory. Consider as well the prophets 
during the exile. Who wrote during the exile? Daniel 
and Ezekiel. Jeremiah lived into the exile 
and partially wrote too, but Daniel and Ezekiel are the exilic 
prophets. What did Ezekiel write about? 
The very end, he wrote about this magnificent temple, this 
glorious temple, this wondrous place where God would dwell with 
his people. And so these exiles, having read 
Ezekiel, come now to the foundation and they say, you mean this is 
it? You mean that's all? You mean there isn't a phase 
two here? This isn't just the foyer. This 
isn't just the hat room. This isn't just the mudroom, 
as you call it here in Canada. Never heard of a mudroom until 
I came to Canada. Because she has so much rain, 
you need a mudroom. You see, that's the historical 
situation. They were discouraged. Haggai comes to speak to their 
discouragement. A time of discouragement, so 
God sends the prophet, arms him with this message, and calls 
him to encourage the people of God. And that brings us, secondly, 
to consider the encouragement for present building. And the 
first thing they would need would be faith. In the absence of a 
splendid structure, in the absence of Solomon's temple, in the absence 
of this great, powerful building, what you need is faith. That's 
what God is calling you to. And what, specifically? Well, 
the first thing is faith in the presence of God. See, we can't 
see that, we can't touch that, we have to believe that He is 
there. Remember Jesus' words, and when you go into your closet, 
pray this way. What's the supposition? God's 
there. He's listening. He hears you. 
Even though you can't feel Him, taste Him, touch Him, the Lord 
God Most High is there. That's why Paul says, we walk 
by faith. Notice verse 4. Yet now be strong, 
Zerubbabel, says the Lord. Be strong, Joshua the son of 
Jehoshaphat, the high priest. And be strong, all you people 
of the land, says the Lord. for, he says, or in work, for 
I am with you. We need to believe that. The 
absence of structure, we need to believe in the presence of 
God. The absence of splendor, we need to believe in the glory 
of God. And then notice, secondly, they 
were to have faith in the permanence of His covenant. See, God's covenant 
is sure. God's covenant is solid. God's 
covenant is lasting. And that's what he calls them 
to notice in verse five, according to the word that I covenanted 
with you when you came out of Egypt. Isn't that what he's calling 
him to believe that covenant? Believe in the Lord's promise, 
believe in the reality that the Lord has spoken, that He has 
called into being this wonderful, gracious system wherein He will 
save His people from their sins. Faith in the presence of God, 
faith in the permanence of His covenant, and then faith in the 
power of His Spirit. Notice at the end of verse 5, 
So my Spirit remains among you, He says. You said this before, 
brethren, I hope that you don't just show up on a Sunday and 
go up and leave worship. I hope that every day, and especially 
Sunday morning, you're praying for the power of God's Spirit. 
We cannot do what God calls us to do in our own strength. Not 
by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. We're 
trying to do spiritual things here. We're trying to charge 
the gates of hell. We're trying to plunder the strongman. We are trying to preach in such 
a manner so as God will be well pleased to save sinners. And 
so that all of our worldly thoughts and all of our mindset that is 
saturated with humanism and autonomy will be flushed out and that 
the Word of God will take priority in our thinking. And in order 
to do that, brethren, we must pray for the presence of the 
Spirit. You cannot come in here praying or come in here without 
the Spirit's help and say, well, we really worship. We cannot 
come in here and see sinners saved or see saints made more 
holy without the Spirit. We all go to battle armed and 
ready to go. Yes, worship is worship, but 
there is a sense where there's a spiritual battle in the unseen 
world. How does Jesus liken the devil? 
When that seed is thrown out, it's being sown. What's the devil 
do? He's like the birds that wants to come and eat up that 
seed. Less people receive it, believe 
it, and are saved. We'd better pray against that 
mindset. Or we'd better pray against his stratagems. We'd 
better ask God to fill us with his Spirit. So in the midst of 
discouragement, when they're looking at a small plot of land 
that is nothing in comparison with the glory that was Solomon's 
temple, where God even authenticated it by giving Himself, by showing 
and demonstrating His Shekinah glory. When they're looking at 
this small piece of land, and they're tempted for discouragement, 
the Prophet says, no, God is here. God is with you, God is 
covenanted with you, and God's Spirit is real, God's Spirit 
is powerful, God's Spirit is present among you. And so, that 
is what the saint of Christ is to look to in times of discouragement. And I must say, it's easier said 
than done. It is so much easier to stand 
up here and preach and say, brethren, this is what we need to do, than 
to actually do it. Mottyer comments on this complex 
of ideas or this complex of thought. He says he has made promises. He expects his people to believe 
them, to trust that what he has promised, he will most surely 
do. Nothing's changed. In 520, on 
October 17th, when this prophet came to these people, what was 
the message they needed? Believe the gospel. What's the 
message we need? believe the gospel. He says, 
faith believes that the Lord's assessment of the situation is 
truer than the human assessment. Humans see an unattainable past 
and a hopeless present. Isn't that true? We see an unattainable 
past. We can't go back to what it was. 
You may try, you may work, you may labor, but you cannot go 
back. There is no flux capacitator. 
You cannot construct a time-traveling machine. You cannot go back to 
the better days. He says, humans see an unattainable 
past and a hopeless present. Their hopeless present was represented 
in a tiny foundation. Our hopeless present is represented 
in the fact that we're odd ducks when it comes to evangelical 
and Reformed theology. We don't have a lot for the flesh. 
We don't have a lot for the desires. We seek, by the grace of God, 
to implement those simple things that his Bible calls us to. Humans 
see an unattainable past and a hopeless present. The Lord 
sees his own presence, his covenant word of blessing, his spirit. Faith affirms God's view. It is of the first importance 
that in our despondency we must be aware of spending more time 
listening to ourselves than talking to ourselves, listening to the 
tale of our hopelessness rather than telling ourselves the tale 
of God's promise. Now, Motyer doesn't explain his 
statement, but I bet, or me thinks, if we put him in this room and 
said, what are you referring to? He would say Lloyd-Jones 
comments on Psalm 42 and 43. What's Lloyd-Jones? Lloyd-Jones 
comments on Psalms 42 and 43. Lloyd-Jones says, we spend way 
too much time listening to ourselves and talking to ourselves. Why art thou cast down, O my 
soul? Psalm 42 and 43, right? Hope 
in God. Boyd-Jones says you shouldn't 
listen to yourself, you should talk to yourself. You need to 
take yourself by the scruff of the collar, and you need to say, 
hope in God. Don't listen to yourself. Why? Because our natural inclination 
is not to believe God, to believe in his covenant in word, and 
to believe in the presence and the power of the Spirit. Our 
immediate response to trial is to judge that God is not in. 
We look at a small piece of property and we say, man, this is nothing 
like what we once had. Forget it. Haggadah is like, 
wait a minute. Stop. Do you think God is tied 
to that small piece of property? Do you think God is confined 
there? Solomon himself prayed at the dedication of the temple. 
The heavens themselves cannot contain you. I love what he says here. It is 
of the first importance that in our despondency we must beware 
of spending more time listening to ourselves than talking to 
ourselves. Listening to the tale of our 
hopelessness rather than telling ourselves the tale of God's promises. Now, you may have come here this 
morning saying, wow, hey guy, I'm just not down with all that. 
520 BC, October 17th, I don't know about all that. Well, I 
know this sermon is pertinent for one of us, because I needed 
that quote right there. That buoyed me up this week, 
big time. Because I tend to listen to myself 
rather than talk to myself. Notice, he says, not only believe, 
but also labor. work. Faith does not eradicate 
effort. Faith is the foundation for effort. That's the context. Notice in 
verse four, Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, be strong, Joshua, 
be strong, all you people of the land. That language of be 
strong hopefully reminds you of another Joshua, the Joshua 
the son of Nun. Deuteronomy 31, this was his 
admonition to be strong. You're going into the land of 
Canaan. You are called upon to dispossess the land of Canaanites. 
You are called upon to do a miraculous act. You need to be strong. This 
language is reminiscent of David's charge to Solomon prior to his 
building the temple. Solomon, you're undertaking a 
massive project. You need to be strong. Same thing 
here. They're under Persian rule at 
this particular time. There's difficulties in the land 
still. In just about 40 to 60 years 
later, Nehemiah comes on the scene, and what does he hear? 
There's no wall in Jerusalem yet. Well, sure they built the 
temple, they got that back in order, but there's no wall around 
the city, Jerusalem. That's the whole context for 
Nehemiah. That's why he weeps, that's why he prays, that's why 
he fasts, that's why he goes to Artaxerxes, and he expresses 
the concern of his heart, and he is given authority to go back 
to Jerusalem and lead this campaign to rebuild the walls. And they 
do it in record time. Why? Because they were strong. 
They took seriously the Lord's admonition. And then notice, 
very specifically in verse 4, it says, Be strong, all you people 
of the land, says the Lord, and work. Right? Don't sit here whining about 
the way it used to be. Don't sit here whining about 
the way it currently is. but rather armed with the promises 
of God, get about your job. Do your work. Pick up your hammers, 
pick up your trowels, pick up all your stuff, and do what the 
Lord is calling you to do. Do you see that? Do you see what He comes to do 
to the people of Israel? He doesn't say, look, we've got 
to go have 40 days and fast. No, you need to believe God and 
you need to get to work. Believe God and get up off your ends. 
Believe God and swing the hammer. I love when we get to the building 
of the walls in Jerusalem and Nehemiah. It says the people 
had a mind to work. Why? Because God was in it. They had a hammer or a trowel 
in one hand and they had a sword in the other. Because the enemies 
of God were trying to disrupt them in their tasks. And they 
were not going to be sidelined. They were not going to be sidetracked. 
You can read about that in Nehemiah chapter 4. They were called to 
believe the gospel, to believe in God, to believe in his presence, 
to believe in his power, to believe in his spirit, to believe in 
his covenant in the Word. In another context, in another 
biblical book, Joshua is called to do a similar thing. God promises 
Joshua victory. God tells Joshua in Joshua 11 
that he's going to do something. Same thing here in verses 6 to 
9. The promise of future glory is 
what God is going to do. So the Lord has already purposed 
the end. The Lord is already taking care of the details. The 
Lord is already covenanted to how he's going to bless his people 
through Jesus Christ. But that does not negate the 
place of work. Labor, effort. Not working as unto our salvation, 
but working because the Lord has saved us. Davis, Ralph Davis, 
comments on Joshua 11, verses 6 and 7. Again, a little bit 
of a different context with the same idea. He says, some allege 
that if God ordains something as certain, it renders human 
effort irrelevant. Get that? You ever debated Calvinism 
or the formed faith with anybody? Oh, if you believe everything 
is already decreed, then why do anything? You just get tired 
of it, because it's the same thing over and over again. I'm 
talking about the Christians who offer up that. And the pagans, 
they offer it up, but I expect that from the pagans. When a 
Christian says, well, how could you do anything if God's already 
decreed it? If he already knows the end from 
the beginning, he's decreed and ordained all things. Doesn't 
that mean our work is irrelevant? David says, some allege that 
if God ordains something as certain, it renders human effort irrelevant. Let go, and let God. Isn't that 
the response? He says, but Joshua knew better. His view was to not let go, but 
to grab hold. Divine sovereignty creates confidence, 
which calls forth our effort, even to the point of reckless 
abandon. God's sovereignty is not a doctrine 
that shackles us, but a reality that liberates us. It is not 
a cloud that stifles, but an elixir that invigorates. It's the same concept here. Haggai says, believe God and 
work hard. Believe God and engage to the 
task. Believe God and go preach the 
gospel. Believe God and live in a manner 
consistent with His holy word. Believe God and shine his light 
in a crooked and perverse generation. I just read something interesting 
about the Great Commission, and I have to agree with it. The 
Great Commission were told to go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe 
all things that I have commanded, and lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. Some people say, man, in order to 
do a Great Commission, we just gotta go out and preach, we gotta go 
tell people about Jesus, we gotta go, you know, declare Jesus' 
face. I agree. Wholeheartedly. But I think that 
limits the Great Commission. The Great Commission is carried 
out when you get up in the morning and you read your Bible and you 
learn something new. You're being taught to obey all 
things that the Lord has commanded you. The Great Commission is 
carried out when you take your five-year-old and teach him who 
made you. And he says, God made me. Actually, he can do that before 
five. See, the Great Commission is 
comprehensive in scope. It simply does not mean if you 
go and preach the gospel in China, you are fulfilling the commission. 
Ladies, if you preach the gospel on your couch, you are fulfilling 
the Great Commission. You get up out of bed, and instead 
of reaching for the paper or the internet, you read your Bible, 
and you learn something new. You're fulfilling the Great Commission. 
See, again, we're associated with the grand, the splendid, 
the majestic, to the neglect of the three-year-old that says, 
God, no. I say we're pulling the comprehensiveness 
out of the Great Commission by saying that it's only done when 
gospel preachers go to church. You ladies, you men, you servants 
of Christ, engaged in Bible study and walking according to the 
Word, are fulfilling the Great Commission. We need to believe 
God, we need to work. So there was the discouragement 
of the people, the encouragement for present building. Now notice 
thirdly, the promise of future glory, verses 6 to 9. Verses 
6 to 9, for thus says the Lord of hosts, once more, it is a 
little while, I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land. This is the language that is 
reminiscent of the exodus and the subsequent covenant arrangement 
that came. In other words, when God came 
on Sinai, it was as if the earth was shaking. The Psalms say that, 
Psalm 68, Psalm 114, Habakkuk 3. It's the language of covenant, 
the language of God moving, the language of God doing, the language 
of God undertaking. The New Testament picks this 
up, which we'll look at in just a few minutes. The language, 
specifically notice in verse 7, he says, And I will shake 
all nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations, 
and I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 
Now, this is often taken as a messianic text, and I believe there is 
messianism in the text. However, the grammar does not 
support this translation. The idea is more along the lines 
is that the nations, or the beauty of all the nations, shall come. 
The ideas are consistent with Isaiah 60, that says the Gentiles 
will bring their goods to the house of God. The idea is consistent 
with the peoples outside being converted and bringing their 
gifts to present in the temple of the Lord. A similar construction 
is used in Revelation 21-26 when that New Jerusalem is come down. 
The nations of the peoples are there and they bring their gifts. 
And that is consistent with what God says in verse 8, the silver 
is mine and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The idea 
is that the heathen, the peoples, the gentiles, the nations, they 
possess these gifts, they possess these precious metals, they just 
have not been constrained yet to bring it back to God. But 
in the preaching of the Gospel and the New Covenant, that is 
precisely what will happen. The peoples will bring their 
gifts to the house of the Lord to worship, to praise, to honor, 
and to glorify. And he says the glory of this 
latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the Lord 
of hosts. And in this place I will give 
peace, says the Lord of hosts. This temple was constructed. 
Again, it's the second temple. When you read biblical commentary 
and literature, when you hear the phrase, the second temple, 
the idea is this one. Sometimes it's called Zerubbabel's 
temple. Well, that temple went through 
some difficulties or some issues and had some damage done and 
was rebuilt or restored by Herod. And that was the temple that 
Jesus stood in in John 2, or the one that he cleansed. Remember, 
the people, the money changers, were all trafficking in their 
sacrifices and in their goods, and Christ drove out the beasts, 
he drove out the money changers, and he said, destroy this temple, 
and in three days I will build it up, I will raise it up. And they said, it took us 46 
years. They're referring to the construction under Herod. What 
does John tell us? He wasn't talking about that 
physical structure. Haggai, brothers and sisters, 
in chapter 2, verse 9, is preaching Jesus. He's using the language 
in the convention that was in use, invoked, in the 6th century 
B.C., but he is pointing to Jesus. "'The glory of this latter temple 
shall be greater than the former,' says the Lord of Hosts. "'And 
in this place I will give peace,' says the Lord of Hosts." Isn't 
that beautiful? As Matthew says, the thought moves on from what 
the temple is, a place of glory, to what the temple does, provides 
peace. My peace I leave you, my peace 
I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I 
give, Jesus said. Haggai, in his beautiful way, 
is pointing forward to our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, immediately, 
the people of God would be protected. The tumults and the uprisings 
in the Persian government Persia would fall to Greece. Greece 
would see a period of four sort of sub-kingdoms. They would ultimately 
be defeated by Rome. So the people of God would be 
carved out, would be protected, would be kept peacefully until 
Shiloh came. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ who provides the 
richness, the glory, and the peace of God's dealings with 
It is Christ to whom the prophet is speaking. It is Christ that 
he is pointing forward to. And again, this is confirmed 
for us in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 26 to 28. The only place 
in the New Testament where Haggai is quoted is in Hebrews chapter 
12, verses 26 to 28. We may turn there, and I'll just 
read two comments from two old brothers, and then we'll make 
some application. Hebrews chapter 12. The larger 
context, of course, is that you have not come to Mount Sinai, 
but you have come to Mount Zion. And then in Hebrews chapter 12, 
verse 25, see that you do not refuse him who speaks, for if 
they did not escape, who refused him who spoke on earth, much 
more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks 
from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he is 
promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not only the earth but 
also heaven." Now, this yet once more indicates the removal of 
those things that are being shaken as of things that are made, that 
the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since 
we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, now, again, 
It's not in the fulfillment, it's not in the consummate glory, 
it's not in all that it is, but there is a present reception 
of God's kingdom. Jesus says, the kingdom of God 
is among you. What did he mean? He meant that 
as he stood before the Pharisees, it was such that the kingdom 
of God was among them. Christ is the embodiment of the 
kingdom of God. When we get to Revelation 21 
and 22, there is no temple there. Why? Because God and the Lamb 
are the temple. So we are receiving this kingdom 
which cannot be shaken. It has not fully developed. It 
is not in the consummate glory. We're not in the fullness of 
eternal life, but we have been recipients of it. Notice the 
implication. Let us have grace by which we 
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for 
our God is a consuming fire. John Owen, the Puritan, comments 
on this particular verse. It is the dealing of God with 
the Church and the alterations He would make in the state thereof 
concerning which the Apostle treats. It is therefore the heavens 
of the Mosaic worship and the Judaical Church state, with the 
earth of their political state belonging thereunto, that are 
here intended. Owen interprets this way. With 
the transformation between the Old and the New Covenants, it 
is God shaking the heavens. It is God's inauguration of a 
new and better covenant. It is the one that has as its 
surety and as its mediator, Jesus Christ the Lord. Owen says, this 
was the greatest commotion and alteration that God ever made 
in the heaven and earth of the church, and which was to be made 
only once. The other quote is from the Baptist 
brother John Gill. It's quite lengthy. I won't read 
it, but it summarizes or basically says the same thing that Owen 
does there. So that's how the prophet Haggai 
is interpreted by Paul in the book of Hebrews, in terms of 
covenantal transformation and the glory of all things blessed 
being focused in on the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we learned 
three things and then we closed. is that the outward appearance 
is not the whole story. If we take anything away from 
this, we take away that. The outward appearance is not 
the whole story. Thomas More said that men are 
prone to be deluded by externals, and to suppose that the absence 
of outward splendor is indicative of the absence of God's blessing. forgetting that God often chooses 
the weak things of the earth to confound the mighty, that 
no flesh may glory in his presence. It's a good point. It's a great 
point. Men are prone to be deluded by 
externals, to suppose that the lack of outward splendor indicates 
the absence of God's mercy. This is what we forget. Why? So that no flesh may glory 
in His sight. So that we won't be proud and 
arrogant. You remember Nebuchadnezzar before 
God drove him out to the field to let us be? What brought that 
on? Nebuchadnezzar was strutting 
about his palace looking at the kingdom that he had made. Looking 
at the dominion that he had formed. looking at the great expanse 
of governmental power that he reeled in. What's God say? No. You need to go learn a lesson 
for seven years. You need to go grow some hair, 
and eat some grass, and grow some talents. What does Nebuchadnezzar 
say? Then my reason returns to me, 
and I realize what? God who raised up Nebuchadnezzar 
is God who set him down. We need to make sure that we 
don't fall into Nebuchadnezzar's thought process in terms of church 
life. Look at what we've done. Look at what we've built. Look 
at how we've accomplished. Look at what, what, what. That's not to say we shouldn't 
work. That's not to say we shouldn't labor. That's not to say we shouldn't 
do. But it is to say we ought not 
to rob the glory from God. And we ought not to castigate 
or put down those works where we are less than impressed. God himself may actually be in 
it. God himself may actually be impressed. You know what I was thinking 
about in meditating on this whole thing? The temple, this temple, 
sets the pattern for Christ. This was the state of humility, 
wasn't it? Here they come out of Babylon 
ready for everything, ready for the grandest religious display 
of any group ever. But what's God do? Here's your 
temple. It's nothing like what we're 
used to. So that when Jesus comes, what happens? He's nothing like 
what we're used to. He's nothing like what we expected. 
We expected a greater than Solomon. Oh, he is, and he says he is. but not the way we imagine. See, 
a greater than Solomon must have more money. A greater than Solomon 
must have more power. A greater than Solomon must command 
more territory. A greater than Solomon must reduce 
our Roman governors to ashes. How could this Jesus ever be 
the Christ? In a certain sense, Jesus was 
like this second temple. He wasn't what they expected. 
But he was much greater than Solomon, and he still is. His 
territory is far more expensive, his riches are far more, his 
worship, his praise, all those things that are due him far exceeds 
anything that Solomon ever had. Men are prone to be deluded by 
externals and to suppose that the absence of outward splendor 
is indicative of the absence of God's blessing. forgetting 
that God often chooses the weak things of the earth to confound 
the mighty, that no flesh may glory in his presence." Again, 
Calvin's comments on this section are beautiful. Pastoral. Blessing. He says similar things. He talks about people. says that they think that God 
does not dwell in the midst of us because we are obscure and 
of no great importance, and also because they regard our few number 
with contempt. John Calvin, obscure? When he lived, he was. People 
named their dogs Calvin. I imagine you and I have suffered 
some abuse from people I don't know of anybody that's named 
their dog, Jem, after me. My wife's sister actually had 
a pet rat that she called Becky, which is the most amazing thing 
in the world. I don't know if she consciously 
named it after her sister or if it was a lapse in judgment. Just going through some church 
history recently on Calvin. Calvin was married. And he lost 
several infant children. He was deeply grieved about that. 
But you know what made the pain worse? People blaming him for 
their death. This was the judgment of God 
because of the Protestant religion. That's vicious. Leave people's families alone. How are you to interpret the 
providence of God and connect infant mortality to this man's 
doctrinal conviction? This wasn't the pagans, by the 
way. The outward appearance is not 
the whole story. Secondly, I hope we take from 
this the necessity of faith. Faith in God, faith in His covenant, 
faith in the power and presence of His Holy Spirit. James Henry 
Cornwell says, that's what the church needs today. That's what 
the church needs today. He was writing in the 19th century, 
when the church had a lot more of it than she seems to have 
today. He says, it's our low, it's our carnal aims that retard 
the charity of redeeming. It's our lack of faith. It's 
our lack of understanding. It's our lack of appreciation 
that God is going to bring the nations to Christ, that God is 
going to do wondrous things in the expansion of his kingdom. 
That the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than 
the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will 
give peace, says the Lord of Hosts. And that brings us thirdly 
and finally to the gospel of Jesus. It is only in Jesus that 
you have this peace. You cannot today go to this temple 
in Jerusalem and get peace. You can't necessarily come in 
here to the church today and get peace. You have to meet Christ 
for peace. You have to believe the Gospel 
for peace. You have to see what the Bible 
says concerning a holy God, sinful man, and the only one whom God 
has ordained to save. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. 
I read something else this week that was just beautiful. A description 
of just this very thing. The Gospel. The good news that 
Jesus Christ and Him alone can save us from our sins. This man 
says, the righteousness of God is that which God himself provides. If you're familiar at all with 
Reformed theology, you'll know the righteousness of God was 
a cardinal thing in the life and conversion of Martin Luther. 
Luther says very clearly that he wrestled with God. He despised 
the thought of the righteousness of God. Romans 1, 16 and 17. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, 
Paul writes. He says, for it is the power 
of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first 
and also to the Greek. For in it, for in this gospel, 
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Prior to 
his conversion, Luther struggled with the righteousness of God. 
But it was when he understood that this righteousness of God 
is that which he demands and gives He says it was as if paradise 
opened up. This man says, the righteousness 
of God is that which God himself provides. When Luther discovered 
this, the Reformation was born. That is the good news. That is 
the gospel. The righteousness of Jesus Christ 
is both the demand of God and God's provision for his people. 
If you want to see what God demands of you and me, look at the perfect 
life of Jesus Christ. He was truly man as man was meant 
to be. Jesus is the righteousness of 
God in that he is the provision of God. When he was born into 
this world, it was a birth such as had not been since Adam fell. 
If you look at the whole stream of human history from the fall 
to the end of the world, you will see only 33 years that God 
accepts. When you look at the fall of 
man to the end, there's 33 years in there that God accepts. That, 
of course, is the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Jesus 
came to give the perfect sacrifice, the substitutionary ransom for 
the failure of men and women to live righteously before God. 
He rose from the tomb and ascended to the right hand of God, so 
that right now he is in God's presence as a perfect man on 
behalf of all those who trust him. Jesus came and lived a life 
of perfect obedience to the law of God. His life matched the 
holiness of God at every point. But the holiness of God demanded, 
Jesus provided. And the way to peace is to look 
to Jesus in faith and do it. Peace will not come in a pill. 
Peace will not come in a bottle. Peace will not come through something 
you smoke. Peace will not come through money. Peace will not 
come through sex. Peace will not come through politics. 
Peace comes through the Prince of Peace. And when you look to 
that Prince of Peace, he forgives you. He cleanses you. He justifies you, He sanctifies 
you, and He will glorify you. That's the message of the Gospel. 
Believe on Him, and you will have everlasting life. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
You for the Holy Scriptures and for the very practical nature 
of the prophet Haggai and for the way it speaks to us today. 
We just pray, Lord God, that You would give us the mind of 
Christ and our understanding of these truths and help us to 
truly exercise faith. and to labor in light of that 
faith. We just pray, God Most High, that You would fill each 
one of us with Your Spirit now, that You would watch over us. 
We pray for any and all who are here that do not know the Lord 
Jesus Christ, that they would look to Him and know that peace 
which surpasses all understanding. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.