Introduction:

Inc. magazine recently published a story on the subject of comparisons. It had a very wise and key conclusion to its piece; I quote, “The only person you should compare yourself with is the person you were yesterday.” Today with the mega phone of social media the world is packed with opportunities to compare your worth against those around you. Many are flaunting their success in media forums and it can lead you to question whether you cut the mustard and if you’re good enough. No matter how well you’re doing, comparing yourself to other people takes your eyes off your goals and this can cause you to feel inferior about how well you are doing. The only person we should be concern to please is God.

Folks, there will always be someone who looks better, is wealthier, healthier, and more successful. Continual comparisons can be debilitating. Have you ever been compared to someone else such as older brother or sister, a classmate maybe even another spouse? A wife can complain, Bill bought his wife flowers I haven’t seen a bouquet in years or a husband comments to his wife, why can’t you dress nice like Jill our neighbor?

Making comparison with others is not always healthy it can cause you to feel inadequate. Maybe you find yourself being the one doing the comparison. Maybe you have notice a co-worker who has been promoted and you wonder why you can’t be as successful as him. When we compare ourselves to others we cripple ourselves. This can also be true within the spiritual realm of our lives and our church. Comparison cripples! It is a problem today and it was a problem 2500 years ago. This morning we will be looking at chapter 2 in the book of Haggai. The Hebrews had begun to build but the issues of comparisons threatened to sabotage their efforts in rebuilding God’s temple. We can learn it is best to…

I. Do God’s work without Comparing vv.1-3

1. This second message came on October 17th of 520 B.C. It was the festival time in Israel, celebrating both the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles not to mention the regular Sabbath days. They could not work during the high holy days. So little less than a month has passed since the work began and the people were becoming discouraged. We have no way of knowing how much work had been completed on the Temple in the span of a month. However, enough had been done to give the people a general idea of what the Temple would look like once it was completed. It was during this time of commitment and effort that discouragement began to set in for some of the people. A major source of this discouragement was comparison to the former temple. The question is asked…

2. Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? Haggai spoke some 66 years after the temple was destroyed we are speaking about Solomon Temple. Certainly there were some older men who had seen Solomon’s temple in all its glory and splendor. Ezra the prophet describes what those who had seen the first temple felt like 16 years before this prophecy of Haggai, when the work of rebuilding the temple first began.
In Ezra 3:12-13 we read…

3. So, they became discouraged and again these Israelites wanted to quit. They were disappointed by the Temple they were building and they were discouraged in the work they were doing. So God tells Haggai to speak to the Governor Zerubbabel and the High Priest Joshua to encourage them to carry on.

4. These kinds of comparisons between “the good old days” and the present day comparisons about the work of God are rarely beneficial. Sometime we discourage others comparing past times of church activities and attendance with what is happening today…It didn’t do the people of Haggai’s day any good to think of how magnificent Solomon’s temple was compared to their own rebuilding work. We need to face life reality with God in mind.

We all have one thing in common from time to time when life gets tough, we all get discouraged. You need to realize you are not alone, that God wants you to express your feelings of disappointment and frustration. We will succeed if we…

II. Do God’s work in HIS strength – (vv. 4-5)

1. God gives the leaders and people of Israel three clear commands. Each of these three is essential to getting the work of God done. Great things are not accomplished without commitment to action. Faith without works is dead. Haggai reveals the profound expectation God had for His people. He fully expected them to remain resilient in the work.

2. First, they were charged to be strong while getting to the work. God simply wanted them to be diligent in their endeavors, remaining faithful to the work He had given them. God spoke these same words to Joshua and they are for us today too. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. –Joshua 1:9

Second, God extended the call to rely on Him to meet their needs. He declares I am with you and we need to understand the same is true for us. We can rely upon the Lord. The same God that did great things in the past is among us today, so you can be encouraged. In verse #8 we read, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.” What God has done for others he can do for you. His promise is that he will never leave you nor forsake you -Hebrews 13:5. First God tells us be strong and we can be in the power of His might and second that he our Father and is with us always. Paul taught this truth in Ephesian chapter 6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Third, God extended His comfort to not be afraid His spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. We note in Luke 18:4 and throughout the Bible that God’s children have His comfort and peace not to fear. In fact “fear not” appears 331 times in 144 verses of scripture. Under the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was among the people. Under the New Testament His spirit is in God’s people. What is the ministry of the Spirit? Look at John 14:26-28. Last, …

III. Do God’s work with Great Anticipation –vv.(6-9)

1. We can always anticipate great things when God is in it. Verses 6 &7 are a passage quoted in Hebrews 12:26 and taken together it tells us that God shook the earth when He gave His Law and He will shake it again when the Messiah comes. One day, this world with its false teachers, it dead works and it evil and wickedness will be shaken to pieces and it will fall at the feet of the Messiah! The Lords Jesus will judge the nations and establish justice.

2. Right now, the world is in turmoil as a ruthless evil man has brought darkness and death and pain into this world. Yet, if we review earth history this has been the way of the world for thousands of years. There are many evil men who have butchered humanity at a level that is unimaginable. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Leopold, Genghis Khan, Nero, Ivan the Terrible, Attila the Hun, Osama Bin Laden and now we can add Vladamir Putin along with so many others who have left nothing but blood on the pages of history.

3. But the day will come when the Lord will shake this world system to its foundation! He will topple every king and kingdom and He will rule this world that mocks and rejects Him today! Look with me at Zech. 14:3-9.

4. God promised these Jewish people that there is a latter temple that is greater than the former temple and He will fill this temple with Glory! His Promise is that the Latter Glory will be Greater than the Former Glory! – “I Will Fill this Temple with Glory.”

How could this be possible? How could this small, pathetic building ever possess a greater glory than the Temple build by Solomon? God knew what these discouraged workers did not know. He knew that 500 years later He would send His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the very glory of Heaven itself! They did not know it, but they were building the Temple that would behold the Lord Jesus physically one day!

5. Was it not Jesus who taught in the temple court and healed the sick and caused the blind to see? Was it not Jesus who was zealous for His Father house and turn-over the exchange tables and drove the merchants out?
Some scholars speculate that Herod remodeled the temple with the intent of fulfilling the glory of this latter temple. He wanted the credit for the greater than the former, so that he might fulfill it instead of the Messiah.

Conclusion:

We may look around today and consider those who once were with us, but are no longer here. Some were called home by the Lord, others found other churches, and some just dropped out. Many of these had prominent roles within the church. It is easy to think we will never be able carry on without them. Stop your comparison and get to the work for the Lord church.
God has promised to never leave nor forsake us. He remains in the midst of His church. If God be with us, we have all we need to be productive. I believe God has equipped the believers who are here to accomplish the work He has given us to do.

We are well aware of the problems we face and the difficulties involved in fulfilling our calling, but that doesn’t release us of our obligations. It is time for the church of Christ to rise up and get busy!