In this fourth chapter of Zechariah,
we're just going to look at the first ten verses. We are introduced in this chapter
to one called Zerubbabel. And the Lord used him mightily
in the rebuilding of the temple under King Darius of the Persians. I believe there's a couple of
Darius's. If you want to, for further reading, if you want
to look at the history of this man, you can look at 1 Chronicles
3, Ezra 2-5, Nehemiah 7-12, and Haggai 1-2. Let me read these first 10 verses
and then we're going to look at one of these references in
Haggai. Let's read Zechariah chapter
4, verses 1 through 10. And the angel that talked with
me again, came again and waked me as a man that is wakened out
of his sleep. And he said unto me, What seest
thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold, a candlestick all
of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps therein,
and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top
thereof. And two olive trees by it, one
upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side
of the bowl. So I answered and spake to the
angel that talked with me, saying, what are these, my lord? Then
the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, no, my Lord, I didn't
know. Then the angel 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. We'll just stop right there.
So basically, you've got these candles, candlesticks, these
bowls, pipes down, go down to it, and then these seven fig
trees. So basically, they use figs to light oil. Pardon? Zachariah 4. I'm sorry, I thought it was olive
trees. I'm sorry, yeah, olive trees. They use olive oil. There
we go. You use olive oil. So basically,
God's saying His grace is sufficient. He's going to supply the bowls,
the lamps, The pipes that lead to the bowls and the olive trees. And they don't have to do a thing.
And that's exactly like salvation. That's how God takes care of
His church. We don't merit anything. We don't do anything for salvation.
This is what He does. He says, not by might, not by
your might, not by your power, but by Spirit, saith the Lord
of hosts. 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. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations
of this house. His hands shall also finish it. And thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. For who hath despised the
day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall
see the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel with those seven. And these are the eyes of the
Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth." Now this Zerubbabel,
turn with me to Haggai. This Zerubbabel was a master
builder. was a master builder. And the
Lord used him mightily. He used him mightily to build the
temple, to rebuild the temple. And he was saying this Zerubbabel
He's got his hand in the plummet, he's a master carpenter, the
corners are gonna be right, the foundation's gonna be right,
because I'm with him. This Zerubbabel is a type of
Christ. He builds his church. There's
not a stone in it that's out of place. Everything is plumb. Why? Because the keystone, the
foundation, the footing, the keystone footing is set by God
and cannot be disallowed of men, It's steadfast, sure, and will
succeed without fail. But look at what he says in Haggai. Notice the blessing bestowed
upon Zerubbabel by our great sovereign. In Haggai chapter
2 and verse 23, the last verse in Haggai. In that day, saith
the Lord of hosts, I will take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant,
the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a
signet, a seal, an ensign, for I have chosen thee, saith the
Lord of hosts. This Zerubbabel is a lovely type
of Christ, or Christ is the anti-type of Zerubbabel. Who but Christ
is made unto his people for an ensign, or a seal of royalty,
and a prince, it says, and a savior. Secondly, in this Haggai, the
latter part of chapter 23, he is the chosen one. He says, I
have chosen thee, my servant. I have chosen thee. Well, we
know from Isaiah 42, he says specifically that, behold my
servant whom I have chosen. I'll read it here, Isaiah 42. Behold, My servant whom I uphold,
Mine elect, and whom My soul delighteth, I have put My Spirit
upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles."
Through him the Gentiles are going to believe, through Christ,
through His gospel. So this Zerubbabel is a type,
a picture of Christ. He is the eminent one. He is
our forerunner. God chose him for the task and
the employment of saving His people from their sins. And He
has successfully accomplished this And where is he at now? He's seated at the right hand
of God. That's a sure sign, a signet, a place of royalty. So he specifically
has done what his father would have him to do. But let's look
at verse 6 and 7 specifically in Zechariah chapter 4. He's
answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord
that is rubable, saying, By might, not by might, not by your power,
but by my Spirit, saith the Lord, Who art thou, O great mountain? Before this Christ, you'll become
as a plain. Verse seven, we'll look at verse
seven specifically. In addressing our type, the Lord
Jesus Christ here, as Zerubbabel, God ensures his church, his dear
people, that though much and many things come forth to hinder
her, to hinder us, to block us, to stop us from proceeding forth,
there doesn't seem to be any way of escape. This mountain
is right in front of us. It's great. There doesn't seem
to be any way of path through it. There's no way around these
mountains. Yet God through grace by faith
He, our Redeemer, will make these mountains as plains. Who art thou, O great mountain,
before such craftsmen, before such a skilled laborer, before
such the master builder? You're going to be made as a
plain. This picture, the picture is telling as it is sweet, it
is revealing as it is comforting, it shows real struggles as it
will show real victories. Though our enemies are without
and within, they're tremendous, they're strong, they're numerous,
like we saw in this morning's Bible class lesson in Judges
6, through Christ we are assured of sweet success. How? The latter part of verse 6, not
by our might, not by our power, but by His Spirit. If so be that
Christ dwells in us. So only through and because of
the grace of God in the blessed Trinity of His sacred persons,
namely in the context here, the Holy Spirit in us working to
do His good pleasure. That's how they're conquered.
The victory's already had. He's already seated at the right
hand of God. We're chosen before the foundation of the world.
Salvation. Before time and then in time, which you were speaking
about in time, in the fullness of time, as far as we're concerned,
and then it'll be the close of time. He'll never be unsaved. He continually has saved us.
And as we've heard before, there's the three tenses. I am saved. I'm being saved. I shall be saved.
In the Gospels, in the Word. For greater, he says, is he that
is in us than he that is in the world, 1 John 4, 4. But you know
me, I love to show examples. I love to show examples. How
do we exemplify, who art thou, O great mountain? Before this
master builder, Zerubbabel, before the Lord Christ, you're gonna
become a plain. Where do we see this? The examples
are numerous, but I've got a couple. And you have to turn there, Genesis
6 through 9. Noah and the ark. That's a high mountain. It never
rained before. It had never flooded before. That's a high mountain. That's
scary. That's frightening. A high mountain confronted our
brother, yet God was with him. He wasn't with everybody because
he drowned everybody but eight. His particular saving grace is
seen there. This insurmountable issue, this
problem facing the man and his family, God made it a plain. Built the ark, got in it, and
was carried over the mountains as it were. Second example, what about Moses
and the Egyptians? Oh my, what an impossible task
he embraced. And yet he wasn't even really
willing. Remember, he said, well, I can't go with this thing, my
tongue. So he's looking for excuses.
And God said, I made the tongue. Like a believer, if we're his,
we get backed in a corner when we're not obeying God. We know
what we're supposed to be doing, but we're not doing it. Making
excuses. He'll back us in a corner, and
then we know He's right. We confess our sins, and He's
always faithful just to forgive us our sins. That's found in
Exodus 14. Yet did not this same Moses see
the entire Egyptian army floating, bodies everywhere drowned? Impossible, right? It's a mountain,
but before our great King. The third example, what about
David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17? Here's another mountain of
sorts. You've got this giant, which
is what he was, this is what it says, and you've got this
lad. You've got this army, a giant,
and this lad, he's got no military experience. He tries the armor
on, he takes it off, he goes, I haven't proved this armor,
this doesn't fit me. All he's got is rocks, smooth
stones, and a sling. Watch the mountain crumble and
fall, and watch David lead the armies of God to victory. Who
art thou, O great mountain, before our God? And our God is for us,
he's not against us. Thou shalt become a plain. I
like this one. Nineveh Oh Jonah They must hear
the gospel proclaimer. There'll be no salvation had
faith cometh by hearing Jonah says I don't want to go But deep
the Lord had a purpose and these purposes that these folks were
going to hear They're gonna hear by that prophet. Oh Jonah don't
shirk your responsibility like I said quit you like men and
Quit you like women who have trusted and believed the grace
of God. Show up, be there, tell somebody, your neighbor, your
friends, about the gospel of Christ, because that's how they're
going to hear. Don't avoid, don't avoid doing this. I know we have
the fear of man, but like I said, walk by faith. It's not by our
mic or our power. or any of our ingenuities, or
things, or this or that, but it's by His Spirit. Oh Jonah,
do not shirk your responsibility. Tell them of God's sovereignty.
Tell them of their utter ruin, fall, and disgrace from birth. It says they're a great city,
yet could not discern between the right hand and the left.
When I read that, it brings tears to my eyes a lot of times because
it's just like, how ignorant those people must have been.
Let's turn there. Turn to Jonah 3. Let's read Jonah
3. And the Word of the Lord came
unto Jonah the second time. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city. There's a great mountain. It's
an impossibility. This community. It's an impossibility. This county. Southern Illinois. South St. Louis. It's impossibility. With us, it's impossible, but
not with our Lord. It's a great mountain. Let's
do what we are supposed to do. We know what we're supposed to
do. I've got to remind us sometimes. I've got to remind myself sometimes. Arise, go to that great city
and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose. He finally went. He was disobedient. The Lord dealt with him, chastised
him, rebuked him. The great fish swallowed him.
That's what will happen to us if we're the Lord's people. We
need to be afraid. If we're going along, we're disobeying
the Lord's direct commands. And we know what those are, where
we're supposed to be and what we're supposed to do. If we don't
do these things, and if we don't hear or see anything of it, That's
when we need to be afraid. If the Lord is not dealing with
us in chastisement or correction because He loves us, that's when
we need to be scared. So he arose. He finally obeyed
the Lord and went unto Nineveh according to the word of the
Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, huge mountain, three
days journey. Jonah began to enter into the
city a day's journey and he cried and said, yet forty days and
Nineveh shall be overthrown. Because of your sin. God's going
to do it. God's sovereign. He can do it.
He can overthrow it. You're sinners. You deserve it. So the people
of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from
the greatest of them even to the least of them. For the word
came to the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne. And
he laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth and
sat in ashes. Oh, glorious day of Washington,
D.C. There'd be a revival. This country
wouldn't look like it. They knew we got real problems. You think we got problems now?
No. If that happened up there, we'd have real problems. insignificant compared to the
glory of God that shall be revealed in us. We have not striven against
blood. For the word came to the king,
he covered himself with sackcloth and asses, verse 6, he caused
it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree
of the king and his nobles saying, let neither man nor beast, herd
nor flock taste anything. Let them not feed nor drink,
but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily
unto God. Yea, let them turn everyone from
his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands Who can
tell? If God will turn and repent and
turn away from his fierce anger That we perish not what he's
saying there is that God has not dealt with us according to
our sins. They see they see the right and verse 10 and God saw
their works and that they turned from their evil way and repented
of the evil that He had sent unto them that He would do unto
them and did it not." Now that verse 10, if you're an Armenian,
you're going to have a heyday. What that verse 10 is in compliance
with all Scriptures in context and compliance with Psalms 110
verse 3, "...the Lord made them willing in the day of His power
and caused them to repent." That's what that's saying. Because we've
seen back in Zechariah, not by your power, not by your mind.
John says the same thing, not by the will of flesh, the will
of man, but by the grace of God that we're saved. Again, only
repented by God's enabling grace set forth. Back to our text in
Zechariah. Verse 7. Now we'll get a little
personal. What great obstacle is impeding
you this morning? I wrote this the other day. What great obstacle? Who art
thou, O great mountain? Is it sin? If you do not believe
this morning, you have not repented of your sin, you have no life
in Christ, look and live. Look and live. Trust in Him. Worship Him. You can't find any
protection in mom, dad, friends, classmates, teammates, money,
any of this. Look to Him. Look to Him. Not by your power, but by My
Spirit. Say to the Lord, I plead for
the Holy Spirit of grace and supplications to show you yourself. What if you're a believer? What's your mountain? A job?
Fitting into society? Government? Enemies of the gospel? Pride? Seeking money? Or seeking titles? Perhaps health? Perhaps your family? Perhaps
your friends? I could go on and on, because
I'm like you. I have issues. And I have mountains. I had a mountain this morning.
Woke up. Fine. In about 20 minutes, depressed. Discouraged. Disheartened. And
I thought, you know what? I just need to be faithful in
my generation. Whether they were here or whether they were forbear.
Whether anybody comes to know the gospel in this town, there's
a few sheep that want to be fed. I need to feed. Because when
I feed you, the Lord's feeding me, but I'm getting this stuff
ready. You can't help but to read, open
the book, and be fed, and be nourished. I tell you, in Christ,
by His Spirit, all these mountains can be made plains unto us. Believe upon Him. And in faith,
see all these things against us fall away. Or if they don't
fall away, He'll give you peace in it. Or He may take you home
in death, and then you will not have any struggles whatsoever. So I close, what do we say to
all these things I've just said? Well, let's keep reading in verse
7. And He shall bring forth the
headstone thereof with shouting, Christ shall do all the work."
He's going to complete it. Because He said Zerubbabel is
going to complete the work. He's going to complete it. My man
Christ, my chosen, my nelech, my servant will complete the
work, the work for the church. This is what we say. Let's shout
it from the hilltops. Let's shout it from the top of
the sod huddies. Let's shout it from the top of
the asphalted roofs. Let's shout it in Tilsit. Let's
shout it in Jackson. Let's shout it in Heron. Let's shout it wherever He has
placed us for the moment, the time being. Grace, grace unto
it. Grace, first, Grace lasts and
grace everything in between. God's grace has carried us all
the way. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Romans 5. And Paul said three
times, he asked the Lord to remove his mountain, remove this thorn
in my side. Nobody knows what it is. Guess
what it is. I've heard a hundred pastors guess what it is. We
don't know. But he answered Paul, he said,
I'm not going to remove it. My grace is sufficient. 2 Corinthians 12, 9. And he also
said, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Oh, I wish I was stronger. Ask
for strength, but He'll use your weakness. He knows our frame. He remembers we're dust. So,
what do we say to this whole chapter, these first 10 verses,
verses 6 and 7? Grace. Grace be Selah. Think on this. Muse upon it. Grace has given us what we have.
Grace has made us who we are. And grace, says the hymn, will
lead us home. To God be all the glory, all
the honor, and all the praise. Nathan, would you close us please?