Courage for the Work AheadHaggai 2:1–9

Welcome and prayer 29:59

I do not know about y’all, but that song is going to be stuck in my head all day today.

Awesome. Welcome. Welcome to Superstition Foothills Baptist Church. If you do not know, my name is Tim Jennings, and I am the pastor here. God has called us to do some great things together. We have seen Him do some miraculous things through this church, and so I am excited to be here with you. Let’s go ahead and get started by praying.

Father, we lift You high today. We exalt You on Your throne. We humbly bow down at Your feet to worship You. God, thank You for what You are doing here in Gold Canyon, in Arizona, and here at Superstition Foothills Baptist Church. God, I pray that for the next few moments, as we study Haggai chapter 2, verses 1 through 9, the worries and the stresses and the distractions of this week would melt away. God, may we sit here with an open mind and an open heart to hear what You would have us take from this message today. God, I am a sinner. So I pray, Lord, that You would push me out of the way, that I would not be seen, that I would not be heard, but that Your Holy Spirit would take over this morning. It is in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

A surprise 31:55

Well, I have a surprise for you. If you are new here, please forgive the next three or so minutes, but I do have a surprise for you. My wife is amazing. Amen. Amen. And I just want to show you.

If you have been here for the last six or seven years, you have noticed that my Bible has been falling apart on me every single Sunday. But would you look at that? Would you look at that? Now, did I get it rebound? No. Did I get a new Bible? Yes. Did I get two new Bibles? Yes. I got the exact version of my comfort-blanket Bible, and I got two copies of it, just in case. I have been looking for a long time and have not been able to find the exact version. Then Sara nudged me and said, “Hey, why don’t we get you a new Bible?” And I said, “Can I get two?” Because I found two.

So I am grateful. I feel like Mufasa holding up Simba this morning with God’s Word. Amen. Now I can preach without having to catch half of my Bible as it falls out. So praise God for His Word. It is amazing what simple joys can do for people’s hearts. A lot of people in this world would say, “Why is he so happy about that?” But this is better than Christmas morning for me. I now have three copies of the exact Bible that I love and cherish, so I should have a good Bible to preach from for a while without having to get it rebound.

Reading the passage 33:52

Amen. Having said that, let’s go to Haggai chapter 2. We are going to read verses 1 through 9 today. If this is your first time here, I am what is called an expository preacher. That is just a big word to say I like to preach book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. So we are going through the book of Haggai. It is one of the Minor Prophets, so if you cannot find it, go to Matthew in the New Testament and go backwards just a few books. But if you cannot find it, or do not have your Bible, or your Bible is a different version from the New King James Version and it is hard to follow along, Jerry is quick on the draw and has the words on the screen behind me.

Haggai chapter 2. We are going to read verses 1 through 9 all together and then go back and break it down.

[Pastor Tim reads Haggai 2:1–9 from the New King James Version.]

Verses 1–2: The Feast of Tabernacles 36:36

All right. Let’s go back and read verses 1 and 2 together, and we will break those down.

[Reads Haggai 2:1–2.]

We will stop there. “In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet.” This is the same formula we learned last week in Haggai 1:1. It literally translates “by the hand of Haggai the prophet.” And the date coincides with the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

That is super important. In my opinion the Feast of Tabernacles matters here for four reasons. The first one is that everyone is gathered there. All of Israel comes together for these feasts. They come back and gather to celebrate them together, so everyone would have been there to hear the message. It would not have been a game of telephone, where somebody says, “Haggai says God says, ‘Don’t worry about this small temple. It’s going to be big, and we’ve got to build this thing.'” And the next person says, “Haggai says God said we have to build this thing, and it has to be bigger and better than the first one.” And then the third guy hears it and says, “Haggai said we have to build this thing, and it has to make the first one look like a tiny little anthill compared to God’s great glory.” That is not at all what Haggai said, right? It is the opposite of what Haggai said. In my opinion, God uses the people’s gathering so there is no misinterpretation of what is supposed to happen. He uses the feast to gather all the people so they can hear the message together.

The second reason is that it was a feast about living in tents and thanking God for His provision when Israel left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness. It was about God’s provision, and it was about living in temporary shelters. And here God is saying, “I am with you. I don’t even have a temple, but I am here. I will be with you, says the LORD of hosts. I am going to be there even without this big building. I will gather with you.”

The third reason is that it was harvest. Remember, this feast is about thanking God for His provision, so it is always at the end of harvest season, when God provides a bountiful harvest for His people. But what did we learn last week? The harvest was small. And so God is using this to drive a point home: “We usually do this during harvest season for what I provided, but look at your temple. It is small, just like your harvest is small.” Nonetheless, He is saying, “I am with you.”

And then the coolest reason, in my opinion, so I saved it for last: I love how God lines things up. This feast was also when Solomon dedicated the very first temple. And now God is getting the people to build the temple, and He is basically telling them, “I am dedicating you, and I am going to be with you as you build the temple,” at the same time of year that King Solomon said, “This is God’s temple,” and dedicated it to Him. I think that is cool.

“And to the remnant of the people” 41:03

Then it goes on: speak to Zerubbabel the governor, speak to Joshua the high priest, and to whom? “The remnant of the people.” The remnant of the people. The first time, in Haggai chapter 1, when Haggai was given his message, it says he gave it to Zerubbabel and Joshua, to the governor and the high priest. That message was for the people and for them, but he gave it to two people. Now he is giving it to everybody. Not just the governor, not just the high priest. It is not just leadership now. Everybody is in charge of what is about to happen. It is no longer just about leadership. It is about the people in the pews as well.

And my favorite thing about verse 2 is that it says, “and to the remnant of the people.” In chapter 1, verse 2, it says, “Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, ‘This people says…'” They are no longer “this people.” Now they are all in it together. Now they are all in it with God, and they are going to work together to get this thing done. God is not saying “this people are doing this.” He is saying, “We are going to get through this, all of you together.”

Verse 3: God says it first 42:45

Verse 3.

[Reads Haggai 2:3.]

Notice who says it first. God. God is the one who points out their disappointment and names it out loud. He names their disappointment out loud. He does not pretend the building is grand. He does not pretend the temple is complete. God knows that all there is is a foundation, a bunch of rubble, and an altar, a table. He knows that is all there is. He is not trying to play games with the people. He is not blowing smoke. He is not doing any of that.

He is saying, “Look around. It has only been fifty or sixty years. Those of you who are older remember the old temple in all of its glory. Is this that? I know it’s not that. I am not pretending this building is grand. I am not pretending this is something great and fantastic right now. But right now is not what I need you to focus on.”

“This temple” 44:27

And He says, “Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory?” God calls Solomon’s temple and the new one the same house. He does not say, “Who among you saw the old temple in all of its glory?” That is not what He says. He says, “Who among you saw this temple?” In God’s eyes, it is one house. It is one house with a former glory, and according to verse 9, it is going to have a latter glory.

And it will. They add to it. Herod adds to it tremendously, and the temple gets bigger and bigger in a physical sense. But that is not even the glory Haggai is talking about. We are going to get to that later today. He is saying, “This is the same house, and it had a former glory. Right now it is small, and it is rubble. I am not pretending it is something grand, but it is about to have an even greater glory than what it had before.” That is what He is trying to get across to the people. It is a continuation. It is not a cheap replacement. It is not a knockoff temple. It does not say “Made in Taiwan,” okay? It is not a cheap replacement. God has plans for this incredible place they called the temple of God.

“In your eyes as nothing” 46:14

He says, “In your eyes it is as nothing.” You see it in your eyes as nothing. The problem is in their eyes. Anybody else? The problem is in their eyes. It is in their eyes.

This line is interesting to me. Do you know why? Ecclesiastes 7:10 says this: “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.” We are given a command in the Scriptures, from Ecclesiastes, not to use our eyes to look backward. We are told not to use our eyes to look backward. That is exactly what God is telling the people through Haggai here.

Now, this is interesting to me not just because the two Scriptures line up, but because of who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon. Who dedicated the first temple? King Solomon. King Solomon himself was in charge of building the grand temple that Israel loved, and later he said, “Don’t look at things in the past and call them grand. That is not wise. Instead, look forward to what God is doing.” And now Haggai, with the new temple, is quoting the King Solomon who commissioned and dedicated the first temple. He is saying, “Remember what Solomon said. The guy who built the thing you are weeping over told you, ‘Don’t look backward. Look forward.'” Look forward.

Verses 4–5: “Yet now” 48:12

He moves on in verses 4 and 5.

[Reads Haggai 2:4–5.]

He starts verse 4 with “yet.” Now, you know me and my transitions. I love transitions. It is a pivot. He is saying, “You remember. You remember how grand it was, and you are sad because you remember how beautiful it was.”

And let’s be honest. Can I just be honest with you? Haggai would be talking to me. If I had seen the beautiful, grand temple and seen the living God living in it, and if I had seen what God did year after year through His people and through that temple, and then I saw a table and rubble, I would be sad. Just being honest, I would be sad. I know that because I watch sports. I remember the 2001 Diamondbacks. It is sad right now. It is the same thing. I would be sad.

But He is saying here, “Yet now.” It is a pivot. A pivot. He is saying the past is what it was. The past is what it was. Focus on the now. Focus on what is happening here and what God can do through it right now.

“Be strong” three times 50:22

And He gives them a command. He says, “Be strong. Be strong.” And not only does He say it once, He says it three times. He says to Zerubbabel the governor, the leader of the government side of things, “Be strong.” He says to Joshua the high priest, the leader of the spiritual side of things, “Be strong.” And then He says it to the people, everybody else: “Be strong.” Everyone is to be strong. Nobody is left out. Nobody is exempt. God is giving them a command to be strong, be courageous, and not fear. And He gives it to “all you people of the land.” He is talking to the ordinary folks as well, not just leadership.

“And work”: courage picks up a tool 51:26

And notice what He says next. Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Joshua. Be strong, all you people. And right after that, it says, “and work.” And work.

My friends, courage is not just a feeling. Can we get this thought into our heads right now? Courage is not just something you say to yourself when you are scared: “It’s okay. Be strong. I’ve got courage. I can do this.” Courage does not mean that at all. Courage picks up a tool.

We just had a sermon in James that says, “You say you have faith; I will show you my faith by my works.” We cannot just say things. We have to do things as well. Courage picks up a tool. It is not something you talk about. It is something you demonstrate. You demonstrate courage.

I cannot stand on the sideline and say, “Oh, I’ve got all the courage and strength in the world. I can do anything. I could beat this guy.” Or better yet, for me: I cannot stand in the gym while getting ready for a fight, telling my coach and all my fighters, “It’s going to be great. I’ve got all the courage in the world. This guy might be 6 foot 4.” That was my last opponent. “He might be 6 foot 4, but I’m going to take this guy down. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” I used to love to say, “I’ll chop him like a tree. I’ll just keep kicking him in the legs until he can’t stand as tall,” because I cannot reach up there. “I’ll keep kicking his legs until I can chop him like a tree.”

I cannot say all that and then get to Saturday night, when they open the cage door, and stand there holding the sides of the door while my coach is trying to shove me in. That is not courage. That is not courage. Courage is when you say those things and then you step into the cage and face the 6-foot-4 monster. I could not chop him down, and I lost. That was my last fight, and I lost. But that is what courage is. It is stepping up. It is not just talking. It is working.

David’s words to Solomon 54:02

And interestingly enough, David had a similar talk with his son Solomon when Solomon was preparing to build the first temple. First Chronicles 28:20 says, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it.” Good courage and work. Good courage and do it. Huh, that sounds familiar. “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.”

David gave the same message to Solomon when he was about to build the first temple. Haggai’s hearers are building a far smaller temple, but they get the same words Solomon got. They get the same words Solomon got when he built the big, grand temple. My friends, God’s presence does not shrink with the budget. Remember, that first temple was full of precious metals and jewels. And for this temple, they were told to go into the hills and just get wood. Just get the wood you can find and bring it back. God’s presence does not shrink with the budget.

This also echoes Joshua at the start of the conquest of the land, when God tells him in Joshua 1:6–9, and in Deuteronomy 31:6–8 and 23, “Be strong and of good courage… for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” That is what God told their leader before they entered the land that would later hold their first temple. These words would echo in their minds when they heard them. They would understand that the LORD was the one talking.

“I am with you” 56:17

He says, “I am with you. I am with you.” This is the second time in Haggai that God has told the people that He is with them. It happened in chapter 1, verse 13, last week. When we covered that saying, we talked about how God said this to the faith heroes of the Bible. He said it to Moses: “I will be with you.” He said it to Joshua: “I am with you.” He said it to Gideon: “I am with you.” He said it to Jeremiah: “I am with you.” And Jesus Himself said it in Matthew 28, when He gives us the Great Commission at the very end: “I am with you.”

The people get the same message as Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Jeremiah, and the disciples. They get that same message from God. That is exciting. It would be exciting to me to know that the God who was with Israel when they split the sea is the God who is with me as I rebuild this temple. The God who was with Joshua as he conquered the land we live in is the same God who is with me as I build this temple. The same God who was with Gideon, who defeated the enemy with a tiny, tiny army, is the same God who is with me while I am building the temple.

This would excite me. This should excite the people. It should lift their spirits to know, “Hey, the enemy was behind us when we came up to the Red Sea. The enemy was literally on us, about to attack, when God opened up the sea and we ran across. If God can do that for Moses, and if God can do what He did for Joshua, and what He did for Gideon, then what can He do for me?” That should be exciting for the people.

“My Spirit remains among you” 58:32

Verse 5: “According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!” Out of Egypt. The Feast of Tabernacles itself was a feast about that wilderness journey. You can learn about it in Leviticus chapter 23. So it fits today’s message perfectly for the people of Israel.

He says, “I covenanted with you.” In Exodus 29 God says, “I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them.” The whole point of the Exodus was God living among His people. That is what they are celebrating here, and that is what they are trying to build with this new temple: God living with them.

He says, “My Spirit remains among you.” I think this is interesting. The word “remains,” literally translated, means “is standing.” My Spirit is standing with you. I am right by your side. I am not a mile away. You do not have to set out the flares. You do not have to put up the warning sign. My Spirit is literally standing right with you while you do this work. And if I am with you, then who can be against you?

The point is that the God who got them out of Egypt has not gone anywhere just because they do not have a big, grand building anymore. He has never left them. He has never left them. He has lived, and continues to live, among His people.

Verses 6–7: “Once more” 61:01

Let’s read verses 6 through 9.

[Reads Haggai 2:6–9.]

Remember the definition of “the LORD of hosts”: the commander of God’s armies, the protector, the leader of the angels, the leader of those who can come and help. He says it over and over again, reminding them that God can protect them.

But besides that, He says, “Once more.” Once more. That implies there was a first time. There was a first time when God shook heaven and earth. If He says “once more,” it means it has happened before. It is not the first time. The first time was at Sinai, when the mountain quaked greatly in Exodus 19. You can also see Judges 5:4 and Psalm 68. God shook the earth when He made His covenant, and He is saying, “I will do it again. I will do it again.”

He says, “It is a little while.” From God’s point of view, it is very soon. Within a single generation, the Persian Empire would be shaken by Greece, and later Greece by Rome.

Hebrews 12: A kingdom that cannot be shaken 63:21

But this passage looks further than the world of politics. In fact, Hebrews 12 says it this way: “But now He has 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, let us have grace.”

Hebrews takes it a whole step further. The writer reads Haggai as pointing to the final shaking at the end of history, when everything temporary is removed and only God’s kingdom remains. This is why, when people are worried about how small congregations look, I am not. God says, “I am going to shake the whole universe.” Their worries were real, but He is working on a much bigger scale. He is working on a much bigger scale.

He is saying, “There is going to come a day when none of this matters. You think this is grand? I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, and everything is going to come tumbling down with it. None of it is going to matter. The things you build with your hands are going to come crumbling down when I shake the whole universe. So your worries might be real. The temple might be small. You might be scared of the people around you. You might be scared of what is happening. But don’t worry, because I am able to handle everything.”

Think about it. If God can shake the universe, can He protect Israel? If God can shake the universe, can He eventually make this temple what He wants it to be? If God can shake the universe, can He do whatever He pleases? Absolutely. And in a little while, He is going to shake the universe.

“The Desire of All Nations” 65:38

Now, I do need to point this out. Here in the New King James Version, you will see the words “the Desire of All Nations.” And if you notice, in the New King James Version they are capitalized. That gives you a clue to what that translation thinks the Bible is saying. The fact that “Desire of All Nations” is capitalized tells us it is a name. It is a Person: “They shall come to the Desire of All Nations.”

Many newer translations, though, like the ESV, say “the treasures of all nations shall come in,” all lowercase, talking about the treasures of all the nations coming to the temple. Both are possible from the Hebrew, and both end up in the same place. God will make this humble temple glorious, and in the end, the true glory of the temple was Jesus Himself.

“I will fill this temple with glory” 67:02

Let’s move on. “I will fill this temple with glory, says the LORD of hosts.” Glory filled the tabernacle. You can read that in Exodus 40. Glory also filled Solomon’s temple, the first temple, in 1 Kings chapter 8. The Scripture says Ezekiel watched the glory leave before the destruction of the temple and saw a vision of it returning one day.

Now I need to be clear. There is no account in our Scriptures of glory coming again and filling the second temple. The fulfillment came a different way. It was not God’s glory coming to the second temple the same way it came to the first temple. It came in a different way.

Have you ever heard this? “In the beginning was the Word,” and then in verse 14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.” We beheld His glory. In that verse, the word “dwelt” literally means “tabernacled.” Exactly what we are talking about today. It literally means “tabernacled,” a fitting word for a promise given at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Verse 8: “The silver is Mine” 68:46

And He says, “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts.” We need to understand the context. I already told you a little bit, but Solomon’s temple was covered in gold, and they had none. God’s answer to that is, “It’s all Mine anyway. If this house needs gold, I’ll bring you gold. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it. If it needs gold, I’ll give you gold. The house is Mine anyway.”

This is God speaking about supplying His house. It is not a promise of wealth to individual givers. The comfort is that their lack does not limit their God. Psalm 50 says it this way: “Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” And in 1 Chronicles 29, David said at the first temple’s fundraising, “All things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.” Of Your own we have given You. They were already saying, “It is all Yours anyway. You own the fields and the cattle. You own the gold. You own everything. It is all Yours anyway.” So do not worry about the little things.

Verse 9: A greater glory 70:08

Verse 9 again: “‘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.”

How was it greater? It was not greater in gold. Herod did rebuild and expand it magnificently, starting around 20 or 19 BC. And the Scripture says the disciples marveled at its stones, but Jesus said it would be torn down, and it was, in AD 70. So how was it greater? It did not last long. It sure took a long time to look good. So how was it greater? It was not the gold.

It was greater because of who came to it. It was greater because of who walked through its doors. You see, it was at this temple that Jesus was presented as a baby, in Luke chapter 2. It was in this temple that Jesus taught at the age of 12, in Luke chapter 2. It was there that Jesus cleansed it, in John chapter 2. And it was this temple where Jesus came and taught in its courts during His last week on earth before His crucifixion. And He said, “In this place there is One greater than the temple.” Solomon’s temple had a glory cloud. This temple had the Son of God in person. My friends, that is why that temple was greater.

“In this place I will give peace” 72:12

He also says, “In this place I will give peace.” That peace came through a Person. That peace comes through Jesus. “On earth peace, goodwill toward men.” We are about to talk about that in the coming weeks as we approach Christmas. Simeon, in that exact temple, said, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace… for my eyes have seen Your salvation.” Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.” And Ephesians 2:14 tells us, “For He Himself,” talking about Jesus, “is our peace.” We get that peace. God gives us this peace when we have a relationship with Jesus.

“The LORD of hosts” 73:22

And again, who says all of this? The LORD of hosts. Interestingly enough, this title for God appears five times between verses 4 and 9. The weight of the passage does not rest on the message. It does not rest on the work that is about to be done. It does not rest on the leaders, and it does not rest on the people. The weight of the message Haggai is giving rests on the One who speaks it: the LORD of hosts, the One who will protect you when things look dangerous, when the world looks crazy, the One who can step in.

An aside: we have already been told to work 74:22

Now, this is not one of my points, and before I get to my points, this is not even in my notes, but I think it is pretty appropriate for today, shortly after election season. My friends, God has already told us to get to work. Matthew 28:19–20 is not a command for pastors. It is a command for all people: Go, or as you are going, go to all the people groups and teach them all the things I have taught you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and I will be with you. That is how it translates in English. Or, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them… teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

The weight of that passage rests on who is speaking, and He tells us to go, just like He is telling them to work. It is not about us. It is about the One who is giving the message.

Point 1: Comparison steals courage 75:38

But what are my points for today? My first point today is that comparison steals courage. Comparison steals courage. When you start comparing your church, your health, your energy, or your faith to what it used to be, or even worse, to someone else, it steals your courage.

I had neck surgery about ten years ago. Before my neck surgery, I used to fight, and I lifted weights six days a week. When I lifted weights six days a week, I was strong, and I could lift a lot of weight. Then I had neck surgery. Now I go to the gym, put on a fraction of what I used to be able to lift, and it kills my spirit. It kills my spirit.

You know what is even worse? And I give you permission to laugh. It is worse when I do a lift and then my wife comes in behind me and does the same exact lift. Do you know what that does to a fighter’s heart? Yeah, flex those muscles, girl. Flex those muscles. Do you know what that does to a fighter’s heart? Do you know how discouraging it is to know that I used to be able to bench-press 325 pounds, and now I cannot even press my own body weight? That is discouraging. It is discouraging knowing that I could squat over 500 pounds, and now I squat with just the barbell and tear my Achilles. It is discouraging, my friends. Comparing yourself to the old you kills your joy.

Should I give up at the gym? Should I give up on my health? No. Can I one day get back to where I was? Well, I am 43 now. We will see. I am trying. The goal is thin by 45, jacked by 50. But I cannot get there. I cannot look forward to being thin by 45 and jacked by 50 if, every time I go to the gym, I sit in self-pity and wallow and think, I cannot bench what I used to. I cannot squat what I used to. I cannot leg-press what I used to. I cannot row what I used to. I cannot run as fast as I… that is a lie. I have never been able to run. I cannot do all these things like I used to. It is discouraging.

And my friends, we cannot compare ourselves today with who we were in the past, just like we cannot compare the church today to who we were in the past. The past is the past. God is here today, living among us, and He wants to do a new thing, a good thing, going forward. So let’s stop worrying about the way things were, and let’s start looking forward to the glory of God when He fills us. Again, comparison steals our joy. We have to stop.

Can I also say it this way? Can we stop comparing ourselves to other churches? Do you want to know a secret? This might be bad for me to say, but I do not care. I do not care how many cars are in the Methodist church’s parking lot. I do not care how many people go to the Methodist church. It does not scare me. It does not bother me. I do not care how many people go across the parking lot to Center Stage. It does not scare me. It does not bother me. God is doing a good work here. Here. Let’s focus on us. Let’s move forward together and live in unity with the others.

Point 2: Weeping and shouting 80:20

Point number two is about the weeping and the shouting. A church can have both in the same room. The old men were weeping. They were sad. They remembered the beautiful walls and the grand stature of the old temple. They remembered the cedar from Lebanon. They remembered the jewels. They remembered the beautiful temple Solomon built, and when they looked at what was left, the Scripture says they wept.

But then there were the young ones, the ones who were born in captivity and had never laid eyes on the old temple. What they saw was not rubble. They did not see a table. They saw a promise of what God was about to do through them. My friends, a church can have both: those who remember how it was and those who are excited about what could be. And God speaks to both.

Point 3: Small projects carry the same promise 81:29

My last point today is that small projects carry the same promise. When David handed the job of building the first temple to his son Solomon, he said, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it… for the LORD God… will be with you.” Five hundred years later, God says nearly the same thing to Zerubbabel, who is building a much plainer temple with far less money. Nonetheless, He says, “Be strong… and work; for I am with you.”

God did not give Zerubbabel a smaller promise because he had a smaller project. He did not give him a smaller promise because he had a smaller project. Your task does not have to be impressive for God’s presence to be with you. You do not have to preach to an audience of 10,000 for the Holy Spirit to be with you. You do not have to fly on a private jet for the Holy Spirit to be with you. Sorry, Creflo Dollar. I can drive a Ford Pinto, and the Holy Spirit would be with me just as much.

You do not have to be a preacher to have the Holy Spirit with you. You can sew quilts. You can teach children. You can sing in the choir. You can help run audio and video. You could be a greeter. You could show up at these ministries and just be part of what is around you. You can hand out candy at the fall festival and be just as important as the preacher giving the message.

Because again, Matthew 28 is not just for pastors. It is for all of us. And we are called to go. It does not say “come.” We have been reading about this temple, where all the people gather: come, come, come. Jesus flips it. He pivots and says, “Go, go, go.” Go into all the nations, to all the people groups, and tell them about a God who loves them so much that He stopped at nothing. He even came to this earth as a baby, lived a perfect life, and died on two pieces of wood from a tree that He Himself created, shaped into a cross. He hung there for six hours in agony and pain, not because of anything He did. He did it for us, so that we would go. So I do not care how small your ministry is. I do not care how small your purpose is. God will be with you, because small projects carry the same promise.

Closing prayer 84:57

Let’s pray. God, thank You. Thank You for joy. God, thank You for noise in church. Thank You, God, that it reminds us that we are an active and growing church.

God, thank You for Your Word. Thank You that Your Word tells us that small projects carry the same promise. It does not matter how big our task is in our eyes. Our eyes are the problem. It is Your eyes we need to focus on. God, help remind us that comparison steals joy, that we are not called to compare our task with somebody else’s, or our church with somebody else’s, or our health with somebody else’s, or even our faith with the faith we used to have or with somebody else’s. Instead, You ask us to live right now, using the gifts You have given us, for such a time as this. Help us, Lord, to have the courage to live out what You have for us. And God, help us to comfort those who are weeping while also celebrating with those who shout. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Invitation 86:27

In just a moment I am going to step down here and turn off the YouTube recording. If God has been speaking to you, this is your opportunity. If you want to come forward and pray with me, I will be here to pray with you. If you want to stay where you are and just sit in the presence of glory, sit in the presence of glory, because glory dwells within you as a Christian. Whatever it is, however God is telling you to respond, I just ask that you respond. So please stand as we sing hymn number 473, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.”