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August, 2020 |
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Preached by Dr. Gene Scott on March 2, 1986 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Haggai 1:4-5 WE READ IN EZRA 5, “THEN THE PROPHETS, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of God of Israel, even unto them.” God had stirred up His people using a heathen king named Cyrus. Cyrus issued a decree allowing God’s people who were living in captivity to return to Jerusalem. About 50,000 people responded. They uprooted themselves and marched four months across the desert to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city of promise that had fallen into waste. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah, and Joshua was the high priest. Ezra, the scribe, recorded the events and functioned in the role of pastoral leadership. Nehemiah finished the work by rebuilding the wall and the gates of the city. The prophets during this time were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Malachi came along during the latter period of Nehemiah’s work. If you read the books of the Bible in order, you might get confused because they are not arranged in their proper chronological sequence. It is important to read Ezra and Nehemiah in conjunction with Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. When God’s people returned to Jerusalem to rebuild, they started off with enthusiasm; but they lost their passion for the work and stopped working for a time. I would call this a “blah” period. It is part of a natural pattern that can happen whenever you do a work for God. At first, it is hard to get started. Then the effort it takes to get started creates a momentum that keeps things going for a while. Then you will confront opposition that Satan has marshaled, and many works for God collapse right at that point. When you figure out what is going on, you can rise up in faith and resist the devil. That renewed energy will carry you for a time, until you get to the final stretch. And the last push to the finish line is always difficult. In the Bible, you not only learn about the ways of God, you learn about the ways of the devil. Satan is rather smart and anyone who underestimates him is crazy. But he is also rather stupid in certain ways: he keeps using the same methods over and over again. He is so smart that you would think he would do things differently. We don’t have to be ignorant of Satan’s ways when we do God’s work today, because we have been given many clues in the Bible. God’s people came back to Jerusalem full of enthusiasm, and the first thing they did was build an altar and give offerings. When they laid the foundation of the temple, some of the oldest men among them wept when they remembered the days of Solomon’s temple. The people had a revival meeting and got so worked up that anyone listening could not tell whether they were weeping or laughing with joy. Then the opposition came while they were rejoicing. Satan realized he had lost a part of the battle, so he launched his attacks and the people of God stopped working for fifteen years. Then God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to awaken the people and help them put God’s work into its proper perspective. In Ezra 6, we read that the people finally finished building the house of God and had a great dedication ceremony. In that same chapter, God credits the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah as being among the causal forces that enabled the people to build and prosper. God gives the prophets equal credit along with the leaders and the workmen. God has always used these methods to get His people over a “blah” period. God wants faithfulness, not perfect behavior. As a pastor, I don’t care if people in my congregation smoke or don’t smoke. I don’t police the morality of my congregation. But I care when I see enthusiasm for God’s work start to wane. There are times when we are faced with a mountain to climb that looks ten times bigger than when we first envisioned it. At such times, the devil knows how to discourage us, and some of us have become tired. In Ezra’s day, when the opposition came, God’s people stopped working. The same thing can happen in any church. When people hear about a new opportunity to help spread the gospel, they might at first respond with romantic notions but then they are stopped short by reality. This is easy to understand. In a moment of excitement, people will make a commitment to help and to give, but their enthusiasm wanes when they are faced with the price tag of their commitment. Some people will make a financial pledge that is over and above their regular giving. They trust that God will help them and provide them with the means to pay it, but they expect Him to miraculously provide it right away. If I may use a ludicrous illustration, some people are sure they will come home from church and learn that a relative they had never heard of has died and left them a large inheritance. And when that doesn’t happen, they get discouraged. The devil is smart enough to take advantage of that kind of discouragement and will try to stop God’s work right there. At such times, God has always moved His people by what Paul calls the “foolishness of preaching.” This preaching is nothing other than the pouring forth of God’s word of truth, which reaffirms the basis of the life of faith. The psalmist said, For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” When God says something, your choice in life is to act on His word and defy the circumstances or to wait for Him to act and let the circumstances rule you. Some people think, “I’ll have faith after God does what He says.” That is not faith. God’s word is the only thing that pushes us through those times when we would otherwise bog down or despair. This is so simple that no one really believes it. Paul said in Ephesians that we are to put on the whole armor of God, and the only offensive weapon is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” That is why the prophets were so important: they could remind God’s people in the midst of their “blah” times, “Thus saith the Lord . . .” The Hebrew word for “prophet” comes from a root word that means “to bubble up” or “boiling over and pouring forth.” Therefore, a prophet is one who pours forth God’s word. God’s people would never have made it without the preaching of the prophets. Therefore, we probably would not make it without a preacher preaching God’s word to us today. So, I will let Haggai preach to us today, and here is the sermon: “In the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet . . . saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” Haggai was at least eighty years old, which would make him one of the few who could remember Solomon’s temple. Haggai would also have been present in the revival recorded in Ezra 3, when the people rejoiced when the foundation of the rebuilt temple was laid. Haggai had watched for fifteen years as the people let Satan’s opposition stop them dead. Then he analyzed their behavior and began to counter their arguments. God speaking through him said, “This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” I often complain that God does not have any sense of timing, at least from my point of view. We are sometimes like children talking about their father. We say, “I don’t understand the Old Man!” God lives up in eternity, where there is no time. In eternity, you don’t have to wear a watch or carry a calendar. Time doesn’t mean a thing in heaven. God is somewhere up there in the fog while I have to live down here in time. And then God suddenly gets some crazy urge and jumps down into time, and He never even pays attention to what has gone on before! I cry out, “I wasn’t ready for this!” Am I the only one who feels this way? Have you ever cried out to God, saying, “I wasn’t ready for this!” I am 56 years old and God has never been on time even once in my lifetime! Every time He asked me to do something, He was either too late or too early. Haggai’s counterargument is, “Is it time for you O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?” This is the principle I want to teach today. “Our times” are like “our ways.” Our times are not God’s times, just as our ways are not God’s ways. It is so easy to have two sets of gears in our heads: we make our personal concerns our top priority, but somehow it is never time to put God’s concerns first. We don’t need a supernatural sign to tell us to do certain things. We don’t really need an angel to come and tell us, “A new car is on sale. Now is the time to buy that automobile.” The time to buy it is when there is a bargain. For some people, it might be buying a home. They might scrimp and save and then when a deal comes on the market, they buy it and move in. You don’t need an angel to tell you to do those kinds of things. Most people would say, “If I don’t do this now, the opportunity will be gone.” And they act on the opportunity. That is what Haggai is saying. I know some people who are so busy that they constantly rush around and almost get angry at themselves when they have to take the time to eat or use the bathroom. But if a storm comes and floods their house, they take the time to clean the mud out of their house. They would never say, “These mudslides came at the wrong time! I have other things to do, so I’ll just sleep and eat in the mud.” You don’t need an angel to tell you to clean the mud out of your house. You would never think of saying, “God, my house is full of mud. Is it Thy will to clean it?” Some people are so “spiritual” they act like God must speak to them and tell them which brand of bread to buy at the grocery store. But even people like that will quickly go into action when an emergency comes. At times like that, they somehow seem to know the will of the Lord: they get a shovel and clean out the mess. But not when it comes to the house of the Lord. They say things like, “When the Spirit moves me, I’ll get involved in it.” You are already in it, friend. You are the house of God, and God has brought us to the kingdom for this hour to take the gospel to the world. For the life of me, I still cannot figure out how some people can rationalize exempting themselves while leaving the rest of us to clean the mud out, figuratively speaking. God is in charge! And what appears to be no sense of time is the sensibility of Someone who knows time ahead of time. We are talking about God’s timing! You don’t need an angel to tell you to avoid driving into a rockslide. Neither do you have to be “spiritual” to recognize the hard, cold fact that God is leading us into new opportunities for faith. All we have to do to win the victory is put God first and ourselves second. It is as simple as that, so stop being so super spiritual about it! “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.” In other words, pause for a moment and focus all your attention on your ways. That is a remarkable statement, because the Bible is supposed to reveal God’s ways. But here the Bible is saying, “Stop and analyze your ways.” There is someone who sits on the sidelines and says, “Well, I have analyzed my ways. In fact, that’s why I don’t support God’s work. I have analyzed my ways and have come to the conclusion that I don’t have anything to give! I’m broke!” And the devil sits on their shoulder and quotes Scripture, saying, “it is better to never make a vow than to make one and break it.” The devil knows how to quote Scripture. He even dared to say to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread! Didn’t God say He will give His angels charge over You?” But God through the prophet says to us today, “Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” I think that is a statement everyone can relate to. Have you been bringing in little and putting it into holey bags? Life with little and with holey bags is a bad way to live, friend. Someone says, “How in God’s name can I give anything, when all I bring home is little and it goes into holey bags? Thank God at least there is something ‘holy’ about me!” “Consider your ways.” God will separate those whom He has truly prepared for His work from those who just go along for the ride. Don’t tell Him your lament, “Oh, my little and my holey bags!” Hear the word of the Lord through His prophet: “Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it.” Do you want the circumstances to change? Or do you like the fact that the little you bring in is always blown away? Don’t misunderstand me. I am not teaching that you should give to God in order to get something in return. I am talking about priorities. Most people never do anything for God because they sit there lamenting, “I look for much and all I get is little. I bring home little and God blows on it. Thank God this day is over! I can go out tomorrow and get some more ‘little’ so God can blow on it tomorrow night. I can’t afford to give. You just don’t understand. I have little enough at the outset, and when God gets done, it’s blown away!” God says, “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.” Why would God do that? Does He have nothing else to do? “Why? Saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” You might say, “But I’m not to blame for the condition of God’s house today.” The people in Haggai’s day were not to blame either. They were not the ones who caused the temple to fall into ruin. They were not even alive when God punished the sins of their fathers by sending them into bondage. But that didn’t matter. They were confronted with the fact that God’s house lay waste. They were not there by accident, because God’s word says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.” The simple facts are these: God’s house was in disrepair and they were the ones chosen to build it up; but all they could say was, “Oh, but I only have little, and it’s blown away every night.” God through the prophet goes on to say, “Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.” God’s people were in such a state that it seemed they couldn’t do anything right. I often tell the story of a man who prayed night after night for God to help him win the lottery. “Oh, God,” he cried, “help me win the lottery!” After a few weeks of that, God said, “Give Me a break, man. God buy a ticket!” I have preached God’s word around the world and watched Him work for many years. God’s word, when it produces faith, will do more for you than anything you can do for God. It is honorable to say, “My own house can wait. I don’t need an angel to talk to me; I don’t need to see shimmering lights or receive some miraculous sign. God’s house lies waste. I have been brought to the kingdom for this hour and if I die in the effort, I am going to find out if God’s word it true; because if it is not true, I don’t want to be involved in His work at all.” God’s word is very practical, which is why this may not be an exciting message for some people. Consider your ways. You look for much and it comes to little, and what little you get goes into bags with holes in them. Expect opposition. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from people who, as soon as they made a commitment to serve the Lord, had all hell break loose in their lives. I hear people say things like, “I had a car wreck! My roof collapsed the next day! My wife is in the hospital, and I just lost my job!” God will enter into those circumstances. He has something in mind for you. He will even use those calamities to work His good, and He will enable you to keep your commitments to Him. You might say, “I never saw it that way.” To which I would reply, “Then you have hampered God and slowed down the process of what He wants to do in your life.” God wants you to trust Him! You might think that this hasn’t been a very uplifting message. That’s true, if you want to keep putting your little into holey bags. This message was not intended to be uplifting. People sometimes ask me to pray for their finances. I would never pray for the finances of someone who will not put God first. I wouldn’t want to oppose God. God said to a rebellious people in Malachi 3, “You have robbed Me in tithes and offerings.” Those who don’t give are under a curse. This should be an encouraging message to people who have the capacity to respond. There are times when you must simply grab hold of God’s promises and say, “I’ve made a commitment to God and I will see it through.” It is a law of the Spirit: when you put God first, He looks out for you and yours. Reprinted with permission from Pastor Melissa Scott   Robert Heffernan
Born: July 4, 1948
Promoted: July 22, 2020
It is with both sadness and joy that we announce the passing of our dear brother Robert Heffernan. Robert, who was 72 years of age, died from the Covid 19 virus on July 22, 2020 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Billie met Robert in 1998, and for 22 years he has been a part of our ministry. He entered prison in 1981 with a sentence of Life without parole. His chances of ever being released were slim to none, and even though he never gave up hope he often said that he would be free when God took him Home. Robert suffered from various health problems and so when he contracted the virus it was too much for him to overcome. It all happened suddenly and he was only in the hospital for three days. He said that he had no family on the outside. He always considered us as his family and he wanted to come to the mountain after his death. So his cremated remains will be buried in our little Pine forest here. His devotion to Wingspread and his firm belief in God supported him in his struggle and ultimately gave him peace. Robert is with the Lord now and has been totally healed. | December, 2020 Wingspread | November, 2020 Wingspread | October, 2020 Wingspread | September, 2020 Wingspread | August, 2020 Wingspread | July, 2020 Wingspread | June, 2020 Wingspread | May, 2020 Wingspread | April, 2020 Wingspread | March, 2020 Wingspread | February, 2020 Wingspread | January, 2020 Wingspread | | Year 2019 Wingspreads | August, 2016 Wingspread | 2016 Wingspreads | 2014 Wingspreads | 2013 Wingspreads | 2012 Wingspreads | 2011 Wingspreads | 2010 Wingspreads | 2009 Wingspreads | 2008 Wingspreads | 2007 Wingspreads | 2006 Wingspreads | 2005 Wingspreads | 2004 Wingspreads | 2003 Wingspreads | 2002 Wingspreads | 2001 Wingspreads | August, 2001 Wingspread | November, 2001 Wingspread | December, 2001 Wingspread | 2000 Wingspreads | 1999 Wingspreads | 2015 Wingspreads | Year 2017 Wingspreads | 2018 Wingspreads | Year 2020 Wingspreads | Year 2021 Wingspreads | Year 2022 Wingspreads | Year 2023 Wingspreads | | Return Home | Current Wingspread | Wingspread Archives | Contact Us | |
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