Thank you. He is worthy to receive
all glory, all honor, all strength, and all of the praises of his
people. Open your Bibles, if you will,
to the prophecy according to Zechariah. And once again, I
want you to look in chapter 8 of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter
8. This is a chapter filled with
good news for the Jewish people. These were people who lived about
500 years before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 500 years
between the captivity of Israel, of the Jews in Babylon, and the
coming of the Lamb of God. And I'll just briefly review
the history of this passage to kind of set up for my comments
that I want to make this morning. Jerusalem as a city had fallen
into idolatry and wickedness. And the Lord promised that he
would bring judgments upon that city. And so he raised up a heathen
king, and his name was Nebuchadnezzar. And you read quite a bit in the
book of Daniel about Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar, in capturing
various countries, he set his sight upon Judah, and especially
the capital city, which was Jerusalem. And little by little, he went
after and he took over Jerusalem. It took him two and a half years
to do it. But he laid siege to the city,
he captured the people, took a bunch of them into captivity,
and then he burned the city, he tore down the walls, and he
tore down the temple. The people he took into captivity
remained in Babylonian captivity for about 70 years. And then
in the purpose and providence of God, the Lord had the Babylonian
empire taken over by the Medes and then the Persians. And then
eventually the Persians kind of ruled the roost, so to speak. And the Lord raised up a very
powerful and wise king in the empire of Persia by the name
of Cyrus. In fact, the Lord in the book
of Isaiah called Cyrus his shepherd, because in many ways he was a
picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom God raised up to save his
people, and the Lord raised up Cyrus. And Cyrus would be the
instrument that God used to send his people out of Babylonian
captivity back to Jerusalem. And by the edict, by the law,
by the command of Cyrus, the Jews were told, go back home
after 70 years of captivity. And so they go back, over 42,000
of them, and you can read about this in the book of Ezra, over
42,000 Jews went back to the homeland and they went
back to Jerusalem, and we've already established this, they
found the city to be in ruins. And they began to say to one
another, can this city ever be rebuilt? Is there any hope? Is there any hope for Jerusalem?
It has been ransacked. It has been looted. It has been
overgrown by thorns and briars and bushes and trees over those
70 years. And there just didn't look like
there was any possibility whatsoever that the city would ever be prosperous
again. And this is what the eighth chapter
of Zechariah is about on the face of it. That is, literally. The Lord speaks to his servant
Zechariah and says, you tell the people, I'm gonna turn things
around for you. And the city that has been destroyed,
it's going to become a vibrant city once again. It will be populated. It will be safe. It will be prosperous. It will be protected. I will
protect the city. The fields will once again grow
grain and be very, very productive. And I will cause businesses in
the city to flourish. And things will be wonderful
once again. And the people said, this is
marvelous, this is impossible. But God said, but it's not impossible
with me. And if you took the time, and
I would advise you to take the time to read from verse seven
through the end of the chapter here, the eighth chapter of Zechariah,
and you will find that the Lord makes all of these wonderful
promises to the people that this city, it will be full of life
again. Now that's the literal understanding
and meaning of the passage of scripture, but we know This,
the Bible, is a spiritual book. It isn't given to us merely to
teach us historical things. Indeed, it is interesting to
read about and hear about and learn about how Israel, the Jews
were taken into captivity and then liberated 70 years later
by Cyrus and how they went back to Jerusalem and the Lord says
he's going to have the temple rebuilt and everything will be
wonderful again. That's all great to know, but
that doesn't benefit us spiritually. And the Bible, I must repeat
this, the Bible is a spiritual book. We're looking for spiritual
truths. It isn't given merely to teach
us about what happened to national Israel. Israel was a typical
people, a people that pictured the true Israel of God, that
is the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ. And with us, what happened
to us? Well, because of our idolatry,
because of our waywardness from God, because Adam did not obey
God, we fell into sin and we've been ransacked by the enemies
of our souls. And that which was once beautiful
before God is no longer beautiful. And we have become fallen creatures,
not productive, not beautiful, not worthy of any good thing
being said about us. We're full of, Isaiah 1 says,
wounds and sores, putrefying sores. We're in awful shape before
God. And as you look at us falling
in Adam, as you look at us, as God looks at us individually,
He sees us in our natural state in Adam. And as we are instructed
by the Spirit of God to see what we are, how far we've fallen
from the good state in which God made us, We say, is it even
possible that we should ever be beautiful again? Is it even
possible that we would ever be productive before God? For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's you
and me and everybody else. It's a very sad situation as
we look at ourselves in the mirror of the word of God. And this
is the proper mirror to look in. Because the Bible reveals
us as we really are fallen in Adam. And it paints no beautiful
picture of us. It sets us forth as a fallen
people, a sinful people, a wicked people, a people who drink iniquity
like water. And when we're made aware of
this, we're somewhat like the Jews who returned to Jerusalem
and seeing things in shambles, we're driven to say, Lord, can
we live again? Is there any hope for us? Is there any possibility of restoration
of folks like me and you? And this is what the prophet
Zechariah is talking about in chapter eight. Because as we
make a spiritual application to this, the Lord says, that
which is impossible with you is not impossible with me. Because
salvation, you see, is of the Lord. It's his work. And in this work, we make no
contribution. There is no contribution we can
make, for we're altogether fallen in Adam. Our only hope, and I
hope that you will see this, your only hope is for God to
do something for you. And my only hope is for God to
do something for me, which I believe that he has. And the Lord, he
has promised to us spiritual mercies through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Yes, ours is a sad condition. But when we look away from ourselves
and our awful dilemma, and we see the abilities of Christ Jesus,
We see Him whom God has appointed to be the Savior of the lost,
to be the rescuer of those who seem to be doomed and damned.
When we look away from ourselves and we look to the Almighty Savior
upon whom God has laid help for poor, miserable, wicked sinners,
when we look to Christ alone, we say of Him, He's our hope. He's our Savior. He's the one
who can help us if He will, if He will. You see, learn this. As you read
through the Old Testament and you read all these promises that
God made to Abraham and Isaac and to Jacob and to the seed
of Israel, When you read those very precious promises that God
made to national Israel, to Jerusalem, to Judah, when you read those
promises, you must read them with this understanding, they're
really made to the spiritual Israel of God. And we need to understand that,
that God is saying good things to his people in this passage
of Scripture. very positive things. Yes, we
know what sin has brought to us, devastation and destruction. But look what grace brings to
us. Look what God brings to us. All
the good things in Christ Jesus, one of the several notable things
about this passage, especially as you get to the end of the
passage of chapter 8. The prophet of God, the preacher
of the Lord, he tells the people that the day is going to come
when others will be drawn to Jerusalem to see what God has
done for this city. It was destroyed, but God's going
to rebuild it. It's going to be a glorious place,
and we've already read and spoke about the fact there'll be old
people that will have freedom to wander around the cities,
and children will be playing in the streets, and crops in
the fields. It will be a prosperous city
again, so much so that outsiders will make a trip to Jerusalem
to see what God has done for the city of Jerusalem. to see
that which was impossible with men, but altogether possible
by the power of God. Notice what he has to say here
in verse 20, chapter eight. Thus said the Lord of hosts,
it shall yet come to pass that there shall come people and the
inhabitants of many cities and the inhabitants of one city shall
go to another saying, let us go speedily to pray before the
Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts, I will go also." Let's
all go. Let's go see what God has done
for Jerusalem. Yea, many people and strong nations
shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to pray
before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
in those days it shall come to pass that 10 men shall take hold
out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt
of him that is a Jew saying, we will go with you. For we have
heard that God is with you." And what Zachariah is saying
spiritually now is that the Lord is building his church. He's building the spiritual temple
of the Lord. And people of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue will hear the gospel of God's grace and say,
let's go. Let's go see what God is doing. maybe God will do something for
us as well. So anytime you read of the promises
of God to national Israel, you turn them, as it were, to promises
made to the true Israel of God, to spiritual Israel, the true
people of God, to Zion. You see, this is the city, the
city where God dwells, the new Jerusalem, the spiritual Jerusalem. In this passage of scripture,
especially in the first six verses, which I've read to you a couple
of times, the restoration of Jerusalem is set before us and
it is a picture of the restoration of a fallen people, a people
fallen into sin but made anew in Christ Jesus, washed in His
blood, robed in His righteousness, saved by His grace. Behold what
wonders God Himself brings about in the hearts and minds and souls
of His people. And you who are the children
of God to whom I speak this morning, you here in this congregation,
those of you who are watching, you're the work of God. You are
like Jerusalem and you think back, even now you think back
upon what you were by nature. You were in shambles, you were
a wreck, you were in wickedness, you were in idolatry. But look
what God has done with you. He has rebuilt you from the bottom
up. He has made you anew in Christ
Jesus. He has washed you in the sin-cleansing
blood of the Son of God. He has made you every whit pure. He has robed you with the garments
of His own salvation and righteousness. Look at what God has made of
you by grace. It's astounding, isn't it? It's
nothing short of a miracle, a miracle of the grace of God. Notice in chapter eight, verse
one, again, the word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying, chapter
eight, verse two, thus said the Lord of hosts, I was jealous
for Zion. With great jealousy, I was jealous
for her with great fury. Thus saith the Lord, I am returned
unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem
shall be called a city of truth. That's the title of the message,
the city of truth. You see, the Lord has his people,
and his people is called Jerusalem, We're called Zion. These are
New Testament words, too. And we're the city of truth.
And every local assembly, every local church is, as it were,
a city of truth. A city of truth. Here we are
gathered together in this building, a fairly good-sized city compared
to other spiritual cities. You understand what I'm saying?
Compared to other congregations, this is a pretty good-sized group
of people. But sometimes the Jerusalem of
the Lord, His people, sometimes it's a very small group. In fact,
sometimes, there's probably people watching now, it's just one person. Or maybe a husband and wife. Or maybe a family. Or maybe just
a few saints who have got together to watch and hear the gospel
of the grace of God. I say to you, you are the city
of God. You are the city of truth. wherever
the truth of the gospel of redeeming grace, wherever the truth of
who God is and what we are and who Christ Jesus is and what
He did, wherever the truth is believed and proclaimed and heard
and welcomed, that is a city of truth. This is a city of truth
right here. City of truth. Not a city of
falsehoods, because God doesn't bless falsehoods. God doesn't
bless error. The Lord does not use a false
gospel to draw His people in. What does He use? The truth!
The truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just telling
of sappy stories, sentimental things that people want to hear,
not just singing of so-called gospel songs that have no blood
in them, have no salvation in them, have no righteousness in
them, but the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God to
sinners through the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's the truth. He's the truth. And wherever he is believed and
welcomed, that's the city of truth. This is a city of truth
here. He goes on to say, watch this. It's the mountain of the Lord
of Hosts, the last part of verse three. This is a holy mountain. You say, well, we don't seem
to be very holy. We're holy in Christ Jesus. We're
sanctified in Christ Jesus. Verse four. Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, there shall yet old men and old women dwell in the
streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand
for very age, and the streets of the city shall be full of
boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, if it's marvelous, if it seems impossible in the
eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, that it should
be also marvelous in my eyes, you think it's gonna be impossible
with me? Thus said the Lord of hosts, I will, behold, I will
save my people from the east country, from the west country,
I'll bring them, they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, they
shall be my people, I will be their God in truth and in righteousness. Let me show you some names that
God gives for his church, okay? For this city of truth. Number
one, the first one he uses is Zion. He says that in verse two,
Zion. He says, I was zealous for Zion
with great jealousy. You see, there were enemies,
let's put this literally, there were enemies for the city of
Jerusalem. And they didn't want the Jews
to even come back. The Lord says, I was jealous
for Zion. And those who were opposed to
you, I'm opposed to them, God says. I was zealous and jealous
over these enemies. And the Lord is jealous for his
people. He will not permit the enemy
to continue to run roughshod over us. He's all about our freedom
and releasing us from our captivity. We're Zion. And remember this
about Zion. I'll make it simple. Zion has
two meanings. The first meaning is it's dry,
parched. It's a parched place. That's
what we are by nature. No moisture, no life, no water,
parched. That's us in our fallen condition. lack of any spiritual moisture. Look over in chapter 9 and verse
11. Remember, this is a spiritual
book. You need to understand that. These promises that are
made, statements that are made about national Israel, make an
application of them to spiritual Israel. Look at chapter 9 and
verse 11. As for thee also, by the blood
of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the
pit wherein is no water. That's where God found us, in
a pit with no water. We were like Joseph. You remember
when his brothers, some of them wanted him killed, but they decided
they'd throw him in a pit. They threw him in a pit and he
couldn't get out. That's you and me by nature.
We're in a pit and we can't get out, and what's more, we don't
even want to get out. A pit where there was no water,
no life-giving water, no moisture, nothing to help us, nothing to
aid us. That was our condition. That's
the condition of Zion by nature. We were in a parched place. No
water to refresh. full of sin and apparently destined
to pay the wages of sin, which is death. But yet the Lord was
jealous of us. He chose us for himself. He would
not let the enemy keep us in captivity and in bondage. He was zealous for our salvation. He was zealous for our liberation. He would not leave us in that
horrible pit where there was no water. And he has brought
us out of the pit and set our feet upon the rock, Christ Jesus,
and he's given to us the water of life. Christ is the water
of life. The last day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried saying, John 7, 37, if any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. The high priest on that last
day of the feast of tabernacles had poured out a pitcher of water.
And that pitcher of water as it was being poured out, our
Lord Jesus saw that, and the thousands of Jews who were there
saw that water being poured out, and the Savior says, I'm the
water of life, come unto me and drink. Are you thirsty for God? Is anybody here thirsty for God's
salvation? thirsty for righteousness, thirsty
for forgiveness, thirsty for the Savior, thirsty for the person
of Christ Jesus. He says, come unto me and drink,
drink, drink freely. He says, the water that I'll
give you will bubble up within you, everlasting life. I tell you, we're Zion, we're
parched ground, but the second meaning of Zion, because the
city has two meanings, The first meaning is parched ground to
be dry, but the second meaning is a monument. That is a mountain full of blessings
and protection, a citadel. We have been blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And those of
you who are saved by the grace of God in this congregation and
those to whom I'm watching who've been saved by the free and sovereign
grace of God through the bloody sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ,
did you know each one of you and me too, we're monuments to
the grace of God. Your very existence as a child
of light, a child of God, a person redeemed by the blood of Christ
Jesus, your very existence, your life as a child of God, as a
believer, is a monument to the greatness of God's saving grace. You didn't make yourself. He
made you anew in Christ Jesus. No wonder he calls the church
a mountain, a holy mountain, because that's what we are in
Christ Jesus. And he calls us Jerusalem. What
does Jerusalem mean? Most of you would know. It's
a city of peace. That's what the name Jerusalem
means, city of peace. How are we a city of peace? Well,
by nature, we were enemies against God, enmity against God, the
scripture says. But somebody made our peace with
God. That one who is the prince of
peace. He is our peace. How did he make
our peace? Through the blood of his cross,
is what the scripture says. We're the city of peace. Everything's
all right between us and God. You know what the scripture says
about the wicked? There is no peace, saith my God
to the wicked. But for God's Jerusalem, he's at peace with us, and by
the effectual work of the Spirit of God, we're at peace with him. All through the peacemaker. The
Lord Jesus Christ. And then he calls us indeed the
city of truth. The city of truth. As he is our
peace, so Christ is our truth. Is he not the whole embodiment
of the truth of God? Our Lord Jesus. You remember
he said to his disciples, To Philip specifically, and to
Thomas specifically, he said, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. We lost the way to God, we lost
the truth of God, and we lost the life of God in the first
Adam. The last Adam came to give us
the way to God. He is the way to God. To give
us the truth of God. He is the truth of God. And the
life of God. He is the life of God. He is the truth. This is a city
of truth. When you think about a city,
what do you think about it? I just scribbled down a few things. I was thinking about a city.
I think of some place that's populated. I tell you, God's
church is populated with people of every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue. People from all over. In fact,
Zechariah says that people are going to come from all over to
Jerusalem, and God draws into the kingdom of grace. He draws
by His gospel people from everywhere. They hear about this man, Christ
Jesus, this glorious savior, who is also God over all, blessed
forever. And they say, we want to hear
more about him. And they come to hear the gospel
in the city of truth. It's a populated city. It's a
protected city. Because we're protected by the
army of the Lord, the angels of God, but more than that, we're
protected by King Jesus himself. And it's an occupied city, because
you know whose city it is? It's the city of God. It's God's city. Who dwells among
us? Who is with us always, wherever
we go? The Lord Jesus Christ says by
His Spirit, He said, I'm with you always, even to the end of
the ages. I'll never leave you and I'll
never forsake you. Tell you something else about
this city. Not only is it a populated city and a protected city, but
it's an ancient city. The city of which we're occupants
is as old as God himself. It's an ancient city, and it's
an occupied city, and it's also an illuminated city. Our minds
and our hearts and our understandings have been illuminated by him
who is the light of the world. You remember what it says in
the book of Revelation, chapter 21? The Lamb is all the light
in the city of God. He is all the light we need. Because He is the very glory
of God, and the glory of God shines in the face of Christ
Jesus. It's an elevated city. It's a
city on a hill. It's a walled city. Isaiah says
we're surrounded by the walls of salvation. And the city of God, the people
of God, this city of truth is a city in which everybody speaks
the same language. It's the language of grace. Everybody who's been born of
God, I promise you, They speak of the grace of God to sinners
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And everybody in this city, it's
a very unusual city, this city of God, because everybody wears
garments that look just alike. It's called the righteousness
of the saints, the imputed righteousness of Christ to us. We all look
alike. It's a city that's been purchased
by the blood of Christ. It's a city in which every occupant
has been conquered by mighty effectual grace. And it's a city
of bounteous provision for every day people in the city of God
sit down to a banquet of mercy. And we feast abundantly on the
good things that God has for us. And it's a city that's safe. The thing about cities, earthly
cities, there are usually some places in a city that you need
to stay away from. Right? We all know that. But
in the city of God, everywhere is safe. Because of our mighty
protector. He who loved us and gave himself
for us is the mighty protector of this city of truth. And it
is a holy mountain. We stand in the beauties of Christ
Jesus. This city here, This city here
on 13th Street, we're a city that by nature is
contaminated by sin. But those who are the true occupants
of the church of the Lord in this congregation, we're a city
that is washed in pure and righteous and holy before God. For we stand in the beauties
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the city of truth. Because
the spirit of truth, four times, four times in the Gospel of John,
the Holy Spirit is said to be the spirit of truth. The spirit
of truth indwells you. The spirit of truth indwells
me. and where the spirit of truth indwells a person when they hear
the truth of the gospel of God's redeeming grace through the doing
and the dying of that glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the spirit of truth who inspired the word of God, who indwells
you when you hear the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus, that
spirit of God within you says that's the message right there. And the Spirit of God leads each
of us who love this truth to say amen. That's the truth. That's the truth. I compel those
of you who are yet strangers to that one who is the protector
of the city, strangers to Christ Jesus. I compel you to listen
to the gospel of the grace of God and to come to Christ Jesus. May he make you willing to come
to him in the day of his power. And may he enlighten you because
that's what has to happen. You have to be illuminated. I
can't do that. Nobody else can do that for you.
But the lamb is all the light in the city of God. Then if he
enlightens you, you'll lean on the everlasting arms of the Lord. Take your song books. 460 is
the last song.