Zechariah chapter 14. Zechariah chapter 14. Last time
I was here, we read through there and made some opening comments.
And I have come to the conclusion that most of what has been written
about this chapter has not been well thought out. There has been
a lot of speculation imposed upon this chapter and I am just
hopefully we're going to go through here and see how it blends with
the rest of the scripture. Now at first it looks like and
probably could have easily been just a continuation of the last
chapter and there are many times that we find when we find a chapter
break if we We mentally stop. We mentally think there's something
else going to happen, something different, and that's not necessarily
going to happen. Sometimes the chapter break is
in the wrong place. So if we get to thinking that
the chapter break is just there so that we can find it, and not
just a dividing line between scriptures, we'd probably be
much better off. I have looked at this chapter
and I want to go down to verse 7 before we start on the first
3 or 4 verses tonight because I think verse 7 could easily
be the defining verse for this chapter and probably the defining
verse for this book and maybe even for the Bible. And it tells
us here in verse 7. Now the last phrase is what I
was impressed with and I might read it first. that at evening
time it shall be light now that is so illogical but the Lord
is not thinking like we're thinking as far as heaven is above the
earth is his thoughts above our thoughts now read with me verse
seven but it shall come shall be one day which shall be known
to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to pass that
evening time shall be light. Now that certainly speaks to
the church through the ages. It speaks to even our brother
Abel. Darkness or evening meant the
light to him. He woke up in glory. And we find
as the church is persecuted in Old Testament as well as New
Testament, that there's always the light of the glory of the
gospel. There's always the light of Christ.
There's always, even in the worst of times, The church has been
able to see the glory of the Savior, the glory of the Lord.
And believers have been able to realize that what is happening
is not by chance, it is because of God's purpose. Those saints
at Jerusalem that were caused to flee because of persecution,
they took what they knew, the gospel, and took it to the many
parts of the world that had never heard the gospel before. So God
used that in a glorious way, though it was through persecution.
But at that evening time, it shall be light. And I just want
to kind of hang on to that verse of scripture as we go through
this last chapter and kind of apply it to the other places
in this book that we've read, where there's trouble coming,
problems. The Lord is always in charge,
and he's always going to overrule, and he's always going to be victorious.
And so even at the darkest time, there is that light of the gospel,
there is that light of God, that light of Christ. All right, let's
go up here to this first part, first few verses of this chapter,
and we find here in verse one, behold, the day of the Lord cometh,
and they spoil shall be divided, and thy spoil shall be divided
in the midst of thee. For 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 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. 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 there shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain
shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
All right, as we look down through here, I just want to keep in
mind a few other verses as we think of that phrase that's used
in verse one, behold the day of the Lord. One of those passages
of scripture that was brought to my attention a couple of years
ago by Brother Lance Heller over in the book of Hebrews chapter
one. Would you join me over there
in the book of Hebrews chapter one? He was here and he spoke
I think three Messages sort of from this passage of scripture
and they just were such a delight to hear Because he glorified
the Lord and we saw our Savior as that great prophet that glorious
prophet of God that prophet that Moses spoke of over there and
here it says God who at sundry times and in diverse manners,
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Now when we
go through the book of Zechariah, we find that God is speaking
to us through that prophet. Now it has no less meaning, has
no less significance than if God was there saying those words
by him very self. He was using his called prophet
to declare his words. So whether it be Moses or to
Malachi, those prophets were used of God and he used them
to speak unto his people throughout the Old Testament era. These
prophets were given by God. God chose them, God ordained
them, God selected them, God gave them the words to say, God
gave them courage. God gave them light in a dark
day. And here it says, now, something spectacular. Not that God is
going to cease speaking to those prophets, because the Lord Jesus
himself used those prophets in all of his messages. And all
of the disciples use those prophets in all of their messages. And
they preach Christ and Him crucified. And here we find in verse 2,
this is, God is going to speak to us now. Hath in these last
days spoken unto us. Now did you see that in these
last days? Now that was written a long time
ago, and it was written concerning our Savior, the Lord Jesus, and
it was concerning His God come in the flesh era. It
was written concerning His being born of a virgin. It was written
of Him coming as promised. It was written of Him the fulfillment
of all Old Testament scriptures. Hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son, the God Incarnate. That is just such a necessary
thing. God's people truly believe. I cannot explain it. But God
gives us the grace to believe that God came in the flesh. And the scriptures, in fact,
give him a name. It's not used very often, twice
in the Old Testament, once in the New Testament, and that's
the name Immanuel. And in the New Testament, we
don't have to wait for Thayer or Strong's to define it. The
Holy Spirit did that for us. Emmanuel, which being interpreted,
is God with us. Now God was with them. God is with us. Here it says,
hath in these last days. Now we read over there in the
book of Zechariah that there's going to be some day of the Lord.
There's a day of the Lord. Well, when we look at it from
a scriptural standpoint, every day is the day of the Lord. He
is the one that gives every day. This is the day the Lord hath
made. It's what we read in the Psalms.
All right, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son,
whom he, God, capital H, he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds. The overall covering of what
we read here, as the writer here of the book of Hebrews, as the
Holy Spirit gave him the words to write, shares with us so much
of the fulfillment of the Old Testament, right here in the
book of Hebrews, chapter one, verse one and two. But look at
verse three, who be in the brightness of his glory. We can't even paint
that, can we? We can't significantly grab a
hold of that in our mind. Hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his, excuse me, who in being in the brightness of
his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the power, word of his power, when he had by
himself. I just, what a glorious statement. when
He had by Himself purged, put away, paid for completely our
sins, And to show that that was acceptable unto the Father, acceptable
unto the Godhead, that sins of His people that He died for were
paid for completely, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high. Now notice that in verse one,
who at sundry times and in diverse manners, God who at sundry times
and diverse manners in times past, He has spoken these last
days spoken unto us and here's the message We have this to declare
same message that Zechariah was declaring over there in the Old
Testament All right. Let's look at another verse of
Scripture Found in the book of Hosea in the book of Hosea as
we think about that day of the Lord in the book of Zechariah.
Here in the book of Hosea, this is another passage of scripture. It's a prophet that God spoke
through until his son would come. God spoke through Hosea. The
message that Hosea had is so gospel-esque. Hosea would marry
a harlot? And then we read how the Lord
God Almighty in Christ Jesus chose before the foundation of
the world a people that had no interest in Him whatsoever and
yet He was pleased to marry them. Take them as His bride. He would
do what was necessary so that they would be holy and without
blame before Him in love. He would do all that. Alright,
here in the book of Hosea Hosea. Let me get there. Hosea chapter
three and verse one. Then said the Lord unto me. Here
in days past, God spake to us by the prophets. And here's an
explanation about that. The Lord, then said the Lord
unto me. Here's God's word. It is no different
than if he had been there speaking it verbatim in front of them. You know, when it comes to man's
reaction to the word, we can go through the book of Leviticus
and almost the entire book of Leviticus is the very word of
God. If it wasn't given by grace,
if it wasn't given because of his intention to save somebody
from their sins, they had no more reverence for it than it
could have been Balaam talking or Buddha. It was just like water
on a duck's back. It meant nothing to them. And
yet, when God's word is given to his people, it is life. It
is food. It is water. It is to look at
him and say, there is great glory in the gospel. It is the best
news a person could ever hear is to hear the gospel. Then said
the Lord unto me, go yet love a woman, beloved of her friend. yet an adulteress according to
love of the Lord towards the children of Israel who shall
who look to other gods and love flagons of wine. So I bought
her to me for 15 pieces of silver and for a homer of barley and
a half a homer of barley and said unto her thou shalt abide
for me many days thou shalt not play the harlot and thou shalt
not be for another man so will i also be for thee for the children
of israel shall abide many days without a king and without a
prince and without a sacrifice and without an image and without
an ephod and without a terrapin afterward shall the children
of israel return and seek the lord their god David their king
and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days I
just get to start down through there, and it's not a very Encouraging
story Until we read about Hosea is commanded of the Lord to take
this woman by her And that's what Christ did for
us he bought us a by price. He bought us by the blood of
himself. He bought us by paying for our sins. And then
it says this, as a result of that, afterward shall the children
of Israel return and seek the Lord their God. Here's the elect
being brought out of every kindred nation and people in tongue.
Here's the ones that are like Joshua and Caleb. Here's the
ones that are like those who came back with a report that
God is able to do what he said he would do. These are the people
that heard the word of the prophet in the Old Testament. These are
the ones that God had favor upon and it says here, in that, and
his goodness in the latter days, last phrase of that sentence. Afterward shall the children
of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their
king before this what do they have nothing? Verse 4 the children
shall abide many days without a king Without a prince and without
a sacrifice and without an image and without any fun and without
a tear from Terrible plight that they're in but God did not leave
his people without hope he gave them himself and here it is They
shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall
fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days. God has always been active. He will always be active. There's
never been a time on this earth when he has not been actively
finding his sheep and saving his sheep, having the gospel
preached unto them. You know, we could go through
many places in the scriptures. One of them was brought out in
the book of Acts when the people came and saw the apostles of
the Lord Jesus preaching the gospel. And they said, they're
drunk. They're just drunk. And he said, Peter said, I'm
sorry, this is the fulfillment of the prophet Joel. Now, most
of them didn't know a thing about what he's talking about. They
knew the passage of scripture, but they didn't know a thing
about what he was talking about. We find it was a fulfillment
of the prophet Joel. This has been prophesied by Joel
many, many years before, and now it's falling out in front
of them. And you know what? God gave Peter the understanding
of what that verse of Scripture, that passage of Scripture meant,
and he was able to say, this is what that means. Now, let's
leave it right there. It was fulfilled in that day.
And if you would look with me, well, in Job, just go back to
Job for a minute. Job had an understanding. God
gave him an understanding about spiritual things. And we have
a mention of a day here. Job chapter 19 verse 25. Job makes mention of something
here that I wish my family could say. I wish my friends could say.
I wish my twin brother could say. I know my Redeemer liveth. and that shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth." What a statement! And though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I
see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eye shall behold,
and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. He understood
some things here. Did you notice that? That in
the latter day upon the earth the Lord is going to stand in
the latter day upon the earth. So we're going to be looking
at some time that the Lord has always been active in His day.
It is the Lord's day. Every day is the Lord's day.
We don't have days and weeks and months. We don't have all
the sacrifices and things like that. We have the Lord is our
day. He is the daysman too. Well,
as we look here at Zechariah chapter 14, There's so much said here that
is metaphorical and spiritual, but I'm not going to go off into
apocalyptical, because it's not. It is not apocalyptic. It is
gospolipical. It is Christocentric. It is declaring
Christ in this passage of scripture, and his power, and his salvation
of his people, and the keeping of his people. All right? We
look here in Zechariah chapter 14. For I will gather all nations
against Israel to battle, and the city shall be taken, and
the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city
shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people
shall not be cut off from the city." So we have those separated,
taken out. We have those that are taken
out to captivity. We have those that are going to be delivered.
We have a remnant according to the election of grace. We have
those who are going to leave and we have those who are going
to stay. And I will say this right up front. You never find
the church leaving Christ. The church does not leave Christ
because Christ holds him. That's the only reason that we
don't. He holds the church. He is attached to the church. The saints are the vines and
he is the root. He's the branch. So as we look
through here, we want to keep that in mind. Now the Lord has
said that there's going to be times when the church is going
to pass through the waters and pass through the fire. Turn with
me over to the book of Isaiah. It doesn't take us very long
in church history to find out there have been some terrible
times. Go through a few passages of scripture in Jeremiah's life
or Isaiah's life, some of the old prophets' lives. I was visiting
with a man in Canada through Facebook FaceTime there is FaceTime
last night and it came up about I found a passage of scripture
that was made it scriptural for me to say I hated Henry Mahan
and He said what's that? He says well over there in the
book of first Kings and also first Chronicles there's a prophet
by the name of Mokiah and Ahab said He's all, all these other
prophets are probably lying and he'll tell us the truth, but
I hate him. You know, that's what brother Henry did. He told
me the truth and I hated him. Well, here in the book of Isaiah
chapter 43, we find that the Lord has shared with us just
as we find here. Now it's metaphorical and spiritual. Jerusalem has gone through some
terrible times. There's no doubt about it. There's,
he's gone through some terrible times in 8070, that Jewish historian
Josephus writes about it. Other historians write about
it. Terrible, terrible, terrible times. No doubt about it. But
I don't believe that that's what this is about particularly. I
believe it's God sharing with us, this is what I'm going to
do to my people so that I will have the wheat and not the chaff. So let's look here in the book
of Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43 shares with
us when you win let notice here
isaiah 43 verse 1 but now thus saith the lord that
created thee oh jacob and he that formed thee oh israel fear
not for i have redeemed thee i have called thee by thy name
thou art mine when thou when thou passes through the waters
now it doesn't mean that they're going to go swimming particularly
it means that they're going to have some difficulty They're
gonna have persecution. They're gonna have, let's go
on. I will be with thee, and through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. What does the Lord share
with us in this passage of scripture? I have a number that I died for
on the cross, and all of them shall be saved. I will lose none
of them. When thou walkest through the
fire, Now, there are incidents in the New Testament, as well
as the Old Testament, where it could certainly be applied that
God brought these people through the fire. They were having terrible
times. Read the 11th chapter of the
book of Hebrews. The first few verses just say,
you go, hallelujah, hallelujah, and hallelujah, and you get down
to the end there and it says, and some were sawn asunder. Some
had to go hide out in the wilderness. It was a terrible time for some.
Some were delivered. Some were not delivered. And
yet it was brought out, as we read right here, when thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. I think verse two
and this passage of scripture fit hand in glove, that God is
speaking to us that I have the potential My purpose may be to
bring this persecution upon the church. As it goes through here,
I will be with thee through the rivers. They shall not overflow
thee when thou walkest through their fire. Thou shalt not be
burned, neither shalt the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the
Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt
for thy ransom and Ethiopia's sea before thee. Since thou was
precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable and I have loved
thee. Therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life.
So we have the Lord declaring the very first verse of the 43rd
chapter of the book of Isaiah, sharing with us the love that
he has for the church. And then he says, when, when,
and when I bring this upon you. when I walk us through the fire,
when you walk through the river, when you walk through the water,
I'll be with you. It will not overpower you. The
remnant shall always be saved. And we find that as we look here
in the book of Zechariah chapter 13. We went over this when we
came to that place, but it's worthwhile going over here to
Zechariah 13 and verse eight and reading this again. And it
says, Zechariah 13, verse eight, And it shall come to pass that
in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut
off and die, but the third shall be left therein. I will have
a remnant, a remnant according to the election of grace. God
has often sent a purging of the church, and he has done this
often by using others, often from the inside. Every man created,
religion is a warfare against grace. Every man-created religion
is in warfare against grace, and we find that that has been
a constant battle. We have Mount Zion, there has
constantly been attacks against Mount Zion. We have the church,
there's been constantly attacks against the church. And the church
is so often spoken of as a sister church, as a female. And that's
what we find there, that the women were ravished and the buildings
were destroyed. How often God has used people
to come up against for the sifting out of the body. God often has used the book of
Galatians to correct much error. God gave that book of Galatians
to correct error. Read with me over here in the
book of Galatians as we think about this whole, God said he
brought it against them. God brought it against Jerusalem. In the book of Galatians chapter
three, Galatians chapter three, And there in verse 1, Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 1, O foolish Galatians, now that's the Apostle
Paul speaking to a group that I believe he believed at one
time knew something. O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you? Who hath bewitched you? Because
that's what's happened here. You have been bewitched. You've
had people bring slander against the gospel. You've had people
bring slander against the name of God. That you should not obey
the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth, crucified among you. Who hath bewitched you, O foolish
Galatians? And we find that this is constantly
brought up here in the New Testament, and it is brought up also in
the Old Testament, that God is going to bring fire, water, against
the church for the purging of the church, to demonstrate that
there's chaff among the church, and we're going to look here,
turn with me if you would to the book of Matthew chapter 24.
In Matthew chapter 24 and verse 24 we have a wonderful verse
of Scripture. Ever thought, how can I hang on? How can I hang
on? How can I hang on? Well here
in the book of Matthew chapter 24 and verse 24 we have this
wonderful verse of Scripture. given to us by the Lord to tell
us that it will not be possible for the elect to be deceived. For there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets and show great signs and wonders, insomuch that
if it were possible Now I like that. If it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect. But it's not possible. God's
not going to lose any. He's going to keep His own. But
these things will come. Just like we read in Zechariah
chapter 14 and verse 2, this is great, coming against Jerusalem. Now, in 1 Corinthians chapter
11, or excuse me, 2 Corinthians chapter 11, would you turn there
with me? 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and
verse 19. Uh-oh. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Just a moment. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. Just a moment. It mentions in this verse of
scripture, for there must be also heresies. 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians. Okay. 1 Corinthians. Thank you. 1119. I had the right address, partially. 1 Corinthians 1119. For there must be also heresies
among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 1 Corinthians 11-19 For there
must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote
this first letter to the church at Corinth, said, the things
that are going on there, they're not good, and they're not beneficial,
but they have been brought by purpose. Why? For the sifting. Alright, let's
follow this theme for just a little bit, as we find that God did
that very thing to Jerusalem. In Galatians chapter 5, Galatians
chapter 5 we find this as we remember what was said over there
in the book of Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 2 we find if we
turn here to Galatians chapter 5 and verse 19 Now, the works of the flesh are
manifest. Which are these? Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies. These are the works of the flesh.
So those who bring these are only working after the flesh.
We go down to verse 22, we find the fruit of the spirit, and
there's never been a law against any of those things. All right?
The next one that we want to is 2 Peter chapter 2. 2 Peter
chapter 2 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1.
I want to, Zechariah chapter 14, I just want to, For I will
gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. Zechariah chapter
14 verse 2. Here in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse
1 it says, But there were false prophets among you, the people,
even as they were to be false teachers among you, who privately
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall
follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of
truth shall be evil spoken of. And through the covetousness
shall they with fiend words make merchandise of you, whose judgment
now a long time lingereth not. and their damnation slumbereth
not." And then we go on and we can read the rest of that, but
we find here that the Lord brought these things in the church. Galatia,
Corinth, and here is Peter's writing to the saints that were
scattered abroad, that so often these things were brought in
by the Lord for the sifting of the church, for the cause to
see that the wheat is going to stay, and I want to take the
chap away. I will blow it away. So this
follows through. And we always find, as in John
chapter 6, 6, 6. And at that day, many of his
disciples followed him no more. They left. And we're going to
see here in that Jerusalem, it says, and half the city shall
go forth into captivity. They're the ones that leave.
They're the ones that are blown off. And here we find that throughout
the Scriptures this very thing has always happened. I was reminded
of a passage over in the book of Deuteronomy. Would you turn
over there with me to the book of Deuteronomy? The Lord is saying,
if this should happen, if you wake up some morning and your
neighbor comes over and he has this to tell you, I want you
to pay attention to this. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter
13, because The church will not do this.
When the church, true believers meet together, they get the fellowship
in a person. And they're satisfied with that
person. Their whole spiritual well-being is based on that person. Salvation is having complete
faith in that one person and nothing else. Just that one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. If thou hear, say in one of the
cities which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell therein,
saying," Deuteronomy 13, 12, if you hear this, certain men,
the children of Belial, are gone out from among you and have withdrawn
the inhabitants of their cities, saying, let us go and serve their
gods. which we have not known. If someone comes to your house
and says, I want you to go with me over here and we're going
to serve other gods which we don't know here, I'll never forget
that message that Brother Rupert brought that said, their rock
is not, or no, our rock is not their rock. Our rock is Christ. All right, it goes on to tell
us, Then shalt thou inquire and make search, and ask diligently,
and behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain that such abomination
is wrought among you, thou shalt certainly smite the inhabitants."
So he says, don't go with this. If you know the truth, the truth
has set you free, and you will not go back into bondage. You
will not go in and follow these other gods. If certain men, the
children of Belial, have gone out from among you and withdrawn
the inhabitants of their cities, saying, let us go and serve the
other gods, which ye have not known, don't go along." Well,
this is mentioned throughout the scriptures. They left. where
the mention of these other gods was not known. They left to go
to the other gods. It's not going to be here. It's
going to be over there. All right? In the book of Luke,
in one of the parables of the sower, in Luke, it tells us something
that's very interesting, that when the gospel goes out and
it falls on the rock, in Luke chapter 8 and verse 13, Luke
chapter 8 and verse 13, We're going to have a division made
here. Half the city's going to be taken away. In other places,
it's the tenth of the city, or the nine-tenths of the city.
In other places, two-thirds. But there is always a remnant
according to the election of grace. Well, here in the book
of Luke chapter 8, and there in verse 13, we read these words. Luke chapter 8 and verse 13,
it says, They on the rock are they which win. Now, the word
went out. The same seed goes everywhere.
That's the blessing of it. We don't change the seed for
different groups or ages or economic circumstances. The seed is the
same. It is the gospel. It is the word
of God. They on the rock are they which
when they hear and receive the word with joy, and these have
not root, which for a while believe. Now where does our root come
from? It's not in us, that's the problem
here. Nothing is contributed by us. We don't contribute a thing to
our salvation except our sin, that's it. We don't contribute
our faith, we don't contribute our belief, we don't contribute
a thing. And it's not our root that we want hope in. We want
hope in His root. All right? These have no root,
which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. They don't stay. It's impossible
to stay if you don't have the truth of the gospel. You can't
stay around it. It is an irritation. It is not
something you want every day. And you find people saying, is
this all you're going to preach? Is this all you're going to teach?
Is this all you're going to talk about? Is the Lord Jesus Christ
and him crucified? Well, that's all we have. And
that's the only thing that's the hope of salvation is Jesus
Christ. So we made mention of that in
John 666. From that time, many of his disciples went back and
walked no more with him. They left. His disciples stayed. In fact, he asked his Peter,
are you going to go away? Go away. And he said, to whom
shall we turn the house, the words of eternal life? Well,
who was moving Peter's lips? The grace of God was moving Peter's
lips. We don't have anything to contribute
except our sin. Everything else is given to us
by the Lord. And when he made that confession
sometime later about thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God, we have those wonderful words that we just lay hold of.
Flesh and blood did not reveal this unto you, but my Father
which is in heaven. So I have nothing to contribute. That's one of the things, the
difference between the gospel and salvation in Christ Jesus
We contribute nothing. He provides everything. And works-oriented
religion, we have to provide something. Sometimes it's more
than others. Well, it's interesting with Judas Iscariot.
Now, we're going to come to the Lord's table on Sunday, the Lord
willing. And it takes us back to a time
many, many years ago, just prior to the crucifixion, when the
Lord instituted the Lord's table. Now he took 12 disciples with
him. All of them. And one of them
was a no good, lost man. Judas Iscariot, a devil from
the beginning he was called. Jesus said it would be better
if he was never born. But he was born on purpose because God
was going to use him for this purpose. Now he is there, and
he sees everything that Jesus Christ does. And the eleven disciples,
when Jesus Christ brought up the subject of one of you is
going to betray me, eleven said, because they knew their heart,
is it I? Is it I? Is it I? And Jesus said,
the one I give the sop to. He dipped that bread in that
wine and gave it to him. You know, turn with me, if you
would, to the book of John 13. John 13. In verse 30. They leave. They leave. They leave the gospel. They leave Christ. They leave
the message. They leave His discipleship.
They leave. He then, having received the
sop, went immediately out." What a statement about Judas.
The other eleven, all saying, is it I? And you know what? All
of the eleven betrayed Christ the same night. We read about
Peter and it says all of them did. They all left him. They all denied him. The only
difference is the Lord hung on to every one of those because
he was laying down his life a ransom for them. All right? Immediately
went out and it was night. Well, for Judas, it was more
than night. It was darkness. We're going to have to stop here.
Our time is up. But I want to read Zechariah
14, verse 2, 3, and 4 again before we go. It says in Zechariah chapter
14 verse 1, the day of the Lord, and this is, I will gather all
nations, verse 2, Zechariah 14 verse 2, for I will gather all
nations against Jerusalem. You know, this is every sect,
every worldly organization, every religious denomination, that
holds to works-oriented religion has always had a caterwauling
fit about grace. And the Lord said, I will bring
all nations against Jerusalem to battle. And it is a battle.
And there will be heresies brought up. It is going to be that way. Heresies will be brought up.
You know, one of the meanings of that word heresy Heresies comes into the Bible
language from a Greek word heresy. It's transliterated. And the
first definition in Thayer's dictionary of Greek words, the
act of taking, capture. For example, storming a city. And if we don't read that in
Zechariah chapter 14 verse 2, a storming of a city. The church
has been under assault from the very beginning by the storming
of heresy. What was it that brought such
conflict between Cain and Abel? It wasn't Abel that brought up
the club. It was Cain. His religion was not accepted. Anyway, for 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. And then we read
in verse four about the splitting of the Mount of Olives. The Lord
has always been right in the middle of every split. And you
know it's interesting that part of that goes to the east, and
when we go back to the tabernacle, and we go back to the temple,
and when we go to the church, we find out that the east was
always in the direction of the opening of the tabernacle, the
opening of the temple, and west was always against it. And that's
just a way that mountain splits. We have those who trust the Lord
and those who do not. And those will leave, will always
leave the gospel, and judgment will follow them. We're going
to stop there tonight. Thank you for joining us tonight.
We hope to pick this up very next Wednesday. I have most of
my notes. I'll make sure that I have the
right verses of scripture.