I want us to turn for our text
to words that we find in the book of the prophet Zechariah.
In Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 8. One of the minor prophets at
the end of the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter 3 and verse
8. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest,
thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, For thou art men
wondered at, for behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch. Taking then these words, but
also I want to make some reference to words that we have in the
psalm, Psalm 71, the psalm that we read, and there at verse 7,
I am as a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong refuge. to say something then of what
is to be understood by this reference to God's people as men of wonder. In the prophet you will observe
there is an alternative reading in the margin. They are men wondered at or the
margin says they are men of wonder. the wonder a sign and there in the psalm again
we have that statement David if it is David who is the author
of this psalm I am as a wonder unto many in the prophecy of
Zechariah we have these references to the Lord Jesus Christ in terms
of the branch And here at the end of this verse, I will bring
forth my servant, the branch. And then again, in the twelfth
verse of chapter six, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts,
saying, Behold, the man whose name is the branch, and he shall
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of
the Lord's. The historical context, of course,
of Zechariah's ministry is that of the rebuilding of the Temple
of the Lord in the days of Ezra. And the Prophet is one who is there
to encourage those who are engaged in that noble task. Ezra had
returned under the decree of the Persian Emperor Cyrus and
engaged in the rebuilding of that temple. And we're told there
in Ezra 3 and the opening verses how it was Joshua the high priest
and his fellows who set up the altar of the Lord. That was the
first thing that they attended to, the erecting of the altar
of the Lord. And it's Joshua of course who
is referred to here in the text. Here now, O Joshua the high priest
thou and thy fellows that sit before thee for they are men
wondered at as you know the name Joshua is simply the Hebrew version
of the Greek name Jesus and so Joshua surely in the Old Testament
is one who is a typical character a type of the Lord Jesus Christ
himself and It's interesting, isn't it, when we see that the
name of Branch is here, given to the Lord Jesus, because another
prophet, Isaiah, speaks of him as one out of the stem of Jesse,
and a branch growing out of his roots. Jesse, the father of David, and
there in Isaiah 11-2, The Word of God indicates that
there will be one descended from Jesse, descended from David.
And so when we come to the last book of Scripture, in Revelation,
the very last chapter, there in Revelation 22, 16, Christ
declares, I am the root and the offspring of David. The Lord Jesus Christ then is
here in this text. But as we come to consider these
words tonight. I want, in a sense, to continue,
in some way, from what we were saying on the Lord's Day. We
were looking at those words in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, where
we have what we term the paradox of the life of faith. Paradox. of what it is to be a believer
and to live the life of the Christian. And here, of course, we read
of these men with Joshua who are men of wonder, or men wondered
at. And isn't that true of all the
Lord's people? They're men wondered at. In the
New Testament, in Hebrews chapter 2, we see how words from Isaiah
are attributed to the Lord Jesus when he says, Behold I and the
children which God hath given me. Hebrews 2.13 and those words
are taken from the book of Isaiah and what we have recorded there
in the 8th chapter of Isaiah concerning that child that was
born to his wife, that child with the strange name of Meher
Shalal Ashbas. And the name that the child is
given is part and parcel of the message that the Prophet is to
deliver to Israel, with its capital in Samaria and
to the Syrians with their capital at Damascus because these two
are in league against the little kingdom of Judah to the south
with its capital still at Jerusalem and so the child is to be born
and the prophet is told call his name Meher Shalal Ashbaz
and We're told in the margin, aren't we, what the meaning of
that strange name is. In making speed to the spoil,
he hasteneth to the prey. In making heed to the spoil,
he hasteneth to the prey. These two nations are going to
be prey. They're not going to succeed
in their league against Judah, but they themselves are going
to be overthrown they're going to be preyed upon, they're going
to become spoil for the great Assyrian Empire that was rising
up. It's interesting that those words
are taken up in the New Testament, as I say, there in Hebrews 2,
and applied directly to Christ. He is the one who says, Behold,
I and the children which God hath given me. And the actual
text that's being quoted in Hebrews is what we have in Isaiah 8 verse
18. Behold, I and the children whom
the Lord hath given me. It continues, are for signs and
for wonders. in Israel from the Lord of hosts
which dwelleth in Manziar." And so the truth is that it's not
just that one child that was given to Isaiah, but it's all
those who were given to the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense are
for signs and for wonders. All of God's people, they have
to live that strange, mysterious life of faith. They're a sign. to the world. And we see that,
surely, with regards to the beginning of spiritual life in the experiences
of the people of God. Where does that life commence? It begins with the new birth.
Except a man be born again, says Christ. Verily, verily, except
a man be born again, or born from above, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. There is that that is remarkable
about the natural birth of men and isn't there some reference
to that in that 71st Psalm we were reading? David says, By
thee have I been holden up from the womb thou art he that took
me out of my mother's bowels My praise shall be continually
of thee. I am as a wonder unto many, but
thou art my strong refuge. And again, in the words of the
139th Psalm, David makes reference to the wonder of the natural
birth. Oh, he praises God. I will praise thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works, and
that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance
yet being unperfect. And in my book all my members
were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there
was none of them." These words speaking of the wonder of a natural
birth, and of course, alas, it reminds us of the evil of the
day in which we live, where sinful men destroy the fetus in the
womb, the very work of God attacked by men who oppose the truth of
God's words but if a natural birth is a remarkable event how
much more is that true with regards to a spiritual birth that those
dead in trespasses and sins should receive new life born from above
born not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but born again of God. What a remarkable thing it is
that sinners should be regenerated in that way. Isn't the child
of God then a wonder at his beginning, when that new life is first communicated
to his soul? And what is it that God is doing?
It's compared, remember, there in Ephesians 1 to what the Lord
God did when He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. When He
is beginning to work in the soul of that sinner, and there's that
grace of God so active in that soul, evidenced by faith, believing. "...the exceeding greatness of
His power to us would who believe," says Paul, "...according to the
working of His mighty power." which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hands. In the new birthing, the child
of God is a wonder. If any man's in Christ Jesus,
he's a new creature, he's a new creation. All things are passed
away. Behold, all things are become
new. The hymn writer says, I'm a miracle
of grace. Every genuine conversion is a
miracle, a sign, a portent, a wonder. And it's not only so at the beginning,
but the whole of spiritual life is something to be wondered at.
The mystery, of the experience of the people of God. Lord, what
a riddle is my soul, alive when wounded, dead when whole, says
Joseph Hart. We were looking then at those
words on the Lord's Day there in 2nd Corinthians 6 and verses
9 and 10 where Paul speaks of himself as unknown and yet well-known,
as dying and behold we live, as chastened and not killed,
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,
as having nothing and yet possessing all things. The paradox, the
seeming contradiction of those who know anything of the life
of faith. My life's a maze, of seeming
traps, a scene of mercies and mishaps. Ralph Erskine, of course,
speaks very much the same language as Joseph Hart. These godly men,
they knew something of these things. And the psalmist, it's
there in that psalm, I am as a wonder unto many, but thou
art my strong refuge. And as we said on the Lord's
Day, Paul is writing there, be it in that 6th chapter or in
chapter 4 or we could go into chapter 11 of the second letter
to those Corinthians and he speaks much of himself. So, David also,
if it is David in that 71st Psalm and the content does seem to
indicate that. He speaks of the cruelty of men
Look at the language that we have there at verse 10. My enemies
speak against me, and they that lay wait for my Saul take counsel
together, saying, God hath forsaken him. Persecute and take him,
for there is none to deliver him. And his experience at the
time of his son Absalom's rebellion, when Shimei, Shimei of the house
of Saul, how he taunts David. how he pronounced his curses
upon David, there in 2 Samuel 16 at verse 5 following. It seemed, you see, that it was
all over for David. His own son had rebelled against
him, his great friend, his counsellor Ahithophel was in the conspiracy. And all of these things are recorded
there in the 15th chapter, the 16th chapter also of 2 Samuel. And they are taken up by David. They're taken up certainly in
the language of Psalm 55. Another Psalm. David says in
his prayer, At verse 9, destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues,
for I have seen violence and strife in the city day and night.
They go about it upon the walls thereof. Mischief also and sorrow
are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof.
Deceit and guile depart not from her streets. Well, it was not
an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it. Neither
was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me,
then I would have hid myself from him. But he was thou, a
man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet
counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company."
Oh, Ahithophagus, his great friend, why his counsel was like the
oracle of God. These were godly men. Well, so
David thought with regards to his friend, and yet he was also
in that dreadful conspiracy. Now David speaks then out of
the fullness of his experiences we know this time and again in
the Psalms again there in the 71st Psalm verse 20 thou which
has showed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again
and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth Oh, there were troubles, outward
troubles, but also many inward trials for David. How he had
to wrestle with himself all these days. Isn't that true of the
godly? Paul certainly felt that in the
words that we have recorded there in the 7th of Romans. The good
that I would I do, not the evil that I would, not that I do.
Oh, wretched man that I am. You shall deliver me from the
body of this death. Again, was it one of the Erskines
who used to say, oftentimes, all that I had not am I self.
All my self, the man that I am. This is my chief trouble, my
own nature. The flesh lusting against the
spirit and the spirit against the flesh and the so contrary
one to the other. But what does David say there
in the psalm? Verse 16, I will go in the strength
of the Lord, I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of
thine own. All his hope, all his faith and
centers in the person of the Savior and his righteousness. He had no righteousness of his
own. He must make mention of that righteousness and that righteousness
only. Now, the believer then is a wonder
when we think of his life. The believer's spiritual standing,
you see. The manner of his justification. We come to the words as we have
them here in the prophecy of Zechariah. Look at what we're
told concerning Joshua. Verse 3, Joshua was clothed with
filthy garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and
spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair
mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the
Lord stood by. All the angel of the Lord stood
by, he was there beholding these things, the wonder of these things,
the blessed exchange, all his filthy garments, all his iniquities,
all his sins taken away, and clothed now with a robe of righteousness. And again it's there in the Psalm,
I am as a wonder, unto many, he says, but thou art my strong
refuge. My mouth shall show forth thy
righteousness and thy salvation all the day, for I know not the
numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine own. Thy righteousness also, O God,
is very high. Who has done great things, O
God? who is like unto thee, my tongue also shall talk of thy
righteousness all the day long, for they are confounded, for
they are brought unto shame that seek my hurt." It's so evident
in the psalm. This is the wonder of the man
of God that his spiritual standing is in another, in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus. Jehovah, Sidkenu, the Lord, our
righteousness and so believers are those who are a wonder a
wonder in the world, a wonder to themselves but surely here
we have to recognize that it is primarily the Lord Jesus Christ
who is the man of wonder. Oh, what a man is this! Unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall
be upon his shoulders, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Surely this is the one who is
more wonderful than any. And when we think of the mystery
of godliness, that the Apostle speaks of, writing there in 1
Timothy 3.16, without controversy, without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
or the wonder of the person. In that one person, the Lord
Jesus Christ, those two distinct natures. Surely that one that
Job desired all those many years ago, neither is there a daisman
betwixt us who may lay his hand upon us both, for that was Job's
great desire, one to stand and come between him and God, and
there is one, the God-man. how fit he is in his own person,
he is God, he's never anything less than God but he's also a
very real man and he knows human infirmities, no sinful infirmities
but he's touched with the feeling of all our infirmities we're
taught yet without sin this was a real human nature and now he's
exalted in that very human nature. What a wonder is this! The wonder
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But then, when we think
of his coming, and the life that he lived, the ministry that he
exercised, the miracles, the miracles that he performed. Here
in the text, verse 8, we read of Thy fellows that sit before thee,
they are men wondered at." But as we've already intimated, the
margin clearly indicates that the word wonder also has the
idea of a sign, or a portent. It's a display really of divine
power. And of course we see that in
the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and the mighty works,
the miracles and not only in the Lord Jesus himself but also
in the ministry of his apostles when they're beginning to be
persecuted there in the opening chapters of Acts they pray to
the Lord God to behold all the threatenings of the Jews and
they plead that they might be enabled to do signs and wonders
in the name of the child Jesus. All the miracles of Christ performed
Himself. And we know those miracles, they
were signs. That's the word that's continually
used in John's account. This beginning of miracles, this
beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested
forth His glory. and His disciples believed on
Him. In the miracle there, it's the
changing of the water into wine at the marriage feast. It's a
manifestation of His glory. That's true of all the miracles.
And it's not only true, as I said, of Christ, it's also true with
regards to His apostles. As Paul makes clear there in
Hebrews 2, Verse 3, How shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? God also
bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with diverse
gifts and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to
his own will. the miracles but the miracles simply signs
pointing to him as that one who has come to accomplish a remarkable
work who exercises a quite remarkable ministry everything about him
is a wonder his name shall be called wonderful And remember
that incident back in the book of Judges with regards to Manoah
and his wife, the parents of Samson. How the angel of the Lord appears
to them. And they enquire after his name. There in Judges 13
verse 18 following. Why askest thou after my name,
says the angel? Why askest thou after my name,
seeing it is secret? Or as the margin says, seeing
it is wonderful. And then the angel of the Lord
does wonders, doesn't he, when Manoah presents a kid for a sacrifice. And the angel ascends in the
flame of the fire. as the offering is made. All
of that surely is so significant of the work that Christ was coming
to do, that great work, ultimately the death of the cross. But all
his life, his birth, his birth's a wonder. His birth's a miracle. A virgin conceives a child, it's
impossible. It's impossible that a virgin
can conceive a child, but so it was. the Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee, therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God." All the wonder of his human birth,
that human nature, that body, that soul that was joined to
the person of the eternal Son of God. His preaching was a wonder. Never man spake like this man,
they said. And when he had finished all
his teachings there in the Sermon on the Mount, other people were
astonished at his doctrine, at his teaching, because he spoke
with authority, and not as the scribes. All his ministry, what
remarkable preaching. And ultimately, as we said, is
death. What a mystery there. Here is one who is never anything
less than God, the Eternal Son, one with the Father, one with
the Holy Spirit, because Jehovah is one God. And there can be
no division in the Godhead, and yet, that awful cry that he makes
from the cross, from the 6th hour to the 9th hour there's
darkness over the face of all the earth and at the 9th hour
he cries, my God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? and such strange events remember
in Matthew's account he describes
some of these strange happenings at the crucifixion of the Lord
Jesus. There in chapter 27 and verse
50 following. When Jesus had cried
again with a loud voice, and yielded up the ghosts, and behold,
the veil of the temple was rent entwined from the top to the
bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves
were opened. And many bodies of the saints
which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection
and went into the holy city and appeared unto men. Now when the
centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw
the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly,
saying truly, This was the Son of God. Oh, the wonder! The wonder of his death. There's
no other death That was the great sin-atoning death where he made
the propitiatory sacrifice and bore all the wrath of God against
all the sins of his people. But it doesn't end there, does
it? There's the resurrection. He's
declared, he's marked out, signified the Son of God according to the
spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead and of course here
in the opening words of Romans Paul is defining what the gospel
is and how significant a part of
the gospel is that resurrection again it's there in what he says
in the opening parts of the 15th and 1st Corinthians all this
surely is the great wonder even the Lord Jesus Christ What a
wonder that sinners like me and like you can have a relationship
with this One, can be blessed to know a real union with Him,
and to address Him as our God and as our Saviour. Might it be an encouragement
to us then, as we seek to live that life, the wonder of that
life, the paradox of that life, dying daily, I am crucified with
Christ, says Paul, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God. Oh God grant that we might truly
know the reality of that blessed life, that wondrous life, which
is the privilege of those who are trusting in Christ well the
Lord bless his word to us let us before we pray sing God's
praise in the hymn 158 the tune Geneva 641 sweet the moments
rich in blessing which before the cross I spend life and health
and peace possessing from the sinner's dying friend. May I
sit forever viewing mercy streams in streams of blood, precious
drops my soul be doing, plead and claim my peace with God.
Here it is I find my heaven, while upon the lamb I gain. Love
I much, I'm much forgiven, I'm a miracle of grace. The Hymn 158, Tune 641. Sweet the moments rich in blessing
Which before the cross I spent Life and health and faith possessing
From the sinner's dying frame May I sit forever viewing Mercy
streams in streams of blood Precious drops my soul be dewing Read
and claim my peace with God sad is this station. Though before his cross to love,
while I see divine compassion floating in his languid eye,
here it is I find my heaven, I'm a miracle of grace.