I think in Zechariah I just wanted
to remind us of what the Lord Jesus Christ says in John 14
that we'll be looking at. It speaks of the comfort of coming
in John 16, that he may abide with you forever. And this is
echoes of what we're reading in Zechariah. Even the spirit
of truth, the city of Jerusalem is going to be a city of truth.
The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But you know him, for he
dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless. I will come to you. Yet a little
while, and the world seeth me no more, but ye see me. Because I live, ye shall live
also. In that day you shall know, every
child of God will know, that I am in my Father, and ye in
me, and I in you. Don't you love the fact that
we have this glorious and remarkable word from God? And I love how
Zechariah begins. He says, Again the word of the
Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Oh brothers and sisters, I trust
that that's your prayer when we meet, that's your prayer when
you come to the scriptures, when you come to listen to the word
of God proclaimed or preached or read. The word of the Lord of hosts. God's
people, in the midst of all the trials, and Zechariah had extraordinary
trials and it was all around them, and there were enemies
within the camp and there were enemies without the camp, and
the closer they got to building the wall and finishing the temple,
the more the opposition increased, and extraordinarily the opposition
from inside was appalling. from within and from within those
who had witnessed the extraordinary things that God had done in destroying
Jerusalem in the past and yet had come back and repeated the
same things again. Which is why in the previous
chapter basically God is saying through Zechariah, no compromise,
no compromise. You cannot have the truth and have a lie mixed with it. You cannot have salvation by
free and sovereign grace and have salvation by works of any
sort whatsoever. You cannot mix the works of man
with the works of God. And yet these people and religious
people throughout time have done it and declared that it was the
worship of God. And so what is the solution for
all of us? What is the comfort? That the
word of God comes. The word of the Lord of hosts
comes. The word that reminds us that
our God is in the heavens, as Daniel says. Nebuchadnezzar says,
and Daniel quotes it, he says, all the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. He doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? You have to eat grass like an
ox for seven years to learn that. It's a good lesson to learn.
Because that's the God you're going to meet. Again, the Word
of the Lord came. How does the Word of the Lord
ever get to us? It comes to us. It must come. The Word of the Lord, of course,
is The Lord Jesus Christ, all of
this word, all of this word, all of these scriptures, they
speak of him. This is a description of the Lord Jesus Christ building
his church and gathering his people to himself and revealing
himself in the midst of those people throughout this time until
the very last of God's children is saved. And then there is absolutely
no reason for this universe to exist in its present form. It
is here sustained by the power of God because he has a church. He has a people in this world. Now God sends his word. Now God sends his word and his
word comes. And his word comes speaking of
the character of God. Thus saith, verse 2, thus saith
the Lord of hosts, I was jealous. for Zion with a great jealousy. I was jealous for her with great
fury. We must always be mindful of
the fact that the attributes of God are always perfect and
holy and in every way perfectly good in all that he does. And
so our jealousy is an appalling sin, isn't it? But God's jealousy
is just God revealing how zealous he is for his glory in this world
and how As a father, and as a husband, and as a saviour, he is jealous. He's jealous about what happens
to his people. The most dangerous place on this
earth that you can ever be in is between God the saviour and
one of his little ones. I love what, speaking of this,
the zeal of the Lord. He says, we know those verses,
people sing them and put them on cards at Christmas time. For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. This word
came to this earth and the government, the government of everything
will be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful. Counselor, that doesn't mean
that he goes around giving good advice, it means that he has
a purpose in everything that he does. The mighty God, this
is our Lord Jesus Christ, the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth, even forever. And look at how
he finishes in verse seven. The zeal, the zeal of the Lord
of Hosts will perform this. So you might recall in John Chapter
2 and in many other places in the other Gospel accounts, the
Lord Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem and he went into that temple. And it's one of the most extraordinary
miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? He made a whip out
of cords, and he drove out those money changers, and he drove
out all those animals, and not a single person stopped him. They asked him later on by what
authority he did these things. What a remarkable thing to do
and no one do it. They turned it into a marketplace.
And it was the zeal of the Lord of house. The zeal of the Lord. The zeal for the glory of our
great God. God is jealous about his glory. God is jealous and we ought to
be so thankful that he has a passion about his name being honoured.
He has a passion. Listen to what he says. I was
jealous for Zion. He's jealous for his church.
He's jealous for his people. He's jealous for those that he
has loved everlastingly. He's jealous for those. who is
placed in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's jealous, with
a great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Great fury. God had destroyed Jerusalem because
he was jealous to his name and his glory, and he was faithful
to the promises that he made. We ought to be so thankful for
the character of our God and for the faithfulness he has to
all of his promises. He says, thus saith the Lord, verse
three, thus saith the Lord, I am returned, I am returned
unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst, I will tabernacle
in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem shall be called
a city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts a holy mountain. When the word of the Lord comes,
it comes with power from on high to remind us of who God is. Always
it comes with power to remind us of who His character is. And
that's what it is to be born again, isn't it? The Word of
God comes. It comes with power. It comes
with the power to give a dead sinner life, a life to see who
God is, a life to see God's eternal covenant promises and purposes. You must be born again and this
Word must come with power. But when it comes with power,
you will see something again and again of the glory of God. The Word of God comes, revealing
an absolute sovereignty. The Word of God comes revealing
God and His relationship with His people. The Word of God comes
revealing the fact that He, in the midst of His people, in the
midst of Jerusalem and on that mountain of the Lord of Hosts
would be a holy mountain. That mountain is Mount Moriah.
that Mount Zion is Mount Moriah. And what happened on Mount Moriah?
What was the first mention of this city of Zion, this city
where Jerusalem was to be built? The very first mention of it
is in Genesis chapter 22, when Abraham took his son up on Mount
Moriah and sacrificed him there. And God said, and Abraham said
to God, God will provide himself a sacrifice. And that's what
that mountain symbolizes, isn't it? And everything in that mountain
symbolizes the fact that God will provide himself a sacrifice,
a sacrifice that pleases him, a sacrifice that satisfies all
of the requirements of his character. a sacrifice that allows for Abraham
and Isaac to go down that mountain, having declared and having witnessed
that our God provides and our God is faithful. And all of that
is revealed in a substitute. And that's exactly what the city
of Jerusalem is about, wasn't it? We come to Mount Zion, and
if you come to Mount Zion, you come to the city of the living
God. And that is where The children
of God go now. He speaks of us not coming to
that terrible mountain, Mount Sinai, but we are come. In Hebrews
12, verse 22, but you are come, all of the church of God, you
are come to Mount Zion, and under the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem. All of what happened in Jerusalem,
all of what happened with nation Israel is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ and his church. The city is the Jerusalem above.
The city is the city of the great king. We have a king and a priest
and this prophet, the word of God comes and reveals the king
in that city and reveals that that city Zion
means a monument raised up. That's exactly what we've come
to, isn't it? We've come to Mount Zion under the city of the living
God, verse 22 of Hebrews 12. The heavenly Jerusalem to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church
of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge
of all, and to the spirits of just men, made perfect. That's where you come. and to
Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of
sprinkling. that speak of better things than
that of Abel. We've come to something. When
you come into the fellowship of God's people, we come to something
far more serious than Mount Sinai ever was. It's thundered and
quaked with lightning and storms and Moses trembled and two million
people trembled in the presence of God. We've come to something
more serious now. We really have. See that ye refuse
him not that speaketh, for if they escape not which you refused
him that spake on earth, how much more shall not we escape
if we turn away from him who speaketh from heaven? Whose voice
then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet
once more I will shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies
the removing of those things that are shaken as of things
that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Our God is going to shake this
universe. Isn't it wonderful that the throne
of God stands secure and the covenant of God stands secure
and there are things that cannot be shaken. Our God and his covenant
cannot be shaken. We are receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. And
so when we come to these pictures in the Old Testament we must
remember that there is a spiritual picture which is a real one.
And so many people have been caught up and lost in the confusion
of looking at the physical things and not seeing spiritual pictures
behind them. It's a spiritual picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. It's called the City of Truth.
That's His name, isn't it? I am the Truth. It's a holy mountain. It's a holy mountain. A holy
place where God dwells with His people. Thus saith the Lord of
Hosts in verse 4 and 5, he speaks of the inhabitants of this city,
and once again we must see that these are spiritual pictures.
Yet shall yet old men and women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem,
and every man with a staff in his hand for his very age. They will be aged, for the church
of God is made up of. of people of various ages, isn't
it? Some people are young in the
faith and they are precious in the sight of the Lord, and some
have walked and been through many, many trials for a long
time. And the streets of the city shall
be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. It speaks
of freedom, doesn't it? It speaks of the joy and the
peace that you, in this city, you can send your little children
out into the streets and not worry about them at all. Verse
six, thus saith the Lord of hosts, if it be marvellous in the eyes
of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also
be marvellous in my eyes. They had stopped work. They had
forgotten the promises of God. They had gone chasing after the
things of the world around them. You can read about it in Haggai
and other places. Is anything too difficult for
our God? Is building His church a troubling
thing for the Lord Jesus Christ. Is he wandering around heaven
at the moment wringing his hands saying, how on earth am I going
to get those people to be sorted? How on earth is the purpose of
God going to be fulfilled? Our God sits. Our God sits and
he causes his people to rest in his absolute power and absolute
sovereignty. difficult it's impossible without
me you can do nothing says the Lord Jesus Christ he will build
his church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it
He will build His church. He will gather His people. The
people that the Father gave into His hands before the foundation
of the world, the people that He loved everlastingly, eternally,
the people for whom He shed His precious life's blood, the people
with whom and for whom He rose from the dead and is now seated
in heavenly places, will they be saved? They must be saved. They were saved from before the
foundation of the world. They were saved on the cross
of Calvary. They are saved in their experience
when the Blessed Holy Spirit opens their eyes and gives them
life and gives them faith to see the Lord Jesus Christ. They're
in the process of being saved all the time. And they call out,
Lord, save me. Lord, I'm wandering like a sheep.
I need a shepherd. I need a savior. I need a Lord. I need a God. And then one day,
as my American friends say, we'll be plum saved. We've been saved. We have been saved. But listen
to what he says in verse seven. Just read it with me. It's so
glorious. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, behold, When he says behold in the scriptures,
he really wants you to behold. This is not something that you
glance at. These are words that you need to write on your heart
if he will allow. These are words that you need
to contemplate and meditate on. I will save my people. When did you hear that again?
You shall call his name Jesus. You shall call his name Jesus,
and you did. He shall save His people from
their sins. And it doesn't matter where they
are, the East Country, all of those nations to the East of
Nation Israel and to the West Country, that means all the nations
of the Earth. I'll gather them wherever they
are. Oh, my great shepherd, you read Ezekiel chapter 34 at your
leisure and you'll be amazed and wonder at how often our great
God says, I will and they shall. I will gather them and I'll make
them to rest. I will make them to come and
dwell with me. I will save my people from the
east country and the west country. And I will bring them. and they
shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. He will dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem, in verse three, and they dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,
why? Because it's impossible to separate our God from his
church. It's impossible to separate the
shepherd from his sheep. It's impossible to separate the
head from the body. We are bone of His bones and
flesh of His flesh. We are one with Him. I will bring
them, I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst
of Jerusalem. And they shall be My people. And I will be their God. Behold, Why did he return? Why did he
send his word? Why does he send his word to
those who are languishing, to those who find the journey difficult,
to those who have struggled with the sin that they are and the
sin they commit and the trials of everything around them? He does it so he gets all of
the glory. He returns because he's jealous.
He's jealous for his bride. He's jealous for his glory. He
returns to a city of truth and he returns to a holy mountain
and he declares that it's marvelous and he says, Behold, I will save,
behold, I will bring, behold, they shall dwell, behold, they
shall be my people, behold, I will be their God, behold, all of
this is done in truth and righteousness. What a great description of our
great savior. He is the truth. And He is our
righteousness. There is only one righteousness,
the very righteousness of God. And we are made the righteousness
of God, because He has borne our sins. 2 Corinthians 5.21
is quoted often, and it needs to be quoted more often. anything that he ever did or
thought in any way possible. But on the cross of Calvary he
was made a curse and he was made sin. And he was made sin for
a particular people, these people. How can he dwell, how can a holy
God dwell in the midst of people? They're made holy. How can a
righteous God dwell in the midst of people? They're made righteous.
We are made the very, listen to what he says. He knew no sin
that we might be made. Not by our works, not by our
cooperation. We might be made the righteousness
of God. Where is it? In Him. In Him. This is that city. This
is the dwelling place of God. And it's in truth and in righteousness. We, like the people of Israel
of old and the Church of God throughout this time, are living
in a place where there is so much that causes us anguish,
isn't it? Most of my troubles, almost all
my troubles come from unbelief. Almost all of my troubles, like
Peter, you can walk on the waves and then you look at the waves
and you look at yourself and think, aren't I marvellous? I'm better
than these other blokes in the boat. I can walk on the water. And you look at the waves, and
you look at yourself, and you look at other people, and you
sink beneath the waves. And that is the constant journey
of God's people. But isn't it wonderful that our
God says to us, you behold these things. You behold them. You're
looking at all of those things and all you're ever going to
do is find trouble. If you look inside yourself you'll be intensely
discouraged. If you look at other people you're
going to have all sorts of problems because the eyes of your flesh
are not a very good judge of what's going on in the hearts
of people. Even Samuel couldn't do that, nor could the apostles
see into the hearts of people. Only God sees into the hearts.
So your judgemental attitude is always the result of sadness
and hypocrisy is the outcome of it all. And he says, behold, behold I
will save, behold I will bring, behold they shall dwell, behold
they shall be my people. Don't you love that? God owns
a people and he calls them his. My Lord and my God, his people
respond. My Lord and my God. And he does
it in truth and in righteousness. You want to know where truth
and righteousness meet? They meet at the cross of Calvary. That's where truth meets and
righteousness meets and all of our salvation is. Let your hands
be strong. be strong. Let your hands be
strong. I'll finish with where I began. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58. He says, I'll just read the previous
verses. He says, O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is
sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. unmovable, you fix your eyes
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Always abounding in the work
of the Lord for as much as you know that your labour is not
in vain in the Lord. May the Lord cause us to behold.
May the Lord strengthen our failing and weak arms.