Zechariah, and we're going to
spend our time in the first chapter in several other places, particularly
in the Old Testament. I'd just like to have a little
review. Now, I know we're just about to finish the first chapter,
and some may think it's a little early for a review, but I want
to have a review. The days of Zechariah are like
all ages since the fall. The things that were going on
in Jerusalem at the time that Zechariah was a prophet are the
same things that went on prior to that and the same things that
go on after that. The same things that are going
on today. Zachariah is raised up about 15 years after the first
group of people returned from Babylon. The instructions to
these people were to build a temple. When Zachariah is called as well
as Haggai, they prophesy within a couple of months of each other,
When they come on the scene, they're called by the Lord, they're
raised up by Almighty God to say something, the work on the
temple had come to a halt. And so Zechariah and Haggai both
are called on to speak to the people, encourage the people
to serve the Lord by building the temple. Now, the message
today simply is that Those who have something will serve the
Lord. Those who know something, those
who know the Lord will serve the Lord. It's just second nature
for them to do that. So as we look here in the book
of Zechariah, keep your finger here, we're going to be referring
to that, but would you back up just a little bit to begin with
here in the book of Isaiah chapter 29. These are the kind of people
that Zechariah had to deal with. Now there were some there that
were serious about what they needed to do, but here's a passage
of scripture in the book of Isaiah chapter 29. Isaiah chapter 29,
and there in verse 13. Isaiah 29 and verse 13, wherefore
the Lord said, For as much as this people draw
nigh near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor
me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward
me is taught by precept of men. Now, that last thought there,
the fear of me is taught by precept of men. They learned that in
Sunday school. Fear the Lord, but it wasn't
a heart condition. It wasn't a heartfelt reverence
for God. Put God first, but it wasn't
a heartfelt put God first. So he said here, this people,
and we're going to find that that's what was going on in the
days of Zechariah, which is quite a bit after the book of Isaiah.
And we'll find out it was going on in the same time during the
Lord's personal ministry on the earth. And it continues to go
on in the world today. of people that say they will,
won't. And yet we find that people who
say they won't, the Lord moves on them and they will. So, turn
with me if you would over to the book of Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, we find that
this passage of scripture in the book of Isaiah is quoted
in the book of Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15 verses
7, 8, and 9. We just want to see the era,
the type of people, the place where Zechariah was called to
speak. Now to the outside world, these
were the Jews. To the outside world, these were
the people of God. But when Zechariah was called,
these people were not doing what God said do. They're identifying
themselves as not believing the Word of God. The Word of God. That God's Word is the Word of
God. So, here in the book of Matthew,
chapter 15, verses 7, 8, and 9, we have this quote, Matthew chapter
15, verses 7, 8, and 9. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah
prophesy of you, saying, The people draweth nigh unto me with
their mouth, honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is
far from me. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. So the Lord was dealing
with the same kind of people that Isaiah was dealing with,
which is the same kind of people that Zechariah is dealing with
there in Jerusalem. A people that honor me with their
lips, honor me with their mouth, but their heart is far from me.
Well, if we have any knowledge of the natural heart, we understand
what they're talking about. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? So there must
be a heart transplant. Let's put it that way. And the
Lord is going to share that with us a little further. In the book
of Mark, just travel over to the book of Mark. Would you do
that with me? Mark chapter 7 and we have this quote again in Mark
chapter 7 in verse 5. Do you remember what the Prophet
Isaiah was told to speak to this people. And he said, you will
speak and they will not believe you. And he says in Isaiah 53,
who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? So Isaiah is dealing with the same people that Zechariah
is dealing with, Haggai is dealing with. The same people that the
Lord was dealing with here in the book of Matthew and in the
book of Mark, chapter 7, verse 5. It shares with us, then the
Pharisees and scribes asked him, why walk not thy disciples according
to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?
He answered and said unto them, and what they're saying is, your
disciples are not religious like we are. They're not Pharisees
like we are. What's the problem here? We're
better than them. Then he says, well hath Isaiah
the prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people
honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
How be it in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines and
commandments of men? So when we get back to the book
of Zechariah, Zechariah has been called on to talk, to preach,
to teach a people that had been called on to build this temple.
in Jerusalem, and this is the second temple that is going to
be built there. Solomon, at his time, they built
the first one, this is gonna be the second one after those
70 years of captivity, and there is a requirement, there is a
necessity to build this temple, and we'll see that in just a
moment. In the book of Ezekiel, would you join me in the book
of Ezekiel, chapter 33. Ezekiel chapter 33. Ezekiel was
dealing with the same people. Now, I'm bringing this up because
people have not changed. God has not changed. The gospel has not changed, ever. Because we're dealing with the
same kind of people in every age. In the book of Ezekiel chapter
33, so what is going to be the solution for Zechariah or Haggai? They're going to preach Christ.
That's going to be the solution to the problem. All right, Ezekiel
chapter 33 verse 30. Also thou son of man, the children
of thy people still are talking against thee by walls by walls and in the doors of
the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother,
saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh
forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee as people
cometh, and sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy
words, but they will not do them." It's a religious observance. is I have to go to church. I shared with you someone very
important in my life that I grew up with. One time I was talking
to him and he said he goes to the early service so I can get
that over with. It would really be funny, wouldn't
it, if it wasn't so. Sorry. I go to the early service
to get that over with. Well, that's what Ezekiel is
dealing with here. Calls out people they come and
sit down and he says here, but they will not do them for with
their mouth They show much love But their heart goes after their
covetousness and lo thou art appointed unto them as a very
lovely song, one that has a pleasant voice and can play well as an
instrument, for they hear thy words, but they do not do them.
And when this cometh to pass, lo, it will come, then shall
they know that the prophet hath been among them." Wow. They shall know. I think those
on the left-hand side will be able to say, the prophet had
been among us. The prophet had been among us.
Well, going back to the New Testament, as we think again about what
the Lord sent Zachariah to deal with there in Jerusalem. This
holy city, the holy land, among a holy people. the people of
God, the nation of Israel. And yet, Zechariah and the prophets
were raised up to preach to these people because they honored the
Lord with their mouth and with their lips, but their heart was
far from him. Here in the book of John chapter
8 and verse 39, John chapter 8 and verse 39, the scriptures
share this. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, now I'm
convinced that the people that Zechariah was raised up to speak
to would answer the same way. Abraham is our father. That should
be enough. Well, the Lord goes on here and
says, if ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth. which I have heard of God, this
did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father.
Then said they unto him, we be not born of fornication. We have
one father, even God. Jesus said unto them, if God
were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded from and
came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father will ye do. He was a murder from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Well, we find those in
the book of Titus who profess to know God and know him not. As a result
of the condition found throughout all places, Zechariah is raised
up in that kind of place, Jerusalem. There are many people there that
as in the New Testament times claimed Positioned by family
relationship only. We be of our father Abraham. They claimed relationship with
God through a family tie and that was with Abraham. When they
were called to serve God by building the temple, and I'll say this
right here, why build that temple? What was in that was so important? The Lord hath need of it. That's why it is so important.
And we're going to find out that that's the temple our Savior
visited. It was required, God instructed,
it was necessary that it be standing at that time. It needed to have
that veil rent in two. It needed to be destroyed in
AD 70. It was the Lord hath need of
it. So this is a task, many people
to work, and yet they are not doing what the Lord called on
them to do. One son, there were two sons, and one son said, when
he was asked to go serve, he says, I go, sir. That's what he told his father.
And went not. The other son said, I will not
go. And he went. Now something happened
to that other son. that he was interested and going
and working for the master. We find that the Lord brought
up an illustration in Luke chapter 14. There was a group of those
folks who were invited to a marriage supper. They were invited to
a party. They were free food. They were
invited to free food provided for them by a great magistrate,
a king. So it was not going to be off
colored food. It was going to be the best that
could possibly be served. And one man said, I have bought
a piece of ground. I need to go take a look at it.
Another man said, I have bought ten oxen, five yoke of oxen. I must go prove them. And another
said, I married a wife, therefore I cannot come. And the Lord was
very wroth. He was very upset. It says that
master was very upset. And so we have the blessed. blessing
to us. Go out into the highways and
byways and compel them to come in for those who are invited
will not come. Those who are not sought of me
are found of me. So we have that blessing granted
to us. The gospel went to other places. The gospel came to our place. The gospel came to us. And so
Zachariah, He's not professional in building a temple. He's been
called to preach the gospel. He's not a professional in laying
out lines. He's not a professional in what
it should look like exactly, but there were people that had
been given that gift. But his preaching, his call by
the Lord, Zacharias raised up at this time, to preach to these
people the necessity of building this because this is going to
be part of someone's coming. Someone's coming. And he's going
to bring that out as he has here towards the last part of the
book of Zechariah. He is bringing that very truth
out. I'm preaching to a group of people that don't want to
do anything, and the only people that will do something are those
that the Lord has worked on, just like me. God has raised
up a people, so he's going to share with them the necessity
of doing this. The preaching of the gospel of
Christ the Messiah was, and is, and always shall be, the only
hope of folks. Now this temple was very important
in the purpose and plan of God. His son, in about 500 years,
was going to be walking into this temple. Now this son never
visited the holy place, and he never visited the holy of holies.
He spent most of his time on the porch, outside. That's where
his ministry was. It is here that he sent the money
changers on their way. It is here that he preached some
of the sermons that he preached. It is here that he went to. It
is here where he went to the Passover. It was he that witnessed
the slain lamb and the shed blood. And then he is our Passover. So it's necessary that this be
built. Just like it's necessary the ark was built. This must
be built. God had purposes to be built
and he raises up two prophets to encourage that it be built
because they both encourage them that this is the purpose of God
and the Messiah is coming. The hope of Israel is coming.
Not in this very day, but in days to come the Messiah will
be here. Now, The rebuilding of the temple
was paramount, as even the preaching of the gospel. This is where
the Messiah will visit. This temple is where he'll visit.
Zachariah was called of God and raised up to encourage the true
people of God that faith demonstrates works. The building of the temple,
and why build it, we've just said, the Lord hath need of it.
Now turn with me back to the book of Ezra if you would. Ezra
chapter 3. Ezra chapter 3. We're going to
get to Zechariah here in just a moment. But go back with me
to the book of Ezra chapter 3. They laid the foundation in the
book of Ezra. We know what a blessing it was
to raise that foundation. We've said a few words about
this as we've looked at this book of Ezra. In Ezra chapter
3 verse 10. as they laid the foundation.
Now, for some season, it seems, that's about as far as they got
laying the foundation. The folks, well, remember the
parable of the sower? Some seed fell on ground that
the guys represented. Oh, hallelujah. I made it. And then the cares of the world.
and other things come along, and he's no longer around. And
that's what we're going to find here. But Ezra chapter 3, verse
10. Ezra chapter 3 and verse 10,
it says, and when the builders laid the foundation of the temple,
now this is just where it is when Zechariah is raised up. When they finished, and it was
a task to lay those big blocks. As we've looked at that, the
weight of those blocks was enormous. The place that it had to be put
was just exactly where the old one had been built. The altar
had to be put in exactly the same position that it originally
had been. Very meticulous instructions on this. It says, and when the
builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they
set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites,
the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord after the
ordinance of David, king of Israel. And they sang together by course,
and praising, and giving thanks unto the Lord, because he is
good, for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all
the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the
Lord, because the foundation of the house the Lord was laid.
But many of the priests, and Levites, and chief of the fathers,
who were ancient men, now that means they had been taken off
into captivity, and now they're back. that had seen the first
house, when the foundation was laid before their eyes, wept
with a loud voice, and many shouted for joy." So they look at the
laying of this foundation, and they say, this is nothing like
the original. The glory of this is nothing
like the original. And they wept, but others said
they shouted with joy. This is it. Well, if you'll turn
with me to the book of Haggai now. The book of Haggai. And that's just before Zechariah. We've been in Zechariah. In the
book of Haggai, chapter 2. Haggai chapter 2 verse 9, The
glory of this ladder house shall be greater than the former, saith
the Lord of hosts, and in this place will I give peace, saith
the Lord of hosts. The glory of the ladder house
shall be greater than the former. Now that beautiful, magnificent
temple built during Solomon's reign lacked one thing, Christ
never walked there. This temple was going to be honored
in a much better way, and that is the Lord was going to be there.
Now, in Him being there, that is a reflection of Him. He's
not a reflection of it. That temple is a reflection of
him. He is the reality. That is just
a picture. That is just a type. And yet
he must go there. It must be there during the time
the Lord Jesus is upon this earth. So he's, Zechariah and Haggai
both are preaching the gospel. The Messiah is coming. Someone
is coming to take care of the problem. Now for everyone whose
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, in time that problem
was taken care of, even in Old Testament times, at the time
of Christ, and after the time of Christ, he takes care of the
problem on the promise that he gave in the covenant of grace.
So, this temple is going to be far different, far greater. Now
let's go to the book of Zechariah. Ezra was used mightily of God
to prepare the way of the Lord. By the declaration of the gospel,
someone is coming. God used whom he will to fulfill
the word, and this is illustrated by the four horns found here
in the book of Zechariah. There's always going to be opposition
to preaching the gospel. It was illustrated here in the
book of Zechariah chapter one. We find that Zechariah noticed
here that there are four Horns are raised up. They're powerful,
left to ourselves. They're insurmountable, left
to ourselves. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the
glory of the gospel, will always overcome all the enemies of the
church. Now we can say physically, there
were nations that pushed Israel around. They even were used to
put them in captivity. They were used to disperse Israel
and they were used to put Judah in captivity. Now these four
horns that are mentioned here in verse 18, Then lifted I up
my eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns. And I said unto the
angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me,
These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and
Jerusalem. So these are those. But we also
find out that throughout history, there have been those that have
opposed the preaching of the gospel. In the time that Zechariah
was raised up, there were a whole bunch of people that didn't feel
like Zechariah was doing a very good job because he was encouraging
them to preach the gospel by raising up this temple. And their
heart was not in it. There will be a people that will.
There will be a people that do. There will be a people that will
honor God by raising up this temple. When we study world history, when I was 35 years old, 34 years
old, I mentioned to Nancy that I wanted to go back to school.
And she says, what do you want to do? And I says, I want to study
history. Well, she was smart enough to make me realize that
you can't do anything with a history degree. So I went and got a teaching
certificate on that basis of that, but I got to study history.
There's one thing that never a professor ever brought up in
the teaching of world history, and that was this world, this
earth is for the church. This earth was created for the
church. Everything that happens is on the benefit of the church
of the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ body. His church is saved
once, and once he's going to save. This is the place where
God determined to place his body before he brings them into the
fold. This world, the church, is left
out of world history. But in Bible, it is the heart
and core of world history. Nothing happens to this world
except it is on the benefit of the church and for the glory
of God. Everything that happens, the
flood, was for the church that flooded Noah's time. What does
it tell us about Noah? He was a preacher of righteousness
to the saving of his house. That ark saved the church. Just like the ark, the Lord Jesus
Christ saves the church today. He is our ark. He's our ark of
safety. So the things that were going
on in the days of Zechariah and the mention of what these horns
were, God's going to use it for his glory because he's going
to put the people of God in the place that they need to be so
that they can hear the gospel. The calamities of earthquake,
the devastation of storm, and I quote this out of last week's
bulletin. I thought it was really interesting,
the symbolism that was in there. The savage of war, all the terrible
catastrophes of plagues have only been co-workers with God. Slaves compelled to tug the ship
of divine. I thought, whoa, what a way to
put that. How to describe it. So we're
gonna have all of these events happening for the church. Now, Zachariah is used to bring
out something else. And that was those four carpenters.
He's used to bring out these four carpenters. Now, read with
me in verse 21. Then said I, what come these
to do? And he spake, saying, these are
the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift
up his heel. But these, the four carpenters,
are come to fray them. I thought that was very interesting
language on what the gospel does when it is preached. Now we're
going to mention that in just a moment, but as these four horns
representing all that the world ever would ever be the spiritual
enemy. of the church and of God, they
meet and are met by four carpenters representing preachers of the
gospel. Now there's more than four enemies
of the church and there's more than four preachers of the gospel
throughout time. Remember what the Lord shared
with a prophet who was feeling pretty bad about him being the
only one? I have 7,000. that have not bowed the knee
to Baal. I've preserved 7,000. So Zechariah
is being preserved in a great perverse time, when there are
a whole bunch of people that call themselves Judah and Benjamin,
and they're sitting on their backside doing nothing, and they
need to be encouraged to do something, or God is going to raise up a
people that will. These people. Here in, if you
remember, last week we brought up that word, carpenter, over
in the book of Exodus. I'd like to go over there again
in Exodus chapter 35. And we see here in Exodus chapter
35 and verse 30 that this word is used again when it came to
the time to construct the tabernacle. Exodus chapter 35 and verse 30. God called on some people to
do something extraordinary. It was out of their league, just
like he called on John and Matthew. And Luke and other ministers
of the gospel in his time, he called them out to do something
extraordinary or it was not in their realm, but had to be given
to them. And that was the gospel. Here
in the book of Exodus chapter 35 and verse 30, God calls on
some people to be extraordinary. And that extraordinary does not
come from themself. It comes from God. We must remember
that. All spiritual gifts, every spiritual
gift comes from God. Every good gift and every perfect
gift cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is
no shadow or variableness of turning. So here in Exodus chapter
35 and verse 30, the scriptures share this, and Moses said unto
the children of Israel, see the Lord hath called by name, the
Lord hath called by name, Beziel, the son of Uriah, the son of
Hur, the tribe of Judah, and he hath filled him with the spirit
of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner
of workmanship. This is not his common. This is extraordinary. This is
a gift of God, and the Lord called him to be this very thing. We
could go back and say the same thing about Zachariah. Zachariah
could probably have been a sheep herder, or a farmer, or a tax
collector, or anything, but we don't have any record of that.
But God called him to do something way out of his league, and that
was declare Christ, preach the gospel. This is way out of your
league. You can't do anything else but
preach it. You can't make anybody believe it. You can't get anybody
to turn to Christ about it. Who has believed our report and
to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Ezekiel at the Valley
of Dry Bones, can they live? I don't know. You know. We'll
preach to him and let's see. Well, the power came from God
and not from Ezekiel. The power came from God and not
this guy here in Exodus chapter 35. The power came from God and
not Zachariah and the power came from God and not Saul of Tarsus. This is what it's about. All
right. It goes on to tell us here, And
it says in verse 31, and hath filled him with the spirit of
God in wisdom. That is almost what we read in
1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30, what the Lord Jesus Christ
is to us. And to devise curious work, to
work in gold and in silver and in brass, in the cutting of stones,
to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any matter of cunning
work. Brother, that was a wonderful
message. Thank God. That's it. Can't get it from anywhere else.
There's nowhere else that this can come from. It is the power
of God calling and directing. Then in that verse 35, I believe
it is of that chapter, We have cunning workmen, or the engraver,
the engraver. That's the same word as we found
over there for carpenters, the engraver. And we find the true
engraver had our names graven on the palms of his hand. So
here we have all this. Whatever they did, it was because
God gave them wisdom to do it. That's it. Well, over here, we
find that these four carpenters, Now you wouldn't think that a
carpenter could go against a bull. You got these bulls out there
with great big horns and running around and pushing people around,
and yet these carpenters tells us in verse 21 of Zechariah chapter
1, but these are come to fray them. to cast out the horns of
the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah
to scatter it. These four carpenters were able
to do something that nobody else could do. There's all kinds of
incantations going on. All the priests in Israel at
the time and in Judah at the time were saying, God won't allow
them to hurt us, we'll be okay. Yet we find out that God used
them to move them as he had purposed it to be done. All the incantations
and religious denominations and organizations and all of the
stuff that was going on didn't stop them from doing it. But
we find that there's only one thing that will stop any of these
bulls from pushing around the people of God. And it's witnessed
throughout the scriptures. I look at probably the most declarative
of this is when God saves Saul. It says, he was breathing out
threatenings and slaughter. He's got long horns. God sent the gospel and it appears
that he sent the gospel through Stephen. Now, he might have sent
someone else, but he listened to Stephen's message there and
it made him so mad, he had him killed. How much later that took
place, but he left Jerusalem with orders in his hands to arrest
you and I. Believers in Damascus with the
intent of having them killed or jailed at least. On that way
down there, that gospel that Stephen preached to him out of
the Old Testament, God used to strike him to his knees. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess to the glory of God the Father. And Jesus
spoke to him on that road, and he said, Lord, who are you? He says, I'm Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest. And the next words out of his
mouth is, Lord, what will you have me to do? The gospel slew him. He wasn't
slain in the spirit, he's slain by the spirit. The Holy Spirit
came upon him in a powerful way, just as we find these carpenters
caused these horns, what's it say? Come to the fray. Now, turn with me to the book
of Isaiah, chapter 19, verse 16. This word is used there.
It isn't fray here. Isaiah chapter 19 and verse 16. Anybody that says that God isn't
able to do what he wants to do is a long-horned enemy of the
church. Because God does what he wants
to do, when he wants to do it, and how he wants to do it. And
he raised up a crippled man mentally, Zachariah. a heart whose heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. He gave
him the new birth through the preaching of the gospel, and
now he is telling these folks, I want to tell you where a beggar
tells beggars where they can find food. I'm a beggar, but
I found food in Jesus Christ, and I'm going to tell a whole
bunch of other beggars. where I found food. That's what Zechariah
is doing. Isaiah chapter 19, Isaiah chapter
19 and verse 16, this word is used here, but it's not frayed. 19 verse 16, it says, in that
day shall Egypt be like unto women. And it shall be afraid
and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts,
which he shaketh over it shall be afraid. Egypt shall be afraid. That's what these preachers of
the gospel do to people. The gospel makes them afraid. Oh, the worst day of my life
was when I found out my religion was worthless. Worst day of my
life. I cannot tell you what I plan
to do. Worst day of my life. But, what rejoicing on the other
side, Christ revealed. He says here, in that day shall
Egypt, those long-horned people, be likened to women, and shall
be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the
Lord of hosts. Nobody can shake his hand like the Lord can shake
his hand. And that's what Zechariah is preaching. The Lord is omnipotent. The Lord is sovereign. The Lord
is king. The Lord will have this temple
built because down through the ages, the Messiah must walk here. And one other place in the book
of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 30, this word is used, Jeremiah
chapter 30. Now, God doesn't make goats into
sheep. Never has, never will. That's
not what he does. He doesn't take those who are
truly, truly horned beasts and make them into sheep. But you
know what? When we're without Christ, you
can't tell a nickel's worth of difference between one of God's
elect and one of his non-elect. That's what the scriptures teach.
God knows, but they don't know, we don't know. Their heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and they could
care less, we could care less about the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It isn't until he gives us the
gospel and gives us the new birth that we see that there is a difference
and that difference is God. All right, Jeremiah chapter 30.
Jeremiah chapter 30 in verse 10. It says here, therefore,
fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed,
O Israel, for lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed
from the land of their captivity, and Jacob shall return, and shall
be at rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. None shall make him afraid. Same word. Won't have to be frayed. These gospel preachers that come
along, Isaiah was one of them, Ezekiel was one of them, Moses
was one of them, for Moses spoke to me, that's what the Lord Jesus
said. those who wrote throughout the Old Testament, all these
little minor prophets, as they're called by theologians, and the
major prophets, which they're called by theologians, and they
base it on the size of the book, these were preachers of the gospel.
And from the time of the close of the Old Testament, the book
of Malachi, a preacher of the gospel, preaching Christ and
Him crucified, a Messiah is coming, the Lord is coming. For 400 years
after that, somebody was preaching the gospel, Someone was declaring
the Messiah's coming. Trust the Lord and don't move
a muscle. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. They're preaching that down through
the time. And John comes on the scene. And the prophets were until John. And then we have those glorious
apostles preaching the same thing. And after Christ has ascended
back to the Father, preaching the same thing, and if you follow
their lives, you'll see there was somebody always nipping at
their heels, because they didn't like what they were hearing,
and it messed with their religion. But Jesus Christ called them,
just like he did Zechariah. Now, it tells us here, and I
just want to read verses 19, 20, and 21, and we'll close. It says, and I said unto the
angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered, these
are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
And the Lord showed me four carpenters. And then said I, what come these
to do? And he spake, saying, these are
the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift
up his head, but these are come to fray them. to cast out the
horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the
land of Judah to scatter it. Well, we'll stop there for tonight.
We should go right into chapter two, but our time is lacking,
so we'll pick this up at the next time. The world was created
for the church. Jerusalem was created for the
church. The events here were created for the church. The Lord
Jesus, throughout all time, has called out his people, and here
in this passage we have Zachariah called out to preach the gospel
to a people that were a gainsaying people.