Thank you, Jimmy. That's all. Turn with me to Exodus chapter
25. If we had such a wonderful service
last Wednesday night, I just wouldn't take anything for it. I felt like my spirit was with
us. We were able to worship a little bit around the table. And I don't
think it's too much to ask the Lord to do it again. twice in
a row. Exodus 25, let's read and begin
with verse 31. And thou shalt make a candlestick
of pure gold of beaten work. Shall the candlestick be made,
its shaft and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers
shall be of the same." Notice how he says, "...his, and six
branches shall come out of the sides of it." Three branches
of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches
of the candlestick out of the other side. Three bowls made
like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch, and
three bowls made like an almonds in the other branch. with a knot
and a flower. So in the six branches that come
out of the candlestick. In other words, the uniformity
of these designs. And in the candlestick, in this
whole candelabra, shall be four bowls made like under the almonds. So that is that main branch in
the middle. Shall be four bowls made like
under almonds with their knots and their flowers. And if you've
got your little picture with you tonight. What he's talking
about here are these knobs. Somebody asked me. The knobs
are this round part of this design. And the bowls are the almond
shaped objects. And the flowers are these parts
I've got colored in right there. A little flower. Okay, that's
just so you know what he's talking about. And, verse 34, and in
the candlestick shall be four bowls made like an almond, with
knops and flour. And there shall be a knop under
two branches of the same, one round knop under every two branches,
a knop under two branches of the same, a knop under two branches
of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out
of the candlestick. Their knops and their branches
shall be of the same. All it shall be one beaten work. of pure gold. And thou shalt
make the seven lamps, that is, to see the seven lamps on top
of the whole candlestick, seven lamps thereof, and they shall
light the lamps thereof, that is, the priest shall light the
lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it, the
tabernacle. And the tongs thereof, and the
snuff dishes thereof shall be of pure gold. Of a talent of
pure gold shall he make it with all these vessels. And look that,
look that you make them after their pattern." Or another place
he said, see that you make it just as I say it. Look that thou
make them after their pattern. which was showed thee in the
mount." There's a verse of scripture
that says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and
the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways
past finding out. I don't think I've ever fully
realized the meaning of that verse until after this study, I've never entered into that
verse quite like I have in this study. The wisdom and knowledge
of God in ordaining and creating this type of Christ is absolutely
the greatest and most glorious thing I've ever seen, the most
marvelous thing. The spiritual meanings and the
truths contained in all these symbols and pictures of light,
candles, lamps, oils, mops, and so forth, are unsearchable. Unsearchable. That is, the complete meaning
is past finding out. The ways that this speaks of
Christ is past finding out. I almost skipped over this as
I began to study it. I almost just said I quit, and
still something else that's too big. This thing, this is the
tree of knowledge. It just kept growing and growing.
The tree, the word is like the tree of knowledge. It's like
when you top a branch of a tree or a plant and it grows two more.
That's the way this got to me. I'd look up a verse of Scripture
and there'd be two more spread out. If I'd look at each one
of those, there'd be four. And then that just got so big,
I thought, where am I going to start? Where am I going to start? Where am I going to go down?
Truth after truth, mystery after mystery, line upon line upon
line. Here a type, there a picture,
there a Christ. Christ, Christ everywhere. Everywhere I looked, Christ and
everything. And I don't know how this will
come out. It's all in the Holy Spirit's hands, but I sure hope
he reveals it to you like he revealed it to me in a study.
Now, you could easily be bogged down with these various parts
of this candlestick, these knops and flowers and bowls and snuff
dishes and all this sort of thing. It's all very symbolic, I'm sure. God never did anything without
divine eternal reason. Yet what I want us to do is see,
like I've been saying all along, I want us to see the overall
picture. I want us to look at the spiritual meaning of this
whole candlestick, the whole thing. In other words, I want
us to see the gospel of Christ. We need to see Christ. That's
what we need to see. We don't need to be carried away.
There's much preaching that does this, that gets sidetracked with
little little things and carried away with the little things and
missed the overall picture, you know? I know some rambler—I'm
prone to rambling myself, but you get to rambling and going
into these various little aspects and so forth, and you miss the
beauty, the glorious beauty of the whole message of the gospel. It's kind of like—that's kind
of like—much preaching is kind of like examining the brushstrokes
of a painting. and missing the beauty of the
picture. You know what I'm saying? Just get down and look at these,
oh, what marvelous brush strokes you must have done. Just look at the picture. Marvel
at the picture. Be kind of like analyzing a symphony
or some musical score. Analyzing each note and missing
the melody. Missing the music, you know?
Be kind of like sitting down at a table and going through
the ingredients of the recipe and so forth and not eating the
food, enjoying the taste. Okay? I don't want to do that.
I want to be carried away with the little things, although I'm
sure each thing has much more meaning than I bring out here.
The candlestick. Turn with me to John chapter
1. We're going to look at the candlestick. that we just read
about there. John chapter 1. First thing I
want you to notice is the purpose. What's the purpose of the candlestick? Light. That's right. Light. To
light the tabernacle. Without it, there'd be nothing
but darkness. Without the candlestick inside
that tabernacle, there would be no light, only darkness. The scripture says, In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without
form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. But
then it says that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters, and God spoke and said, Let there be light. And right there you have the
trinity. of the Godhead. You have God the Father, you
have God the Spirit, and God the Word, the light speaking,
and God the Son who is light. The earth was in darkness, right,
until God spoke and sent the light, that the Holy Spirit moved,
and light was upon the face of the water. Now look at John chapter
1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same, this
Word was in the beginning with God. All things were made by
Him, and without Him, that's not talking about God, it's talking
about the Word. Without the Word, that is Christ. Without Christ
was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men. And the light shined in darkness. And the darkness comprehended
it not. Now, man in the beginning was
created in light, with understanding. He dwelled in God, who is light. God is called light. God is light. And Adam, the first man, communed
with this God. He saw this God with his eyes.
He saw this God, or at least some form of God. And he heard
God's voice. He walked and talked with God.
He communed with God. He lived and moved and had his
being in God. His affection, his mind, was
in God. He lived. He had spiritual life,
okay? Because he dwelled in God, who
is light, okay? His understanding was enlightened
of who God is and what God had done. But man willfully, willfully,
it's on. He willfully rebelled against
God. He willfully—this was the only
time man had a free will, and he exercised it. And he chose
evil over good. He chose darkness rather than
light, right? So what happened? God cut him
off. God separated him. God removes
him from his presence. God said, now the day you eat
of this treat, you're going to die. Did he die spiritually? But he didn't actually, when
he's talking about death here, he's not talking about annihilation.
He's not talking about doing away with. There is no total
annihilation. No, the scripture says that souls
are going to be in hell where the worm dies not. Even then,
they're going to have to pay for eternity for their sins.
And Adam was not annihilated, but he experienced his separation
from God, who is light. And he was now in darkness, okay? That is spiritual death. Talk
about death, it's to be in darkness, spiritual darkness, cut off from
God. And the world right now is in
this darkness, darkness of sin, this spiritual death. They don't
know God. They don't love God. They don't live in God, they
don't acknowledge God, can't see God, can't hear God. Blinded. Blinded, deaf, dead in trespasses
and sin, in darkness of religious superstition and ignorance and
idolatry. That's where mankind is right
now. Cut off from God. No way to God and doesn't want
to get to God. Okay? And that's all of us by
nature. And we still experience much of this dimness, this darkness,
don't we? In our very beings. You just
judge your own evil inclinations and actions. You're full of darkness,
aren't you? Full of it. Your mind, your heart,
your lives. We dwell in darkness, don't we? We have such a hard time. Right
now you're struggling to listen to what I'm saying. Because we're
in darkness. We're bound, aren't we? And spiritual death, like
I said, is separation from God. It's to be removed from the light
and cast into outer darkness. It's to be void of spiritual
eyes, ears, and understandings. To have no heart, no mind, no
desire, no communion with God. In other words, it's a spiritual
blackout. That's man. That's man. Okay? And man's light—Christ
said man has a light. In other words, his understanding,
his affection, But it's darkness. And Christ said, how great is
that darkness? The light, the understanding
that man thinks he has is utter darkness. Christ said that it's the light
that is in you. In other words, the understanding that you think
you have is darkness. How great is the darkness? In
other words, it warps everything. In other words, you're double
darkness. Darkness of sin, but added to
that darkness. Isaiah 5, 28 says this, "'Woe
unto them that call evil good.'" That's how dark man's understanding
is. They call evil good now, don't
they? In other words, let me put it
in the gospel perspective. They call this evil, God-abasing,
man-exalting gospel—another gospel, which is not another, but a perversion.
They call that good. It's evil. They call all this
spirit of Antichrist good, don't they? It's evil. It's directly
opposed to everything that's God. It exalts itself against
Christ, right? woe unto them that call evil
good, and good evil. And they call the gospel of God's
sovereign grace our only hope, our only help. The only help
of a worm in the dust, of a sinner, is the sovereign mercy and grace
of God, and imputed righteousness and shed blood of Christ. They
call that evil, don't they? They call our only hope evil. And that darkness, he says, that
The war unto them that put darkness for light, and light for darkness."
You say, I see, but they're in total darkness. Turn to Psalm
18 with me. Oh, how great is the darkness
of our generation. How great. It seems like God's
snuffing out the light more and more, doesn't he? He's removing
the light. Doesn't he? Psalm 18. Now listen. Natural light, like in this tabernacle. This tabernacle had no windows.
This candlestick was the only light in that tabernacle. There
were no windows. And this is a type of natural
light being insufficient to know God by. The light of reasoning,
the light of nature, can't reveal the glory of God. Only the candlestick. Only the candlestick. Natural
light couldn't reveal the inner glory of the tabernacle, but
only that golden candlestick. And even then, in the Holy of
Holies, the Shekinah glory of God is what lightened the place.
But man's natural reasoning and logic and the light of nature
won't reveal God. You can sit in the woods all
you want to, can't you? You can't know anything about the salvation
of God. If you can see something of His
eternal power and His Godhead and how that He made these Only
a fool would say, know God, when he looks at all these things.
But you can't know God. You can't come to know his person,
his character, can you? You can't come to know Christ.
You can't be saved, can you? Only through the light, the word,
the lamp. Only through the candlestick.
God himself must enlighten a man. Man knows the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so, no man knows
the things of God. Save the spirit of God, reveal
him unto him. Enlighten the man. God himself
has to come and speak light. Let there be light in this dark
heart. And God, who is light, must shine
in our hearts, mustn't he? These dark hearts, these minds
and these affections. And give the light of the knowledge
of his glorious person. And he did that. And he does
that, even now, to some people. And you know how he gives us
life? You know how he sheds us life? Like I said, not by natural
reasoning. He lit a candle. Look at Psalm
18, verse 19, wouldn't you? He lit a candle. What a candle. Listen to this, verse 19. He
brought me forth into a large place." Now, this is Christ talking.
This is Jesus Christ talking here. Listen to it. He brought
me forth. God put me into a large place.
He delivered me because he delighted in me. It has to be Christ, doesn't
it? The Lord rewarded me according
to my righteousness. It has to be Christ, doesn't
it? According to the cleanness of
my hands hath he recompensed me, for I have kept the ways
of the Lord. And I have not wickedly departed
from my God, from his youth up. He delighted to do God's will.
All God's judgments were before me. I didn't put away one of
them. I fulfilled them. I magnified them. I was upright
before him. I kept myself from iniquity. Therefore hath the Lord recompensed
me, given me a name according to my righteousness, according
to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. I was a merciful. thou wilt show thyself merciful."
That is, he'll show mercy in Christ. With an upright man,
thou wilt show thyself upright. With the pure, in other words,
with Christ our righteous one, he'll reveal the righteousness
of God. With the pure, thou wilt show thyself pure, and with the
forward, thou wilt show thyself forward. For thou wilt save the
afflicted people. He'll bring down high looks,
for thou wilt Light my candle." God lit a candle
and put it in the tabernacle. Shines some light on this dark
place. Right? The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light, a great man, a great high priest, a great
Savior. They that dwell in the land of
the shadow of death, upon them the light has shined. God Almighty made the sun to
rise upon this land. Isn't it? Son of Rochester. Christ
said, I am the light of the world. The light. The candlestick. Now
look with me at Psalm 132. Turn over to Psalm 132. Christ said, I am the light of
the world. And he came into this world,
but the world receded not. The darkness comprehended it
not. Christ said, this is condemnation, that light is coming into the
world, but men love darkness rather than light. This candle
came in, but men didn't see it. Right? Why? Why didn't men see
this glorious light, this candle? God, in human faith, why didn't
men see it? And why don't they see his glory
now? Because the candle's in the tabernacle. God was in a man, was in a body,
he said. He was in a body. He tabernacled
among us, but man didn't see his glory. And it's Scripture
says that it would happen when we shall see him. There's no
beauty in him that we should desire. I don't see anything.
I don't see anything about that tent. I don't see anything glorious
about that little brown tent or that little man over there
in 2D. I don't see anything glorious.
You need to look on the inside. One look of faith on the inside,
right? And you'll behold his glory as
of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace, truth, full of
glorious golden things and silver and beautiful tapestries, the
works of God. You'll behold his glory on the
inside, precious stones. Look at Psalm 132. I'm telling
you what, this is great. Verse 7. We'll go into his tabernacle. Who? We. Us. God's chosen people. We'll go into his tabernacle
and we'll worship at his footstool. And arise, O Lord, into thy rest. We'll worship there, and the
ark of thy strength will rest in this tabernacle. Verse 13.
The Lord had chosen Zion, that is, his church. He desired it
for his habitation, for his temple. The church is his dwelling place.
He said, I'll abundantly bless her provision, I'll satisfy her
poor with bread, their hunger. I'll also clothe her priests
with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. And
there I'll make the horn of David the bearer, and I've ordained
me a lamp for mine anointed. My people will see the light.
Why? They're on the inside. glory
be to God, only the chosen, the elect. He said the anointed here
of God, see the light, see the candle, because they're in Christ
by faith. You see that? The glory and the
all-sufficiency of Christ is only by anointed eyes of faith,
not with the natural eye, not with the naked eye. Are you with
me? Come on, man. You have to be
a chosen generation. He said anointed. God had chosen
Zion. He had to be a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood. Remember, only the priest could
go into the place and see the candlestick. A royal priesthood
to come on the inside of God's house. He decides who gets there. A holy nation, a peculiar people. Remember I said a purchased people?
In other words, a slave and a circumcised one at that? Those are the only
ones that could get on the inside. That you should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
glorious light. The scripture says to see this
candle. Yet to be called. Yet to be brought
in. Paul said God hath brought life
and immortality to life through the gospel. Light. He said God
hath called you out of darkness into his glorious light. His marvelous light. He said
he's delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated
us unto the kingdom of his dear sunshine. John said the darkness is in
part. This darkness is past now, and
the true light now shines. He said, now your light's in
the Lord, in Christ. Now your light's in the Lord. Now you see all things in the
light of Christ. Turn with me to Luke chapter
11. You see all things. There's only spiritual light
and understanding when you see things in Christ who is the light. Okay? Listen. This is spiritual
light, seeing all things in Christ. Why? Because Christ is all things. Christ is all and in all. Seeing
everything as being Christ. and in Christ. In Him dwells
all the fullness, right? Christ is the one who has made
unto us everything we need to get to God—wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. He's made unto us, Christ, not
we ourselves, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to Christ, His righteousness. Christ is the
one in whom are hid all these treasures in the tabernacle of
Christ. God was in Christ. In him, or
he had all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and understanding.
Christ is the one who is the Lord, our righteousness. Christ
is the beloved in whom we're only accepted by God. Christ
is the one by whose faith we're justified. Christ is the one
by whose body, whose offering we are sanctified. Christ. Christ
is the one in whom all fullness dwells. This is the kind of glory
of God Almighty in a body, in a tabernacle. Jesus Christ. Look at Luke chapter 11 with
me. Look at verse 33. Now, no man, when he hath lighted
a candle, puts it in a secret place. And God didn't. He brought
him out here, the candle, right? He brought him out here into
the world. No man lights a candle, puts it in a secret place, neither
under a bushel, but on a candlestick. That day which come in—you see
that?—may see the light. In other words, you don't take
a candlestick outside, though. You light a candle. You don't
put it under a bushel, but you put it on a candlestick where
people can see. But you've got it in the house.
in the house. And Christ is in the church,
in the gospel, in the word. He's revealed in a sense, like
that. He was in the world, but the
world knew him not. But the word reveals him, and not under a
bushel. Do you understand that? In those that come in, all that
come to God by Christ, by faith in Christ, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. So come in and see this light,
right? Now, the light of the body is
the eye. What's the body? Christ is the head. We're the
body, right? The light of the body is the
eye. Therefore, when thine eye is singular, that is, you have
one object, when you look in one direction, one object, if
I say, one Lord, one faith, right? One object, one single eye, right
in the middle, your whole body is full of light. The church
is in light. But when thine eye is evil, that
is carnal, worldly, looking elsewhere, your body is full of darkness.
The church will be in, quote, the so-called church will be
in darkness and idolatry and paganism and superstition and
tradition and every one of the truth, right? Call evil good,
good evil. Take heed therefore, verse 35,
take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not
darkness. You examine yourself to see whether
you be in the faith. What faith? Looking to Christ,
observing Him, seeing Him in all things. Now, if thy whole
body therefore be full of light, he says it again, full of light,
full of Christ the light, having no part dark, thy whole shall
be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle does
give thee light. Man hold forth Christ in the
pulpit, You'll be an enlightened people once. All right, turn
back to Exodus 25 with me. Back to the text, Exodus 25. There's no doubt that this candlestick
speaks of Christ. Now, let's look at the design
of it a little bit. Exodus 25, the design of it. Exodus 25,
look at verse 31. Now she'll make a candlestick
of pure gold, pure, pure. He'd have clean hands. He said
it before in Psalm 8, they'd have clean hands, and pure gold,
pure hearts, pure. Christ is the pure, spotless,
holy, altogether loveless, sinless, bright and morning star, isn't
he? He's the fairest among ten thousand, the lily of the valley.
God's holy one, isn't it? The righteous son of God, pure
gold. He's God. He's God. Gold indicates
deity. He's God. Pure gold. It says the whole thing is a
talent of pure gold, verse 39. Talent. You know how much that
is? That's 120 pounds. This candlestick
weighed 120 pounds. Now you know how much money that
equates to today? over seven hundred and eighty
thousand dollars. One candlestick. That's just one little instrument
in this whole glorious tabernacle. Pure gold. An ornate and rare
and priceless treasure in the midst of this spectacular building. Christ is an unspeakable gift.
You can't put a price on him. The Word of God, more priceless
than gold, priceless Look at verse 31. And this was a handmade
work. Make the candlestick of pure
gold, a beaten work. Beaten work. Peter said on that sermon at
Pentecost, he said, God has delivered him. He'd been delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, but you have taken it
with wicked hands. His candlestick was handmade,
and you have taken and with wicked hands have crucified him, beaten
him to a pulp, pummeled him to death, wounded him, smote him,
stricken him, slit him. Not only by man, but one preacher
said, as if God Almighty drew back and hit him right between
the eyes. His visage was marred and was
beaten, plumbed to death. for our transgressions. He took
my beating. He took my licking. What should
have happened to me, Joe Park? God should have drove back and
hit me, robbed me, cleaned me out. Like an old mule, knock
some sense into it. It won't move. We can't see. He did that to Christ. He did
a steamer, smitten and stricken of God. Anyone beaten, a beaten
work. He took my weapon. Verse 32. And this candlestick contained
branches. Six branches come out of the
sides of it, three branches one side, three branches out of the
other. Seven branches altogether, counting the middle one. Revelation
1.20 says in the mystery of the seven candlesticks is the seven
churches, seven churches. We're all, he said, Christ said,
I'm divine, you're the, what am I saying? Branches. We're in Christ, right? All in
him. Seven branches, seven churches,
chosen people, a royal priesthood, but all one. One in one person. One glorious candlestick, the
light. You're the light of the world, Christ said. Candlestick. And each one, verse 31. Beaten
work in the shaft, the branches, the bowls, the knops, the flowers,
shall all be of the same." Same. All made out of the same thing.
Same gold. Each of these things, the bowl,
the knop, the flowers, has a meaning. The bowl, perhaps, was—somehow
or another, this thing held oil throughout. The candelabra was
filled with oil. The bowls, I believe, were to
receive this oil. God has given us a heart, a bowl,
to receive him. The knop has given us a head
to understand him. Heard the old saying, knop heads?
It's not heads. Some of us are not heads, aren't
we? Knop, we've been given a head to understand him. Flowers, fruit
of his spirit, flowers. Verse 36, And all of these, the
knobs and branches, should be of the same, all made of beaten
work, of pure gold. In other words, we are crucified
with Christ, partakers of his sufferings. Now look at the oil. Look over chapter 27, verse 20,
that which fed this whole thing, that illumined the whole thing.
This oil, chapter 27, verse 20. Chapter 27, verse 20. This was an eternal flame. This
candlestick burned forever. It was never to go out. Verse
20, And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they
should bring thee pure oil, olive oil, beaten for the light, to
cause the lamp to burn always. The lamp will always burn. Eternal
flame. Eternal flame. The scripture
says, Isaiah 60, verse 19, The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light. and thy God shall be thy glory."
And another place over in Revelation, it said, there's no need for
the sun or the moon. Why? The Lamb shall light the
place. The Lamb's going to give us light.
That description there in chapter 1 of Revelation that describes
His being, His face was as the sun that shined in full strength,
His countenance being of light, and we'll dwell in that light.
I tell you, this is too big. It's too much. Too much for me.
Olive oil, beaten. Now turn to Zechariah 4 and get
ready. Be prepared. Where's Donny Bell
when I need him now? Somebody. One of our ladies said,
sometimes I feel like shouting. By all means, if anybody feels
like it, do it. I did, in the privacy of my study. Zechariah chapter 4, it says,
pure olive oil. Now, this pure olive oil is the
pure and holy spirit of the living God, which Christ was full of.
The candlestick was full of it. Throw it in the brim, and the
spirit says, beaten oil. Spurgeon used to say, or one
preacher, I don't know who it was, one preacher said, talking
about the necessity of prayer, beaten oil
for the lamps. Beaten oil for the lamps. That
was his byword, his watchword. A little beaten oil for the lamps,
to lighten his plate. Prayer. But this olive oil here,
this beaten oil, is talking about the Spirit of God that was in
Christ and is in every one of us. Christ's body was beaten,
yes, but his spirit was too. He says, remember when he came
up to Lazarus' tomb, he says he groaned in spirit, he troubled
himself. Remember that? His spirit suffered. Yes, he did. The Spirit of God
grieved in Christ. He was bruised and wounded as
well, beaten. Now, Zechariah 4, verse 1, read
through verse 5. And the angel that talked with
me came again and waked me as a man that's wakened out of his
sleep. Boy, that's us. And he said unto me, What do
you see? And I said, I look, and I see a candlestick all of
gold with a bowl on the top of it. And seven lamps thereof,
and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top
thereof. And the two olive trees by it, one upon the right side
of the bowl, another upon the left side thereof. And I said
to the fellow, I said to the angel that talked with me, What
are these, my Lord? And the angel that talked with
me answered and said unto me, Don't you know? I said, No, I don't. I don't
know. Look at verse 6. Then he answered
and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord, this
candlestick. This is the word of God. The
candlestick is the word. What does the psalm say? Psalm
119. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
a light unto my path. Christ is the word. This is Christ.
This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel. Now, you know
who Zerubbabel was? I like the sound of the name,
kind of like that name Boaz. It's a manly name, it's a powerful
name. Zerubbabel! Zerubbabel was a fellow that
was chosen by the king to come and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. He oversaw the building of the
temple. And there was a fellow named
Joshua who was the priest in the temple at the time. Zerubbabel
and Joshua. oversaw the building of this
temple. And God said, verse 6, He said, under Zerubbabel, this
thing is going to be built, not by a might, that is, not by an
army, that is, by a great multitude, but a remnant. This is going
to be a remnant, according to the election of grace. Christ
said, My kingdom is not of this world, not of numbers, not of
the vast majority, it's a remnant. according to the election of
grace. Not by might, not by man's might, not by power. That is,
not by word power, not by man power, but how? But by my Spirit,
I'm going to build my church, my temple, and say it to the
Lord. By my Spirit, my holy anointing oil, which I will pour out into
my people and enlighten them into my branches. all coming
from the same source. Do you remember back there where
it said there was a bowl on top of it all? Verse 3, a bowl. Verse 2, a bowl on the top of
it all, that's God, from whom all blessings flow into the candlestick,
into my branches. That's holy anointing olive oil.
Who art thou, O great mountain?" This mountain, this monumental
work of salvation, of building of God's church, is a great one.
Our sins have separated us between us and our God, haven't they?
It's this mountain that's between us and God. We can't get to God.
But who is this mountain before Zerubbabel? It says, O Zerubbabel,
we'll bring—he'll make it a plain. He'll plow it up and plant a
garden. These rock-hardened mountains,
the hearts of our plow, pierce them. They'll become a plain.
These rough and craggy mountains we plowed under and turned into
a fruitful garden, a land of milk and honey. But before my
might is irrevocable. and he shall bring forth the
headstone. He's going to set up the cornerstone. He himself
is going to plant it, bring this cornerstone to the temple, his
church, and here's what they're going to shout. They're going
to shout, Grace! Grace. Unto it. Grace. Twice he said that. Ephesians
2, 5 through 8 says it twice. By grace he is saved. By grace
he is saved. He built his temple how? Not
by might, not by man's power, not by will, not the will of
man or the will of the flesh, but by my Spirit. And by this
is the rubber boy laying the cornerstone and pouring grace
into it, becoming that rock, that sure foundation, right?
And filling us full of grace, pouring out his grace upon us. Verse 8, Moreover the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel,
he laid the foundation of this house, and don't anybody forget
it. His hands shall finish it too.
He put the cornerstone on, he'll put the topstone on it when it's
all said and done. His hands will finish it, and
they'll know, they'll know who's they. My anointed, my people. They'll know that the Lord of
hosts has sent me unto you. But who has despised the day
of small things? Oh, the world calls this foolishness.
The world calls this gospel a bloody religion, foolishness, small
things. Well, you don't have much down
there, little church. Look at us. We're the church on the triangle. The church where everybody's
somebody. Well, we're the church where
everybody's nobody, and one person's somebody. Who has despised the day of small
things? They'll rejoice, Christ and his
church. They'll rejoice. They'll see the plummet in the
hand of the rubbable, with those seven. And they, with the eyes
of the Lord, and the church, it'll run to and fro through
the whole earth. Yeah, it will. Well, haven't
they all heard? Yeah, I'd say there's sounds
going throughout the earth, the church. It's everywhere. It's
everywhere. There are little in number, small
here and there, but the eye of the Lord, the light of the glorious
gospel, everywhere. Look at verse 11. Then answered
I, and said unto him, What about these two trees? What are these two olive trees
on the right side of the candlestick, and on the left side thereof?
And I answered again. I evidently didn't hear him the
first time. He said, What be these two olive branches, which
through the two golden pipes emptied the golden oil out of
themselves? And he said, Don't you know? I said, No, I don't
know. Would you tell me? Then said he, These are the two
anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. That's the Holy Spirit of God
and Christ the man combined to make one. Everything that comes
from God, the Spirit of God, the man into this glorious candle. That's the person of Christ and
the work of Christ that bring life and immortality to life
through the gospel. That's the Old Testament and
the New Testament, the light of God's Word. Right? And look
at this. You're going to jump six feet. Look at Luke chapter 9 with me.
Luke chapter 9. Two anointed ones standing by
the Lord. Spirit of God, that's Christ's
divinity and his humanity, the person and the work of Christ,
the Old Testament, the New Testament, many other things, many things.
Luke chapter 9, look at verse 28. And it came to pass, about eight days
after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James and
went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered, he became a light. His reign
was white and glistening, shone like a bright light. And behold,
there talked with him two men, two anointed ones, the Law and
the Prophets, standing by the Lord of all the earth, talking
about his decease, which he should accomplish, the building of that
temple, talking about that glorious work. That's the best I can do. You
remember back there in Isaiah 9 where he said, or 8, to the
law and to the testimony. Now, if they don't speak according
to this word, to Christ, no light. Nevertheless, the people that
walked in darkness, they've seen a great light. And you know this
study, this study, to our understanding, is about like lighting a match.
It's not much. Dear Lord, we thank you so much
for Christ, our Redeemer, who died on the cross and came and did what he did
to illuminate life and understanding to dark and dead sinners. We thank you in his glorious
name. And Lord, we ask that you don't
distinguish this light, or extinguish this light, but rather you would
distinguish it, that you would cause it to shine evermore in
our hearts and our understanding. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.