If God is not first in your life, He cannot count on you, and you have no confidence in His help.  You have no expectation of His blessings. 

  SIN WILL ALWAYS SEPARATE YOU FROM GOD!  “The wages of sin is death.”  (Romans 6:23).  “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” (1 John 3:8).  “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” (Psalms 66:18). 

  SIN WILL NOT ONLY DESTROY YOU, BUT IT WILL DESTROY AMERICA! 

Timber for the Temple

We all know that blessings come from God, yet many fail to see how to get God’s blessings.

  In 536 B.C., “Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem…” began “to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the Sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia…” (Ezra 3:7,8).

They were given timber free of charge by a grant from Cyrus, King of Persia.  God had arranged for them to have the timber to rebuild the temple. 

Now turn to the Book of Haggai, and notice that sixteen years later in 520 B.C., Haggai says: “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?” (Haggai 1:4). 

The word “cieled” means to hide or cover.  Their houses were complete, but Haggai uses the word “cieled” because the timber that was supposed to be in the temple was hidden and covered in their houses. 

They might have reasoned that the timber was not worthy of being used in the temple since it had been provided by a grant from a gentile king, or that their houses needed the timber more than the temple needed it, or that the timber could be put to better use in their houses.  SUCH REASONING IS CALLED MORAL RELATIVITY! 

In contrast, God’s laws are absolute.  He does not change, His will does not change. 

Everyone wants God’s blessing, but many today are doing the same thing as the remnant that came out of captivity.  In trying to bless themselves with their own carnal ideas, they are actually putting Satan first by failing to obey God, and then they justify their actions with moral relativity. 

For example, instead of using the time that God gives to worship Him and study his Word, they steal the time by using Sunday for some other purpose. 

They are putting their own will before God’s will.  They are hiding the Word of God on a book shelf instead of in their heart.  They are deceiving themselves with their own carnal wants and desires. 

Lost Blessings

Then God told them: “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.” (Haggai 1:8). 

   In other words, go up the mountain, chop some wood, bring it down and build my House so that I am happy!  MAKE ME HAPPY FIRST! 

   God said: “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. ¹¹ 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.” (Haggai 1:9-11).

   Listen to God: “Ye looked for much… it came to little… when ye brought it home… I did blow upon it.”  I cannot tell you exactly what they were thinking, but God blew on their plans and their carnal reasoning brought them big problems. 

God didn’t send termites to eat the timber.  He just commanded a drought upon the land.  Their corn didn’t grow as it did before, their grapes didn’t produce the normal amount of wine, their olive trees didn’t produce the usual oil, their cattle didn’t reproduce like usual, and all of their labor was in vain. 

   What they really needed was God – but they didn’t put God first.  Many today are in the same boat; reaping what they sow because they will not put God first.  Many have big homes, fancy cars and lots of money, but their life is a wreck because God is not first in their life? 

   God says: If you don’t want to do my will, I will blow on your stuff.  You might think that you are just unlucky because things are not going well in your life, but God says: I can curse just as well as bless.  I can bring bad as well as good. 

God says: Let me explain.  Remember when the disciples were in the ship with Jesus and a great storm arose?  They called on Jesus to save them, “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still… And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:39,41). 

Don’t forget the plagues that I sent upon the Egyptians and they still wouldn’t let my people go, but when I sent the death angel and killed their first born, they changed their mind! 

The Sabbath Day

   “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:8-11).

   When Christ arose on the first day of the week, the early church fathers began worshipping God on Sunday and calling Sunday the “Lord’s Day.” 

   Now obviously doctors, nurses, firemen and policemen are doing good works on the Lord’s Day, so God allows them to set aside some other day of the week to worship Him. 

Preachers, Sunday school teachers, and church bus drivers obviously work on the Lord’s Day, but they do so to honor God. 

In contrast, people who work in shopping centers don’t see anything wrong with doing ordinary work on the Lord’s Day.  They are defiling the Lord’s Day because they have no fear of God.  They are desecrating God’s holy day and storing up wrath against the Day of Judgment.    

You may think that desecrating the Lord’s Day is a little thing, but listen to this: “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.”  Moses asked God what to do with the man.  “And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.” (Numbers 15:32,35). 

   God has not changed. The wages of sin is death, and He that committeth sin is of the devil. 

You may think that going fishing or watching football on Sunday is not like working on Sunday, but listen to God: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 58:13-14). 

   God is the same today as He was two thousand years ago.  He does not change.  His laws do not change.  His will does not change.  His principles do not change.  If you defile and desecrate God’s holy day, you cut yourself off from God.  You condemn yourself to an eternal Hell.

   If you divert the attention of others from the worship of God and the study of God’s Word on the Lord’s Day you are doing the same thing as those who go shopping on the Lord’s Day.  You are not only defiling and desecrating the Lord’s Day, but you are causing others to do the same, and their blood will be upon your hands.

A Nation without God

   The rebellious politically correct crowd with no principles is like a train with no tracks, a church with no God, a building with no foundation.  They may not believe the Word of God but that does not make it untrue.  They may not believe that Christ is coming back, but that will not stop His return.  They may not believe that Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, but that will not stop the Blood of Calvary from changing the carnal nature of those who do believe.

Jesus said that He came: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (Acts 26:18). 

Today, very few want to be turned from darkness unto light, or sanctified by faith in Jesus.  Most want a god of their own creation who will accept them the way they want to be accepted. 

In 1891 the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was published. Today, hundreds of new translations exist, all claiming to be the Word of God, but differing widely in text and doctrine.  Very few are aware that in these new translations there are from 5,000 to 36,000 changes resulting in false doctrines and thousands of errors. 

In A.D. 1343, the sale of indulgences became one of the greatest heresies ever introduced into Christendom.  Nowadays people don’t need to buy an indulgence to commit a sin.  All they have to do is find a translation that will allow the sin they desire.

These new translations have destroyed the foundations, introduced false doctrines and led many to believe they can be saved while they live in sin.                                    

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalms 11:3). 

These new translations have slowly eroded the principles and doctrines that once made America great and replaced them with greed, perversion and a godless mind-set. 

The result is that America is being dumbed down by many churches, universities and a public media that have no interest in putting God first.  Satan has so corrupted the original principles of America’s founding fathers that greedy and corrupt politicians today are buying votes with borrowed money and virtually bankrupting America with debt that no one can repay. 

A National problem

One might think that defiling and desecrating the Lord’s Day is just a personal problem, but the Bible says: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” (Romans 13:1-2). 

   The turning point in any nation is reached when its citizens and leaders become so vile and corrupt that they stand opposed to God’s will. 

   Just think of Egypt, the Roman Empire, Russia, Germany, Japan, etc.  You don’t have to look far to find nations that have been brought down by the power of God when their political leaders refused to put God first. 

The Pharaoh of Egypt would not let God’s people go until God killed all of their first born. 

Adolph Hitler thought the Germans were a superior race who ought to control the world.  His writings indicate that he planned to get rid of Christianity after he took over the world.

Emperor Hirohito ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II.  His religion was Shinto, a set of practices designed to connect Japan with its past - which had no possibility of cleansing its adherents from carnality. 

Saddam Hussein, brutal dictator of Iraqi, had no problem opposing other Islamic nations, but like the other Islamic nations, his Muslim army and Republican Guard was no match for the Living God when he opposed a Christian nation. 

   “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34). 

   Everyone in a nation, including its leaders, are responsible for the spiritual welfare of their nation.  When the vast majority in a nation turn away from God’s will, that nation is doomed. 

   Today, America is turning away.  She is being destroyed by the very people who claim to love her while they elect leaders who will not put God first.    

A Man after God’s Own Heart

There was one young man in Israel who was not afraid to stand for God’s principles. 

Israel had already lost everything – clear down to this last field.  Goliath stood there – defiant – the Philistines wanted everything – down to the last man and the last square foot of land. 

At a time like that God was looking for one man who would put Him first.  Little David was the only man.  All God needed was a man who would put God first.  God would take care of the rest. 

The incident took place near Tiananmen on Chang'an Avenue, which runs east-west along the south end of the Forbidden City in Beijing, on June 5, 1989, one day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests. The man placed himself alone in the middle of the street as the tanks approached, directly in the path of the armored vehicles ( 39°54′23.5″N 116°23′59.8″E / 39.906528°N 116.399944°E / 39.906528; 116.399944). He held two shopping bags, one in each hand.^[1] As the tanks came to a stop, the man gestured towards the tanks with his bags. In response, the lead tank attempted to drive around the man, but the man repeatedly stepped into the path of the tank in a show of nonviolent action.^[2] After repeatedly attempting to go around rather than crush the man, the lead tank stopped its engines, and the armored vehicles behind it seemed to follow suit. There was a pause for a short period of time with the man and the tanks having reached a quiet, still impasse.[1] 

Taking a Stand

How many people do you know who would take a stand for God?  Most people nowadays are only interested in making money, having stuff and enjoying life.  Taking a stand for righteousness and holiness is not on their agenda.                                                                                         

You may believe that you can live like the world by not putting God first and still get to Heaven, but that is not what the Word of God says: “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 John 2:17).  How is it with you?  Do you really believe in God?  Are you sacrificing for God?  Are you really putting Jesus Christ first in your life? 

                                                                                                         Pastor James Wood