Speak To It
Notes
Transcript
Speak To It
Speak To It
6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
7 ‘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!” ’ ”
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
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.”
The key verse here is verse 7 - ‘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!” ’
This seems like a strange scripture when you first read it but the power it has in it is amazing.
The phrase ‘shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”, may cause you to wonder what in the world does that mean. So let me first talk a little about grace and lay some foundation.
The Bible mentions Grace over 170 times.
16 of the 21 Epistles of the New Testament open with Grace be unto you, or Grace and Peace unto you.
According to eschatology - the study of end time events - we are currently living in the Age of Grace.
Shout out to Scott for the amazing teaching he has been doing in our Bible Study on Wednesday night on the Book of Revelation.
The catch all definition of Grace is “The Unmerited Favor of God”. God gives us what we don’t deserve, not based upon us but upon His Love for us.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
That is grace. We didn’t deserve it but He gave it to us any way.
The common acronym for Grace is:
G = God’s
R = Riches
A = at
C = Christ’
E = expense
There are 4 major categories of Grace.
1. SAVING GRACE
1. SAVING GRACE
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
This saving grace is amazing for it saved someone like me. Like the song Amazing Grace says - I once was lost but now I’m found; I was blind but now I see. There was nothing that I did to earn it but I got it through my faith.
2. JUSTIFYING GRACE
2. JUSTIFYING GRACE
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Justified is to be declared just as if nothing ever happened. Our slate has been wiped clean. We are forgiven, and can start all over again just like nothing has ever happened.
3. TEACHING GRACE
3. TEACHING GRACE
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
This grace teaches us how we are to live. Sometimes we thing that because we are living under grace that I can do what I want, live any way I want because I am under grace but grace teaches us to live righteously - it is not a live any way you want without consequences escape clause. Pauls says in
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
4. ENABLING GRACE
4. ENABLING GRACE
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
This is grace to overcome and stand having done all. Paul prayed 3 times to have the thorn in his flesh removed but God said, “My Grace is sufficient.” In other words, Paul - what I have given you is grace to be able to stand in spite of what is going on.
It is this Enabling Grace that I want to concentrate on this morning. Enabling grace is when the things which are impossible with men become possible with God.
27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Enabling Grace is the power by which God can work His will in our lives. It is the power that allows ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Without God’s enabling grace, we can do nothing. With His Grace, nothing that is God’s will is impossible for us.
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
In our text - Zerubbabel is looking at a pile of ruins of what had been a beautiful city and the center of worship for his nation. More than a decade earlier 50,000 exiles returned to Jerusalem with permission for the King of Persia to rebuild the altar and the temple. However, only the altar had been rebuilt and work on the temple had stopped. The leader of the Jewish exiles was Zerubbabel and he was now looking at the rubble and the unfinished rebuilding with a growing sense of discouragement. He had a vision but couldn’t see how provision was going to be made.
Like many of us today, when the exiles arrived in Jerusalem they were excited and enthusiastic about what was ahead. God had brought them out of exile back to their home and they felt that they would quickly rebuild the altar and the temple. However, things started to change when there was opposition for outside forces. Not only was there opposition from outside but people within became selfish. They wanted to rebuild their own homes and have their own agendas. They began to put what they wanted in front of the vision at hand. They felt that just because they built the altar that that was good enough and they didn’t want to do what needed to be done. They became busy doing their own thing that they neglected and let lay in ruin the Temple of God. Their desire, enthusiasm, dedication, commitment and love of God began to fade. Because it wasn’t their personal program, because they weren’t the head, or because they felt like I will only do what I want to do and hang everything else they refused to do what needed to be done.
Finally, weariness, fatigue, discouragement, depression, and disappointment set in. The spirit of mediocrity and complacency began to rule. People have come and people have gone and we still seem to be in the same place not making any progress.
The destruction of what once was had to be cleared away before they could begin rebuilding. Even-though they completed one task there was another one that needed to be done. So after twelve years the task was unfinished but the people were finished. They simply did not want to work on this anymore. No matter what (the Pastor) Zerubbabel did, the people refused to go back to work and it appeared to be a hopeless situation.
No doubt Zerubbabel began to question God and say Lord is this what you called me to do. He may have even wanted to throw his hands up and say I quit. It believe he was at the point where he even told his wife, let’s just leave; I don’t feel like doing this anymore.
It was into this place of discouragement and disappointment that God sent a prophet with a message for Zerubbabel and for the people and even for us today.
It is a powerful word for anyone who has ever faced the discouragement, for anyone that has had a vision that has gone unfulfilled. Anyone who heard the promise of God but has not apprehended. It’s the word for the betrayal of someone close to you, the inability to finish a task that seemed so clear in the beginning.
No doubt you could probably write your own list of discouraging, helpless, and hopeless situations that you are currently facing.
But Zechariah has a word from the Lord that is going to change your life.
6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
7 ‘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!” ’ ”
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
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.”
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” This is to Zerubbabel and to you and I.
The situation that you are currently facing is impossible for you to do anything about it. You can’t force it to work out with muscles or threats. In other words there is nothing you or I can do to get something done. Your power, strength, and education they may be good to you, but in this situation they are not going to benefit you at all, but by my spirit says the Lord of host. So when it comes together you can’t take any credit for it, you can’t say see look what I have done. The only way this is going to work out is by my spirit.
The text goes on and it now speaks to the mountain before Zerubbabel and that is the problems that stopped the work on the temple. This is not a physical mountain but a problem or situation that is hindering progress.
Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
Just who do you think you are, O great mountain? You are not going to stop the progress of God’s kingdom any longer. I know the thought I have for him/her thoughts of good and not of evil to bring him to an expected end. It’s time for you to be handled. You are going to be reduced to nothing more than flat ground. You have been a rough place in his life long enough and it’s time for you to be made smooth for him.
“ An he shall bring forth the capstone.
The capstone was the finishing stone of a construction project or a degree program for college students. In construction it was the final stone to go into the wall. It’s the last piece of the puzzle if you will. In other words what he started he is going to finish and you o mountain are not going to stand in his way because I have begun a good work in him and I will perform it through him.
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!
What is this supposed to mean? Is this suggesting that we face our problem and shout “Grace, grace!” at it? This seems a little too simple and rather inappropriate.
Well that’s just the point. In our culturally sophisticated seeker friendly living you best life now, make everybody happy churches we have lost much of our identity and most of our power.
Is this exhortation to shout grace at the problem too simple? Probably for some who do not have ears to hear. To others, however, as the revelation comes they will realize that this one of the most powerful truths we are given. Grace is defined as the “the unlimited and unmerited favor of God.” We can’t buy or earn grace — it is God’s alone to give.
When Zechariah spoke this prophetic word, I believe he was saying:
“This promise, this vision, is going to be brought to completion not through the strong arm of the flesh but by the Spirit of the Lord. You are to turn and face the opposition, this mountain of difficulty that has stopped your forward progress — “the mighty mountain” — and you will watch it turn into flat ground. Be encouraged, because the promise is going to be fully completed. Right now begin to declare that the favor and blessing of God is upon this promise; this was His vision, born of His Spirit. Go ahead and shout to the opposition, to every problem that is in your way. Shout, ‘Grace, grace!’ Go ahead, don’t just mutter it under your breath. Say it — shout it like you mean it!”
For those that think this is nonsense let’s look at the New Testament.
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Then there is this - Let everything be established by 2 or 3 witnesses!
21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
Okay 1 more verse just for confirmation.
23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
This morning I believe that your mountain is going to be turned into a smooth place if you just speak to it and say Grace, grace!
What are you going through this morning? Everyone stand up. I believe that this is going to be a power part of your day.
Begin by doing this. Fill in the blank in this sentence.
Grace, grace ___________ Grace, grace!
Possibly you are going through
Depression - Grace, grace Depression/Anxiety - Grace, grace!
Loneliness - Grace, grace Loneliness Grace, grace!
Employment Issues - Grace, grace Employment - Grace, grace!
Lack/provision - Grace, grace Lack - Grace, grace!
Marital Problems - Grace, grace Marriage - Grace, grace.
Sickness/Health - Grace, grace Sickness - Grace, grace!
What ever the situation is Speak to your mountain and watch it become a plain before you.
Speak To It!