Okay. Good morning. Let's open up this
morning's service in the hardback, hymnal number 13. Number 13,
praise ye the Lord, the almighty. If you could please stand, number
13. Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation. O my soul, praise Him, for He
is thy health and salvation. All ye who hear, now to His temple
draw near. ? Join me in glad adoration ?
? Praise ye the Lord who o'er all things ? ? So wondrously
reigneth ? ? Shelters thee under his wings, yea ? ? So gently
sustaineth ? Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what He ordained? Praise ye the Lord, who with
marvelous wisdom hath made thee, deck thee with health and with
loving, and guide it and stay thee. ? How often grieved ? ?
Hath not he brought thee relief ? ? Spreading his wings for to
shade thee ? ? Praise ye the Lord, O let all that is in me
adore him ? All that hath life and breath come now with praises
speak for Him. Let the amen sound from His people
again. Gladly, for God, we adore Him. May be seated. Good morning. If you like to turn with me in
your Bibles will be in Zachariah. Zachariah Chapter 14. We have been. Blessed by Brother
Zachariah His words over the last several months and. Thankful. That. The Lord was pleased to reveal
Christ to this brother. And through him to reveal Christ
to us. This morning for now. We're going
to say farewell to Brother Zachariah. Pray the Lord will. be pleased
to show us once again the glory of Christ through the words that
our Lord gave to this prophet 500 years before the Lord came
into the world in the flesh. Let's I'm sorry, I've lost something
this morning and I looked on the pew, I couldn't find it.
That's it, that's it, thank you. Trish is always taking care of
me. Thank you. All right, let's ask the Lord's
blessings on our time together. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank
you for this man that you have inspired with your word and for
the way in which you've used him to bless us. We know, Lord,
that all praise and all glory and all honor goes to you. For
had you not condescended and had you not continued to condescend,
to speak to us. Lord, we would not know the.
We ask once again that you would send your Holy Spirit, that you
would open the eyes of our understanding, that you would take your. Inspired,
infallible and inerrant word. And that you would speak truth
to our hearts and Lord reveal to us the glory of thy dear son. We pray that by hearing that
you would give us faith to rest all the hope of our lives and
our souls on the glorious person and finished work of thy dear
son. Father, we thank you for the
testimony of faith that you've given to our sister Digna. And
we ask again, Lord, that you would draw near to her heart
in these final days, and Lord, that you would speak peace to
her and carry her gently and swiftly into thy presence. We
ask it in Christ's name, amen. Digna is in and out of consciousness,
on her bed, in her son's home over in Tampa.
So let's continue to pray for her and thank God for her. We're
going to all have to take up some slack in terms of our prayer
life to cover for the prayers that this dear sister has offered
for each and every one of us over the years. So thankful for
that. I hope the Lord will give us
some understanding of these final words of prophecy given to us
in Zechariah chapter 14. I've titled this message, Christ
is come in the flesh. Christ is come in the flesh. The Lord is calling on us to
come to the feast of tabernacles. And he pronounces a word of judgment
to those who refuse to come to the Feast of Tabernacles. And
he promises blessings to those who do come to the Feast of Tabernacles. Now the scripture says that God
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as
the only begotten of the Father, the one who's full of grace and
the one who is full of truth. Now that word dwelt is the word
tabernacled. God tabernacled among us. A body thou hast prepared for
me, the Lord Jesus Christ said. This has to do with the incarnation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has come in the flesh. And to believe that and to believe
all that that means is the hope of our salvation. It's all the
hope of our salvation to believe what God has done in Christ when
he came in the flesh. The Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles
took place around this time of year, the end of September, the
beginning of October. I don't know on the, I didn't
look at the Jewish calendar, maybe happening this week. It
was a seven day long ceremony where the Jews would make for
themselves booths. They would just, these little
makeshift lean-to's that they would make out in their yard. And I understand that some Jews
still practice this today. And they would go out and live
in those tabernacles or in those booths for the period of that
week. Reminding them of two things.
Reminding them of what God did when he delivered them from Egypt.
And they lived in tents while in the wilderness. And reminding
them that the Lord Jesus Christ is that tabernacle. He is that
tabernacle. He's the, he's the, he, he came
in the flesh. He, Paul speaks of his own flesh
as a tabernacle. He says that when this, when
this tabernacle is destroyed this body of flesh is just a
temporary booth that we live in. And it was a temporary body. that God gave to Christ, born
of a woman, born under the law in order to redeem those who
were cursed by the law. The incarnation of the Lord Jesus
Christ and all that means that God has come in the flesh is
the gospel. It's the gospel. Believing what
God has done in Christ when he came in the flesh. to work out
in a life of perfect obedience all the demands of God's holy
law, obeying the Father even unto death, something that you
and I have never been able to do. You and I have never been
able to keep God's law. God requires the law to be kept
perfectly. And the Lord Jesus Christ in
the tabernacle of his flesh is God's perfect man. Also in the tabernacle of his
flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, the scripture says, bore in his
body all the sins of all of God's people and suffered the wrath
of God's justice in order to satisfy holy justice. And so this had to be done in
the flesh. So when Zachariah is prophesying
to come to this Feast of Tabernacles, what he's telling us is to come
to Christ. Come to Christ. And those who
don't come to Christ, there's a declaration of judgment in
the beginning of our passage. And those who by the grace of
God are able to cast all their care upon him, There's a promise
of holiness and blessing to them who are found in Christ. Now
that's what this whole last chapter of Zechariah is about. Let me preface these first few
verses by saying that all men know in their heart of hearts
that there is a God. Now I'm not saying that a person
cannot lie to themselves enough to where they can believe the
lie, but that's what they would have to do to be an atheist.
A person would have to continue to lie to themselves until they
were so befuddled in their minds that they actually believed the
lie. Everybody knows that there is
a God. Everybody knows that that God is one with whom we must
do one day. Everybody knows there's death.
Everybody knows that this God is holy. And everybody knows
this God is just. And everybody knows that sin
must be paid for. That's the purpose of the prolifery
of religion that's in the world. All the different religions that
man has devised is his attempt to come before the God that he
knows exists and be accepted in his presence. And all the
gods, all the religions that men have devised, all depend
upon man to do something in order to make himself right with God.
He's either got to make a decision, he's got to keep a certain amount
of rules and regulations, and one religion is no different
from the other. The only difference is what are the rules and regulations
that one religion gives over another religion. The gospel,
the gospel, the good news. of the Lord Jesus Christ having
come in the flesh tells us what God has done in order to deliver
us from the wrath that is to come against all those who are
not ready to meet God. Now scripture makes it clear
in Ephesians chapter one that we have acceptance before God
in the Beloved, in Christ. Not having our own righteousness
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is by the
faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the first verses in this
chapter, Zachariah is not some wild-eyed
prophet of doom and gloom. He is a man of God. The scripture
says that the word of God was spoken by men of God who were
moved by the Holy Ghost. It is not by private interpretation. It is not some sort of scare
tactic. This is the word of God. It's the word of God. God speaking
and telling us about the judgment that is to come. And everybody
knows there is one. The difference between a believer
and an unbeliever is that the believer believes that apart
from Christ, he's worthy of all the wrath of God. He's like that
thief on the cross who said, we're getting our due condemnation. We deserve what we're getting.
And the believer knows that if God gives him what he deserves,
he's going to hell forever. He knows that. The unbeliever,
on the other hand, thinks that he's going to be able to present
himself before a holy God based on something that he's done and
God's going to accept it. Every person who is righteous
before God believes themselves to be unrighteous. And every
person who is unrighteous before God believes themselves to be
righteous. That's the difference. So these words of condemnation
are the same words that we read at the end of the book in Revelation
chapter 19. When the one who is true and
faithful speaks, the one who comes riding upon a white horse,
the one who has eyes like fire and a tongue like a sword, The
one who brings the wrath of God and sends the fowls of the air
in Revelation chapter 19 to eat the flesh of all men. What wrath? The one who cast Satan and all
his followers into the lake of fire. This is Christ. This is for all those that are
found outside, all those who refuse to come to the Feast of
Tabernacles. All those who believe that they
are able to present to God something on their own that will earn them
favor with God. These words of judgment are for
them. But there's a word of hope for
the believer. We're going to look at that in
a moment in 2 Peter chapter 3, but let's read these words first.
Verses 12 through 15. And this shall be the plague
wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought
against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away
while they stand upon their feet and their eyes shall consume
away in their holes and their tongue shall consume away in
their mouths. I made reference to this passage
a few weeks ago and this is the fire of God's wrath. He promised
us and confirmed that promise with the rainbow that he would
not destroy the world again by flood. But he makes it clear
that when the world is destroyed in the end, it will be by fire.
And what a clear description of total annihilation that we
read here in God's word. And it shall come to pass in
that day that a great tumult from the Lord. This is the wrath
of God coming to the world and God sends it. Now, by what means
he's going to send it, I don't know. Verse 12 sounds like nuclear
vaporization to me. And if God chooses to use that
to distribute, that's the Lord, you know, whatever. God's the
first cause of all things. So whether he sends a meteor,
whether just a miraculous fire from heaven, or whether we blow
ourselves up, here's a description of what God says he's going to
do. I'm going to do this. And it shall come to pass in
that day that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among
them. And they shall lay hold every man on the hand of his
neighbor and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
In other words, men are going to be, are going to be fighting
against each other to try to survive this judgment of God. It's not going to work. It's
not going to help. And Judah also shall fight at
Jerusalem against Jerusalem is the word there. In other words,
the religious are going to fight against the people of God. And
the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered
together, gold and silver and apparel in great abundance. In
other words, men are going to try to save themselves by fighting
against Jerusalem. They're going to try to save
themselves by fighting against one another. They're going to try
to save themselves by gathering up all their wealth and resources. And none of it's going to work.
None of it's going to count for anything. And so shall be the plague. So
shall be the plague, verse 15, of the horse and of the mule
and the camel and the ass and all the beasts that be in these
tents at this plague. The Lord's telling us what's
gonna happen in this final judgment. Now turn with me to, child of
God, this is not a message of fear. This is the message of hope,
and let me show you that. Turn with me to 2 Peter. 2 Peter. Now a man who's not come to the
tabernacle, who's not come to Christ, refused to come to the
feast of the tabernacle, the one who tabernacled among us,
has reason to be afraid. But those that are hidden in
Christ, here's the good news. This fire of God that's prophesied
to come at the end of the world, For the child of God has already
come. It fell from heaven 2,000 years
ago when the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come in the flesh, suffered
the wrath of God on Calvary's cross. He is our propitiation. God's not angry at those that
are in Christ. There's no fear of wrath for
those that are in Christ. Why? Because they're looking
to what God did 2,000 years ago when he satisfied his justice
by punishing his innocent, sinless, darling son for the sins of his
people. So as we've seen in the last
few weeks, It is fear or faith. There's no in between. Anything
else is deception, okay? 2 Peter chapter 3, we'll begin reading at verse
1. This second epistle, beloved,
I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure minds
by way of remembrance. So now what Peter's about to
say is for the purpose of stirring us up. And that's what these
verses in Zechariah chapter 14 do. They stir up the unbeliever. That you may be mindful of the
words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the
commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. So Peter
is now telling us why the Old Testament prophets, like Zechariah
and like all the other prophets, warn us about this day of judgment. Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days. Now in the Bible, when the scripture
speaks of last days, it's speaking of that entire period of time
between the first and second coming of Christ. And God has
revealed the time of his second coming in such a way as to give
every generation of believers hope that it would be in their
lifetime. No generation of believers have had more reason to be hopeful
than we are that it will be in our lifetime. But there's going
to be scoffers. There's going to be unbelievers.
Oh, that's just gloom and doom. That's just some wild-eyed prophet
that's trying to scare us. Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lust
and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all these things continue as they were from the beginning
of creation. Everybody's been talking about the end of the
world. Everybody's been talking about the second coming of Christ.
Where is it? And with each passing generation,
the scoffers become more bold. They become more bold to deny
what God has promised. And the child of God becomes
more hopeful. that it's his time, his generation, when the Lord
would come. For this they willingly are ignorant. You hear that? For this, to scoff
at the end of the world, to scoff at the wrath of God, to scoff
at the coming of Christ, they are willingly ignorant. What
does that mean? It means that they know in their
heart of hearts that there is a God who's going to bring justice
to this world, but they're denying what they know to be true. They're
ignoring it. that by the word of God the heavens
were of old and the earth standeth out of water and in water whereby
the world and then, I'm sorry, whereby the world that then was
being overflowed with water perished. They know that there was a flood.
They know that God destroyed this world once with water. And if he did it once, he can
surely do it again. But the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
So the Lord Peter's telling us that these things that the prophets
told us about are going to be fulfilled and there's going to
be scoffers and there's going to be unbelievers. There's going
to be those who are just going to go, well, you know, they're
going to presume upon God. They're going to say, well, you
know, yesterday is just like today and tomorrow is going to
be another good day. And we'll just, you know, we'll
just eat, drink and be merry. But beloved, now the Lord speaking
to you and me, listen to what he says, but beloved, beloved,
don't you love that word? Not that we loved God. Herein
is love. Herein is the definition of love,
the religious love to talk about how much they love God. And God
says herein is love. Not that we love God. You can't
define God's love that way, but that he loved us and sent his
son to be the propitiation of our sins. There's the definition
of love. We do love him, only because
he first loved us, and the definition of love can't be defined by our
love. It is defined by his, and he
says, but beloved, you are loved of God. You are loved of God. Be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years is one day. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to usward. not willing that any of usward. That's the meaning there. That's
the meaning. He's long-suffering to usward,
not willing that any of usward should perish, but that all of
usward shall come to repentance. The religious love to quote this
verse, and what they say is, well, God's not willing that
any should perish, but that all should believe. If that's true,
If God's not willing for any to perish, none would perish,
for no one can resist the will of God. And if God wills for all men
to be saved, then what in the world does the will of God have
to do with anybody's salvation? If God loves everybody, then
what does the love of God have to do with anyone's salvation?
If Christ died for everybody, then what does the death of Christ
on Calvary's cross have to do with anyone's salvation? If there's
those whom God loves and he wills to save and Christ died for,
they're going to go to hell? You see, this is the meaning
of the tabernacle of Christ coming in the flesh. It's a denial of Christ. I mentioned the thief on the
cross, the one whom the Lord changed his heart because the
scripture says they both railed on Christ and then all of a sudden
one of them, after he heard the Lord say, father, forgive them
for they know not what they do. He asked the Lord, he said, Oh
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And no greater
assurance has been given to any man than God gave to that man
on the cross. when he said, barely, this day
thou shalt be with me in paradise. What changed his heart? Well,
God changed his heart. Even that unbelieving thief,
the one who died in his sins, knew that the Christ was all powerful. For the unbelieving thief in
railing on Christ said, if thou be the Christ, come down and
save thyself and us too. Even that unbelieving Jew knew
that if Jesus was the Christ, he had the power to save. And he would save whoever he
wanted to save. He didn't understand. He didn't believe that Jesus
was the Christ. But what I'm saying to you is that he knew
what Christ meant, even that unbelieving thief, that malfactor
who died, knew what Christ meant. Verse 10, but the day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night. in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat and the earth also and the works that
are therein shall be burned up." This is God-made global warming
and it's going to happen. It's going to happen in an instant.
It doesn't surprise me that men have come up with a theory of
man-made global warming. They think that man's in charge
of everything. He's not. God is. This is what
God says is going to happen. Seeing then, seeing then that
all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought
we to be in holy conversation and godliness, looking for and
hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, we, According
to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness." These judgments are not for the believer. They're for the world. We look
for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be
diligent that you be found in him in peace. You see, why does the Lord give? The world, number one, the world
doesn't even know what God has said about judgment. They know in their heart of hearts
that there is going to be judgment, but they don't know what the
word of God says. They don't care what it says.
God didn't write his word for the world. He wrote it for us. that we would be diligent to
look for and hasten the coming of the Lord. Go back with me to Zechariah,
Zechariah chapter 14. Verse 16, and it shall come to
pass that everyone that is left of the nations which came against
Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King,
the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Now what is it to keep the feast
of tabernacles? We don't build booths out in
our yards out of palm limbs and sticks and go out and spend a
week in those things. We don't do that. But God is
calling on us to keep the feast of the tabernacles. It's to believe
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. that he as tabernacle
among us, it's to behold his glory as the glory of the only
begotten of the father, the one and only one who is full of grace
and full of truth. That's what it is to believe.
That's what it is to keep the feast of the tabernacles. And
we keep coming now that the Jews in the old Testament did it annually.
We do it every day. We keep coming to the feast of
tabernacles. for the same reason the Jews
came, to be reminded of what God has delivered us from and
to reminded of who Christ is and what he did when he came
in the flesh. And it shall be that whosoever
will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to
worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be
no rain. And what is rain a symbol of?
It's a symbol of the blessing of the spirit of God. You don't
come to Christ, you'll have no spirit, no understanding, no
salvation. And if the family of Egypt go
not up and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague. So go back to the plague. You
see, this tabernacle, this keeping the feast of the tabernacle,
Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, that
he came in the flesh and that he worked out the salvation of
God's people in the body of a man. Looking to Christ in faith for
all the hope of your salvation. That's what keeping the Feast
of Tabernacle is. And for those who won't do that, there'll be
no rain and the plague that I just described will come upon them. where with the last part of verse
18, where with the Lord will smite the heathen that come not
up to keep the feast of tabernacles, then shall be the punishment
of Egypt and the punishment of all nations that come not up
to keep the feast of tabernacles. Turn with me to first John chapter
four, first John chapter four. Verse one, beloved, here it is
again. How oftentimes the Lord refers
to his children as beloved. How many times do you say to
your children, oh, I love you, I love you. Here, oh, our love
can't be compared to his love, can it? Remember when the Lord
was talking to Peter after the resurrection, Peter, lovest thou
me? Lord, I love you. Peter, lovest thou? Three times
he asked him, didn't he? Peter said, Lord, you know all
things. Lord was showing Peter, Peter,
it's my love. You've proven how shaky your
love is. But my love for you, I'm gonna
keep you. Look, beloved, believe not every
spirit, Now, that means don't believe all these religious schemes
that men come up with. And be careful what preacher
you listen to, what church you go to. That's what the Lord is
saying. Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits. This is
the same thing that Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter
4. When he said, the day is coming when men with itching ears will
gather themselves together, men to tickle their ears and tell
them what they want to hear. And what do men want to hear?
The unbeliever wants to hear, I don't have to come to the Feast
of Tabernacles. I can do something. I'm a good
person. I can provide something that's
going to earn me credit and favor with God. I can do it. And so
that's what religion is. People come to services and they
hear about how to improve their behavior and how to change their
lives and how to be better people. And they leave feeling, you know,
I can do better. They don't. Believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Hereby, how am I going to discern
the difference between a false prophet and a true prophet? Now
the Lord is going to tell us. He said, be careful. Don't listen
to everybody. Don't believe all the lies and
plans that men come up with. But here's how you know. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit, and this is not
some sort of mystical, spiritual being. This is the preacher,
actually, is what it is, and the religious persuasion that
goes along with it. That's the spirit. Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is that spirit of antichrist where of you have already heard
that it should come and even now is already in the world. Now John wrote that 2000 years
ago. Men in religion love to talk about the coming of the
Antichrist. The Antichrist has been here all along, all along,
Antichrist, denying that Jesus is the Christ and that he is
come in the flesh. Now, Paul said in 1 Corinthians
12, no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed. The word accursed means to be
devoted to God without the hope of redemption. To be devoted
to God without the hope of redemption. Those who suggest, or they don't
even just suggest it, they say it, that God loves everybody,
Christ died for everybody, and God wants everybody to be saved.
I've never heard one of those people say, that every single
person that walks the face of this earth is going to be with
God in heaven. But if they believe that God
loves everybody and Christ died for everybody and God wants everybody
to be saved, then that's the only conclusion that you can
come to. Otherwise, they are calling Jesus accursed. They
are saying that the work he did on Calvary's cross to redeem
men of their sins was ineffectual. They are denying that Jesus has
come in the flesh. They're not coming to the Feast
of Tabernacles. This is the spirit of Antichrist
to deny the Lord Jesus Christ his glory and salvation. It's
Antichrist. Do you see that? There's no hope
of redemption in that message. The hope of redemption is that
the Lord Jesus Christ has done it all. That he has actually
accomplished the redemption of God's people. Now we've got to
look at these last couple of verses. Go back with me to Zechariah.
Because this chapter, these verses that we're looking at, were being
called by God to come to the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast
of Tabernacles is the Lord Jesus Christ who is come in the flesh
as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, to accomplish the
purpose for which God sent him, the saving of his people. That's
what it means to believe that Jesus has come in the flesh.
That's what it means to come to the Feast of Tabernacles.
And the Antichrist and all the false spirits and prophets, they're
not doing that. They're not telling that, are
they? They don't believe that. So the Lord says, coming to the
Feast of the Tabernacles is the way to escape the judgment. And
once one has come to the Feast of Tabernacles, look, look. And
in that day, for those who have come to Christ, shall there be
upon the bells of the horses, holiness unto the Lord. And the
pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the
altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judea shall be holiness
unto the Lord of hosts. And all they that sacrifice shall
come and take of them and see therein. And that day there shall
no, be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. Now this is speaking of the true
church. As he is, so are we in this world. He that sanctifyeth, that is,
he that makes one holy, and they that are sanctified, they that
are made holy when put in Christ, are all as one. The church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. has holiness unto the Lord written
all over it. And everything that God's people
do has holiness unto the Lord written all over it. You see
the extremes, you see the wrath and judgment of God, or there's
holiness unto the Lord in everything that God touches. And the difference,
the difference between the two, is whether or not you come to
the Feast of Tabernacles. It's black and white, isn't it?
It's life and death. It's life and death. God, bring us to Christ. Trust that what he did in the
flesh was the accomplishment of our salvation. All right,
let's take a break.