Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number 70 from the hardback hymnal,
hymn number 70. Holy, holy, holy. Let's all stand
together. Number 70. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee Holy, holy,
holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity. Holy, holy, holy, all the saints
adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy
sea. Cherubim and seraphim falling
down before thee, which wert and art and evermore shall be. ? Holy, holy, holy ? ? Though the
darkness hide thee ? ? Though the eye of sinful man ? ? Thy
glory may not see ? ? Holy, O art holy ? ? There is none Perfect in power, in love and
purity. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. All thy work shall praise thy
name in earth and sky. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and
mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Please be seated. Good morning. Our God is holy. What all that
means is beyond our comprehension, but we believe that He's holy.
He's not anything like us in any way. The Father, who in His
will and purpose was pleased to elect a bride for His Son,
a Son who was pleased to redeem His bride, and a spirit who comes
and makes them willing in the day of His power, the Holy Trinity. When Isaiah was given that vision
in Isaiah chapter 6, he said, And I saw the seraphim hovering
over the throne of God, crying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. Heaven and earth is filled with
his glory. Our hope and prayer this morning
is that the Lord be pleased to make himself known to our hearts
and enable us to bow in worship to him. I'd like to ask you if
you would to open your Bibles with me to Zechariah chapter
5. Zechariah chapter 5. We've been studying this wonderful
prophet now for a couple months and we've found ourselves in
chapter 5 this morning. A prophecy of a flying scroll. Let's go before the Lord and
ask his blessings on our time together. Our merciful Heavenly
Father, we pray that you would be pleased
this morning To send your spirit in power. To open the eyes of
our understanding. To give to us the. The miracle
gift of faith. Enable us Lord to. To see the
Lord Jesus Christ seated. At thy right hand. Enable us
to rejoice in his accomplished work of redemption. Enable us
to rest. In his. Finishing. The law and putting away sin. Lord, we. We confess to you that
we have no capacity in and of ourselves to understand the mystery
of the Gospel. And how we do hope that. That
she would. Give us the grace now. to put
aside those things that would distract us and those sins that
would easily beset us, enable us to enter into a time of worship. We ask it in Christ's name and
for his sake, amen. You have your Bibles open to
Zechariah chapter five. The Lord tells us in 2 Timothy
that all scripture, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And all scripture is profitable. It is profitable, first for doctrine,
then for reproof, and then for correction, and then for instruction
in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished
unto all good works. And that's the outline I want
to follow this morning. If that's true, and we believe
it is, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. All scripture
is profitable to us. First, for doctrine. Second,
for reproof. Third, for correction. And fourth,
for instruction of righteousness. What does this prophecy have
to say to us doctrinally? What does this prophecy have
to say to us in terms of reproof? What does this prophecy say to
us in terms of correction? What does this prophecy say unto
us in terms of righteousness, instructions in righteousness? The prophet Zechariah is given
a vision. And in this vision, he sees a
scroll that is unrolled. This scroll is 30 feet long and
15 feet wide. And this scroll is flying over
all the earth. On one side of the scroll is
the judgment of God towards thieves. On the other side of the scroll
is the judgment of God towards liars. I've titled this message,
Hope for Thieves and Liars. You and I, the scripture says,
come into this world speaking lies from the womb. We lie about God, lie about ourselves,
lie about our circumstances, unless the Lord is pleased to
reveal to us the truth. We will live and die liars. We come into this world robbing
from God. Now, I know some people are thinking
right now, well, I'm not a thief and I'm not a liar. Well, I'm
here to tell you that God's Word says otherwise. You and I are
both by nature. And the highest form or lowest
form, however you want to look at it, of thievery is to rob
from God His glory and salvation and take it unto yourself. And
so this prophecy speaks to us doctrinally. It speaks to us
in correction, in reproof, and in instruction in righteousness
that as natural born thieves and liars, there's hope. There's hope. This is the law
of God that's flying over the whole earth. Let's read the prophecy
together, just four verses. Beginning in verse one, Zechariah
chapter five, then I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked
and behold, a flying roll. The word there is scroll, it's
an unrolled scroll that's flying through the earth. And he said
unto me, what seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying
roll. The length thereof is twenty
cubits and the breadth thereof is ten cubits. Now a cubit, if
you don't know, is about eighteen inches. So it's thirty feet by
fifteen feet. It's a big scroll flying through
the air. Then said he unto me, This is
the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth.
What is the curse? The curse is the law, the judgment
and wrath of God. This is the curse that goeth
forth over the face of the whole earth for everyone that stealeth
shall be cut off." Now that word cut off means to be condemned.
In short, it means to go to hell. It means to be separated from
God for all eternity. I don't want anything to do with
that. I don't want you to have anything to do with that. I pray
the Lord will give us ears to hear and enable us by his grace
to say amen. We studied this past Wednesday
night Psalm 72, which closes in verse 19 with amen and amen. And we discovered that the word
amen is translated from the Hebrew word to believe. And it's the
most universal word in all human language. In other words, in
every language, the word amen is used. It may, depending on
how you pronounce the vowels, it may be pronounced ah-meen,
but it's still, it's the same word. Same word, amen. Everybody speaks it. Everybody
knows what it means. It means, so be it, I believe.
Only a child of God will say amen to the gospel. The unbeliever is incapable of
saying, I believe. So be it. Yes, Lord. Truth, Lord. Amen and amen. Might God the Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, enable us to have the faith to say in response to what
God has said, amen and amen. So this flying scroll now is
going throughout all the earth. Verse 3, everyone that stealeth
shall be cut off as on this side according to it. In other words,
all the judgments of God about thievery and stealing are listed
on one side of this scroll. And everyone that sweareth shall
be cut off on that side according to it. On the other side of the
scroll are those who swear falsely or tell lies. I will bring it
forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house
of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsely
by my name. This isn't just any lie. This
is lying about God. This line about God. God says,
those who swear falsely by my name. You know, one of the commandments
that God's given us is that we're not to use the name of our God
in vanity. We're not to speak it falsely. And people think, well, that
relates to using the name of God in a cursing fashion. No. It is. Well, not to speak that way,
but those who take the name of God and claim Him as their God,
who tell lies about Him, that's what this is referring to. Okay? and it shall remain in the midst
of the house and shall consume it with the timber thereof and
the stones thereof." So this flying scroll now is going to
enter into every house where God judges one guilty of lying
and stealing. And it's going to consume that
house with the timbers and the stones thereof. And that house
will be utterly destroyed. What is the doctrine, first of
all, that we're to learn from this prophecy, from this vision? The word doctrine always has
reference to the gospel. The only doctrine we're interested
in is that doctrine that points us back to Christ. And so, what
does this prophecy have to say about the doctrine of the gospel. Well, it tells us that the law
of God is swift. The law of God is all seeing. The law of God is inflexible. It judges without exception and
without partiality. That's the picture here. This
whole book is about law and grace. Now, we don't want anything to
do with being under the law, because the law, without exception,
without partiality, without any mercy, will exercise the wrath
and judgment of God upon those who are under the law. And it
will consume both timber and stone of the household that is
found under the law. There are only two messages of
salvation that are being declared in all the world, and that's
the message of law and the message of grace. That's it. Turn to me, if you will, please,
to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. The law of God determines all men
to be thieves and liars, and the law of God speaks judgment
and wrath and death to all men. That's all the law can do. The
law can't save. All the law can do is condemn. That's the picture here. This
is the doctrinal truth of this vision, this prophecy, this scroll
that's flying through the earth and looking for thieves and liars
and entering into the house of the thief and the liar and condemning
them and destroying them. Galatians chapter 3 at verse
10, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. So if we're going to be under the law, then we are obligated
by the law to keep it perfectly. Perfectly. In heart, in motive,
in word and in deed, God requires absolute perfection to his law. He's not satisfied with anything
less. And that's what the Lord is telling
us here. You're going to be under the law, then the law is going to
judge you. You're going to have to keep
the whole law. You remember when that rich young ruler came to
the Lord and said, Lord, what must I do to inherit eternal
life? The Lord said, keep the commandments. You want something
to do? Keep the commandments. Which
ones? The Lord told him and he said,
well, I've done these things since my youth. Since my youth. You see, the ground upon which
we come before the Lord for our salvation is the standard by
which he will judge us by. So if we come based on something
that we can do in order to inherit eternal life, God's going to
give us the law to do. That's what he's saying here.
You want something to do? Keep the law. Keep the law. Verse 11, but that no man is
justified by the law in the sight of God is evident. For the just
shall live by faith. You see, what is it? It's impossible
to keep God's law. The truth is, you and I have
never been able to keep one of God's laws one time. If we're going to be judged by
the law, that's that flying scroll. The law is going to say two things,
liar, thief. Consumed with fire, both timber
and stone, everything in your house. That's the prophecy here. That's the doctrine. No man is justified by the law.
The law is not going to justify us. All the law is going to do
is condemn us. All this flying scroll can do
is sentence us to death. But those who are going to be
justified before God are going to be justified by faith. And the law is not a faith. The
law has nothing to do with faith. It's two different things. But
the man that doeth them shall live in them. You're going to
live by the law? You've got to keep the whole
law. Christ. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth upon a tree. So when the Lord Jesus Christ
went to Calvary's cross, he bore the sins of liars and thieves
and suffered the curse of God, which was the exercising of the
law. God poured out his wrath on our
sin bearer, on our substitute and satisfied the requirements
of the law. So we are justified now not by
our keeping of the law but by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. That the blessings, look at verse
14, that the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Christ Jesus that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. go down with me to uh... well
let's let's stop there we'll go what we got too much to too
much to cover here we've got we're we're not going to be justified
before god by the keeping of the law the doctrine here is
that this scroll this flying scroll has nothing to say to
any man but judgment And the scroll of God's law flew over
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it pleased God to bruise
him. The Lord Jesus Christ was offering
himself not to man. That's the kind of message you
hear in religion. That's a works gospel. That's
being under the law. You hear people say, well, Christ
died in order to make you an offer of salvation and you're
accepting that offer or rejecting that offer is what makes it effectual
for you. That's not true. That's not true. Christ died to offer himself
to his father. And the father saw the travail
of his soul, and the father was satisfied. So that men might
want to go around trying to establish their own righteousness, being
ignorant of the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The
Lord Jesus Christ came in order to satisfy the demands of God's
law and God is pleased with him. And so we're justified before
God by looking in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and resting
the hope of our salvation in him. That's it. The scripture goes on to say
who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. It is Christ that died. Yay,
rather is risen again. And is seated at the right hand
of God. Making intercession for us. There's our hope. There's the hope for liars and
for thieves. All that steal from God His glory
and salvation and all that swear falsely by His name have nothing
to look forward to but the swift judgment of this flying scroll. Now men by nature devoid of the
Spirit of God walk by sight and so it's only natural that they
would that they would value and and and and and desire the praise
of men more than the praise of God. And so they rob from God his
glory and salvation and they take it unto themselves in order
to receive the praise of men. They lie, naturally, about the
nature of God. They'll tell you things like
God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, It's in the heart
of God to save everybody, but bless his heart. His hands are
tied and he just can't get it done. Yes. He's all powerful. Yes. He's sovereign until he
comes up against the will of man. And then. Then he's limited. That's a lie from the pit of
hell. Those who promote that lie and
those who believe that lie have nothing to look forward to but
that flying scroll that pronounces the judgment of God. Or they
will say things like, they don't put it like this, but really
they believe it, God grades on a curve. God grades on a curve. You know, he, as long as you're
above average, you know, you'll make it. And of course, everybody
believes themselves to be above average. God doesn't grade on
a curve. That's a lie. That's a lie. God
requires absolute perfection. And he will be satisfied and
settle with nothing less than perfection. That's why no man's
justified by the keeping of the law, but he's justified, justified
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You hear men say, well, you know,
just do your best. Do your best. God will be satisfied.
No, he won't. No, he won't. Number one, you
and I have never done our best. Number two, our best is never
good enough. Never good enough. That's why
Christ came. That's why he died. That's why
he was risen. Because God was satisfied. Turn to me to Jeremiah chapter
six. Jeremiah chapter six. So many lies being told about
God, about man, and about how it is that God saves sinners. And it all goes back to the law. It all goes back to man not fearing
the law of God. Now, that's the doctrine here.
The doctrine here is that this scroll is to be feared. This
scroll is going to enter into the household of every liar and
every thief and consume both timber and stone of that household.
Nothing will be left. Jeremiah chapter 3, chapter 6,
I'm sorry. Begin reading at verse 13. For from the least of them, he's
talking about the prophets and priests now, if you read the
previous verses, and in verse 13 it says, and from the least
of them even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given to
covetousness from the prophet even unto the priest, everyone
dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt
of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace,
when there is no peace. What the Lord is saying is these
are false physicians. These doctors are handing out
pain medication for people that need a heart transplant. And
they're false prophets. They're saying everything's okay.
You're okay. I'm okay. We're all doing well.
And all along the scroll is flying over men's head, casting the
shadow of God's wrath and judgment on liars and thieves. Verse 15, were they ashamed when
they had committed abomination? No, they're proud of their message.
Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore,
they shall fall among them that fall. At the time that I visit
them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the
Lord, stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths
where is the good way and walk therein." Now, the Lord Jesus
Christ is that old path. He's the old path. He said, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the
Father except by me. Looking unto Jesus who is the
author, when did the Lord Jesus Christ author our salvation?
In the covenant of grace before time ever began. when he agreed
to be our surety with the father and made a promise to redeem
his bride whom God the father had chosen. That's the beginning
of our salvation. That's the author of it. And
the scripture says that the Lord Jesus Christ is the author and
the finisher of our faith. So not only did he purpose it,
not only did he fulfill it, but he will finish it. He will finish
it. That's the old path. The scripture
says, walk therein and you shall find rest for your souls. But
they said, we will not walk therein. We will not hear the gospel.
We love the praise of men. And we love thinking that we've
accomplished something, that we've achieved something, that
we have power and authority. We can save ourselves. We'll
not walk in the gospel. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. Men, by nature, hate Christ,
and they hate the gospel. because the gospel exposes them
as liars and thieves, and no one likes to be called a liar
or a thief. And so they say, we're not going there. In verse 17, also I will set
watchmen over you, saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet.
But they said, we will not hearken. Now, the watchmen are the faithful
gospel preachers that point men to Christ and expose the gospel
of works for what it is. Therefore hear ye, nations, and
acknowledge, O congregation, what is among you here o'er earth.
Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of
their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words,
nor to my law, but rejected it." They rejected the truth of the
gospel. They lie about the nature of
man. They will tell you that man has
a all-powerful free will. They
will not tell you that men are dead in their trespasses and
sins and unable, unable to believe. Power of choice. That's what
they talk about, don't they? These are the liars And the Lord
said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, because they had no love for
the truth, because they had no love for the truth, they had
no love for Christ, therefore, therefore God sent them a strong
delusion that they should believe the lie. They believe it. They believe that their will
is all-powerful. They believe that God's trying to get folks
saved. They believe that the work of Christ on the cross was
an offer of salvation made to sinners and that the ultimate factor in their salvation is
their choice, their free will. No, for by grace There's a little
article in your bulletin this morning. I encourage you to read
it. It's a definition of grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith. There's another article there
about faith. And that not of yourself. The miracle of faith
is the work of God's grace. We are completely dependent upon
Him for it. And when He gives it, when He
gives it, we no longer believe the lie. No, the lie is that God does
His part, now you have to do your part. The truth is that
in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ dwelleth the fullness of the
Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him. That's what God says. The truth is that When Christ
bowed his mighty head on Calvary's cross and declared, it is finished. It is finished. Every single
thing that God requires from liars and thieves was accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything. Nothing was left
undone. It's finished. Well, what do we learn from this prophecy
in relationship to reproof? This word reproof means to prove.
It proves our need for a righteousness outside of ourselves. It proves
our need for a Savior who has kept the law for us. It proves us as being guilty
as liars and thieves, and it will prove, it will prove, depending
on whether you agree or disagree with what God has said, it will
prove whether or not you are under the law or whether or not
you are under grace. What is the correction that we
receive from this prophecy? Well, trust is the foundation
of all meaningful relationships, is it not? Is it not? Faith is trusting Christ. It's trusting Him. It's not robbing
from Him His glory, not taking from Him His accomplished work.
Not crediting us with anything, it's giving to Him all the glory. It's trusting the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ for all our salvation. Telling somebody this week, said,
you know, I've been mixing law and grace. Been mixing law and
grace. And the Lord has shown me that
it's all of grace. And I said, well, he has to keep
showing you that, doesn't he? Because the truth is that we're
all a bunch of recovering Pharisees, and there's something in our
flesh that is drawn to the law. And the reason why we must continue
to hear the gospel of God's free grace in the finished work of
the Lord Jesus Christ is to deliver us deliver us from the works
of the law, and enable us to rest, rest in the finished work
of Christ. That's why the scripture says
in Hebrews chapter 4 that we labor to enter into His rest. This thing of faith is a spiritual
labor. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and powers and wickedness in
high places. It's a spiritual battle. And
the means of faith is what? Faith comes by hearing and hearing
comes by the word of God. And if the gospel is not being
preached, the word of God is not being preached. So the child
of God says, Oh, tell me about Christ. Tell me again about his
finished work. I've been prone to look to myself
and to think that maybe there's something in me that, that would
cause me to lose my salvation. And there's something in me that,
that might merit salvation. Lord, tell me about the Lord
Jesus Christ and his finished work. That's the doctrine and
that's the correction. That's the correction in this
passage of scripture. Instruction in righteousness. This passage of scripture instructs
every known liar and every known thief to flee to the city of
refuge. to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe that that scroll,
when the, think about it like this, when the Lord was on the
cross, scripture says that the sky was blackened, darker than
any night. There wasn't a light shining.
For three hours the Lord hung there in that state. What was God saying? What was
God saying? Well, the father had forsaken
his son because the son had become sin. He became sin on Calvary's
cross. He bore the sins of his people. And that scroll of the law of
God is what was flying over the earth and darkening, darkening
the earth. The wrath of God will either
be poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, or you
and I will suffer it for all eternity. That's the message. That's the
gospel. All right, let's take a break. th