Greetings and Introduction

I bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters in the corner of the Middle East where we’ve lived for a long time. Just a few hours ago, they met together, much like we’re doing right here. Celebrate the Lord’s Supper in a different language, but the same Lord Jesus Christ that they worshipped 38 years ago. My wife Terry and I walked through those doors. And we’ve been associated with 10th ever since. We are so grateful to be back here. It stirs our hearts to be here, and my wife is praying that I won’t break down in tears. When I’m saying this, you people are very dear to us. Thank you for supporting us. We’ve been in the Middle East now for 32 years. It’s a pleasure to be with you and to bring God’s Word to you.

Reading from Zechariah

This morning we’ll be reading from Zechariah chapter 4. Down on 794 in your Pew Bible, we’re reading verses one through 14. The entire chapter of Zechariah 4. This is God’s word. And the Angel who talked with me came again and woke me like a man who was awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, what do you see? I said, I see. And behold a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. But I said to the Angel who talked with me. What are these, my Lord? And the Angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Do you not know what these are? I said, No, my Lord. Then 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 of hosts, Who are you, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plane. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of grace. Grace to it. In the word of the Lord came to me saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, His hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the Plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of the Lord which reigns through the whole earth. That I said to him. What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand? And the second time I answered and said to him, What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out? He said to me, Do you not know what these are? I said, No, my Lord. Then he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. And thus ends the reading of God’s most holy Word.

Story of Bill

Let me call him Bill. Graduating with a degree in education, Bill found a middle school teaching position in a small, out of the way town. Because it wasn’t far away, he frequently visited a popular tourist destination in the next province. So maybe he could spot a business opportunity and to his great surprise, he got to know a celebrity who often came there. Bill’s new friend volunteered to put up the capital to start a restaurant if Bill and his wife would do the work. So they left their teaching positions and they worked like crazy for two years and business boomed. But a terrorist attack in another city in that country decimated tourism. Business tanked. They had to close the doors and unfortunately his friend had arranged some paperwork so Bill was liable for all the debt. So, humiliated and saddled with mountains of debt, Bill had to declare bankruptcy and beg for his old teaching job back again. Life seemed like one trouble on top of another.

The Jews in Zechariah’s Day

Now the Jews in Zechariah’s day felt something like that. Everything was against them. Wasn’t always that way, 1000 years before God had delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt. And God said to them, I will make my dwelling among you, My soul will not abhor you and I will walk among you. I will be your God and you will be my people. God led them into the promised land and 400 years later he promised an even greater blessing to David. David’s descendants would sit on David’s throne forever. David’s son Solomon constructed the temple that David had spent great efforts preparing for, and many was This was the climax of Israel’s history. In the Old Testament, God said he would live among them. And now, amazingly, the God who has created the whole universe has committed himself to living among his people. The temple represents the point at which heaven and earth meet, where human beings can come and commune with God, can receive forgiveness and have a relationship with Him.

The Destruction and Hope

But now, 400 years later, Solomon’s Temple turned to smoldering heaps of rubble by the Babylonians. Taking thousands into exile for Israel, this is like the end of the world. The inviolable temple was no more utterly devastating. Many questioned how this could happen. And God had not deserted his people. 70 years after the Babylonians showed up at the gates of Jerusalem. The Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to go back the development. Remember the promises of a glorious restoration. The return, ease, enthusiasm, laid the foundation for the temple and rebuilt the altar. But circumstances squelched. They’re rejoicing their province was a drop in the bucket compared to the size of Solomon’s Israel, only slightly larger than Delaware count. The small community’s very existence hung by a thread. The enormity of reconstruction loomed before them. Rubble and ruins barred every turn. The new Temples foundation starkly contrasted with Solomon’s glorious edifice. Neighboring people’s violently opposed construction. Cyrus, the Persian king who allowed them to return, died shortly after. They were they back. They came back to Jerusalem. And his successors gave less enthusiastic support. And some of them oppose the Jews outright. The remnant began to wonder, as God finally deserted us, is there any reason for hope? But no, God had not deserted them. The words of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah together encouraged the people to build. God promises in Zechariah. One, my house shall be built.

God’s Promises and Fulfillment

In Zechariah 2 and I will build, I will dwell in your midst, and you won’t know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you, and the Lord will again choose Jerusalem. Zechariah 3 and 4 are God’s messages to Joshua, the high priest in Zerubbabel, the current representative of David’s line. Chapter 3 focuses on Joshua, and chapter 4 on Zerubbabel, the leader of the return exiles. And chapter 4 ends with these words that we read. These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the earth. God will accomplish His purpose through these two men. The rubber ball faced what seemed like a mountain of impediments barring his way, but God promised that he, God himself, would transform that mountain into a plane. Not by might nor by power, but by my, by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts, by God’s grace, did finish the temple. And the Temple stood as the center of the life of Judaism for six centuries. Zechariah ends his book of prophecy pointing to the day when the nations will come streaming into Jerusalem worshipping the God in Israel. The entire city will become holy, so the temple encompasses the entire city.

Jesus and the Fulfillment of Prophecy

But after Zerubbabel’s time, Jerusalem slides into sin and complacency. These things don’t happen right away. Half a century later, Ezra and Nehemiah come and they bring reform, but the people continue to stray at the end of their books. New scandals need new correction. Internal spiritual malaise, external threats characterize Israel’s existence for the next 400 years. Psalm 1989, Excuse me. Psalm 89 was probably composed sometime during this period, and it begins by extolling God’s faithfulness. I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever, and for 37 verses it goes on God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Steadfast love and faithfulness. But his tone radically shifts in verse 38. But now you have cast off and rejected. How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, your faithfulness? We find words like that in Psalm 44 and 74 as well, probably composed about the same period. Is God still faithful? The psalmist ask. God answers those questions in the most unexpected manner. 500 years after Zechariah. God’s restoration does come. The Jews expect a powerful conquering king, and God sends helpless babe born in a stable. God, they expected a prestigious and magnificent king. Jesus came from a lowly family. The Messiah. They expected to kill and annihilate Israel’s enemies. But Jesus says love your enemies, and he died so that those that enmity with God would become God’s people. They expected a king on whom many would heap great honors. Instead, Jesus dives, utterly despised, hanging naked on a Roman cross. The Psalms and complaints about what we just referred to. They asked the questions God, where are you? Have you forgotten your faithfulness? But amazing God is more faithful than any of them could have imagined. God himself. Will come and prove his faithfulness. God himself will come as a human being and not only keep God’s promises, but He will compensate for the unfaithfulness of His people and bear their sins. Zechariah 3 and 4 describe God’s use of Joshua the high priest. And Zerubbabel, a descendant of David. Both these figures point ahead to the Messiah, who be the great high priest and their perfect king for his people. But Jesus fulfills the words of the prophets in Zechariah’s day, and an even more expansive way.

The Glory of Jesus

Haggai, contemporary of Zechariah, says The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, and in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts. Jesus. Jesus himself is the more glorious, living, walking, breathing temple of God. In Jesus we have the forgiveness that all the sacrifices pointed to. Jesus died there in Jerusalem, just outside the temple walls, and he gives true peace, eternal peace, lasting peace with God to his people and Jesus himself. Heaven and earth meet, and today where is the temple? Is not the temple of the Holy Spirit wherever God’s people gather together the body of Christ? And God meets us in our worship, whether it’s in Philadelphia. We’re in the Middle East or anywhere where God’s people come together. Even up to Jesus day, the Jews often believed that the exile had not ended. Most Jews never returned to the land. It’s still mostly remained under Pagan domination. But what does Jesus say when he comes? The Kingdom of God is at hand. It’s as if he’s saying the exile is now over because I came. In fact, Jesus is announcing not just the end of the exile from Babylon. But the ultimate exile from the Garden of Eden. He restores a relationship between God and his people, and he takes his people not to a garden, but to the glorious New Jerusalem, the heavens, new heavens and new earth. The Old Testament people of God expect the destruction of the nations, with survivors coming and cringing before God in Jerusalem. But Jesus? What does he do? He sends his disciples to the very ends of the earth in order to bring those people that are His enemies, enemies of God, to make them His people that He loves and embraces.

The Spread of the Gospel

Jesus disciples grow from 1:20. To more than 5000 on Pentecost. A few years later, it’s a few more thousand than that. By 280, the Church of Christ stretches all the way from Spain to India. By 350AD, majority of the people in the Roman Empire claim to the disciples of Jesus. And today the gospel has spread everywhere in the world. Until a few years ago, most majority Muslim nations only had a few 100 or at the most 1000 believers who had come from Islam. To worship Jesus as Lord. But today 1 country in the world, majority Muslim country, has seen at least 1,000,000 Muslims come to Jesus. And to my knowledge, there is no Muslim nation in the world that has no believers. Even the most closed nations, God is working and bringing people to Himself. One pastor with whom I work, with whom we have a working relationship, works in an area that was very, very hard hit by disaster. A man he had recently met said I can’t sleep at night. I have no peace. I am tormented by the pain and the loss. And this dear man lost his entire family all at once. They all died, and he’s the only one left. Since I’ve been a religious Muslim but I can’t find peace. Can you help me? And so the pastor shared the love of Jesus with this man that initially he came to know Christ and that peace, and now he can’t stop telling others about the peace of Christ that he has found. Now no one, no missionary, no agency, no group, no strategist can claim the credit for these events. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. These events stem solely from our faithful God. And sometimes he uses us to accomplish those things. Praise be to his name.

Conclusion and Call to Action

Now let me come back to the story of the bankrupt school teacher. In the throes of his despair, Bill saw an ad in the newspaper for a book. Now a bankrupt book lover in the area with almost no functioning libraries thought this was a good idea. We asked for the book, he got the book, and he started to read. And it was a Bible, right when he got to the Gospel of John. He said. I’ve never heard somebody like Jesus and I don’t know much about him, but I want to follow him. Jesus, will you save me? Today, Bill preaches and teaches regularly in our congregation. He works closely with me in developing materials to prepare for developing pastors and church leaders across our country. God is faithful. When I think of our years in the Middle East. One of the most difficult things that we ever experienced. Was when our youngest daughter was 16 months. She was diagnosed with diabetes and I’m not a medical person. I didn’t know anything. I thought she was going to die in a few months. There’s a different health care system. We love our culture. Hospitals are the hardest thing we experience there. And this was the bottom Lord. Can’t I take this for her? But. God uses all kinds of things for His purposes. This drew our family of four children together as a team. They knew they needed to help this sister. And to this day, they have this super close relationship because of those events. I would never choose diabetes for my child. And it’s not that life is easy. It’s easier now than it used to be. But God used that for good purposes. God used that in Bill’s life. Terrible crisis. He thought about suicide, but. And use that to bring Bill to himself. Now, I don’t know what your situation is this morning. You might be facing great discouragement as an individual or a family. As we’ve watched from afar and prayed, we know that this church is struggling. This is a difficult time. We might even think God has forgotten to be faithful. But I would encourage all of us look at Jesus, your Savior. Jesus who ruled in heaven, and he came down and he bore all of our trials. He knows our trials, man of sorrow. What a name. For the Son of God, who came to save us sinners. If you have not yet, put your trust in Christ. Like Bill, I would ask that you would go to Jesus and ask him to save you. And Jesus says, whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. If that’s you, I’d encourage you to speak to the pastor or elders here at this church. What does that mean to be to belong to Jesus? If you do believe in Jesus, if you belong to him, what is it that God wants you to do by His Spirit? Now look back at in our text, verse 9. The hands of the rubble have laid the foundation of this house. His hands will also complete it. The faithful God accomplishes His purpose. But through the Ramamo, through his hands, the work of his hands, and as far as we understand, the robo took about four years to get this thing finished. It was a lot of work. God will draw a multitude to himself, a multitude from every nation and tribe and people and language, but he accomplishes it through his people, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. How will God use you? How is he using you in this great work of bringing the gospel to the nations? Now, this morning, if you’re a child, grade school, high school. University students, can I say something to you? What is God’s plan for your life? Have you asked? Have you prayed? God, my life belongs to you. What do you want me to do? When I was 18. I was in a meeting and the pastor suggested. You may have thought about this, you may have prayed this, but make it concrete. And he suggested we fill out a little card that said. Anytime, anywhere, anything. God, I’m ready. And I prayed and I signed the card, said got him. I’m serious. I have some plans in life, but you tell me what you want me to do. I would not have imagined what he did with the next 45 years, but I wouldn’t change that. And just this morning, Howard Blair, most of you know who that is, right? Missionary from this church for decades. I have no idea how many years, way before I was born. He told me on his way out of here he did exactly the same thing when he was aged 19. I would encourage all of us to ask that question, but especially if you were young. Maybe God is calling you to spend more time in prayer for global work of the gospel to be involved in the mission of this church. Would you commit to praying 10 minutes a day, 30 minutes a day, 60 minutes a day for God’s work? God tells us that there will be a day. When the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea. Lord, hasten that day. Lord, be pleased to use us in that work. God is faithful. He will do it not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

O God our Father. Son and Spirit, we give you praise because you are the faithful God. You will accomplish your will in bringing people from every nation, tribe, and language to yourself. Lord, we are amazed at your faithfulness, so faithful to us. You have given up everything and died on the cross for us. And you will accomplish your work. Lord, we pray that you would please direct our steps and use us as a congregation, as individuals, as families. And proclaim your gospel, that many, many, many will come through the ministry of this church. Continue to come to know you. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.