Welcome you to the services tonight.
It's good to see each one and we're going to be in the book
of Zechariah again chapter 9 and I would like to read verses 9
through the end of the chapter There is such It's a completeness
That's one of the things that I want to look at here is a completeness
and it starts with that wonderful verse of scripture that shares
with us the qualities of our King the Lord Jesus and Rejoice
greatly and the church has the church will continue to rejoice
greatly in this one Rejoice greatly. Oh daughter of Zion shout. Oh
daughter of Jerusalem Behold thy king cometh unto thee now
notice his qualifications. He is just he is righteous and
Having salvation. He didn't make us savable, but
he has salvation in his hands lowly and riding upon an ass
upon the colt the full of an ass and this is brought out in
the gospels the fulfillment of it verse 10 and i'll cut off
the chariot from ephraim and the horse from jerusalem and
the battle bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto
the heathen and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea
and from river even to the ends of the earth Now in this passage
of scripture we find that the Lord uses such beautiful figurative
language. There are a number of translations
that put this in its original context and that is in verse
or poetry. Much of the book of Zechariah
was written in poetry and so we're not going to be looking
at it from a literal standpoint, we're looking at it from a spiritual
standpoint and that's Even there in verse 9 we have that, that
there's a spiritual context to this and it causes us to rejoice.
Also, it says in verse 11, as for thee also, by the blood of
thy covenant I have set forth thy prisoners out of the pit
wherein is no water. What a beautiful picture of the
deliverance we have, and it gives us the reason for our deliverance,
and that's the blood of the covenant. We only have that as the reason
for being delivered from the pit. And we notice that the quality
of that pit is not good. There is no water. They hewed
out cisterns that could hold no water. That's one of them,
but they wouldn't take the water that I gave them. That's the
other thing. So you will not have me rule over you. turn you
to the stronghold ye prisoners of hope even today do i declare
that i will render double unto thee when i have bent judah for
me filled the bow with ephraim and raised up thy sons oh zion
against thy sons oh greece and make thee as the sword of a mighty
man the lord shall be seen over them and his arrow shall go forth
as the lightning and the lord shall blow the trumpet and shall
go with the whirlwinds of the south. The Lord of Hosts, and
we mentioned this when we started the book of Zechariah, how many
times in this book alone that name of God is used, Lord of
Hosts, the Almighty One, the Sovereign One. The Lord of Hosts
shall defend them. Now I like that because he has
not only the will to do it, but he has the ability to defend
the church. And they shall devour and subdue with sling stones,
and shall drink and make a noise as through wine, and they shall
be filled like bowls as the corners of the altar. And the Lord their
God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people, for
they shall be as the stones of a crown lifted up as an ensign
upon his land. For how great is his goodness,
and how great is his beauty. Corn shall be made, the young
man cheerful, and new wine the maids. As we look at this, we
noticed last week in that verse 11, that there is a covenant
of blood. And there's one verse of scripture
that I'd like to add to that. And that is found over in the
book of Hebrews chapter 13. So would you join me in Hebrews
chapter 13, as we read about the blood of the everlasting
covenant. There is a covenant. God made a covenant. It's an
agreement. Now we find the faultiness of
the old covenant. We find the faultiness of the
covenant with Israel. Men could not keep it. Now God
did everything He said He would do, but we find that men could
not keep the covenant. They could not keep the law.
God demonstrated that to Israel. He favored them in every way,
but they could not keep the law. In fact, no one can. No one can
keep the law. We may fool ourselves about keeping
this part or that part, but we find out, as brought out tonight
in that Bible study that we were involved in, that there is a
verse in there, thou shalt not covet, and that's something that
happens in here, in the heart. That, God gets real serious with
that. We cannot keep it. We've all
said, I want that, I want that. Anyway, look over here in the
book of Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20. As God's Holy Spirit
had this written down for our benefit, for our pleasure in
reading Hebrews chapter 13 and there in verse 20, The scriptures
share, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Now that's the blood. It isn't
the blood that we're reading about over in the book of Numbers.
It isn't the blood we read about in the book of Leviticus. It
isn't the blood of sheep and cattle and goats. It's the blood
of Christ, the blood of the everlasting covenant. So this is so valuable
to us. The blood of Christ is our only
hope. His shed blood is our only stand. And we find that that is the
reason that the church trusts Christ's blood and righteousness
and Christ's blood and righteousness alone for all their salvation. Now going back over here to the
book of Zechariah, we're going to be back here two or three
times tonight as we look at these verses of scripture. It tells
us there in verse 12, turn you to the stronghold. Now there's
only one true stronghold. That word stronghold has to do
with a fortress. There's only one real fortress
that we have. Only one place that we can be in a place of
safety. And he covers us completely with
his righteousness. He covers us with his protection.
I don't have to worry about eternal security. God has already taken
care of that. He's the one that is concerned
about it. Now I love eternal security, don't get me wrong,
I appreciate eternal security, I bow to eternal security, but
there's only one that can keep me secure, and that is the one
who has promised to do that, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here
it says, turn ye to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. Even today
do I declare that I will render double unto thee. Now, that just
reminds me of a passage of scripture over there in the book of Isaiah.
It says that we're to speak comfortably. I'm to speak comfortably. You,
as you share the gospel with people, speak comfortably. Your
warfare is over. Jerusalem, Israel, your warfare
is over. For the Lord hath paid double
for all your iniquities." Now, the Lord didn't have to pay twice
as much for our sins as required. He's just giving us a figure
of speech. If you think that one isn't covered, then it is.
Don't worry about it. It is covered. The blood of Jesus
Christ covered all our sin. Now it doesn't matter what religion
has to say about it. When we trust Christ for all
our salvation, we are covered by the blood of Christ. We are
imputed his righteousness. And so we are just whole in him. Trust him. It also tells us in
the book of Lamentations, and I like this passage of scripture
in the book of Lamentations, because the book of Lamentations
has a lot to say about lamenting. Book of Lamentations. The book
of, right after Jeremiah, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, we
find there in chapter 3, verse 21 and verse 22. Chapter 3, verse
21 and 22. The scriptures give us this insight. He said, It is the Lord's mercy, verse
21, this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is
of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his
confessions fail not. They are new every morning, great
is thy faithfulness. So we have this promise that
the Lord made here in the book of Zechariah, but it's throughout
the scriptures, it's throughout Genesis to Revelation that God
is going to take care of those that are turned into the stronghold
you know we think we're turning but we in fact find out that
he turned us therefore we are turning turn me and i shall be
turned and then it tells us there that we were actually prisoners
you know right now we're prisoners of hope that's what it says we're
prisoners of hope we have hope and that's our prison it's a
wonderful prison to be in to have a prison be a prisoner of
hope to hope in christ to have christ as our hope that is a
wonderful place to be in And then I'll declare, I'll render
double for you. I'll render it, I'll pay it.
So he is going to be the actual redeemer of his people. That's
what to render means, is to pay the price, is to pay the sin
debt that we owe. That's what redeemer. And he
is a redeemer that actually redeems his people from their sins. He
actually pays the price. He doesn't hold it up and say,
if you want it, you can have it. You know, a gift is not something
that we take. A gift is something that is given.
That's what grace is. It's given. God gives his gift
of grace. Now, it doesn't matter whether
we take it or not. If he gives it, we will take
it. It is ours to have. All right, there in that book
of Zechariah again, it tells us here in this next verse of
scripture that I'm going to go to at least is verse 15. Now,
I'm going to wait and hold back on verses 13 and 14 for just
a minute. Because I want to go to verse
15. Now, there has to be some continuity here. That's why I'm
going over here first, and then we're coming back. In verse 12,
we find that we are... In verse 11, he talks about the
blood of the covenant. In verse 10, it tells us about
how things are going to be cut off on our behalf. In verse 9,
it tells us about a king who has salvation. The king that
is just and has salvation would come down here and find all the
benefits of that king. Or we have some benefits, because
it takes a lot of other scriptures to share with more and more about
what we have in it. And then we have verse 13 and
14. I want to come back to those in just a moment. But look with
me at verse 15. The Lord of hosts shall defend
them. Now, as I read that, I made a comment on how blessed it is
to have someone this great defend the church. the Lord of Hosts,
the King of Kings. The all-sufficient Savior defends
His church, defends us individually and defends us corporately, defends
us as a people, as an individual before Him. I will not lose you.
And I will not lose them. They are defended. I am their
defense. I will defend them. As it tells
us there in that verse of Scripture, the Lord of Hosts shall defend
them. Now this is not just somebody. This is the Lord of Hosts. And
we've referred a number of times to Nebuchadnezzar's comment about
the Lord of Hosts. Now it doesn't use that term,
but it certainly defines that term over there in the book of
Daniel. He rules among the armies of heaven. the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can say his hand or say, what doest thou?
And we have this brought out over in the book of Romans, chapters
9, 10, and 11. We find how he rules. He rules
as one. Does not the potter have power
over the clay? And we have to say yes. The potter
has power. That's the Lord of hosts. Now
this Lord of hosts, after he makes a vessel of honor, he defends
it. What's that mean? He protects
it. He has all the rule over it. He has all the guidance about
it. He's the one that has the defense
of his church and every individual that makes up his church. So
it tells us, the Lord of hosts shall defend them. It's a wonderful
thing to find out how God defends his people. Now, he defends us
with his word, but he defend us from every enemy of the church.
And he took on every enemy of the church at the cross. He took
on our sin at the cross. Now, sin is not just something
that you and I do against each other. It's not something that
we do against our mate or our family. Sin is an offense to
God and against God. As David said, they're against
thee and thee only have I sinned. Now, it doesn't make it that
David is saying, I didn't sin against Bathsheba and I didn't
sin against her husband. I didn't sin against Israel.
He's not saying that at all. But the culmination of it is
I sinned against God. He's the offended party. And
that's what, who we're dealing with is an offended party. Now
there's only one that can settle the issue with that offended
party. There is only one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. There's only one that
can settle the issue. There's only one that God will
allow to settle the issue. When Jesus Christ went to the
cross, he settled the issue. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He settled the issue between
man and God, between the church and God. Now if he intended to
settle the issue for every man, woman, boy, and girl, the issue
would be settled for every man, woman, boy, and girl. But he
chose to settle the issue for his church, and he will defend
the church to the very end. Well, we say, well, look at those
guys that all died for the cause of Christ. Where did they go?
Into His presence, instantly, immediately. And not one of them
would ever want to come back after they saw that. So He is
their defense, our defense, in day to day, year to year, lifetime
to lifetime. Why isn't It possible for someone
that Christ chose before the foundation of the world to die
before their time. He's not going to allow it. That's the thing. He will not
allow it. He has the keys of death and
hell. And he will not allow any of
his children to die before he brings them the gospel and he
gives them the new birth. And then they may die instantly.
He did that with the man on the cross. It wasn't very long after
that, he died. But he would have been hanging
there for a thousand years if God intended for him to be saved
and he was on the cross. But God shows us he intended
to save him. He was not going to die before
he. And we find that that's throughout the scriptures. I'll provide
my defense. I'll put my guard about them
from birth to new birth. Then I have an appointed time
for them, and they'll not cross it, and they'll not die early.
That's it. God is the Lord of hosts, and
he has his defense. His defense is on the purpose
of his people to defend, to cover, to surround, to hedge about.
Now, I like that because when we read the book of Hosea, we
find that Hosea did something for Gomer that Christ does for
the church. He hedges us about. He does that
very thing. Wherever we are, we're hedged
about. Now we're hedged about before
we're saved and we're hedged about after we're saved. He doesn't
quit the job. He is the defense of the church
from cradle to the grave. the only true defense of the
church from the cradle to the grave. Now in verse 16, well,
let's look at a passage of Scripture over here in 2 Kings for just
a minute. 2 Kings chapter 19. 2 Kings chapter 19, verse 32
through 35. 2 Kings chapter 19. This word
defense is used there in a way that, for me at least, It was an interesting way of
sharing this word, and this same word is what God said, what Christ
said about the church, what about his people. In 2 Kings chapter
19 verse 22, therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning the
king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city, nor shoot
an arrow there. nor come before it with shield,
nor cast a bank against it." And that was a bank against the
wall so they could get in. That's what God, the Lord of
Hosts, said about the king of Assyria. Now, when we read about
this king of Assyria, he's a very powerful person, very powerful
king. But this is what it said. By
the way that he came, by the same shall he return. and shall
not come into this city, saith the Lord. Now notice verse 34. Now this is a beautiful picture
about Christ and his church. The king of Assyria is the opposition. Everything that is in opposition
to Christ, everything is opposition to the church. Everything that
the flesh has in opposition to God's people ever here in the
gospel. And he says, verse 34, for I
will defend this city. to save it for my own sake and
for my servant David's sake. Covenant. Covenant relationship. I will save, I will defend the
city to save it. Now what a beautiful picture
we have here of this Savior, the Lord of Hosts, saving his
people. Here's the enemy, but he'll not step into this city. They'll not throw an arrow into
this city. And if we follow this out, we
find that the king of Assyria turned tail and ran after the
Lord had destroyed. In verse 35, it came to pass
that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in
the camp of the Assyrians a hundred, four score, and 5,000. When they
arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. How many arrows went out of the
city? Not one. How many of the city dwellers
went out to fight? Not one. And so this is truly
a good defense. The Lord defends His people. They shall not succumb. Though
they fall, though we fall, we shall not be utterly cast down. Why? Because He's our defense.
He's going to capture, catch us in our fall. So what a beautiful
picture here about this word defend. as it's brought out in
2 Kings chapter 19. I will defend the city. And he certainly does that. And
that king of Assyria leaves, and on his way home, he gets
killed by his own two sons. All right, back to Zechariah.
Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 16. The Lord their God shall
save them. I love that. Not only will He
defend them, He shall save them. The Lord their God shall save
them in that day as the flock of His people. Now this is a
wonderful statement that's made with regard to this salvation. He shall save them in that day. Now over in the book of Exodus
chapter 14, keep your finger right here and turn with me to
the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 14 and verse 30. Exodus chapter 14 and verse 30. The Scriptures share this. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that
day out of the hand of the Egyptians. Now remember all that went on
down there in Egypt, all that stuff that went on, all the demonstration
of the Lord of hosts, all the flies, the frogs, the moraine,
the Nile turned to blood, all of that stuff went on down there
in Egypt. And yet we find here that the
Lord is in charge of it and he saved Israel that day out of
the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the seashore. What does it say there? The Lord
saved Israel. Now left to themselves, they
couldn't defend themselves out of a paper bag. But the Lord
of hosts is on their side. Now that's the same with us.
Do we have any power over sin? No. Do we have any power over
the devil? Sorry, we don't. We don't have
any power at all. Our only power is the Lord of
hosts. He is our defense, and He is our Savior. He's the one
that defends us, and He's the one that saves us. In another
passage of Scripture, as you travel back towards the book
of Zechariah, stop in the book of the Psalms. The book of the
Psalms. Psalms 28. Psalms 28. In Psalm
28, verse 9. We have these words. Psalm 28,
verse 9. Save thy people and bless their
inheritance. Feed them also and lift them
up forever. how God, verse eight, the Lord
is their strength and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
Save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Once again, salvation
is up to the Lord. And when he saves, he actually
saves. He actually delivers. He actually
presents spoils. He actually does what he said
he would do. And that's a wonderful thing because we can't. We can't
save a fly, not alone ourselves. So, and we can't save anyone
else. But He does, He does the saving.
And then stop, if you would, in Isaiah 45. Now this has something
to do with that passage of Scripture over there in the book of Revelation
about every tribe, kindred, and people. Here in the book of Isaiah,
chapter 45, and there in verse 22, Isaiah 45, verse 22, we have
this wonderful verse of Scripture. You know, I listen to my messages
sometimes, and I keep using that word wonderful, but I guess I
just get the right to. It's a wonderful verse of Scripture.
It's really good. And they all are. But some stand
out. They just stand out. Particularly
when we're on a certain study, they stand out. They're like
a lighthouse in a dark night. They stand out. And here in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 45 and verse 22 says, look unto me, and be ye saved, same word, all
the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. All
the ends of the earth. Now how far does this salvation
go to? To every kindred, nation, people,
and tongue that he has people. Now today I was talking to a
gentleman, a dear brother, and we were talking about places
where the gospel has not been, And what about those folks that
are there? And we have to come to this conclusion. The gospel never went there for
one reason. There was none of God's elect
there. Why was Paul turned from going
east and north and called to go west? to Europe. Why? Because there was elect
there. That's the only reason. Now I had a conversation with
a young man this morning that he came to the conclusion that
there has to be a third place for people that have never heard
the gospel. And I said, you don't want to go there. You don't want to go there. And
he said that people are better off if they never hear the gospel.
And I said, you don't want to go there. And he says, where do they go?
And I says, to the left-hand side. Why? Because they're sinners. I'm not the judge. God is. He's
the judge of His people. And He's the judge of the world.
But He has said that those who never hear, they're sinners,
they will be on the left-hand side. Now, I've had people tell
me there's degrees in hell. I don't want to go there. I'm
just not going to get into that. You may find a verse of Scripture
with degrees in hell, but it doesn't make any difference.
It's still hell. It's still a place absent from God. So, there's
two places. Alright. Look unto me, be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none
else. This is the only way that anybody is going to be saved
in any place in the world. Looking to Christ. And then we
find out He turned our chin to look at Him. And thank God sometimes
He nearly breaks our neck to do it. Because then we come around
and say, oh thank you Lord, because without that, without that. I told you I was going to skip
verses, a couple of verses there. You cannot believe what commentators
said about those two verses and how they apply to end times prophecy. Now I have to differ with that
because if that was to happen, we're going to have to have the
whole section of scripture talking about that, and it's not talking
about that. Now I may not understand all
the figurative language there, but I am going to have to concede
the fact that this is talking about some blessing that God
has for his people. And it is not talking about in
the future, it's talking about right now, because in verse nine
it's right now. The king is right now. And we
find out that as we go there to the book of Zechariah again,
and what he does to save his people is right now. And in verse
11, the covenant of blood is right now. And in verse 15, he
shall defend them right now. And in verse 16, he shall save
them right now. So what we read here is a continuation
of some figurative language, some wonderful statements about
what God does to save or protect his people. Now notice with me,
then I have bent Judah, for me, filled the bowl with Ephraim,
and raised up the sons of Zion against thy sons, O Greece, and
made thee as a sword of a mighty man." Now you can just imagine
what some of the commentators did with that word, Greece, in
there, because I am just going to have to admit, it is only
in the context, and we're going to leave it there, it is in the
context of how the king saves his people. Now in the next verse
of scripture, it says there, And the Lord shall be seen over
them and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning and the Lord
God shall blow the trumpet and shall go with the whirlwinds
to the south. Now there is some passages of
scripture that deal with this trumpet in the scripture. And
this trumpet is a Zophar or is a ram's horn. Now a dear pastor
friend of mine and I were talking two or three years ago And he
said, we need to remember, Norm, that this trumpet is not man-made. It's not made out of silver.
It is not man's contrivance, and it's not man-made. And we
find out that this trumpet is speaking clearly about the gospel. This is the gospel trumpet. It's
not man-made, and it goes out clear. Now, it's not understood. As we think about that mention
I just made about those who never heard, what everyone on the left
hand side has never heard. They have never heard the gospel.
They may have had it in their presence, but they never heard
it. It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, but not for them. All right, now let's look at
this trumpet for just a moment as it rings out through the scriptures
and then we get to verse 16 where it talks about, in verse 15 he's
going to defend Verse 16, he's going to save. But here in this
verse of scripture, we have that wonderful trumpet. Turn with
me, if you would, back to the book of Exodus chapter 19. Exodus
chapter 19 again. In Exodus chapter 19, this trumpet
is brought up. And it's brought out in the New
Testament too, this trumpet. Paul brings it out and says,
if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, How are people going to know
what to do? Now, there's a lot of uncertain sound going on,
but the trumpet of the Lord always has the same note. Christ and
Him crucified. Christ and Him crucified. Christ
and Him crucified. Now, to the world, that gets
boring. But to the church, that is our
salve, our ointment, our bauma gilead. Every day it is a rejoicement
to find out that Christ and Him crucified is mine. Alright, here
in the book of Exodus chapter 19 verse 16. Exodus chapter 19 and verse 16.
It says, and it shall come to pass
on the third day of the morning that there were thunders and
lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount." Now, this is
standing before Mount Sinai. We know the account. When Moses
came down from that mount, they said, cover your face, would
you? Cover up. Well, Paul brings that up and
says, and that veil is still on them until Christ be preached. And then it's removed. Alright. Thick cloud upon the mount. and
the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud." Now, what is that? That's
the voice of God. It's a clear sound. It's the
sound of a trumpet. Well, it will interrupt our train
of thought. It brings us to a dead stop,
if you please, to hear that trumpet. It's a trumpet that we kick to
the church. Now, to some people, it's just
thunder. But to some people, it is a clear sound. So clear,
in fact, that it stopped me in my tracks. It caused me to cease. And here on this mount is the
trumpet sound. Now this is brought out several
places in the Old Testament, but would you turn with me again
to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 6. In Joshua chapter
6, verses 4 through 20, this word trumpet is used 14 times.
It has great significance as this trumpet speaks about the
gospel and speaks about the power of God. It is the voice of God
that stops us in our tracks. It's that trumpet. John brings
this out in the book of Revelation. He was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day and he heard a voice as a trumpet behind him. Who was that? That's
Christ. It was unmistakable. It was clear. It was to the point. It was the
gospel. And there was no uncertain sound
about this trumpet. He knew exactly what it was when
it was revealed to him. And that's the gospel. We may
go for years and years and years hearing an uncertain sound, but
one day, when we hear that certain sound, that clear sound of that
trumpet, the voice of God to the preached word, it stops us
in our tracks. No more will it cause us to go
to the right hand or to the left hand. I've got to read Joshua
chapter 6 here, chapter 6 verse 4. Chapter 6 beginning with verse
4, the scriptures share this. It says here, chapter 6 and verse
4, And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets
of ram's horns. The seventh day shall ye come
past the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
How clear is that? Now, you know what's on the inside
of that city? Rahab tells us a lot about it. Rahab said, we have heard of
you since you crossed the Red Sea 40 years ago. the message
was brought to them. And now the trumpet comes. Now
we read through here, there's 14 times in this little short
passage of scripture that this word trumpet is used. And that's
the same trumpet that we find over in Zechariah chapter 9 verse
15. That trumpet. So in between those
two verses cannot be anything else but some blessing that God
has for his people. He's going to use these things
to save his people. Bring them acquainted to the
gospel. He's going to reveal to them Christ. They're going
to be a powerful demonstration of his almighty power, the Lord
of hosts. Well, you can read through the
rest of this, but I want to skip over to the New Testament, to
the book of Revelation for just a moment. Revelation chapter one and verse
10. We alluded to this verse, but
we want to read it as John hears the voice of a trumpet. Now every
believer has heard this. That's what Saul of Tarsus heard
on the road to Damascus. He heard the voice of a trump.
He was very religious. He'd had a lot of uncertain sounds
in his, you've got to believe this. Every teacher he had come
along had some new version on what had to be believed. And
that's just the way it is in religion. I'll never forget the
words of Ernie when he said, Norm, this is the first church
I've ever attended that I wasn't asked to be baptized on the second
Sunday. That's an uncertain sound. Uncertain sound. Flip-flop, flip-flop. Well, here, listen to this. The
book of Revelation chapter 1 and verse 10. John has been exiled
to Patmos for the faith. But you know what? While he's
there, he's given the book of Revelation. He's getting to see
Christ like he never saw Him in his ministry. Now, He was
the beloved disciple. He was permitted to lay His head
on the chest of the Savior. He was so close to Him. And yet,
when He got this book, He had never been this close. Revelation
chapter 1, and it tells us there in verse 10, And I was in the
Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet." Now notice what this, this is, this is no
uncertain sound. I am alpha and omega, the first
and the last. And then he gives these instructions.
How certain? John knew exactly who was speaking,
and John knew exactly what instructions he was given. This was a clear
sound. Over in Sinai, it's a clear sound
that they heard from that mound. The sound of a trumpet. It was
a clear sound on the outside of Jericho, and it was a clear
sound on the inside of Jericho, but they never had any response
to it. When God called on those Israelites
to march around the city, guess what they did? They marched around
the city. They heard the trumpet. Did that for six days, and on
the seventh day, seven times around that city, and the trumpets
blew, and the walls came down. I'm thankful that God's trumpet,
the Word of God, treats us, His people, like the walls of Jericho,
and by His Word, all our defenses fall. And we bow and say, thank
you, Lord. You are the Lord of hosts that
sent the trumpet. So, you're my king, you're just,
you have salvation, you defend me, you save me. Okay, there's
two verses there I don't completely understand, but I'll take those
two. I'll take them. And maybe someday the Lord will
give me some understanding, or you some understanding about
those. But until then, they're not talking about end times,
They're not talking about some mystery, they're talking about
the same thing because they're couched in between a section
of scripture that's declaring the King in His glory and a section
of scripture that's declaring the King in His glory and the
church will say,