the governor of Judah, to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, who is left among you who saw the temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? But now, take courage, declares the Lord. Take courage also, Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the peoples of the land. Take courage, declares the Lord. And work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts. As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, my spirit is hiding in your midst. My spirit is abiding in your midst. Do not fear. For thus says the Lord of hosts, once more, in a little while, I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and also the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and they will all come with their wealth of all the nations. And I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine. The gold is mine, declares the Lord of Hosts. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place, I will give peace, declares the Lord of Hosts. So what Haggai is doing here, he's painting a picture for us. He's telling a story. He's reminding us of a very familiar narrative, one that we're not that we are part of as well. This isn't just a story of the Jewish people. This is not just a story of a people who were enslaved in the land of Egypt. This is not just a story of a people who were taken captive and carted off to Babylon. This is not just a story of a people who were under Roman control. This is a people whose glory had been destroyed in front of them. It's a people who, for all other practical purposes, would have said their hope is dashed. They have nothing to live for. But here's the narrative of the Bible. God's people are naturally a hoping people. And here's the thing. You stop and think about those who place their hope. That tells you something, doesn't it? It could be that they're in a spot where they have no current hope. And so it is not out of bounds for when we read the Bible to hear the Word of God instructing a people to take heart, to take courage, to hope, to wait. And this is the biblical narrative. What the prophet does here is he reminds a people who have just returned from Babylon, and what have they found? They've found their city in ruin. And not only is their city in ruin, but their temple is destroyed. And God's word through the messenger is, take hope. Take courage. Be strengthened. Do not be dismayed today. So in every case of despair that humanity faces, we soon will hear God instructing His people to the very same, take courage. Now what Haggai is doing here is he's saying to the people, because they're about ready to rebuild their temple, and it appears through all financial reality, this is not going to be Solomon's temple they're going to rebuild. It's going to be smaller. It's not going to have as much splendor, not as much bling, not as much flashing lights. Flickering candles, but it will be a rebuilt temple. And so he's telling them it will. It will. It may not compare to the first, but one thing that he does say here is is in all reality this will be even greater than the first. And here's part of why that is the case, is because he's also prophesying about a coming Messiah. And this coming Messiah will do something in this rebuilt temple that he never did in Solomon's temple. And that is, this Messiah will walk in this temple. He'll worship in this temple. He'll speak in this temple. he will be with his people, physically. He's speaking about Jesus. Jesus will walk in this rebuilt temple that he did not do because his time of coming had not been fulfilled. So Haggai is giving them something to look forward to. Everything about this idea of rebuilding a smaller temple, it could have been like a wet blanket all over it, and they never would have built it because, ah, you know, it's just not going to be the same. But isn't that like us? You know, we think about nations come and go, don't they? And generations move along. And perhaps even as you're gathering with your family this year at Christmas, you're thinking, you know, perhaps someone has passed away. It'll never be the same. I used to think that. through the first couple of Christmases of not having my dad around. Well, this just won't be the same. I don't think I'll laugh as good. I don't think it'll be as joyful. But no, sometimes that is the case, though, isn't it, for a couple of years? And the lingering sorrow and the lingering missing of loved ones, it is true. It's not the same. but there is a hope. And so in that moment of despair, we can hear the prophet speaking even in our day. Take courage. And we know that when we hear that kind of language, it's because we're in a day where it's not like it always has been. There could be moments of disappointment and depression, sadness and gloom, but take courage today, dear friends. Now, it's ironic that in the day in which the people of God are coming back from Babylon, and they're seeing their city destroyed, and the builders are being encouraged, don't lose heart here, get it done, that the Lord reminds them, not of their most recent days in Babylon, He reminds them of their days in Egypt, whom none of these people lived in. This is the way the Bible crafts a narrative. It takes us to the oldest times of despair. And in it, He begins then to build our courage, build our joy, build our peace, building there our love. So this is always a temptation to lay down our building materials. the encouraging word from the prophet of don't be discouraged. Don't go laying down your building materials. Don't go laying down your hammers today. This is not that kind of day. A greater day is on us. A day of greater hope. A day of greater light. It's all still in front of us. Some of the irony here is that even this temple will be destroyed. So what would come to a people whose house of worship is perpetually in ruin? Well, the narrative of the Bible, again, is to get us to pick our heads up and fix our eyes on the glory of the King. The Almighty God, who is, as the Bible describes Him, the chief cornerstone that the builders rejected. That's Jesus the Christ. So the hope of humanity is not in a nation. It's not in a building. It's not in a name. A family name. The hope, the desire of nations as we've even sung in one of these Christmas carols, O come, O come, Emmanuel. Here's what the people of God must always do in the taking courage Putting our hope in the right place. Fixing it upon the King of glory. Immanuel. God with us. Like this rebuilt temple that Jesus would actually walk in. This would be one filled with greater glory. With greater peace. Because Immanuel is present. Now today, there's not even a temple that anyone can go and worship Him. But still, the sound of the prophet, the words of the prophet are still upon us. There's a couple of quick observations I make of it. In verse 2, the prophet says, speak now. There's a word that must be spoken, and it's a word that must be felt with urgency. Speak now. Don't speak when it's convenient. Don't speak whenever no one's around. Don't speak when there's no one to push against it. He says speak now. Speak today. It's a frame of words that describes an urgency. Hey, this day, just like in the day of Zerubbabel and the rebuilding of the temple, this is no day for silence, even though by all Statistical data, the most popular Christmas carol in all of the world, and we'll even sing it tonight, we'll speak of a silent night. And yet the instruction here is to speak now. Don't delay here. Speak now. Speak to your neighbors. Speak to your coworkers. Speak to your governors. Speak to your government. Speak to your church. Speak to the people. Speak now. What do we speak when we speak to them? Well, Haggai is really good. He tells us in verse 4, after he tells us to speak now, in verse 4 he says, but now take courage. And this is an utterance that's coming from the Lord three times here in verse 4. He will instruct us to take courage. Speak now. Speak to the government to take courage. Speak to the church to take courage. Speak to the family to take courage. This is the framework of verse 4. Speak to the governors. Speak to the priests. Speak to the people. And in each case, when he tells them, as he's speaking, following this speak now mandate, he's telling them, take courage. Take courage. Take courage. It's a common understanding in scriptural observations that whenever the Bible says one thing one time, it's worth paying attention to. It doesn't have to be said again for us to pay attention to it. When the Bible says something three times, it is a literary way of saying, in case you missed the other two times I told you this, take courage. Take courage. We live in a day where we have a government that needs to hear God's people speak, for her to take courage. We have a church, a day in which the church, where the church needs the voice of God to be spoken to her to take courage. And we're in a day where the family needs to hear the word of the Lord, and it should come to you as well, that you should take courage. We don't need a government who's unwilling to protect the innocent and who's disinterested in punishing the wicked. We must speak to this good government that God has given us and encourage them to take courage and do what God has ordained them to do. We don't need a church who's any longer disqualified from being the pillar and the buttress of truth. This is how the Apostle Paul would instruct the young preachers of his day, that they, the pastors of the church, and that the churches themselves are the pillar and the buttress of truth. When you understand this church, you would understand that whenever the Word of God tells you to speak now, it's because now is the time that the world needs to hear from the church. Because she is, by the order of God's order In all institutions, the church is the pillar and the buttress of this truth. Speak now. Take courage. We cannot afford a day where families have lost their identity in Christ. Can I just speak to you tonight as families, as households, as individuals, as the people? You should take courage. None of these other institutions can exist without the family. None of them will survive. None of them will flourish. None of them will have any lasting day if not for the family that God has given to you. God is, in the way of His ordering of all things, it doesn't start with the government. It doesn't start with the church. It starts with you, the family. So speak now, so I come tonight to speak to the family, to take courage. Just as in the days when the shepherds heard the angels speak to them, good news, I have good news. You know this good news, for God is with us. In the fifth verse, we see that he speaks of a promise which he made to them when they came out of Egypt. So keeping in mind here again, their most recent distress was not Egypt. Their most recent distress was Babylon. It's not that he's ignoring Babylon, but it's essentially a way of saying, listen, this is the common problem that all of God's people have had from all of world history, even dating before Egypt. This would even be the distress from the garden. when Adam and Eve first sinned against the Almighty God. God does come, and what does He do? He speaks to them. He does bring judgment upon them, and then He gives them a good word to hope in. Essentially, you can hear God telling Adam and Eve while He's cursing the serpent, take courage, for the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Take courage. So while they're most recently coming home from Babylon, it is really the narrative of all of humanity. This word comes with a triune language as well in verse 5. We see this word speaking of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Speaking of Yahweh, the Word, the Promise. And then, of course, there is the Spirit of God that is with you. God's essentially saying, like I've done before, like I did whenever I came down and my foot touched Mount Sinai, the heavens shook, the earth shook, the sea and the dry land. A day is coming when the earth and the heavens and the sky and the oceans will shake again. And that was language pointing us to the Messiah. God essentially promising that He will shake the nations. From the nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ to His ascension, He is essentially shaking all things that God has created. This shaking is a type of ongoing shaking And it is a future shaking that is still to come. What happens when we pass through these minor prophets is that we're aimed at something that is soon to happen. And they're standing as pictures of something that will come even further down the road and will be even more certain than this. This shaking will result in the desire of nations as we've sung this evening. This is a result of God filling His house with glory. This is a shaking that results in governments who must do more than just treat the Prince of Peace as some kind of a common human government. For the Scripture says, the government shall be upon His shoulders. The result of this kind of shaking upon the church This is no small shaking where the King of glory comes and resides among His people. He's worshiped. The place, the house, the gatherings of the saints of God. This is no small thing to just casually put into our calendars in a busy schedule. No, the church must make certain that there is no small event happens on the Lord's day. For Christ has come to shake the nations. He's come to shake the nations, so where are the people of God? On any given Sunday, those who make claim to be the sons of God, they've entangled in nearly anything that will come along their way while missing the moment where the King of glory is shaking the nations. Families, as I conclude here, we must not replace your affections of temporal entertainments that should be and must be fixed upon the eternal Creator. For the church depends on you. For the nation depends on you. God will shake the nations again. This isn't a matter of will He ever do it? Could He ever do it? No, this is a certainty that God will shake the nations again. The desire of nations should be upon the Father. The desire of churches should be upon Christ. And the desire of families should be upon the Holy Spirit. that God has given to us that we would know who God is and that we would worship Him. I conclude with a hymn. It was originally a poem by Isaac Watts. It is entitled, How Sweet and Awful Is This Place? Now in our modern English, that word awful, that's the word I use when I describe broccoli. But if I'm going to use it in its proper use, it is like, well, that's awesome. Full of awe. Awful. Full of awe. So I don't ever use that word with broccoli. But this is how sweet and full of awe is the place of God. This is what Isaac Watts penned in 1707 in relationship to this very thought. How sweet and awful is the place. with Christ within the doors, while everlasting love displays the choicest of her stores. While all our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast, each of us cries with thankful tongues, Lord, why was I a guest? Why was I made to hear Thy voice and enter while there's room? when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come to You. T'was the same love that spread the feast that sweetly drew us in. Else we have still refused to taste and perished in our sin. Pity the nations, O our God. Constrain the earth to come. Send Thy victorious Word abroad and bring the strangers home. We long to see Thy churches full, and all the chosen race may, with one voice in heart and soul, sing of Thy redeeming grace. So Heavenly Father, we thank You. We thank You for the occasion to be refocused, to be purposeful, to be together in the same place, in the same hour, on the same day. And there again, as we even began this evening, the acknowledgement that this type of gathering is happening and has been happening all over the world. Oh God, come. and shake the nations again. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Was it a day like this that day? It must have been so strange what they would see A day like this that they would come to replace Where history would unveil and they would look on his face But they would come soon, for they know what to do The shepherds came to see Was it a day like this when she sang her mellow words? See Svaneva. Sleep. Sleep. Silent night, holy night. Son of God, love's pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face With the dawn of redeeming grace Jesus, Lord at Thy birth Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.