"Not by strength"
Then he said to me, "This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.(Zechariah 4:6 NLT)
How do things get accomplished in the kingdom of God? How are missionaries sent, churches planted, the gospel shared, & lives changed? It is undoubtedly through the people of God partnering with God in his work. But it must be more than this as well. For the scope of human ability falls short in the end.
Many of the people have returned from exile in Babylon to rebuild the temple as well as Jerusalem. There are many things that have to be done & the manpower to build such a structure is enormous. But the key element in the rebuilding process has nothing to do with human beings. It has nothing to do with human engineering. It has nothing to do with human effort. It has everything to do with the Spirit of God.
"It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies."
The only way the temple will be built is in the power & ability of the Holy Spirit of God. And the only way that we build the kingdom is by the Spirit as well.
The book of Acts has traditionally been called "The Acts of the Apostles." But it is better described as "The Acts of the Holy Spirit" because the Spirit is the star of the show. It is only by the Spirit of God that the church is built. Before the Spirit comes the church is a few people locked in an upper room scared for their lives. But after the Spirit comes they are ready to give their lives and many do.
And so, if we want to be involved in kingdom work with God, we must rely on the Spirit and his work in our work. We must work, yes, but it must be Spirit-filled to be built.
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