Well, as we continue our study
of the book of Zechariah, I encourage you to turn with me to the 12th
chapter of the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 12, and I'd
like to read verses 8 down through the end of the chapter, but by
no means are we going to get through all of that. Zechariah chapter 12, verse 8,
in that day, shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David,
and the house of David shall be as God, as an angel of the
Lord before them. Wonderful thoughts found in that
verse of scripture that the Lord will defend his church. He defended
physical Jerusalem to a degree, but when it comes to the church
he will lose none. He's going to defend it with
all his might and power and we are so thankful. And then in
verse 9, and it shall come to pass in that day I will seek
to destroy all the nations that come up against Jerusalem. So
the Lord is sharing with us in this gospel message that every
enemy of the church shall be destroyed. I will deal with it
and he alone can deal with all the enemies. We have many enemies. They're great enemies and they're
far superior to us. but he is great he is able and
he has dealt with them and we're going to go over to daniel chapter
nine in just a moment and read a couple of verses that share
with us that his whole purpose in coming was to deal with those
enemies travel on with me as we look at verse ten and i will
pour upon the house of david and upon the inhabitants of jerusalem
now notice this the spirit of grace Now it's going to mean
something to us as we get just a little further into this verse
of scripture. He's going to shower. He's going
to pour. As it says there, I will pour
upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The church is defined in a number
of ways in scripture. Here is twice in one verse of
scripture. We find different ways in the
Old Testament. We find different ways in the New Testament. That
is all meaning the very blessed bride of Christ, the sheep of
his pasture, the elect from before the foundation of the world.
And he says, I will pour upon the church the spirit of grace
and of supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced. And they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day
shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as mourning of
Hadadrimmon, and in the valley of Megiddo. And the land shall
mourn every family apart, the family of the house of David
apart from their wives apart, the family of the house of Nathan
apart and their wives apart, the family of the house of Levi
apart and their wives apart, the family of Shimei apart and
their wives apart. All the families that remain,
every family apart and their wives apart. Well, we're going
to spend our time tonight particularly on verses 9 and 10. verses nine
and ten of this wonderful chapter that shares with us again the
great blessings of Christ to his church, the protection of
Christ to his church, and also we find in here that he is going
to be pierced for his church. In verse nine it says, and it
shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all
the nations that come against Jerusalem. Figurative language
that God uses to share with us that everything that has an opposition
to God, or opposition to grace, or opposition to the church,
he is going to deal with in his mighty way. Turn with me if you
would back to the book of Daniel chapter nine. Daniel chapter
nine is again the gospel of Daniel. It is for us to richly enjoy
and appreciate these words that are found here in the book of
Daniel. They're not futuristic, they are present time blessings.
And here we can reflect on what Daniel had to say here concerning
the Lord's coming the first time. it is going to be and we've been
looking there we looked at Ezra we looked at and Nehemiah has
the same message the children of Israel coming back to Jerusalem
there's a marker strike that down write it in the book this
is the beginning of the time and from this point to this point
God knows exactly the days the hours the minutes when the Son
of God shall come be born of a virgin laid in a manger with
preparation to give his life a ransom for many. And Daniel
brings up what will happen when the Lord of Glory does what he
said he would do in the covenant of grace. This is what he will
do. This is what he will accomplish
in the book of Daniel chapter 9 verse 24. The book of Daniel
chapter 9 verse 24. I just love to find out the work
is done. It's a glorious thing to find
out what the work that is done and it's done by him on the behalf
of the church and we rest in him. It causes us to rest the
more in him because he has accomplished all this great work for us. Daniel
chapter 9 verse 24 says 70 weeks are determined That's a period
of time known to God and we generally think of it as 70 times 7. Well,
it's a time period known to God, going to be accomplished by God
whether we understand it or not. are determined upon thy people
and upon the holy city to finish the transgression notice this
this is what the lord is going to do when he comes this is why
he came he has a purpose in coming to this world he did not come
down here to set up some earthly kingdom and then was frustrated
because he could not and then said well i will have to go to
the cross In the covenant of grace, it was determined that
He would be pierced on the behalf of His people, that He would
go to the cross on the behalf of His people. This is His purpose,
and it wasn't just that He determined to do it, He purposed to do it.
All right, goes on to say here, to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins. Now the church just rejoices
in words like that. To make an end of sins. It is
no longer going to be the burden of the church, it's the burden
of Christ. And he has imputed his righteousness
to us. And he has, we have, God imputed
our sin to him. So he's gonna make an end of
sins. to make reconciliation for iniquity,
bringing the father and his children in reconciliation, friends. God calls us because he called
him his friend, he calls us his friends. And to make reconciliation
for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness. My goodness, these
are what the Lord's going to do when he comes at the appointed
time. Whatever time it was, there's no way of us reckoning what month
or what year or whatever. That is not the point. The point
is what he's going to accomplish when he comes. And here it is.
He delineates it. He lays it out. He said this
is it. This is what God is going to do in Christ Jesus for the
church when he comes back. The first time. When he comes
the first time. All right. bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most
Holy." What happened shortly after his resurrection? He brought
it into the writing of the Word, about AD 100. Now I've had people
tell me that you have to know what era the book was in to be
able to understand it. That's hogwash. You have to have
the spirit to understand it. You don't need the age that it
was written, or the period it was written, or the month it
was written. You need the Holy Spirit to understand the Word
of God. Then verse 25 know therefore and understand that from the
going forth of the commandment Cyrus king said go back and rebuild
by God's command a pagan king by God's command told the children
of Israel go back and rebuild the temple the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince.
Hallelujah, we have him. Christ, the Prince, King of kings
and Lord of lords, shall be seven years and threescore and two
years, and the street shall be built again and the wall even
in troublous times. Now when we went over to, we
went through the book of Ezra, they built that city walls, or
Nehemiah, the city walls, and Ezra the temple, and it was in
perilous times. But they built it, and from that
time to command to go forth and build until the Lord came back,
God said, here's the time element. Right here. Well, there may have
been some scholars in their day and time that understood exactly
what he was saying by what time it would be. We do know that
when scholars were asked where he would be born, they knew that.
And they knew what tribe he would be born of, they knew that. So
they knew some things from a fleshly mind about God, not even understanding
the spiritual implications of that. So we have, he made an
end of sins, made reconciliation for iniquity to bring an everlasting
righteousness, seal up the vision and prophecy, and anoint the
most holy. What's that say right there?
and to anoint the Most Holy in verse 24, and this shall happen
in these days." Alright, the Lord promised that in that day
He would seek to destroy all that come up against Jerusalem,
and He promised He would. Every sin of the church would
be taken care of. Every iniquity of the church
would be taken care of. There would be none left out.
There would be none left to us. There would be none left to the
church to dispose of by doing good or righteousness or sanctification
or any of those other things. We looked at the book of Habakkuk
some time ago, but I'd like to go there right now. The book
of Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 3. Habakkuk chapter 3. These books have a spiritual
implication. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned. It has
to be revealed. It's a revelation. The truth
is revealed. We will never accomplish seeing
the truth on our own. Now we're thankful that God gives
us eyes to see, But we could read about people that never
had eyes, physical eyes to see, that still got to see. So it's
not this, and it's not this. It's the spiritual eyes, and
the spiritual ears, and the spiritual heart that God gives to us. All
right, Habakkuk chapter three, verse eight. The scripture says,
was the Lord displeased against the rivers? Was thine anger against
the rivers? Was thy wrath against the sea,
that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow was made quite naked
according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word, Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with
rivers. The mountains saw thee, and they
trembled. The overflowing of the water
passed by the deep, uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands
on high. The sun and the moon stood still
in their habitation at the light of thine arrows. They went, and
at the shining of thy glittering spear, Thou didst march through
the land in indignation. Thou didst thrash the heathen
in anger. What did he do with our sins?
He thrashed them in anger. He was going to put them away.
He's going to deal with us, with our sins, in his only way that
he could do that. Turn with me now, if you would,
over to the book of Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. It doesn't take very much reading
in Romans chapter 11 to find out that some people don't care
for Romans chapter 11. You know what the church delights
in? Delights in Romans chapter 11. Oh my goodness, we're so
thankful. What does it say here? There
are two throughout the earth in all times settled in eternity. Two. Had a little note in the
bulletin last week John Law wrote it many years ago. Two families. Two divisions. Two things. There are those that are Christ's
and there are those that are not. Election and the rest. Now that's what it brings out
here. Notice with me. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for. But the election. Romans chapter
11 verse 7. But the election hath obtained
it, and the rest were blinded. Election hath obtained
it. Now what is election based on?
Grace and grace alone. There is no boasting in election.
There is no pride in election. There's only Thanksgiving. Those
whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and the rest. There are two. Always has been
and will be until this is wrapped up. In the final statement about
what's going to happen to this earth, there are two. There are
the sheep and the goats. There are those on the right
hand and the left hand. And that's the way it has always
been. Cain and Abel demonstrated it
very well. There is always going to be this.
Those who are the apple of his eye and the rest. The blessed
from the foundation of the world and the rest were blinded. Now if we don't have any concept
of God and His grace, this is very abrasive. Grace is like
manna to those who need manna. And it's like gravel. Grace is
like gravel to those without it. It is just so uncomfortable
because it rules out everything that we think we should do. It
rules it out. Now, the blessed from the foundation
of the world, the rest were blinded. Now, let's go over here back
to Zechariah chapter 12 and there in verse 10 now look at that
verse 10. Did you read it with me when we went through there?
We saw in Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 there is a passage of
scripture here that is brought up in the New Testament and You
know For years and years and years of my religious life, this
was always taught that everybody was going to look upon Him whom
they pierced. Well, if we believe grace, there's
only one group that is going to understand what it was for
Him to be pierced, and the others are oblivious to it. Now I realize
there are going to be people that understand that there were
people that nailed his hands and his feet down. And there
was a soldier that run a spear into his side. But it's just
from the flesh that they look at that. But the church looks
at this from a very spiritual standpoint and find their salvation
in this. Verse 10, and I will pour upon
the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
spirit of grace. Oh my goodness, the spirit of
grace, and we can't get it anywhere else. It's not something that
we cultivate, something that we produce. It is poured out
upon us. It comes from above. It comes
from God. Grace is from God. And it's not
of works, because if it's of works, it's no more grace. And
if it's of grace, it's no more works. It is so clear. Paul brings that out as he's
led by the Holy Spirit to explain that works and grace cannot mix. You cannot believe both of them.
You're going to believe works and that's it. Or you're going
to believe grace and that's it. But you can't put the two together
and come up with something, a mutation like that. That's just pure evolution.
So it says here, I will pour out the spirit of grace and of
supplication. I will pour out this favor, this
supplication. God has grace and he has favor
to his church and nowhere else. And as a result of that, it tells
us there, and they shall look, who shall look? Those who have
had grace poured out upon them, those who have had favor given
to them, they're the ones that are going to be able to look
upon him whom they have pierced. That was the sins of his people
that pierced him, put him on the cross, and nobody else's
sins. Nobody else's sins is paid for.
Nobody else's sins is taken care of. They shall suffer through
eternity taking care of their sins and never get it taken care
of. But Jesus Christ in his death on the cross has taken care of
what men cannot take care of for eternity. He took care of
the sins of the church and he has blessed us in allowing us
to know that he has opened up our heart to understand that
it was my sin that pierced him. but it's forgiven it is a glorious
thing to know this those who have the eyes to see whom they
have pierced and the rest are blinded for the elect he has
put away every enemy he's told us in uh... many different ways
he has put away every one of our enemies we have none in fact
when we read over the book of revelation he says they overcame
the adversary, Satan, by the blood of the Lamb. Well, how
do we do that? We can't. It's taken care of for us. He's
the battle warrior. He is the captain of our salvation. The elect, he has put away every
enemy, every sin, paid for every sin, caused them to see perfect
righteousness in Christ. total forgiveness and all spiritual
blessings and the rest were blinded. How did the elect get elected? Grace. For no other reason. He's not going to look down through
time. You know, election is not based on foreseen faith. It is
based upon foreseen unbelief. God knew we would not. Therefore he did on the behalf
of the church. What a glorious thing turn with
me if you would to the book of Ezekiel chapter 16 This passage
of scripture has been gone over a number of times, but it is
such a glorious statement about how God does his business, how
he is going to pour out his grace upon the church. Ezekiel chapter
16. We've read this before. It talks
about the description that Ezekiel was given of the parents of Jerusalem
and Judea. What's it say there in verse
one? Ezekiel chapter 16. Verse 1, The word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know
her abominations. And say, Thus saith the Lord
God of Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of
Canaan, thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. And
as for thy nativity, in the day that thou wast born, thy navel
was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee,
thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. You know,
I find a passage of scripture in the New Testament that those
shepherds were going to go find the Messiah in a manger in swaddling
clothes. He was not affected by the fall. he is the absolute perfect son
of God and it is demonstrated here natural man was not swaddled
he was swaddled he was so different than us and then it says none
I pitied thee to do any of these unto thee to have compassion
upon thee but thou was cast out in the open field to the loathing
of thy person in the day that thou was born and when I passed
by thee I saw thee polluted When the Lord came and saw his people,
he saw a polluted people. He saw them cast out. He saw
them, well, the very meaning is here, that they still have
the placenta attached to them. A horrific thing. One of the
brothers that I just recently heard said, when they looked
upon a child that they didn't think was gonna have a chance
in this world to live, they just cast it out in the field. And
they're making reference to this, just outcast. And when I passed
by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine own blood. I was said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. What a statement
is made. We are resurrected. Live. We are raised from the dead.
I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and
hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent
ornaments. Thy breasts are fashioned, and
thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now
when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was
the time of love. At the right time he made a passage
by this. And I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine. They looked upon him whom they
had pierced. How? Because he raised them from
the dead. Then washed I thee with water.
Yea, I thoroughly washed away the blood from thee, anointed
thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broided
work, and shod thee with badger skin, and girded thee with fine
linen, and I covered thee with silk. Time is not enough. to go over every spiritual illusion
that we have as Ezekiel was given this message by the Lord. I deck
thee also with ornaments, and put the bracelets upon thy hand,
and a chain upon thy neck, and I put a jewel on thy forehead,
and earrings in thy ears, and beautiful crown upon thy head.
Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was
fine linen, and silk, and brooded work, Thou didst eat fine flour
and honey, and was exceeding beautiful. And thou didst prosper
in the kingdom, and thy renown went forth among the heathen
for thy beauty. Did you notice the next phrase?
Where did that beauty come from? For thy beauty, for it was perfect
through my comeliness. Thy beauty was perfect through
my comeliness, through my beauty, which I had put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. Oh, as he tells us, they looked
upon him, the only ones that are given the grace to see that.
No lost person is ever going to come up and say that they're
going to look upon him whom they pierced. Only those whose sins
are forgiven will be able to understand or comprehend that.
Those without Christ will never comprehend that. They'll never
see that beautiful picture. Only the church will be able
to say, I pierced Him. And though I wish it hadn't had
to happen that way, it had to happen that way. It was my sins
that pierced Him. Nailed Him to a cross. And then
He became the absolute perfect sacrifice. for sin. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 2. Let's
look over there if you would. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 2. I used to think that the word
world is the word in here we needed to define. Oh, that's
so irrelevant. The first word in here that has
to come up first is propitiation. You get a hold of that, you don't
have any trouble with world. Now there is no place in all
the scriptures where the entire world and all the inhabitants
of the world are ever put into a verse of scripture. No place. This passage of scripture says
here, and he is the propitiation for our sins. Speaking of those
that John is writing to, and not for our sins only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. Who is going to know that they
have sinned? Who is going to know that it
was their sins that pierced him? Who is going to know this? Those
who have been propitiated for. Those whose sins have been forgiven. Those are the ones that he's
writing here to. Those are the ones Zachariah
is writing to. propitiation, complete and total propitiation,
atonement and appeasing for our sin. They are absolutely put
away, not for ours only, but for all of God's elect wherever
they are found, it's going to happen for them too. It did happen
for them. And in John chapter 4 and verse
10, 1st John, 1st John, excuse me, 1st John chapter 4 and verse
10, We have seen and do testify that
the father sent the son to be the Savior Excuse me, that's
14 verse 10, excuse me herein is love not that we loved God,
but that he loved us and Sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins the total appeasement total atonement total payment
Sin has been taken care of, and it is only these, the elect,
those chosen, as we find there in the book of Romans chapter
11, the elect know this, the rest are hardened, the rest are
blinded. The word could be either one
in that passage of scripture. So we have, he sent his son to
be the propitiation, the appeasement. and the church knows him as the
one they have pierced. By revelation, we understand
it was our sin that he came to pay for. Not for those who never
trust him, not for those who never believe, but for those
only that he came to save. In the book of Isaiah chapter
53 and verse 1, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed? That's what Zechariah is saying
here. In Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10. They have had a revelation. In
order for them to know this, they've had a revelation. It's
been revealed to them. They will not know this on their
own. They will not own up to it on
their own. A lot of people have the idea
today it wasn't necessary. The blood of Christ is not necessary.
The death of Christ on the cross isn't necessary. We're able to
take care of all that on our own. Well, the church knows totally
different. We needed Him. We absolutely
need Him as our Savior and all that He did on our behalf. Go
over to the book of Romans while you're right here at 1 John.
We have the book of Isaiah quoted here. The book of Romans. Romans
chapter 10 and verse 16. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. They haven't been able to see.
It was a physical act. done by physical people with
physical nails and a physical spear by soldiers, religious
people, but they cannot see until it's revealed, I pierced him. I get to look on him whom I pierced. He is my savior. Here it says,
but they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah says, Lord,
who has believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. How many believe? How many are
able to see this? Acts chapter 13 and verse 48
sums it up. Those that were ordained to eternal
life believed. And then they look on Him whom
they have pierced. Why does God not let us be saved
by our own choosing instead of Him choosing us? That no flesh
would glory in His presence. That's what He shares with us
in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 29. And in verse
31 of that same chapter, that according as it is written, he
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Let him glory in
His salvation. Let Him glory in His death. Let
Him glory in His sacrifice. Let Him glory in His righteousness.
Let Him glory in His ability to propitiate. Finally, would
you turn with me to John chapter 12. John chapter 12. John chapter
12. Verse 38. After grace and supplication
has been poured out, they shall look on him whom they have pierced.
They'll know what God has done on their behalf. Here in John
chapter 12 verse 38, that a saying of Isaiah the prophet might be
fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report,
and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore
they could not believe because that Isaiah said again, He hath
blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, that they should
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them. Why does God do this? Because He's God. He's Sovereign.
He is Sovereign. He's King. He has written about
it. He has done it. And then, verse
41, These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory, and spake
of Him. When you see whom you have pierced,
you'll be able to go around and say, I was blind, but He gave
me sight. I was deaf, but He gave me hearing. You know, when I was gone, I
preached a message on spitting. The most illogical thing that
we could think of, Jesus used to heal. He spit on a man's eyes. He spit in a man's mouth. We
have to qualify though and say there was no germs in his spit. Most illogical. It takes the
grace of God for us to accept the most illogical thing that
could possibly happen and that is salvation is of the Lord. It's all of Him. And then we
can look on Him whom we have pierced. because of grace and
supplication. We'll stop there for tonight.
Looking forward to our continued study here in the Book of Zechariah.