Join me if you would once again
in our study of the book of Zechariah. We're in Zechariah chapter 14
tonight and we're going to read the first four verses of Zechariah
14. It's just been a delight to go
through this book. It's the gospel according to
Zachariah as the Holy Spirit gave him words to write, message
to write, and we are privileged to read it and to enjoy it and
appreciate it. It's encouragement to the church.
It's a warning, but it's encouragement to the church. In verse 1 of
chapter 14, we have these words, The day of the Lord cometh, and
thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will
gather all nations against Jerusalem. Now I want us to underline that
first word of that verse of scripture. I, God, I will gather all nations
against Jerusalem to battle. And we find that the Lord shared
with us in the New Testament that there must, there must be
divisions. among us. God has determined
that. He's purposed that, and it is
truly for sifting out the wheat and removing the chaff. All right,
it goes on to tell us here, I will gather all nations against Jerusalem
to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled,
and the women ravished, and half the city shall go forth into
captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off
from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth
and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day
of battle." So we have the great victor, the captain of our salvation,
coming out and declaring what he will do. And he's going to
take care of the city. He's always taking care of Jerusalem
in the sense of it's the church. here is the church is pictured
by the name jerusalem we find the church pictured by the name
zion we have the church pictured by the name of the flock the
elective god so many ways in the old testament there's a metaphor
about that the mother which is above speaking about the glories
of redemption in christ that it brings freedom and then we
have in verse four and his feet This is when he comes to do what
he said he would do in verse three. Then shall the Lord go
forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in
the day of battle, and his feet shall stand in that day upon
the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward
the east and toward the west. And I might say this right now
as we look through this passage of scripture, that when the Lord
comes in any time, During his personal ministry, when he comes
by the Spirit of God today, he always will bring division. He will separate. He will cleave.
He will cleave his from the rest. He will cleave elect from the
non-elect. He will separate the sheep from
the goats. That's his business in doing
it, and the Gospel does that even today. By the Spirit of
God as it's preached out and brought forth to the people,
we find that there's going to be one of two things are going
to happen. Men and brethren, what shall
we do? Or they took up stones to kill him. That's the result
of preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no
middle ground with the gospel. You're either for it or against
it. And if you're not for it, you are against it. And then
it says, his feet shall stand on that day upon the Mount of
Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of
Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward
the west, And there shall be a very great valley, and half
the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half toward the
south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for
the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Ezel. Yea, ye shall
flee, like as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah. And the Lord my God shall come,
and all his saints with thee. This may have some things with
regard to the Lord's coming the second time, but more than that,
his coming during every age, every generation, every time,
when he comes with the power of his gospel, we're gonna see
similarities to this. Now there in verse two, I will
gather all nations against thee. Now, I wanna say this before
we get into verses two, three, and four tonight, that every
person is either, every person, is either where the first Adam
left him, dead in trespasses and sin. Every person is either
in Adam, left in Adam, or else is joined to Christ as the second
Adam, for there is no escaping from the first Adam's position
unless and but by the second Adam's salvation. That's the
only thing that will separate us out of the first Adam's position.
And we're all born into the first Adam's position, dead in trespasses
and sin. And it takes the grace of God
to get us out of that position. We're going to be reading about
that in this passage of scripture. For an Adam all dying, that is
just the word of God, will not flinch from that, all dying.
Now it's a discussion that goes on all the time about what that
word die means in that verse of scripture. What death means
in the scriptures when it comes to spiritual things. But we know,
when the Holy Spirit reveals to us, we know just how dead
we were. Or we have some comprehension
of it at least. that we were unable to do anything that would
procure the salvation that God has for His people. We can't
vote for it. We can't acknowledge it. We have
no way of having it in our favor until God gives us the new birth. And then we realize what it took
for Him to save us from the condition that we're in. We find in Galatians
chapter 4, would you turn there with me for just a short reading?
We refer to this often. It's a glorious passage of scripture. It's so explanatory of the position
that we have where we find ourselves in the world by nature, where
we find ourselves in the world by the Spirit of God. By nature,
we're going to find ourselves in this bondage. We are bound
by darkness. We are held by darkness. We have a blindness to the scriptures. And it says here, as it is written,
verse 22 of Galatians chapter 4, for it is written that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid and the other by a free woman.
Now, that whole passage of scripture that we've been going over in
Numbers chapter 14 is brought up in the New Testament as a
sign, a signal, a presentation to us to be mindful of ourselves
that lest we, like them, be found in a disobedient stance against
God. Those folks that we read about
there in the 13th and 14th chapter of the book of Numbers Those 10 tribes represent those
who are yet in Adam, those who are without Christ. And they
demonstrate that. And Paul brings up about that
these things were done for our admonition, for our instruction. Well, here we find in this passage
of scripture, in verse 13, but he who was of the bond woman
was born after the flesh, but he who was the free woman was
by promise. There's those two positions.
The one position in Adam, the other position in Christ. We
are either bondmen or we are free men. And only Christ can
set us free. Which things are an allegory?
Here's an instruction that took place even though it was so many
thousands of years ago. There in the Old Testament, Abraham,
Book of Genesis, Book of Beginnings, we have this mentioned. And it's brought up here in the
book of Galatians by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul
and says, these things were done as an allegory. They're a picture.
They're a type and a shadow. For these are the two covenants. The one is the covenant of works.
The other is the covenant of grace. One we find ourself in,
born into by Adam. We're either in the first Adam,
left there, left where he is. or we're either in the covenant
of grace, in freedom, and in peace in Christ. This is the
allegory of these two covenants. Now, this is going to enter into
our study tonight, so we want to go over it. The one from Mount
Sinai, that which gendereth bondage, which is Agar, and this Agar
is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and it answers to Jerusalem, which
now is, and is in bondage with her children. This is the religious
Jerusalem. This is the religion of the world.
This is even the religion that God had for the children of Israel
in the Old Testament. But they were captivated in their
own minds by the works-oriented position that they could read
into it. But that's not what God's people
saw in all of that. They saw Christ and Him crucified.
And then it tells us, but Jerusalem which is above is free, which
is the mother of us all. So there's freedom in Christ.
We are brought to that position of liberty in the covenant of
grace in the second Adam. We're only brought out of that
position that we had. We're only escaped from that
position. we had in first adam and the ruins of it by the second
adam salvation he's the only one that is able to do that so
we see this demonstrated metaphorically in our passage of scripture in
verse two going back to the book of zachariah chapter fourteen
verse two i will gather all nations Against Jerusalem to battle and
the city shall be taken now here is those that are left in Adam
They are going to be used by the Lord to come against the
church to come against Jerusalem They're gonna be used even though
they are in Adam. They're left there You know,
we may say that some of those might even be as Saul of Tarsus
we don't know but from the outward appearance, they all appear the
same they come up against Jerusalem and They come up against Jerusalem
with all kinds of foreign doctrine. They come up against Jerusalem
with all kinds of false religion, falsehoods. It says there, and
the houses will be rifled, and the women ravished, and half
the city shall go forth into captivity, but the residue, the
remnant, the people shall not be cut off of the city, and the
Lord shall go forth. Now, we have demonstrated here
this picture that is brought up by the Holy Spirit to the
Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians. We have this group and we have
this group. We have the right hand and we
have the left hand. We have the elect and we have
the non-elect. We have those coming up against Jerusalem.
We have those in Jerusalem. And it says that half of those
are going to be carried off. There's going to be a remnant
according to the election of grace. There's an onslaught against
the church, and this is constantly going on. It went on in the Old
Testament. It went on during the times of
Christ. It has gone on in our times. There's an onslaught,
a constant attack against the truth of the gospel. There's
a constant attack against the church, and it looks hopeless
at times. Here. It looks hopeless. My goodness,
if you are Jerusalem and you see this onslaught of untruth,
the onslaught of a false gospel, the onslaught of that's not right,
you must be circumcised in order to be saved. As this goes on
and on, and yet it looks maybe hopeless, and yet we find that
it is the Lord that is going to come as it shares with us
there in third birth, then shall the Lord go forth. Now this is
such a common thing throughout the scriptures. We're going to
see the conflict. We're going to see the power
of the flesh against the spirit. We're going to see rising up
against the church. We're going to see this constantly.
And as Jesus said, he came not to bring peace, but he came to
bring division. Father against daughter, and
mother against son, and brother against brother, and so forth.
The gospel comes, there is a natural separation. It will not be at
peace. I have several in my family that
claim to be religious, but when it comes to talking about Christ,
it is absolutely, we don't want to go there. I'll talk to you
about my religion, I'll talk to you about the people we fed,
I'll talk to you about all that stuff, but when it comes to talking
about Christ, there's no interest in it. And that's just sad, but
that's the way it is. I was in the same boat. I didn't
want to talk about the Lord either. I didn't want to hear Henry.
I said, I hate that man. Well, it's scriptural to hate someone who brings you the truth. I think I mentioned that, Malachi. He said, I hate him. He's always
telling the truth. I hate that man. Well, that's
the thing about someone who tells the truth. People are going to
hate him. Well, turn with me, if you would, back to the book
of 2 Chronicles. An incident of God's salvation,
as demonstrated here in the book of Zechariah. It looks like the
end. It looks like it's going to be
overcome. It looks like... And then we
hear the Lord's words. You're not going to destroy the
church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. It will
not happen. It will always be here. The Gospel
will always be here. Well, over in the book of 2 Chronicles
chapter 20, 2 Chronicles chapter 20, we have a similarity to this
passage of Scripture. It is brought out, chapter 20,
I want to begin reading with verse 1, that there's always
going to be someone coming up against Israel. And if we look
at Israel, if we look at Jerusalem as a church, It's an actual people. But again, it's a metaphor. It's
a picture. It's a type and a shadow. It
came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and
the children of Ammon and with them all other besides the Ammonites
came also Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told
Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee
from beyond the sea on this side of Syria, and behold, they be
in Hezezon Tamar, which is in Judaei. And Jehoshaphat feared,
and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaim a fast throughout
all Judah. It doesn't look good. In fact, it looks overwhelming.
Can you imagine what it is when the church actually becomes under
physical attack? As it was in the days of Saul
of Tarsus, when he came and drug people out of assemblies, when
he came and took people out of their homes, that professed Christ,
that believed the gospel, that held him as their only savior
and trusted him only. His righteousness and blood was
all they were depending upon, and they would be drug out and
taken off and imprisoned, and many of them killed. Is it over? Is this the end?
Well, we read here, and Judah gathered themselves together
to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of
Judah, they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in
the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the
Lord before the new court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers,
art not thou God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all
the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thy hand is there no power
in might so that none is able to withstand thee? Is there not
power in might so that none is able to withstand thee? He's
approaching the right source. He's coming before the God that
is able to do. Art thou not our God? And didst
drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel
and gave us it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? And
thou dwelt therein, and they dwelt therein, and have built
there a sanctuary therein for thy name's sake. If when evil
cometh upon us as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine,
we stand before this house and in thy presence, the same we
could say today. Those who come up against and
say, Jesus Christ actually is a sinner. Jesus only procured justification at the cross and
if you don't believe it you can't be saved if you don't believe
in the flat earth you're not saved all this goes on and on
pestilence trials tribulation famine stand before this house
and in thy presence for thy name is in this house and cry unto
thee in our affliction then thou wilt hear and help and now behold
the children of ammon and moab and mount seir boy We could just
name people today that are coming up against the Church of God.
It's happened 200 years ago. It's happened 400 years ago.
It happened 600 years ago. It's happening today, coming
up against the Church. You know, if we lived 200, 300,
400 years ago, and we stood like God intends His Church to stand,
and He will hold them and support them in it, you could be out
there on a stack of briars, having your feet burned, and the rest
of you consumed. We haven't got to that point
in our country yet. We don't know what's going to
happen, but there's a possibility. It goes on to say, behold, in
verse 11, I say, how they reward us and come and cast out of thy
possession, which thou has given us to inherit. You gave it to
us. The onslaught is against us.
Zechariah chapter 14, the onslaught. Oh, the terrible things that
are taking place. Then, verse 14, upon Jezeel,
the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jael,
the son of Mattiah, and Levi, the sons of Esau, came the Spirit
of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. We got somebody
who knows something. Why? Because God gives it to
him. We have someone who has given
the Spirit of God. You know why he's got all those
names right there? It's just to remind us that this
man is the son of Adam, just like the rest of us. there's
no difference except what we read right there the spirit of
the lord is in the midst of the congregation the spirit of the
lord came upon him and he said hearken ye all judah and ye inhabitants
of jerusalem and thou king jehoshaphat everybody including the king
thus saith the lord unto you be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude For the battle is not yours,
but God's." How glorious are words. This man who was given
information, he knew something. God had spoken to him by the
spirit that God would protect his own people. He would protect
the church. It would stand. And Jehoshaphat
bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping
the Lord. And the Levites, and the children
of the Chorithites, and the children of the Chorites stood up to praise
the Lord God in Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose
early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of
Tekoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat
stood and said, hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established.
Believe his prophets, and so shall you prosper. What's that
say? Believe his word. Trust His word. The prophets
have given His word. And when He had consulted with
the people, He appointed singers. Can you imagine at a time like
this that we're going to sing songs of praise? Yes. The Lord has promised to be with
His people. He would not lose one. He will
never leave us nor forsake us. He will have mercy upon us. And
when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers
unto the Lord, and they shall praise the beauties of holiness
as they went out before the army, and to say, praise the Lord,
for his mercy endureth forever." There in the front of the army,
what does that tell us about this? The army is going out for
one reason, walking out there. They're not going into battle.
The battle is the Lord's. We're going to have a really
joyous day here, because they're magnifying the holiness of the
Lord. And when they begun to sing and
to praise the Lord, set ambushments against the children of Ammon,
Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they
were smitten. For the children of Ammon and
Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay
and destroy them. And when they had made an end
of the inhabitants of Seir, Everyone helped to destroy another, and
when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked
into the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies fallen
to the earth, and none escaped." What a picture that God gives
us here in the book of 2 Chronicles. An onslaught is headed our way. We have this great assault. Now coming our way, those who
do not believe the gospel, those who do not believe Christ, those
who do not believe God. And in the middle of that, someone
was raised up. This king, he says, we don't
know what to do, but our eyes are on you. And the Lord won
the battle. A man who knew something, who
was given the message by the Lord, says, don't be disheartened. The battle is not ours, the battle
is the Lord's. Then shall the Lord go forth
and fight against those nations. One of my favorite verses of
scripture that has become is found in Psalm 44. We read it
Sunday. It was read once again Sunday.
But in Psalm 44 in verse 3, we have this wonderful verse of
scripture about, I mentioned tonight on that Zoom meeting,
I've been looking for a wonderful commentary on the book of Joshua,
and I found it, and it's one verse of scripture. This is a
commentary on the book of Joshua. It says here in Psalm 44 and
verse 3, it says, for they got not the land in possession by
their own sword, neither did their own arms save them. What
a commentary on the book of Joshua, and what a commentary on our
own salvation. We didn't get it by our power. We didn't get it by our sword,
by our arm. We weren't saved that way. We
weren't delivered that way. But here is the way. But thy
right hand, speaking about God's right hand, and thy arm, and
the light of thou countenance, because thou hast a favor unto
them. He had his people marked out
before the foundation of the world. He had his eye on them.
He had favor towards them. The covenant of grace was for
them. and they shall not perish. He
shall save every last one of them. Just jump over to the book of
Joshua for a moment. In the book of Joshua here, Joshua
chapter 24, last chapter of the book of Joshua, and there in
verse 12, look at this little thing that God used to run a
bunch of people out of the land that He had given to the children
of Israel. Now, we all know about this little
critter. He can run us off, too. A hornet. I sent a hornet. Doesn't take but one for me to
get to moving. I sent the hornet before you,
which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the
Amorites, but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. I sent the
hornet. Well, I'm thankful that it's
God's Hornet, God uses it for His glory, and He lets us know
that it's not us. It's not our sword and it's not
our bow that He uses. He uses His word. He uses a still,
small voice. Well, in the book of Zechariah,
chapter 4, we went over this some time ago, but in the book
of Zechariah, chapter 4, as we think about that great onslaught
coming to Jerusalem, is there going to be some help? Well,
we find that the Lord's going to come, yes, that's the help.
But as we look at this, they're in Zechariah, chapter 4. Zechariah,
chapter 4, and they're in verse 6. Zechariah, chapter 4, in verse
6, we read these words. It says, then he answered and
spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel. I'll send a hornet. The battle is not yours, it's
the Lord's. Well, here in this passage of
scripture, he says this is the way we will win. Not by might,
nor by power, But by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. That's
how the battle will be won. The Lord will win the battle.
He will win the battle over our own stubbornness, our lostness,
our deafness. He will win the battle. And this
continues on in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter
4. It's always good to read the
entire verse because I have not paid as close of attention to
2 Corinthians chapter 4, as I should. I've often quoted this, but we
have this treasure in earthen vessels, and that's a lot. We
have this treasure in earthen vessels. It's not only the Pharisees
whitewashed the inside, excuse me, the outside, but inwardly
was dead man's bones. And the Lord, through the Apostle
Paul, says we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Well that's
wonderful, but read the rest of the verse. That the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. What a glorious statement. It just, it reveals, the word
reveals how God does his business. Now we have in Zechariah chapter
14 we have a great onslaught coming against Jerusalem. We
have great Things going on, sad things. Even in our day, sad
things. Folks that we thought knew better,
and yet they bring it up, damnable heresies. Serious things that
are not pleasing to God. And yet, we find, as we read
here, in the treasures in earthen vessels, that the excellency
of the power may have be God and not of us. Go back with me,
if you would, to the book of Romans, and along this same line,
we have this passage of Scripture given to us for our encouragement,
lest we get raised up above our stature. Lord, humble us. Here in the book of Romans, chapter
9, and verse 16, 9, 16. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, That deals with free will to
the core. I quoted this to a young man
and I got the normal reaction. Yeah, but. That's the normal
reaction to this verse of scripture or other verses of scripture
that declare God alone. So then is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." And
he's already said, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but God that showeth mercy. In Zechariah chapter 14, going
back over there, In Zechariah chapter 14, we saw what the Lord
was going to do. Zechariah chapter 14, we read
there in verse 3, then shall the Lord go forth. We've got
a terrible situation. You know, so often in the book
of Revelation, we've got a situation we just don't know how to handle,
and the next thing we find out, here comes the Lord. That's just
the way it happens. He's going to take care of His
people. He does that all the way. The book of Acts. Look at
this. We've got a sad... Oh, and the
Lord comes along and takes care of it. We can't take care of
it ourselves, but He takes care of it for us. That's the way
it happens. He's going to have someone come
along who knows something and say, the battle is not yours,
but the Lord's. Every day. All right? Verse 4. Verse 3. Then shall the Lord
go forth, and fight against those nations as when he fought in
the day of battle. Now the Lord is a serious one
in battle. You know, the Lord is the only
one that can ever say, I have won every battle. Every battle. Not one. I am all powerful, I
am omnipotent, and I will not lose. And the church says, that's
what we want. We don't want someone that's
going to lose, oh, win 99 out of 100. No, we need 100 out of
100. And that's this God, all-powerful,
able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. our ways are not his ways as
far as the heaven is above the earth are his ways above our
ways so he's not going to deal with things as we think he will
deal with things he's going to deal with things as he deals
with things and here he says then shall the Lord go forth
and fight against those nations well when the Lord goes into
battle he will be successful in every battle he's never lost
a I hate, maybe that's the best
word, a battle against one of his sheep. The resistance has
been insurmountable, but he's not going to lose. The resistance
of the lost man's will is insurmountable. It cannot be overcome by natural
things. We cannot bring it out of its
very nature. We can't talk it out. We can't
preach it out. We cannot teach it out. We cannot
experiment it out. We cannot example it out. It is just the way it is. And
then the Lord comes and saves for His glory and His honor and
praise, and the person that the Lord saves says thank you Lord
for overcoming all of that insurmountable stuff that I had against you.
The Bible calls it intimacy. And it's serious. Hatred for
God. Then shall the Lord go forth
and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day
of battle and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount
of Olives. A number of times in the scriptures
we find things said about the feet of the Lord. How glorious,
how blessed are the feet of Him that preaches the Gospel. It's
interesting that Mary there got His feet. How glorious. This one. Well, as we look at
this, we find that He's going to be glorious in battle, Either
way it goes, he will get the glory. And by that I mean, turn
with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 11. We're going to read
the part that normally is not read. The last few verses, 32
through 40. These are the last verses. The
beginning of this chapter just starts out, by faith Abel, by
faith Noah, by faith Abraham, by faith Sarah, by faith, and
that's God-given faith. It's not their faith, it's the
faith of God's elect, given to them by the Lord. But in the
latter part of this, we read, beginning with verse 32, now
all those, it says, it says, and what shall I say more say? For the time would fail to tell
of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, of David also,
and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, and stopped the mouths
of lions." You know, we could just say, yeah, they did that
physically, but they also did that spiritually. The gospel
stops the mouths of the most adamant People against the gospel. Look at Saul of Tarsus. Now notice
verse 35, women received their dead raised to life again, and
others, notice this, were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that
they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourging. Does that mean the Lord wasn't
with them? Of course not. The Lord was with the first group
of people in here, and they are also here by faith. God is doing
this. If they're not losers, if they
have the faith of God's elect, they're winners. They're winners
when the Lord takes them out of this world. They're winners,
whether it's by cruel mocking or, oh, let's just read on here.
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yea,
moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were son
of sunderers. were tempted, were slain with
a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. These
are not those who God has kicked out. These are who God has complete
care and trust over. These are his people. He is entering
into glory by these means. I've mentioned a number of times
A believer, a true believer does not fear death. Sometimes we
get concerned how that's going to happen. Well, look what's
happened to some of these folks. The Lord came, the cruel mockings
of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens of caves, and these all having obtained
a good report through faith, received not the promise. You
know what that means? Through all of these years, no
doubt there were people expecting the coming of the Messiah. That
this would be the coming of the Messiah. They didn't get to see
that promise fulfilled. They died before it happened. But
there was a generation that got to see the Messiah. They saw
the Lord Jesus. And they wanted to kill Him.
It's interesting in the book of Judges, They just couldn't
wait to be like other people and have a king. When the king
came, they didn't want him. No, we don't want this man to
rule over us. And these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise, God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect. What is it? We're one body together.
This is the church being spoken of here. And so the Lord brought
great deliverance to some, and look what happened to others.
But in the end, they were all presented before the throne of
grace spotless, spotless, without any sin whatsoever. If we have
God-given faith, it is because God is pleased to give us faith. In every age, Christ's coming
in power, His word, the gospel has been brought, and a division
has been brought by the word. Now, it mentions here in verse
four of the book of Zechariah, chapter 14, of Mount Olives. Mount Olives. Well, let's just
look at a few verses in the New Testament that bring up the same
mount. We have four minutes left. We will not get it all done,
but we want to look just a little bit. Would you look with me here
in the book of John, chapter seven? The Mount of Olives is
going to be split in half. This is significant. Many things happened at the Mount
of Olives. physically, speaking of spiritual blessings that are
spoken of with Mount Olives. The Lord spent a lot of time
there. Here in the book of John, John chapter 7, verse 37. John
chapter 7, verse 37. It says, In the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believed on him should receive, for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Many of the people, therefore, when they had heard this saying,
said of it, Truth, this is a prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said that
Christ shall come out of the seed of David, and out of the
town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division
among the people because of him. How often this is going to happen
when the Lord is in the midst of people. A division is going
to take place. And some of them would have taken
him, but no man laid hands upon him. Then came the officers to
the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said unto them, Why
have you not brought him in? The officers said, Never man
spake like this man. Then answered them to the Pharisees,
Are ye deceived? Have any of the rulers of the
Pharisees believed on him? But this people, who knoweth
not the law, are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, He
that came to Jesus by night, being one of them, Doth our law
judge any man before he hear him, and know what he doeth? And they answered and said unto
him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look, for out of Galilee
arises the prophet. And every man went to his own
house. Now, as we follow this, we're going to see that when
the Lord goes to the Mount of Olives, he's going to bring division.
He always brings division in families, in churches. I remember a story of Ralph Barnard.
He was invited to go to a church. And he said, you don't want me.
And he says, why not? He says, when I come down and
preach the gospel, it's going to split that church. The gospel
has split churches. The gospel has broken up families.
There's going to be a division. Now his feet, his glorious feet,
are going to touch the Mount of Olives and it's going to cleave. It's going to split. Not literally,
spiritually. He's going to bring a division. In Matthew chapter 21, this will
be our last reading. Matthew chapter 21 and verse 1. Matthew chapter
21 and verse 1. And when they drew nigh unto
Jerusalem, and were come to Bethpage, unto the Mount of Olives, then
sent Jesus to disciples. You know, it was from this prominence
the Lord sent the disciples to retrieve His donkey that he might
ride victoriously into Jerusalem. Hosanna to the king! Hosanna
to the king! Say unto him, Go into the village.
It is on the Mount of Olives. Go into the village, over against
you, and straightway you shall find an ass tied, and a cold
up with her. Loose them, and bring them to
me. And if any man shall ought unto you, He shall say, The Lord
hath need of them, and straightway he will send him." The King coming is going to begin
here at this very same place where the feet of Jesus are going
to touch, and metaphorically, it's going to bring the vision.
We're going to stop there tonight. Our time is up, and we have much
more to say, but we can wait until another time.