Look through his word and we're
going to continue our journey through the Old Testament. Looking
at pictures of Christ. Today we'll be in Zechariah chapter
6. The name of the message is the
King on His Throne. The King on His Throne. Zechariah
6 starting in verse 9. And the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldiah,
of Tobiah, and of Jedidiah, which are come from Babylon, and come
thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah, the son
of Zephaniah. And take silver and gold, and
make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua, the son of
Jehoshaphat, the high priest. and speak unto him, saying, 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. Even he shall
build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory,
and shall sit and rule upon his throne." There's our text. Those
little words there, wonderful. And he shall be a priest upon
his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
And the crown shall be to Helam and Tobiah, and to Jedidiah and
to Hen, the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple
of the Lord. And they that are far off shall come and build
in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of
hosts has sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass if
you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God."
The king on his throne. The king on his throne. Here
before us in our text we see a ceremony appointed which foreshadows
the coronation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the people here mentioned
were they who had returned from captivity in Babylon. The two
crowns, which are mentioned in verse 11, then take silver and
gold and make crowns and set them upon the head of Joshua,
the son of Jehoshaphat, the high priest. The two crowns, one made
of silver and one made of gold, represent two offices of Christ. Several commentators mention
that the silver one represents his priestly office. his priestly
office, and the gold one represents his kingly office. He's king. You know, Joshua, the son of Jehoshadak,
was to be crowned with these as high priests, which is typical
of Christ. We know that from our text that
the branch mentioned there is Christ. That's the Lord Jesus
Christ mentioned there. It's one of the names given to
him. And this description as the branch
points to no one else but Christ. And this description has all
its accomplishments in Christ. Look at verse 12, and speak unto
him, saying, 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. Again, notice the man. Last week, we saw a man shall
be a shelter from the storm, right? And on Wednesday, we saw through
this man. is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And
each one of us who are here is ordained by God to be here. Whether it be Wednesday night
or Sunday night or Sunday morning, each person is ordained to be
here. The man, though. Here again we see the man, the
God-man. This is pointing to none other
but Christ. He is the branch. No one else but Him. God incarnate
in the flesh. Fully God and yet fully man. This man, the branch, the one who sits upon His throne,
we see in the following text, is the man Christ Jesus. And
He is the only mediator Between God and man. Catholicism tells you to go to
a man, right? But a man who's merely like you
and I. This is no mere man. This is God incarnate in the
flesh, the branch. One who rules and reigns right
now. He's not waiting to rule, like some folks say. We're going
to see he's a king upon the throne. And that brings great comfort
to his people. Knowing that he is sovereign. Knowing that he
is in control. And this man is the man who redeems
his people from their sins. The man Christ Jesus. We can't
pay for one sin. But Christ redeems his people
from all their sins. All. And this is the man who accomplished
redemption by shedding his own precious blood, the God-man,
shedding his own precious blood, For the redemption of our sins.
For the redemption of the sins of His people. Dying before the law and justice
of God. Crying, it is finished. Everything
God demands for the redemption of His people is finished. Finished. Man, Christ, Jesus, the branch. A well-known name of the Redeemer.
And it can be applied to no one else. No one else. Look at verse 12 again. And speak
unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts. Behold, the
man whose name is the branch, singular. He shall grow up out
of his place. He shall build the temple of
the Lord. And look at these wonderful words,
the latter part of that verse. You know how we always say, I've
never seen that before? It was one of those moments for
me this week, studying for this. He shall build the temple of
the Lord. He shall build it, the branch. And look at in verse 13. Again, it's stated, even he shall
build the temple of the Lord. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the one who adds to his church. He adds to the church as he sees
fit. The temple here referred to is
a spiritual temple. God's elect are what? Turn with
me if you would, the first Peter. God's elect are lively stones,
right? Do you know we're built up a
spiritual house? He shall build his temple. He
will build the temple. And turn with me, if you would,
put your finger in 1 Peter 2, and then put your finger in Ephesians
2. Both Paul and Peter speak of this. Look what Peter says in 1 Peter
2, we'll look there first. Ye also, and this is speaking
of believers. Ye also, 1 Peter 2, verse 5. as lively stones are built up
a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained
in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. He's the chief cornerstone. We're
lively stones built up in him. Unto you, therefore, which believe.
What is Christ to we who believe, to we who have been redeemed
from our sins? He's precious, isn't he? He's
precious. He's not precious to unbelievers.
And there was a time when he wasn't precious to me, to my
shame. But now, oh, he's precious. He's
precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. And then turn with me, if you
would, to Ephesians chapter 2. Starting in verse 19. God's elect
are lively stones built up into a spiritual house. Now therefore ye are no more
strangers. And we were strangers. and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God,
and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all
the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in
the Lord." You see? It's amazing. He built the temple. It's a spiritual temple, and
we're each of his people, in whom, look at verse 22, in whom
ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through
the Spirit. Christ adds to his church. He builds his church. And he shall build the temple,
he shall. And think of this, he who builds
the temple, he receives all the glory, doesn't he? If we could
build it ourselves, we'd be bragging about it. No, but he builds it. He adds. He gets all the glory. He's a wonderful, merciful savior. And this is why we proclaim the
gospel. And God does the saving, doesn't he? And the building
of a spiritual temple. But we have hope. We know that
we proclaim the gospel. Here, use it for His glory. You who believe, aren't you thankful
that you're a lively stone? We don't deserve to be... Oh, He has mercy on His
people, doesn't He? Let us magnify the Lord God.
Let us magnify Him in praise and thanksgiving. Back to our text in Zechariah
6, verse 13. Even he shall build the temple
of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory. I keep saying, he gets all the
glory. You're going to hear me say that all the time. He gets
all the glory. When I was a religion, I wanted
all the glory. I didn't even know I was being
like that. But in grace, oh, we ascribe
it all to Him. Here bear the glory. And think of this. It's not Josiah
who is mentioned in verse 11 who gets the glory. It's not
Zerubbabel or the preachers of the Word. Don't ever vault preachers
up. Don't ever do that. We're just men. Don't have a vote. I'm just a
sinner saved by grace. He gets it all. He gets all. He did it all. I couldn't save myself from one
of my sins. The Bible says he's forgiven
me for all trespasses and sins. That's marvelous. And you forgive
all who come to him. of all their trespasses and sins.
May He show you that you need Him. You know, there was a time when
we had our checklists, you know. Well, I don't do this, and I
don't do that, and I don't do this, and I don't do that. And,
oh, that person does that? Well, they're not a Christian. I was a Pharisee, beloved. Self-righteous. And those of
us who come out of religion, we know, don't we? We know, we
know we were there. He gets all the glory. He gets
all the honor. And why do we obey him now as
believers? Because the love of Christ constrains
us. Because we love him. Think of this too. The only one you can be sure
of who is saved is yourself. So we've got to file our checklists
away, don't we? And think of this. Do you remember
the publican and the sinner? I was talking last night with
some dear saints last night about this. Remember the publican and
the sinner? That publican, he had his checklist, didn't he?
I thank God that I'm not like that guy. I think, I do this,
I do that. He's checking off his list, wasn't
he? Self-justification. Self-righteous. And there's the
publican over there. He thinks he's the chief of sinners.
Oh God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Bible says he
went home justified. Oh, it's marvelous. So we give
him all the glory. We give him all the praise for
what he's done in our lives. Because he's worthy. He's worthy. Look in our text again. So don't
ever, don't vault preachers up and no church members. We don't
vault each other up, but we vault Christ up, right? We brag on
Christ. what he's done. We love each other and where
Scripture says our hearts are knit together in love and we
love one another, we pray for one another, but we don't ball
each other up. Not at all. Look at Zechariah
again, 613, and even he shall build the temple of the Lord
and he shall bear their glory and shall sit, sit, and rule
upon his throne. He shall be a priest unto his
throne. priest upon his throne and the council of peace shall
be between them both. Now scripture here declares that
our great king sits and rules upon his throne. He's not waiting to rule. He
rules right now. Right now, he's a king who sits
upon his throne. He's a sovereign, majestic king. And He rules and reigns in heaven
above. And what a wonderful picture
we have before us of our great King. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords. He shall bear the glory and shall
sit and rule upon His throne. God loves to speak of him, right?
This is my beloved son. Angels fall and praise him. And remember, he's king before
he come, right? He's king before he came. He's born king. And he's king right now. He is a
king of kings and the Lord of Lords and this is Christ And what are we taught we're
taught by the Holy Spirit to to love him and to exalt him
right What the scripture do it puts men in the dust? And it
exalts God When I was in religion it exalted
man and put God down here at their whim and But grace doesn't do that. Oh,
it exalts Christ. It exalts God. He's sovereign,
almighty. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
His ways are not our ways. The prophets and the New Testament
writers, what are they always doing? They're always setting
forth Christ and exalting him, aren't they? He's a great king. The testimony is he shall bear
the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne. So let's look
at a few aspects of him being king. Number one, we've hit on
it, he's a sovereign king. Now, nowadays, we don't have
kings, but back in the days, a king ruled supreme. He didn't walk up to the king
and say, well, you know, I think you should change some things
and do this and do that. Not at all. He's king. Brother John, you
know, being in the military, when you have a leader that's
at the top, everyone's answerable to him. He's king. There's nowhere else. He's the pinnacle. And beloved,
he's sovereign. He's a great king. Earthly kings pale in comparison
to him. He's a great king over all the
earth. And think of this earth we're on. He's the great king
of all the universe. He's the great king over everything. And think of the condescension. The great king became a man.
He died in the room instead of sinners. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Oh, he's God's king. He's a great and glorious king.
He's greater than David, who was a man after God's own heart.
He's greater than Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived. He's incomparable. Incomparable. No earthly king
even comes close to him. His wisdom is infinite. Infinite. See, we learn things. He doesn't change. His wisdom is infinite. It knows
no limits or bounds. His empire is universal. He rules over everything. And
he reigns a king supreme. All things are put under his
feet. All things. His subjects, they're innumerable. No man can number God's elect. Like the drops of the morning,
dew drops of the morning, or the sands on the seashore. His resources, are boundless. Mercy and grace, boundless. And his power to create is infinite. See how he's a king that doesn't
compare to anyone here. His laws are holy and just. He must be upheld. They must
be satisfied. What must we be to stand in the
presence of God? Perfect, right? We can't, can we? None of us,
we're sinners. But the very king we spoke, we're
looking at becomes a man. Dies in the room instead of sinners.
Lives a perfect life. Dies before that law and justice
of God for all who would believe. Oh, what a great king. holiness
and justice and judgment are the basis of his throne. His
reign, too, beloved, is eternal. It'll never end. We've seen kings
rise. We've seen kingdoms rise. Where's
the great Roman Empire? God. Where's the great Persian
Empire? God. Britannica used to rule the seas. Not anymore. But His reign, beloved. And this is the one who saves
His people. His reign is eternal. Gives us comfort and peace. And He shall rule, beloved, forever
and ever. Forever and ever. He is a wonderful
Savior. He's a wonderful Sovereign. And
think of this. He's both the Sovereign King
and the Savior. Next, the throne of Christ. He
sits upon a throne, our text says, right? Beloved, His throne
is the throne of grace. Hebrews says this, if you want
to turn, Hebrews 4.16. His throne is the throne of grace.
A glorious high throne, and it's a place where He rules and reigns.
It's lofty, high above the heavens. Acts says, Heaven is my throne
and earth is my footstool. What else will you build me,
saith the Lord? But what is the place of my rest? It's a magnificent throne. It's
dazzling to behold. Revelation says, And he that
sat to look upon was to look upon like a jasper and sardine
stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, its sight
like unto an emerald, and the circle represents the eternality
of his throne. But in Hebrews it says this,
now remember this, this is beautiful for us who are believers. Hebrews
4.16, let us therefore come boldly unto what? The throne of grace. It's a throne of grace. Throne
of mercy. that we may obtain mercy, and
what? And find grace to help in time
of need. I need grace to help in time
of need. That's our only comfort, isn't
it, is Christ. So this throne is eternal. It
can know no decay. And it's Christ's throne. It's His throne. It's His by
heirship. It's the only begotten of the
Father. It's His by decree and appointment of the Father. It's His by right of purchase. Being founded in His most precious
blood. And He sits upon the throne.
Remember the high priest never sat in the Old Testament? But
our high priest Sat down on the majesty on high it is finished. There's no more work to be done.
It's finished Oh, he sits upon his throne and
he does not fight or raise an army to defend that throne He's a sovereign king and it's
his by lawful right to His throne by decree. He shall rule and
reign forever and ever. Forever and ever. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 146 and in Exodus 15 as well. He rules from the
throne by love, pure and holy love. And He rules by decree. He rules by power. He has the
authority to reign. He can exercise that authority. If you're ever saved, it's by
the mercy of God. He rules by wisdom. He has the
highest wisdom. His rule is supreme. It overrules
all governments. All people, and it's all for His glory. I don't watch a lot of news anymore
simply because I get upset. Seeing the stuff that's going
on, and now it's fine to watch the news, but for me, I just, I know the stuff's going on,
and I know things are going on, and I like to be informed about
certain things, but sometimes I just get a little upset with
what's going on. But I always remember, all governments,
all authorities, everything is under his rule. It's all under his reign. He's
king. He'll never be disposed from
his throne. He'll never abdicate his throne.
Look at Psalm 146. The Lord shall reign, verse 10,
the Lord shall reign, what? Forever. forever. He sits upon His throne, beloved,
and He rules forever. Even thy God, O Zion, unto all
generations, praise ye the Lord. And in Exodus 15, Exodus 15, verse 18, The Lord shall reign forever
and ever. He's a king. And he rules and reigns forever
and ever. And think on this, beloved. This
text in Exodus states that he shall rule. It's not a question of whether
he will or won't. He shall. And I like those statements in
scripture that show us that this is truth. It's not a question
of whether He will or not. He shall save His people from
their sins. He shall. This gives us great hope. He will do it. Think of this too. It says he
shall reign forever and ever. When did his reign begin? In eternity. In eternity past. He is king over the church, over
his people from eternity, right? When did he choose us in Christ? In eternity. When there's nothing that, you
know, it's not that God looked down through time and saw that
you would choose Him because that's works-based salvation.
No. You're chosen according to His
good pleasure. Based upon nothing in us. When He was here on earth, He
reigned. He's King. The demons were subject to him.
We know who you are. And think of when the devil tried
to tempt him. He had no right to give him all
that. They were already all his. He's king. Where is he now? And
where shall he be in eternity? Future? Ruling and reigning? forever and ever. The kingdom
was put under his care and his charge from eternity. He reigned all through the Old
Testament dispensations and he was prophesied as a king, wasn't
he? And in his ascension up to heaven
he was declared Lord. He rules by His Holy Spirit and by grace in the hearts of
His people, doesn't He? He moves with power and grace through His churches. And He
upholds all His people by the word of His power. He rules and reigns supreme.
He sits upon the throne. And He rules. And He's the God of all comfort
for His people. Does it not give you great hope
and peace to know that the One who rules and reigns is the One
who keeps us? And will one day present believers
faultless before His throne? I give unto them eternal life,
we saw this morning. The sovereign king gives his
people eternal life. What a wonderful, merciful Savior.
Turn, if you would, to Revelation chapter 7. 10,000 harps and voices sound the note
of praise above. Jesus reigns and heaven rejoices. Jesus reigns, the God of love.
See, He sits upon the throne. Jesus rules the world alone. King of glory, reign forever. Yours an everlasting crown. Nothing
from your love shall sever those whom you have made your own happy
objects of your grace. Destined to behold your face.
Savior, hasten your appearing, bring O. Bring the glorious day
when the awful summons hearing heaven and earth shall pass away.
Then we're seeing with loud with voice, loud glory, glory to our
king in Revelation. Chapter seven says this. In verse
9 to 12. After this I beheld and lo a
great multitude which no man could number. There's the elect
of God all gathered together. Of all nations and kindreds and
people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb
stood before the throne. There's the Lamb upon the throne,
ruling and reigning, clothed with white robes, and palms in
their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our
God. He gets all the glory, doesn't
He? He gets it all, beloved. Which sitteth upon the throne
and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round
about the throne, and about the elders, and four beasts, and
fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying,
Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto
our God forever and ever. Amen. The king sits upon his throne,
and he rules. Oh, may God Show you your need
for Him. Show you your need for Christ. May you flee to Him.