Turn with me to the book of Zechariah,
chapter 13, and I would like to read verses seven, eight,
and nine, the last three verses of this chapter. Awake, O sword,
against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith
the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little
ones. 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. And I'll bring
the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall
call upon my name, and I will hear them. I will say, it is
my people, and they shall say, The Lord is my God. What some wonderful verses there.
We won't get to those. In fact, I don't think we'll
get through all of verse seven tonight because there's so much
said in this passage of scripture. Awake, O sword. Now, as we look at this, we'll
find that if something is called on to awake, it probably is asleep. And when we look at this sword,
we're going to find out that this sword has been sheathed
or asleep for a very long time. The covenant of grace determined
that there would be this sword, and we're going to use it as
a metaphor for the justice of God. And that justice of God
is going to be held for centuries. It's going to be held in eternity.
The sword has been asleep for an eternal duration until it
is called on to come out of the sword and do its job. It was sheathed and set to the
side. The day would come when it shall
be and when it was used. Now this sword is shadowed through
much of the Old Testament. We find the very first time,
if you turn with me to the book of Genesis, the book of Genesis
chapter three, there's a shadow here. It doesn't tell us exactly
how the Lord dealt with this, but it does tell us something
about what the Lord did. And when we're dealing with Genesis,
just like any other book of the Bible, Old Testament or New Testament,
God is the first cause of all things. He's the first cause
to show redemption. He's the first cause to share
redemption. He's the first cause that covers
and shares with us the need for imputed righteousness. In the
book of Genesis chapter three, verse 21, we have after the fall,
now that did not catch the Lord, It didn't catch the Lord wondering. It didn't catch the Lord anything.
He knew exactly he was predetermined before the foundation of the
world of all the things that were going to be carried out.
He purposed that this would take place. And so it says here, unto
Adam also and to his wife did the Lord make coats of skins
and clothed them. Now, it doesn't tell us how the
Lord did that. It doesn't tell us. I'm convinced
because of the types that it's throughout the rest of the scripture
that these were sheep that he used to cover these people. It doesn't tell us how he went
about it. But we do find out that there was a of picture of
the sword that was going to be used many centuries later there
at the cross this sword of justice would be wielded and placed in
the very sheath of the heart of the lord jesus now it isn't
very far if you'll turn with me to the book of genesis chapter
four verse four it says here there were some instructions
given uh And we find out instructions were given to Jacob and to Esau. Instructions were given to the
people throughout the scriptures. The same instructions were given.
That's one thing. We don't change the gospel for
this group and then have a different gospel for this group. The instructions
are always the same. And the instructions that were
given to Cain and to Abel were exactly the same. Someone, no
doubt Adam, led by the Spirit, taught his sons about the gospel. And to one, it was effectual. God used it to be effectual.
He brought him out of darkness to his marvelous light. And the
other, it didn't care. He was not given that light.
And it says here in the book of Genesis chapter 4 and verse
4, and Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of the flock
and the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect on Abel
upon his offering. Now by the word offering is more
than just, Lord, here's a sheep. We're going to have a burnt offering
here. And he is demonstrating the knowledge that he has about
being a sinner. And talking to that gentleman
on Monday, I said in religion, I knew I had done wrong against
my mother and my dad and my brothers. But I did not know until I heard
the gospel and the Lord gave me salvation that I had sinned
against a holy God. And it was more than with my
hands and my feet and my mouth. It was my heart, enmity with
God. Here's a place that Abel was
the same condition that everybody else is in. And yet God gave
him grace. He was able to demonstrate that.
And in some way he demonstrated. Here's a picture of that sword. Justice must be paid. Justice must be meted out. Payment
must be made. Innocent must die for the guilty.
And all of this is going to be played out throughout the Old
Testament as well as in the New Testament. In the book of Genesis
chapter 8, we see here that Noah built an altar after that great
judgment of God upon this world. In Genesis chapter 8, something
after the flood, in verse 20, it shares this. It says, and
Noah built an altar unto the Lord and took of every clean
beast and of every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on
the altar. He took the life of those different
and various animals in some manner. He took the life of them and
demonstrated the innocent is going to be required to die for
the guilty. Noah was guilty, just as everyone
else that suffered that great flood. He was just as guilty
as they were when it came to sin against God. But God said,
you have found grace in my eyes. You have been chosen before the
foundation of the world. Therefore, I am going to demonstrate
what it takes to save people. There must be an ark. You must
be in it. I must close the ark. You must
ride out the storm, which you will. And then afterwards, we
find he offered these sacrifices to demonstrate that he was a
sinner. And here's the innocent taking
care of the sinful. The justice of God must be performed. God cannot, cannot save us just
because he loved us, even if it wasn't eternal love. Something
must be done with sin. It must be paid for. If we're
to ever see God on good terms, sin must be paid for. And he
is just and justifier. These things are going to meet
and he is going to be happy with the outcome. But this sword must
be wielded. And then if we travel just a
little further into the book of Genesis chapter 22, we read
here about Abraham. Abraham is asked to do something
that Very few people have ever been asked to do, particularly
in scripture. Now we know, because we know
the end of the story, we know, and I believe, well, Abraham
understood if he had to go ahead and take his son's life, they
both were going to come off of that mountain anyway. He believed
in the resurrection. So in going up there, we find
here in Genesis chapter 22 and verse two, the scriptures share
this. And he said, take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest and get thee into the
land of Moriah, offer him there for a burnt offering upon one
of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. Now we're going
to read here that there's going to be, there's going to be wood,
there's going to be fire, but did you know that Abraham is
carrying one other thing? He's carrying a knife, because
he's going to tell us here in verse 26 of this chapter. Now,
I just believe that this is what Abel used. I believe this is
what Noah used. I believe this is what we're
going to find, as in Abraham's case, that we're going to have
here in Genesis 22. Six, thank you. Genesis 22, 6, Abraham took the
wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son,
and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went up,
both of them, together. So here we have that sword. Awake, O sword! Now Abraham was
going to demonstrate that he awakens that sword. He may carry
it in a sheath all the way up to that mountain. And he may
carry it in the sheath as he prepares the sacrifice. But we're
gonna find out here that Abraham, what is that? In verse 10, and
Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his
son. So all the way up here, we have
that knife sheathed. That knife is asleep. That knife
is going to be awakened. And that knife is drawn out of
its sheath and Abraham was prepared to plunge it into his son. Now we know the rest of the story.
Abraham didn't know that as we look back, but he found it out.
There is a ram caught in a thicket by his horns and that ram becomes
a sacrifice. Now, where did that knife go?
It was plunged into that sacrifice and Abraham offered that sacrifice
instead of his son. Well, we find the very picture
types and shadow here of that knife That sword, that sacrifice
had to be carried out. And then, my friends, when we
get to the book of Exodus, we get to the book of Leviticus,
we get to the book of Numbers and Deuteronomy. How many times
do we find that that sword was unsheathed? this, not this, the
sword we read about in Zechariah, but a typical sword, a typical
knife, a typical piece of equipment that was drawn out by the high
priest and slew all those animals. They did not take away sin, it
was impossible for them to take away sin, but we're going to
have a type and a shadow of picture here of a sword that is going
to be awakened. The pictures of the Passover,
they slew the lamb and they put it out there and burned and for
eating and Leviticus, the number, even the book of Ezekiel talks
about sacrifices. And I've had people tell me that's
gonna be during the millennial reign. He's not talking about
that. He's just saying, this is how God does his business.
He is going to raise a sword up against the innocent. And
here's a picture and a type and a shadow of it. The number of
times like Zachariah is doing reminds us of a time coming.
from Zechariah's point. Now he's writing about 400 or
450 years before the time of Christ. He was there at the building
of that temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The children of Israel had been set free from Babylonian captivity. Many came back, about 50,000
came back. They're in building of that temple
and when Cyrus said, There's going to be, from the time that
Cyrus commanded that they rebuild that temple to the coming of
the Lord, we can lay pins in the ground. Now, those people
understood it a whole lot better than us, and I'm not going to
try to guesstimate all that that means. But there were pins laid
in the ground, and Zechariah is prophesying here of the glory
of the sacrifice of the Son of God, because the sword of God's
justice is truly going to take care of sin once and for all
time. In Isaiah 53, the picture is
so brought out there, about 40 times in 12 verses do we have
this reference to he and him, Jesus Christ. In the 53rd chapter
of the book of Isaiah alone, he shall. Now we'll come back
here in just a little bit, but the 53rd chapter of the book
of Isaiah is speaking about the Lord of glory, and it's longer
before the time of Christ than Zechariah was. We have these
beautiful pictures coming along, and then it tells us there, going
back to the book of Zechariah chapter 13, Zechariah chapter
13 and verse seven, let's look at that again as we move into
the New Testament, some of the verses that are there in the
book of Zechariah chapter 13 verse 7 it says awake oh lord
against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow now
there is a relationship between the shepherd of the sheep and
someone that is a companion to the godhead my fellow This fellow
is someone that is close companionship. There's a shepherd of the sheep,
but we also have a companion to the Godhead, and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. this passage of scripture
the Lord brings up. You know, I was reading today
someone that wrote about Zechariah and said, you know, there's no
reason that anybody would ever doubt the authenticity of the
book of Zechariah because of the number of times that are
brought out directly in the New Testament. Well, we've said that
way a long time ago, that book of Zechariah is authenticated
because God gave it by his spirit. And then it's authenticated because
we read verses of scripture in the New Testament that are quoted
from it. We don't have to worry whether
it's in the Bible or not. It's there because God intended for
it to be there. But let's turn over here to the
book of Matthew chapter 26, and for just a moment, read this
passage of scripture that the Lord brings up in a quote from
the book of Zechariah chapter 13, and there in verse seven,
and it's found in Matthew chapter 26. In Matthew chapter 26, and
there in verse 31, we have these words. Then saith Jesus unto
them, he's speaking to his disciples, all ye shall be offended because
of me this night, for it is written. Zechariah chapter seven, or excuse
me, chapter 13, verse seven. In Matthew chapter 26 and verse
31, thus saith Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended. Now,
I don't know how you feel about these people and him telling
them that, but afterwards they understood what he's talking
about. It is interesting that all but one, when Jesus said,
one of you is gonna betray me, all but one understood it could
be them. Is it I? Is it I? One person,
like those on the left-hand side, can't be me. Can't be me. A believer understands if we're
not kept by the hand of God. There's very little, and I've
mentioned this several times, but it's just something that
I've been thinking about a great deal. There's very little difference
between what Judas did and what Peter did, and the only difference
is grace. I have prayed for you because
of grace. I prayed for you. I pray not
for the world, but I pray for you, Peter. I don't pray for
Judas. I pray for you and how glorious
it is to have the God of heaven pray for us. All right, he goes
on to tell us here in this verse of scripture, you shall all be
offended because of me. This night, for it is written,
I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. Now we notice that this happens.
Every one of those disciples run, leave, deny everything else. We put Peter out there and say,
look what Peter did. Look what everyone else did.
Look what we would have done because the Lord Jesus Christ
had this road to walk alone. He could not have anybody saying,
I helped. What error it is for people to
say, I have helped God. What glory it is to know He has
helped us. We love Him because He first
loved us. We have that glorious representation
that the Lord has on our behalf. Now the sword had been for so
many ages sleeping. You know, we don't find, we don't
find and we'll never see the exceeding sinfulness of sin at
Mount Sinai. It identifies that we are unholy,
that it shares with us that we are sinners, but we will never
see the exceeding sinfulness of sin at Mount Sinai. Turn with
me, I'd like to read just a few verses in 2 Corinthians and then
in the book of Hebrews along this line. 2 Corinthians chapter
three, 2 Corinthians chapter three, and I'd like to begin
reading with verse seven. But if the menstruation of death,
written and engraved in stones, was glorious, so that the children
of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for
the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away,
how shall not the menstruation of the Spirit be rather glorious. For if the menstruation of condemnation
be glory, much more doth the menstruation of righteousness
exceed glory." So we'll never be able to see everything that
we need to see in the law. The law was never intended for
us to see the glory of the Lord. We'll never intended for us to
see righteousness. Now we're going to find someone
who kept the law perfectly, who is righteous, but we're unable
to do that. And we're thankful that he imputes
that righteousness to us. Even after we're saved, we cannot
keep the law. After God has saved us by his
grace, we're still sinful people. We cannot keep it. And the more
we say that we are keeping it, the more we're betraying our
very own selves all right for verse 10 for even that which
was made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of
the glory that exalted for if that which is done away was glorious
much more that which remaineth is glorious so if the law is
going to be done away and there's a bit of glory about that how
much greater is the glory of the lord well it doesn't take
us much to find out how much more glorious it is now let's
turn over to the book of hebrews and read there just a little
bit about moses on that mount and coming down and what had
to be taken and what that was a sign of hebrews chapter 12
verse 18 Now when Moses came off of that
mountain, he came into a scene he wished he hadn't seen. He
came into a scene which he wished had never happened. But it happened. And he broke this law. Threw
it down and broke it. And had to go back up and get
it again. He was put out, just mildly put
out, over the people. For ye are not come to mount
that might be touched, that burned with fire, nor with blackness,
and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the
voice of words, which voice they had heard entreated that the
word should not be spoken to them any more. for they could
not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart
or spear. And so terrible was the sight
that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." That's Moses. But ye are come to Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, and to the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to innumerable company of angels." So here we are. We have come to this. God has
brought us home, brought us to Zion, brought us to a city of
refuge, brought us to Christ. And there in 2 Corinthians, if
we'd have read a little further, we would have read that the same
teaching of the Old Testament is a veil to the eyes until they
see Christ and then the veil is taken away. The only way we
can see the exceeding sinfulness of sin is to see the agony to
read and in our mind's eye by the inspiration of the spirit
about those passages of scripture is to see what Christ paid to
redeem his people from sin. to go to the cross, to go to
the agony of the cross, to go to the agony before the cross.
Here we find that as justice was going to be served and payment
was going to be made, to hear the very groans of our Saviour,
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. I'm glad they interpreted it
because it means a whole lot more. My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? This is the cry of the Son of
God. This is the cry of the fellow
of the Lord of hosts. The friend of the Lord of hosts. This is the Son of God crying
this out to God. The sword of God's justice was
unsheathed. and sheathed in the person Christ
Jesus, justice must be meted out. If there's going to be ever
salvation, if we're ever going to be delivered from our sin,
from our very nature, then justice must be meted out. Sin must be
paid for. Now in the covenant of grace,
the Lord Jesus Christ came forward voluntarily knowing full well
he was able to do what was required to do and he wanted to do it
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising
the shame and is now set down at the right hand of the father
it was a great joyful thing for him to do this and yet it was
great agony in doing it turn with me if you went to psalm
22 and verse 14 Psalm 22 and verse 14. We have these words, as it were,
the very words of the Lord. Psalm 22 and verse 14, the very
words of the Lord as He is paying the price of our sin debt. He says, I am poured out like
water. All my bones are out of joint. Ever had sore knees? All my bones
are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst of
my bowels. Now this is as the Lord himself
is declaring the agony Now we get the representation over there
in the Old Testament when they took that sacrifice and they
prepared it and laid it on the altar and consumed it with fire. That was symbolic, that was typical,
that was pictorial of what Christ must do in order to take care
of our sin. Now the blood and flesh of animals
did not take away sin. All the offerings that were ever
performed throughout the Old Testament, and we even find out
up until the time of Christ's death, some 20 times in the book
of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is the Passover mentioned. His
parents went to it, he went to it, and we find Christ is our
Passover. So we have that mentioned, this
picture. He witnessed the picture of himself
when he went to the Passover. His parents went to the picture
of the death of the Son of God when they witnessed the Passover.
And everyone else too. Every believer that ever stood
there and observed what was going on that day, they observed the
picture, the type and the shadow of what was required. That priest
took that offering and slew that offering and caught some blood
and then consumed that sacrifice in a burnt offering. Well, here
we have the Lord Jesus Christ crying out, what is able to melt
wax? Now, it doesn't take much to
melt wax, but what is able? We read about the fire of God.
Turn with me, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 6. Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 6
we read these words about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It says here as this whole chapter is such a declarative statement
about the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ and what
was required in order to redeem his people. And that sword was
awakened as pictorially here. Physically, we can see it, or
spiritually, I should say, we'll see that sword pulled out on
the day of the crucifixion, when Jesus Christ actually, the time
is right, when he goes to the cross at the appointed time.
That sword is brought into his attention, the justice of God. Here, all we like sheep have
gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on his fellow, on him, the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, every elect person. Their iniquity, their sin has
been laid upon him. And we read the rest of this,
he was oppressed. It doesn't take much if we have
any understanding of even the English language to find out
that there was some great transaction going here. He was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. This was
what he intended to come for. He never came to set up a kingdom. He came to lay down his life,
a ransom for many. When we get into the book of
Matthew chapter 27, there was great darkness upon this earth
for the space of three hours. During that period of time, justice
was served. God poured out His wrath on sin
that was laid on Him. And Jesus Christ paid completely
and fully for all our sin. Now it was not swept under a
rug. It was not put somewhere. It was paid for in full. That's why there is no longer
any guilt. He took our guilt. We're sinners, but He took our
guilt. He took the payment. It was imposed. It was brought out. He is the
one who had promised to pay the debt. In the book of Mark, turn
with me to the book of Mark chapter 15 if you would. Mark chapter
15, as we see the sword is awoken. The sword is unsheathed. The
justice of God is unsheathed. Picture after picture, throughout
the Old Testament, through the intermediate period between Malachi
and the book of Matthew, throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
we see this picture, we see this picture, we see this picture
of justice. And now, here in the book of
Mark, Mark chapter 15, Mark chapter 15, We're going to begin reading
there with verse 15. Mark chapter 15 and verse 15. And so Pilate, willing to content
the people, released Barabbas unto them and delivered Jesus,
whom he had scourged when he had scourged him, to be crucified. Now there wasn't a bargain going
on here. God purposed Barabbas to be released. God purposed His Son take the
place. It is certainly a picture of
substitution, one for the other, the innocent for the guilty.
But when it comes down to it, we're all Barabbases. And he
took the place of every Barabbas. Goes on to say the soldiers led
him away to the hall called Praetorium and they called together the
whole band And in verse 24 of that chapter, it says this, and
when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting
lots upon them that every man should take. And so they crucified
him. We're not going to go into the
pain of crucifixion. The payment was made in those
three hours. He was the one lifted up. If I be lifted up, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. And if I be lifted up, I will
take care of all the sin debt and draw all mine to me. In verse
33 of that chapter, and when the sixth hour was come, there
was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Now you
want to read about the sword being awakened. We have a three
hour period here when it was unsheathed. The sword of God's
justice. The payment price was made. Now
we're not saying that there wasn't any of that going on before that,
but here it is. I wonder how long it took to
consume one of those heifers in the Old Testament on an altar.
Three hours? I don't know. But that was a
picture of what took place right here. There's payment being made. That payment could not pay for
anything. This payment is going to be effectual and pay for the
sins of all his people in all ages. Past, present, and future. Everything. Not one is left over. Not one is to be found. And then
if we look in verse 34 of that chapter, and at the ninth hour,
Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,
which is being interpreted, and thank God, I love it. My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? My, he's, God could say,
he's my fellow. I have wakened the sword for
my fellow. And then of that same chapter,
verse 37, and Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the
ghost. You know what he said? That's recorded in John 19 and
verse 30. It is finished. It is finished. Now, turn with me back to the
book of Zechariah, chapter 12. We went over this some time ago,
but I want to read it and make just a couple of comments here.
In religion, I was taught that... Verse 10 of chapter 12. Yes. I was taught that everybody,
eventually, at the judgment, were going to look upon Him whom
they had pierced. And you know what? That's not
true. Only the church pierced Christ. Nobody else. Nobody on the left-hand side
ever laid a hand on Him. No sin was ever applied. Nothing. So they're not going to look
on Him whom they pierced. We look on Him whom we pierced. That's where we see the total
payment for our sin. What's it say? I will pour upon
the house of David, verse 10, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the spirit of grace and supplication My goodness, we got off to a
good start. And they shall look upon Me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him. What does that
mean? We put Him there. My sin put him there. God's justice came out and struck
him. Abraham was prepared to do that.
I can just see his hand raised till God stopped him from doing
it. Now, God did not stop justice from being meted out here, did
not stop the sword of justice. It was awakened. It was going
to do its job. Where is it now? Put away. no longer ever going to be brought
out again. And it goes on to tell us there,
they mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall be
in bitterness for him as one that is bitterness for his firstborn. So it is finished. We look upon him whom we have
pierced among many other things that were fulfilled that day,
that day. Justice was served. Now that justice is going to
be served. I read yesterday, there is eternal
damnation, just as there is eternal life. Those without Christ, it's
eternal damnation. They are damned, they will be
damned, and they will forever be damned. And the same for the
opposite for the church is everlasting life, everlasting covenant, everlasting
forgiveness, everlasting love. There's no end to it. And so
it's because the sword was awakened. Oh awake, oh sword. And this
sword would be for the fellow, my fellow. of the Lord of Hosts,
Jehovah's Fellow, would do this. Now he's God Almighty, put on
a cross, had sin imputed to him, never lost his character or nature,
and he did exactly what he promised he would do in the covenant of
grace. I will ransom all my elect. And when he said it's finished,
he did that very thing, he bowed his head, He died, and when they
came to him, he was so different than everyone else that had ever
been crucified. He died so soon because he did
his work. And they took him down without
breaking a leg, and the rest of them wasn't so kind. Well,
we're thankful that this one Jesus had a sword raised up against
him, a sword that will never touch any of the elect. It will
touch those who are on the left hand side for eternity. Justice
will be served. We'll stop there and we'll pick
up the latter part of that verse next week and then try to finish
the chapter. There's so much in that chapter and then get
to chapter 14 maybe someday. All right.