If you would, turn with me to
Zechariah 4. Zechariah 4. Zechariah 4, and I want to read
verses 9 and 10. I'll give you a minute to find
it. Zechariah 4. 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 has sent men to
you. 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. When we read of small things
here, it's not talking about God being small, necessarily,
I might add. And I will clarify this later
on. When we read of the God of scripture, we read things such
as everything that was created was created by him and for him. And there was nothing that was
created that wasn't created by him. We read of a God that is
omnipotent. That word means God is sovereign
over all things. We read of Jesus Christ that
if you were to write everything about Jesus Christ, there would
not be enough books in the world to contain it all. The God of
Scripture is not small. However, this God does deal with
small things, or in small ways, if you will. And there will be
rejoicing by those who are small. They will rejoice in what He
does. We see in scripture where God deals with small things.
And I want to go through scripture today and talk about some of
those things. This word here for small things means least,
less, or little. So let's look at small things
in scripture. Let's start by looking at what
scripture talks about as one of the smallest things you can
think of. And if scripture says something is small, that means
God says something is small. In most of the cases, it indicates
that God says these things. But let's read Isaiah 40, 15
through 17. You don't have to turn to that.
It's very familiar to you. Isaiah 40, 15 through 17. Behold,
the nations are as a drop of a bucket. and are counted as
the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the isles
as a very little thing, and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor
the beast thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations
before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less
than nothing and vanity. When we read this passage, it's
kind of like reading that passage in Romans, where Paul tells us
that the lump that we all came from, that one that we're all
the same lump. Mankind born of Adam is one lump,
and that lump is so small and insignificant. God tells us here
that we are not only a drop in the bucket, but we are less than
nothing. Even though this is true, yet
we as we are born in Adam think our way is big. We actually think
we are big and that we matter. We love our way and we think
our way is the best. And there's a little truth to
that, that our way is big. The scripture says there is a
broad way that leadeth to destruction. That broad way is every one by
nature, being a part of this lump, Having turned everyone
to their own way, in our sight, our way is big. Our way is so
insignificant and small, though, that it in no way affects God
one way or the other. A drop in the bucket will be
of no benefit to anyone, and the small dust of the balance
does not change the scales one way or the other. What does affect
God is, is God. It is His weights and balances
that are sure and right, and we went through that before.
It is His plummet He has in His hand, and the building He will
build, although it might be small, it will be perfectly created.
Seeing this in Scripture that this is so, there are some small
things that our sovereign God has set His sights on. There
are small things that he has set his sight on, but we read
of those who are chosen by God are the following type of people
in 1 Corinthians 1, 25 through 28. Because the foolishness of
God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than
men, for ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring
to naught the things that are. So when we read this, we know
that if there are any wise, any mighty, and any noble, and that
is wise, mighty, and noble in this world, not wise compared
to God, but if there are any of these that God has been pleased
to call, it is a very small number. Because it says not many. But
even the rest of those he calls who make up the larger portion
of those called are very small and insignificant. It says most
that God calls are foolish, weak, base, and despised, and things
that are not. The ones God calls are nothings. But we read in scripture in our
text when it comes to what God does, we are not to despise small
things. A small number of wise, mighty,
and noble are not to be despised because it is God that calls.
The small number of nothings that God calls is not to be despised. This world despises those small
things God has blessed. But may it not be that God's
people despise anything that he is building. As we read, the
nations are as a small drop in the bucket. As small as the nations
are to God, even to that smallest, God pulls out a remnant. A small
piece from the whole, that's what a remnant is. God will make
his power known in small things. And if you would, turn with me
to Judges 7 for a minute. Judges 7. Judges 7, verses 1 through 7,
I want to read. Judges 7, 1 through 7, we will
see the intention of God here. Then Jerubbabel, who is Gideon,
and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched
beside the well of Herod, so that the host of the Midianites
were on the north side of them, by the hill of Morah in the valley. And the Lord said unto Gideon,
the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the
Midianites into their hands, lest Israel bonk themselves against
me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to
proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful
and afraid, let him return and depart early from the mount,
Gilead. And there returned of the people
twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand.
And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many.
bring them down into the water, and I will try them for thee
there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall
go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever
I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall
not go. So he brought down the people
into the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that
lappeth up the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him
shalt thou set by himself. Likewise, every one that boweth
down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped,
putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all
the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink
water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred
men that lapped will I save you. and deliver the Midianites into
thine hand and let all the other people go, every man into his
place. As small as we are, we have great
pride. And God will have none of it.
God will deal with small things so that we might know the power
is of him and not of ourselves. We've read in scripture God reserved
unto himself 7,000 men that have not bowed the knee to Baal, Romans
11, three and four. Lord, they have killed thy prophets
and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone and they seek
my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved for myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Elias thinks
he is by himself. But God has reserved other people
that Elias didn't know about. Those who have not bowed down
to this world's religion, that religion of Baal. But what does
it go on to say in verse five? Even so then at this present
time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. It is of God's choosing and this
choosing by his grace. And this choosing was a small
part of the whole. There is but a small remnant
even now today. There is a small number who are
chosen of God. It's manifested all the time.
We are a small group here and we gather in a small place. We
are not alone though. There's not a place that when
you consider all that this world is and has, there's not a place
who bow to the sovereign God that has many compared to the
world. This smallness tells us or manifest to us just as it
did in Gideon's time that the power and glory all goes to God. Because he is triumphant in small
numbers. It's not about us, it's about
the God we serve. He will show His power in small
things. Even those whom He has called,
this remnant, we read of things in the Scripture such as this,
Matthew 8, 26. And this is Christ speaking.
And He saith unto them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the
winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. Christ tells
us in Scripture in Luke 17 6, and the Lord said, if ye had
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine
tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in
the sea, and it should obey you. The faith which we have, though
it might be in small measure, the faith is not small itself.
But Christ measures it out in small measure. that measure which
he sees fit to give. I do wish I had more faith, but
I know the pride that is in me, and if Christ gave me more, I
would be prone to think something of myself. Here is what I take
from this. If God gives me faith, though
it may be small in measure, I am given that which he has been
pleased to give me, and I am blessed to have faith at all.
Were it not for him giving me this faith, then I would have
no faith at all. I said previously that when we
read of small things here, it's not talking about God being small
necessarily. Now I want to explain what I
meant by that. God is not small. God is so great that he cannot
be fathomed with our puny small minds. He cannot be comprehended
by us. other than by his power and grace
given to us in him opening our understanding and revealing some
things to us in his word. You will know nothing of God
apart from scripture and you will know nothing of it unless
he reveals it to you. He must open our understanding
because we are incapable of doing it on our own. God has chosen
small things to make his power known. Our text in Zechariah
when it speaks of Zerubbabel, it is speaking of or is a picture
of Jesus Christ doing the building. Christ portrays himself in his
word as a particular something though. And I've just picked
one verse out of many that this word is in, but Revelation 7,
10. And it's in the middle of a thought, but it's one word
that I want to get to here. And cried with a loud voice saying,
salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the
lamb. That word for lamb means Lampkin. Lampkin means, as Walter pointed
out a long time ago, if you all remember this, but a lampkin
is a small or young lamp. Salvation has come to those whom
our Lord calls this small remnant. Salvation comes to them through
a small lamp. Let us not despise small things. Let us not despise the day of
small things. Jesus Christ came into this world
and made himself of no reputation. Philippians 2 verses 5 through
7 we read, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of man. Jesus Christ is the self-made
man. He had the power and the right
to be made whatever he wanted to. But he chose to make himself
of no reputation. He made himself small. The word
there in Philippians for no reputation means to make empty. He could
have made himself a rich king who had servants that did all
his bidding, anything that he wanted to do. But he did not
do this. He made himself a nothing, a
small thing. a little land. As we read last
week, it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. This
is how he chose to build his house. I believe that in Zechariah
that it's talking about Jesus Christ building his church. I
know in Zechariah it's specifically talking about the rebuilding
of the temple, but the greater meaning of that is building the
building that he would build, which is his church. He would
do this by himself, and he would do it being a little lamb. What
did Christ tell the Jews in John 2, 19 through 21? Jesus answered
and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up. Then said the Jews, 40 and six
years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three
days? But he spake of the temple of his body. Jesus Christ, the
little lamb, would be slain, slaughtered by wicked men. He
would die under the wrath and judgment of God. But in three
days, he would raise again. And for his people, this was
a raising to justification of life. Meaning this, by him raising,
having paid their sin debt, he by his own justice satisfied
the demands of God's law. When he raised to life, he manifest
that it was just for him to then give his people life from the
dead. This is how he could be just and the justifier of them
that believe, Joe. He has the plummet and he uses
it the right way to build a building that will stand. As Walker pointed
out last week, this world does not want to bow down to a little
land. one that made himself nothing
that he might redeem them that are under the law. This was a
day of small things. A little lamb was slain and sacrificed
for his people. I don't want to despise the day
of small things. This day with this self-made
small thing was so large it saved his people to the uttermost.
Hebrews 7.25 says, wherefore he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them. Uttermost is large. We can say
it like this. What Christ did for his people
was this little, and what this little lamb did for his people
was to save them to a definite place or point, and this point
was fully, wholly, and completely, or all the way. The little lamb,
who is a great God, did big things for his people. What have you and I done? What
you and I have done is break God's law. His law tells us that. The x-ray of the law, it tells
us that we have done or not done what the law demands. It condemns
us. But then the little lamb shows
us how bad that sin was. The doing and not doing of the
law was. It shows us how bad of not doing
or doing the law was. What I have done is evidenced
by what he had to do. He had to go to the cross and
be put to death by wicked hands, suffering many things, and be
forsaken of God the Father. I know this world around this
time of year wants to talk about Jesus, but the Jesus they talk
about, the Jesus they confess, is a Jesus who accomplished nothing. They talk about a Jesus who did
all he could do, and now it's up to you. If you cling to that
Jesus, you will perish. The only Jesus we can count on,
because the Jesus in the scripture is none other than God Almighty
who made himself small. This he did to accomplish something.
He saved those whom he chose to the uttermost. This world
has their giants. Not small things, but they have
their giants. Remember David and Goliath? This
is what God Almighty has put in his word to represent how
he does things. A small man, using a small weapon,
not can or will put down the enemy, but he has defeated the
enemy with small things. God defeats his enemies with
a mere breath from his nostrils. Job 4 and 9 says, by the blast
of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they
consumed. That's all it takes. It takes
no effort on God's part to vanquish his enemies. God blesses his
people in small things. It takes no effort on his part
to convey these blessings on his people. It is in this little
lamb of God where we find everlasting blessing to his people. Because
the little lamb was slaughtered on the remnant's behalf, they
are free to serve him in newness of life. What do we read about
that small piece of the whole in Micah 718? Who is a God like
unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. Do not despise what might seem
to be small and insignificant, because God uses small things
to bless abundantly. Isaiah 46, two through five,
we read, they stoop, they bow down together, they could not
deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. Hearken
unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house
of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are
carried from the womb. And even to your old age, I am
he. and even to whore hairs will
I carry you. I have made and I will bear.
Even I will carry and will deliver you. To whom will you liken me
and make me equal? And compare me that we may be
like. We've seen in scripture that
where Jesus Christ will use something small and insignificant to bless
people greatly. The small things he uses will
be enough. Now I do not want to say what
I'm about to read is not necessarily something that was done for His
people. Christ did this even for those who would forsake Him.
But our Lord, just as He did in creation, can take nothing
and make something. So if you would, turn with me
to John 6. John 6. John 6, verses 9 through 12. John 6 verses 9. There is a lad here which hath
five barley loaves, and two small fishes. But what are they among
so many? And Jesus said, Make the men
sit down. Now there was much grass in the
place, so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And
Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed
to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down, and
likewise of the fishes, as much as they would. When they were
filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that
remain, that nothing be lost. So what am I trying to say today? A small thing with God as it
concerns his people is a great thing. By that I mean it is a
large thing when done by the God who is great. We have a small
building, but by the grace of God we have had in this small
building the sound of the gospel for many years. We are a small
number, but we are promised that the great God we serve is right
here in the midst of us, so we are not left alone. We may be
small in number, but by His grace and Him giving us small blessings,
we have been enabled to proclaim the gospel to the whole world.
It's a great blessing just to be able to get here this morning.
That's a great blessing, isn't it, to come hear the gospel?
God has said that His word will not return unto Him void. Just
because we may not hear about it does not mean His word is
not doing anything. His word will accomplish that
for which he has sent it forth to do. Whether it be blessing
or condemnation, it accomplishes what he has sent it forth to
do. The God we serve is both small and great. He is the little
lamb, but he is the lion of the tribe of Judah. If he is the
one building the building, then the small thing you have is a
great thing merely because of the one doing it. There was no
greater blessing that he could bestow upon us than to take my
sins in his own body. And the little lamb of God who
was slaughtered for my offenses, he was raised for my justification. How great and how large is that? It is enough is what it is. Not
too much, not too little, it's just enough. It is a perfect
building and that causes me to rejoice. There is a reason for
rejoicing because he has built the building. God's people are
a small lot, but the God we serve is not small. He made himself
small to deliver a people, but he now sits on his throne. He
is in absolute sovereign control. His building will be perfect
because he is the foundation of it all. They rejoice because
they see the plummet in his hand. Dear old God, we're all too often
not thankful, dear Lord, for the things that you do for us,
give us, dear Lord, but cause us, dear Lord, to be thankful
to you, thinking of your son and what he has done for us,
dear Lord. Thank you, dear Lord, all these
things we ask in Christ's name, amen.