Bro Gary Wednesday Evening 2/29/12

Bro Gary Wednesday Evening 2/29/12

Zec 4:1  And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,

Zec 4:2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

Zec 4:3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

Jesus taught that we are the light of the world.  There are definitely deep truths that reveal the light of God’s word.  This starts with a picture of a candlestick.  It goes to the two olive trees that give oil to the bowls so that the candlestick can give light. 

Zechariah encourages Zerubbabel because of his present distress in the next verses.  Zerubbable with 42,360 laborers returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.  Solomon’s temple had been destroyed and they came back from Babylonian captivity with the good desire to bring back worship.  In this lesson there will be good lessons that are applicable to the gospel day as well as that day.

They came back and labored two years.  They got the offering of burnt offerings set up and they kept the feast of the tabernacles.  They worshipped and they built.  At the end of two years they began to be invaded by individuals that were heathen worshippers.  They wanted to come in and build right along with the true Jews.  They told them that if they were not worshipping the true God they couldn’t join them in the work. 

The heathens came back with the thought that if they couldn’t work with them then they would work against them.  They refused to forsake the worship of false God’s and for 17 years they interrupted the work.  It was to such an extent that the building came to a standstill.  They misrepresented them in court and tried to take away all their support.

The affect on Zerubbable was that he became distracted.  He spent much of that 17 years building houses for him and the 42,360 that came with him.  God had some prophets that encouraged him.  As you and I travel the road of life after we get saved, as we travel the Highway of Holiness together, there will be things that distract us and crises arise that there is no answer to. 

This is the reason we must have the oil of the Word and the Spirit poured into our vessel.  It is the only answer. 

More than one family is in an extreme crisis.  Each knows family or friends that are in a crisis or you personally may be in a crisis.  Just because we are saved doesn’t mean that we will not get sick or that troubles will not surround us at times.  It is a part of life.

The prophets caused Zerubbable to realize that even though things were not going well, he needed to get a hold of and seek God.

Getting distracted is not an excuse and it is not excusable but we need to be humble enough to realize when we get distracted.  The enemy tries to distract me every day.  I have thought so much upon the bible truth that as God told Jeremiah, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of good and not evil to bring you to an expected end.”

I’m convinced that I’m not getting 100% of the good thoughts that God sends my way.  I don’t know the military well but there are fighter planes and many other types.  If the missiles that are targeted to destroy our country are released there are people watching so that when those enemy missiles come our way we are prepared to attack them so that they don’t hit us. 

It is just the opposite spiritually.  God has good thoughts, good counsel, good places for us to visit and to work.  You may feel like you’ve been working and it isn’t going just how it should be going.  If the enemy sends out a missile and interrupts what you’ve set out to do, God has a way of helping.  When we get distracted we say, “I’m sorry for what I was distracted from that caused me to let the saints and myself and others down.” 

Zerubbable got distracted.  Haggai and Hezekiah and maybe other prophets got under a burden to encourage Zerubbable to get busy and get the job done that God had sent him to Jerusalem to do.

Zec 4:4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Zec 4:5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Not by might, nor by power: not by anything that can be done through the strength of any man, organization, or government, it will not be by what man can do but by my Spirit, says the Lord.

One of those olive trees represented the Spirit of God.  When God’s Spirit begins to move, it doesn’t matter who tries to hinder.  If we will stay before the face of God and say, “I’m not going to try to put my hand to it or manipulate to bring it to pass.  I’m not going to try to do it; I’m going to trust God to do it.” 

How many times has God moved on behalf of His believing children when all principalities and powers and darkness and evil men were unified to bring to pass what they wanted!  When God says, “I will work.”  You and I can rest assured that He will work.

Zec 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

What God has begun He is able to perform. 

Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote to the Philippians:

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

When you have prayed and the word and the Spirit witness that God has heard prayer, when God who is our leader and the author of peace, not the author of turmoil or being upset, whatever the need might be, your own personal or the need of someone that is unsaved, God can take care of that need.  He has done it time and again.  He is God.

Who art thou oh great mountain?  I didn’t find a number for them that were there to hinder Zerubbable and the 42,360.  Those that were there to hinder could have been stacked up so they looked like a mountain.  There probably will not be a prayer request come tonight or in the month of March that will not look like a mountain.  It has always been this way. 

Zerubbable was faced with a mountain.  God allowed it for an example to us.  There were Haggai, Hezekiah, and there may have been others that encouraged him.

Zerubbable said, “who art thou o great mountain.”  There are some great mountains that need to be moved that you and I are praying about.  They are great mountains and we cannot move them even as much as we would like to help.  Only God can move them.  Remember the Word of God.

God spoke to the mountain, “Thou shalt become a plain.”

Zec 4:8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Zec 4:9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.

Zec 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

It is wonderful how God encourages us.  When you get on your knees, God sends his promise.

There hath not failed one word of all His great promise.

1Ki 8:56  Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

From where you stand today as you look back, every promise that the Lord has ever given you, every time that He has ever said, “I will be with you.”  He has taken everything that we have cast into his lap.  When we said, “I cannot handle this but you can take care of it you are God.”  When we get it into the lap of the lord, we can trust and know that God will take care of it.  When we look back we can see that God never failed.   

He never will.

When my dad died, God never failed my mom.  The night my mom died the furnace quit and never worked again.  You can trust God.  Just because you have mountains in your life doesn’t mean that God isn’t God. 

Zerubbable was working and called of God.  They were making progress and had a vision of having the temple back in order in short time and all of a sudden hindrances showed up.  God had a plan and God always has a plan.

The burden that God has given you, what He has started you on, believe the promise; God will help you get done.

Verse 10, who has despised the day of small things?  When we are God’s we are never alone.  People may discount us but it is what people don’t see that counts.

The plum line comes down from heaven; it is not in man’s hands.  It is in God’s hands and it builds a good wall.  It is a wall of protection.