Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1569
“And the angel that talked with me came again and awakened me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep and said unto me, What do you see? And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it and it has seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side. And I answered again and said unto him, What are these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Don’t you know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then he said, These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:1-3; 12-14.
THE Prophet, as he tells us in the introduction to His vision, had to be awakened by the angel as one is awakened out of his sleep. His mind was dull and heavy. Perhaps he was weary and worn out. Do you not often feel a similar lethargy from which you need to be awakened before your mind is equal to the study of those Truths which God is revealing to your soul? May it not, then, be well, at the commencement of our meditation, to pray the Lord to awaken us as a man is awakened out of his sleep? A divinely mysterious power can brood over us and quicken us out of lethargy. Have you ever felt it? “Or ever I was aware my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.” I had been slow before, but when the Spirit came, then was fulfilled that ancient proverb, “Draw me and I will run after You.”
The touch of the Holy Spirit makes our faculties strong, our powers of thought are greatly enlarged and we get the key to mysteries which we never had been able to unlock before. Come, blessed Spirit, then, to each one of Your slumbering children at this good hour and awaken us, that we may see what You would set before us! Like young Samuel, whom You called in his sleep, we would, each one, heartily say, ” Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.”
Beloved Friends, we live in a world which is naturally shrouded in darkness. The “Prince of this world,” “the Prince of the power of the air” is a dark spirit loving ignorance and sin! This darkness hovers over all the world as it did over Egypt—a darkness that might be felt is upon the souls of men! We sometimes fear that this gloom will thicken into an awful midnight. When we mix up with men in the ordinary avocations of life and hear their profane language; when we see the angry passions, the earthly propensities and the worldly policies that prevail among people who are held in repute among their fellow creatures, if we are children of God we cannot fail to be distressed that the world should still be so benighted and so destitute of that knowledge which purifies the heart.
Nearly 1,900 years have passed since the blessed feet of our Divine Master touched this globe and yet it still smokes beneath the hoof of the Wicked One! The sun has risen on this Egypt and yet a miserable midnight covers the guilty people. We are apt, therefore, to become somewhat desponding, lest the Light of the knowledge of God should gradually wane—till at length it shall utterly die out. What, then, would become of the world? If the one golden candlestick were taken out of its place—if those who are the light of the world should all be removed and if the sure Word of Prophecy which is like unto a light that shines in a dark place, should become extinct—what, then, would be the horrible darkness?
Now, I think the vision of Zechariah may remove all fear on that score. Rest you well assured that the lighthouse which God has lighted to guide men across the boisterous sea and preserve them from the peril of eternal shipwreck shall have its lamps trimmed throughout all time! Until the “Sun of Righteousness” shall rise, that lantern shall never go out, for the Lord will take care that the Light of God shall still shine, notwithstanding all that the powers of darkness may
do, or devise to extinguish it. This one thought I beseech you so to grasp that it may strengthen your faith and comfort your hearts—the light of God’s Grace has been kindled never to be quenched! To this end I invite your attention to the interesting parable contained in the marvelous vision which Zechariah the Prophet beheld and described.
I. First, turn aside and see this great sight! Look, I beseech you, at THE WONDERFUL LAMP WHICH GOD HAS
PROVIDED TO LIGHT THE SONS OF MEN. “He said unto me, What do you see? And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it and it has seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to its seven lamps, which are upon the top.” Here is a candlestick that must challenge the notice of all who gaze at it, for it is of costly material and curious form—the work of wisdom fitted for the Holy Place of the tabernacle of the Most High! It resembles the candlestick whose pattern Moses received from God and yet, in some respects, it differs, as we shall see.