Let’s Get Busy for God
Zechariah 4:4-11
How many times in history have great things for God been accomplished that started out so small that shortsighted people looked down at the endeavor or who prognosticated that it would never amount to anything? Many great accomplishments for God have had small beginnings. After the liberation from Babylonian exile, Zerubbabel, in 537 B.C., led a Jewish remnant back to Jerusalem and Judah. Under his leadership as governor appointed by Cyrus, Zerubbabel returned with a group of expatriated Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple which had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Those around looked with scorn at the work that was being done. In Ezra 4:4-5 we read that “the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose.” As a result, many shortsighted Jews balked at those basic efforts and "despised the day of small things." But understand with God there are no small things. We find that the Angel of the Lord came to Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4 encouraging him to get busy and complete the work to which he was called. You and I need to learn from their example and apply some of these basic principles seen in the lives of Zerubbabel and his co-workers.
I. The Work is the Lord’s
A. With limited resources and an overabundance of obstacles Zerubbabel was faced with a seemingly impossible task. But God made it clear that He was in control of the situation.
B. Zechariah 4:6 “So he answered and 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.”
C. George MacDonald said, "In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably or succeed more miserably" - Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 42.
D. Someone has said “Trowel and hammer, saw and plane are instruments of vanity unless the Lord be the Master builder.”
E. Psalm 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
F. The task seemed impossible; but our God delights in the impossible. God delights in moving mountains.
G. Zechariah 4:7 “'Who are you, O Great Mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!”
H. What "mountains" are confronting you? What impossible tasks are in your path today?
• Disease or Sickness
• Financial woes
• Marital or Family problems
• Anxiety or Depression
• Addictions
These may seem impossible situations but listen to the words of Christ, ““With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”(Matthew 19:26)
I. God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. - Andrew Murray
II. The Work must begin with the right foundation
A. Zechariah 4:9a “"The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple…”
B. In rebuilding God's ruined temple, one of the first things Zerubbabel did, with the help of God's people, was lay a foundation. After the foundation was laid they could then begin upon that foundation.
C. Whether it is a life, a family, or a church that you are building you need to have the right foundation.
D. The Leaning Tower of Pisa built in the twelfth century is a freestanding bell tower in Italy. Scientists travel yearly to observe and measure the building’s slow descent. The 183-foot tower leans more than 12 feet. Entrance to the tower has been closed to the public since 1990 and its bells removed to keep further leaning and collapse. The building can never be made perfectly straight, like it was intended to be--at least, not without tearing it down and starting it all over again. What is quite significant is that the word “pisa” means “marshy land,” which gives some clue as to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed. Also—its foundation is only 10 feet deep! Source unknown
E. Luke 6:47-49 “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
F. The foundation matters. We cannot start wrong and expect to finish right.
G. 1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
III. The Work will face opposition and skepticism
A. Nehemiah 4:1-3 “But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
B. "When you meet the devil, you know you are not going his way. If you never meet him, you must be going in the same direction." – Unknown.
C. Nehemiah 4:9 (NLT) “They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.”
D. "Satan has built many gates to keep the people from the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need 'Gate Busters' who will come set the people free!" - International Mission Board (SBC) missionary Thad Puckett
E. Dying of cancer and using a wheelchair, Dorothy Bingaman didn't care what her doctors said she wanted to be baptized. Her doctors had flat-out prohibited her from getting baptized, according to Mark Best, her pastor at First Baptist Church of Ullin, Illinois. But she insisted that she wanted to be baptized. Bingaman and her husband had both accepted Christ at their homes a couple of weeks earlier. Because of her condition, the church's baptismal pool couldn't be used. So, a baptismal service was held in February at the swimming pool of the Best Western Cheekwood Inn. A lifelong resident, Bingaman had been afraid of water her entire life. But, "just before we baptized her," Best said," she smiled and said, 'I'm not afraid anymore.'" Bingaman was placed in a white lounge chair and lowered into the swimming pool as 35 people, including many members of her family along with many guests at the hotel, watched. After she came out of the water, Bingaman smiled and said, "Thank you. Now I'm ready." Two days later she went into a coma from which she would not recover. She was buried exactly one week after her baptismal service. The events literally sent the Ullin FBC into revival. Soon afterward, four people became Christians, and one 50-year-old woman dedicated herself to mission work. There are many obstacles that might prevent a person from coming to know Christ, or from truly living out their faith in him. As a church, are we committed to tearing down those obstacles and finding ways around them? If not, then unfortunately, we ourselves have become an obstacle. –Tim Ellsworth, Illinois Baptist; 3/97
IV. The Work must be finished
A. Zechariah 4:9 “"The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.”
B. Zechariah 8:9-13 “"Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Let your hands be strong, You who have been hearing in these days These words by the mouth of the prophets, Who spoke in the day the foundation was laid For the house of the Lord of hosts, That the temple might be built. For before these days there were no wages for man nor any hire for beast; there was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in; for I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor. 'But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,' says the Lord of hosts. 'For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew-- I will cause the remnant of this people To possess all these. And it shall come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear; Let your hands be strong.' (NLT - So don’t be afraid. Be strong, and get on with rebuilding the Temple!)
C. As the song says, “Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun, Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care…”
D. Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
E. On February 24, 1836, the following letter was written to The People of Texas and all Americans in the world, fellow citizens and compatriots: I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna - I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if it is taken - I have answered the demands with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of Liberty and patriotism and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to 3 or 4,000 in 4 or 5 days. If this call is neglected I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country - Victory or Death! William Barrette Travis, Lt. Col. Comdt. History tells us that this letter received little response from the outside. The only reinforcements Travis received were 32 men from Gonzales. As the Mexican armies encircled the Alamo it became more and more apparent that Travis and his men had no chance for victory. And so, one story says that on the afternoon of March 3, 1836 Travis explained to his men that remaining in the Alamo meant certain death. According to the story, Travis took his sword and drew a line on the ground. All who wised to stay and defend the Alamo were asked to cross the line, all but one did because he said, “I was not ready to die”. Likewise there are many refuse to cross the line for Jesus because “I’m not willing to die yet”. Rose might have escaped the fight at the Alamo - but for the rest of his natural life he had to remember “When I could have made my contribution I ran to save my life, when in fact I truly died that day”. In his speech that day of March 3, 1836 Travis is reported to have said these words: “But I leave every man to his choice. Should any man prefer to surrender, and be tied and shot; or attempt an escape through the Mexican ranks, and be killed before he can run a hundred yards, he is at liberty to do so” Col. Travis then drew his sword and with its point traced a line upon the ground, extending from the right to the left of the file. Then resuming his position in front of the center, he said “I now want every man who is determined to stay here and die with me to come across this line. Who will be the first? March” And today - though unseen to the natural eye - yet beheld through the eyes of the spirit, the eyes of faith, The world is here, the saints of old are here, but most importantly of all Jesus is here - Drawing a line, who will be first to cross? Joshua’s question rings through the corridors of time “Choose you this day whom you will serve!” – Pastor Brigg
F. Philippians 1:6 “He who has begun a good work in you will complete [it] until the day of Jesus Christ”
