The Spirit Empowers

The Spirit Empowers (Zechariah 4:6-10)

please open your Bible to Zechariah 4, the second last book of the Old Testament
when I was just a child, I developed a tremendous respect for those engaged in God’s service
at that time I thought mainly of pastors and vocational Christian workers like missionaries
I thought that it would be great to grow up and to become a pastor myself
as I grew, I shook off these childish notions
but eventually, as I graduated from school, I still felt God tugging at me
and so I enrolled in seminary
and today I believe I’m where I should be, doing what I should do, and I thank God for calling me as a pastor
on my graduation day, they gave me a piece of paper saying I had earned a degree
they had filled my head with knowledge, and I was ready to take on the world
the pastoral search committee here was obviously getting a bit desperate, so they agreed to take me on
and on September 1^st, 1991, I began as pastor of Park Lawn Baptist Church
now think back with me to that day
job description:
to preach and teach God’s Word in such a way that individuals have their lives transformed and literally become new people
to evangelize so that hell-bound sinners repent and turn their lives around and come to trust in Christ as their Savior
to lead and provide spiritual direction for the church
to provide pastoral care for people
to equip them to use their spiritual gifts so that they can impact others for God
now, how was I going to accomplish these tasks?
was my seminary education enough to see lives transformed?
were the powers of eloquence and my exceptional charismatic personality going to impact people powerfully?
you can stop laughing now
you see, essentially I was and am powerless to accomplish the mission that God gave me
I can’t lead sinners to repent
I don’t have the ability to bring conviction to people
my speaking gifts are not sufficient to transform lives
now, this problem isn’t just confined to me
let’s talk about you
God has given us all a mission
it’s not just pastors and vocational Christian workers who run up against these barriers
God has given us all the task of spreading his Word, of using our gifts, of impacting others with the love of God
who among us has the ability to do this?
the answer: no-one
that’s why I say that the Christian life is not hard – it’s impossible
there’s no way that you and I can accomplish what God wants us to on our own
there’s a passage in the Old Testament that relates to this, however
this passage has three lessons that give us the answer to this dilemma
the problem is basically this: how can we be useful to God despite our severe human limitations?
and this passage gives us the answer
Zechariah was a prophet and a priest, writing when the Jewish nation returned from exile
as they returned, they had a crucial task awaiting them: the rebuilding of the temple
God gives Zechariah a number of visions regarding this task, but the one I want us to look at is the fifth of eight visions, taking place probably around 519 BC, and it’s found in Zechariah 4:6-10
and what applied to Zechariah and the rebuilding of the temple applies to us today
there are three lessons
the first lesson is this:
IT’S GOD’S POWER THAT’S IMPORTANT, NOT OURS
(Zechariah 4:6) So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
God says to Zechariah, when the King Zerubbabel rebuilds the temple, he doesn’t have the royal might and power that the original builders had, King David and King Solomon
there’s an acknowledgement right off the bat that the human capabilities are lacking
but God says, "That’s all right, because I’m not concerned about the power and the might you possess – the power of the Spirit is going to be enough"
now think about us
we don’t have the human resources to defeat Satan
the Scriptures teach that Satan is our enemy, prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour
Satan is a deceiver and a liar, and he possesses powers enough to render our mission impossible
it’s like what Martin Luther wrote in that great hymn, A Mighty Fortress:
For still our ancient foe, doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, And armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing
friends, left to ourselves, we would be defeated by Satan
our powers are no match for his
but it’s not our power, it’s God’s power
it’s not by might, nor by power, but by the empowering of the Holy Spirit
(2 Corinthians 10:4) The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
(2 Corinthians 10:5) We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
I love the old movies where a fight or a shoot-out is about to begin
and the referee comes out, opens up a case containing some guns, and says, "Gentlemen, choose your weapon"
I saw the second Crocodile Dundee movie almost ten years ago now
Dundee is walking down the street in New York with his girlfriend
some guy jumps out to rob them
one guy pulls out a knife and says, "Give me your money!"
Dundee’s girlfriend cries, "Oh! He has a knife"
but Crocodile Dundee remains calm
he reaches back and pulls a huge knife, about five times the size of the robber’s
and he says, "That’s not a knife, this is a knife!"
when Jesus left this earth, he commissioned his disciples
(Acts 1:8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus said we would receive power – in the Greek, dunamis, from which we get the English word dynamite
the power to accomplish God’s mission, which otherwise would be humanly impossible
it’s the Holy Spirit difference
Tony Evans says that this power of the Holy Spirit creates a powerful people who have his powerful presence carrying out his powerful program
weak men who fled from Christ, spiritual weak-kneed wimps who ran when the going got tough, received power from the Holy Spirit
when they received power, they preached and thousands were saved
Acts 4:13 tells us that the Jewish authorities marveled at their courage
nothing could stop them
even after they were beaten and ordered to stop preaching, they went out and preached some more
where did they get this power?
from the Holy Spirit
the Spirit empowered the early Christians to work miracles as they proclaimed the Gospel
he gave power to the preaching of the early church so that when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they proclaimed the Word boldly and with great power
now listen to me
we too have been given the task of building God’s kingdom
I needn’t remind you that this task is humanly impossible
but as the Holy Spirit empowers us, we will receive more than adequate power to accomplish this task
(Zechariah 4:6) So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
the second lesson from Zechariah 4 is this:
IT’S GOD’S POWER THAT REMOVES THE OBSTACLES, NOT OUR POWER
(Zechariah 4:7) "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'"
those who were going to rebuild the temple faced all sorts of obstacles, but God promised that he would open a way for them
this is not too different from what Jesus promised
(Luke 10:18) He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
(Luke 10:19) I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
(Luke 10:20) However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
as we minister, God does away with the spiritual opposition that hinders us
God removes the obstacles
God even overcomes the obstacles of our own inability
when God called Moses to rescue his people out of Egypt, Moses protested:
(Exodus 4:10) Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
but God replied:
(Exodus 4:11) "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
(Exodus 4:12) Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
I had lunch with a pastor friend the other day
God is blessing his ministry
the preaching of the Word has been powerful in his ministry
they were joking the other week that they ought to put tissues in the pews, because almost every week people were being moved to tears by the proclamation of the Word
people pray before the service that a "God-moment" would take place
you know, a moment in the service where God breaks in and everyone knows that he is working
and my pastor friend said to me, "It’s not my eloquence, it’s not what I say – it’s God working"
what God is doing is overcoming the obstacles that stand in the way
as we serve God, as we accomplish the mission that he has given us, we minister in the power of the Holy Spirit, and he’s the one that removes the obstacles
he enables us to overcome spiritual opposition to the preaching of the Gospel
a third and final lesson is found in this passage
and it’s this
GOD REJOICES OVER OUR WORK
(Zechariah 4:10) "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)"
it turns out that some who saw the original temple thought that the rebuilt temple was insignificant
to the eyes of men, the temple project was just a small thing, but to the eyes of God, it was a source of great joy
God delights in using small things
Warren Wiersbe points out that God used
Moses’ rod (Exodus 4:2)
David’s sling ( Samuel 17)
a jawbone (Judges 15:15)
a hammer and a tent peg (Judges 4:17-24)
a piece of rope (Joshua 2:15-21)
a basket (Acts 9:23-25)
loaves and fish (John 6:9)
a cup of cold water (Matthew 10:42)
and even mud (John 9:6-7)
who has despised the day of small things?
God loves to use small things
because when the Spirit empowers small things, there’s no telling what will happen
I don’t know what small abilities you have
but I know that if you are a believer, you have received a spiritual gift
speaking of spiritual gifts, the apostle Paul writes:
(1 Corinthians 12:11) All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
when we use our spiritual gifts, even if we consider them to be small, we are showing the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit
God delights in using small things
I need to say that we should never seek the Holy Spirit’s power for our own ends
some people talk about harnessing the power of the Holy Spirit
the Spirit’s power cannot be harnessed
his power cannot be used to accomplish anything other than the Father’s will
but the power of the Holy Spirit is given for a specific reason – to enable us to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ
but God promises his Spirit to enable and empower us to accomplish the task he has left us
I can’t transform lives
I can’t convict people
I can’t be an effective pastor on my own strength
we aren’t very powerful
we don’t have the abilities and the boldness necessary to turn the world upside down with the truth of the Gospel
but that’s all right
because God says, "It’s not by your might, it’s not by your power, it’s by my Spirit"
and God removes the obstacles and turns our small gifts into wonderful things that can be used to please him
would you pray with me that God would empower us?
(Ephesians 3:20) Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
(Ephesians 3:21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

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The Spirit Empowers (Zechariah 4:6-10)