Would you join me tonight in
the book of Zechariah chapter 3? Zechariah chapter 3, or as
we've been calling it, the gospel according to Zechariah. All of
these Old Testament books spoke of Christ. Christ was the issue
through all of these books. And here in the book of Zechariah
chapter 3, we're introduced to Joshua. And I think it's interesting,
as we read last week there in verses 1 and 2 about Joshua,
that Joshua was a principal agent in the first settling of Israel
in Cana. If we go back to the book of
the close of Deuteronomy, we introduced in the book of Joshua
that this one whose name is the same as Jesus found in the New
Testament, savior, or Jehovah saves, we find that he was typical
of grace taking those folks into the land and Moses was typical
of the law And Moses was not permitted to go into the promised
land, not because he wasn't a believer, but because he was atypical of
the law. And the law has nothing to do
whatsoever with our salvation. Joshua, this Joshua, is associated
with the second settling of the land. After the 70 years of Babylonian
captivity, we noticed early in the book of Ezra that there was
a group that came back under the command of Cyrus. And then
we have Ezra coming back under the command of Artaxerxes. So
here we have Joshua again, and he's identified in this chapter,
chapter three and verse one as the high priest. And we notice
him here as we did last week, that he's accused, almost accused
as a criminal. And the accuser is the accuser
of the brethren. He is the accuser. And it says
there in verse, One, and he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing
before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right
hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
The Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuketh thee. Is not this a bran plucked out
of the fire? So Joshua is accused, but he's
acquitted. We have here, he's declared innocent. we have here, and the one who
brought the accusation is the one who is silenced. We're thankful
that all the sin that we had and all the accusation that it
brings against us or brought against us was silenced by the
Lord's words on the cross. It is finished. The gospel is
complete. And here we have that Satan is
silenced, the Lord rebuked thee, and the saints bow in thanksgiving
to the judge because the judge is our friend. This judge, I
remember that message we heard one time that the judge is the
father of our advocate and we can't be in better hands. So
this judge declared Satan's silence and also declared Joshua's acceptance. As he goes on to tell us here,
and the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuked thee. He's a
brand pluck from the fire. And now versus three and four.
Now, Josh, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood
before the angel. Now let's, before we get onto
the next verse there, would you turn with me back in the book
of Exodus chapter 28. Quite a bit ago, we went through
this section of scripture because we were looking at the book of
Leviticus. And in the book of Leviticus,
it gives us the clothing that the high priests and the other
priests were wearing. And it gives a description. Well,
we turn over here to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 28.
Exodus chapter 28, and we have a comment made here with regard
to the clothing. And this high priest, Joshua,
the high priest, there is nothing ever said in scripture that the
clothing was to be changed, that the mitre was to be changed,
that the breastplate was to be changed, or the great cloth that
was used for his skirt was to be changed. And we have that
described here in Exodus chapter 28 verses 1 and 2, it says, and
take thou unto the Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him
from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me
in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar,
and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments
for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And then in chapter
40 and verse 13, before we get back to the book of Zechariah.
In chapter 40 and verse 13 of the book of Exodus, we have these
words given to us as they are left as word form for us to pick
up at any time and read. The more I read the Bible, the
more I'm thankful for the printed word because I get to open it
up just at any time and read it. And by that, be blessed in
reading the word. So here in the book of Exodus
chapter 40 and verse 13, it says, and thou shalt put upon Aaron
the holy garments. and anoint him, and sanctify
him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Thou
shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments. Now we have a description
over here in the book of Zechariah with regard to Joshua's garments.
Did you notice what they're described as? It says there in chapter
three and verse three, now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments
and stood before the angel. It was the command under the
Levitical dispensation that the high priest should appear before
the people with holy garments for glory and for beauty. And the first thing we read about
Joshua, this high priest, is his garments and their filthy
garments. And from the human observation
in the Old Testament, we find that when they had these garments
on, they looked really good and fine and inspired people by their
glory. As we even read there, for glory
and for beauty, these garments that they had on, they were showpieces. From the human observation, those
folks looked the part. But I am here to share tonight
that Zachariah was given some spiritual insight with regard
to Joshua. Now, I think he's looking much
deeper than just the garments that he's wearing here. Because
Joshua is a high priest, it doesn't matter what position, what place,
the human observation, it doesn't matter. The spirit of discernment
was given to Joshua in this filthiness. Now, keep your finger here. And
we're going to go over to the book of 1 Samuel, if you would.
1 Samuel chapter 16. We often are drawn to this passage
of scripture because it shares so much with regard to how God
looks at things. It is so different than we look
at things. God looks at things so differently
than we look at them. I have to admit, I am not able
to comprehend how God looks at things. I have a little view
of it from time to time, but I noticed here in 1 Samuel 16,
with Aaron in his finest garb, and that miter, and all that
breastplate, and with all the showy stones wherever they were
on him, as we find described, we're talking about a human being
under all that. Zachariah has given us some insight
in looking at Joshua, the high priest. Here we find in 1 Samuel,
it doesn't matter how we look at people, Here is a wonderful
prophet by the name of Samuel. Samuel got to see things, say
things, and do things what we haven't got to do. Here he has
been called on to anoint a king. Saul has fallen from grace, and
David is going to be selected, but he is the last one. Well,
Samuel went through a lot of apples. He went through a lot
of sons. And notice here in 1 Samuel chapter
16 and verse 7, but the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on
his countenance or on the height of his stature. You know what?
We can't get any different than that. We can't look any deeper. We have that problem. We make
judgment calls sometimes, but you know what? 99.9% of my time,
I'm wrong. We just can't see the heart. Now look what it goes on to say
here in 1 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 7. He says, because I have
refused him, that which looks the best, tallest, strongest,
powerfulest, maybe looks like the best leader, looks like the
best king, has been checked off six times. And now we come to
one that just doesn't look like he's going to be king material.
And yet we find out that he is a man after God's own heart. Notice here, it says, for the
Lord seeth not as man seeth, and you and I say you're right. The Lord seeth not as we see
it. Who in the world would have ever
looked down and called Lot justified Lot? I'm sorry, he's living in the
wrong side of town. He's on the other side of the
tracks. He's living among people that he should know better. That
neighborhood is really rotten, but God said he is justified. All right, goes on to say, the
Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward
appearance, and that's as far as we can go. Man looks on the
outward appearance. Boy, that person sure looks like
a Christian. I'm sure that there's a whole bunch of folks that said
about Peter, he's a phony, and said about Judas, he's okay. But God looks on the heart and
Peter was chosen before the foundation of the world, and Judas was marked
down in history before the foundation of the world to deny the Lord's
Christ. Alright, man looks on the outward
appearance, God looks on the heart. For man looketh on the
outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart. I have refused
him. And then we find David is finally selected. Last, least,
most unprepared. Well, Samuel being a good man
and a prophet of God had to be taught by the Lord. Well, we
find over here Joshua. He's the high priest. Surely
he has some in. We find that it doesn't matter
about birth. It doesn't matter about birth.
I don't know how many parents have told me, well, I know my
children are saved. I just know it. Sometimes I just simply have
to ask, where are they? Where are they? It was the first group of people
I was ever around, first preachers that I was ever around were sovereign
grace preachers that told me that they had children that weren't
saved. All the other preachers I've been around, they had their
kids saved by the age of five. And the sovereign grace preacher
says, it's in the hands of God. I have children I know are not
saved. That's what they would tell me.
And I says, oh my, this is different. This is totally different than
where I used to be. It doesn't matter birth or position.
or nation, education, or the sacrifice that people have gone
through to be where they are, that makes no difference. Turn
with me to Psalm 147. Psalm 147. In Psalm 147, we have
the psalmist sharing with us some of the views of God about
this subject. Psalm 147, verses 9, 10, and
11. We have here, He giveth to the beast his food,
and to the young ravens which cry. He delighteth not in the
strength of the horse. He taketh no pleasure in the
legs of a man. Now, I wondered what that was,
and I read, it said, the rider of that horse. Could care less,
doesn't make any difference. He says, the Lord taketh pleasure
in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. It isn't
to the strong and it isn't to the swift. It is to those God
has loved before the foundation of the world. The ring-streaked
and speckled and broken, those are the ones that he has loved
with an everlasting love. And also, in the book of Isaiah
55, Isaiah 55, we have a man standing before the Lord, Zechariah
is a witness to it, and he is dirty. He is filthy, has filthy
clothing on him. In Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9,
we read this. It says, for my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the
Lord. You know, sometimes I just have
to read that and say, Lord, I've got this all figured out,
but it's not. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, Now, that's an inexplainable distance, immeasurable
distance. So just think, God's ways are
an immeasurable distance from our ways. We're still frail children
of the dust. We still are frail children,
even in our saved condition, still frail children of the dust
that cannot comprehend how high God is above us. Goes on to say,
for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, anything
we have has been given to us. Anything, if you have any spiritual
understanding, thank God for it. We'd be idiots when it come to
God's word, if we didn't have God. I shared today with that
young man, I said, I had students in school, Hispanic students
who could read the words. And I'd ask them, what's that
mean? They had no comprehension. Lost people can read the Bible,
but when it comes to Christ, they have no comprehension of
what it's about. That's why we're all tied up
in religion, in legalism, and in self-righteousness, and works,
and doings, and all kinds of things. I like what Brother Rupert
used to say, it's buildings, and buses, and busyness, and
business meetings. Baptisms, that's what the measure
is in religion. But the measure with God is,
what think ye of Christ? That's the measure. What think
ye of Christ? So as he goes on, he says, as
the rain cometh down, the snow from heaven, and returneth not
to the soil, watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth the
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the hearer,
so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall
not return unto me void. But it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto
I said it. It shall accomplish that which
I please. Well, the church says, thank
you, Lord. Teach me that tomorrow, too.
Well, in five minutes, teach me that. Well, turn with me,
if you would, over to the book of Luke, chapter 16. Luke, chapter
16. As we think about the sight that
Zachariah got to see and the insight that God had given to
him of the real problem, that's the thing about believers. They
understand the real problem. It's not because we live in the
wrong place of town. It's not because we can't keep
the commandments. It's not because of all those
things. It's because of the heart. That is the problem. ruined by
the fall. And people who have been saved
by the grace of God understand a little bit about what Ezekiel
was saying after he will do all this, and he will do all this,
and he will do all this. God said he would do that. Then
you'll know your own corruption. And that's the truth. Only after
that can we realize our own corruption. And thank God that he shares
with his people, because we will not glory in our doings, but
we will glory in Christ. We will be thankful for the gospel
of his free and sovereign grace. All right, Luke chapter 16. Luke
chapter 16, verse 15. This is a comment with regard
to where people, by nature, find their righteousness. Luke chapter
16 and verse 15, it says, and he said to them, ye are they
which justify yourselves before men. But God knoweth your hearts,
for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination inside
of God. That which is highly esteemed
among, how many want to Jesus today, is an abomination unto
God. I've got it all figured out.
We're about to enter this special time. We're going to enter into
the, it's an abomination to the Lord. That's what we find here. And these folks here, as we read
in Luke 16, 15, but God knoweth your hearts for that which is
highly esteemed among, oh, he's such a prayer warrior, is an
abomination unto God. Give God the glory. I remember
a king. Every time I read that, I have
a vision in my head. That great Herod, oh, look what
I've done. He is eaten with worms because he giveth not God the
glory. Matthew 23, let's look over there. We're back up to Matthew chapter
23. In Matthew chapter 23, Zachariah
was blessed with the knowledge of the real problem. Joshua, the real problem was
Joshua. is not the outside, it's the
inside. The real problem with us is not
the outside, it's the inside, the heart. Matthew chapter 23,
verse 23. Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin.
Those are spices. Little, bitty, tiny seeds. I've
thought about that a number of times. In fact, I mentioned,
can you imagine counting out anise seed, cumin seed? One for God, nine for me. and have omitted the weightier
manners of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought
to you have done, and not leave the other undone. Ye blind guides,
which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel, woe unto you scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of
the cup and the platter, but within are full of extortions
and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, Cleanse
first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside
then may be clean. Also, woe unto you scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites. Do you think that by him mentioning
this is the way to do it, that they're going to change their
ways? Absolutely not. Just because it's the right thing
to do doesn't mean natural man is going to do the right thing
because we just can't hear it. For ye are like the whited sepulchers,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full
of dead men's bones and of uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. So we have the difference between
the outside and the inside. Now, let's go back to the book
of Zechariah, if you would with me. Zechariah chapter three,
and we find in this passage of scripture, that Zechariah is
given some insight to the real problem. The real problem that
every believer that is with him and every unbeliever that is
around him, whether they be Jew or Gentile, the real problem
is we all fell in Adam and we have all sinned. Paul mentions
that, that all are under sin. We have this very terrible problem,
and it's greater than we ever imagined. And the farther we
go along in life, the greater it is. The Lord reveals that
to us. It is a great issue. It is so
great that the only one that can take care of the problem
is not the preacher, and it's not the high priest, and it's
not the king. It's the Son of God. He is the
one that is required to take care of the problem, and God
knew that. In the covenant of grace, he's
prescribed that he would be the only one, that he would be the
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Well, here
we find that Zechariah understood this problem. The heart is black.
Even Joshua, the high priest has this issue. And Joshua, the
one that led them into the promised land, if he came down here and
taught this lesson, you know what he'd say about himself?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,
and if it wasn't for grace, I wouldn't be here. Peter, if he came down, Paul,
Paul admitted towards the end of his life, this is a worthy
saying, it's worthy of all acceptation. That Jesus Christ came to die
for sinners of whom I am chief. So Zechariah is given some understanding
about this. That even Joshua the high priest,
the issue is this. And he is high born. Did you
notice over there in the book of Leviticus that there was Aaron
and then his sons? And guess who came next? His
grandsons. And guess who came next? His
great grandsons. It was an inherited place. They continued to pass on the
problem, just like we do today. Birth, the position, he was in
a very high position. Nobody in all Israel was in a
greater religious position than Aaron was, the high priest. He
had a lot of sway and a lot of authority. You know what his
problem was? Same issue we have. You know
what the answer was? Same answer we have. The Lord
Jesus Christ and his perfect salvation. His ordination. I remember sitting under an ordination
council many years, over 50 years ago, an ordination council. They
came back, put their hands on me, and whispered into my ear
sweet nothings, and that made me a preacher. You know, when
I started telling people that I'd been saved, those people
that were on that ordination council, I told them I'd been
saved, they couldn't believe it. And they wouldn't believe
it. Education, sacrifice, good works,
and all that by nature a person may say deals with the issue,
and it does not. Too close to home to help. All right. Joshua stood before
the Lord. He was like all of us. We find
out, as it's recorded in the book of Hebrews chapter 4 and
verse 13, that all things are naked and open unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do. Zechariah was given an understanding
about this man, Joshua, the high priest, and his filthy garments,
and there was only one thing that could happen that would
make this right, and that's in Zechariah 3 and verse 4. And
he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying,
Take away the filthy garments from him. Why? And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. No greater
joy than to hear God say, I've caused your iniquity to pass
from thee. To be clothed with the righteousness
of Christ, His imputed righteousness. that the issue that we had, that
even Joshua the high priest had, David the king had, and Elijah
the prophet had, and Moses had. The problem, they're related
to Adam and that makes them full-fledged and terrible sinners before a
thrice holy God, and yet the only solution is what is brought
out here. God said, I will take your iniquities
from you. I will remove them. And that's
what he does. He removes our iniquities from us. Goes on to
tell us there in verse four, behold, I've caused thy iniquity
to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change arraignment. What a sight that Zachariah got
to see in his original state and in his after state. His original
filthy garments. This is unlawful. You can't be
like that. You as a priest cannot wear garments
like that. And yet by nature, that's all
he could be, but by the new birth, this is what he is. All his iniquities
are removed from him, and he now has this new garment on him. In order for that to happen,
now bear with me, In order for this to happen, Joshua had to
die. In order for any of us to ever
be saved, we have to die. Now I say that because Paul said,
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Christ was crucified
for Paul and Joshua and his people, in his room and stead. And when
Jesus Christ died, he said we died in him. And if we're not
in him and in his death and die in him, we have no part or lot
in this. Joshua had to die. He had to
die in Christ. He had to die in the crucifixion.
He had to die in that punishment. Now Joshua didn't actually go
to the cross, neither did you and I. But the spiritual application
of this is that everyone that God intended to save was in Christ
on that cross and he died in him. What Christ did and suffered
was in their name and on their account. And so they were crucified
and suffered with him, buried with him, raised with him, and
now made to sit at the right hand of the Father in him. Joshua
was really cleaned up. Joshua was really made right.
Joshua, all their sins and the whole body of them were laid
on him and he bore them away, destroyed and made an end of
them. They received their mortal wound
by his crucifixion and death. Now, we find in the book of Romans,
A glorious statement. I've had this most of the time
when I was in religion. This was only applied from a
literal standpoint. That if a lady is married to
a man and she divorces that man, she is in adultery. But if he
dies, she's okay to go marry. Well, let's look at the spiritual
context of that. That is so much better. Turn
with me to the book of Romans chapter 7 if you would. Romans
chapter 7. Because this is talking about
being dead in Christ. Our sins being taken away in
Christ. Romans chapter 7 verse 2. It
says, for the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he
liveth. But if the husband be dead, she
is loosed from the law of her husband. So then, if while her
husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, him. Hallelujah. Boy, dead in him, took care of
all of it. Joshua must die. He died in Christ before the
fact. Joshua, this Joshua was dead
long before the crucifixion. But because God can do all things,
he took care of Joshua's death in Christ on the cross by promise,
just like he does for every one of his people. And as a result
of that, I have removed your iniquities from you. You don't have them, paid for,
complete, full, absolute. I have redeemed you. I like that. It's not based upon whether we
accept the redemption, it's based on the fact that God declared,
I've redeemed you. And everyone that has been born
again and knows that they've been redeemed by the Lord says,
thank you, Lord. Left to myself, I would have
never come to this conclusion. So that wonderful high priest,
Joshua. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake
unto those that stood before him saying, take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he saith, behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with a change of raiment. Well, we're going to
stop here, but next time we're going to look at that passage
over in the book of Isaiah that talks about that robe of righteousness
is extended to us, that covering that makes us clean before the
Lord. And now the people of God, when asked what think ye of Christ,
they say, salvation is of the Lord. This is all my hope and
all my salvation. This is all my hope and all my
salvation. It's all of the Lord. So we'll
look there as we go on, we'll look a little bit more at that
garment that was given to him and then we'll continue on with
that fair miter upon his head there in verse five. Well, we'll
stop here tonight and we're thankful for you being with us.