Times-promoter., 1903-01-09

by My Spirit, saith the Lore of Hosts. -
Zech. 4:6:
God works in mysterious way
His wonders to perform
The magic wand or the good fair,
of my boyhood story book always helt
a peculiar fascination for me. Tha
the simple waving of the rod in tht
hands of the little creature could ac
complish such wonderful things sc
easily and so quickly impressed me
very deeply, and sighed for the fairy's
talisman that would make of life such
an easy problem. 1t seemed such q
desirable thing to be able to do things
as the fairy did, and my imaginative
mind pictured all the good deeds
would perform if the fairy's wand were
placed in my hand. Little then did !
think, as l pored over the fascinat-
ing stories and spent hours in idle
dreaming, that the wonderful things
in the fairy story had their realization
in the spiritual realm, and that the
potency of the fairy's wand was as
nothing in comparison with the mar
velous operations of the Spirit of God.
1t was the Spirit Of God moving
through the rod in Moses hand
which wrought such mighty wonders
in the presence of Pharaoh, which
opened a way through the Red sea-
which made the hard rocks of the will
derness yield their gushing waters,
which gave the Israelite the victory
over the Amalekites. 1t was the Spirit
of God that circled the city of Jericho
in answer to the obedient tread of
Gods people and that rang out in the
shout and the trumpet blast and laid
the massive walls of the heather
stronghold low upon the ground. 1t
was the Spirit of God that moved in the
times of the judges and wrought
mighty deliverances for Gods op-
pressed people. 1t was the Spirit of
God which on the day of Pentecost
transformed a handful of simple
hearted, ignorant disciples into fluent
linguists preaching the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in every known tongue. It was
the Spirit of God which wrought such
mighty wonders through the instru-
mentality of the disciples in the early
days of the church. 1t is the Spirit OF
God Whose tracings can be discovered
through the sacred pages of
Gods Word from Genesis to Revela-
ton
There are two reasons why man
fails to understand and appreciate the
operations of the Spirit of God: First.
because he does not know Gods will, |
and, second, because he is an alien
from the Righteousness of God; for the |
Spirit of God always operates along
the line of Gods will and moves within |
the sphere of His perfect righteous
ness: In this materialistic age mans |
will shuts out the vision of the will of
God and mans self-righteousness and
self-esteem render him insensible to
the righteousness of God, and hence
the might and power" of man is un-
July magni&ed and emphasized and
The workings of Gods Spirit are lost
sight of. But nevertheless it is the
eternal and Interchangeable truth of
'od that it is mot by might, nor by
power of man." but by the Spirit of
dod, that the purposes of God are
wrought out through men.
Lerubba bel, to whom the words of
'ur text were sent through the proph-
It Zechariah, had been called to a
great work by the Lord. The task of
'ebuilding the wall around Jerusalem
nd the restoring of the temple had
ested upon him. After the first burst
# enthusiasm of the people incident to
he return from captivity and the rees-
ablishment of their homes in Jerusa-
EN-, the work Of rearing the city's pro-
Getting wall and restoring the temple
agged. Zerubba bel felt the burden of
he gigantic task. AS Christian peo-
lie are always so prone to do, he came
feel that he was carrying the burden
II alone. That it all depended upon
i'm, if the walls were completed and
he temple reconstructed And in
roportion as he took his eyes off God
nd looked within himself for the pow
and ability to carry on the great
7ork, he became discouraged and per-
aps was almost ready to give up in
isgust. He did not have the sympathy
nd cooperation of the inhabitants of
be city as was his right to demand
nd expect. He doubtless tried to push,
nd drive them to the completion of
le task which he knew God had set
i'm to accomplish. Perhaps he set to
colding them in the impatience of his |
Perhaps he went as ;
IT as some Christians do when facing
ificulties similar to those of Zerub- !
abel, and threatened to quit and go
ack to the easier surroundings of the
'abylonian home. And Just at the |
oint when he fully realized how ut i
srly helpless he was to accomplish the !
! |