Well, I'll do the best I can.
That was great. That was just great. Let's turn
back to Zechariah chapter 12. This 12th chapter of Zechariah
is the continual affirmation by the Spirit of God through
this prophet Zechariah of God's purpose to save his people and
the certain assurance that he will save his people in this
world. This chapter is full of promises, sweet, precious promises
from our God to his people, confirming his word to us, again and again
assuring us that he is saving and he will save his church,
his people, his elect, represented here by Jerusalem and Judah. And he uses two very distinct,
very clear pictures by which he would assure us of these things
in these 14 verses. of Zechariah 12. He tells us
that he will make Jerusalem, his church, his elect, a cup
of trembling, not to themselves, not trembling in themselves,
but a cup of trembling in the hands of all who oppose them. When I was trying to figure out
some way to give some sense of exactly what that word or that
phrase means, a cup of trembling, I remember the old movies I used
to watch or shows, Robin Hood and such as that. In olden days,
those folks would have a ring and keep poison in it. And you'd
see somebody every now and then shake poison into a glass of
wine, stir it up, because the wine supposedly makes the poison
work more quickly and covers the taste. They take it and suddenly,
as they drink that cup of wine just a little bit, they quiver
and fall over in death. That's what God says. He will
make his church be to all who oppose her. And he will pour
out upon the house of David the spirit of grace. That's the second
thing. All right, let's look at these
twelve verses together. The chapter opens by an assurance from God
that he can be trusted. When someone makes a promise
As you know, the promise is only as good as the one who makes
it. Is he willing to keep the promise? Well, yes, he's willing. That's good. Is he able? Well,
that's another story. Can he be trusted to do it? Is
he trustworthy? That's another story. Not so
with our God. He has made every promise of
grace. He who has made every promise
of grace to us is God Almighty. our Creator, who created all
things for Himself, for His glory, and for our benefit. Look at
verse 1. The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith
the Lord. Now, let me pause right there
for a minute. What can those words mean? Does the triune God
have a burden for me? Does God Almighty carry a burden
in his heart, but without question he is using human terms to express
himself to us who are human beings, so that we may understand that
the focus of his heart, the care of his being, is the everlasting
salvation of our souls. Can you get that? The focus of
the heart of the triune God, the care of His whole being is
the salvation of our souls. If that won't float your boat,
I don't know what will. God has this burden for Israel. What an astounding thought. Israel's
everlasting comfort and her enemy's everlasting confusion is the
determination the burden of the Lord. But it is a burden for
him like wings are to a bird. It's a weightless burden. It's a burdenless burden. But that burden will be to his
enemies a burdensome stone heavier than the sands of the sea. And
on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
And then God makes the solemn declaration of his distinguishing
mercy and love and grace to his people. He confirms his goodness
to his own. He says, the burden of the word
of the Lord for Israel saith the Lord that stretcheth out
the heavens. He stretches them out as a curtain. Now, he stretched them out in
the beginning, but now he stretcheth them out. Not only that, but
He layeth the foundations of the earth. He laid the foundation
of the earth, and before ever He laid the foundation of the
earth, He loved us with everlasting love. Before ever He laid the
foundation of the earth, He redeemed us by the blood of His Son as
Christ the Lamb slain at the foundation of the world. He accepted
us and blessed us before ever the foundation of the world was
laid. But here He says, He layeth the foundation of the earth.
Why? Why does he use the present tense? Is God continually creating
the heavens? No. Is he continually creating
the earth? No. Why then does he use the
present tense? He stretches out the heavens
as a curtain, the psalmist said. He layeth the foundations of
the earth. I think I know why. A mother
takes her baby out in the hot sun or in the cold winter. And
she covers her baby with a blanket to protect it from the elements.
And so our God covers us under the heavens, under the shadow
of his wings to protect us in this world. And he layeth the
foundations of the earth. That is, he continually upholds
all things by the word of his power for the saving of his people. In other words, everything in
God's creation is ordered by him from the beginning and day
by day for our comfort, our security, and our good. And when he uses
these words, stretches out and layeth in the present tense,
he intends for us to understand that he created and rules the
universe for us, and that his rule of providence is but the
continuation of his creation of the earth. He created this
world as the stage upon which he would unfold the drama of
redemption to the praise of the glory of his grace. And this
is what he's doing today. This is what he's doing. in Baghdad,
and this is what he's doing in Tehran, and this is what he's
doing in Danville. He is unfolding his everlasting
purpose of grace for the saving of our souls. This is what he's
doing in your house and my house, with your children and mine,
in the hospital and in the prison house, in the state house and
in the president's house. This is what he's doing. He is
unfolding His eternal purpose of grace fixed in Christ for
us from the foundation of the world. Then in verse 2, the Lord
says something that seems at first to be strange, very strange. Behold, He says, behold. Stop and look at this. Whenever
you see that word behold, try to read it like a flashing neon
light. Stop, pay attention. I will make,
I will make, not Jerusalem shall become, I will make Jerusalem
a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they
shall be in the sage, in the grip, blockaded against Judah
and against Jerusalem." Jerusalem, his church, the one place on
this earth which is the place of his residence, the place where
he makes himself known. The place where He sends forth
His Word. The place where He pours out
His Spirit. The place where He is worshipped.
The place to which He is devoted. The place where men and women
are comforted and strengthened by His Word and by Him. The place
where He reveals Himself, unveils His glory, opens up His will,
and opens up His Word. The place of blessing. He says,
I will make it a cup of trembling, a cup of trembling to everybody
who sets himself against it. The moment short of that is just
this. God Almighty will cause those who despise His Son, His
gospel, and His people to become totally intoxicated with their
enmity toward Him. When men and women are in siege
against His church, they're in siege against their own soul. Brother Joe was asking me the
other day the same question Brother Peter Minion discussed with me
when I was in England several weeks ago. We're becoming more
and more marginalized, we who are believers, more and more
isolated, more and more pushed to the side in this world. And
is this an indication of darkness and judgment for the world? And he speaks here of not just
one person or two, but all those who are opposed to God's church
and God's people and God's gospel and God's honor. They shall be
intoxicated so that they are utterly insane with madness,
with the poison of their own enmity. Because my church now
becomes to them a cup that will bring them to death, a burdenstone
that will crush them to hell and crush them to hell forever.
And they're totally unaware of what to do with it. Totally unaware. Look at verse 3. And that day
will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone. What a word. A burdensome
stone. The Church of God, like Jerusalem
was before its apostasy, is the one singular source of blessing
to men in this world. The one singular source of blessing
to men in this world. People talk about common grace
and general love and all that silly stuff, you know, so absurd,
so terribly absurd. Our Lord said, Larry Chris, you
are the light of the world. are the salt of the earth. Now, us Southern folks, we pick
up on things and take religious things and make them to mean
things and not, commonly with sayings. When we talk about somebody
as a man, Bob Duff, he's a good, he's salt of the earth. He's
salt of the earth. It's a good common Southern term.
No, it's a good, very, very rarely used Biblical term. It's used
only of one Those are God's people. What salt? It is that which preserves
the earth, that which preserves the world, that which preserves
other men. And the only reason God Almighty
sustains this world in its existence, and it is He who sustains it
in its existence, is because of His people in this world. Every drop of rain that falls,
He sins for you. Every ray of sunlight that comes,
He sins for you. And your neighbors get the benefit
of it only because you happen to be living beside them. That's
exactly right. If they ain't you, they'd be
knocking at your door, bringing you presents every day. But they're
blind. They're blind. And Jerusalem
is a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves
with it shall be cut in pieces. Though all the people of the
earth be gathered together against it, 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." I
don't pretend to understand everything that's said here, or all that's
implied here. But when the Lord God punishes
sinners with everlasting destruction from his presence. Let me see
if I can get as personal as I can. Some of you are sitting here
very politely before me with your fists shoved in God's face,
full of hatred for God. And when God casts you into hell,
the voice of this preacher, the song you just heard that man
sing. The hymns we just sang this morning will echo in your
soul forever and fill you with astonishment and madness forever
and burn in your heart as a worm that dies not forever in the
torments of the damned in hell. And all that should have been
a blessing to you shall be an everlasting curse to you, a burdensome
stone crushing the wicked into hell. And as he cast the damned
into hell, in the fury of his holy wrath and justice, he says,
and. Don't you love the difference
when he says and and when he says but, Darvin? I deserve to go to hell but it.
But, God. I dealt with that a good bit
a couple of weeks ago. And yet when he speaks concerning the
distinction between his people and the damned, he says, and.
You see, this is all exactly according to purpose. He says,
I will smite them with astonishment and madness and blindness forever. And in that day, I will open
mine eyes upon the house of Judah. I will look at you with pleasure
and delight, approval, and satisfaction. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Verse 5, And the governors of
Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem
shall be my strength, and the Lord of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors
of Judah like an hearth of fire among the and like a torture
fire in a sheep, and they shall devour all the people round about
on the right hand and on the left. And Jerusalem shall be
inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The Lord also
shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the
house of David and the glory of the house of the inhabitants
of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah." And I'll leave
it to others to debate and argue about who these governors and
their people refer to historically. I'm really not interested. But
this prophecy is not a historical document. It is declaring what
God has done and will do and is doing in this gospel age. And it speaks of spiritual matters,
gracious matters. Robert Hawker. made this comment,
and I fully agree. He said, it is sufficient to
say that everything that is gracious is promised to Judah and Jerusalem,
and everything evil to their enemy. Everything good God promises
to His own, and everything evil He promises to those who oppose
Him. I will build my church, our Savior
said. Upon this rock I will build my
church, And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The gates of hell will do nothing
to impede the building of my church. The gates of hell will
do nothing to harm my church. The gates of hell will fall down
for my church to trample over them and ride forever triumphantly. The Lord God Almighty will fight
for His church. And woe be to those who fight
against his people. Yet as we seek to apply these
things to ourselves in this gospel day, there are certain things
clearly set forth in these verses 5, 6, and 7. The governors of
Judah certainly are faithful gospel preachers, faithful pastors,
to whom God has given the rule of his church under Christ Jesus,
as Paul tells us in Hebrews 13. The hearts of such pastors, now
listen to me, listen to me, the hearts of such pastors are strengthened,
strengthened. Paul said, see, we have this
ministry, we faint not. We're cast down, we're persecuted,
we're in prison, we've been thrown to the lions, we've been left
for dead. We faint not, we faint not. All
we live in is dark, dark world. We faint not, we faint not. Oh,
things are getting so bad. Not for God's people, they're
not. No, sir. I beg to differ. No, sir. No,
sir. We beg not. How come? Our hearts
are strengthened with this confidence. God Almighty is going to save
you. He's going to take care of you.
He's going to keep His own. He's going to save His own. And
the faithful servant of God is so wrapped up with the welfare
of God's people, with the care of God's people that his heart
is strengthened for the work with the assurance of God's purpose
of grace. And those pastors, by those pastors,
the Savior feeds his sheep with his staves, beauty, and bands,
the gospel of his grace and the ordinances of the gospel by which
he binds our hearts together lest any seek to magnify themselves
above others. Because it is Christ himself
who is the glory of his house. Now, look at verse 8. I said
the Lord fights for us. He fights for us. He told Jehoshaphat,
you should not be divided in this battle. This is mine. You
just stand here beside me while I do the work. Zechariah 12,
verse 8. In that day shall the Lord defend
the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In this gospel day. This is not
talking about one day. In this gospel day. And he that
is feeble among them. He that is feeble among them.
It's one thing to be weak. It's something else to be feeble.
I was thinking about the legend a little bit ago. Saw pictures
he sent. I wouldn't have sent it out.
He was going up the mountains, leaning on his walking sticks.
And honestly, the picture looked like if he had tried to stand
up, he would have fell over backwards. I suspect that's the reason he
was leaning forward. By the time he got there, he was getting
feeble. That's the word. Not just weak. Feeble. Feeble. He that is feeble. So weak you've got to stop. You
can't move. You can't take another step.
You can't go on. He that is feeble among them
at that day shall be as David. You remember David? He was apparently
a little fella. A little fella. When he put on
the armor that was offered to him, You couldn't see him for
the armor. He was a little fellow, weak, youth, from whom nothing
was expected, who expected nothing from himself. But he expected
great things from his God. He shall be as David. And here's
this little old weak fellow. If he had gone out carrying Goliath's
sword with him, he couldn't have even swung the sword back and
forth. But he goes out and takes Goliath's sword from him and
cuts his head off. Because God made him strong. He that is weak and evil, incapable
of anything, shall be like our mighty David, Jesus Christ himself,
whose grace and strength is made perfect in weakness. You know,
and the house of David, that is the house of our great David,
the Lord Jesus, shall be... Now, this can't be. You know
what the Bible says? shall be as God. Shall be as God. What? As the angel of the Lord before
them. He who is the house, or they
who are the house of David, the house of Christ, shall be as
God, as the angel of the Lord before them. That is, as Christ
Jesus himself. The Lord God said, Be thou perfect. brought before me, and be thou
perfect. He said, Be ye holy, for I am holy. He declares without
holiness, no man shall see the Lord. He demands that we be as
God, or we shall never see His face. Well, that can't be. I
beg to differ. Thank God it has come to pass. Because we are one with Jesus
Christ. Because our Lord Jesus Christ
is one with us. Because we are so united to Him
that His doing is our doing. His dying is our dying. His living
again is our living again. His sitting in the heavens is
our sitting in the heavens. And that's the very language
of Scripture. Now, since He, who is God our Savior, took on
Himself our sin and was made sin for us, this is the result. We are as God. with His spotless
garments on, holy as the Holy One. Since He, by His Spirit,
has come into our hearts in the new birth, He's given us a new
nature, making us partakers of the divine nature so that Christ
dwells in us. And now we are fit to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. He says in verse 9,
And it shall come to pass in that day I will seek to destroy
all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Now, what was it you
said we're supposed to be afraid of? What was it you read in the
paper that really disturbed you? If God says, I will seek to destroy,
you can bucket down, destruction's in the way. It's in the way.
I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Then, look at verse 10. You ask,
how can these things be? How is it that God recalls his
chosen to find life and strength and everlasting salvation in
his son? How is it that God saves a sinner? Well, here I am. I've been all
my life a God-hating rebel. I've been all my life a sinner
despising his rule and his dominion. I've been all my life opposed
to him. How shall any of this come to
pass in my life? And there's that word again.
He's not interrupting the story. He's continuing with the same
story. I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they
shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall
mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be
in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in
Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of
Megiddo, and the land shall mourn every family apart. The family
of the house of David apart, and their wives apart. The family
of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart. The family
of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart. The family
of the king and the prophet and the priest and the family of
Shimei apart. The rebels that deserve to die
and their wives apart. And the families that remain,
every family apart and their wives apart. Now, look at this.
This is a prophecy and a promise concerning a specific work of
God. God says, I will pour. I will
pour. I mean, Bobby Estes, you can't
make him poor, and I can't. You can't twist his arm and get
him to poor. I get so weary of folks who ought
to know better. Well, let's get everybody together
and let's pray. Oh, let's really pray about this. Let's really pray about this.
This is more important than something else. Let's really pray about
this. Let's bow down God's will. And make God do what he's not
inclined to do. That's nowhere akin to prayer
in this book. Nowhere akin to it. What do we
do when we pray? We open our hearts to God. But he says, I
will pour. I will pour. It is a work done
for a specific people. Not I will pour on everybody,
but I will pour upon the house of Christ. I will pour upon the
house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem my church, my Jerusalem,
whom I fixed in its place before the world was. I will pour the
Spirit. This is the promise given to
Christ our surety before the world was on the accomplishment
of our redemption. When He had brought in righteousness
for us, when He had put away our sin for the sacrifice of
Himself, when He rose again and ascended to the throne of David,
took His throne in heaven as the God-man mediator and King
over all things, the Lord God said, I'll pour out My Spirit
on all flesh. Clearly, this is not talking
about physical Jerusalem, not talking about that at all, the
physical seat of Abraham. but rather it is his people scattered
in all the earth, among all flesh, as Joel tells us. He's our poor,
the spirit, and he shall be a spirit of grace. How on earth does Larry
Brown get grace when God the Spirit's given to him? All grace. The grace of life, the grace
of faith, the grace of repentance, the grace of love, joy, peace,
the grace of forgiveness, the grace of the knowledge of Christ,
all grace comes from Him. And when the spirit of grace
is poured out on a sinner, I'll tell you what he comes to the
sinner. He comes as the spirit of supplications. We are Rex's
supplicants at the throne of grace, glad supplicants. Those
who have the Spirit poured out upon them, who are made heirs
of God and joined heirs with Christ, supplicate His throne,
giving praise to Him and thanksgiving to Him, but bowing to Him as
suppliants. Come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. And they come like that publican, ever beating their
breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And when God
pours out his spirit upon Christ's redeemed ones, his chosen, they
shall look. They shall look. I was getting
ready to preach here a minute ago, darlin'. Suddenly my heart's
just so, earlier this morning, burning with his word, it's suddenly
so dead. I try to look. I try to look,
I can't look. I try to behold him, I can't
behold him. I try to see him and I can't
see him. And if God pours out His Spirit upon you, you'll look.
That's how first sinners look to Christ, and that's how sinners
continue to look to Christ, only as He graciously pours His Spirit
upon us. They shall look upon Me, whom
they have pierced. When God pours out His Spirit
upon you, oh, I pray He will, you will cease to think highly
of yourself. You will cease to Think of your
inward comeliness. You remain to see yourself as
you really are, just see it. And you'll understand that it
wasn't Judas who betrayed the Lord. It wasn't the scribes and
the Pharisees who put him to death. It wasn't the Jews who
held him to the tree, nor the Romans, nor Herod, nor Pontius
Pilate, but my sin pierced him. They just pierced His body. My
sins pierced Him, pierced Him. My sins. And I did bitterness
for Him. Not in bitterness because He
died. In bitterness because my sins
pierced Him. And my sins crucified Him. In that day there shall be great
mourning. But that's all right. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. How is it that God saves His
people? He wounds them that He may heal
them. He brings them grief and mourning that He may bring them
joy and laughter. And this is always the result
of those upon whom God pours out His Spirit. They look, and
looking is the first display, the first sign, the first indication
of life. Oh, can you, can you now, will
you now look away to Christ? Look on him. Oh, yes, I look
on him. That's because God gave you his
spirit. God put life in you. God put life in you. And look
at all who look on him, say with Job, I am horror myself. And it's a very private thing.
It's a very private thing. He says here that all these tribes,
all these members of these houses, their families and their wives
shall mourn apart." Now this is exactly what that means. I
can't mourn for her. I can weep for you and pray for
you, supplicate God's throne for you, but I can't look on
Christ for you and I can't mourn for your sin. And I can't do
it for my daughter. I can't do it for my grandchildren.
I can't do it for Mama. I can't do it for Daddy. This
is an intensely personal, private thing. Intensely personal, private
thing. It's what God does in the heart
by the mighty operations of His grace, by the power and revelation
of His Spirit. Oh God, our Savior, pour out
Your Spirit upon our soul. upon these here who yet live
without life and faith in Christ and upon us that we may look
anew and mourn anew and be in bitterness for our sins anew
as we rejoice in the blessed joy of faith in Christ Jesus
our Lord who was pierced to death for us. Amen. David, if you don't
mind, I want you to come sing that song again. We'll be dismissed
with that. That'll be a good benediction.
Great, great song.