Who hath despised the day of small things? (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] As the Lord shall be pleased to help me, I shall call your attention to a subject you will find in the book of Zechariah.

[0:15] Chapter 4 And the first sentence in the 10th verse For who hath despised the day of small things?

[0:36] Chapter 4, the book of Zechariah And the first sentence in the 10th verse This word Which Zechariah the prophet was inspired to proclaim to Israel of old Stands in connection with a memorable chapter In Israel's history Following their return from Babylon's captivity I need not take up time in going into those details For you are all familiar with that return But this word stands especially in connection with the building of another temple in the place of Solomon's temple

[1:42] Which had been destroyed altogether And you will find that when the Israelites returned from Babylon's captivity And had rebuilt Jerusalem's walls Then they established the worship of God And laid the foundation of another house of God But that house of God Was not at all to be compared with Solomon's temple In its glory and beauty And greatness Because it was so much smaller And the strange thing Is that while the foundation was laid And the work began Then there was such opposition From the enemies of Israel Who still abounded in the land of promise That the work was brought to a standstill

[2:45] And there was the house of God begun And the walls up just a little way And it was like that For sixteen or seventeen years And there was no further movement To continue the building of it Such were the fears and faintings among the Israelites At that time Although they were Israelites indeed And then The Lord appeared on Israel's behalf And raised up Zechariah And his brother prophet Haggai And especially Zechariah at this time And he was instructed To proclaim to Israel That they were to go on With building the house of God

[3:47] And that no enemy should hinder it Being brought to a finish As you read in the context Moreover the word of the Lord Came unto me saying The hands of Zechariah Herobabal Have laid the foundation of this house His hands also shall finish it And thou shalt know That the Lord of hosts Hath sent me unto you For who hath despised The day of small things It would seem According to what you read In the book of Ezra Remember That those who remembered Solomon's temple Had got that feeling In their hearts When the foundation of the house Of the Lord was laid And they saw the limitations of it In the book of Ezra You read like this And all the people

[4:50] Shouted with a great shout When they praised the Lord Because the foundation Of the house of the Lord Was laid But many of the priests And Levites In chief of the fathers Who were ancient men That had seen the first house When the foundation of this house Was laid before their eyes Wept with a loud voice And many shouted aloud for joy It was those Who were young in the way Who were shouting for joy That at last there was The beginning of a house of God Going up before their eyes So that the people Could not discern The noise of the shout of joy From the noise of the weeping Of the people For the people shouted With a loud shout And the noise was heard Afar off And now that Is the setting of the subject

[5:52] Here is Zechariah the prophet Ordained of God To give this encouragement To Israel Not to despise the day Of small things Although the house of God Which was now to be built Was not to be compared With Solomon's temple For all that it was As a beauty in the land Yet it was to be The house of God And Haggai said The glory of this latter house Shall be greater than the glory Of the former Sath the Lord And that was brought to pass Because Jesus Christ As verily man Verily God Went in that temple And Read the word of God therein And with a scourge of small cords Drove out the buyers and sellers And the money changers That the house might be made manifest

[6:53] That it was Not a house of merchandise But The house Of God And now that Is the background Of the subject Like the Painters sometimes Great artists They put in a dark background And then the picture They Paint upon it Stands out All the greater In relief And now It might be a help To some of you If grace is given To the preacher To work out This line Of things Because it may be With many of you Especially with some of you Dear Young people As regards your religion You do feel As you survey The evidences of it That it is A day of small things In your soul's experience And it may be Sometimes You may be tempted And tried As to whether

[7:55] God has indeed Begun his good work In you at all Because you seem to know So little of him And his truth For who Hath despised The day Of Small things And now In approaching the subject I would look First of all At how God Throughout the word Of God Has often made use Of small things And that is to teach us A great truth That God Does not despise The day Of small things And therefore You and I Must not despise it Wherever It is to be seen Wherever you Observe What seems to be The root of the matter Welling up In a poor sinner's breast And showing Corresponding fruit Although it may be As yet Small things

[8:55] You and I Are not to despise it There is a word Which runs like this Though thy beginnings Were small Yet shall thy Latter end Greatly Increase And now You might think Of young Abijah And you are well aware Of young Abijah And he had Some good thing In his heart Toward the Lord God of Israel And it does not say Some great thing No And there is a danger I'm not fitting any caps on I say there is a danger That Sometimes When People have been So well taught Of God And have gone down Into the deep things Of God And have been given A gracious

[9:55] Outstanding Experience That they may have A tendency To despise The day of small Things in others Because it does not Compare With how they feel God has led them Into the truth Yet you see Lydia Whose ear Was opened And her heart And that she Attended to the things Spoken of Paul And was baptized And bore fruit Was a member Of the church At Philippi And there also Was the Philippian Jailer Whose religion Began With an earthquake In the jail And then an earthquake In his conscience But they were Brother and sister In the church Of Christ And you may Depend upon it It was not allowed For the Philippian Jailer To despise Lydia As a sister Because she could Say nothing Whatever About an earthquake

[10:55] In her soul's Experience Dear friends I have lived Long enough To see That this has been Quite a danger In our own Denominational life You must never Set up How God Has taught you If he has In his mercy Taught you By terrible Things in righteousness As the standard Whereby God Is to teach Everybody else Whom he is Pleased to teach No No No God Is a sovereign And regarding The church Of Christ It is said And they shall Be all Taught of God And he is Sovereign In how He teaches And It is recorded Even so It is not The will

[11:56] Of your Father In heaven That one Of these Little ones Should perish And little ones Are those Who when they Come to tell Out what they Hope God Has done For their Soul Can only Tell out What they Feel To be Small Things In their Soul's Experience But it is Not to be Despised God does Not despise It Who are You That you Should sit In judgment On it And despise It No No Except Ye be Converted And become As little Children Ye shall In no Wise Enter Into The Kingdom Of Heaven God Does Own And use And bless The day Of small Things And you

[12:57] Will find If you Read the Word of God From that Viewpoint That Great Events Have Sometimes Hung Upon What Seemed To be Things That Were Trivial And now Just to Illustrate That And help You to Think about It later On Think Think of Joseph Long Ago When he Was In the Pit And as He was Placed Therein He did Not Know But what Even in Time The wild Beast Would Come And that Would be The end Of Joseph And all That he Had felt Before God No No No At that Time The Midianites Passed by Going down Into Egypt And that Was not By chance It may Have seemed A small Thing But it Was in Accordance With Divine Providence And Joseph Was sold As a slave And went Down

[13:57] Into Egypt And there The Lord Brought To pass And worked Out That which He had Made known To Joseph In his Young life That he Would do As his Life Opened up And as He journeyed On Therein For who Was despised The day Of small Things And now To think Again Think of That widow Woman At Zarepha When she Goes at Length To the Barrel Of meal And there Is just A handful Maybe She scraped The bottom Of the Barrel To make It that Amount She holds Up the Cruise Of oil To the Light And there Is only A drop Of oil Small Things And in Her heart She fainted And wondered What the Moral Would bring But God Was already Working on Her behalf And Elijah

[14:59] Was being Wrought upon To do That which God Designed To do And you All know How he Was pleased To work Through Elijah Thus Saith the Lord The barrel Of meal Shall not Waste Neither Shall the Cruise Of oil Fail Until the Day that The Lord Sendeth Rain Upon the Earth And you Will find In the Margin Read In That Elijah Lived under That home Roof With the Widow woman And her Son And he Dwelt There for A whole Year But it Was only Every day As she Scraped the Bottom of The barrel That she Found a Handful of Meals And every Time she Picked up The cruise She found A drop Of oil And so She had To learn What you And I Have to Learn if We are Taught of God That just Shall live By faith Trust in

[16:00] The Lord And do Good So shalt Thou dwell In the Land And verily Thou shalt Be fed For who Hath Despised The day Of Small Things Just Another Illustration I Use And that Is As you Go to The Acts Of the Apostles And read How the Apostle Paul Journied About And came At length To Ephesus And there He found A wee Church As he Arrived To any City He Sought out If there Were any People Taught of God To be Found Therein And when He Arrived To Ephesus He Found There Was A wee Church In Membership Twelve And now The Word of God Does not Record How that Church At Ephesus Was Founded And Gathered Together Who had

[17:00] The Honor To be The Founder Of It But The Apostle Paul Said To Those In That Church At Ephesus Have Ye Received The Holy Ghost Since Ye Believed And the Answer Is Surprising We Have Not So Much As Heard Whether There Be Any Holy Ghost And Now That Was A Day Of Small Things Indeed Here Here Are These Dear People In Church State Following On To Know The Lord Followers Of Jesus Christ But They Did Not Know Whether There Was A Holy Ghost Which Shows That There Can Be Such A Day Of Small Things That People Can Be Right At Heart And Yet When It Comes To Defining Sound Doctrine They Are Not Able To Do It Until Later On As God Is

[18:01] Pleased To Unfold In Their Souls The Heavenly Mysteries And Dear People You Must Keep These Things In Mind That You May Judge Righteous Judgment For Who Hath Despised The Day Of Small Things And Now The Apostle Paul Did Not Despise That Little Church Ephesus Or He Did Not Say I Cannot Begin To Recognize You As Being A Church At All I Have Never Heard Of Such Things As People Having Been Baptized Being Members Of A Church And Not Know Whether There Is A Holy Ghost Or No No No The Apostle Paul Was A Large Hearted Man And The Desired To Do His Master's Will And He Was Helped To Instruct Them More Fully In That Which Is True

[19:01] And That We Church Ephesus Day Of Small Things As It Was Became One Of The Most Outstanding Churches In That Area As You May Read In The Epistle To The Ephesians And Some Years Afterwards Young Timothy According To Church History Was The Pastor Of It But Now I Want To Look At This As It Refers To You Preacher And People Of Life For Who Hath Despised The Day Of Small Things There Are Many Viewpoints Whereby You May Survey Your Soul's Experience I Hope You Do Survey It And Now That Might Even Help You To Thank God And Take Courage If You Do It

[20:03] Is Said Of Mary And She Pondered All These Things In Her Heart And It May Be Some Of You Do Oh You Ponder In Your Heart At Times Your Religion And You Think Can It Be That Which God Is The Author Of You May Feel It Is Such A Day Of Small Things Especially If You Hear Of Others Read Of Others Who Can Tell Out Something Very Definite And Clear Cut So That They Have Got Those Way Marks To Set Up But You Can Hardly Tell When You Were Born Again If You Are You Cannot Tell When The Good Work Was Begun As As As Regards The Date Of It And I Have Come To Believe This That Not Many People Can Do The

[21:03] People That Can Do Amongst People Taught Of God Are Not The Majority They Are The Minority There Is This Line Of Things To Be After The Spirit The Things Of The Spirit To Be Asking The Way To Zion With Our Faces Thitherward Oh How Often I Have Observed In Our Church Meetings When Those Have Come Along To Be One With Us In Our Church Fellowship How Many Of Them Have Had To Say I Cannot Tell When The Good Work Was Begun In Me They Could Not Set A Date To It But They Could Tell Out Those Things Which Made It Evident That They Could Say

[22:03] With Job The Root Of The Matter Is Found In In Me Yes And You Might Remember In The Word Of God Itself There Are Not Many Recorded Therein Where It Is Said When The Good Work Was Begun And Where There Is The Apostle Paul The Dying Thief Could Have Told Us Had He Lived But He Went To Heaven And Rejoiced In The Fruits Of It Being Begun And Finished In A Very Short While When Should You Think The Good Work Was Begun In Joseph When Was That Same Good Work Begun In David And Even When Was It Begun In Young Samuel You Might Look Through The Word Of God And You

[23:03] Will Find Some Of The Most Notable Characters The Word Of God Is Silent On When The Good Work Was Begun And You Really Ought To Say Thank You To God That It Is So Recorded Because If It Was Set Down That Each One Everyone Had Got A Date When He Or She Was Born Again Where Would You Be You Would Be In Heaviness Through Many Fult Temptations That There Was No Good Work Begun In You At All Listen When Ere To Call The Saviour Mine My Soul With Ardent Wish Aspires Can It Be Less Than Power Divine Which Animates These Strong Desires Who Hath Despised The Day Of

[24:04] Small Things You Know Deep Down In Your Heart If You Have Been Brought On The Other Side Of The Line Of Demarcation They That Are After The Flesh Do Mind The Things Of The Flesh And That Is Where You Were Born And How You Lived Till You Were Born Again Then You Found You Were On The Other Side Of The Line They That Are After The Spirit Do Mind The Things Of The Spirit And From That Day Until This Sabbath Morn You Have Been Seeking The Lord Following On To Know The Lord Yes And Although It May Be A Day Of Small Things In Your Souls Experience Hear A Little There A Little Line Upon Line Precept Upon Precept It Is Not To Be Despised

[25:04] No God Does Not Despise It For His Word Is A Bruised Reed He Shall Not Break And Smoke In Flax He Shall Not Quench And He Will Regard The Prayer Of The Destitute And Not Despise Their Prayer Sometimes It May Seem To You To Be A Day Of Small Things When You Hear The Preacher Speaking About What Is Called A Law Work A Law Work Is Phraseology And The Puritans Say Much About A Law Work But What I Want You To Remember Is That The Word Of God Does Not Set Up A Rigid Standard To Which You Must Attain To As Regards A Law Work Some

[26:05] There Are As I Said The Minority Are Taught By Terrible Things In Righteousness And They Are What The Puritans Speak About As Being Shaken In Their Soul's Feelings Over The Mouth Of Hell Itself But You Cannot Begin To Detail Any Such Experience In The Dealings Of God With You And Now What Is A Law Work The Word Of God Tells Us By The Law Is The Knowledge Of Sin The Law Seth To The Sinner Under It Which Is You And The Preacher Too As We Were Born Pay Me That Which Thou Owest Righteousness To Full Perfection Must Be Brought Lacking Nought Fearless Of Rejection The Law Seth Do This Do

[27:05] Not Do That And You Being A Sinner Born Again Although You Hardly Know Whether You Are Or No You Are In Earnest To Have Matters Made Right Between Your Soul And God And You Will Attempt To Do What The Law Commands A But You Will Find With All Your Attempts To Be Better And Do Better That You Can Do Nothing As God Requires Sin Is Mixed With All That You Do And That Brings You Down Bedrock Before God Helpless And Under And Under And Under And Under The Law As Regards Your Soul's Salvation Hopeless For You Approach Unto God Not The Labour Of My Hands Can Fulfill The Law's Demands

[28:06] Naked I Come To Thee For Dress Helpless Look To Thee For Grace And Now That Is The Effect Of A Law Work Whether It Be By Small Things Sometimes It May Take A Long Long While Heir A Sinner Is Stripped Of All His Fancied Meekness To Approach The Dread I Am I Remember One Godly Woman Who Was A Member Of Our Church Here When I First Of All Became Pastor And I Saw Her When She Was On Her Death Bed And In The Last Two Or Three Weeks Of Her Life God Taught Her More About His Law Than She Had Ever Learned All The While Before And Her Name Was On Our Church Rolling Rightly So For Sixty Years But On Her Death Bed God Opened Up The Fountains

[29:06] Of The Great Deep And She Went Deeper Down Into The Publican's Prayer God Be Merciful To Me A Sinner No Sinner Needed Mercy More That Ever Thought Thy Face And Now God May Lead Some Whom He Makes Known His Truth Unto He May Lead Them In A Very Brief Period Of Their Lives Into The Deep Things Of A Law Work But With A Great Majority It Is As I Have Said Here A Little There A Little And You Get Further Openings Up Of It As You Journey On Through Life And It Is To Teach You None But Jesus Can Do Helpful Sinners Good Who Hath Despised The Day Of Small Things And And Just To Help To Help You Dear Young

[30:07] People Over This Viewpoint Of The Subject There Are Two Illustrations Used In The Book Of Hosea Which Have Often Impressed Me And They Are Very Striking As To How God Was Dealing With Israel At That Time When They Were In A Backsliding State And They Follow Each Other I Will Be Unto The House Of Israel As A Lion And A Little Lower Down I Will Be To The House Of Israel As A Moth And Now Could You Think Of A Greater Contrast In How A Lion Goes To Work In A Terrifying Way And How A Moth Goes To Work And Now That Is How It Is With A Law Work With Some God Deals As A Lion But

[31:08] With Many It Is As A Moth And There The Moth Goes To Work Fretting Away At The Garment Maybe The Housewife Has Not Been To The Cupboard Where It Is For A While And She Goes At Length And Takes Out The Garment And Lo It Is Ruined No Lion Has Roared To Denote What Was Happening All Has Been Done Quietly Without Any Noise Whatever But The Ruin Has Been Wrought And So It Is That Sinners Are Humbled Before God And Brought Down Sometimes God Deals With Them As A Lion And Sometimes He Works Like A Moth But Every Sinner Taught Of God Comes Down At Length To This If My Soul Is Sent To Hell Thy Righteous

[32:08] Law Approves It Well And Now When You Get There You Know What Is The Foundation Truth Of Our Most Holy Faith Salvation Is Of The Lord By Grace Are You Saved Through Faith In That Not Of Yourselves It Is The Gift Of God Not Of Works Lest Any Man Should Boge For Who Hath Despised The Day Of Small Things And Now You May Feel It To Be A Day Of Small Things As Regards Your Knowledge Of The Truth You Go Back Over Your Life You Remember How It May Be All Your Life You Have Been Under The Gospel From Baby Days On Going Up Through The Sabbath School And Being Taught From The Word Of God There But When You Come To Weigh

[33:08] Matters Up As You Journey On Through Life And Look Back Over The Way You Have Come Along How Little Do You Seem To Know Of God And Godliness And The Devil May Suggest That What You Do Know Is That Which You Have Just Gleaned Along Life's Way By Dint Of Intellectual Study And That It Is Not By Revelation Whereby It Can Alone Be Right And Yet Every Day You Are Still Asking Lead Me Into Thy Truth And Teach Me Oh Send Out Thy Light And Thy Truth Let Them Lead Me Let Them Bring Me To Thy Holy Hill And To Thy Tabernacles Who Hath Despised The Day Of Small Things Sometimes

[34:08] You Are Helped Like This Could I Joy Is Saints To Know Choose The Ways I Once Abhorred Find At Times The Promise Sweet If I Did Not Love The Lord And That Is A Good Argument For What You Are By Nature Will Never Allow You To Use Such Language For What You Are By Nature Uses Other Language We Will Not Have This Man To Rain Over Us Depart From Us We Desire Not The Knowledge Of The Or Thy Ways Who Wath Despised The Day Of Small Things Another Thing Whereby You Will Find It Is A Day Of Small Things In Your Soul Experience Is Regarding Your Faith Oh As You

[35:08] Read The Word Of God How You Were Brought To Way Matters Up And How You Feel How Apposite How Necessary Is That Petition Lord Increase Our Faith The Hymn Writer Says And You Know How True It Is It Is True About You It Is True About Me Our Faith Is Feeble We Confess We Faintly Trust Thy Word But Wilt Thou Pity Us The Less Be That Far From The Lord He Said To His Disciples O Ye Of Little Faith He Did Not Say What You Might Have Thought He Could Have Said According To Their Behaviour At That Time O Ye Of No Faith At All But He Diserned There Was Faith A Day Of Small Things It Was

[36:08] Little Faith Lord Increase Our Faith Sometimes You Will Find That Faith Is Made Manifest Like This And That Is Indeed A Day Of Small Things Not To Be Despised When You Can Say With Jonah Though I Am Cast Out Of Thy Sight I Will Look Again Toward Thy Holy Temple And When You Can Join With Job Though He Slay Me Yet I Will Trust In Him For Who Wath Despised The Day Of Small Things And Now You May Sometimes Feel Your Hope In God Is Only Small Things

[37:09] As Regard Evidences Of It Maybe Some Of You Dear Young People Feel Like That And If You Could Feel Otherwise You Might Even Venture To Be Found In Our Church Fellowship of it. There is what is called the full assurance of hope. And now that is a day of great things. When you know that you have indeed an interest in Calvary's cross and what was done thereon when you can say for me, oh miracle of grace for me the Saviour bled. Eh? But it speaks like this about the patience of hope.

[38:24] There is where you have a little hope and you are learning to live like the hymn writer says. How beautiful is that setting forth of the life of the righteous too. All through the wilderness below good hope expects more good to know and thus is kept alive the soul.

[38:46] But then if your hope seems to be a day of small things and Satan may suggest that God is not the author of it the word of God speaks like this who against hope believed in hope.

[39:09] And there is a great scripture in the epistle to the Romans chapter 8 for we are saved by hope.

[39:22] And now dear friends, both young and old alike let us get down to bedrock. What was it brought you along this Sabbath morn? It was not just because it was the Sabbath day and all your life you have come up to worship God with many of you it was hope that brought you in your petitions before God with whom you have to do ere you set out there was a desire ascending that there might be some help afforded you in the worship of God that your hope might be strengthened brightened and that you might have a good day.

[40:11] Yes I seek and hope to find a portion for my soul and if you only find a small portion a little help in singing the songs of Zion or in the public prayer or just a little that you get under the preaching of the gospel who hath despised the day of small things you must not despise it no and if you get as low as this cold as I feel this heart of mine yet since I feel it so it yields some hope of life divine within however low for who hath despised the day of small things and now one thing you will feel of a truth to be small things if you feel like the pastor does and that is your attempts to pray oh how good it would be if you and I in drawing near to God could more often realise largeness of heart and get on the right side of what the hymn writer says there were coming to a king large petitions with thee bring for his grace and power were such none can ever ask too much but you may be troubled because in your attempts to pray you cannot put words together to express what you feel before God and to you it is indeed a day of small things and yet what do you sing sometimes those feeble desires and wishes so weak tis Jesus inspires and bids you still seek yes another viewpoint of it is this often our prayers do seem to be a day of small things what about our praises oh you think about your praises and you know how very rare is the experience when you can praise God from whom all blessings flow as you desire in the fullness of it you do put words of praise together but you do want out of the abundance of the heart for the mouth to speak and that seems to be a rare experience and yet it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name oh thou most high but do remember this when you try to say thank you to God your words may be very ill put together you cannot describe just what you feel but you can appeal to God with whom you have to do oh Lord thou knowest and he does and he knows that deep down in your heart you do desire to humble yourself before him the majesty of heaven and give thanks for what he has been pleased to do for you along life's way and what you humbly hope he has done in carrying on his good work in you and he will not despise it as a day of small things because you cannot praise him with a psalm completely no no there is this scripture

[44:11] which you might think over it is accepted according to what a man hath and not according to what a man hath not but when you do find your heart warm and gratitude meeting in your spirit do you make the most of it and give unto God the glory that is due unto his holy name for who hath despised the day of small things and now it might seem to you when you look back over life's journey especially if you light on that word in Jeremiah which you know the pastor so often quotes set the way marks make the eye heaps set thine heart again toward the highway you might feel alas my way marks they only seem to be small things and even then they seem to be so few and far between but then if they are indeed way marks as you humbly hope and that of which you can say this is the finger of God look at the word itself way mark it is a mark that you are in the way the way to God the right way and what a mercy that is and if as yet your way marks seem to be but few who can tell but what God will be gracious unto you and you will yet set up many more who will despise the day of small things oh you must not despise it you must remember that good man of old he seems a very striking character

[46:10] Eliezer when he went to search out a wife for Isaac and what did he say when he saw the hand of God upon him for good in the way he was helped to go along he said I being in the way the Lord met with me and brought me to the house of my master's brethren in the Lord and now you can argue in the way the Lord met with me even in his house of prayer in the gospel being made a reality in my soul and in the singing of the songs of Zion when you have made melody in your heart and when in the public prayer you have walked in agreement with the preacher and walked with God being in the way the Lord has met with you and in your everyday life are you going to say the

[47:21] Lord has never met with you who has despised the day of small things treasure up every way mark every eye heap every Ebenezer and remember what you can look back over life's journey and see God has been pleased to do for you only makes manifest that he will be pleased to do yet much more for you than he has already done as you journey on he has delivered he does deliver and we trust he will yet deliver us there is just another viewpoint of this for who hath despised the day of small things and now you may think your sphere in life is a day of small things sometimes this needs very cautious wording but I'm bound to set it before you sometimes there may come a temptation to you that you ought to be doing something bigger and better than what you were doing and that you ought to branch out launch out and that if you were in a larger sphere you could do more for

[48:49] God when you have any feelings like that you do need to take your shoes from off your feet for the place where on you stand is holy ground and you need especially to wait on God like David hold up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not it may be where you are is where God has designed you to be and though your sphere in life as you view it is a day of small things it is a day of real things it is where God has ordained you should be to be useful and do his will in serving him where you are and it is not to be despised it is very difficult ground to stand on when you begin to be discontented with where you are and think if you could be this or that then you could serve

[50:02] God much better in such a sphere than where you are there is in that a great danger and it may be Satan is seeking to gain some advantage of you who was despised the day of small things remember that word in Ezekiel's prophecy where God says of Israel in their return to the land of promise and I will place them and I will place them and it is a great mercy sometimes to have a humble hope that where you are is where God has placed you the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way yes and as regard you being in another sphere therein you need the ark of the covenant to go before you and the moving of the cloud that you may see it is what

[51:09] God's will is for you to do and meanwhile being where you are who hath despised the day of small things and now if it should be as it no doubt is with quite a few of you a day of small things in your soul's experience what are you to do you can thank God and take courage that it is a day of small things the day has dawned in your soul's experience we are not of the night or of darkness we are the children of the day and if the day had not dawned in your soul the good work being begun therein you would not feel as you do about the evidences that you weigh up before God and sometimes conclude they're just small things but they are what God has wrought the great thing to be concerned about is real things yes the soul that with sincere desires seeks after

[52:32] Jesus Jews love that soul the Holy Ghost inspires with breathings from above and would you see greater things in your soul's experience the Lord help you to wait on him give him no rest till he brings to pass such a desire in your soul and remember Elijah when he was on Mount Carmel and he sent his servant to look toward the sea and tell him what he saw and he came back on his first visit and said there is nothing and six times did he return and say there is nothing and he said go again and the seventh time he said I see a cloud as big as a man's hand arising out of the sea and that was the token for good

[53:35] Elijah had waited on God to receive it was only a cloud as big as a man's hand just imagine that on the eastern sky but the servant saw it it was indeed a small thing apparently but Elijah says it tells there is abundance of rain yes and now coming to the amen what do we read there is a word here which will help you and he said so is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself first the blade then the ear after that the full corn in the ear and now you dear young people look at this picture and remember how there is the teaching of God set forth in it as if a man should cast seed into the ground that is all the man can do the sower soweth the word the husband man sows the corn and when he has done that he has to wait on God and leave the issue with God

[55:11] God has guaranteed there to be a harvest but having sown the seed the husband man can do no more God does all that is in between seed time and harvest for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself first the blade and now you see in late October when the winter corn is coming up good it is to see it when the sun shines across the fields and you see the field is greening but it is a day of small things there is the green blade the foot may tread it down winter with all its storms will rage over it but the seed has germinated the blade is the evidence yes first the blade oh such a day of small things it seems then the ear after that the full corn in the ear and so it just narrows down to this then shall we know if we follow on to know the

[56:25] Lord our experience of things divine may be as we estimate a day of small things but they that wait upon the Lord shall find the good work begun is deepened as you go on step by step as you go on the way shall open up before you and ultimately you will find he which hath begun the good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ for who hath despised the day of small things the father does not despise it the dearest son of God the sinner's friend does not despise it the holy ghost does not despise it because it is his spirit's doing yes the feeblest prayer if faith be there exceeds all empty notion amen

[57:47] God willing there is very cool and bread on Wednesday field in number 762 June 12 time good stuff it it it