Alright, Zechariah chapter 1. Now I've entitled tonight's message
simply this, Jehovah Remembers. Jehovah Remembers. And that's exactly what the name
Zechariah means. Jehovah Remembers. In fact, in
the three names that are mentioned in the first verse, which we'll
look at here in just a moment. God the Holy Spirit, as he inspired
the writer, whom I believe to be Zechariah, to write these
down. In those three names, the meaning
of those three names, he lays the foundation of everything
he's going to say by this prophet, Zechariah. In fact, you'll see
that in these three names and the meaning of them, he actually
lays the foundation of the whole Bible, the foundation of salvation
itself, beginning with the fact that the Lord remembers something,
something important. This man, Zechariah, he was a
prophet who was probably born in captivity, born in Babylon.
He was a contemporary with Haggai, though he was younger than Haggai.
and he followed Haggai's prophecy. In fact, they kind of coincide.
This first message that Zechariah has was probably spoken in between
the second and the last two messages that Haggai preached to the nation. Haggai was sort of a down-to-earth
prophet, man of few words. There's only two chapters, as
you know, as we studied. Zechariah was more of a visionary.
God gave him visions in the night. We call them the night visions
of Zechariah. These weren't dreams. These were
actual visions that God gave this man in one night. That's
what the first eight chapters of Zechariah deals with. And Zechariah was also a priest.
His father, whose name was Edah, was a priest, a family of priests,
the Levites. So he was a prophet and a priest.
And he was, as I said, a younger man who was probably born in
captivity, but his prophecy is so telling. In fact, somebody
said that there's probably more direct references to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah, in the book of Zechariah than
there are in any Old Testament book other than Isaiah. And that
may be so. But every book of the Bible concerns
Christ. Every book of the Bible is about
Christ. Think about the meaning of these
names. In the eighth month, in the second
year of Darius, remember Haggai had his last two messages, it
was spoken on the ninth month, so this was right before Haggai's
last messages. It says, came the word of the
Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Edo,
And the prophet there refers back to Zechariah, the prophet's
saying, and what he's saying, he's the son of Edo who was a
priest, and this prophet Zechariah's saying, here's what he's saying,
and then he launches out into his message that God gave him,
laid on his heart. The name Zechariah, as I've already
mentioned, means the title of this message, Jehovah Remembers. The name Berechiah means Jehovah
Blesses. And the name Edo means at the
appointed time. Jehovah remembers and Jehovah
blesses, but at his appointed time. And that cluster of names,
as I said, reveals the encouragement given to the people of Judah
in their return from Babylon and in their commission to rebuild
the temple in Jerusalem. Now, understand, as we can recall
from our studies of the book of Haggai, that these people
began rebuilding the temple, and then they stopped, then they
began again, and then they stopped. They were hindered by their own
selfishness. They were hindered by their own
lack of faith. They were hindered by their disappointments. opposition, everything that we
go through in life that hinders us, hindered them. In our life
of faith, as believers in this world, the things that keep us
from worshiping God, from serving God, from keeping our minds and
our hearts focused on Christ and His glory and the security
of our salvation through Him and His blood and righteousness,
everything that would hinder us, hindered them. And it comes
in different forms, but it's the same thing. So, Zechariah
is doing the same thing, basically, that Haggai did. He's trying,
by the Word of God, as God's prophets commissioned with the
Word of God, to stir up the people to rebuild the temple, to serve
God, to reestablish and reaffirm the worship of God in the land,
because that was the reason for their existence. And in order
to do that, what he does is he points them to the future promise
of the coming of the Messiah. That's what it's all about. But
he reminds them first of this, just in these names. And that
is that the only reason that they existed as a nation. Think about this. Now these people,
they've been in trouble. They were still under foreign
domination. They've been in captivity for
70 years. The northern kingdom of Israel
had already been abolished. 200 years before this, right
here, where this prophecy happened around 500, 550 years before
Christ. Their future did not look bright
as far as the government was concerned, but they were allowed
to come back to their homeland and they were commissioned to
rebuild the temple, even though it wasn't as beautiful and as
luxurious and as overwhelming as Solomon's temple. All of these
things that disappoint him now, The very reason that they existed
and that they were still together as a nation, this southern kingdom
of Judah, mainly made up of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin,
was because God had made a covenant years and years and years before.
God had made a promise. That promise was made to a man,
one man named Abraham. And it was made to a man whom
God, when we meet Abraham, he was an idolater. He wasn't holding
a prayer meeting. He wasn't on his way seeking
the Lord. He wasn't reading the scriptures.
He was an idolater in the Ur of the Chaldees and God sovereignly
chose him out and brought him out of that idolatry. God made a promise to that man
Abraham concerning his physical seed, the seed of Israel, 400
and some years before they were ever formed as a nation. And
that covenant The foundation of that covenant did not have
anything to do with the goodness or the power of the nation Israel. You know, people talk about God
looking down through a telescope of time. Right here shows you
that God never looked down through a telescope of time, but He does
remember His Word. He remembers His covenant. And
that's the only reason that they were together as a nation. God
promised to bless this nation in a temporal ceremonial way
for a temporary period of time. He promised Abraham that. So
God remembers his covenant and God blesses them. But now the
blessings come upon God's terms and at God's time. Now what you
have there is a great illustration and picture of our eternal salvation
and eternal blessedness in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. In
our salvation, when I think about my salvation, a sinner saved
by grace, here's the terms that I can think of it in, that God
remembers His covenant and He blessed me at His appointed time. Just as the people of Judah,
they could enter into that physically. All who believe in Christ can
enter into this spiritually and eternally. And ultimately, as
I said, this is what the prophet is pointing the people of his
nation in his day to. Look to the glorious future,
first in the coming of the Messiah to redeem his chosen people out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. called spiritual
Israel in the Bible, and secondly, the final coming of the Messiah
to gather all his people unto himself and to judge this world
for their sin. Zechariah's message is filled
with the encouragement that God will remember his covenant. Do
you know what that means? That means God will keep his
promises. He'll never break them. He'll never go back on them.
God, listen to me, God never promised to save a sinner whom
he didn't save. God would have more to lose than
anybody because that would deflect upon His character. God will
remember and keep His promises to His people, especially His
promises regarding His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And why? Because God has engaged
every attribute of His glory, His honor, His character to save
His chosen people through the Lord Jesus Christ. And as I said,
Zechariah has more direct Messianic prophecy than all the other minor
prophets combined. As I said, he's second only to
Isaiah in that way in the number of references to Christ. I think
somebody said that Zechariah, the book of Zechariah is either
quoted or referred to 41 times in the New Testament. And his
message is that even though God's chosen people had been scattered
among the nations because of their disobedience, God still
loves His people, and His purpose for them would still be accomplished.
Nothing was going to hinder it. And here's how. Here's how that
applies to me and you. Here's how it applies to every
sinner saved by the grace of God, even in this day. Even those
who are not part of this economy of Israel. And it's quoted, it's
stated rather in Galatians chapter four like this in verse four,
but when the fullness of the time was come. What's the fullness
of the time? Well, that's the completed time
period that God appointed before the foundation of the world in
the covenant of grace. When the fullness of the time
was come, what did God do? He sent forth his son like he
promised to do. He remembers his covenant. And
his covenant is a covenant of mercy and grace, but it's also
a covenant of redemption. That means it's also a covenant
of justice, a covenant of righteousness. And therefore God sent forth
his son, not just as a token or as an example or as a martyr,
but he sent forth his son made of a woman. That is, he had to
be man very, he had to be perfect man in every way except sin. Because he had to identify with
his people. He had to be numbered with the
transgressors. That word numbered is the same
word as the word imputed. He had to be imputed with our
sin. He had to identify with us in
our name and in our nature, human nature, yet he without sin. So he was made of a woman. And
how many times in the Bible does it prophesy according to the
covenant terms that God remembers that Christ would be both God
and man in one person. Even from the very first promise
of the gospel recorded in Genesis chapter 315, he'd be the seed
of woman, the offspring of woman. That's what that means. Not of
man because he didn't come through Adam. but he had to come through
humanity in the sense that he had a human body and soul created
for him in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit so that
he would be both God and man. Unto us a child is born. Unto
us a son is given. A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son. All of those things. Micah chapter
5 and verse 2 speaks of he who is from everlasting was born
in Bethlehem Ephratah. How can he be from everlasting,
eternal, and still be born like you and me? Of a woman. Well, he's got to be both God
and man in one person. And then it says in Galatians
chapter 4 and verse 4, not only God sent forth His Son because
He remembered His covenant, sent Him forth made of a woman, but
He was made under the law. Now why was He made under the
law? Because the law cursed His chosen people for their sins.
Because the law required its penalty for our sins under the
law. And therefore the government
of the covenant was laid upon His shoulders He had to come
under that curse. He had to be made sin. All the
conditions of our salvation were put upon him. So he was made
under the law. He had to keep the law. He didn't
break the law. He kept it every jot and ten.
In fact, he's the only one on earth who has ever kept the law. You haven't kept it. I haven't
kept it. But he did. And he paid the penalty in full.
Jesus paid it all. all the debt I owe. He was made
under the law because the law requires righteousness. He is
the Lord our righteousness. He was made sin, Christ who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
And He did that for this reason, to redeem them that were under
the law, to pay the redemption price in full, to pay it all. We don't owe a debt to God's
law and justice. Christ paid it all, you see.
I'll tell you, we owe God a debt of love, but that's not a debt
of law, that's not a legal debt, that's a debt of grace. And it'll
never be paid. We'll spend eternity returning
our love to God for that great salvation. And then he says that
we might receive the adoption of sons. Now all of that is because
of this. Jehovah remembers, Jehovah blesses
at His appointed time. There it is. And this is what
the book of Zechariah is all about. Christ, our God and Savior,
saving His people. And he provides in these chapters
one of the most complete pictures of the person and finished work
of Christ. I think you'll find this to be one of the most interesting
books of the Bible you've ever studied, if you'll study it with
us. Zechariah's prophecy, as I said, it was addressed to the
Jews who had returned from Babylonian But its message is to God's people
in this gospel day. It's to us. This is a message
for you. It's a message for me. He uses
that phrase, in that day. A lot of times you'll go through
the prophets and they'll say, in that day, in that day. Zechariah
uses it 20 times, 16 times in the last three chapters. And
that day that he's talking about of which he speaks is this gospel
age, in that day, in our day. It began with the Savior's first
coming to put away our sins. And it extends all the way to
the end of the world when Christ comes again. In this day, God,
Zechariah says, God will pour out His Spirit of grace and supplication
upon His elect people, granting repentance to whom He will. Zechariah's
gonna talk about that. In that day, there's a fountain
opened for cleansing from sin. Zechariah 13 speaks of that,
and you know what that fountain open is. There is a fountain
filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners
plunge beneath that flood that lose all their guilty stain.
That's Christ and Him crucified. That's what he's talking about.
In that day, though all the world will fight against us, God's
church and God's kingdom is perfectly safe and constantly triumphant. We're victorious under His constant
care and His constant protection. We don't have to fear. The gates
of hell will not prevail against the church. Zechariah says that.
And in that day, the purpose of God will be fully accomplished
in the end of the day. God's glory in Christ shall be
seen in the final defeat of all His enemies. and in the complete
salvation of all his people. That's how Zechariah concludes
his prophecy. What a positive note, what a
note of joy. What else could we say to incite
worship from the heart? And can we be sure of these things
that Zechariah prophesies? Well, we sure can. Because the
whole work is God's work. The work of Christ, our Savior
and our God, typified in one whom we've met before, a man
named Zerubbabel. Zechariah speaks of Zerubbabel
quite often in chapter four. He makes this statement in one
verse. He says, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this house. Talking about that second temple,
Zerubbabel, you know, he was the overseer, the governor, who
was commissioned to lay the foundation and build the second temple.
And Zechariah, when he's referring to Zerubbabel in a typical fashion,
Zerubbabel as he typifies Christ, he says, the hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the foundation of this house. Well, my friend, the church,
God's house, whose hands laid the foundation of that house?
Christ, the heavenly Zerubbabel. And it says, his hands also shall
finish it. Christ is going to make sure
that there are no vacancies in His church. Did you know that?
No empty seats. He's going to finish it. All
His sheep are going to be brought into the fold. And thou shalt
know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. In other words,
it's all for the glory of God. Thou shalt know that the Lord
of hosts, God who is invincible, God who remembers, God who blesses
at His appointed time. It's for His glory. Now he says
there in verse one in the eighth month, as I told you, Zechariah,
he was a contemporary with Haggai. And that was the month in between
the second and the last two messages of Haggai. Zechariah's prophecies,
we'll get into its divisions as we go through. But like I
said, the first eight verses concerning, or the first eight
chapters rather, concern eight night visions that were given
to him in one night. That seems a little overwhelming
to me, doesn't it to you? But you know, it's the Holy Spirit
who indwelt Zechariah and enabled him to see these things. Like I said, they weren't dreams,
they were visions. He actually saw these things
in that one night. And every one of them, every
one of these visions have something to do with the glory of God in
Christ. God's message to his people.
And then the last chapters speak about the future, the things
God would do once the temple is finished, talking about the
temple of God in the future. Here in these first six verses,
what we have is a call to repentance. It introduces the prophecy with
reminding the people of the reason for their punishment. Why did
God allow His people to go into Babylon and be captured and be
held in captivity in Babylon. Well, he reminds them there.
Look at verse two. He says, the Lord hath been sore
displeased with your fathers. What's the problem? Well, you
could categorize it different ways, but just to put it simply,
in one big three-letter word, S-I-N, sin. That's the problem. Isn't that
the root of all our problems? Sin in whatever form it comes
in, whether it's unbelief, whether it's idolatry, whether it's ignorance,
whether it's complacency, lack of zeal, whether it's just out
and out rebellion, all kinds of things we could talk about,
that was their problem. Sin. It was not that these people,
and when he talks about their fathers, I want to make this
note to you. When he says, the Lord hath been sore displeased
with your fathers, it's not that the Lord is not sore displeased
with these people that Zechariah's prophesying to here. Remember
reading in the book of Haggai, how God brought charges against
them because of their unbelief and their disappointment. They were going through religious
motions, but they had lost sight of the reality of what this thing
is all about. Listen, I believe that's the
state of most of what people call the church today. They're
going through motions. And they're getting a lot of
people and they're building great buildings and all of this, you
see, but they don't know what it's all about. It's about the
glory of God in Christ. It's about his truth. It's about
the salvation of sinners. And that's what happened here.
But he's not letting the present-day people here that he's talking
to off the hook by saying, the Lord is sore displeased with
your fathers. What he's doing is he's simply showing them that
this problem of sin is not just a new problem, it goes all the
way back to your fathers, just like the apostle Paul, as he
was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write to us in Romans chapter
five and verse 12 when he said, wherefore as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men for that all sin. You see, our sin, you know, We
were all ruined in the fall. That's where it goes back to.
We fell in Adam. Our problems today are the result
of what happened back then. And we're all born dead in trespasses
and sins because of that. That's why we need salvation.
That's why we need a righteousness we can't produce. That's why
we need forgiveness. That's why we need a substitute.
We all have a tendency to think that one generation is better
than another. We do, don't we? Well, you might
be able to pick out some particulars and say, well, it was a little
bit better back in my day when I was growing up and we watched
Father Knows Best. You might say it was a little
better back then, okay. But I'm gonna tell you something,
when it comes to the sin problem and the relationship with God,
It's always been bad. It's always been... Listen, it's
always been the same. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God and all deserve eternal damnation
and death. Period. And I believe that's
what he's pointing them to. The displeasure of God against
sin is due to the fact that God's holy and God is righteous. Look
at verse three, he says, therefore say unto them, thou unto them,
thus saith the Lord of hosts. Again, that term that identifies
God as the one who cannot be defeated. He says, turn ye unto
me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith
the Lord of hosts. He identifies himself as the
Lord of hosts three times there. Now, you know who he's talking
to, don't you? He's talking to a defeated people. He's talking
to sinners. And so, what do they need? We
need a God who cannot be defeated. We need a God who cannot be hindered. You see, that's the problem with
today's false gospels. They preach a God who cannot
save unless you let him. They preach a God who's hindered
on every side. You're the only eyes that he
has. You're the only arms that he has. You see, everything's
dependent upon man. Everything is man-centered in
today's false gospel. Everything's conditioned on man.
God'll do this if you'll do that. Bargain with God. Invest in God. You invest so much, he'll return
so much. You see, that's the God of this
age. That's a false God. But that's not the kind of God
you need as a sinner. As a sinner, you know what you
are as a sinner? You're a defeated person. Now you may be successful
in the eyes of men. You may have it all in the eyes
of men. But when it comes to sin, you're
defeated. When it comes to sin, I'm defeated.
So what kind of God do I need? I need one who's invincible.
I need one who is all-knowing, all-powerful. I need one who
saves to the uttermost them that come unto the Father by Him.
I don't need this God that's being preached today in these
false gospels. I need the true and living God,
the Lord of hosts, Jehovah, who remembers, who blesses at His
appointed time. Now, He says here, Turn ye unto
Me, saith the Lord, and I will turn unto you. And what He's
talking about is repentance. Repentance. The call to repentance. Christ called sinners to repentance. His preachers called sinners
to repentance. Christ said in Luke 13, 3, to
His own generation, who imagined that they really didn't need
repentance. He said, except you repent, you shall all likewise
perish. Repent. Repent. This repentance
is a change of heart. It's a change of mind, it's a
change of affections, what you desire, what you inwardly want
and desire, and it's a change of will. It's a change of the
inner man. It's not legal repentance. You know, legal repentance, that
can be a lot of different things. That can be like the guy who
goes to jail and becomes a Christian and doesn't even know what a
Christian is. It's like the person who gets
caught and then he has a sudden change of tune. It's like the
repentance of Esau. He wept bitterly with tears,
but he didn't really repent. It's like the despair of Judas
that caused him to go out and hang himself. Legal repentance. Legal repentance is temporary,
like Pharaoh. He said, okay, I'll let him go.
Then he changed his mind back, go after him. He got to thinking
about it, you see. Legal repentance is like a shooting
star. You know, they get religion for
a while, even under the truth, and then you never see them again.
That's all temporary. That's not what he's calling
for here. What he's calling for is a change of heart. And it's
not outward reformation. It's not just jumping up and
getting baptized. It's turning from sin and dead
works to Christ. And God says, I will turn to
you, said the Lord of hosts. Some say this is God's response
or God's reaction to repentance, but that's not what it is. You
know what this is? This whole thing is God's working
of repentance. How does a center think about
this? How does a center who is dead spiritually come to repentance? Well, the Bible says that he
comes to repentance through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
my friend, faith is the gift of God, so is repentance. That's right, God gives faith
to His people. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. And faith is the gift of God,
and through faith we come to repentance because it's through
faith that God brings us to see our sinfulness and see the glory
of Christ. That's what brought Paul, the
apostle, to say that all those things that I thought recommended
me unto God, now I count but loss, even dung, that I may win
Christ and be found in Him. That's what caused him to write
about the blood of Jesus Christ that brings a sinner to repent
of their dead works to serve the living God. Repent. We can't even change our own
minds unless God changes it for us. That's so. Scripture teaches
that. But my friend, when we read these
things, we're commanded to seek them. There's no doubt about
that. He says, repent ye, turn ye unto
me. What does that mean? What were
they doing that was so bad? They were neglecting the rebuilding
of the temple. That's what they were doing.
What does that mean? That means they didn't care anything
for the glory of God. They didn't care anything for
the covenant. They didn't care anything for the promise of a
Messiah. They didn't care anything for
the forgiveness of sins by the blood of Christ. They didn't
care anything for a righteousness through God, through His work
on the cross. They didn't care anything for
that. They didn't believe the gospel. That's when we repent. when we come to see the good
news of how God is just to justify the ungodly, when we see what
His law requires and what we cannot provide, even with our
best efforts, so that we must take sides with God against ourselves
and say, Lord, if Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who
would stand? Against Thee and Thee only have
I sinned, David saith. That's when we see that the only
way of righteousness is the way of grace in Christ. It's not
through God helping those who help themselves or those who
make a decision for Christ. It's through Christ on that cross
accomplishing my redemption, full and free. That's where repentance
comes from. Then I see the wickedness of
my dead works, my efforts to save myself and to establish
a righteousness of my own. Wicked, not because I wasn't
sincere. I was sincere. Wicked, not because
I wasn't moral in the eyes of men, I was moral in the eyes,
but wicked because they dishonored God. Wicked because they denied
Christ. Wicked because they exalted me
and not the Lord of glory. Wicked because they were acts
of unbelief. Wicked because they were actually
acts of idolatry. Because I'll tell you something,
whatever it is you're doing in order to make yourself righteous
before God or a God, let me tell you something, the God who will
accept that is an idol. Because the God of the Bible
won't. If you want to know what the God of this book will accept,
listen to Him. He says, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him. That's right. Look at verse five. He says,
he says here, and think about this in verse four, we'll look
at verse four. He says, be not as your fathers unto whom the
former prophets have cried, saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts,
turn ye now from your evil ways and from your evil doings. You
see, evil ways lead to evil doings. And that's what he's talking
about. Whatever these evil ways were, And he says, they did not
hear. They didn't obey. That's what
that means. They didn't obey. Nor hearken to me, saith the
Lord. Verse five, he says, your fathers,
where are they? They're no longer on this earth.
And the prophets, do they live forever? Now we know that everyone's
gonna live forever. Either eternally damned or eternally
saved, glorified. But what's he talking about?
He said, they're no longer here on this earth. That's what he's
saying. So what does that mean? Now, you think about it, all
right? They disobey God, they're no longer here. The prophets
preached to them, preached to them concerning issues of faith
and repentance. The prophets are no longer here.
Well, does that mean we're off the hook now? It's already over,
we're fine? Well, no, look what he says,
verse six. But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my
servants, the prophets, Did they not take hold of your fathers?
Didn't they overtake them? Didn't it happen unto them in
just exactly the way God said it would happen? Sin deserved
punishment, didn't they get punishment? That's what he's saying. And
they returned and said, like as the Lord of hosts thought
to do unto us according to our ways and according to our doings,
so hath he dealt with us. Men die, prophets die, but the
word of the Lord is eternal. And what he's saying here is
this, there is accountability, there is judgment. Death will
not deliver you from this. It will deliver you to judgment.
You see that? Death will not deliver me or
you from judgment. It'll deliver us to judgment.
Now, what is the standard of judgment? Well, he's talking
about repentance, isn't he? Remember, Paul stood on Mars
Hill in Acts 17, and he said, God has commanded all men everywhere
to repent. And he said in verse 31, this
is the reason, because God hath appointed a day in the which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath appointed,
a man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead. What's the issue of judgment?
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Look at this. What's the issue of judgment? And I want to show you something
here in the context of the whole Bible, in the context of the
gospel, in the context of grace. Verse 10, 2 Corinthians 5, He's
talking about being accepted of Christ, being in Christ. That's
our only hope of salvation. And he says, here's the reason,
and it's the same thing Paul's saying there in Acts 1731, that
God hath appointed a day in which he'll judge the world in righteousness
by Christ. And he says in verse 10 of 2
Corinthians 5, he says, for we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ. that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad." Now, you know what people do with that?
They say, well, see there, when you get to judgment, he's going
to judge your works. And if you've done good works,
you're gonna be rewarded for them, and the bad works, you're
gonna be punished for them, and whatever that means, people don't
know. That's not what he's saying here. When he talks about, when
he says that everyone may receive the things done in his body according
to that he had done, whether it be good or bad, he's not talking
about what my works will get for me or do for me. What he's talking about is what
my works say about me. You see, are they a testimony
to the power and the goodness and the glory of God in Christ? Are they works of faith, love,
gratitude, grace? Or are they the works of a sinner
trying to establish a righteousness of his own? You see, if they're
the works of a sinner trying to establish a righteousness
of my own, here's what they say about me. I'm lost in my sins
and I'll be judged according to my works. And that means damned. But if their works that glorify
God and testify to His power, His goodness, His glory, His
grace, works of faith, the fruit bearing, By the power of Christ,
what do they say about me? They say that my only hope is
built on Jesus Christ and nothing else. His blood, his righteousness. I stand there not as a sinner
seeking to get what I deserve by my works, but I stand there
as a sinner saved by the blood and righteousness of Christ,
covered by his blood, washed and clothed in his righteousness,
a sinner saved by grace. And that's what Zechariah's saying,
just like here, Paul, 2 Corinthians 5, 11, he says, knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. What is the terror of the
Lord? Here it is, standing before God at judgment without Christ. That's the terror of the Lord.
Oh, I don't want any of us here in this building to stand before
God at judgment without Christ. That's the terror of the Lord.
That's the terror. You see, am I in Christ or am
I not? Well, here's the bottom line.
Let me read you this and I'll conclude. Remember, we talked
about Jehovah remembers. Jehovah blesses in His appointed
time. Jehovah remembers His covenant
in Christ. And he blesses his people in
Christ at his appointed time. Now, for all not in Christ, for
all who appear before God not in Christ, let me tell you something,
Jehovah remembers. Let me tell you what he remembers.
I'll give you one example. I've got several, but I'll just
give you this one. Jeremiah 14.10, it says, Thus saith the Lord
unto this people, thus have they loved to wander, that's unbelief,
They have not refrained their feet, that's ungodliness. Therefore
the Lord doth not accept them, they don't have Christ. He will
now remember their iniquity and visit their sins. Oh my, that's
the terror of the Lord. That's the visitation of wrath. That's what the Lord remembers.
But for all who are in Christ, Now, here's the good news. For all who are in Christ, Jehovah
remembers his covenant and not our sins. In fact, he says, this
is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, that's the gospel of Christ, and in their minds will
I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. You know why he remembers them
no more? Because they're done away. They're done away in Christ. He took care of the problem.
The Lord of hosts who could not be defeated. Alright.