“And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of
Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of
Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the
people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of Hosts,
their God.”—HAG. i. 14.
LET US consider this stirring of the will, and then the great need of it
even amongst the faithful people of God.
I. We read a great deal in Scripture of a movement in the will, as we
know in practical life, how we ourselves are moved, or aroused on many
occasions. We know what it is to be like Peter, who was asleep in the
prison till the Angel of the Lord “smote him on the side, and raised him
up, saying, Arise up quickly.” {76a} We are often aroused to make an
_effort_ which we never thought of before, and our whole soul is on fire
to be working with a holy enthusiasm for God.
Now this stirring of the spirit is the act of God Himself. I am quite
aware that there are passages in which man is described as stirring
himself, as for example, “There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that
stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee.” {76b} But such an expression
is the description of the outward effect, and not of the inward movement
of the soul, as is proved by that very text, which gives us the reason
for the absence of any such stirring, “Thou hast hid Thy face from us.”
It was because He had hidden His face that no one was stirred to lay hold
on His grace. Thus St. Paul teaches us that it is God Himself who
worketh on the will. He urges the little flock at Philippi to be more
diligent in his absence than they were in his presence, {77a} and in the
next verse he gives us the reason that “It is God who worketh in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure.” So in this passage, when
Zerubbabel was aroused to a new action it was the Lord who stirred his
spirit, and who produced such a strong, deep feeling in his soul that he
could not rest without making a fresh effort for the Lord. This stirring
was the blessed result of the Holy Spirit’s action. Oh, that we had more
of it amongst ourselves!
But while it is the work of the Holy Spirit, we shall find that, as a
general rule, He makes use of means. Of course, if He pleases, He may
Himself speak to the soul in the way of direct personal communication,
and so arouse the heart and conscience without the aid of any human
instrumentality. But in most cases He makes use of means.
Sometimes men are stirred by the sight of evil, as St. Paul was stirred
in spirit by the sight of the idolatry at Athens. {77b} And it does seem
strange that God’s faithful people can sit so still as they do, and look
on so quietly on the sin that abounds around them. How is it that the
whole soul does not burn within us with a longing desire to be at work
for God?
Sometimes it is through the power of the ministry. It was so with
Zerubbabel, of whom it is said that the Lord stirred his spirit. The
means employed in his case was the preaching of the two prophets Haggai
and Zechariah. Sometimes God raises up great preachers whose office it
seems to be to awaken nations. Such were Whitfield and the Wesleys.
Such was Luther at the time of the Reformation, and such were Haggai and
Zechariah after the return of the captives from Babylon. It was through
them that the fire was lighted in the soul of Zerubbabel. Their burning
words stirred his spirit, and he threw himself with a holy zeal into the
service of the Lord.
Sometimes it is by the example and influence of others, as “iron
sharpeneth iron.” {78a} There is nothing more infectious than character.
There is a certain atmosphere surrounding each of us, and it has its
influence on all who come near us. The idle man makes others idle, the
corrupt man makes others corrupt; so the holy man wins others to
holiness, and the man of Christian enthusiasm will warm up those who come
in contact with him.
Sometimes He does it by stirring our nest. This is what He did for
Israel in Egypt. They had begun to settle down content with their
captivity. They had their flesh-pots, their melons, and their cucumbers,
and they did not care to be unsettled; so God stirred them up by
oppression. This is the process described in Moses’ song, “As an eagle
stirreth up her nest.” {78b} The young eagles, being comfortable in
their nest, have no desire to launch forth into the untried experiment of
flight. So the parent bird stirs up the nest, and by means of that
stirring compels them to a move. Is it not often just the same with us?
We are so fond of our nests, so apt to settle down quietly, forgetful of
that which is to come. So God in mercy stirs the nest. The heart is
saddened, but the very stirring may be God’s appointed instrument for
waking up a new hope, a new longing for the second advent, and a
dependence never known before on His own grace, and love, and perfect
sufficiency.
By whatever means the Lord does it, we must never forget that it is His
own divine act of mercy and grace. No sight of evil, no preaching, no
example, no chastening can produce the result. It is God the Holy Ghost
that stirs the spirit.
II. Consider the need of this stirring amongst the faithful people of
God.
It might be supposed that the true and faithful people of God would not
require it, and that they would be irresistibly drawn on by the
constraining power of the love of Christ. But this is not the teaching
of Scripture, and I am sure it is not the conclusion from experience. We
must never forget that the wise virgins went to sleep. Nor must we even
lose sight of those thrilling words addressed by St. Paul to those in
Rome whom he describes as “beloved of God, and called to be saints,”
{79a} when in the prospect of the second Advent he said to them, “Now it
is high time to awake out of sleep.” {79b} Had they not, you may say,
been already aroused from sleep? Had they not been awakened from the
sleep of death, and brought into a new life in Christ Jesus? How, then,
should it be high time for them to awake out of sleep? Were they not
already the “beloved of God”?
Now, this brings us exactly to the point; to the great need of Divine
stirring, even for those who have already been awakened into a new life
in Christ Jesus. Turn to the Song of Solomon, and you will find the
whole thing explained. In ch. v. the Bridegroom is described as
returning home at night, and, knocking at the door of his home, calls to
the Bride within, and says, “Open to me.” {80} Now what is her state of
mind when she hears His knock and listens to His voice? “I sleep, but my
heart waketh.” Have we not there the exact description of very common
Christian life? How many are there still sleeping, though they hear the
knock and their heart waketh? They are neither fully asleep nor fully
awake. They are awake enough to hear the voice, but too sleepy to act on
it. But we cannot be satisfied with this half and half condition. The
Bride in the Song of Solomon was so long in arousing herself, that when
at length she did so, it was too late. In ver. 6 she tells her sad, sad
story. “I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself and
was gone.” Should not such a description arouse us all? Most truly may
it be said that He is standing at our own doors both knocking and
calling. Sin is raging, error is spreading, misery is abounding, hell is
filling; but, thanks be to God, Christ Jesus is saving, and shall His own
chosen people be sleeping quietly, seeking their own ease, and sitting
down content if only they can entertain a well-grounded hope that the
heavy burden of their own sin has been blotted out through His most
precious blood. “Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy
faithful people.”