By My Spirit (Zech. 4)

I have been eagerly waiting to preach from this passage for 26 years! In the spring of 1993 I visited Westminster Theological Seminary and heard Ray Dillard give a lecture in the Prophets class on this passage. Ray Dillard died the following fall, so this was the only lecture I ever heard from him. Perhaps that is why it stuck with me!

After giving a brilliant exposition of these chapters, Ray stopped, and looked at the young men sitting before him and said: “Do you know what these words mean? ‘Do not despise the day of small things – of small beginnings.' Most of you will be pastors of small churches. You will be tempted – like Zerubbabel – to wonder whether all the effort is worth it! Your whole ministry could be devoted to small, struggling churches – and during your lifetime, you may never see anything more. But do not despise the day of small things – the day of small beginnings.”

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts!

Whether planting a church in Elkhart – rehabbing a house in South Bend – whether in parenting, or in business – whatever you do – wherever you go – your confidence is not in your great ability – your wisdom, your power, your connections or wealth – but in the Spirit of our God!