Thank you, ladies. That was wonderful
and taken right out of the scripture. Well, let's go back to that portion
of scripture that Ron read to us out of the book of Zechariah,
chapter 9. I'm going to begin by asking
three questions. I've already addressed verse
number 12 in a couple of different messages, but I want to at least
touch on it once again this morning. Look again at verse 12. He says,
turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. Even today
do I declare unto thee, or I declare that I will render double unto
thee. First question, what are sinners
commanded to do? Understand, this is not an invitation. The king of kings doesn't give
invitations. He gives direct commands. And the Lord says he commands
sinners to do this, to turn to the strong hope. That is, turn
to the refuge. You prisoners, there is hope. There is the word of God that
promises salvation for those who look to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the Lord commands you to turn to the refuge, turn to the
fortress. Literally, turn to the castle. That is, turn to that only one
who can be your defense, who is the salvation of poor sinners. The wrath of God is coming. Judgment
is coming upon this old sinful world. There's only one place
for you to be hidden from the judgment of God. That's to be
hidden in Christ Jesus. Oh, if you would right now flee
to the only refuge, to that great stronghold of poor sinners, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only Savior. He's the
only Redeemer. He's the only one who can bring
you into the presence of God. You see, we're so thankful there
is the way to God, and the way to God is a living, reigning
person. It's the Lord Jesus, our Savior. He's the one who lived and died
for sinners. He's the one who satisfied God's
justice. He's the one who rose again because
God was pleased with the work that He did upon the cross. He's
the one who reigns over all. We just sang, the Lord is king,
the Lord is king. Lift up your voices. This is
the refuge you need to look to and turn to. Here is a great
command in that song that they just sang out of Isaiah chapter
one. The Lord says to come right now
and let us reason together. There's an urgency about this,
and it seems to me there aren't very many people who realize
the urgency of running to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. I compel you to come to Him.
God commands you to come to Christ Jesus. You're a sinner, aren't
you? You're a fallen rebel. You fell
in Adam. There's no hope for you anywhere
else. There's no castle for you to
run to except Christ Jesus. There's no fortress except the
Savior. There's no word that you can
find safety from the wrath of God except in that one who bore
the wrath of God for all of his people. And so here, first of
all, the first question is, what are sinners called to do? They're
called to turn ye to the stronghold. Turn you. This is about you. It's not about everybody in here.
I'm not addressing, I know in a sense I'm addressing everybody,
but I'd like to ask this question of everybody. What are you to
do? What does God call you to do?
To turn now to the fortress, to the refuge, and not only those
who are unconverted, but this is also for the people of God.
Where are you gonna find peace in this world, in this world
of trouble and trial? And Ron alluded to that in his
prayer just a few minutes ago. People have afflictions, people
have difficulties in life. Where are you going to run to?
Where are you going to hide? There's only one great stronghold,
people of God. We would do ourselves a wonderful
thing if we would once again run to the stronghold in the
day of our trouble. The second question is this.
Not only what are sinners commanded to do, but when are sinners commanded
to turn to Christ? Now, now, I know this. Sinners will only turn to this
great refuge if God turns them. Now see that, You're responsible
to turn, God commands you to turn, but the only way you'll
ever turn to Christ, the refuge for sinners, is if God turns
you. So often in the scriptures we
read, Lord turn me and I shall be turned. Jeremiah 31.18 says
that. Turn thou me and I shall be turned. In verse 19, surely after I was
turned, that's when I repented. You see this turning to this
stronghold. means you turn away from everything
else, that's called repentance, and you turn to the stronghold,
Christ Jesus. You can't turn to Christ Jesus,
this great refuge for sinners, without turning from every other
false hope. Turn from your works. Turn from
your sin. Turn from your legal obedience.
Turn to Christ. Turn to Christ. And if you turn
to Christ, it's because God the Spirit has turned you. Oh God,
turn us to the Son of God. Psalm 80 verse 7 says, Turn us
again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Again, Psalm 80, 14. Return, we beseech thee, O God
of hosts. Look down from heaven and behold
and visit this vine. Lord, visit me. Visit me so that
I will look wholeheartedly to Christ, the only refuge for sinners. That's what I pray for you. That's
what I pray for myself. Lord, visit me. You see, you
have no ability in and of yourself to turn to Christ. That's what
sin has done to us. It has rendered us spiritually
dead. And our only hope is for God
to do something for us. Oh Lord, turn me. That's when
I'll be turned. And that's when we will turn.
If the Lord Visits us in grace. Here's the third question Then
what will be the result of a sinner being turned to this stronghold? What will the center find once
he has indeed turned to the Lord Jesus Christ He or she you will
find immense blessings In fact, such mercies you can't
even conceive of. And right here in this passage,
it was read to us, there's so many things the Lord says that
he will do, and he often uses this word, the word shall. Look what happens, here's the
results, the sure results of turning to Christ. That's the
title of the message, the sure results of turning to Christ. Number one, verse 14. And the
Lord, this is one of the results, the first result. And the Lord
shall be seen over them. If God the Holy Spirit turns
you to the stronghold of Christ Jesus, the first thing you will
recognize is the fact He's the Lord over you. You see, He has earned the right
of lordship as the God-man. As God, He already had that right.
Because He's God from everlasting to everlasting. But God the Son
took into union with Himself our flesh, our nature, with the
exception of sin. He stooped down. He humbled Himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The justice of God demanded death for sins. Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried and He arose again
the third day according to the Scriptures. He satisfied every
demand of divine justice for all of the people in whose stead
He suffered, bled, and died, and arose. God raised Him from
the dead because God was satisfied with what He did. Our Lord Jesus,
one of the last words He said from the cross of Calvary was
this, it is finished. The work is done. Salvation is
accomplished. Sins have been put away. Righteousness
has been brought in. Justice is now quieted as far
as those in whose stead Christ died. It has no accusing finger
pointed at us. The justice of God says, I'm
fully contented with what the Lord Jesus has done for all of
His people. And as a result of His obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross, God has exalted Him
and given Him a name which is above every name, that it's the
name of Jesus. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess that He is the Lord. He's the Lord to
the glory of God the Father. And if you've been turned to
the stronghold, The first thing you're going to recognize deep
down in your heart is this refuge for sinners, this stronghold,
He's not a sissy-mamby-pamby Jesus. He's the Lord of glory. That's who He is. That's what
it says. And the Lord shall be seen over
them. You will see Him as the Lord
over all, yes indeed, but you will also see Him as your Lord. And you'll cry out as did Saul
of Tarsus, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? You'll cry out
as did that believing thief upon the cross, Lord, Remember me when you come
into your kingdom. That's the recognition that Jesus
of Nazareth is the master of all men, and especially he's
our own Lord and Savior. Peter recognized who he was when
sinking beneath the waves He said, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Oh, hear me, my
sinner friend. You're sinking beneath the waves
of vindictive justice. May God turn you to put a cry
in your soul. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Nobody else can
do it. The preacher can't do it. The
church can't do it. Some evangelistic, super-duper
soul winner can't do it. Only the Lord can save you. Lord,
save me. And I'll tell you, He's Lord
over the quick and the dead. Romans chapter 14 says, for to
this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might
be Lord both of the dead and the living. He's everybody's
Lord. And you may not recognize the
fact that he's your Lord, but he is whether you realize it
or not. He governs all things. And you
see, this is a sure result of turning to Christ. You'll really
see who He is. He's not a pitiful beggar. He's the Lord of glory. I listen to preachers on television
every once in a while, and they kind of make people feel sorry
for the Lord Jesus. You don't feel sorry for the
king. You don't feel sorry for the Lord. You don't feel sorry
for the sovereign. He has all people, places, and
things in the palm of His hand. He controls all things by the
word of His power. And if the Lord ever turns you,
if the Spirit of God ever turns you to Christ Jesus, the stronghold
for poor, perishing sinners, you'll see, this one who saved
me, he's the Lord of glory, and you'll bow down in worship. The second thing is, notice this
next phrase, and his error shall go forth as the lightning. Earlier in this chapter, the
word of the Lord is likened unto the sword of a mighty man. And that mighty man is Christ
Jesus. And now the gospel is likened
unto an arrow. An arrow that like lightning
is directed to that which it strikes. Can you, can you, can anybody
hold back the lightning from that target to which God aims
it at? You say, well, no, that's an
impossibility. That's the way the gospel of
God's grace is. If God the Spirit takes aim at
your heart, the gospel will be like an arrow. You'll notice
here it doesn't say arrows, and His arrows shall go forth." Throughout
the Scriptures, you'll often read of arrows, and that's the
Lord's judgments. But here it's singular, and here's
the reason. There's just one gospel. There's
just one message of good news. And the Spirit of God sends it
forth like an arrow, like lightning. You'll hear in your heart the
thunder roll against your own sinfulness. And then the gospel
comes to you in saving power like an arrow from God. It is
an arrow from God and like lightning, it strikes your heart. And I'll
tell you, you'll never get over it because it does such a job on
you. You see it says, notice I gave
you the first, and the Lord, he shall be seen. That's the
first shall. And now his era shall go forth. There's life, it shall. You can't
hold it back. One of the many privileges of
preaching the gospel, and one of the many delights is this. I know the gospel's going to
go forth to somebody. I don't know who, but it's like
an arrow shot from the bow of God's grace. It always finds
its target. Oh, Lord, shoot me. Isn't that
kind of the way you look at it? Lord, aim your arrow of grace
at me. Hit my heart over and over again. That one arrow of the gospel
of redeeming grace. See, it's just one arrow, just
one gospel. There are many false gospels.
Paul addresses that in Galatians chapter one. One true gospel. of the successful redemptive
work of our Lord Jesus Christ, His death, His burial, His resurrection
that saved His people from their sins. The Lord's gospel shall go forth
as an era. Thirdly, it says, and the Lord God shall
blow the trumpet. The Lord God shall blow the trumpet. What is this trumpet? It's the
Jubilee trumpet. Let me tell you something. Let
me teach you a little bit in case you don't know about this.
You know, the Sabbath days were very important in Jewish history. But you can read in Leviticus,
the 25th chapter, every 50th year, Every 50th year, there was the
sounding of the jubilee trumpet. Kind of a side note, it's the
only time that trumpet was ever used. The jubilee trumpet. Every 50th year, that jubilee
trumpet was sounded, and you know what it meant? It meant
rest for the land for a year. rest for the people for a year. It meant that all of those who
had sold themselves into servitude, they were absolutely free. No
more obligations. And those who were in debt, God
said to their debtors, forgive all their indebtedness in that
50th year. The Jubilee trumpet, my friends,
that's the gospel trumpet. That's the gospel trumpet. And
the Lord sounds that loud and clear in the redemptive work
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rest for you, rest for your soul. Isn't that what the Savior said?
He said, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you, what'd he say? Rest. I'll give you rest. That's the Jubilee trumpet. And
who sounds it? The Lord shall sound it. The
Lord shall blow this trumpet. You see this gospel, this gospel
of forgiveness for all of your indebtedness there to God. It's the Lord who sounds the
trumpet. Oh, indeed, he gives the message
to preachers of the gospel and teachers of Sunday school classes. The Lord gives us that message.
But ultimately, here's the trumpet is sounded. The Lord shall blow
the jubilee trumpet. And he says to all of those who
are enslaved by sin, you're free. You're free. But what about the
law of God, doesn't it hold me captive? No, you're free. We sing that song once for all,
free from the law. Oh, how wonderful that is. How
wonderful. You see the year of Jubilee,
that 50th year, every 50th year now. And by the way, oh this is something
else I need to tell you about this. You know what Sabbath day
it was when they blew the jubilee trumpet? The Day of Atonement. Read about that in Leviticus
chapter 16. Now you know about the Day of Atonement. We've talked
about the Day of Atonement. When Aaron offered the one goat,
he sacrificed that goat, put the blood on the mercy seat in
the Holy of Holies. There was another goat, the scapegoat. Aaron having sprinkled the blood
of atonement, the Day of Atonement's like the most important day of
the year to a Jew. Every 50th year on the Day of
Atonement, That's when the Jubilee trumpet was sounded after Aaron
laid his hands upon the scapegoat, confessed the sins of Israel,
a fit man, pictured Christ, led that scapegoat out into a wilderness
area and released it, came back, and that's when the trumpeter,
we got several fellows in here who've played the trumpet and
taught trumpet, that trumpeter, He just had one shot at it, because
you only blow this one time a year. And boy, he sounded out the Jubilee
trumpet. And what was that Jubilee trumpet
based upon? The atonement had been offered. You see? Reconciliation had been
made. The blood had been shed. where
the blood has been shed that pictured the Lamb of God dying
for sinners, sound the jubilee trumpet. Forgiveness, no more
indebtedness, no more servitude. You're free and if the Son shall
make you free, you shall be free indeed. The Lord shall blow the trumpet.
And then number four, It says here, and shall go with the whirlwinds
of the South. What's the whirlwinds? That's
the powers of the Spirit of God. They go forth as whirlwinds from
the South. What does the South bring us?
The warm breezes. And I'll tell you, God sends
forth, he shall send forth his whirlwinds, the wind of the spirit. Did you know that the word wind
in the Old Testament and the New Testament and the word spirit
in the Old Testament and the New Testament, they're the same?
They're the same. In Ezekiel chapter 37, I remember
Matt spoke on this passage of scripture several months ago.
when the Lord took Ezekiel out into a wilderness where a battle
had taken place many years before that, and there was nothing left
now of the dead soldiers but bones. And the Lord said, Son
of man, can these bones live? He said, Lord, God, thou knowest.
He said, start preaching to the bones. That's what I'm doing, I'm preaching
to dead bones. And then he said, now, prophesy
to the wind. Blow upon these slain ones. Blow, mighty spirit, blow. Send forth life. And I tell you
what, the spirit of God comes in like a whirlwind. And it'll
turn you upside down. in its convicting power, and
it comes out of the South with warm breezes to encourage you, not to make you fearful, but
to do you good. The Lord shall blow the whirlwinds. And then fifthly, in verse 15,
the Lord of hosts shall defend them. He shall. Here's another
shall. Here's our defense. This is our covering indeed from
the wrath of God, from the wiles of the evil one, from every enemy that would oppose
us. Our Lord is our defense. You're
no match for the devil. You're no match for your flesh.
You're no match for your sins. Well, then what assurance is
there that we will be kept safe, that this salvation is from everlasting
to everlasting? What assurance do we have? The
Lord of hosts shall defend them. He is our defense. You who believe
him, you who have looked to the stronghold, I tell you, you are
safe. Because you have a mighty defender. You need not fear sickness. You need not fear troubles. And
you certainly need not fear death. Why not? the Lord of hosts, the
Lord of all of the angelic beings. He shall defend those who turn
to the stronghold. And then it says, let's keep
going, look at the next one here, and they shall devour. The word devour, look it up,
it means they shall feast or they shall eat. What do we feast
upon? That one who's the bread of life.
We feast upon Christ. Isn't that what we're doing this
morning? Hasn't the Lord seated us as
it were at his table? And he has set before us a gospel
banquet? You who are the Lord's people,
are you not feasting right now? Are you not eating of this glorious
banquet which the Lord has set for us? They shall eat. And then it says, and here's
the next one, they shall subdue with sling stones. With the sling
stones. He uses weak, weak vessels, weak
instruments to set forth and send forth the
gospel of his grace. And all of our minds are probably
now going to David with his sling and his five smooth stones, story
we all learn from our vacation Bible school days and even from
our Sunday school class days. How can we subdue anybody? How
can I subdue anybody? Well, I can't. But I'll tell
you what, even though I'm weak, I put a stone in my sling. It's
one stone. It's the gospel of the sovereign
grace of God, and I let it go. And I'll tell you what, that
gospel has brought down many a giant. Many a giant has fallen
to this gospel. It was just put out there, slung
out there by a weak preacher. And then he says, and they shall
drink and make a noise as through wine. We drink of the gospel. You remember
in the book of Acts, the second chapter on the day of Pentecost,
The Spirit of God came upon that meeting in a tremendous way.
And they began to preach the gospel in languages that they'd
never studied before. And you remember what the critics
of these preachers, you remember what they said? These men are
drunk. drunk on new wine. No, they're
not drunk on new wine, they're drunk on the gospel. You see,
the precious elixir of God's saving grace to the unworthy
through the Lord Jesus Christ is poured out and we drink abundantly. This is a wine that you can keep
on drinking of. And I'll tell you what it'll
do, it'll fill your heart with joy. And then he says in the last
part of verse 15, and they shall be filled like bowls is the corners
of the altar. Those bowls at the corners of
the altar were filled with blood. Blood. And certainly we have
been filled with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, a deep
love and appreciation for the gospel of redeeming grace. But our bowls are also filled
with thanksgiving. That's why David said in Psalm
23, my cup runneth over. I'm just filled to overflowing. Don't be a pessimist when it
comes to the things of God. Your cup is filled to overflowing
with all of the mercies, all of the grace, all of the truth,
all of the great supplies that God gives to needy sinners in
this world through the Lord Jesus Christ. He has filled us. He
has filled us with grace and he will soon give us glory. The Lord shall fill them like
bowls at the corner of the altar. And then he says this in verse
16. Here's the 10th thing. And the
Lord their God shall save them. Shall save them. In that day
as the flock of his people. How's he gonna save the flock
of his people? Through the shepherd. Christ
said, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life. for the sheep. The Lord their God shall save
them. I tell you what, He shall save
somebody. He shall save somebody. And I'll
tell you what, by the grace of God, I want to be in on this.
He shall save sinners. Lord, here's one! He shall save
those who have no strength. Lord, here's one! He shall save
those who have no righteousness. Lord, here's one right here.
He shall save his flock. Says, for they shall be as the
stones of a crown. Precious stones, precious jewels. And we adorn his crown. Did you
know we're precious to the Lord? Don't go around moaning and groaning
and feeling sorry for yourself. The Lord God of glory, Christ,
your stronghold says you're precious to me. Don't go beating up on
yourself. Says he's coming back one day
and he'll gather his jewels together. jewels, diamonds, gold, silver. Those things are valuable, but
they're not more valuable than you are to the Lord. Not more valuable to the Lord
than I am and every child of God. And it says, they shall be lifted
up as an ensign upon His land, as trophies of His grace. Now here's the reason for all
of it. In conclusion, verse 17. Why all of these shalls? Why
all of these gospel promises? Why all of these sure results
of turning to Christ? The word for means because. Because
how great is his goodness. Not how great is your goodness,
you don't have any. But how great is his goodness.
Oh, the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ. And how great is
his beauty. Beautiful savior. Surety. Substitute. Sacrifice. And then he says, corn shall
make the young men cheerful. And new wine the maids. That
word corn really is grain. most likely wheat, from which we make bread. Bread
and wine. Bread and wine. When Abraham
came back from battling the kings, he was met by Melchizedek. You
know what he gave him to eat and drink? Bread and wine. and
we partake of the Lord's supper. We will be doing it at the last
Sunday of this month. What does it consist of? Bread
and wine. That's what makes our hearts
joyful. Oh, not the liberal bread, not the liberal wine, but what
those elements represent, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ
and his precious shed blood. And we will rejoice in him. This
is what happens when the Lord turns us and we enter into the
stronghold. We find out all these blessed
things. May the Lord turn each of us.
May our prayer be just like that of Jeremiah. Lord, turn me! And I shall be turned. He's got
to get hold of us. and He's got a turn to us. May
He do it for His glory.