Let us turn to Zechariah chapter
14, the portion of Scripture we were reading. The Minor Prophets are in many ways
a dark and difficult part of God's Word and certainly this
chapter that we read is to say the least very mysterious and
one tends to shy away from such portions and yet we have to remember
of course that all of this is part of the scriptures of truth
and often we can find little gems of pure gold in passages
that on the whole are very difficult to interpret. Tonight I want
to say something from what we read here in two verses in Zechariah
14 and verses 6 and 7. We read, And it shall come to
pass in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark,
but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not
day nor night. But it shall come to pass that
at evening time it shall be light. Here then in the prophecy of
Zachariah chapter 14 verses 6 and 7 and it shall come to pass in
that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark but it
shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord not day
nor night but it shall come to pass that at evening time it
shall be light we can certainly say that what
we read in the chapter will really have its fulfillment in this
day of grace. We read in the opening words
of the chapter, Behold the day of the Lord cometh and Then again,
when we turn to verse 8, it shall be, In that day that living waters
shall go out from Jerusalem. And that immediately reminds
us of what he had said previously at the beginning of chapter 13,
In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. A fountain. waters, cleansing,
the cleansing blood ultimately of course of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read here in verses 8 and
9 these verses together, it shall be in that day that living water
shall go out from Jerusalem half of them toward the former sea
and half of them toward the hinder sea in summer and in winter shall
it be and the Lord shall be King over all the earth in that day
there shall be one lord and his name one does it not speak of
this day of grace and the the kingship of kingship of the lord
jesus christ that one who is the head over all things to his
church and that word of god that goes out over all the earth from one end of the earth even
to the other end of the earth. This chapter is speaking to us
in the strange language and the figures that are being used it's
speaking to us but it's speaking to us of things that even relate
to us in the day in which we're living. And so in the words of
the text we read of the day again it shall come to pass in that
day that the light shall not be clear nor dark but it shall
be one day which shall be known to the Lord not day nor night
but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light
does it not tell us something of God and the ways of God and
God's method of grace that where grace comes there is often light
and darkness And really the theme that I want to take up tonight
is that of the mystery of this mixture. The mystery of the mixture
that we have spoken of in the words of these two verses. And it speaks, I say, in some
way of the way in which God deals with his people and the experiences
they pass through. I was struck by a statement in
one of the sermons of Mr. Philpott. where he says, we can
only understand the true spiritual meaning of God's word by some
experience in our hearts. We can only understand the spiritual
meaning of what God is saying to us in the scripture as we
experience something of it in our own hearts. Well, let us
come to consider this mystery. the mystery of the mixture in
the ways and the dealings of the Lords. There is a hymn in
the book and we could have sung it I suppose but I don't feel
really it's a hymn that is suitable for public worship but clearly
it's based upon The text that we're looking at, at least, that's
the text of scripture that stands at the head of this particular
hymn, 722. It's one of Gadsby's hymns. And it's certainly worth reading
through, six verses in total, but the opening verse He says,
What am I, and where am I? Strange myself, and paths appear. Scarce can lift a thought on
high, or drop one heart-feeling tear. At verse 3 it says, Some
small glimmering light I have, yet too dark to see my way. Jesus
present, still I crave. When, oh when, will it be day?
Is the evening time at hand? Will it then indeed be light?
Will the sun its beams extend, chase away the shades of night? It's a hymn certainly worth employing
in our own private meditations. I think oftentimes the hymn book
is useful in that personal way. not just for us to make use of
in the praises of God when we gather together for worship,
but it might help us sometimes. And sometimes I find that reading
some of those lines tends to prime the pump. Maybe we're disinclined
to turn to God's Word, but we read something in the verse of
a hymn and it gives us a certain longing then more for the word
of God, we prime the pump. So I do commend that to you,
but let us come to consider the content of these two verses,
this strange text that I've announced for us to consider this evening.
First of all to say something with regards to the mystery of
the dealings of God, and then in the second place to look more
particularly at the strange mixture that we find And it's the mixture
of course that makes the mystery. But first of all to say something
with regards to that mystery. And in many ways it's the paradox
of the Christian's experience that we have again here at the
end of verse 7. It shall come to pass that at
evening time it shall be light. How paradoxical is that? At evening
time of course we say that's the dusk, that's the end of the
day. The light is fading, the night is coming on, but here
we have a contradiction to that. It's a paradoxical statement.
It shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. Now, there is that so strange
in the experiences of the people of God. In that little book of verse by Ralf
Erskine, the Gospel Sonnets, he speaks of the riddle of the
believer's life. I'm in my own and others' eyes
a labyrinth of mysteries, he says, with regards to the ways
of God and God's dealings in the depths of his soul. I'm in
my own and others' eyes a labyrinth are mysteries and we've said
before we've looked at verses such as those that we find in
the sixth chapter of 2nd Corinthians where the Apostle Paul is speaking
of some of his own experiences. Remember the language there in
2nd Corinthians 6 and verse 9 he says as unknown and yet well
known as dying and behold we live as chastened and not killed
a sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,
as having nothing and yet possessing all things. These strange words,
this strange experience and then later in chapter 12 where he's
spoken of that thorn in the flesh and how he was beseeching the
Lord that he might remove it from him. But the Lord said that
his grace was sufficient for him. And what does he say then?
When I am weak, then am I strong. In all his own native weakness,
he is so dependent upon the Lord and the strength of the Lord.
And so the strange dealings of the Lord. Light in the evening. Light in the evening. Again,
in one of the hymns we have those lines don't we concerning the
child of God nor can he expect to be perfectly saved till he
finds himself utterly lost the Lord comes to seek and to
save that which is lost and how awful it is when we feel our
lost condition and we need the Lord to come and find us and
to restore us and to save us All these contradictory statements. I've spoken before of one of the remarkable sermons
of Mr. Philpott, that on the words of
Isaiah 18, 5 and 6, and he entitles it, Winter before Harvest. Well,
it's not normally, in nature, winter before the harvest. Of
course, it's summer. It's summer before harvest. The
sunshine ripens the fields for harvest time. And yet, what that
man is saying in that sermon is in the believer's experience
often the harvest comes as a consequence, as a winter experience in the
soul. Isn't that what we have here?
It's evening time, there's darkness, and yet suddenly there is great
light. And the scripture tells us that
will be the experience of the people of God, when we find ourselves
in some dark places, difficult places. Isn't it then that the
Lord suddenly appears, and the Lord appears in remarkable ways?
And the whole scene is turned around. Oh, the Sami certainly
knew it. Psalm 112 and verse 4, unto the
upright there arises light in the darkness. The upright man. Who is the upright man? That's
that man who's in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's upright because
he's a justified sinner. He's clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. He is indeed a man who is saved. And unto that man there arises
light. in the midst of all the dark
paths that he finds himself walking in the Lord says as much himself
he is the light of the world of course and are we not told
there in the opening chapter of John that the light shineth
in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not the darkness
cannot overcome that light that light which is the Lord himself What do we read then here in
the end of the seventh verse? It shall come to pass that at
evening time it shall be light. And in some measure that is true
with regards to our actual conversion. God turns them unto destruction.
And then he says return you children of men. God brings us to the
end of ourselves. to that desperate plight we realize
then that there's nothing that we can do and so we're completely
and utterly cast upon the Lord and the Lord alone and I think
there's those strange words that we have in the 59th chapter of
the book of Isaiah that in some way speak of the way in which
when the Lord's dealing with us at that time and bringing
us to Himself. What do we read here in this
verse? Isaiah 59 10, We grope for the wall like the blind,
and we grope as if we had no eyes, we stumble at noonday as
in the night, we are in desolate places as dead men. And then
the Lord appears. Then the Lord appears. Paul says
in the opening chapter of 2 Corinthians, we have the sentence of death
in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in
God that raiseth the dead who delivered us from so great a
death and doth deliver in whom we trust he will yet deliver
us there's not just that initial deliverance but the Lord will
have to come and deliver us time and time and time and time again
that's the experience of the people of God There is this mystery
in the ways of the Lord. He deals with us in such a fashion
as to show us ourselves and erodes our helplessness. He teaches
us in our own souls the terrible doctrine of the sinner's total
depravity. And once we have experienced
that, we see that there's nothing in self, no hope in self. and
it's no good coming to that man who is in that sad situation
and telling him he has certain duties to perform and that saving
fate is a duty he has to perform here's the poor man and you're
striking this poor man stone dead he feels what he is, he's
dead in his trespasses and his sins and he needs the Lord to
appear for him he needs that faith that comes by the operation
of God and here is the promise of God and what a promise it
is but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall
be light the Lord will appear and who is that one who will
appear? it's the Lord Jesus himself he says I am the light of the
world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall
have the light of life he gives the light of life or the mystery
of God's dealings. But let us turn in the second
place to say a little more with regards to this mixture. The Gospel is clearly a ministration
of light. As Christ says, I am the light
of the world, one of those great I am statements that we have
in John's Gospel, where of course we see him as that one who is
the image of the invisible God. He reveals God to us. and we
see what the name, the divine name, I am really means in the
person and work of the Lord Jesus, and amongst other things, I am
the light of the world. And so, when we turn to the Gospel,
we see how the light comes into dark places, Remember where the
Lord is exercising his principal ministry. Often it's in the north
of Israel. It's there round about the Sea
of Galilee. And we read, don't we, there
in Matthew 4 of this being the fulfillment
of Old Testament Scripture. Matthew 4 verse 12, When Jesus
had heard that John the Baptist was cast into prison, he departed
into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came
and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the
borders of Zabulun and Naphtalim, that it might be fulfilled, which
was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulun and
the land of Naphtalim By the way of the sea beyond Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness
saw great lights. And to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." Isn't this the
fulfillment then of the Word that we have here? And it shall
come, or it shall be in that day, one day, It shall come to pass that at
evening time it shall be light, or the light shining there in
the midst of the darkness. And now, what we read previously in verse
6 is also so often true in the experience of those who come
to salvation. It says there, it shall come
to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear nor
dark. Half light really. Not clear
nor dark. And when the soul is awakened,
isn't often that the case, the dawning is a slow dawning really. Peter speaks of the day dawn
and the day star arising in the hearts. There in 2 Peter 1 and
verse 19, he's speaking of believers' experiences. How does this come? We're there, we're in darkness,
we're dead in sins, and the day dawns. And then there's the day
star. And matters go on by degrees,
it's gradual. Because next the sun of righteousness
will come. Or the day star, that's the harbinger
of the sun beginning to show itself over the horizon. The
sun of righteousness arising with healing in his beams. And that light comes from the
Lord. Now I yield light in the Lord. And yet, it's no perfect
day in this sinful world, we know that. There are trials and
troubles, there are difficulties, there's opposition without, there
are corruptions within. There's the flesh lusting against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these contrary
one to the other, says Paul, and you cannot do the thing that
she would. We don't see things as clearly
as we would desire to see them. We see things through a glass,
darkly it says. There is this strange mix in
the experiences of the people of God. We read, don't we, there in Isaiah
50 and verse 10, "...who is among you that feareth the Lord, that
obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and
hath no light. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord." Those remarkable words at the end of Isaiah 50. The
heir of heaven, as it were, walking in darkness. He has God's fear
in his heart. He is obedient. He wants to be
obedient to the voice of the Lord. And yet he feels the darkness. What is he to do? He has to trust
in the name of his Lord. He has to stay himself upon his
God. And scripture makes it clear
that this is the experience, the ongoing experience of the
people of God. this strange mix in that day,
the gospel day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark at
times. Another book that we probably
somewhat neglect to attend to is that book of Ecclesiastes,
and there are some remarkable things that the wise man says
there. Look at Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 8. We read, if a man
live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember
the days of darkness, for they shall be many. How strange it is, this is the
gospel day, Christ is the light of the world, and yet we're told
there that we're to remember the days of darkness, for they
shall be many. this peculiar mix that God in
His sovereignty appoints in the lives of His people. In the world there is tribulation,
and where there is that tribulation there will be darkness in the
soul, surely there will. It won't be an easy path. There's a mixture, the Psalmist
again says, I will sing of mercy and judgment. I will sing of mercy and judgment
the Lord deals with us in the way of mercy but God also does
deal with us in the way of judgment He does correct us remember what we were looking
at just the other day the words that we have there in the third
chapter of the Lamentations concerning the living man wherefore doth
the living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins
that punishment we know it's not judicial because Christ has
borne that he's borne the punishment that was due to us as those who
would transgress God's holy law if we're in Christ Jesus there's no judicial punishment
but there's chastening and the psalmist can sing of those things
mercy and judgment he says. But remarkable, they're parts
of those letters that have been said to verse by the wife of
a free church minister back in the 19th century in Scotland. And I think of those lines, with
mercy and with judgment my web of time erodes. and I, the dues
of sorrow were lustered with his love. I'll bless the hand
that guided, I'll bless the heart that planned when thrown where
glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. There is a mixture in the
way in which the Lord deals with us, mercy and judgment. In the
day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider. God also hath set one against
another that a man might find nothing after himself. All the
wise words spoken there again in the book of Ecclesiastes.
What do we do in the day of prosperity? We rejoice. What do we do in
the day of adversity? We are to consider, we are to
look to ourselves, we are to examine ourselves. What is the lot of God's people?
They have a life that's made up of these changes. Is it not
the ungodly we're spoken of in Psalm 55 and verse 19? Because they have no changes,
therefore they fear not God. Maybe we don't want changes.
I don't want changes. I want a nice and a comfortable
life. But alas, so often there are
those things that come into our lives and how they trouble us,
how they disturb us and yet they're all overruled, it's all in the
hand of a sovereign God dear old Sidney Norton used to say
it's all in the covenant it's all in the covenant and it is,
that was David's comfort as he comes to the end of his days
and what a life was that that David had lived No easy life. When he was fleeing from King
Saul, when he comes to the end, where does he find his comfort?
He finds it in the Covenant, ordered in all things. And sure,
it was all his salvation, he said. It was all his desire.
He has made with me an everlasting covenant. ordered in all things
unsure, this is all my salvation and all my desire. Oh God and the ways of God and all this strange mixture.
Well I want to observe two things with you with regards to these
changes. Firstly God's purpose God's purpose
in those changes and then secondly God's presence in the midst of
the changes. Firstly the purpose of God and
you see how the text contains six shalls. It shall come to pass in that
day that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it shall
be one day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night,
but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light."
Isn't that the language of covenant? As we see at the end of Ezekiel
16, God says, I will, thou shalt. Well, that's the covenant, you
see. and God's sovereignty in that covenant. I will, thou shalt. We have it there in Ezekiel 16,
62. And again, look at the language
of the psalmist acknowledging God's hand in all the changes. In Psalm 74, verse 16, he says,
The day is thine, the night also is thine thou hast prepared the
light and the sun thou hast set all the borders of the earth
thou hast made summer and winter now that's true in nature but
that's also true in grace there are seasons in the soul aren't
there? there must be and that is all the purpose of God but
there's a wonderful harmony of course when we think of the purpose
of God we read here At the beginning of verse 7, it shall be one day. It shall be one day, or as the
margin says, the day shall be one. And this oneness, it reminds
us, doesn't it, that God's purpose, God's decree is really singular. Verse 9, the Lord shall be king
over all the earth in that day there shall be one Lord and his
name one there's an emphasis upon the unity here and it reminds us of God's great
purpose for of him and through him and to him are all things
to whom be glory forever and ever we read at the end of Romans
chapter 11 it's all ultimately for the glory
of God, but at the same time it's also ultimately all for
the good of his people. All things are of him, all things
are through him, all things are to him, but what does he say? What does Paul say there in Romans
8.28? We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. And even as God is about to send
his children into captivity and there is Jeremiah, the Lord's
servant, the Lord's prophet in the time just previous to that
awful event, the captivity of Israel. And what does the prophet
say as God's mouthpiece? I know the thoughts that I think
towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an
expected end. or there will be an end these
things will come but they'll come to pass God has a purpose to fulfill
and God will execute that great purpose and there's a wonderful
harmony, this oneness it shall be one day In that day there
shall be one Lord, and His name one." Oh, this is the day of
grace in which we live in Christ. He's the head. He's the head
over all things. To the church, every event that
occurs in this wicked world, all under His sovereign hand
and all working out ultimately for the good of His church. What
a wonder it is. in spite of all the strangeness
and the mystery of God's ways. This is where we find our comfort
in His sovereignty. But then also when we read here
of one day, does it not remind us in some ways that the trials
that the believer is experiencing All these paradoxical experiences,
the sort of thing that Paul is speaking of there in 2 Corinthians
6 that we referred to, one day reminds us how there's a brevity
here. What is the trial? How short
is the trial really? Remember the words of Peter there
in the opening chapter of his first epistle, verse 6, he says,
now for a season. Now, just now. Now for a season. What is a season? It's a small
period, a little time really. Now for a season if needs be. There's an if there. It might
not always be necessary, but sometimes it is necessary if
needs be. He says you're in heaviness through
manifold temptation. but there's something brief about
all of this and the Lord is in these things God has a purpose
in all the mysteries of his dealings with his saints but besides God's
purpose in changes I said also there's the matter of God's presence
and what does it say? the beginning of verse 7. It
shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord. It is a day known to the Lord. The Lord knows. And the Lord
knows His people. The Lord knoweth them that are
His, says the Apostle to Timothy. The Lord knows His people. He
knows each and every one of us. if we're saved, it's whom he
did for? No! And what is that knowledge? It's not just an awareness of a thing before he
comes to pass. It's much more intimate than
that. It's such a knowledge as involves the love of God. He
has set his affection upon his people. That's why he is chosen in the
Lord Jesus Christ. whom he did foreknow he also
did predestinate the love of God comes first in knoweth them
that are his and he says to Israel in the
Old Testament and they are the typical people of God you only
have I known of all the families of the earth the Lord knows his
people and the Lord knows all about his people he knows their
frame Their feelings, everything is known to him. Like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
He knoweth our prime, says the Psalmist. He knoweth our prime,
he remembereth that we are dust. We are poor, weak, feeble creatures. And he knows all about us. and
of course the Lord Jesus Christ himself is no bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh or the wonder of the incarnation who
is our God our God is a crucified man how he has suffered how he
is touched with all the feeling of our infirmities he knows his
people he knows their frames he knows all their experiences Job Job says, doesn't he, in
the midst of all his trial, he knoweth the way that I take.
He knows the way each one of his children is taking. He knows
your way, he knows my way. There's nothing hid from him.
He knoweth the way that I take, says Job, when he has tried me. I shall come forth as God. Well,
this is the God you see, that we find even in these strange
words in our text tonight. It shall come to pass in that
day that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it shall
be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night.
But it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light.
All will be well. All things work together for
good. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. That's David's experience. Though our cup seems filled with
gore, there's something secret sweetens water. And what is that
secret? It's the Lord. And the Lord knows. He knows
his people. He knows all their frames and
feelings. He knows all their experiences,
the way that they're going. Why, the steps of a righteous
man, they're all ordered of the Lord, aren't they? And this is
the one that we're to look to. The psalmist says, they looked
unto him and were lightened. Oh Christ, he's that one, he's
the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. I love that text, that verse
that we have in 2 Corinthians 4.6, that God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Or
when he shines out of the darkness, what does he do? He directs us
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we find the knowledge
of our God, in our Lord Jesus Christ. Even this strange and
mysterious chapter, I say, speaks to us in this day. Now, what
to make of so much of the chapter, I scarcely have any understanding. I've tried in the past to look
at it, to think about it. I've seen all sorts of events being spoken of. thinking of it in terms of the
days of the Maccabees maybe thinking of it in terms of the time of
the Reformation and I think there is profits
in considering those sort of interpretations but ultimately
I come to this, it is the day of grace, and it's the mystery
of God's method of grace, and the way in which he deals with
his people. But what a comfort it is to read
those words at the end of the text, that last clause in verse
seven, and the promise of God, it shall come to pass, that at
evening time it shall be light. Oh, the Lord bless us then with
the light of his grace, in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.