THE NECESSITY OF POWER
Text: Zechariah 4:1-10
Introduction
1. Read Zechariah 4:1-10
2. Illustration: In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years, needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.
3. That one wire was able to start his car, but only if it was connected to the power supply
4. If we want to do God’s will and accomplish His purpose we need to be connected to the power supply - His Holy Spirit.
Thesis: With the Spirit’s power, we can accomplish God’s will.
Transition: We need the Spirit’s power because He has a...
I. Limitless Supply of Power (1-3)
A. Lampstand of Solid Gold
1. The Prophet Zechariah ministered in Jerusalem as a part of the remnant that returned from the Babylonian captivity.
a. People were discouraged and gave up rebuilding the Temple.
b. His mission was to see the Temple completed.
2. The Lord sent an angel to wake him up and show him a vision.
a. Golden Lampstand
b. Seven lights all on the same level
c. Reservoir bowl filled with oil
3. The bowl of oil represented the inexhaustible and abundant power through the Holy Spirit.
a. It was a limitless power
b. It was a power that was all-sufficient
c. It was a power that would not fail
d. It was a power that would never run out
B. No Limitations
1. Illustration: When the Police League of Indiana sponsored a Best Speeding Alibi contest, one honorable mention award went to an exasperated father with a load of fighting, squalling children in the back seat. He told the officer, "I was trying to get away from all the noise behind me."
2. My least favorite phrase in the whole world is "We’re just a little country church." The reason it’s my least favorite phrase is that it is an excuse.
a. This is all we are, and it’s all we’re ever going to be.
b. It puts limits on a limitless God
3. My bible tells me:
a. Nothing is impossible for God
b. All things are possible for him that believes
c. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
d. You shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you
4. If God is limitless, and the Holy Spirit’s power is limitless, then so is what we can do and accomplish.
Transition: Because the Spirit’s power is limitless, He gives us...
II. Power to Overcome Obstacles (4-7)
A. Not by Might nor By Power
1. As Zechariah looked at this vision, he did not understand its significance, so he asked the angel for help.
2. The angel asks if Zechariah didn’t know what the vision meant, and when he again assured that angel he did not the angel finally explained it to him.
3. The purpose of the vision was to encourage Zerubbabel to complete the rebuilding of the Temple, and to assure him that God’s abundant help would be with him.
4. The angel tells Zechariah that he is to tell Zerubbabel that he would accomplish the task of rebuilding the Temple, but he would not do it by human strength.
a. Just as the oil did not run out, so the power of the Spirit would not run out
b. Not by human might, but by God’s might
c. Not by human power, but by God’s power
5. Only by depending on the power of the Spirit can we accomplish what God has for us.
a. Not by programs
b. Not by special events
c. Not by finances
d. Only by the power of the Spirit
6. Lk. 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
B. What Are You Mighty Mountain
1. The showed Zechariah that with the Spirit’s power no obstacle would stand in the way of the Temple being rebuilt.
2. The power of the Spirit would reduce the mighty mountain to a level plain before Zerubbabel.
a. Obstacles wouldn’t matter
b. Lack of materials
c. Lack of work force
d. Discouragement
3. Illustration: In 1962, Victor and Mildred Goertzel published a revealing study of 413 "famous and exceptionally gifted people" called Cradles of Eminence. They spent years attempting to understand what produced such greatness, what common thread might run through all of these outstanding people’s lives.
Surprisingly, the most outstanding fact was that virtually all of them, 392, had to overcome very difficult obstacles in order to become who they were.
4. Just as the Spirit helped Zerubbabel to accomplish the Lord’s work, so He helps God’s people today.
a. Size
b. Location
c. Finances
d. Community
Transition: Through the Spirit’s power, we can overcome, and we will have...
III. Power to Accomplish Big Things (8-10)
A. His Hands Shall Finish It
1. Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah and he said "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it;"
2. He assures Zerubbabel that he would finish what he started.
a. Through the Spirit’s power he would finish
b. Through the Spirit’s power it would be even more grand than the first Temple
3. He asks, "For who has despised the day of small things?"
a. People complained that the rebuilt Temple would never be a grand as the first
b. God says people will see it and rejoice
c. "Do not despise these small beginnings" (NLT)
B. God Can Make Small Things Big
1. Illustration: The first electric light was so dim that a candle was needed to see its socket. One of the first steamboats took 32 hours to chug its way from New York to Albany, a distance of 150 miles. Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first airplane flight lasted only 12 seconds. And the first automobiles traveled 2 to 4 miles per hour and broke down often. Carriages would pass them with their passengers shouting, "Get a horse!"
2. Don’t despise these small beginnings because with the Spirit’s power we can do big things.
3. Don’t despise small beginnings because with the Spirit’s power we can do mighty works for God.
4. Don’t despise small beginnings because with the Spirit’s power we can do all things.
Transition: Because it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord!
Conclusion
1. Do you need more of the Spirit’s power?
2. When was the last time you experienced the Spirit’s power?
3. Eph. 5:18 but be filled with the Spirit,
