A Fresh Vision for Church — Brian Long

Well, good evening again, brothers and sisters. This is our last night together for these meetings, but it's very difficult for me to put into words how grateful I am to have been able to come up here.

This church really has a very special place in my heart. This is my third time up here, but I really love you, brothers and sisters. I really do, and I pray for you. And all the fellowship that I've had since I've been here, going out to lunch with some of you, being able to stay in Nelson and Karen's wonderful home and eat wonderful cooking that probably caused me to gain a few pounds that I didn't need, and then our late night fellowships.

It's just I've been blessed beyond measure to be with you. So I just want to thank you so much. You're a very precious group of people and a precious church, and I thank God for all of you, and it's been a real privilege to be with you.

So thank you. Thank you, every single one of you, and for just allowing me to come, and I'm so grateful that you've been coming out to the meetings, and I praise God. I believe God has done a deep work this week, and that he's not finished.

This is a work that will continue in many of our hearts, and tonight, we're going to turn to Zechariah chapter 4. If you're not familiar with that little book, it's at the very back of the Old Testament, just before Malachi.

A Fresh Vision of the Church in Zechariah 4

Zechariah chapter 4. And my message tonight is a fresh vision of the church, or a fresh vision for the church. Fresh vision of the church. We've been talking about having a fresh encounter with God all week long, and here's a fresh vision that God gave to the prophet Zechariah, a fresh vision, I believe he's given to us tonight, of the church of Jesus Christ.

Zechariah chapter 4, and beginning in verse 1. Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What do you see? So I said, I'm looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold, with a bowl on top of it.

And on the stand, seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl, and the other at its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord?

Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. And he answered and 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.

Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple.

His hand shall also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth. Then I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees at the right of the lampstand and at its left? And I further answered and said to him, What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?

Then he answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. So he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. Amen. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, I thank you again for the awesome privilege of being able to be here, of being able to open up your word, O God, your words of life. I pray, Father, that your power would be made perfect in my total weakness.

I am weak, but you are strong. And I pray, Lord God, that you would speak through me and speak to every single one of our hearts and to the heart of everyone who listens to this message. Lord Jesus, I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be pleasing and acceptable to you, my strength and my redeemer.

Lord, just make me an empty vessel that you may fill with your oil of the Holy Spirit and speak through me tonight. Speak to every one of our hearts and give us the grace to capture this fresh vision that you have given for your church.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Zachariah the prophet was given a vision by God. He didn't know what it meant at the time. And I want you just to, if you'll picture with me, brothers and sisters, exactly what he saw for a moment, okay?

We know from this text that Zachariah saw a golden lampstand. Now, what is a lampstand? It would be something that you might see, something similar to something you would see at a wedding. A big lampstand, and we see those stands that have candlesticks that go up on them.

So he saw this type of a lampstand, and on the lampstand there were seven torches or seven flames, seven burning candlesticks or torches. Above that golden lampstand was a golden bowl, a big bowl. And on either side of the bowl was an olive tree.

There's an olive tree on the right and an olive tree on the left. And from each of the olive trees came out an olive branch. And the olive branch on each side would come out and it would drip oil into a receptacle.

From the receptacle there was a gold pipe on each side that went to the large bowl. So there is oil flowing from the olive branch into this large bowl that was just above the golden lampstand. From the gold bowl came seven golden pipes.

Each one of those pipes fed each one of the flames on the golden lampstand. Zechariah the prophet sees this, and the angel asked him in verse 2, What do you see? I was praying over this one time just in the prayer closet and reading this, and I heard the Holy Spirit say the same thing to me from His Word.

What do you see? I'm thinking about this vision that he just saw. And immediately when I see the golden lampstand, my mind runs to Revelation chapter 1. What is this golden lampstand? It's a mystery, the revelation of what this is, but it's a mystery that Jesus Christ Himself unveiled.

What is the golden lampstand? Well, we go to Revelation chapter 1 and we look at verse 12. The apostle John said,. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.

Seven golden lampstands. Then we move on over to verse 20 of Revelation chapter 1. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

The lampstand is the church. The golden lampstand is a type or a symbol of the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus unveiled that mystery. The church made up of every blood-bought, born-again, child of God.

If you're here tonight, you've been born again by the Spirit of God, you're a child of God, you've been saved, then you're a part of this lampstand. You're not all the torches, you're not all the lights on it, but you are one of those candlesticks.

You are one of those flames, those burning flames on this one golden lampstand. Think of this with me. The lampstand is the church of Jesus Christ, and so what is our purpose? What is the purpose of a lampstand?

The purpose of a lampstand is to give light, is to burn, and give light, and to shine. John 8, verse 12, Jesus said of Himself, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Jesus is the light of the world. But in John 9, verse 5, He says, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Jesus has ascended into heaven, sent the promise of His Holy Spirit. Yes, He is the light of the world, but He says, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

We turn to Matthew, chapter 5, and what does He say? You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth, church, and you are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle, a lampstand, and put it under a bushel.

But they put it on a lampstand, and it gives light unto all that are in the house. And He says this, Therefore, let your light so shine that others may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

That is our purpose. Our purpose is to shine with the light, and the glory, and the presence of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to give light into this very dark world. We don't produce the light, but we reflect the light of Christ.

We don't produce this fire, but our hearts and our lives should be fuel for the flame of God. You are the salt of the earth in that you are to make the world thirsty for Jesus. You are the salt of the earth in that you are the world's protection against all the corruption, and decay, and perversion, and filthiness of the world.

You are the salt of the earth. You are also the light of the world. The light of the world that pierces the darkness. The light of the world that allows others to see our wonderful Savior, our wonderful Lord, and to point them to Him.

This is your purpose. We are to burn with the fire of God. We are to shine with the light of Jesus Christ. And it reminds me of this wonderful poem I was thinking about today from Amy Carmichael. Listen to these amazing words.

The end of this poem. The poem is called, Make Me Thy Fuel, Flame of God. But she says, Give me the love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire.

Let me not sink to be a clod. Make me thy fuel, O flame of God. Oh, that that would be our prayer. Make me thy fuel, O flame of God. You see, God is an all-consuming fire. But He has to have a living sacrifice upon which His fire can fall.

May you and I be that living sacrifice. May we be the fuel for the flame of God and live up to our purpose. You were created for the glory of God. You were created for the glory of God. And as a church, our purpose is to glorify God and to, it's for the glory of God in the souls of men.

To glorify God and to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this life. Make me thy fuel, O flame of God. Let me shine. Let me burn. But back to the vision. How did that torch keep burning? And this is a flame that never dies, should never die.

The Holy Spirit as Oil and the Church's Surrender

It kept burning because there was a golden pipe to each one of those flames that came from this large bowl that was full of oil. As long as the oil was flowing, the flame was burning. That oil is a type of the Holy Spirit.

You see that throughout Scripture. Oil being a type of the Holy Spirit. And this is something the Lord has spoke to me. For some of us, that oil can just be a trickle because of the circumference of the pipe.

For some of us, that oil is really flowing because of the circumference of the golden pipe. What does it say to us? To the degree that you are surrendered to Jesus Christ is to the degree that you will shine for His glory.

To the degree that we are surrendered to Christ, we are bringing Him glory and others can see Him in us. If we haven't come to an absolute surrender, absolute trust and surrender, that circumference is awful small.

And no wonder there's just a little trickle. The Lord is calling us again and again to absolute surrender. All of your heart for His glory. All of your life. All of your soul. You are not your own. You've been bought with a price, the Bible says.

Therefore glorify God with your spirit and your body which belong to Him. So that's our purpose is to shine. So what do I see in this vision? I see a church where all the saints are shining. All the saints are shining.

Every brother and sister at South Lawrence Mennonite Church shining with the glory of God. Every brother and sister in the body of Christ living up to their purpose and shining with the light of Jesus Christ.

But you can only shine because the oil is flowing. I see a church where the oil that is the Holy Spirit is flowing. Do you see that church? Where the Spirit of God is flowing. He says here in verse 5 and 6, The angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Do you not know what these are?

And I said, No, my Lord. So he answered and 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. This is a church where the Holy Spirit is flowing.

The oil is flowing through the golden pipes giving flame to those torches on the lampstand. Now, follow me for a moment. What you don't see on that golden lampstand is one torch way over yonder, and one torch way over yonder, and one torch way under here, all separated.

You see all seven of those torches connected to the same lampstand. What does it say to me? Where there is unity in the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit flows. God loves the unity of His people and He emphasizes it every way throughout the Scripture.

He wants us to be together as one. No divisions in between us. And I'm not talking about sameness. I'm talking about oneness. We all have different personalities. We all have different gifts. We all have different callings.

But when it comes to the essentials of the word of God, the truth of Almighty God, and us being a part of the body of Christ, if you are washed in the blood of Jesus and you belong to Him, then you are a part of the body of Christ, and there needs to be a unity among us.

Now what does God say about it? Psalm 133, look at this with me. 133rd Psalm. He says, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

He's saying where the body of Christ comes together in unity, loving one another, and you cannot have unity without humility. We must humble ourselves before God, and humble ourselves before one another.

Where there is unity, there is always humility. To have unity, there must be love, preferring my brother before myself, considering him as more important, or her as more important than myself. That is the way of the cross.

That is the way our Savior walked. And this is the kind of unity that God smiles upon. Those of us who are parents, how does it make us feel when we watch our children, and we see them just sticking together, playing together, encouraging one another?

I mean, no fights, no arguing, no division. It brings joy to my heart to see my children like that. How does it make me feel when I see two of them quarreling, acting selfishly, fighting, bickering, arguing, and then isolating themselves from one another?

It grieves my heart, and it grieves your heart when you see your children do the same. How much more must it grieve the heart of God when husband and wife, man and wife, that God brought together as one flesh and said, what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.

He wants this oneness. And because of some division, some angry words, whatever the cause may be, case may be, this division, how it must grieve the heart of God. How it must grieve the heart of God when He sees division in His church.

The church that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood for. To tear down the middle walls of partition so there's no more Jew and Gentile and slave nor free, but He puts us all together as one family. That's His purpose.

And if you want to know how passionate the Lord Jesus is for oneness and unity in His church, read John 17. This prayer that Jesus prayed before He went to the cross. Over and over again, the heart of Jesus Christ is, O Father, that they may be one as we are one.

That is the heart of the Lord. That is the heart of the Lord. I just got back from Missouri. I was in Missouri before I came here. And it was a small meeting. There weren't a whole lot of us. But there were people there from Africa, Scotland, all over America, Canada.

People there from Mennonite backgrounds, Pentecostal, Baptist, non-denominational. And we are together. And I just got an email a while ago from a brother who's a pastor in L .A., right in the San Fernando, I think it's called Valley.

I mean, right there in the bad part of L .A. And he's pouring out his heart. He said he'd never been to a meeting like that. Nobody had a personal agenda. Nobody was trying to make themselves look good and kind of lord it over everybody else.

It was a people who came together longing for Jesus Christ to have the preeminence and all the glory and fellowship among one another. He said, I've never been in a meeting like that. And I can't help but think how much joy that brings to the heart of God to see the body of Christ dwell together in unity.

That's where the oil flows. That's where God commands the blessing. So I see a church where the Holy Spirit is flowing. And he says again here, not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.

So he's talking about the Holy Spirit. What does it mean, not by might? That word in the Hebrew has to do with a multitude. In other words, he's saying not by many. God is saying, I don't need a big majority.

And sometimes we get that impression, oh, if we just had more and more people. Well, yes, we want more and more people to be saved. But what I want you to know tonight is there are never too few for God to use, but there can be too many.

What I mean by that is getting so many that we stop depending upon God. Not by might, he says, but by my Spirit. God says here in verse 10, for who has despised the day of small things? Don't despise little churches.

Don't despise small gatherings that God himself puts together. He doesn't need a great big majority. He took a handful of men and turned the world upside down because he filled them with his Spirit. Remember what he said to Gideon?

Gideon is about to go to battle with an army that had so many men they couldn't count them. Said they were like locusts. Said they were like grains of sand on the seashore. Massive army. Gideon had 32 ,000 men.

God says you have too many. If I give you the victory now, you will think that you did it yourself. You have too many. He said, Gideon, tell everybody that's afraid to go home. 22 ,000 men went home. He had 10 ,000 left.

Get rid of the cowards. 10 ,000 left. God says you still have too many. What do you mean too many? We're going against an army that we can't even count there's so many. You have too many. And he gave them this test to go down to the water and those that lapped up water like this when they drank, he said, keep them aside.

The other ones that just dipped their head down there and drank like that, tell them to go home. Army was whittled down to 300 men. 300 men. God doesn't need might. God doesn't need a multitude. God needs a few surrendered vessels.

A few surrendered hearts, men and women. And with this few, God took 300 and he put a massive army to flight and defeat through a few. There's never too few for God to use. There can be too many. There's never anyone here too weak for God to use.

But there can be someone too strong. And by that I mean pride. Strong in and of themselves. But never too weak. Not by might, he says, but by my spirit. Not by might nor by power. That power speaks of human strength, human wisdom, wit, charisma, things of man, money.

How many churches, if we just had more money, if we just had better technology, if we just had somebody that was more eloquent or somebody that's more charismatic in their personality, I want to say, get rid of all that.

I'd rather have a man that stuttered and stammered, that loved Jesus with all of his heart and was absolutely surrendered to him. That's the man God will use. He doesn't need wit. He doesn't need charisma.

He doesn't need money. He doesn't need technology. He can use all of that, yes. But he doesn't need it because it's not by might and it's not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. What could those prophets do when the spirit of the Lord would come upon them?

When the spirit of the Lord would come upon a little shepherd boy, he could take up a sling and a stone and bring down a giant that scared everybody. When the spirit of the Lord would come upon a man, he could take a jawbone of a donkey and slay a thousand.

When the spirit of the Lord would come upon a prophet, he would prophesy and the Word of God would cut to the heart. When the spirit of the Lord would come upon them, he would take them where they could never go in and of themselves.

He would make them what they could have never become in and of themselves. He would give them strength they never possessed in and of themselves. Jesus Himself said, The spirit of the Lord is upon Me and He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted and to set the captives free, to give sight to the blind.

Listen, when the Holy Spirit is flowing through a church, there is no limit to what God can do. There is nothing impossible with God. I have seen Him restore and repair a marriage that according to the world and most of the church today says there's no hope for and today that marriage is a shining example for everybody to see.

I've seen Him break addictions that no counselor, no amount of 12-step programs could do. I've seen Him save the hardest of hearts, the souls, the most lost of men if there is such a thing. The man I just preached a funeral for two days before I came up here, a dear brother and friend of mine, I loved him so much, still do.

He was up in his years. He was the hardest of the hard. Two men said this. One deacon said, Leon Alts will never get saved. That was his words. Another man said, You are wasting your time with Leon Alts.

He's a nut too hard for anybody to crack. That's what they would say. And yet God got a hold of that man and saved him. He was 70 some years old. And for the last five years, that man has testified with tears.

He has proclaimed the Gospel. He and I have gone together. Brother Brian, will you go with me? I want to go talk to so and so. They're not far away from dying. And we would go and he would plead with them with tears.

I don't want you to go to hell. Get right with God. I witnessed the power of God save a man that everybody else said couldn't be saved. When the Holy Spirit is flowing, there is no limit to what God can do.

We have seen Him heal the sick. We have seen Him comfort and bring folks out of grief that is humanly impossible. There is no limit to what God can do when the Holy Spirit is flowing. But the Holy Spirit is flowing because God's people are surrendering.

Prayer, the Flow of the Spirit, and Moving Mountains

But there's something else that's largely due here to the Holy Spirit flowing. Do you remember what was above the lampstand? This large bowl. And from that bowl, the oil flowed to the flames. What's that bowl?

What does that bowl represent? I go back to Revelation and I go to chapter 5. And in Revelation chapter 5, it says in verse 8,. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

The prayers of the saints. When God's people are praying, the oil starts flowing. When God's people are praying, this bowl begins to fill with golden oil, flows through the pipes, and the flame begins to burn.

I see a church where God's people are praying again. And I don't mean two-minute, five-minute prayers. There's nothing wrong with that. But I see a church who sees their desperate need for God that has committed themselves to prayer and prayer meeting.

Committed themselves to crying out and calling out to God. The bowl starts to fill, the oil starts to flow with the oil of the Holy Spirit. 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14,. If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, pray, pray like you've never prayed before, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, then I will forgive their sin, then I will heal their land.

The church that prays together stays together. The family that prays together stays together. Where there is prayer, fervent, faithful prayer, prayer that's coming from clean hands and pure hearts and sanctified tongues, prayer where people have removed the mask and just got honest with God and begin to pour out their hearts to Him together in one accord, something happens.

Something happens. When God's people pray like that, the oil starts flowing again, and the Holy Spirit starts moving again, and the fire starts burning again. Where there is no prayer, there will be no power, I assure you.

Where there is no prayer, a prayerless church is a powerless church. Where there is no prayer, there is no power of God. Remember what they were doing in Acts chapter 1, before the fire of the Holy Spirit baptized them, and they turned the whole world upside down?

They were all together in an upper room, 120, that's all. Don't need might, don't need power, don't need a multitude. 120 out of many, many that saw Christ, by the way, after He rose from the dead. But here's the thirsty.

God found the thirsty, the 120, those who would wait day after day after day because He taught us to pray and never faint. And He said, wait in Jerusalem till you be endued with power from on high. So day after day, for 10 days, they pray and they wait, and they're in one accord.

This unity, where God commands the blessing, they're in one accord and they are praying. And the Bible says, suddenly, there was a sound of a rushing mighty wind, and tongues of fire descended upon each one of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And what is the result of that, ultimately? Jesus Christ builds His church. And the Gospel goes forth with power.

Peter, a man who couldn't even stay awake for one hour and pray with Jesus, is now praying all night long. Peter, a man who was afraid and ashamed, so ashamed of Christ, that he denied Him three times to his servant girl, is now preaching to the same crowd that shouted, crucify Christ, and would have just surely said, crucify Peter.

He is preaching now with boldness and power because the oil started flowing. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. And 3 ,000 were saved in one day. Where did it start? God's people were praying. I see a church where the people of God are praying.

And because of it, the saints are shining. And the saints are shining because the oil is flowing. The Holy Spirit's moving. We must pray. We must pray like never before. If I had time, I could share so many testimonies.

How somebody who was faithful to pray would not let go, day after day, year after year, would not stop persevering in prayer. And God came. God came. In the Hebrides Islands in Scotland, the Hebrides Revival, I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know Colin and Mary Peckham.

Mary was converted under the preaching of Duncan Campbell during the Hebrides Revival. She was just a teenage girl. She said, oh, Brian, when the Spirit of God came, she said, you couldn't get away from the presence of God.

She said, I was walking along the shore, and she was unsaved at this time. She said, suddenly, I was made aware of the presence of God. And I said, oh, God, this is Your earth. And she said, I took off my shoes, because I knew I was unworthy to walk on His earth.

And so, she took off her shoes and she said, I'm still unworthy to walk on Your earth. So, she runs into the ocean. And she said, oh, God, this is Your ocean. She said, I couldn't get away from the presence of God.

So, I ran to the church. Ran to one of the churches. Duncan Campbell was preaching that night. He had been preaching so much, he lost his voice. He said, my text tonight comes from John 11. Mary, the Master has come, and He calleth for thee.

Her name was Mary. That's how the Spirit of God moves. She was under such conviction, the fear of the Lord, she cried out, and the Lord saved her. But you know, there's so many stories to that Hebrides revival.

But when God came down, but you know where it all started? Two old sisters, blind. One blind woman. They may have both been blind. I can't remember. Two that would not give up. That prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed.

Till the oil started flowing. And God started moving. Jesus taught us always to pray and not to lose heart. Not to give up. And what happens? When I see this church, and by the way, the church was started in a prayer meeting.

The church that I'm a part of right now in Barnesdale, Oklahoma, started in a prayer meeting in a barn. That's where it started. And the only way it's continued and sustained is, of course, by the grace of God, but also, I believe, a Saturday night prayer meeting.

That Saturday night prayer meeting. A little band of people who consider that meeting to be the most important meeting of the week, and who pray, and pray, and pray, and see God move in answer to prayer.

I see a church where the saints are shining, because the Holy Spirit's flowing, where God's people are praying. And now what do I see? I see a church where mountains are moving, and mountains are melting.

Where do you get that in the text, Brother Brian? Verse 7. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace. Grace to it.

Who are you, O great mountain? In other words, what is this obstacle that stands in our way? What is this obstacle that stands in the way of Zerubbabel building the house of the Lord? What is your biggest problem right now?

That's your mountain. What is the biggest thing that stands in your way right now from just an absolute surrender to the Lord? From what is it that's hindering you? What is it that stands in the way? For some, I think it's a mountain of unbelief.

How could God ever use me? For some, it's a mountain of pride and self-righteousness. There's so many mountains that can stand in our way. But when God's people pray and the Holy Spirit's moving, something begins to rise in our hearts to cry out, Who are you, O great mountain?