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Don’t Get Me Started

March 30, 2008

Scripture:

“ 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 plain!  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 hands 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.”

Synopsis:

Many times we have heard the old adage, “It’s not how you start but how you finish that counts.” This is often said to comfort those who have made a poor start.  But the truth of the matter is in the Kingdom of God it is important how you start and even more important how you finish.  From God’s perspective, when it comes to building His kingdom, which is our assignment in the earth, no matter how strong the opposition, it is vitally important to finish whatever we start.

Ezra chapters 3 and 4 tells the story of how Zerubbabel and his contemporaries laid the foundation for the temple of God in Jerusalem, but stopped building because they were intimidated and discouraged by the people of the land.  However, a remnant of Jews in Zerubbabel’s day encouraged by the prophetic preaching of Haggai and Zechariah  and the leadership of  Nehemiah,  refuse to quit  and ultimately rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem and prospered.

Today the enemy through the media has launched a campaign of intimidation against the church of God in America design to halt the building of His kingdom.  Many in church leadership are under scrutiny  and heavy attack from outside and within the church.  The result is  that giving in the church has gone down drastically and the building of God’s kingdom has slowed to a crawl and in some cases has come to a complete halt. 

In Luke 14:28, Jesus reveals the law of spiritual construction to his disciples.  According to him, when it comes to building God’s kingdom, you must always first count the cost or risk not having what you need to finish.  He then went on to reveal the law of spiritual confrontation using the analogy of kings going to war, making it clear that confrontation is inevitable and when you get into a spiritual battle you must as one of his disciples be prepared to give the fight all you have or don’t even start. 

In today’s text, the prophet Zechariah declares to Zerubbabel what God says to every believer.  If we are to finish our God-given assignment, it will not be by our own ability or manipulation, but by the grace of God and the guidance and anointing of the Holy Spirit.  That guidance and anointing comes through prophetic preaching.  We as a remnant of  inspired believers must not let the voices of prophetic preachers be silenced.  Instead we must be determined to give and build until the work is finished.  Only then will we prosper.