Relying On God’s Spirit
Repent and Return

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Good morning, church! We’re continuing our series today through the Book of Zechariah. We are in Zechariah, chapter four today, in a series we’ve entitled, “Repent and Return.” Today’s message is entitled, “Relying on God’s Spirit.” May I say to you, that this chapter means very much to me. Because if it weren’t for the Holy Spirit’s work in my life, in applying this particular chapter to my life at a very specific time in my life, then I wouldn’t be standing here, nor would there be a church called Wilson Community Church. Neither of these things would exist today if it weren’t for the way the Holy Spirit applied this chapter, that we’re about to study together, to my life.

Let me take you back, for a moment before we begin, to February of 2002; 20 years ago. Our church was 10 years old; it had just celebrated 10 years. I was discouraged. I was overwhelmed. I was ready to quit. My mother had died a few months before that and I was still grieving her loss. I was a little angry at God, because he had taken my father when I was eight years old and my mother when I was 43. It didn’t seem fair to me. I would pray to God and say, “God, I quit my job. I planned this church. I’m your man. I’ve tried to be obedient, Why did you take my mom? It doesn’t seem fair, God.” On top of this grief, our church had just celebrated its 10th anniversary and we were still renting. We were still setting up and tearing down equipment from our trailer; it seemed so small. After ten years of effort, it seemed like we had barely made a dent. I didn’t feel like we were accomplishing much. We had grown past about 200 people in attendance at the school we were renting, but people had started leaving. We had “a revolving door;” as soon as their kids would come of age, they would say, “We need a church building that’s got better facilities.” They started leaving. On top of all of this, 911 had just happened in September 11 of 2001. There was a great deal of concern in our country, that our young people might be going off to war soon.Those of you that were around during that time do you remember the loss of life at the twin towers and the three jets that crashed with all those people?

So I told my wife I was going to book a room at Atlantic Beach. It was February; it was in the 20’s this particular week. I remember that it was cold, it was windy and it was raining. I took my bible, a pen, a legal pad and a case of bottled water. My wife asked me, “When are you coming back? How long will you be gone?” I said, “I don’t know, I’m gonna stay gone until God speaks to me. I’ve got some questions for Him.” I walked into the hotel room there, unplugged the TV and spun it around to face the wall because I didn’t want anything to distract me. I had two questions for God. My first question was, “Can I please quit the ministry?” I’m tired. My second question was, “If you won’t let me quit the ministry, can I at least quit this church and move back to the hills of Virginia? Maybe, I could take a little church that’s already got a building and already has a congregation.” I didn’t have to struggle so hard. Those were my two questions, when the Lord directed me to Zechariah 4, but more on that later.

Now, let’s think about where you are. Some of you here, today, are discouraged. Some of you are here today and you’re overwhelmed. Some of you here, today, are angry at God. You’re grieving something that you’ve lost and you blame God for it. Some are here and you’re facing an obstacle so great and you feel so small that you don’t know how to face it.

That’s how Zachariah and the Israelites probably felt. They’ve been carried away for 70 years in Babylonian captivity and they’ve finally been allowed to return back to Israel, back to Jerusalem. They’ve been hearing all of their life, from their grandparents, how beautiful Jerusalem was; the white, beautiful stonework of the temple and the gold and glitter. They got there and it was all in shambles; all destroyed. All they had was a big wreck and then, they had persecution on top of that. They were discouraged. They were grieving the loss. They were small. They were overwhelmed.

In Zechariah, chapter four, the prophet Zechariah saw his fifth night vision, his fifth of eight visions. It was a long night for Zachariah. We’ve covered the first four visions and now we’re on the fifth one. Similar to chapter three, where he had seen his fourth vision. There, he had caught a vision of a real guy, who was alive during his time, named Joshua, the high priest .

Now, Zechariah sees in this vision, Zerubbabel, who is the governor of Judah. He has a word for him. So, we have some similarities between these two visions. They both seem to be primarily directed at these two men, Joshua and Zerubbabel. But on top of that, there’s this layer of Messianic prophecy that we have to uncover and even within all that, there’s an application for us because God told Zechariah to tell Zerubbabel that he needed to rely on God’s spirit rather than his own strength for what he was facing, for the mountain he was facing. I believe today that that’s a good word for us. We can rely on God’s spirit rather than our own strength when we’re facing difficulties in our life.

How is this possible? Well, as we look at the text, we’ll see three areas where we can learn to rely on God’s spirit when we’re facing obstacles that are too big for us to overcome. Let’s look at the text today.

In Zechariah chapter four, this is the 5th vision that the prophet Zechariah had on the same night. Zechariah 4:1-14 (ESV) 1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil[a] is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” This is God’s word.

We can rely on God’s Spirit… 1. … to overcome mountainous obstacles.

What mountain do you face today? We’re looking at verses six and seven here; this is the theme, really, the centerpiece of this passage. If you look closely at verse seven, you’ll see this question, 7 “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain.” Who’s facing a mountain today? Zerubbabel and the Israelites were facing a mountain, an insurmountable obstacle, between them and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Who’s facing a mountain? We use that imagery, often, today. We will say, “He was crushed under a mountain of debt” or “they were facing a mountain that they didn’t know how to go over or around.” We use that terminology; it’s a familiar image for us today.

Zerubbabel was facing a mountain. He gets instruction here, from the Holy Spirit through the prophet Zechariah, on how to overcome. Let’s back up just for a second and see how this vision starts, to see how it begins. I have said this is the fifth of eight visions. This one begins uniquely, 1 “And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep.” This is the only one that, it seems, he dozed off for a minute, but it is halftime after all. You know, he’s had four visions; he’s got four to go. He probably was exhausted and needed a little nap time. I don’t know what happened here, but he had been so overwhelmed, perhaps by the first four visions, that he dozed off and the angel woke him.

The angel has a question for the prophet. He says, “What do you see?” Zechariah opens his eyes. This is a vision, it’s not a dream. There’s a difference; it’s a vision. So he sees this in his wakeful moment of time. He’s awake to contemplate this. He sees it. What does he see? He says, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold…” Let’s just think about this for a second. This lamp stand, in the Hebrew, is a mᵊnôrâ, which is translated correctly, “lamp stand.” But, when we hear that word, “menorah,” because of the day and time we live in, we often think of Hanukkah. We think of how the Jews celebrate Hanukkah and we think of that nine-light menorah that they have. Pop up an image of that now. You’ll see the modern Jewish menorah. During our Christmas time as Christians, the Jews are celebrating Hanukkah. Hanukkah means “festival of lights.” On each day of Hanukkah, they’ll usually have the youngest child light the next light until finally the ninth light. Hanukkah is a celebration that commemorates a miracle that took place in the 2nd century BC, during the Maccabean period The Maccabean revolt overthrew the rulers there and, for a brief time, they had Israel back under Jewish control. In order to cleanse the temple and light the lamp stand, they needed holy pure olive oil. But the process of making it holy took about eight days. There was only a little bit of pure olive oil available. God miraculously, according to the commemoration of Hanukkah, allowed the lamp stand to burn for that whole time while they prepared the new oil. So, that’s Hanukkah.

Zechariah didn’t see a nine-light menorah. He saw a seven-light menorah, which is the temple menorah, the temple lamp stand. It looked like this; I’ll show you an image. Here’s a reproduction of what that may have looked like. You’ll notice there are seven lamps and you’ll notice that there are three almond blossoms on each neck here. 123123123. There’s four on the center column. It would have been made of solid gold. This picture is a reproduction according to the description that we find in the book of Exodus. Let me read that to you to help us understand what it is that Zechariah is seeing in his vision.

Exodus 25:31-34; 37 (NLT) 31 “Make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold… 32 Make it with six branches going out from the center stem, three on each side. 33 Each of the six branches will have three lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms… 34 Craft the center stem of the lampstand with four lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms… 37 Then make the seven lamps for the lampstand, and set them so they reflect their light forward.” This is what Zechariah saw. Zechariah sees a lamp stand with seven lamps on it. This is the seven lamp temple menorah. You see some other details that are kind of unique that we’ll talk about in just a second .

When we think about the lamp stand, I just want you to think about what the lamp stand represents to Israel. First of all, it represents Israel and it represents that they are to be the light to the world. Israel was to declare the glory of God to the whole world. Secondly, when we get to the New Testament, we find out that the lamp stand symbolizes the church. In Revelation 2 and 3, you will see that John the revelator sees a vision of seven lamp stands and they each represent a different church, the church at Ephesus and so forth. The lamp stand is an image of God’s people; they are to be the light of the world, shouting forth God’s glory. That’s what the lamp stand represents.

If Zechariah sees this, he already knows this has to do with us, Israel, the people of God. But it also has to do with the temple because that’s where it goes. It goes into the Holy of Holies. Zechariah sees some unique features; he sees something with a bowl on the top of it. I don’t see seven lamps with seven lips in the description in Exodus.

This word “lip,” in the Hebrew, has the idea of a hollowed out pipe or conduit; something that’s got a small opening that would allow oil to pass through it. I I looked online to try to find someone who had attempted to draw this image with the bowl and these two olive trees. Here is what I found. This is an artist’s attempt at illustrating Zechariah’s vision. There’s an olive tree on the left and the right, there’s the temple lamp stand, the temple Menorah. And then there’s this golden bowl with the two branches that have two pipes, one each, that fills this bowl that has seven lips or conduits that go into the seven lamps. Is that helpful to you? I have to picture it to really get it. Once you can see an illustration it is helpful.

What we have here is a picture that God is telling Zechariah that the Lord is going to have to provide a perpetual source of oil. It used to be the job of Aaron, the high priest, and of all the high priests to keep the oil in those lamps. But God’s getting ready to do something new so that it’s going to have a perpetual supply of oil.

Where does olive oil come from? Olive trees. This vision is a strange looking piece of machinery that’s got pipes coming from two different branches coming into the bowl that provides this. When you begin to unpack this and think about this, God’s saying something about what He’s about to do. Just think about this.

The lamp stand symbolizes believers. It symbolizes the people of God who are to be the light of the world. The oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit throughout the whole Old Testament. Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Think about how He’s going to give us the Holy Spirit so that we can be the light of the world. You’ll see why I got there as we continue to unpack this now.

He mentions two olive trees. I’ve said that it shows that there are two sources or that’s the source that will be perpetually provided to the lamp stand and we see uniquely from the two olive trees. There are two branches, and I’m gonna talk about those later, because when we get to verse 14, we see something about that, so, I’ll save that. Now , notice in verse four, Zechariah is back to asking questions.

Last week, I told you, I wish he would have asked some questions. Last week, he decided to participate. This week, he’s back to asking questions. This week, the angel gives him a hard time about answering his questions, which, if you read the gospel, sounds a little bit the way Jesus used to answer people’s questions. People would come to him with a question and he would answer the question with a question, which is a great teaching method that causes people to think.

Here’s what happens in verse four; Zechariah sees this vision. He sees a lamp stand that he recognizes, but he doesn’t understand the parts of the olive trees and the bowl. That part he has never seen before, so he’s asking about it. He asks, “What are these, my Lord?”

Here’s the angel’s answer in verse five, “Do you not know what these are?” Zechariah is honest. ”No, my lord.” I don’t know what these are. Then, you’re thinking you’re going to get an answer here and you are. But you really have to think about it because it doesn’t seem so direct. 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Something about this vision contains a word to a man named Zerubbabel.

Now, who in the world would name their kid, Zerubbabel? Zerubbabel means “sewn or given birth to.” Zerubbabel is from Babylon; he was born in Babylon. Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin of Judah (1 Chron. 3:17-19) and thus a descendant of David. Chapter one Haggai identifies as the governor of Judah, under the Persian king, Darius I. If they had not been overthrown by the Babylonians, he would be sitting on David’s throne. He would be king. That’s who he is. But he was born in Babylon. He’s a puppet of Persia.

Zechariah hears the word in verse six, 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Not by might; in other words, not by external sources or worldly strength. It, literally, could be translated as, “not by armies” or “not by resources outside yourself.” Not by power, points more to personal; your own power and strength. Not by your own effort. I’m sure Zerubbabel is already complaining. He doesn’t have the resources or the people, nor does he have the personal drive anymore. They had laid the foundation to the temple when they first got there and now over a decade has passed. All they have now is a startup and it’s starting to run down because they haven’t touched it for years. He’s lost heart and the people have lost heart. Zechariah, here’s the word I want you to give to Zerubbabel. It’s not going to be by external sources of power. It’s not going to be internal, it’s going to be by My spirit.

Then, Zechariah says this; (he’s putting Zerubbabel in a position to be able to ask this question of these obstacles that are in front of him) 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” Who do you think you are? No obstacle stands between this man of God, Zerubbabel, and the rebuilding of the temple.

What does this mountain represent? We’re familiar with that imagery. He was struggling under a mountain of debt; he was facing a great mountainous obstacle. We’re familiar with that, aren’t we? We compare ourselves to a mountain. We say, “I’m small. It’s large. How do I overcome it?”

What was Zerubbabel facing? Zerubbabel was, first of all, facing the people from that land that were persecuting the Jews that had returned. They had written letters to the Persian king saying that if you let them rebuild that temple, they are rebellious people and they’ll want to put Zerubbabel on the throne. They’ll war against you and they’ll rebel. So, the king had sent word to stop the work and then, on top of that, the people of God there were overwhelmed. They were trying to rebuild a place to live for themselves. Haggai, in his prophecy, says that you’ve been building your own houses, but you’ve neglected God’s house. They had their priorities out of order and they were discouraged.

Zerubbabel was facing trouble within and trouble without; it was a mountain of trouble that Zerubbabel was facing. Zechariah puts his words similar to parables; “Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain.” You are a mountain before me but you become like a plain; like a level field. You will be demolished; you will be eliminated, not by my power, not by someone else’s help, but by God’s spirit . God’s spirit is going to do it. He’s going to remove this obstacle. Isn’t it amazing? That’s the word that came to him. This great mountain would be removed.

It reminds me of Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40:4 (ESV) “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.” God can do that.

Then, in the latter part of verse seven, “And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ He’s speaking of Zerubbabel still here. Zerubbabel, who had laid the foundation, is going to bring the capstone, which is the finishing stone, on the top of the temple. He hasn’t been working on it, nobody’s touched the temple for over a decade, but the word of the Lord says that he’s not only going to start rebuilding, he’s going to finish. Zerubbabel, this is the word I want you to give to you. You’re facing a mountain of obstacles, but what you started, you will finish. You’ll set the capstone. This is the word that comes to him.

The word, “stone,” is a repetitive word in chapters 3 and 4. It points to the Messiah. The Hebrew word is ‘eḇen. The word, “stone,” keeps reappearing in chapters 3 and 4. We know that in the New Testament, we find out that Jesus is both the cornerstone and the capstone. He lays the foundation as the cornerstone and He’s coming again someday to set the capstone. We’re seeing Zechariah, who is a son of David and supposed to have been king, but has been cut off from the kingship. One day, there’s one coming Who will fulfill the prophecy of the great high priest that we see in chapter three. He will come again to fulfill the prophecy of the conquering king who will set the capstone on His temple, which is us, because we are the house of God. “The church is not the steeple. The church is the people and Jesus is the cornerstone.

1 Peter says that He’s the cornerstone, the prophets and apostles are the foundation, and we are the living stones that make up the temple. One day, Jesus will return and set the capstone. You can see all of this. It’s here. It points to people that were alive during Zechariah’s day. It had immediate impact, encouragement and fulfillment. It is ongoing for us to apply to our lives and has ultimate fulfillment someday when the Messiah returns again, when Jesus returns again.

In Psalm, chapter 20 we see the psalmist say, Psalm 20:7 (ESV) “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Our forefathers, when they made money, decided to put on the money “In God We trust.” Why did they put that there? Was it to remind themselves to not trust money but to trust God? I don’t know if, today, as a country, we would still believe that, but it’s still on the money.

Ask God to overflow in your life. Are you facing a mountain today? Ask God’s spirit to so overflow in your life that you have confidence to talk to the mountain and say, “Who do you think you are, old mountain?”

It says in Romans, this is Paul praying, he says, Romans 15:13 (NLT) “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

What mountainous obstacles are you facing today? You know it. You don’t even have to think for a second. You know immediately what you’re facing and it seems too big and you feel too small. Rely on God’s spirit to overcome that mountain by faith. Say, “Mountain, who do you think you are, because I know who I am. I’m a child of God. I’m filled with the Holy Spirit. The blood of Jesus has redeemed me. I can speak to you from the spirit and say, ‘Oh mountain, become as a plain and it will be so because I know who I am. Who do you think you are? Mountain, you shall become as level ground that I will walk upon.” How do you say that? Not in your own strength, not in your own might, but by the spirit. This was the word for Zerubbabel. It was a word for his time in 520 BC, but 2500 years later, it’s a word to us.

We can rely on God’s Spirit… 2. … to rise above small beginnings.

Some of us are here this morning and you feel little; you feel small. Everything that you’re facing feels mountainous; you feel small. The first problem is that we focus on the mountain. We say that it’s too big and then, we focus on ourselves and we say, “I’m too little.” Gary, where do you see this ? Let’s look at verse eight through 10. Specifically, I want you to look at verse 10. I want you to circle, “small things.” You see it in your notes there. 10 “For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.”

We hate small things; now, we love puppies and babies, but we don’t love it when we feel small, because when we feel small, we feel fear and we feel inadequate. We don’t like feeling small. Zechariah has a word here for the people of Israel who have returned. They feel small. About 47,000 returned from Babylon in that first wave of exiles and they’re surrounded by a multitude of people that are against them. They feel very small, but there’s a word here. Let’s think about it.

First of all, notice in verse eight and nine, 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. He’s referring to what Zerubbabel did when they first got back into town. They went to work; they were enthusiastic. They were full of belief. Then, persecution came; then, discouragement came. The work stopped. They gave up. They didn’t quit and go home. They quit and stayed. That’s the worst kind of quit by the way. At least, if you quit and go home, you’ve removed yourself from the situation. But if you quit and stay, that’s tough because you still have to face that uncompleted foundation that you started. Now, it’s starting to run down.

Have you ever driven by a house in your neighborhood and the house isn’t finished? It’s just a “skeleton’’ and the weather is getting to it because the roof isn’t on it yet. It is running down. I’m thinking of a particular house, growing up, that I remember seeing. It was just a reminder of failure.

The hands of Zerubbabel had laid the foundation of this house and his hands shall complete it. Zechariah, God wants you to go tell Zerubbabel to not give up. You started this great work; you’re going to finish it. You’re going to set the capstone. Don’t give up.

It reminds me of Galatians 6:9 that says, 9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” If you don’t quit, you’ll see the harvest. Don’t give up. He tells Zechariah that he will lay the foundation. He will set the capstone; He will finish the project. He will finish the temple.

The end of verse 9 says, “Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.” You’ll know that the prophecy is true whenever you set that capstone. You will remember what God said to Zachariah. That was a true prophecy.

Then, he says in verse 10, “… for whoever has despised the day of small things .” “Despised,” means to hate. We hate weakness in ourselves, we hate admitting that we’re weak and that we’re vulnerable. We hate admitting it. They looked at how the temple startup was going and they thought, “Man, that’s not near as good as our grandparents told us it was going to be.” They just look down on it, but then it says.

10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” When they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel, they’re going to shout. Now, what is a plumb line? It’s a tool of an architect or somebody that builds houses. Here, we have the word ‘eḇen for stone. In those days, what they would do is they would take a string and hang a stone on the bottom of the string that they carved to a point. Here’s an image of a plumb line for those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about. If you’re building a stone wall, you use gravity. You just hang a string with a weight on the bottom and that’s how you can find if a wall is plum if it’s 90 °. If it’s true, if it’s squared up, that’s a plumb line.

Why is that in the scripture here? It’s because, when Zerubbabel begins the work again, he lifts up the plumb line. which is a tool of an architect or of a builder, the people will look at him and know that he’s ready to restart. It will encourage them when he casts the vision. Here’s what God told me. God told me that what we started, we’re going to finish. Here’s the plumb line and the people will rejoice.

The hardest thing, when you’re facing something bigger than you, is the first step. The first step for Zerubbabel was to take up the plumb line again. When he does that, the people are going to be behind him. This is a good word for Zerubbabel and it’s a good word for us.

Verse 10 continues, “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” It got more difficult to understand again right here. When it has the words, “these seven,” it makes me want to look in the context for another seven that it’s talking about. Now, it might just be going back to the seven lamps. That’s where many would land. These are the seven lamps. The eyes represent God’s omniscience. Or, I could go all the way back to chapter three, where it had the seven eyes on the stone, which also represents God’s omniscience, His all knowing nature. But this, I think, is saying to Zerubbabel, God knows this. He knows everything that’s going on in the whole earth and He knows that what you started, you’re going to finish. So, just lift up the plumb line and go back to work.

In Haggai, which I’ve told you in the order of your scripture, is right up against Zechariah. They both were writing at the same time; they were both writing to encourage the people to get back to work on the temple. Here’s what Haggai writes, Haggai 2:3-5 (ESV) 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I amwith you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 … My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.”

Fear not; in other words, it might be that the work you have begun looks small, but My spirit is going to get a hold of it. Your part is to be strong. Do the work. Do not fear. That’s your part. My part is I’m with you; My spirit is with you. I’ll make it happen. Be strong. Do the work. Do not fear.

Paul says this, talking about small people and a big God: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NLT) 26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the worldconsiders important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God… 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

As the scriptures say, if you want to boast, boast only about the Lord. God loves using small people and small things to accomplish His great work. Do you think you’re too little today? Good. God might be able to use you. My mom used to say to me, “Boy, sometimes you get too big for your britches.” Somebody’s about ready to knock you down. God raises up the humble, but He humbles those that are boasting. If you’re too big, there’s no room in your life for God. But, if you’ll admit that you’re small, you’re about ready to be used.

Remember the story when Elijah was up on that mountain and he’d called fire down from heaven? Elijah sent his servant 7 times to look for rain. It had not rained for three years. You said if I got all of these people together up here on this mountain, you’d bring rain. Where’s the rain? So, Elijah sent his servant over to the side of the cliff. There he said, “Look out towards the sea and tell me what you see.” The servant ran out there and he ran back, saying, “I don’t see anything but blue sky.” He ran back and forth between Elijah and the cliff there, facing the sea, six times. And every time he reported back that it was blue sky. He goes again, and the seventh time, he comes back and says, ““Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.” (1 Kings 18:44-45) Elijah went by faith, over to King Ahab and he said, You had better get your chair and head back to the palace because a storm is coming. He knew that great things begin small. He knew that everything starts out small.

Don’t despise the day of small beginnings. I don’t know where you’re at today. I don’t know what you’ve begun that you wish was already finished. Maybe you’re a newlywed couple and you’re still trying to find a house to live in. Maybe you want to get your first house or have your first child. Maybe you’ve started a business. I started a church 30 years ago and I felt like this. I felt too little. But, the word says, “Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says, the Lord.” Just get back to work. Take up the plumb line. Take baby steps; just take the next step. Put God in charge.

3. … to fill us as conduits of His grace.

We’re in verses 11 through 14 now. We’re about to wrap up. If you look down here, he’s reminded him that he never did answer his specific questions about that bowl, those olive trees, those pipes, etc. He gets very specific. He says, 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil[a] is poured out?” He hadn’t mentioned those before. He gets very specific. The golden pipes are synonymous with the golden seven lips that you saw up at the top. It’s a tube or conduit; it’s a hollowed out tube that the oil can pass through. What’s going on here? Of course, the angel gives him the same answer he gave him the last time, which is, 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what what these are?” He says, “No, my Lord.”

First of all, the two branches that come off the two olive trees represent two people that were alive during that time, contextually. I think the immediate prophetic fulfillment was, one of the branches is Joshua and one of them is Zechariah. God is going to anoint them and He’s going to pour His spirit through them to rebuild the temple and to restart the temple ministry. I think that’s the immediate one. But we can keep working here to see its other implications.

The two golden pipes are conduits to the golden oil; that was kind of easy. What color is olive oil? It is golden. As I’ve said before, olive oil represents the Holy Spirit.

When you think about these two branches, they represent the High Priest, Joshua and the son of David, Governor Zerubbabel. If you put those two anointed ones together and you take the word, “anointed,” you recognize what anointed is; in Hebrew, it’s “Messiah.” In Greek, it is “Christos; in English it is Christ. You recognize that one thread is the prophecy of the suffering servant who will die for our sins and offer His blood for our forgiveness like a great high priest. Another thread is called the conquering King that will sit on the throne of David and set the capstone on the completed work, which is the kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of God. He hasn’t come yet. We have two threads here combined, fulfilled in Jesus. We see this down at verse 14, Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” These two branches, with the two conduits coming off of them, that the Lord’s spirit is poured out.

For those of you that love studying future prophecy, called “Eschatology,” you’ll recognize this in Revelation, chapter 11. John the revelator has a vision. He sees two olive trees that become too anointed witnesses who preach in the last days during the time of the tribulation. You’ll see the connection that I’ve been talking about, between Zachariah and the book of Revelation. Let me continue to apply it to us as we prepare to finish up here.

Ephesians 5:18 (ESV) “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” We are commanded to be filled with that golden oil with the spirit. We are, as believers, to be anointed with the power that doesn’t come from the outside nor from us, but it comes from Him. We are not the source; we are the conduit. We are like branches.

Look at John 15:5 (ESV), this is Jesus speaking, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” He’s divine. He’s the source; we’re the branches, we are the conduits.

In Paul’s writing in 2 Corinthians, he says, 2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV) “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” You’re supposed to have one hand open to God all the time receiving to meet your knees, but one hand open to others so that it flows to you and through you to others. We are to be conduits of His grace. We are to be so filled up that it overflows from us.

Who was Zerubbabel? He was the governor of Judah in 520 BC, but he’s also a type. He’s also a picture of Jesus; of the conquering King. The Lord, the one Who has yet to come again, but is surely coming again just as surely as He came, to fulfill chapter three in the picture of Joshua as the one who would pay for our sins. He will come again as the Lord of all and the King of Kings. He is a type, but he, also, is us, just as Joshua and his filthy clothes. The last chapter was us. Now, Zerubbabel is us: small, discouraged, overwhelmed and afraid to keep working because the task is too mountainous to overcome. That’s us.

In February of 2002, around 11 p.m. on the second day of my fasting and praying, I had heard nothing from the Lord. I was walking on the beach; it’s around 20 degrees, the wind was blowing and I’m shouting at the top of my lungs. You can do that when you are on the beach in February because you’re all by yourself. “Lord answer me, I have two questions for you. Can I please quit the ministry and if you won’t say, ‘Yes’ to that one, can I please quit this church and go back where I came from and find some nice church that’ll love on me that’s already has a building and it’s not so hard.” Those were my two questions. Then, I sensed, at this particular time, after asking for it for two days (I had a splitting headache from no caffeine because I’m a coffee drinker and I haven’t had any coffee for two days.) God talked to me and I heard a voice in my head say, Look in that book after Haggai. You have to understand, God uses what you know. He doesn’t use, he doesn’t speak to you about things that you don’t know yet. He has to use what you know; He has to use your vocabulary. What He knew about me is that I had studied the book of Haggai, but I had not yet studied the book after it. I knew the next book. I knew it from seminary, I knew it like in a “flyover” since but I didn’t know it to get down in it. I asked the Lord, “Do you mean Zechariah? Wait a minute, is that You? Are You talking to me or is that my voice?” I started thinking, No, I wouldn’t have said that to myself because I don’t know anything about Zechariah, other than it’s after Haggai. So, I got a little bit excited. Is that You, Lord? So, I went back to the room, I got my bible out. Remember, I had my bible, a pen and a legal pad. I got my bible and started reading chapter one of Zechariah. Chapter one is kind of weird. I read chapter two and it was even weirder. I got to chapter three and it was pretty good, but I started to think that I must have heard wrong. You have to understand the way my little “noggin” works. I started thinking, Maybe that wasn’t the Lord. Maybe I was just trying to invent something. Was that really you? Then, I got to chapter four. I started reading and I got to verse six, “not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord.” I got overwhelmed with emotion. I felt God pressing down on me and I started weeping and I asked, Am I like Zerubbabel, who laid the foundation? I had planted the church 10 years before; will I set the capstone? Is that Zerubbabel? No, that’s Jesus, because I knew enough about it to know that I saw a Messianic prophecy. That’s Jesus; that’s not me. I’m nobody; that’s me. I want to quit. That’s not me. I just felt the Lord say, No, that’s you. You started it. You can’t quit. You can’t quit the ministry, You can’t quit this church. I was a little upset about it at first, but the more I studied, once He started talking to me, He didn’t stop. I stayed up that night; I didn’t go to bed . I filled that whole legal pad with notes. I felt Him telling me things about me and about us and about what He was going to do. Then, I had a third question. He’d already answered the first two. I asked Him, “Lord, I don’t want to break this fast prematurely. You’ve been so good to me and You’ve talked to me, but I’ve got a splitting headache. Can I quit fasting? I don’t want to go eat a big meal. Talk to me. Can I break the fast?” Then, I wondered if God would answer that question. Would He answer a silly little question about Gary’s headache? I kept reading Zechariah; you have to understand, I wasn’t a deep student of Zechariah at the time. I got to Zechariah 7: 3 and I read this, “Should I mourn and fast as I have done before?” I said, “Glory hallelujah, what’s the answer?” I kept reading and it was like the Lord was saying, I’m not satisfied with your fast. I said, Good, I’m not either. I got up the next morning, went out and got a little something because I didn’t want to break the fast with too much food. I wanted to ease back into it. I called my wife and said, “Honey, I’m coming home. God spoke to me.” See, I couldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my God and this chapter.

Zerubbabel was a Jewish governor but he also represents us and, he also, represents Jesus. I don’t know where you are today, my friend, I don’t know if you’re facing a mountain that’s so big and you feel so small but I want you to know he wants to flow His spirit through you like a conduit of power. Whatever you’re facing, our God is bigger than whatever we face. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” I am a child of God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus. The spirit lives within me; you can say to that old mountain, “Who do you think you are? You will become like level ground that I walk upon, because Jesus lives in me.” This is what God’s word says to us. Will you receive it?

Let’s pray. The Lord is that close. I want to pray, first of all, l for the people of Ukraine that are on my heart right now. I see images of believers, praying on their knees. Mothers praying for their husbands and fathers of their children that are defending their country. Their churches are filling up with prayer warriors and we’re over here, Lord, often just concerned about our comfort, but we are one church. We belong to Jesus. I pray for the believers right now, of Ukraine. I pray for Your will to be done in Ukraine, that You would get the glory. Lord, I pray for the one that came in on a thin thread today. You feel small, you’re facing a mountain, you’re discouraged. Maybe you’re even angry at God. Right now, would you admit that you need Him? You can’t be angry at someone that doesn’t exist. He’s real and you know it. Give your life to Jesus. He’s the Messiah. He has fulfilled every prophecy. He’s the Christ; He’s the anointed one. Would you ask Him into your life right now? Just admit that you’re a sinner. Admit that you are small. Pray with me, “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe You died on the cross for my sins and that You live today. Come and live in me . Make me the person You want me to be. I want to be a child of God. I want You as my Lord and Savior.” If you’re praying that prayer, believing, He’ll save you. Others are here today and you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, but you just feel overwhelmed today. You just feel so small today. Would you pray, “Holy Spirit remind me of who I am. Remind me of what I have in You.” It reminds me of what Paul prayed, “He that began a good work in you will carry it on to the day of completion in Christ Jesus.” Oh, may it be so, in Jesus’ name. Amen!