Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1747
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, October 28, 1883
“Thus says the LORD of Hosts: If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, will it also be marvelous in My eyes? says the LORD of Hosts.” Zechariah 8:6.
GOD sent His servant Zechariah with a promise that Jerusalem should be rebuilt and that it should enjoy a time of great peace and prosperity. Instead of men being slain in battle in the prime of their days, old men and old women were to dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, “every man with his staff in his hand for very age.” And whereas war had often cut off the women and the children, the promise further added, “the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.” Everything was to be prosperous in the land around, so as to bring plenty into the city—“For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.”
It was a sweet assurance and it ought to have made them very happy, but it did not. When this gracious promise came, it startled the people, for it seemed past belief! The unbelievers did not say, point blank, “This promise is not true,” but deep in their brains they thought as much. It is not the general habit of unbelief among God’s people to give a flat contradiction to His promises—we are hardly honest enough to our own thoughts to express them with deliberate plainness of speech—even unbelief loves to wear some cobweb covering or other so that its naked deformity may not appear. Our reverence for the Lord will not permit us to distinctly call Him a liar, but it comes to much the same thing, for in our heart of hearts we deny the truthfulness of His Word.
The remnant of Israel said, “How can this thing be? In these days, in these troublous days, in these threatening days, how can Jerusalem be made to prosper? Former hopes have been disappointed. We see no better signs of the times and no doubt, if our hopes are now raised, they will again be disappointed. How can the city rise from its ashes? We can hardly think it possible! At any rate, it will be marvelous, extremely difficult, exceedingly unlikely, indeed, impossible!” They did not say dogmatically, “It will not be,” but they said, “It will be a marvelous thing”—by which they meant that it was not in the least likely. You who carry Bibles with you which have the marginal readings, will notice that in the margin there is the word, “difficult,” and the text may be read thus, “Thus says the Lord of Hosts: If it is difficult in your eyes, will it also be difficult in My eyes?”
This is the only instance in which the word, “difficult,” occurs in our version of the Bible, and in this case it is only to be found in the margin. There is too much of God in the Bible for difficulties to live in it! I would be very glad if I could always put the word, “difficult,” into the margin of my life and never let it stand in the substance of it. I wish my faith would banish it. Difficulty does crop up, now and then, through unbelief, but where God manifests Himself, difficulty vanishes! Leave it in the margin, Brothers and Sisters! Leave it in the margin! Let it not be read in the annals of your actual life. A brave self-reliance blots the word, “difficult,” out of its dictionary and a full God-reliance may much more safely do so. If God is for us, all things can be accomplished. Things impossible with men are possible with God!
The remnant of Israel said, “It will be difficult,” but then they softened the words a little, and said, “It will be marvelous in our eyes.” Still, it came to this—they did not believe the Word of the Lord. They could not conceive how the promise could be fulfilled and, therefore, because it surpassed their conception, they supposed that the Lord was equally non-pleased and perplexed. Because the restored prosperity of Jerusalem would be a great wonder, they doubted if it could ever be accomplished! Yet, blessed be the name of the Lord, it was accomplished, for, “though we believe not, He abides faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” It certainly was a marvelous thing that Jerusalem, after having been so dreadfully destroyed, should again lift up its head and enjoy a little period of sunlight—but we are called upon to believe in even greater wonders—wonders of a spiritual kind which are more difficult to believe than material miracles!
I am going to talk about what to every intelligent and awakened mind will be the greatest wonder of all, namely, the possibility of our salvation by faith which is in Christ Jesus. Satan will assail you who are saved and you who are seeking to be saved. And he will aim a blow at your faith. If he does not dare to tell you in his own native tongue of point-blank lying, that the promise which the Gospel makes to the Believer is false, yet he will lead you to think it highly improb-able—too good to be true, too wonderful ever to happen—in a word, he will make it appear marvelous in your eyes and he will hint that it is incredible. So this morning I am going, first, to speak upon carnal reasoning, how it runs. Secondly, to offer a correction to that reasoning by pointing out an untruth which lies at the bottom of it. And, thirdly, I will try, in conclusion, to dwell upon the truth of the matter and see if we cannot enjoy some right reasoning.