Know Where You Stand (Part 2)

Jesus and only Jesus as Savior of the world. In this age of tolerance in this age of compromise this truth need to be upheld with product or and with love, joy. Dr. you 7000s of other front-line mission partners around the globe for making a difference for the kingdom of God by becoming a leading the way front-line mission partner you are coming alongside our team as we reach the furthest corners of the world with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. The same truth you hear each week is going out around the world across many different platforms radio broadcast navigator audio devices satellite TV and much more. The opportunities to reach the lost are many when you partner with leading the way. Know that your gifts are in safe hands as we are dedicated to the highest integrity of stewardship, ensuring every penny given to the ministry furthers our main call to passionately proclaim uncompromising true week, leading the way front-line mission partner today and you will receive a free copy of the daily way. Dr. you sense 400 page book of daily devotionals.

You will be encouraged want to partner with us today. You can call right or visit us online@allatw.org/front-line LTW.org/front-line the whole message of hagiography summarized in one word in the English word, just consider.

In other words, this is not just a passing whim. This is not just a cursory look at how you're living in leg a lot better than I said that time examine closely the RealAudio priorities PSA dual and intense examination. I concentrated on venting of your life.

Welcome to leading the way with Dr. Michael you sent passionately proclaim uncompromising to many in our world today view the Bible as irrelevant. If you dig into it with an expectant heart. God offers in daily practical words of encouragement for life today and you'll see through the short book of Haggai at the word of God is timeless relevant for the things that your family is facing right here in 2020 years Dr. Michael you set now to show you what I need human nature. The way it is when you have perfected excuses for an art form. I know Adam and Eve started up in the garden but we have perfected it. I think it was go to temple, who said the blood of Jesus never cleanses an excuse is that is why the Scripture repeatedly says if we confess before gaps if we confess he forgives people might also severe excuses as to why they got outcome but the washable why they conserve and why they can't give and why they can't commit to anything and why is this and why is that in the last message we began to look at how the Lord is speaking to our generation through the ancient prophet Haggai.

After several hundred years of God sending his people. Profit after profit off the profit and challenging them to stop compromising and stop worshiping Yahweh one day and bail for the rest of the week and finally got had enough and he said to them that I'm gonna send you into exile. I'm gonna send you for 70 years out of your country. And sure enough Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came and he ravished Jerusalem destroyed it and took hundreds of thousands of people captives in Babylon, but God also promised through the prophet Jeremiah that 70 years. From that time is going to bring them back is going to bring the faithful back to the heart of worship that is going to bring them back to Jerusalem, the city of God, and right on schedule.

God fulfilled his promise and the way he fulfilled this promise was absolutely the most unlikely way he used a pagan king by the name of Cyrus and Cyrus issued a decree and he said that all of the Jews want to go back to Jerusalem, they allowed to go back and out of the hundreds of thousands of Jews in Babylon, only about 50,000 in total return to Jerusalem the last love the world too much they enjoyed the worldly environment in Babylon. They love the pagan culture too much and when these faithful few returned to Jerusalem that were filled with enthusiasm that were filled with excitement. They worked hard, that served well they gave generously, they were delighted to come back to the heart of worship into Jerusalem, but is it always the case. Always the case.

Halfway through, they got discouraged under stop doing the work of God, they become describe limitations on this intimate.

Don't ever underestimate Satan's tool of discouragement. Discouragement is his most valuable tool against the believers discouragement is his most successful tool that he uses against the believe it is his most effective tool that he uses against the believers and he will use well-meaning Christians to cause you discouragement. He will use. Even some family members because you discouragement and yes he will even use a church on intentional action to discourage you and resort in the last message the blood himself saw the discouragement. The Lord himself from heaven looked down and he saw the loss of desire to serve him.

He saw the loss of appetite to do his work. The Lord looked from heaven and he saw how they gave up the Lord's work.

Halfway through and so he sent them a very special messenger by the name of Haggai the whole message of Haggai can be summarized in one word in the English word, just consider consider that some translations that examine, consider it means to look intently, it means to inspect closely it means to learn about. It means deep searching. In other words, this is not just a passing whim.

This is not just a cursory look at how you living on where you are not on a nice at that time examine closely RealAudio priorities PSA dual and intense examination. Do a focus concentrated auditing of your life and that is why the word was repeated four times in these two chapters. It's in chapter 1 verses five and seven and in chapter 2 verses 15 and 18.

The same word this dear precious people.

Those 50,000 who turned their back on Babylon and came back to God.

Back to the heart of worship. They become discouraged. Halfway through, and they gave up the work of God, and now this would have been a disaster in itself, but what made this disaster worse is that they come up with excuses for not doing the work of God and excuses are far worse than discouragement in fact excuses are far worse than failure because God can deal with the confessed sin. God can deal with a confessed failure. God can pick up a discouraged confessing believer and he can pick him on her lap and he can put them back in the right place, but excuses still missing does not get cleansed by the blood of Christ on the confessed sin will you know and I know how many excuses people have for not walking with the Lord all sorts of excuses. Well, you know my parents did this when I was a little boy little girl.

My father did this and my mother did that. If we cannot go beyond these excuses.

If we cannot go beyond what happened in the past not wash with God and will never be blessed until you move out of that excuse giving lifestyle and that's the cause of discouragement today is people making all social rationalization for why they doing this and why they doing the other thing, and why they're not walking with the Lord and our parents did what they could move on in here in the book of Haggai. They were making an excuse because they were guilty. Listen to me there's no guilt and a sense of wrongdoing. Excuses are not necessary right, but there were the only thing to do would go this confess that represent all that and it will bring renewal strength and courage and blessings from above, but excuses never washes with God. So what was the first excuse and is not bound by time of year that is not the right time.

I will get to be involved in missions but this is not the right time to begin to tie but this is not the right time. I'm going to give of myself for God service but that's not the right time.

All brother you staff, you flatter me to ask me to do this or do the other thing but I can do that because is not the right time, so glad that the man who ignited the modern evangelical mission movement did not come up with basic flimsy excuses man by the name of William Carey in the latter part of the 1700s. He was poor. It was a cobbler yet three kids in the fourth. On the way and yet he felt that of God, believing that every time is a good time for serving God to make it worse. He goes to the mission committee examining this young man is all enthusiastic about going to India and one of them said the young man of God wants to convert the heathen. He will do it without consulting your mate on and you talk about excuse every excuse in the book not to go but think of the millions of people and yourself, and in Africa because David Livingstone that followed in his footsteps. Hundreds of thousands of measures followed as a result of this man not refusing to make an excuse, and so here the prophet Haggai challenge the People's flimsy excuses for neglecting his work and being reluctant to continue in the work of God, to give up. Here's the use of interpretation as the right time for you to be living in the lap of luck cure and leisure and relaxation. When my house is in ruin and as we saw in the last message in the New Testament we don't have dimples will repair temples, but serving God's purpose is calling serving God's mission is calling serving in God's vineyard is our calling, helping rebuild lives is our calling, helping restore the fallen is our calling, helping to rescue the perishing. That's how calling look at verse four. I wanted to see this this abiding humor here on the part of God, the God who sees all things. Who knows all things. Again, I give your use of interpretation and say to them if it Haggai speaking to this generation. Here's what he was said is it you have time for everything in the world you have time for sports, you have time for entertainment. You have time for politics you have time for socializing, but for my sorrow.

Verse you don't have to. You have time for your comfort you have time for your pleasures.

You have time for your recreation: not my kingdom, not the very cause for which I say you if everyone who claims to know Jesus as Savior and Lord would witness to another person. We would turn this nation upside down for Christ. If everyone who claims to know and love Jesus was dedicated to the message of the gospel as much as they are dedicated to sports and the politics we would have a revival luck. We have never seen before. But the problem is. Today we have an inverted priorities. We have a misplaced zeal we have diverted attentions we have scattered commitments. Well the place. But then there's a second argument that God uses to challenge his people's lukewarmness and it is this, to know what I got all not making it up.

They had replaced God with things with activities they have dethroned God from the front of the lives of the things that they took God out of his rightful place at the head of the table and it put them down at the bottom of the table.

That's what they were doing.

You don't have to be a theologian, you don't have to have a theological degree to know that God doesn't like that but that does not please God. God said either on the Lord of all and uploaded all and as far as God is concerned you see it from cover to cover. Either he is at the head of the table or another disciple. Either he is on the throne of the heart or is not on the phone at all.

Either he is at the helm of your family and your life and your business and everything you touch or is not the head of anything and that is why he said through the prophet Haggai.

Consider give careful slots as it is in some of the translation give careful thought examining deeply costly and look intently at your ways then God goes ahead and he places his finger have you felt the finger of God as you have few times he places his finger on the very reason for the discontentment he points to the very secret as to why they not making headway. Lots of feverish activities, but that little to show for the Bible does not just address our needs.

God cares for our needs. Don't misunderstand, but the Bible define our needs for us see God knows what we really need.

In fact, it was Henry Ford who learned that lesson from the Bible and he said if you ask people what they wanted. There was said faster horses fell on him automobile so there are better people. Remember, this was an agrarian society at the time in which the prophet Haggai. Everything was centered around the planting and harvesting and in the context of that he's speaking and if you speaking to us in the 21st century hearsay. You are working feverishly that you not getting ahead there are working through lunch there working late, but then never making headway. There always rushing around to get ahead and nothing comes out of it and you know why like the Pennsylvania Dutch expression. This is the hurry I go the behind. I get the lives like a treadmill that going nowhere there like running up an escalator that's coming down. Visualize that as our society today, taking one step up and threw back, beloved, there is such a wide dissatisfaction in the midst of a violent abundance in our culture that is discontentment in the midst of lots of goodies and gadgets. There is longing in the heart while we are surrounded by things you have to stop and think with me. Just think about this in our society today we have more houses we have more cars we have more gadgets we have more goodies.

We have more trinkets, we have more televisions we have more vacations than any other generation before, and yet we have people who are wretchedly dissatisfied so many people in our society who have everything appear to be more miserable than ever.

What's the cause of this was the cause of this, listen to, we have failed to understand the biblical principle that little is much when God is in it. If only we realize that the government is not our Messiah. If really realize that political parties are not our Savior. If Wilma realize that protesting and demonstrating all counterproductive.

But obedience to God is a secret of power obedience to the word of God is the secret to blessings serving as the secret for fulfillment giving is a way of getting the white now, if we wake up to the fact that doing what God wants us to do is the source of true true blessing and I pray to God that we do in time.

Look at verse eight is the answer to the discontentment to their dissatisfaction go up to the mountains and bring down timber and build my house.

What is he saying very simply opening the first dethroned your little selves, and placed me on the throne of your heart shortly. First Courtney first stop yawning. Hearing the word of God.

So the question is how the God's people respond to his challenge through the prophet Haggai other than small. Many of the prophets when they cried out the words fell on deaf ears, but thankfully nothing. This situation nothing. This case because Haggai was speaking to the right people who are in the right place doing the right thing for the right reasons and they were convicted of the power of God's Holy Spirit of their sin of flimsy excuses. There were convicted in the short to obey the Lord with all of the heart. Verse 12 then Zerubbabel, the governor, Joshua the high priest and the whole almost 50,000 people. The whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai because the Lord that God had sent him is the amazing part.

Haggai began speaking to them on August 29, 520 BC August 29. He began his ministry by September 21, they began the work. How long is that three weeks three weeks.

Ask yourself this question, do I Truly Pl., God and his work ahead of my comfort. One of the great lessons I learned about self-examination is from a godly man of yesteryear's the name of a W Cosa. This man said he has seven rules for self-examination is what he asks himself seven rules of self-examination. What do I want the most. What do I think about the most.

How do I use my money.

How do I use my leisure time whose company do I enjoy in one. I admire what do I laugh and have the answers are not honoring to God. I plead with the Lord Jesus just as the psalmist examining examine my heart as you do this examination. Give yourself a decision what would you you in the right place doing the right thing for the right reasons. These are challenging words from Dr. Michael you Seth leading the way.

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Right now it's LTW.Ord/Jesus in this short series of messages really speaks to the culture in which we now live again.

It's called know where you stand and in it Michael guide you through the pages that had AI challenging you as you work today to renew your zeal for the Lord with the Holy Spirit boldness you'd like to listen again if you'd like to share Dr. Yousef's challenging words with others. Is it LTW.Ord Wednesday or listen online or learn about the act and other ways to listen like the podcast. The website again. LTW.Ord and Dr. Michael you Seth is the founding pastor of the church of the apostles in Atlanta.

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