In this sermon on Zechariah chapter four, the speaker describes a vision where an angel shows the prophet a lampstand of solid gold with seven lamps and two olive trees. The angel explains that this vision represents the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, emphasizing that it is not by might or power, but by the Spirit of God. The speaker then envisions a church where all the saints are shining with the glory of God, living up to their purpose. He emphasizes the importance of the Holy Spirit flowing like oil in the church, and encourages everyone to serve and contribute to the body of Christ.

Well, good evening again, brothers and sisters. This is our last night together for these meetings, but it's very difficult for me to put into words how grateful I am to have been able to come up here. This church really has a very special place in my heart. This is my third time up here, but I really love you, brothers and sisters. I really do, and I pray for you. All the fellowship that I've had since I've been here, going out to lunch with some of you, being able to stay in Nelson and Karen's wonderful home and eat wonderful cooking that probably caused me to gain a few pounds that I didn't need, and then our late night fellowships. I've been blessed beyond measure to be with you, so I just want to thank you so much. You're a very precious group of people and a precious church, and I thank God for all of you, and it's been a real privilege to be with you, so thank you. Thank you, every single one of you, for just allowing me to come, and I'm so grateful that you've been coming out to the meetings. I praise God. I believe God has done a deep work this week and that He's not finished. This is a work that will continue in many of our hearts, and tonight we're going to turn to Zechariah chapter 4. If you're not familiar with that little book, it's at the very back of the Old Testament, just before Malachi. Zechariah chapter 4, and my message tonight is a fresh vision of the church, or a fresh vision for the church. Fresh vision of the church. We've been talking about having a fresh encounter with God all week long, and here's a fresh vision that God gave to the prophet Zechariah, a fresh vision, I believe he's given to us tonight, of the church of Jesus Christ. Zechariah chapter 4, and beginning in verse 1, Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What do you see? So I said, I'm looking and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it and on the stand, seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. And 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. Who are you, O great mountain before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plane and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple. His hand shall also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you for who has despised the day of small things. For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth. Then I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees at the right of the lampstand and at its left? And I further answered and said to him, What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains? Then he answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. So he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. Amen. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you again for the awesome privilege of being able to be here, of being able to open up your word, O God, your words of life. I pray, Father, that your power would be made perfect in my total weakness. I am weak, but you are strong and I pray, Lord God, that you would speak through me and speak to every single one of our hearts and to the heart of everyone who listens to this message. Lord Jesus, I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be pleasing and acceptable to you, my strength and my redeemer. Lord, just make me an empty vessel that you may fill with your oil of the Holy Spirit and speak through me tonight, speak to every one of our hearts and give us the grace to capture this fresh vision that you have given for your church in Jesus name. Amen. Zachariah, the prophet, was given a vision by God. He didn't know what it meant at the time. And I want you just to if you'll picture with me, brothers and sisters, exactly what he saw for a moment. OK, we know from this text that Zachariah saw a golden lampstand. Now, what is a lampstand? It would be something that you might see something similar to something, something you would see at a wedding, a big lampstand. And we see those stands that have candlesticks that go up on them. So he saw this type of a lampstand and on the lampstand there were seven torches or seven, seven flames, seven burning candlesticks or torches above that golden lampstand was a golden bowl, a big bowl. And on either side of the bowl was an olive tree. There's an olive tree on the right and an olive tree on the left. And from each of the olive trees came out an olive branch and the olive branch on each side would come out and it would drip oil into a receptacle from the receptacle. There was a gold pipe on each side that went to the large bowl. So there is oil flowing from the olive branch into this large bowl that was just above the golden lampstand. From the gold bowl came seven golden pipes, each one of those pipes fed each one of the flames on the golden lampstand. Zechariah, the prophet, sees this and the angel asked him in verse two, what do you see? I was praying over this one time just in the prayer closet and reading this and I heard the Holy Spirit say the same thing to me from his word. What do you see? I'm thinking about this vision that he just saw. And immediately when the golden lamp, I see the golden lampstand, my mind runs to Revelation chapter one. What is this golden lampstand? It's a mystery, the revelation of what this is, but it's a mystery that Jesus Christ himself unveiled. What is the golden lampstand? Well, we go to Revelation chapter one and we look at verse 12. The apostle John said, Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, seven golden lampstands. Then we move on over to verse 20 of Revelation chapter one. The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands, which you saw are the seven churches. The lampstand is the church, the golden lampstand is a type or a symbol of the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus unveiled that mystery. The church made up of every blood bought, born again, child of God. If you're here tonight, you've been born again by the spirit of God. You're a child of God. You've been saved. Then you're a part of this lampstand. You're not all the torches. You're not all the lights on it, but you are one of those candlesticks. You are one of those flames, those burning flames on this one golden lampstand. Think of this with me. The lampstand is the church of Jesus Christ. And so what is our purpose? What is the purpose of a lampstand? The purpose of a lampstand is to give light, is to burn and give light and to shine. John chapter eight, verse 12. Jesus said of himself, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jesus is the light of the world. But in John chapter nine, verse five, he says, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Jesus has ascended into heaven, sent the promise of his Holy Spirit. Yes, he is the light of the world. But he says, as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world. We turn to Matthew chapter five. And what does he say? You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth, church, and you are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, a lampstand and put it under a bushel. But they put it on a lampstand and it gives light unto all that are in the house. And he says this, therefore, glorify, let your light so shine, he says, that your good works may glorify God. And let your light so shine that others may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. That is our purpose. Our purpose is to shine with the light and the glory and the presence of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to give light into this very dark world. We don't produce the light, but we reflect the light of Christ. We don't produce this fire, but our hearts and our lives should be fuel for the flame of God. You are the salt of the earth in that you are to make the world thirsty for Jesus. You are the salt of the earth in that you are the world's protection against all the corruption and decay and perversion and filthiness of the world. You are the salt of the earth. You are also the light of the world, the light of the world that pierces the darkness, the light of the world that allows others to see our wonderful savior, our wonderful Lord, and to point them to him. This is your purpose. We are to burn with the fire of God. We are to shine with the light of Jesus Christ. And it reminds me of this wonderful poem I was thinking about today from Amy Carmichael. Listen to these amazing words. The end of this poem, the poem is called Make Me Thy Fuel, Flame of God. But she says, give me the love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope, no disappointments, tire the passion that will burn like fire. Let me not sink to be a clod. Make me thy fuel, O flame of God. Oh, that that would be our prayer. Make me thy fuel, O flame of God. You see, God is an all consuming fire, but he has to have a living sacrifice upon which his fire can fall. May you and I be that living sacrifice. May we be the fuel for the flame of God and live up to our purpose. You were created for the glory of God. You were created for the glory of God. And as a church, our purpose is to glorify God and to it's for the glory of God and the souls of men. To glorify God and to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this life. Make me thy fuel, O flame of God. Let me shine. Let me burn. But back to the vision. How did that torch keep burning? And this is a flame that never dies, should never die. It kept burning because there was a golden pipe to each one of those flames that came from this large bowl that was full of oil. As long as the oil was flowing, the flame was burning. That oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. You see that throughout scripture, oil being a type of the Holy Spirit. And this is something the Lord has spoke to me. For some of us, that oil can just be a trickle because of the circumference of the pipe. For some of us, that oil is really flowing because of the circumference of the golden pipe. What does it say to us? To the degree that you are surrendered to Jesus Christ is that to the degree that you will shine for his glory. To the degree that we are surrendered to Christ, we are bringing him glory and others can see him in us. If we are having come to an absolute surrender, absolute trust and surrender, that circumference is awful small. And no wonder there's just a little trickle. The Lord is calling us again and again to absolute surrender, all of your heart for his glory, all of your life, all of your soul. You are not your own. You've been bought with a price. The Bible says, therefore, glorify God with your spirit and your body, which belong to him. So that's our purpose is to shine. So what do I see in this vision? I see a church where all the saints are shining. All the saints are shining, every brother and sister at South Lawrence Mennonite Church shining with the glory of God, every brother and sister in the body of Christ living up to their purpose and shining with the light of Jesus Christ. But you can only shine because the oil is flowing. I see a church where the oil that is the Holy Spirit is flowing. Do you see that church where the spirit of God is flowing, he says here in verse five, verse five and six, the angel who talked with me, answered and said to me, do you not know what these are? And I said, no, my Lord. 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. This is a church where the Holy Spirit is flowing. The oil is flowing through the golden pipes, giving flame to those torches on the lampstand. Now, follow me for a moment. What you don't see on that golden lampstand is one torch way over yonder and one torch way over yonder and one torch way under here, all separated. You see all seven of those torches connected to the same lampstand. What does it say to me? Where there is unity in the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit flows. God loves the unity of his people, and he emphasizes it every way throughout the scripture. He wants us to be together as one. No divisions in between us. And I'm not talking about sameness. I'm talking about oneness. We all have different personalities. We all have different gifts. We all have different callings. But when it comes to the essentials of the word of God, the truth of almighty God and us being a part of the body of Christ, if you are washed in the blood of Jesus and you and you belong to him, then you are part of the body of Christ. And there needs to be a unity among us. Now, what does God say about it? Psalm 133. Look at this with me. Hundred and thirty three hundred and thirty third Psalm. He says, behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion. For there, the Lord commanded the blessing life forevermore. He's saying where the body of Christ comes together in unity, loving one another. And you cannot have unity without humility. You we must humble ourselves before God and humble ourselves before one another. Where there is unity, there is always humility to have unity. There must be love preferring my brother before myself, considering him as more important or her is more important than myself. That is the way of the cross. That is the way our Savior walked. And this is the kind of unity that God smiles upon those of us who are parents. How does it make us feel when we watch our children and we see them just sticking together, playing together, encouraging one another? I mean, no fights, no arguing, no division. It brings joy to my heart to see my children like that. How does it make me feel when I see one of them, two of them quarreling, acting selfishly, fighting, bickering, arguing and then isolating themselves from one another? It grieves my heart and it grieves your heart when you see your children do the same. How much more must it grieve the heart of God when husband and wife, man and wife that God brought together as one flesh and said what God has joined together, let no man put us under. He wants this oneness. And because of some division, some angry, angry words or whatever the cause may be, case may be this division, how it must grieve the heart of God, how it must grieve the heart of God when he sees division in his church, the church that Jesus Christ shed his precious blood for. To tear down the middle walls of partition so there's no more Jew and Gentile and slave nor free, but he puts us all together as one family. That's his purpose. And if you want to know how passionate the Lord Jesus is for oneness and unity in his church, reads John 17, this prayer that Jesus prayed before he went to the cross over and over again. The heart of Jesus Christ is, oh, father, that they may be one as we are one. That is the heart of the Lord. That is the heart of the Lord. I just got back from Missouri. I was in Missouri before I came here and there was it was a small meeting. There weren't a whole lot of us, but there were people there from Africa, Scotland, all over America, Canada. People there from Mennonite backgrounds, Pentecostal, Baptist, non-denominational. And we are together. And I just got an email a while ago from a brother who's a pastor in L.A., right in the San Fernando, I think it's called Valley. I mean, right there in the bad part of L.A. And he's pouring out his heart. He said he'd never been to a meeting like that. Nobody had a personal agenda. Nobody was trying to to make themselves look good and kind of lord it over everybody else. It was a people who came together longing for Jesus Christ to have the preeminence and all the glory and fellowship among one another. He said, I've never been in a meeting like that. And I can't help but think how how much joy that brings to the heart of God to see the body of Christ dwell together in unity. That's where the oil flows. That's where God commands the blessing. So I see a church where the Holy Spirit is flowing. And he says again here, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. So he's talking about the Holy Spirit. What does it mean not by might? That word in the Hebrew has to do with a multitude. In other words, he's saying not by many. God is saying I don't need a big majority. And sometimes we get that impression, oh, if we just had more and more people. Well, yes, we want more and more people to be saved. But what I want you to know tonight is there are never too few for God to use, but there can be too many. What I mean by that is getting so many that we stop depending upon God, not by not by might, he says, but by my spirit. God says here in verse 10, for who has despised the day of small things? Don't don't despise little churches. Don't despise small gatherings that God himself puts together. He doesn't need a great big majority. He took a handful of men and turned the world upside down because he filled them with his spirit. Remember what he said to Gideon? Gideon is about to go to battle with an army that had so many men, they couldn't count them. Said they were like locusts, said they were like sand grains of sand on the seashore. Massive army. Gideon had thirty two thousand men. God says you have too many. If I give you the victory now, you will think that you did it yourself. You have too many. He said, Gideon, tell everybody that's afraid to go home. Twenty two thousand men went home. He had ten thousand left. Get rid of the cowards. Ten thousand left. God says you still have too many. What do you mean, too many? We're going against an army that we can't even count. There's so many. You have too many. And he gave them this test to go down to the water. And those that lapped up water like this, when they drank, he said, keep them aside. The other ones that just dipped their head down there and drank like that. Tell them to go home. Army was whittled down to three hundred men, three hundred men. God doesn't need might. God doesn't need a multitude. God needs a few surrendered vessels, a few surrendered hearts, men and women. And with this few, God took three hundred and he put a massive army to flight and defeat. Through a few, there's never too few for God to use, there can be too many. There is never anyone here too weak for God to use, but there can be someone too strong. And by that, I mean pride, strong in and of themselves, but never too weak. Not by might, he says, but by my spirit, not by might nor by power. That power speaks of human strength, human wisdom, wit, charisma, things of man, money. How many churches, if we just had more money, if we just had better technology, if we just had somebody that was more eloquent or somebody that's more charismatic in their personality, I want to say. Get rid of all that. I'd rather have a man that stuttered and stammered, that loved Jesus with all of his heart and was absolutely surrendered to him, that's the man God will use. He doesn't need wit. He doesn't need charisma. He doesn't need money. Doesn't need technology, he can use all of that, yes, but he doesn't need it because it's not by might and it's not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. What could those prophets do when the spirit of the Lord would come upon them? When the spirit of the Lord would come on a little shepherd boy, he could take up a sling and a stone and bring down a giant that scared everybody. When the spirit of the Lord would come upon a man, he could take a jawbone of a donkey and slay a thousand. When the spirit of the Lord would come upon a prophet, he would prophesy and the word of God would cut to the heart. When the spirit of the Lord would come upon them, he would take them where they could never go in and of themselves. He would make them what they could have never become in and of themselves. He would give them strength they never possessed in and of themselves. Jesus himself said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me and he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Just to heal the broken hearted and to set the captives free, to give sight to the blind. Listen, when the Holy Spirit is flowing through a church, there is no limit to what God can do. There is nothing impossible with God. I have seen him restore and repair the marriage that according to the world and most of the church today says there's no hope for. And today that marriage is a shining example for everybody to see. I've seen him break addictions that no counselor, no amount of 12 step programs could do. I've seen him save the hardest of hearts, the souls, the law, most lost of men. If there is such a thing. The man I just preach a funeral for two days before I came up here, a dear brother and friend of mine, I loved him so much. Still do. He was up in his years. He was the hardest of the hard. Two men said this. One deacon said, Leon Alts will never get saved. That was his words. Another man said, you are wasting your time with Leon Alts. He's a nut too hard for anybody to crack. That's what they would say. And yet God got a hold of that man and saved him, he was 70 some years old. And for the last five years, that man has testified with tears. He has he has proclaimed the gospel. He and I have gone together. Brother Brian, will you go with me? I want to go talk to so and so. They're not far away from dying. And we would go and he would plead with them for tears, with tears. I don't want you to go to hell. Get right with God. I witnessed the power of God save a man that everybody else said couldn't be saved. When the Holy Spirit is flowing, there is no limit to what God can do. We have seen him heal the sick. We have seen him comfort and bring folks out of grief that that that that is humanly impossible. There is no limit to what God can do when the Holy Spirit is flowing. But the Holy Spirit is flowing because God's people are surrendering. But there's something else that's largely due here to the Holy Spirit flowing. Do you remember what was above the lampstand? This large bowl and from that bowl, the oil flowed to the flames. What's that bowl? What does that bowl represent? I go back to Revelation and I go to chapter five. Five. And in Revelation, chapter five, it says in verse eight, now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the lamb, each having a heart and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, the prayers of the saints. When God's people are praying. The oil starts flowing. When God's people are praying, this bowl begins to fill with golden oil, flows through the pipes and the flame begins to begins to burn. I see a church where God's people are praying again, and I don't mean two minute, five minute prayers. There's nothing wrong with that. But I see a church who sees their desperate need for God that has committed themselves to prayer and prayer meeting. Committed themselves to crying out and calling out to God, the bowl starts to fill, the oil starts to flow with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Second Chronicles 714, if my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray. Pray, pray like you've never prayed before and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, then I will forgive their sin, then I will heal their land. The church that prays together, stays together, the family that prays together, stays together where there is prayer, fervent, faithful prayer, prayer that's coming from clean hands and pure hearts and sanctified tongues, prayer where people have removed the mask and just got honest with God and begin to pour out their hearts to him together in one accord. Something happens, something happens when God's people pray like that, the oil starts flowing again and the Holy Spirit starts moving again. And the fire starts burning again where there is no prayer, there will be no power, I assure you where there is no prayer, a prayerless church is a powerless church where there is no prayer, there is no power of God. Remember what they were doing in Acts chapter one before the fire of the Holy Spirit baptized them and they turned the whole world upside down. They were all together in an upper room, 120, that's all, don't need might, don't need power, don't need a multitude, 120 out of many, many that saw Christ, by the way, after he rose from the dead. But here's the thirsty. God found the thirsty, the 120, those who would wait day after day after day because he taught us to pray and never faint. And he said, wait in Jerusalem till you be endued with power from on high. So day after day for 10 days, they pray and they wait and they're in one accord. This unity where God commands the blessing, they're in one accord and they are praying and the Bible says suddenly. There was a sound of a rushing mighty wind and tongues of fire descended upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. And what is the result of that? Ultimately, Jesus Christ builds his church and the gospel goes forth with power. Peter, a man who couldn't even stay awake for one hour and pray with Jesus, is now praying all night long. Peter, a man who was afraid and ashamed, so ashamed of Christ that he denied him three times to his servant girl, is now preaching to the same crowd that shouted crucify Christ and would have just surely said crucify Peter. He is preaching now with boldness and power because the oil started flowing. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and 3000 were saved in one day. Where did it start? God's people were praying. I see a church where the people of God are praying and because of it, the saints are shining and the saints are shining because the oil is flowing, the Holy Spirit's moving. We must pray, we must pray like never before. If I had time, I could share so many testimonies, how somebody who was faithful to pray would not let go day after day, year after year, would not stop persevering in prayer. And God came. God came. And the Hebrides Islands in Scotland, the Hebrides revival, I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know Colin and Mary Peckham. Mary was converted under the preaching of Duncan Campbell during the Hebrides revival. She was just a teenage girl. She said, oh, Brian, when the spirit of God came, she said, you couldn't get away from the presence of God. She said, I was walking along the shore and she was unsaved at this time. She said suddenly I was made aware of the presence of God. And I said, oh, God, this is your earth. And she said, I took off my shoes because I knew I was unworthy to walk on his earth. And so she took off her shoes and she said, I'm still unworthy to walk on your earth. So she runs into the ocean and she said, oh, God, this is your ocean. She said, I couldn't get away from the presence of God. So I ran to the church, ran to one of the churches. Duncan Campbell was preaching that night. He'd been preaching so much he lost his voice. He said, my text tonight comes from John chapter 11. Mary, the master has come and he call it for the her name was Mary. That's how the spirit of God moves. She was under such conviction, the fear of the Lord. She cried out and the Lord saved her. But, you know, there's so many stories to that Hebrides revival. But when God came down, but you know where it all started. Two old sisters, blind, one blind woman, they may have both been blind, I can't remember. Two that would not give up, that prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed till the oil started flowing. And God started moving. Jesus taught us always to pray and not to lose heart, not to give up. And what happens when I see this church? And by the way, the church was started in a prayer meeting. The church that I'm a part of right now in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, started in a prayer meeting in a barn. That's where it started. And the only way it's continued and sustained is, of course, by the grace of God, but also, I believe, a Saturday night prayer meeting. That Saturday night prayer meeting. A little band of people who consider that meeting to be the most important meeting of the week and who pray and pray and pray and see God move in answer to prayer. I see a church where the saints are shining because the Holy Spirit's flowing, where God's people are praying. And now what do I see? I see a church where mountains are moving and mountains are melting. Where do you get that in the text, Brother Brian? Verse seven. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. Who are you, O great mountain? In other words, what is this obstacle that stands in our way? What is this obstacle that stands in the way of Zerubbabel building the house of the Lord? What is your biggest problem right now? That's your mountain. What is the biggest thing that stands in your way right now from just. An absolute surrender to the Lord from from what is it that's that's hindering you, what is it that stands in the way for some, I think it's a mountain of unbelief. How could God ever use me? For some, it's a mountain of pride and self-righteousness. There's so many mountains that can stand in our way. But when God's people pray and the Holy Spirit's moving. Something begins to rise in our hearts to cry out, who are you, O great mountain, you shall become a plain. It's like David saying, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that seeks to defy the armies of the living God? He shall come down and he shall come down today. I see a church where the mountains are moving, but we've got to identify the problem. Why does this mountain allowed to stand in the first place? If the Holy Spirit is flowing, that mountain will dissolve and mountains will be dissolving. So what is allowing the mountain to stand in the first place? I talked to you about surrender, but I believe the Lord showed me something else about those golden pipes through which the oil flows freely. I asked the Lord when I was praying over this. So what's the problem? Lord, when I read the book of Acts and I see your early church here, what's preventing us from walking in that? Jesus, you said that we would do the same works that you did and greater works than these shall you do. Then why am I not doing that? You said that he that believes on you out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Why do I feel like only a trickle? You know what the Lord said to me? Clogged pipes, clogged pipes. What clogs the pipe? Sin, it can be unbelief. Again, it can be pride, it can be selfishness, there's a number of things it can be the holy. I can't tell you that the Holy Spirit has to put his finger on your heart and tell you what it is that's keeping you back, holding you back. That's your mountain. Folks, is the problem really with the government? Is the problem the our greatest problem really in the White House? I granted there's problems there, but is that our greatest problem? Is our greatest problem homosexual marriages? I hate I hate it. It's an abomination to God. It's a problem. But is that our greatest problem? Is that holding us back church from glorifying God on the face of the earth and shining with the light of his presence? Fox News will tell you that's the problem. Can I tell you what the problem is? My greatest problem is my sin, period. And your greatest problem is your sin, period. And when we get honest before God and confess that sin to the Lord and repent of it, that clogged pipe is no longer clogged because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and the oil starts flowing again and we start shining again with the glory of God. Stop pointing the finger and point it this way. When last have you prayed, Lord? They're not the problem. I'm the problem. It's not just my brother, my sister standing in need of it's me standing in the need of prayer. The problem is not my wife. The problem is me. Never have I ever gone before the Lord when there was a problem in my home and he said, Brian, your problem is your wife. Never. Even if I may be convinced of her, your problem is this person in the church. Your problem is that. But no, never has God said that to me. He has said you're looking at all of them. I'm looking at you. The problem is here. And when God deals with this problem and I allow him to deal with this problem, a lot of the other problems get taken care of. Clogged pipes, which means we need to come before God and repent and confess our sin to him and allow the blood of Jesus to wash us wider than snow. What else do I see in this fresh vision of the church? The saints are shining. The spirit is moving, mountains are melting because God's people are praying. But I see something else in the text. I see faithful preaching, faithful preaching, anointed preaching. Where do you see it? Verse 10. For who has despised the day of small things for these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth. This is a picture of the spirit of God rejoicing to see a plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was rebuilding the temple. The plumb line, as you carpenters would know better than I, is what is used to make sure that thing is built exact. And you never bend the plumb line to fit the building. You bend the building to fit the plumb line. What is he saying? The eyes of the Lord are going to and fro throughout the whole earth to find somebody who will stand faithful and true to the word of God and who will not bend the truth, but let the truth bend them. We are living in a day of absolute compromise in all of Christendom, throwing out the word of God and telling ridiculous stories and all kinds of other nonsense. God is looking for a man, a faithful man or men who will be faithful to the truth of God's word and preach it just as it is, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. To preach it in love, yes, but to preach the truth without compromise and without bending it. Anointed preaching, preaching that is inspired and unctionized by the Holy Spirit. The eyes of the Lord is searching for a faithful man, someone who will be faithful with little, someone who will be faithful with much, someone that will hold the plumb line and preach the word of God. Even though the word of God is being mocked and scoffed, there's a movement even where I am, where there's a there's a there's an absolute movement to try and stop and undermine the preaching of God's word. It's a movement that we don't need any more preaching, we just need to we just need singing and we just need to listen to hurting people. I've been told that. Yeah, we need singing and we need to listen to hurting people, but God's ways have not changed and he has still chosen that through the foolishness of preaching the cross, the gospel, the blood of Jesus, that many would be saved. And that'll never change. God has no plan B. We cannot depart from the word of God. Where are the faithful men who will stand upon the truth without budging? That's what we need. But I don't just see faithful men preaching. I see a church where everyone is serving, everyone is serving, because in the next few verses, verse 11 through 14, we are told about these olive branches that come out from the tree and from those branches, oil is being poured out into the receptacles, which then flows down through the pipe to the bowl, which then pours out to the lampstand. What are these branches? What is this a picture of? The only way to get oil from an olive tree is to crush the olives and for that oil to be poured out. This is a picture of children of God serving, serving the Lord. Many come to get the oil. But how many of you coming to give? How many of you coming to serve? How many of you saying, what can I do for the glory of God? What is my part in the body of Christ? Lord, show me once you've been gripped by this amazing love of Jesus, the grace that he showed upon you. There's something in you that wants to serve, wants to do something for his glory. But to serve, we've got to be broken. We've got to be poured out. The olives have to be crushed. And that means for many of us, the self-centered in us, self-centeredness in us has to be crushed. You want everything convenient, can't follow Jesus. Jesus will crush the convenience out of us. You want everything comfortable, can't follow Jesus. He will crush the comfort zone out of us and lead us outside our comfort zones. You are a missionary, my brother and sister, and I'm a missionary, and it's time to discover what would God have me to do, as we said the other night, it may be something so simple or maybe so hard as going and brushing someone's hair, if you remember that story from two nights ago, it may listen, God's not he's not calling probably any of us to walk out these doors and go preach to 5,000, as my brother shared with me. Earlier in prayer meeting, he will call some of us to go across the street. He will call some of us to serve right where we are in the home and to be poured out and poured out and poured out. The bottom line is whatever the Holy Spirit tells you to do, do it. If you are part of the body of Christ, you are called to serve. And now I come to a close. I see a church where all the saints are shining, where the spirit of God is flowing. Where the people of God are praying, where mountains are dissolving and moving and there is faithful preaching and everyone is serving. But you know why? All and only because God's grace is abounding, I see a church where the grace of God is abounding. Look at this in verse, verse seven. Verse seven, he says, Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. Notice it's not a whisper. It's a shout. Grace, grace to it. Not a whisper, because how can you whisper when it comes to God's amazing grace? How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Amazing grace. Now, why would God use such a man as Zerubbabel? The same reason and same way he'll use you or I. Grace. The only way that I'm standing up here today, a man who when he was in high school couldn't even give an oral book report. Stuttered and stammered. Has had no Bible school, no seminary, not very much education. And preached the word of God. One reason, one way, grace. That's the only way. And so someone here tonight that says, how can God save a wretch like me? Same way he saved all of us. Grace. You think you got to go get yourself cleaned up and then come to Jesus? That's not the gospel. The gospel is you. Yes, you turn from sin. You turn right now and you turn to Christ. But you come just as you are. Filthy as you are. Sinner that you are. And how will you be saved? Grace. Amazing grace. And that's what he's saying. Shouts of grace. Let me ask you, my friend, why are you here and not in a bar right now? Grace, are you any better than they? Not a single one of us is better than they. We are here and not there because of grace. Why are you not in a mental hospital right now? Grace. Why are we not in prison? Some of us, some of us very well could be in prison right now. Why not? Grace. Why am I alive and not dead? When I should have died many times because of my foolishness, grace. Why am I still married and not divorced? Grace. Why am I saved and not lost? Grace. Why am I headed for heaven and not hell? Grace. It's all grace from start to finish. We are saved not by our own works, but by grace. For by grace are you saved through faith and this not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Unless you come to Jesus Christ empty handed. Remember last night and you come to him thinking you're going to impress him with something you've done. You will be shut out. The only ones that receive grace are those that finally realize they don't deserve anything but judgment. And we don't deserve anything but judgment, we don't deserve anything but hell. And God, in his mercy and grace, sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. And I'm not talking about cheap grace either, and I'm not talking about a counterfeit grace and this hyper grace movement that's sweeping through our country right now that just says, oh, you say by grace, you go live like the devil. It's OK. No, the true grace of God, according to Titus, teaches us to deny ungodliness and unrighteousness and worldly lust and to live soberly and godly in this present age. That's the true grace of God. But my point is the true grace of God, you can't earn and you can't merit it and you can't buy it. You don't have enough money and you don't have enough good works and you don't have enough anything. You come just the way all of us came. Jesus, I am a sinner. You are my only savior. You are my only hope of salvation. Jesus, save me, forgive me. And God will have mercy on such a soul, such a sinner. Amazing grace. We're saved by grace. We're delivered by grace. We overcome by grace. We walk and live and move and have our being all by God's grace. And I see a church where grace is abounding. And here's another way it abounds. When you and I have a revelation of the grace of almighty God. The love that he's lavished upon us, the grace that he's bestowed upon us, it does something in you. You can't contain it. You've got to give it away. Here's the way I see a church abounding with grace. I see a church where the members are showing grace to one another. Breathing grace upon one another. Not looking down. But breathing grace on one another, being patient with one another, being forgiving with one another, loving one another, showing grace to one another. And I'll tell you this, if you belong to him and you don't walk in that way, the Lord will surely break you. I don't know if I've ever shared this from the pulpit, but I and this just comes to my mind. You know, before my son got cancer. I was dealing with someone else who had a child with cancer. And though I would have never said any of these things out loud. I was critical of this parent. And in my mind, in my heart, I was judging this parent and thinking things such as, well, if I was that parent, I would be doing this. And if I was that parent, I would be doing that. And if my child had cancer, I would be doing the other. No grace in my heart, and now I'm sitting beside the bedside of my son with cancer, and you know what comes back to my mind? You didn't even have a clue, Brian, what that poor parent was going through. And you had no right at all. To pass judgment upon her. The truth is, none of us know, for the most part, what's the shoes that someone else is walking in. And God had such amazing grace on us. How dare we? Not show grace to others, abounding grace to others. I see a church where God's grace is abounding. And abounding, and abounding. It's not a type of grace that minimizes and winks at sin, no, sir. It's a type of grace that loves the sinner so much, you tell them the truth, and you pray, and you fight until there's deliverance. You see, the Bible says sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. When you are under grace, you will know victory in overcoming sin. The law never set me free from any sin, but I'll tell you what has set me free from sin. The amazing grace of God. A church where grace is abounding. And the saints are shining and the people of God are praying and the Holy Spirit is moving. And everyone is serving. That's a fresh vision for the Church of Jesus Christ. And I pray by the grace of God, you have captured somewhat of that, but that the spirit of God has branded some of that in your heart. Every single one of you as a believer has a part in the body of Christ. You have a part. How can God use me? Grace, how can he save me? Grace, if there's someone here tonight who has not trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you come to him just as you are tonight. You come to him as a savior, as a sinner in need of the Savior, in need of mercy and in need of grace. And my Bible says that he will come and save you. Those who come to him with a broken and contrite heart, God will never turn away. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. And tonight is your night. And so I want to ask you all to stand with me, if you would, Johnny, if you will please come. And. Matt, would you mind coming forward and Alvin, would you mind coming, Nelson? I'm just asking a few of your brothers to come forward just to be prepared that if someone needs prayer in this body or would like prayer that they can come and they could have one of us or a couple of us pray for them, if you don't mind. We just want to invite you, if there's someone here who would like special prayer, if someone here, maybe you need to you want to hear more about the gospel. If if God is dealing with your soul, if you know that tonight that you're not right with God and you want to come to Christ and you'd like somebody to come alongside you to pray, we invite you to come. And as brothers up here, I know Glenn is available. I could probably call out many of these good brothers out here. But there are people up here that will pray with you. So I invite you to come. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would take these words that were proclaimed tonight and that you would brand them into our hearts. Father, I believe that you have spoken by your spirit things that I didn't even utter from the pulpit. But you, Holy Spirit, has spoken specifically to men, women and children who are gathered here tonight. Would you grant the grace to respond to your voice, to respond to your word tonight? Lord, we pray that if there's someone here tonight that is in the valley of decision that is not yet born again, that they would see that you would open their eyes tonight, Lord, to see that they can be saved. They can be forgiven. They can become a child of God tonight if they will come to you in repentance and faith. Please draw them by your spirit. We pray, O God, draw them tonight. Lead us now in Jesus name. Amen. Let's enter into song and worship and praise of the Lord. And again, I invite you have the courage, have the courage to step out. There's nothing more important than your eternal salvation. Absolutely nothing. And perhaps you are saved and born again, but you want to make a commitment to the Lord. Then we invite you to come. These pews are open. You can come and pray. Please do. Let's sing together. Lord Jesus, we thank you and praise you, Lord, for your great grace. We thank you, Jesus, for your amazing love. We pray, Lord God, that you would take us all spirit, soul and body, all of our hearts tonight, that we would be absolute surrendered vessels to you. And Lord, I thank you for this church. We pray for your glory and your grace just to envelop this church continually, that the good work that you've begun, you will complete in Jesus name. Lord, bless each and every one. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Can I ask you, brothers and sisters, that we leave quietly tonight? There's still people praying at the altar. And if you want to stay and pray, then I want to I want to invite you to do that. You can sit or kneel or stand, whatever you want to. But those that need to go will just leave quietly tonight. OK, the Lord bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine upon every one of you. The Lord bless you.