Well, our Lord told the Pharisees
to search the scripture, because then they testify of him. And
on the road to Arimaeus, our Lord, beginning at Moses and
all the prophets, expounded the things concerning himself. So
the Old Testament, The scriptures, as Paul wrote by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God and the other writers in the New
Testament, they proclaim Christ. They proclaim Christ. Open your
Bibles, if you would, to Zechariah chapter three. Now our Lord was
prophesied to come into this world. And the scriptures declare
that he would come. And he did come. He is the Messiah. He is the sent one. He is the
branch. He is God incarnate in the flesh. God
come to save his people from their sins. Now God can't die,
can he, Brother Zane? So Christ becomes a man. the
God-man so that he can die for us. It's incredible. It's unique. Amen, brother. And
he was the perfect man. He never had a sin in thought,
never had a sin in deed, never had a sin in his heart. He was
the seed of the woman conceived in Mary by the power of God,
the Holy Spirit. He was born sinless. And beloved,
he died sinless, didn't he? Because only the sinless one
can save sinners. Only the sinless one can save
sinners. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at this in Zechariah chapter
3. We're going to read verses 1
to 10 here. And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing
before the angel of the Lord. Who is the angel of the Lord?
It's Christ. Amen, brother. It's Christ before
he was born into this world. Oh my. And Satan's standing on
his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire? So the angel of the Lord makes
a statement here that Joshua is a brand plucked out of the
fire. You know what we are? Brands
plucked out of the fire, beloved. That's what we are. Now look
at this. This is going to get absolutely
remarkable here. This is incredible. And Joshua's
clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. That's
us in our natural state. That's us in our natural state.
We're clothed in the filthy garments of our self-righteousness. Now
God's gotta do something, doesn't he? And we have a picture here,
a wonderful picture, of what God does for a believer, clothing
him in the righteousness of Christ, beloved. Because this is our
natural state right here. We are in filthy garments. The
natural state of every man, woman, and child born into this world,
in filthy garments. And who's made us to differ,
brother Brian? Amen, only Christ, right? No one else made us to
differ. And he called us in his righteousness,
didn't he? Look at this, this is beautiful,
oh my. Verse four, and he answered and
spake to those that stood before him, saying, take away the filthy
garments from him. Take away the filthy garments.
Oh, Brother Zane, we're going to get excited here. Look at
this. Take away the filthy garments. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. Look at that statement. Take
away the filthy garments of our own self-righteousness, our sinfulness. Take away Joshua's filthy garments,
the Lord says. And I caused his iniquity to
pass from me. To pass from him. Look at this.
To pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with the chains of
Raman. That's the righteousness of Christ.
That's the righteousness of Christ. Who did the changing? Amen, brother. We couldn't take off that filthy
garment of of our sins. But Christ, he says
this. Ah, I love these words. I have
caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. What wonderful words
for sinners. Saved by the grace of God. I've
caused thine iniquity, our sinfulness, to pass from thee. Now we're
still saved sinners, right? We're still sinners in this earth,
but we're safe sinners, aren't we? And what are we clothed in?
A change of raiment. Oh, beloved. We are now clothed
in the righteousness of Christ. Oh, my. And he said, let them
set a fair miter upon his head. Beloved, we're priests and kings,
aren't we? Oh, so they set a fair miter
upon his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel
of the Lord stood by. Oh, he stood right there, didn't
he, Brother Zane? He's right there with him. Never
leave him nor forsake him. Isn't that wonderful? He's right
here with us, beloved. Oh, my. And the angel of the
Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge,
then shalt thou judge my house, and shall also keep my courts,
and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by."
Now, those are some very practical instructions for us, right? We
don't walk in the ways we used to walk. Joshua wasn't going
to walk in the ways he used to walk. He's a new creature in
Christ, beloved. Right? Oh, my. Does the scripture say the steps
of a good man are ordered by the Lord, ordained by the Lord? Oh, yes, it does. Who keeps us
on the path? Who keeps us on the way? We were
on the broad road to destruction, weren't we, Brother Zane? And
we didn't have any care in the world. We were religious and
we were on that broad road, brother. And the Lord took us and set
us on the narrow way. That broad path leads to destruction,
doesn't it? And many find that way. But few
find this way. And I'll tell you what, it's
God who puts us on that way. Oh my, God's doing all the work
here, isn't he, to Joshua. Joshua's just standing there. Right? Someone asked me the other
day, they asked me about salvation.
And I said, just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved. Remember we looked at that verse,
brother? Zane and I looked at that verse with the Philippian
jailer, and he said, what must I do to be saved? That word must
there is necessary. What is necessary for me to be
saved? And it has a binding thing. He
knew. He knew. But notice he said,
what must I do? be saved? And Paul gives the
most wonderful answer. He didn't say, well, you have
to be baptized to be saved. He didn't say, well, you have
to join a certain denomination to be saved, like the landmarks
believe. He didn't say you have to worship
on Saturday. Did he? Like the seventh day
of Venice believe. No, no. He didn't say you have
to pray to Mary and all these other saints. Nope. What'd he
say? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shall be saved. Have you believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ to the saving of your soul? I pray if you haven't,
that God will make it so. Oh my, I stand before you a man
redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb and I got no other
plea to you. I have no other plea. God, God, God found me in my
filthy garments. Where'd he find you, Zane? In
a pit, man. Same place. And we, our garments
was filthy, weren't they? My. And he lifted us out, didn't
he, sister? Took us out of that pit. My. Revealed himself to us, didn't
he, sister? My. And, and you know what? Our lives
haven't been the same since, has it? No, not at all. My, oh my. oh my now let's look
at verses 8 to 10 this will be our text for tonight here now
oh joshua the high priest thou and thy fellows that sit before
thee for they are men wondered at for behold i will bring forth
my servant the branch there's one of the titles of the lord
jesus christ the branch The branch. I was talking to a young girl
this week who professes to believe on Christ, and she was talking
about the wheat fall to the ground, and then it brings forth, and
she said, well, we have to do that. We're the wheat. I said,
no, we're not the wheat. We're not the kernel of wheat
that falls to the ground. That's God. That's Christ. And
He brings forth. I said, it's Him. When He died,
He brought forth much fruit. We're the fruit. That's what
we are. He's the wheat. See, they do
that to people and try to tie it and say, what you gotta do?
When God saves a person, they'll want to serve the Lord, won't
they? You don't have to tell them. They desire to serve the
Lord. With their gifts, with their
talents, my oh my, with their life. Look at this. And thy fellows
that sit with thee, for they are wondered at, behold I will,
look at this, this is so unparalleled, I will. When God says I will,
you take that to the bank, don't you? God doesn't mess around. God
doesn't lie. He says, I will bring forth my
servant the branch, and he did, and his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at this. For behold, the stone that I
have laid before Joshua, upon one stone shall be seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts,
and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that
day, saith the Lord of hosts, ye shall call every man his neighbor. under the vine and under the
fig tree. My, oh my. You know, the Old
Testament saints, they anticipated the coming of Messiah. They greatly
anticipated His coming. They knew the branch spoke of
the Messiah, His true born-again, blood-washed people. They knew,
see, God's people, God's people, were born again in the Old Testament
just like we are. They had to be. There's one faith,
one spirit, one God, right? One Lord. I hear these folks
say, well, the Holy Spirit came and went off the Old Testament
saints. Well, I think, I believe they were born again. I believe. Now, can we be filled? Absolutely. Can God give us more grace in
certain times? Absolutely. Norm Wells and I
was talking about this one time and they had to be born, in order
to have faith you have to be born again, right? You have to
be. How else, how else can one be
born again except by the Holy Spirit of God? How else can one
have faith except it be given to us? And we know that you must
be born again Zane's gonna write an article on chapter three of
John, and he's gonna bring forth quite clearly that that's a binding,
that's a binding necessity, isn't it, brother? You must be born
again. You must be. Old Testament and
New Testament, all the elect of all the ages must be born
again. Must be. Listen to what Job says.
And see, Job's saying this by faith. He's not just saying,
well, I believe this. Listen to what Job said. I love
these words. Job 19, verses 25 to 27, he says
this. For I know that my Redeemer liveth.
How can he say that except by faith? Because natural man doesn't say
that, do they? Listen to this, and we as believers
can say this, for I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that
he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. He's coming
again. Yeah, and you're going to see
him, isn't he? Oh, and though after my skin,
worms destroy this body, so after he's dead and buried, worms are
going to destroy his body, yet in my flesh shall There's that
little word again, I see God. Hallelujah. And then he says,
whom I shall see for myself. In mine eyes shall behold. Oh, beloved, there's a day coming
when we are going to behold our Redeemer. We're going to behold
him. And not another, Job says, though
my reigns be consumed within me. He's saying, even though
I'd be dead and buried in the ground, I'm gonna see the Lord. I know my Redeemer liveth. Can
we say that? Can we say that? Any listener,
can you say that? I know my Redeemer liveth. Praise
God if you can, because it's by the grace and mercy of God. I know my Redeemer liveth. Brother's
saying, we know it, don't we? Oh my. And we're going to see
him. We're going to see him one day. This body's going to be
destroyed by, it's going to become dust. But my eyes are going to
behold, our eyes as believers are going to behold the King
of kings and the Lord of lords, our Redeemer, the very one who
shed his precious blood to save our eternal souls. My, what a
Redeemer. Oh, what a Savior is Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So we see in this first portion
of the chapter, our Lord is our advocate, right? He's standing right beside Joshua.
We see him in a role as our advocate. He spoke for Joshua to Satan. Satan is the accuser of the brethren,
isn't he? Oh my, and it's not hard for
him to find fault with us, is it? It ain't, let's be honest. Right? You talk to self-righteous
religionists and they're like, well, he don't have nothing to
get on me. Yeah, yeah, he's got pride right there. He got so
much he can get on us, it's not funny. But praise be to God. We're clothed in the righteousness
of Christ, washed in the precious blood of Christ, in all our iniquity. has made the past from us. Does it get any better than that,
beloved? That's a glorious gospel, isn't it? That's a gospel for
sinners. Oh, my. My. And note the angel of the
Lord proclaimed of Joshua in verse 4 that he has caused his
iniquity to pass from him, and then stated that he, God, would
clothe Joshua with the chains of raiment, which again pictures
the righteousness of Christ. It's wonderful. And the picture
doesn't end there. In verse 5, as soon as Joshua
is clothed with the chains of raiment, he's given a charge
to keep. As soon as the... As soon as
the chosen redeemed sinner experiences God's marvelous saving grace,
he's placed in the position of highest honor. Do you know that? We're placed in the position
of highest honor and responsibility. As the servant of Jesus Christ
and as the servants of Christ, like Joshua, you and I have a
charge to keep. Let's look at verses six and
seven. And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If thou wilt walk in my ways,
the believer desires to walk in the ways of Christ, don't
he? Oh yeah. And if thou wilt keep my charge,
then shalt thou also judge my house, and thou shalt also keep
my courts. And I will give thee places to
walk among those that stand by. Oh my. He's not saying there, your salvation's
dependent on how you serve the Lord. That's not what he's saying.
No. Because he's already caused our
iniquity to pass from us, isn't he? This is what a believer desires. We desire to walk in the ways
of Christ, don't we? We desire that. We praise God
when he keeps us from temptation and sin. Because we're so prone
to it all the time. Oh my. Turn if you would to John
chapter 8. We'll look at this text where
our Lord speaks to the adulterous woman. This is an amazing, amazing
portion of scriptures. The religious legalists of that
day bought this woman to our master, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And she'd been caught in adultery, in the very act of it, because
they wanted to trap him. But you know, they never bought
the man. A lot of commentators think they
didn't bring the man because he's one of them. Hmm. Something to ponder, isn't
it? We don't know, but something
to ponder. But they bring this poor woman. Granted, what she
did, very sinful. Yeah. And they wanted Christ to pronounce
death upon her. My, oh, my. They wanted to stone
her, which was they'd take rocks and throw them at her until she
was dead. And they thought that if the
master said, stoner, put her to death, that they would discredit
him, discredit his reputation for mercy and compassion, because
he had a reputation for mercy and compassion. But see, they
don't know who they're dealing with, do they? No, they're dealing with God
in the flesh. They're not talking to a mere
man like you and I, Brian, or you and I, Zane. They're talking
to God in the flesh. He knows what they're thinking.
He knows their schemes. Look at this in verse 1, John
chapter 8, verse 1. Jesus went unto the Mount of
Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple,
and all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught
them. And the scribes and the pharisees brought unto him a
woman, taking adultery, And when they had set her in the midst,
they say unto him, Master, they call him Master, but they really
don't. That's just a title, teacher. This woman was taken in adultery
in the very act. Can you imagine? In the very
act, we caught her. Where's the man? Why is it only the woman? Because really, if you catch
them both, they're both to be stoned, aren't they, Brother
Zane? But if it was one of their own,
oh, we're going to cover that up. Nothing's changed, has it? Nothing's changed, beloved. Oh, now they're going to school
the Lord on His own law. And remember, He's the giver
of the law, right? They're going to try to school
the master on the one who is the one who gave the law. See,
we human beings think we're smarter than God. We won't outright come and say
that, but man does. We're nothing. Scripture says
God rules in the heavens, and all the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. Now imagine that. All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, and yet, Sister Jill, He has
mercy on us. My, oh my. What a great God. What a wonderful
Savior. What a merciful Redeemer. Look
at this. I absolutely love this portion
of Scripture. They said this, oh, now Moses
and the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what
sayest thou? This they said, tempting him
that he might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and
with his finger rolled on the ground as though he had heard
them not. Now if he answered, forgive her, they thought that would vindicate
their claim that he was a lawless rebel. that they could catch him in
that. How can the Holy Lord God be both merciful and just? How
can he be both gracious and true? How can God both forgive sin
and honor his law? And we see here in verse six
that the Savior stooped down and wrote on the ground as though
he had not heard them. We are not told what he wrote,
and I'm not even gonna speculate. Because speculation gets us in a world of trouble,
doesn't it? So I'm not even gonna speculate. Whether scripture's silent, let
us be silent. But it does continue. One second. It does continue here. Verse 7, they continue to badger
him, looking for an answer. Our Lord stands up and says these
words. And these words, beloved, they cut right to the heart.
They cut right to the heart. Because we know we're all guilty,
aren't we, before the law. The whole reason Christ had to
come and fulfill the law for us is because we're guilty before
the law. And look what he says. He that is without sin among
you, let him first cast a stone at her. My. So when they continued asking
him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, he that is without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Then in
verse eight, and again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. He acted like he didn't even
hear him. You know what? This lady, this adulterous lady,
beloved, is one of his lost sheep. He knows her. He knows exactly
what she's done. God knows all our sin, doesn't
He? And yet He still has mercy on us. Oh my. Again, we don't know what the
Lord wrote on the ground, but those who heard His words, it
was His words that had power, wasn't it? They were convicted
by their own consciences. Those self-righteous religious
legalists, they were sent packing, weren't they? They were sent
packing, Brother Brian. And not one of them was without
sin. See, every believer, we can say
not one of us is without sin. When I was in religion, the priesthood
used to say, you sinners, you sinners, But have you ever noticed
the verbiage of we grace preachers? We sinners. We sinners are saved by grace. We sinners. Right? There's a big difference,
I'm telling you. I'm telling you one. Oh my. And not one of them were left. Look at verse nine, it's incredible,
look at this. And they which heard it being
convicted by their own conscience. Ah. Remember the Lord spiritualized
the law and said if you look upon a woman with lust, you've
already committed adultery in your heart. They're guilty, aren't they?
Every man's guilty. My oh my. Oh, look at this. Went out one
by one. Beginning at the eldest. Them older guys, hey, hey, but
we're done. The young guys are sticking around
for a minute. Oh, we're done too. Beginning at the eldest to the
youngest. Like I said, those older guys
were a lot more wiser than the younger ones, weren't they? Beginning at the eldest, even
unto the last. And Jesus was left alone with the woman standing
in the midst. Okay, here's this notorious sinner.
Caught in adultery, standing in the midst of the Holy One.
Standing in the midst of the God incarnate in the flesh. who
came to save sinners from their sins, and here's a notorious
sinner right in front of him. Oh, my beloved. And he himself had lifted up
himself and saw none but the woman. He said unto her, Woman,
where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Where
are they? Where are they? Listen to what one grace preacher
said about the fact that our Lord stooped down twice. You
notice how he stooped down twice? The fact that our Savior stooped
twice is significant. It has a direct connection to
what he had said to the adulterous woman. The Son of God stooped
once to become a man, didn't he? He stooped once to become
a man and rose from infancy to manhood that he might bring in
everlasting righteousness for sinners by his perfect obedience.
Then he stooped a second time to die in the room and place
of sinners. To die in our room and place. Oh, the humility. The prince of life died for sinners. that he might bring in everlasting
righteousness, that changed arraignment that we're changed in, that we're
now clothed in. And how did he do it? By his
perfect obedience to God, both in life and in death. My, oh my. Then he arose. Then he arose. to declare redemption
accomplished by the satisfaction of divine justice. Then upon
the basis of his finished work of redemption, when he had lifted
himself up the second time, he spoke to the woman of words of
forgiveness. My, oh my. Notice the first time
he rose, he didn't speak of forgiveness. Second time he did though, didn't
he? Oh my. When he lifted himself
up the second time, he spoke to the woman words of forgiveness,
just as he spoke to Zachariah's vision to Joshua, which we looked
at again at the beginning of this chapter. Now, that's end
quote, now let's look at verse 11 of John chapter 8. She said,
no man, Lord. He said, does anyone condemn
you? Oh, what mercy! What, what mercy! What wondrous mercy! She said,
no man, no man, Lord. She knew she's a sinner, didn't
she? She knew. She knew she'd been caught in
the act. She knew she's a guilty sinner. She said, no man, Lord. Take note of that. She didn't say no man master,
did she brother Zane? She said no man, Lord. Remember the leper Lord, if that
will, thou can make me clean. They call them Lord. God's people call him Lord. We
don't make him Lord, he's already Lord, but we call him by his
title, don't we? He's Lord, look at this. Jesus
said unto her, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. That's
words from the Master. Words from God in the flesh,
Brother Brian. Neither do I condemn thee. These
are words for every born-again, blood-washed saint, isn't it?
Neither. Neither do I condemn the ego
and sin no more. How can we sin no more? We're
sinners. But God doesn't see us that way,
does he? He sees us clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
And our sins, do you know our sins can never be judged again? Oh my. Now he's not saying you're
not gonna sin no more. Because she's gonna, right? Our Lord has silenced her accusers. He spoke forgiveness to her.
He silenced the accusers of his people too, hasn't he? Satan's
our accuser. Right? He's the accuser of the
brethren. The law of God found us guilty. You're guilty, Wayne.
You're guilty, Zane. You're guilty, Brian. The law
of God said that, didn't it? Well, The justice of God said,
I demand satisfaction. I must be satisfied. My, oh my, and the Lord Jesus
Christ silenced them both in our room and place. How? By the shedding of his precious,
precious blood. The blood of the God-man that's
redeemed this people from their sins. And this lady, she's clothed
in the righteousness of Christ, beloved. She's fully and freely
forgiven. Go and sin no more. That charge
always follows the word of forgiveness. And let us not imagine that this
command implies that forgiveness is conditional. No, it's not.
It's full and it's free. Our Lord said to Joshua, remember
if thou will walk in my ways, and if thou will keep my charge,
thou shall also judge my house, and shall also keep my courts,
and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. His filthy garment's been taken
away from him. Fair miter's been put on his
head, he's now clothed in wonderful clean raiment. And notice this. He said to the
adulterous woman, go and sin no more. But what had he said
before that? Neither do I condemn thee. Oh my goodness. Marvel at this wonderful truth
that has brought forth before us Oh, sin once forgiven by the
Son of God can never be laid to our charge again. You know
how we know that? Romans chapter 4 verse 8 says
this, blessed is the man and the woman, right? Blessed is
the man and woman to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Go and sin no more. See how scripture
ties in with scripture? We're saved sinners, aren't we? My rejoice, beloved, our sins
are forgiven, washed in the fountain filled with blood, the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the charge given to Joshua
and given to the adulterous woman is the same charge given to us.
The charge we must keep is evidence of saving grace, not a condition
that we must meet to obtain grace, it's just evidence. We will desire
to walk in the ways of Christ. My. We're made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the
end, Hebrews 3.14. Being born of God, forgiven of
all our sin, being saved by the grace of God, we must hold the
beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Who keeps us holding
on? God does, doesn't he? He'll never
leave us nor forsake us. And there will not be one sheep
of God for whom Christ's blood was shed that will ever be lost.
Not one. Now we can get backslidden, can't
we? It's us who moves away. Not Christ,
he's still with us. standing beside us, even when
we're being rebellious. God will always bring his children
back home. Always. He will not lose one of them,
beloved. And being born again, we're born again of God, all
our sins are forgiven, washed in the blood of Christ. And look
what the Lord says. Listen to this again, what the
Lord said to Joshua. Behold, the angel of the Lord said this,
which is Christ. Behold, I have caused thine iniquity. I've caused it. God's caused
his iniquity to pass from thee. Remember, first he says to the
woman, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Oh my, what
a forgiveness. What a forgiveness! I have caused
thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with the
chains of raiment. I'll take them filthy rags off
you, and I'm going to clothe you in the righteousness of my
Son. And the angel Lord, he's clothing us in his righteousness,
which he will weave when he comes to this earth, won't he? I remember Spurgeon said that
when the Lord was here, he was weaving our code of righteousness
together by fulfilling every jot and tittle of the law in
our room and place. He didn't need to fulfill the
law, he was sinless. But he does it for us as our
substitute so that God's justice and law is fully satisfied and
has no claim on us. And remember, without the shed
and the blood, there's what? No remission of sins. That's why
he had to shed his blood. That's why. All those Old Testament
sacrifices were pointing to our King shedding his blood, beloved.
Oh my. And every born-again, blood-washed
believer has all their sins forgiven because of the blood of Christ.
Because of the blood of Christ. Now let's look at verses 8 to
10 of Zechariah chapter 3. And we'll see Christ anticipated.
Christ anticipated. I mean this message, the coming
Messiah. The coming Messiah. Verses 8 to 10. Now hear, O Joshua,
the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee,
for they are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant the branch. For behold, the stone that I
have laid Before Joshua, upon one stone shall be seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts,
and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that
one day, saith the Lord of hosts, he shall call every man his neighbor
under the vine and under the fig tree. So we see here in this
portion that the angel Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ tells Joshua
and his fellows that everything pointed to the vivid picture
of God's saving grace described in verses one to seven. And these
men wondered at it. It had all been performed in
the anticipation of the coming of Christ by whom the redemption
of God's people would occur. Christ is the Messiah. He's the
branch spoken of in this text. And we see here a great messianic
prophecy. These verses speak of our saviors
coming into this world to save his people from their sins. Christ
is the branch. Isaiah 11 one says, and there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. And in verse two, it says in
the spirit of Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Well, Christ alone
is the branch. He's the branch, that's one of
his titles. He's the foundation stone, isn't he? He's the only
foundation stone in verse nine, upon which seven eyes, the eyes
of all his elect look upon. All God's elect look upon him.
Look upon him and him alone. This truth is brought forth in,
let's turn a few words to Psalm 118. Psalm 118, it's brought
forth in Psalm 118. Oh, my. I ask you this, is God
marvelous in your eyes? Is Christ marvelous in your eyes?
Oh, he's marvelous in our eyes, isn't he? He's wondrous. He's wondrous. Look at this in
Psalm 118, verses 21 to 23. I will praise thee, for thou
hast heard me, and art become my salvation. Oh, God's our salvation,
isn't he? He's our salvation. I can't be
saved outside of Christ. I can't save myself. Can you,
Zane? God's our salvation, isn't He? The Lord Jesus Christ. He'd
become my salvation. The stone which the builders
refused has become the head of the corner. That's Christ. This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in all our eyes. So
in all the elect's eyes, this is marvelous. It's marvelous
that Christ is all my salvation. You can say that too, right?
We can all say that. It's marvelous that he's our salvation. It's
wonderful. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the great high priest. He has our names engraved upon
his heart. He's our almighty advocate and
intercessor. Let's go back to Zechariah 3, verse 9. It says
this. For behold, the stone, that being
Christ, that I have laid before Joshua, upon one stone shall
be seven eyes. All God's people look to Christ,
who is the foundation. Behold, I will engrave the graving
thereof, saith the Lord of hosts. All, we're all, we're all, our
names are engraved, the scripture says, in the palms of his hands.
Oh my. And look at the latter verse
nine, the latter part of verse nine. And I will remove the iniquity
of that land in one day. Look at that. The Lord Jesus Christ spoken
of in this passage as the branch and the stone is the one who's
coming who would take away the iniquity of his people in one
day. He did it too. Huh? Amen, brother. We rejoice in
that brother's name. He died on the cross. He accomplished
our salvation in one day, didn't he? He removed the iniquity of
his people in one day. Oh my, it's wonderful, the Lord. You see how the Lord, the Old
Testament just screams about Christ. He's the Messiah. He's the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords in the flesh. The Prince of Peace. Oh my. In Christ the servant, the branch,
the stone, the sin remover is Christ our great high priest,
our advocate, the one who ever pleads our case. Do you know
he ever pleads our case before the Father? Oh, and he just points
to his blood. Oh my. He's obtained salvation
for us. And the fact that Jesus Christ
is himself, The sacrifice for our sins declares plainly that
his priesthood is different from and far superior than any of
the Old Testament priests, high priests. My oh my. He took away, our high priest
gave his life for his people. My oh my. The Old Testament priests
were sinful. They were sinful. They were required
to offer a sacrifice for themselves as well as for the people. For those they represented, again,
could not be. could not have our sins removed
except by the remission of sins, except by the shed and the blood. And we know that those Old Testament
sacrifice could never take away sin, the scripture says. But
here's the great high priest. And note, he didn't have to offer
up for himself because he's sinless. See, those Old Testament priests
had to offer up a sacrifice for themselves because they're a
bunch of sinners like us. But he's the great high priest. And he's offering his life for
a multitude that no man can number. All the elect of all the ages. My, oh my. And he obtained our
eternal salvation by the shedding of his precious, precious blood.
So the sacrifices of those Testament priests offered could never take
away sin. They taught the way of salvation
in type through the death of the innocent victim, right? Those
lambs didn't do nothing wrong. They were innocent victims, weren't
they? That's the picture in Christ, beloved. He died for our sins. He's sinless. He's the innocent,
perfect Lamb of God. who shed his blood to redeem
our eternal souls. And those Old Testament sacrifices,
as I said earlier, could never take away sin. But our great
high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, offered himself as a sacrifice
for sins one time. One time. And by his one great
sacrifice, he's put away our sins forever. Forever, beloved. They're gone. Turn, if you would,
to the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews. Oh my, right before James. The book of Hebrews. My, oh my. Chapter 9. Do you know, His sacrifice
was both perfect and infinite. Perfect and infinite. It was
of infinite value. And that makes him just the priest
we need, just the advocate we need with God the Father. He is the perfect sacrifice,
the perfect sacrifice. Look at this, Hebrews 9, verses
11 to 14. But Christ being come in high
priest of good things to come by a greater and a more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained, notice
this isn't temporary redemption, eternal redemption. In other words, for us is italicized,
so they're not in the original Greek, but we know it's for us.
We know it's for God's people. But look at that, having obtained
eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of the heifer, sprinkling the unclean
sanctify of the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself,
look at this, without spot. He's sinless. He's offering himself
up on the cross, bearing our sins. Our sins are laid upon
him, but the scripture here is declaring that as he offers himself
up, right, he's without spot. My, oh my. Now look at this. Purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God. And for this cause, he is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. By the shedding of his precious
blood, he obtained eternal redemption for us. It's wonderful. One great sacrifice. The sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. One commentator said, it's perpetually
accepted and effectual. My oh my. His work being finished,
he sat down in the holy place. The work's done. He did it all. So we say, like Paul, When someone
asks us, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shall be saved. Look to Christ alone. So let
us as believers walk. Let us walk out of here today
and let us meditate this week upon this wondrous, wondrous
fact. that all our sins are forgiven
in Christ. I mean all of them. He's blotted
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, that was
contrary to us, took it out of our way, nailing it to his cross,
beloved. We can never be condemned. Do
you notice what he said to that lady? Neither do I condemn thee. She's one of his lost sheep,
beloved. Oh my! Oh, my. And let us remember that we have
a great advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And if Christ and Christ alone
has put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. Beloved,
be at ease. And rest in that fact. Rest in
that blessed fact, our sins are forgiven. It's the hardest thing for us
to do, isn't it? But let us rest in this truth that we've seen
tonight. In this wonderful verse, look at verse 10. In that day,
saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor
under the vine and under the fig tree. In this wonderful verse, the
Lord God tells every sinner saved by grace to sit down to a constant
feast of love, joy, and peace. Love, joy, and peace in believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know we're abounding by
hope in the Holy Spirit of God. My oh my. He also tells us to
call our brethren. Let's celebrate. Celebrate with
our brethren the salvation that is ours, and that's only by Christ
in Him alone. And let us promote His glory.
Let us give Him all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise. Let's proclaim the blessedness
of this abundant grace that we found in Him. And let us be bought into a state
of grace, mercy, and peace. as we sit down under our own
vine and our own fig tree, for none can make us afraid. Don't let the things in the world
going on make you afraid. They're all happening according
to the providence of God. And sinful man is doing what
sinful man will do. Do you know that? I often think
of that. I was telling my son this week,
before the Lord saved me and how I was, I said, I didn't have
a care for God. Didn't have a care for His people
or the Word. Thought the world was going to
end with a nuclear detonation back in the 70s, because they
had us all scared in the 80s about nuclear bombs. And then
in Ice Age, well, they just switched it up to global warming, eh? That's the latest fear tactic.
Isn't it wild? In the 50s, we were told there
was going to be a nuclear war. I wasn't alive then, but I remember
hearing about that. In the 70s, it said, there'll be another
ice age. And then in the 90s, I think, global warming. You know, I'll tell you about
global warming. I talked to my daughter one time about this,
and I said, you know, there'll be global warming. The Lord's
going to come back, and this whole earth and everything in
it is going to burn. It's going to get real warm real
fast. Right? People are so worried
about man destroying the earth. God's going to destroy this earth. And there'll be a new heaven,
beloved, and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. I'm not
saying we shouldn't be good stewards of this earth. I'm not saying
that at all. No, we should be. But it's all going to burn. It's
all going to burn up, beloved. Oh, my. And think of this. What can condemn us? Can others
condemn us? No, we're justified by God. Can
sin condemn us? No, it's bought and paid for
by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can hell condemn
us? Nope, we'll be forever in heaven
in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, because Christ, he's
conquered both hell, death, and the grave, hasn't he? And he
conquered our sins, hasn't he? Oh, He saved us from our sins.
Can corruption get us? No. For Christ's holiness is
the holiness of the redeemed. Now we're going to die, like
Job said. We're going to be buried. Our bodies are going to turn
to worms and dust. But praise be to God, we shall
see our Redeemer face to face. all because of the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So when Satan accuses us and
presses us hard about our sin, let us stand in silence before our mighty advocate. Lord,
I'm a sinner. I'm a saved sinner. And let us rest because he undertook
the care for our soul for eternity. And he will plead our case. He will. So we need not to worry
about a thing. We need to sit down under our
vine and under our fig tree. We need to call our neighbors
together. We need to say, rejoice in the Lord always. And again,
I say rejoice. Brother Brian, can you close
us in prayer?