In this sermon, the preacher begins by emphasizing the importance of preaching and being taught the word of God. He refers to a specific passage in the book of Haggai, where the prophet confronts the priests about their lack of holiness and their reliance on worldly knowledge. The preacher highlights the need for priests and preachers to spend more time with God than with the people, in order to effectively deliver God's message. He concludes by encouraging young preachers to learn from this lesson and prioritize their relationship with God in their ministry.

to the book of Haggai again this evening and we're at the second chapter the book of the prophet Haggai and we're at the second chapter and we're going through from verse 10 to the end of verse 19 this evening leaving verses 20, 21, 22, 23 for next Tuesday and if you have a look through them at your leisure you'll find that we'll be dealing mostly with the great tribulation next Tuesday that's a great subject and I'll take my time with it that's why I purposely kept four verses to the very end but we're going through from verse 10 to the end of verse 19 and I've written over this paragraph this evening these words the blessing of God you see our paragraph ends this evening with this phrase at the end of verse 19 from this day will I bless you it's a wonderful thing for God to say you know these are really wonderful words from this day will I bless you it's the promise of God for God blessing let me say this before we get into the exposition of the paragraph that after carefully studying this and I'm not saying this in haste my honest belief is this that the most wonderful thing in the world for a believer is to have the blessing of God on his head wonderful thing in the world you know for before the people continually with the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ or as it says in the original with the fullness of the blessing of Christ on the head makes all the difference in the world five loaves and two fetters right we'll meet the need of the five thousands and the blessing of God and you know friend not only do we need the blessing of God in the pulpit but we need the blessing of God in the tomb you businessmen know this don't you if you don't know it's time you did the greatest thing in business is to have the blessing of God on it so many men are successful you know and they're silly enough to think it's their games it's their business technique I know there's doubt in it somewhere but so many of them are steady enough to say that the mollen god has really blessed me in business and if you haven't the blessing of God what have you you'll not exist too long you might get through for a day or two while God waits patiently of the blessing of God upon the people to have the blessing of God upon the people of God you know friends to have the blessing of God on your children my when you see God blessing your own burns makes you praise the Lord this is a tremendous thing the blessing of remember the blessing of God begins with salvation blessed is the man whose sin he suffers begins with salvation and then it continues with capitalism blessed is the man who walketh not who standeth who walketh not who sittheth not in the seat of the Lord you know friends the blessing of God comes when we give our lives to God and the blessing of God increases when we let the word of God guide our lives and when you let the word of God guide your life you're sanctified by the word you're separated and all that's in the passage this evening and I needn't make it over now I feel that the greatest thing in the world is the to be upon your unworthy head and we're not worthy you know of the least of this is the tremendous lesson to learn that it's not you that merits this it's just God in his sovereign electing grace who comes to bless in fact but we need to we need to have eyes to see the blessing of God so we're going to have a good look at it this now I want to take just a moment or two to talk to you again about the month and the minute and the message that Haggai the prophet brought now that we've come to the end of the book of the prophet Haggai you will notice or at least you should have noticed by now that Haggai brought five messages to the people of God he brought five messages no more no less now we did look at some of the times but look at them again see the first chapter in the first verse it says in the second year of Darius the king in the sixth month in the first day of the month came the word of the lord by the prophet so that's the date when he preached his first message it was on the first day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king of course he's not from Babylon you know that he's with the remnant in Jerusalem but they're still using the Babylonian calendar here when they say the second year of Darius the king I told the class to watch out for this sort of thing you see when you get Darius the king when you get the word king coming after the name it's always Babylonian Darius the king if it's Hebrew or Jewish you will always find it's king Solomon it's king David it's always the king before the name and this is very interesting for those who want to be interested in it because when the Roman Catholic church had full sway just for one period in the English history the queen then was called Mary queen of Scots at Babylon you don't know but king William and king George and king so and so that's following the old life so you can watch out for it sometimes it doesn't make very much matter but it's worth pointing out that this date is from the Babylonian calendar and yet the sixth month and the first day of the month is from the Jewish calendar so that we've got a mix-up here between the Babylonian year and the Jewish month but all that we're after this evening is that on the first day of the sixth month of the second year of Darius the king he gave his first message and then when we come to the end of the first chapter we'll notice that the second message was given in the 4 and 20th day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king the last first chapter verse 15 and you can see that he preached on the first day and then he was quiet for all the rest of the days to the 24th one you know that's very remarkable for our preachers because this fellow didn't just preach every night you know this fellow was just preaching out the spirit of God moved them and there are 22 days in between here that he's alone with God that he's before God that he's waiting on God and then when God moves his heart these prophets were moved by the spirit and they speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost then on the 24th day he brought the second message and then we notice this that in the second chapter in the first verse is the beginning of the third message in the seventh month in the 1 and 20th day of the month you see there's about 25 days in between here again he comes on the first day of the sixth month and then on the 24th day of the sixth month and now he's away to the 21st day of the seventh month and if we're taking 28 days in the month as the prophetic month there must be about 25 days in between here and then we notice that his fourth message begins tonight in verse 10 in the 4 and 20th day of the ninth month the holy one went forth then and the good God of the ninth it's the 4 and 20th day and there are about 57 days in between that he didn't preach at all four messages but we'll find as we come to the end of our message this evening that next week's message verse 20 and again the word of the Lord came on to hear God in the 4 and 20th day of the month he preached twice that day you can see he hadn't uh any sort of set order you know he just preached on the first day of the month and then he waited and then he was on the 21st day of the month and then he went on to the 24th day of the next month and then he went on into the seventh month and then he went on into the ninth month and then on this 25th day of the ninth month he's preaching twice in the one day now all this is just putting this before us that this man was drifted and moved and mastered and controlled and energized and filled and under the absolute faith of the spirit of God oh that we had a band of preachers in the land who would wait before God you know he was 10 times longer with God than he was with the people all you preachers do this do you wish do you spend more time with God than the future you want to think about because if you don't i don't think you're getting any messages over at all but let's leave that i thought i would do that for the young preachers i will really start the portion this evening and there's a great lesson to learn here it's the truth of touching and being touched now watch it very carefully we're at verse 10 and let's start properly in the fourth and 20th day of the ninth month of the second year of darius him the word of the lord by hegui the prophet saying thus says the lord of hosts ask now the priest concerning the law saying if one bare holy flesh in the skirt of his garment now let's get this as we go along if one of you priests that's what he was saying he was looking into the eyes of the priest in Jerusalem he's levi and he's saying if one of you priests bear holy flesh now let's have a word there this is a part of the offering of course the animal has been offered and it's dissected into a spot and sometimes the priest was carrying a part of this animal which is now called holy flesh because it's given to god it's sanctified and he's carrying in the skirt of his garment now as i examine the garment of the high priest and i've done this very thoroughly and i can't go into it all it seems that at sacrifice he had a little itman-like thing before him and he sometimes gathered the holy flesh in his apron just wondering if the buffaloes or the masonic is this where they go back to the apron not too sure but i might have something there but it's not worrying me just now but the priest was carrying the holy flesh in what is called the skirt of his garment this is just the apron of his garment now here's the question now seeing the scene if one of you priests bearing holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt do touch bread or pottage or wine or oil or any meat here's the question shall it be holy by you a priest of the lord in the service of the lord even carrying a part of the sacrifice holy flesh if you touch any of these things that's not in the service of god will you make them holy can you commune holiness over that's the question it's a very good question you know can the servants of god by their own holy by their separation to the word of the lord by their service for the lord if they touch things not in the service of god do they make them holy now here's the answer of god the answer is this verse 12 and at the end of the verse and the priest answered and said no they were quite unanimous about it and they didn't mumble at the answer either it was quite a distinct unanimous no no you see sometimes i get some of the friends coming to me and saying you know our old church it's it's going backwards and you know the more that i look at the ritual of it i can see it's all this romanish there's a whole lot of things in it i don't like and our minister he's he's not saved and he doesn't believe that this is god's word and he doesn't believe in the virgin birth and he doesn't believe in the atoning death and he doesn't believe in salvation and there's so much empty ritual and dead formalism about our church but i'm staying on there because i want to change it i'll tell you now you'll not do it the answer is no you can't touch it jesus no are you prepared to learn that i'll tell you what the new testament says the new testament says a touch not the unclean thing that's what the new testament that when i taught touch not the unclean thing i want you to be absolutely sure that it's not brethren ism that i'm focusing i know the good old brethren preachers and god bless them focusing and i want you to be absolutely sure in your mind that it's not pavely ism that i'm teaching i want you to be quite sure because i'm tired of these precious truths of god's word getting mixed up like this i want you to realize that this is the word of the lord for you and god is saying touch not the unclean thing are you prepared to say hallelujah this is god's word don't you come to me with your final reasoning just because you're not big enough to and try to tell me that you are going to change it sir for you have no hope of change let me say this to you that the roman catholic church at the present moment in belgium and remember they have more roman catholics in belgium than they have in ireland more than 90 percent of the population roman catholic whether they're orthodox or not doesn't matter to me just now but they have printed a bible to issue now with the pope's signature on it to all the roman catholics and if you ever get your hands and run and someone can read the belgium language to you you please ask them to read you the 23rd psalm and i'll show you how it's written it's written like this mary is my shepherd mary makes me to lie down in green pastures mary leaves me beside the still water mary restores my soul and then i pass through the worry of the shadow of death mary will be there now you can easily catch me on can't you by getting a bible and seeing if it's there part of it's there let me say this quietly and without getting aroused and it takes some keeping back from getting aroused at this moment let me say this that this is a distortion of the word of god this is a distortion of the word of god but let me say this that this is a black salami of the truth of god this is black that this is a new font to our faith of lord this is a new let me say this that this is exalting a creature merely by the creator don't you ever tell me that you can touch the thing like that or you might put that thing and make it holy but the word of god unanimously said no we are just taught the opposite we are taught to touch not the unclean things we can't help it by amalgamating this we can't help it by touching it we can't help it by identifying those things look the word of god is startlingly clear listen to it with all your heart where there's a form of godliness of what a miserable form this is denying the power that i'll build your bible from turn away you don't want to get out you want to stay in blush don't you some of your power needs old pharisees to kick in touch you can't touch it and make it any better answer it now there's another side to it did you see the other side of the question now watch it very carefully verse 13 then said his eye after he got the answer then said hey guy if one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these i mean pick that into proper perspective too you see the law in the old economy was that if any man touched or any woman touched the dead body you were immediately unclean in the sight of god in fact you have to go through the whole ceremony to be cleansed now what the prophet has really asked in the priest is this if one that is unclean by a dead body is already unclean touch any of these shall it be unclean and the priest answered and said it shall be unclean now here's the point that i want you to get and i don't want you to miss it i'm taking my time so you'll get it you'll see if one in the service of god ordained in the service of god or working in the service of god even carrying holy flesh in the flesh of his garment dead to touch something he can't make it sir holy no but if he touch something that's unclean it will make him unclean it's you uncle you'll see the very moment that you turn your nose up at the word of god when it says touch not the unclean thing you say no i'll stay on i've got a week on this full class i'll see it through and you're reasoning it out aren't you you're only arguing with god and you're unclean when you're arguing with god you just learn to obey god that's all he'll look after the refunding full class nobody's going to be lost by you obeying god not a difference that's only blinding you're afraid to get out don't fool yourself just obey god that's all leave the thing with god if god says get out all else god i'll get out it's up to you to look after the class don't fool yourself you just start arguing with god you just go on touching the thing and i'll tell you this you just end up at the end of your argument unclean here's the point you can't transmit or pass on holiness of yourself but uncleanness can pass on uncleanness of itself you know you young ladies coming up don't you that the word of god teaches you dear that you're not to be on equally with a non-believer don't you you just disobey and take someone safe man because they're mad for a man and i'll tell you what the rest of your life will be you'll be on three explain god's words and argue with god because you want a man learn to obey god and god will look after your future and god will bring you home and god will give you what he wants to give you learn to obey god and if you don't you'll be unclean ah what a lesson seer we can't transmit holiness to things not in the service of god but uncleanness can be transmitted to us you know saying if the old staved young man is up on the table and you uh you're up in the quibble and you think you'll pull him up besides you i'll take him and i'll bring easier to pull you down you know much easier just learn this ritual it's the lesson of touching and being touched you know friend it's the very basis of blessing that's the point we're after seeing but we'll get to that in a moment now what's this next truth that's here these illustrations these two illustrations is what's brought up next when he got these two answers when the priest answered no you can't make it holy and when the priest answered it shall be unclean then answered hey guy verse 14 and said so is this people so is this nation before me that belongs and so is every work of their hands that which they offer there there is auntie you know friends i think we must take a moment here you know as we pass through this with howling wilderness every day and as we must go to work as we must eat by the strength of our brows and as we must mix with the world although we're not in it we're in it but not of it then each day at the end of the day you know we come back with a of the world on our feet and we say you know we're marked by what we look to us and if you only listen to the news on the television and there's nobody keeping you back from listening to the news but you'll only listen to the news and friend you'll be punished before it's over yeah the night for my own information i went to a house to hear one of the ten commandments and you only listen for a moment to the carnal reasonings and the ideas of men who don't know the law and you're inoculated and you're masked and you're unclean before you know it all you have ideas in your mind that should never be there and each man of us you know hasn't anything to boast about is yet amused that these boys have turned up and they haven't changed for 30 years had one of them not so long ago down in dratton's courtyard and he's standing in the middle of a lot of men he says i haven't changed for 31 years and i'm passing by when some of them call me over and say look mr mullen is he this familiar he says he hasn't fixed in for 31 years and i had a look at this poor miserable teacher and he thought i was going to have a real theological discussion with him so he did but i wasn't you know i just put my hand kindly on his shoulder and i said 31 years without saying you know if you can just kick it for another four that will be 25 years without saying and when you get to heaven you can tell the lord jesus that you lived long you did and you'll not have the miserable creature look at the point of this you know that if we're going to be blessed we haven't a solitary thing to leave before god for blessing other thing not a woman in this church has a thing to lay before god to say there you are there's a child above my arm there's nothing else god has to be the god of jacob if we're going to be blessed god never blesses in this place because of us god blesses in this place i wish we could get this truthful wish we could see how miserable and small and tiny and mean and ignorant and sinful and wretched and corrupt that we are oh god has been so good to us when he might well have done it's just the elective grace and he's coming to bless that's very wonderful just to get all that tidied up because you're on your way to see the blessing of god i want you to notice this verse 15 and the prophet does something that's unusual here he says and now i pray you you know he's beginning to pray for them this is the supplication from the prophets of course for vision of the condemnation that was on their heads far too often you know we don't even see the condemnation of god that's on our heads he says i pray you consider from this day and approach from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the lord he's wanting them just to turn around and go back and consider from before a stone was laid since those days there when one came to an heap of 20 meters there were but 10 when one came to the press hut for to draw at 50 vessels of the press there were the 20 he's a god says i smash you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labels of your hands you know friends oh let's keep trying to get this bit over this evening you know sometimes when god is going to bless his people he has to start by knocking them oh we never thought that was the way of blessing you've all got ideas of the second all right we'll learn them now and god was gonna bless this miserable town you know friends blessing starts in the heart from god that's where it stops and if we were going to follow this through this evening we'd have to go all the way back to babylon and god stirred the heart of spiros king of perga that's where it began remember we read that in ephra and god moved in his heart and his heart was so stirred and god put it into his heart to let the people out of babylon and go back and that was the beginning of the thing you know that was god starting blessing in the heart of man it always starts in the heart of man by god coming and stirring it's revival you know and you know there's people that god was determined to bless they got out of babylon you know they were so glad 42 000 of them got out of babylon you remember we counted the number one night in ephra 42 000 and they came into the land and it was so nice you know and they builded houses for themselves and having a jolly good time but that was what god was after so god had to start his plan oh yes they planted vineyard and they had so much you know spoiled the heart of it remember what the prophet said in the first chapter let's have a look at it again it says this verse nine he looked for much and lord came to little and when he brought it home i did glue upon it why because of mine house that is waste and give on every man onto his own house you know friends this is a tremendous thing you know sometimes god has to smite us sometimes god has to glue on the business and mind you if god's determined to bless you the business thank god that god will blow on you this is the way of blessing you this is terrible isn't it this is not just shutting your eyes and getting all emotional in the bathroom you know no this is god determined to bless smoochy you know when you go through the bible and begin to see the things that god does to his children to bless them you know he's marked for this people he blew on the business all our clients were blasted with the breath of god you know the old book says that god chastened every son that he received sometimes he's lost sometimes he blows sometimes he smites sometimes he's churches sometimes he chastens with the road sometimes you put on the body your back in sickness except in current somewhere even on the death god was determined to bless funny lord the blessing he ever saw this one how this is the way oh friends this is something that we must take time with tonight and we must never judge one another you know joe was smitten oh but it wasn't just because of this sort of thing you know joe was in fellowship with god job was walking with god god had already given joe joe's testimony to the devil he said have thought consider myself and job there's none like him in all the earth how but he was smitten how but he was only smitten to vindicate his faith in god it's not the same as my thing don't you judge somebody that's smitten it might be a case of job oh but it might be a case like the remnants you know friends when jonah was a way down in officious bedding he said i cried through reason of mine affection and job was afflicted too how but the two's difference job knew right well he was right with god ah but jonah knew right well if he wasn't right with god you'll know but i'll not know for you you'll know between you and your god you put on the body your back but i'll not know but i'll know about me won't you you'll not know about me you're not to judge ah friend we just want to sit down and say is god glowing on me is god sniping me is god chasing me is god going to bless me and i'm not prepared watch this phrase god says i smoked you with and was moved you and then he says yet he turned not to me says the lord you know this is the refusal of repentance by the remnants yet he turned not to me you know friends every time i meet this word yet in this book for me at least it constitutes a wonder it's always a wonder to me you really love to preach for here's some some head day for you young fellows here's a message for you put the little word yet you know this you know the grace of our lord jesus christ that though he was rich yet for your sake don't quote it our sake because the word is your safety you look it up you know the grace of our lord jesus christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor you know this is the wonder of his grace you see paul was rubbing into the corinthians he says yet for your sake who were you fellows you were always painful corinthians and you're only carnal corinthians still yet for your sake he became poor it's the wonder of his grace yet constitutes a wonder you remember this one though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things which he saw you know it's the wonder of the experience of the obedience of christ mind you he didn't learn to obey no he learned what experience by experience what obedience really was to god in a human frame among humans so it's the wonder of his experience remember this one he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth yet please for lord to prove the wonder of his death remember this one out of the book of jobs jobs away down in the bottom of a horrible pit and he's covered with sores and his sons and daughters are gone and his business is gone and the bottom of the pity christ though he slay me yet will i trust in him it's the wonder of faith the old devil could not have owed of him he defeated the devil by that yet but this is the wonder of the refusal of the government god has brought them out god has brought them in god determined to bless them god wants to own them god wants to lavish his blessings upon them yet they turned oh wonderful honey you old baptist shall never turn up at the fair meeting never you think there was a plague in it you will come god wants to bless you yet you turned not to your god oh friends how many times he's come and he's spoken to our hearts and he has shaken our very souls and we know the blast and the blow and the chastening of god upon us and yet we're stuck on the same rock tonight yet you refused you refused to repent you refused to come into blessing you refused you'd rather go to your old pagan parish and obey god you refused sometimes he has to strike you but you know at long last this remnant obeyed god through the fixing of this man you remember in the second chapter in the 12th verse says then and joshua the son of joshua dead by my peace with all the remnants of the people obey the voice of the lord of god that's when the blessing came you know my if we could get to the place tonight where we would bow our heads in shame and say you know i'm beginning to see this you want to bless me and you want to make me a blessing for the rest of the town and the rest of the family and the rest of the district and i've been so stubborn about it but lord so much i'm bending you're coming in you know you're coming in a long time to get you there your lord i'll obey your word no matter what it costs me i'll obey your words what's wrong with obeying the word of the lord if you're going with an man away if you've never crawled out for the prayer meeting will you call it and serve it for christ glory will this if some of you have robbed god from me after sunday will you give them back what you robbed them off and the moment that god through blasphemies and blowing and chastening and preaching and preparing to cut them to the place where they said we're okay girl he said from this day forth oh that's the greatest thing in this world i'm prepared to give these two arms at any moment for the blessing of god i can't do without the blessing of god and you know i know that i'm so stupid and poor and miserable and blind and naked in many ways that i have nothing about me to commend me for the blessing of god i just have to obey the book god will bless you god will bless you there's ever no blessing came to this place because of me you know which is the lord he'd love to bless you too but then he's been after you maybe he wants to use you maybe he wants to lavish it on your head you know things that all clocks annoyingly some of these days i'll break it when you're not here i'm sure it's not the part of this place at all friends i want to get this over to you you know when old jacob wrestled with god in the midnight hour you know he was a wily boy and he wrestled him up midnight hour alone and as the lord touched the hollow of his thigh and his strength went he can wrestle no more though he's just clinging on he's clinging on and the lord looked into his face in the dark and said what's your name and he looked in the god's face and said jacob and the moment that they confessed he was nothing the moment he says i'm no good i'm just a crooked fathomless wretched thing that says in the next day god bless him now this is the place of blessing not holding up your head and inside and say i've got it is from the moment you get there when god looks into your face and says All right, bring all the tithes into the storehouse now, and prove me, and see if I'll not bless you, that they'll not beroom enough, or are we going through a brave hour? Ah, that's the price, isn't it, and that's the place. You know, this old book says, how good and how blessed it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, for their God commanded the blessing. You know, this is the people of blessing. All things, if each one of us individually can get before God and honestly say, you know, God, I've fooled the congregation, and I'm not right, and I'm not praying, and I'm not reading, and I'm not giving, and I'm not working, and I'm not any use at all. Oh, God, you've been blowing on me, and there's been blasphemy, and I've cut your hand, and I'm coming to faith, and I, Lord, I'm willing to give it to you, the God of Jacob. Lord, I'm prepared for this life, to be at work. God will look down and say, from this day, I will bless you. They have to hit you harder, longer, they will beg on. Amen.