If you would, open your Bibles
to Zechariah chapter 13, verses one through nine. It's where my text is this morning.
If you're not quite familiar with where that is, it's next
to the last book in the Old Testament. So we're going to be looking
at these nine verses of chapter 13, and I've titled this message
God's Fellow. And we'll see in a moment how
I came to that title. After the temptation of Christ
in the wilderness, in Luke chapter 4 and verse 14, the scripture
says, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and
he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. The long-awaited
earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ had finally come
to pass and had officially begun. That which God had purposed and
planned and promised and prepared for from time immemorial was
to take place here in his first advent. And the word was made
flesh, the scripture says, and dwelt among us. Israel would
have her king, but it would be a different kind of king than
what she expected. She was looking for a king that would liberate
her from political bondage, but this king would deliver from
spiritual bondage and relieve him not from political oppression
but from sin's dominion. What God had promised to Adam,
to Abel, to Abraham, and every elect son and daughter of Adam
was being fulfilled in this person who is Christ. And though the
prophets, all of them, wrote and spoke of this one, the world
was ill-prepared for this man when he made his first advent.
And in human form, this man stood among us. God in the flesh stood
among us, the son of a carpenter. He had no kingly features or
characteristics. In other words, as Isaiah said,
he had no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no interest in him. We don't desire him. There's
no beauty in him that we should desire him. In today's vernacular,
he would say he doesn't look presidential. He doesn't look
like a president or a king. He doesn't act like one. He was
not what men wanted in a king. Man's contempt for his visage
rivaled that of his message. His persona was contemptible.
Therefore, his message was and still is rejected by men today. How quickly we judge by the outward
appearance. wrongly, because God warned us
not to do that. He said, judge righteous judgment,
not according to the outward appearance. Well, this man holds
the distinction of the most hated man that ever lived. That's some
distinction, isn't it? That the son of God is hated
by everyone by nature. Before we learn of Christ in
his true person, we all hate him by nature. John chapter 12
and verse 13 gives us an illustration of how men hate the Lord. He says here that they took branches
of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna.
Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the
Lord. Well, it's the same people who two days later cried, crucify,
crucify and give us Barabbas. Every person who ever lived hates
Christ by nature. Love incarnate. tabernacled among
us, and we rejected the man, his mission, and his message.
Said he in John chapter 15, 25, they hated me without a cause.
Sinners say they love Jesus until they hear what he says and hear
of his doctrine, and then we turn thumbs down on the man and
his message. So he was the most hated man
who ever lived. He was the most misunderstood
person also. None by nature understood or
understand his mission. He came, he said, of himself,
not to be ministered to, but to minister and give his life
a ransom for many. And people today misunderstand. The testimony of most in religion
today is that Christ was a failure, that he shed his blood, but he
didn't get the job done. He didn't make anybody It didn't
save anybody, it only made men savable if they would, and you
fill in the blank of whatever your denomination requires or
whatever you say makes the difference between saved and lost. And more
than making Christ a failure, they make God to be some monster
who killed his only begotten son for the sins of the world
and yet charges and kills people with it, which makes him an unjust
God. God's justice will not charge
to me what Christ's blood bought at Calvary. If there my sins
were put away, then satisfaction is my stay. I'm safe if Christ
died for me and put away my sin. He didn't come to make salvation
possible for all. He came to make salvation certain
for all of those for whom he made propitiation. So he was
the most misunderstood of persons. He was the poorest of the poor.
Though his father owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the scripture
says he has not where to lay his head. Look at 2 Corinthians
8 in verse 9, and here's God's definition of grace right here. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake
he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich. So he was the poorest of the
poor, and he suffered on this earth as no man ever suffered. He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and we hid as it
were our faces from him. He was a man of sorrows, and
the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, of all his elect. Well, who is this man that spoke
as no man ever spoke? Who is this man who raised the
dead, walked on the water, calmed the tempest? Who is this man
who claims to be God, Is not this Joseph and Mary's son, the
carpenter? Well, his offices of prophet,
priest, and king appointed him by the father reveal a totally
unique personality. Jesus asked his disciples one
day, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? Well, Zechariah
described him in different words, basically in the same way. Peter
said, thou art the Christ. the son of the living God. Zechariah
says that he is a fellow smitten. In other words, this talks about
his person, who he is. Secondly, he is a fountain open,
what he has done, what he has accomplished in his redemption.
And thirdly, he is a refiner's fire, what he is doing and will
yet do for his people as Lord over his kingdom. So let's look
at these three names given in Zechariah to the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, he is a fellow smitten. Look with me at Zechariah chapter
13 and verse 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.
Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will
turn my hand upon the little ones. Who is this man? He is
God's fellow. That word fellow in the Hebrew
means equal. Here God declares a man to be
his equal. That man, that is my fellow,
he says. What man is equal to God? There's
only one, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son. So
first of all, this fellow is God's son, the second person
of the blessed trinity. He is very God of very God, co-equal
with the Father in every attribute of his deity, who subordinated
himself in his offices. for the purpose of redemption. Isaiah describes him for us in
chapter nine in verse six. He says, for unto us a child
is born. This is speaking of his humanity. Unto us a son is given. This
is his deity. And the government, the salvation
of his church, his people, is upon his shoulder. It's his responsibility. and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, because he got the job done,
the Prince of Peace. This child, born to Mary, who
is God, was given by God, was set to die for the sins of his
people. He said, for this cause came
I into the world. God cannot die, yet this man
who is God did suffer, bleed, and die, and this is attributed
to his humanity. Well, man cannot save, yet this
man who is God does save all his people. And this is attributed
to his deity. He is, the scripture says, the
only begotten son of God. There's only one like him. There'll
never be another one because he got the job done. There's
no need for another only begotten son because he saved his people. No need for another. So he is
the son of God, but he is, secondly, he's God's surety. A surety is
one who assumes voluntarily the responsibility of another to
the law's demands against that person. As the surety of God's
people, God looked to the son for satisfaction and not to his
people. God looked to the son for satisfaction
to the law they transgressed, and he has ever been our satisfaction
since that office was given him in eternity past. He is the lamb
slain from before the foundation of the world. Therefore, the
scripture says, God there, back then, hath laid past tense on
him the iniquity of us all. Abraham, Adam, Abel, all the
Old Testament saints, their sins were laid on him. They were charged
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the question for you and
me is, Is he my appointed surety? Or am I looking somewhere else? He is God's surety. And thirdly, he's God's substitute. Look back at Zechariah chapter
13, verse 7. He says, smite the shepherd.
This shepherd is the type of the anti-type who is Christ.
How could a holy God smite a good man? Jesus said, I am the good
shepherd, and my sheep hear my voice and they know me. How could
God smite a good man? Conversely, how could a holy
God who declared in Ezekiel chapter 18, the soul that sinneth it
shall die, how could he fail to punish with eternal death
the guilty? In other words, how can a sinner
who drinks iniquity like water not die eternally? There's only
one way. a suitable substitute. A lamb
without spot or blemish must willingly stand before the bar
of God's justice and receive the wrath earned and deserved
by the one he represents. The sins of the chargeable, that's
us, was charged to the sins by means of imputation to the innocent
who must die the just for the unjust. First Peter tells us
this in chapter three in verse 18. He says, for Christ also
hath once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. God, in simple language, tells
us how this is accomplished in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. For He, God the Father, made
Him, God the Son, to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. A holy God must
punish the sinner, or a suitable, qualified substitute. The sword
of God's divine justice was meted out in full, not on the transgressor,
but on the just one. He died the just for the unjust. God's fellow is that substitute,
The question for us again is, is that my substitute? Is this
the one I'm trusting? Is this the one that made himself
a substitute for me? Fourthly, he is God's satisfaction. He's a son. He's a substitute. He's a satisfaction. Satisfaction
is simply propitiation made. And propitiation is favor regained. What this man did regained our
favor in the sight of God. The substitutionary sacrificial
death of the man, God's fellow, satisfied every demand God's
holy law and justice had against all for whom he represented.
This fellow's resurrection from the dead declared God satisfied
with the sacrifice that he'd made. Well, the question again
for us, is God satisfied with you? Is he satisfied with me? Only if Christ, is our satisfaction,
is God satisfied with us. And he's God's Savior. Lastly,
he's God's Savior. There is salvation in no other,
for there's none under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved. His blood and his righteousness
imputed ensures the salvation of everyone for whom he died.
There are many counterfeits going out into the world. There is
only one God-man. one qualified and willing to
accomplish our redemption. He is both a just God and a savior,
such as God's fellow. Okay, the second point is not
only is he God's fellow, smitten, he's a fountain opened. Look
at Zechariah chapter 13 in verse one. In that day shall a fountain
be opened. It's always been opened. The
language sounds like it's been closed. But this fountain's always
been. Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundations of the world. That fountain shall be opened
by way of revelation to God's people, to the house of David and to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And it's for a particular purpose,
for sin and for uncleanness. Christ here is portrayed as a
fountain open. And you think about a fountain,
it's not like pooled water or a pond. It's ever-flowing. And it's adequate for quenching
thirst and for cleansing. And it's fresh and clean and
ever-flowing. And this is what Christ is to
his people. He is a fountain, ever-flowing,
for cleansing and for sin. And this fountain is speaking
of Christ, which was opened by his death on the cross when blood
and water flowed from his pure side. John gives us account of
this in John chapter 19 in verse 34. But one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side and forthwith came out their blood
and water, blood for satisfaction, the water for cleansing. There's
an old saying, the wheels of justice turn slowly, but they
do turn. Justice delayed is not justice
denied. God will be vindicated. And he
is so here. The sword of divine justice was
awakened after many millennia to enact justice against my shepherd,
my servant, speaking of his sinless humanity, who is my fellow, speaking
of his deity, this one that Paul wrote in Philippians chapter
two and verse six and eight, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and
was found in the likeness of man and being found in fashion
as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. God was and always is looking
to the blood of Christ's cross, even to the Old Testament saints
before the cross. So sure and certain was he that
Christ would accomplish his redemptive work, that he could and did declare
righteous and justified those for whom Christ would die on
that cross. Said God to Israel, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. Well, God has always seen the
blood in Christ. He's ever before the face of
God, the one who shed his blood for us. In Zechariah 13, verse
one again, he says, 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. This house is open to David,
the House of David, speaking of individual elect sons and
daughters of God, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. That's
typical of the church. Every son and daughter of David
will be affected by this fountain open, and the church in general
will be affected and saved by it. There'll not be any one left
out that's supposed to be in this church. It was not open
for all without exception, but to spiritual Israel, those who
hunger and thirst after righteousness and come to this fountain for
cleansing. Sinners go everywhere seeking
today for a fountain of cleansing. There's only one. That's Christ. Only his blood can put away sin. Only he, the water of life, can
cleanse from sin's pollution. Sin's power to condemn and defile
were destroyed by the water and blood which flowed from this
fountain, that Christ, according to Ephesians 5.26, might sanctify
and cleanse his church with the washing of water by the word.
So Christ is God's fellow smitten, and Christ is that fountain open.
And in this, he's done everything necessary to the salvation of
his people. And thirdly, he is a refiner's
fire. Not only is he a fellow smitten,
a fountain open, but he is a refiner's fire. Look with me at Zechariah
chapter 13, verse 8 and 9 in your Bible. And it shall come to pass that
in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut
off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring
the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. And they shall
call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, it is my people. And they shall say, the Lord
is my God." Refiner's fire separates the good from the bad. It purifies. Christ's blood,
both purged and purified. In Hebrews chapter 9, in verse
12, it says, neither by the blood of goats and Chaz, but by his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Think about this comparison now.
He says, for if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes
of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of
the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God. In other
words, if the blood of bulls and goats could sanctify the
flesh temporarily under that old mosaic, how much more shall
the blood of the everlasting covenant, who offered himself
without spot to God, purge our consciences from dead works to
serve the true and living God? Christ's death purged the sins
of all for whom he died. The law of God has no more claims
against his people. It asks nothing, it expects and
accepts nothing from the sinner in the way of obedience for acceptance
with God. Christ so thoroughly finished
salvation work, there's nothing left for the sinner to do. But
the work accomplished is a mystery to us. It's hidden from us. We
don't understand, we don't know anything about it by nature. In a state of nature, God's little
ones that Zachariah talked about cannot see their justification
before God until he turns his hands upon them. In other words,
what God purposed for them and Christ accomplished for them
must be revealed to them. And that's what he's doing in
this age of grace that we're living in through the preaching
of the gospel. in that day of generation. He
says, in that day shall this fountain be opened. What day?
That's the day of regeneration and conversion, when God shows
to his elect what Christ has done for them in his obedience,
suffering, and death. It is here. Christ the fountain
opened that Calvary to purge our sins, begins his lifelong
process of purification. And I'm not talking about progressive
sanctification here. I'm talking about conformity
to Christ. So the question is, are we conformed to Christ? Are
we being conformed to Christ? Well, if we are, Zechariah gives
us some instances and some evidences of how we can know if we are
being conformed to Christ. First of all, God has cut off
our idols. If we're being conformed to God,
the first thing God does is to cut off our idol. Look at Zechariah
chapter 13 and verse two. Scripture says, and it shall
come to pass in that day, in that day of regeneration and
conversion, saith the Lord, that I will cut off the names of the
idols out of the land. And by the land, he's talking
about the church. And they shall no more be remembered,
and I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass
out of the land. You know, there are as many idols
as there are people in the world. Everybody, by nature, worships
an idol of his imagination. your idol is concocted in your
mind to fit your way of thinking. And everybody has their own idol. They have their own idea of what
God is like. The scripture says in Psalm 51,
they think that he's like us. You thought that I was altogether
such a one as you. Well, how does God cut off the
many names of the idols among us? I think he does it by Replacing
them with God who has one name Look at Isaiah chapter 45 in
verse 20 Isaiah writes assembled yourself and come drawn near
together. You did escaped of the nation They have no knowledge
that set up the wood of their graven images and pray to a god. They cannot say God's accusing
us here of setting up the wood of our graven images. Well, we
don't do that today. We're more civilized, but we
all have a God, an idol in our minds, and that's the God that
we worship. They have no knowledge to set
up the wood of their graven images and pray unto a God that cannot
save. Tell ye and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel
together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord,
and there's no God else beside me, a just God and the Savior.
There is none beside me. Well, how does God show us that
we're idolaters by nature? In John chapter 16, verse eight
and nine, he tells us, but you remember Jesus told his disciples
on the night before, the night he was betrayed, he said, I must
go away. It's expedient for you that I
go away. Or if I go away, I'll send the
Holy Spirit. And when he comes, he'll convince
the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. So let's read these
verses. And when he has come, in other
words, when he confronts the idolater, the elect idolater,
he will reprove the world. He will reprove that elect sinner
of sin and of righteousness and judgment. He doesn't do this
for the whole world. He just convinces his people of sin and
righteousness and judgment. The first action of the Holy
Spirit in regeneration and conversion is to convince the world of sin.
What sin? Well, he says, of sin because
they believe not on me. Well, if I don't believe on him,
who do I believe on? I got somebody I believe in.
That's my idol. Whoever that is, that's my idol.
And God convinces me. That's the first work that he
does to show us that we're idolaters, that we've been delivered from
that idolater. He's cut off our idol. And that's the way he does
it. God also forgets our idols. He
says, I'll remember them no more. Not only will we forget them,
but God says, I won't remember them against my people. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness
and their iniquities will I remember no more. So God has cut off our
idols, first of all. Secondly, he has cleansed us
of idolatry. chapter 13, verse 2, he says,
I will cause the prophets with an unclean spirit to pass out
of your land, to pass out of your church. How will he do that? That word
pass out means to perish. They will perish because of lack
of support. We will not support false prophets
in this pulpit and no true church will. and therefore they will
lose their place because they have no audience with the people. So he cuts off our idol and he
cleanses us from idol. You know all by nature possess
an unclean spirit that will listen only to a prophet with an unclean
spirit. We'll always seek counsel from
a kindred spirit rather than the word of God until God makes
us willing in the day of his power. False religion will never
expose idolatry, but the gospel will and does. Paul said it this
way to the church at Thessalonica in chapter one and verse nine,
for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we
had unto you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the
living and true God. Are you a former idolater? I
hope you are. If you're not, you're still an
idolater. because that's what we all are by nature. By nature,
we worship an idol. By grace, we worship the true
and living God. Jesus told a parable in Luke
chapter 11 about an unclean spirit that swept his house and left,
and he couldn't find any company. So he went back home, and he
took seven others with him, which made his house seven times worse
than it was when he left. Well, God, when he sweeps our
house, he doesn't leave it empty. He filled it with something.
So not only has he cut off my idols and cleansed me of idolatry,
he's changed my affections. Look at verses 3 and 5 of chapter
13 of Zechariah, verse 3. And it shall
come to pass. Well, let me go back to verse
2 just a minute. He says, I'll cause the prophets
and the unclean spirits to pass out of the land, and it shall
come to pass when any shall yet prophesy. Then his father and
his mother that begat him shall say unto him, thou shalt not
live, for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord. And
his father and mother that begat him shall thrust him through
when he prophesied. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the prophet shall be ashamed every one of his vision.
when he had prophesied, neither shall they wear a rough garment
to deceive. But he shall say, I am no prophet,
I am a husbandman, for men taught me to keep cattle from my youth. When God cleans the house, he
doesn't leave it empty, because if he did, it would be filled
up with more evil spirits. But God gives us something. And we're going to look at that
in just a minute. These false prophets that he
talks about here in verse three, he will give his people contempt
for those people that preach this false gospel. And as I mentioned
before, we will not accept them into our fellowship to preach
their gospel to them. And these false prophets who
refuse God's commandment shall be thrust through. That's what
he says. Look at the latter part of verse
three. His father and his mother that began him shall thrust him
through when he prophesied. Under the old Mosaic law, a false
prophet was condemned by stoning to death. And he's talking about
thrusting through us with a sword here. Well, we know that our
laws today forbid the killing of a person. So how do we thrust
through the false prophet? We thrust him through with the
gospel. We confront him with the gospel. That's how he is
thrust through. We can't kill him with a sword,
so we use the sword of God, which is the word of God. The word
of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged
sword. They pass out of the midst of us due to our lack of support.
It's the truth of the gospel that drives them out. Our doctrine
is, thus saith the Lord, It is the word we preach that judges
now and will be the standard at judgment. And we have contempt for these
false prophets. But we have contentment in Christ.
Look at verses four again. It shall come to pass that the
prophets that are ashamed shall be ashamed everyone for his vision. When he hath prophesied, neither
shall he wear a rough garment. to deceive, but shall say I'm
no prophet, I'm a husband, for man taught me to keep cattle
from my youth up. We're content with Christ. Those
prophets who turn from their idols will be ashamed of their
visions with which they rivaled Christ's suffering on the cross.
Isn't that what we're all guilty of? We used to like to talk about
our experience, our vision, our dream that we had, And we put
that up against the blood, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's what, I think that's what he's talking about here,
that the ones that are taught of God, he says, I was told a
man from my youth up to be a husband. I wasn't taught to be a prophet.
And until God teaches the man or whoever, until he's taught
of God, he, until he's taught of God, he cannot, cannot be
a preacher of God, for God's sheep will not hear anybody but
the shepherd or the under-shepherd. And though one dress the part
of a prophet, they talked about the rough garment here. That
was a sign of the prophet John the Baptist came forth from the
wilderness wearing camel's hair, and Jesus warns us. He said, beware of false prophets
that come to you in sheep's clothing. That's the rough garment. In
other words, they dress the part of a prophet. But inwardly, they
are ravening wolves. You don't know them by their
deeds. And he makes us to see that it was our sin, our transgression
that nailed Christ to the cross. Look at verse 6. And one was
saying to him, what are these wounds in thine hands? Then he
shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of
my friends. Christ died for his friends,
not the whole world. We serve him now out of grace
and gratitude for his marvelous salvation. And the world knows
no such mercy and grace, because they're not friends. They're
not his friends. He said this in John 15, verse
13, greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down
his life for his friends. And you are my friends, if you
do whatsoever I command you. Are you a friend of God? You
are if you do what he commands, and this is a specific command. You have contempt for the idols
and their prophets, and you flee idolatry. Revelation says this
of the church of Ephesus, but thou hast this, that thou hatest
the Nicolaitans, idol worship, which I also hate. Not only do
you have contempt for the idols, but you are content with Christ. He laid down his life. to establish
the one righteousness God freely imputes to those who receive
it by faith. You value Christ's righteousness more than your
own personal experiences. And you call upon the name of
the Lord. Look at verse 8 and 9. of Zechariah
chapter 13. He says, I'll bring a third part
of them through the fire, and we'll refine them as silver is
refined, and we'll try them as gold is tried, and they shall
call on my name. I will hear them. I will say,
it is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God. God will deliver his elect into
final glory. The gospel is divisive. It says
here that two-thirds of the land will be turned away and a third God will
cause to pass through the fires of purification. Of course, this
is symbolic language. It's talking about the vast majority
in religion today don't know the true and living God, and
they will be cut off. But the third, The third part,
symbolic of the elect, are those little ones that God will turn
his hand upon. Not a hand of judgment, but a
hand of mercy and grace. So, in verse nine that I just
read, God will cause his sheep to experience and endure the
fires of purification, not to gain or maintain any favor of
God, but as evidence only that we are already sons of God. We
call on his name. What name? A just God and a savior. who has called us with a holy
calling, and he scourges every son whom he has," according to
Hebrews 12 and 2. But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof are all pertankers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
So this man who is God's fellow is a fountain-holder and a refiner
of fire, a refiner's fire. It is he that Luke 13 says, Luke,
3 chapter 17 says, whose fan is
in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and will gather
the wheat into his garner, but the chaff will he burn with unquenchable
fire. So, the sword of justice awoke
against God's servant, his fellow, and a fountain was opened. Like
a refiner's fire, God turned his hand upon the little ones
scattered, and he called them, and he saves them, and he cleanses
them. not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost. And God promised us in Luke chapter
12 in verse 32, fear not, little flock, for it is your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom of the shepherd, God's
fellow smitten, God's fountain open, and God's fire refining. Can you say, as with these in
the last part of the verse 39, they shall say, the Lord is my
God. Mark, come and lead us in the
closing hymn.