Word of Salvation – Vol. 25 No. 43 – July 1979

 

The Purity Of Our Work Does Not Rub Off Onto Us

 

Sermon by Rev. H. W. Pennings on Haggai 2:10-19

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3, Haggai 2:10-19

 

This third prophecy in the time of the prophet Haggai came two months after the previous one. The building of the temple in Jerusalem is once again in full swing. From the first of the three sermons in this short series we heard that there was a time when the people said to themselves, “Yes, yes, it must certainly be done! The temple is lying in ruins, and it is essential that it be rebuilt. But that time is not with us yet. There are other important things to do also.” Yet the Lord spoke to His holy nation, Israel the church of the Old Testament, through His prophet, and the work was started.

In the second sermon, dealing with the second prophecy, we heard that some of the older church members soon became despondent. For they compared the temple which they had begun to build with the former temple – the temple built in the days of Solomon. And, when they compared it, they started to discourage some of the younger people from going on with it. Was it not like a shed in comparison? But the Lord through His prophet encouraged the church by telling them that He would fill the new temple with His glory.

Yet the church had still to learn one more important Godly truth. Truly, the church became very busy. It was no longer true that they were more interested in their own family building plans. Nor was it the case that they wanted a building more glorious than the one God told them to build. Yet Haggai has to speak once more to the church which has returned from exile in Babylon. Haggai speaks – God speaks! And, remember, He is the living God who speaks also to us. Haggai has to tell the church, “Israel, the purity of your work doesn’t rub off onto you.” That is the theme of this third prophecy. (repeat theme).

Well and good, then. The house of the Lord first, and, exactly as He has commanded it. “Work on, church! What we are doing is pleasing to the Lord. Let us have good seasons from now on, and full wine vats, and grain silos overflowing!!”

Congregation, remember that in the midst of the Old Testament church God brought her to repentance and rededication by bringing about physical punishments. Israel was the one nation of one Father in heaven, and that Father did not spare the rod.

But we continue…. “Let us work hard on this temple. Let us get it finished. Then we can set about furnishing it too, in order that we can then once again set about building our own houses; so that we can live comfortably in a time of plenty. We have done the Work of the Lord, and therefore, He will bless us. He will give us abundance in all things good…!

As far as we can tell, the work of rebuilding the temple went extremely well. For two whole months there would have been many hundreds of workmen engaged in the task.

Therefore, the question may come to us; “If they are so busy at work, and if the work is going well, WHY, please tell us, DOES THE LORD SEND HIS PROPHET HAGGAI A THIRD TIME TO SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH?”

Here, as elsewhere, our question can only be answered as we try to understand the intent and purpose of what the prophet declares in his prophecy. In this instance he asks two questions; we read this in vss.12 and 13. What they amount to is this: Firstly, CAN MORAL CLEANLINESS BE TRANSFERRED FROM ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER, OR, FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER? Whereas the interpreters of the law had to answer “No!” to the first question of Haggai’s third prophecy, they have to answer “Yes” to his second question. For example, one bad apple in a case can make the whole case of apples to be bad. And one person who has an infectious disease can infect a whole crowd of people. Bad health is transferable.

Writes Haggai in vs.14, “So is this people. And so is this nation before me,’ declares the Lord, “and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.”

This “work of their hands,” and this “offering” to which the prophet refers, are one and the same. They both refer to the great rebuilding work which had been the subject of the two previous prophecies. We know therefore that the nation (or “the church”) was engaged in a holy work. There is no one who can say that they, in their work on the temple, were being disobedient.

But, Israel, the PURITY OF YOUR WORK ― DOES NOT RUB OFF ― ONTO YOU! That’s exactly what Haggai means. He refers to THE PEOPLE, who are unholy, and the TEMPLE, which is holy. Just because the temple is holy, it doesn’t rub off onto the people. That is the nature of things. But because the people who are building the temple are unholy, their unholiness, in the nature of all such contagious illnesses, infects the temple. Because there is still sin in Israel, ― unrepented sin ― because the people are with their HANDS involved with rebuilding the temple but are with their HEARTS far, far away from the temple and holiness ― the work which they are doing, which could be so good, does not benefit them at all. The IMPURITY OF THEIR WORK, RUBS OFF ONTO THE TEMPLE. Or, maybe we can say simply, works without faith are as dead as is faith without works.

Works without faith. What do we mean by that? Writes the prophet in vs.14, “Every work of their hands. . . . is unclean (unholy)”. That was because outward obedience to God’s Word, in this case rebuilding the temple, is of no spiritual worth. The Lord requires from us that our hands in their busy-ness must be motivated by a heart that loves to do the will of God. We clearly understand, therefore, that also this third prophecy is as much directed towards us as were the previous two.

Remember first of all, then, that if we refuse to put the will of God first in our many options and preferences, the Lord will not accept from us that we put His will into second position. Unless we crown Jesus Christ KING OF ALL, without any exceptions, we do not crown Him KING AT ALL. And then we will never experience that peace of God in our lives which passes all understanding, nor the other fruits of true faith ― love, joy, goodness, patience, hope. We cannot have these in the fulness of their measure while we are still clinging desperately to the lusts and desires which only have to do with life in this age.

Remember then secondly that in every way God’s knowledge and understanding of our place within society is not to be questioned. There are some people who want to do works that are so glorious and praiseworthy that they never set about to do anything for the Lord at all. There are people who want to raise people from the dead, but who somehow have never learnt to love and serve people within the course of their every-day lives.

Therefore, in obedience to the Lord, we try to determine what works of faith He has planned for us. An answer is quickly given when we seek that. Those who are seeking what is called “full-time service” will never find what they are seeking; that is a common but drastic mistake. When we love the Lord we very quickly find out that the WHOLE OF LIFE is full-time Christian service.

Therefore (going back again for a moment to the previous two sermons in this series) – therefore Haggai first of all spoke about JUSTIFICATION by faithful works, and secondly about JUSTIFICATION by faithful works again, ― and now, for a third time, once again about justification by faithful works ― by faith and by works of faith.

That is what we also read about in the book of James. “Show me your faith APART from your works, and I BY MY WORKS will show you my faith.” When we are busy with what we consider to be good works, works that will earn us God’s praise, but we do not do it with a believing heart, the works we are doing do not rub off onto us. The busy-ness of the church in rebuilding the temple was of no spiritual value. It is exactly the other way around that the lack of faith in the Lord and love for Him will rub off onto all of our busy-ness.

But now, what does this mean for us today? Let us, as an example, use the picture of a Christian carpenter. Ought this man of hammer and saw be saying, “Praise the Lord!” each time he belts a nail into timber? No! Yet, that is not as silly as it sounds. For that Christian carpenter should know that both the wood and the nail he is using are gifts of God and that the skill of the trade of carpentry is known only because the Holy Spirit instructs us, There is more to hammering a nail into timber than what you learn at technical school. And the carpenter who loves the Lord and who realises that this work is full of the Lord’s blessings, whereas he may not say, “Praise the Lord”, all the time, will still praise Him. And that is a matter of the heart, and that is then a faithful Christian work. All of life is service in the Kingdom of God ― all, or nothing! The Christian Carpenter is not a child of God because it may turn out to be the case that he is working on erecting a temple – a building dedicated to God, whether it be a church building or a hall or a house. Most certainly not! He is a child of God, and his work is pleasing to the Lord and blessed by the Lord, because in everything he does he knows that he is a son of God, by faith, to love to do the will of the Lord. “Thy will be done, Lord in heaven, as in heaven, so also in my life. May I do Thy will.”

Of course, we can each go ahead and apply these principles of Christian faith and work to every other profession as well. Nothing in the world makes any real sense or gives real satisfaction without the sure conviction that the Lord gives it sense and purpose; that it is also HIS work. Jesus died for our sins on the cross of Golgotha. Therefore we rejoice that we may call Him our Saviour and our Friend. But Jesus is also the Saviour from meaningless living; meaningless work, meaningless recreation. From drudgery! From sleeplessness.

When the Bible tells us that we must be holy, even as God Himself, this does not mean only that we ought to sin less. It has a much wider application. Holiness is an ALL OF LIFE holiness, both sinning less and h obeying more. And from time to time it is good to be reminded of the positive things which we can do to live a more holy life. Are we really doing the work which we suppose the Lord wants us to do? That is the first question to be answered, and, truly, it is not as difficult to answer as some try to make us believe. It could well be that, especially some of the younger members of the congregation, may have to consider whether or not the Lord calls them to prepare themselves for the Christian ministry – not because that is higher than other callings, but because it is as worthy as any other, and because there is a great need.

“But now,” writes Haggai, “consider from this day onward; before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord. . . I smote (punished) you, yet you did not come back to Me, declares the Lord.” Yet He is a God of abundant grace. Once again – for a third time within a few months – He sends the prophet Haggai to urge the church to be obedient, not for the sake of obedience, but for the sake of the great blessing which God is to them. Every nail hammered into timber, every page typed, each cup washed up, each school lesson learnt, has no meaning in itself, but has great meaning and brings great reward when we are engaged in them joyfully because we love the Lord.

‘Consider from this day onwards,” asks Haggai, “…from this day on I will bless you.’

So ends our short study on this tremendously important minor prophet. The work of Christ must come before our own work, for have we not confessed that HE ALONE is Lord? And, not our plans for ourselves, but His plans for us, whether great or small in our eyes, are to be our joy. And finally we learn again that only is our work and service worthwhile when we do it because we love the Lord. That love of the Lord will rub off onto everything which we do, and it will give us joy in our hearts and in our lives.

Amen.