Don't Despise the Day of Small Endings — Carter Conlon

How many live your Christian life condemned because you feel like your life doesn't measure up? Can I see your hands? Now that's a lot of people. How many should have raised your hand? Would you raise your hand now?

Yeah, I thought so. All right. We're gonna. I'm gonna believe God with you today that that spirit of condemnation is going to be broken absolutely shattered destroyed. Not just for a day or a week, but for the rest of your Christian life.

I'm trusting that God's going to open something to you. I have a message today. Called don't despise the day of small endings. You know, we have a tendency we've all. I've always heard it preached because that's the way it's written.

The Call to Reject Condemnation

Don't despise the day of small beginnings. And we don't mind if our life begins small as long as it ends big. But what if it goes the other way? I want to talk about that. I want to show you something in the scriptures.

Zechariah chapter 4. Now Zechariah is two short books back from Matthew in the New Testament. Just a few pages in your Bible. So if you find Matthew just go to the left and you'll find Zechariah chapter 4 now father I thank you for the anointing of your Holy Spirit.

It's only by the anointing that the yoke is broken. You have to give us courage Lord and strength to face these days. Bring your church out from under condemnation. Every lying voice of the devil. Every condemning of our own hearts.

Every misunderstanding of what it means to be part of the body of Jesus Christ. I pray God give me the wisdom to speak this. Override my own frailty Lord. And grip my mind in my heart and give me the power to speak it in a way That men and women can hear it.

Lord you're going to give us strength for these days and I thank you for it with all my heart in Jesus name. Don't despise the day of small endings. Zechariah chapter 4 beginning at verse 6. Then he answered and spake unto me saying this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel.

Saying not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou O great mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain. And he shall bring forth a headstone thereof with shoutings crying grace grace unto it.

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you.

For who has despised the day of small things. For they shall rejoice and see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven. They are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro throughout the whole earth.

Now I know those are a lot of big words in the King James text but Essentially speaking Zerubbabel was a governor he sent to rebuild The temple of the Lord after a 70 year captivity in Babylon. The people had dealt very carelessly the people of God with the things of God.

And because of it they were taken in and became captive by the society around them. There are incredible and obvious comparisons perhaps to the generation that we're living in today. And then suddenly after this season of discipline A decree the king of the Medo-Persians Darius he wrote a decree and Allowed the people of God to head back home again.

The historians the biblical historians tell us that about 50 ,000 accepted that first invitation. And they they went back to rebuild what had been lost. Now it's a type and I suppose of it can be a type of Such ages and generations that it's it's got a historical precedent.

It's also a type of you and I born as it is into this world in the image of God Filled with hopes and dreams and aspirations when we were children Only to find out we were without the grace that needs to cover us To become that which God had destined our lives to be.

And so without Christ we walked into ruin and in ruin we went into captivity. And suddenly somewhere whether you were reading your Bible somebody brought you the word of God. You realized a decree had been issued by the hand of almighty God Allowing you to come home and rebuild your life.

Rebuild it in the image of God. There was a former glory and the people were called to Build something or rebuild something that had a former Reputation of being a place where God had awesomely Glorified himself.

Rebuilding the Temple and the Christian Life

And we think about Solomon's temple for example. Scripture tells us that when Solomon built the platform And prayed the glory of the Lord that in the Hebrew it's the weightiness of God. Came into this the temple so powerfully that the priest could not stand to minister.

There was nothing they could do but shout. God had come into his temple and this was a place Where the Lord had chosen to dwell and the people there were given the Responsibility of caring for that temple.

Just as you and I have been given the responsibility of caring for the New Testament temple. Which is your life and mine. No longer God is dwelling in a place made with human hands he now dwells in people.

And they had lost this testimony through carelessness. And after 70 years their journey in home and you can just imagine The conversation along the way. We're going to rebuild that temple. And the glory of it is going to be great because the promise of course in this chapter of Scripture is that The glory of the latter temple will be greater than the glory of the former.

So you can just imagine As the people are heading home. And there's they didn't have these words from Zechariah yet but there's got to be an inner knowledge that There has to be because the Holy Spirit would have borne witness to something in those that belong to God.

And I'm going to do something that's going to bring glory to my name in a profound way. Just like you and I when we came to Christ. And we read the book of Acts and we hear of these 120 ordinary people who went in an upper room And suddenly were empowered by the Spirit of God.

And they stepped out of that upper room. Filled with faith and vision and hope. And the beginnings of supernatural ability. The Scripture says they spoke with the Megalios of God. And I've shared this with you many times.

Their mouths were speaking about something that God was going to do because of his inner presence in their lives. And they were given this initial evidence which was the ability to speak to other people In known languages that they had not learned About these things that God was about to do.

And that's what so pricked the hearts of the 3000 that turned to Christ that day. So they're speaking of things which they've not yet attained most likely. But they have already attained something which cannot come into the hearts of people but by the Spirit of God.

In other words we're not everything we're supposed to be but we're not what we were yesterday. We have changed and we're going forward as Paul says by step by step. Image to image and glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.

Now when you read it and I read Acts chapter 2 There has to be an explosion of faith. Oh God I wonder what wonderful thing you're going to do in my life. And we're starting from a little point in a sense in our own sight.

And we read in the Scriptures and we go to a church somewhere. And somebody tells us that God has this incredible destiny for us. And we think like natural people. And the incredible destiny is always from small to big.

My question today is what if it goes from big to small. What if it goes from an incredible vision. And what if the vision is actually true. But it's not happening the way we think it should happen. Remember the Scripture says my ways are not your ways.

My thoughts are not your thoughts says the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth my ways are higher than your ways. And my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. And so they headed out to build this glorious testimony for Christ like you and I did.

Only to become discouraged in our own eyes. By how little it seems to resemble the original vision Of what we thought our lives would be. The original vision. I remember one time I needed a janitor in my church.

And a fellow called me and he said Pastor I was in my devotions this morning and he said The Lord told me that greatness awaits me. I said wonderful. I need a janitor and you're just the person I think to fill this spot.

I said for the Scripture says the greatest among you will be your servant. I remember him saying to me that's not. He said these exact words that's not quite what I had in mind. It never is what we have in mind.

Our concept and our ways of thinking quite often don't match the ways of God. And so they headed out to build this incredible testimony. And Haggai the prophet in chapter 2 and verse 3. Let me just read it to you.

It says it this way. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory. And how do you see it now. Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing. We start to build. We have this vision.

You have it I have it. Of what greatness is. And what our life is going to amount to. And then we're 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the road in this journey. We read the Bible. We see Daniel stopping the mouths of lions.

David taking down a giant Jonathan and his armor bearer. Taking a half acre of land and sending a ripple through hell 120 coming out of the upper room and changing as it were the whole known world of their generation.

People given courage and victory. And we read these things. And we see what the original temple. That's the original temple folks I'm talking about. And we see this original temple. And we've been building as it is for a long time.

And we look at the foundation of what's been laid Of God in our own lives. And we say Could it be that my life has fallen short Of what I thought it would be. Have I failed God. This temple looks nothing like what I thought it was going to look.

They came home they came home with all this expectation. They laid the foundation and Essentially speaking the people stood back and said This was the place where the glory of God fell. But this is such a mess.

Look at the rubble. Look at the ruin here look at. We're building with leftover pieces of former glory. And it looks nothing like the original temple. And of course there was opposition against it. And you know if you know the history of it.

People just simply drew back in many cases and stopped building. Because they didn't see any hope. And that happens with Christian people Coming into the house of God and you have plans and visions And dreams and ambitions.

And you have a whisper in your heart that Perhaps God himself spoke to you. But you look at your life after all the work you put in. And you say this looks nothing. Like the book of Acts chapter 2. This looks nothing like the vision that I feel that God gave me.

I don't know. Maybe I've built the wrong way. Maybe I've fallen short. Maybe God is displeased with me. And after 10, 15, 20 years Many people lose heart. There's a pivotal moment. I believe in the lives of many Christian people.

Where zeal stops and complacency takes over. And despair begins to occupy the mind. And that zeal as it is. To live a life that will make a difference dies. Just like threatened to happen here. But it was the voices of the prophets that God raised again Haggai and Zechariah.

That came to the people. Just the way I feel I'm doing today. And say no the problem is. You don't see the way God sees. Your understanding is short. You don't understand that God hasn't lied to you. And your life is not a failure.

And you're not building on the wrong foundation. I'm talking now to the honest seeker of God. The person who really came home and wanted to build a life for God's glory. But yet because it doesn't look like what you thought it was going to look like God told you great things were in store.

But immediately your mind. It was all about crowds. It was all about a marquee. It was all about a brochure wasn't it. Your name was going to be on it. You're going to do some great thing for God. But the problem is you don't see.

God didn't lie to you. Quite often we don't see the whole picture. I want you to think about Joseph for a minute. I'm talking about the husband of Mary. The stepfather of Jesus. He's given the plan of God is put into his hands.

In Matthew 1 .21 it tells us that he was a just man and a devout man. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and said Now take Mary as your wife. She is with child of the Holy Spirit. And this child is going to pay the penalty as it is for the sins of the people of God.

At that time the children of Israel. And of course Joseph wouldn't have understood. It would be not just Israel it was the whole world. And so Joseph is given the charge of protecting this plan of God.

Just like you have the plan of God put into your hands. He had the plan of God put into his hands. He had the salvation of the world put into his hands. Folks do you understand this? He's given a child.

Now the last time we hear of Joseph Jesus was 12 years of age. Do you remember they took a trip up to sacrifice in Jerusalem. And they lost Jesus. Can you imagine that? They lost him. You're given the plan of God for the salvation of the world.

You think you would have. Can you imagine Joseph and Mary going back to that temple. Can you imagine the discussion. I thought you were looking after the plan of God For the salvation of the world. Well I thought.

I mean he's your son he's not mine. I mean it's your responsibility to look after the plan of God. My wife preached a message one time called losing Jesus. And said they must have felt like the biggest idiots in the history of the world.

They were given the plan of God For the salvation of the world. And they lost it. And folks we can feel that way too sometimes. Now Jesus was in the temple. We know that He was 12 years old. He was astounding to scholars.

He was about his father's business. You can't lose the plan of God for your life. Don't buy the lie of the devil. You might lose sight of it. But the plan of God is still going on in your life. Nothing has stopped.

Now somewhere between the time Jesus was 12 years of age And when he was 30 And began his ministry on the earth. Most believe Joseph died At that time because there's no more mention of him. And you can just imagine when Joseph died On his deathbed.

What was in his heart. Have I failed God. I headed out with a plan of salvation for the world. And all I have to show for my life is one child. Is not even my own. I want you to think this through. I want you to stop and reason it for a moment.

The things that could have been in Joseph's heart. Now it's speculation. The scripture doesn't record it. But he has to be an ordinary person Like you and I. To say God did I fail you. Maybe I assume that Jesus is probably in his 20s At the time that Joseph dies.

And he's on his deathbed. The plan of God is now over 20 years old. Perhaps. And Joseph is saying Did I spend too much time in the carpenter shop With him. Did I not read the scriptures enough. Did I not pray enough.

God you put The plan of salvation for the world into my hands. And nothing materialized on my watch. Nothing happened. He's still making tables And chairs. And here I am dying. Are you displeased with me Lord.

The scripture doesn't tell us why Joseph is removed. But would he have to deal With the displeasure of God. Did I fail you. You know in our time we always want to see the fulfillment. We want to see the fullness.

And it has to happen before us. Or we lose the sense that we've been successful. Think of the apostle Paul for a moment. He starts preaching to crowds In the temples and arenas. It was not always the best of circumstances.

But at least there were crowds. And he's in the temple. Every time he's in the temple he draws a crowd. He draws a crowd in the arena On more than one occasion. And there are Good people Trying to stop him from the journey that he's on.

Because he's starting from a place of Seemingly much influence To a place of insignificance. And even Agabus the prophet tries to stop him On the shores of one of his journey Ties his hands and says Paul Paul the journey you're on.

You're going to end up imprisoned. Look at what you could do here. Look at the numbers of people you could be speaking to. Look at the magnitude of your ministry. And you're heading off on this plan. And this plan is just going to.

What are you going to do Paul. Stand before some demon possessed Caesar that thinks he's God. And end up in jail. And look at all the people here that need you And all the Christians. You see Paul this is where success is.

And Paul says no. Are you trying to break my heart. I have a heart to follow God. In other words. Are you trying to break it with your reasoning. Are you trying to introduce me into men's reasoning. No.

Paul left the crowds. He left the temples. He left the accolades of men. He left the arenas To a prison cell With just a few friends. And in that prison cell all he could do was write To some of the friends he had left behind.

And he didn't despise the day. That appeared to be a small ending. He started big and he was finishing small. He wrote in Philippians 1 .12 from jail. I would that you should understand brethren That the things that happened to me Have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.

Paul said I wish you could understand what I understand. I don't need to know all things. But I do know him Into whose hand I've committed my life and my future. I do believe that all things work together for good To those that love God And are called according to his purpose.

Paul could write this down because He was not driven By having to fulfill some ambition And see it with his own eyes. How could Paul have known That the hand of God was superimposed over his hand. Writing much of our New Testament text.

In a prison cell God would have spoken to Paul and said Paul I have an incredible destiny for your life. And wonderful things are going to be accomplished. Paul didn't know what a printing press was. Paul didn't know that Leather bound Bibles were going to be produced In every language of the world And sent all over the world To hundreds and hundreds of millions of people.

Were going to be reading his letters. And what seemed to be a small ending In the natural was everything but in the spiritual Think of Jesus himself. He was helping and feeding thousands of people. The crowds were following him.

Faithfulness When Greatness Looks Small

He had the accolades. When he would meet in a house There would be so many people. They'd have to let sick people down Through a roof on a stretcher. And he ends up alone Almost on a cross. Mary is there His mother and John is there.

And there's a few associates who are far off. The voice of the tormentor trying to convince him That his life and mission were both a failure And a disappointment to God. Don't think he didn't have to endure this.

Remember they said he trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he will have him. For he said I am the son of God. Some mission. You can see the devil himself there. Saying Jesus I showed you the kingdoms of the world.

In an instant If it was about ruling and reigning You could have had it. All you had to do is agree with me. And my reasoning that there's another way to do this. But by strict obedience to God And by trusting in God.

Now you trusted in God. And you turned down the offer to rule The kingdoms of this world. And now you're ending up alone. A failure. A great beginning seemingly Finishing with a small ending. And you and I of course know the story.

And the point is simply this That God sees the whole picture. While we in our own eyes see only A little part. That's the problem with humanity. Go to Hebrews chapter 11 please. With me in the New Testament.

Are you starting to get this? We see only a little part. God is building a hundred million piece puzzle On the earth. A huge beautiful picture. And every one of us have a little part in that. But you ever notice.

You ever walk into somebody's house. And they have a thousand piece puzzle That they put together on the dining room table. And one piece is missing. It doesn't matter If there are 999 pieces in that puzzle It's the one that's missing That draws your attention right away And it has marred the whole picture.

And because that piece of the puzzle is missing You can't frame that picture. You can't display it. Because everybody will just say Well where's that piece. There's a piece missing in the puzzle. Do you understand?

There's a thousand people More or less in the lower sanctuary here today. Do you realize that. You're an important part of what God is doing In the earth. You can't be missing in the final picture. Now look at Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8.

By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place Which he should after receive for an inheritance Obeyed and went out not knowing whether he went. By faith he sojourned in a land of promise As in a strange country Dwelling in tabernacles or tents With Isaac and Jacob The heirs with him of the same promise.

It's a strange country for sure to the people of this world. For he looked for a city which has foundations Whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength And conceived seed And was delivered of a child when she was past age.

Because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one And him as good as dead As many as the stars of the sky And multitude in the sand Which is by the seashore innumerable.

These all died in faith Not having received the promises But having seen them afar off And were persuaded of them And embraced them And confessed that they were strangers And pilgrims on the earth. Now people of this earth have to see to be successful.

The glossies have to be there. The name has to be on the marquee. The crowds have to be in attendance. There has to be something tangible and visible. But these died not having received the promise. Can you imagine that?

Think of Abraham for a moment. The Lord takes him out of his tent one day and says Look at the stars in the sky. He says I'm going to If you can count them. These are your descendants. And go to the seashore and count the grains of sand.

There are going to be so many people born from you Into this world. And not only will there be that many people But the whole world will be blessed through you. And so Abraham takes his journey from his home.

And he's traveling. And when he comes to the end of his journey He's telling people along the way. You know God I'm sure he did. You know God gave me a promise God's going to bless me. And my descendants are going to be as numerous As the stars in the sky.

And through my life The whole world is going to be blessed. How would you like to travel Brooklyn or the Bronx with that declaration? Going down the hallway of your apartment or in your workplace. Well in the beginning it was probably exciting.

And as time went on Especially when he got to old age He's got one child. One child. I mean can you imagine getting to the end Of your life's journey. Having started with that big a promise. And you end up with one child.

Now he's got Ishmael that doesn't count. Because that's a child of human effort. He's got one child by faith Called Isaac. But how. How would the picture be marred If that child were not born? When he was holding Isaac Did he have any idea he was holding The DNA of Jesus Christ The son of God Who had come from the loins of this child.

Did he have any idea That there was going to be a church born You and I. Actually he was holding in his arms. Did he have any idea That the small finish was not as small As he thought it was going to be.

In the natural we'd like to see a big finish. Abraham I'm sure in the natural Would like to have died with ten thousand. At least it would be a little more of a A shot at fulfilling the promise In the sense that God gave him.

But he dies with one child. You know that helps me to understand Why Esau Didn't want this promise. I mean Abraham Dwelt in tents Not seeing the promise but embracing it. Isaac dwelt in tents. And then of course the next inheritor was Esau.

But Esau was the kind of a man that said I want the kingdom now. I want influence and power And wealth and I want it now. I don't want to live in tents With this far off promise Being persuaded and embracing and confessing.

You see Esau was not a stranger And pilgrim to the ways of the earth. He wanted his inheritance now. He wanted it all now. And that's still folks in the hearts of men To want it now. To want to be successful now.

To want to be prosperous now. To want everything accolades now. Influence and authority now. That's what Esau wanted. He didn't want to have it by promise. He wanted it in his hand. And so when it came time To trade off his birthright For a bowl of stew.

It was an easy thing for him Because he traded it off in his heart. Long before I remember the man who won me to Christ. He was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer Came to my house for I think about two or three months Every Wednesday.

And uh Just kept reaching out to me. Just kept reaching out and reaching out In spite of how obstinate I was And argumentative I was And how much I scorned and scoffed. He just simply kept coming to my house And didn't give up his post As it was.

And finally after this season He won me to Christ. He got me to read the Gospel of John. And on the way to work one day I pulled over on the side of the road And gave my life to Jesus Christ. I'd given him such a hard time folks.

He didn't believe it when I told him I got saved. He looked right in the eye and said I don't believe you. Because he thought it was just another game That I was playing with him. And I remember when I told him no it's for real.

I pulled over and I gave my life to Jesus. I remember his hands started to shake Opened his briefcase and took out these Billy Graham things Called Now That You've Received Christ. And we immediately started into discipleship.

And he's dead now. But I remember years later talking to him And he was lamenting. He said you know you're the only one I ever won to the Lord. And he was sad about it. You know number one. You know that made me feel like A sort of lunch bag let down in the kingdom of God.

And secondly I can just see When he appeared before the throne of God And saying Lord I'm just so sorry I wish I could have done more. He was a faithful man. He stayed in the same church from the time he was saved Till the time he died He served there faithfully.

And I can see him Standing before the throne of God Saying Lord I had such plans And dreams and ambitions. And I had so wished my life could have done more. But you see I only led one guy to you. And the Lord says no Norv It's much bigger than that.

You don't understand something. You see the man you led to me Led a few others. And a few others led a few others. And a few others led a few others And a few others led a few others. It goes like this folks You lead somebody to Christ And that person leads two.

And those two lead four. Those four lead sixteen. Those sixteen lead thirty two. And when you get to the throne of God None of that would have happened had you not led that one. It's the same principle Of ending up alone in a prison Or dying alone on a cross Or finishing with one child.

We have the impression That our whole life it has to be about now. But the Lord says no it's not just about now. Everybody that you've led to Christ All these ones that come after Are all your children Your grandchildren Your great-great-grandchildren.

And you and I bear a part of the reward. For every person that comes to Christ Through everyone that we won to Christ When you get there It's one part of a huge picture. Those who win in the kingdom of God They finish the race.

Not the way They might once have thought they should But know inside that we've faithfully Finished what God gave us to do. There's a day coming Of reward. There's a judgment seat That not the ungodly.

This is not the judgment of the ungodly But the judgment of those who are believers In Christ. You and I will be there one day. And I don't know how many are going to be there. I'm guessing it's in the hundreds of millions.

And time is no more. So it doesn't matter. Nobody has to go to bed. Nobody gets hungry. We're all in the presence of God. And names are going to be called. And everything we've done Will be judged on a scale of truth And will be rewarded accordingly.

The Bible says some will be saved. Yet their works will burn As by fire. But they themselves will be saved. Jesus seemed to indicate In the gospels at this time. Many who are last are going to be first.

And many who are first are going to be last. He judges righteously. It's not by volume. It's not by numbers. It's not by sight. But it's by purity, motive, by trust and obedience. The fact that we did What we were called to do On this earth folks.

Oh what a shock that's going to be. I've got a secret that God's spoken into my heart. It brings me joy Because it makes me know That God is just, he's true, he's holy. He's right, he does things In righteousness and in truth.

If we were in a convention Today and rewards were Being given out. The rank and file of the church Would all be sitting there. And most would feel like I'm just a body That's attended here to occupy a seat.

And all the guys with the fancy suits And all the ones with the big churches They're all going to be called first. And they're all going to be given rewards. Five cities, four cities, ten cities. Now folks, I don't do what I do for reward.

If God chooses to do that Then that's fine with me, that's alright. But honestly The thought doesn't appeal to me. I have all my hands full Just pastoring this church. I can't even fathom governing ten cities.

I guess the Lord will have to give Some supernatural ability If we're ever going to do stuff like that. Now folks, listen to me. Suddenly Names start to be called in heaven. And the angels are going to be rejoiced.

And the created beings Will most likely be there. Seraphims, the cherubs All of these things will be there. And then suddenly The moment heaven is waiting for Names are going to be called. And all the big players have clambered And taken the best seats, I have no doubt about that.

And suddenly the first name is called Mary Johnson from Times Square Church. Stand please. And everybody is going who in the world. Who's Mary Johnson, Times Square Church. Who is that. And then all of a sudden Mary stands.

Mary, you worked in the nursery. Mary, you were given The care Of a few children. And you took it on with all your heart. And you poured everything you had Into these little ones And through you. They knew they were loved And they knew they were cared about.

And you prayed And you didn't let them go. And you believed God and you fought for them In your spirit and you prepared Even though they were 2, 3, and 4 years old. You sowed something of life In these children.

You've been faithful in a few things. Now I'll make you ruler Over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord. And all the angels start shouting. All the cherubim start shouting in heaven. And there's a stunned silence.