Now we're going to be looking
at the book of Zechariah chapter 13 tonight, the last three verses
of that chapter. But I also want you to turn back
to Philippians chapter two, the passage that Brother Bill just
read. Philippians two and Zechariah 13 and the title of the message
this evening is the man who is equal to God. the man who is
equal to God. Now in this message, this last
message of Zechariah to the people of Judah in Jerusalem, and in
essence to us too today, he'd spoken much about sinners being
brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. Sinners being brought
to repentance. repentance of dead works, repentance
of idolatry, repentance of sin, that's a gift of God. And the
way that sinners are brought to true godly repentance is through
a saving view of the Lord Jesus Christ. He'd said back up in
Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10, look at that. He said, I
will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And there I believe he's speaking
in terms of spiritual Israel, the house of David and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. He said, I'm going to pour, whoever
he's talking about here, here's what's going to happen. He's
going to pour out the spirit of grace and of supplications. Grace, the unearned favor of
God. Salvation, that's what that's
speaking of. Eternal life. Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5 and verse
21. The law came by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1 and verse 17. And so grace is salvation. For
by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourselves
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Sovereign
grace. It's the only kind of grace the Bible knows. There's
no such thing as a conditional grace, because you put conditions
on it, it's not grace. It's something that you do to
gain it. I mentioned this morning how when James sung that song,
when he reached down his hand for me, how it always reminds
me of Hannah's prayer, where Hannah said, he lifteth the beggar
off the dung heap. And that's a good emblem of salvation,
good metaphor for salvation. But this repentance, this true
godly sorrow overseeing comes from seeing Christ. It doesn't
come from the law. There is a legal repentance,
but it's a repentance unto death. It's a sorrow of the world that
worketh death. Paul described that in 2 Corinthians chapter
seven. And it's the kind of repentance,
this legal repentance is the kind of repentance that brings
a person to be ashamed and sorrowful over sin, but it doesn't drive
them to Christ. It drives them to the law, or
it drives them to other things. You know, morality, or reform,
or church membership. You see, true, godly, Holy Spirit-wrought
repentance, that is the product of the Holy Spirit's work in
us in the new birth, drives you only to Christ. I've often put
it this way, if you wanna know if it's the Holy Spirit within
you, Just ask yourself this question, where do you find relief? Where
do you find rest? Where do you find peace? Where
do you find salvation? Where do you find righteousness
and forgiveness? If you find it anywhere but in
Christ, you can know right now it is not the Holy Spirit. So
look at verse 10 of Zechariah 12. He said, I'll pour out the
spirit of grace and supplications. The spirit of supplications is
like that old publican. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's supplications right there.
propitious." That's what he meant by that, literally. I need a
substitute. I need a daysman betwixt us. That's what Job said. I need
one who will stand in my place, who's appointed of God, who is
able to save me from my sins, and who's willing to do so. And
that's supplications I'm only a sinner saved by grace Lord
save me else I die Lord if thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities
who would stand but there is forgiveness with thee and it
says now here's how it comes about look at and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced now most people will limit that
to the Jews But you have to understand that the Jews alone were not
responsible for that. Read it in Acts chapter four,
I think we went over there last week, where he talks about the
kings of the earth stood up and Pontius Pilate, Herod and Pontius
Pilate, and he said the Gentiles and the Sanhedrin, the rulers, and the
Jews stood up in unison against his holy child. That's man by
nature. And if you're one of God's people,
if you're one of his chosen people, chosen from the foundation of
the world, there is a way that you need to look at this in saying
it was my sins that put him on that cross. I know it was work
of God. We'll see that in just a moment.
But look here, it comes from a saving view of Christ. Now
look down at chapter 13, verse one. Here's the same thing. Here's
another way of putting it. In that day there shall be a
fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Israel for sin and for uncleanness. That's a saving view of Christ
on the cross. The blood of Christ as the full
payment for all my sins. The righteousness of Christ imputed
to me, freely given to me, received by faith for my whole justification
before God. That's what that fountain opened.
There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's
veins, God with us. And sinners plunge beneath that
flood, lose all their guilty stains. That's the verse that
old William Cowper was reading when he was inspired to pen that
song. One of my favorites, one of your
favorites too, isn't it? But that's a saving view of Christ.
So in this passage here, he's talking about how in the last
days, God's spirit is going to be poured out, just like Joel,
the prophet Joel prophesied in Joel chapter two. He's gonna
be poured out upon all flesh, not just the Jews. Joel said
all flesh. And when Peter quoted Joel chapter
two, at Pentecost that this was the fulfillment of that prophecy
there were both Jews and Gentiles there and so but it was confined
to that area but it was both Jews and Gentiles all who were
brought by the by the invincible calling of the Holy Spirit to
see their sins and cry out in supplication God be merciful
to me the sinner now In the last three verses here, and especially
verse seven, what he's going to do is show us the ground and
basis of that great pouring out of the Spirit. What is the source
of it? What is the source of the work
of the Holy Spirit in us? What is the ground of the Holy
Spirit? How, why does the Holy Spirit
come? Why must he come? And he must
come and apply this salvation to every one of God's people. Everyone whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. They shall be saved. They'll
come to a saving knowledge of Christ. The spirit of grace and
supplications will be poured out upon them. The fountain will
be opened to them. Now why? What's the ground of
it? What's the cause of it? Well here it is, look at verse
seven. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. That's God's shepherd. And against the man that is my
fellow. Literally, the man that is my
equal. You know why we have fellowship?
Fellow. You know why you're my fellow,
my brother or sister in Christ? Because we're equal in the sight
of God in Christ. So when God calls somebody his
fellow here, he means his equal, his equal. And he says, against
the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, that's the
Lord who cannot be defeated, the Lord of an invincible army,
smite the shepherd. This is God the Father speaking
about his shepherd. Awake, O sword, against the man
that is my equal. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little
ones. Now there's the source and the
cause and the ground of salvation. There's the source and the cause
and the ground of the Holy Spirit's work in us. What's that talking
about? That's a prophecy of Christ. The God-man, the man who is God,
the God who is man, and his great work of redemption on the cross
of Calvary as he was smitten for the sins of his sheep, as
the ground and the cause of all that's been described in these
passages concerning our new birth, our regeneration, our conversion. and even our perseverance, the
conversion of God's elect. Our eternal life, our spiritual
life is the fruit of his death. That's what it's talking about.
Christ said it in John chapter 12 and verse 32. He said, and
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, now why was he lifted
up from the earth? because he was smitten by the
sword of God's justice. If I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all unto me. That drawing is the spirit of
grace and supplications being poured out upon his sheep. That drawing is the fountain
opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
as we see by the power of the spirit in the preaching of the
gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. the righteousness
of God in Christ. First Peter chapter 2 verse 24
let me read it to you speaks of Christ who his own self bore
our sins in his own body on the tree. Here is God in human flesh
having our sins charged to him that we being dead to sin should
live to righteousness dead to sins is what we are in Christ
not guilty. Not condemned. There is therefore
now no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. We're
dead to sin in Christ. Living unto righteousness is
the spirit of grace and supplication poured out upon us. The fountain
opened to us where we see Christ and rest in him and follow him. And it says by whose stripes
you were healed. by whose stripes you were healed.
You know, people quote John 3.16 quite often. And they really
don't know what it means. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. It's a beautiful verse
of scripture concerning the love of God. But you really need to
read it in the context. Again, who's he talking to? He's
talking to Nicodemus there. He'd been talking about you must
be born again, Nicodemus. How's a sinner gonna be born
again? Where's that life gonna come from? Just like physical
life, where did it come from? Came from God in creation. He
breathed the breath of life into the soul of Adam. God created
physical life. The next breath you take is a
creation from God. It's a gift from God. Well, where's
this spiritual life gonna come from that brings a sinner to
believe in Him, to believe in Christ? and have everlasting
life. Well, read John 3, 14. Let me
read this to you. It says, and as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man,
that means the Messiah, must be lifted up on the cross that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Now, who's going to accomplish
such a task? Man cannot do it. Because man cannot give and sustain
life. Scientists have been trying to
create life in a test tube. They can't do it. They can mimic
some things, but they only take materials that are already there,
life that is already there, and try to perpetuate it as much
as they can, but it can't be forever. It's gonna die. Man
cannot give and sustain life. Man cannot give and sustain life. Only God can do that. And yet,
in order to give life, it says here, this shepherd must be smitten.
He must be smitten with the sword of divine justice. And what does
the sword of divine justice say? The soul that sinneth must surely
what? Die. The wages of sin is death. Without the shedding of blood,
without death, there's no remission of sins. But God cannot die. Man cannot give and sustain life.
God cannot die. So who's going to bring about
this life? Well, he has to be both God and man in one person. He's got to be the one who is
God's fellow. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd
and against the man that is my fellow, my equal. Look at Philippians
chapter 2. Now we know from scriptural testimony
that for any man to claim to be God or to be equal with God
is utter blasphemy and idolatry. In fact, when Christ made that
claim, and I'm gonna tell you something, don't let these modern
day theologians fool you, he did make that claim. Christ made
that claim. Any time a person stands before
the Pharisees and says, before Abraham was, I am, that's a person
who's claiming to be God. And that's why they took up stones
to stone him. Any man who claims to be able
to forgive sin is claiming deity. Now that's so. Only God can forgive
sin. We know from scriptural testimony
that it's blasphemy, it's idolatry for any man to claim to be God.
Except one man. This man, look at it. Philippians
chapter 2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Now what mind is he talking about?
He's talking about the mind of humility. the mind of love, the
mind of service, the mind of condescension, coming down. That's what he's talking about.
And he uses Christ, Jesus, as the example of the ultimate humility. And listen to what he says. Christ
Jesus, verse six, who being in the form of God. Now that's a
strange way to put that, but what it means is not as he's
some form or some kind of phantom of God, or some kind of a shape
of God. That means he is the exact image
of God. He is God. That's what he said,
in the form of God. Just like down here it says he
took on the form of a servant, Did he really become a servant?
Was he really a servant? Yes, he was. He was the servant
of his father. He's the servant of the covenant.
He's the servant of his people. He said, the son of man came
not to be served, but to serve. And how did he do it? Well, he
died for his people. He obeyed the law and died unto
death. So, the being in the form of God is a phrase that means
he is the exact image of God and those who are the, anybody
who's the exact image of God is God. Now, no mere man can
claim that. But look what it says in verse
six. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Now, for any mere man to claim
to be equal with God, It's robbery. Blasphemy. What's he robbing? He's robbing God of his glory.
God won't share his glory. Scripture says that. It's just
like a man who claims to be the vicar of Christ. That's robbery,
my friend. There is no substitute for Christ
here on earth. The preacher is not a substitute
for Christ. And that includes the Pope, the
priest, whoever. There is no substitute for Christ.
There's only one Lord Jesus Christ, and that's it. But when Christ
claimed to be the exact image of God, to be equal with God,
it wasn't robbery. He thought it not robbery. Why?
Because he was just telling the truth. He was just telling it
like it is. This is the way it is. You remember
in the garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers came to arrest him
and he come up to him and he said, whom do you seek? And they
said, we seek Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. And you remember
what happened? They fell back. Power, the power
of God. And then he told him, he said,
well, here I am. You take me and leave these alone. That's
the language of substitution, isn't it? But it says in verse
seven, he made himself of no reputation and took upon him
the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. That's
to be attributed to his humanity. You see, God absolutely considered
cannot come down. He's God, He always will be God.
Listen, God cannot be anything less than God. You know, most
people when they think of the Lord Jesus Christ, I think they
have some kind of idea, well, He's God, but He's kind of a
lesser God. You can't be a lesser God. There's no such thing. You know what a lesser God is?
An idol. That's what a lesser God is. But see, his humility
is to be attributed to his humanity, but it was an act of his entire
person. I can't explain that to you, and I'm not even gonna
attempt it, and don't you to me. All right? Because you can't
either. But he says, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
You see that? Now turn to Hebrews chapter two.
Turn to Hebrews chapter two. Now all this, all this for one purpose, and
that is the salvation of his sheep. I love that verse in John chapter
13, verse one, it says, he loved his own unto the end, his own
people, his sheep, unto the end. And the word in there is a word
that means completion. It's the same word that he used
in John chapter 19 and verse 30 when he said, it is finished.
He loved his own unto the finishing of the work. It's the same word
that's used in Romans 10 and verse 4. Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to them that believe. He loved his
own unto the end. Well, look at Hebrews chapter
2 and verse 14. He's been talking about the children
whom God gave him, that's his sheep, that's his people, that's
God's elect. And he says, for as much then
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself,
likewise, in the same way, took part of the same. He took part
of flesh and blood. Now what set him apart from us
is he did it without sin. He was not born of man. He was
not born dead in trespasses and sins like you and I were. You see, we're born in sin. But
now Christ was born of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin.
And he says that, now he did all that, that through death
he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the
devil. Now the power of death that the devil has is not the
power to kill you. Only, listen, the Lord killeth,
the Lord maketh alive. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
All right? But what's he talking about the
power of death that the devil has? The power of death that
the devil has is in his accusations. The devil, that word devil means
adversary or accuser. He's the accuser of the brethren.
And he accuses the church. He accuses believers day and
night before the Lord. That's what scripture says. But
when Christ died on the cross, See, the ground of the devil's
accusations was totally removed in time. And therefore, when
the devil accuses, those accusations, they don't stick. You see, if
the accusation of sin sticks, what does that demand? It demands
death. If I see you commit a crime, or you see me commit a capital
crime, and you accuse me before the civil courts, and you've
got proof that I committed that crime, if it's a capital crime,
what do I deserve according to the law? Capital punishment.
But if the accusation doesn't stick, and you can't prove it,
then no death. And that's the way it is with
the devil. See, he accuses, but his accusations don't stick.
You know why? Because all of our sin was laid
upon Christ. He was made sin. Christ who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And therefore again, who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? Christ took our death and our hell. But look
here, he says, verse 15, and deliver them who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. He's talking
about that legal fear of death there. And it says in verse 16,
for barely he took not on him the nature of angels, but he
took upon him the seed of Abraham. That's God's chosen people. That's
who that is. All who come to faith in Christ. So wherefore in all things it
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, his sheep,
the seed of Abraham, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. Now how did he do that? Through
his death. Now, with all that in mind, go
back to Zechariah chapter 13. See, that's the man who is God. He's God's man. His name shall
be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins,
Matthew 121. His name shall be called Emmanuel,
which being interpreted, God with us. It took this kind of
person to save sinners from their sins. Nobody else could do it. No one less than God in human
flesh. The word made flesh and dwelt
among us. Now that's what he's saying here
in verse seven. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. What's that sword? It's the sword
of God's justice against our sin charged to Christ. That's what it is. God is a God
of holiness and righteousness and truth and justice. He must
judge according to truth. He must judge according to justice,
and if he judges me or you to be saved, to be righteous, to
be justified, he's got to be right in doing it. He can't play
like it, he can't pretend it now. He can't look at you and
say, well now, I'm gonna say you're righteous, but you're
really not. No sir, that's not what he does. That's not God's
work. He didn't work that way. Men
may, but God doesn't. He's got to put the sword of
justice into the heart of the shepherd. Awake, O sword, against
my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the good shepherd. John chapter 10. He gives his
life for the sheep. Isn't that right? Now how can he give his life?
The sword of God's justice comes against, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him, Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 10. And when this
sword of divine justice went against God's shepherd and against
the man that is my fellow, God's equal, it was real. Turn to Psalm
21, or 22 rather, Psalm 22. I'll show you how real it was. And I'll tell you something,
we really cannot imagine what it was like for him to go through
that. And I get leery of those who try to describe it and theologize
it and doctrinalize it to a point to where they make it a point
of fellowship. That's wrong now. That's wicked. Look at Psalm
22, look at verse 1. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Now you know the Lord said that,
it's recorded in Matthew, I believe chapter 27 when he was on the
cross, one of his sayings on the cross. This is a prophecy
of Christ. This is the psalm of the cross. And it says, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now he wasn't trying to get
information here. He was making a point. That because
of our sins imputed, charged, accounted to him, He was separated
from his father. I cannot explain that to you.
Won't even try. But I just know it's so. Why?
Because he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He
says, why art thou so far from helping me and from the words
of my roaring? You see, God's justice was being
carried out on the cross in the person of the God-man, his shepherd,
the man who is his fellow, his equal, the God-man. And that
sort of justice had to be drank dry, in other words. God's wrath
had to be totally, totally dried up. in this undertaking. The debt of our sins had to be
fully paid. He goes on in verse two, oh my
God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. Now you think
about that. And in the night season, and
am not silent. Look down at verse six, here's
Christ speaking. He says, but I am a worm and
no man. What he's doing here, he's describing
in symbolic language something of the magnitude. of the depths
of sin that he was brought to because of our sin imputed to
him. He said, a reproach of men and despised of the people. Remember
the Bible says in Isaiah 53, he was despised and rejected
of men. Look at verse 14 of Psalm 22.
Sometimes you get an opportunity to just sit down and read this
whole Psalm. But look at verse 14. He says, I am poured out
like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like
wax. It is melted in the midst of
my bowels. Now this Psalm 22 is probably
about the closest you're going to get in biblical language to
the description of what our Savior went through. There's another
Psalm, Psalm 69. He calls our sins His own. Not because He
committed them, He didn't. He's the spotless Lamb of God.
Not because our sins corrupted Him. Our sins on the cross did
not corrupt the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what do I mean by that? I
mean when he was hanging on that cross, he never had a sinful
thought. He never had a sinful motive.
He never had a thought of unbelief. He was perfect in himself, yet
our sins nailed him to that tree. Look over at Psalm 22 and verse
30. Now here's the result of all of it. A seed shall serve
him. What is the seed there? That's
his children. Children of God. That's his offspring. It's his
generation. It shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. Our sins laid upon him, his righteousness
upon us. They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness. What's gonna happen? The spirit
of grace and supplication's gonna be poured out on them. A fountain's
gonna be opened to them for sin and for uncleanness. Unto a people
that shall be born. born again by the Spirit that
he hath done this. This is the work of God. Go back
to Zechariah 13. Isn't this something when you
consider that? Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, the
Lord who cannot be defeated. The work of Christ on the cross
was never a defeat. I used to be in with a religion,
that said Christ died in vain for so many people. I used to
say that. Did he die in vain for you? He
didn't die in vain for anybody. These are the words and the works
of the Lord of hosts, the invincible God who cannot be defeated. And
he says, smite the shepherd. Now he couldn't have done that
unless justice was involved. He couldn't do that wrongfully.
He did it rightfully. He did it righteously. Smite
the shepherd. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. And then he says, the sheep shall be scattered. Now that's
a fulfillment. Look over at Matthew chapter
26. Our Lord quoted this verse. And
so we don't have to wonder what he means. The sheep will be scattered.
Matthew chapter 26. And look at, look at verse 30. of Matthew
26. Here's where the Lord, he instituted
the Lord's Supper and they finished it. It says in verse 30, when
they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives,
and he's going to the Garden of Gethsemane, and then saith
Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended, all his disciples
here. And Judas is not here at this
time. He'd already left. So this is his true disciples.
All ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written,
I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. I believe there's two applications
of this. First of all, when our Lord was arrested and tried,
what happened to his disciples? They scattered everywhere, they
ran. just like all of us would do. Isn't that right? They ran
scared. Peter even denied him. Openly. But I also believe that it's
talking about his sheep being scattered all over the world
to preach the gospel. And in the power of the Holy
Spirit, sinners would be brought to Christ. The Bible says all
we like sheep have gone astray. We've all gone our own way. He's
going to bring his sheep back into the way. And I'll remind
you of what one of our dear brothers said, Brother Earl Henderson,
when somebody asked him the question, said, Earl, do you ever doubt
your salvation? And Earl said, yeah, I do sometimes.
But he said, I come back to this. I know I can't be lost because
I know the way. As long as you know the way,
you're not lost. Well, who is the way? God's shepherd, his
fellow, his equal, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let me just make
some comments on these last two verses and I'll close. Now, he
says in the end of verse seven, he says, and I will turn mine
hand upon the little ones. Now the little ones there, they're
his sheep, they're his lambs. He's expressing his love for
his people, his church, God's elect. Remember he told Peter
when they were sitting there by the Sea of Galilee before
he ascended unto glory, he said, Peter, do you love me? And Peter
said, Lord, you know I love you. He said, feed my lambs, feed
my sheep, feed my sheep. And those are the little ones,
the little ones of the Lord. And he said, I'm gonna turn my
hand upon the little ones. Literally what that says, I'm
gonna bring my hand back over the little ones. Now they're
scattered. All we like sheep have gone astray,
but he's gonna turn his hand back on us, and that's his hand
of justice, his hand of grace, his hand of mercy. And he's gonna
grab hold of us, he's going to, as Paul said, I've been apprehended.
He's gonna apprehend us, arrest us in our way, and bring us back
into the fold. Just like a shepherd goes out
and finds a lost sheep, and picks up that sheep, puts him on the
shoulders and takes him back and puts him in the flock. God
turns his hand of grace and mercy upon him and no one can pluck
them out of his hand, no one. Those whom God cleanses from
sin and justifies by his righteousness, he purifies through the fires
of affliction, look at it. Verse eight, it shall come to
pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall
be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. Now two
parts just means the majority. Third means the remnant, that's
the minority. And so what he's saying is the
vast majority are going to be left to themselves and perish
in their sins. But God has a remnant, the third
part, shall be left therein. They'll be left in his bosom,
in his hand. And verse nine says, and I will
bring the third part through the fire. They're gonna come
through the fires of affliction. And we'll refine them as silver
is refined. In other words, this fire of
affliction is not to burn us up, but it's to refine us. It's to make us more and more
like Christ. And he said, I'll try or test them as gold is tried. That's the purification that
he brings us through. They shall call on my name. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How do you call upon the name
of the Lord? Through the blood of Christ. Through sacrifice. And I will hear them. Any sinner
who comes to God pleading the merits of Christ, God hears them.
And I will say, it is my people. That's ownership. God owns us,
lock, stock, and barrel. He bought us with the price of
His blood, and they shall say, the Lord is my God." If He owns
you, that's what you're going to say. That's the final result.
He speaks of protection, the protection of the remnant. And
everything He does, He does for this remnant. You see? That song, How Firm a Foundation,
has a verse. It says, when through fiery trials
thy pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply.
He says, the flame shall not hurt thee, I only design thy
dross to consume and thy gold to refine. That's what this verse
is talking about. We sing another song, some through
the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all
through the blood. Our trials may not always be
the same and to the same degree, but they are there. But we all
come through the blood. We come through the fire of conviction
when the Holy Spirit brings us to see our sins and our depravity.
and drive us to Christ. We come through the fire of chastisement. God's correcting his children
whom he loves. Hebrews chapter 12 tells us,
we come through the fire of persecution but we must through much tribulation
enter the kingdom of God and all who wash their robes and
make them white in the blood of the Lamb must come through
great tribulation But what did our Lord tell his disciples?
He said, you'll have tribulation in the world, but be of good
cheer. I have overcome the world. Who? The man who is equal with
God. He can and he does save his people
from sin.