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Zechariah chapter number 4 the Bible reads in verse number 1 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 have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his seven lamps thereon 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 that talked with me answered and said unto me knowest thou not what these be and I said no my lord then he answered and spake unto me saying this is the word of the lord unto Zerubbabel saying not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the lord of hosts now the book of Zechariah is a very cryptic book and what I mean by that is that it's very difficult to just look at it at a glance and readily understand it it takes more study it's a little bit more of the strong meat of the word but it's actually not difficult to understand in the New Testament because we have the book of Revelation and the book of Revelation is rightly called Revelation because that's what it is it's a revelation it reveals things that were previously hidden and that's what cryptic means it means something is hidden something is difficult to understand and when we compare the book of Zechariah with Revelation the picture comes clear but if we only had Zechariah by itself it would be very difficult to understand because there's so many things that are just symbolic here for example in this chapter we see Zechariah asking the angel that's showing him these things what they mean and he doesn't really get a clear answer to his question he keeps asking the angel over and over again and he asks them you know okay what's the candlestick what are these two olive trees and the angel says well you don't know what these are and he says no I don't and so you know and he asks again then the answer he gets does not directly answer his question tell him what they are he just says in verse 6 then he answered so this is the answer and spake unto me saying this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts and he starts talking about Zerubbabel but he never really answers them what's the olive tree what are the candlesticks right so then look at verse 11 after he gets this answer about Zerubbabel Zechariah says in 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 you know he asked again because he didn't get an answer that he understood and I answered again and said unto him and look I'm not repeating this he's asking like literally three four times here verse 12 I answered again and said unto me 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 no is 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 which is not a real clear answer is it and that's the end of the chapter okay so you know Zechariah here is perplexed by some of the things that he's been shown he's asking for more detail and he's getting an answer that's relevant to him at that time about Zerubbabel what he needs to know at that time but he doesn't really get a clear picture of the full significance of what's being taught but in the New Testament we have the answer okay now flip over if you would keep your finger in Zechariah chapter four and go to Revelation chapter eleven Revelation chapter number eleven now a major mistake that people make when they're studying Bible prophecy is they'll take books like Zechariah that are cryptic and books like Daniel books like Ezekiel that are sealed books at that time and they'll just interpret them independently of what's taught in the book of Revelation or what's taught in the New Testament and again all kinds of error because the things in the Old Testament are not always clear especially in books like Daniel Ezekiel and Zechariah but if you just compare them to book of Revelation they come clear now look what the Bible says in Revelation chapter eleven verse number one it says and there was given me a reed like unto a rod and the angels stood saying rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein but the court which is without the temple leave out and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months and I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days clothed in sackcloth these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth here is the answer to Zechariah chapter four in Zechariah four the answer was given these are the two anointed ones that stand by the God of the whole earth but he didn't really know what that meant but in the New Testament we have a reference the exact same thing the candlesticks and the two olive trees he says that these two witnesses in the book of Revelation in the end times he says that's what they are and he's referring back to Zechariah four so this is illuminating Zechariah four and helping us to understand what Zechariah four is actually about this is how you interpret the Bible you don't go to a commentary and what man's interpretation man's wisdom is you compare spiritual things with spiritual you compare scripture with scripture you know it reminds me of when people read Ezekiel and they come to Gog and Magog and they preach entire sermons about Gog and Magog without ever turning to Revelation where Gog and Magog are mentioned if you would actually turn to the only New Testament mention of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20 then it would all make sense it would all come clear when you realize that Gog and Magog takes place after the millennium that's the context but they just completely ignore Revelation 20 as if it just doesn't exist and just oh Gog and Magog and they're just study it because it's a lot easier to deceive people using a cryptic scripture than a clear scripture see the Bible is filled with things that are clear and things that are unclear things that are open revealed and exposed other things that are cryptic and hidden away the Bible says that in the epistles of Paul are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable rest or twist as they do also the other scriptures under their own destruction what does the Bible tell us that people will take difficult scriptures and twist them which is why we should always make sure that we base our faith on the clear things in the Bible there are plenty of things in the Bible that are crystal clear that should be the anchor of our soul that should be a starting point it's sort of like when you're doing math and you're doing algebra you start with what you know for sure then you start working on the unknown right you know you solve for X X is the unknown but you start out by simplifying what you do know and say okay we know there's a three here and a five here we know what three means we know what a five is so now let's figure out what X is that these people just want to ignore the three ignore the five and then they're just going to tell you what X means and just use a lot of fancy language and convincing arguments of what X means when in reality all you have to do is just realize hey if X plus three is five then X is all right I was just testing your algebra there but the point is you know you have to start with what you know you start with okay I know this for a fact now let's interpret the thing that's hard not just ignore all the clear scripture and just delve into some difficult passage like Zechariah look if you are going to make Zechariah the mainstay of your interpretation of biblical prophecy and ignore revelation you are foolish you have to use what God has revealed us in the New Testament as the clearest possible starting point revelation revelation then when you go back to the Old Testament to Daniel Ezekiel Zechariah you use revelation to interpret those books not vice versa you don't take the unclear and use it to interpret the clear the clear doesn't need interpret the clear he just tells you what it means revelation he just tells you what things are okay you use it to interpret the unclear which would be the Old Testament books they saw through a glass darkly but we have the whole Bible we have the New Testament so let's not just go back to a time when we didn't have the New Testament and just scratch our heads and try to figure out what the Old Testament means no no the New Testament will tell us what it means so you know any sermon on Ezekiel Daniel or Zechariah should be interpreted through New Testament scripture that explains all that stuff much easier to understand right I mean isn't this a little bit clearer in in Revelation 11 where he just tells you well there's these two guys these two witnesses in the last days and after the temple basically is is given over to the Gentiles and the holy city is given over to the Gentiles and trodden underfoot and he says going to be trodden underfoot for 42 months during that 42 months which is also 1260 days do the math he says that my two witnesses will prophesy during that time they will preach during that time these two guys that are going to preach during that period of three and a half years those are the two candlesticks those are the two olive trees that's what it represents that's what it means now what's the purpose of these guys why are they preaching and teaching for these three and a half years we'll go back if you would to Revelation chapter number one Revelation chapter number one and obviously in order to talk about this subject we have to have a basic understanding of the book of Revelation you know by the time you get to chapter eleven hopefully you know you've read chapters one through ten and so we understand that in the end times there is a period of events that take place before the millennium and this period takes place over the course of seven years okay and this seven year period is divided into two halves because you'll often hear about a period of three and a half years 42 months 1260 days and then you hear about another period of 1290 days and you'll see these two halves that together form seven years okay because 1260 days is not what we would think of as three and a half years but if you take 42 30 day months which is the way the calendar works in the bible that's what it comes out to now again if we use the bible to interpret itself some people will say oh 1260 days that's actually 1260 years it's all symbolic and they'll try to say oh the dome of the rock mosque was built you know and 1260 years later you know whatever but hold on a second if we let the bible interpret itself what is the 1260 days synonymous with 42 months so are we talking about literal days or what because if it meant years it wouldn't be congruous with 42 months and it would not be congruous with three and a half years and in daniel we see three and a half years and we also see this term time times and half a time well time times what's that add up to half a time three and a half so and that's used as three and a half years in the book of daniel and obviously i don't want to go too deep into this because you know we want to talk about zechariah 4 in particular tonight that's the purpose of being here but i'm just trying to give you a basic overview of the end time there's a seven year period okay people will often erroneously refer to the entire seven year period as the tribulation but no place in the bible refers to the entire seven year period as the tribulation because of the fact that the bible says that immediately after the tribulation the sun and moon will be darkened the stars shall not give their light and then the son of man will come in the clouds the trumpet will sound you know the rapture is what we would know that as the first resurrection and here's the thing that takes place at the opening of the sixth seal well here's the thing that's not at the end of the seven years okay that opening of the sixth seal that sun and moon being darkened is actually only shortly after the midpoint of this seven year period known as often daniel's 70th week is how it's often referred to okay it happens shortly after the midpoint so how can you say the whole things the tribulation when something that happens shortly after the midpoint is after the tribulation okay so how this breaks down is basically you have a period of tribulation okay leading up to this event at the exact midpoint known as the abomination of desolation okay then when the abomination of desolation happens then we have great tribulation the bible says so there's tribulation but then when the abomination of desolation takes place we have great tribulation so there's a basically an increase in tribulation it gets more intense okay then we have christ coming in the clouds the bible says that the days of that great tribulation shall be shortened in the sense they'll be cut short by jesus christ intervening comes in the clouds the trumpet sounds we which are alive and remain are caught up together with them in the clouds you know to be with the lord to be with the dead in christ etc okay then after we have been removed then god begins to pour out his wrath upon the earth when does the wrath begin in the book of revelation well at the sixth seal the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand so the wrath doesn't come until after the tribulation so here's what you have tribulation great tribulation the rapture and then you have the wrath of god poured out that's the biblical order of events okay now when do these two witnesses prophesy that's the question right the two olive trees the two candlesticks when do they prophesy we'll look down at your bible there and we'll go back to i'm sorry i had you go to revelation one we'll go back there but in revelation eleven it says in verse number two but the court which is without the temple leave out and measure it not for it is given unto the gentiles and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months and i will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days clothed in sackcloth now if we say the bible here we see that this is in the second half of that week that they're going to prophesy basically jerusalem is trodden underfoot that is at that midpoint known as the abomination of desolation when that takes place so they're gonna start prophesying at that time of the midpoint and they're gonna preach for twelve hundred sixty days they're gonna preach for forty two months that's why when you see them ending their ministry right after they end their ministry it's basically the millennium at that point okay very shortly thereafter and and let's read some more from this chapter just to understand this verse four these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the god of the earth and if any man will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies and if any man will hurt them they must in this manner be killed these have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy and have powerful waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will that's more evidence that these guys are preaching in the second half because in the first half we don't see the earth and the trees being harmed by fire and brimstone we don't see any water turning into blood that's all the second half that's all after the rapture when those particular plagues come into play so these guys these two witnesses whoever they are they're two men they're two preachers prophet means preacher they're preaching the word of god and people don't like them people want them killed they they basically are able to defend themselves using miraculous power where they can breathe fire out of their mouth they basically are going to be able to smite the earth with all plagues they can cause it to rain not rain turn water into blood all these different plagues that they're going to be able to smite the earth with it says in verse seven and when they shall have finished their testimony the beast referring to the antichrist the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called sodom and egypt where also our lord was crucified now let me ask you this what city is the place where our lord was crucified jerusalem so he's saying spiritually it's called sodom and egypt so it's a spiritually wicked city where our lord was crucified that's the city of jerusalem you say well i thought jerusalem was a holy city well the new jerusalem is the holy city but the current jerusalem is corrupt it's been defiled so the bible teaches here that they will be killed and their dead bodies will lay in the streets of jerusalem it says in verse nine and they of the people and kindreds and tongues of nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves now what's interesting about this is that it's being written before modern technology i mean this is back when if you wanted to tell someone about something you had to send it with a guy with a letter on horseback to get i mean the post back then would basically be a horse taking a message you couldn't just pick up a phone so isn't it interesting that the bible is predicting two thousand years ago that when these guys are laying in a very physical location they're laying in jerusalem that everybody in the world is going to see their dead bodies for three days and a half isn't that interesting how how could that have happened in in john's day oh i'm preterist this all already happened what how could this have happened back then because how could people all over the world all the nations all the tongues how could they all see their dead bodies laying there without modern technology it wouldn't be possible would it no but today it is possible isn't it and every single year more and more countries and more and more locations within that country are getting hooked up to what the internet broadband internet we used to say hey tv but now it's beyond tv now it's the internet right so basically you could easily see how all the nations and tongues and peoples and kindreds would be able to watch this on tv or watch this on the internet and see their dead bodies laying in the streets of jerusalem for three days and a half and it says in verse 10 and it says they shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves they're so glad that these guys are dead they don't want to put them in a grave because that you know that then the party's over we want to see them lay in their dead for three days now in order to understand that you have to understand during this time there's going to be all kind of cataclysmic things happening on the earth all kinds of plagues that god is smiting the earth with all the different trumpet and vile judgments okay and remember these guys have the power to smite the earth with plagues so everything is blamed on these two guys does that make sense you know they're being seen as the enemy here that's causing a lot of this it says they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them verse 10 and make merry and shall send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth so it's great cause of celebration and rejoicing when these guys are killed and after three days and a half the spirit of life from god entered into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them come up hither and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them in the same hour was there a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the god of heaven the second woe is past and behold the third woe cometh quickly so this shows we're very deep into god pouring out his wrath we're already to the third woe and then verse 15 the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become meaning right now it just happened the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ and he shall reign forever and ever so that's the beginning of the millennial reign of christ the beast is no longer having a kingdom you know now the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ so anyway i don't have time to go through and teach the whole book of revelation but just revelation chapter 11 here as we study this chapter we see that when these men are killed and then they are resurrected three and a half days later and they ascend up to heaven in a cloud people are shocked and horrified by that because they were glad that these guys had finally died now what is the purpose of these guys being on this earth people will you know read the book of revelation and wonder you know what what's the point of the two witnesses prophesying for a thousand two hundred three score days well i think part of the key is to understand zechariah chapter four right because that's where these guys are first introduced unto us now it says in verse four these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the god of the earth now what is the purpose of a candlestick the purpose of a candlestick is to be a light okay and often those who preach the gospel are referred to as a candlestick now go to revelation chapter one where i had you turn earlier revelation chapter one says this and again we're using scripture to define scripture here the mystery verse 20 of chapter one the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches now were there only seven churches in the world at this time no but this book is being specifically written to seven churches in a certain area that are all in what would be modern day turkey but back then it was called asia asia my minor sometimes people refer to it as so the seven candlesticks are the seven churches why because the church is meant to be a light unto the world it's meant to be the institution that god uses to evangelize what is god's tool even in 2015 to get the gospel out to the world to get the gospel out to phoenix to get the gospel out to arizona it's the local church we are that pillar and ground of the truth we are that candlestick to shine the light of the glorious gospel of christ he said if our gospel be hid it's hid to them that are lost lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine under them he said no man light at the candlestick and put it under a bushel says he puts it he lights a candle he puts it on a candlestick and it gives light unto all that are in the house let your light therefore so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father with seven just like the song you sing as a kid this little light of mine i'm gonna let it shine this little light of mine i'm gonna let it shine let it shine let it shine let it shine don't let satan it out i'm gonna let it shine everybody say no i'm just kidding don't let satan it out i'm gonna let you know you don't want that light of the gospel to go out you don't want it under a bushel hide it under a bushel no i'm gonna let it shine hide it under a bushel no i'm gonna let it shine who sang that when you were a kid yeah a lot of people so the point is that throughout scripture the candlestick is that which preaches the word of god which shines the light of the glorious gospel now think about it today what is that light well when jesus was on this earth you know what he said he said as long as i am in the world i am the light of the world but then you know what he says unto us as believers ye are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid neither do men light a candle put it under a bushel so jesus when he was on this earth he was the light of the world he was preaching the word of god he's left us behind to be the light of the world until he returns right well think about this though there's gonna be a time after which we're gone where basically we meet him in the clouds and we are removed from this earth and taken to heaven at that point who's gonna be the light of the world at that point who's gonna be that candlestick who's gonna shine the light of the gospel well there are two different groups that would shine the light of the gospel during that time first of all there's gonna be the two witnesses and then secondly there's going to be the 144,000 ok now when do these different groups start their ministry well the two witnesses begin their ministry at the midpoint of the seven years ok and then the 144,000 start their ministry a few months later because they start their ministry after the resurrection takes place the first resurrection takes place also the rapture and then that's when the 144,000 begin their ministry because they are resurrected from the dead because they're of the 12 tribes of Israel which the 12 tribes of Israel no longer exist you know there are no members of the tribe of Reuben today there's no such thing as a Reubenite or a Gadite or an Isaacite or a Zebulunite you know all we have today are just Polish people who say we're Jews you know now I'm sure that they're all part Jewish you know a lot of white person mixed in with them you know but anyway you know they're all part Jewish just like all of us are part Jewish because thousands of years later we've all been mingled as our documentary film Marching to Zion proved with both math and science that we all are part Jewish in that sense but even those of Judah which are called the Jews of Judah are predominantly of the three tribes Judah Benjamin and Levi because the northern kingdom was predominantly made up of the other 10 tribes okay there's actually 13 because of the fact that there's Manasseh and Ephraim so the bottom you know that the two half tribes so the bottom line is that while we're gone God does not leave the earth with no witness with no chance to hear the gospel with no word of God being preached there are multiple calls to repentance throughout the time when God's pouring out his wrath if you study Revelation so there are going to be two different groups doing the preaching there's going to be these two men the two witnesses okay and then there are going to be the 144,000 now who are the two witnesses some people will say it's Moses and Elijah other people will say it is Enoch and Elijah because they never died and everybody has to die well not everybody has to die because we should not all sleep but we shall all be changed so many of us will be alive and remain under the coming of the Lord and we will not sleep but we shall be changed so basically we have the 144,000 and these two witnesses the two witnesses the identity is unknown these could be two guys that are just two guys that are living in the end times that God anoints and equips to do this job they don't necessarily have to be someone coming back from the dead okay now they could very well be Moses and Elijah now I think that the Enoch and Elijah theory has zero basis in scripture because the well Enoch never died thing falls apart real fast because everybody who's raptured doesn't die either and that you know it's irrelevant the reason why the Moses and Elijah theory holds up is because of the fact that some of the some of the miracles that they do are similar to miracles that Elijah and Moses did where you know that it rained not in the days of their prophecy that's something that Elijah did Elijah also caused it not to rain for three years and six months how long are these guys prophesying for three years six months but you say well it could be symbolic yeah you're right it could be symbolic the reason that I think that the Moses and Elijah theory is a pretty good theory is that in Matthew 17 when they're taken up into the mount of Transfiguration and they see a vision of Christ coming in his glory he's accompanied by Moses and Elijah so when you look at that you know what do they have to do with the second coming of Christ what do they have to do with the end times you know this could be their role okay but it's also possible that it's not Moses and Elijah so it's one or the other now I think the reason for having these two different groups 144,000 and the two witnesses is that I believe that the two witnesses are gonna have a very public ministry because everybody knows who they are everybody's rejoicing when they're dead everybody's watching it on TV and watching it on the internet these guys are a very public figure everybody's gonna hear their preaching throughout the world everybody's gonna hate these guys whereas I think the 144,000 are gonna be scattered throughout the earth to basically preach unto all the towns and villages as Jesus sent his 12 disciples throughout Israel which is a small place the world's a big place and there are a lot of people living in the world right now you know about 8 billion so it would make more sense to send 144,000 if you're gonna send them to all the towns and villages and basically preach the word of God on a more localized basis because obviously if there are 144,000 of them they're obviously gonna be spread out throughout the world okay so I believe that that's the reason for having these two different you know one of them is the more public internet version TV version you know and then the other with the celebrity two guys and then the other one are 144,000 that are like the boots on the ground that are actually going and knocking every door you know that are going to every town every village and preaching to maybe people who don't necessarily have the internet access or the TV access and you know what that's why we need to be the boots on the ground knocking doors because guess what everybody's not on the internet well if they want to see if they can watch on the internet no no we got to bring it to them right gonna bring it to their door because a lot of people aren't jacked into any of that but everybody lives somewhere everybody's on a street somewhere so we can find them and give them the gospel so what does this represent let's go back to Zechariah chapter 4 now with that in mind and if some of what I said it kind of went over your head and you're saying you know I don't know what you're talking about Pastor Anderson you know maybe you might just be newer to Bible prophecy newer to the book of Revelation and you know we have DVDs back there that are free you could grab after the Tribulation you could grab the Revelation series and get caught up on this you can you know read the Bible read Revelation read Matthew 24 read Mark 13 Luke 21 a lot of scripture that could teach you this but Revelation is always the key book that we should always focus on so in Zechariah chapter 4 and I'm preaching to you as if you understand this thing because I think the vast majority of our church understands Bible prophecy pretty well and those who don't just well try to get everything you can out of the sermon but Zechariah chapter 4 hey you came to a Zechariah Bible study all right you got to expect it to be a little bit more on the advanced level but when we're in the book of Zechariah chapter 4 what's the answer that he gets now it's not the answer he wanted was it hey what are the olive tree he gets an answer that he didn't want so then he asks two more times right but let's see if we can understand the answer now that we know what Revelation teaches because I don't think that this answer is just random out of nowhere it says in verse six then he answered and spake unto me saying so it is an answer to the question okay what was the question the question was what are these two olive trees what are these candlesticks okay well what's the answer verse six then he answered and spake unto me saying this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts so let's just stop and look at the first part of the answer here not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts now in the Bible what is something that often represents the Holy Spirit go to first Samuel 16 keep your finger here and go over to first Samuel 16 first Samuel 16 and we're going to turn to the story about David being anointed king of Israel previously Saul had been the king of Israel and previously Saul had been anointed now when Saul was anointed king of Israel the spirit of the Lord came upon him okay now look at first Samuel 16 verse 13 then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward so Samuel rose up and went to Ramah but the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him so what do we see here the spirit of the Lord coming upon someone when they're anointed with oil look down at Zechariah chapter 4 where we are verse number 14 when he finally gets somewhat of an answer then said he these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth so these two olive trees the two candlesticks are the anointed ones standing before the God of the earth what does it mean to be anointed well anointed it's sort of like our word ointment right anointment is when you apply ointment okay but it's also when you apply oil they're anointed with the anointing oil what kind of oil do they use for anointing in the Bible olive oil okay so it's not canola all right they use olive oil so here's the thing wouldn't it make sense that two olive trees would represent the anointed ones why because they contain oil and wouldn't it make sense that two candlesticks which are basically fueled by oil would represent the same thing see the oil the Bible said was flowing through pipes into the candlestick that's what fueled the candlestick was oil coming through pipes what does that oil represent well what did the oil represent when David was anointed it represented the Holy Spirit it said when he was anointed the Spirit of the Lord came upon him the Bible says of Jesus but under the Sun he said thy throne O God is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom thou has loved righteousness and hated iniquity therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows see Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows meaning that he had the power of the Holy Spirit upon him more than anyone else why because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit above your fellows love righteousness hates in hate iniquity the Bible talks about in John chapter three how the father did not give the Spirit by measure unto Jesus it was not given unto him by measure it was poured out upon him without measure basically he was filled with the Holy Spirit to the maximum beyond the mag just infinity because Jesus perfect so he was fully Spirit filled all the time above anyone else because he was one who loved righteousness and hated iniquity now what is loving righteousness and hating iniquity have to do with the power of the Holy Spirit or the fullness of the Holy Spirit well what happened when Saul was in sin the Spirit of the Lord departed from him what happened when David committed sin with Bathsheba the Spirit of the Lord was not taken from him because of the fact that he prayed to God confessed his sin and he says unto him created me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me cast me not away from thy presence O Lord and take not thy Holy Spirit from me restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit what's he saying don't take the Holy Spirit from me now we of course at this point have to understand the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament in the Old Testament they were not indwelled by the Holy Spirit as believers that was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified John chapter 7 so in the Old Testament they didn't have an indwelling of the Holy Spirit that's permanent to the believer but the Spirit of the Lord would come upon them temporarily the power of the Holy Spirit now in the New Testament we have the same thing Spirit of the Lord comes upon us in the New Testament we're filled with the Holy Spirit in the New Testament he said in Ephesians 5 be not drunk with wine we're in his excess but be filled with the Spirit now if you were automatically filled with the Spirit he wouldn't have to command you be filled be filled with the Spirit don't be drunk because being drunk is like the opposite of being filled with the Spirit totally in the flesh be filled with the Spirit speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs that's another great way to be filled with the Spirit singing the hymns throughout the week not just on Sunday singing the hymns making melody in your heart to the Lord good way to be filled with the Spirit be filled with the Word of God you'll be filled with the Word with the Spirit according to Colossians 3 16 in comparison with Ephesians 5 18 also hate sin love righteousness you know these are all things that have to do with your level of fullness of the Spirit and whether the Spirit is going to rest upon you in mighty power Paul talked about the power of Christ resting upon him this is something that is not part of every believer's life and even if you are filled with the Spirit today you might not be filled with the Spirit tomorrow this is temporary now you're always going to be indwelled by the Spirit if you're saved in the New Testament because if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he's none of his Christ is in you he said unto the church at Corinth he said Christ is in you except you be reprobates unless you're just pretending to be saved and you're these wolves and sheep's clothing that have crept in these reprobate types so what does it represent the Holy Spirit so so the church that's going to be a light unto the world needs to be a spirit filled church because as soon as that fuel stops flowing in the candle goes out this is not a wax candle this is oil give me all you know while we're singing Sunday school songs tonight give me oil in my lamp keep me burning burning burning give me oil in my lamp I pray right these songs are based on the Bible and what is being taught here we want to have oil in our lamp we want to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit want to have the Spirit of Lord upon us as a church or our lights not going to shine see the spirit filled church is a soul winning church because the oil is flowing through the pipes and the light is burning bright when people are not filled with the Spirit when it's a really sinful church a church that does not sing Psalms hymns and spiritual songs you know the light's going to burn out they're not going to be a light unto the world okay the two witnesses in Revelation what are they doing they're being a light to the world they're preaching the gospel the two olive trees the two candlesticks that stand before the God of the earth what do we do as a church the same thing we're preaching they were hated of the world we're going to be hated of the world Jesus said marvel not my brethren if the world hate you if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you so the Holy Spirit is what is represented so look at Zechariah chapter 4 so what are these olive trees what are these candlesticks what's the answer verse 6 then he answered and spake unto me saying this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying not by might nor by power it's not by our human strength but he says but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts so this vision of the candles and the olive trees was a vision for Zerubbabel to let him know that he needs the power of the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish the task in order to build the house of God in order to see the temple built in order to lead God's people he needed the fullness of the Holy Spirit he's not going to do it by his might or his power it's going to be by God's spirit so the immediate application the actual literal context of what's being taught in Zechariah 4 for the people of that generation because remember according to Ezra Zechariah and Haggai's preaching was to strengthen the people at that time who were building the temple and it was to encourage Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor of the people the ruler of the people and the immediate application was that these two guys Zerubbabel and Joshua the son of Jadzidek needed to rely on the spirit of God to accomplish the task and not try to do it in the flesh that was the immediate teaching for them of that generation but then there's also a further spiritual application isn't there about the two witnesses during what time during the end times right during the events of the book of Revelation that's a further out see when you study Old Testament scripture you have to realize these are real guys Zechariah was a real guy who's preaching to people at that time and he's preaching things that are relevant to them at that time but then there's also a further out prophetic significance so at that time hey it's Zerubbabel it's Joshua the son of Jadzidek they need to be filled with the spirit but then further out it's the two witnesses in Revelation and we're in between right so what's our application well we're a candlestick ourselves so this applies to us so it applied to Zerubbabel it's going to apply the two witnesses but applies to us right now if we are going to see Faithful Word Baptist Church grow if we're going to see God's house established which is not a physical building like it was in in Zerubbabel's day but it's a congregation if we're going to see that congregation grow if we're going to let our light shine it's not going to be by might or by power it's going to be by God's spirit that's why the Apostle Paul said in context of preaching about the gospel he said we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us see Jesus said without me you can do nothing we cannot rely on our own abilities our own talents our own wisdom no we have to rely on the spirit of God Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it we can't just say well we're going to build this church using man's wisdom man's methods we've got a tried and true business model passed down to us by Rick or Bill Hybels and Rick Warren and the purpose driven church and all this stuff no we need to rely on God to do it you say what's the difference well when you rely on God you just preach the whole Bible because that's what he told you to do when you do man's wisdom you say well certain things you don't preach because you'll offend people when you're relying on God you're going to say you know what we need to be filled with the spirit so we better sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs because we need to be a spirit filled church that we might have the fuel of the oil of gladness to make us burn brighter but then when you take the world's view you'll say well let's bring in worldly music and because that's what people want to hear and there are churches that bring in all kinds of worldly music you know the church that I preached against many years ago because one of my relatives visited a church called New Spring in Anderson South Carolina or somewhere thereabouts and they went to this church and they walked in and the first song well first the service started with the worship leader playing guitar hero the video game on giant screens so the church watches while he plays guitar hero on giant screens then they break into their first congregational song Bon Jovi living on a prayer you know and then you know at the end of that you know the Perry Noble the pastor he comes out he's like hey wasn't that awesome you know bring back the 80s yeah you know and I mean what's the goal there oh we're going to reach more people that way right we're going to reach people because we're going to reach that generation that loved the 80s see if you go to stores have you ever noticed how they play music from the 80s but now they're starting to play music from the 90s why because they're trying to reach that certain demographic all the time the demographic that's in their 30s and 40s because that's kind of the demographic who is going to spend the money that they want them to spend so they kind of keep moving the music they don't play the music that just came out yesterday because that's what the teenagers are into and the teenagers don't have any money right it's mom and dad that have the money so that's why you walk into the store and you're like whoa I know all these songs I haven't listened to you know the radio in years but I know all these songs why because they're playing the stuff from your generation because the way our brains work after we turn 30 years old this is scientifically proven once you turn 30 years old you can't accept any new forms of music anymore you don't yeah exactly you're well on the other side of that boundary so you know that's true you can't you know there's something where if you get to age 30 without ever indulging in a particular type of music you'll never be into that music now if you grow up and you're introduced to all types of music then yeah when you at past 30 you'll be open to a lot of music because you've always been into a lot of music but I mean if you just let's say you never listen to jazz any type of jazz whatsoever and you know I don't know about you I've never been into any kind of jazz my whole life you know growing up I mean you know I watched the Benny Goodman story that was about as close as I got but I never grew up you know listening to any type of jazz and you know I'm 34 years old you know so that music will perplex me all until I go to the grave I won't understand like why do people listen to this music I just I don't get it you know now I can understand other types of music because it was stuff that I listened to as a teenager or whatever so you kind of understand you know where that 80s music is coming from but jazz not so much you know I you know it's just a door closes in your mind so basically that's why there's it's got to be age specific and even even these guys who are kind of like midlife crisis guys where they're like 50 60 but trying to pretend to be a teenager you know when nobody's around though they revert to the classic rock you know they revert to the whatever see what I'm saying why because it's what they grew up with so when you go to the stores that's they play well look you go to these churches now they're hitting you with the 80s and 90s music because they write in a book a marketing book that's the same reason why Walmart is playing that is the same reason why they're playing it well this isn't Walmart Baptist this is not Kmart Baptist Church where we're gonna play your 80s music and your 90s music because that's what we're gonna psychologically use to get you to like us but that's what these people are doing they're using worldly carnal marketing methods they're not relying on they're not asking themselves is singing Bon Jovi gonna fill us with the spirit that's not the question it is singing Bon Jovi gonna bring people and money into this place because it's a business model that they're following everybody understand so we need to realize that it's the power of the Holy Spirit that does anything and our personalized we need to hate iniquity we need to love righteousness because we need the power of the spirit and you know if you want to go out and be an effective soul winner be filled with the spirit you can't be carnal and worldly and sinful and expect to be greatly used by God as a soul winner or preacher and you know we all need to keep this in mind all the time that we need the power of the Holy Spirit that means we need to get up every day and read our Bibles and pray and quote scripture and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs otherwise what it's not gonna get done because it's not by might oh he's such a mighty preacher mighty soul winner yeah but it's not by might it's not my power it's by God's spirit saith the Lord that's the lesson of Zechariah 4 for today that's the relevance to today yeah there's a Bible prophecy application but how about right now this is what we need see the Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine right but it's also profitable for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness see this will instruct us how to live a righteous life this will correct us when we're wrong this will rebuke the sin in our life when we understand this this doctrine not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts verse 7 who art thou oh great mountain before the rubable thou shalt become a plane and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings crying grace grace unto it now let me ask you this was a mountain literally leveled in the days of the rubable is there any record of that in scripture where is the rubable literally just leveled a mountain just flattened a mountain that happened literally no this is a spiritual application this is figuratively speaking that the mountain would be labeled now of course in Isaiah chapter 40 in the great prophecy of John the Baptist you don't have to turn there but in that scripture that talks about the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare you the way of the Lord make his path straight and we all know that scripture prepare you the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God but if you keep reading the next verse says every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain now spiritually that happened when Jesus came the rough places were made plain how about rough scriptures in Zechariah 4 made plain made understandable maybe you know the rough places were made plain every mountain and hill was made low I mean Jesus crushed the spiritual leaders of his day that were exalting themselves he brought them down a notch he exalted the poor and the needy and the meek of the earth with salvation so spiritually speaking Jesus did that when he came to this earth spiritually speaking Zerubbabel did that back in his day in Ezra right but you know what's amazing is that when Jesus Christ returns a second time he will literally do that because the Bible actually talks about a great earthquake right go to Revelation and we'll see this in a couple places real quickly in Revelation chapter number 6 we see a great earthquake when the sun and moon are darkened the Bible says in verse 12 I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal and though there was a great earthquake and the sun became black a sack while the pharaoh and the moon became his blood but jump down if you would to verse 14 it says and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together watch this and every mountain and every mountain and island were moved out of their places that's pretty amazing is that's an earthquake every mountain and island are moved out of their places now if you would also look at Revelation chapter 11 I'm sorry Revelation 16 Revelation 16 the Bible says in Revelation 16 also it says in verse number 18 there were voices and thunders and lightnings and there was a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth so mighty an earthquake and so great this is later this is this is not the same event as Revelation 6 but this is later the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell and great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath watch verse 20 and every island fled away and the mountains were not found what does it mean that the mountains are not found so every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill made low spiritually but one day even physically these things will these cataclysms will happen upon the earth that's what is predicted so in Zechariah chapter 4 just to quickly finish up because we're just about out of time but the Bible says in verse 7 who art thou great mountain before is the rubable thou shall become a plain that's the literal interpretation of then and there but it's also a prophetic interpretation of Jesus in his first and second coming and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings crying grace grace unto what's the headstone the cornerstone Jesus the head of the head of the corner and salvation which is by what grace so that's right there moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house his hands shall also finish it that's the literal physical temple that they were building at that time and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you what's he saying well look I'm preaching right now I'm saying that Zerubbabel will finish the house it's not going to be this project that goes on forever or he's not going to make it he's going to die he's going to fail no he started it he'll finish it and he's saying that's when you'll know that the Lord has sent me what's he saying if that doesn't happen then God didn't send me if Zerubbabel doesn't finish it then I'm not even a real prophet of God he's saying that's the confidence he has that what he's saying is truly going to come to pass 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 we already talked about that last week let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father thank you so much Lord for the for your word that you've given us thank you for these scriptures Lord and Zechariah that on the surface man they're tough when you look at Zechariah one two three and four but Lord as we compare them to Revelation they get so simple they get so easy to understand it and and you know wisdom is easy to him that understandeth and so Lord thank you for church where we can where we can study your word and make sense of it just by comparing scripture with scripture just by comparing spiritual things with spiritual help us to apply it to our lives not to just have a theoretical knowledge where we can you know describe the events of the tribulation and rapture and and all the events of the end times but Lord help us to apply this to our lives every day and say to ourselves every day not by might nor by power but by my spirit sayeth the Lord help that to be a motto in our lives and in Jesus name we pray amen