Thanks, ladies. Let's go back
to that portion of scripture in Zechariah chapter 8 that Ron
read to us earlier. And then after you get to that
place, hold it. And then I want you to go to
the book of Romans chapter 15, OK? I probably should have told Ron
to get you to stay at Zachariah 8. But anyway, now you know. We'll come back to it here in
just a couple of minutes. But I want to begin in the New
Testament in Romans chapter 15, verse 4. Romans 15. And it reads, for whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning. That passage that Ron read to
us earlier, Zechariah 8, 1 through 8, those words were written for
us. Not just for the folks that lived
in the days in which the prophet of God prophesied. But those
words were written for us, and he says that we, through patience
and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. You know, in
the word of God, the word hope means a confident expectation
of future blessedness. So the words that have been read
to us out of the Old Testament this morning, there are some things for us
to take with us, to learn, in order that the people of God
will be comforted from the scriptures. Where else you gonna get any
comfort in this troubled world? only from the word of God, the
Lord of hosts. I just point out one word to
you here in verse four, and it is the word learning, learning. What is learning? Literally, it means instruction,
or mainly the word is translated as doctrine, doctrine. And so as we go back over into
the Old Testament, we know based upon what we just read in Romans
15 verse four, that these things that have been read to us this
morning out of Zechariah chapter eight, the first eight verses,
these are written for our doctrinal instruction. That's very important
to remember. In other words, this is not just
a historical portion of Scripture. You know, the Bible certainly
accurately sets forth history. It sets forth the origin of our
world, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The
Word of God sets forth the creation of man. God created man in his
own image. In the image of God, created
he man. Male and female, created he them. But there's more in the scripture
than just that instruction in creation, though that is important. As we go through the Old Testament,
you'll find the origin of Israel, beginning with Abraham. And that's
important to understand in the Old Testament. In fact, a good
bit of the Old Testament is indeed devoted to natural Israel. But wait, there's more to be
learned from the Old Testament than just creation and our origin
and the history of Israel. That which we're looking for
is the doctrine of God our Savior. Because we just read there in
Romans chapter 15 that everything that was said aforetime was written
for our doctrinal benefit. And in this portion of Scripture
here, yes, there is the literal history of the things that happened. But more than that, there's a
spiritual application that has to be met. And this passage that
Ron read to us in Zechariah chapter eight, verses one through eight,
it's written for the encouragement of Israel, because by this time,
the temple is being rebuilt, and it's about halfway finished.
And we've talked about the rebuilding of the temple. But what Zechariah is led by
the Lord to state is that once again the city of Jerusalem would
be inhabited. Now this is the literal interpretation
of the passage. And he says there's going to
be joy in the streets. There'll be old men and old women
in the streets of Jerusalem again. And that would have been good
news to the Jews. And children will once again
be playing there together, boys and girls, having a good time,
and everybody rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord, in having
Jerusalem the city of David, the city of peace. Everyone will
be rejoicing that once again the city is up and running after
being shut down for so many years while Israel, the Jews, were
in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Now, that's the literal. That's actually what happened.
But all Scripture has got to be viewed not only in its literal
setting, but in its spiritual application. Because for you
and me today to know about the historical significance of what
Zachariah writes. To know the historical setting
is really of no spiritual benefit to us unless we see and know
and are made to understand by the Holy Ghost that this is more
than encouraging words to national Israel. The encouragement here is to
all of God's people that He will build His spiritual temple that
is God's Jerusalem, God's true city of peace, the holy city,
the holy mountain, the city of truth. God is filling that city,
He's filling the church with people that He is saving by His
free and sovereign grace. And those of us who labor in
the gospel, and you labor with me in this local assembly, and
those of you who are watching, you labor in the assemblies that
are close to you if you have one. And as we look around, we
may become dejected and say, well, it doesn't seem like much
is going on in the city of God. It doesn't appear that very many
people are being saved, but the Lord assures us of this. He has
a people. We fell in Adam, but we were
chosen unto salvation in Christ our Savior in old eternity. And
the Lord Jesus came into this world and lived and died in order
to satisfy God's justice for all of his people, to put our
sins away. And the Lord now is calling unto
himself through the preaching of the gospel, men and women
and young people that he set aside for himself in old eternity. He has the gospel go forth and
the Lord draws his people in to the new Jerusalem, to the
true Jerusalem, to the real city of peace. That is the church
that our Lord Jesus Christ is building. And so Zachariah is
led to write these words by divine inspiration to teach you and
me of vital doctrinal matters. And may the Lord give us this
morning ears to hear and hearts to receive that which is said
before us. Now, you will remember we studied
a couple of weeks ago, or three weeks ago, chapter 7 of Zechariah. And unlike the rest of the chapters
of Zechariah, which are encouraging to the people of the Lord, in
chapter seven, the prophet of God sets before all of us our
natural state before God. And so my first point in this
message, which is entitled God Will Save His People, Their first
point is this, the sinfulness of His people. That's what's
set forth in chapter 7. You see, the Lord teaches us
true doctrine. And true doctrine starts with
God in His holiness and in His justice, in His perfection. And then God,
in His justice and in His perfections, He points out to us our deplorable,
very deplorable condition, sinful. That's what we all are. I hope
that doesn't offend you to say that you're a sinner. Because
our Lord Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. I'm not offended when somebody
calls me a sinner. In fact, I call myself a sinner. And I'm a sinner not because
I feel like I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner not because I sin. I'm a sinner because God says
I'm a sinner. And what you need to know, those
of you who are watching by way of the internet and all of us
here this morning, what we need to know is that God Almighty
has looked down upon all the sons and daughters of men and
says, there's none good, no, not one. We're all corruptible. We've all gone aside. We've all
turned away from God. Here's the sinfulness. of God's
people by nature. And notice this, and I'll give
you this first of all. Back in chapter 7, verses 5 and
6, these people, though they're a sinful people, they had a form
of religion. Okay? They had a form of religion. Look here back in chapter 7,
look at 5 and 6. Speak unto Speaking to all the
people, chapter seven of Zechariah, verse five. Speaking to all the
people of the land, and to the priests saying, when you fasted
and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those 70
years, did yet all fast unto me, even to me? Why did you do
that? God never commanded that. The only fasting that God ever
commanded was in association with, you remember, the Day of
Atonement. That's the only fast that God
ordained. That's the only fast that God
appointed. So the Lord says, why did you do that? And the
reason they did that during the 70 years in Babylon was to just
be religious. And this is the problem. There
was no heart worship of God. They went through religious exercises
that God never appointed. God never ordained them. God
never set them forth. He said one time during the year
you fast, and that's on the day of atonement, When the blood
of the goat that was for the Lord was sprinkled, that blood
sprinkled by the high priest in the Holy of Holies on the
mercy seat. Typical of a picture of the substitutionary
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Babylon, they couldn't
observe the Day of Atonement. So they should never have fasted
in Babylon. But they wanted to be religious. But it was an empty religion. You remember that passage in
2 Timothy? Having a form of godliness. A form of godliness, but denying
the power of it from such turn away. Having a form, a resemblance
of religion, but an empty shell. You see, to have a form of godliness
is to pretend to reverence God. It's to go through the motions
of honoring the Lord. Outward appearance of religion,
but no heart worship. That's the way it was with these
people. There was no heart reverence of God. And I wonder as we gather
together this morning, here all of us, gathered together, and
those of you who are watching, what is your great desire right
now? What is it you want to accomplish
for yourself or for God? What are you all about? Are we
here just with a form of godliness, just the resemblance of religion? We put on our Sunday go-to-meeting
clothes, we dress up in a religious way, and we come out here. Do
you think we're impressing God? Do you think God looks down on you
and on me and says, well, they're trying pretty hard this morning
to be religious, so I'll bless them? No, God doesn't approve
of empty, heartless religion. It's gotta come from the heart.
This was the problem with the Jews. They paid lip service to
God, but God said, your hearts are far from me. Your hearts
are far from me. These were people who were going
about to establish a righteousness of their own. The ladies sang, his robes for
mine. See, my robes are filthy rags. Has it ever really dawned on
us that we've never done anything good of ourselves? That our natural robe of what
we might think is righteousness is really unrighteous? Isaiah
64 says, all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Would you
present to God as a reason why He ought to accept you and receive
you? Would you present to God your
prayers, your Bible readings, your faithfulness, your good
talk, your good actions? If you think for a moment that
God will receive you on the basis of anything you have ever done,
you are a self-righteous rebel. And God's not gonna, He's not
gonna accept that. He won't accept you. You see,
the only righteousness that God approves of is the righteousness
of His Son. the righteousness that was established
when the Lord Jesus Christ was obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. By that death, he established
righteousness for his people. We're right with God not because
we pray, not because we confess our sins, not because we read
our Bibles, not because we put money into the church. We're
only right with God through and because of the Lord Jesus and
his sacrificial work for sinners. That's the basis of our righteousness,
the only basis of righteousness at all. These were people who refused
to hear the word of the Lord. Secondly, they were religious,
but they refused to hear the word of the Lord. Look at verse
seven. Zechariah says, chapter seven, verse seven, should ye
not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former
prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperity and the cities
thereof round about her when men inhabited the south and the
plains? He says, just like former generations
who didn't listen to the preachers, didn't listen to God's prophets,
you folks are listening today, Sam. Are you listening to what God
has to say? Oh, I hope that God will get
your ear. If He gets your ear, He'll get
your heart. Would you hear what the Lord
has to say? You know, in the eighth chapter,
Ron read the first eight verses. In the eighth chapter, 15 times
it says, thus saith the Lord of hosts. Will you hear what
he has to say? Or are you too busy? Or is your
mind so filled with false religion that there's no room for the
very truth of God as to His sovereign grace, as to our own depravity,
and to the successful redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Will we hear what God has to
say? And most people will not. They
will not hear. and therefore they won't believe. Notice what he says in verse
eight. The word of the Lord came unto
Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute
true judgment. In other words, see the validity,
see the accuracy of the justice of God. What does the justice
of God demand? The justice of God demands punishment
for sin. Is that right? The scripture
says that sin, when it's finished, bringeth forth death. Who brings
forth the death? The wages of sin is death. Who
brings that to pass? God does. Death for sin. Why do you think Christ had to
die? He had to die because death is
the penalty for sin. My friends, we would all be dead
and gone in hell, and rightly so, had not Christ the Savior
come into this world and lived and died to satisfy God's justice
and put away the sins of His people. Execute true judgment. Is it right for God to punish
sin? Answer yourself that question.
Is it right for God to punish sin? Well, sure it is. Or you'd be a fool to say, no,
that's not right. Of course it's right for God
to punish sin. Well, how does he punish sin?
By death. Well, let me ask you another
question. Would it be right for God to punish you for your sins? That'd be right, too. If I were to be punished for
my sin, I would be getting exactly what I deserve. However, I have
a substitute died in my place. The Lord of glory came down here. And He took my sins, sins that
deserve death, sins that deserve the very wrath of God. He took them all on Himself.
And He died in my stead. See, that's what the Gospel message
is. Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. He died as our substitute. He
died as God's sacrifice. He died as our surety. He died
as our Savior. His death was not just to show
us how to be submissive in the hour of death. He died to accomplish
God's redeeming will and saving his people. He says, execute
true judgment. Can you, hear me now, can you
in your heart of heart honestly say, Lord, If you judge me for
my sin, you'd put me in hell and you'd be right in doing it.
That's what Zachariah's talking about. Would God be right to
punish you for your sin? That's a heavy question. Would
God be right to put you in hell for your iniquities? Aren't you thankful that the
Savior laid down his life for his people? That's the good news. And he says here, and show mercy
and compassion to every man and his brother. Oppress not the
widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor. What
is he saying? Is he saying for us to do things?
Here's what he's saying, the only hope at your family, your
friends, and your neighbors of God is if you, who are the people
of God, will do something for them, which is tell them how
God can be just and justify the ungodly. That's the best thing
you can do for the widows, for the poor, for the needy, for
the fatherless. Show them some mercy and tell
them the truth about the saving Savior, the saving Savior. He says here, show mercy, show
mercy. I'm glad somebody showed me mercy
and preached the gospel to me one day. I'm glad somebody took the Word
of God and took time with me and with others who listened
and opened the scriptures up and said, thus saith the Lord.
Not this is what the Baptist church believes or this is what
the Methodist church believes. This is what God says. Oh, and
God opened the ears to my heart and I received the word of the
Lord. I'll tell you this, if there's
no Christ preached, there's no mercy for anybody. That's why we keep coming back
time and time again, always to the Savior and His sacrifice. See, God is merciful through
the Savior. Hear me now, there is no mercy
for anybody to be had except through Christ Jesus. Now, you
want mercy? Oh, God, show me mercy! He only
shows mercy through one person, Christ Jesus the Lord. Well,
that's the sinfulness of these people. Here's the second thing,
the certainty of God's salvation. Now, go look in chapter 8 now. Again, the word of the Lord of
hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Here
he says it again. And he says, I was jealous for
Zion with great jealousy. I was jealous for her with great
fury. Within the nation of Israel,
now get this, within the nation of Israel was a remnant according
to the election of grace. And God says, I'm jealous for
those people. like a bridegroom is jealous
for his bride. The word jealous also means zealous,
zealous. You see, within Israel there
was a remnant according to the election of grace and God was
jealous for, He is always jealous for those people. They're His,
that's His bride. And the enemies of the gospel
were trying to steal away the bride and follow false religion. God says, I'm zealous. I'm zealous
with fury for my people. He's not concerned about the
United States of America. He's not concerned about any
nation on this earth. He's concerned about the spiritual
nation. That's his bride. He says, I'm
jealous for her. And I'm not going to let the
enemies have them. I'm going to let the enemies take them.
This is a holy nation set apart in old eternity. Christ loved
the church and gave himself for it. And he says here in the third
verse, he's going to return unto Zion. Zion's another name for
the church, as is Jerusalem. as is a city of peace, a city
of truth, the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain.
These are all words that describe God's people, God's true people. He has great concern for his
people. Are you one of the lords this
morning, been brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, been
brought to believe him? You have no idea of the greatness
of God's everlasting love for you, and his concern for you,
and his care for you. Why, in old eternity, he chose
you unto salvation. He put you among his people,
those people Christ calls his bride, those for whom he's jealous. those for whom he's jealous with
fury and the enemies will never get his bride. He's full of zeal. He said, I will save my people. I will call them unto myself. I will draw them to me. They
shall hear the gospel. These are the Lord's people. And Zion will consist of old
believers and young believers. That's what he's talking about
spiritually there. There shall yet old men and old
women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with
a staff in his hand for very age. These are the saints of
God who lean upon the staff. Christ is the staff. Who do you
lean on? I tell you, my hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not
trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on the staff of Christ
Jesus. You see, the people of God go
through life, from youth to old age, leaning on the staff of
Christ the Savior. We have no other hope but in
Him. We have no other strength but
His strength. He says in verse 6, watch this.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, if it be marvelous, or if it
be difficult in the eyes of the remnant of these people in these
days, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes? Let's put it literally. The Lord has said to them, there'll
be a life in Jerusalem again. And you know what people said? It'll never happen. That's too
good to be true. And Zacharias says, and this
is the literal meaning of the passage, yes, there'll be life
in Jerusalem once again. There'll be joy and happiness.
The temple is going to be rebuilt. But here's the spiritual interpretation. It may seem to us that the salvation
of God's people is a very difficult thing, and maybe even wonders sometimes. Is the church of our Lord Jesus
Christ to always be small and insignificant? The Lord is building His church,
and it may be marvelous in our eyes, It may to us seem like
a very difficult thing, but God said, you think it's difficult
for me? You think this is a work that's
too impossible for me to accomplish? As you consider the certainty
of the salvation of God's people, to you it may seem very difficult. In fact, in the margin, if you
have a center margin there, it says marvelous or hard or difficult. It may be in your mind hard and
difficult for you to comprehend this, but it's not hard nor difficult
for me. God says, my arm's not shortened
that I can't save. Nothing's impossible with God.
You may sit here this morning and your heart may be as hard
as a rock, like it says of these people in chapter 7. But I'll
tell you what, if God's got His eternal eye on you, it ain't
gonna be difficult for Him to break your hard heart. All He's got to do is send His
Spirit. Isn't that right? Send His Spirit. He'll break your heart in pieces.
He'll take away the heart of stone and give you a heart of
flesh. That's nothing too difficult
for God. I don't care who you are. If
you're one of the Lord's, he's gonna get you. He's gonna get
you. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And he says this in verse seven,
and look at these statements. Thus said the Lord of hosts,
behold, I will save my people. Don't you love the Lord's I wills? I will save my people. I've saved
them by purpose, I've saved them by purchase, I've saved them
by power, I've saved them by preservation, and I will save
them to perfection. I will save my people. He's got a people. They're from the north, south,
east, and west. They're from every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. God says, I'm going to save them.
And the devil may say, no, you won't. God says, yes, I will.
And the sinner may say, not me. I'm not even interested. If you're
the Lord's, he'll get your interest. He can arrest your mind and your
heart and make you thirsty for the presence of God. And you'll
say, oh God, save me. And God will say, I save sinners
through my Son. You come to me through Christ
and I'll receive you. I will save my people. I love that. This is encouragement
to all who labor in the gospel. I will save my people. And then
it says in verse 8, and I will bring them wherever they are. I was in false religion. Guess
what the Lord did? He brought me. Some of you maybe
were in out and out wickedness. What did the Lord do? He brought
you. Some of you were in free willism
and Arminianism. Thinking all along it was because
of you. It was something you had to do.
And the Lord brought you. And now you say, by the grace
of God, I am what I am. Who brought about that change?
He did. God says, I'll bring them. And
He says, they shall be my people. And I will be their God. In truth,
now hear me. It's always the gospel of the
grace of God in Christ Jesus. That's always the basis, the
truth of God. There's no worship of God apart
from the truth. Who is the truth? See, somebody
is the truth. Christ said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. In truth and in righteousness,
Because God can't save any other way. He saves according to his righteousness. And we're made the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. So as you look at this passage
of scripture, yes, it has a literal meaning. But may God enable us
to, as it were, put on spiritual glasses and see here what God
does for his people. He makes us to know the truth.
He makes us to rejoice in Christ Jesus. And we'll be so thankful
to hear about the blood of Christ Jesus over and over and over
again. May the Lord bring you to the
blessed Savior, to know Him who is life everlasting. Let's get our psalm books and
turn to number 32.