Reviving God's Lampstand

Here this morning I want you to turn with me to Zechariah chapter 4. Turning to Zechariah chapter 4 this morning and as you do I just want to thank Brother Soph again for just bringing very powerful messages over recent weeks, very important messages. It wasn't filling in the gap, it is the Lord speaking through a human vessel, whoever stands here and I appreciate those messages and I appreciate our brother preaching. It's been about five weeks I think at least since I preached in this pulpit on a Sunday and I'm going to come right back in and continue from where I left off. You'll remember the last message I preached here was the 21st century church looking at that golden candlestick and if you haven't heard that or you've forgotten that message, please go back to it. It's vital for this morning's message and for next Sunday morning's message, what I'm going to be dealing with, continuing looking at this golden lampstand and we said that our entire series on these Sundays is called the 21st century church. What is it going to look like? What does God want it to look like? What is God's plan for it? Can anyone describe what this church is going to look like? Well I believe as I said that I can and we're going to continue with this here this morning in Zechariah chapter 4 and my message, this is part 5 of our series looking at the church of this hour. My message is reviving God's lampstand, reviving God's lampstand. Zechariah chapter 4 and I'm not going to read this whole chapter though I'd love to but I'm going to deal with every single verse in it this morning. Zechariah chapter 4, just read in the first three verses. And the angel that talked with me, that is Zechariah, came again and waked me as a man that is wakened out of sleep and said unto me, what seest thou? And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps are upon the top thereof and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side thereof. Will you pray with me here this morning as we come to the word of God. Father I thank you with the word of God for this vision, Lord God this symbol, this teaching, this instruction of the golden candlestick, of the lampstand that stood in the midst of the tabernacle. Lord God we're asking of you that you show us the church of your dreams, the church of your word, the church of the teaching of the Holy Spirit in scripture. We want a clear vision of the golden lampstand. Lord God in a way that is going to impress itself upon our minds, our thinking, our desire, our prayers, our labors, our preaching, all that we do. Lord God in our homes, in our workplace, in this church. Lord God that you'd so impress us with this vision. Lord God of what you desire in your church that we can never be the same again in Jesus mighty name. Amen, amen. We're dealing with the golden lampstand in the Bible. We already said about the golden candlestick that there is a teaching within the Bible. When we come to Revelation chapter 1 and verse 20, listen to what Jesus says. The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. So we see very clearly that the golden candlestick is a symbol. It is a spiritual prophetic symbol of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can never understand the church. You can never identify it. You can't understand it unless you understand this golden candlestick. That is God's representation of what he desires in the local church and the church of every generation. Jesus was very clear. The seven golden candlesticks which you are looking at, which you see in vision, they are the seven churches in seven different times, seven different cultures, seven different peoples. He literally says there is one symbol to represent each of those seven churches. Doesn't matter where you go, the church is to be conformed to the golden candlestick. And so we see that it is Christ's vision that every church, in every culture, in every generation, in every community, its symbol is the golden lampstand. In other words, God is saying, that's what I desire. That is my plan. That is my mind. That is my teaching. When we see the church in the New Testament is represented by a golden lampstand or candlestick as it is in our Bible, you need to go back into the Old Testament to begin to understand about this golden lampstand. In our last message, we looked at Exodus 25. We didn't get very far, but we began to show that golden candlestick standing in the tabernacle or in the temple. When you begin to look at that, you will understand the church of the New Testament. You have to go back and follow the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And so we see the teaching, the mind, the instruction of the Holy Spirit about the lampstand in Exodus 25. Next, we see it in Zechariah 4 that we're going to deal with this morning. And then you come to the New Testament, to Revelation chapter one and three, and you begin to see God's plan for the church. If you don't go back to Exodus 25 and see the plan of God, the instruction of God, the desire of God, you don't understand what God desires in the church. And it's the same with Zechariah 4. Unless we go back and see this message about the golden candlestick here in Zechariah 4, you cannot understand God's mind for the church in the New Testament. It all flows as one. As you look at the golden candlestick, you begin to understand God's plan for the 21st century church. I know his plan. I know the church he wants. I know what he desires in this hour. And anyone who excuses the church, minimizes what he says about it, you have left the plan, the pattern, and the purpose of God. Here, before I go to three key points in this chapter of Zechariah chapter four, let me just point out the historical spiritual background of this chapter, chapter Zechariah chapter four. I want to show you a history of revival. That is the backdrop for looking at the vision of the golden candlestick in Zechariah 4. What is the backdrop? The history, God's history of spiritual revival amongst his people. You will not understand the golden candlestick of Zechariah chapter four unless you realize this is the backdrop. This is God's plan and God's purpose. My message this morning, reviving God's lampstand. When his people depart and become something different, he always brings them back to the same symbol, the golden lampstand. In Zechariah 4, we see the restoration and recovery of God's people once again. If you're going to understand this, you need to understand the book of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah. When you put these books together, right at the center of it, God gives a vision of the golden candlestick. That ought to impress us in a dynamic way. When you look at the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, in the period of a hundred years, you at least have four mighty revivals. In fact, I can count five, a fifth one, if reformation is included within them. Within a period of a hundred years, you had God intervene in his people, revive them, and bring them back to his plan. Every time they departed, he brought them back. You see, first in the Bible, we see the Jeremiah prophesy that the people were going to go into Babylon. The temple was going to be burnt down. Jerusalem would be destroyed. The people would be carried off, not just once, but again and again. They would get carried down over a 20-year period into the city of Babylon, and there they would be prisoners. At the end of those 70 years, Daniel the prophet, about two years before the end, begins praying. He begins to say it's near the 70 years. God said he would restore his people again. It is time, and he began to pray. We know an answer to those prayers. God stirred up the heart of King Cyrus of Babylon and of the Medo-Persian empire to give a command. God stirred the heart of a secular political leader to give this command to say, go build your temple in Jerusalem. Listen carefully for a second. I'm giving you the backdrop on the vision in Zechariah 4. There were four clear, distinct revivals. The first one was when Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest, led back 42,000 people. This was at the end of the initial 70 years when God says, I'm going to begin to restore, to rebuild my people. But he took 100 years to do that. Don't tell me that God doesn't work from generation to generation, that he'll work in that generation, then things go quiet, and then God moves again. He has different revivals, different vessels, different churches that he uses from generation to generation. And so this governor called Zerubbabel led back 42,000 as well as 7,000 servants, almost 50,000 people. This is the beginning of the first revival. One out of every eight of those people was a priest. He was in ministry and functioning to serve unto God. Zerubbabel was of the royal line of the house of David. He had royal blood flowing through his veins, and he led the people back on an 800-mile journey. You know what Zerubbabel's name means? It means seed or offspring of Babylon. You're a child of Babylon. You're born in Babylon, raised in Babylon, you grew up in Babylon, and now he's left Babylon. He never changed his name. He kept that name Zerubbabel. He had royal blood, and he had a sovereign God-given vision. He was born in Babylon, but Babylon was not in him. He had a vision of revival, restoration, of seeing a recovery of God's plan. His great grandfather was a king. And listen to this, when you go to Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3, you find out that Zerubbabel is in the family genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he was in that royal line that would come right down to Jesus Christ himself. Now in this first revival that Zerubbabel led back, they immediately built the altar. As soon as they got back there, the first thing before anything, the altar represented the cross. That's where true revival begins. Make sure the altar is there. The blood, the cross, sacrifice, make sure that is center stage, and then we build everything around it. The church of our day makes worship the center, entertainment and names. We need to get back to the cross if we're going to restore the body of Christ again. They immediately set up that altar on its own base. We're told that people feared God. They made sacrifices. They worship around that altar, and then that led to them laying the foundation of the temple. It was ground level. They began to lay it, and the people rejoiced. That's Ezra chapter 1 through to Ezra chapter 4, but you know what happened? Opposition came against the work of God. It had only just begun. The altar is in place. The foundation of the temple is in place, and then the devil opposes, and for the next 16 years, nothing happens. They're men of God. They're revived. It was a real move of God, but it comes to an utter standstill. The second revival begins 16 years after the initial work under Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel, Joshua, all the same people are there. Some have died. Some have been born, but it's all the same people, but for 14 years, they never moved forward. There was no movement of God forward, and in the second movement, once they begin, and we're going to look at this more closely. At this second time, the foundation was there. Do you realize if God ever does something in a previous generation, it's still there. That work is still there. When the next revival or the next move comes, the altar was there. The foundation was there, but there was a 16-year delay, and now the work begins to build again. It's been on pause. It has been hindered. It was stopped by the opposition of the enemy and the flesh of God's people had come to a standstill. The third one happened about 70 years after Zerubbabel initially left, and it was actually under Ezra, the man of God. He led another 7,000 people back to Jerusalem, and he restored the Word of God. He preached the Word of God. He impacted the marriages of God's people. The fourth revival was just a short time later when Nehemiah came to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and the fifth one that I've mentioned is at the end of Nehemiah's life when he comes back and he sees that the people have compromised, and he tears his hair out, and he stirs everything again. Five moves of God, five works of revival in a period of 100 years. But listen, I'm giving you the context of the golden candlestick. When I said that first revival come to a standstill, they accomplished much. They seen a work in a period of about a year. Everyone was rejoicing. They're moving forward. They knew God's plan. We've got to build the house of God, but the enemy attacked them. It says in Ezra chapter 4 that the people of the land weakened the hands of the people. That means to stop them from working, to cause you to fail, bring you to a place where you've got no strength to work on the house of God, to be still, to be stopped in your tracks. Do you know the enemy can do that, and the world can do that, and people in your family can do that? Well, you're moving forward. You're filled with God. You're filled with faith. You're going, we're going to build a house for God. You can be stopped in your tracks for 14 years in your life. Do you know 14 years in your life is a long time that the devil could paralyze you? He could hinder you. He could stop you in your tracks. You say, that would never happen to me. I tell you, you're dealing with a real enemy. It also said they troubled them in building. It means to terrify, to cause you to tremble, to create anxiety. Do you know most people today, if you ask, we're going to see Christ build this church in Nassau. They say, oh no, we can't get on flights, and we can't travel, and look at all the restrictions, and I'm losing my job, and all of this is coming, and they've lost a vision of the golden candlestick. They're looking at all the problems, all the troubles. They're filled with fear and anxiety. Do you know that's a strategy of the enemy to stop work on the church of God, to bring it to a standstill, where you're so scared of all that's happening in the nations, politically, and spiritually, and socially, you come to a standstill. It says also in Ezra 4 that they hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose. These men that they hired, the counselors, were men of intelligence, or eloquence, or they were lawyers, legally minded. They were hired to do what? To frustrate them. It means to break them up, to dissolve them, to stop the unity, to stop them moving forward with a purpose, and do you know what? It was 16 years from when they came back until the work of God would start again. That's an awful long time. Saints of God, we can't afford to lose such a long period of time, and it also says, then ceased the work in the house of God, which was at Jerusalem. So it ceased under the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. You see, for that period of time, 14, 15 years at least, the work ceased, came to an end. The foundation is in place, the altar is in place, but nothing goes further. There was a plan in God's heart to build a temple, to build a house. It's in the word of God, and yet they rested satisfied for 14 or 15 years building their own homes, their own business, raising their own families, and they forgot about God's plan and vision to revive his church, restore his church, and to build his church again. I've got three points here from this chapter, Zechariah 4, I want to take you to. This is my first point, awakened to a vision, awakened to a vision. This was Zechariah's fifth vision. He had eight in total, all in one single night. One after the other, he had these eight visions. Remember, it started with the horses, and went through to the horses with chariots. That was his eight visions in one night, all together, one after another, and we're even given the date of it in the Bible. The Bible gives us the day, the night that he received those visions, but you know what? This fifth vision is about the golden candlestick, and the context of it is, it's at the time where they have stopped. It's now 16 years from they first came back, the workers at a standstill, and this is the time that the angel of the Lord comes to Zechariah. This is when it happens. It's when God is beginning to stir his people again, to say, build the house of God, and that's why I've called this first point, awakened to a vision. Follow with me in Zechariah chapter four in verse one, and it says, and the angel talked with me again. It's all in the same night. He talked to him again, and he waked me. The poor man had fallen asleep in the midst of the night, and the angel had awakened him up as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. This is why I called it awakened to a vision. God is just about to show him a vision of a golden candlestick. It is significant that it's happening here. Look at the context. God's work came to a standstill. All of this vision of God and burden of God for his house, and yet God's people are not laboring. They're not giving themselves to this. They have lost the vision of the golden candlestick, but here's Zechariah the prophet. The angel wakes him up to see a vision of the golden candlestick. I believe in the church in this hour. We have a big need for an awakening of preachers to see the golden candlestick again. Every church, every preacher, every Christian, we have lost the vision. We have settled down. We've got tired. We're worried. We're filled with anxiety. We're looking at the troubles of the nations. We're told about Cyrus and Darius, and you know what? We're there paralyzed. Do you know where God starts? With a prophet of God, a young prophet from a new generation. God will go seeking himself for a new vessel, someone who he can waken up, and you know what he does? He says, I'm going to show you this candlestick. If you're going to preach this, people, if you're going to make a difference, I've got to waken you up to the golden candlestick. Can I ask you, are you awake to this golden candlestick? Can you see it? Do you understand it? Do you hear what God is saying? Do you know what he's saying? This is my people. This is my church. I'll never settle for anything else. And so we see Zechariah awakened to behold the vision, verse 2. And he, the angel, said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I've looked, and behold, a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and the seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof. This is the lampstand. Don't get the wrong picture in your mind of the candlestick with candles on it. There's no candles on this candlestick. It is a golden lampstand through and through. It is oil flowing through it and burning with seven flames on top of it. That's what the golden candlestick was. In God's house, it stood about two meters high, made of one bit of gold. And you know what? It represents God's people. In Zechariah's day, God has shown him a vision. He said, What am I looking at? He sees this golden candlestick. He sees all these things going on. And he said, What is this? He asked the angel. The angel said, What do you see? And then he's asking the angel, What is this? You know what? I believe most preachers in this are, and I'm sorry to say things like this, most preachers do not know what the church is. They don't know God's plan for the church. They want to reinvent the church. They want to change the church. They want to create a new style of everything. You know what? There are apostates who have no desire to come back to the golden candlestick. But here's a prophet who's going to preach. He's a young preacher. And you know what? Before he ever preaches, he's got to see what that golden candlestick is. I've met young guys wanting to preach. I go, Sure, you don't know anything. You don't know. And you don't even know what you're going to be. You don't know what the church is going to be. You haven't lived anything of a life, but you're going to go tell everyone how they should live. You know what? You need an experience with God where he shows you that golden candlestick. Oh, for a generation in this hour, they'll wake up and begin to see this is what God always wanted. He wanted nothing else than a golden candlestick. And so he begins to see this golden candlestick. And notice here, there is a bowl above it. There's a golden bowl above the golden candlestick. And there's seven pipes coming from that bowl. And oil is held in that bowl. And the pipes carry the oil down into this golden candlestick. Look further in verse 3 what it says. And two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on the left side thereof. And so you see these two living, growing olive trees either side. And so I answered and speak to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my Lord. Do you know what the Lord's doing? Trying to stir him to ask some questions. You know the problem with too many in the church, they don't ask questions. Where is the glory? Why are we not seeing revival? Why are family members not being saved? If you can sleep at night, that doesn't bother you. There's something wrong with you. If you can go through and say, Well, sure the Lord's in control. He knows there's something wrong with you. You see this prophet is saying, What is this? I want to understand it. That's the only people God ever speaks to is those who inquire of him. He is looking here at these two olive trees. And you know what's happening? The olive trees, and we're going to see it a bit later, they are pouring oil. They are hanging over, the branches are hanging over into this bowl and they're dripping it live with oil. They're pouring oil into that basin hanging above and it's getting fed into the golden candlestick. Do you know that what you get out of an olive tree? You get olive oil, of course. An olive tree grows tall and old. You find many of them in Israel and elsewhere. They're a thousand years old. A thousand years old. If you were to go to the garden of Gethsemane, today it's filled with trees that are a thousand years old. You'll find them in different other countries of the world. They have been there generation after generation after generation. They have very, very deep roots that go very, very deep down into the ground. They have withstood many storms in every generation. And in fact, they can even grow in deserts and prosper. This is a picture of God's plan for his church. Since we need to awaken to a vision of how the church functions. If the church is dead, someone killed it. Do you realize if our meetings are dead, if there's no power in our gatherings, there is a reason for that. There is a cause of that. Things don't just happen by chance. You need to understand the functioning of this golden candlestick. In Romans chapter 11, we see the olive tree there. We're told that Israel was a branch, a natural branch on that tree. It wasn't the root. It wasn't the main tree. It was a branch. And we're told in Romans chapter 11 that that branch has been cut out 2000 years ago, but it's going to get grafted back in. And we're told that the church, the Gentiles were a wild branch. They've been grafted into that olive tree. They're not natural. They've been grafted in. And God warns, and I've never heard a sermon preached on this. He actually warns the Gentiles, the church, beware. Israel got cut out. You better beware lest you get cut out. Never heard anyone preach just a sermon on that. What a shocking thing when we see this tree symbolizes God's people, not just Israel, not just the church, but it symbolizes God's work down through the ages. The emblem of Israel as a nation today, if you look it up in Wikipedia or something else, you'll see the symbol of the national state of Israel is a golden candlestick with two olive trees at either side. Where did they get that from? Zechariah chapter 4. It is the symbol of the nation of Israel. And so we see these two living, growing trees pouring oil into the candlestick, not by man's hand, but we see all of this in vision. Church, I want to see a real candlestick function in Limerick City again, but we need our eyes open. You need to understand that oil has to flow into this candlestick. There's got to be a fire burning. We've got to make sure that these olive trees are living and alive. That's my first point. Awaken to a vision, a revived church. You say, well, I'm dead and dry and barren. That's not God's will for you. God has a vision of what he desires in your life. You go, I have no desire to pray. That isn't God's will for your life. If you accept that, you're letting spiritual death in on you. You say, I've lost my desire for holiness and purity. I don't see God's plan for my marriage or the church or for ministry. You need to get back to this book. You need a fresh vision. You need that angel to come and tap you on the shoulder again. This is what I desire. Whatever you satisfy yourself with and settle down and say, I'll accept that. You will die in spiritual death. We need to awaken to a real vision. What does a Christian look like? What does a preacher look like? If you don't study this, how can you be a preacher? You see, there's no way you can be a preacher unless you act according to this. My second point, rebuilding the house of God. First, we have the angel awakening Zachariah and showing him the vision. Think about it. God is going to rebuild the work in Jerusalem. What symbol does he use? He uses the symbol of the golden candlestick and the two olive trees to say, I want to build a physical, literal temple in Jerusalem. Look at verse six. Then he, the angel, speak unto me, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. God wakens up this prophet, this preacher, this man of God, this young man of God, and he shows him the vision of the golden candlestick and the two olive trees pouring oil in. It's a whole living thing. This is God's desire. Next of all, he gives him a word. I'm giving you a word to give to Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel is the old man of God. He's now mature. He's an older man who led the people back. He is the governor. He has authority, governmental authority amongst God's people. He is a leader. There's Joshua, who is the high priest, and he says to this young prophet, I am giving you a word, showing you this vision. I'm giving you a word for Zerubbabel, the leader, the governor, the leadership of this revival that God is stirring up sovereignly. What does he say unto him? I want you to go to Zerubbabel, and I want you to say, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Do you realize what he's saying here? This work that I'm about to do, 14 years of opposition. Saints, have you ever been opposed in your Christian life? Have you ever stole something that you once had? Your passion, your fire, your desire, your evangelistic zeal. Do you desire to get it back? Do you long for it? How do you get back there? Well, Zechariah's got a word to give to the leadership. He said it's not going to be by might nor by power. God is going to build his church again. You know, in this generation, I know that God is going to build his church. I know God is going to revive his work again. I know God is going to show us a vision of the golden candlestick, and you know what? I know it's coming, but how can it be accomplished? You say, how are we going to see the church revive? You can hardly find a church in a city now. You can search like brother Joshua. You can search an entire city, and you cannot. You go from church to church to church. Games, entertainment, compromise, unbiblical things going on, and you go, where is the golden candlestick? God is going to revive his candlestick again like in Zechariah's day, but he's got to show someone the vision. He's got to stir up his people. He's got to waken them up again and say, I'm not satisfied, and it's not okay how things are. He wants to stir them again, but it's not going to be by might. You're not going to just make a decision or resolve or try harder. You know what he says? Not by might. The word might there means an army or collective strength, many soldiers coming together, standing together, fighting together. He said it's not going to be by that means. You think you're going to fight and defeat all those enemies that have hindered you 14 years? You think you're going to get an army together and go to war? Do you know what the word of the Lord is? It won't be by might. It won't be by aggressive military force. He also said it won't be by power. That means personal individual strength, force, strength, might, exerting yourself. He said it will not be like that. How many Christians have said, I'm going to try harder and have failed and went, I'll give up. I'll never be free of this sin. I'll never be free of this character trait. I'll never, I've tried. I'll resolve again, but I know I'll fail. You know what? You're on a very wrong basis there. You're looking at yourself and you know what? Your resources are limited. Even if you have a whole army, you know what? I'll never accomplish this. All the money on the earth won't accomplish this. All the Christians gathering together in a big gathering won't accomplish this. All of you exerting your energy will not do this. It's not by effort, or energy, or plans, or numbers, or organizations, or more conferences, or greater preachers, or more teaching. You know what the Lord says? It's not by human ingenuity. It's not by human strength. It's not by numbers. It's going to be by my spirit, saith the Lord. When you look at that golden candlestick and the oil being poured in, I mean oil, that oil represents the Holy Spirit. You need oil and the candlestick to burn with fire, to bring light, to bring the revelation of Christ. And you know what he's saying here? He said, by my spirit. It's going to be a work of the Holy Spirit. Just wait until the Spirit of God comes again to this church. You may say it's impossible. We're worn out. We've given in the fight. Fourteen years we're here. Praise God for the foundation. Look. Praise God for the altar. It's in its place. But you haven't advanced in fourteen years as the church of God. But you know what? I'm going to show you the golden candlestick again. I'm going to show you a candlestick filled with oil, filled with the Holy Spirit. It's going to be by my power, by my spirit, saith the Lord. He goes further in verse 7. Who art thou, O great mountain? This is the continuing word to Zerubbabel. Zechariah, you better deliver this to a preacher. You know what? I do believe in this. I've got a message for pastors and preachers and leaders as much as any Christian. You see, there's many preachers out there have grown discouraged. The people they have to handle. The people they have to lead. What a bunch. They're worn out. They're tired. The work of God isn't moving forward. There's no souls being saved. You know what? That's a very dangerous time when you're in that position. Do you realize what all this opposition was? It was like a great mountain. That's why you need to know it's by my spirit, saith the Lord. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain. All the opposition. But brother Keith, you don't realize that with all the laws and all the legislation and all that's happening in our world, it's going to stop the church functioning normally. Who says? We act like that. We believe it. You know, all these Christians removed their self from YouTube. They go, you know what? YouTube's going to throw us off. So they removed themselves. That's the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life. It could be five years before they throw us off. Stay there and go forward in the work of God. So many Christians are lying down and saying, we cannot function in this hour. We can't have revival. We can't evangelize. We can't plant new churches. Who says? You know, O great mountain, you have stopped the work of God. You're going to become a flat plain, but it won't be by your energy. It's going to be a definite work of the Holy Spirit. And listen, and he that is surreptible will bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings. Grace, grace unto it. You know what that means? The headstones, the final stone in the building. In other words, we have the foundation. It is all there. It was finished 16 years ago. And you know what the word of the Lord is? You surreptible, you the leader, you the man of God. You know how you're going to do this? You're going to be crying out the grace of God. How are you going to get rid of this big mountain? All this opposition, all these lazy Christians. How do you ever think you're going to see revival? It's impossible. Man, if you knew this bunch, it couldn't happen here. Who says? You know nothing about the grace of God. If you say the church can't be revived in this hour. If you say it's gone too far. Look at Laodicea, God held up a golden candlestick and said, Laodicea, this is what you're meant to be. He never even gave up on Laodicea. He said, is there an individual in Laodicea? He said, is there anyone in the Laodicean church, this cold, apathetic church? Is there someone in there who just wants to fellowship with me and who loves me and wants to sit with me and wants to commune over my work? Just one. You see, God always keeps pursuing after this vision. What a remarkable thing that he's speaking on the surreptible. Moreover, the word of the Lord came on to me saying, the hands of surreptible laid the foundation of this house 16 years ago. His hands shall also finish it and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. This man of God, this leader, preacher, this man that was leading the work of God to rebuild God's house had got discouraged. He had come to a standstill. He had not got God's people to move forward in 16 years. And yet here he is receiving a word. Your hands laid the foundation. You'll put the roof on this thing. You are going to finish. Do you know God's got a plan for the golden candlestick, for his house to be built in this hour. If you meet Christians and they say, it's not God's will to revive his house. It's not God's will to rebuild. Do you know what you're dealing with? You're dealing with many people that surreptible had to deal with. That's why God sent a Zechariah to say, don't listen to that. This mountain is going to become a flat plain. The spirit of the Lord is going to do this. I'm going to raise up the work of your hands. Look at verse 10. As we finish this second point, it says, for who hath despised the day of small things? Who hath despised? This is the word of God. It's going to be by my spirit, not your strength. And this large mountain will become a flat plain. And your hands that laid the foundation is going to finish off this entire building. Who hath despised the day of small things? There's a great danger in such an hour of despising a small work. Remember what we said Wednesday night, little things, small things, you don't think it's important and yet it's critical. One nail, you could lose the kingdom. Do you know there's people will laugh at that and say, the loss of one nail, never. They don't believe that. And when you look at their life, you can tell the little things, they don't pay attention to little things. They don't obey the little commands. They don't deal with the daily things. And they think they're going to just jump into the purpose and plan of God. It cannot happen. Who hath despised the day of small things? You see what they were beginning to build here was nothing compared to Solomon's temple. Remember Solomon was a king of a functioning kingdom. He had an entire army. He had all the workers. He had all the nations around him helping him. And he built the house of God. It was a spectacular temple in Solomon's day. But you know, here in Zechariah's day, you could be looking at all these people. You could be hearing the preaching. You could see some good things happen and you could despise the day of small things. You know what to despise means? It means to treat it with little respect or of little consequence or of very small importance. When you despise the day of small things, you go, sure, it doesn't matter. It's not that big a deal. Do you remember what I said about six years preaching, ministering in a church in Scotland? And every Saturday I cleaned that church. I hoovered it. I dusted it. I cleaned the toilets before the Sunday service. I also led the meeting. I might preach as well. I led the evangelistic team. But every Saturday afternoon, evening, I was in cleaning. You know what I've done? In every single chair, every single week for six years, you know what I've done? I turned them upside down and cleaned them. You see, I know that the natural mind thinks, sure, no one's going to look underneath. What if you leave it every other week? It's of small importance, not to me. It was a small church in the back of beyond. No one knew about us. But I tell you, I'm serving the most high God. It was absolutely vital. It was a state of heart. Do not despise the day of small things. Here is a rebuke to those who were in that hour. Here they are being called, it's time to build again. Here's the foundation. It's time to finish this thing. And many of them said it's a small hour. It's insignificant. This temple can never look like Solomon's. It can never be so grand, so large, so big, so impressive. Ours is a small work. Therefore, it's less important. It's of less consequence, and we're going to give it less effort. What a dangerous attitude. You know what? If God gives you the calling to lead one man to Christ, you better do it with all of your strength, as if it was a million people or a million souls, one soul, one soul. That one soul is not less important than a million. Do you realize this temple that was to be built? Yes, it's going to be smaller than Solomon's day. And in fact, it was far smaller than Herod's temple that would come later. You could have taken this temple of Zerubbabel and fitted it into Herod's temple several times over. So it was far smaller than previous works and far smaller than future works. And there's a real danger that God's people despise the day of small things. They go, what I'm doing isn't important. That's very dangerous. You are disrespecting the things of God. That's an attitude that God deals with. You may say, oh, but it doesn't make a difference whether I pray at a prayer meeting. Yes, it does. If you think it doesn't matter, you've got a very slack attitude. You are despising spiritual things. If you think it doesn't matter that God has spoken to you, His will for your life, what to do, and yet you're neglecting it. One month, one year, two years, three years. You think that's not important and that there isn't consequence? It goes further here to this warning of despising the day of small things. It says, for they shall rejoice and they shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. You see, now you're despising it. You're hearing the preaching. You're hearing messages in this church about revival and God's purpose and what's going to happen in the nations and the things coming. You've heard many things preached, but you're not seeing it yet. Do you know what he's saying? You're in danger of despising the word of God, the vision of the golden candlestick. You're in danger of treating it lightly because it's not here yet. A revival, a move of God, souls flooding into the kingdom. All it is is a theory and a message and a vision. But do you know what he says here? You better be very careful of despising what is happening now before this gets rebuilt. Because he says, you know what? You are one day going to rejoice. You're going to see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. You know what that was? That was a building instrument that keeps all those walls straight, in line, in order, right upright so they're not leaning and it's not going to collapse. You know, he says, you're despising this day, this hour now, because it isn't happening. But very shortly, you're going to see Zerubbabel arise with the plummet in his hands and he's going to start measuring it. It also says that there's something else here with those seven. With this plummet, Zerubbabel is going to have those seven. What are the seven? It says in verse 10, they are the eyes of the Lord which run to and through through the whole earth. That's who the seven are. That's what they are. In 2nd Chronicles 16.9, it says, for the eyes of the Lord run to and through throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. The seven eyes, these seven eyes were actually with Zerubbabel. You know what it was? It was the spirit of God or the eyes of God and God is about to work in Zerubbabel. But you know what? Those seven eyes go throughout all the earth. According to 2nd Chronicles 16, God now is searching through New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Germany, America, China, Ireland, England, even Scotland. God is searching the eyes of the Lord saying, I'm looking for someone who I can show myself strong through. Either you've given up and batten down and said, I'm just going to hide until all this is over. Or you're going, remember what I said about it's an hour of the shaking of the nations. It says over in Revelation 5, that the seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. There's only one Holy Spirit, but he's manifest in seven ways. It's a remarkable thing here, what you're seeing. These seven eyes are with Zerubbabel. They are to do a mighty work and you could despise that day. And God has said, I'm going to do this. And you're going, no, no, no, no. And you're just building your own house and you're just protecting yourself and you don't see the golden candlestick. Third and finally, let me finish. My third point, the two anointed prophets. Verse 11, then answered I and said unto him, what are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and the left side thereof? And I answered again and said unto him, what be these two olive branches, two olive trees, two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes from the two trees empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, knowest thou not what these be? I think this angel is playing with them a bit. And I said, no, my Lord. Then said he, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. So those, what does the candlestick represent? God's people in Zerubbabel's day. Here they are, they've been opposed and the workers stopped 16 years. Now they're being called to rebuild God's house and they're in danger of despising this hour. And they've got to hear a not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, I am going to finish the work. Do you know God is going to finish his church in this generation? It is not over yet. We are yet to see it. And you've got these two golden, these two olive trees pouring in the golden oil straight into the lamb. And he answered and said, knowest thou not what these are? They're the two anointed ones, the two olive trees or the two anointed ones are in the original. It also means sons of oil, two sons of oil. You've got this whole candlestick is God's people in Jerusalem and they've got a plan and there's a purpose. I know you don't look like that golden candlestick, but that's what I'm going to have. I'm going to have it in this city. I'm going to have a golden candlestick here. How does it get accomplished? God raised up two olive trees to preach to Zerubbabel, Joshua, the high priest, all the people to stir them. God needed two olive trees. What were they? There were two preachers, two prophets. Listen, Ezra chapter five, verse one, then the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, who we're reading from the son of Ido, they prophesied onto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even onto them. Do you realize the two olive trees represent two men? One of them, Haggai was an older prophet. The other, Zechariah was a younger man. Both of them had been born in Babylon. Both of them came back 16 years ago, and here they are. They both arise, first Haggai, then Zechariah, and they begin to prophesy. They're at this decisive hour, and they begin to preach, and they begin to prophesy, and they begin to bring forth vision. It is a critical hour. You know why the whole work of God has come to a standstill, and yet God has a vision, a golden candlestick, and the oil flowing in through it, and to finish building the house of God. The work of God worldwide isn't over yet. The great things of God aren't over yet. Where are the ones like William Carey and like Hudson Taylor? You know what the church is doing? It's sitting there saying, we're out of here. It's all over. I know it's late, and we are at the end, and it's almost all over, but you and I are here for the last chapter in church history. This could be the greatest hour in all of church history. I've got prophecies here, and yet we need a Haggai and a Zechariah to prophesy and to preach. First of all, God raised up Haggai and gave him four clear messages over a period of four months, and he immediately called the people, stirred them to build. It is time. It is time. Two months into him preaching, Zechariah, who we have here, he rises up and begins to preach. He's a younger man. You know when you get real preaching, I promise you, see through these videos online, God's going to raise up preachers. He'll raise them up in other countries. We may never meet them, but God, when you begin to see things, when you begin to go back to Scripture, when you begin to preach that, other preachers are going to get birthed. It always happens. In that environment of faith and of vision and of the Spirit of God working and stirring, you always get a Zechariah raised up in the midst of it as well. When Haggai, if you read Haggai and Zechariah together, you get God's message to God's people in this hour. All this 16 years behind them, the work of God ahead of them. It's like a large mountain to hinder them. Do you know that he prophesied, first of all, for two months? He dealt with their prosperity, self-satisfaction, indifference. Don't think it was all enemies. A lot of the opposition was in the house of God, inside their own hearts. Indifference. In fact, many of them would come to Zerubbabel and say, it's not time to build God's house yet. Oh yes, we know it's God's plan. Maybe in the future. Maybe in the future. Do you know what God began to do? Everything began to fail around them. The Lord called for a famine. God called for a famine. He's going to get their attention. He's going to bring this thing down to a standstill. You know why? You're not listening to me. You haven't listened for 16 years. You're focusing on your own things. I'm going to close everything down. They said their labor would come to nothing. The rains were withheld. There was a drought. There was no money. You know what God's doing? Haggai's prophesying. I, the Lord, am going to shake the nations. And as I shake it, you know, I've got a plan. I'm going to fill my house with glory. I'm going to restore glory again. I'm going to rebuild the house and it'll be greater than the former. How's that possible when it's a smaller building? Oh, I'm talking about the glory of this. The glory, the manifest glory. And so God began to use Haggai to say, my spirit abides among you. I'm going to shake the nations. I'm going to raise up Zerubbabel. He's going to be my signet ring. It was a simple, direct ministry of restoration. But Zachariah, let me finish with this. Zachariah arose as a young prophet in the midst of this great move of God. It was an insignificant hour, a little hour, a small hour, an hour you could despise and say, sure, there's not much to it. It's all preaching. It's all foam. It's all imagination. It's all visionary. You know where I got all of this from this book? I will shake the nations and my house will be filled with glory again. Do you know why God is doing all of this over the past two years? It's not just wicked men. It's not just evil men. God is allowing nations economically and politically and socially. It's him shutting everything down. It's him allowing all these things. You know why he says, I want my house rebuilt. Lord, couldn't you have chosen a better time and better circumstance and a better hour and a better environment now our finance are under danger. If only you'd come two years ago, I had all the money. I don't want your money. I don't care about your Lord. I had a good job. No, I don't have the job. Lord, I had all my liberties to travel. No, I can't go anywhere. Lord, you can't work. It can't be now. Do you see how dangerous this mind of ours is? How dangerous? Zachariah arose as a prophet in the midst of this movement. He was a priest born in Babylon, yet he wouldn't serve as a priest in the temple. He would arise as a young prophet preacher with the burden of the Lord coming upon him. In one single night, he gets eight visions. And the fifth vision was the vision of the golden candlestick given to him all in one night. And he began to preach this and prophesy this to the people of God. You see, it was a decisive hour because now everyone in the church, all of you, and those that listen online are going to be making a decision. And you're in danger in this hour of despising the day of small things when just over the horizon is the greatest move of God. God is shaking everything of all of our all nations. God is doing it. And he says, I want to get you back to this golden candlestick to build my house. And then I want to fill it with glory. And then I'm going to come for you just one last time. Saints of God, I'm a dreamer, but I'm very practical. I believe in the word of God and what I preach to you is birthed out of this book. I believe there's a history of revival. Revival is the character of God, the promise of God, the nature of God. And when you see the fourth and final time, you see two olive trees and two golden candlesticks. It's in Revelation chapter 11, right in the midst of the great tribulation. God will have himself two prophets preaching, ministering, prophesying in the darkest hour in church history. Don't you dare say it's not time or God can't do it in this hour. Don't you dare despise this hour. Pray with me. Thank you, Lord. Let's just stand here. Let's magnify him. Praise you, our God. Praise you, O God. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Father, we thank you for the word of God that you're going to begin to stir us with an unbelievable, Lord God, vision and desire. I pray for an awakening in this church, every member, every person, that we are going to gain a vision of the golden candlestick, and it's going to spoil us and ruin us. My God, don't let us be satisfied with Laodicea, thinking that we have everything that we need, that we're prosperous, that we're clothed through God, when all the time we're naked, we're perishing, we're poverty-stricken. Lord God, I pray, show us a vision of the golden candlestick that's going to dynamically change our lives and, Father, stir us to build again. Your desire is a revived church. Your desire is an evangelizing church. Your desire is a praying church. Your desire is a holy church, and your spirit will never be satisfied. Surely, by your Holy Spirit, this mountain shall be removed. It shall become a plain. Every opposition that you and this are may fill your house with glory again. My God, begin with us. Do not let us despise the small day, the little day, the insignificant hour, when you're stirring our heart and speaking to us in the mighty name of Jesus. We bless you this morning in Jesus' name. Hallelujah.