Seeing all those graduates is a wonderful testimony of the grace of God, as only the parents can fully testify. But we can join in that testimony.
Let’s have another word of prayer.
Lord, we are so thankful that it is by Your grace we have been saved, and even that through faith in the One who has loved us.
Lord, thank You that You have truly bidden us to come unto You. During this time, we would put other things aside and really turn our hearts unto You.
Lord, as we have the privilege and opportunity to open Your Word, we ask that You would take these words written upon a piece of paper and breathe upon them in a fresh way. Cause them to be very living words within all of our hearts for the hour and the day in which we find ourselves.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
I’d like for us to turn again to 2 Corinthians 11, looking at this thought of not being led astray from the simplicity and purity of our devotion to Christ.
We will read 2 Corinthians 11:2-3. As Paul writes to these dear ones in Corinth, he has a wonderful relationship with them because he had spent eighteen months there. He had them upon his heart in a great way. This was not just a theoretical letter; this is Paul, in many ways a father, pouring out his heart to those for whom he had laid down his life and given himself. He is beseeching them in a wonderful way not to be led astray from the simplicity and purity of all that the Lord had called them unto.
For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.
Paul was jealous for these dear ones because he had such a heart of love for them and a heart of love for the Lord. As Paul had shared his life with them, he had shared with them concerning their calling. When they were born again, they were espoused as pure virgins, and the Lord was calling them to make themselves ready for His return.
This was a time of preparation as they waited for the Lord. Paul was concerned that they would be distracted. In many ways, that leads me to think about our theme verses for the conference.
In these verses we have the thought of the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. In the theme verses for the conference, we have the thought, “What sort of people ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness?” Holy conduct and godliness; simplicity and purity. Different words, but the same thought: that there would be singleness of heart, singleness of walk, and singleness of life expressed in the people of God.
As His people are conformed more and more into His image, which we heard of last week, that is the way our Lord’s return is hastened. It is not us doing our own thing, as we heard at the table, but yielding ourselves unto Him and allowing His life to grow and mature. That is the hastening factor in the return of our precious Lord.
Individually, the Lord has called each one of us to be pure, chaste virgins. Yes, corporately we are the bride, but individually each one of us has been called to be that pure and chaste virgin. In that, He has made every provision for us to be that. He never calls us to be something for which He has not already provided the means and the way.
But during this time, which we refer to as a time of engagement, we have to ask ourselves: What are we doing with our lives? Are we keeping ourselves pure? Are we living in the simplicity of the life we have in Christ? Are we living in that purity? Are we living a godly life? Are we living in righteousness and holiness?
Or, to use some opposite words, are we falling into lives of mixture and compromise? Are we falling into lives of complication and confusion? We know there is so much confusion in the world, but even within the church today there is much confusion. We, as the people of God, are being called out of confusion to return to the simplicity and purity of our devotion to Christ. In that, our Lord’s return will be hastened.
To help us get a handle on what this means, rather than leaving it as merely a theoretical thought, we have been looking at the Old Testament. Let us turn now to the book of Zechariah, the next-to-last book in the Old Testament. Going backward, you have Malachi and then Zechariah.
Zechariah ministered at the same time as Haggai. To whom were they speaking? Haggai and Zechariah were sharing with the people of God who had made a choice to come out of Babylon, to come out of confusion, and return to Jerusalem.
They returned to Jerusalem with singleness of heart. There was simplicity in what they were called unto. They returned with one purpose: to rebuild the house of God. They began rebuilding, but because their hearts became distracted and occupied with other things—not primarily because of anything external or because of the enemy—the work on the house of God stopped.
God, in His sovereignty, raised up these two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage the people. We are thankful that the people of God responded. Those who had left Babylon and returned to Jerusalem began building again.
We shared last time concerning Haggai and the primary phrase we remember from that book: “Consider your ways.” Literally, that means to set your heart. What is the condition of your heart? If we think about Who is the Way, the Way is Christ. We could say that Haggai is saying, “Set your heart on Christ. Do not be concerned about these other things. Return to the simplicity of setting your heart upon Christ and responding to what He has.”
As we come to Zechariah today, he has another key word: return. Not merely returning to anything, but, “Return to Me.”
Who was Zechariah? We see from Zechariah 2:4 that he was a young man. Haggai was an older man. He had lived and seen the original temple, spent those seventy years in captivity, and was still able to return to Jerusalem to see the rebuilding of the temple begin.
Zechariah, on the other hand, was a young man. He was born in captivity, born in Babylon. But praise God, this is a marvelous testimony of Zechariah’s parents. It was probably not Zechariah’s choice; he was not old enough to make that choice. But his parents made the choice to return from Babylon to Jerusalem, little knowing that Zechariah would later be used of the Lord to speak to the whole people of God and encourage them.
To me, that is a great encouragement to parents. The choices we make have a great impact on the lives of our children. What kingdom and what city are we raising our children in? Are we making our choices to raise our families within Babylon—with riches, benefits, ease of life, and great success? Or are we saying, “No, we are going to return to Jerusalem, because this is where God’s heart is. This is His city, where He is putting His name”?
It is a choice set before each family. Praise God, Zechariah’s family made that choice.
Zechariah is described as both a priest and a prophet. There were not many like that. Most often the prophets were prophesying to the priests because the priesthood had become corrupted. But Zechariah was a priest and a prophet, similar to Jeremiah and Ezekiel. He had been trained in the ways of the Lord and knew that priestly function.
There is a little overlap between Zechariah and Haggai. After Haggai’s second prophecy, we have Zechariah’s first prophecy. It is precious to see how God arranges things: He takes this dear older saint, Haggai, and this young whippersnapper, Zechariah, and puts them together. They work together to the glory of God.
The young and the old were working together. What a beautiful picture of the way God works and what He desires. There was great diversity between these two: diversity of age and diversity of style.
Haggai was a man of few words. Zechariah was very verbose and colorful: visions here, visions there. The young man has dreams and visions. They had different styles, but they had the same heart, the same purpose, and the same goal: that the house of God would be rebuilt.
As I was thinking about this, and with the conference coming on, I wondered whether some people, when Haggai stood up, might have said, “Oh, there is that old guy. He is so dry. You really have to focus to listen to him.”
Then Zechariah comes along, this young, colorful fellow with all these flowery words, and they might say, “I like him.” Perhaps others would say, “Oh, here comes Haggai. It does not take much for him to get to the heart of God. I love to listen to Haggai. But Zechariah uses all these excess words.”
Naturally, because of our own temperaments, we are drawn to one or the other. Sometimes the tragedy is that we miss the voice of God.
As I think about the conference next week—and excuse me, but it is upon my heart, so I will refer to it without apology—I think about the four brothers who will be sharing: Brother Stephen, Christian Chen, Lance Lambert, and Dana Condon. Talk about a diversity of men. Each has his own unique way through which God desires to express His heart and burden.
Have we allowed the Lord to search our hearts and prepare us so that we do not allow our own personal prejudices to cause us to miss the Word of God?
I will confess—I hope he never hears this tape—but I have to make an effort to listen to Christian Chen. The way he thinks is different from the way I think. But when I hear him, I hear the Lord, and it is the Word of God.
We can so easily say, “Oh, I am not going to listen to this man. I do not understand that.” We have to guard our hearts. This is part of preparing our hearts, preparing the ground, tilling, getting the rocks out, getting the thorns out, so that we will have good soil without a prejudiced heart, open to hear the Word of God through whichever vessel He chooses to use.
In Zechariah and Haggai we see two outwardly very different vessels, but one heart and one voice: the Word of God going forth to speak to the people of God in that hour.
Would that be what we experience next week at the conference: hearing one voice, not four voices? Yes, through four vessels and four servants, but one voice of God speaking to us, awakening us in this hour, so that we may hear all that the Lord has for us.
Let us beware of the things that can hinder our hearing. Let us press on into that.
Even within our own living and functioning together, how we need the young and the old working together. The young ones, at times, know everything. It is amazing what happens when we become teenagers. Part of the description of a teenager is that we know it all. We think school is foolish because we already know this; we know everything about life. Then this comes into the church: “We understand all about this.”
We may have great knowledge, but knowledge without life and experience can lead us down a wrong path.
Some of us older ones who have been around the block a couple of times may think we have a lot of experience, but we can lose our zeal, become stale, and lose freshness. Praise God for the young ones. They keep us fresh; they keep us young.
As I am entering my sixty-second year, I am more and more appreciative of the younger ones. They help keep us fresh before the Lord. We need each other. We are the family of God. He has brought us together.
That is why I love this picture of Haggai and Zechariah working together. Would that we—the old and the young—see Christ in one another, so that the fullness of His heart would be expressed in this hour.
I think that is one of the ways the Lord’s return would be hastened: as we see a greater expression of His life through many brothers and sisters. There is growth and maturity there, and in that His return is hastened.
As we look at the book of Zechariah overall, it can be divided into two sections. There are many ways that people divide Zechariah, but we will do it in a simple way.
Chapters 1 through 8 contain a word specifically given to those in Jerusalem. It is a present word for those who were building the temple. It is dated and very specific. From chapter 9 to the end, the book speaks about God’s coming kingdom and many future things. There are no dates there; it is an open-ended calling.
Many refer to Zechariah as the Revelation, or apocalypse, of the Old Testament. We are going to look at the first part, related to the encouragement given to the people of God to rise up and build. That is what the Lord is calling us to do in this hour: rise up, return to Him, and build.
We will focus broadly on Zechariah 1 through 6. There is so much here, and I hope the Lord will put it upon your heart to go back and read Zechariah and allow Him to speak to us in a wonderful way.
Let us look at Zechariah 1:1-6. This prophecy was given right after Haggai’s second prophecy. Haggai’s second prophecy came after they had started to build, when they had become discouraged by looking back at the former temple in all its glory and saying, “This is not going to compare to what it was like.”
But Haggai said that the latter glory of this house would be greater than the former glory. To encourage them even more, the Lord raised up Zechariah.
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying,
The Lord was sore displeased with your fathers.
Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Return unto Me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.
Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Return ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto Me, saith the Lord.
Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? and they turned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath He dealt with us.
As you read Zechariah, note how often the Lord is described as the Lord of hosts. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the Lord’s army. This is the One who is speaking.
Many of those in Jerusalem were looking back to the former temple and its glory, saying, “Oh, that was so glorious. Look at this little thing.” Zechariah comes in and asks, in effect, “How did you respond to even the former glory? How did your fathers respond to the glory in that temple?”
If their fathers had responded to the greatness of that temple, they would not have spent seventy years in Babylon. Somehow, we can look back and lose perspective.
Those who looked back at Solomon’s temple and said, “It was glorious,” needed to ask what impact that glorious temple had upon their lives. God sent His prophets and said, “Return to Me, return to Me, or you will go into captivity.” Did they respond? No. They did not.
Zechariah was saying, “Remember the whole story. Remember the whole picture.” We have selective memory at times. Yes, there was glory in Solomon’s temple, but how did they respond? What impact did it have upon their lives? They still turned away, went their own ways, and neglected the Lord. Then the very word that had been prophesied came about, and they were taken into captivity for seventy years.
Do not simply look back at one part of the story. If you look back, look at the whole picture and learn from it. Yes, there was glory in Solomon’s temple, but that was on God’s side. How did the people respond?
We need to learn the lesson: do not be like your fathers. Wake up and respond to God. Just as He called them to return to Him, He calls us to return to Him.
It is interesting that they were in Jerusalem and had started rebuilding the house of God, yet Zechariah says, “Return to Me, and I will return to you.”
They might say, “But Lord, I have returned. I am working. I am doing all these things.” But what is God interested in? When God looks down upon us, is He looking merely at our outward actions and the tasks we are doing?
God looked and saw the condition of their hearts. We have heard how critical the condition of our hearts is. Even though they were going through outward motions, their hearts had not fully returned to Him. Zechariah was crying out to the people of God: “Return to Me.”
Just as Haggai said, “Consider your ways; set your hearts,” Zechariah says, “Return to Me. Let your heart return to Me.”
They were allowing their consciences, in many ways, to be eased by some of the works they were doing. God is not interested only in the task we are doing.
This is another great challenge each one of us will face as we go into the conference. We can get into conference mode and become task-oriented, occupied with the work to be done, while our hearts are far off. We can get the job done.
There are many conferences in the world. We have had people in this room at conferences this week—cement conferences and concrete conferences. I will honor that. Conferences go on all the time. The world has them; churches have them; everybody has conferences.
So what is the real issue? What is the battle over our going to Longwood? Is the battle over the physical tasks? There is a small aspect of the battle over that, but the greatest battle is over our heart condition.
It is a spiritual gathering, and that is the resistance we meet. That is the resistance for which we have to be prepared: that we would not be distracted even by our tasks and responsibilities, but that our hearts would be returning to Him, open and ready for Him to achieve and do all that He desires.
Personally, I have to be violent with myself. Anybody who has worked in the bookstore with me knows how task-oriented I can become: get the job done, get the books priced. My heart can get away from the real intent of everything.
We all face this in many ways. Would the Lord simply awaken us to this? We began today with the impossibility of the Christian life. We cannot keep ourselves, but He can keep us as we entrust ourselves unto the One who has loved us.
There is a life within us that desires to be about our Father’s business, if we will allow that life to come forth and allow our hearts to be in that place of preparation. Thank the Lord, we have another week to pray. We can gather together and pray tonight. We can be in prayer throughout the week for our hearts to be prepared.
The Lord says, “Return to Me.” I love the personal nature of that. He does not say, “Return to the things of Me,” or, “Return to My teaching.” He says, “Return to Me.”
There is a simplicity in returning unto Him and Him alone—not merely the things of God, and not even merely the teachings of God, but returning to Him as Lord and Master and allowing His very life to be worked within us.
As we return unto Him, He begins doing a great work of recovery. As the people in Jerusalem returned to Him, He did this great work of recovery.
There are two aspects to God’s work of recovery. He restores all that is of Him, but He judges and does away with that which is not of Him. What is of Him, He restores. What is not of Him, He judges and puts away.
That is another way of describing what our brother shared last week concerning being conformed to His image. What is of Him increases within us, and what is not of Him is judged through the working of the cross and put away. We can use many different terms and descriptions, but this is the work the Lord is doing in this hour to prepare us for His return: that Christ would increase within us.
As we return to Christ, we learn to see Christ as the standard.
I do not know whether Zechariah was in the building trade or construction, but several times throughout Zechariah a similar phrase is used: the measuring line. A couple of times it is called a measuring line; one time it is called a plumb line. That simply means it is the standard.
Within this book of Zechariah, there is one measuring line and one standard: our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the standard. Christ is the way and the pattern that we follow and respond unto.
That measuring line, that plumb line, shows us what is of Christ and what is not of Christ.
When I was in high school, I worked for the highway department on a survey team. I learned what a plumb line was. We would go out surveying through different places, and you would have a string with a weight on the bottom. You would hold that string, and they would mark exactly where it was—not a sixteenth of an inch this way, not a sixteenth of an inch that way, but exactly where it was.
I remember that we surveyed Interstate 64 before there was anything there. We were out in the woods. All the young people may be saying, “Ancient history—no Interstate 64?” But there was nothing there.
We were surveying along through there, and it had to be exact. I was in high school, and most of us in high school think, “That is close enough.” Well, close enough would not do. If it had been done according to my measurements, Interstate 64 would have ended up in Lynchburg instead of Charlottesville. It does not take much to get a little off.
That is the way it is within the house of God. We see the exactness of how God wants it to be. Moses was commended by God because he built everything according to the pattern on the mount. There was exactness and obedience in that.
The plumb line is held from above. It is a heavenly standard. The hand that holds the standard is above, and then it comes down and touches this earth.
It has to be a steady hand. If your hand is shaking, the plumb line never stops moving. But when you hold it steady, it comes right to the point, and you can see how to measure.
There is a heavenly standard. It is not an earthly standard that starts upon the earth and goes upward. As we heard earlier today, we so often try to do things to earn our way into heaven. No, it starts there, and He comes down and touches earth.
We praise God that the heavenly standard touched earth at Calvary. That plumb line of the cross is right there at the foot of the cross. That is the standard we have.
As Zechariah applies this heavenly standard and develops this thought of restoration, we see two things in the first six chapters: things that are not of the Lord are judged, and things that are of Him are brought in.
We see the city, the temple, the priesthood, and kingship being restored. We also see evil and wickedness judged and put aside.
Brothers and sisters, practically speaking, when we return to the simplicity and purity of our devotion to Him, these two things are dealt with in our lives. The things of Him increase, and the things that are not of Him are put aside.
We have only a broad overview of these visions. In Zechariah 1:18-21, the world powers that oppressed the people of God are judged. In Zechariah 5 and the first part of Zechariah 6, we see a curse going out against the world’s standards: stealing, cursing, lying, wickedness, and oppression. All these are brought under the judgment of the Lord.
As He does a work of recovery, He puts away all that is not of Him. God is righteous, and He judges in righteous judgment that which is not of Him. He removes impurity and purges out what is not of Him, so that what is of Him may remain, grow, and blossom into fullness.
Let us return to Zechariah 1:12-17. This passage captures the essence of the Lord’s heart in these first six chapters.
Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words, even comfortable words.
So the angel that talked with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
And I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
Therefore thus saith the Lord: I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
When you study the Old Testament, generally when it refers to the angel of the Lord, not merely an angel, it is speaking of the second Person of the Godhead—our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 12, we see a dialogue between the Son and the Father.
Look at how the Lord responds: with gracious words and comforting words. Then He says, “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.”
Remember Paul in 2 Corinthians 11? He was jealous with the jealousy of God for the dear ones in Corinth. Here is God’s jealousy for His people. He says, “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.”
The Lord declares, “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion. My house will be built in it, and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.” The Lord Jesus Christ will be the standard there.
We see in these verses the Lord’s heart for His purpose, His city, and His people. This vision is the focal point for the rest of these six chapters. The other visions tell of the work of recovery being done.
In Zechariah 2, we see another man with a measuring line. The Lord says there is no need to measure, because Jerusalem will be a wonderful city without walls.
For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.
The Lord Himself will be the wall around this tremendous city. There is no need for a physical wall; in reality, the Lord is the wall. He is the protection. He keeps out that which is not of Him, and that which is of Him He keeps in and provides for abundantly.
There is wonderful, bountiful provision as the glory of the Lord is manifested. Throughout the chapter, He says, “I will dwell there.” This is His dwelling place.
Brothers and sisters, as we allow the Lord to return our hearts to this place of simplicity and purity of devotion to Him, we experience the dwelling place of God. We experience what John said: “We beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” He came and tabernacled among us.
Oh, brothers and sisters, this is the glory of the Lord. There is bountiful provision there.
At the end of Zechariah 2, there is one word for all of us, one word we can practice every day:
Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord.
Shut up, all flesh, before the Lord.
That is the working of the cross in our daily lives. It is where we say no to the works of the flesh, no to self, and yes to Christ. We know how much this flesh and nature wants to do this or that, go this way or that way. We say no to that. Be silent. No. We are those who are going to be about our Father’s business. We are those who are going on with Him.
In Zechariah 3, we see the recovery of the proper functioning of the priesthood. We shared earlier in the foundation series concerning the priesthood of all believers.
And He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Joshua stood before the angel in filthy garments. This speaks of his unrighteous acts, the sins of his life. Joshua says nothing; he simply stands there. The Lord defends him.
The priesthood had become corrupt and was not functioning as the Lord designed. But the Lord moves and says, “Remove the filthy garments from him and clothe him in festal robes.”
Brothers and sisters, this is a work that can be done for us daily as we allow the cleansing power of the blood. This is not speaking of Joshua’s initial salvation. When we are saved, we are saved because of the blood of the Lamb. That qualified Joshua to be in the presence of God.
But because of his unrighteous acts, he had given ground for the enemy to accuse. The Lord comes in, and then, in the rest of the chapter, He charges Joshua.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou also shalt judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee a place of access among these that stand by.
The Lord charges Joshua to walk in His ways and return to functioning. One function of the priest is to distinguish between the profane and the holy, to distinguish between what is of Him and what is not of Him.
This is a recurring thought throughout Zechariah. Those things that are of the Lord are restored and brought into greater expression and functioning. Joshua represents all of us. Each one of us has been called to function as priests within the house of God.
Priests say, “This is not of God. We put this aside. That is unholy.” God’s recovery work is not merely the outward building of a temple in Jerusalem. He desires a priesthood functioning unto Him.
The Lord desires a priesthood, but He does not simply want a priesthood. We remember that we are to be kings and priests unto Him. In Zechariah 4, we see the restoration of the kingship of believers.
In the first part of Zechariah 4, we see the lampstand, the golden candlestick. A candlestick has one purpose: to hold the light.
The church in this hour is to be that testimony. We are to be that candlestick, not reflecting upon ourselves, but showing forth the light of His life and holding forth the excellency of Christ.
Throughout the history of the candlestick, whether in the tabernacle or the temple, it remained unchanged. Many things changed, but it was unchanged because God’s purpose and testimony are always the same: to show forth the excellency of His Son.
Alongside the candlestick are two trees, and out of these trees oil comes in. Zechariah, being a priest, knew what the candlestick was. But he asked, “What are these trees with this oil coming in?”
Now, we see what happens when you fall asleep. I told you—I did not want to say anything—but all right, now that I have your attention. We worked all week on the timing of that. Everybody okay? Deep breath.
Zechariah asked concerning the trees, “Do you know what these are?” The word of the Lord comes to Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the governor at that time, more in the royal line. When we look at Zerubbabel, we are referring to kingship. We do not use the word kingship very much, but within Scripture, when we speak of someone being a king, or us being kings and priests unto God, we are speaking of His lordship.
Kingship is when His lordship is manifested in our lives. That is the kingship of Christ being brought in among the people of God. When people see the lordship of Christ manifested in our lives, that testifies to the kingship of God.
It is no longer us living for ourselves, but living for Him. That is what the Lord desires in this hour: not only priests serving Him in the spiritual realm, but those under His headship, leadership, and mastery, displaying His lordship.
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
It is by His Spirit. It is by His life. But the saints cooperate with Him. We cannot take this as a verse that allows us to do nothing. We are to be found cooperating with Him.
It is by His Spirit, as the headship of Christ is lived out, that they testify. They were called Christians in Acts because people saw the life of Christ.
As we allow the life of Christ to come in, even the mountains—the obstacles and hurdles that we face—will be overcome by the grace of God. Not by our might nor by our power, but by His Spirit.
Then, to encourage those in that little city of Jerusalem, as they looked back at Solomon’s temple and saw the great Babylonian empire around them, the Lord says:
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.
Today, brothers and sisters, it is a day of small things. What the Lord is doing can look outwardly like a small thing. But what is our perspective? Are we looking at things outwardly, or are we seeing from a heavenly perspective?
It is a great work that our Lord is doing. At our Lord’s first coming, whom did He come to? He came to the dear older couple, Elizabeth and Zacharias. He came to the young, unknown couple, Joseph and Mary. He came to Anna. He came to Simeon. Small, insignificant, unknown—but it was a great work.
It is a great work He will be doing in a similar way in this hour. Praise God, Zerubbabel is standing within the house of God holding that plumb line. What is of God, what is of Christ, will remain. What is not needs to be put away.
Just as Joshua represents all of us as priests, Zerubbabel represents all of us as kings. There is that plumb line.
As I was meditating upon this, it was a terrifying thought. If, somehow visibly, the plumb line of the Lord came down and everything was measured—what is of Him and what is not of Him—what would that reveal?
I thought about that in my own life. We talk about wanting to see the Lord, but sometimes I am not sure we realize the fullness of that prayer. We know He is for us, He loves us, and anything He does will work in the right way according to His purpose. It will be for good, because it is less of us.
We have an opportunity every day, brothers and sisters, in those quiet moments with the Lord, to allow that plumb line to come down in a spiritual and very real way in our lives.
We can say, “Lord, what is not of You, I want it done away with. But Lord, what is of You, I want it to increase. I do not want to love this present world so much. I do not want to hang on just for a few more moments. I do not want to wait until tomorrow. But Lord, today, would that plumb line come down in my life, and what is not of You be put away, because I know You have made provision for that at Calvary.”
At the end of Zechariah 4, after Zechariah asks three times, “What are these two trees?” he is told that they are the sons of oil. In that chapter, it is speaking of Joshua and Zerubbabel, but in our lives it is speaking of us.
As we become functioning priests and functioning kings, allowing His life to come forth, life comes in. There is encouragement and brightness shining forth to His glory and testimony.
Zechariah is referred to by many as the prophecy of hope. As we conclude, look at the end of Zechariah 6. Here we see a foreshadowing of words with which we are familiar in Matthew 16.
It was always in the Lord’s heart that there would be kings and priests. Those functions had become separated, but in our Lord they are brought back together. In us, as His life works within us, they are manifested.
And take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;
And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold, the man whose name is the Branch; and He shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord:
Even He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
There is the kingly crown placed upon the priest. The Branch speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will build the temple of the Lord. Later, He says, “I will build My church.” It is very similar.
He will build the temple of the Lord. He will bear the honor and sit and rule upon His throne. He will be a priest upon His throne. We see the fullness of this prophecy come forth in our Lord Jesus Christ, and His desire is that this very life would be worked out within us.
As we consider this call for ourselves to return to the simplicity and purity we have in Him, and as we consider allowing the Lord to prepare our hearts, remember to whom Zechariah and Haggai were written. They were written to those who had come back to Jerusalem to build the house of God.
Brothers and sisters, we have a desire to return to the Lord and build the house of God. But where are we? Where are our hearts? Are we occupied with other things? Is it too inconvenient?
Would we allow the Lord to search our hearts? Would we allow the Lord to till that ground, so that we would have good ground for the Word of the Lord to fall into—not only at a conference, but every day?
Thank the Lord, we can hear at a conference, but how we want to hear every day, allowing His Word to go in and bring forth fruit, much fruit, and fruit that remains.
So, brothers and sisters, may we be those who hear that simple cry of Zechariah: “Return to Me.”
We want to put other words on the end of that little phrase, but He simply says, “Return to Me.”
May we be those found in this hour returning unto Him. Let us pray.
Lord, every time we touch on these prophecies, I stand amazed at Your longsuffering with us—with me.
Lord, I thank You that You never tire of crying out to Your people to return to You.
Lord, we also see in the Scriptures how marvelous it is that, once we return to You, You are there as a very present help. You provide an abundance of help. You do not stand afar off, but You are ever ready.
Lord, we would be those who allow Your Spirit of life to search us and touch us, so that we could be prepared vessels.
Although we confess that when we think of You as the standard, it can discourage us, because we have heard so much but have only come a little way, Lord, we thank You for Your love that encourages us on and Your love that never lets us go.
We thank You for Your heart for us, because You have loved us and died for us. We want to be those found in You, allowing You to complete all that You have begun.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.