When you turn back to Zechariah,
chapter 4, I've entitled this message, The Source of Success. Now, by success, obviously I
don't mean what the world would consider success, but what true
success is. The source of success. begin reading in verse 1 of Zechariah
chapter 4. And the angel that talked with
me came again, and waked me as a man that is wakened out of
his sleep, and said unto me, What seest thou? And I said,
I have looked, and behold, a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon
the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes
to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof, and two
olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the
other upon the left side thereof. So what we have here is a picture
of a candlestick of olive trees, I mean, a candlestick with oil
that didn't have to be tended by man. The olive trees supplied
all the oil. So that candlestick stayed lit
with no help, with no tending from man. Verse 4. Picture in your mind the candlestick
with the olive trees, the pipes coming from the olive trees,
the oil coming in, the candles staying lit with no help from
man. Verse 4, 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. 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 Zerubbabel was the man that God was going to use to rebuild
the temple. The 70 years of captivity was
over. Solomon's temple, you'll remember,
had been leveled. The children of Israel had been
carried off into Babylon for 70 years, and this gorgeous,
splendid temple, the place where the sacrifice was, had been leveled
to the ground. and Zerubbabel was commissioned
by God to rebuild it. Look back to Haggai chapter 1,
that's the book before this, Haggai chapter 1, verse 14. And the Lord stirred up the spirit
of Zerubbabel, the son of Shitelechiel, governor of Judah, in the spirit
of Joshua, the Lord, stirred up their spirit for this work. Look in chapter 2 of Haggai,
verse 4. This is the Lord's word to Zerubbabel through Haggai
the prophet. 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. Look in verse 21 of chapter 2.
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake
the heavens and the earth, and I will overthrow the throne of
kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms
of the heathen, and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride
in them. These are all the people that would be opposing them.
And the horses and the riders shall come down, every one by
the sword of his brother. And that day saith the Lord of
hosts, Will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, The son of Shealtiel,
saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet, for I have
chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts." He was chosen by God
for the rebuilding of this temple that had been destroyed, and
he's a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the rebuilding
of the temple is a picture of the work of God's grace in the
soul. The temple had been leveled.
It had been destroyed. Adam fell and was destroyed and
the temple was to be rebuilt. This is regeneration, the work
of God's spirit in the heart. And the rebuilding of the temple,
he tells us, was not by might. Not by armies, not by the collected
efforts of men or a large group of people, not by a bunch of
people getting together and saying, this is not what this is what
we're going to do, and it's not by power. It's not by the work
of any one blessed individual who seems to have great gifts. The building of the temple is
not by might, not by men, not by a man, but by my spirit, save
the Lord of hosts. Here is the source of success. It's not by might. The rebuilding
of the temple, the work of God's grace in the soul is not brought
on by armies. by the collective efforts of
men. Religious crusades never caused
one person to believe. You know, there were so many
of them where they would go to the heathen to try to bring them
the gospel, conquer them and make them believe. Not one person
believed through any of that. Grace cannot be legislated and
voted into office, not by a bunch of right-wing Christians getting
together and changing the laws and changing the country and
making it against the law to do certain things and making
it lawful. No, grace cannot be legislated by men. It doesn't
come by denominations pooling resources to bring about revival. It doesn't come by big churches
using new methods in order to reach the culture. It doesn't
come by armies. It doesn't come by the vast efforts
of men. It's not because of a bunch of
men getting together and saying, we're going to pray and we're
not going to let the Lord alone until he gives us revival. That
doesn't come that way. It's rubbable. The temple is
not built with armies. the collective efforts, the ecumenical
teamwork of men, nor by power, which is to be understood as
individual efforts. The salvation of the soul is
not brought about because of the efforts or the abilities
of any single individual. You take the best preacher, what
does he have to do with the salvation of the soul? Absolutely nothing. You take the most dedicated,
gifted, and loving preacher. He can't do anything in the salvation
of the soul. It's beyond him. You take a brilliant
man who is skilled in argument and very persuasive and very
powerful and people follow him. What does he have to do with
the salvation of the soul? Absolutely nothing. You take
the most gifted, powerful presence of any man you can think of.
What does he have to do with the salvation of the soul? Absolutely
nothing. What about the most earnest and
eloquent speaker? Absolutely nothing. The only
way the temple can be erected is by my Spirit. There's the source of success.
Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord."
Now, the planning for this building was done by the Father in eternal
election. Each stone was selected. The price of the building was
paid in full by Christ on the cross. And the erection of the
building, that salvation in our experience, is the work of the
Holy Spirit of God. Now, I want you to think about
this. What he says is not by might or by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord. Here sits a man who is dead in
sins. And I have a description of what
you and I are by nature. Dead in trespasses and sins. He hears the gospel He hears the gospel and it comes
as gospel to him. It comes as good news to him.
It comes powerfully to his soul. It's the best message he's ever
heard. He's given life from this message. And the fellow sitting
beside him is bored stiff. He's uninterested. He sits unmoved,
a dull and an uninteresting subject. What is the difference between
these two men? Was one smarter? Was one more
diligent? Did one exercise his will in
a more positive way? Was he a better person? No. Here's
the difference. God the Spirit birthed him into
the kingdom of heaven, not by might, nor by power, But by my
Spirit saith the Lord." Life is that which only God can give. Man can't give it. It can't be
produced in a laboratory. It is the creative work of God. Only God can give life. And if you have spiritual life,
if you see beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you rejoice
in having his righteousness as your righteousness before God,
if you rejoice in his gospel, it's because God gave you life. How much did you have to do with
that first birth? Was there any cooperation on
your part? Not a bit. And it's equally true in the
new birth. Not by might, nor by power, but
by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Now hold your finger there in
Zechariah and turn to John chapter 3. John chapter 3, verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus. a ruler of the Jews. He was somebody. The same came to Jesus by night. Now, one suspects that he was
ashamed to be identified with Christ. He was a ruler of the
Jews. This would not be a good thing
for him to do. But I think more than anything
else, he was in the dark. He was in utter darkness. He was in the night. The same
came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that
thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." I guess he
thought he was complimenting the Lord. Jesus answered and
said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, He cannot. He lacks the ability to see the
kingdom of God. You talk about what you know,
you know nothing. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born
when he is old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom. of God. I think it's
interesting. Billy Graham wrote a book entitled
How to Be Born Again. The Lord never says how to be
born again, but he says you must be born again. He says in verse
six, that which is born of the flesh is what? Flesh. It can never rise above its source.
And that which is born, birth of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit
of God, is Spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind blows where it wills. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but you canst not tell whence it cometh, or whether it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Now you do not
breathe and then live, do you? You breathe because you live. You do not believe, then live. You believe because you do live. Faith and repentance are the
evidence of life. If I don't believe, I'm dead
in trespasses and sins. I do not have spiritual life. The salvation of the soul is
not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. The Holy Spirit of God, the third
person of the blessed Trinity, births, gives life. Here is the
source of success. Not by might, not by men's collective
efforts, not by power, not by any one individual's But by my
Spirit saith the Lord. Now let's go on reading. Back
to Zechariah chapter 4, verse 7. Now with this in mind, verse
7, Who art thou, O great mountain? Before the rubble thou shalt
become a plain. And he shall bring forth the
headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace! Grace! Undo it. This mountain is the opposition
to the rebuilding of the temple. Now, you think of the opposition
to you. You think of the opposition you
face with being a believer, with going to heaven, with walking
with Christ, with believing the gospel. You think of the opposition
that you face. The flesh is so sinful and so
deceitful. The heart is desperately wicked
and deceitful above all things. So depraved, so ignorant, so
weak, so prejudiced against the truth. You think of the power
of the love of sin that's in you right now, the depth of pride,
the depth of self-righteousness. The fact that we have the fear
of man in us, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and
the pride of life, the opposition of the devil. All of these mountains
of opposition will be leveled by the invincible, irresistible
grace of God. shall be willing in the day of
thy power." Turn to Mark chapter 10 for a moment. Mark chapter
10. And this is after the rich young
ruler was sent away and he left grieved. And verse 26 in Mark
chapter 10 says, And they were astonished out of measure, saying
among themselves, Who then can be saved? If this man can't be
saved, what makes me think I can be saved? Who then can be saved? Look at our Lord's response.
And Jesus, looking upon them, saith with men. It's impossible. There you go. Who then can be
saved? There's a real simple answer. With men, it is impossible. It ain't going to happen. But
not with God. For with God, all things are
possible. Now go back to Zechariah chapter
4. Who art thou, O great mountain,
before Zerubbabel? Thou shalt become a plain, thou
shalt be leveled, and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof."
Now, this is talking about the physical erection of the temple,
the headstone. Now, back then they didn't have
steel beams, they didn't have concrete. The way they had big
buildings was arches. That's what supported the roof.
That's the only way they could do it with these big arches.
And what they would have to do while they were building these
arches, they would have timbers that would hold them up until
that headstone, that capstone was placed in, and all the weight
of the arch would be against that capstone. And when that
capstone was placed, that headstone was placed, they'd tear down
the timber, and all the weight was right there. What a beautiful picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the capstone. All the weight
is upon him. When that last headstone is put
in, you stripped away the supporting timber and there it was standing. And what was the cry when that
took place? Look in verse seven. Who art thou? O great mountain,
before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, he shall bring
forth a headstone at the completion of the temple thereof with shoutings,
crying, Grace! Grace! Undo it." And the work
is finished, and what is the cry? Grace. Now, here's the source of success.
It's real simple. That is the source of success.
The source of success is the Spirit of God. The source of
success is grace. We call it free grace. We call
it saving grace. We call it sovereign grace. But
here's another adjective that I like. Successful grace. Successful
grace. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
6. First time the word grace comes
up in the Bible, you're probably familiar with this. Verse 5, And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination, not
most, Not 99%, but every imagination. He's not even talking about the
works yet. He's just talking about the thoughts that pass
through the heart. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil non-stop. Now that's God's description
of me and you. Every imagination. Every imagination is only evil
continually. And that's the description of
every man, me and you. Verse 8, But Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was just as bad as everybody
else. But Noah found free, unmerited, saving favor in the eyes of the
Lord. And here's what the eyes of the
Lord saw, because of his grace, when the eyes of the Lord looked
upon Noah. Look in Genesis chapter 7, verse
1. And the Lord said unto Noah,
Come thou, and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I
seen righteous before me in this generation." Now, when God sees
a man as righteous, there is only one reason. Because that
man is righteous. Now, that is what the grace of
God does. Grace is God's unmerited favor,
not offered, but given to the objects of his favor without
it being earned in any way. God's grace is in no way dependent
upon me, my works, my worth, my will, my thankfulness, my
asking for it, my merit. It depends solely on God's will. and it cannot be earned by merit
nor lost by guilt, grace is absolutely free of human influence." Is
that a good dose to you? If human influence is involved
in any way, it ceases to be grace. Where sin abounded, Grace did
much more abound. I love to think of Zerubbabel
putting that carrot stone in and crying out, grace, grace. Think of the grace of God in
your salvation. Oh, would to God that I could speak from the
depths. I really believe what I'm saying. It's only grace that
caused me to be elected. Only grace. There wasn't any
reason to me for it. He did it because he would. That's
the only reason that could be found. If he had to find a reason
to save me, he wouldn't have done it because there wouldn't
have been one. And I really believe that. Oh, how grace abounds in
my election. How grace reigns in me being
justified where I stand before God without guilt, righteous. Surely that's a work of grace.
Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. My redemption, the fact that
my sins are paid for, I didn't have any hand in that. He did
it before I was even born, before I even had any existence in so
far as a conscious existence. He redeemed me. How grace is
seen in my forgiveness. Now, if I sin against you, I
ought to ask for your forgiveness. I ought to humble myself before
you. And I hope you'll forgive me. But you know what? When he
forgave me, it wasn't because I asked for forgiveness. It wasn't
because I wanted forgiveness. As a matter of fact, my forgiveness
was the beginning of my experience with God. He forgave me. It began
there. It didn't end there. It began
there. It starts there. The full, free forgiveness of
sins. Not because I asked for it. Not
because I was sorry. Not because I sought him. But
for Christ's sake. That's why He forgave me. That's the only reason He needs
right now. Praise and bless His holy name. How His grace is seen in my calling. When it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace, How His grace is seen in my preservation, the fact
that I haven't fallen away right now, the fact that I haven't
left, the fact that I'm not in who knows what kind of monstrous
condition, is wholly because of His grace. Don't you know
that? Isn't that the shout of your heart? Grace! Grace. Undo it. Oh, how His grace will
be seen on Judgment Day when I'm standing before God. And
there won't be sin there. I'll be perfect. I'll be holy.
I'll be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. I tell you,
that's probably the first time I'm really going to have much
understanding about grace. I talk about it now, but oh,
how I'll understand when I stand before God, accepted, perfect,
holy, that it's the grace of God. The source of success is
grace. And back to Zechariah chapter
four. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this house, his hand shall also finish it. Praise God, Christ began my salvation,
and Christ finishes it. That's wonderful. He did it all. And thou should know that the
Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. Verse 10. For who hath despised the day
of small things? You know, the successful work
always begins small. It always does. That's the way
the Lord works. Who hath despised the day of small things? When God became flesh and was
in a barn amidst the smell of manure, did anybody know that
this was the eternal God, the mighty Creator? It started small,
didn't it? God called out Abraham. We just
heard about that in the study. He said, I called Abraham alone.
Look to the pit from which you were digged. You know, one time a very insignificant
monk. Who nobody knew. And he had no
influence. No power. no possessions. He went in and nailed the 95
Theses on the church door. And the Protestant Reformation
began. Who had despised the day of small
things? And how small the Lord's work
began with me. Knowing I need something better
than this. Knowing there's something wrong with me. A little light
going, I need the Lord to do something for me. That's the
Lord's workings. Who hath despised the day of
small things? Don't despise the day of small
things. You see, one with God is a majority. And armies without him, they
got no hope. Not by might, nor by power, but
by my Spirit, saith the Lord." The success of the rebuilding
of the temple, the source of that success, the source of the
success of any believer in any respect, is God the Holy Spirit. is the grace of God. That's the source of our success. Now, we're getting ready to take
the Lord's table. In taking the Lord's table, I'm confessing And because of what Christ has
done for me, I'm successful. I stand perfect before God. And
I am aware of my sin. Even now, I'm aware to some extent
of the depth of my sin and the depth of my unbelief. and me
committing the same sin over and over again. And I'm aware
of that. And I'm aware of my weakness
and my sinfulness, just to some extent. But I'm also aware that
the broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ makes
me perfect before God. Believer, believe that. Rest in him. Rejoice in the gospel. Who should take the Lord's table? That's a very important question.
Not everybody should take the Lord's table. As a matter of
fact, we're warned because some people take the Lord's table
in an unworthy manner. Many are weak and sickly. Many
even die because of this, he said. Now, I would take the Lord's
table, right, don't you? Who should take the Lord's table? There's one qualification. If you're a sinner, needing a Savior. And I'm not. And if you look
to the Savior as your only way into the presence of the Father,
if you believe that His shed blood and His broken body is
the only way you can come into his presence. You should take
the Lord's table. Well, what if I haven't? Just
forget all that. I've heard people say, well,
you should be baptized before you take the Lord's table. If
you're a believer, you ought to be baptized. There's no question
about that. What in the world are you waiting
on to get better? To learn more? That's not right.
You ought to be baptized, but baptism is not the qualification
for taking the Lord's table. The only qualification is faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.