DESPISE NOT SMALL THINGS Devotion 9 of 24 The times in which we are living are remarkably like those of our text. In the past, the foundations have been laid, with redemptive truths again being established. Whatever opposition may be raised against the Reformation Movement, it did reestablish the centrality of Christ's atonement, the effectiveness of justification, and the superiority of faith to works. The Wesleyans, and kindred movements, helped to lay down the foundation of holiness. The Campbells awakened the Christian community to the centrality of the Scriptures and the effectiveness of the unity of the faith. There have been movements that reaffirmed the role of the Holy Spirit in God's great salvation. As in Zeruabbabel's day, a foundation was being laid that was functional once before. But it had been destroyed. Spiritual foundations had been covered with the dust of cold and heartless tradition and formalism. The church-states that dominated the Christian world leaned more toward the praise of men than the praise of God, and toward works rather than faith. As a result, religion became mere superstition, and the Christian masses sat in great darkness. – Tomorrow:
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the LORD, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth." Zechariah 4:8-10, NKJV
This foundational work was vigorously opposed, and the building was largely brought to a grinding halt. First the enemies of the cross sought to join in the effort, offering their wisdom and ways to assist in the work of the Lord. Leaders, particularly those of our time, do not have the wisdom and courage of Zerubbabel and his colleagues. They have allowed the linguists, motivators, educators, organizers, and psychologists to bring their godless ways into the church – to say nothing of the entertainers, and even the immoral. These have brought influences within the church that have neutralized its power, moving it closer to the earth than to heaven. As a whole, there is no marked distinction between the Christian and non-Christian world. Then tend to think the same, appear the same, speak the same, and act the same. We continue to live with efforts to blend light and darkness, righteousness and unrighteousness, and temporal with eternal. On the whole, the building of the house of God has come to a grinding halt. There is a lot of religious activity, but it is more in Babylon than Jerusalem, and is not even close to the foundation. What presents itself to the world today as "the church" is like a devastated Jerusalem, with its walls in shambles and its gates burned with fire. The foundation is there, but the build has not been finished.
The Christian world has learned to live with division, something Jesus said was the unavoidable prelude to a fall. The Savior said that whether a kingdom or a house, something divided "shall not stand" (Matt 12:25). Ignoring His words, men have dignified the division of reference by giving themselves names – denominational names. Some have the audacity to say their group is really the only group, and that all of the others are simply fabrications. But even these small and unimpressive groups are divided within themselves. They have subgroups that condemn each other, completely oblivious to the word of our Lord, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls" (Luke 11:17).
But our day has degenerated far beneath the times of Zerubbabel. In his day, at least the people acknowledged a single foundation. They all knew where it was, and that the house had to be built upon it. The situation we have on our hands is that of multiple foundations, scattered about amidst the skeletons of the religious world. There is, in fact, only one foundation, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 3:11).
Refusing to accept that circumstance, religious men have gone off into the desert of alienation laying other foundations. Some use the church itself as a foundation, with all of their primary doctrines centering in it. Some use Jehovah as the foundation, presented a grossly distorted representation of Deity, then gathering all of their teaching around that distortion. Still, others build on the foundation of the Holy Spirit. With them, that is where everything must be gathered and built. There is also the Bible foundation, which treats the Word of God as a mere set of rules – a sort of handbook of human conduct and church organization. Some few have even built upon the foundation of holiness, making that their emphasis, and making sure all teaching intersects at some point with their view of being holy. There is even the foundation of appearance, where numbers are the fundamental thing, and everything is geared toward size, health, wealth, and success in the eyes of the world. There are some who make evangelism – a word that is not even in the Bible – a foundation. All of their activity and theology are gathered upon that single emphasis.
None of the above things are wrong of themselves – in fact, when seen properly, they are all right. But none of them are appropriate for a foundation, and the house of God cannot be built upon one or all of them. God's house is too large to fit upon such small foundations. It can only be built upon Jesus Christ, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col 2:9).
If one can see it, every legitimate perception and activity is found in Christ Jesus. Nothing that is needed is forfeited by emphasizing Him. Of course, in that very emphasis, all of the erroneous foundations must be abandoned. The truth of the matter is that some foundation is going to have to be left behind. It had better not be the one God has put in place.
Of course, the described conditions are not obvious to the unlearned and ignorant. However, the effects of these divisions and lopsided theologies are a source of discouragement to those who are living by faith. Their souls have been robbed by the presence of the worldly- wise. Their eyes have been dimmed by the dust of their fleshly words and manners. They long for the work of the Lord to be brought to completion for the glory of their God. They know it will not be done by forging alliances with the ungodly. One can scarcely find a mature believer in our country that is not experiencing great dissatisfaction with the religious scene. These are the people to whom this series of devotions is addressed. They are the ones who need to be encouraged. They are the ones who must be assured the work will be finished, in spite of the current state of things.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, send laborers into Your fields that will focus on the one Foundation You have put in place, then build upon it people who are like gold, silver, and precious stones – people that will stand the test of the day of judgment.