Sermon: Sunday, 22nd June, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Zechariah 4
Something significant is about to happen in the life of our church. From August, Leven Free Church will commence their own morning services. We will no longer be meeting together here. Around 20 people will move on and will be greatly missed but will do so in the best of circumstances – to plant a new church. It would be easy for some from both sides to become discouraged. Sometimes we say that there is safety in numbers. Should we not stay together and plan for a megachurch in the Gallatown, Kirkcaldy’s finest suburb? Will Leven Free Church be able to kick on and grow and develop? Will Kirkcaldy Free Church grow once again, having been pruned back? Will either church have enough resources to even survive in the secular environment of modern-day Scotland, with churches closing left, right and centre? We all might have our own thoughts on this matter. But we’re gathered around God’s Word this morning to try and find a Biblical way to think about this new venture. Perhaps a strange vision 2,500 years ago seems like a strange place to turn to. I hope we will see together that it is not. In fact, this vision will instruct and inspire both church planters and church revitalisers alike.
This is the 5th of 8 visions which the prophet Zechariah receives from the LORD. We need a little background in order to understand the vision properly. In 586 BC, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. The city was burned, the temple destroyed and thousands were carted off 1000 miles east to Babylon. The Lord used the Babylonians to judge his own people for their spiritual adultery. Around 70 years later the Babylonian empire gave way to the Medo-Persian empire. Their king, Cyrus, allows the Jews to return to their homeland and around 50,000 did so. These people make a good start laying the foundation for a new temple. However, they face outside opposition and become more focused on their own homes and forget about the importance of the temple. The work grinds to a halt. So, what does the Lord do? He sends two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to stir the people to action once again. But the task of rebuilding the temple and the walls of the city seem enormous. It just looks too difficult. The task seems to loom over them, like an ominous mountain.
1. A magnificent vision
Zechariah sees: ‘… a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.’ (Zechariah 42-3) Oil pours from the olive trees into the bowl, allowing the lamps to burn continuously. What is the lampstand? It is the community of God’s people. It stands for the church. We see this both in the Old and New Testaments.
‘The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.’  : (Revelation 1:20) The lampstand is made of gold to indicate how valuable and precious the church is to God. The function of a lampstand is to give light to the world.
‘Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.’ (Philippians 2:14-16)
‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:14-16)
What is God saying to the people in Zechariah’s day? He is reminding them that although the task of rebuilding the temple and the city might seem daunting and even impossible, they will be able to do it because of the divine resources they have. By his Spirit, represented by the oil, God enables us to do his work. God will supply the power needed for the temple to be rebuilt. Nothing is impossible with him. In fact, verse 9 says: ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it.’ In other words, God is promising that in Zerubbabel’s own day, the temple shall be completed. It is as if God is saying: ‘I will build my temple.’
And what was true for God’s people then is also true for God’s people now in 2025. Jesus says ‘And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’ (in Matthew 16:18) If Jesus promises to build his church, will he not supply the power for it to be built? Can we not step out in faith to plant and revitalise? There is really not too much difference between church planting and church revitalisation. In both situations, we are sowing seed, and depending on the Spirit of God to work.
There will be times in the next few months and years when we see obstacles to our gospel work piling up into a mountain. We might wonder if there’s any point to the prayer meetings and witnessing and worship services. We will wonder about our own resources. Where can we get the strength to continue in the work? Some of our people might have low morale. At such times, let’s return to this vision; the resources which really matter, which really change lives, all come directly from the Spirit of God.
2. Do not trust in human strength
Verse 6 is the key verse in this passage: ‘So 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 Almighty.’
Maybe some of the Israelites looked at the foundations of the temple and started to play the ‘if only’ game. If only we had the resources Solomon had when he built the first temple. Israel was so wealthy and powerful back then. If only we had access to the great forests and skilled craftsmen. Verse 10 indicates to us that some doubted the temple project: ‘Who dares despise the day of small things…’ Today, maybe some of us will be tempted to say, if only we had £1,000,000 to buy our own church and manse in Leven. If only we had purpose-built café and large group of musicians to make our worship services more attractive. In KFC, we might think, if only we had more elders at this end of Fife. If only we could see more people coming to faith. If only people in Scotland were more interested in speaking about spiritual things. If only I wasn’t so busy. If only I wasn’t more gifted and better at speaking to people.
What does God say? He says that it’s not really about the human resources in Leven or in Kirkcaldy. ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.’ (Zechariah 4:6) We might seem weak in the eyes of the world. Our gatherings might even seem pathetic to some. We might not have millions in the bank or influence and power in our society. But the wonderful truth is this: building the Kingdom of God in the Kingdom of Fife is not about our own resources. It is not about our strength or might. It is, rather, about God’s Spirit being at work. We sang from Psalm 146: ‘Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.’ (Pslam 146:3-5)
In Scotland, our oil is running out. There is not an endless supply of oil in the north sea. Humanity is always stressing about how we can find new sources of the energy we need. However, when it comes to the energy the church needs, we actually do have an endless supply of power. Isn’t that remarkable? Do you believe that? In the vision, the oil from the trees gives a constant supply. We need not fret about the future.
The success of Leven Free Church does not depend on the Murrays, or even the Brooks or Donalds. They are all dispensable, in the best possible way. And Kirkcaldy Free Church certainly doesn’t need me and or anyone else in the church family. We need the Spirit of God to work. Many of us know this already. And yet, if we are honest, we can slip into worldly thinking. Once we do this or that, then the church will really take off, we start to think. It is not true. I love the fact that you are who are leaving are doing something which is actually beyond your ability to succeed. Because that means that you are utterly dependent on God to work, if things are to progress. And that’s the best place to be. We need a vision statement that allows for the power of God. That means we can legitimately step out in faith and trust in God to supply all that we need, and all that we currently don’t have!
3. Trust alone in the Spirit of God
If Leven Free Church is to grow numerically, see conversions and see saints discipled in the faith then they will need to depend on God’s Spirit for everything. Only the Holy Spirit can breathe life into those dry bones of Ezekiel chapter 37, making them into a vast army. Only the Holy Spirit can remove the veil of unbelief which covers the eyes of the people of Leven and its surrounding towns and villages. To change even a single person in Leven necessitates a divine miracle of God. God’s Spirit must bring light into the darkness even as he did on the 1st day of creation. ‘The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.’ (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)
How will be able to tell if Leven Free Church and Kirkcaldy Free Church are trusting in the power of God the Holy Spirit? That is a good question. The short answer is just one word: prayer. Prayer is the barometer of how much we are trusting in God’s Spirit. Prayerlessness, not praying, means that we think we can get on fine in the church without God’s supernatural help. We become self-dependent. That’s why it’s a really concerning sign if a church’s prayer meeting is small and if people lack enthusiasm to gather to pray. Each and every day, as individuals, as families and as churches, let’s do all we can to be a praying people. Remember Exodus chapter 17 and the scene with Joshua and his men fighting in the valley against the Amalekites; it was when Moses’ arms were help up in prayer that the battle was won. It is the same today.
Let’s end by considering the 2 olive trees with their branches found on either side of the lampstand. What do they represent? ‘These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.’ (Zechariah 4:14) One stands for Zerubbbel the governor, who was anointed for his task and was in the family tree of Israel’s kings. The other stands for Joshua the High Priest, who was also anointed for the task. The priest and the governor are the divinely appointed channels for conveying the blessing of the Holy Spirit to the people of God. Together, they point forward to the true priest-king, the Lord Jesus Christ. They foreshadow Christ, through whom the Holy Spirit came to the church on the day of Pentecost. ‘Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.’ (Acts 2:33)
Whenever a church tries to use its own oil for its work it always ends in unfaithfulness, pride and disaster. So, let’s pray that in this new chapter for both of our churches, we will so depend on God in prayer that there would be a continuous supply of God’s oil in order that we can shed light into this dark world, share the gospel with those around us, maintain the unity of the church and understand the will of God through the Word of God. This is the Word of the Lord all of us here this morning: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.’ (Zechariah 4:6)