Not By Might

NOT BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER

BUT BY MY SPIRIT

And the angel who talked with me came again, and
waked me, like a man that is wakened out of his
sleep. And he said to me, "What do you see?" I
said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold,
with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on
it, with seven lips on each of the lamps which are
on the top of it. And there are two olive trees
by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other
on its left." And I said to the angel who talked
with me, "What are these, my lord?" Then the angel
who talked with me answered me, "Do you not know
what these are?" I said, "No, my lord." Then he
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. What are you,
0 great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall be-
come a plain; and he shall bring forward the top
stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!"' More
over, the word of the Lord came to me saying,
"The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this house; his hands shall also complete it.
Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent
me to you. For whoever has despised the day of
small things shall rejoice, and shall see the
plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.

Zechariah 4:1-10a

A ragtag remnant of people had returned from seventy years
of captivity in Babylon. The beautiful city of Jerusalem
was weed covered, rocky ruins. The temple was a pile of
aging rubble.

The people were discouraged; and Zerubbabel, who would be
king if the Persians had allowed them to have a king, was
terribly discouraged. Along comes the prophet Zechariah
who says,

"You have now come to the place where God can do
something with you. You are now low enough that

you will have to rely on God because you can
see that you have no strength of your own."

Then he 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."

...."Not by human might, not by human power,

but by my Spirit," says the Lord of hosts.

Somehow this word from Zechariah set fire to their hearts.
The Spirit of God inspired Zerubbabel and moved the
people. Soon the temple was rebuilt and the city was
revived. And how was it done? "Not by human might.

Not by human power,
but by my Spirit," says the Lord of hosts.

Centuries later, along came Jesus, who turned this

vision into reality. He was the fulfillment, the true
lampstand with the two olive trees, (the law and the
prophets) feeding it with the oil of the Spirit. He
did nothing from his own strength ... spoke not one word
out of his own mind. Everything he said,

everything he did came from

the Spirit of his Father.

The Spirit came to Jesus at his baptism, drove him into

the wilderness to be tempted, led him forth into Israel

to preach and heal, guided him to the cross, raised him

from the dead.

"I do nothing out of myself. The Father who
dwells in me, he does the work."

Now the purpose of Jesus' coming,

dying on the cross,
rising from the grave,

was to make it possible for us to be filled,

led,

empowered by the Spirit of the living God, just as he was.

"John indeed baptized with water, but you
shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit."

But to receive the Spirit and to live by the power of
the Spirit of God, we have to come to the place where

we are willing to draw our life from nothing else but the
Spirit of God.

"Not by human might, not by human power, but by
my Spirit," says the Lord of hosts.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were
all together in one place. And suddenly a
sound came from heaven like the rush of a
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting. And there appeared to them
tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on
each one of them. And they were all filled

with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:1-4

The Holy Spirit fell upon those first believers when they
arrived at the place where they despaired of their own might,
their own power, and trusted the promise of Jesus that the Holy

Spirit would be their everything.

And he said to them, "Which of you who has a
friend will go to him at midnight and say to
him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a
friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and
I have nothing to set before him';.....

Luke 11:5-6

...."I have nothing to set before him. No might,
      no power,
      no ingenuity,
      no money...

I'm empty."

...and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me;

the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed;

I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though
he will not get up and give him anything be cause he is his

friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give

him whatever he needs. And I tell you, Ask, and it will be

given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be

opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he

who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will
instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for

an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are

evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will the heavenly Father give the

Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:7-13

People never really ask for the Holy Spirit,
never really seek,

never really pound on the door, as long as they
think they can take care of the situation out of their
own resources. As long as we have three Ritz crackers
and some peanut butter, we won't ask for bread. That's
been our problem, and the problem of the North American
Evangelical Church, including the charismatic movement.

"I can take care of things. I am rich. I have prospered.

I have need of nothing."

So even while we sing songs about the Holy Spirit...some
times even while we prophesy and speak in tongues we're
busy drawing from our own strength,

our own resources,
our own might,

our own power. And God says to us,

"Not by your might. Nor by your power, but by my Spirit."

Sooner or later, in his mercy God opens our eyes to our true
condition. He lets us run with

- our own might,
- our own power,
- our own ingenuity,

- our own wealth. Then in mercy he asks us,

"What have you accomplished? How many souls
have you set on fire? How many prisoners have

you set free? How many eyes have you opened?

You can't bear heavenly fruit on an earthly tree. You can't

create heavenly life with fleshly breath ..... Not by your

might, nor by your power... but by my Spirit."

But when we come to the Father the way our Lord teaches us
to come to him ... destitute ... in utter need...

"Our might is empty Lard God.
Our power is useless, 0 God!"

...when we turn away from all our fleshly props and
crutches and cry out to God for the one gift we so desperately

need,

"0 God, a friend of mine has come on a journey

and I have nothing to set before him ... We're

swamped with needs we can't handle! Give us

your Spirit!"

... then we have a Pentecost .... then the Spirit comes.

The word of the Lord to us is one of awesome encouragement:

"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you. And you shall be my

witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria and to the end of the earth."

In other words, there is an outpouring of God's Spirit
waiting to visit us which will make us effective as Jesus'
witnesses as we have never been. And by this outpouring
of God's Spirit we, like Zerubbabel, will build the temple
of God and restore Zion.

The Pentecost we need, the outpouring of God's Spirit we
long for is closer than our breath. It can begin anytime.
It will begin when we confess to God,

to ourselves,

to each other, that our

cupboards are bare.

"A friend of mine has arrived on a journey and
I have nothing to set before him.

I do not have the might.
I do not have the power.
I do not have the answers.
I do not have the strength.

I need your Spirit ... all of your Spirit...
and only your Spirit!"

When that is the clear, consistent prayer of our hearts,
the Holy Spirit of God will make himself known to us

as he made himself known to Peter,

to Mary Magdalene,
to all the witnesses of the resurrection.

The Holy Spirit will make himself known to us in three ways:

1. He will open our eyes to see Jesus more
clearly than we have ever seen Jesus.

2. He will loose our tongues to proclaim Jesus
as we have never been able to proclaim him.

3. He will direct our feet out of our own ways
into the ways of Jesus ... so that when the
world looks at us it will see our Master.

l. The Holy Spirit will open our eyes to see Jesus.

How does anyone see Jesus?

"Not by your might. Nor by your power,

but by my Spirit," says the Lord of hosts.

"He will glorify me, for he will take what is
mine and show it to you."

- By the Spirit of God, we read scriptures ... Old
Testament and New ... and we see Jesus.

- By the Spirit of God, we go into our room and

shut the door and pray ... and we see Jesus.

- By the Spirit of God, we gather in the assembly,
call on his name ... and we see Jesus.

- By the Spirit of God, we eat the bread and

drink the wine ... and we see Jesus.

2. The Holy Spirit will loose our tongues to proclaim Jesus.

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses."

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
spoke in other languages as the Spirit gave them
utterance.

And what did these bystanders from all over the world hear?
These Parthians and Medes and Elamites? They heard in
their own languages the mighty works of God performed by
Jesus. They heard about Jesus ... they were called to repentance

before the cross of Jesus. They came and were baptized in the

name of Jesus.

Nobody can talk about Jesus to this world and be believed
unless that person is under the authority of the Holy
Spirit. But now, under the Spirit, our barren, burned
out tongues come to life and as they proclaim Jesus to
the world, hearts are ignited,

souls are set on fire,

people come to repentance and faith in him.

3. The Holy Spirit will direct our feet out of our own

ways into the way of Jesus, so that when the world

looks at us it will see our Master.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a
hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and
put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it
gives light to all in the house. Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good
works and give glory to your Father who is in

heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

.....power to walk in his way,
power to walk in love,
power to walk in purity,

power to walk in truth .... power to walk in the way
of Jesus.

It will show up in the way we deal with the people we live
with ... the way we handle money ... the way we speak ... the
way we conduct ourselves in the neighborhood … on the job…

as we travel.

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for

his name's sake ... he leadeth me in the paths of

righteousness for his name's sake...."

And the angel who talked with me came again, and
waked me, like a man that is wakened out of his
sleep. And he said to me, "What do you see?"

I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of
gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven
lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps
which are on top of it. And there are two olive
trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the
other on its left." And I said to the angel who
talked with me, "What are these, my Lord?" Then
the angel who talked with me answered me, "Do you
not know what these are?" I said, "No, my Lord."
Then he 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."

The word of the Lord to Zerubbabel...the word of the Lord
to us is,

"Not by your might. Not by your power, but by
my Spirit," says the Lord of hosts.”

“By my Spirit you will tell the earth that Jesus

is Lord ... you will set fire to human hearts...

by my Spirit and only by my Spirit, beginning

the minute you're willing to believe this and

live it."