I had planned and written a whole
bunch of notes on Zechariah chapter 9, but I've just been so taken
by the wonder of these promises and the glory of the Lord that's
attached to them. I just love to think that we
might be made of God to be a praying people. And as soon as I talk
about prayer, as I said earlier, we always feel somewhat inadequate. And if that's not the best word,
jolly hopeless is probably a better word. And the number of times
you start to pray and before you've even sort of got the thoughts
out of your mind, you're thinking about the things of this world
in some way or another. And so what an amazing, amazing
reality goes on in the lives of all of God's children while
they're on this earth. The Holy Spirit takes our groans,
We think, like everything else don't we, we think that it needs
to be articulate and fancy and wordy and all sorts of other
things and for it to be correct. The best prayers are the simplest
prayers and the best prayers are the only prayers. that come
to the throne of grace are those that are seeking grace. And we're
always needy, aren't we? And so anyone who's ever bragged
about prayer, you've probably heard that story, heard people
declared to be prayer warriors. Absolute rubbish is the word
that I would declare about that. But the Lord has made these promises,
and I just read these verses again that we looked at earlier,
but I just want us to ask some questions, some really simple,
poignant questions, I trust, and the questions that are relevant
to each and every one of us. Who are the asking people? What will they ask? On what basis
do they ask? When do they ask? And what do
they receive? Let's read these verses again
in John chapter 16 verse 23 and 24. In that day, there's a day,
a particular day, you shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name,
he will We've got to remember that Christian
joy is not happiness. This world talks about happiness
all the time. It's a ridiculous notion. Joy is deeper. Joy is joy in
the Lord. Joy is being comforted in the
midst of the trials. These men who these words were
preached to and declared and these promises declared, that
particular night, within maybe an hour of this, they would all
flee. in cowardice and Peter in front
of a little maid will curse and swear and deny that he ever had
any knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. These people are going
through the most extraordinary trial and yet the Lord comforts
them with the comforter's words. In this world, according to what
we're reading here in the scriptures, in this world and in this room
are men and women who are right now the recipients of these amazing
words from our God. Whenever God says, I will, they
shall. They are the glorious terms of
the eternal covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
will act and they will respond. Forever God's word is settled
in the heavens and so we have this sure word that's been tested
and tried throughout the years. There are people who are the
recipients of these amazing promises. I want to be among them and I
want for you to be among them. I want for you to want for you
to be among them. And I want to know this joy,
the joy for the joy set before Him, the Lord Jesus Christ endured
the cross and despised Him the shame. There are asking people,
as promised, as the people of God, given by the Father to the
Son, to whom the Spirit of Truth and the Comforter will come.
So who are the asking people? We've been looking at Zechariah,
and I'm sorry your bulletin tells an untruth. I found this so convicting
that I needed to in some sense unease myself of the burden of
these remarkable words today. So we'll be back, Lord willing,
in Zechariah soon. But listen to what the people
who are asking are declared to be in our verses in Zechariah.
He says, As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have
sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. God's people ask because they're
in a pit. They have been in a pit and they
will be put in a pit. But listen to what he goes on
to say. Turn you to the strongholds, you prisoners of hope. What a
glorious description. What a glorious description of
the children of God. They are prisoners of hope. Even
today do I declare that I will render double unto you. But listen
to how that amazing chapter in Zechariah 9 finishes. And the
Lord their God shall save them in the day as the flock of his
people. For they shall be as the stones
of a crown lifted up as an end sign upon his land. For how great
is his goodness and how great is his beauty. Corn shall make
the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. So let's go. We know that there
are these people in the world. They're being prisoners. They are thy prisoners of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're being taken captive by
him. I want you to turn back in your
Bibles in John chapter 16 to verse 7 and I want us to see
what the Holy Spirit's description of these people is because they
are a special creation of the Lord God. He says in John 16
verse 7, the Comforter will come. I'll send him unto you. And when
he has come, 16 verse 8, these are the people who will ask.
When he has come, he will reprove, he will convict and convince
the world, all of God's children in this world will have this
convicting, convincing work of God's Spirit in them, the world
of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin, because
they believe not on me. of righteousness because I go
to my Father and ye see me no more, of judgment because the
Prince of this world is judged. He will, the Holy Spirit, will
bring this convicting work. They will see that unbelief is
their sin. and that they can't do anything
about it. There will be a convicting work. They are the ones who are going
to ask. God makes sinners to see themselves
as sinners. Only sinners cry, only sinners
ask. If you have something with which
to bring to God, then you're not asking. If you have something
with which you can bring to God, some experience and some activity
that you've done, you're not coming to God asking, you're
coming to God bargaining, saying, I've done this and therefore
you owe me something in return. That's not what's going on here.
This is a conviction of sin. He will convict the sin, convict
the world, Sin becomes a heart matter and
not just a matter of our bodies. Isn't that what he says? Where
does sin come from? Mark chapter 7. Out of the heart. Out of the heart. From within. Out of the heart. And listen
to in Matthew chapter 7 verse 21. From within, out of the heart
men proceed evil thoughts. Evil thoughts? What are evil thoughts? All of mine, all of mine in my
flesh. What's not evil? That which honors
and glorifies God as his Lord. Sin becomes a heart matter. They
will ask, they will ask, Lord, The who will ask of those who
have that conviction, that sin of righteousness, because I go
to the Father of judgment? I'll ask. What will they ask? Because of sin. Lord, now I see
my unbelief as sin. I've sinned in the past. I can
do nothing to take that away. Lord, what will they ask? the
public and at the temple, didn't he? He stood a long way off and
said, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. It didn't matter
what anyone else in all of the world had done. He had one issue. That was him and God. And he
says, I am the sinner. And he cries out to God, and
he cries out to God saying, you look to your son and his sacrifice,
which is what all this temple represents. And you be merciful
to me on the basis of what your son has done. What a great prayer. You be merciful to me. What will
I ask? I'll ask for faith to believe
on Christ. That was the apostles prayer
wasn't it? Lord increase our faith. Lord, that I might be
found faithful. Lord, I believe, help thou mine
unbelief. Lord, if you will, says the leper,
full of leprosy, Matthew chapter eight, verse one, full of leprosy,
from head to foot, not a single thing about him that wasn't sin
under the law of God. You can make me clean. That lady crawled up to the Lord
through that crowd. If I could just touch the hem
of his garment, I'll be made whole. Lord, Lord, because I'm
a sinner, you must do everything for me. Lord, I'll be made to see that as a
sinner, by your spirit's work in my life, I have absolutely
no righteousness of my own. I have never done a single righteous
thing, I have never thought a single righteous thought. Of righteousness
because I go to my Father. This is the convicting work of
God the Spirit and this is what God causes in his people to ask. The Lord robed me in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That robe, that glorious robe
that has no seam and it's all one and it's not divided, cannot
be divided. A God-made sinner will call out
to God. that all of our righteousness
is in Him. All of my righteousness is in
Christ and in Him and in Heaven. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. He goes to the Father as
the head of all of His body and where He goes, all of His body
goes with Him. who asks those who've been made
sinners, who asks those who've been convicted that they have
no righteousness of their own, who asks those who are aware
of the judgment of God. A God-made sinner now rejoices
that the Lord Jesus Christ is all his righteousness. That's
why the psalmist says in all of God's people say, I'll speak
of thy righteousness, thine only. And he asks God, for God honoring
faith, to believe that all of my judgment before God, before
Almighty God, was dealt with by the Lord Jesus Christ on the
cross. I'll ask. He says they will ask
in that day. In John chapter 14 verse 20,
we looked at it briefly last week, but in John chapter 14
verse 20 there is a day, a day of the Spirit's work in the hearts
of God's people. In that day you shall know that
I am in my Father and you in me. The asking ones are the ones
who've been made convicted. The asking ones will be ones,
when the Spirit works in their hearts, they'll see that there
is in all of their salvation the glory of this amazing promise
of God, the union between the Lord Jesus Christ and His people.
All of my salvation is tied up in who he is and what he has
done. And that comes to the next point,
what is the basis on which they ask? What is the ground of their
asking? He says, in my name, in my name,
in my name, for my sake, on my account, God's people will ask
in His name. What's His name? His name is
who He is. His name is who He is before
He came. His name declares what He did
before He came. The Lord Jesus Christ was before
He came. In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God. The Word was God. He was God
in the beginning. What was He doing in the beginning?
The scriptures make it abundantly clear that in the beginning He
entered into an eternal covenant in His blood. Before the beginning
Revelation 13 verse 8 says that He was the Lamb slain from the
beginning of the world. In the beginning God the Father
took a people out of Adam's fallen race and gave them into the care
of the Lord Jesus Christ to be their husband, to be their surety,
to bear all of their sins and to bear all of their righteousness
before God. And that's why he came. You'll call his name Jesus because he shall save his people from
their sins. His name is just a declaration
of all of the glorious attributes of God as revealed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and in particular as revealed in the Lord Jesus
Christ on the cross of Calvary. And we're just saying that hymn,
isn't it? His precious blood shall never lose its power till
all the ransomed children of God are brought home to him.
He came because of an eternal covenant promise. He came to
do all that he did on earth, to perfectly honour and magnify
the Law of God. What a nonsense it would have
been for God to give that Law of Moses and to write all of
the extraordinary stipulations that cover every aspect of human
life, while you're asleep and while you're awake, from the
time you're a baby until the time you go into the grave, and
that Law not be honoured. Not one of Adam's children honoured
it, but the Lord Jesus Christ honoured every little tiny bit
of it. Perfectly, perfectly honoured
his father. He will honour the law and he'll
magnify the law. And that's what he did. And in
his doing he wove that amazing righteousness which he robes
all of his people. It's the very righteousness of
God that he robes his people. He did it in love. He did it
joyfully. He did it willingly. He did it
obediently. And he did it all the way to
the cross. Right to the cross he was perfectly
faithful to his God, perfectly trusting his Father. And when
he did, When he obeyed the law and when he went to the cross,
every member of his body was with him. Every single one. His name is who he is when he
rose from the dead. Why did he accepted his payment. God had
accepted the punishment for all those sins and God justified
all of his people and justified him. Their sins are gone. They do not exist in the sight
of God because of the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why John 16 says he goes back to the Father. How can you
go back to the Father? How can you get into the presence of
God? What do you have to be to be
in the presence of God? as righteous as God is. To love
God as God deserves to be loved. To honour him for all of his
character as he is worthy of being honoured. To worship him. Worship means worth-ship. His name. And what else is he
doing? What's he doing in heaven right
now? He's interceding for us. He's
going to prepare a place for you. He's coming back. His name is all of His attributes. His name is His sovereignty,
and His holiness, and His righteousness, and His faithfulness, and His
wisdom, and His sanctification. His name is just all of His being. And as soon as we start talking
about it, we realize how extraordinarily inadequate we are. Mr. Pink wrote
an amazing book called The Attributes of God. If you want to know what
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is, that's a good place to start.
I like that sort of book. It's got little chapters and
lots of titles. But he's saying in these amazing
promises, if you'll ask in his name, and that's the ground that
they're asking, Lord, I'm coming to you on the basis of who you
are. I'm coming to you on the basis
of what you have promised. I'm coming to you on the basis
of what you have promised in the coming of your people. Every
request that honours the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of the
Father in all of his name, he's going to give it to you. You ask concerning his name. He's the Redeemer. He's the surety
of his sheep. He's purchased his church by
his own blood. He's obeyed the Father's will
in the redemption of his people and the salvation of their eternal
souls. You come to him as a redeemer,
as a saviour. You come to him on the basis
of your spiritual needs and not your temporal needs. The Lord
knows that you need food and he gives before you ask. You
read about it in Matthew 6. These are pure words from God.
What an amazing promise. When he regenerates his people,
he draws us to himself in mercy and in grace. And God's people
cry from the heart, Lord, save me for Christ's sake. Save me totally upon the merits
of His precious blood and His perfect obedience and His love
and His grace and His mercy. Lord, for Christ's sake, according
to your eternal purpose in choosing a people in Christ to be with
you ever, have mercy on me. Lord, for Christ's sake, who
predestinated and determined before all time all the events
of my life, Lord, keep me for Christ's sake. Lord, because
there is now no condemnation in the Lord Jesus Christ, for
Christ's sake, keep me from being presumptuous. Keep me from presumptuous
sins. Lord, make me have a reality
about my faith and my work. Make me to walk honestly before
you. as you have promised for Christ's
sake. Maintain your testimony in us
and by us in this world. I love what the Lord says of
the Church of Philadelphia. Philadelphia means brotherly
love. He says, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee
an open door that no man can shut, for thou hast little strength. little strength, and has kept
my word, and has not denied my name. Lord, for Christ's sake,
keep us from denying your name. Lord, for Christ's sake, protect
us from the sins that bring dishonor to your name. Lord, For Christ's sake, teach me of
yourself. Lord, for Christ's sake, send
the Holy Spirit to be our guide and our teacher. Lord, for the honour of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Lord, for the praise that is
due him. Lord, for his sake, that his
name might be glorified. Lord, I'm coming. I keep coming
on the basis of his, not anything I've done, but I'm coming on
the basis of his merits. I'm coming on the basis of his
call to come. When he says come and when he
says believe, there are commands. The gospel is to be obeyed. We
come to him and we rejoice in him. Lord, for the glory of your
son's name, protect us and keep us faithful to the end. Lord, may we be found faithful. Lord, you have said that your
son, as you said to Abraham, is our shield and our exceeding
great reward. Lord, you gave your son to die,
for we his sheep. Keep us under his care, carry
us in his arms, keep us in his fold for Christ's sake. Don't
let us, like Ruth, go gleaning in another field. Lord, for Christ's
sake, make him all my wisdom, all of my righteousness, all
of my sanctification, all of my redemption, that all of the
glory goes to him. Christ's sake, in his name, may
I be found in him. May I just be found in him. May I always be found in him. He says to those apostles as
he went on his way to heaven, he says, He says, you go, you go now,
children of God. He says, all power is given unto
me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. What's his command? Believe,
believe, repent and believe. And lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the world. What's his name? I am. What's
his name? I am. I am God Almighty. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. I am. And what do these people
receive? What's the prize? in this journey of life, it's
Him. Isn't it? The great reward is
Him. Lord, may I be found in Him who
has made me His own from the foundation of the world. Lord,
may I love Him for His sake, just for who He is, worship and
adore Him. Lord, may I love all those in
Him. in this world for the honour
and the glory of his name in this world. Lord, you have eternally
loved your people. He's loved them. He loved them
to the end. That's how this evening began,
didn't it? Having loved his own who are
in the world, he loved them to the end. Greater love has no
man than this that he lay down his life for a sheep. Lord, as
you have eternally loved us, make us to love you for Christ's
sake. Every good and perfect gift is
from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a
kind of firstfruits of his creatures. If you have Christ, you have
all. To have Christ is to have everything. If you have Christ, that's all
you have. And finally, what is the promise
at the end that your joy may be full? A joy that no man can
take from you. This world has lots of cause
for happiness, but you who, like me, have been happy know that
in a heartbeat it can be taken away from you and happiness can
turn to sadness very, very quickly. The joy of the Lord is a different
joy altogether. No doubt, like these apostles
that night, we will have to go through the trials that all of
God's children go through to wean us from the things of this
world. But we will, at the end of the
trials, we will be able to declare that our God is faithful. loved. Our God has been absolutely sovereign. Our God has yet again worked
all things for the good of those who love him, who are called
according to his purpose. No one takes it from you. in his name, ask is his command. Ask according to who he is as
he's revealed himself in the scriptures. Psalm 9 verse 10
says they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. That's what prayer is isn't it? It's just trusting and saying
I'm dependent Those that know thy name will put their trust
in thee, for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. David said we need to receive
the most remarkable promises. He said, Lord, just do as you've
said. He said to that woman in Matthew chapter 15 that we looked
at earlier, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. May the Lord make our will and
his will be joined together in the glory of his name. Let's
pray. Heavenly Father, we do ask that
you would cause us to be amazed at these promises. to be in wonder
at the fulfilment of those promises because they come from him who
cannot lie and all the promises of God are yay and amen in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, our Father, that
you work in the hearts of your people to draw us to your Son,
to keep us coming to him, to keep us looking to him, to be
so, so thankful, Heavenly Father, that his precious blood and his
glorious body was shed and broken for us. You alone, Heavenly Father,
by the Blessed Spirit's coming, can take the things of the Lord
Jesus Christ and reveal them to us. We pray that we'd know
his name, that we might just find ourselves at rest and at
peace, and with the blessed joy and peace of belief. because of your Spirit's work
in our lives. As we take these elements, Heavenly
Father, cause us to eat and to drink in faith. Pray that we might encourage
one another, Heavenly Father. Pray that you might use us to
bear testimony to your Son in this world and the days we have
left. We pray these things in his name
and for his glory, our Father. We thank you that we can come
to a throne of grace in our time of need. Make us needy again
and again. Amen.