All right, let's look in to this
blessed passage of scripture in Zechariah chapter 12. You may have noticed, as Brother
Joe read through that chapter, that one phrase kept reappearing
over and over again. And the phrase was, in that day,
19 times. in Zechariah chapter 12, in that
day. That's the title of the message.
In that day. And what day is he speaking of? Well, he's speaking of that glorious
day when the Lord of glory, the suffering servant of God, the
Messiah, that day that he came to this earth, walked on this
earth, obeyed the law perfectly on behalf of his people, and
went to the cross of Calvary, and on that day, that one day,
and exactly as some scholars say three hours time, I don't
know, but in that time, in that short period of time, span of
time, that day, hanging on that cross, guilty before God. He was guilty, cursed before
God. This innocent substitute, this
spotless lamb, hanged on that cross and died for the sins of
his people, his church. And in dying for those sins,
he put those sins away and brought redemption for his people, shedding
his precious blood unto death paying our sin debt in full,
and accomplished in that day, that glorious day, what Daniel
the prophet spoke of in Daniel 9, the establishment of righteousness
whereby God, Almighty God, Holy God, could be just and justify
the ungodly. That's the day. Now it's also
indicative of the day of the whole gospel age, the new covenant
age, that span of time between his first coming and his second
coming in which the salvation of his people out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation would be filled in that age as it had
been in prior ages. but in a special way in light
of a work accomplished in that day. And that's what he's talking
about. He talks about the burden of
the word of the Lord in verse 1 for Israel. The burden of the
word of the Lord. This is the beginning of the
end of Zechariah's prophecy. This is the last message. These
last three chapters, 12, 13, and 14 would be the last message
that the prophet Zechariah would preach to the people of Judah
and Jerusalem. And it was a burden of the word
of the Lord. It wasn't Zechariah's message,
it was God's message. It was Zechariah's because God
gave it to him. It's the proclamation. That's
what the word burden really means, a proclamation. But I think it
means more than just proclaiming. I believe it has something to
do with the depth and the profound weight of the message. This is
serious business. He had called his second to the
last message back in verse 9 or chapter 9, a burden. It's a heavy
message because it weighs on the heart, it weighs on the mind.
This is a message of eternal life and eternal death. Debbie
and I have been talking about this. This is serious business.
You know, when I stand behind this pulpit, like Zechariah standing
there speaking and preaching, talking to the people of Jude
and Jerusalem, and I stand here talking to you, when I preach
on our television program, these are issues of eternal life or
eternal death. This is not just philosophy.
This is not just the opinions of men. This is a burden. This
is something that weighs heavy on the preacher's heart. And
it must, because this is the word of God. He says, the burden
of the word of the Lord, the word Lord there is Jehovah. I've
pointed that out so many times here. But that means the God
of salvation. That's the covenant God. That's
what Jehovah is. He is the covenant God. He's
the God of promise. And mainly for us, as sinners,
He's the God who saves by grace. through Christ. This is His message
to Israel, the burden of the word of the Lord. This proclamation
of God's word is a confirmation, through the prophet, of God's
eternal purpose to save His people, all Israel, from their sins,
through the glorious person and finished work of the promised
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's promise to his
true Israel, spiritual Israel, his church, and included our
victory over all our enemies by the sovereign grace and power
of God in Christ. In that day, the day of Christ. In that day, the day of grace. In that day, the day of salvation. Zechariah's message, just like
his contemporary prophet, Haggai, is the small beginnings of restoration
in this people here. Now you think about it, here
they come out of that Babylonian captivity and they'd seen some
glorious things now. They'd seen the providence of
God in defeating great enemies and enabling them to come back
to their homeland and be reestablished and to rebuild the temple. The
temple was finished by this time. And later on, they were going
to see the beginnings of the rebuilding of the city, the walls
of Jerusalem under Zerubbabel. Now, the temple that they rebuilt
wasn't outwardly as glorious and beautiful as the Temple of
Solomon. That glory had diminished somewhat,
but it was still a great day for them. And so Zechariah's
message, just like Haggai's, is this, the small beginnings
of restoration that they see in rebuilding this temple and
in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem. Think
about this. It's going to be eclipsed beyond
understanding, beyond words, by the glory that someday will
fill that place and indeed fill the whole earth. And what is
that? That's the coming of Jesus Christ. There's nothing to compare
to the glory of God in Christ. What you see today in this temple,
folks, that's what he's telling. There's a glory there, but it's
not even to be compared with the glory that's coming. When
I read this, I thought about 2 Corinthians chapter 3, where
the Apostle Paul is explaining to the Corinthian believers concerning
the glory that was connected with the Old Covenant. and all
of its laws and ceremonies and types and pictures and showing
that the gospel fulfilled in Christ, in the person, the glorious
person in the finished work of Christ is the glory that exceleth. And he made this statement, he
said that which was glorious back then really had no glory
when you compare it to Christ. And that's what Zechariah is
saying here in the beginning of his message. in that day. There's two things about that
day that he brings forth here. Number one is that day is going
to be a day of our eternal security in Christ. You know there was
no eternal security in the old covenant. There was no security
at all in the old covenant except what God allowed them to have
in a temporary period of time. But this day is going to be a
day of eternal security. Christ salvation sure salvation
secured and then in the last few verses of this chapter beginning
at verse 10 and to the end of the chapter he shows it's a day
it's going to be a day of repentance for all who make up the nation
spiritual nation of Israel Let's look at it. You know, he says
here in verse 1, What's he talking about? He's talking about the
God of creation there. He's talking about the God who said, let there be light
and there was light. He's talking about God who formed
man and breathe the spirit of life
into man. That's what he's talking about.
He gives life. I've often said it this way to you. I said, the
very next breath you take is a gift from Almighty God. That's
right. The very next breath you take
is a gift. Every breath. So this is the
God of creation. And he says in verse 2, He says,
behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the
people round about him when they shall be in the siege both against
Judah and against Jerusalem. Talking about those who stand
against Judah and Jerusalem. And he says in verse three, and
in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves with
it shall be cut in pieces. All who stand against, all who
try to lift it, literally. destruction for the purposes
of destruction shall be cut in pieces though all the people
the earth be gathered together against it no matter how many
there are now what is he talking about well you know Christ has
always been the security of his church it's never been any different
His people in the Old Testament, sinners saved by the grace of
God, sinners saved by promise, the promise of one who was to
come, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ who was identified and
distinguished throughout the gospel as it was preached and
prophesied and typified in the Old Covenant. Christ was Abel's
security. Abel, who brought the blood of
the Lamb. Who was his salvation? It was by grace, through Christ,
who was to come. Our salvation, the same way.
Christ is the surety of the covenant of grace. That means he's our
security. That means our sins were, in
a way, eternally always charged to him. That's right, because
Christ was always our surety. The Bible teaches that God gave
him a people before the foundation of the world. And there's coming
a day, as we said, that's what Zechariah said. He says there's
coming a day when he, by his obedience unto death, would perform
the duties of his suretyship. He would do, meet all the conditions
of our salvation. And so he begins to show them
that by assuring them that God, who has promised these things,
is the God who's able to perform these things. God doesn't make
promises that he's not able to perform, and he doesn't intend
to keep. Now, we may do that. We're human
beings. I may make a promise I don't
intend to keep. You may do the same thing. We're
not above that now. But here's the thing about it.
We may make a promise we intend to keep but we're not able to
keep. We either don't foresee all the obstacles or all the
conditions and we're not able. But God is able to perform all
that he promised and he's the God who can be confidently trusted
to do all that he said for he is our creator. And that's how
he starts. Listen, God stretched forth the
heavens and laid the foundation of the earth. The ground that
you walk on is your, you know, you don't get out of bed in the
morning thinking you're gonna fall into a big hole, do you?
You think your feet are gonna hit solid ground. That's right,
that's security. You don't even think about it.
See, these are things you say, well, preacher, I don't even
think about that. You know why? Because you're secure. Now it's
very possible that one day you may get out of bed and fall into
a big hole. I don't know. But you don't think about it
because it's your security. Your security is not that ground,
friend. Your security is the God who
made that ground. This earth is not our security.
I was watching part of a movie the other day called 2012. You
ever seen that movie? Talking about the end of the
earth, December, whatever, 2012. You know, people have been predicting
the end of the world for all, and they based that on a Mayan
calendar that was written in stone. They had a line of stones,
and it stopped there at that particular date. I think what
happened is they just ran out of rock. But whatever. Now let me tell you something.
There is an appointed day when God is going to destroy this
world. The Bible teaches that. We don't
know the day. And the Lord says we can't know
the day. We know it's coming. We live in anticipation of his
second coming, his return. We believe that it's going to
happen. We're to prepare for that by looking to Christ and
resting in him. But my friend, this world is
not our security. It is going to be destroyed.
The sun is not our security. The trees are not our security.
The seas are not our, but God who made these things is our
security. Not only just God in his power,
but the Lord Jehovah who promises salvation by his grace through
Christ. That's the issue here. That's
why I read in Isaiah 54 in verse five, I love this verse. In prophesying
of Christ. And it says this, for thy maker
Thy creator is thy husband. The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah there,
and the Lord of Hosts means one who cannot be defeated, the invincible
God, the God of a great army that cannot be defeated. The
Lord of Hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, that's Christ, the God of the whole earth, shall he
be called. That's what Zechariah is saying. He laid the foundation
of the earth. He formed the spirit of man within
him. He gave us the life that we have.
The doctors aren't our security. I thank God for doctors. I do. I've seen enough of them. I thank
God for medical procedures and drugs that help. I thank God
for all those things. You know, from my point of view,
I'd be dead without them. I know it's up to God. But they're
not our security. The hospital's not our security.
The insurance company's not. God is. That's what he's saying. Now this same God who created
the world, this same God who gave us life, is our Redeemer. He's our security and salvation.
Now turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter four. This is the gospel
ministry often connects the security of our salvation in Christ with
the God of creation. And this is one of the classic
verses that does that. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, look
at verse 3. He says, but if our gospel be
hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of
God, that means he is God, For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's what Isaiah 54 meant.
Our maker is our husband. The Lord of hosts is his name.
Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. In other words, God embodied
in the person of Christ. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And you're complete in him. And
it says here, who is the image of God should shine unto them
for we preach not ourselves. You see, my security and salvation
is not myself. It's not yourself. It's not my
decision. It's not even my faith. That's
not my security and salvation. Listen, folks, we need to hear
this. My security and salvation is not my faith in him. I'll
tell you what my security and salvation is. It's his faith
to do what he agreed to do, the faithfulness of Christ. My security
and salvation is Christ and him crucified and risen again. It's
his blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. That's my security.
I'm telling you. That's why the scripture says
in Romans chapter 3 I believe in verse 24 that we have faith
in his blood. You see my faith is not in my
faith. It's in Christ and his blood. for the forgiveness of all my
sins. His righteousness imputed, charged to me, accounted to me
is my security as far as my standing before God is concerned. It's
not my preaching. It's not my life of godliness
or obedience. It's not even, listen, listen
to me. The security of my salvation is not even the fruit of the
spirit in me. Now that's the earnest of my
salvation, the scripture says. And you know what an earnest
is? It's like a down payment. We sing it in a hymn. I can't
remember what the hymn is, but it's like a foretaste of glory
divine. That's what the work of the spirit
in me is. It's a foretaste of glory divine. But see, if I truly
have the earnest of the spirit, I'll know that Christ on the
throne as my advocate based upon his obedience unto death is my
security. You see what I'm saying? His
righteousness is my security. of being accepted eternally before
God. And that's what the Spirit shows.
That's the work of the Spirit in us, to show us that Christ
is our security. And I keep saying that, but we
need to get this in our minds solid, you see. But look here. So he says, we don't preach ourselves.
We're not our security, see. He says, but Christ Jesus the
Lord. That's who we preach. We point
sinners to Christ. And ourselves, your servants,
for Jesus' sake. In other words, we're just the
servant to point you to Christ. Now look at verse six. For God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Now who's that?
That's our maker. That's our creator. That's the
one who stretched forth the heavens, Zechariah said, and layeth the
foundations of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within
him. The life of man, that's what
that is. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts, our minds, our affections, our wills,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. There's where the glory is. Go
back to Zechariah chapter 12. Isn't that a blessing? Isn't it a blessing for me and
you to know that Christ is our surety? Isn't it a blessing to
know that he's our security? You see, these people who go
around talking about being saved one day and lost another day,
what is their security? It's not Christ. The only way
I could lose my security of salvation is if Christ could be taken off
of his throne in glory. And that's an impossibility.
I'll tell you, and somebody comes along and says, well, you're
just giving people an excuse to sin. You don't know grace,
friend. You don't know the security of grace, if that's the way you
think. Think about it. God has promised
to save his people through Christ. He's willing and he's able to
do it. The very ground you stand on and the very breath you breathe
is a testimony to that. Did you know that? That's what
he's saying there. The earth upon which we exist
for a little short period of time is a testimony to God's
ability and God's willingness to save his people through Christ.
The very next breath we take is a testimony to that. That's
what Zechariah's telling these people. In fact, he's telling
them, it's like he's saying Judah, Jerusalem, Israel, you wouldn't
even have an existence if it were not for God's promise. to
save his people through Christ. That's the very reason God created
this world. That's the reason God does things as he does. Sometimes
I don't understand the intricacies of God's workings in Providence. That's not right. I said sometimes. Most of the time I don't. But
I know where it's all headed. I know what it's all about. I
know what it's founded upon. I know the goal. And that is
for the glory of God and the salvation of his people in Christ.
Our Savior lays the foundation of the earth. And let me tell
you something, the same one who lays the foundation of the earth,
he lays the foundation of his church. That's what he told his
disciples in Matthew 16. He said, upon this rock I will
build my church. And he's the foundation of the
church. He's the chief cornerstone of the church. He's the head
and he's the heart of the church. It's by his blood that the church
is redeemed. It's by his righteousness that
the church is justified. It's by his power and grace that
the church is regenerated and called out of the world and brought
to Christ. He who is our savior formeth
the spirit of man within him. He gave us physical life, physical
breath, and he's the author of spiritual and eternal life for
all his covenant children in Christ who is our life were born
again because he lives. Did you know that? Because Christ
lives and he lives because he died. That's right, isn't it? He satisfied the justice of God.
Think of the analogy of creation that in this God worked six days
in creating the world then he rested on the seventh And Paul
in the book of Hebrews chapter four related that to Christ doing
his great work on Calvary. And then he showed how Christ
is our Sabbath. You really can't have a Sabbath
without security. Did you know that? Think about
it. Sabbath means what? It's a rest.
Could you rest if you're not secure? Well, I'd say you fell
as you ladies too. If you had a job where you had
to work six days, And then you rested on the seventh day. You
couldn't rest on that seventh day if you were sitting there
thinking, well, if I don't work today, I'm going to lose my job.
Could you? Because there's no security.
There's got to be security before there can be rest. How are you
going to rest in Christ if he's not your security? You see what
I'm saying? And how can he be my security
if he's not my surety? And how can he be my surety if
he didn't perform the duties of a surety? Die for my sins,
work out righteousness for me. Go back to Zechariah 12, look
at verse two. Now, when he's talking about Jerusalem here,
he says, behold, I will make Jerusalem, there's two things
he says about Jerusalem here. He says, I'll make Jerusalem
a cup of trembling. In your concordance, you might
have the word slumber, or you might even have the word poison.
And really what it is, it's like a cup of staggering. It'd probably
be a better translation. says, I'm going to make Jerusalem
a cup of staggering. Well, what's he talking about?
Well, hold on. Well, he says, he says he's going to make it a
cup of trembling unto all the people round about. And he says,
this is going to happen when they shall all be in the siege,
both against Judah and Jerusalem. That is when they come against,
attack Judah and Jerusalem. And then he says in another way,
here's the second thing. And in that day, that day, Will
I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people? All that
burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces. All who try
to lift it up and destroy it. That's what he's talking about.
Take it off its foundation. Though all the people of the
earth be gathered together against it. Now think about physical
Jerusalem. Think about the physical city
of Jerusalem under the old covenant. Think about that first. Now that
physical city of Jerusalem under the old covenant was the place
where the temple of God was. What was that temple? Well, in
a typical ceremonial way, it was the dwelling place of the
Lord. You remember, God told him that's where, for many years,
the Ark of the Covenant was, where the mercy seat was, the
Holy of Holies. He told him in Exodus, in chapter
25, he said, that's where I'll dwell and that's where I'll commune
with you. And all that, that was a typical ceremonial, physical,
temporal service indicating through prophecy, through type, and through
picture that God only communicates and receives and blesses sinners
through the blood of Christ who is our mercy seat. Am I right?
That's what it was all about. And so it was the dwelling place
of God. It was the place of his people. In fact, physical Jerusalem
was a metaphor or an emblem or a type of the heavenly Jerusalem,
read Hebrews chapter 12, when it says that we who've come to
Christ, we don't come to a physical mountain, Mount Sinai, and we
don't come to a physical Jerusalem. We don't make a pilgrimage to
physical Jerusalem. See, that's not an indication
that you're a child of God. What that is, that's an indication
that you're a tourist. All right? But when you come
to Christ, you come to a heavenly city, a heavenly Jerusalem, just
like Abraham. Abraham wasn't looking for a
city down here made with hands, was he? But he was looking for
a heavenly dwelling place, an eternal dwelling place. So it's
the place of his people under the old covenant, national Israel,
but it's the place of his people under the new covenant, spiritual
Israel. We're citizens of a heavenly
Jerusalem. The physical Jerusalem and in the temple by the priesthood
and the sacrifices, that was the place where God made himself
known and he was worshiped. Well, where is that today? Well,
it's in his church where the gospel is preached, where Christ
is lifted up. Am I right? Where Christ is preached
in the glory of his person, in the power of his finished work.
We preach Christ, Paul said. We don't preach ourselves, we
preach Christ. We preach his glorious person,
who is he? He's God, man. He's God in human
flesh. What did he do? He came to this
earth to save his people from their sin. How did he accomplish
it? Through his obedience unto death,
even the death of the cross. Substitution, that's what that's
all about. The Lamb of God, who beareth
away the sin of the world. And so this Jerusalem here is
emblematic. It's a symbol here of the heavenly
Jerusalem. And just as in the day, now think
about this. He said, I'm gonna make it a
cup of trembling. Now that cup of trembling is
like a cup of strong drink that makes the drinker drunk so that
he'll stagger. That's what it is. It's intoxicating. And what he was saying, now think
about it under that old covenant as the promise was given to Abraham.
He's saying all who oppose and attack Jerusalem will end up
so drunk with their own hatred and their own power and their
own ideas and their own pride and their own hatred for God
and for God's people that they'll be totally ignorant and oblivious
to the danger that they're in. That's what he means by that.
It's like a person who gets drunk and then gets behind the wheel
of a car. They think that they're 50 feet
tall and bulletproof. They think they could probably
run into a semi and go right through it without any problem.
They're drunk, you see, and they're full of pride, and they're full
of blindness and ignorance, and they're unaware of the dangers. that await them out there on
the road and for other people. And that's what he said, those
who come against Jerusalem. Well, that was true under the
old covenant. Remember he told Abraham back in Genesis chapter
12, he said, I'll bless them that bless you and I'll curse
them that curse you. And you look at all the empires that
came against Jerusalem, where are they now? They're fallen.
They thought they were really doing something big. They thought
they were really powerful. They thought their God or gods
were blessing them and they were drunk with their own power. They
were drunk with their own pride and they fell. Well, my friend,
in that day, it's going to be the same with those who stand
against Christ and his church. That's what he's saying. Those
whose hatred for Christ and his gospel, his truth of grace, and
who stand in opposition to him, who try to consume his church
like a cup of wine but instead of satisfying them it'll just
make them stagger and fall to the ground and they'll become
so intoxicated with their hatred for Christ their hatred for his
church and their hatred for his truth that they will not see
that they're in reality like a drunk destroying their own
souls. That's what that means. They're drunk. And then he says
in verse three that Jerusalem will be like a burdensome stone
for all people. All who stand against Jerusalem,
seeking to lift her up unto destruction, to take her off her foundation,
that burden themselves, they'll be cut in pieces. Just like those
who attacked physical Jerusalem on that time of the old covenant
were destroyed, those who attack try to lift the church up off
its foundation. who are trying to destroy the
foundation of the church of Christ and His truth and His people,
they'll be cut to pieces and it doesn't matter how many there
are, though all the people of the earth be gathered together
against it. Their numbers doesn't matter. It might be all the people
of the earth gathered against them. There was a time that the
Bible sort of indicates that everybody on earth was against
Christ. Acts chapter 4, the kings of the earth, the Jews, the Gentiles.
They stood against him, but they couldn't stop him. They couldn't
stop the success of his great work. He accomplished it. And
he says in that day, look at verse four, he says, in that
day saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment
and his rider with madness and I will open mine eyes upon the
house of Judah and will smite every horse of the people with
blindness. These horses that he keeps mentioning
and the rider, they are symbolic of man's power. Fallen man in
his determination to destroy Christ and his truth and his
church is represented there by the horse and the rider. That's
why a lot of times in the Psalms and some of the prophecies he
tells the king of Israel, the King of Judah, don't depend on
horses, don't depend on your armies, don't depend on weapons.
The weapons of man will not help you. The works of man will not
help you in salvation. It will not do it. You see, only
God can save. Salvation is of the Lord. So
all who come against you, Jerusalem, and the heavenly Jerusalem, All
who stand against you, no matter the powerful horses and the riders,
the war machines, they cannot destroy Christ and His church. And there are three things said
here that are indicative of spiritual death of the natural man. First
of all is the word astonishment. You know what that means? That
means he's bewildered. They'll come against Christ, they'll
come against His church, they'll stand against His truth, and
they will be bewildered, totally befuddled. about what happens. They cannot win. The next one
is madness. That's insanity. That means they
don't know the difference between right and wrong when it comes
to God's Word. It doesn't mean they don't have
a conscience. They have a conscience. But when it comes to salvation,
man is spiritually insane. He doesn't know the difference
between right and wrong. That's what Adam did when he fell in
the garden. He said, I'm going to determine
for myself what's right and what's wrong. I don't need God. I can
stand on my own. Man's been saying that in religion
ever since. But he's mad. He doesn't know
right from wrong. And then he says, I'll open mine
eyes upon the house of Judah. And that's God's eye of grace,
his eye of protection, his eye of power. And he says, I will
smite every horse of the people with blindness. There's the third
thing about the natural man in spiritual death. He's blind.
He doesn't see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You see, the church is built
on Christ. I'm going to close there and
we'll pick up there next time. The church is built upon the
glory and power of God in Christ. And no matter who comes against
it, in any way, shape, form or fashion, with whatever power
they have, with whatever power they seek, they will not succeed. Because Christ is our security.
Christ is our surety. What a glorious day that is.
That's what Zechariah wants the people of Judah and Jerusalem
to look to. Don't look to the earth. Don't
look to these earthly elements. They have some good lessons if
you know the meaning, if you see Christ. Remember there in
2 Corinthians chapter 3 when he was talking about the glory
that excelleth. He also talked about the physical nation of
Israel that they had a veil over their heart, they were blind.
And he said this at the end of that chapter, he said, when it
shall turn to the Lord, the veil's taken away. In other words, the
only way you're going to see the glory that excelleth is to
look to Christ. That's the only way you're going
to see it. Without Him, you're not going to see it. You're going
to be just as bewildered and just as insane and just as blind
as those who come against Christ and His church. But when you
turn to the Lord, then it all opens up. When you see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, when you see the power of His
finished work, then it all opens up, doesn't it? All right.