Thank you, ladies. I appreciate
that. Let's go back to the book of
Zechariah again this morning as we continue preaching and
studying through this Old Testament prophecy. And we're going to
Zechariah chapter number 9. Chapter 9. And I'm going to read
just a few verses beginning at verse 9 and I'll read through
verse 14. Zechariah. The prophecy of Zechariah,
chapter 9. Well, the Lord's servant says,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, and shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem. And of course, Zion and daughter
of Jerusalem, those are just other names for those who are
the people of God. He says, Behold, thy king cometh
unto thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an
ass. And I will cut off the chariot
from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow
shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen,
and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the
river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the
blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out
of the pit wherein is no water. And then he says in verse 12,
turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. Even today
do I declare that I will render double unto thee, when I had
bent Judah for me, and filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised
up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made
thee, made thee as the sword of a mighty man." There's no
question but what this chapter is all about our Lord Jesus Christ,
as all of the scriptures are. But especially in this, the ninth
chapter, we see such beauties concerning the person and the
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse number one, all of his
people are said to look, look upon the Son of God, look at
the last part of verse 1 of chapter 9, that last statement, when
the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, all true, all
the true people of God, they shall be or the Lord. They shall look to the Lord.
This is a promise of grace from the Lord Himself. When all of
the people of God will behold the Lamb of God. That's the message
of John the Baptist in John chapter 1 it's recorded. He said, Behold,
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And there
will be for certain all of the people of God. It is certain
that all of the children of the Lord, all of the elect of God,
all of those that He redeemed by His blood, all of them shall
look to the Lamb of God, shall behold Him and be saved. Have
you looked to the Lamb of God? Are you looking to Him? May God
give us all grace to look to Christ. And then he continues
by saying that this one who is our Lord Jesus is the governor
of Judah. And Judah is, of course, another
name for the chosen people of God. Look at verse 7. I will
take away his blood out of his mouth and his abominations from
between his teeth. But he that remaineth, even he
shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah,
and Ekron as a Jebusite. That is, the One who is our Savior,
the only One who remains, the only One who is perfect, the
only One who is sinless, the only One who can save us. He
will be to Judah, He will be to His own people, the governor. He's the head of the church and
He's the governor of the universe. He has all dominion over all
things. Our Savior said just before He
ascended back to heaven, He told His disciples, all powers given
unto me in heaven and in earth, go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. He's the governor of the nations. There is one who reigns. There
is one who governs. His is an active government. His is an active reign. And that is our Lord Jesus who
has been exalted as the governor among the nations. And then look
at verse 8, he encamps around his people. He says, and I will
encamp about mine house because of the army, that is because
of the enemies, because of him that passeth by, because of him
that returneth. The Lord encamps around his people. We read in the Psalms, the Lord,
the angel of the Lord encampeth round about those that fear him. You who are the people of God,
we fear God, that is we reverence God, but because we reverence
him, we need not fear anything else or anyone else. And the reason is because the
Lord, our savior, The angel of the covenant, he encaps around
about all of his children. You who sometimes find yourselves
by yourself, perhaps you live by yourself, perhaps I'm speaking
to somebody who's watching by way of the internet or somebody
in this congregation and you're by yourself. Know this, the angel
of the covenant, that's the Lord's messenger, that's Christ Jesus. He encamps round about you, you're
encircled by his omniscience. He's all-knowing, he's omnipotent,
he has all power to defend you and protect you from those who
would harm your soul. He is the one who governs the
nations. He is the one who encircles his
people. And notice this, this last statement
of verse number eight. He says, and no oppressor shall
pass through them anymore. The word oppressor is an interesting
word and it means exactor. That is as one who comes to collect
a debt. literally would mean one who
comes to collect tribute. Well, this is referring to the
law of God, the justice of God. The justice of God collects the
debts of those who owe Him, and that's everybody. Everybody owes
the justice of God a debt that we cannot pay. But our Lord Jesus
came on behalf of His people, and the debt that we owed, He
paid. And therefore, no one will come
to collect a debt from you because your debt has been paid. You're
absolutely without debt before a holy and a righteous God. All
of your sins were paid for by the Lord Jesus, by his substitutionary
sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. So even in beginning this portion
of scripture, we can easily see this is another passage about
our Lord Jesus Christ. And then we get to the ninth
verse. And beginning with verse Number nine, going through verse
13, there are five things that I want to show you this morning.
Five great truths I want to set before you. Number one, I want
you to notice the person of our king. He says in verse nine,
and I'll read it again, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Zion is another name given to
the people of God. And then he says, O daughter of Jerusalem." You
see, Jerusalem is the city of peace. We're a city of peace.
All of those for whom Christ died, to whom the Spirit of God
has revealed the blessed Savior, we know that we're at peace with
God through the bloody sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having
salvation. He doesn't come with His hands
empty. He comes with His hands full of salvation. He comes with
His hands full of grace. He comes with His hands full
of mercy. It's like Samson who had killed
the lion, and then the bees built a nest in the carcass of the
lion, and all these honeybees, and the honey was made, and he
took the honey, and he took it home to his mother and his dad.
His hands weren't empty. He came with delightful things. He came with that which would
nourish them, and that's our Lord Jesus. He himself has, he
slaughtered, he slaughtered, he killed, he crushed the head
of the lion that was roaring against us. And our Lord Jesus
now brings with him honey, honey in his hands, salvation in his
hands. Oh, the sweetness of his grace
and the sweetness of his mercy. He comes unto thee. Now this is not only a message
to all of the people of God considered as a group, but it comes to us
individually. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Jerusalem, he says, shout, O daughter of Zion, excuse me, shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem, behold, thy king cometh unto thee. How does he come to you? How
does he come to me? Well, he comes to us in his word.
He comes to us by his spirit. He comes to us by the preaching
of the gospel. He comes to us in tenderness.
He comes with hands full of good things. He comes to us. Watch this. Thy King cometh unto
thee. Yes, you do come to Him for salvation,
but not till He comes to you. And He comes to you with life.
He comes to you with the favors of God, the blessings of God.
He comes to you personally. Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee, unto thee. And He often comes to you. And
I hope and pray that he's coming to you right now through the
preaching of his word. Well, what is this king like? He's just. He's righteous. He has salvation. He's lowly. The scriptures talks
about how that he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Riding upon an ass and upon a
colt, the foal of an ass. You know, Job writes that vile
man is like a wild ass's colt. And I'll tell you, our Lord Jesus
comes to us who are like wild ass's colts. Hadn't been broken. haven't been
tamed, wild. He comes to us, and as it were,
He comes upon us in great power, and He breaks us. He breaks us
of our rebellion, of our stubbornness, of our unbelief. He comes to
us. He broke us. When I was at camp,
Camp Nancy and I worked at, we had horses and one of my jobs
was to break the colts. And that wasn't a lot of fun.
I did get kicked a few times and got thrown off a few times. But eventually, I broke them. I tell you, our Lord Jesus comes
to us in our stubbornness, in our rebellion, in our unbelief. And He, the wise and mighty God,
He broke us. He broke us. And then as it were,
He climbs on top of us as though we were the ass that carries
Him. The lowly ones upon whom He stakes
His sovereign authority and power. And under his rule and under
his government, he tames us. That's what the Lord does for
poor sinners. You know, here in this passage
of scripture, some of you will recognize this, hope most of
you do, that this is a passage that prophesies his entrance,
his glorious entrance into Jerusalem, his triumphant entry. The New
Testament attests to this. Look at me in John chapter 12.
I want to show you something of interest over here. John chapter
12, particularly as it relates to the passage there before us. Look in John chapter 12. We know that Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John all refer to our Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem
when this portion in Zechariah 9.9 Fulfilled Look here in John. I want to read John's account
of this John chapter 12 notice in verse 12 On the next day that
this is this is crucifixion week On the next day much people that
were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and and went forth to meet
him and cried, Hosanna, which means save us. Blessed is the
king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus,
when he found a young ass, saith thereon, As it is written, Fear
not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king cometh sitting
on an ass's coat. Here's the fulfillment of the
words of Zechariah hundreds of years before this ever took place. But look at verse 16. These things
understood not his disciples, at first. But when Jesus was glorified,
what happened when Jesus was glorified? He sent His Spirit. He sent His Holy Spirit. When
Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written
of Him and that they had done these things unto Him. Then they
realized. You see, so much of what happened
to our Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry, His public
ministry of some three and a half years or nearly four years, much
of it, the disciples didn't understand. And they didn't understand this
entrance into Jerusalem, when all these people lined the streets,
and they put palm leaves in the road, and people were waving
palm branches as He entered into Jerusalem, talking about and
celebrating the fact that Messiah had come. Of course, they thought
it was an earthly Messiah come to set them free from Roman bondage. But the disciples, when this
happened, And they're onlookers, they're watching like everybody
else. And they didn't understand what
is this all about. And they didn't understand until
the Lord Jesus was glorified, having finished the work that
God gave Him to do. He went back to heaven and 40
days later, He sent His Spirit and His Spirit gave them understanding. And then all things became clear
to them. Let me show you another passage. Go back in John chapter 2. And
we certainly learn from this that a man can receive nothing
except that which is given to him from above. We have to be
instructed by the Spirit of grace. Look in John chapter 2. Look
at verse 18. John chapter 2 verse 18. Then
answered the Jews and said unto him, What signs showest thou
unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered
and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and
six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear
it up in three days? But he spake, he spake of the
temple of his body, And they didn't understand that. But let's
keep reading. Look at verse 22. When therefore
he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he
had said this unto them, and they believed the scriptures. Then they fully believed the
scriptures and the words which Jesus had said. So much of the
things that he spoke unto them just went right over their head
and they didn't grasp what he was saying. All of the words
that he spake were not to believe that they understood everything
that he told them. Much of what he said just passed
them right by. as being just his words, having
no real relevance or deep meaning. And many times they thought that
the words that he spoke were just kind of insignificant statements. Let me give you an illustration.
Let's say you're watching a movie. And you know who the main character,
the star of the movie, and the co-star, and you see all these,
maybe at the beginning of the movie, all these names in big
letters, and then there are others. And then at the beginning of
the movie, and maybe in the middle of the movie, you're introduced
to characters who are not the main characters. And you kind
of say to yourself, I wonder why they inserted that character
there. I wonder why that woman's in.
I wonder why that man has a part in this. And you get deeper into
the movie, and then you find out that insignificant character
that was perhaps introduced at the very beginning of the movie,
that's the killer. It's only when you come to the
end that you realize all these characters had a part to play
in the movie, and some of them very vital parts. See, this is
the way it was with his disciples. They heard all the things that
the Lord Jesus said, they saw the things that he did, but most
of them were misunderstood or not understood at all until until
he died, was buried, rose again, and ascended back to glory, and
the Spirit of God came and taught them, and then it's like lights
started going off in their minds. Oh, now I understand what he
meant by that. I understand what he meant when
he said, destroy this temple, and in three days I'll raise
it up again. Now I understand. He's talking
about his substitutionary death. When he said that, that just
went right over their heads. But when the Spirit of God came,
then they understood. And when the Spirit of God came
and taught them about the significance of Him entering into Jerusalem,
here He is, the King of glory. Look how He humbled Himself.
He didn't come in surrounded by massive armed soldiers. a great army. He didn't come
riding into town on the back of a big white steed. He didn't come in as a conqueror. He came in as one lowly, meek
and lowly, compassionate, tender-hearted, as one who stooped down from
above to ride on the back of a donkey. and enter into Jerusalem
and die an ignominious death, a horrible death, the worst death
possible for pain and suffering and agony. Why did all of this
happen? The disciples didn't understand
it when he wrote in like that. Boy, when the Spirit of God came,
then it began to click. And you see, this is the way
it is really with God's salvation. you hear me preach or somebody
else preach the gospel, we're talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we're talking about His blood redemption, we're talking
about righteousness that He brought in, we're talking about the forgiveness
of sins, and it just kind of goes over your head, say, well,
He said a lot of good things this morning, you know, and I
mean, I don't understand it, but He seems to, but I'll tell
you, if the Spirit of God comes to you, and He gives you a new
heart, to understand and believe. Then the lights will go off in
your mind. Oh, I see. I see. I get it. I was preaching one time years
ago. A young lady in the congregation
preached to her several years. And one Sunday morning after
the service, she came to me and she said, I get it. I get it. What happened to her? The spirit
of truth made her spiritually alive, and then she understood
the things that were written. Oh, that God the Spirit would
move into your heart. That each one of us would be
filled with the spirit of revelation. See, that which is emphasized
today is decisionism. You don't need to make a decision.
You need a revelation of truth. And only God can do that. So
go back to our text. So here's the person of our king.
The person of our king. There is no king like our king. No king like our king. He rules
over all. Had an occasion, our trip, into
Michigan at an occasion to speak with an acquaintance of mine. He didn't attend the church that
I pastored up there, and he still doesn't. But I have known him
for years. He's a businessman, and I wanted
to stop riding with some other people. I said, I want to stop
right here and go in and visit with my friend in here. He's
86 years of age, and he runs a golf shop. And he's back working
on golf clubs. And so I asked if he was in. He said, yeah. And I said, I'm
going to go back. Knocked on the door. He said, hey, where
you been? He said, you still down in, where are you, Kentucky
or somewhere? I said, yeah, I'm still stuck
in Kentucky. I'm in the South. Well, sort
of the South. But anyway, he said, how you
like it down there? I said, I love it. I love it.
He said, you're back up here to preach? And I said, I'm back
up here to preach. I just want to stop by and see you. And I
began to talk to him. And I said, I mentioned his denomination. And I had to ask him this. I said, what do you think about
your denomination approving the ordination of women to the ministry? He said, oh, don't get me started.
I said, well, I won't get you started. I said, I'll tell you
this, so in all things God reigns. He said, well, I'll tell you
this, preacher. He said, if God reigns, why doesn't he do something
about the mess we're in down here? That's what he said. He
said, I don't know how God can watch and stand idly by. and not lift a finger toward
reversing this horrible, wicked, ungodly situation. And I called
him by name. I said, let me tell you something. Our God rules over all. I said,
that's what the Bible says, doesn't it? He said, well, yeah, it says
that. I said, well, he's bringing his purpose to pass. And I said,
these things are way beyond our ability to comprehend. But he
governs everything. And he's bringing everything
to the end that he himself has ordained. He said, I don't see
how. I said, we don't have to see
how. But he hadn't lost control. Our God reigns. And that's what
I'd say to all of you. That's what I'd say to you folks
who are watching right now. Our God reigns. And we may not
understand, we don't understand. We can't comprehend the workings
of an infinite God. But he knows what he's doing.
And I suspect when we get into heaven's everlasting beauty and
glory, then the lights will go on. And then we'll see, oh, I
see how all things were working together. to fulfill his purpose. So we talk about the person of
the king. Secondly, the peace that the king gives. Look at
verse number 10. And I will cut off the chariot
from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battled bow
shall be cut off. What is he saying? I'm going
to disarm all of those who oppose me, and I'll bring them to bow
before me in humility, in worship, and in praise. And then, watch
this, he shall speak peace unto the heathen. He will first of
all bring us down before him, and then he'll speak the peace.
He'll tell us how he made peace with God for us by the blood
of his cross. And he'll speak peace to our
troubled souls. He shall speak peace to the heathen. Who's the heathen? Well, that's
us. People say, we're going to send
missionaries to the heathen over in Africa. I tell you what, we
need missionaries to the heathen in America. To us heathen, because
all of us by nature are heathens. We're enemies and opposers of
God. I know somebody says, well, I've
been saved all my life. No, you haven't been saved all
your life. You are by nature at enmity with
God. All men are enemies of God. We
want to rule things ourselves. We want to be the master of our
own fate. The one who controls our own
destiny. That's the reason of absolute
sovereignty. The sovereignty of God is so
distasteful to the natural man. You don't rule anything. God
rules over all. And that's just too big a pill
for some people to swallow until the Holy Spirit comes and convinces
you that our Lord rules over all. And He'll speak peace to
the heathen when He brings us down. And then we'll see that his dominion,
the last phrase of verse 10, his dominion shall be from sea
even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
That's the king's dominion. That's the king's rule. Now look
at verse 11. Let's talk about the price that
the king paid As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant
I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein there
is no water. Thank God for the peace that he gives. But that
peace came at a great cost. His own death. That's the price that he paid.
He talks about here the The blood of thy covenant, by that blood
I've sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein there's
no water. Upon what basis does God release the prisoners from
the pit? Upon the basis of the blood having
been shed, the blood of the Son of God who loved us and gave
himself for us. The price had to be paid. The
debt had to be erased. Justice has been offended. The law says the soul that sinneth
shall die. Either you gonna die or the substitute
died in your stead. Christ came down and died in
the stead of all of those the father entrusted to him in covenant
grace before the world began. He discharged all of our indebtedness. He paid the price. Who paid it? The King. The King. and He released us. You see,
I was a prisoner shut up under the law and justly condemned. I was a prisoner in the deep
miry clay in which there was no water without any possibility
of escape. I was a prisoner for whom a covenant
of grace was made before the world began. I was a prisoner
for whom the blood was shed, the blood that bought me and
ransomed me and redeemed me, the blood of the Son of God.
Blessed be his name, I'm now one of his prisoners. One of
his prisoners. You notice how many times Paul
writes in his epistles, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He's
taken me captive. Oh, what blessed captivity. To be held by the Savior himself. And then quickly, fourthly, the
proclamation the king makes to the prisoners. He makes his proclamation
in the next verse, verse 12. He says, turn you to the stronghold. There's only one stronghold.
He says, turn you to the stronghold." Who is that? It's not what. The stronghold is not what. The
stronghold is who. Who is this? He's the Lord our
refuge. He's the one who's the shelter
in the time of storm. Turn to the stronghold, ye prisoners
of hope. Turn to Him. Return to the Lord
Jesus Christ. We left Him in Adam's fall in
the garden. Come to the Lord. He says, come
unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. Turn to the stronghold. You got
nowhere else to turn. Where you gonna turn to? Law?
Law can't save you. Works? Works can't save you. Do better? Doing better can't
save you. Live by the golden rule? Living
by the golden rule can't save you. There's only one stronghold
for poor sinners who are prisoners of divine justice, Christ the
Savior. He's the stronghold. He's the
refuge. And then he says, even today
do I declare that I will render double unto thee. I've talked
to you about this verse before. Double under thee means, first
of all, I'll give you forgiveness and then I'll give you righteousness.
I give you forgiveness, I'll give you righteousness. But there's
another meaning to this. And the other meaning is, I'll
give you a second person or literally a second proclaimer, a second
announcer. Now think about what the Lord
Jesus said to his disciples. I will send you another comforter,
one likened to myself. And this is really, I think,
the better interpretation of this statement, though I certainly
agree with forgiveness and righteousness. The double, render double unto
thee. But there's a double announcer. There's another person. Not only the Son of God, but
the Spirit of God. Turn you to the stronghold. Now
let me ask you this. Will anybody of their own volition,
of their own will, ever turn to the stronghold? And the answer
is no. The Lord commands you to look
to the Lamb of God, but people won't look. He says, turn to
the stronghold. Christ is the stronghold. He's
the ark of salvation. People won't come to Him. People
won't look to Him. That is until the Lord does it
work. And that's what's set forth in
verse 13. When will people? look to the
stronghold and turn to the stronghold. It will be, verse 13, when I
have bent Judah for me. When I break Judah, when I break
your heart, that's when you'll turn. You see, the Lord has to
do something for us before we'll ever believe on Christ or look
to him. It says he's filled the bow with
Ephraim. He's filled the bow with Ephraim
who, as it were, in Ephraim, another picture of the people
of God, who shoots the arrow of grace, the church of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We send forth the gospel. I'm
sending forth the gospel right now. And may it be as a bow and
an arrow that goes forth, and the arrow, if the Lord directs
it to you, it'll find its bullseye in your heart. That's what's
got to happen. Ahab had defied the Lord, and
one of Israel's army just shot a bow into the air, shot an arrow
into the air from a bow, not even taking aim. Boy, it found
its aim, though. It found the heart of a rebellious
king. I pray that the Lord will aim
the arrow that I'm sending forth from the bow of His grace right
now. Find your heart. That's the target. And somebody said, every once
in a while, somebody said, you really got on my toes today.
I said, I'm poor shot. I'm aiming for your heart. That's
what I'm aiming for. If I hit your toes, I'm way off
base. I'm way off the mark. Only the Lord can hit the target.
And you see, that is the final point. That's the power of the
King. That's the power of the King. And he will make us as
the sword of a mighty man. Who is the mighty man? That's
Christ. Who is the sword? It's the church of our Lord Jesus
Christ who takes out the sword of the spirit and we go against
the enemies of the Lord. And I'll tell you, he goes forth
conquering and to conquer. Has the king conquered you? Oh, blessed conquering grace,
when the King comes to bring us down and then to lift us up
and set our feet on a rock, a rock, Christ Jesus.