We would invite you to turn with
us in your Bibles to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter
10. And we'd like to continue looking
at that verse 4 of Zechariah chapter 10. But I'd like to read
verse 3, and then we'll go to verse 4. Mine anger was kindled
against the shepherds, and I punished the goats, or the leaders. For
the Lord of hosts has visited his flock, the house of Judah,
and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. Out of him
came forth the corner. Now we mentioned last week that
there's some discussion about who that him is referring to,
but we're just gonna take this. Judah was a servant of the Lord.
The Lord came through Judah. The Lord is to receive the preeminence. So we're just going to say that
all to him is him and all these things work out from him. All
right. Out of him came forth the corner,
out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every
oppressor together. And they shall be as mighty men
which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in
the battle. And they shall fight, because the Lord is with them,
and the riders on horses shall be confounded. Well, we'd like
to just read two verses in review, or two passages in review, and
then we'll move on. We looked at that first part
of that verse of scripture, for out of him came forth the corner,
And we looked at a number of passages of scripture that shares
with us that Jesus Christ is the head of the corner. He has
the preeminence. And a verse we'd like to go to
right now is over in the book of Matthew. As we think about
that, as we review in our mind just a little bit about what
this verse of scripture has to do with, in the book of Matthew
chapter 21, Matthew chapter 21 and verse 42, we have, these glorious words recorded
about our Savior, the Lord Jesus. In Matthew chapter 21, and there
in verse 42, it says, Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read
in the Scriptures? How, I don't know. Someday I'd
like to count that up, how many times he mentions this reference
to the Scriptures, reference to the Old Testament Scriptures,
that had to do with him, and he brings those up. Now he's
not bringing them up to a bunch of idiots. He's bringing this
up to people who claim to know what the Scriptures have to say.
But we're going to find out as we go through the Scriptures
that only those that are regenerated have any concept of what the
Scriptures is about. And they're the ones that are
going to go to the Old Testament and see Christ in it. Here we
have this. In Matthew chapter 21, verse
42, Jesus saith unto them, did you never read in the Scriptures,
the stone which the builders rejected, the stone which the builders
rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. Now when
did he become the head of the corner? Not when they rejected
him. He's always been the head of
the corner. Now he is as a stone in his own personal ministry
upon this earth, They didn't know Jesus in Jesus. They didn't
know the Messiah in the Messiah. They could not see him for who
he was. Now, some were able to see him, and by faith they spoke,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And yet, we
find that those people failed. They fell, but I'm thankful for
the word of God. Though we fall, we're not utterly
cast down. He's the one that raises us back
up, and he has that interest in every one of his sheep. He doesn't have that interest
in the goats, but he has that interest in the sheep. He'll
raise them back up. Goes on to tell us here, this is the Lord's
doing and marvelous in our eyes. So not only is the Lord's doing
that he's the corner, not only is the Lord's doing that he's
the head of the corner, but it's also the Lord's doing that some
people recognize him as the head of the corner, that he is their
savior, that he is their foundation and all this, and it's also because
of God that some don't see that. God moves in mysterious ways. He has great wonders to perform.
So he's the one that allows some to see, and he's the one that
keeps others blinded. And that's the only answer to
what the scriptures have to say about him. All right, on that
same vein, we found in that verse of scripture over there in the
book of Zechariah, chapter 10, and verse 4, that he's also the
nail. Now we looked at that and we
found out that that nail is a tent peg. And that same word is used
with those brass pins that were used to hold the tabernacle in
place. And the curtains outside of the
tabernacle, the court, they were held in place. Those stakes were
driven down in, and most people think of that as sand. I think
there was a whole lot more than just sand there in that Sinaitic
Peninsula. They drove those down, hooked
ropes or something to them, and when the wind come up, it didn't
blow them over. So we have this great pin. He is our nail. He's our nail
in a sure place. He's driven down, and He's our
surety, and He is our sure place. And that verse is found over
in the book of Isaiah. So if you join me over in the
book of Isaiah for one verse of scripture, Isaiah there in
chapter 22. Chapter 22 of the book of Isaiah,
we have this wonderful passage of scripture about him being
a nail in a sure place. He is our sureness. He is our
steadfastness. He is our solidarity. He's our
solidness. Now, we are like jello, but he
is a rock. We're faint. We're weary. And yet he is always a rock,
a sure foundation stone. He is the hollow in the rock
that we hide in and all of those things. But here in the book
of Isaiah chapter 22, and there in verse 23, it says, and I will
fasten him as a nail in a sure place. Now, if we look back,
this is talking about another person, but this person is a
type and a shadow and a picture of our Savior, the Lord Jesus.
And he's a, you know, fastened the nail in a sure place and
he shall be before a glorious throne to his father's house.
So the Lord and another place in it tells us that he is a nail
in a holy place. He is a nail in a sure place.
So our security is based only upon God, only upon the Lord.
We have no ability in ourselves to keep ourselves secure. We
have enough thoughts in a day to destroy us, and yet we are
secure in him. He's paid for them all. All right,
now look at the rest of that verse of scripture there in the
book of Zechariah. It brings up two other things
that are very important about our Lord. The next thing it says,
out of him the battle bow. Now we know from what the scriptures
have to share with us that our warfare is not a physical warfare. Our warfare is a spiritual warfare. Our warfare is not physical. We are not to take up arms to
convince other people that they should be like us. In fact, we're
not to even argue about it. We're to present it. Now sometimes
it may get into that direction, but that's not how we're going
to convince anybody of anything, is to argue with them. It's a
presentation. I declare unto you the gospel
is what we read about the Apostle Paul. It's a declaration. It's
not a proposition. It's not an argument. It's a
declaration. We find it's much like the proof
that God shared about himself being God. He just simply said
in the beginning, God, now take it or leave it. Now the believer
will take it. And the unbeliever, you can't
convince him otherwise. Well, let's look over here in
the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. In
2 Corinthians chapter 10, we have the Apostle Paul, led by
the Holy Spirit, sharing with us, sharing with us, that our
warfare is not a physical warfare. It's not fisticuffs. It's not
a physical sword. It's none of those things. It's
not a physical horse. Now, I read about an old itinerant
preacher here in the state of Oregon that believed the doctrines
of grace, and he rode all over the Willamette Valley preaching
the gospel, and he used a horse. But he didn't use the horse to
beat people down. The gospel does that. So he was
just a preacher of the gospel. And here in the book of 2 Corinthians
chapter 10, we have these glorious words that were recorded as the
Apostle Paul was moved by the spirit. Holy men of God, spake
as they were moved, as God bore them witness. And here in 2 Corinthians
10, verse 3, it says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not
war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
is not carnal, but mighty. Now, so just Carnal conversation
is not going to win anybody. A man convinced against his will
is of the same opinion still. But when God convinces us, We
are convinced we can't go back, we cannot leave. It goes on to
say, for our weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds. Now what's that mean? You know,
the most resistance that we have against God is probably over
this very subject of how people are saved. We will argue with
him and argue with him and argue with him about our ability to
have a free will until God saves us by his grace and the argument
is over and he's pulled down a stronghold. He is about the
business of pulling down strongholds and it's the gospel that does
that. Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God. What were we doing? with
before God saved us we were exalting ourselves against God we had
this all made up of how I think of Naaman as he was instructed
on what he must do and he left in a fit and his sir that servant
said now if he'd asked you to do something really bad and really
serious you'd probably wouldn't have done it Now this is just
an easy thing. Well, trust the Lord and don't
move a muscle. It's an impossibility until the
Lord gives us the ability to trust Him. But there's no other
works in it. So everything and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. How
glorious is that battle? In the battle is the Lord's.
We're just the sower of seed. We're just the sower of seed.
So it is not a warfare that is physical. It's a battle bow war
and this battle bow we're gonna find out is the Lord and his
servants and those he calls to declare the gospel. They are
truly a battle bow. In the book of Psalms 45, if
you go with me to the book of Psalm, we find out that there's
something about the arrows that come from this battle bow. The
Lord does not need foreign soldiers. He doesn't need mercenaries. The battle is his. He has the
battle bow, and he has the battle with the bow. So it's his battle,
and he has, and we're gonna find out that he said that the fields
are white unto harvest, but he's going to call the people to go. All right, here in the psalm,
Psalm 45, we find here this wonderful verse of scripture, Psalm 45
and verse 5, it says, thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the
king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. The arrows of the Lord are sharper
than any arrow that has ever been produced from a physical
standpoint, because this arrow goes deeper. We may wound with
an arrow, and we may kill with an arrow, A literal arrow. But this arrow sent from the
battle bow of the Lord goes to the spiritual part of man. It goes to where no other arrow
has ever gone. And it is there to do its work. It's the word of God is quick. powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword. So the battle bow, this arrow
that is used in it, is a serious business with the lords behind
it. He can do things that nobody else could even think about doing,
bringing down strongholds. So we have an arrow that is sharp,
it is seriously sharp, it is beyond imagination, and sometimes
we find out that we forget just how powerful the Word of God
is. And sometimes we forget just how powerful the Holy Spirit
is with the Word of God. So if we could just keep that
in memory. It is a powerful word. The Holy
Spirit is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. And he's able
to take that word, to take it to heart, to take it to the being
itself, where we cannot get. And when we realize that, we
quit trying to get people saved. We realize it's an impossibility. It's in the hands of the Lord.
All right. He is the captain of our salvation.
We find that in the book of Hebrews. He portrayed that when he met
with Joshua there outside of the walls of Jericho. He's the
captain of their salvation. He's the captain of the armies
of the Lord. But let's turn over here to the book of 1 Samuel.
1 Samuel chapter 17. And in this passage of scripture,
we have David and the incident with Goliath. And there's one
verse of scripture I want to read out of that. In 1 Samuel
chapter 17. In 1 Samuel chapter 17, we have
David sharing something with Goliath. Now David understood
some things. He understood his own weakness.
He understood the invaluableness of that stone that he picked
up. There's nothing to this stone.
Someone's going to have to direct it. It's not going to accomplish
the purpose if someone doesn't direct it. And he shares with
Goliath, the enemy of Israel, this very important fact. And
this can be taken right to our own ministry, wherever we are.
In 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 47, King David, he's been anointed,
It's gonna be a while before he starts to reign, but he's
been anointed. Just like our Savior was anointed before the
foundation of the world, it was some time before he actually
went to the cross. In 1 Samuel chapter 17 and verse
47, he shares these words. And all this assembly shall know
that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, Now what kind
of demonstration did they make against this giant with their
swords and their spears? I think it tells us they ran
for their tents. They were even in a unifying
body. They didn't have the ability
of taking on this giant. For the battle is the Lord's
and he will give you into our hands. Now, if this is ever going
to happen, he will give you into our hands. And David put his
hand in his bag and took this stone and slain it and smoked
the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his
forehead and he fell upon his face to the earth. So the Lord,
the Lord shares with us through David, the battle is not ours. It's the Lord's battle. And he
demonstrated it. here a stone against a man with
a great helmet on a great protection on, he had a great sword, he
had everything was great in his sight, and yet we find that David
was able to come up and say, the battle isn't mine, the battle
is the Lord's. So this battle bow is the Lord's
battle bow, and it's his battle, and he will use the bow as he
sees fit in this battle. All right, in the book of Revelation
chapter 6, In Revelation chapter six, we find these words given
to us about the Lord himself. And we mentioned, I think, this
last week too, that this passage of scripture shares with us a
great deal about the Lord and about the situation that we're
in every day with our family, with our friends, with our neighbors,
with people that go to church, people that we just got acquainted
with. Who's the battle anyway? Who's going to do the conquering?
in Revelation chapter six and verse two, and I saw and behold
a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown
was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
Now I'd like to think of that horse as the church. The Lord
is the master of the church. He's the one that has the church
going where he wants it to go. But the sword is his, the bow
is his, the crown is his, the horse is his, and the battle
is his, and he's going to conquer and going forth conquering and
to conquer. So the results are in the Lord. And when he conquers those he
intends to conquer, they are conquered. When we do that, They
seem to rise up and have a second life. They're just not conquered. So the Lord's conquering is great.
He goes forth, went forth conquering and to conquer. How glorious
is this Lord that would do that very thing. So we have a battle
though, and it's the Lord. Now turn with me back to the
book of Matthew chapter nine. We alluded to this passage of
scripture, but the Lord brings up a good point here in this
book of Luke chapter 9 about the harvest. In chapter 9 he
talks about the fields or widened harvest. You know, in religion,
this was always the passage of Scripture when the preacher was
trying to call somebody to preach. And you know what? No preacher
can call anybody to preach. Now we may get them into the
form and formality of it, but they cannot call him to preach.
Here in the book of Matthew chapter nine, verse 35. And Jesus went
about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness
and every disease among the people. Try that. This is the real conqueror. He
demonstrates here that he's the one that goes forth conquering
and to conquer. But when he saw the multitudes,
he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted
and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then
said he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but
the labors are few. At that point, we're going to
have three verses of a song. We get somebody to come forward
to be called to preach. Well, read the next verse. Pray
ye the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into
the harvest. He's the one that has the battle
bow. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth
laborers into the harvest. Now when he does that, they will
be sent. This is his ministry and his
work and his will is going to be done. Now last week we mentioned
in passing the passage of scripture over the book of Isaiah 63, but
I want to read it tonight because this gives us a great deal of
insight about this one who has the battle bow. Isaiah chapter
63 in verse 1 tells us there's a question being asked. Who is
this? Who is this? Isaiah 63 in verse
1. There's someone coming closer
and closer and closer to view. And who is it? And we notice
that he has great garments. In Isaiah 63 and verse 1, who
is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra?
You know what Basra means? Sheepfold. Who is this that's
coming from the sheepfold with dyed garments? These garments
represent the blood of Christ. This red on them represents shed
blood on the behalf of those in the sheepfold. Who is this
that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that
is glorious in his apparel? He has holy apparel. He has wonderful
apparel. He has righteous apparel. He has a king's apparel. And he's traveling in the greatness
of his strength, his own strength. He's not dependent on someone
else. And then he says, I that speak in righteousness, mighty
to save. Who are you? I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save. Now the observation is, he is
coming from a place, he's coming from Basra, he is glorious in
his apparel, he's traveling in the greatness of his might, and
when he responds, he says, I that speak righteousness, I have the
gospel. Righteousness is of me, mighty
to save. means he is a deliverer. His
battle bow works in miraculous ways to accomplish his eternal
purpose. And then the question is asked,
wherefore art thou red in thine apparel? What do you have all
over you? You have those holy garments,
you have those righteous garments, you have those kingly garments
on, but they're covered up with red, and that garments like him
that treadeth in the wine vat, Now, we don't see that very often
here anymore. It's all machine done. But in
certain places and in olden days, they stomped them out. And that
juice got into their garments. And that's what he's saying here.
I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there
is none with me. For I will tread them in my anger
and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." What a
glorious picture here of him taking care of the sin issue. Taking care of the issue that's
between us and God. The sin issue. I'll trample them
out. I'll finish them up. Now he will
trample out those without Christ, but he will trample the sins
of his people. He is mighty to save, and he
demonstrates in his very apparel, in his appearance, that he is
the Savior. And he saved his people because
he shed his blood on their behalf. His clothes are stained red. He has royal robes. He's marching
in the greatness of his strength. Just as we read over there in
the book of Revelation, it tells us he has a bow and a crown.
He's mighty. He is mighty to say, and he's
a mighty warrior in his salvation. He comes for one purpose, and
that is to demonstrate His grace to His people. I will take care
of your sins. They've been splattered all over
me, if you please. Now, when we look at what the
Lord has to say about those He sends into the fields white under
the harvest, The book of Jeremiah is just filled with passages
of scripture that share with us about what it is to be called
into the fields, widened to harvest, and what it is for those who
have just a local call. Now turn with me, if you would,
to Jeremiah chapter one. Jeremiah chapter one shares with
us the call of Jeremiah. And Jeremiah is told by the Lord. He has a battle bow. He's gonna
send his warriors. spiritual warriors into battle.
They're going to do and accomplish His purpose, and many people,
His people, will be saved. Here in the book of Jeremiah,
chapter 1 and verse 5, He's talking about those He's going to call
and send into the fields that are white unto harvest. There's
going to be a conflict here. People are going to be preaching
the gospel of God's free grace, free and sovereign grace. It's
not going to be very comfortable to people. He's going to use
that message and God will save his people from their sins. He's
the sovereign God going to save his people. And here in verse
five, it says, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.
This is who he's calling. And then he goes on to say, and
before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee,
and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Now, Jeremiah
is going to find out that this was rough going. to follow these
words, but he was not shrinking back. Follow me if you would
in chapter two, chapter two in verse eight. Chapter two in verse
eight, the priest said not, where is the Lord? And they that handled
the law knew me not. The pastors also transgressed
against me and the prophets prophesied by Baal. Now this is the ones
that have been home called. These are the ones that have
been locally called. These are the ones that that
passage of scripture and they didn't finish up the verse and
says, it's time for you to go into the ministry and here they
are. And they prophesy, what does
it say? By bail and walked after things that do not profit. This is the call. Now that's
who this Jeremiah, who God ordained before he was born. Now, what
does that mean? That means he had his eye on
him, called him in his mother's womb. Doesn't mean that he was
saved there. It means that he had marked him
out to be called to this ministry as a prophet of the Lord. Chapter
2 and verse 26. As we go on, we find here these
words. And as the thief is ashamed when
he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed. They, their
kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets are
ashamed. And in chapter 5 and verse 31,
we have the same. This is the bows of the world. This is the battle bows of the
world. They profit nothing. They worship Baal. They don't
have anything to offer. They have nothing to give. The
only thing they can go on is you feeling a little pity because
you got caught. All right, let's look here in
chapter five and verse 31. It tells us here again, the prophets
prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and
my people love to have it so, and what will you do in the end
thereof? My people, Israel, actually,
they love it this way. They're married to this. This
is the kind of conflict that they are used to. There's nothing
with it. We're just gonna deal with the
free will. And God says through his prophet Isaiah, through Jeremiah,
things are gonna be different for you. All right, let's go
into chapter seven, verse 23. This bow, this battle bow, the
Lord is the one that runs it, but he's the one that calls his
people to the ministry and to preach like he did with Jeremiah. Chapter seven, verse 23. But this thing commanded I them,
saying, Obey my voice, and I'll be your God, and ye shall be
my people, and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded
you, that it may be well upon you. But they hearkened not,
nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination
of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward." What
a description. that God gave to us in this book
of Jeremiah and this is what he's opposed. He's opposed this. This is what he's opposed to.
Now there's an impossible thing for Jeremiah to ever convince
any of those people of anything. So we really need someone that
is great to save. All right, now let's look in
chapter 37 of the book of Jeremiah. Chapter 37 of the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is spoken to again,
and listen to this. Chapter 37 of the book of Jeremiah,
verse 6. The scripture says, then came
the word of the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, what? The Lord spoke to Jeremiah? The
word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Now that's all the difference
in the world. Jeremiah chapter 37 verse 6, thus saith the Lord,
the God of Israel, thus shall you say unto the King of Judah
that sent you unto me to inquire me, thus saith the Lord to Jeremiah. All right, let's go to chapter
46. Chapter 46 and verse 1. This is the all-importance of
having that, his battle bow, the real battle bow out in the
battle when he says, I will send laborers into the harvest. And
when I send laborers into the harvest, it's going to be an
effectual work. It will be accomplished. Jeremiah
chapter 46 and verse 1, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah,
the prophet against the Gentiles. You know, it's hard. It was hard
for Jeremiah. He was going to be punished.
He's going to be thrown in prison. A lot of calamities happened
to him because he was faithful in preaching the word of God.
Jeremiah was called by the Lord to do it and in chapter 46 in
verse 13 It says the word of the the word that the Lord spake
to Jeremiah the prophet now Nebuchadnezzar king of battle Babylon should
come and smite the land of Egypt and then he's going to come to
Jerusalem The word came to Jeremiah in chapter 47 in verse 1 the
word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against
the Philistines and before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. And then
finally, in chapter 50, what do we see here? Different between
these, Jeremiah, and the rest of those prophets of Israel.
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. The word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah. Now, you know, you hear all kinds
of things, but one of the things that I'm beginning to hear is
that the Lord spoke to me. The Lord spoke to me. And you
ask him, where did you get that? Well, he spoke to me, it was
a voice I heard. It better be from here. That's how the Lord speaks to
us, out of his word. And he doesn't speak to us contrary
to his word. Well, here in the book of Jeremiah
chapter 50 and verse one, the word that the Lord spake against
Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah
the prophet. So the word of the Lord, the
word of the Lord. Now, Sunday, we're going to be over there
in the book of Numbers. And it was interesting, I have that
Bible that has all the words of the Lord in red, even in the
Old Testament. It's fascinating to go through there. Now, by
reading it, you can tell, but to have it plainly put into black
and red is very interesting. There's about eight verses, right
off in the book of Numbers, chapter eight, that are the words of
the Lord. And the book of Leviticus is almost all read. The Word of the Lord. The Word
of the Lord. How powerful is that? The Word
of the Lord is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. We
don't comprehend the power of the Word of God. It was the Word
of God that created the heavens and the earth. And it was the
Word of God that put light to dispel the darkness. And that's
just types and shadows and pictures of our Savior dealing with us
in our salvation. And then, in just a few moments
that we have left, there is one other phrase found over there
in the book of Zechariah chapter 10, verse 4, and it's called
the oppressor. Now there's one passage of scripture
in the Old Testament that that word is translated in a positive
sense. All the rest of them are translated
in a negative sense. Zechariah chapter 10 and verse
4. We have that last phrase of that
verse of scripture and it says, out of him every oppressor together. So there's a lot of discussion
about how that should be translated, and most of them translate it
like this, an oppressor. Now, the Lord not only used Jeremiah,
but he also used oppressors. He used Nebuchadnezzar. He used
Pharaoh. He used Satan with Job. He used a lot of oppressors in
the Old Testament. And the point that I find in
this is that everything, everything, every taskmaster, everything,
are all agents of the Lord. They're his servants. They are
his servants. They were created to be his servants. Nothing can be a master of the
Lord. Everything will be his servant.
And these oppressors that were used, the same word is translated
over in the book of Genesis, Exodus, There is translated taskmasters. The taskmasters were over the
Israelites to make brick. They were not pleasant folk.
And yet even those were servants of the Most High God. They were
there. Those people were there by design.
They were there on purpose. It was no mistake that they were
there where they were. It was no mistake that Moses
was in the backside of the desert. It's no mistake that all of those
things happened. They happened according to God's
eternal purpose. And they were used of God for
his glory, his honor, and his praise. All agents must have
their commission from the Lord of hosts. Every one of them. We read last week, and we've
read it a number of times, Daniel chapter four, verses 34 and 35
there, the words of Nebuchadnezzar after he'd come out of that stupor.
Those are good words about our God. And he said he rules in
the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth
for his glory. They are his taskmasters for
his glory. Now, sometimes we can't see it,
but that's not our business. He sees it and he will work it
out for his glory and for our good. And also in the book of
Romans chapter nine, would you turn there with me? This has
to do with a number of things. Pharaoh is right in the middle
of this. You know, to a lot of people in the days of Pharaoh,
when the children of Israel were down there, they could not see
one benefit to this man that was ruling over them. There was
nothing good about him. And yet we find here in the ninth
chapter of the Book of Romans, and we're either going to believe
it or we're not going to believe it. The ninth chapter of the
book of Romans. We're either gonna believe that
it was there on purpose or it's not there. And if we believe
it's not there, then we just don't have, we have a real problem.
It's bigger than we thought. Romans chapter nine, beginning
with verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? When God talks about election,
the apostle Paul was used to head off the first thing that's
gonna come up by natural man. That's not right. Well, he said,
is there unrighteousness with God? And Paul was used to answer
by the Holy Spirit. Oh, of course not. God is righteous
in all his acts. God forbid, goes on to say, for
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.
I will have oppressors, but I am their ruler. I'm over Satan. I'm over Judas. I'm over Pilate.
I'm over all these things. 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."
This is God's word. And all of those things are for
his glory and for our good. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, now it's interesting if we go back over there, God
told Pharaoh this face to face through Moses. Moses brought
this to Pharaoh's attention, even for the same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. What did the Lord
say about divisions? There must needs be divisions. That's what he said. Oppressors
come, they are servants of God. He brings them in. He brings
people in that don't know the truth. He brings them in for
our benefit to share with us what we know about God is worth
declaring. Goes on to tell us here, well,
the scripture said in verse 18, therefore have mercy on whom
you'll have mercy and whom he will, he hardness. Thou wilt
say then unto me, why dost ye yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? And most of the people are summed
up in that one verse of Scripture. Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? And then, hath not the potter
power of the clay of the same lump? to make one vessel unto
honor and another to dishonor. What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he hath aforeprepared unto glory? So he is in charge of
the oppressors. He's in charge of those who raise
up and say, why have you made me thus? He is in charge. He
is in charge of the taskmasters. He's in charge of the agents.
He's in charge of the rulers. He's in charge of Pharaoh. He's
in charge of Judas. Judas bowed. Pilate bowed. Rome bowed. Babylon bowed. They all bowed to his all wise
and glorious purposes. Out of him will all oppressors
be put to flight to bow to him. Sin bowed. Why do we have sin? That God would show His grace. Sin
bowed. Death bowed. Hell bowed. What
a glorious statement we have that all of this is founded in
Him. Out of Him came the corner. Out of Him came the nail. Out
of Him came the battle bow. And out of Him came the oppressor.
They all shall bow. And it's not of him that willeth,
it's of him that showeth mercy. That's what we depend on. And
so the glory of God and the preaching of the gospel, as it was to Jeremiah,
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, to the rest Anything
was good enough. Anything was satisfactory. To
Jeremiah, the word of the Lord was the valuable thing that was
given unto him. So, as we come to the conclusion
tonight, we just want to review that verse of scripture over
in the book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 10 and verse
4, it shares with us, out of him, came forth the corner. He's the head of the corner.
Out of him, the nail. He is our nail of security in
a safe place, in a holy place. Out of him came the battle bow.
He's going to win the victory. It's his battle. It's not battle
of flesh and blood, but it's a spiritual battle. And out of
him, every oppressor together came. They followed Paul around. The oppressors followed Paul
around. Why? to show the glory of the gospel,
to show how different it was. This man said, by grace and grace
alone, and they said, no, by works. How glorious is this gospel
that is given to his people, that they depend on no kind of
work whatsoever. Well, we'll stop there for tonight
and look forward to next week.