Here tonight in Zechariah chapter
five, after those four chapters of blessings, we notice here
that it kind of turns. And we get to the side that God
is sharing with regard to those who are thieves, those who are
liars. And it is a scroll, Zechariah
chapter five, and there in verse one it says, then I turned and
lifted up my eyes and looked and behold, a flying roll. a
flying scroll. Now we mentioned last week that
there are some things about this scroll that are very important.
Zachariah did not have a line on this. This is not a kite.
Zachariah is observing something flying and it's going to and
fro across the world. And this role, this word of God,
these commandments of God are directed by God Almighty. And
we looked over there at the book of Isaiah and it said, As the
water, the snow comes down, waters the ground, and produces the
grain, and from that the flour that we make bread out of, so
is my word. It will not return unto me void.
It will accomplish that whereunto I sent it. So as Zachariah observes
this flying scroll written on both sides, written with the
word of God, he understands, I believe, as we see, this is
in the hand of God. It will control, it will go,
it will be used of the Lord God Almighty as he sees fit. Now,
we never have control over the word of God, and we're thankful
for that. We don't have control of, the
accomplishment of the Word of God. We don't have the control
of who the Word of God is going to strike. We don't have any
control over that. We don't have any control who's
going to hear the Word of God. But we do know that if we're
faithful to preach the Word of God, the Lord will be glorified. And that's the number one responsibility
that we have in preaching the gospel. Some people say it's
to see people saved. If God isn't being glorified,
we're not gonna see people saved. It has to be the word of God.
So we'll glorify Christ by preaching the gospel. We'll glorify the
Godhead by preaching the gospel. Christ and him crucified. The
Father is blessed, the Holy Spirit is blessed, and the Son will
be blessed in preaching of the gospel. So Zachariah, he knows
that. He's been a called minister by
the Holy Spirit. And he is over this part of Jerusalem. He's over this part of Judea
and Benjamin at this time. Now, he goes down and says, and
he said unto me, what seest thou? And I answered and said, a flying
roll. Length thereof was 20 cubits,
and the breadth thereof was 10 cubits. This is a large scroll. This is more than a man could
carry, no doubt. This is a very large scroll. It's written on both sides, and
it tells us in verse three, then said he unto me, this is the
curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. So God
is in control of the scroll where it goes. Now, number one, it's
going to be to Jerusalem. But Jerusalem and Judea, it'll
be to the Jews. But we're thankful also that
the word of God goes out to the Gentiles. This really is what
the Lord is sharing with Nicodemus, that the gospel is gonna go out
to the Gentiles, for God so loved the world. There's going to be
people in every part of the world that this gospel is going to
be used to convert, to bring to the new birth. The Holy Spirit's
gonna use it to produce the new birth. And not that everybody
in the world is gonna be saved, but there are gonna be people
out of every corner of the world that this gospel will go to.
Well, just as the gospel goes out and touches people in every
corner of the world, this scroll will go out and touch everybody
in every corner of the world, too. And that is the law of God. This is just that God would do
this. He goes on to say, for everyone
that stealeth shall be cut off as this side according to it,
and everyone that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according
to it. And most agree that it's written
on both sides of this great scroll. And we have one on one side and
one on the other. And then in verse four, I will
bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter
into the house of the thief, and into the house of him, now
notice this, sweareth falsely by my name. So I'm going to take
and say that this not only is speaking of a physical standpoint,
but far greater is it speaking of a spiritual thing. These that
forswear or swear falsely by my name. And it shall remain
in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the timber
thereof and the stones thereof. That very phrase reminded me
of what God did with that sacrifice in the Old Testament. All the
water is poured over it, but everything is licked up. And
that's truly as the Lord Jesus Christ was consumed on the cross,
became a sin bearer, our sin bearer on the cross. He was totally
consumed. But this is also gonna be applied
to folks in this category. Well, far too often, the consideration
of keeping the law takes precedent. Far too often, I've known, visited
with many people and some of them said that they were believers,
but they're more concerned in keeping the law than, and the
preeminence is towards that, than looking at the preeminence
of the lawgiver. The preeminence of the lawgiver
is supreme. The the place and majesty of
the lawgiver. So a person that says they're
keeping the law without having any compunction towards the lawgiver,
well, it just shares with us what we find in Luke chapter
18. So would you turn over there with me to Luke chapter 18? We
know this account is the rich young ruler. But we notice here
in Luke chapter 18, as this unfolds before us, no doubt this was
a real person. of a real person like every other
person in the world. Unless grace is made known, this
is the reaction. It tells us in Luke chapter 18
that this person came and I kind of feel he's trying to impress
the Lord by using the title that he did. He's trying, as it tells
us here in Luke chapter 18 and there in verse 18, It says, a
certain ruler asked him, saying, good master, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life? Now, the Lord Jesus immediately
looks at that very term that he used and said, and Jesus said
unto him, why callest thou me good? None is good, save one,
that is God. Now, there are some people that
follow the Lord Jesus that would have understand he's talking
about himself. He's the lawgiver, if we can. He is God, and his word is so
vital and so important. But if we just say, as the Lord
said to the Pharisees, he said, you think you have eternal life
in just the word, but they are they which testify of me. To
have a view of the scriptures and have no thought of God is
thievery. It is just out and out thievery.
So he goes, let's talk about this subject that you've just
brought up here. You said, good master, there's no good but God. Well, if this man had been a
believer, he would have said, but you're God. That's essentially
what Peter said, isn't it? Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. Flesh and blood hath not revealed this
unto you, but my father, which is in heaven. So, if the Lord
Jesus should speak to us, now, on the cover of the bulletin
this Sunday, it's not because it's Father's Day, but it's just
a passage of scripture that caught my eye, and that was a man came
to Jesus and said, come, because my child is dying. And he said,
he's healed. And you know what the verse of
scripture says? He believed his word and left. Now, that's of
grace. That's of grace. His word. These folks here under Zechariah,
the prophet Zechariah, the priest, and the governor, these folks,
they were saying they were keeping the law, but they had no mind
whatsoever towards the lawgiver. Now notice here what goes on
to say here in this passage of scripture. He illustrates the
point. The Lord illustrates the point with this rich young ruler.
I just believe that this is absolutely on purpose. This meeting is on
purpose. This rich young ruler is on purpose. The Lord's words to him are on
purpose. The question is on purpose. Answers a lot of questions for
a lot of people. I believe the lawgiver. Now he's
going to take care of the law, but I believe the law giver.
Well, it says here, why callest thou me good? None is good save
one, that is God. Now there's only one law giver. There's only one that has the
word of God. Thou knowest the commandments.
All right, let's bring up the commandments just like Zachariah
did over here in the Old Testament. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, honor thy father and thy mother. Now what does
he say to all of this? All these have I kept from my
youth up, but I don't know you. He had no relationship to this
one, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we pray later, he did, but
at this moment, he just knew him as a good teacher, and the
Lord Jesus Christ brings out the very strong point that only
God is good. The rest are fallen in Adam. The rest have a terrible condition
that they're in, and nobody can change the color of their skin,
and the leopard cannot change the spots of its skin, and we
can't, by thinking about it, grow a micrometer in height,
and we can't turn our color of the hair of our head We can't
change the number of hair, we can't do all of those things,
and if we could, then we'd have a free will. But we don't, so
we can't. Well, he says here, I've done all of this from my,
all my life I've done this. From my youth up, I'll never
forget what Brother Ralph Barnard told a lady one time when he
asked her about when she was born again, I've been always
a Christian all my life, and he just said, that's just too
long. And I can just see him turn away.
So let's leave it at that, let her mull on that a while. Well,
all these have I kept my youth up. Now the interesting point
about this is he has no relationship with the lawgiver at all. He
doesn't know him. He's a good master, but he doesn't
know what good is. And when Jesus heard these things,
he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing. Now, the law
tells us that if we kept it all and lack in one point, we are guilty of it all. So you lack one thing. In other
words, if this man knows anything about the teaching of Moses,
he has really been taken to task. Thou lackest one thing, sell
all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven, and come follow me." Now it's interesting
that people will say, that's all I need to do to be saved.
And that's not what Christ is saying at all. If you really
know Christ, this won't be an issue. If you really know Christ,
you'll not be saying, I'm keeping the law. In fact, God's people
are absolutely adamant that they have never kept the law. And
the only place that we keep the law is in Christ. He is our righteousness. He has kept it perfectly. He
has kept it all. He doesn't have to shirk away
from one commandment, because he's kept every jot and every
tittle of the law. So this rich young ruler demonstrates
this very issue that saying I keep the law and don't have any knowledge
of the law giver is just what natural man is growing up with
all of their life. We just grow up that way. We
just have that. I've kept this from my youth
up. Now, who are you? He saw the Lord Jesus simply
as a good teacher. Now, the Apostle Paul was led
to write about himself along the same lines. So would you
turn with me to the book of Philippians? He is an example, often an example
of the church, and so it is with us. If we say we've kept the
whole law, we're just fooling ourselves. But when we say, I
know the Savior that has kept it, What a blessing that is to
have that for us. Philippians. Philippians chapter
3, verse 1. Philippians chapter 3 and verse
1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. What's that? The lawgiver. The keeper of the
law. The one who's written the Old
Testament. The one who's given us the New Testament. Rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same thing to you,
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware
of rich young rulers who say they've kept all the law from
their youth up." Because that's what this is saying, beware of
dogs, beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision, beware
of the mutilators that only say but have no knowledge of him
who they say it about. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence
in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof,
he might trust in flesh I more. Now he goes through and says,
this is what I had. Now, he is the first person that
will admit to us, as we read the scriptures that Paul wrote,
he's the first person to admit to us that he had all of this,
but he had no knowledge of Christ. He had no knowledge of God. Now
he had a knowledge of a God, but he had no knowledge of the
God. He had no knowledge of the Christ of God. He had no knowledge
of what the Holy Spirit does. He had worked it all out on his
terms, just like his father had done, and his grandfather had
done, and his great-grandfather had done, and all those Jewish
people without God, without Christ, and without hope in this world.
So he goes on to say, circumcised the eighth day, the stock of
Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, and a Hebrew of the Hebrews as
touching the law of Pharisee. Now I can just hear people say
as they read the book of Philippians, that's a man just like me. Go no further. Just like me. He's got it down pat. He's related
to, he has all of these credentials, he has everything in order. And
yet the Lord through the Apostle Paul says, this is not it. I've already told you about what
it is. Then he goes on concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching righteousness, which is of the
law, blameless. I had it all in order. I had. I never ever committed a sin
without going down to the priest and saying, okay, let me put
my hands on the head of that lamb and confess my faults over
it and have the sacrifice made on my behalf and walk away and
I'm in good shape. But he never had a relationship
with Christ. Now, he writes later two or three
times about the Lord meeting him. I like what that one preacher
said, and I've repeated it many times. He was not going to Damascus
to go to a prayer meeting. It wasn't a religious organization
he went to preach at. He went there to arrest our brothers
and sisters in Christ. He says, verse 7, but what things
were gained to me, those I counted loss for the lawgiver, for Christ. I kept all of this. Or I thought
I was keeping all of this. I thought I was doing okay. But
when Christ was brought to my attention, now when Saul of Tarsus
was saved on the road to Damascus, he didn't call Jesus a good teacher. He called him Lord. And he meant it, because that
is who was revealed to him. Goes on to say, but what things
were gained for me, I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ, Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ
and be found in him. not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law. Now that scroll going around
the whole world, how many were converted by it? Not one. Of all the threatenings of the
law, nobody was ever saved by the threatenings of the law.
It's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. It's
the goodness of God. It's the gospel of his free grace. that God uses on us. It's never
the threatenings of the law, but the law goes over the whole
world, and men and women are condemned because of their desperately
wicked heart and their inability to keep His commands. Well, it
goes on just to say here, and be found in Him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Here he was, so long. Now there are certain commentators
that say this is the guy that Jesus spoke to over there in
the book of Luke. There is no proof of that, but
this principle is there. All of us go away saying we have
kept it from our youth up. And God, by his mercy and by
his grace, having chosen this one vessel, before the foundation
of the world, name written in the Lamb's Book of Life, his
name is Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle, and his real name
is the Lord our righteousness. Saul of Tarsus. Now, to keep
the law with an inability already imposed is not keeping the law. If we haven't already, an innate
inability to keep the law, and then say, we keep the law, we're
not keeping the law. We are far from it. Our heart
is far from it. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Acts. Back to the book of Acts, chapter
18. The book of Acts, chapter 18. In Acts, excuse me, chapter
8. I'm sorry. Acts, chapter 8. Acts chapter 8 verse 18. Now
here is a guy that thought by money he could buy what the apostles
had. Now he's not the first one, and
he won't be the last one. Prosperity gospel is just everywhere. Here he goes. He said in Acts
chapter 8 verse 18, notice this with me. She says, and when Simeon
saw that through the laying on of the apostle's hand, the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money. Now I'll be the first
ones to say, I don't know exactly what was going on here, but I
know what was going on in this man's heart. Nothing that the
disciples were doing would discredit the Lord. Nothing that they were
doing would discredit the gospel. Nothing that they were doing
would discredit the church. I know that. But I do know this,
that this man, Simeon, offered money to get what they had, saying,
give me also this power that on whomever I lay hands, he may
receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, thy
money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift
of God may be purchased with money. Now, isn't that an interesting
statement? The gift of God may be purchased with money. Well,
the rich young ruler thought the gift of God could be purchased
by works. It doesn't matter what the works
is, it still boils down to the same thing, that God will have
to give us this because we've done that. Well, he goes on to
say here, thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter. Pray
God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee
for I Perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and
in the bond of iniquity Then answered Simon said pray
to the Lord for me and none of these things which thou has spoken
come to me Verse 21 Thou hast neither part
nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight
of God." So we have these guys who are saying, I'm a law keeper,
but I don't know the first thing about the law giver. And that
rich young ruler shows us that he didn't know anything. Saul
of Tarsus and his religion didn't know anything. And this guy here,
Simeon, didn't know the first thing about the Lord Jesus Christ,
and yet he expected by money to be given one of his gifts. I would like to hear the Apostle
Paul one more time on the subject, and that is found in Acts chapter
22. Acts chapter 22. As that scroll goes over the
whole world, and it's written on both sides, and on one side
it says, you are thieves. Now God brings up in the book
of Malachi, you have robbed God. And they
say, how have we robbed God? He says, you've robbed God in
tithes and offerings. Now that's really applying to
something else, the glory of God. to myself, to my works,
to my church, to my profession, or whatever, and leaving that
very verse, Zechariah 4, verse 6, not by power, not by might,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord, out of the whole thing. Well,
in Acts 22, verse 1, men, brethren, and fathers, it's so interesting. that the Holy Spirit gives the
Apostle Paul an opportunity to open up to some real dissenters,
some real legalists, who say they have kept the law and yet
don't know the lawgiver. And if you know the lawgiver,
we understand we can't keep that. It's out of our reach. We will
not be able to. Oh, I'm keeping three or four.
I'm working on them. I'm working on them. I remember
that guy that asked me one time how I was doing with the qualifications
of a bishop. I said, I'm failing on every
one of them. He said, well, I've got almost
all of them down. I got one or two more and I'm
working on those. Well, good for you. We just cannot qualify. We have no qualification ability. But there is one who qualifies,
and he is the one that God's standard is. And if we be found
in him, we have righteousness. We have good standing with God.
All right. Chapter 22. Men, brethren, and
fathers, hear ye my defense, which I make now unto you. And
when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them,
they kept the more silence, and he saith. It's wonderful to be
bilingual. Probably Paul knew two or three
languages, but one of them was Hebrew because he grew up with
it. He knew Greek, he knew Hebrew, and he knew Latin. I am verily a man which am a
Jew, born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, yet brought up in this
city at the feet of, oh my goodness, this noted Bible teacher, Gamaliel. I sat at his feet. Now they knew
who he was. This is not a mystery. They knew
he's, I grew up, brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel
and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers. and was zealous towards God as
ye all are this day." Guess what, guys? I know where you're coming
from. That's one of the blessings of
visiting with this young man. I know where he is. I know where
he's coming from. I've been in those shoes and
made the same comments. And I'm thankful that that pastor
was gracious to me and just didn't slam me down. He says, that's
not the issue. And I persecuted this way unto
death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
And also, the high priest doth bear me witness that all and
all the estate of the elders, from whom also I received letters
unto the brethren, and went to Damascus." Can you imagine that
a group of the people are in this congregation listening to
him and said, you know, guys, you were the ones that gave me
authority to do this. The high priest doth bear me
witness, and all the estate of the elders, from whom also I
received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus. I had letters
with your signature on it, and your signature on it, and your
signature on it. And went to Damascus to bring
them, which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
And it came to pass that as I made my journey and was come nigh
unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great
light round about me." Grace, grace, grace. My goodness. There's nothing
like it in the world. Grace. Stopped. Arrested. Brought to a halt. in his religious
fervor, brought to a halt, and he fell to the ground. And I
fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? Now, I wish I could say it with
the authority that the Lord said it. Because it was with such
authority that Saul could do nothing but deal with it. Irresistible
grace. Irresistible grace. And you know
what, when Saul left, he was thankful that God had stopped
him. The rest of his life, he is thankful
that God stopped him on that road and introduced him with
such a commanding voice. And he addressed him, he says,
and I answered, who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I
am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were
with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard
not the voice of him that spake to me. Now there's gallons of
thought in that very verse. Something's going on here, but
we can't hear a thing. Something's going on here. But I don't hear
what's going on here. Now that just happens all the
time. The gospel's being preached, but I can't hear it. Something's
going on. Something's going on. And I said,
what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, arise
and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all
things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could
not see for the glory of that light being led by the hand of
them that were with me, I came into Damascus. Look at that.
And when I could not see for the glory of that light. He saw the lawgiver. All of that
stuff he had been accustomed to doing as appointed by the
father, sitting at the feet of Gamaliel studying the law of
the fathers, was all put away. He was taught according to the
perfect manner of the law of the fathers. Suddenly there shone
around him a great light and when could he not see for the
glory of that light. There doesn't seem to have been
an account in all the Bible where people said they kept the law
of God that were not in pride displayed in what they were doing. Everywhere I go in the scriptures
and people are saying they kept the law, it's always boastfulness. And if you know the law giver,
that boasting is put away. That pride is put away. Colossians
chapter 3, would you turn with me to Colossians chapter 3? Colossians chapter 3 and there in verse 11 Let's read
verse 10 11 and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free, but Christ is all. And in all. Christ is all. That's what makes all the difference.
That's what made all the difference to the Apostle Paul, the rich
young ruler at that time. That's not enough. That simian, that's not enough. But those who the Lord arrests,
that is plenty. That is plenty. The messenger
asked Zechariah, what do you now see? Now let's go, for just
a few moments here, let's go back to the book of Zechariah.
Zechariah chapter five. Zechariah chapter five, and there
in verse five, It says, when the angel that talked with me
went forth and said unto me, lift up now thine eyes and see
what is this that goeth forth? And I said, what is it? And he
said, this is an ephah that goeth forth. He said, moreover, this
is their Resemblance through all the earth. Now, this is a
strange thought, but it's an Ifa. That was the largest dry
measure among the Hebrews. And it was about eight, nine
gallons. But this is just a picture of
a measuring device. This Ifa is a measuring device
because we're going to find a woman's inside of it. It's not just that
Ifa, but it is going to be Something that is used. It's this largest
of measures of the Jews. But it's just a type and a shadow
and a picture. It's a symbol of measure. Now,
turn with me to Amos. The book of Amos. Amos Obadiah Jonah Amos chapter
8 and verse 5 Now this would be kind of our
jumping-off point for next week I Verse four, hear this, O ye that
swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to
fail, saying, when will the new moon be gone? Now, what was the
new moon to them? It was a feast day. It was a
religious activity. When will this religious activity
be gone that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, a weekly. religious activity, that we may
set forth wheat, making an ephah small, and a shekel great, and
falsifying the balances of deceit. Now, you know what came to my
mind when I read that verse of scripture? Ain't it a shame?
That song that's in Stamps Baxter's quartet book. As soon as this
religious day gets over, then we can start cheating everybody.
As soon as this is over, now we have an IFA over there in
that. It's a large measuring device. We're going to find out
there's a woman in it. And this is a measure of how
bad things are by nature. It's not a little nine quart
IFA or nine gallon IFA. It's huge and it's going to demonstrate
this very thing. The heart is deceitful above
all things, even a religious heart. When will this religious
day get over so I can start cheating everybody? When I can use imperfect
balances and I can have small IFAs and large shekels. I'm going
to give you a cup and call it an IFA. But I'm not going to
charge you for the cup. I won't charge you for the Ifa.
This is just the way it is by natural man. When can I do this? And we'll go on here and look
at this passage of scripture. But as Zechariah was privileged
to see this great scroll and the significance of that scroll,
nobody is keeping this. They say they are, but nobody
is keeping because they don't know the law giver. And then,
the measuring device is so big, God uses, and says, everybody
is in this. Everybody is in this. Well, this
passage of scripture just goes to show how thankful God's people
are for grace. Cuz we find ourselves in this
passage of scripture. We find ourselves before grace,
we find ourselves before the gospel, we find ourselves just
as Saul of Tarsus was, we find ourselves just like that rich
young ruler. All this stuff I've done, I have the bars on my chest
to prove how often I have gone to Sunday school. And yet the
Lord says, why call me good? Cuz there's only one good and
that's God. I don't know that God, I don't
know that God. All right, we'll stop here for tonight, and we'll
pick this up next time. Thank you for joining us.