and turn to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 3. Zechariah chapter 3. The title of the message this evening
is Christ's Effectual Intercession. Christ's effectual intercession. The Scripture says here in Zechariah
chapter 3, And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before
the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to
resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake
unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquities to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with the change of raiment. And I said, Let them
set a fair mitre on his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the
Lord stood by. Christ's effectual intercession. Now here in this text of Holy
Scripture, I have for you a message for sinners. A message for sinners. A message for the fallen sons
of Adam. A message for guilty, vile, and
abominable sinners. Does this apply to you? Now this message is not for half
sinners. This message is not for half
good, half evil. This message is for complete
sinners. Remember the message of the gospel
is always, always directed toward sinners. Jesus said, I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This message is
for sinners. Are there such people here? If
you are a sinner, then this message is truly for you. For you. Are there any here who
are ashamed of their sins? Are there any who feel their
whole heart and soul to be covered in filthy rags before God? Do you feel accused by Satan? Do you feel as though you are
ashamed standing before a thrice holy God? Then let us see the message is
for you. Here in this passage of scripture
we have first of all a man whose name is Joshua. This man Joshua
was a high priest. After the Jews had been delivered
from captivity from Babylon, they were commanded to go back
and build the temple. And this man Joshua was the high
priest at that time. This man here is a picture, is
a picture of every chosen, redeemed, and converted sinner. Every sinner
saved by grace, you may see yourself, I pray by God's grace you will,
that tonight you may see yourself in this man. Because that's what
he's for. He is a picture of God's saved people. And the second person that you're
going to see of great value is the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the angel of the Lord.
The angel of the Lord here that's standing by Joshua is Jesus Christ,
our advocate, our advocate. Now, he has given this title
the angel of the Lord because the word angel is messenger.
He is the messenger of the Lord. In another place, he is called
the angel of the covenant. And this clearly is talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ. You can see this clearly in verse
2. When it says the angel of the
Lord was there, in verse 2 it said, the Lord said unto Satan,
the Lord rebuke thee. The angel of the Lord is the
one speaking in verse 2. And he said, the Lord. Now he's
talking about himself, who which is Jehovah. this angel of the
Lord is none other than the God-man Jesus Christ the God-man this man this God-man Jesus Christ
the angel of the Lord listen he is the only advocate he is
the only one the only mediator to stand between sinners and
God. He is the only one. In Hebrews
chapter 7, it says in verse 24, But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest
became us. who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens, who needeth
not daily as those priests to offer up sacrifices, first for
their own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once
when he offered up himself." John tells us that we who have
sinned, we who are believers in Christ, that we have an advocate
with the father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation
the mercy seat the offering for our sins and not for our sins
only but for the sins of the whole world for all of the elect
he is the propitiation of their sins and so then tonight by God's
grace I desire you to see this By this
example and this picture here set before us, I want us to see
that Christ's intercessory work for us is effectual. That this man who offered himself
once for our sins and has sat down on the right hand of God
the Father ever liveth, ever liveth to make intercession for
us. And now then, as we look at our
text, we will divide our thoughts into four parts. First of all, I want us to see
a guilty sinner. Second of all, I want us to see
a great adversary, which is Satan. Third, we see a great and willing
advocate. And lastly, we're going to see
a gracious and effectual work of intercession. First, the guilty
sinner. This first person we meet with,
it says, and he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before
the angel of the Lord. The first person we meet with
is Joshua. And there's something particular
about this man Joshua. He was the high priest of Israel
when they came out of captivity. This man was chosen of God. This
man was appointed of God to be Israel's high priest. He was
of the lineage of Aaron. He was God's chosen vessel at
that time. Yet, God would not use him unless
he had first put away his sin. He was used to be used of God,
but he first must be made clean. In other words, his sin must
have been dealt with. What was his sin? His sin was
this, that he had married strange women. He had married the daughters
of Babylon. You could read that later in
Ezra chapter 10, if you want to, about the sons of Joshua
marrying the strange women of Babylon. This was his sin. This
was his sin, and before God would use Joshua, he must first deal
with his sin. And so when the word came to
Joshua, the word came to this man that he had sinned, and now
then as he is performing his priestly duty, he is coming now
before the presence of God, and he has guilt on his heart. This man is coming before the
presence of God, serving in the temple of God, serving under
the ministration of God, and yet notice what he's wearing. Look at verse 3. And now Joshua
was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. He
was clothed with filthy garments. First of all, I want us to see
that this is a sinner under the conviction of sin. This man is
a sinner under great conviction of sin. If God will ever save a man,
He must first convict him of sin, of sin. If he is ever to save, pardon,
or redeem and reconcile a sinner, God must first convict him of
sin. Listen, there is no salvation
apart from Holy Ghost conviction. See, a person who's not a sinner
doesn't need a Savior. Now, many people will confess,
oh, I've done bad. I've done wrong. But I'm not
so bad. What are they saying? They say
they need a partial Savior. They need some help. They need
a pat and a push. They don't need help. They don't
need a Savior. Only absolute sinners need an
absolute Savior. That's me. I see myself right
off the bat in this text. This is me. This is me. Before Paul was to be the great
apostle, you remember first, he must have been cast down.
He must have been cast down from his self-righteous tower. God must have put him first in
the dust before he would raise him up and save him. He must have exposed Paul of
all that all his righteousness and all his works and religion
must be full and false, full of iniquity. We must come to
the place where the Holy Spirit convinces us, convicts us, just
and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am, thou
art full of truth and grace. You remember the prodigal son.
The prodigal son must have first come to himself feeding on the
husk of the swine before he was to return to the father's house.
Even so, must the sinner be made conscious that all his righteousness
and religion that he thought to nourish and comfort his soul
are nothing but useless husks that cannot satisfy. So then know this, you must first
be exposed of God or you cannot be saved. This is always first. This is
always first. He, the Proverbs 28, 13, he that
covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh
them shall have mercy. In Psalm 32, verse 1, blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
When I kept silent, my bones waxed old through my roaring
all the day long. For day and night thy hand was
heavy on me. My moisture is turned into drought
of summer. I acknowledge my sin. unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my
transgression unto the Lord, and thou forgavest me my iniquity,
the iniquity of my sin." Have you ever been exposed? Have you
ever been made bare before God? Has sin ever become so grievous
that you could no longer bear the guilt of it? Is sin so sharp a pain that you
cannot any longer bear but cry out for God, to God for mercy? This man Joshua was such a sinner. this man Joshua was such a sinner
he could not forbear he could not wait till his rags got better
he had to come to God for mercy and notice Joshua was a high
priest this man was a high priest of the line of Aaron a man chosen
of God and yet he was still a sinner here he stood before God in his
filthy rags but notice his demeanor If you will read this chapter
very carefully, you will find no words that Joshua speaks. None. Notice his demeanor when
he comes before God. He is what? Silent. He's silent. Joshua was guilty
and he knew it. He knew it. There was nothing he could say
or do. Have you ever been so exposed before God that there
was nothing you could say? Nothing you can do? When the natural man is confronted
with guilt and sin, he kicks and spits at conviction. He's like those thieves who were
themselves guilty, and yet they mocked the Son of God. Isn't this what happens when
the natural man is confronted with his sin? He begins to try
to deflect, to deflect blame, and he says, well, how dare you
judge me? You're worse than I am, or that
person's worse than I am. They deflect. And if you put
him in a corner, you put a man in a corner, he's going to fight
his guilt. He's going to fight it. But when
God the Holy Spirit gets a hold of a man, he is no longer able
to fight. God the Holy Spirit, when he
comes and convicts, that man is shut up. Have you ever been
shut up? Have you ever been shut up? Shut
up before God. I'll tell you, if you've never
been shut up before God, you've never been saved. This is what God must do. He
must shut us up to silence. Well, second of all, Joshua is
not only a picture of a sinner and under conviction, but he
is a picture of believers polluted by their own personal sin. Believer Can we not learn more
about ourselves by looking at Joshua? I tell you, we can. We
can learn a lot about ourselves here. As this man Joshua was
a priest before God, even so are you and I priests before
our God. If you are a believer in Christ,
you are a priest unto God. Go over to Revelation chapter
1, read it. You are a priest of God. Revelation 1, 6. This is, let's read 5. And from
Jesus Christ, who is a faithful witness and the first begotten
of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto
him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
and hath made us kings, and what? Priests unto God. Priests unto
God. Now we are not talking about
those foolish men who practice priestcraft in the Roman church. That is not a priest. That's
an idolatrous false religion who make sinners to be mediators
between us and God. That's a lie. I know this, that
you are a priest unto God, but you're not my mediator and I'm
not yours. For the Scripture says there
is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So we know that's not priest.
Whatever they are, they're not priests. We know this, every
believer is a priest unto God. Every believer may rejoice in
this truth that we are all priests unto God because what does this
mean? What does it mean that you're a priest? It means that
you have direct access to God. That's what it means. You should
rejoice that you are a priest unto your God. Remember in that
old tabernacle, who could go in there? Only priests. And only the high priest could
go into the Holy of Holies, where God dwelt. But now that Christ
has rent the veil in twain, now the way is made clear. It's open. So then who gets to go before
God? We do. You do, at any time, you may
approach unto God. Now that's a comforting thing,
learning about this man Joshua. We are priests like Joshua. We
are able to ascend into the presence of God. Scripture says, come
unto the throne, that we may come before the throne of grace
and find help. Man, which one of us doesn't
need help? Who doesn't need help? If you
don't need help, you're in the wrong place. This is a place
for people who need help. And I tell you, that's help.
And you have help ready at an instant you can be before His
throne. Welcome. Come and welcome. Believer, we
are priests. We are chosen priests. Over in
Peter, let me see, it's 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, But you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,
that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Believers, we
have access to God by the blood of Jesus Christ. You are a chosen
priesthood. And what else do priests do?
They offer sacrifices. Isn't that right? Now, what a
priest does, he offers sacrifices. Well, we don't offer sacrifice
for salvation. That sacrifice has already been
offered. That's why we have access, because
of the blood of Christ has taken away that middle wall of partition,
that veil that separated us. His blood has taken it. What
sacrifices do you make, priests? The sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. The sacrifice of our bodies to
God. Isn't it a reasonable service
that we should offer our bodies a living sacrifice to God? Isn't
that your reasonable service? Well, it's just reasonable. Saying
what He's done for us, is it not reasonable for us to just...
That's what priests do. We offer our sacrifices unto
God. Thanksgiving, we offer ourselves
to Him. Therefore, believer, as priests
of God, let us be actively engaged in
the ministry of Christ. This man, Joshua, was actively
engaged in the ministry. He was actively engaged in serving
God. Even so should we be actively
engaged in serving our Lord Jesus Christ. Let everything you do
be done for the glory of God. Whatever you do. Whatever your
calling, whatever your vocation, whatever your gifts or talents,
God should receive the glory for everything you do. Believer, don't ever think light
of your calling. Well, I'm not a preacher. I'm
not a deacon. I'm not this. I'm not that. You
are what God has made you to be. And you should do everything
for His service, seeing that you are a priest unto God. You are priests unto your God.
Whatever you do, see by faith that it is acceptable. Now, isn't
this encouraging? Isn't that encouraging? Your
sacrifices are acceptable unto God. It's acceptable. It's not acceptable because of
our merit or because of our great skill. It's acceptable by the
blood of Jesus Christ. That's why your work is acceptable.
Your work is accepted because the angel of the Lord is your
mediator. He's the one that stands between
you and God. We know that nothing we could
do would ever be accepted of God, but because of Christ's
merit, everything we do is acceptable. Who here would offer up their
worship before God right now? You should. You should because
it's accepted. Who here would offer up their
singing tonight as we sang unto the Lord? Who would present that
as a sacrifice unto your God? You should. It's acceptable.
That should be a great motivational factor that everything we do
unto our God is acceptable. It's acceptable. God is not unfaithful
to forget your work and labor of love. Hebrews chapter 6 tells
us that. He's not going to forget it because
everything you do is bathed in the blood of Jesus Christ. That's why it's acceptable. That's
why it's acceptable. But notice this, believers, though
Joshua was a priest unto God, yet, and though he had a mediator
before God, yet he was clothed in filthy rags. Verse 3, now
Joshua was clothed with filthy garments. Joshua was robed in
priestly garments. He was doing the service before
God, yet his robes were in tatters. his garments were not pure and
fine linen as they should be he was a fallen priest and he
knew it and so then he comes before God
in silence is this not how we should all
come before our God with our worship, with our praise, with
our sacrifices, truly understanding who we are by nature. We come before God in our tattered
robes, our filthy rags, offering up our sacrifices to God in what? Silence! Silence. And I tell you, His silence speaks
louder than words could. You know what it says? Foul to
the fountain I fly. Touch me, Savior, or I die. Believer, can you not see yourself
here? I can. I can. I cannot tell you how many times
I read and study and pray all the while knowing my sin. As you worship tonight, is that
not what you see? Do you not know your sin as you
present your praise unto God? Don't you recognize who you are? Don't you see it? Every time
when I preach, I feel the corruption and guilt within me. Can't tell
you how many times I've stood up to preach to you about joy
and peace, all the while having in my own heart no peace, no
joy. I recognize this about myself,
and the more I preach, the more I see it, that I am completely
unfit for this office. I am incapable of doing what
God says, but I've put my hand to the plow and I can't turn
back. I cannot turn back. I must preach! I must preach the gospel of Jesus
Christ. This is what God has called me
to do. And even though I do it, I recognize
my sin when I'm doing it. The corruption overwhelms my
heart and I become cold. How many times have I tried to
prepare a message only to see who's sufficient for such things? Are you a believer like Joshua
and me? Do you not see what I... maybe I'm the only one. I don't
think so. I know I'm not because Joshua
here was. He was a man performing the service
of God and yet he was covered with filthy rags. Next, I want
us to see this, the grievous adversary. Now you've seen the
sinner. You've seen the sinner under conviction and you've seen
the sinner as a believer in Christ coming before worshiping God
in his tattered rags. Now then you see a grievous adversary
and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. Satan, my friends, is very real.
He's very strong. you and I cannot prevail against
him. Is not Satan the same one that
desired to sift Peter as wheat? See then the truth of this vision
that Satan stands always to oppose every sinner who would come to
Christ. Every sinner. Go over to Luke.
Look at Luke chapter 9. In Luke chapter 9, you have an
instance here where a young boy was possessed and the Lord was
asked to heal him, to cast out the devil. I want you to see what happened
to this young boy as he was being brought to Christ, as he was
coming to Christ. Look what happens. In verse 42, And as he was yet a coming, the
devil threw him down and tear him. Everyone who would come
to Christ for healing, this is what the enemy always does, he
will throw him down and tear him. Tear him. He will do anything
within his power to stop one from coming to Christ. He will
do everything. He is a hater of men. He is a
despiser of men's souls. I don't know how many times I've
seen it happen when a man come to me in conviction. Have conviction
in his heart. And he think, well, that's all
I need is conviction. And go away. If Satan just tear him and then
let him get up, he'll walk away. But only when the Holy Spirit
convicts a man to come to Christ, Satan then rushes
in and tells him this, it's too late for you. Isn't that what
he said? That's what he told me. It's
too late for you. You've gone too far. There's
no way that Christ will ever receive you. You're too big,
too great a sinner. Too great a sinner. They say, why waste your time?
Remember when the Lord was healing that woman, that daughter who
was sick. He was on his way and they come
back with a message and they said, don't bother the master. She's dead. Don't trouble him. Isn't that what he says? Why
are you troubling the master? You don't need to trouble him.
You're too far dead. You're gone. This is the ploy
of the enemy. This is the one who resists men's
souls. Satan also resists us who are
saved. Is that not right? Is he still
not an enemy of our soul? You bet he is. Joshua, God's
priest, comes to God exposed. And get this, the father of lies
accuses him. Is that not something? The one,
the inventor of sin. accuses him of sin. Yet, what does Joshua say about
that accusation? Nothing. Why? It was true. When Satan accuses you, is it
not true? Are you not guilty? No. We know we are. We know we are. As he pointed out Joshua's sin,
Joshua could not raise any defense. But where he was unable to resist,
notice this, the angel of the Lord said to Satan, the Lord
rebuke thee. This is intercession. Friends,
this is what intercession is all about. Intercession is not
you making a case as to why God should forgive you. Intercession
is coming in guilt and silence before God confessing our sin. Intercession is the voice of
Christ interceding for you. Christ interceding for you. This
is the grace of God. This is the only foundation and
hope for guilty, silent sinners, is that Christ would intervene.
And listen, believer when Christ, consider this, that when Christ
intervenes for you, heaven's court is deaf to the accusations
of Satan. Deaf. God will not hear his accusations. He will not hear it. How can
this be? Wasn't Joshua guilty? Aren't
we guilty? Has he not come in filthy rags?
Is God not holy and have purified them to behold evil? Yes, but
the reason that our sin will not be punished on us, the reason
Satan's accusations will be rebuked is because of this third person,
the angel of the Lord, the great advocate Jesus Christ. Behold sinner accused, behold
the Lord who ever lives to make intercession for you. So Joshua,
he stood before the Lord in guilty silence, seeking only the mercy
of God and what does he find? He finds a willing advocate. What's an advocate? It's a lawyer.
It's someone to plead your case. You know, when they have a courtroom,
the person, the defendant or the accused, the accused, he
sits there. And his lawyer tells him what?
Don't say anything. That's the first rule of it.
Don't say anything. I'm speaking for you. That's what Christ does to the
guilty sinner who comes confessing. He speaks for us. The Lord rebukes Satan because
he is our substitute. Our substitute. The Lord Jesus
is able to rebuke Satan justly because He is our substitute.
Because God will forgive His people for Jesus' sake. When
you come before God, you should see this by faith that He is
willing to forgive you. I tell you, I'm not so willing
to forgive me. But He is. He is. He's willing. He is our advocate
even because He is the propitiation for our sins. Believers, Satan
cannot accuse you even because of Christ's merits. Forbid it! You know what? Satan stood to
resist, but I don't even read any words of Satan here myself.
He stood to resist Him, but I don't read any words here. before he
even got the first accusation out of his mouth he said shut
up that's what Christ said you shut up! and I don't read any
more words from him why? because Christ has the authority
to tell him shut up and he does there is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus The Lord silences our accuser
because of sovereign election. Look at that. He said, even the
Lord hath chose Jerusalem rebuke thee. Child of God, if you can't fall
back on anything else, fall back on the Word of God that God has
chose you. It was God that chose me. I didn't
choose me. God chose me. Christ redeemed
me. The Spirit called me. What did
I have to do with it? I had nothing but sin. I had
nothing but real filthy rags. It was God that chose me. And
this calling, this grace is immutable, believer. It's unchangeable.
Look at this. Is not this the brand plucked
out of the fire? When you pluck a brand out of
the fire, what do you expect it to look like? You should expect it to look
black, charred. And as though the Lord is saying,
what do you expect him to look like? I plucked him out of the
brand. I plucked this chosen brand out
of the fire. What do you expect him to look
like? He's black. He's charred. I know what he
looks like. You don't have to accuse him
to me. I know what he looks like. I plucked him out. I saved him. I chose him. Isn't this comforting? The Lord
knows our frame. He knows we are but dust. And
get this, God is not frustrated because of our sin. I'm frustrated to no end because
of my sin. I am very frustrated. God is
not. He knows what I am. Matter of
fact, He died for me even before I came into this world. He knew
what I was. And because he hath chose me,
even as we stand before God in our filthy rags of our sins,
Christ will not ever cast us back into the fire. So as you
come before God in your filthy rags, as the enemy approaches
you and accuses you of your sin, get this, Christ knows who he
saved. He has saved a filthy sinner. O blessed truth, we who are in
Christ can never be charged with sin. Never. And so lastly, behold what the
Lord does here. He says in verse four, and he
answered and spake unto those that stood by him, take away
the filthy garments from him. I see these as the preachers
of the gospel. That's what I'm here to tell
you is that he's taken away your filthy garments. Where'd they
go? He put them on his own son and
he killed him. And what does he do with you?
He said, take away the filthy garments. And unto him, he said,
this is the angel of the Lord, behold, I have caused thine iniquity
to pass from thee and have clothed thee with the change of raiment. Believer, consider this, the
effectual work of your Savior has taken your unrighteousness
away from you and given you the righteousness of Christ. That's
the work of the intercessor. This is the work of the mediator. Is he has clothed you with his
righteousness. And taken away your filthy garments. And he said, I have caused your
sin to go away. Your sin is passed from you. Passed from you to Christ. Christ
suffered for you. And now then you have his righteous
garments. And then he says this, let him
set a fair mitre on his head. So they set a fair mitre on his
head. I like that. The Lord said and
it was done. He said it, it was done. The Lord says that about you.
He said set a crown on your head. God has set a crown on your head. And you know what that mitre
said? In the Old Testament it said holiness unto the Lord. holiness unto the Lord. That's what you are. May God open our eyes to stop
seeing things the way we see them and see them how God sees
them. You, my friend, who are washed in the blood of Christ,
you are holy as God's Son. Therefore, everything you touch,
everything you do, is holiness unto your God." Holiness unto your God. And see this, where then is the
angel of the Lord? Look at this, "...and the angel
of the Lord stood by." Where is Christ? He is a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. He is always by you, even because His Spirit dwells
in you. And one day, One day we'll stand by Him. Isn't that going to be great?
Isn't that going to be glorious? We will stand by Him who has
stood by us all the way through our life. Where's your intercessor? He is always, ever living to
make intercession for you. And friend, it's effectual. What
does that word mean, effectual? Gets the job done. He is always successful in his
intercession. I like this. He is the lawyer
that has never lost a case. Ever. And he'll not lose yours. Now, is that not comforting for
a man coming before God in filthy rags? It should be. Christ's work is always successful. May God ever put that in our
hearts and cause us to come as Joshua, as a guilty sinner. Yes,
we are going to have a great adversary, but we've got a greater
advocate. And his gracious work is always
effectual for us. May God bless this. Let's stand
and be dismissed in prayer.