I'm going to speak this morning
from the book of Zechariah. Zechariah. Old Testament. You know, the Lord gave these
Old Testament believers a preview of the death of the Savior, the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said of Abraham, you know
he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw my day, the
day when I would come to the earth, stand on this earth and
die on a tree and rise again. Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and he was glad. He
was glad. Job saw his day. You remember
Job in chapter 19 said, I know that my Redeemer liveth? I know
that, my Redeemer, my Savior. Job is the oldest book in the
Bible. He lived before Abraham. And
Job said, I know my Redeemer liveth, and he'll, in the latter
day, last day, stand on this earth. That's what he said, he'll,
my Redeemer's going to stand on this earth. And he said, I
shall see him. though worms destroy this body,
I die and go back to the dust. Yet in my flesh, I'm going to
see God. My Redeemer is God. Now, what
he understood and what he knew, I haven't any idea because, but
I know he saw the Redeemer. I know Abraham saw the Redeemer
by faith. And I know Isaiah saw the Redeemer. Isaiah said, Who hath believed
this message? Who hath believed our report?
He'll grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry
ground. He hath no form, no comeliness.
When we see him, there's no beauty we should desire, just a man.
Despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with
grief. Yet he was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded, he was bruised.
For our iniquities, a chastisement of our peace laid on him, and
by his stripes. That's an Old Testament man.
Hundreds of years before Christ received stripes. By his stripes we're healed.
He saw, Moses saw his day. Moses saw him in the Passover.
He said, to those Jews. They said, we have Moses. He
said, well, if you'd believe Moses, you'd believe me. Moses
wrote it. Now look at Zechariah. I'm going
to preach from the third chapter. Zechariah's next to the last
book in the Old Testament. But I want to show you some things
that Zechariah wrote and said. Look over here in Zechariah 9,
chapter 9. And I ask you, as we read two
or three of these verses, of whom is he speaking? Well, we
know of whom he speaks. Zechariah 9, verse 9. Listen. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. Thy King cometh. You remember when the Lord rode
into Jerusalem, and they threw their garments and palm leaves
in the way and said, Hosanna to him that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Listen to this prophecy. Behold,
our King cometh unto thee. He's just and having salvation,
but lowly, riding upon an ice, upon a coat, the fold of an ice. Remember that prophecy? Our Lord
said, Go get that donkey. I have need of him. And he rode
him into Judah. Zechariah wrote about this Turn
to chapter 12 of Zechariah, chapter 12, verse 10. Now listen, Zechariah
writing many years before our Lord came, Zechariah 12, verse
10, And I will pour upon the house of David, upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication. And they shall
look upon me, upon me, whom they have pierced. They pierced my
hands and my feet. There's only one God who had
his hands and feet pierced. They look upon me whom they pierced.
And they shall mourn for him as one mourned for his only son,
and be in bitterness for him as one that's in bitterness for
his firstborn. Chapter 13, verse 1. In that day there shall be a
fountain open. A fountain open. Just think about
it. There's a fountain filled with blood. There's a fountain
open to the house of David, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
for what? For sin? For uncleanness? That's Christ and his blood.
And then look at verse 7, chapter 13, Zechariah. against my shepherd." Who's my
shepherd? The Lord's my shepherd. And against
the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, my fellow,
smite the shepherd, sheep will be scattered, and I'll turn my
hand upon the little ones. I'll tell you all the way through
the Old Testament, it's Christ. Christ, our crucified Redeemer. And these pictures just so encouraging
to us that I'm going to preach on one this morning. Zechariah
3. That's where our text will be. Zechariah chapter 3. Chapter 3. Now here in verse
1, that's just, I hope when I get through these ten verses, they're
just going to be a part of you and a blessing to you and a comfort
to you and assurance, confidence in Him who is our Lord. Chapter
3 of Zechariah, verse 1, and he showed me, the Lord showed
Zechariah this vision. He showed me Joshua, the high
priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. Now the angel of
the Lord is always our Lord Jesus Christ. The, not an angel, but
the angel of the Lord. Capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. That's Christ. He showed me Joshua. Now Joshua here, is not just
an individual. Joshua is the high priest, and
Joshua stands typically representing all of God's people. You see,
when they selected a high priest, he was chosen from among men
in things pertaining to God. And the people of Israel were
here, and the high priest was between them and God. And he
went to them went to God on behalf of them and came back from God
to them. So Joshua stands here representing
the people of God, you and they, representing every one of God's
sheep and their lamb. So he saw Joshua standing before
the Lord. You know David asking in that
psalm, who shall stand in his presence? Who shall ascend in
the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand? Joshua standing
right here in the presence of the Lord. And watch this. And
he showed me, verse 1, Satan standing at his right hand to
resist him. Satan standing at his right hand,
at the right hand of Joshua, to resist him. That word resist
him is as an adversary. accuser to charge him with sin. Satan's standing there pointing
to Joshua, and justly so. I'm sure Satan's saying, my sins
are no greater than his. My sins are no worse than his.
That's what, Satan's the accuser of the brother. And he's standing
there before the Lord, pointing towards Joshua, to accuse him
justly so, to resist him, charge him. Verse 2, And the Lord said
to Satan, The Lord rebuke thee. Where have you seen that before?
The Lord rebuke thee. Someone said to Satan, The Lord
rebuke thee. Where have you seen it? Turn
to Jude, the book of Jude. There's only one chapter, so
look at verse 9 of the book of Jude, and you'll You'll remember
where you saw this before. And here in Jude, verse 9, Michael
the archangel, and you know there are not many angels named in
the Bible. Gabriel, Lucifer was an angel
who, I saw Lucifer, the devil, fall from heaven as lightning,
Christ said. Lucifer, and Michael. And here
Michael, the archangel, when contending with Satan, with the
devil, He disputed about the body of Moses. You know, God
took Moses up on the mountain and God killed him. Moses died. And we don't know anything about
the body of Moses. And some people say he's talking about the law
here. I believe he's talking about the body of Moses. And there Satan
was contending with Michael. And what did Michael say? He
disputed about the body of Moses, does not bring against him a
railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuked them. My friends,
Satan is a powerful enemy. The scripture says we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, principalities, powers, rulers
of the darkness, spiritual wickedness, and high places. Adam was no
match for Satan. He crumbled under Satan's assault. Job was no match for Satan. God
gave Satan permission to attack Job, and Job was powerless. Peter, the apostle, was no match
for Satan. Peter said one day, said to the
Lord, he's talking about going to the cross, he said, far be
it from thee. And our Lord turned and said,
get thee behind me, Satan. Satan was using Peter to contradict
the Lord. On another occasion, our Lord
told Peter he would deny and he said, not me, these other
fellows may, but not me. And he said, Peter, Simon, Satan
hath desired thee, that he may sift thee as wheat. And he did,
and Peter denied his Lord. And there's no creature in heaven
or earth that has any power against Satan. except one, the Lord rebuke
thee. Oh, here stands Joshua before
the Lord, and there's that accuser, that adversary, roaring line,
going about seeking whom he may devour, standing in his right
hand to bring accusations and charges. And the Lord said, I'll
handle you. The Lord will rebuke thee. The
Lord will crush your head. The Lord will silence you. The
Lord will destroy you. The Lord will deal with you. Joshua, my people, they can't
handle you, but I can. And you'll bruise my heel, but
I'll crush your head. I will. And listen to what he
said. Who's this talking? Even the Lord that chose Joshua. And Jerusalem rebuked they. Who
is this? Even the Lord, who set his love
upon Joshua, who chose him to be his own, who chose him before
the foundation of the world. What did Paul say? Whom he foreknew,
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom
he predestinated, he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say about that?
I say, if God be for me, who can be against me? Even Satan. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood. That's not our big problem. He's
our big problem. The accused are the brethren.
And old Joshua stood there and the Lord said, I'll handle this. The Lord will rebuke thee. I
chose him. If God be for me, Who can be
against me? Boy, if that don't, you know,
if that don't ring your bell, your clock was broke. That's
right. I'll handle this. I'll rebuke
him. I chose him. And listen to what
he says further. Is not this a bran plucked out
of the fire? What's a bran plucked out of
the fire? Well, you folks that burn wood, a bran is a stick. It's been tossed into the fire. Suitable for burning. Will be
burned. Will be consumed. Then somebody
gets it out of the fire. And he said, I plucked him out
of the fire. I plucked him off the dunghill. I plucked him out
of the fire. And he's still got the smell
on him of smoke. But I plucked him out of the
fire. That's right. I'm the one that chose him. I
chose him, and I plucked him out of the fire. Now then, verse
3, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the
angel of the Lord. Now wait a minute. Verse 1 said
he's the high priest. No high priest ever stood before
the Lord in filthy garments. You know, you read Leviticus
16, and you read about Aaron's robe. And I know some of you
read it. He had a miter on his head that
said, Holiness to the Lord, trimmed in gold, precious stone. He had on a robe with broad phylacteries,
with bells, with that gold and silver and the breastplate and
the engravings on the shoulders. That high priest's robe was awesome. And that's how he stood before
the Lord, representing the people. He was representing, he was a
picture of Christ. And when he went into the Holy
of Holies, he took off all of these royal garments, royal apparel,
this beautiful robe and mitre and gold and silver, and laid
it aside and clothed himself in clean white linen, you remember? The high priest, not a not robed
in royalty, but in simple, white, clean linen. And he'd come across
the courtyard with the blood, and he'd wash his hands and feet,
and then he'd go before the Lord, offer the atonement. When he
came out of the holy of holies, he'd lay aside the linen garments
and put back on that robe. Splendor, majesty. See, Christ
laid aside his glory, emptied himself, came down to this earth,
clothed himself in human flesh, not filth, but human flesh, made
like unto us, went to the cross and died, put his blood on the
mercy seat of glory. And when John saw him in the
Isle of Patmos, he was clothed with the royal garments, the
victorious high priest. He put back on his royalty But
Joshua here is standing before the Lord in filthy garments. This is the way the Lord sees
all of us by nature, by birth. Not robed in rarity and glory
and splendor, but robed in our filthy rags of flesh. That's the way Satan saw him.
That's the way he was. That's the way the Lord saw him,
in filthy garments. What does Isaiah 646 say? We are all as an unclean thing,
we fade as the leaf, our iniquities have driven us away, and our
righteousness is our, what? Filthy garments. Filthy rags. And that's where we stand, and
that's where Joshua stood. And that's what Satan was pointing
at. Look at him. Look at him. Look at him. Filthy. Filthy. So the Lord speaks. Ah, listen. Verse 4. And he answered, the
Lord answered and said, speaking to those that stood before him,
who are these? Angels? I don't know. Seraphims? Cherubims? Heavenly hosts? He said, take away the filthy
garments from him. I'm sure glad he didn't say take
him away. Aren't you? He's going to say
that someday. Matthew 7 says they'll say, Lord,
we did this, we did that, and we did the other, clothed in
their filthy garments. And he says, depart from me,
take them away. I never knew them. But here he
says, don't take him away. And listen, salvation's not reformation
either. He didn't say, take his garments
and wash them and bring them back. Old Joshua would have messed
him up again, wouldn't he? Don't take his garments and wash
them and bring them back. Take his garments away. Take
his righteousness away and his works and his deeds and everything
he depended on. Take them away. Take them out
of my sight. Don't take Joshua out of my sight.
I chose him. I plucked him out of the fire.
I set my love on him, but you take his filth away." And he
said unto Joshua, and unto Joshua he said, I've caused your iniquity
to pass from you. I've separated your sins from
you as far as the east is from the west. I remember them no
more. I've cast them into the depths of the sea. I'll cast
them behind my back. Now, I can't even imagine where
the back of God is. God sees all things, and yea,
he doesn't see our sins. I'll take them away, pass them
away. Listen, and I'll clothe you with
a change of raiment. Boy, listen, that change of raiment
now, that's something else. That's his righteousness. That's
his holiness. That's his obedience. That's
his holiness. with which God the Father said,
I'm well, please. You know, turn for a moment to
the book of Ezekiel. You know that, over there in
the book of Ezekiel, chapter 16, that baby was born, is born
to heathen parents. He said you were born in sin.
Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite. And
when you were born, nobody loved you. And they cast you in your
blood out into the field, just walked on off and left you. When
you was born, they threw you in the field and left you, just
walked off. And you were polluted in your
own blood. And I passed by. God said it
was a time of love. You didn't love me, I loved you.
You didn't know me, I knew you. You were prey to the wild beast.
You didn't know anything or anybody. You were lying there, polluted
in your blood. And I passed by. And it was a time of love. And
I said, live. I said to you, live. And I picked you up, and
I washed you, and salted you, and swaddled you. And then he
said, verse 10, verse 9, Ezekiel 16, I washed you, then washed
I thee with water. Yea, I throughly washed away
your blood, and I anointed you with oil. Verse 10, Ezekiel 16,
I clothed you with brotherhood work, I shod you with badger
skin, I girded you about with fine linen, I covered you with
silk. I decked you also with ornaments, and put bracelets
on your hands, and a chain on your neck, and I put a jewel
in your forehead, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful
crown on your head. And thus wast thou decked with
gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen and silk, and
brought it work, and you did eat fine flour and honey and
oil. And you were exceedingly beautiful, and you did prosper
into a kingdom, and your renown went forth among the heathen
for your beauty. It was perfect through my comeliness
which I put on you, saith the Lord." He fixed old Joshua up. He took his filthy garments and
said, take them away. Take them away. Wash him in the
blood. Sanctify him through the Word.
Then cover him with the righteousness of Christ. And your beauty and
renown went forth all over the world. But it wasn't yours. It
was mine. I put on you. Oh, my. In verse 5, Zechariah 3, listen. And I said, let them set a fire
miter upon his head." A miter is a turban. It's a turban worn
by a king. It's a crown. It's a diadem. Put a crown on his head. Wasn't
that what I read in Ezekiel 16? I put a crown on your head. A
crown. The king and the priest wore
a crown. So they set a fire miter upon his head, and clothed him
with the garments, and the Lord Jesus stood by." See, this is
a picture of his work, what he did for us. He stood by. And
he speaks. Look at verse 6. He speaks to
Joshua. And the Lord Jesus, the angel
of the Lord, protested, proclaimed is the word. You can write that
right there in your Bible. He proclaimed to Joshua. The Lord
speaks. No angel No ordinary angel is
going to say this. If you walk in my ways, no, this
is the Lord. That's what I told you. The angel
of the Lord spoke to Joshua, and he said, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts. That's who he is, the Lord of
hosts. If you walk in my way, what is my way? I'm the way.
I'm the truth. I'm the life. You walk in the
way of grace and mercy and sacrifice and blood. You walk in the way
of truth and love. If we walk in the light as he's
in the light, we have fellowship with him. You walk in my way,
my gospel, my salvation. Listen, keep my charge, keep
my ordinances, keep my word, keep my commandments, and you'll
judge my house. You won't just be a doorkeeper.
David said, well, I'll just soon be a doorkeeper in the house
of the Lord as to dwell in the tents of the wicked. You're not
going to be a doorkeeper. You're going to be a judge, a
son, a prince, unto him who loved us and washed us from our sins
and made us kings and priests unto God. You'll judge my house.
And listen, keep my courts, and I'll give you places to walk.
I'll give you places to walk among those that stand by, among
the angels. This is the Lord Jesus. Joshua.
Oh, what a picture. You keep my ways. Walk in my
way. The way of life, the way of grace,
the way of faith. You walk in my way. A man's walk
is a tenor of his life. It's a bend of his will. It's
a direction he's going. You look to me. Keep my ordinances. My word, and you'll judge my
house, and reign in my courts, and I'll let you walk in paths
of righteousness with the angels of God." The seraphims are blowing. Oh, my. Well, how's he going
to do all this? All right, Joshua, hear now.
Hear now the high priest, Josh. Josh, I'm talking to you, the
high priest. I'm talking to you and talking to all the people
through you. You're the representative. Here now, you and all these fellas
that sit before you. Who are these fellas that sit
before you? They're the men wondered at. They're the redeemed. They're the people you brought
with you. They're the people you represent. They're the people
who sit with you, wondered at. We wonder at ourselves, don't
we? I wonder, why do you love me? Why'd he choose me? Men to be wondered at. Oh, what
a wonder that Jesus found me. Out in the darkness, no light
could I see. Oh, what a wonder he put his
great arms under, and wonder, wonder, he saved even Henry and
Henry. Isn't that something? I wonder
about that, don't you? Amazing grace. Joshua, I'm telling
you something, all those fellows with you. Men to be wondered
at. They wonder. The angels wonder at us too.
Why did the Lord love you? They wonder. The angels wonder,
why? Why should He love me so? Why
should my Savior, the Calvary, go? Why? The world wonders at
you too. They don't understand you or
me. They don't understand this gospel.
Some of your relatives wonder at you. Why does he drive forty-five
minutes to go to church and he passes ten? What's wrong with
these people? They're peculiar. But Christ
said they're peculiar people. They're different. He said they're
different. They're a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar
people. They've got to go where their
Lord is. where he's preaching, where his words read. I wonder
about those folks. I do too. I wonder about them.
They're men to be wondered at. Well, I'm saying to you, you
and the men with you, people to be wondered at. Behold, I
will bring forth my servant, the branch, my servant. I'll bring forth my servant,
Who's that talking? That's Christ. He's the branch. Let's turn to Jeremiah. Jeremiah. I'll bring forth my servant,
the branch. Jeremiah chapter 23. Turn over
that. Jeremiah 23, verse 23, verse 5. Jeremiah 23, 5. You with me? Behold, the day is coming. Jeremiah
is writing about the Lord Jesus, saith the Lord, and I'll raise
up, I'll raise unto David, I'll bring forth from the house and
lineage of David a Righteous Branch, capital B, Branch. Got it? Jeremiah 23, 5. I'll
bring forth a Righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper,
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth, and in his days
Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely." That's spiritual
Israel. That's the people of God, of
every nation, tribe, kindred, tongue. And this is His name,
the Branch, whereby He shall be called the Lord our Righteousness. That's who He is, the Branch. Jeremiah 33, turn over there,
Jeremiah 33. He's the Lord our Righteousness.
Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. Jeremiah, I believe
it's chapter 33, verse 15. Jeremiah 33, verse 15. Listen, in those days, and at
that time, in the fullness of time, will I cause the branch
of righteousness to grow up under David. What does that mean, grow
up under David? Our Redeemer has to be the son
of David. Has to be the root of Jesse.
Has to be the tribe of Judah. Has to be from Isaac, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob on down. David, Judah, Jesse, David, huh? He'll grow up, born of a woman,
heir to the throne. Behold Bethlehem, thou art the
smallest of all, but out of thee shall come the branch. The King,
whose goings forth have been from everlasting. Listen, Jeremiah
33, verse 15. I'll cause the branch of righteousness
to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness
in the land. And in those days shall Judah
be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. Now what's the
difference in this reading? And she, and in And this is the
name wherewith she shall be called. Jeremiah 23 said this is the
name he would be called, the Lord our righteousness. And here
it's talking about his bride, and the name by which she shall
be called, the Lord our righteousness. Darce Mahan was my bride 50 years
ago. She was Darce's priest. Darce Mahan, now she called by
my name. We're one. She wears my name. You wear your husband's name.
Because you're one. And when the Lord Jesus chose
me and you and married us, He gave us His name. He gave us
His name. The Lord, our righteousness.
He's righteous and so are you. What He has is yours. Where He
dwells, you dwell. Your people are my people. Where
you live, I live. Your God's my God. Where you
die, I die. Where you're buried, I'm buried.
We're one. I'm called by His name, the Lord, I righteously.
With His spotless garments on, I'm as holy as God's Son. Nearer,
so near to God, nearer I cannot be. In the person of His Son,
I'm one with He. You know something? The branch. Oh, I tell you, look back at
my text there at Zechariah 3. Oh, I'll bring forth my servant,
and he'll do everything I commanded of you. He's my servant, my servant,
in whom my soul delights. Listen, Zechariah 3, verse 9,
And behold the stone that I have laid. Who laid the stone? The
cornerstone? The tribestone? The sure stone? I laid it, God said. Behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone. And the stone that
I laid before Joshua and before you, his people, Upon one stone
shall be seven eyes." That's the omniscience of the Lord.
See, he talks about seven spirits. That's the Lord, God. Seven spirits
in every place. Seven eyes, omniscient. Omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. That's what he's talking about
the Lord. And watch it. I will engrave the graving thereof,
saith the Lord. I'll do it. I'll engrave the
graving. I sat and looked at that, and
then I began to read some things, and I found out it took me back
to Exodus, chapter 28. Chapter 28 of Exodus. Turn over
there a moment. Exodus 28, verse 11. Exodus 28,
verse 11. Let's look at this a minute. talking about that. Let's start
with verse 9 of Exodus 28. Yeah, I want you to get this
now and look at it. He says, I'll engrave, God says,
I'll engrave the graven. Verse 9 of Exodus 28, And thou
shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the
children of Israel. No names of Hittites and Amorites
and Philistines, engrave their names on those stones. I read
on. Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names
of the rest of them on the other stone, according to their birth.
With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings
of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names
of the children of Israel. And thou shalt make them to be
set unchangeably in orchards of gold. And thou shalt put the
two stones upon the shoulders of the Ephod, for stones of memorial
unto the children of Israel. And Avon shall bear their names
before the Lord upon his two shoulders for memorial." Avon
is the priest, and he goes before the Lord with the atonement,
with the sacrifice, and he has on these stones every name the
twelve tribes of Israel. And our Lord Jesus Christ said
here in my text, now look at it, Zechariah 3 verse 9, Behold
the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon one stone shall
be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the names
of every one of his elect on the shoulders of Christ, in the
hands of Christ, as our high priest before the Lord. He bears
your name before the Lord. He maketh intercession for us.
Listen, and I'll remove the iniquity of that land in one day. The
iniquity of the whole kingdom, of the whole land, of all the
people, of all generations, of all God's elect, in one day,
on that cross, when our high priest bore our names and died
and offered the blood, I'll remove the iniquity in one day. It's
gone. My sins are gone. They're put
away. They're all taken away. And in
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor
under the vine and under the fig tree, because there is peace
with God forever. Now, one other scripture, and
I'll close. Zechariah 6. Zechariah 6. Turn over there. Zechariah 6. Still talking about Joshua here. Verse 11. Zechariah 6, verse
11. Look at it. Talking about our
Lord Jesus Christ represented by Joshua. Then take silver and
gold and make crowns, one of silver and one of gold, and set
them on the head of Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest. and speak on him, saying, Thus
speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man, the man." What
did Pilate say when the Lord stood before him? The man. Not a man. The man. By man came death, by man came
the resurrection. By one man's sin, death, disobedience,
sin in the world, the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Behold the man. Listen. He came from David, Jesse. He
grew up out of his place, Bethlehem. Can any good thing come out of
Galilee? He grew up. He grew in wisdom
and stature and favor with God and man. He grew up as a child,
as a man. He grew up out of his place where
God put him. And he shall build the temple
of the Lord. The temple of the Lord is not
made with hands. It's made by him. He said, I'll
build my church. Peter said he takes the living
stones and builds a living temple and dwells there. He'll build
his temple. I know my sheep. They know me. I give them eternal life. I'll
build my temple. Listen to verse 13. Even he shall build his temple,
the temple of the Lord. I'll say it again, the Lord said.
He's going to build the temple, not you. I hear preachers talking
about planting churches and building churches. The Lord builds his
church. I'll build my church. He'll build
his church. He said that twice. And he'll bear the glory. He's
going to get the glory to all of it. I'll give you an infallible
test for every sermon, every religious act or deed, song,
whatever, to know whether God's in it. it's of the Lord. Turn to Psalm 29, verse 9. Here's an infallible test. Whether
God's in it or not. Psalm 29, 9. Whether it's of
the Lord. Whether it's his kingdom. Whether
it's his work. Whether it's his church. Whether
it's his temple. Psalm 29, 9. Psalm 29, 9. The voice of the Lord maketh
the hinds to cave, discovereth the forest, and in his temple
Does everyone speak of his glory? That's how you tell. If it's
his temple, if it's his people, they're talking about him. If
it's his messenger, he's talking about him. If it's his spirit,
he's giving him the glory. If it's his servant, he's giving
him the glory. He's an ambassador of Christ. That's right. He'll bear the glory. He'll build
his temple back to my text, Zechariah 6. He'll bear the glory, listen,
in verse 13, you there with me now? He'll build a temple, he'll
bear the glory, he'll sit and rule upon his throne. He'll sit. The high priest, he never did
sit, because his work was never done. Around the temple, around
the tabernacle, there's no chairs in that tabernacle, they never
sat. But our Lord, when he finished the work, sat down and rules. and reigns. He's not going to
reign, he does reign. And he reigns upon a throne.
Did Bill Clark preach that message here? He preached that our place
is on the throne of God. It's the throne of majesty, to
which no man can approach. It's the throne of justice, to
which no man wants to approach. How do you want justice? It's
the throne of grace. Because the high priest sits
there representing us. So come boldly before the throne
of grace that you may find mercy and grace to help. And he sits,
he rules on the throne of grace. Oh, and he shall be a priest
upon that throne. And here's the results. And the counsel of peace shall
be between them both. God's at peace with us. And we're
at peace with God. Because Christ made peace through
the blood of his cross. You reckon Zachariah saw his
day? I don't know where that old boy
could put all that together. I can't put it all together. I'm living
after the cross. But I'm telling you this. He
believed in the Redeemer. And he was a man who knew God.
He wrote God's He believed what he wrote, what God showed him.
And that's what I'm calling on all of us to do. Believe what
God wrote. And believe what God's shown
us. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved.
Hope in him. I don't understand all this.
I'm sure Zechariah didn't. People will be wondering that.
But I just know God said it, and I believe it. And that's
our hope. Our Father, thank you for your
Word. I know that we, none of us, even
have an idea of how blessed we are to have your word. So many
nations and people all over the world have never seen thy word. And more than that, you've given
us a love for your word and an understanding. You've given us
eyes to see this prophecy and this person, our Lord Jesus Christ. You've given us a heart to believe
Him, to love Him, to trust Him, to rest in Him, and find in Him
our hope, our high priest, our prophet, our king, our salvation. Now strengthen our faith, increase
our faith, and help us to love Christ more, to trust Him, to
rest, find our rest and confidence only in Him. Bless the apostle,
bring him safely home. Bless the service tonight, here
and in every place where your word is preached. Help us, Lord,
not in our own strength, but in the power of your Spirit,
to preach Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and praise forever
and ever. Amen. Let's take our hymn books and
turn to number 127. Stand with me. Hallelujah, what
a Savior. Let's sing the first second and
the fifth stanza. 127, first second and the fifth. For the Son of God, who came
through unsinners to reclaim, hallelujah, what a Savior. Bury him and cross him through
in my place until he's true. Fill my heart and with his blood What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King,
All His plants are born to spring, Then I hear this song they sing,
Hallelujah! What a Savior!