Wrong Priorities

Raul Ries: Hey, God wants to bless you. But first of all, he wants you to be what? Repented. To get your priorities squared away. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then all these things will be added unto you. It's not what I give to God as much as what he gives to me. It's incredible.
Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today, Raul will urge us to take an honest look at our priorities and consider the place God has in our lives. If he's not central, then it's time to reset our hearts and establish new goals. Stay with us today for encouragement to pursue deeper communion with the Lord as we make more time for him and work to help build his kingdom. Here's Raul Ries with today's lesson.
Raul Ries: This morning, we're going to go to the Old Testament. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Haggai chapter 1. And this morning, we're coming back to that series that we're dealing with this morning on the principles not only of giving, but this is a pretty incredible chapter because in this chapter, the book of Haggai is going to teach us how some people have wrong priorities in their lives. Wrong priorities. I want to ask you a question this morning, and you don't have to answer me, but answer for yourself. What are your priorities in your own personal life today? What's important and what's not important? Because we can waste time, and at the same time, we are not going forward, but we're going backwards if we don't have our priorities right before God. Some people make the gym their priority. They want to look good. Nothing wrong with that. But when that becomes something that is really your whole life, then it is wrong. Or it could be business, or a relationship, or money, or power, or sex, alcohol, or whatever it may be in your life that is holding you back from the true priority that God has called us, which is the first and foremost priority that God has called each one of us to fulfill. And that is to seek ye first the kingdom of God. When we talk about our time with God, when we talk about our giving to God, or our reading with God, or coming to church, or whatever we do in our witnessing, whatever we do, God has to be first, no matter what. Going back into the Old Testament again in the book of Deuteronomy, when the people of God were coming out of Egypt and going through the wilderness and settling in the land of Canaan, God forewarned them and said, look, I know your hearts. God had called them to be witnesses and light to the Gentiles and for them to share the gospel with the Gentiles and get Israel through their pride and selfish desires of their own lives failed in giving the message to the Gentiles and to the heathens. And so God brought upon them captivity. You see, first of all, in 722 BC, as Israel had 12 tribes, the 12 tribes were actually divided by Jeroboam, the son of Solomon. And we had 10 of the north and two on the south. Now, what happened is those in the north, the 10 tribes, which we call the northern kingdom of Israel, they moved up over to tell Dan around the Sea of Galilee or the upper Galilee there in the mountains. And they began to actually worship the golden calves. They made two golden calves, and they began to worship them. And so God eventually giving the northern kingdom of Israel 160 years to repent. Finally, God was fed up. And what did he do? He stirred up the actual nation of Assyria, King Shalmaneser. And he actually brought his army over to the northern kingdom of Israel. And what they did is they came in to their city, and usually when the Assyrians would come, anybody would hear, they would literally commit suicide because the Assyrians were the worst people in the world. They were terrible. And the people of God were judged by them. In 722 BC, God took the northern kingdom of Israel and judged her and took her into captivity. Then on the other side, Judah was kicking back, doing whatever, watching her sister and hearing of all the idolatry and the idols that she worshiped and how the judgment of God came after God warned and warned the people of God, but they would not listen. So what God did is God began to stir up Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar. And King Nebuchadnezzar got stirred up, and God brought him over to Jerusalem where King Nebuchadnezzar made three sieges against the city of Jerusalem. And the first thing he did is he came and he began to take down the temple of God, the house of God which Solomon had built, one of the most beautiful houses ever built by Solomon. And it's incredible because as they took all these things, then they burned down the temple and they burned down the city of Jerusalem. Now, when they got over to Babylon, during this period of time, Daniel was born. And once they were there, Daniel in chapter 9 was reading the Bible just like we read at the scriptures in Hebrew. He had a scroll. He was reading the prophet Jeremiah, which Jeremiah had been dead for 40 some years. And as he was reading and praying and confessing his sin and the sin of the people, the angel came to him and said, hey, Daniel, you're really well beloved and well remembered in heaven, and I'm here to tell you that God is just about ready to let the people go back to their land. You've been here now 67 years. And in 3 years, you're going to go back. But not only is he going to show you this, he's also going to show you the end of the world. And in Daniel chapter 9, the 70 week of Daniel is given to Daniel, not only concerning past, present, and future, but he shows him not only the deliverance of the people of God, but also the judgment of God at the end of the world. What God would do with the Jews. And you know what's amazing is Daniel was standing there and God gave him the vision. All of a sudden, the people of God are actually let go from Babylon. But listen, most of the Jews didn't want to go back. They built houses in Babylon, they had businesses in Babylon, their children had been born in Babylon. So many of them, hundreds of them, millions of them stood and they stayed in Babylon, and only 55,000 returned to their own country. And that's where we find the book of Haggai now. And that's where we come into chapter 1 beginning with verse 1. Let's look at it and see how God will speak to us this morning. There are four admonitions here that are going to be given to us from the book of Haggai. The first admonition will be seen in chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. The second one will be seen in chapter 1 verses 5 through 6 and then jump over verse 7 and 8, verse 9 and 11. And then the third one will be seen in chapter 1 verse 7 and 8, and the fourth one in chapter 1 verses 12 through 15. Four great admonitions. Admonition number one is this. God first in my life. Look how he begins the study. Verse 1. In the second year of King Darius, in the 6th month of the first day of the month, September the 1st, 560 BC. Here we see now is God begins to speak first of all by the prophet, not to the people, but he begins with the leadership of the people. The leaders are the first ones that are spoken to. Look what he says. He says, the word of the Lord came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. The name Haggai means total literally in the Hebrew, the feast of God, festivity of God. The name Zerubbabel means begotten in Babylon. And the name Joshua means God is my personal salvation. So we have the prophet, we have the governor, and we have who else? The priest. God begins to speak to them because they themselves had become so involved in their own lives that they've forgotten about God. Totally forgotten that they had a priority, and that priority was to build God a house. Not that God needs a house to live in, but it's a place where God would meet the people and the people would come to hear the word of God, just like we do here. Why? Because our temple is not this building, our temple is the body what were godless in my body becomes the temple of the living God. And so God is asking the leaders, look, quit making excuses for yourself. How many times you and I whenever we are backsliding or we're not walking with God or we're walking with God, but we're compromising. And whenever we're found out or we make a mistake, how many times do you hear people make excuses instead of saying I was wrong? I did it willfully. But it seems that we always find some kind of an excuse to excuse us from sinning or doing what we've done. And that's what these people were doing. Look at verse 2 what he says. Thus speaks the Lord of hosts. This is God speaking now saying, these people, notice, the people and the leaders are saying, the time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. Hey, we don't have time for God right now. We're too busy. This is not the time to do it. Well, who were they to say that? They were nobody. God had commanded it. God had said, look, I'm going to send you back to your own country. And the first thing that I want you to do is I want you to place what? To build a place of worship. Go back and restore the city of Jerusalem and the temple. They got so sidetracked that they actually walk by the temple every day, but they would go out to their fields to sow and to reap their harvest. And then they would come home and eat and drink and party and forget all about God. And then their children were actually growing up without God. Then they have a good example in the home. And so God here is challenging them, rebuking them. Quit making excuses for yourself.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Our goal here is to help you walk faithfully in God's ways with insightful direction from his word. Visit us at somebodylovesyou.com for a wealth of resources including Raul's 10-part series called Chosen and Committed. It's available on CD or USB. Now, back to more with Raul Ries.
Raul Ries: Look at verse 3. Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, verse 4, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses in this temple to lie in ruins? Notice that their priority was self, not God. And God is challenging them and questioning them and saying, do you think it's more important for you to build these beautiful houses that you have, paneled houses, ordering the wood from Lebanon, and they come down by boat, and then you take them to Jerusalem, and you build these beautiful, beautiful houses, and yet look at my house. My house is in ruins. My house is more important than your houses, God says. Why? Because this is where people come to hear the truth of God. This is the place where your children get taught in Sunday school. This is the place where God will call some of your children to the mission field. Some of them to the pastorate, some of them will go on to business and to become great men and women and even housewives in time to come. But God will be first in their lives. That's what God declares. But then at this particular moment, it wasn't like that. People were buying and selling and not giving to God in the house of God like desolate, and they were just building their own kingdom and not really looking at the kingdom of God, which is the most important thing. You see? So God challenges them. And then check this out. This is pretty incredible. We're going to go to verse 5, 6, and then we're going to jump verse 7 and 8, and we're going to go 5, 6, 9 through 11. The second thing, believe God's promises. We need to believe God's promises. Verse 5. Another for thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies, consider your ways. Literally in the Hebrew, consider your actions. You see? It's so easy to say something, but if you don't follow up and be true to what you say, then you're a false professor. You're a hypocrite. What is he calling him to? God is calling them secondly and challenging them to a self-examination. Examine your life. Nobody else can examine you better than yourself. Look at your life. Look at your priorities. Look at your wife, look at your husband, look at your children. Look at your job. Look at every possession you have today. And consider the kingdom of God first. Look what he says. Verse 6. He says, you have sown much. I mean, you work day and night, you bring in little, you eat, but you don't have enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages earns wages, puts them into the bank, and the bank has holes. You see? These people were so caught up in themselves working, buying. How many times have you failed? You know, man, where does my money go? I don't have enough. Well, it's time to what? To take a self-examination of your life. What do you need to cut back on? What do you need to do to give to God? You cannot ever ever outgive God in any way that you ever thought you would. Sometimes you say, well, I don't have enough to give to God. Well, look what you have for yourself. But it's so neat when you put God first, then those holes that are actually in the bag begin to be closed and God began not only to multiply, but the blessings of God will come. Now, I don't have the attitude that if I give, God's going to give back to me. That's not the attitude. We shouldn't think like that. When I give, I expect nothing in return. I give out of obedience to God what God is calling to give. That's the nature of giving. You give to God because you love God, not because God needs it, but he's commanded it. And he's told me to be obedient to the word of God that when I give to him, I'm building the kingdom of God. I'm building eternally where there are no holes in heaven. God increases everything in heaven. That's the best bank in the world. These people were all into themselves. They were spending it on themselves, and God says the more you have, the more I'm going to take from you until you wake up. Verse 9. Go down to verse 9 now. Same context. You look for much, but indeed it came to little. And when you brought it home, check this out so you can see, I God blew it away. Why? Let me tell you why, saith the Lord of hosts, because of my house that is in ruins while every one of you he runs to his own house. You see? God's the one that took it away. Because they were so much into their own selves, their own buying clothes, buying this, buying that, getting this, getting that, and yet the house of God was neglected. They were not given to God. Verse 10. Therefore, the heaven above will will hold the dew from you and the earth with holds its fruit. I'm not going to water your land. Notice there's going to be drought. 11. For I call for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, and whatever the ground brings forth, men, livestock, on the labor of your hands, I will cease it. I will stop it. I will blow it away, saith the Lord God. If you do not repent, if you do not obey what I say, you're just going to get getting in the hole and deeper and deeper in the hole. Verse 7 and 8, the third point. Honor God's name. Honor God's name. Verse 7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, here it is again, consider your actions again, the second challenge. Consider your ways. Verse 8. Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, saith the Lord God. Hey, I want you to be obedient, obedient to my call. Stop neglecting my call. Stop doing what you're doing. Take an examination. Do what I say and then I will pour out blessings upon you. I will open the heavens, then I will pour blessings upon you where you can even receive everything that I give to you. That's the promise of God. God will bless you and he'll maintain you. Look at verse 12 through 15 now, the fourth point. Obey God's command. Obey his word. Verse 12. Notice now what he says. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the governor, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, notice, not everybody, the remnant of the people. What did they do? They repented and obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared in the presence of the Lord. You see what happened? Through obedience, it brought unity. It brought revival to the church. It brought revival to the community because God was being honored now. They turned around, they repented, and they started putting God first and doing what God said. Verse 13. Then Haggai the Lord's messenger spoke the Lord's message to the people saying, I am with you, saith the Lord God. Hey, look, I want to comfort you and I want you to know that my presence now is with you. And what happens here is the result of obedience. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people. And they came and they worked on the house of the Lord God of hosts, their God. Notice that. God allowed them to work together for the same purpose. And that is for the place of the house of God so that people could come to the house of God and worship. And from the house of God, people are sent out to the highways and the byways from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the world to give the gospel of Jesus Christ to people, to radio, to television, through satellite, through computers, through the internet. God has done so much and he's doing so much more. But God this morning, I believe is challenging each one of us individually. What are you going to do? Does it take 6 months, a year, 2 years to get right with God? No. Listen, verse 15. And on the 24th day of the 6th month in the second year of King Darius has happened, 23 days revival came. 23 days from the day the message was given in rebuke. And the challenge came. In 23 days, the people of God repented and began to give and began to build the house of God. And God blessed the people of God. Hey, God wants to bless you. But first of all, he wants you to be what? Repented. To get your priorities squared away. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then all these things will be added unto you. It's not what I give to God as much as what he gives to me. It's incredible. I am so blessed by the Lord. Just to have his presence is a blessing and to be able to speak his message is a blessing. And God today not only speaks to us, but God today waits for you to get it right with God.
Guest (Male): All of you feel you've allowed God and his kingdom building work to take a backseat in your life. It's not too late to repent and start fresh. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to hear today's lesson Wrong Priorities in its unedited form, we'll be happy to send a copy to you for a donation of $5 or more. Just call us at 800 634 9165. To further motivate you in pursuing more with the Lord and honoring him with heavenly-minded priorities, we'd like to offer you a resource titled Called, Chosen and Committed. It's available on CD and thumb drive challenging you to establish Christ as the center of your heart. This resource underscores the joy that comes from walking with him in faith and full surrender. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800 634 9165 to order Raul's 10 message study called Chosen and Committed. We'll send you the CD set for $22 or the flash drive for just 13. That's 800 634 9165 or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440 Diamond Bar, California 91765. Visit the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel for live-streamed Bible teaching as well as podcast of all of these programs. Straight talk with Raul also can be found on that channel every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. West Coast time. And if you'd like to share your Bible questions or prayer needs with Raul, you can email him at [email protected]. Your tax-deductible gifts enable us to keep sharing the good news of the gospel, and we appreciate your partnership. Next time as we continue this series focused on fully living for the Lord, we hope you'll join us. We'll see that it's important to count the cost before committing to Christ, understanding there's no halfway when we choose to follow him.
Raul Ries: This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.