Well, good evening and would
you join me in the book of Zechariah tonight? We're going to be in
chapter 3. I'd like to read the last three
verses again of the book of Zechariah. And we're going to be looking
at Christ the righteous branch. Christ the righteous branch.
Zechariah brings us out for the comfort of the church. The church
during his time. And the same comfort was for
the church prior to his time. And the comfort was for the church
after his time, during our time. This comfort that we have from
this righteous branch. In the book of Zechariah 3, verse
8, Hear now, O Joshua, the high priest, thou and thy fellows
that sit before thee, for they are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant, the branch. And for behold, the stone that
I have laid before Joshua upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the engraving
thereof, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity
of that land in one day. In that day, saith the Lord of
Hosts, shall you call every man his neighbor under the vine and
under the fig tree." We're going to be specifically looking again
at verse 8 because there's so much in this verse of Scripture. And last week we read several
verses. I'd just like to review a few
of them. In the book of Isaiah. Would you turn with me to the
book of Isaiah? Because we find that the Lord is called a branch
in a number of books of the Bible. Specifically in Isaiah, Jeremiah,
and here in Zechariah. But in the fourth chapter of
the book of Isaiah, we have these words about the branch. Fourth
chapter of the book of Isaiah. And there in verse 2, in that
day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and
the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them
that are escaped of Israel. Here we have the branch of the
Lord, and this is that beautiful branch. Now, we'll find out that
the word branch not only means something that comes off of a
tree, but also it means a direction of of a people, a tribe of people. And we find that the Lord Jesus
Christ represents the righteous tribe. The Lord Jesus Christ
represents the Jacobs of the world. He's the one that prayed
for his people, not for the world, but for his people. So he represents
this tribe of Israel called the church. And he represents this
people that are after Jacob. The seed of Abraham. Not seeds,
but the seed of Abraham is who he represents. So he is the branch
for them. He is the leader of that group.
He is the leader of that tribe. But also, he is the one who provides
the sustenance for his people. And that is in the branch. And
in that 11th chapter of the book of Isaiah, we have this term
used again. Isaiah chapter 11. And verse
1, the Scriptures, And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
Once again, we have this terminology, this picture, this type in the
shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ as pictured as a rod or a stem
of Jesse. And Jesse was the one that brought
forth David, and David is mentioned a number of times. In fact, we'll
look at that a little more as the evening progresses. But moving
over to the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah
chapter 23 and verse 5, we have these wonderful words about the
Lord as He's mentioned the branch once again. In Jeremiah chapter
23 and verse 5, the Scripture says, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, I will raise up, I will raise unto David a
righteous branch. and a king shall reign and prosper
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." This is
a righteous branch. David, I'll raise unto David
a righteous branch. And we find that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the leader of the group, the leader of the tribe of the
righteous ones. Now, it's not their righteousness
that we're dealing with, but His righteousness imputed to
us, and that's what we rejoice in. We rejoice in Him as the
leader of that branch. He is the head of the church,
and the church is the body, and He imputes to them His righteousness,
and He gives to us the blessings of the Godhead in Christ Jesus. And again, would you turn with
me to the book of Jeremiah 33, and verse 15, Jeremiah chapter
33, And verse 15, and again, he is
spoken of here in this passage of Scripture as the branch. He
is the branch of righteousness in this passage of Scripture.
In those days, and at that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness
to grow up unto David. I'll cause the branch of righteousness
to grow unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness
in the Lamb." All of these verses of Scripture combined share with
us much about the Lord, and much about His righteousness, and
much about what He will do in His coming to this earth. And then we had that passage
of Scripture in Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 8, but let's go to
Zechariah 6 and verse 12, and in that passage of Scripture
we have the branch once again. Zechariah chapter 6 and verse
12, it says, And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord
of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the branch,
And he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the
temple of the Lord." He is the one that is going to build the
church. He is the one that is going to build this, as it says
here, the temple of the Lord. Now, all of these verses of Scripture
have something to say about the Lord Jesus Christ. And in these
places of Scripture, when Christ is called to branch, we are to
understand His human nature is intended. What a glory it is
to be shared by the Holy Spirit that God came in the flesh. That God came as a servant. That God came as a man. That
God was the seed of the woman. And this has been the promise
from the very beginning. It wasn't long. How long? An hour? A day? How long? It was after the fall. But those,
our parents, that were in the Garden of Eden, were shared this
wonderful information. The seed of the woman shall bruise
the head of the serpent. Now, I was asked to read part
of a book today. A fellow handed it to me. He said he'd been given this
book. Have I ever read anything about it? Or do I know the author?
And I said, no. But I took and read it. And there's
one of the chapters that said something about Satan, so I opened
it up, and right there, this man began to teach that Satan
can read our mind. And I closed the book and gave
it back to him, and I said, Satan is not omniscient, and not omnipresent,
and not omnipotent. Satan is a created being. So if we have that premise in
a book about anything, we're going to find out that we're
going to make a grave mistake. Because God is sovereign. He's
sovereign over Satan. He's sovereign over the world.
He's sovereign over His people. And He is that righteous branch. And He had a promise in being
that righteous branch that He would save His people from their
sins. That was the reason He came to
this world, came to this earth, and was born of a virgin. So
when we look at these pictures in the Old Testament, just as
in all of the other types of shadows and pictures, when we
look at those, we are to understand that Christ, that the Messiah,
the Son of God, was going to come to this earth. He was anointed
in the covenant of grace. to be the perfect offering for
our sin. And He came with the intent of
doing that very thing of being the perfect offering for our
sin. The accepted offering. The righteous offering. So He
is that branch. And would you look at a couple
of verses of Scripture that are mentioned here in the New Testament?
In Acts chapter 2, Day of Pentecost, great truths are being declared,
proclaimed about what All of this that just recently happened,
what does it mean? How does it fit together? And
we find that those that were preaching on the day of Pentecost
were given information by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
revealed unto them the truth of the Gospel. They had some
questions at times during the ministry because they had been
subject in their culture that somehow, just as many people
today read the Old Testament and say, well, God is going to
overthrow any natural enemy of national Israel and we'll be
free. Well, that wasn't the intent.
The intent was that God was going to save His people and He would
make them free, but The rest of it is just going to play out
as God has purposed in the covenant of grace. So, here in the book
of Acts, as these preachers were preaching, twelve of them were
preaching simultaneously, how far apart they are? They're not
interfering with each other, but they're preaching the same
thing. They're preaching Christ and Him crucified, and the reason
for that crucifixion. That is wonderful. A study to
find out the reason for Christ's crucifixion, and that was to
save His people from their sins. Acts chapter 2 and verse 30. We read these words and we just
want to make this comment. This is a New Testament quote,
yes, but it is a New Testament quote from the Old Testament
before the Incarnation. This is the promise that was
made to David and they are reflecting on this promise. on the day of
Pentecost and saying here in Acts chapter 2 and verse 30,
therefore be in a prophet. Now he's talking about David.
If you go back to verse 29, David is the one here. And David, therefore
be in a prophet. Now we don't normally comment
of David being a prophet, But he was a proclaimer of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what a true prophet is,
is a proclaimer. Now if it steps outside of those
guidelines, we find out we get into trouble. But if we stay
within those guidelines, preaching Christ in Him crucified, we'll
stay the course. We'll stay the course. So here,
therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with
an oath unto him, Now, if God has ever sworn with an oath unto
you or to me that He will be the Savior of His people, we
can claim it. We can claim that promise. Though
he could swear by no greater, swore by himself. He promised
by himself, I will keep my word. And we find out wonderful things
about God. He's able to do that very thing.
He's able to keep his word. He is all powerful. So he's able
to keep his word. He swore with an oath. He swore
by himself. And it says here that of the
fruit of his loins, the fruit of David's loins, someone down
the generations Now we could go over to one of the Gospels
that tells us the generations from Abraham to David and from
David going back from Babylon and from then to Christ. According
to the flesh, the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. Now there's no
greater throne that Christ could reign over than the throne of
the church. What a blessing! He sits on the throne over this
earth. He sits on the throne of all angels. He sits on the
throne of all kingdoms. He sits on the throne of weather. He sits on the throne of wind.
He sits on the throne of hurricanes. He sits on the throne of everything.
but to know the church knowing that he is their absolute monarch
and that he guards them with every fiber of his being and
he will not let one of those that he purchased with his blood
ever falter or fail. He never got involved in Judas'
problem, but he did get seriously involved with the other eleven
when they denied him. And how did he... I'm just amazed. I've mentioned this so many times
recently, but it was just a blessing to me. He never got involved
with retribution or charges against them. His words to them was peace.
And we say, Hallelujah! Because we falter all the time,
but we still get to hear the King of kings and Lord of lords
say, Peace be unto you. You're mine. You belong to me.
I'll keep you clean and present you spotless." So, this one here
says there, knowing that God had sworn with him, he is promising. He is a prophet that is used
by the Holy Spirit to promise the Messiah is coming. That Jesus
Christ, as we know Him in the New Testament era, that the promise
is coming, that the Messiah is coming, that the Christ is coming,
that the Son of God is coming, the promise was made to David.
And you know what? David believed that. By faith
he believed that, just as Abraham believed it. No, we don't have
a very good understanding of what's going on in the Bible,
but we are given the grace to believe it. God is great, and
we're just given the faith to believe that he is great, and
David believed that. And though it wasn't right with
his house, he had some problems in his household, he knew in
his heart, just like Abraham knew in his heart when he started
up that mountain with Isaac, that they were going to come
back down together. He knew in his heart, by faith,
he believed it. Just like God's people today.
Doesn't make sense to the world, but it makes sense to them. Trust
Christ. Trust Christ. Well, in the book
of of Revelation. In the book of Revelation, once
again, we have this similitude here of a branch or a root or
an offspring, but this is the Lord speaking about Himself after
the fact, after the Incarnation, and the fulfillment of all the
prophets and the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the
Old Testament are summed up here in the book of Revelation chapter
22. Revelation chapter 22. The revelation of Jesus Christ. I've mentioned this before, but
it's not the revelation of Saint John the Divine. It's the revelation
of Jesus Christ. It's the revealing of Him. And
what good news we have here. Revelation chapter 22 and verse
16. The Scripture says, I, Jesus,
have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the
churches. This is our testimony. This is
our declaration. This is our preaching. This is
what we want to bring up. Christ and Him crucified. He
says, I am the root and offspring of David, the bride and the morning
star. What's he saying there? I'm the God-man. I am the Son
of David, and yet I am the bright and morning star. I am God. I am man. I am 100% man. I am 100% God. I am the God-man. There is one
mediator between God and man, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. And the church just bows at that
because there could be no other mediator. There could be no other
intercessor. He is the only one that could
complete the job. No priest. No preacher. class
teacher, no parent, no grandparent can ever make intercession. Though
we pray for our children and our grandchildren, we pray for
our brothers, we pray for our sisters, we cannot be a mediator
for them. We can bring them up before the
throne of grace, but we cannot be a mediator. There is one mediator,
and his name is Jesus Christ the Lord, the high and lifted
up one. This one that has been from eternity. As Brother Mike has been bringing
out in the Bible class, he is the I Am, the I Am. And once
we get a hold of the I Am-ness of God, and the I Am-ness of
Christ, we are on high ground. We're blessed to the soul when
we see that. So, here we have these wonderful
blessings about the branch. Now, going back, if you would,
we find that Isaiah shares again about this branch. In the book
of Isaiah chapter 53, the great gospel chapter of the gospel
according to Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 53, What a blessing it is to read
these verses of Scripture and to keep in mind who has been
spoken of. You know, if we ever have a question,
all we have to do is go over to the book of Acts and hear
the words of Philip. He began at the same place and preached
unto him Jesus. Ever have a question what this
is all about? The whole passage is about our Savior, the Lord
Jesus. And here in the book of Isaiah chapter 53, and there
in verse 2, notice this with me. Isaiah chapter 53, and there
in verse 2, these wonderful words about this branch, the Lord Jesus,
the One that would come and in coming suffer for our sin. What does that mean? He would
take the righteous judgment of God upon Him, and our sins were
imputed to Him, and God took them out on His Son. And then
we find out we were in Christ when that was happening. Anything
that was our charge was placed on Him, and we were in Christ. And we just say, thank you God
for your great work of grace, your great purpose of salvation. Isaiah 53 and verse 2, it says,
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root
out of dry ground. You know, to the world, He wasn't
even noticeable. He didn't parade around like
the Pharisees. He didn't call attention to Him. But we find even His enemy says,
He performed many miracles. Their testimony was true too.
God works it out that out of the mouths of some of the most
noxious people that have ever been in a position on the face
of the earth They speak the truth. Think of that Nebuchadnezzar
as he spoke the truth about God. And Pilate, what I've written,
I've written. He spoke the truth about God.
And a Roman soldier, truly, you are the Son of God. Well, some
people say, truly, he is a son of God. I like what it says.
Truly, he is the Son of God. Well, out of the obnoxious people,
out of the mouths of some of the most obnoxious people, we
find these words, the truth about God. They confessed a good confession
because God used them, as He said about Pharaoh, for this
same purpose have I raised you up. And you know what? He does
that about everybody He raises up in authority. And for everybody
in the church, for this purpose have I raised you up that I might
show my glory in you. Well, the church, Every member
of the body, every believer, every saved person is a trophy
of grace of the righteous King of Heaven. Here, He shall grow
up unto Him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground.
He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there
is no beauty that we should desire Him. Nothing by nature is about
this One that would attract us. You know, that old tree out there
in the desert, Moses had seen trees like that, bushes like
that, every time he was out there with a sheep. For 40 years he
had observed trees like that. But it wasn't until one was on
fire. He drew aside and says, I'm going to have a look at this.
Thank God He does that for us. As we go through the Scriptures,
there are those places that God uses to draw us aside as we hear
the Gospel, to draw us aside to hear the Word of God. in the
book of Ezekiel. Turn with me to the book of Ezekiel
chapter 34. In Ezekiel chapter 34, this branch is speaking about
His humanity coming. That humanity suffered as we
read in Isaiah 53. Here in the book of Ezekiel chapter
34. The book of Ezekiel chapter 34. We have these wonderful words.
Ezekiel 34 and verse 29. Ezekiel 34, verse 29, it says,
And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall
be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the
shame of the heathen any more. Isn't it wonderful that by grace
we are not consumed with hunger anymore? He says, take me, eat
my flesh, drink my blood, take me, have that very vital experience,
an experimental relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ just
like we would with a meal. Have that experimental relationship. And it says, I'll raise up for
them a plant of renown. Now, I looked that word up, renown,
because that's an interesting word. And you know, almost all
the time, that word is translated name. And I will raise up a plant
of a good name. a holy name, a righteous name. This is our Savior, the Lord
Jesus. And this word is brought out a number of times in the
Old Testament, many times in the Old Testament, but I would
like to just read a few that are found particularly in Isaiah
and in Zechariah where this word is used because we have a name
which is above every name. We have the name which is above
every name. And this name which is above
every name is also mentioned throughout the Old Testament.
When we get into the Old Testament, we're reading about a name which
is above every name. And when we're talking about
a name, we're talking about a personality. We're talking about a person.
We're talking about a being. We're talking about someone that
is high. We're talking about, you know,
we know each other by name. Well, the name is not the important
thing. The person that stands behind
that name, that's the important thing. Well, here, turn with
me, if you would, to the book of Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah chapter
9. This word, renown, is used over
here in a number of places, but notice with me in Isaiah chapter
9. Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. You know where we're going
right there, because we have this glorious name. Isaiah chapter
9 and verse 6. We ever wonder, What kind of
capacity the Savior has, read Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6.
For in Isaiah chapter 9 it says, For unto us a child is born and
unto us a son is given. Here we have that nature of Jesus
Christ, the Immanuel, God with us. We have Immanuel here. It says here, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name." Now this is that word
renown. This name. This is a renowned
name. This is a great name. He goes
on to tell us, and I wish there were hyphens instead of commas
because it looks like we have a number of names, but it's really
just one name. He has one of those English monarch
names. Lots of names. Here it says,
and his name. That's correct. His name is singular.
His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. He's a plant of renown. He is the God-man of renown. He is the Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.
That's His name. A plant of renown. This great
plant, the Lord Jesus, the branch, the Lord Jesus, is of renown. Every capacity about Him is renowned. We would honor every bit of it. If we knew completely about Him,
we'd honor every bit of it. In our flesh, we have difficulty. By the Spirit of God that indwells
us, we bow in every capacity. We worship Him with all our body,
mind, soul, and spirit. Thank God the Holy Spirit does
that for us. And in time, we'll do that with
the new body that He gives unto us. So we have that name. Isaiah
42. Isaiah 42. Would you turn there? Isaiah 42, verse 8. Here
it says, Isaiah 42, verse 8, I am the Lord. I am Jehovah.
That is my name. I love that. I am the Lord. That is my name. It represents all about me. I am the Messiah. I am Jehovah,
the Savior of my people. And my glory will I not give
to another, neither my praise to graven images. I am the Lord. That is my name. I'm renowned
about this. I'm one of a kind about this.
There's only one like me in all. Heaven and earth, only one. And
Jehovah is His name. And Messiah, the wonderful characteristics
and attributes of Almighty God bodily before us as He shows
us His grace in the New Testament and declares His work on the
cross. Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 47. And verse 4, Isaiah 47, this is that plant of renown,
that branch, that glorious branch. This is His humanity coming for
the purpose of laying down His life, a ransom for many. In Isaiah
47, and verse 4, as for our Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts is His name. The Holy One of Israel. The Lord
of Hosts. Well, we mentioned in the past
that Lord of Hosts, that's a name in the greatest single area that
we could find that describes that is Nebuchadnezzar's comments
about God. Oh, He rules in the armies of
heaven among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay
His hand or say, what doest thou? This is a comment that God gave
to Nebuchadnezzar. And we just look at that and
say, thank you, Lord. So, this is my name. Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 51. Isaiah 51 and verse 15. Again, we have this name,
this word renowned, used as a name. Isaiah 51 and verse 15. But I
am the Lord thy God that divided the sea, whose waves roared. The Lord of hosts is His name. Now, in one place we say, the
Lord of hosts is my name. Here we have the reference of
a believer saying, the Lord of hosts is His name. As we look
at Him, the Lord of hosts is His name. The Lord of glory is
His name. The high and lifted up one is
His name. Jehovah is His name. That's what
the church says. And God says about Himself, the
Lord of hosts is My name. The high one of Israel is My
name. So, we're just reflecting and we're just moons. Reflecting
what God says about Himself. That's all we can do. We have
nothing in ourselves that is able to go beyond that. But He
gives us those great truths in our heart and we're able to pour
them back. In the book of Zechariah chapter 13. Zechariah chapter
13. When we'll be in Zechariah 13
proper for our study is open for debate. But we're going to
look here in Zechariah 13 and verse 9. It says, And I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them
as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. And
they shall call on My name, and I will hear them. I will say,
It is My people, and they shall say, The Lord is My God." What's
that name? He says, They shall call on My
name. When we are given the grace the
belief to trust God. We are trusting the Sovereign
of all. Nothing less. Nothing less. We have Him as the Lord Jesus
Christ. Nothing less. Now, there may
be days that we don't seem to think that, and there may be
days that we don't act that, but we are given that great blessing
to have Him, and nothing less than Him as the Lord. and I will
say it is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God
L L O R D Jehovah is my God this savior of his people what a blessing
it is to know the branch and this root out of dry ground and
these different symbols and pictures and types and shadows and it's
a plant of renown he has a name about him And His name is wonderful. And at His name there is no one
that will resist Him. When He speaks, all bow. All He had to say is, I am. The word He is supplied there
when they came after Him to arrest Him. I am. And they all were
on their face. What did He reveal to Paul or
Saul of Tarsus? revealed Him as Lord. Where was
He? On His face. Lord. Lord. In the book of Zechariah
14 and verse 9, Zechariah 14 and verse 9, it says, And the
Lord shall be King over all the earth in that day. Shall there
be one Lord and His name? One. All of the names that we read
about the Lord in the Scriptures are about one. Just one. Not many. Just one. He is the one. And he is the one that gave himself
a ransom for the church. He is the one that shed his blood
on the behalf of the church. He is the one that is brought
out in the covenant of grace as being our surety. as being
the one that would have our sins imputed to Him and promise to
impute His righteousness to us? What glory it is to read about
this branch. Just a few moments that I have
left. There is another wonderful place that mentions a rod. And that's found over in the
book of Numbers when there was a division among the people.
There was a usurper who came along and said, you know, you're
just taking too much authority on yourself. Just too much authority. And we want to be considered
in that. And so the Lord tells us in Numbers chapter 17, would
you go back there? This is the word rod or staff,
or sometimes it's a twig or a branch. This was a rod. And 182 times
in the Old Testament, this word is translated tribe. When we
look at the tribe of Levi, the rest of the tribes, this same
word is used there. In the book of Numbers chapter
17, We find that God did humor the folks. He did allow 12 twigs to be set aside. The book of
Numbers chapter 17. How gracious he was. Not just
pour out his righteous indignation, but he was He humored the folks.
He humored Moses. He humored the rest of the folks.
And in Numbers chapter 17 and verse 6, it says, And Moses spake
unto the children of Israel, every one of their princes gave
him a rod apiece, a branch, one of these staffs that they were
walking, which at one time was a living branch, been hewn off,
For a prince won, according to their father's house, even twelve
rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid
up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness." Now,
I just have to say, God was generous. He let them do this. He let them
put these rods aside, and then God is going to demonstrate my
choice. The God of heaven has the right
to make a choice. And he has chosen all of his
people in Christ before the foundation of the world. Why? Because he
is sovereign and has the right to. Just as much as he did here. It came to pass that on the morrow
Moses went into the tabernacle of witness and behold the rod
of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded and brought forth
buds and bloomed blossoms and yielded almonds. Now that's just
a wonderful picture of our Savior. He doesn't look like much to
the world, but to the church, He is altogether lovely. Every attribute, every characteristic,
every word is lovely to the church. And then we know what He did
to the rebels. God has the right to do as He
did here. He has the right to do that.
He is God. And He did that. But this one, this one rod, what
a glorious statement is made when this one rod, all the glory,
picture of Christ, not only did it have life in it, but it had
buds, it had blossoms, the blossoms had produced fruit, and there
was fruit on it in one night. Now, we look at this, we find
out that the Lord Jesus Christ, by His own purpose, and by His
covenant of grace, determined to lay aside in this earth in
a borrowed tomb for three days and three nights. And when he
came out, the church says, oh my, he's living. He has buds
and blossoms and fruit. To some, you know, the word goes
out and it just hasn't been effectual yet. But those who are the almonds,
they have been effectually worked on. They're bearing fruit. They
are bearing fruit. What a glorious thing we have
in this one, the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of a woman, the seed
of Abraham, the seed of David has come and by the sacrifice
of Himself, He appeared with the sacrifice of Himself to put
away sin. I marvel, but I believe. He put away sin. This branch, this righteous branch,
this branch of God, this one that we look at and say, God
calls Him by this name. And we call Him by this name
too, because He's let us know that very thing. He is the Lord
Jesus Christ. But by once in the end of the
world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. Now, we're waiting for the last
one. to have this sacrifice applied.
In God's mind, it's just as sure and taken care of already. But
through the preaching of the Gospel, God's going to bring
that last one to the knowledge of this very fact in regeneration. And when that last one is saved,
the last one to name the name of Christ, the last one to know
the branch, the last one to see this great work of grace, this
is going to be wrapped up in an instant. And on the right
hand will be those who know the branch, and on the left will
be those who will feel the branch. So, we're going to close there
tonight, and we'll pick up this study. Two verses left in this
third chapter we want to look at, and we'll do that. But we're
thankful for your joining us tonight, and for the fellowship
that we have in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Father in heaven,
we're so thankful that you give us this time together. And Lord,
through this technology, even in inclement weather, even when
there's difficulties and so forth that go on, we can meet together
this way. A fellow came and spoke to me yesterday
about what's the church coming to? We have to use technology.
And I just said, there was a whole bunch of folks that depended
on the letters of Paul. That was the technology of the
day. And what about those and saints scattered abroad during
the times of Peter. So, we get together this way.
We like to do it a different way, but here we are. And we
just thank You for this. And we pray, Lord, that You'd
be with the requests that have been made known. Be with our
friends, our family. Be with our brother down there
in Louisiana. Lord, this happens for a purpose.
You know. And we just pray that You'd bless
that group, that church there, as they work on their building
and get it back functioning again. Dismiss us, Lord, with your blessing
and watch over us till we're permitted to meet again. In Jesus'
name I pray, Amen.