Book of Zechariah, and we're
going to start with verse 8 of the second chapter of the Book
of Zechariah. I am constantly blessed when
I realize that Zechariah was a preacher of the Gospel. He
was a holder forth of the Word of God. He was a mouthpiece for
God. God would have found another
mouthpiece, but he chose Zechariah and he moved in Zechariah to
do his bidding. He makes us both to will and
to do of his good pleasure. That's his business with his
people. And here in the book of Zechariah chapter 2, it says,
verse 8, for thus saith the Lord of hosts, after the glory hath
he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you. For he that toucheth
you toucheth the apple of his eye. Now there's a passage, keep
your finger right there because we're going to come back. But
there's a passage over in the book of Deuteronomy that I want
to read right here that fits so well as we look at the proof
of the church's union with the Lord. There is such a vital living
union between God's people and the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
our bread of life and He is our water of life. It's such a vital
relationship that was created in Christ Jesus, such a vital
relationship that is created when God gives us the new birth.
We are brought into a relationship with Almighty God and He is pleased
about it. We are invited into His presence
and He is pleased by it. Here in the book of Deuteronomy,
He's speaking here specifically of someone we are acquainted
with in the Old Testament, but from a spiritual standpoint,
we have this as the church and the relationship of God to his
church, and that's in Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32, and I want
to read verses 9 and 10. As we think about the relationship,
he that touches you, touches the church, touches the apple
of his eye. Now, just thinking about the
eye, I saw a film the other day about, it had some of the sheep,
the wild sheep, and their eyes are way over here on the side.
Have you ever thought about our eyes, why they're there, where
they are? They're in protection. We have a forehead that runs
over the top of them. We have eyelashes. We have this
hair around it. Every bit of it is for our protection.
And then I read that there's a film on the underside of the
eyelid that detects, when it detects some irritant, it causes
us to do something that we have no control over, and that's tears
or quick winks to get rid of that stuff. How God has taken
care of us. and pictured in that very eye
that we have, covered with this bone and nestled in soft tissue
to protect it, how he is sharing with us the relationship between
he and his church. He is the protective care of
the apple of his eye. And over here in the book of
Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 9, for the Lord's portion is
his people." Jacob is the lot of his inheritance, and he's
speaking here, yes, about Jacob, yes, about the children of Israel,
but on a much higher level, he's speaking about the church, about
God's people, about those that the Lord Jesus Christ Came to
this earth to die in the place of he represented them. He is
their covenant bearer He is the one who had his hands graven
with their names and then in verse 10 This is where he found
the church. This is where he found Jacob.
This is where he found the church He didn't find them in the church.
He found them in a desert land and He found them away from him. There's nothing in natural man
that has an inclination to moving towards the spiritual God. Now we will move towards a God,
but we will not move towards the God, the God of heaven. We
are opposed to him on every side. We're opposed to him with our
body, our mind, and our spirit. We have no interest in him. We'll have an interest in religion.
We'll have an interest in a God, but we will not ever by nature. Now it takes the God of heaven
to find us in the desert, just as it says, I found him in the
desert in the waste howling wilderness. That's worse than the desert.
The Waste Howling Wilderness. Another name for this is where
Mephebosheth was, Lodibar. Another place for this is where
Saul of Tarsus was. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
There was no bread there. There was no water there. There
was nothing there that would redound to the glory of God.
He says, I found him in. God finds his people in. This is a place of we can't get
out of. It's a place that's waste and
it's howling, and yet it hits our dead nature spirit to just
stay there and not be too displeased with it. He led him about. He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his
eye. How many times we find God doing
something for Jacob or God doing something for the church here
in this passage of scripture in the book of Deuteronomy. And
it's no wonder that we find another preacher of righteousness, another
preacher of the gospel found here in Zechariah saying, God
said with regard to the church, whoever touches me, touches them,
touches me, touches the apple of his eye. And we mentioned
last week about Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus when
the Lord stopped him and said, why persecutest thou me? If Paul
ever met the Lord Jesus, we have no record of it. There are certain
people that surmise he may have. He might have been the rich young
ruler. Some people say, well, that's just surmising. But he
really was in a position in his conflict with God in religion
to touch the Lord Jesus Christ people, and that's like touching
him. So why persecutest thou me? In verse nine of Zechariah chapter
two, we have these words. Zechariah chapter two in verse
nine. For behold, I will shake my hand upon them, and they shall
be a spoil to their servants, and ye shall know that the Lord
of hosts has sent me. I will shake my hand upon them. Zechariah declares the gospel. And he is used to speak of God's
judgment to all the rest. I will shake my hand. Now, God shaking his fist or
his hand in the face of anybody never turned anybody to repentance.
That's an interesting thing. Of all of the judgments that
God ever brought on anybody, Old or New Testament, it never
turned them to God. Herod is eaten by worms and he
didn't turn to God. Nobody's turned to God by that
thing. I'll shake my hands and all he's saying is this is what
I'm going to do to the rest. My church I will protect, I will
oversee, I will guide, I will dwell in the midst of them, I
will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people. But
the rest, I'll shake my fist at them. I
will pronounce judgment upon them. Zechariah was part of those
who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, so these words were
more prophetic concerning the church and God's salvation sent
to all places of the world. I will shake my hand upon them,
they shall be a spoil to their servants, and ye shall know that
the Lord of hosts has sent me, this sovereign king, this sovereign
God. I am caused to go to the book
of Revelation, and would you join me there, chapter five,
verse nine, for just another reading of what we find there.
I am caused to go here from time to time, Because as we read to
the Old Testament, we find that the Lord shared a number of times,
many times, over and over again, that the gospel was going to
be sent to the Gentiles too. That they were part of the covenant
of grace. And there were many that in the
days of Jeremiah that didn't believe that. There were many
in the days of Isaiah that didn't believe that. There were many
in the days of Genesis that didn't believe that. They didn't believe
God was gonna deal with anybody. There's many in the days of the
Lord Jesus. They didn't believe that. But
the church believes that the church is called out of a waste-toweling
wilderness, and that might be right here in the Dalles. It
might be down there in Bend. It's a waste-housing wilderness
without Christ. And here in the book of Revelation
chapter 5 and verse 9, I'm brought to this place so often because
it says, then they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy
to take the book and open the seals thereof, for thou was slain
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of. And I just love the rest of it
because that tells me that Brother Lance Heller down in New Guinea
is preaching the gospel and he's calling people out of that place
and places where God has taken the word of God. It goes on to
say here, yes, by thy blood out of every kindred, he has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. So this host of church that we're
gonna read just momentarily here in the book of Zechariah, where
he's gonna dwell, has every nationality, has every skin color, has every
language, has every peoples in it. And yet every one of those
that God ever draws out of a waste howling wilderness has this to
say about the Lord. They sung a new song, thou art
worthy. to receive glory and honor and
praise. They depend wholly and completely
upon the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
doesn't matter the skin color. It doesn't matter the language.
It doesn't matter the nationality. It doesn't matter the religious
background. It matters not at all, because in the new birth,
in regeneration, God gives us a new song to sing, and that
is, worthy is the Lamb. And we're out of the equation.
We never bring up, Lord, look what I did for you. We never
bring up, look what I think, look what I do, look what I see,
look what I... We always have this in mind. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and praise. And that's what Zechariah is
doing when he's preaching to the people there in Jerusalem
after coming from He is preaching the gospel. And in that gospel,
people are going to be saved out of every kindred, nation,
people, and tongue. Well, going back to the book
of Zechariah, chapter 2 there, it says, verse 9, excuse me,
verse 10. Verse 10, sing and rejoice, O
daughter of Zion, for lo, I come and I will dwell in the midst
of thee, saith the Lord. To have God dwell? Now... It just would be enough if the
Lord would just tabernacle here as he said he did. He tabernacled
in this earth. God gave up the glory that he
had with God before the world began and tabernacled in this
world. He came down to this earth in
flesh as we bear. He came down to this earth and
went through the trials and tribulations of humanity. He became like his
brethren. He was tempted in all ways that
were tempted, yet without sin. He went through the feelings
that we go through, and He is a true representative of His
people. He is the true representative
of His people. And we have this great wall of
fire about us. As it tells us here, In verse
10, I will come and I will dwell in the midst of thee. I will
be your protection. I will be your overseer. I will
be your commander. I will be the officer of your
salvation. I will be the author and finisher
of your salvation. I have the utmost care in protecting
you from all comers. Every sin, all things, everybody,
I will protect you from all these outside forces that come up against
you. And even your own flesh, I will
protect you from because it is not stopped from sinning from
the day we were born until the day we die. But I will protect
you from that very carcass you carry around with you every day. And I will not bring up those
sins it commits. even after you're saved. And
the church is worthy as the lamb that was slain to redeem us.
Worthy is he to take care of us. So as we look at this, we
find that he does this and he uses many terms in the scriptures
to declare that he dwells with the church and he has the oversight
of the church. What does it say there? I will
and I come and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the
Lord. Now, turn over to the New Testament, would you, to the
book of John chapter 10. John chapter 10, as we look at
some of the descriptions that the Lord gives us with regard
to this great care that he gives the church. As we say, our granddaughter
sometimes asks the question, granddad, do you allow lava monsters
in the house? And her dad and I will say, no,
we lock the door against them. Well, just think about that for
a moment, and a little girl's thought, wherever they come up
with that stuff, I have no idea, but it was real. And here in
the book of John chapter 10 and verse 7, he says, then said Jesus
unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the
sheep. Now that is significant for the
sheep. that he's the door. He does not
leave that job to the preacher. He does not leave that job to
the teacher. He does not leave that job to
the politician. He doesn't leave that job to
anybody. He says, with all authority,
as the Lord of hosts, I am the door of the sheep. Now we know
that that door is the entrance into the sheepfold, but he's
the protection of the sheep in the sheepfold. If they don't
come to him, they don't come in. And if he doesn't draw them,
they won't be brought to him. So he is the door. I am the door. What a pleasantry to realize
that he is the door, the protective defense to the church, that whatever
comes, is as a result of his good pleasure. All right, turn
with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians, chapter one. 1 Corinthians, chapter
one. We had some lessons from this
passage just recently. Brother Mike brought these out
from 1 Corinthians, but what a thought to realize that he,
I will dwell with you, and this is what I bring. This is what
I bring to the dwelling. I not only am the door of the
sheep, But here in 1 Corinthians 1, and there in verse 30, all,
well this isn't all, but this is a wonderful list of things
that the Lord gives us through the preaching of the Apostle
Paul about what he is to the body. When he dwells with us,
he brings this with him. These, every good gift and every
perfect gift, cometh from the Father of lights, come down to
us. He dwells with us in this. He said there in verse 30, but
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. God made this unto us in Christ. We don't raise this up. We don't
erect this protection. We don't erect this dwelling.
We don't erect any of this. It is God that does this and
he says he made it to us wisdom. He is our wisdom. Well, something
comes along, and we think about it for a little bit, and we say,
you know, that might be okay. And we are taken to the word
of God, and the word of God says, it's not okay. And we say, thank
you, Lord. Thank you. Thanks for bringing
that to my attention. Because you know what? I don't
want to go down that road, if it's not your road. I want to
be here with you. And then he says, there and there,
he's, and righteousness. Oh, we are so prone in our flesh
to want our righteousness, but he dwells with his people, and
he is their righteousness, and what a joy it is to realize,
as he dwells with us, that he is the protective righteousness
of his people. That he is their righteousness,
and it is that righteousness, that standing with God, that
only Christ can provide, because he's the only one that did all
of God's will. He's the only one that kept all
that was assigned from Sinai. He's the only one that kept all
that was assigned to Adam. Adam the obedient. There's only
one that kept that, and that's the Lord Jesus. And he is the
righteous. He imputes that standing to his
people. It's their protective glory,
his righteousness. And then it goes on in there,
and sanctification. Don't have to worry about that
anymore. I believe every believer wakens in the morning and says,
Lord, keep me from sinning. But we don't have to worry about
sanctification. That's God's business. He is
our sanctification. And that just makes it that much
easier to dwell. He dwells with us. and gives
us all our sanctification, gives us all our righteousness. And
then he goes on and says, and redemption. We don't have a finger
in that. We don't have a finger in the
wisdom. We don't have a finger in the sanctification. We don't
have a finger in the righteousness. We don't have a finger in redemption.
It all belongs to God. So when he comes and dwells with
the church and provides all of those rich blessings, we rest. He's our Sabbath. We're resting
in him. In the book of Matthew, go back
just a little bit to the book of Matthew chapter 20. Matthew
chapter 20, as we think of these rich blessings, as he dwells
with us. And what does he say? We hear,
I'm just so blessed with this passage of scripture, that where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I dwelling
in the midst of them. I added the word dwelling. I'm
in the midst of them. And in the midst provides all
of these rich spiritual blessings that we didn't have an idea of
what they were in our natural state. But in Christ Jesus, we're
given all of these rich blessings. Here in the book of Matthew chapter
20, Matthew chapter 20, this wonderful statement here by the
Lord Jesus. Now, he's dealing with being ministered unto, and he
says, I'm not interested in that. Our ministering to him can't
provide anything. His ministering to us can provide
everything. We can't give him a thing. We
can't add glory to him. We can't add honor to him. We
can't add praise to him. We are called on to do that,
but we're not adding a bit. Here in the book of Matthew,
chapter 20, and there in verse 28, it says, even as the Son
of Man came not to be ministered unto, But to minister, now look
at this word ransom. When we were going through the
book of Leviticus, that word just popped out a number of times,
and it has to do with slavery. That's where the ransom comes
in. Being in slavery, and we are by nature in slavery to sin,
and we need to be ransomed out of that, and he is the only one
that can provide the ransom price And the ransom price is far above
any price that we can pay because it was the blood of the Son of
God that ransomed us. That's what was required. So
we see the seriousness of the problem again by the ransom price. If we were a nothing and didn't
need anything, it wouldn't be much of a ransom price, but since
we're His children lost in a waste howling wilderness. And if he's
ever gonna get us out of there, the payment must be made. And
that payment was the blood of Christ, the Son of God, the Lord
Jesus. Came not but to minister and
to give his life a ransom for many. The rest, I'll shake my
fist at. but I'll ransom mine. All right,
over again, going over to the book of Romans. Romans chapter
eight, would you join me there? Romans chapter eight, as we think
a moment here as that protected dwelling. There has to be some
agreement. There's a passage in one of the
minor prophets, I think, that says, how can two walk together
except they be agreed? If we're going to have God agreeing
with us and dwelling with us, then he has had to give us the mind of Christ. We just are
not going to walk with God without agreement. And by nature, we're
in total disagreement. The word that Paul used and is
translated for us is enmity. And that is a serious word about
a real tragic situation on our part. We are at warfare with
God. And really for no reason. He's the offended party. We're not the offended party,
he's the offended party. So for no reason we're angry
with God, except it's our nature to be angry with God. Well, here
in the book of Romans chapter 8, verse 31. Now this is a wonderful,
we read this all the time. If you write in your Bible, you've
got marks all over this page. But it says here in Romans chapter
8 and verse 31, just think about, I will dwell with you. I will
come and dwell with you. I will be your wall of fire about
you. I will come and dwell with you.
That means that there's an agreement here. We're going to dwell together. There has to be an agreement.
And there has to be an agreement. The people that he's going to
dwell with have to agree with him. Because he's not going to
change. He's not going to change his
purpose. He's not going to change his character or attributes. He's not going to change. So
we have had to have a change about God in order for God to
dwell with us. And that change comes by the
Holy Spirit, comes by the new birth, and the Bible becomes
a new book. And it is the word that we find
here that God uses us to agree with God. Because without this,
we would not know God. We'd know nothing about Him.
All right, Romans chapter 8, and there in verse 31, it says,
what shall we say to these things if God before us who can be against
us. If God is dwelling with us, who
can be against us? Not one. It's interesting. He tells Israel, I'll fight your
battles. Well, Israel in the Old Testament
is the church. I'll fight your battles. All
we are required to do is to be faithful to his word. I'll fight
your battles. And his battle is to overpower
every lost sheep and give them life. I'll take care of it. One of the preachers tonight
was sharing on that Zoom meeting that he's been at a church for
35 years. And there's been a lot of kids
when he started. And they've grown up. And now
they've graduated from school and got married. Hardly any of
them are attending. This is heartbreaking, but God
hasn't seen fit yet to save them. He said his mother and his dad
were after him all the time about getting his kids saved. He's
just not doing that. Well, you used to do that. I'm
not doing that now. Not when grace has come. It's
God's work. All right, it tells us right
here in Romans chapter 8. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Verse 32, and he that spared
not his own son. That is some interesting language.
He spared not his own son. Well, he couldn't if there was
gonna be redemption. Delivered him up for us all.
How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Protection. Righteousness, wisdom,
sanctification, and redemption, all things. All the fruit of
the spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
peace, all those things, and all the other things. The door,
he'll be the door, he'll be the bread of life, he'll be the water
of life. I will give you all things. And then it says here,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifieth. Take it up with God. I stand here complete in him,
take it up with him. I'll never forget substitute
teaching one time and they were having a fit about the lesson
plan that the teacher left. So I passed out paper and I says,
write your complaint to your teacher and I'll give it to him.
Don't take it up with me. It's right here in the paper
that I have. This is what we're going to do. Take it up with
him, take it up with God. Well, no lost person will ever
face God on good terms, so they're not going to. Goes on to say, Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather.
It's not us that died. It's not us that are risen in
this sense. We are risen in him. We're justified
in him. Who is even at the right hand
of God, who maketh intercession for us? Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
For it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long,
we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Know in all these
things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. He
is the one that fights for his people. I will fight for you.
I will take care of this. And so as the Lord shares with
us throughout the scriptures, just as he brought out here in
the book of Zechariah, I'll dwell in your midst. I will be part
of you. I'm going to represent you. I'm going to ransom
you. issue you righteousness, sanctification,
justification, give you wisdom, give you all the fruit of the
Spirit. I'll give you everything that God has ever demanded of
you because I'm going to be the only one that can provide it
and I'll dwell with you. And that's a promise that God
continues to keep to this very second. He has always been with
his church. Now it doesn't say that he will
not have people in that church suffer persecution, but he says
the most valuable thing that I am and I have is I will continuously
and perfectly watch over your spiritual well-being and not
one will be lost. Not one. There won't even be
the ragtag kids lost, or the ragtag middle, or the ragtag
elderly. I will present all spotless at
the throne of grace. There's no power that we have
to perform anything that is spiritual, but God is able to do that, and
he does it quite well. The Holy Spirit never assists
a natural man to understand spiritual truths. The natural man cannot
and will not and the Holy Spirit never calls on the natural man
to understand spiritual truths. But he does reveal his spiritual
truths to us in regeneration. And that's how we get the truth
of the matter. He never tries to educate somebody
into the kingdom. He never tries to make them over
and dedicate themselves enough so that he can give them the
spiritual truths. He never has ever asked anybody
in their natural condition to ever believe anything spiritual,
because he knows they can't. But he can and does give spiritual
birth to his people, and then they can. Why? Because he gives
them that understanding. That's what he does. I like what
he said, and our time is abating us, but I like what he said to
a man who the Bible tells us was short and therefore got up
in a tree. His name was Zacchaeus. Would
you turn with me to Luke chapter 19 as we think about the Lord
abiding with us, abiding with the church? In the book of Luke
chapter 19, we find that the Lord Jesus illustrates this point
very well with a publican. Now, you would think that people
would rejoice when the Son of God does something good for a
lost man. But you know the religious people
are gonna find fault with Jesus dealing with a sinner. That's
just common. He should be dealing with good
people. But the Lord deals with sinners.
And here in Luke chapter 19, it tells us, and I'm just going
to read down here in verse 5, Jesus, he has an appointment
to go to Jericho. Because there's a man down there
that is fallen short of the glory of God. He's short in stature.
He gets up in a tree. He thinks that by elevating himself,
he'll be better off. And when Jesus came to the place,
what caused him to look up? Was it because Zacchaeus rattled
some leaves up there? My goodness, no. That's where
his appointment is. Zacchaeus could have been screaming
out loud and Jesus could have walked by him. And he could have been absolutely
silent and Jesus could have looked up there cuz that's where his
appointment is, is in that tree. Looked up and saw him and said
unto him, and he calls him by name. I don't think Jesus had
ever met him before. And I don't think Zacchaeus had
ever seen the Lord before. But the Lord knew this, he is
a child of Abraham in a spiritual sense. Zacchaeus make haste and
come down for today I must abide at thy house." Talk about dwelling. I must abide. I'm going to your
house. He made haste and came down and
received him joyfully. Same type of word is used about
the Ethiopian eunuch when he went on his way rejoicing. So we find that Zacchaeus came
down, he made haste, he came down because Jesus said, I must
abide at your house today. Now, before that Zacchaeus couldn't
even imagine this man coming to his house and now he is going
to his house and Zacchaeus has been ordered that I'm going to
your house. And as for Zacchaeus is good, the Lord Jesus did that. The Lord dwells in the hearts
of his people by faith. He dwells there. That's what
it tells us in the book of Ephesians chapter three. He dwells in the
heart of his people. Well, in order for him to do
that, there has to be a new heart. He has to have. Turn with me
to Psalm 90, if you would. Psalm 90, as he dwells with the
church, as he dwells with his people, wherever they are. It's wonderful when we can meet
together like this and have the Lord dwell with us. But you know
he dwells with every one of us individually every day. Also,
there's a corporate dwelling that we enjoy and appreciate.
But there is a private, individual dwelling that he has promised
every believer, everyone that he raises from the spiritual
dead. Psalm 90 verse 1, Lord, thou has been our dwelling place
in all generations. There's only been one place.
where God's people can dwell, and that's in the Lord. He has
never asked anybody to dwell anyplace else, and he has never
called on anybody to dwell anyplace else, and in fact, he has never
told people to go anywhere else. You are our dwelling place in
every generation. From the time that God created
Adam and Eve to this very day, it's still the only dwelling
place because that's where he dwells with his people. One more verse and then we'll
close. Revelation 21. Revelation chapter 21 and verse
3. Ooh, I wish I could get around
this verse of scripture. This is a giant sequoia verse. But it says, Revelation chapter
21 and verse 3, and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men. The Lord tabernacled among us. That's what it says in the book
of John. And he will dwell with them. and they shall be his people
and God himself shall be with them and be their God. There is no substitute for God
himself. No substitute for God himself.
He will dwell with us and we will dwell with him and it's
all because of grace. and for no other reason in this
world. We'll stop there and we'll pick
up again.