Zechariah 4: By My Spirit, Even Before the Great Mountain

Introduction

"'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says Yahweh of Armies." Hōro Yokota, pastor of Aburayama Shalom Church in Fukuoka, Japan, preaches on this verse from Zechariah 4 under the title "By the Spirit of God: A Life of Joy in the Holy Spirit."

He has just come back from a time of study in Matsue, in Shimane Prefecture. It is there that the English missionary Barclay F. Buxton, who arrived in Japan in 1890, proclaimed the gospel starting in 1891 and trained many young people who came from all over the country. The pastor presents him as the spiritual starting point of his denomination, the Jesus Christ Church of Japan. He shares what he discovered on the spot.

His message rests on three convictions: recognizing your limits and weakness, knowing the power of the Holy Spirit and trusting in it, and surrendering to the Spirit and following his leading with sensitivity.

Outline of the Message

1. Zerubbabel Facing a Stalled Building Project

Zerubbabel is the leader of the people who returned from exile to Jerusalem. He was given a great project: rebuilding the destroyed temple.
The work begins, then everything grinds to a halt: opposition from enemies, resources running out, a discouraged people. The project stalls, with no human way out.
It is at that moment that God speaks a word of encouragement to Zerubbabel: "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit."
Might, the pastor explains, can mean military strength, but also the strength of an organization or human plans. Power is personal ability: leadership, experience, Zerubbabel's talent.
"When God uses you, it is not because you have those abilities or an organized backing. God's work advances by God's power."

2. Recognizing Your Essential Weakness

Moses, the greatest leader of the Old Testament, grew up in the palace of Egypt and received the best education of his time. At 40, he had knowledge, the position of the king's son, strength and experience.
God did not use him at that point. Moses failed badly, fled the palace and tended sheep in the desert for 40 years, with nobody knowing who he was, repeating the same tasks every day.
At 80, when he thought his life was over, God chose him. "The moment God uses you is not when people say you are extraordinary. He was waiting instead for the moment when you say to yourself: I am no longer worthy."
The pastor speaks of "essential weakness" (he uses the English expression): discovering the limits and weakness that belong to being human is the starting point of a life used by the power of God.
Since God taught him this, he understands that running into his limits "is a grace." That is how God makes us aware of them and draws us to himself.

3. Knowing the Power of the Holy Spirit and Trusting in It

To believe in Jesus is to be forgiven, to know God's love and to find communion with him again. Through this communion, the Holy Spirit comes into us and a life led by his power begins.
"We no longer live by our own efforts, or by leaning on our wisdom or experience." By living by the Spirit of God, a different way of walking becomes possible.
Hudson Taylor, a figure from the era when more than a thousand missionaries were sent to China, made his whole life an experiment: showing that God is alive by trusting in him rather than in human strength.
The pastor quotes one of his sayings: in Christian work, we must look to God rather than to people. God's work is knowing what God has done through people, more than what people have done for God.
"We easily look at others, or at ourselves: am I capable of this? I did this. I can't do that. That is not it. Let us look to God. He is the one at work."
Buxton and Hudson Taylor were very close, Hudson Taylor being about thirty years his senior. Buxton invited him from China to the first sanctification convention in Japan. Later, after the Boxer Rebellion in which many missionaries were killed, Hudson Taylor had Buxton come to preach to the wounded missionaries.

4. Who Are You, Great Mountain?

In verse 7, God says: "Who are you, great mountain?" Before Zerubbabel, he says, it will become level ground. A mountain stood before him, impossible to cross.
That mountain was the people's discouragement. At the beginning, all goes well: "Let's go, let's do God's work." Then come opposition, dwindling resources and disappointment. Zerubbabel himself was downcast.
When God reminds him that everything is done by his Spirit, the mountain is leveled. The work resumes and the temple is completed.
"What is the great mountain in front of you?" It is not crossed by your abilities, nor because someone backs you. It is crossed by the Spirit of God.
When your faith hits a wall, perhaps you are looking at yourself or at your circumstances. As you turn your eyes to God and his power, the wall gives way.

5. The Joy of the Spirit and the Thirst for God

Buxton taught that the only power able to bring victory in Japan is the Holy Spirit.
The pastor cites a figure that is often repeated: the average length of a Christian life in Japan is said to be three years. Many remain faithful for decades, but many leave the church about a year after their baptism.
Why? According to Buxton, without the joy the Holy Spirit gives, we are pulled back by the force of the world, thinking it was better before. Like Israel in the desert, who wanted to go back to Egypt: when the present is hard, we embellish the past.
Leaving Egypt is not enough; we must enter the promised land: joy in communion with God. Whoever tastes it no longer talks about going back.
Psalm 42 speaks of the deer that pants for streams of water. The one who prays this way is neither an unbeliever nor an immature believer: the more we seek God, the more we thirst for him, because we never finish getting to know him.
A pastor he quotes used to say: "I give thanks, but I am not satisfied." If you tell yourself "my faith is enough, I cannot go any further," that is not a healthy state.
This is the "paradox of love": the more we love, the more we want to know the other and spend time with them. This thirst is also a thirst for the Word.

6. Surrendering to the Spirit and Following His Leading

The third point is to surrender to the Holy Spirit, to trust him and to follow his leading with sensitivity, by developing your "spiritual sensitivity."
When sin, idols and material things blind us, a thousand voices shout: "This is better, that is important, you need this." God's gentle whisper can no longer be heard.
The Holy Spirit, by renewing us, restores our spiritual senses. The Bible teaches us to look not at what is seen, which is temporary, but at what is unseen, which is eternal.
The pastor tells how, in the evening in the dark, he feels as if he is traveling around the world: his heart reaches his friends in the United States or in Singapore, and he prays for them. Through prayer, he can go anywhere, to the United States, to China or to Tokyo. "A free trip around the world!"
One of the ways to sharpen this sensitivity is the Word. As we read it, our gaze is lifted toward God. Without it, we are crushed and swallowed up by what the world gives us to see and hear.
By living in communion with God, we know how to react and act when problems arise.

7. Buxton in Matsue: The Spirit in Hardship

In Matsue, the pastor discovered a side of Buxton he did not know. The man known for his teaching on the fullness of the Spirit was first persecuted: stones were thrown at him, troublemakers came to disrupt the meetings, and one day his family had to flee onto the roof.
He had a large house built in Akayama, completed in April 1893, where some sixty people lived and trained together. It stood on high ground.
In October 1893, a typhoon flooded Matsue. A researcher who studies Buxton on site gave the pastor the toll: 54 dead, 288 houses swept away, about 8,000 households flooded in Matsue. The hall where the meetings were held was destroyed. Buxton's house, on the high ground, was spared.
Buxton and the Christians immediately organized relief through the church: meals for a thousand people every day for two weeks, a donation to buy rice, collections of money and clothing by teams of young people, help with rebuilding.
They cared for children orphaned overnight and visited elderly people with clothing and food, singing hymns to the accordion and telling Bible stories.
The city's attitude changed. That turning point moved the gospel forward. A Buxton specialist, asked about it by phone, did not know of this episode, but answered: "That sounds just like him."
Living in communion with God does not make you passive. It is precisely because we live with him that, facing a challenge, God leads us in our actions, our patience and our decisions.

Key Takeaways

God's work advances neither by the might of an organization nor by the power of your abilities, but by his Spirit.
Recognizing your limits is the beginning of a life used by God. Moses was called at 80, when he no longer believed in himself.
Look to God rather than to people or to yourself: the great mountain in front of you will be leveled by the Spirit.
The joy of the Holy Spirit and a renewed thirst for God keep you from turning back.
The Word sharpens your sensitivity to the Spirit, and the Spirit leads you to act with love in the midst of hardship.

Personal Application

What is the great mountain in front of you today?
In what area are you pretending to be capable, instead of telling God: "I cannot, but your Spirit can"?
Is your thirst for God and his Word the same as before? If it has faded, what will you ask God for in prayer?
What noises keep you from hearing God's gentle whisper this week?
Faced with a difficulty around you, how could the Spirit lead you to serve in a concrete way, like Buxton in Matsue?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit" mean?

For Hōro Yokota, might means military strength, but also the strength of an organization or human plans. Power means personal abilities: leadership, experience, Zerubbabel's talent. God declares that his work advances by neither of these, but by his Spirit.

Why can our weaknesses be a grace?

The preacher speaks of "essential weakness": recognizing your human limits is the starting point of a life led by the power of God. Moses was not called at 40, at the height of his abilities, but at 80, when he thought his life was over. When you run into your limits, God draws you to himself.

How can I become more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit?

Hōro Yokota explains that the noise of the world, sin and idols make us deaf to God's gentle whisper. The Holy Spirit restores our spiritual senses and teaches us to look at unseen things. One of the ways he gives is the Word: as we read it, our gaze is lifted toward God and we learn how to react when difficulties arise.