And I'd like to start reading
with verse 6. It says, Thus saith the Lord of hosts. And one of
the things I wanted to bring up here just at the very beginning
of our reading is the number of times in this chapter alone
in the book of Zechariah that this name of our God, of our
Lord, of our Savior, this name is mentioned 18 times in this
chapter. The name has great significance
because it means or causes us to think about a great, almighty,
all-powerful God. And this is the one that is speaking
in this chapter. He's speaking, sometimes he's
doing the speaking, sometimes he speaks through the prophet
Zechariah. And I just wrote a note to myself,
Lord, help me to remember and not forget who is speaking. Anyplace
I'm reading the scriptures that is God speaking to me. Well here
it tells us in verse 6. Let's say it's the Lord of hosts
It is a mark. It is if it be marvelous in the
eyes of the remnant of this people in these days Should it also
be marvelous in mine eyes? says the Lord of hosts. So he's,
one of the things we brought out last week is that remnant.
And we find that throughout the scriptures and it's brought out
in the book of Romans that it is a remnant according to the
election of grace. For no other reason is there
a remnant. If it had not been for this remnant,
this chosen of God, we should have been as Sodom and we should
have been as Gomorrah. And Isaiah shares that with us
in the first chapter of the book of Isaiah. Verse 7, Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the east
country and the west country. I will save my people. And that's
the thing that natural man has no comprehension of. And that
is that God actually does all the saving. He will save his
people. We are the ones that kick and
scream, but he's the one that saves his people from their sins.
He's the one that saved These people Israel even out of captivity
and brought them from the east and the west the north and the
south and verse 8 and I'll bring them and they shall dwell in
the midst of Jerusalem and they shall be my people and I'll be
their God in truth and in righteousness and we looked at just a little
bit last week that part of the or a wonderful statement of the
everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace, is that God would be
his people's God, and they should be his people. This is a wonderful
blessing to the church, to the saints of God, that he is their
God, and that is by his choice. He determined to be the God of
his people. And when he gives us grace, when
he gives us the new birth, we're given the grace to thank him
for that. We're given the grace to understand
a little bit about that very thing. All right, as we go on
now, let's drop down to verse nine. And it says here, thus
saith the Lord of hosts, Let your hands be strong, ye that
hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets,
which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the
Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. Now
there's some very interesting and very wonderful, gracious
words found in this verse of scripture that we find so many
times throughout the scriptures and that is be strong ye that
hear ye that hear now A lot of people have brought
to my attention that anybody can hear. Anybody can hear the
word of God. Well, we have to go to the word
of God on that subject. And we find that hearing is a
gift of God. Now, this particular word that
is used here, let's go back to the book of Genesis and read
two verses. two verses in the book of Genesis
chapter three, the first two times that this particular Hebrew
word is used translated over here in the book of Genesis chapter
three. Genesis chapter three and in two verses, chapter three,
verse eight and chapter three, verse 10, This particular word
is used that we find here in the book of Zechariah. And it's
used many times in the Old Testament. But here it says, and they heard
the voice of the Lord God walking. Now, this is after they fell.
Now, this is one time after the fall of man that Adam, that a
man, was able to hear the voice of the Lord. And it brings us
out here as the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the
garden. Now, they are demonstrating the results of the fall, but
they heard the voice of the Lord coming now in verse 10. And he
said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid. Now,
this is natural man speaking. And this is a couple of verses
of scripture that we see right after the fall that these two,
Adam in particular, was able to hear the voice of the Lord.
Now, natural man today, it's impossible for natural man after
that incident, it's impossible for natural man to hear any of
the word of the Lord that is significant. We'll always find
something particular in it. We'll always find some verse
of scripture. We'll always find some doctrine in it. but we will
not see Christ in the scriptures until it's revealed to us. Now,
in the book of Revelation, seven times, chapter 2, chapter 3. Would you turn there with me?
We find these wonderful words expressed in this glorious book
of Revelation in chapter 2, verse 7. Chapter 2 and verse 7. As
we think about hearing, He told, there in the book of Zechariah,
he says, ye that hear. Now there's something special
about these folks, because they have been given the gift of hearing.
Ye that hear. Now most people, and we're gonna
read here also in the book of Zechariah, that there was a whole
lot of those folks that paid no attention to the word of God,
no attention to the prophets. No attention to any word that
God ever gave them. They turned their head away from
it, their ears away from it. It wasn't valuable to them. But
here in the book of Revelation chapter 2, he that has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. Seven
times in chapter two and chapter three are these words used with
regard to somebody that God gives ears to able to hear what the
Spirit says. Now, this is not what the preacher
says. This is not what the Sunday school teacher says. This is
not what somebody on the street corner says down at the post
office. This is what the Spirit says.
Now it takes the grace of God, it takes the mercy of God, and
it takes the new birth of God for us to be able to hear the
word of the Lord. He that has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Brings out here in
chapter 2 verse 7, verse 11, verse 17, verse 29 in chapter
2 alone. These four times, we have that. Notice there in verse 11, it
says, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches. God is speaking to those churches,
and it's important what God says. God has never spoken without
importance lying behind it. He has important words. He has
important teachings. He has important message. And the deaf ear, the natural
ear will not hear that. So to have an ear to hear that
blessing, to hear the word of God, God has had to give us an
ear to ear. Our natural ears are not what
God deals with. He's dealing with spiritual.
If you look with me in the book of 1 Corinthians, in chapter
three, we also have those, there's three times in chapter three
where it says, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
said to the churches. He that hath an ear, he that
hath an ear that the Spirit has dealt with. Now over in the book
of 1 Corinthians, we have this passage of scripture that explains
a lot. Why can I not explain the truth
of the gospel, the truth of God, the truth of Christ, the truth
of the Bible? Why can I not explain that to
my brother? Why can't I explain that to my
friend? Why can't I explain that to my
mother or my dad? Why can't I explain that to my
children? Well, here in the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, 1 Corinthians chapter 2, it's way beyond that. It is above explanation. We can't just define words and
have them expect to believe or to understand it. It is beyond
it. Someone said in the Bible earlier
that Craig and I were in, that it's a different language. And
that is the truth. It is a different language. It's a spiritual language. Here
in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14, We have these words
written, but the natural man, and that's just the way we're
born. We come into this world as natural men, natural women,
natural boys, natural girls, we grow up. And here is the problem
that we face. Now, if you ever see the grace
of God, if you ever see Christ, you will understand that this
is a serious problem that we're not able to overcome. We couldn't
overcome for ourself, we can't overcome for someone else. This
is a serious problem. Now when Zachariah was talking
over there in the book of Zachariah, ye that have ears, I have a message
for you. But ye that don't have ears to
hear, you'll not pay attention. And we'll find that it's so prevalent,
particularly in the Old Testament, but we find it in the message
of the Lord. The God of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, is preaching
to people, and most people walk away and don't pay any attention
to it. Or they'll argue with him. My religion is just fine. My righteousness is just fine.
But they'll argue with the Son of God and walk away and say,
well, that's just Joseph's son. That's just, oh, I know his sisters,
his brother. He's nothing. Well, here in the
book of 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14 it says, but the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
They can't understand it. It is a different language. It's
a spiritual language. It's a spiritual language that
God only gives the interpretation to in the new birth. He allows
us to see spiritual things. He allows us to see in the gospel
that that's the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of his mercy and grace
is summed up in this one person who would give himself a ransom
for many, for all his people. He says, for they are foolishness
unto him. Now, it was to me before I was
saved, and I visit with people. I visit with my family. I visit
with my friends. I visit with people in general.
People come to church. People hear us there in the assembly,
and it's foolishness. It's just, I don't need that.
I'm doing fine by myself. I don't need this sort of thing.
Unto him, neither can he know them, It's just, there's just
no grasping it. The Bible is a spiritual book,
and that's why we have so much in our, well, it's always been
there, it's just, we look at it today, we think it's in our
modern times, there's so much emphasis on this doctrine, there's
so much emphasis on that country, there's so much emphasis on this
work, there's so much emphasis on this, and yet Christ is left
out. There's no preaching of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is so serious. Natural man,
neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
They are spiritually discerning. That's the problem that Zachariah
faced in his day. And that's the problem that was
faced by Moses in his day. And that's the problem that was
faced by Abel in his day. He could not explain why he did
what he did to his brother to make him to understand it. His
brother had the same teaching, the same training, and yet he
could not make him understand the necessity of a blood sacrifice,
the necessity of a sacrifice pointing ahead to the coming
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Jeremiah,
there's a couple of verses I'd like to look at as we think about
hearing the word of God and how important it is. And it will
not be ours to hang on to. We will not have the blessing
of it unless we've been given ears to hear. God must give us
ears to hear. And even after God saves us and
gives us the new birth, After that, we still don't have all
understanding about the Word of God. We get more understanding
if someone teaches us. We get more understanding as
we study it and the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. But it's still
a revelation. It is still a gift of God. God
must give it to us. It's not gonna be coming by how
much we study the Word of God. It's how intelligent we're gonna
be coming about the Word of God. Well, here in the book of Jeremiah,
Jeremiah chapter 6. Would you notice there in Jeremiah
chapter 6 with me? There's two verses in Jeremiah
chapter 6. I picked the first one because
it tells us who is speaking here and who he's speaking about.
O ye children of Benjamin. Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse
1. O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out
of the midst of Jerusalem and blow the trumpet in Tekoa. and
set up a sign of fire in Beth-heshemim. For evil appears out of the north,
gray and great destruction." Now drop down here to verse 10. Verse 10, "'To whom will I speak
and give warning, that they may hear, behold, their ear is uncircumcised,
and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word of the Lord
is unto them a reproach, Can you just think about that? The
word of the Lord is a reproach. It's offensive. It offends me. Now, the preaching of the gospel,
the preaching of Christ, causes controversy. The preaching of
Christ brings division between people. There are those that
know the grace of God, it's a great feast. And to those without Christ,
it is offensive to them. It goes on to tell us here, behold,
the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach. They have no
delight in it. Zachariah, Jeremiah, Isaiah,
and all the Old Testament prophets had the same problem when they
begin to preach the gospel. There were people that were offended
by it. There were people that didn't
want to hear it, but God called on them to continue to preach,
continue to preach this gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ye
that have ears, ye that have ears, I have a special message
for you. Ye that have no ears to hear, there's no message for
you. In the book of Jeremiah, in chapter
7, just the next chapter, we have another example of this.
Chapter 7, in verse 26. Chapter seven and verse 26, it
says, ye that hearken not unto me, nor incline their ear, but
harden their neck, oh, excuse me, yet they hearken not unto
me, nor incline their, you know, as we follow God speaking to
Israel in the Old Testament, and he brought up great punishments
upon them, did that change their nature? Did the law change their
nature? Not one whit. It didn't change
them. The only thing that can change
us is God. And here, he tells us here in
Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 26, Ye that hearken not unto me,
nor incline their ear, but harden their neck, they did worse than
their fathers. Now, as time went on, we see
the comparison. Look at the old fathers. They
were really bad, but these were worse. As the prophet Jeremiah
noticed here, things didn't get better. Things were continuously
in turmoil with these folks. They did not want to hearken,
they did, but they would love the name of Abraham. They love
the name of Isaac. They love the name of Jacob.
They love the name of Hebrew. They love the name of Jew, but
they would not hearken to God. Why? Because they couldn't. God
did not give them a heart to believe, a heart to understand. And so it's so important that
God gives a hearing ear He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith. It is so important that we have
that. Without that, we'll have no comprehension,
spiritual understanding of the Word of God. Going back to the
book where we've been studying, the book of Zechariah, would
you look with me at three verses of scripture in the book of Zechariah
that show us the same thing that Zechariah was dealing with? Why
in the world do people, when they hear the greatest news in
the world, that God put away sin and there's no longer any
judgment against his people, why would people not flock to
hear that? Because they don't have an ear
to hear. God just there by nature. We just don't hear what the Spirit
says. We must be given that by God.
Here in the book of Zechariah, Zechariah was dealing with this
very same issue as all the preachers in the Old Testament, all the
preachers in the New Testament, and it continues to today. And
through this all, we find out that it is only a responsibility
given to you and I who hold forth the word of life. It's our responsibility
to do that, and God must do the rest. No one else can do that.
When somebody says they can't, they don't know what they're
talking about. They don't know what it is to be spiritually
understood. So here in the book of Zechariah,
chapter one and verse four, it says, be not as your father. Zechariah is dealing with this
problem unto whom the former prophets, the former prophets,
let's just go from Moses, to Zechariah. All of the Old Testament prophets,
the Psalms, Job. You know, when Job had all those
problems, his friend says, well, if you hadn't been so bad, you
wouldn't have this problem. That's not what God was teaching
Job. And that's not what God teaches
us. Well, here it says, The former prophets have cried, saying,
thus saith the Lord of hosts. The God of heaven has said this.
He shouted it from the rooftops. Turn ye now from your evil ways
and from your evil doings. But they did not hear nor hearken
unto me, saith the Lord, God of heaven. What's the problem
here? natural man now i've had people say just recently a man
told me he says god will never go any farther than that if god
doesn't go any further than that you and i are going to be lost
if all he does is call and we don't come We're lost, we have
no hope. We are thankful to Almighty God
that he goes beyond that for all those whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world,
that he goes beyond that, that he gives a call, an effectual
call, a call that comes from a regenerated heart. He calls
us from darkness to light. He gives us the privilege of
hearing the glorious gospel and our reaction oftentimes is, it's
not for me. But God is gracious and he gives
us something that we could not make up on our own. He gives
us the new birth. And in that, he gives us hearing
ears and seeing eyes. He takes us away from our natural
position and places us in a position that we get to hear God. His
word is precious. And we find out the whole Bible
is speaking about him. The whole Bible speaks of grace.
The whole Bible speaks of his sovereignty. It's not just a
few verses of scripture, but the entire book is about him. Zechariah chapter 7. Would you
look there with Zechariah chapter 7. We have Zechariah dealing
with the same issue here. Zechariah chapter 7. And we just
read this a few weeks ago, but he says, but they refused to
hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they
should not hear. This is the problem that Zechariah
is facing. But did you hear what we just
read there in the book of Zechariah chapter eight and verse nine?
Let's just go ahead one more chapter here. Zechariah chapter
eight, there in verse nine. Let your hands be strong, ye
that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets. Ye that hear these words by the
mouth of the prophets. Now that's an interesting statement
too because we find that God has worked so wonderfully through
his called prophets throughout the Old Testament and his called
prophets throughout the New Testament. God called people that knew something. He gave them the message. Some
he trained in the backside of the desert. Some he trained here
and some he trained there. But they knew the gospel. God
had revealed it to them. And they were as Moses was in
the Old Testament, or as Isaiah was, or as Jeremiah, or Obadiah,
any of these prophets that we read through here. These were
men that wrote because they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God the Spirit moved upon them. It says there, let your hands
be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth
of the prophets. Now, in 2 Peter 1, verse 21,
it says that the Holy Spirit spake, these Old Testament prophets,
holy men of God, spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. These men were moved by the Holy
Ghost to write these things. It is God's word given by God's
prophets that he has called. They have heard the message,
and now they have something to share. They have something to
preach. They have something to give. It is such a blessing to
hear Isaiah as he's preaching. He has something to share with
the people. Now, nobody wants to pay any
attention, and he sums it up in Isaiah 53 in verse 1. Who
has believed our report, and what to the arm of the Lord hath
been revealed? Nobody believes it unless it's
revealed and we're so thankful for that ministry of the Holy
Spirit to give us hearing ears. to give us seeing eyes, understanding
hearts. He does such a marvelous work
in us by regeneration. Those that hear, these are the
words of the mouth of the prophets. These are what to be heard. The
prophets of this day of Zechariah were writing, wrote by the same
director that gave us the New Testament. the same director
that gave us all the Old Testament. Holy men of God, speak as they
were moved. Now, along the same thought,
would you turn over with me to the book of Luke chapter one?
Luke chapter one shares a great deal of information about how
we got the word of God, and the importance of the word of God,
and the message of the word of God, and the Christ of the word
of God, from the very beginning. The Covenant of Grace ordained
that the Son of God would come and lay down His life for ransom
for many. Well, these Old Testament prophets,
we'll notice here, they not predicted it, they prophesied of it and
stated that it was going to happen just as been determined in the
Covenant of Grace. Here in the Book of Luke, though,
we stop by there for just a moment. Luke, Chapter 1. Now drop down
towards the bottom. Verse 68. Verse 68 of the Book
of Luke, Chapter 1. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he hath visited and redeemed his people. Keep that in mind
as we read the next two verses. He hath visited and hath redeemed
his people. Now this is even before he died
on the cross. This is people in the Old Testament.
He redeemed them on the promise of his redemptive work on the
cross now notice the next verse 6 we're 69 and has raised up
and horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
he has raised up a horn of salvation this is the Lord and And now
the next verse, verse 70, as he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the world began. He spake
by His holy prophets. This very message, the message
of Christ. The Old Testament prophets had
the same message as we do. Christ and Him crucified. We
look at it in types, shadows, and pictures. We still preach
about types and shadows when we have the baptismal service
or we have the Lord's Supper. Yeah, we're preaching Christ
and him crucified in both of those. So it's just like going
over to the Old Testament So he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets. Well, when we get to the book
of Acts, I was stirred Oh not last time but the study before
brother Mike brought a lesson there on uh... on Matthias and
he brought up this verse of scripture in the book of Acts chapter one
verse sixteen it just uh... It's just such a blessing to
read these passages of scripture and find out that God had ordained
all his word to be given, and in all his word, he had this
as the outline. Natural man is dead, dead, dead. I find it difficult when I run
into people that argue with God telling Adam, the day you eat,
you shall surely die and argue that Adam didn't really die completely. Well, God said he died and he's
dead. We're dead and trespasses. And
we'll notice here in the book of Acts, Acts chapter one, verse
16. There is a message here about
one of the Lord's disciples. Judas, by name. It tells us here,
men and brethren, this scripture must, needs have been fulfilled,
which the Holy Ghost, now did you notice that? Brother Mike
brought that out, I just have to reemphasize that. By the Holy
Ghost. The Holy Ghost gave the word.
It's written in the Psalms. The Holy Ghost gave the Psalms.
which the Holy Ghost gave by the mouth of David. Now, David
was the prophet. David was the preacher. David
was the messenger. But the message was from the
Lord. The message was from the Holy Spirit. And that's the way
it is today. If it's gonna be an effectual
message, it must be the message from the Holy Spirit. So we notice
here, speak before concerning Judas, which was guide to them
that took Jesus. Now, you can find fault with
Judas, but it was promised in the book of the Psalms that there
would be somebody that would betray the Lord of glory. God
had determined it to happen that way, and he carried it out just
like he determined to do. Judas had a job to do. It was
given to him by the Lord, but Judas didn't know the first thing
about who he betrayed. Judas did not understand that
he was betraying the Lord of glory. He was just a servant
in the hands of God. Well, this passage of scripture
just shares with what we find so often in scripture. In chapter
three of the book of Acts, would you look there with me as we
find that the ministers of the New Testament brought this up
to Old Testament people, to the Jews so often. the Jews that
were centered in their religion. And they brought up, it was the
Holy Spirit that was giving these words. This is not just the word
of Isaiah. This is not just the word of
Jeremiah. This is not just the word of Moses. This isn't the
word of David. This is the word of the Holy
Spirit. And here in the book of Acts
chapter three in verse 18, we have that. And that's what Zechariah
is dealing with. Here are the prophets. Hear the
word of the prophets. The prophets are of God. They're
bringing the message. They're bringing the message
that God intended to come down here for you to hear. But, verse
18, but those things which God before had shown by the mouth
of all his prophets, did you notice that? Every prophet in
the Old Testament had something to say about this subject. that Christ should suffer he
hath also fulfilled. All by the mouth of all his prophets
that Christ should suffer. Did you know that Moses wrote
of the suffering Christ? Did you know that Jeremiah wrote
of the suffering Christ? Joshua wrote of the suffering
Christ. All of these Old Testament prophets
They spoke of a suffering Savior, someone that would come and do
what nobody else could do. The Son of God would come and
suffer at the hands of a holy God for our sins. It was God
placed on Him, imputed to Him, our sins, and has now blotted
all of them out. I heard tonight, it was just
such a blessing. It hadn't been long ago that we mentioned just
briefly about that woman taking an adultery. Why didn't he accuse
her? Because her sins were blotted out. He took care of that. What a blessing. He took care,
blotted their sins out. So he'll not have, nobody can
bring a charge against God's elect. Why? He blotted their
sins out. Well, let's look here at another
place in the book of Acts chapter 28. The prophets, these men of
old, these men writing during the New Testament times, they're
writing by inspiration. God's Holy Spirit is bringing
them this message. In the book of Acts chapter 28,
Acts chapter 28, and they're beginning with verse 24, Acts
chapter 28 verse 24. It says, and some believe the
things which were spoken and some believe not. Isn't that
interesting? That's about the commentary on
the Bible, isn't it? Some believed and some didn't.
Why? Because God revealed it to some
and he didn't reveal it to others. That's just the way it is. If
God intended for everybody to be saved, he would reveal his
son to everyone. Verse 25, and when they agreed
not among themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one
word, well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet unto our
fathers, saying, go unto this people and say, hearing ye shall
hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and not
perceive. Who wrote that? The prophet Isaiah
wrote that. How did he write that? By the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That's this book that we hold. It is so precious. It is God's
word. The Holy Spirit gave it to the
Old Testament prophets. The Holy Spirit gave it to the
New Testament writers. He gave them the message of God. And here we have some that did
not hear. They had saw but did not perceive. They heard but didn't understand. And that's just the way it is.
But that doesn't give us the time to stop. We must continue
to preach the gospel. So, and turn with me if you would
to the book of Hebrews for just a moment. Hebrews. The book of
Hebrews. How delightful it is to go read
the book of Leviticus and come to the book of Hebrews and say,
oh, here's what it means. Now, a lot of people want to
read something in the New Testament, particularly in the book of Revelation,
and go to the Old Testament and prove it. But the church goes
to the Old Testament and comes to the New Testament and see
what it means. And the book of Leviticus is
understood by reading the book of Hebrews. It has the meaning
there. Christ is the issue. Well, here
in the book of Hebrews, what a glorious book this book is.
Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3, and there
in verse 5. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 5 says,
and Moses barely was faithful in all his house as a servant
for a testimony of these things which were to be spoken after. But Christ as the son over his
own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. That's a heart
check right there. Verse seven, wherefore, as the
Holy Ghost saith, now, when we read about this passage of scripture
in the book of the Psalms, let's remember, the Holy Ghost spoke. It was the Holy Ghost's words.
Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith today, if you will hear
his voice, pardon not, your hearts as in the provocation in the
day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me
and proved me and saw my works 40 years the holy ghost spoke
this it was the holy ghost oh how glorious are those old testament
scriptures and zachariah is no exception One of the passages
I'd like to read along this very line is found over in the book
of First Peter. First Peter, chapter one and
verse 11. First Peter, chapter one and
verse 11. Along the same line, what's the Old Testament about?
Here it is, summed up by the Apostle Peter, the Holy Spirit
gave him these words. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. They did not have the privilege
of choosing their own words. That would be an error, because
they would allow words to come in that God never intended. What
did he do? He gave them. He breathed out
his words. Now, how he did it is in their
mind or spoken in their ear. I don't completely understand
this, but I do know this, that the Holy Spirit gave the word
of God to these men. And it says here, in Hebrews
chapter Excuse me first Peter chapter 1 verse 11 Searching
what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory that should follow Now back up to verse 10
of which salvation the prophets have inquired, search diligently
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching
what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
the Christ and the glory that should follow. That's the message
of the Old Testament. the preaching of the gospel,
the suffering of Christ on the behalf of his people, and the
glory of his resurrection that is declared. So, as Zechariah
brought out there in the book of Zechariah, chapter 8, verse
9, oh, hear those prophets. Ye that hear, hear the prophets,
what they have to say, because their word is very important.
Now, would you turn back there for just a few moments? Our time
is just about up, but I'd like to squeeze in a couple more verses.
The book of Zechariah, chapter eight, verse 10. Zechariah chapter
eight, verse 10. It says here, for before these
days, there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast. Neither
was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of
the affliction. Now that's some perilous times
going on here. There's no higher for a man,
no higher for a beast. Now notice the rest of that verse
of scripture. For I set all men, everyone against
his neighbor. What's the reason for this? I
don't know the reason, but I know who purposed it. I know it was
God that purposed this. Oh, everybody thinks we're just
gonna go plow our ground and everything's gonna turn out fine.
God said, I brought adversity. I brought adversity. It was me
that brought adversity. And we know that all things work
together for the good of them that love God to those who are
called according to His purpose. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. That's what He does. That's God. Now, I'm not going to try to
understand it because I'm not God, but I know God has complete
understanding about everything He's ever purposed to do. One
other verse here, verse 11, but now I will not be unto the residue
of this people as in the former days saith the Lord of hosts.
What a wonderful statement he makes about the residue, the
remnant, according to the election of grace. I'll not treat them
like the rest. I make special provision for
these. I have special provision in my,
in my, Covenant of grace a special provision in my lambs book of
life. I have special provision in the prophets that come They're
gonna go and preach the gospel one old prophet He was so downcast
because he felt like he was the last one. He was the last he
was the end of the line And the Lord spoke to him says I have
7,000 that have not bowed to me today God protected his people
and protected his word. Now in verse 12, and we're gonna
read this, but we'll come back to this next time, Lord willing.
For the seed, this is a demonstration of his grace. For the seed shall
be prosperous. The vine shall give her fruit.
The ground shall give her increase, and the heaven shall give their
due, and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all
these things. Now that is a verse of scripture.
a demonstration of God's grace to his remnant, all here. Now, we can look at that from
a physical standpoint, how he takes care of us, but my, what
a spiritual verse of scripture we have there. And we, Lord willing,
we'll look at that next time and see some of those. His seed,
God's seed, scattered out to the winds of the world, some
on good ground, some on this ground, some on that ground,
some on this ground. But it's that seed, that good seed, Well, thank you for joining us
tonight. It's a blessing to see you, and
it's a blessing to just look at this book of Zechariah and
rejoice in the goodness that this old prophet had for the
church, even today, that he would bring these things up and follow
the very purpose of God, plan of God, and he would be obedient
to write the scriptures as we read.