Thrust Statement: God wants His people to be courageous and work.

Scripture Reading: Haggai 2:4

            As one reflects upon the words of Haggai to the returning exiles to rebuild the temple, one is quite taken back as to the startling reality of the message for the twenty-first century church.  The writings of this prophet as well as other prophets should cause each individual to read carefully and to recognize principles that are applicable to every age of the Christian church.  The message of Haggai is still living and powerful in its call for spiritual strength and for untiring labor. It is the same message that Jesus delivered in His Sermon on the Mount: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).^[1]  Just a casual glance at the Book of Haggai quickly reveals a people who just did not care for the things of God.^[2]

If you have not read the Book of Haggai, then this sermon—Haggai’s Admonition: Be Strong and Work—is a call to read this prophet’s message with a sensitivity to its meaning then as well as to its meaning now.  Even though this prophecy is the second shortest prophecy in the Old Testament—Obadiah (845 BCE) is the shortest—it goes right to the heart of one’s devotion to God. Again, one can hardly read this book without reflecting upon the words of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount:

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.  ²³ But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:19-24).

 Haggai deals with the consequences of disobedience as well as the benefits of obedience. Even though this message covers only a period of four months (fifteen weeks^[3]) during the year 520 BCE, nevertheless, this oracle from God is significant. The following chart illustrates the time frame for Haggai’s prophetic utterances from the Lord:

Reference	Darius’s Year	Month	Day	Calendar Date
1:1	2	6	1	29 August 520 B.C.
1:15	2	6	24	21 September 520 B.C.
2:1	2	7	21	17 October 520 B.C.
2:10	2	9	24	18 December 520 B.C.[4]

            Even though this Book was written twenty-five hundred years ago (520 BCE), one is led to feel that this Book is speaking directly to God’s new humanity in Jesus Christ. The prophet Haggai encouraged the people to be strong and work for the Lord (Haggai 2:4). The background for this message begins with the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem in 538 BCE. Cyrus, king of Persia and conqueror of Babylon, issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. To set the stage for a clearer understanding of the events that took place under Cyrus and Haggai’s call for action, one should turn to the Book of Ezra (440 BCE) for the historical background in order to understand the mind-set of Haggai as he calls the Jews to repentance.

            Ezra begins his book by giving the data concerning the events that transpired about ninety-eight years earlier during the era of Haggai. He writes:

² “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.  ³ Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.  ⁴ And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem’” (Ezra 2:1-4).

Again, Ezra writes concerning the rebuilding of the temple:

³ In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:  Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide, ⁴ with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.  ⁵ Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God (6:3-5).

            Approximately 50,000 returned to Jerusalem following the seventy years of Babylonian captivity (Ezra 2:64). Upon their arrival, they began work on the temple. Two years later they completed the foundation. The Samaritans and other neighbors feared the political and religious implications of this religious temple in a Jewish state. As a result of this antagonism, the Jews stopped work on the temple. This work halted until the death of Cyrus and the leadership of Darius the Great (522/521—486 BCE) in 522 BCE—the third king of the Persian Empire. In the second year of Darius, Haggai and Zechariah began to call for resumption of the work that had begun eighteen years earlier. Haggai says, “In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest (Haggai 1:1).

            The Book of Haggai reveals that the Jews left God out of their calculations. This is still true today among many of God’s people. Lukewarmness frequently envelops the body of Christ. It does not take long for zeal to cool and for apathy to permeate one’s life style, especially if one encounters obstacles on the way.  One cannot escape God. God is interested in our relationship to Him. Paul, twenty-five hundred years later, expresses it this way:

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ ²⁹ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.  ³⁰ In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  ³¹ For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:28-31).

Have you read the Old Testament recently? If not, then you should! As you read in detail the Old Testament writings, you will discover that God does have an interest in the troubles of the human race. When one leaves out God from his/her life, then one’s life is not whole. One cannot escape God. The Psalmist states it this way:

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:7-12).

Have you left God out of your calculations? God is the fundamental Fact in human life. Haggai calls attention to the fact that the supreme obligation on human life is a relationship with God. With the Jews, at this point in time, God demands His children to rebuild His house in Jerusalem where His glory would abide. The Temple was the place where men/women gathered to remember the presence of God, to recognize His power, and to focus upon the covenant that God entered into with Abraham and Moses and David. The supreme fact in this hour of Haggai centers on the house of God and the sacramental obligations that call attention to the need of forgiveness. This house of God was material, but today, the house of God is no longer material, but spiritual. Through symbols, the Jews were reminded of God’s presence among them. Today, Christians are also reminded of God’s presence through symbolism. The cross of Christ, the Bible, and the Lord’s Table with its bread and its wine is a constant reminder of God’s dwelling among His people.

Elizabeth Achtemeier captures the essence of the Book of Haggai when she writes:

When Haggai, “the messenger of the Lord” (1:13), calls for temple rebuilding, it is therefore an announcement that the Lord of Host yearns to give himself again. That is what the Book of Haggai is about—God’s yearning to enter into covenant fellowship with his Chosen People once more.^[5]

In the present day, God still yearns to enter into covenant fellowship with sinful man, but this can only be accomplished through Jesus Christ. Just as the Jews were called upon to build the house of God, so today, we are called upon to build the house of God that consists of spiritual stones, not material stones. Are you discouraged in your life? Are you ready to throw in the towel when Christians get angry and go somewhere else? Have you stopped building up the body of Christ? Have you stopped proclaiming the message of hope? Are you conscious that you are the temple of God? Listen to Paul as he calls attention to this reality to the Corinthians:

¹⁹ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Again, he writes: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (3:16). Peter too describes the temple of God this way:

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5).

            The message of Haggai is also a warning to the people of God today. One should never lose sight of the necessity of continuously building up the spiritual house of God. As one reflects once more upon the words of the text (Haggai 2:4), one hears the echo of “be strong” three times. Achtemeier translates the Hebrew word with the phrase, “take courage.” Earlier the Jews had said, “The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built (1:2). The “Lord’s house” represented the external appearance of the bona fide presence of God among His people. In essence, when they refused to build the House of the Lord, they were saying in effect that it did not matter with them whether the Lord was present or not. It is as Motyer says, “ It amounted to seeking grace but refusing the means of grace. Not to build the house was not to want the Lord as and for himself.”^[6] Do you treat the house of God the same way today by your neglect of faithfulness to the cause of Christ? Do you want God’s grace but refuse the means of that grace?

            In verse 5 (Chapter 1), God pleads with the returned exiles to “Give careful thought to your ways.” One needs to examine himself/herself. When Christians are careless about the place of assembly—the place of its corporate worship— uncaring about soul winning, nonchalant about the needs of its members, apathetic about Bible reading, and indifferent about biblical studies and its work, then one discovers that the absence of these traits reveal that life is at a low ebb. The words of God to the Jews should penetrate the souls of every child of God—“Give careful thought to your ways.” One should never lose sight of the larger matter—building up the spiritual house of God. Matthew calls attention to this necessity when he reports the activities of Jesus and His instructions to the disciples:

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:35-38).

 

Are you listening? Are you courageous? Are you working for the Lord? Did the Jews listen? Yes! Still, they had to be reminded that in spite of opposition, one must take courage and work. God’s admonition follows His analysis of their plight. Haggai says:

But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. (Haggai 2:4).

The children of Israel had a conflict of interest. Do you have a conflict of interest? The children of Israel put their own homes before God’s house. Do you put the things of the world before your faithfulness to God” Listen to God as He issues His complaint through Haggai about their priorities:

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.  ⁸ Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD.  ⁹ “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house (1:7-9).

God wants them to consider their ways. He wants them to set their heart upon what they are doing. He is asking, “Do you see what is happening to you?” This same question is appropriate to each one that is present today. Where are you? Have you considered where drugs will lead? Have you considered where excessive alcohol will lead? Have you considered where a promiscuous lifestyle will lead?  If you are a young person in college, do you have a goal? If you are dating, where is he or she leading you? In the words of God, “Give careful thought to your ways.”

            Are you seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? The many things that people are seeking after today may not be sinful in and of itself, but the pleasures of life can be wrong when Christians put them first in their lives and use them for their own selfish ends. The story of Martha and Mary is a classic example of seeking first the things of God and the mundane things of the world. Listen to Luke as he records the events that transpired in the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus:

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” ⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-41).

On the other hand, there are times that individuals must deal with the pleasures of sin. Will the choice be God or the Devil? Even Moses had to make this decision—God or sinful pleasures. The author of Hebrews captures the moment of decision in Moses’ soul:

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward (Hebrews 11:24-26).

Having reflected upon putting God first in one’s life, which is the thrust of Haggai’s call to rebuild the temple, one should listen once more to Haggai as he seeks to motivate God’s people to action:

Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD (Haggai 1:8).

Three action verbs—“go,” “bring,” and “build”—adequately describes the business that they are to do. This is a simple request. One must first get the big “I” out of the way. God did not work a miracle. He told the Israelites to go to the mountain and bring down the wood and build. In other words, they could not expect the logs to roll down to them; they must go to work. The same is true today. God is not going to work a miracle in building up the body of Christ; He is telling His people to “go.” There is no shortcut to building up the Christian fellowship.  God expects His people to work toward building up the body of Christ. Jesus, in the Great Commission, instructed His disciples with the following admonition:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20).

            Just as the children of Judah were to work, so God’s new humanity must work in winning souls to Christ. Do you tell people about Jesus? Do you share with them the central message of the New Testament writings? How often do you share your faith with someone? Listen, once more, as cited above, to the words of Jesus as Matthew captures the very heart of Jesus’ compassion about the lost:

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (9:35-38).

Paul echoed the words of Jesus in his concern to the Corinthians:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain (2 Corinthians 5:17—6:1). 

As one works in God’s vineyard, one soon observes that things do not always go the way one expects. It is very easy for one to become discouraged and to turn his/her back upon the faith. The author of Hebrews addresses this problem among his readers:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Are you discouraged? Then you should think of Jesus. Are you strong in the Lord? Are you a worker in the Lord? Are you courageous and enthusiastic about the Lord’s work? Are you easily discouraged? Do you frequently want to throw in the towel when things do not go as planned? Where do you stand in your relationship to God? One must never forget that courage and enthusiasm and work are the hallmarks of every Christian. As long as one keeps his/her eyes on God, then one will have zeal. If one reflects upon Old Testament examples of courage and enthusiasm and work, one is immediately aware of men such as Moses, Elijah, Noah, Abraham, and so on. As one ponders over God’s call to Moses, one observes that God allowed Moses to live in Egypt for forty years and then took him on the backside of the desert for another forty years. Finally, God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt (1446 BCE), which involved another forty years of wandering in the wilderness (1406 BCE). During this forty years in the wilderness, Moses learned courage and boldness in spite of all the harsh conditions. As noted above, Moses decided to suffer with the children of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

            The story of Elijah jumps off the pages of Scripture as a classic example of boldness and courage. One sees Elijah on Mount Carmel confronting the prophets of Baal with enthusiasm and courage (1 Kings 18:16-46). Shortly after this great victory in which God worked a miracle, Elijah received a message from Jezebel that she would have his life (19:1-2). On Mount Carmel he represented the spirit of strength, but something came over him when he received this memorandum from the queen. He fled in terror and God had to go after him (19:3-18). Are you frightened about speaking to men and women about their souls? Do you have courage when you reflect upon your calling from God? When one becomes a Christian, one becomes a minister of reconciliation. 

            When you begin your Christian calling, your work has just begun. Do not become discouraged about speaking of the things of heaven. Do not allow troubles to prevent you from sharing God’s Way of salvation through Jesus Christ. Noah, too, is a model of one who toiled and worked without discouragement. He worked for 100 years in building the ark (Genesis 5:32—6:6). Does Noah speak to you? As you look at the work at Oakwood Hills Church (DeFuniak Springs, FL), how do you react to the progress you have observed over the last two years? The congregation has witnessed twenty-seven baptisms since August 1999. Several individuals have rededicated their lives to the Lord Jesus. How many conversions did Noah witness? What were the results of 100 years of preaching? His only converts were his family—eight souls.  If the Oakwood Hills Church is going to be successful, this congregation will have to take its stand with God and let the world know that it is on the Lord’s side.

            Are you excited about the things of God? Are you zealous for the things of God? Paul, in writing to the Christians at Rome, says: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:11-12). Christians cannot be lukewarm. Every believer must be on fire for the Lord. The community of Christ in Laodicea is a case in point of a lukewarm church. Pay attention to Jesus as He issues His stern counsel:

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:  These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.  ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Revelation 3:14-16).

One has to be on fire with the cause of Christ. If there is going to be a great revival at Oakwood Hills Church, it has to be done by each individual member of this congregation. If one is a skeptic, one can be reclaimed for Jesus. If one is a drunkard, one can be reclaimed for Jesus. If one is guilty of adultery or fornication, one can be reclaimed for Jesus. There may be difficulties in the way, but remember that God can remove the mountains. If you cannot give a day, then you should give an hour. If you cannot give an hour, then you should give a minute. Work! Work! Work! God’s challenge is twofold: “be strong and work.” Do you remember the Scripture reading from which this sermon is taken? Listen once more the words of God through Haggai:

But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty (Haggai 2:4).

            This admonition is just as relevant today as it was 2500 years ago. Five hundred years after Haggai admonished the children of Judah, one can read of Paul’s admonition to Timothy:

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  ² And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.  ³ Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  ⁴ No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.  ⁵ Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.  ⁶ The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.  ⁷ Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this (2 Timothy 2:1-7).

            In Haggai 2:4, one observes that God uses the phrase “be strong” three times. Paul encourages Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The Christians at Ephesus were reminded of the battle between the forces of evil and the forces of good. He deals with the issue of spiritual stamina as he reflects upon the battle that is a constant warfare between God and Satan:

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:10-18).

CONCLUSION

Where do you stand? Are you strong in the Lord? What do Paul’s recommendation to the Christians at Ephesus mean to you? What does Paul’s orders to Timothy mean to you?  Remember, Paul gives his final directions to Timothy before his execution—“be strong.” In spite of persecution, he is saying, “You are a son of God; therefore, you must be strong.” Do you imagine that your ministry with the Oakwood Hills Church is too small? Do you assume that the number in attendance at Oakwood Hills Church is too insignificant and doesn’t amount to much? Do you allow frustrated Christians to dull your spirit of passion for the Lord? Are you just a baby in the Lord? If so, God wants you to get out of the infant stage and get into the highchair. In the words of the author of Hebrews:

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.  ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ² instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  ³ And God permitting, we will do so. ⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶ if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace (Hebrews 5:11—6:6).

Paul delivered this same warning to the Corinthians: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  ¹⁴ Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). Do you allow troubles to discourage you? Are you standing firm in the faith? Are you strong? Are you obedient to God? Are you bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? Listen to Paul as he calls upon the Corinthians to surrender their lives to Jesus: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). God’s challenge to every believer is: “be strong and work” (Haggai 2:4). Did you pick up on the word work. As you once more reflect upon the returning exiles, what can you learn from their behavior? Are you strong? Are you a worker for God? The words of the author of Hebrews ring loud and clear in their clarion call:

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.  ¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.  ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised (Hebrews 6:10-12).

            Work is evident in their lives. These believers demonstrated the reality of their salvation in their relationship with other believers. How is your love for other believers? Do you remember the words of John the apostle concerning love? The writer of Hebrews, too, is expressing the same kind of fruit—work and love—as  John. Listen once more the words of the Holy Spirit:

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.  ¹⁵ Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him (1 John 3:14-15).

The development of salvation should be clearly discerned in the life of every believer. Not every Christian will produce the same harvest. This truth is set forth in the Parable of the Sower: “But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:23). Yes, every believer must and will produce fruit—work and love—that  belongs to the Spirit of God:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other (Galatians 5:22-26).

Because of their love for the Lord, The Hebrew Christians and the Christians in the province of Galatia worked through ministering to the saints. Christians should not be lazy, but rather they should apply the spiritual resources God has given to them. One cannot live a life that is pleasing to God without a reference to God. When one fails to “be strong” and “work” in God’s kingdom, then that individual tells God that He is an unwanted guest.  Yet again, everyone should reflect upon the words of Haggai:

But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty (Haggai 2:14).

Have you learned from this prophet? Just what does this verse in Haggai say to you? Do you want God in your life? Are you strong? Are you a worker? This study of Haggai 2:4 is as relevant today as it was 2500 years ago. In winding up of this message, perhaps a rereading of Paul’s last letter to Timothy should reawaken the relevancy of the Old Testament to every believer:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17).