Thank you so much. Let's go back
to the prophecy of Zechariah this morning and we'll go to
the last chapter, Zechariah chapter 14. My subject is Jerusalem and her
defender. That's the subject I want to
deal with, Jerusalem and her defender. And I'll be taking
four or five verses out of this 14th chapter of Zechariah, but
permit me to read the first verse to you again. Zechariah 14, 1,
Behold, this is what the prophet says, the day of the Lord cometh.
and thy spalls shall be divided in the midst of thee. Behold,
the day of the Lord cometh." And with those words, the prophet
of God reminds the people of Israel, who have come back from
Babylonian captivity, who are in the process of rebuilding
the temple and rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, He reminds
them that there is coming a day when that one who is Jehovah
over all, blessed forever, the everlasting God, that one who
has been set forth in the Old Testament as the Messiah, that
Savior who is coming, he reminds them that that day is quickly
advancing. Now when he speaks of the day
of our Lord, he's speaking about the entirety of the gospel age. That is, he takes in the very
first coming of our Lord Jesus when he was indeed born of the
Virgin Mary, and this extends all the way to his second coming
when he with his saints shall come in power and glory at the
end of this age." So with this introduction, behold the day
of the Lord cometh, or it's coming, it's advancing, it's on its way. Zechariah reminds the people
then, and he reminds us this morning, that our Savior who
was promised throughout the Old Testament, for instance, in Malachi
3 and verse 1, Malachi says, Behold, he cometh. Behold, he's
coming. Now, his coming was yet 400 years
off when Malachi wrote those words. When Zechariah wrote these
words, his coming was 500 years away. But you see the saints
of God in the Old Testament, they had been looking for him
to come ever since Adam and Eve fell, ever since God made to
them the glorious promise that the seed of the woman was coming.
All of the saints of God from Adam and Eve, and I do believe
that they were converted by the grace of God, and Abel and all
the rest of the saints of the Old Testament, they were continually
looking for that one who would come and make everything right
between them and God. They knew that Adam had put all
men in a state of alienation from God. We'd all sinned in
Adam. But they looked for that one
who was said to be the seed of the woman, and he was going to
come and he would establish righteousness, and he would put away the sins
of all of his people by substitutionary sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. So for 4,000 years, they've been
looking forward to his coming. Here in Zechariah 14, that coming
is yet 500 years away. But still, Zechariah is saying
what all of the prophets said. Behold, He is coming. Behold,
He is coming. And indeed, He did come in due
time, that one who is the consolation of Israel, that one who came
to comfort His people. And I remind you that our Lord
Himself was the comforter. Remember, He said this to His
disciples regarding the coming of the Spirit of God. He said,
I will send you another comforter. That's what he said. Another
comforter. Well, who was the first comforter?
The Savior. He's the one who came to comfort
his people. Ron read to us there from Isaiah
chapter 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye God's
instructions to his preachers, saith the Lord. Comfort ye my
people. How do we comfort the people
of God? What kind of consolation can
I give you today? What kind of consolation could
Isaiah give to the people in his day? What kind of consolation
could Zechariah give to the people in his day? What kind of consolation
could Malachi give to the people of God in his day? The consolation
was this. He is coming, that one who is
the great comforter to His people. And here's our comfort, by His
first advent, He will put away all of the sins of all of His
people for all of eternity. And that's great comfort to His
people. The comforter is coming. Now, let me give you five things
in this message. And here's the first thing. And
obviously, Jerusalem is kind of the key word in all of this,
Jerusalem, the city of God. Psalm 87 and verse 3 talks about
Zion being the city of God. That's Jerusalem. This is where
God dwelt. Now take that literally or physically
to begin with, it was in Jerusalem where the temple was built. and
those who would worship God by means of a blood sacrifice, they
had to come to Jerusalem. For only in Jerusalem did God
dwell in the tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies, at the Ark of
the Covenant, upon the Mercy Seat, that's where God dwelt. And He could only be approached
by those who were priests in the holy place, but only the
high priest could enter into the holy of holies. And if you
wanted to worship God back in those days, you had to go to
the temple. There was only one place you could go. There wasn't
many different places throughout the world where a person could
go and worship God. It was only in Jerusalem. And
you see, in that it's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. If
you want to worship God, and I do, don't you want to worship
God? I want to honor God. I'd like to magnify God today.
I'd like to approach His holy throne so as to be accepted. Well, here I am a sinner. I eat,
drink, eat, everything I do, sin is a part of me. Well, how
can I draw near to God? Only through that one who is
the temple of God, the very tabernacle of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Jerusalem where we
worship God. Would you come to God? Would
you be accepted by God? Would you draw near to God so
that you would worship Him? You must worship Him through
our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Jerusalem, literally,
literally, was where God manifested His presence. And it was a great
city, literally. You know, of course, that it
was the capital city of the United Kingdom. And then after the division
of the kingdom into the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom.
Jerusalem was still the capital of the southern kingdom. But
this is where our Lord came. You know, when he was only 40
days old, he was brought by Joseph and Mary to the temple to be
presented to the Lord. And he would have been brought
by, typically it was the father, and Joseph was assumed by many
to be the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly, I guess
you would call him his stepfather. It was typical then for the firstborn,
the male, who was the firstborn in the family, had to be brought
to the temple and presented to the Lord by being presented to
a priest. And there had to be a sacrifice
offered. on behalf of Mary and also on
behalf of our Lord Jesus. One was a sacrifice that satisfied
the justice of God in type, and the other one was a sin sacrifice.
But even more than that, or perhaps in addition to that, when Joseph
presented that 40-day-old, 40-day-old infant to the priest who was
Simeon, Simeon then would present that baby to the Lord. Lord,
this baby is for you. He is dedicated to you. And we know that was absolutely
true concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. He was brought to Jerusalem
to be publicly dedicated to God, and he was dedicated to God all
of his life. Everything he did, every word
he spoke, every thought that went through his mind, every
motive that he had was all for the glory of God. Everything.
He said, I delight to do thy will, O God. And Simeon the priest, having
received the Lord Jesus, held him up as it were to God. This
one is for you. Oh, how true that was. Never
was that more truer than when our Lord Jesus was presented
there in the temple in Jerusalem to the Father. And you know what?
He had to be redeemed, our Savior did. He had to be redeemed with
five shekels of gold. That was the law of God. Every
male that openeth the womb, the father had to pay five shekels
of silver, the redemption price, to buy him back as it were from
the Lord. And our Redeemer had to be redeemed. Isn't that amazing? You see,
he made himself under the law. He had been circumcised at eight
days, and thereby he committed himself to obey the law of God,
and then being presented to God, he was God's all of his life, right up to the time of his death.
And he could say, my life I lay down, oh my God, for thee, for
thee. I love these people you've given
me in covenant grace. It is on their behalf that I
do shed my blood to my death. I will bear the fullness of your
wrath in my soul. But I know, my Holy Father, this
offering of myself to you, the offering of my soul to you, is
for your justice and for your satisfaction. And that all began, you see,
in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem. When our Lord Jesus
was 12 years old, once again He came to Jerusalem at one of
the feasts. And there He manifested His extensive
knowledge of the Old Testament. And as a young 12-year-old lad, He was hungry, hungry to learn. It's one of the amazing things
about our Lord's humanity that he grew in stature and in wisdom. He truly was like a sponge absorbing,
absorbing knowledge. That happened in Jerusalem when
he was 12 years old. and then to just kind of hurriedly
go forward through his life. Of course, he did many things
in Jerusalem, but he made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Indeed, this has been set forth
in the book of Zechariah here, where the Lord promised the people
that he would send his servant, and he would come in Jerusalem,
and people would rejoice in his coming. That was His triumphant
entry. And then it was just outside
the gates of Jerusalem that He laid down His life for us. He
made one offering for sins forever just outside the gates of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was indeed very significant
throughout our Lord's life. But in the Bible, in the Bible,
There was not only the literal city of Jerusalem, and of course
many times in the context bears this out. The context will show
you if the writer is talking about literal, the literal or
physical city of Jerusalem, or if he's talking about the figurative
or the spiritual city of Jerusalem. You see, the spiritual city of
Jerusalem is the church of our Lord Jesus on earth. This is
the city of peace. We're at peace with God. We have
peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. There's a very significant
statement in Ephesians 2. Four words. And you would do well to remember
these four words, and they're all single syllable. He is our
peace. Can you remember that? Isn't
that simple? He is our peace. Not what you do, not your labors,
not your works, He is our peace. He's the great peacemaker. He
made peace between us and God by His sacrifice, the sacrifice
of Himself upon the cross of Calvary. And that happened just
outside the city of Jerusalem. So the word Jerusalem, which
means city of peace, Taken literally, it had to do with that literal
city in the Middle East, in Israel. But taken spiritually, it has
to do with the people of God on earth. And you know what the
people of God in heaven are called? You know what that's called?
The New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem. And if you
care to read in Revelation chapter 21, John is watching the end
unfold according to the purpose of God. And John says, and I
saw the new Jerusalem come down out of heaven. Oh, well, that
was some kind of city. Wait, wait. Adorned as a bride
for her bridegroom. You see, the new Jerusalem is
not a city with stoplights and hardtop roads
and roundabouts and things of that nature. The true Jerusalem
is a people loved by God from all eternity, chosen unto salvation,
redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, called by
the Holy Spirit to faith in the Son of God. And those who go
on to glory, the scripture says they're in the new, that's the
new Jerusalem there. And we're Jerusalem here on earth. I'll make good on that. Turn
with me to Isaiah 61. Isaiah chapter, excuse me, Isaiah
62. Isaiah 62, verse 1. Isaiah 62, verse 1, for Zion's
sake. Do you know what Zion means?
It means a parched place. That's what we are by nature,
just all dried up. For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness." He's not talking about a liberal city now. He's
talking about a people. And all kings thy glory. And
thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the
Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand
of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate,
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah. For the
Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For
as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee.
And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy
God rejoice over thee. I have said, Watchman, preachers,
upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their
peace, day nor night, ye shall make mention of the Lord, keep
not silence." This is the Jerusalem of God. This is the city of peace. By
the way, did you know that the city of Jerusalem, the original
name was Jebus. J-E-B-U-S. It was the city of the Jebusites.
J-U-B-U-S. I'll give you a reference on
that. You can jot it down if you want to turn to Judges 19,
verse 10. Jebus, which is called Jerusalem. And if you look back and study
there in the book of Judges, Jebus, it was a heathen city,
and it really, literally means polluted. Boy, that's us. Polluted in sin. Polluted in
sin. Foul before the Lord. But this people who is by nature
polluted in sin is the true Jerusalem of God. This is the city of God. This is where God dwells. No
wonder it's called the holy city. The city of our God. Go back
to Zachariah. I hope you didn't maybe lose
your place in Zachariah. Look at Zachariah chapter 8.
And verse 3, Zechariah chapter 8 and verse
3. Zechariah 8, verse 3, Thus saith
the Lord, I am returned unto Zion and will dwell, abide, tabernacle
in the midst of Jerusalem. He's not talking about the literal
city. He's talking about his spiritual people. And Jerusalem
shall be called a city of truth. Jim, how do I know that if I'm
a citizen of the true Jerusalem? Well, do you believe the truth?
Do you believe him who is the truth? He said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Me. You see, the true Jerusalem is
the city of truth, not the city of error, not the city of compromise,
not the city of freewillism, not the city of do the best you
can. It's the city of truth. By grace
are you saved. Salvation is in Christ and Christ
only. Salvation originated with God. And He's the one who brings it
to pass. It's the city of truth. And really,
every local assembly, Every local assembly where the true gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace is regularly and consistently
proclaimed, in that sense, is a city of truth. Maybe people watching by way
of the Internet this morning, maybe it's just one or two or
three of you, I don't know how many people are gathered around
the computer screen or the television screen you're watching. Let me
tell you something, you love the grace of God, you love the
Lord Jesus Christ as He set forth in the Word of God, you constitute
a city of truth. You see, all around us we could
describe as being a city of error, a city of compromise, but not
so with the people of God. It's a city of truth. May I ask
you to turn back to that passage in Isaiah 40 that Ron read to
us? Isaiah chapter 40. Permit me to read verses 1 and
2 again. They have been very ably read
to you earlier. Let me read them to you again.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. God has a people. He has a people. Everybody's
not his people. Everybody would constitute his
creation, but he has a people that he loves with an everlasting
love. It was for his people that Christ
came into the world. Thou shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save," what's the next two words? His people, right? His people from their sins. So God says, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. They're not your people. Sometimes
I hear preachers say, you know, I tell my people, and they're
not your people. They're God's people. Owned by
God. And every preacher, every speaker
would do well to remember that. We're speaking to people whom
God loves with an everlasting love. People that God has identified
as being, they're my people. They're not your people. They're
my people. Now watch this, verse two. He
says, speak ye comfortably. That means speak with understanding. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem." Notice the word Jerusalem, the
people of God. Jerusalem, God says, is my people. In the literal city of Jerusalem,
could it ever be said that all of them were God's people? The
answer is no. No. There was so much idolatry
in the city of Jerusalem. That's one of the reasons the
Babylonians came and attacked the city. And these people over
in Zechariah that we've been reading about, they were taken
into captivity. It was because of their ungodliness
and their idolatry. Many years later, about 570 years
in the future from the prophecy of Zechariah, the Roman Emperor
Titus is going to come to Jerusalem, the liberal city, and tear it
all apart. In fact, the Savior said there
won't be one block standing upon another block of the temple.
It's all going to be destroyed. What was the reason for that?
For their idolatry. They hated the gospel of grace.
They hated the day of God's visitation to them in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They would have none of him. He's not talking about a liberal
city here. He says, speak comfortably to
Jerusalem and crying to her. Well, what is he supposed to,
what's he supposed to cry out? Tell her your warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned. See,
that couldn't be true of the literal city of Jerusalem. This
is a spiritual city he's talking about now. For she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all of her sins. The true Jerusalem. Her sins have been pardoned. She has had woven for her by
the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ, A gorgeous
robe of righteousness. And notice what he says to Jerusalem,
concerning Jerusalem down in verse nine. Oh, Zion, that bringest
good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. Oh, Jerusalem
that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift
it up. Be not afraid, and say to the
cities of Jerusalem, Behold your God." You see, the true Jerusalem
of our Lord has a message, and we're to be true to that message.
Why does God leave little pockets of the city of truth here and
there? Why does He leave His people
in this world? I was listening to a television
preacher this week, and he said, he said, the church needs to
do a better job in its influence in the world. That's not why
we're here. We're not here to change the
world. We're not here to change the morals of the world. We're
not here to attack various things that we don't like about the
world. Well, what is our duty then as the people of God? To,
as it were, stand on top of a mountain and say, behold your God. It's our job to tell people who
God is because they don't know. Our job's to tell the truth about
Christ. and the reason he laid down his
life for sinners in order to satisfy divine justice. So he says speak comfortably,
speak with understanding to Jerusalem. I'm speaking to some of Jerusalem
this morning and I hope you understand me. It's no use to preach if
we're not speaking in an understandable way. I know this is understandable.
He is our peace. You got that, don't you? And
you just file that away in your memory banks. You take that home
with you. He, Christ, is our peace. There is no other one who is
our peace with God save the God man. And he made peace by the
blood of his cross. We have peace with God through
Christ. Here's the second thing, and I'll ask you to go back then
to Zechariah chapter 14. Zechariah 14. I said Jerusalem is the city
of God. Here's the second thing. Jerusalem
is a city attacked. In the end of verse one, thy
spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee, that is, the enemy
is gonna come in and plunder your possessions. And God says,
and I will gather, watch this, I will gather all nations against
Jerusalem to battle. The nations aren't going to gather
themselves together against God's church. Rather, the Lord says,
I will gather to gather all nations. Because you need to remember
this rule. All things are of God. If it's tribulation, if it's
affliction, if it's trouble, if it's trial, turmoil, whatever
it is, God's the first cause. I saw one of the brethren down
at Kroger's day before yesterday. And he's had COVID. And of course, I had COVID. Our
cupboards were getting bare. And they said, somebody got to
go to the grocery store. So I went to the grocery store.
He said, well, did you give me COVID? Knowing him, I started to say,
I hope I did. Sorry, Richard. Just funny. I said, no, I don't think I did,
but if I did, I didn't aim to. But I know this, nothing can
happen to a child of God apart from God and his sovereign will
because he's the first cause of all things. If you get sick,
you can blame it on me. And I told him, I said, you can
go ahead and blame it on me. My shoulders are broad. I've been
blamed for about everything else. You can go ahead and blame me
for getting sick. I talked to Mrs. Poole this morning. She
is down here at the King's Daughters in the hospital. And a dear,
sweet lady, faithful member of this congregation for many years,
a charter member. And she said, you know, I was
at church two weeks ago today. She said, that was the last time
you were there, wasn't it? I said, yeah. She said, you shook
hands with me and my nephew, didn't you? I said, yes, I did.
And I said, it may have been me. I don't know. But I said,
ultimately, it was the Lord who made us all sick. God says, I'm going to gather
all nations together. See, nothing that we would consider
negative or in an afflictive way, nothing can happen to the
people of God apart from the sovereign purpose of the Lord.
Jerusalem is a city attacked. Now it was literally attacked
indeed by the Babylonians, later by the Romans. But let's look
at Jerusalem in the truest light as being the city of God, the
city of peace, the city of truth, the people of God. We're constantly being attacked
by another city. And that city is Babylon. You
see, in this world, there are just two main cities. One of
them is the city of God, that's Jerusalem, the city of peace,
the city of truth, the city from which the truth of the gospel
of grace goes forth. And the other city is Babylon,
which is anti-Christ, anti-gospel, anti-salvation by the free and
sovereign grace of God. It's the city of works. It's
the city of free willism. It's the city of do the best
you can and God will accept you. And this city of Babylon has
constantly attacked God's Jerusalem. And it will be that way until
the end of time. The church is always under attack. You see, there's a conflict going
on in the world. You know how long it's been going
on, this conflict between righteousness and wickedness? Between what
we would call good and evil? Ever since Lucifer fell. And
a third of the angels fell with him. And Lucifer, being kicked out
of heaven, wound up as a snake in the Garden of Eden. And He
seduced our mother Eve and she, Adam. And Adam fell. He's the
father of all of us. And in Adam, we all became sinners.
He's the federal head of the human race. We all became polluted in Him. What happened? How did that happen?
Because of an attack. It was the attack of the evil.
And I'll tell you, this controversy, our Lord spoke of it in Genesis
3.15, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. They've
been going at it ever since. And it's still going on today. The Lord Jesus said, I will build
my church permit me to say this way, I will build my Jerusalem. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it, but they'll surely try." See, here's the thing about false
religion. They can all manage somehow or
another to get together and agree on one thing. They're opposed to the God of
the Bible and opposed to His people. And nowhere is this more
evident than in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, in
His betrayal, in His arrest, in His crucifixion. While the
Pharisees and the Herodians and the Sadducees They couldn't get along on anything.
They couldn't agree with it. What kind of ice cream do you
like? Do you like chocolate? Well, we don't like chocolate.
It was a disagreement about everything. They couldn't agree on anything
except they had a common enemy, Jesus of Nazareth. And you see, the church of our
Lord Jesus Christ has been the recipient of multiple attacks
from the enemies of the gospel. But, quickly, look at number,
here's the third thing. Jerusalem, the city defended.
Then, then shall the Lord go forth. Go forth from what location? He shall go forth from heaven
above to the earth. There's his first advent right
there. Then shall the Lord go forth at the due time, at the
right time, at the appointed time, he shall come and fight
against all of the enemies of his people. As when he fought
in the day of battle. When was the day of battle? That's
when he fought against the Egyptians. And you know what the Israelites
said about our Lord Jesus then? In Exodus 15 verse three, the
Lord is a man of war. Yes, he is. And He has gone to
war against our enemies. And I'll tell you when that war
happened, it was at the cross of Calvary. That's when He took
on all the enemies of His true Jerusalem. Satan, sin, death,
hell, and the grave. He took on all of our enemies
and He fought with them and He slew them all. He's the great
conqueror because you see, He's the defender of His people. He
saw our dilemma with all of these enemies, Satan against us, the
demons of hell against us, false religion against us, and we,
in a sense, against ourselves. And He came to make things right.
And He did that by the blood of His cross. Jerusalem is a city defended.
Psalm 62, verse six, he only is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defense. I shall not be moved. Psalm 89,
18, for the Lord is our defense. The Holy One of Israel is our
King. Psalm 94, 22, but the Lord is
my defense. My God is the rock of my refuge. Oh, what a mighty defender. Look
back a page or two, chapter 12 of Zechariah in verse eight. Actually, it's right across the
page in my Bible. Zechariah 12, eight. In that
day, in that day when he died upon the cross of Calvary, shall
the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. What a mighty defender. He triumphed gloriously over
all the foes of His people. Just very quickly, I'll have
to give you the two points for the final two points. That is,
Jerusalem, a city safely inhabited. Look at verse 11 of chapter 14.
Chapter 14, verse 11. and men shall dwell in it in
the city. There shall be no more utter
destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." Let me
tell you something, at the end of this gospel age, it will be
seen that Jerusalem is fully inhabited and safely inhabited. And the reason is because of
who our defender is, the Lord Jesus Christ. Quickly turn back to chapter
two. I've just got to read this passage to you. Chapter two, verses three through
five. And behold, the angel that talked
with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him. and
said to him, run, speak to this young man, and this is what you
say, Jerusalem shall be inhabited. I need read no further. Jerusalem
shall be inhabited. And then when we get to the very
end of the book, at the end of the book, it says, Jerusalem
shall be safely inhabited. Safety. I like that. We have everlasting life in Christ
our Lord. And then finally, I'll give you
this. Jerusalem, number five, is a city of purity. Look at
verses 20 and 21, chapter 14. In that day shall there be upon
the bells of the horses holiness unto the Lord, and the pots in
the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea,
every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto
the Lord of hosts. And all they that sacrifice shall
come and take of them and see therein. And in that day there
shall be no more Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts,
no more professor who doesn't possess life. In that day we shall be seen
to be holy to the Lord. Tell you what Paul says in the
book of Hebrews, without holiness, No man shall see the Lord. Preacher,
how could a sinner like me ever be holy? How could a sinner like
you, preacher, ever be holy? In Christ my Savior, who of God
is made unto me wisdom and righteousness and sanctification, that's holiness,
and redemption that according as it is written, he that gloryeth,
let him glory in the Lord. This is the city of God, Jerusalem. My, do we have a great defender,
and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ.