FBC Morning Light – December 16, 2022

Well, good Friday morning. We come to yet another end of another work week and look forward to the weekend. I trust you're looking forward to gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day this coming Sunday.

We'll be rejoicing together and worshiping the Lord as we gather in the 9 .30 Sunday school hour and then the 10 .30 morning worship service and then again in the evening service at 6 o 'clock. I hope you can come and will be in attendance on this Lord's Day and make that a priority.

Fruitfulness Versus Mere Productivity

Make gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day a priority as a follower of the Lord. Well, today we're reading in Zechariah chapters 4 and 5 and I want to focus on chapter 4 because I've been doing a series on Sunday mornings on the fruitful life.

It's kind of contrasting the fruitful life with mere productivity. You come to the end of the year and you're looking forward to a new year and there can be so much emphasis on a more productive year in 2023 than in 2022.

You can get all kinds of books in the secular press and even in the Christian publishing world on the matter of productivity, having a productive work life and so forth, but I'm emphasizing more of a fruitful life.

By fruitfulness, I'm talking about the development and growth in the inner man as well as in your outer obedience to the will of God, all of which influences your practical productivity, if you will. True fruitfulness is a holistic part of your life.

Zechariah's Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees

It encompasses your whole life, your inner life, your outer life, your spiritual walk with Christ and your work day as well. With that in mind, we see an interesting vision that Zechariah has. It's a vision of the lamp stand and the olive trees.

Here's the vision in chapter 4. He said, Zechariah says, I'm looking and there is a lamp stand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it and on the stand, seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.

There are two olive trees by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left. And he said, well, what are these? And the angel says, do you not know what these are? He says, no, I don't. And then this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel.

Okay, so he's answering him, the angel's answering him. All right, Zerubbabel, who's Zerubbabel? Zerubbabel has been involved in rebuilding the temple. This is after the exile, the Jewish people have been allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

And Zerubbabel is involved in the rebuilding of the temple. So this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. You are going to be extremely productive in the building of this temple, surely by the force of your will and by the exercise of your physical effort.

Is that the word of the Lord? No. What is the word of the Lord? He says, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. In other words, you're going to accomplish what I have for you to accomplish, not by the sheer force of your will, and not by merely by the exercise of your physical effort, but it is my spirit that is going to inform your will, that's going to motivate you, and it is my spirit that is going to equip you to accomplish that which I have for you to do.

The Spirit's Role in Christian Fruitfulness

This is an incredibly significant understanding of the Christian's fruitful life, is it not? A Christian's true productivity. We must not look to our own physical strength and our own will to get things done.

We must be looking to our Lord, and we must be seeking our Lord's blessing upon these things by the working of His spirit in our life to motivate us to do the right things, to motivate us for the right pursuits, and then strengthen the energy to do that which He would have us to do.

Where does fruitfulness come from? Fruitfulness comes from the work of the Holy Spirit within you, through you, accomplishing that which He has for you to do. The Lord notices these things, the Lord pays attention.

The seven lamps that are at the top of this lampstand, the seven lights that are at the top of this lampstand, in verse 10 we're told that these seven lights rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

These seven lights are rejoicing in the Spirit-directed and Spirit work of the servant of the Lord, Zerubbabel. The lights delight in that. What are these lights? He goes on to explain. He says, these are the eyes of the Lord which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.

It is the eyes of the Lord that are seeing that which we do and evaluating whether or not they are pleasing to Him. If the things that we do, the productivity of our lives, if that productivity is the fruit of the Spirit's directing our will and empowering our abilities, then He is well-pleased.

The seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. As our lives are truly fruitful, the Lord rejoices in that fruitfulness. I hope that'll be an encouragement to you to think about productivity in a more spiritual and, shall we say, holistic way, looking to God's Spirit to motivate you in the right way and to enable you and empower you to do the right things.

Closing Prayer and Benediction

Our Father and our God, I pray that this would be our experience of our everyday life, that we would be fruitful, not only in the Spirit, in the inner man, but we would be fruitful in the works of our hands.

And this we pray in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. All right, have a good rest of your Friday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I trust that you'll enjoy worshiping with God's people on the Lord's day.

Have a good day.