The Old Testament book of Haggai tells part of the story of rebuilding the
Temple after the people returned to Jerusalem from exile. In Haggai’s day, the
people were discouraged because things were not going as well as they
expected. They saw the Temple that was currently being built and believed that
it could never be as great and glorious as the Temple Solomon built.
So, God spoke to His people through Haggai to bring them the courage they
needed to complete God’s work. He opened their eyes to the reality of His glory
which was to come.
Haggai 2: 6-9 “For this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little
while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans, and the dry
land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be
brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD of Heaven’s
Armies. … The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory…
And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have
spoken!”
What was God telling His people? THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
God promises that the glory of this second Temple will eclipse the glory of
Solomon’s Temple. How could that be? Very simple. This Temple would be
visited some 500 years later by Jesus Himself. This would be the place God
Himself would visit in the person of Jesus Christ. Solomon’s temple, for all its
grandeur and glory, couldn’t make that claim.
So, even though this small beginning of a temple didn’t look like much to the
people, God has big plans for it in the future. God sees what Israel can’t see, so
He gives them a glimpse of what’s to come.
This glimpse was just enough to encourage them, just enough to fuel their faith
to persevere.
Too often, we compare Fee Fee Baptist Church today with the Fee Fee Baptist
Church of yesterday (and this church has a LOT of yesterdays!). The enemy
tempts us to think that the best days of this church are behind us. But as I look at
FFBC through the perspective of what God is doing and can do here, I see
children and young people coming to know Christ and being baptized. I see our
people ministering to the community around us in ways we would never have
imagined just a few years ago. I see our people going around the world to share
the Gospel. I see a growing ethnic diversity in our congregation. I see sparks of
what God wants to do through us.
God is telling us, “The best days for this church are ahead of us!” The Best Is Yet
to Come!