TOPIC: Christmas; Attributes (of God), Nature (of God), Temple (construction)
TITLE: GREAT THINGS COME IN VERY SMALL PACKAGES - The Great Temple of God Began with a Baby! [Adapted from Chas. Haddon Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening Devotional; November 26, “Evening”]
TEXT: Zechariah 4:10 (8-10) [Companion reading Isaiah 9:6]
CONCISE OUTLINE:
Wasn’t the work begun in you a small thing for God to begin?
For man the issue is significance … so often we only see what is big in our eyes. Why do so many clamor for entertainment and community rather than worship and relationship?
Significance is the answer! Some see Christianity as significant only to the extent it is a means to a temporal and social end; she is, however, significant only as a means to an eternal end.
FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What do we find for ourselves in our verse?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:
Oh Jerusalem, that beautiful city of God, her walls remain in ruin! Rise up, oh rise up, You King of kings and Lord of lords, Oh Glorious Builder, and build Your Bride, a small thing in our sight, but a great thing in Yours ... Oh the rejoicing at Your coming.
Oh sheep of His pasture, see with eyes that see, the day of the small things is not just rebuilding the earthly temple, it is the continued building of God’s heavenly Temple. It was begun by a baby but it was finished by the God-man Jesus Christ. [John 19:30]
TITLE: GREAT THINGS COME IN VERY SMALL PACKAGES - The Great Temple of God Began with a Baby! [Adapted from Chas. Haddon Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening Devotional; November 26, “Evening”]
TEXT: Zechariah 4:10 (8-10) [Companion reading Isaiah 9:6]
“For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and 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.” [KJV]FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What do we find for ourselves in our verse?
"For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumbline in the hand of Zerubbabel – these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth." [NAS]
CONCISE OUTLINE:
I. WE FIND THERE IS COMFORT AND HOPE HERETRUTH/CONTEXT: Small progress marked the beginning of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem by the hand of Zerubbabel; but none should despise it then or now, for God had raised up and will raise up one who will persevere until the headstone is brought forth with shouting. The plumbline was in good hands.
II. WE FIND THERE IS CERTAINTY AND SECURITY HERE
III. WE FIND THERE IS PATIENCE AND PERFECTION HERE
“'For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.'”So different are men and Jehovah: God regards highly the inicio pequeño (Sp. small beginnings) of His work (Ezra 3:12 priests and Levites wept at the start of the new temple; Haggai 2:3, Haggai condemns those who compare the new temple to the old); men impatiently covet the turnkey, and despise the early work. God, it says in the Hebrew, “rejoicingly” regards it, and shall continue to do so to the end.Zechariah 3:9
Wasn’t the work begun in you a small thing for God to begin?
For man the issue is significance … so often we only see what is big in our eyes. Why do so many clamor for entertainment and community rather than worship and relationship?
Significance is the answer! Some see Christianity as significant only to the extent it is a means to a temporal and social end; she is, however, significant only as a means to an eternal end.
FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What do we find for ourselves in our verse?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:
I. WE FIND THERE IS COMFORT AND HOPE US HEREA. Here is every believer’s comfort … rejoice that His work of grace (be it oh so small at first) was begun at all.II. WE FIND THERE IS CERTAINTY AND SECURITY FOR US HERE
B. Isn't the plumbline held by the very best hand? The hand of The Master Builder? Will you not be plumb and square when His is finished with you?
C. One greater than Solomon has taken up the building of His eternal temple, and He shall won't fail nor be discouraged until the last living stone is set in the wall."And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."1 Peter 2:4-5
[CHEOPS] It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still standing today. It has four anchoring cornerstones and a chief cornerstone at its peak.
Is God’s eternal temple not greater than the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Is Christ Himself not the Chief Cornerstone?A. If the plumb were in the hand of any human, we might be justified in fearing for God’s Temple. But the eternal work of the Christ prospers in His hand.III. WE FIND THERE IS PATIENCE AND PERFECTION FOR US HERE"Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The LORD said to me, 'What do you see, Amos?' And I said, 'A plumb line.' Then the Lord said, 'Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.'”B. His work didn't and doesn't proceed irregularly, or without skill. Because the Master's hand wields a divine instrument, an eternal blueprint was laid out, and the work will continue to the end. And, it is a step-by-step, patient effort, for …Amos 7:7-8"We’re His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so we’d walk in them."C. If walls were run up without professional oversight, we might expect them to be out of plumb; but this plumbline was dropped from heaven above, there is no truer plumb than the one in Father’s hand.Ephesians 2:10[FREE HOUSE] Would you like a contractor to tell you he’ll build you a new home free of charge? The only catch is you must live in it for all eternity. Would you trust it or him?D. Jesus oversees the construction of His spiritual temple so that it is built securely, well, and forever! His eyes are on it.A. Man rushes about and seeks profit in all his labors; Jesus is patient and equitable. He will use His plumbline on us; that which is found out of plumb will be torn down, every stone of it.
B. Thus the failure of so many flattering works and the uprooting of so many glamorous enterprises and organizations. Likewise the lives of so many skilled and gifted men and women.
C. It isn’t our job to judge the Lord's church, since Jesus has a steady hand, and a true eye, and can use the plumbline perfectly. Shouldn’t we rejoice to see judgment left to him?
D. The plumbline is in active use in our passage - it was in the builder's hand; a sure indication he intends to push forward to completion.
E. Consider this …"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."Philippians 1:6
APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: Oh Jesus, how blessed we would be if we could just get a vision of You at Your great work each and every Christmas and not get lost in the things of Christmas.
Oh Jerusalem, that beautiful city of God, her walls remain in ruin! Rise up, oh rise up, You King of kings and Lord of lords, Oh Glorious Builder, and build Your Bride, a small thing in our sight, but a great thing in Yours ... Oh the rejoicing at Your coming.
Oh sheep of His pasture, see with eyes that see, the day of the small things is not just rebuilding the earthly temple, it is the continued building of God’s heavenly Temple. It was begun by a baby but it was finished by the God-man Jesus Christ. [John 19:30]
Doesn't it make perfect sense that the God of the heavenly Temple would use a small thing (such as the baby Jesus) to save the world from its sins?
- God is the one who began all creation with a small word, “Let there be!” [one word in Hebrew]
- It is He who made the human race from dust; then began over with eight people
- He who began the languages of the earth with a single tongue
- He who slew Goliath with a single stone
- Who raised Joseph from his prison, David from the sheepfold, Daniel and Jeremiah from their pits
- Who stopped Balaam with a lowly ass
- Who raised up “the greatest born of a woman” as His forerunner
- Who turned the world upside down with fishermen, a tax collector, sinners, and a Sadducee-tentmaker
- Who Himself was first a carpenter
- Who asked us, “Would you be great? Then become least.”
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