In this sermon, the speaker focuses on the story of the prophet Zachariah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. The speaker emphasizes the importance of the walls, which were still broken down and the gates burnt with fire. The speaker mentions that while the temple had been rebuilt, the walls remained in ruins. The sermon highlights the hope and faith of the Jews during their captivity in Babylon, as they waited for the prophesied 70 years to pass. The speaker also emphasizes the need for personal repentance and the rebuilding of our own spiritual temples.

Will you turn to the Prophet Zechariah? This is the second book of the Old Testament, the second from the end. The last one is Malachi, and Zechariah is just before Malachi. Before we look at the particular book of Zechariah we have open before us, I think it is appropriate to give a little recap of the panorama we have been looking at, and it has indeed been a panorama. We have been considering this lovely record of how the Jews were permitted to rebuild again their ruined temple, and also their ruined city. And we have seen it to be a picture of revival. It is not the building of the temple, but the rebuilding. We have seen that the saints of God are builded together to be an habitation of God by the Spirit. As living stones are added to Jesus, so this temple grows in which he himself dwells and from which he expresses himself to the world. But just as that temple of old was reduced to ruins and rubble, so has the house of the Lord in some measure lain waste. Corporately it is only too true. The house of the Lord is nothing what it was intended to be, and all because of man's sin and above all man's unbrokenness, the accumulation of the centuries. But not only corporately but individually, in one degree and another we have to confess, I am no temple of God, as I should be. This old temple in which the Spirit is meant to dwell, in all to a greater degree, has been lying waste. But the Jews were taken captive, they were told, for only seventy years. Now that's a long time. They hoped it was only going to be two full years and they'd be back. No, Sir Jeremiah, it's going to be seventy. And during that seventy years, as the generation died off in Babylon, they gave up all hope. It was a vague thing, they vaguely remembered, but they could see no possibility of that thing ever happening. But it did. And on God's clock the time to wave us are, and even the set time had come. And sure enough, as that seventy years drew to an end, Daniel was set a-praying, and maybe others too, wise men who understood by books what that seventy-year prophecy was. And above all, the Babylonian Empire was overthrown and the Persian Empire took its place and the first emperor was Cyrus. Somehow or other he'd come under divine influences, and I rather think it was due to the testimony of that wonderful man, Daniel. And the Lord stirred the spirit of Cyrus, and he began to realise that if he was on the throne it was only because the God of Heaven had put him there. And he had the astonishing revelation that the God of Heaven was the God of this little nation, Jehovah. And he conceived the desire to build again God's house, and he issued the edict, and all who would were permitted to return to that ruined land, taking with them the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple, and also gathering silver and gold from other Jews that didn't feel right at that particular stage to return. And under Joshua the high priest, and Zerubbabel the governor, there was that first return of the exiles, some fifty thousand. And what a sight confronted them as they saw it, it was enough to make their hearts sink, but they set to work, and the first thing they did was to establish the altar of the Lord again. And the burnt offerings, and they did it for fear of the people round about, they had to know that their relationship with the God of Heaven was right, and there was the indication, the altar, the burnt offerings going up every day, that they were now in relationship with God again. And then they proceeded to dig the foundations, and a great day it was when they got those foundations dug, they had really begun on the work for which they had returned. And then it was the enemies round about came and tried to harry them, and eventually they sent up to Babylon, and I imagine by that time perhaps Cyrus had gone and another king was there, and they said, this city is a rebellious city, you search the records and see, and your kingdom is going to suffer damage if this goes ahead. And they searched the record, and sure enough, there was a bad record there, and the message came through that they were to cause the building of that temple to cease. And so it was they came by force and with power, and compelled them to give up. And it remained unbuilt for thirteen years, just the foundations. And so it would have remained, they felt they couldn't go forward because of this great mountain of opposition, this force and power against them. And it never would have been built but for the ministry of two prophets that God raised up, Haggai and Zechariah. We shall look at what they had to say in a moment. And because of their ministry, and it was mainly a ministry not only of challenge for having left that house for thirteen years, because God held them responsible, although they had a good excuse. You haven't got to lie down to opposition, and if perhaps for a year or two, but not for thirteen years. Well it was very convenient, they could get on with their own houses, and Haggai challenged them about that, and likewise Zechariah, and as a result, the people resorted to building again. And with them were the prophets of God helping them, and they defied the opposition. And then you remember that extraordinary story of how the opponents came again, and they gave a rather different testimony this time, they said, oh we're a decimated people, it's our own fault. The God of heaven who had provoked him to wrath, that's why we've been captive. But Cyrus, years ago, gave the edict. And so it was they searched, and they sent, and they found indeed there was the old time record. And those enemies got an answer they didn't expect, that they were to let those Jews alone. Indeed they were to go further, they were to provide everything they needed out of the king's taxes. And if any man opposed them, let his house be pulled down, and him hanged on gallows on it, and let the whole place be made a dunghill. And so they had to obey. And the unbelievable thing happened. And in no time at all, the house was completed. And we read, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. They were the crucial ones in the rebuilding. Then we passed on to see Ezra come on the scene. And the new king Artaxerxes was as favorable as Cyrus, and he came with great wealth to beautify the house of God and with authority to the people the other side of the river, only to discover the grievous sin to which they had fallen. He was told that the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, had not separated themselves from the people of the land, but had intermarried with pagan women, and were doing according to their abominations. That was our subject last morning. And you remember the broken-hearted Ezra and the tremendous prayer he prayed, and the effect of his broken-heartedness upon the people they began to weep to, and they were willing to put that matter right. And we saw that we've got to look at our Ezra, Jesus, him whom we have pierced, and mourn for him, not for what our sin might have cost us, but what it's cost him. And thus it is, these things that can come, and we try to apply it all, that could absolutely wreck any little revival we may have experienced, can be dealt with before God. And there the book ends, that's it, with the putting right of this thing. But the story doesn't end there, the story then goes on to Nehemiah. And twelve years later, he comes from Babylon, and likewise with royal authorization. It's a wonderful story. The time to favour Zion, even the set time has come. And Nehemiah's concern is not the temple, that's been rebuilt, but the walls, the walls, the walls. The walls were still broken down, and the gates still burnt with fire. And so the story, the same story, goes on into Nehemiah. And the natural thing would be for us to follow the story into Nehemiah. It's as helpful and as full of application for us as that part in Ezra. And twelve years ago, when I took these passages in the tent at Clevedon, I remember I did just go into Nehemiah a little bit in order to give us the completion of the story, the rebuilding of the walls. But this morning I don't want to do that. It really is another study altogether. I remember Bill Butler took Nehemiah years ago, also at Clevedon, but not Ezra. But we don't want to do that just now, that's another wonderful study. But I want to go back to that period in the story we've already considered. And so, when having built the foundations, their enemies opposed them and got that authorisation from Babylon to cause them to stop. And they came with force and power to stop them. And they had no force or power with which to match their force and power. And so the work on the house of the Lord ceased for thirteen long years. And as I've already said, it was only through the ministry of Haggai and Zechariah that they ever started the work again. And that is what I want to consider. Not so much the ministry of Haggai as the ministry of Zechariah. We've dealt a bit, I think, with Haggai, and his was a ministry of challenge. He said, you run everyone to your own house, building for yourselves sealed houses, while the Lord's house lies waste. Therefore the heavens over you are staid from dew and the earth from fruit, and you're having the difficult condition you have because my house, says God, is still lying waste. It was a very important challenge, they had to see how illogical it was to look after number one when they'd come back to rebuild the house of God. And that was enough to get them moving in the right direction. But Zechariah's was different. Zechariah's ministry was a ministry of encouragement. You know, there was everything to discourage the Jews, and especially their leaders, Joshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the governor. What they were faced with was just rubble and hostile nations around, and they could well not give up. As far as I know, they'd had encouragement, they'd got means up to a point, but it was a very hard time, and all the time they were being harried by their opponents. And as I say, they had everything to discourage them, and to cause them to think meanly of themselves in the light of the work that they had to do. And I want to tell you, if you're discouraged, the devil's got you. He doesn't need to do much else, just depress you, just to get you discouraged, and he knows he's put you out of action. And these men had to be lifted out of that, and that was the great ministry of these two prophets, and in particular of Zechariah. D.L. Moody said that he'd read the Bible through from cover to cover, and he had discovered, he'd never discovered, how did he put it, that God could do anything with a man who were discouraged. And if God's going to deal with you at all, he's got to deal with that. Especially those of us engaged in the work of the Lord. There are mountains of discouragement among Christian workers, among our ministers, in their churches, in their parishes, just what the devil wants. And for that reason, God's house is not being rebuilt again. And God knows how to minister to us in that need. And he did it through Zechariah. Just a glance can see the type of positive message that this man came with, in chapter 1, 14 to 17. Chapter 1. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion with a great jealousy, and I'm very displeased, I'm so displeased with the heathen that are at ease, for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore, thus saith the Lord. Now you listen, you Jews that are so down and think, well, there's not much hope. I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem, the plummet line. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, my city through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad, and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. You don't think so. I want to tell you, it's going to happen. And the Lord, and I'm telling you that. I'm full of hope if you aren't, saith the Lord. I can see it all rising again, and prosperity coming to this decimated land. That was wonderful. Oh, let it go on, Zechariah. Have a toast a bit more. Oh, a whole lot more to tell you. And he piled it on, and he piled it on. In chapter 8, verse 6, there's a lovely little bit. Chapter 8, verse 4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, there shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it be also marvellous in mine eyes? If it's more than you can believe it could ever happen, it's not more than I can. And so it is so often, God wants to come to those that have begun to be Christians, begun to rebuild the temple, workers, or just fulfilling their allotted course in life, to tell you you're on something bigger than you realise. And as far as God's concerned, the issue is never in doubt. Indeed, he likes to give you, to start with a situation like that. There's a very dear friend of ours in America, a young evangelist and his wife, a beautiful brother, I love him to come over. His wife is one of the most glorious pianists you've ever heard, and he's a beautiful singer and song leader, but above all he's an evangelist. And they go round taking missions in one of these mobile car homes, because they have two little children. And a few years ago, he heard the words of love, he gazed upon the blood, and evangelist that he was, he got a new peace with God, and his whole ministry changed, and there was a new fruitfulness. But luckily, the doors for evangelism, strangely, seemed to be closing, and there wasn't quite that special touch from heaven upon his evangelistic work, and he became greatly discouraged, and he wondered if God had forgotten him. He was still in the old ground as far as he knew with God, and yet there was a sort of diminution of the work that God was giving him to do. And then he had a terrible internal illness, a tremendous surgery, but he was spared, but it took him a long time to recover, and that further discouraged him. God had finished with him, so the devil told him. And then he had a most extraordinary sort of word from the Lord, very specific, didn't tell his wife, he just kept it in his heart, you are to go to Colorado. He was living in Louisiana, in the deep south. He'd been through Colorado, had a meeting or two up there, but nothing more. And the Lord spake other words of encouragement to his little wife, and when they shared these words one with another, they were so thrilled, and just as soon as he was well enough, they went to Colorado. He knew one minister, the minister was delighted to hear that they were coming there to live, and lend a hand. But he said, I've got a little church over there in the mountains, it's a log church, and I'm really supposed to do that, and it's too much for me, would you take on that? Well he said, maybe that's the reason why God has sent me to Colorado. And he went to a lovely log church, with a congregation of seven. He was thrilled a bit, it was a man who was an evangelist, who didn't like large crowds, and he never would have accepted a congregation of seven, but for the fact that God put his hand upon his work, and then permitted that very serious illness. I know it's not going to remain a congregation of seven, I know God, the time to favor that little bit of Zion has come, and if he doesn't see the potentialities, God does. He can see the place changed, and doubtless words have come to his heart to indicate that's God's intention. And this is what Zechariah, how he spoke to those people in that terrible parlous situation. You need encouragement. That's why the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter, I believe that word can be translated as the Encourager. The devil is a discourager of the brethren, the Holy Spirit is the Encourager. That which discourages doesn't come from the Holy Spirit. He searches, he convicts, but never discourages. He is the great Encourager of the saints, and he gives them solid ground for comfort, because he points to Jesus and his blood. And so it was, this message came, and it never would have moved forward, but for the fact that that message did come. And I want to tell you, you're not going to move forward, and yet, unless you too are open to receive like messages of encouragement. It isn't a favour that God does for you, it isn't you who's all, please encourage me. He takes initiative. You think he's finished with you, you think he's got no more for you. It's he who takes initiative and presents you possibilities and prophecies. And yours it is to believe them, and to begin to cooperate with the God who's thought it all out. Now there are two chapters here, along this line, chapter 3 and chapter 4. Chapter 3 is the message of encouragement that was sent to Joshua the high priest. And chapter 4, the message of encouragement that was sent to Zerubbabel the governor. And if the people were discouraged, their leaders were even more discouraged. Leaders? What are we leaders of? And who are we? And they were really down. And so, Zechariah brings to them the prophecy of how God saw them. They saw them as one sort of person, themselves as one sort of person, God saw them quite other. And they'd either got to accept their own mean view of themselves, or God's. Chapter 3, and he showed me, this is Zechariah speaking, Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. Yes, he's called the accuser of the brethren. Revelation tells us of Satan accusing the brethren before their God, day and night, and here he is doing it in the Old Testament. And this is the vision that Zechariah has, which he communicates. And the Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuked thee, O Satan, even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem rebuked thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. And maybe it was those filthy garments that Satan was accusing him of. But as Jehovah himself says, he's a brand plucked out of the fire, it's not surprising. His garments are filthy, and got fire stains and much else upon them, but he's a brand that I plucked. And thus it is, Jeremiah saw Jehovah rising to the defence of this high priest whom Satan was accusing. And I believe he accused himself, he said, I'm no high priest. In the old times you used to have garments for beauty and glory, but I haven't got any, I've only got this. And he felt so unworthy. High priest, don't, for goodness sake, call me high priest, I'm no high priest. And he had a mean view of himself, but his hands were weak to prosecute the work, and so this vision was given to Zechariah to communicate to him. And he was given to see that Jehovah was not joining in the accusation. He probably thought Jehovah was. But he was doing the very reverse. What though the accuser roar, of ills that I have done, I know them all, and thousands more, Jehovah findeth none. Oh, what a message. And there's Jehovah, rebuking the one who's pointing out the deficiencies of Joshua, which he knew only too well. Now Joshua, as I say, was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, take away those filthy garments from him. And he said unto him, behold, I've caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. And I said, let them set a fair mitre, a turban upon his head. He hadn't got one up to then. So they set a fair turban upon his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord was standing by, simply delighted, simply delighted, look at him, here's a high priest for you. That's how God sees him. Doesn't see himself like that, but that's how God sees him. He's not to go on with filthy garments. Yes, there's some truth in what Satan may say, but after all, he's a bran pluck from the burning. He's only in process of being made what he's going to be. But he's mine. Take him away. And you clothe him with a change of raiment. Please turn the cassette over now. Do not fast wind it in either direction. Clothe him with a change of raiment. And so that's how it is with us. Oh, my dear friend, you stand before the Lord and Satan is there to accuse you, and you get a reflection of that accusation in your own conscience, of what he's saying up there. You have a mean idea of yourself, of the low possibilities. They don't love you and perhaps you don't love them very much. The work I'm called to, very little is happening, nothing much. But I want to tell you, Jehovah's on your side. Jehovah is on your side. And he would tell you, to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for a righteousness which he doesn't otherwise possess. If you've got the weeniest little bit of faith, that God is the God that justifies the ungodly, that he's the friend of sinners in Jesus, that teeny weeny bit of faith in grace is counted for you, did you but know it, for a righteousness before God which is unassailable. God says, I'm not looking at those dirty rags, take them off him. I'm choosing to impute to him righteousness apart from the law. Righteousness bought with the precious blood of my son and you cannot be better arrayed, more right with God than what the blood makes you when you take a sinner's place. It says that Christ, who of God, is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and rejection. Behold him there, we sang, the risen man, my perfect spotless righteousness. That's how dear John Bunyan got out of darkness when he thought for two years he committed the unforgivable sin. He was getting right with God, being able to hold on to the promises and then the accusations came upon him again. And he was in his garden and he heard a voice, almost audible, thy righteousness is in heaven. He's wondering, am I really right with God? Am I right with God? Your righteousness is in heaven. He said, where's that come from? He went into his house, turned his bow, tried to find where that was written and the nearest he could find was, who of God, Christ of God, is made unto you wisdom, righteousness. He's my righteousness. As another hymn says, now we see in his acceptance but the measure of our own. So dear, so very dear to God, dearer you cannot be, the love wherewith he loves a son, such is his love to you. Christ is your righteousness. Clad in him, you can't be better arrayed. He is counted to you for righteousness. That little bit of tiny confidence in grace is counted to you for a righteousness which you don't otherwise possess. If God says that's true, it's true. And you need to have this message of the gospel applied to you as a believer and so do I. Wonderful verse in Jeremiah 50 verse 20. Jeremiah 50 verse 20. In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found. For I will pardon them whom I reserve. Oh, Joshua needed to hear that. The iniquity of Joshua shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found. So you see this great gospel truth is to be found in the Old as well as in the New Testament. Turn back to Numbers chapter 23 verse 21. Numbers 23, 21. You know, this is the story where Balak has hired the false prophet Balak to curse the people of Israel who were coming into his land. And he took him up to a high vantage point and said, have a good look at them. Now Balak, a great big whopping curse upon them, because they are too big for me. But he found he couldn't curse them, could only bless them. Verse 20 he says, Behold, I have received commandment to bless, and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. Balak. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. He says, I want you here to curse them, not to bless them. He says, I can't help it. This is what God says. But we've had such a story of their behaviour, those Israelites. They provoked him to anger again and again in the wilderness. But that didn't change the grace of God toward them. And when this man wanted to curse them, he had to confess, he hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. And the one who's always telling you what a fainter you are, and how weak, how ineffective, is a liar. It's the devil. The accuser of our brethren. And you've got to welcome into your heart this positive message of grace. What though the accuser roar, of ills that I have done, I know them all, and thousands more. Jehovah findeth none. And you get busy. You move as one who is in that relationship to God. And he says, if you go on like that, walking close to me, I'm going to give you places to walk. Among them that stand by, you're going to have access into the holy of holies. You're going to be my servant. Wasn't that a wonderful message that was given him? In other words, grace wants you to see yourself bigger than you think you are. Back of you there are sources of heaven. So often grace needs to tell us that we are smaller than we think we are. And you're so excellent, you think, and you're no candidate for grace in that case. But there are other times when grace presses it upon you, you're bigger than you think you are. You're joined to Christ, just as the branch is to the vine. I'm joined to Christ. I know he's mine. Oh, you say, apart from him I'm nothing. Yes, I know, that's true, but you're not apart from him. It's very good to tell yourself, apart from him I can do nothing. And you've got evidence of the nothing that comes when you're in any degree apart from him. But listen, in actual fact, you're not apart from him. Just as the branch is to the vine. You are joined to Christ. And you may know he, he is mine. And if you don't know it, the devil does. He doesn't want you to know it. And that's the reason why he pours in his accusation. Dear John Newton, oh, what a man. I know we always think of him only as the author of amazing grace. But there are equally other great hymns. Be thou my shield and hiding place, that sheltered in thy side I may my fierce accuser face and tell him thou hast died. You go up to that pulpit, dear man. You couldn't get so thrashed. And there's old Snooks frowning away, your arch critic. And all the time you're looking at him out of one eye. And all the time you're listening to your sermon through his ears. We've got to get out of this. You've got to know God before me. None can be against me. And my dear friend, fellow minister, if you are in a parish, which seems so hard, preach evangelistically. Preach the lost. Now I know in Baptist churches they're more what we call eclectic, the gathering out of the saved, and very often pretty well on a Sunday morning at least they're all the saved ones there, but not in our state church. I don't care how evangelical it is, there are always some of the nommals going for them. Sweetly. Or let the others criticize you. And I would suggest you do something. Why don't you ask God to give you a soul the first Sunday you get back from here. And go a little further. And Lord, and another one the second. And another one the third. I mean to say, they're delivered into your hands for half an hour. And there's someone innocent of all those people that don't like what you've been doing and criticize you. They're just fumbling their way. They have no assurance and you've preached the word of the grace of the gospel. And you know, you'll find you're building the house of the Lord again. So this was the message that was given to Joshua by Zechariah. But he had another message of great encouragement for Zerubbabel. Go back to Zechariah, one from the end of the Old Testament, chapter four. And the angel that talked with me came again and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and 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 its seven lamps thereof, and seven pipes to the seven lamps which 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. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord? Then the angel answered, Knowest thou not what they be? I said, No, my Lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord. Unto whom? Not to Joshua, unto Zerubbabel. He's in charge of the building side. Who art thou, O great mountain? This is God saying it. He sees it done, if Zerubbabel doesn't. Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof, with shoutings crying, Grace, grace unto it. And all that is going to be done, going back to verse six, not by might, the might of many, the might of an army. That's what it means in the Hebrew. I've got it in my margin. Not by might of many, nor by the power of one superman, but by another way altogether. That mountain that's been in the way, stopping you going forward, is going to be sunk into a plain. Not by might or power. You've been complaining you haven't got any might and power to match their might and power. You don't need any might and power. I'm going to do it in another way altogether, by my spirit. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto thee, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, his hands shall finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you, who hath despised the day of small things. Don't you despise the day of small things? Small things can grow into great things. But it was pretty small, small was happening in Israel. Don't despise it. Who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and she shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. With those seven, they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. There are all sorts of obscurities, as is usual with apocalyptic prophets, you know, ones that have these visions, and speak of the end days. Well, it doesn't matter if you don't understand. The seven eyes, by the way, is the Holy Spirit. The seven eyes are the seven spirits of God. And because it's seven, it's meant to indicate the ubiquitousness of the Holy Spirit's operations, the everywhere-ness. The seven eyes. And they're looking around and they're working on your behalf, Zerubbabel. Now, isn't this great? Yes, they had a mountain in front of them. They came by force and power to stop them. And they said, well, that's it. And you've got a situation like that. There's a mountain in your way, as a Christian, as a Christian worker. And you say, well, we just can't go forward. The time to build the house of the Lord is not yet. We've got to wait for a more propitious time. Well, how long are you going to wait? Thirteen years? They did. And he was told, oh, to encourage his faith and to get him moving. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, not even before the Lord, before Zerubbabel, who had such a mean view of himself, you're going to become a plague. And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof, Grace. Grace into it. Amazing grace. The thing is being done. And it was done not by power or might, but by God's Spirit. You know the story. We thought about it. They gave the right testimony this time. The sinner's testimony. Oh, we're a chastened people. But grace has been shown us, and Cyrus gave that edict. They said, Cyrus gave that edict? We'll search and see. We will. They got what they didn't expect. It was there. And every conceivable help was dispatched to them from Babylon. And these very men had to implement those gracious designs. And sure enough, before Zerubbabel, it became a plague. And the house was built. There's a Methodist hymn, Give Me the Faith. How is it, Wesley? Now, stand up and say it, Wesley. Wesley's an inveterate Methodist. And he knows every one of Charles Wesley's hymns. Recite that little bit for us. No, no, just that first bit. And sink the mountain to a plain. Give me the childlike praying love that seeks to build thy house again. And that in spite of mountains. And I want to say, don't you think this is a prophetic word for you? You know your situation. The other one, I'm going home, in the South World with this. You're going to sink the mountain to a plain. I've been having a mean view of myself. I haven't seen myself as part of Christ, as a branch as a part of the vine, as a limb as a part of the body of which Christ is the head. I've been lying down to it, and being worried by criticism. But I'm going to go on, Lord, with the Gospel. The PCC, they can be nattering away, but I'm counselling a new one who's just been saved in the next door room. Sorry, folks, I... I tell you, what does it matter what they say? The house of the Lord is being built again. And this was the encouragement. This is what we need. And if we have to repent at all, all sorts we have to repent of course, but one thing is to repent of discouragement. Lord, I'm sorry. I've been listening to the devil. I picked up the telephone, and I thought it was you. Talking to me. It wasn't a very cheerful message that came down the line. I've realised it was the devil on the line. You want to know the right number to get through to heaven. You heard the story of George Verwer. He's a great lover of us. He's longing to get and join us. He nearly did on one occasion, then he got caught in another part of the world for a moment. But I heard him give his testimony. When he first began as a very young man, a scripture distribution on the streets. And he was doing it on the streets of Los Angeles, giving out Christian literature. And it was rather a bad district. He got to a very sleazy part of it. And there was advertised in a theatre, dirty old theatre, a strip-tea show. He said, I haven't seen one of them. And you know, he went in, paid his money, and sat down and began to watch. And as he sat there, the Holy Spirit pierced his heart. Oh, he knew he'd gotten away from God. He got out quickly. He wanted to get right with God, didn't know how to fight, what to do. And there he saw a telephone kiosk. He went across. He picked up the receiver. And he made his confession to God. He needed something to make it definite. That's the way he did it. Oh, he didn't spare himself. He confessed to God. And you know, he got through. And he got the right answer. I don't know what the number was. Actually, someone, when I told this story, wrote me a letter and gave me the number. I forget what it was, where he got it from the book, but anyway. But sometimes you pick up the telephone and it's the wrong voice. And you've believed it. And you've wanted to quit. There's ground for returning to the Lord. Back into the sunlight. Back where the blood cleanses. Now, we must quickly draw to a close. So, this passage goes on. Verse 11. Then answered I and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. They are the two anointed ones who empty the oil out of themselves into the bowl and in turn to the lampstand. Now, who were the two anointed ones? Oh, something very important, you see. Angels and archangels. Could it be a prophecy of Jesus? No, it wasn't. The two anointed ones from whom the oil was being poured in God's view were Joshua and Zerubbabel. What a title to be given. The two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth and it's they that are ministering from God the Holy Spirit to the situation. Once again, you're bigger than you think you are and you've got to rise to your stature. And I want to tell you that's the thing that will convict people. Your boldness. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, the authority with which they speak, they were not terrified of the Sanhedrin. They took knowledge of them that they're being with Jesus. You're going to win. You're going to win. You may not be a Christian worker yet. You may be a young Christian that you're witnessing. You're standing for God in that place, in that home. You're going to win. They're more with you than are against you. You're more special to God than you think you are. He called you by more exalted names than you would dare to call yourself. You're one of the anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. I'm not conscious of it but I'm going to try and believe it. You don't have to be very strong in your manner. Just that sweet, confident way in which you speak of Jesus to somebody. To those parents who are unsympathetic. You're not terrified of your adversaries. And this is that which is going to get us on the job again. Of building again the house of the Lord. Both in ourselves and in others. Which we've been in danger of quitting. We've been slowing down. And I believe if you go home from Southwell with this sort of message ringing in your ears go back to it yourself sometime. Soak in it. Claim it for yourself. You're not in dirty rags. You're clad with Christ and His righteousness. You're as right with God by His blood as He is. Yes, there are failures. But so what? If the blood of Christ is sufficient for God it's surely sufficient for you. You don't need to take a stick to yourself. Be honest by all means. But don't stay there. Dare to believe. And go on. And you don't know what beauty will be seen on you by others. You don't know how sinners may even almost well, tremble. We want them to be drawn but they know they can't pay it very fast and lose God's with you. And so I believe the rebuilding of that ruined temple owed more to Haggai and Zechariah the prophet than anything else. And sure enough it came to pass. Not only was the temple rebuilt but in spite of all the opposition of Sanballat the horror knight. A lovely name. Nasty man. Sanballat the horror knight. He was a real horror. In spite of it all the walls were rebuilt and Zion was established again. Amen. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, we want to thank Thee for Thy holy word. It comforts us. It really comforts us. And you said it's meant to. Whatsoever was written aforetime was written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. We want Thee to send us back with hope with a spring in our step. Comforted by all that we've seen of Thy grace for sinners manifested in this and many another portion. And Lord there are some unsafe ones and they need comfort. They are struggling so hard and they can't make it. Dear Holy Spirit point them to the Lamb point them to Jesus and may not one go home without the blessed assurance that Thou art theirs that Jesus is mine. We give Thee thanks in Thy dear name. Amen. Amen.