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[0:00] Amen. Turn your Bibles to Haggai chapter 2. Toward the end of your Old Testament, a little book with just two chapters.

[0:14] I'm going to read from Haggai 2 verse 10 to the end of the chapter. Let's hear God's Word. On the 24th day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai.

[0:33] This is what the Lord Almighty says. Ask the priest what the law says. If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil, or other food, does it become consecrated?

[0:56] The priest answered, no. Then Haggai said, If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?

[1:10] Yes, the priest replied, it becomes defiled. Then Haggai said, So it is with this people and this nation in my sight, declares the Lord.

[1:27] Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled. Now, give careful thought to this from this day on.

[1:41] Consider how these things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord's temple. When anyone came to a heap of 20 measures, there were only 10.

[1:55] When anyone went to a wine vat to draw 50 measures, there were only 20. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew, and hail.

[2:10] Yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. From this day on, from this 24th day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid.

[2:28] Give careful thought. Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.

[2:45] From this day on, I will bless you. The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the 24th day of the month.

[2:57] Tell Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, that I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of foreign kingdoms.

[3:10] I will overthrow chariots and their drivers. Horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother. On that day, declares the Lord Almighty, I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord Almighty.

[3:40] There are some responsibilities in life that we should not put off. One of those responsibilities is to craft a will.

[3:53] Casey and I recently prepared our wills together, and in doing that, we realized it's actually a little bit easier than we thought. We didn't have to leave our home to do it.

[4:05] You can hop online, and you can put together your will. Now in doing that, there was one last step. You have to get your will notarized. So we do have to leave home.

[4:17] We haven't gotten our will notarized yet. But a will that is notarized is really important. Because if you don't have it notarized, it looks good. It looks official.

[4:29] But it's not official yet. Your will is a good-looking document, but nobody really needs to pay attention to it if it hasn't been notarized.

[4:40] Because a notarized will is one where it's got a stamp of approval on it. A stamp that says, this will is the real deal.

[4:51] And so whatever it says needs to be done. And my stamp proves it. My stamp demonstrates this will is authentic. So we need to listen to it.

[5:03] Kings in biblical times had stamps as well. They had stamps that proved decrees were authentic. They had stamps that said, this is my name, and so this decree is mine.

[5:19] Do what it says. Because your king has put his name on it with his royal jewels. Remember the book of Esther? The king in the book of Esther, he had royal jewels.

[5:33] He had a signet ring. And he gave this ring, this signet ring, he gave to Esther's uncle, Mordecai. And he told Mordecai, you can write any decree and you can put my stamp on it.

[5:48] What decree you choose to write, stamp it with my signet ring. And so that says, that demonstrates the decree was ultimately from the king. It couldn't be revoked.

[6:00] You had to listen to it. It was approved by the king. It was stamped with the king's impression upon it. Stamped with his signet ring.

[6:11] We're going to see another king with his signet ring this morning. The king of kings, the lord of hosts. He has a signet ring.

[6:23] He wears the royal jewels. And he's ready to stamp his royal approval. He's ready to set his impression upon the world.

[6:33] He's ready to make his royal authority known. The lord of hosts. He is king. And so this morning, we want to consider our king.

[6:44] We want to enter into the heavenly courtroom together. We want to marvel at his beauty. We want to worship him as the psalmist says, who is clothed with splendor and majesty, covering himself with light as with a garment.

[7:02] We want to say with the psalmist, who is this king of glory? The lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. So to do that, we want to consider three majestic truths about our king this morning.

[7:19] Three majestic truths that are found right here in the book of Haggai. So here's the first one. Our king is holy and willing to accept only what is clean.

[7:35] Our king is holy and willing to accept only what is clean. Let's read verses 10 through 17 one more time.

[7:47] On the fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet. Thus says the lord of hosts, ask the priests about the law.

[7:58] If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy? The priest answered and said, no.

[8:12] Then Haggai said, if someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean? The priest answered and said, it does become unclean.

[8:24] Then Haggai answered and said, so is it with this people and with this nation before me, declares the lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean.

[8:37] Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten.

[8:48] When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. I struck you in all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the lord.

[9:02] Some of you kids, some of you teenagers, started back to school this week. How would you like it if you had gotten a pop quiz on the first week of school?

[9:13] Are pop quizzes even a thing anymore? I don't even remember having actual pop quizzes. I remember the threat of it, but I don't remember a pop quiz. Well, the lord comes and gives a pop quiz to the priests.

[9:26] And here, at the very beginning of Haggai's third sermon, this is the pop quiz that he gives. He tests their knowledge on the purification laws.

[9:39] That sounds fun, kids, doesn't it? These were the laws that God had laid out in great detail in the book of Leviticus. They were laws about what is holy and what is not, about what is unclean and what is clean.

[9:56] God drew clear distinctions between these realities. And so the state of being unclean is tied to sin. The reality of sin has resulted in the reality of uncleanness.

[10:12] Now, we need to be clear about this. Sometimes you were unclean under the Old Testament law without directly sinning.

[10:23] You were unclean because you had come into contact with the effects of sin. So disease or death or blemishes, imperfections, these were all effects of sin.

[10:36] And they resulted in you being unclean. So sometimes you were unclean even if you didn't directly sin. But always you were unclean if you did directly sin.

[10:51] Sin results and being unclean. And so these purification laws were very, very important. The priests needed to know these laws. They needed to be ready for a pop quiz at any moment.

[11:06] Because whether directly sinning or by coming into contact with the effects of sin, our uncleanness needs to be dealt with. And here's why.

[11:17] Because God is holy. Our King is holy. He is perfectly pure. He is undefiled.

[11:29] He is unblemished. He is unstained by sin. He's set apart. He's distinct. So anything and everything that enters into His heavenly presence must be clean.

[11:50] Psalm 24 asks the question, Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? Who can?

[12:01] Here's the answer. He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Who does not lift up His soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

[12:13] So everything that enters into God's presence must be clean. That's why over and over again in the book of Leviticus God says to His people, Be holy as I am holy.

[12:27] He's set apart from all that is tainted by sin. And He calls His people to be set apart as well. And so to be set apart, to be holy, the people would need to be cleansed.

[12:38] You can't be holy if you are unclean. So again, these purification laws are really, really important. The priests are put to the test. So here's what the first question deals with.

[12:51] The first question deals with, Can holiness be indirectly transferred? Can something that has come into contact with what is holy?

[13:02] Then pass on that holiness to other things. The meat is holy. It touches the fold of your garment. Now can the fold of your garment pass that holiness along to other things?

[13:17] The priests answer correctly. The answer is no. That holy meat talked about in verse 12, it transfers its holiness once, but then the holiness doesn't keep getting transferred.

[13:30] Holiness doesn't rub off to the third degree. Now what about that which is unholy or that which is unclean? Does something that is unclean rub off to the same degree?

[13:46] That's the second, and that is the more pressing question that the priests are asked. If holiness can't be passed on indirectly, can defilement be passed on indirectly?

[14:00] And the answer to the second question is yes, it can be. Now Haggai puts forward another example to the priests. If you touch a dead body, you are ceremonially unclean.

[14:13] That dead body is unclean, and now you are too. And you can pass on that unclean state as well. Whatever you touch becomes unclean.

[14:29] Holiness can only be passed directly, but unholiness, what is unclean, can continue to be passed. And so you might be wondering, what's the point? Why is this important?

[14:42] Well, uncleanness is more contagious than cleanness. Leanness. Kids, here's a helpful illustration. If you get sick, maybe you have a cough or your nose is runny, is it a good idea to sneeze on your sibling?

[15:00] No, of course not. We need to cover our mouths because we can pass on our sickness to those that we love. But if you're feeling well, you're feeling really good, can you pass on your health to your siblings as much as you want to?

[15:17] No, you can't. And that illustrates how purification laws work in God's ordering of this world. What is unclean is passed on.

[15:29] What is unclean is transferred to a greater degree. So the priests, they've answered both questions correctly. And they might have been thinking to themselves, awesome, we passed the pop quiz.

[15:40] But why is he asking us these questions? What's the point to the purification laws? Why is he asking us whether holiness or unholiness can be passed on to whatever degree?

[15:54] And so the priests might have been thinking, not only was this a pop quiz, but this feels like a pop quiz with some trick questions. There's a point that God is leading to.

[16:05] There's a point that he's bringing them to. And so what does God say? So it is with this people and with the nation before me and so with every work of their hands and what they offer there is unclean.

[16:24] God said, Israel, you are unclean. You are unclean. And because your defilement is contagious, everything that you offer to me is unclean.

[16:38] that's a problem. That's a problem because our great God, our King, is holy.

[16:49] And because our King is holy, nothing unclean is accepted in his sight. God is saying, Israel, you are unclean.

[17:00] You are unclean because of your sin. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 6 in your Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 6 were presented with this vision from Isaiah and it is a great visual for us of the reality that we're seeing here in Haggai.

[17:20] Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6 will begin reading in verse 1 and pay attention to the setting.

[17:37] Pay attention to the setting here. Isaiah 6 beginning in verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple.

[17:53] Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings. With two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew. And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

[18:06] The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke. So like our passage in Haggai, here we see some really important realities.

[18:22] One, God is king. God is king and he is in his temple. And this God who is king is holy. Holy, holy, holy.

[18:34] The angels are crying out before the Lord. Now starting in verse 5 here we see Isaiah's response to being in the presence of this holy king.

[18:44] And I said, Woe is me for I am lost for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts.

[18:59] Just like Isaiah or just like Haggai the Lord of hosts. Isaiah recognizes that's who I stand before and I'm unclean. And I dwell in the midst of a people who are unclean.

[19:14] So Isaiah is hopeless. Isaiah is sure that he will be destroyed. Why? Is it just because he's been around the effects of sin?

[19:27] Is it just because he's unclean to the degree that he has come into contact with a dead body? Let's read on. Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar and he touched my mouth and said behold this has touched your lips your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.

[19:51] Isaiah was unclean. Israel was unclean. Not just because they had come into contact with the effects of sin but because of their sin. What did the angel say?

[20:03] Your guilt has been atoned for. Your guilt has been taken away. Your sin has been atoned for. His sin had made him unclean.

[20:16] So God is making the same point in Haggai. Israel you are unclean not because you touched a dead body not because you developed a skin condition not because you came into contact with the effects of sin.

[20:30] Israel you are unclean because of your sin. Because of your direct disobedience. We remember from chapter 1 the people were busying themselves with their houses all the while the Lord said my temple it's in ruins.

[20:48] Their sin had impacted their relationship with God. And God says the work of your hands is unclean. What you offer to me as a sacrifice what you bring to me I don't want that.

[21:04] Though you think that your outward show is an act of obedience it's not. Because of your sinful hearts I take no pleasure in your sacrifices.

[21:17] The people here they're an example to us. People of Israel they're an example. We can be tempted to bring our offerings you might say on a Sunday morning and yet we live far from God with our lives.

[21:33] Look at the people here in Haggai. look at the people of Israel learn from them. They have been selfishly building their houses while still offering up sacrifices to the Lord and saying this will make do right?

[21:48] This is okay. It's interesting how well the priests knew the law but didn't seem to be having any problems with the fact that the people are grievously sinning and then just pretending everything's okay when they bring their sacrifices.

[22:02] So God looked very intently upon their sin and he said your works unclean. What you offer here unclean.

[22:15] And we saw the consequences back in chapter one didn't we? God spells them out for us here again in chapter two. You come to something expecting abundance, expecting much, a great harvest and there's very little.

[22:30] God says that's my discipline. They suffered under his hands. Their sin impacted their relationship to the Lord. God takes note of our lives just as he did the lives of the people of Israel.

[22:47] Our sin impacts our relationship with our king. And so daily we must be dealing with our sin. How do we do that? Thankfully God gives us his word.

[22:59] What does 1 John chapter one say? If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[23:12] So our king is holy and he accepts only what is clean. And in his grace he continually cleanses his people of their sins just like we see in Haggai.

[23:25] So that's the first majestic truth that we must consider about our king. Here is the second. If you're still in Isaiah, pop back to Haggai chapter two.

[23:38] The second truth. Our king is generous and ready to bless his obedient people. Our king is generous and ready to bless his obedient people.

[23:52] Verses 18 and 19. Consider from this day onward from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid.

[24:03] Consider is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.

[24:16] There's that word again. Consider. Consider. God said it many times in chapter 1. Consider your ways. Consider how you are living.

[24:29] Now God says here don't consider what you're doing. Consider what I'm going to do. Consider how I am going to bless you. Now why was God going to do this for Israel in Haggai's day?

[24:44] Why was he going to bless them? Because they had listened to his word and they had obeyed from the heart. God had graciously brought repentance in the people.

[24:57] God had graciously opened their eyes to see and to turn in obedience. Now when did this happen? When do we see this happen? Verse 18 tells us.

[25:10] Verse 18 says, since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. From that point in time God says, I'm going to bless you.

[25:21] Now that might be a little bit confusing for us if we are thinking very mathematically here. Because Israel had laid the temple foundation 16 years earlier. That act of obedience 16 years ago, it was followed by lots of disobedience.

[25:38] It warranted these four sermons that we have in Haggai's book. Their disobedience had led God to say, you need to turn from your ways. So why is God referencing what happened 16 years ago and saying, from this point on, I'm going to bless you?

[25:53] Well, perhaps what we see happening here is that there had been a second sort of groundbreaking ceremony for the work that was now restarting in Haggai's day.

[26:05] And so that's what Haggai has in mind here when he says, since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. So even though the foundation that was laid 16 years prior, even though that had been in ruins, now the work was started.

[26:22] What had stalled out, starting over again. And so this second groundbreaking ceremony, it's the starting point here for the people's obedience. And it's the starting point for God's blessing to come as well.

[26:37] But the Israelites would have to wait. Because God asked them the question, is the seed yet in the barn? And the Israelites would have looked in the barn and said, no, there's no seed left, we planted it all, and now we're waiting for our crops.

[26:55] So they looked in the barn, there's no seed. And they look out at the fields, they look at the trees, they look at the olive trees, and they say, and there's no yield there either.

[27:08] So there's no seed in the barn, and we're still waiting for the produce. the Israelites have been in this position before. Back in chapter 1, when God had brought his discipline, the Israelites had waited for their harvest, and when the harvest finally came, the Lord said, you sowed much, but you harvested little.

[27:31] That's my discipline. So the people would have been thinking, is that going to happen again? there's no seed in the barn, none of these trees have yielded their produce, are we going to receive the Lord's hand of discipline again?

[27:49] And here God is reassuring them, and God is saying, no, you're going to receive blessing. What's the difference? They're no longer building their own houses, running to their houses, they're running to the Lord's house, and they're getting to work in obedience.

[28:06] And God says, I'm going to bless you. I'm going to bless you. The king is generous to pour out his blessing on his people. And we hold fast to that truth as well.

[28:21] Our king is generous towards us as we walk in obedience to him. There are ways that we experience God's blessing in tangible ways, even now.

[28:33] Every good gift comes from the Lord. And so we can, we should give thanks for how we see his generosity on display towards us, material ways included.

[28:47] But like the Israelites of Haggai's day, we look to a future day. In the new heavens and in the new earth, when we are going to experience all of God's richest, tangible blessings in their fullness.

[29:01] the new creation, it is described as a place of abundance and wealth and beauty. The new creation has the new Jerusalem in it. And the new Jerusalem is described in Revelation 21 as its radiance is like a most precious jewel.

[29:18] That's our inheritance that awaits us. We walk in obedience today. We look forward to that day.

[29:29] And even now, we say, whether rich or poor, look at how God has abundantly blessed us in Christ.

[29:40] God has blessed us with all riches in Christ. He has seated us even now in the heavenly places with Christ. God is pleased with us because of His Son.

[29:52] What greater delight can we have than that? And so even when we enjoy all of God's blessing in the new creation, even when we enjoy all of God's blessing in every material, tangible way that we may receive it, that blessing should only warm our affections for our King.

[30:15] Like the psalmist, this is our heart's desire, that we might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

[30:30] This God, this generous King, is our God, and He is pleased with us in Christ. He smiles upon us as His people.

[30:42] We rejoice in Him, and He rejoices over us with gladness. Finally, here is the third majestic truth we must consider about our King.

[30:54] The third majestic truth. Our King is powerful and is determined to save through His chosen servant.

[31:06] Our King is powerful and is determined to save through His chosen servant. Let's read the last four verses together. Verse 20. The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the 24th day of the month.

[31:20] Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and to overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders shall go down, everyone by the sword of his brother.

[31:40] On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring.

[31:52] For I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts. So this is the second sermon that Haggai delivers in this day, the second sermon of the day.

[32:02] And the focus of this sermon is a little bit surprising. The person that Haggai focuses in on is Zerubbabel. Now, Zerubbabel is not someone that we've even spent much time in the book of Haggai talking about.

[32:18] We know he was the leader of the Israelites as they returned to the promised land, but he's not really a focus in most of the Bible. If you were to play Family Feud and the category was well-known figures in the Bible, Zerubbabel is probably not going to get buzzed in by one of those eager participants.

[32:41] You probably wouldn't expect Zerubbabel's name. So that makes the promise here a little bit surprising. It feels a little over the top. Like, really, Lord?

[32:52] You're promising all of these blessings to Zerubbabel? So what is God promising here? Well, he's drawing our attention to a future day.

[33:04] A day when God says that he's going to shake the heavens and the earth. Now, do you remember God saying that earlier in chapter 2? And when he talked about shaking the nations and the treasures of the nations coming into the temple?

[33:19] people and that was a future day of blessing for God's people? Now this is a future day of judgment for God's enemies. God is going to shake his enemies and he's going to destroy their kingdoms.

[33:32] He's going to bring them to ruin. The horse and the rider are going to go down just like the horse and the Egyptian rider in the exodus. God is going to conquer his enemies.

[33:45] And he's going to save his people. And how is he going to accomplish this? Through Zerubbabel. That's unexpected. We barely know anything about this guy.

[33:58] But God is going to use him. The son of Shealtiel, the Lord of hosts, the king of heaven's armies, is going to make Zerubbabel like a signet ring.

[34:09] He will give power and authority to Zerubbabel to accomplish his purposes. Now this was a great word of hope because of who Zerubbabel's ancestor was.

[34:25] Zerubbabel, he had an ancestor, a grandfather actually, whose name was Jeconiah. Jeconiah was king of Judah for three whole months. Three whole months he ruled in Judah before he was deposed by the Babylonians.

[34:40] And shortly after that, the nation was brought to ruin. So Jeconiah is not someone that we want to look to and emulate. His reign was one of disgrace for the nation.

[34:51] God's blessing, God's favor, it was turned away from him. We read of that in Jeremiah 22. There, God says this about Jeconiah, who's also called Kaniah.

[35:03] Kaniah. Verse 24. As I live, declares the Lord, though Kaniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

[35:30] So God had made Zerubbabel's grandfather like a signet ring, just like Zerubbabel's promised. He had made him into a signet ring, and then God tore him off his finger.

[35:45] He had removed the power and the authority that he had invested into this king, and he gave Jeconiah into the hand of his enemies. But now, in Haggai's day, God promises to restore his chosen servant to a place of power.

[36:06] The kingly line would be restored, and instead of being given into the hand of his enemies, Zerubbabel would see his enemies conquered. The Lord of hosts, the king of kings, will shake the nations, and he'll overthrow them.

[36:22] So this is a great word of hope because of who Zerubbabel's ancestor is. Whereas Zerubbabel's ancestor had been removed from power, he's promised a return to a place of kingly power.

[36:37] So what happens to Zerubbabel? You might expect that his name would be plastered all over the pages of the New Testament if this grand promise was made to him.

[36:49] But that's not the case when you read on into the New Testament. He seems to fade into obscurity. We continue reading from the Old Testament into the New, and he's almost nowhere to be found.

[37:04] So that kingly line that was promised, it doesn't rise up as you might expect if you finish out the book of Haggai. But that's not entirely true.

[37:16] This is a word of great hope here in Haggai 2, not just because of who Zerubbabel's ancestor was, but also because of who his descendant is.

[37:27] So the New Testament begins in Matthew chapter 1. I would encourage you to turn there to Matthew chapter 1, not far from the book of Haggai. And there we find a genealogy.

[37:38] Don't skip reading genealogies as tempting as it is in your Bible reading. They are purposefully put there, and we are going to relish. We are going to enjoy a genealogy together.

[37:50] So in Matthew 1, this genealogy, it traces Jesus' lineage all the way back to Abraham. Now we are not going to read the entire genealogy as fun as that might be.

[38:02] We are going to start in just verse 12. Verse 12, Matthew 1. And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiad, and Abiad the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Mathen, and Mathen the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ.

[38:45] Jesus is the descendant of Zerubbabel. The kingly line did not disappear with Zerubbabel.

[38:57] God did not tear him off of his finger as he did Jeconiah. All of this promise that we have here in Haggai chapter 2, it finds its fulfillment in Christ.

[39:09] Jesus, we look to Jesus, and we see the long-awaited chosen servant of our king. The one who has all power and authority.

[39:23] And one day he is coming back. He is coming back to rule and to reign, to defeat his enemies, to save his people. He will come on the clouds of heaven.

[39:34] He will come riding a white horse. He will come in a robe dipped in blood. And even though that blood on that day is the blood of his enemies, Christ's own blood was once spilt.

[39:48] It was spilt for unclean sinners like we once were. Some of us this morning are still unclean in God's sight.

[40:00] Some of us are still stained by sin. Some of us are still dead in our sins. You can find cleansing in Christ today. Turn to him in faith.

[40:13] The Bible teaches us that we are all unclean sinners. So what we offer to God, what we bring to God is dirty with sin. Don't think sitting here this morning somehow makes you acceptable in God's sight.

[40:28] We have nothing to bring to him that would commend us to him. There is nothing that we can bring that would cause God to say, you know what? This makes us okay.

[40:39] This makes us right. In ourselves, we are dirty. And like Israel, everything that we touch is dirty. Sin, it contaminates, it sullies.

[40:55] God is holy and he only accepts what is clean. But this is the good news. Jesus Christ is unstained by sin.

[41:06] And he died for sinners who are stained. He died on the cross for unclean sinners. And he promises that those who turn to him in faith and cry out for forgiveness, they will be cleansed.

[41:23] The Bible says, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. You can stand before a holy God one day and be sure my sins are cleansed because of Christ.

[41:45] Because one day Christ is coming back again. And on that day, we will see his name on his thigh, King of kings, Lord of lords.

[41:57] God's signet ring will leave its full, final impression upon the world. And until that day comes, we wait. We wait for our king as an obedient people.

[42:12] The book of Haggai began back in chapter one by calling us to consider our ways. And now it ends with another call to consider.

[42:26] Consider from this day onward. Our king wears his royal jewels. Our king wears his signet ring.

[42:37] He is ready to make his royal authority known. And so we live in hopeful, joyful, confident expectation of Christ's return.

[42:50] God's chosen servant, his son, is coming again. And he will save his people to be with him forever. And so we sing until then, along with David in Psalm 24, lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.

[43:09] Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. Let's pray together. Father God, we joyfully confess you are king.

[43:27] And we thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in your word, that you have shown us your holiness, you have shown us your generosity, you've shown us your power, and you've shown us your great promises in Haggai.

[43:41] We thank you, Father, for this short book in our Bibles that points us to Christ, the only Savior who can save us from our sins.

[43:53] Father, I pray that your spirit would be at work even into this afternoon, that you would be encouraging your people, encouraging those that you have made your own, that we would find fresh comfort and strength and endurance in meditating on and in thinking on who Christ is as your signet ring and the joy that we have in awaiting his return.

[44:19] And I pray as well, Lord, that you would be at work in the lost. Those who do not know your son and are in a state still of being unclean, I pray, Father, that you would save them in your grace, that your spirit would be at work bringing conviction and revealing the need for a Savior.

[44:39] A great Savior awaits. We look to him. We rejoice in him. We pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand to sing one final song together and to meditate on who Christ is and what he has done for us.

[44:59] Revelation 7, verses 15 to 17. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

[45:11] They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water.

[45:24]  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Amen.