Book of Zechariah chapter 8 and
we're going to just refresh a little bit about verses 2, 3, 4, and
5 and then we're going to spend some time on 6, 7, and 8 of this
glorious chapter, this gospel according to Zechariah. There
is no two gospels. There is no gospel of the Old
Testament and then a gospel of the New Testament. I heard that
in a message that a dear friend of mine preached in 2006. Brother
Rupert Rivenbart preached a message and he brought that out and it
was so interesting to have it just synthesized in such compact
form that the gospel is not dual. It is a single gospel preached
in all generations. among all people that God has
ever intended to hear the Gospel. There's not an Old Testament
Gospel and then a New Testament Gospel, and they all, every section
of Scripture, agree with this, that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the Savior of His people. They shall call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sin. Well, in this
first, beginning with verse 2 of this 7th or 8th chapter, I was jealous for Zion. with great jealousy, and I was
jealous for her with great fury." The Lord is jealous for His people.
There is a sincere jealousy that God has for His people, and He
is interested in them intersecting with the gospel, and He has purposed
that they will intersect with God and the gospel, and He has
so purposed that when they intersect with the gospel, that he will
bring them the new birth. and then they will confess Christ
as their only Savior. So this Lord of Hosts, and this
is the captain of our salvation, this Lord of Hosts is the ruler
of all things, the ruler of the world, the creator of heavens
and earth, and He is jealous over His people, and He's jealous
over His purpose for His people, and it is not a human jealousy,
it's not a sinful jealousy, it's a concern that God has that He
will make sure that all of His lost ones will be saved. Now in verse 3 of that chapter
8, thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion. What a statement
the Lord makes here with regards to Zion that he is returned to
Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Now last week we
looked at a verse of scripture over in the book of Matthew,
but I'd like to read it again It's found in the book of Matthew
chapter 18 and verse 20. You've no doubt heard this many
times, but it's such a comfort to the church. It's such a comfort
to God's people. In Matthew chapter 18 and there
in verse 20, it tells us this, shares with us, the Lord Jesus
said this, where two or three are gathered together in my name. Now this is more than just in
the name of J-E-S-U-S. It's more than just being gathered
together in the name of some entity. This is far greater than
that. Two or three are gathered together
in my name. There am I in the midst of them.
Now, this is a dear name. This is a great name. This is
a gracious name. This is the name of Jesus. And
we find over in the book of Philippians, along with this, that this name
carries great weight. So, would you join me in the
book of Philippians, chapter 2, for just two verses of reading. Philippians, chapter 2, and here
we have this great name, the name of the Lord, and all that
he represents. He is not just a piddly peanut
God. He is God Almighty. and when people gather together
in the name of jesus and don't worship him as the lord when
they gather together in the name of jesus and don't honor him
for his work and ministry and his work of the cross and that
he went to the cross on purpose and he went to the cross up to
save his people from their sins and they just worship him that
he died to make people say well that is not worshiping the Lord
Jesus and that does not call on him to come down and be in
the midst of those folks for it tells us here that at the
name of Jesus, Philippians chapter 2 and verse 10, that at the name
of Jesus, this Jesus, every knee will bow, every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth.
This is truly a statement about the Lord of hosts, that he rules
things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth. And
then it goes on to tell us in verse 11 of this chapter, that
this, meaning in this name, meeting in the name of the Lord Jesus,
this Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus of some figment of
some imagination, but this Jesus, the Lord of God, the Lord of
glory, the Lord himself, that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. Now that's where he meets with
folks. He's not going to just meet because
his name is brought up. But he is going to meet with
his folks where two or three are gathered together in this
name. And this name represents the
Lord of glory and that every tongue shall confess and every
knee shall bow that he will be given such honor and such praise. And it goes on to tell us here
to the glory of God the father. So this is the one that is going
to come and dwell. And this is the one that Jesus
mentions there in the book of Matthew, that where two or three
are gathered together in my name, in all that I represent, in all
that I do, in all that I say, in all my great salvation. depending
upon nothing else whatsoever for any interest in their salvation,
this is where he will meet. And he is honored to meet there
because he has brought changed hearts. He has brought a changed
life. He has brought the gospel. He
has given the new birth. And what an honor it is that
God would come condescend to be among people. Now when we
read about the incarnation of the Lord Jesus we find what a
condescension that God would give up the glory that he had
in eternity and come to the sin-cursed earth but to come and dwell among
people as it tells us over here in the book of Zechariah Zechariah
chapter 8, he said in verse 3, Thus saith the LORD, I am returned
unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem
shall be called a city of truth. and the mountain of the LORD
of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus saith the LORD of hosts,
There shall be old men and old women dwelling in the streets
of Jerusalem." What's he speaking about there? That when we get
old we're going to go to Jerusalem? No, he's talking about the peace
that God's people have in His presence, that we're not afraid
to be in the presence of God. We're not afraid to be in the
city of God. We're not afraid to be the city
of God, to be the Jerusalem, spiritual Jerusalem. We're welcomed
into His presence, but we come with a willing heart because
He has given us. Give me that will. It's not my
will, but thine be none. Give me the will of God. The
day ye turn me I shall be willing, and I will be turned at the same
time. There are old men and old women dwelling in the streets
of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand, for every
age. And the streets of the city shall
be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. What
a statement it is! How safe it is! in this Jerusalem. We're not of the Mount Sinai,
but we're of Mount Zion, where Jerusalem is. We're of the holy
city. We're of the city of God. We're
planted in that city, and we're caused to be sit down at peace
with God Almighty. What a glorious statement that
this is, and it is all contained in the everlasting covenant.
And then it goes on and tells us here, and we'd like to read
verse six now, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts. I think last week
I mentioned 18 times, I believe it is in this chapter alone,
that that term, that name of God is used here and God intends
for us to see this great God in that name. That He is a great
Savior saving great sinners and He has a great purpose in doing
so and the blood of Christ will not be wasted. The blood of Christ
is effectual and efficient and will carry out His eternal purpose
and save everyone he's intended to save from their sins. It says
here, the Lord of Hosts, if it be marvelous in the eyes of the
remnant of this people, in this day shall it also be marvelous
in my eyes, saith the Lord of Hosts. Thus saith the Lord of
Hosts, behold, I will save my people from the east country
and from the west country and I will bring them and they shall
dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and they shall be my people and
I'll be their God in truth and in righteousness. Now when we
look at this we find that this passage of scripture shares a
lot about what we find in the Bible about the eternal covenant
or the covenant of grace. Now part of the covenant of grace
a substantial amount of the covenant of grace on the benefit of God's
people is that the promise in this covenant of grace or in
this everlasting covenant is that the broken relationship
that is between man and God, this broken relationship shall
be restored. Do you hear God say in this passage
of scripture, I will be their God, they shall be my people? What a statement that God would
share with his people, I will be their God, they shall be my
people. This is restoration in its greatest
form that all of the effects of the fall will be restored
because of the blood of Christ, because of the putting away of
sin. Throughout scripture, the Lord tells his people, I will
be your God. Now, by nature, we have other
gods. There in the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, it talks about having
the idols, worshiping idols in the worst worst idol that human
beings have is themselves. We worship ourselves. We worship
what we can accomplish. We worship what we do. And we're
telling God by nature, by our very nature, we're telling God
we're doing a good job. but we find out when God saves
us that what we were doing was just a horrible thing of dishonor
to the blood of Christ and to the salvation that God has in
Christ. So when he saves us and brings
us to the city of God to that Jerusalem which is above where
peace is where we can be at peace with God when he brings us to
that place he said I will be your God. Now, this is brought
out through the Old Testament, brought out through the New Testament.
Why? Because there's not two Gospels. There is one Gospel, and that's
the Gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus.
And everybody that's ever been saved will be saved just by the
grace of God. And we won't depend on another
thing. so if you would join me back
in the book of exodus the book of exodus for just a couple of
verses of scripture here in exodus chapter six god brings out here
in speaking to these folks the spiritual words to the church
now there were a whole bunch of jews that heard this But please
remember that not all Israel is of Israel. When these folks
that heard this, and it meant something to them, it meant that
God had made himself their God. Now there's a whole bunch of
Jews that didn't see that. In fact, they were like those
folks that the Lord spoke about with regard to that vineyard. And I'm going to send the king
over here And the people said, we will not have this man rule
over us. Now that's just exercise in the
hearts and minds of so many of those in the Old Testament that
went under the name of God's people or Jews. But there were
some, there were some, that heard the message. God revealed the
message. And here in the book of Exodus, chapter 6, and there
in verse 7, we read these beautiful words about the Lord, what He
had to say. Now, we're just jumping into
a chapter, I realize that, and it would be so much better if
we read the entire chapter. Probably would be better if we
read the entire book. But folks, you're going to have to do it
on your own. I'm just going to read a couple of verses. And
it says here, and I will take you to me for a people and I
will be to you a God and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Now
what a glorious statement that God would make to a people. I
will be to you a God and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Now
who knows that? Only the church knows that. Only
the church knows that He is the Lord. Only the church knows that
he is the capital L-O-R-D. The first words that we have
recorded that Saul of Tarsus said to the Lord on the road
to Damascus was that very word, Lord. He revealed to this man
who was a curse to the church, but a chosen vessel of the Lord,
he gave him the understanding to call him Lord, to know him
as Lord. Now here it says, to ye shall
know that I am the Lord. This is the everlasting covenant.
In its effect, I will recover you. I will bring that relationship that's
been broken. I will restore this relationship.
And then he goes on to say here, the Lord your God, which bringeth
you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Now, when the
church hears that, we say, He brought me out from under sin. He brought me out from under
the curse of sin. He brought me out from the curse
of the law. He brought me out from all of
that curse. And then it goes on here in verse
8, And I will bring you into the land concerning which I swear. Now, notice this. He just doesn't
mention one, but he brings up these three. He says, give you
to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob now what does he do when he brings
that up he's sharing with us that there is covenant mercy
being talked about the everlasting covenant the covenant shared
with Abraham the covenant shared shared here with Isaac the covenant
shared with Jacob by faith by faith and by faith God gave to
them in regeneration. And now this covenant relationship,
I will be your God and ye shall be my people and you shall know
that I am the Lord. There's no greater blessing God
gives to us than to know Him as Lord. We couldn't even conceive
of that by nature. We are so dead in trespasses
and sin, we can't conceive that by nature. But by the grace of
God, we can know Him as Lord. And that's when He reveals Himself
to us. And I will give it to you for a heritage, and I am
the Lord. Now, to most people, they just look at that and say,
well, he's talking about the promised land and nothing else. But to
the church, he's always been talking about covenant mercies.
He's always been talking about restoration. He's always been
talking about, I will take care of the problem. So, this covenant
of grace shares with us, as God brought up to there through the
prophet Zechariah, the gospel, that I will be your God. Now, turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 31 once again
we enter into this glorious reality of the everlasting covenant.
This is a covenant that God made. Now the covenant he made with
Adam, Adam broke it. Adam sinned, Adam disobeyed God,
Adam fell and he took the entire human race with him. The Lord
looked down from heaven to see if there were any that did seek
after Him, and He found none. That's the problem. And in order
for us to ever call Him Lord, in order for us to ever recognize
Him as God, He must raise us from the spiritual dead. He must
call us much like he did for Lazarus. Notice here in this
everlasting covenant in verse 33 of Jeremiah chapter 31. But
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord. Now he made a covenant
with the house of Israel. We can go over there to the book
of Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy and we can read
about this covenant that he made with the house of Israel. Now
when God made a covenant with Israel, he was able to keep his
word. He has always kept his word.
He will never dishonor his word. He keeps his side of the covenant. Always has, always will. Now
the weak side of it is man. Those Jews could not keep this
covenant. God made a covenant with them,
an agreement. They agreed to keep it and they couldn't. He
is demonstrating to a people that he paid the most attention
to of all peoples in creation down to this time the most he
attention he paid was to this nation of Israel and even in
that all the attention he paid them and gave them and blessings
he bestowed upon them did not change their heart and they could
not keep this covenant he made a covenant with them but they
could not keep it now he's talking about a different covenant here
that he makes on the behalf of Israel, this covenant is made
between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and this
covenant is unbreakable and shall be kept. Says here, but this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in their inward
parts. Now, what's he do? How does he
do that? He regenerates his people. He
gives them the new birth. He causes them to richly enjoy
the sweet blessings of grace. He puts it there in such a capacity. And in fact, we find that the
Lord Jesus Christ by his blood paid all the sin debt that the
law had against us that God had against us and he paid it and
completely took care of it and put it behind him so I will put
my law in their inward parts and right in their hearts, and
will be their God, and they shall be my people." And the church
today says, hallelujah, because without this activity by Almighty
God, we would not have anything. We'd still be dead in our sins.
But now, by the grace of God, He acquaints us with God, and
He instills in our heart and in our mind, I shall be your
God, and ye shall be my people. And you shall know the Lord. Well, by nature, we had none
of that. And by grace, we have all of
it. Now, we don't understand how
much we have. We don't comprehend how much
we have. There's so much here that we
just cannot comprehend. But the church, by faith, takes
it all and said, it is all mine. I claim it all because of Christ. Well, just a little further in
chapter 32 of that book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 38. Turn there with me if you would.
Just a couple of chapters over there. Again, we have this promise
of restoration. The promise that God will restore
His people to Himself. And that they will love God.
And they will never do what Adam did. Why? Because He will keep
them. the Lord by his sovereign pleasure,
pull back his hand from Adam, left Adam to his own free will. Adam is the only person that
has ever walked this earth that had a free will. And even in
that, we find that God's purpose was that God would save sinners
from their sins. So we know what is going to happen
there. The day you eat, you shall surely
die. That's what God said, the day
you eat. He's not saying, well, keep yourself from doing it,
but it's going to happen. And God's purpose. Now, I don't
pretend to understand God, but I know this. One old preacher
said, oh, glorious fall. Because God's people today, God's
people then, able then, could understand grace and know the
Lord. Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 38,
the scripture says, and they shall be my people, and I will
be their God. There has to be restoration in
order for that to happen. God will not dwell without God
saving a people with and saving them, bringing them out of the
death of sin. They shall be my people. I'll
be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way that
they may fear me forever for the good of them and of their
children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do
them good, but will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall
not depart from me." What a promise! Not only is there restoration,
but there's absolutely no way that God's people can be put
away from Him. I'm so thankful that we read
verses of Scripture like this. that I change not, therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. God will not go back on his word. And when he makes an eternal
covenant with people, when he acquaints people with the everlasting
covenant, with the eternal covenant, with the covenant of grace, and
he promises them, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I
will save you from the depths of despair and from the depths
of sin that you have fallen into. I will raise you from your death
and give you life, spiritual life, and you shall know the
Lord, he promises in eternity past that all those that he applies
this to, they shall not be lost. They shall be forever and eternally
saved because of his grace, not of anything that we should do,
but because of his free and sovereign grace, God's people are promised
eternal life. Now, this is carried over into
the book of Ezekiel. Would you turn there with me
for a moment? Ezekiel chapter 34. in the book of Ezekiel chapter
34 we have these glorious words recorded for the church's blessing
Ezekiel chapter 34 verse 23 Ezekiel chapter 34 verse 23 We have the continuation of this
glorious covenant of grace. More statements made about it.
More statements made to the people in this area. This covenant of
grace made mention to the people in this area. Wherever his elect
are, wherever those lost sheep of the house of Israel are found
this covenant will find them and this covenant because God
is a jealous God and he will not lose any of his people he
is he is better than a hen that protects her chicks he is just
better and here in the book of Ezekiel chapter 34 verse 23 and
I'll set up one shepherd over them and he shall feed them even
my servant David now who's that talking about That's talking
about Christ. My servant David, David's Lord,
David's son, our Savior, the one that came, born of a virgin. He will be the shepherd. There
will be one shepherd, even my servant David. He shall feed
them and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their
God. Now we know that that word Lord
with all capitals is the word Jehovah in the original. So we
have, and I, Jehovah, will be their God. Well, Jehovah is our
Savior. Jehovah is the saving God. The,
and I'll be their God, and my servant David, a prince among
them, and I, the Lord, have spoken it. And whatever the Lord speaks,
He will bring to pass. I, the Lord, have spoken this.
I have made this covenant. I've made this covenant in eternity
past. I've made it on the behalf of
lost ones that cannot save themselves, unable to save themselves. But
when the gospel comes, and I quicken them by the Spirit of God, they
shall know the Lord. They shall bow. Every tongue
shall confess, and every knee shall bow, or vice versa. Every
knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to the glory of
God the Father. Confess the Lord Jesus Christ
and in verse 25 and I will make with them a covenant of peace
That's how he can sit in visit. That's how he can dwell among
his people. I'll make a covenant of of peace
and will cause the evil beasts to cease." What's the evil beast
there? We're not talking about lions
and tigers and rhinoceroses. We're talking about our very
nature. We are a beast by nature. Well, the Lord at times called
us evil spirits and all sorts of things to give us the idea.
And you know, after we're born a kid, we find out, yes, that's
true. That is just the way I was. I was just like a beast. I was
just like a demon. I was just like that. God describing
His people before they're saved and His people will agree with
God on this very thing of the sinfulness of their very being
by nature. And thank God that He brought
us under subjection of grace and causes us to see the Lord
and causes us to realize that this God has made restoration. Oh, as it was in the Garden of
Eden, He has restored His people to full fellowship with the Lord.
He will come in the cool of the evening and visit with us. Even
in the night seasons, every morning His blessings are renewed to
us. I will make them a covenant,
in verse 25, and will cause the evil beast to cease out of the
land and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in
the woods. Why? Don't have to worry about
things. Don't have to worry about the
evil beast. Don't have to worry about sin. It's taken care of
by the blood of Christ. Now, join me over, if you would,
in the book of Hebrews. There's a couple more there in
the book of Ezekiel, but let's just go over here to the book
of Hebrews for a verse of scripture. Book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter
8 verse 10 Hebrews chapter 8 verse 10 as we think about God sharing
with the people through the prophet Zechariah through the preacher
Through the declare of the gospel that good news that God is going
to dwell with his people That now he typified that when he
dwelt with them in the tabernacle and he dwelt with them in the
temple to man-made articles that only pictured, only a type and
a shadow of good things to come. But in the covenant of grace
He has promised that He will dwell with His people. He will
dwell in their hearts where two or three are gathered together
in His name to honor Him and to glorify Him and to praise
Him and to have His scripture revealed to them. He will dwell
in the midst of them. Here in Hebrews chapter 8 and
verse 10 it says, for this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I
will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts.
And I'll be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man
his brother, saying, know the Lord. For all shall know me from
the least to the greatest. Isn't that a wonderful thing
about the church? That everybody that God ever brings into this
great assembly of saints knows the Lord, knows God, knows grace,
knows the purpose of God was to save His people. What's the
purpose of creation? To save His people from their
sins. What's the purpose of raising kings up and putting them down?
To save his people from their sins. He's going to bring the
gospel. And it goes on to tell here in verse 12, For I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness. Here we go, dealing with the
problem. Here we go, dealing. God's going to restore. The only
way that can be restored is God's got to take care of the problem.
And he took care of the problem in Christ. He took care of the
problem at the cross. He took care of the problem by
the blood of Christ. And in that promise of the everlasting
covenant that He will have a people, He says, this is what I'm going
to do. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In, He says,
a new covenant, He hath made the first old Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Why did God have
the temple destroyed in AD 70? Because it was ready to be vanished
away. People were still depending upon
those animal sacrifices, and they were all just a type, a
shadow, and a picture of our Savior. Now we have reality.
We don't need them. There is no need of all that
stuff. So this covenant of grace is
the eternal covenant. Covering all time before time
in fact as the old preacher said old eternity This covenant is
based on better Promises so while you're there in the book of Hebrews
turn with me to chapter 7 Hebrews chapter 7 Hebrews chapter 7 just back up
there to verse 19 Hebrews chapter 7 verse 19 For the law made nothing perfect. The other day a guy was telling
me he was looking for some stuff for Sabbath school. And I said,
Sabbath school? What are you talking about? Well,
I knew what he was talking about. But I said, Sabbath school. And
he says, oh yeah, yeah, we meet on the Sabbath. And I said, why? Why would you meet on the Sabbath?
Christ is our Sabbath. He finished it all up. Well,
the law made nothing perfect. But the bringing in of a better
hope did. Now who's the better hope? Christ.
By the witch we draw an eye unto God. And inasmuch as he's not
without an oath, he was made priest. Now those old, other
old priests, those Aaron and the rest of them, they didn't
have an oath. God didn't set them down and
say, you know, you gotta take an oath. Why? Because their priesthood
would end someday. Now this priest by an oath was
made high priest and his priesthood never shall end. He by an oath
has been made this. Well in that same chapter verse
22 now, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament,
a better covenant. Jesus was made the surety of
a better testament. One of the favorite words of
the book of Hebrews is the word better. Just go through there
sometime and look up the word better found in your strongs
or someplace and you'll see how things are made so much better
in Christ, so much better. The eternal covenant of grace
comes in contact with everything that God purposes. It is the
reason for every purpose under the sun. The covenant of grace
is the reason for every purpose under the sun, that he will get
his word, he will get the gospel, he will get the knowledge of
God to every one of his people. Now, in the short time I have
left, would you go back with me there to the book of Zechariah,
the gospel according to Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 8, and there
is a wonderful word found in this passage of scripture. chapter
eight verse six thus saith the Lord of hosts if it be marvelous in the eyes
of the remnant of this people did you notice that the remnant
of this people in these days shall it also be marvelous in
my eyes saith the Lord of hosts now something is going to be
marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people. Now a
remnant is a small group. Isaiah used it. Paul uses it. So let's just stop by Isaiah
10 on our way to Romans and then we'll wrap this up. Isaiah chapter
10. This remnant. there is much said in the Bible
through words and also through symbols and pictures and types
we find this precious thought of a remnant in Isaiah chapter
10 verse 20 Isaiah chapter 10 verse 20 it shall come to pass
in that day Isaiah chapter 10 verse 20 it shall come to pass
in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as be escaped
of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that
smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel,
in truth." Now who smote us? From a spiritual standpoint,
who smote us? We were smitten in Adam. In Adam
all die. So he's going to take us from
that smiting to the Holy One of Israel in truth. Verse 21,
The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the
mighty God. For though thy people Israel
be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return,
the consumption decree shall overflow with righteousness.
Now turn with me to the book of Romans as we think about this
remnant. There is a remnant, still a remnant,
and it is found here in the book of Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter
9 Romans chapter 9 as we talk about look at this I will be
your God and ye shall be my people I'll make you acquainted with
the Lord That's his promise to his people through the blood
of the everlasting covenant And now we find out what God intend
to save to begin with he never intended to save the whole world
He never had that as his purpose. If it had been, everybody would
be saved. That's Almighty God. If it was
His purpose to save everyone in the world, they would all
be saved. He's not going to be slack concerning
His promise. If He promised everyone salvation,
everyone would be saved. But He didn't. He talked about
a remnant. Notice here in Romans 9, verse
27. Romans chapter 9 verse 27 Isaiah
also crieth concerning Israel though the number of the children
of Israel be as the sand of the sea a remnant shall be saved
a remnant now some people say well that's just that's just
not fair you know what to the people that God saves we're just
thankful we are thankful to God that he would care that he would
Lay down the ransom price of his son on the behalf of such
wretched people We are thankful for this grace. We're thankful
for his blood. We're thankful and then Keeping
that in mind turn over to the book of Romans chapter 11 verse
5 11 chapter 11 verse 5 In 11 chapter 11 and verse 5 There's so much in this chapter,
but I'm just going to read this one verse. Our time is running
out. It says, Even so then, at this present time also there
is a remnant according to the election of grace. Even at this
time. Now at the time of the writing
of the Romans? Even at this time. Year 1000? Even at this time. there's a remnant according to
the election of grace. In the year 2000, even at this
time, in the year 2021, November 3rd of 2021, even at this time,
there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Now
when God reveals His Son to the remnant according to the election
of grace, they will bow and He said I will be your Lord that's
what he will do that restoration we've been restored to full fellowship
restored to bow before the Almighty King not raise our fist up and
say I'll not have this one rule over me but Lord rule over me
without your ruling over me I'll just fall into the pit so rule
over me Lord you are Lord so as as Zachariah so graciously
summed up this gospel back there In the book of Zechariah chapter
8, he just brings this out so clearly. Thus saith the Lord
of Hosts, If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of
this people, in these days shall it also be marvelous in my eyes,
saith the Lord of Hosts. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
Behold, I will save my people from the east country and the
west country, and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in
the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will
be their God, in truth and in righteousness. And the church
says, Amen. I love restoration. I love being
restored to fellowship. And God's pleased to do that
for every one of His children. Will God bless you as we continue
in our study of the Book of Zechariah, the Gospel according to Zechariah,
and we pray that you will join us from time to time.