Well, the scripture that I'll
bring to your attention this evening is found in Zechariah
4, verse 6. Zechariah 4, verse 6. 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. Now, the prophets Haggai and
Zechariah both preached to the Jews. some 18 years after the
Jews returned from their captivity in Babylon. You remember the
history, Jerusalem had been laid waste, and the Jews were brought
into captivity for a period of 70 years, as Jeremiah had prophesied. We read in Jeremiah 25, the word
that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, and
so on, and then, in the 11th verse of that chapter, and this
whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment. And these
nations shall serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. And so it came to pass. At the
end of those 70 years there came the proclamation of Cyrus to
rebuild the temple. The Jews were to return to their
own land and the temple was to be rebuilt again as Jeremiah
had prophesied. For thus saith the Lord, that
after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and
perform my good work toward you in causing you to return to this
place. We read in the book of Ezra the
history of these times. and of how the work of the rebuilding
of the temple was begun, and also how it was delayed. The enemies of Judah and of Benjamin
would resist the work of God. Wherever God works, there is
always resistance. there were the ecumenists or
the ecumenicals of the day who would pretend to be the friends
of the people of God and would help them in the work of rebuilding
the temple. Or so they said. But they were
in fact adversaries. We see this in Ezra chapter 4.
Now, when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that
the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord
God of Israel, then they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief
of the fathers and said unto them, Let us build with you,
for we seek your God as ye do. And we do sacrifice unto him
since the days of Esauhaddon, king of Gaza, which brought us
up hither. Now see what wisdom was given
to Zerubbabel and Jeshua, or Joshua, and the other leaders
there in Jerusalem. In verse 3 of that chapter, Ezra
4, we read, But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the chief
of the fathers of Israel said unto them, Ye have nothing to
do with us to build and house unto our God. But we ourselves
together will build unto the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus
the King of Persia hath commanded us. And then we read. of how the people of the land
weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in
building and hired counselors against them to frustrate their
purpose. All the days of Cyrus, king of
Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. They
engaged the power of the state to hinder the work. Not an uncommon
thing, is it, for the enemies of God's work to use the power
of the state. And the King Artaxerxes gave
a commandment to cause these men to cease. And so we read
there in Ezra chapter 4 verse 23, And when the copy of King
Artaxerxes' letter was read before Riham and Shimshi, the scribe,
and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto
the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. Then ceased
the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem, so it
ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. The interruption to the work
of the rebuilding of the temple lasted for a period of approximately
15 years. And then we read in Ezra chapter
5, then the prophets Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son
of Ido prophesied unto the Jews that we're in Judah and Jerusalem
in the name of the God of Israel even unto them. Now it was Haggai
who first began to prophesy at this time, we see that in chapter
1 of his prophecy, 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 Haggai, the prophet, and so on. And then Zechariah began to prophesy
two months later. We see that in the beginning
of his prophecy. In the eighth month, in the second year of
Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, and so on.
And we see that their preaching, or their prophesying, was not
without effect. again in Ezra chapter 5, then
rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son
of Josedek and began to build the house of God which is at
Jerusalem and with them were the prophets of God helping them. We see it also in the book of
the prophet Haggai in Haggai chapter 1 at verse 14. And the LORD stirred up the spirit
of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit
of Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest, and the spirit
of all the remnant of the people. And they came and did work in
the house of the LORD of hosts, their God." God was at work. He was working by His Spirit.
He worked in the hearts of these people. And when God begins to
work, the people begin to work. And there is a working out, you
see, of that which God works in. The work was, as it were,
rekindled. Ah, but it was a day of small
things for the Jews dwelling there at Jerusalem. There was
more opposition to the work of the rebuilding of this temple.
And there were some among the Jews who were very aged, and
they remembered the former temple, Solomon's temple, and all its
glory. And so Haggai says to them, who
is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And
how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison
of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel,
saith the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedek the
high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith
the Lord. and work, for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts."
The Lord, by His prophet, then goes on to tell the people, for
their encouragement, that it was to that temple, which they
were then engaged in rebuilding, it was to that temple that the
Messiah Himself would come. Haggai chapter 2, we read the
verses. Verse 6, For thus saith the Lord of hosts, yet once it
is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth
and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations,
and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this
house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine
and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this
latter house shall be greater and of the former, saith the
Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give
peace, saith the Lord of hosts. Oh, in this respect shall the
glory of this latter house, this latter temple, far exceed that
of the former, in that Christ, the desire of all nations, shall
come to it. But what is all the glory of
the former temple compared with this? All the gold, all the wonderful
carved woodwork, all the ceremonies of that former house are as nothing
compared with Christ. They were but a shadow. He is
the substance and He is the glory. And note this. If the Messiah
were to come to that house, then it is clear that the Messiah
has indeed already come. Because that latter house, that
they were then engaged in rebuilding, is no longer in existence. It
was destroyed in the year AD 70. And so the Jews of the present
day must either acknowledge and confess that the Messiah has
indeed come, or that the prophetical Scripture has failed. Of course
it cannot be that the Scripture, the Word of God, should fail. And the Scripture cannot be broken,
Jesus said. And so we proclaim the good news
of the Gospel that the Messiah has indeed come and that Jesus
is that Messiah, the Christ of God. Now, what an encouragement
this must have been to those poor, despised Jews at Jerusalem,
to be told that Messiah himself would one day come to that house,
to that temple, which they were then rebuilding. Or do we not sometimes, perhaps
often, look around and despair? We see the church, the cause
of God and truth in a low place. Look how few we are this evening.
We see the enemies of the gospel and we see that enmity to the
gospel increasing continually. We feel that we must plead with
God as the psalmist did. Arise, O God, plead thine own
cause. Remember how the foolish man
reproaches thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine
enemies. The tumult of those that rise
up against thee increaseth continually. And no doubt there are some older
ones in some of our congregations who can remember a better day.
there are those that can remember when the chapels were filled
when the baptismal pool was open quite regularly we would do well wouldn't we
to always bear in mind the counsel of God say not thou what is the
cause that the former days were better than these for thou does
not inquire wisely concerning this as it was a part of the
ministry of the prophets to encourage the people of God in the day
of small things, even so it is a part of the duty of ministers
of the gospel to encourage the Lord's people in this day of
small things. Now for the encouragement of
the people then, Zechariah receives a vision. He's granted a vision
of a golden candlestick and two olive trees by it. Well, for
our encouragement this evening, we shall consider four things. Firstly, the beginning of the
vision. Secondly, the vision itself. Then thirdly, the prophet's
inquiry and the angel's response. And then fourthly, the meaning
of the vision, which we have in the words of our text. 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. let
us consider firstly then the beginning of the vision Zechariah
is awakened as it were out of sleep and the angel that talked with
me came again and waked me as a man that is wakened out of
his sleep is it not the case that if we
are to be taught anything spiritually then we must be awakened spiritually
Even the best saints, if we may so speak, are prone to spiritual
lethargy. Think of the wise virgins in
Matthew 25. The wise virgins in Matthew 25,
they slept as well as the foolish. Remember the bride in the Song
of Solomon. She fell asleep and had to be awakened. I sleep,
but my heart waketh, it is the voice of my beloved. even under
the best ministry, we can be so dull of hearing. Think of
Peter and John and James in the Mount of Transfiguration with
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Luke 9 verse 30, And behold,
there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who
appeared in glory and spake of his deceits, which he should
accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were
with him were heavy with sleep. And when they were awake, they
saw his glory and the two men that stood with him. Now mark
those words, and when they were awake, they saw his glory. When they were awake, they saw
his glory. Oh, if we are to see anything
by faith of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be
awakened. And when they were awake, they
saw his glory. If we are to savingly understand
the mystery of the gospel, we must be awakened. And the angel
that talked with me came again and waked me, as a man is wakened
out of his sleep, and said unto me, What seest thou? And so he
come in the second place to consider the vision itself. What seest
thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick, all
of gold, and a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps
thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps. And there are upon
the top thereof and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are
upon the top thereof, and two olive trees by it, one by the
right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side thereof.
He sees this golden candlestick with its seven lamps, such as
would have been seen in the tabernacle. But there is this major difference
between this candlestick of Zechariah's vision and the candlestick which
would have been seen in the tabernacle. The candlestick of the tabernacle
was to be attended to by the high priest, morning and evening,
as you read in the book of Exodus. But there are no priests attending
this candlestick of Zechariah's vision. Instead, there are two
olive trees on either side of the candlestick, continually
supplying oil by means of two golden pipes to a bowl which
was upon the top of the candlestick. We see this in verse 12 where
the Prophet asks, what be these two olive branches which through
the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
So the Olive trees are supplying this
golden oil by means of two golden pipes to the bowl that's on top
of the candlestick. And then from the bowl, which
is on the top of the candlestick, there are seven pipes to the
seven lamps of the candlestick. These seven pipes are continually
conveying the golden oil to the seven lamps. And so the seven
lamps of the golden candlestick are continually supplied with
oil from the two anointed ones. or sons of oil, as it is in the
Hebrew there in verse 14. Well, this then is the vision. Let's proceed to consider the
prophet's inquiry and the angel's response in verses four and five. So I answered and spoke to the
angel that talked with me, saying, what are these, my lord? Then
the angel that talks with me answered and said unto me, knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, no, my lord. The
prophet addresses the angel as my lord. Now, you will notice
that the translators of our authorized version have wisely and quite
correctly used the lowercase letter L for the word lord. Zechariah addresses the angel
as my lord. not because he is worshipping
the angel. Such an act is forbidden in the Word of God. God only
is to be worshipped. Worship is to be reserved for
God only, not the creature. You remember how John, the Apostle,
the Apostle John was rebuked for falling down at the feet
of an angel to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou
do it not. I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have
the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. Worship God. Angels are not to be worshipped.
The Prophet addresses the angel as my Lord because he would show
that respect that is due to the angel as a messenger of God.
are we not here taught by Zechariah's example that we ought to highly
esteem those faithful pastors and teachers which the ascended
Christ has given to his church and we beseech you brethren to
know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord
and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for
their work's sake says Paul to the Thessalonians And the Prophet
is also an example to us in this, in that he diligently inquired
into that which he did not understand. What are these, my Lord? What
are these, my Lord? Sometimes when the Lord addresses
us through his word, we don't always understand what is being
said or what is written. Well, we would do well to follow
the Prophet's example here and to inquire, what are these my
Lord? What are these my Lord? What
is the meaning of this scripture? What is the meaning of this prophecy? What is the meaning of this parable? What is the meaning of this particular
number that we have here? And so on. When the Lord speaks to us, through
his providential dealings. And you know, God's providence
does have a voice. Well, we would do well to inquire,
what are these, my Lord? What is the Lord saying to me
in this situation? What is the Lord saying to our
nation in these events? What is the Lord saying to his
church and people in these calamities? The Lord's voice crieth unto
the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name. Hear ye the
rod, and who have appointed it. When it comes to gospel ordinances,
the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, we would do
well to consider and to ask, what are these, my Lord? What
do these things signify? What do these things mean? If
under the ministry of the Word, There is something in the preaching
that we don't understand. Don't be ashamed to ask the minister,
the Lord's servant, what are these, my Lord? Zechariah did
so, didn't he? What are these, my Lord? He diligently
inquired into that which he did not understand. And the angel
responds by asking the prophet a question. Then the angel that
talked with me answered and said unto me, knowest thou not what
these be? knowest thou not what these be?
Now this he asks in order to solicit a confession from the
Prophet of his own ignorance. Then the angel that talks with
me answered and said unto me, knowest thou not what these be?
And I said, No, my Lord. No, my Lord. Now note this. All
those that will be taught of the Lord must be humbled by the
Lord. The meek will he guide in judgment,
and the meek will he teach his way. I like Matthew Henry's comment
on this. He says, But those who would
be taught of God must see and acknowledge their own ignorance
and their need to be taught, and must apply to God for instruction. To him that gave us the cabinet
we must apply for the key wherewith to unlock it. God will teach
the meek and humble, not those that are conceited of themselves,
and lean on the broken reed of their own understanding. Knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, No, my Lord. It is
then, when he acknowledges his own ignorance, it is then that
he is taught the meaning of the vision. Let us come then to the
meaning of this vision. 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. Zerubbabel was the governor of
Judah. He was one of the royal line of King David. He's mentioned
in the genealogies of Christ, in the Gospels of Matthew and
Luke. And there, of course, he is called Zerubbabel. So he is
the leader of the people. This word then was addressed
to him as the leader of the people, as their head, as it were, and
so through him to all the people of God. And through him to all
of us, who are the people of God. And here is the sum and
meaning of the vision of the golden candlestick and the two
olive trees and the continual supply of oil, it's this, this
is the meaning as the angel tells us, not by might nor by power
but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. Now the candlestick
represents the church and so in John's vision of the revelation
We read the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my
right hand and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars
are the seven angels of the seven churches and the seven candlesticks
which thou sawest are the seven churches. We note this that the
New Testament is the key to understanding the Old Testament. The candlestick represents the
church then. And the fact that it is golden,
that it is made out of gold, signifies the excellence of the
church. Even though it's so mean and
despised in the eyes of the world. And sometimes, indeed one might
say often, it's small and despised even in the eyes of the Lord's
people. When faith is not in exercise. Oh, there is very little
outward beauty in the gospel church, especially in a day of
small things, when the church is in a low state. But in this
vision, we are reminded of the excellence of the church. Out
of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined. The candlestick
is a golden candlestick. And we note that under the Old
Covenant we see the Church represented by seven lamps branching out
of a single candlestick. But under the New Covenant, which
is a better covenant established upon better promises, we see
the Church represented by seven golden candlesticks with Christ
in the midst. John says in his revelation,
and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks and in the
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man.
Surely we see here the superiority of the gospel dispensation over
the legal dispensation. There is, as it were, a sevenfold
increase of light under the gospel. As Isaiah prophesied, moreover
the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven
days in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his
people and healeth the stroke of their wound. That's the gospel
day. The golden candlestick is the
church. Jesus said to his disciples,
and he still says to his church, ye are the light of the world
a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid neither do men
light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick
and he giveth light unto all that are in the house let your
light so shine before men that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven the Apostle reminds
the church at Ephesus for ye were sometimes darkness But now
are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. The candlestick represents the
church. These words then here in Zechariah
4 verse 6, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit saith
the Lord of hosts. They explain the meaning of the
vision, that the church is miraculously preserved without the aid of
man. It's maintained and preserved
by the continual supply of the golden oil, the golden oil of
the Holy Spirit of God. Concerning the two olive trees,
or olive branches, by which the candlestick is supplied, Zechariah
is told, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of
the whole earth. And we note the marginal rendering
there of verse 14, which gives us the literal Hebrew. These
are the two sons of oil that stand by the Lord of the whole
earth. Now, some commentators have suggested, and not unreasonably,
I think, Now, these two anointed ones, or sons of oil, which stand
by the Lord of the whole earth, are Christ, the Eternal Son of
God, and the Comforter, the Eternal Spirit of God. In which case,
this vision is Trinitarian. It's a Trinitarian vision. The
Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, He is the Anointed One. That's
what Messiah means, that's what Christ means, the Anointed One.
And He is, therefore, a son of oil. The Holy Spirit is that
unction, that oil of gladness. And He is therefore a Son of
oil. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent
by the Father, the Lord of the whole earth, for the salvation
of the Church. The Holy Spirit was sent by the
Father and by the Son for the quickening and for the conversion
of elect, blood-bought, ransomed sinners. This vision of Zechariah
is not only Trinitarian, it's full of gospel. And we see here that there is
nothing that can withstand the almighty and efficacious and
effectual work of the Spirit of God. Who art thou, O great
mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt
become a plain, and he shall bring forth a headstone thereof,
with shoutings crying, Grace, grace, unto it. All the house
of God, God's holy temple, shall be built, The hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish
it. Do we not see Zerubbabel here
as a type of Christ? The hands of Zerubbabel have
laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it. The foundation was laid at Christ's
first appearing. See chapter 3 in verse 9, for
behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon one
stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the graving
thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity
of that land in one day. There is the foundation laid,
for rather foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ. The foundation stone was laid
at Christ's first appearing. The headstone is brought forth
at his second appearing. Verse 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. Oh, there is the completion of
the building, you see. There is the completion of the
building. The foundation stone has been laid, and lively stones
are being added daily to the spiritual house by the sovereign
operation of God the Holy Spirit. And then, when every other stone
has been put in place, the headstone itself shall be brought forth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
foundation and He is the headstone too. He is Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending. He is the first and the last.
He is the author and He is the finisher of our salvation. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Well, this is what is meant then
here by this vision. Not by might, nor by power, but
by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Not by might, nor by power, but
by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. God will work, and
he will bring the building to a most perfect completion. Now, What are we taught here then
as we draw to a conclusion? How may we apply these things
to our own selves and to our own situation? Well, surely in
these days of darkness and declension, in this day of apathy and of
opposition, in these days of fewness and of little fruit,
in the day of small things, we are taught not to put our trust
in men, nor in the schemes of men. There is that danger, you
know, there is that temptation to do just that. You remember Piraeus Uzzah, the
breach of Uzzah. In 2 Samuel chapter 6, King David
wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and they
set it upon a new cart pulled by oxen. Now this was completely
contrary to what God had commanded because the ark, when it was
to be moved, was to be borne on the shoulders of the sons
of Kohath by means of the two staves, the two paws. Nobody was to touch the ark lest
they die, as it says in the book of Numbers in chapter 4. But
we read on in 2 Samuel chapter 6 And when they came to Nahon's
threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and
took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the
Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his
error, and there he died by the ark of God. Now Dr. Hawker comments on these verses
and says, the ark of God needs not the arm of flesh to keep
it from falling. No doubt Uzzah had good intentions, But he didn't do what God had
commanded. It wasn't in accordance with
God's law. The Ark of God needs not the
arm of flesh to keep it from falling. How true that is and
how many are there these days who are using fleshly and carnal
means, perhaps with the best of intentions. Yet it is an arm
of flesh and with an arm of flesh they're trying to do God's work
for him in drawing sinners to Christ. The Ark of God needs
not the Arm of Flesh to keep it from falling, not by might,
nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." And
the Church is not preserved and upheld by the State. This is
why we reject the notion of a national religion, a State Church. The
Church is not preserved and upheld by the State. It's not preserved
by force of arms. is not preserved or built up
by man's so-called free will, or by any man's so-called persuasive
preaching. Not by might nor by power, but
by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. That is, not by might
nor by power of the creature, but by the might and by the power
of my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Or if the church appears to be
in a low place, do not individual members of the church often feel
themselves to be in a low place? Do we not feel it to be a day
of small things, even within our own souls? We seem to have
little faith. We seem to bear little fruit. Our prayers are so few and faint. Perhaps you feel that you know
so very little. Oh, but you do know something.
You do know something. You know and feel something of
the wretchedness of your fallen nature. You see and feel your
sinful inability to keep the law of God, that you continually
fall short, that you are a transgressor of God's law and that you are
a transgressor from the womb. You know and you see something
of God's absolute holiness, and you feel the utter poverty of
your own works, that all your righteousnesses are as filthy
rags, and that you are fading as a leaf, and that your iniquities
like the wind have taken you away, and you know that if your
poor soul should be saved, it must be by Christ alone, and
by His grace alone. This is the stone which was set
at Nought, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Oh, if you know these things,
you know all things. You know all that is necessary
to be known. As John says, but ye have an
unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. It is the work of the Spirit
to take of the things of Christ and to reveal them to us. It
is the work of the Holy Spirit within us to convince us of our
sin and of our need of salvation, to convince us of our utter inability
to do anything that is good in God's sight, even to believe. It's the work of the Spirit to
show us these things. And it is the work of the Spirit
to lead us to Jesus who has perfectly fulfilled the law on behalf of
the sinner and who has suffered the wrath of God which was due
to the sinner. This is the Spirit's teaching.
This is the oil of the Spirit coming to every member of the
church. Ministers of the Gospel often feel it to be a day of
small things, especially with regard to their own ministry,
and with regard to their own labours in the Gospel. Even William
Tiptoft, who was an eminent particular Baptist preacher, and greatly
used of God, was to write in one of his letters, I can preach
very little about Jesus Christ as I know so little of him, so
little of the power of his grace in my own heart. It even seems
a mercy of mercies that I continue making a profession of the Lord's
blessed name unto this moment. Of course it's not only ministers
of the gospel who feel like that. Many of the Lord's people feel
this. It even seems a mercy of mercies that I continue making
a profession of the Lord's blessed name unto this moment. Yet we do continue, here we are. And some of you, I'm sure of
you, you cannot keep away from God's house. You must come, you
must hear God's word. Why? And how is this possible? Well, it's because of the golden
oil of God's grace. It's the golden oil of grace. Or may not the Lord's people
draw comfort then from this vision of the Prophet Zechariah? If
there is a continual supply of oil to the candlestick, there
will surely be a continual supply of oil to every branch and to
every lamp of the candlestick. And if the Lord our God will
bring to completion the building of his holy temple, the gospel
church, then he will surely also complete and perfect his work
of grace in every living member of his church, being confident
of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. That is, until
the day that the headstone is put forth. Gatsby says in one
of his hymns, each joint is the care of the Lord. He will preserve
it from hell. His aid and his influence afford
and so supply each member well. Well, may the Lord bless his
word to us. May we be indeed encouraged even
in this day of small things. Christ is going to come and he
is coming to this temple that he is now engaged in building.
He will finish the work. He cannot leave it undone. It
has begun. It will continue. He will finish
it. The Lord bless his word to you
each. 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. Amen.