Let me begin my message by making
a statement that may surprise some, but a statement that I believe
needs to be made. I am fully convinced that we
are now and have been for some time living in the midst of tremendous
revival. tremendous revival. Back in the
middle part of the previous century, 1930s, 40s, and into early 1950,
God raised up a man by the name of Arthur Pink, who began to
expound and publish the gospel of God's grace in the written
word around the world. Many of you read his excellent
book, The Sovereignty of God. Prior to that time, from the
time of the Great Awakening to then, there had been a constant
degeneration of religion in this country. People turning from
truth to ungodliness, calling it the worship of God, which
was nothing but the worship of man's will and the worship of
man. But God raised up a man. that
began to sound the note of free grace. In 1948-49, Roth Barnard
began preaching God's free grace and went around this country
just tearing up religion. I mean just tearing up religion. Other men the Lord raised up. Brother Mahan and Ashland heard
the gospel from Roth and converted. and has for nearly 60 years been
used of God to preach the gospel of His grace. And many, many,
many churches, many pastors, including this church and this
pastor, owe tremendous debt to that man for the message God
has given us by him and for his assistance to us in proclaiming
that message. Today, the gospel of God's free
grace if I mistake not, is being preached with greater clarity
by more men to more people than at any time in the history of
this world. Now, by the measure of men, that's
insignificant. It's insignificant. We always have, God's people
always have, those who worship God always have, are now and
always will be in this world in the minority. That doesn't
concern me. That doesn't concern me. But
God is calling out a people for his namesake. Today, it appears
in tremendous, tremendous ways. Nearly 20 years ago, I told you
as I gave an exposition of Revelation chapter 11 about those two witnesses. John seeing a vision of God's
messengers, the messengers of his grace, the messengers of
life. They're described by him in Revelation chapter 11 as being
the two olive branches and the two golden candlesticks that
Zachariah saw back in Zachariah chapter 4. That is, these two
witnesses. His church and the two arms by
which he ministers to men through the preaching of the gospel both
in local churches and through the preaching of the gospel in
missionary endeavors around the world. The light of the world
being constantly fed by the golden bowl of oil flowing constantly
by the hand of our God. are these two witnesses. John
sees them slain in the streets, slain in the city and laid there
for three days, dead corpses, lifeless, in that city called
Sodom and Egypt. That is in this world of darkness. And the whole world threw a party
All hell rejoiced because it appeared that God's messengers
were dead. But hang on. Right in the midst
of God's great judgment sending darkness into the world, right
when it appears that Antichrist prevails and all men are drunk
with the wine of the great whore's fornication, the great wine of
free will works religion, God raises up those two witnesses,
and sends his word conquering the hearts of men, and everybody
is astonished. That's exactly where we are right
now. Most people talk about revival,
and they talk about revivals of the past, and this is how
it's identified. I've read a little bit. I've
read a little bit. All people began to Just sing
hymns all the time. And you'd find people reading
their Bibles and praying just all the time. People would gather
and keep the Sabbath day. They had great emotional experiences
and talked about seeing men come to church and just crying out
to God and ripping their shirts open and falling on the floor.
That's nothing but a spasmodic fit of religion. It ain't revival. It ain't revival. It's always
just a temporary thing. That's not revival. Well, Brother
Don, what happens when the Lord of Hosts returns to Zion? Now,
when we use those words, as we read in Zechariah chapter 8,
returns to Zion, it is not that he has ever forsaken his church.
No. But it appears that he has. It
is not that he punishes his church, but it appears that he does.
It's not that he is angry with his church, but it appears that
he is. And when he returns, his return
is the manifestation of his goodness, grace, and glory in the determination
to do good unto Zion. Now I want us again to look at
this 8th chapter of Zechariah. In verse 3, the Lord God gives
this prophecy by the word of his prophet Zechariah. Thus saith
the Lord, I am returned to Zion. What a word. Not I shall, I am
returned to Zion. Just as he returned to gather
his elect out of Babylonian captivity, he says now to you and I, I am
returned to Zion. Throughout the chapter, read
Zion, Jerusalem, and Judah to my people, to my church, those
whom I have loved with an everlasting love. And then in the rest of
this chapter, the Lord tells us by his prophet, that which
always follows, always follows, always follows, his return to
Zion. The title of my message, obviously,
is When the Lord of Hosts Returns to Zion. Of this much you can
be sure. When the Lord God returns to
do well to his chosen, His chosen shall return to Him. When He
turns to us with all His heart, we turn to Him with all our hearts. Well might we pray as the psalmist
did. Three times in the 80th Psalm,
he cried, Turn us again, O God. Turn us again, O God of hosts.
Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts. Cause Thy face to shine,
and we shall be saved. Return us, O God of our salvation. Wilt Thou not revive us, that
Thy people may rejoice in Thee? Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, and
grant us Thy salvation. Let us ever pray that He may
be constantly returning to us, that we may constantly return
to Him. Let us never be satisfied with
that which we received and experienced yesterday, but rather, the Spirit
of God calls us to earnestly seek our God, that He may return
to us. Let us be found praying as Jeremiah
did, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord
my God. Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord,
and we shall be turned, renew our days as of old. And if from
our hearts, if from our hearts we thus cry to our God, we will
soon confess as did that prophet, surely after that I was turned,
I repented. Oh, may God turn you. who yet know Him not, and calls
you to turn to Him. And may God turn you, my brothers
and sisters, today to Him in earnest, zealous repentance and
faith. And oh, may He turn me. Zechariah 8 teaches us That there
are certain things, certain specific marks of our Lord's return to
favor His church. Tokens of mercy by which His
return is observed. Not things that cause Him to
return. Tokens of mercy by which we observe
His return. People have the notion, you know,
to hang up the signs that we're going to have revival in two
weeks, we're going to have revival this week, we're going to have
revival tonight. Not likely. And they get folks, let's start
praying, let's come together and cry and twist God's arm and
cause Him to come down in great revival. When I told them of
things that cause God to return, Darvin, I'm telling you, this
is that which is seen. which is the result of His return. Let's see if I can back up what
I've said about the experience we've had in this place and are
having in this land. When the Lord God returns in
mercy, when He returns to do well unto Jerusalem, to make
His chosen seed prosperous, to save His elect reddened, to make
the cursed a blessing and to make those who found only hunger
possessors of all grace. The very first thing that demonstrates
his presence is this. He will cause the gospel of his
grace to be preached. He will cause the word of his
grace to go forth from Zion into the world. Look at Psalm 110. The Lord of hosts shall send
the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst
of thine enemies. The Lord also shall roar out
of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens
and the earth shall shake. But the Lord will be the hope
of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. Isaiah
made this statement. Many people shall go and say,
come ye, and let us go up to that mountain of the Lord, to
the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Now that's exactly
what Zachariah tells us in verses 15, 16, and 17. Look at this. When the Lord returns to Jerusalem,
When He returns to Zion, He causes His gospel to be preached. So
again, have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem. Not, I have thought to cause
Jerusalem to do well to me. I have thought to do well unto
Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don't be afraid. Fear
not. These are the things that you
shall do. Speak ye every man the truth
to his neighbor. Execute, now notice, the judgment,
the judgment of truth and peace in your gates. And let none of
you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor. And love
no false For all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.
Now, without question, without question, that which is commonly
understood by these opening words of verse 16, speak ye truth every
man to his neighbor, execute judgment, let none of you imagine
evil in his heart against his neighbor, without question, it
is good for us to tell the truth, to promote peace, and to love
one another. But a careful examination of
this passage, as it is given right here in the text, will
make it clear that the Lord is not merely telling us that when
He returns to His people in grace to favor us with the manifestations
of His grace, He will suddenly make them honest people. When
He came to you in grace to begin with, He made you honest, put
an honest man in you, made you new creatures in Christ. Many
are great Promoters of honesty, rigidly honest, who have no knowledge
of God. Many are great promoters of peace,
who are total strangers to both peace and to grace. It seems
that I recall back in 1969 there was an event called the Woodstock
Festival. Some of you can remember it.
Some of you probably at the time wished you could have been there.
Folks were running around naked, potheads. So high they couldn't
see straight, much less think straight, saying, peace, brother. But I don't think any of them
were terribly concerned about religion or grace or God. They were just concerned about
entertaining their own pleasures. When the Lord God here declares
that he will do well to the house of his chosen, causing his people
to speak the truth to their neighbors, The truth. He explains what it
is to speak the truth. And he does it in the very next
line. To speak the truth is to execute the judgment. The judgment of peace. But what on earth is that? We're
not here merely commanded to speak the truth. The Lord here
declares, when He has returned to favor Zion, He will cause
His people to speak the truth. He says, this is what you shall
do, speak ye every man, not just truthfully, but speak the truth
to his neighbor. This is not a declaration, as
I said, that God is suddenly going to make His people honest
and start telling the truth. This is a declaration that when
the Lord God returns to Zion, he will cause his church to proclaim
Christ, who is the truth, to the world. The truth. Remember
Pilate said, what is truth? The Lord Jesus said, I am the
truth. The truth. The truth is the revelation
of God who is truth. This is the message, John said,
which we have heard and declared unto you. God is light, and in
him is no darkness at all. What is truth? Just one person. God is truth. The truth. What is the truth? The truth
is the revelation of Him who is true. It is the revelation
of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. When I am returned to Zion, this
is what you shall do. Every one of you shall tell his
neighbor about my Son. Every one of you shall tell his
neighbor the truth of redemption and grace and salvation in Jesus
Christ. Look at verse 16 again. The Lord
says that he will cause every one of his people to preach the
gospel. To speak every man the truth. Every man? Every child of God. That means Darvin and Catherine. That means Don and Shelby. That
means Bob and Mary. Every child of God. is responsible
and privileged of God to publish and declare the truth of the
gospel to the generation in which he lives. Not to argue doctrine. Our Lord told that man out of
whom he had cast the devil, he said to him, go home to thy friends
and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.
Please don't argue religion with folks. You're not going to convince
them of anything. I want to tell people about election.
Try telling them about Christ. I want to tell people about God's
eternal purpose. Try telling them about God's
eternal grace. I want to convince folks that this is how we ought
to baptize people. Try telling them about how God
has baptized you into his soul. Speak the truth. Doctrine. Isolated from life. will never
do anyone any good. How do you convince folks of
the things of God? Tell me something. Were you in
bondage? I mean in prison? In prison? Chains holding your life in bondage. Corruption as iron fetters holding
your soul. Cursed and condemned. Did He
set you free? Won't you try telling that? I'll
guarantee that you're somebody who's in darkness, in bondage,
and in chains. Go tell not what you've done
for Jesus, but what He's done for you. What great things He
hath done for thee. Talk Him up. Talk him up everywhere. As I was preparing this message,
I couldn't help but think of things we currently have the
privilege of engaging in. You can't all be pastors and
evangelists, but you can all speak the truth by your personal
witness to others. I don't mean go out and buttonhole
folks and try to get them to make a profession of faith. You
know better than that. I do mean tell them about the Savior. You
can all be preachers of the gospel. We were just down in Mexico,
observing what God has done in some measure through you. Well,
I've never been to Mexico. Oh, yes, you have. Every time
Walter or Cody get in their trucks, drive out to one of those pueblos,
stand up and preach the gospel, there you are, preaching the
gospel of God's grace. And I'm not telling you something
that they don't say. That's exactly how they look
upon their labor there. I'm going up tonight to preach
up in Newcastle, Indiana. You send me somewhere every week
just about preaching the gospel of God's grace. And as I go and
speak for Christ, you can't all preach, but you can all send
your pastor and others to preach the word. And I thank God for
you doing so. You can take these bulletin articles,
tracts, literature, books, tapes, CDs, videos, and give them to
folks, praying that God will bless them to their hearts. And
last night, while I was writing this message out, I stopped and
took another peek at this newest thing God's opened for us, Free
Grace Radio webpage. Just a little over 10 weeks,
just a little over 10 weeks, more than 10,000 sermons. have been downloaded by people
in 47 countries. Has God returned to Thabersi? Indeed He has. Never has there
been a time in history when the gospel of God's free grace has
been preached to more people than it is being preached right
now around the world by His servants. local churches, through all these
other means, yes, the Lord God has done and is doing well. So I say to you, children of
God, speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor. Publish abroad
that which God has done. As Joel put it, blow the trumpet
in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the
children and those that suck the breast, let the bridegroom
go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet. Step
out with Christ holding his arm and publish him to the world.
To preach the gospel, to speak the truth, is to execute the
judgment of truth and peace. How can I do that? Execute the
judgment of truth and peace? Now I'm going to tell you something. If you look at that merely as
something that men do, well, I want to deal with you in judgment.
Please don't. Please don't. That's what I expect
if I happen to get caught committing a crime and I stand up here before
the fellow in court with black robes on. I expect him to execute
judgment. But I promise you there's no
peace connected with it. Churches everywhere, especially
folks who call themselves Reformed, are mean as hell in executing
judgment. They love it. They love it. We're
going to execute. We're going to do righteous.
There's no peace in it. Just ask them. You don't have
to ask them. Just listen to them. No peace in it. What is it to
execute judgment of peace? There's only one execution of
judgment that has produced peace. In Christ crucified, mercy and
truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. And in the execution of judgment
upon God's Son, our substitute, as we just heard about, in the
execution of judgment, in the shedding of His blood, He obtained
peace by the blood of His cross. Well, how do we execute judgment
and peace? We set forth Jesus Christ crucified
evidently before men. Declare to men everywhere the
accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of God's Son.
Until the sinner is savingly acquainted with the execution
of judgment that brings peace, there is no peace in his soul.
Brother Darby spoke just a little bit ago about the assurance of
grace arising from the experience of grace. That's exactly right.
Peace was obtained for us when the Savior died. God was in Christ,
reconciling us to Himself, not imputing our transgressions unto
us, but unto Him. But there's no peace until He
comes by His Word as we proclaim the execution of judgment, obtaining
peace, and makes the center. to be convinced. Listen now,
what is there of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment? I am convinced. Bless God, I
am convinced. I am as convinced of judgment
finished as I am of my sin. And let me tell you what that
brings. Peace that passeth understanding. Judgment finished. Proclaim it,
children of God. Here's the second thing. When
the Lord of Hosts is returned to Zion with great jealousy,
returned to do well to Jerusalem, when He causes His people to
speak the truth, Sinners shall be saved by His outstretched
arm of omnipotent grace. Saved by Him causing them to
take hold of Christ the Savior. To take hold of the skirt of
His righteousness. The skirt He spreads over them.
Look at verse 20. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
it shall yet come to pass that there shall come people and the
inhabitants of many cities. Verse 23. Thus saith the Lord
of Hosts. Notice how Zechariah keeps repeating
that. He said, fellas, I'm not telling you what I dreamed up,
I'm telling you what God said. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
in those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take
hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take
hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go
with you, for we have heard that God is with you." You remember how Ruth spoke to
Boaz? She said, He said, Who are you? She said, I am thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid. Spread your skirt over me. For
you are my near kinsman. Well, that looks like something
that the sinner must do. Yes, you must. Well, when will
the sinner ever do that? Turn to Ezekiel 16. Let me show
you. Verse 8. I plead with you to plead with
Christ to spread His skirt over you. But I want to tell you something,
I don't spend near as much time and energy and thought pleading
with you as I do pleading with Him to do something for you. Because I know you will never
take hold of His skirt until He first does something for you.
Ezekiel 16 verse 8. Now when I passed by thee and
looked upon thee, behold thy time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. You ever go in and tuck your
babies at night? Go check on them, been in bed for a while.
If yours are like our grandson, he doesn't keep cover on him.
I mean, when his eyes close in sleep, the covers come off. So
you go and put the covers up around him. Do you know what
they immediately do? Do you ever notice it? In their
sleep, almost unconsciously, they just pull the covers up
tight. Oh, if Jesus Christ was spread
over you, the skirt of His righteousness, and cover your nakedness, you
will reach out and take hold of the skirt of Him who is the
God-Man, our Mediator, and cover yourself with that skirt. When God visits His people, He
calls His chosen sinners at the appointed time of His love to
believe his son. Third, look back here at Zechariah
8 verse 21. The Lord gives us another token
of his favor, and that is the longing of his people for him.
And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another. Now that's
a pretty good trip. I don't care how close the cities
are. If you're just walking or riding a mule from here to Junction
City, it's a pretty good hike. They shall go from one city to
another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and
to seek the Lord of hosts. I will go also. Yea, many peoples
and strong nations shall come and seek the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem, and to pray, to worship before the Lord, to call upon
the name of the Lord. When the Lord Jesus visits His
own in grace, One sure token of his presence will be the fact
that his people no longer despise the privilege of worshiping him. No longer look upon the worship
of God as a wearisome duty that must be performed, but as a delightful,
joyful thing to be desired. When He turns to us to do us
good, He turns us to Himself, causing us to highly value every
means of grace, desiring grace to make good use of every means
He gives us. The first cry of the people mentioned
in this text is, let us go speedily to pray. When God says, I am returned
as I am, This is what his people say. They go from one city to
the other, and they say to each other, Bobby, let's hurry up
and get to God's house. Let's hurry up and get to God's
house. Now that's not the statement of an enthusiastic preacher trying
to get lethargic church members to become zealous in attending
church. That's the statement of God Himself. He says, when I've come to do
you good, this is the result. You're going to go to one another.
One city to another city. Let us go and worship God. Oh, blessed is that man. Blessed
is that woman in whom God has created an insatiable appetite
for Himself. God give me such an appetite.
An insatiable appetite. Who cannot get enough of joining
God's saints in prayer, praise, and worship. Who can't get enough
of the good news of judgment finished, righteousness brought
in, redemption obtained, salvation accomplished. People who can't
get enough of Christ's sweet presence. I can't tell you how often I've
been unable for some reason to attend a meeting somewhere. And
how sad had been the words to me. Joyful for others, but how
sad to me. Oh, Brother Dodd, the Lord was
with us tonight. You know what I think? If I had known that, I believe
I'd have found a way to get there. Believe I've found a way to get
there. What a pity. Blessed are those
people who are not so taken up with their business that they
can't find time to devote themselves to God's business. Not so occupied
with the world's pleasures that they take no pleasure in things
above. Those who cannot get enough instruction in the Word of God. Dr. Gill tells us that these
words might be paraphrased. Let us go speedily to pray to
the Lord, to seek the doctrine from the Lord of Hosts, to be
instructed in His Word, to learn of His Word, His ways, and His
will. Then in verses 18 and 19, he
promises to make this worship a perpetual feast of joy and
gladness. We won't read it now, but Isaiah
25, Isaiah says the same thing. He says we will have a feast
of fat things, of wine on leaves, of fat things full of marrow,
wine on leaves well refined. The Lord's coming near excites in His people a longing
for Him. A picture given in Song of Solomon,
I sleep, but my heart waketh. It's the voice of my beloved
knocking at the door, saying, Open to me, my beloved. Our response is always, Don't
bother me now. I've got more important things
to do. I need to sleep. Oh, thank you, blessed Savior. You won't let us sleep that sleep. But He puts His hand in, drops
His grace in our hearts, and causes us to rise and open to
Him and to seek Him. When God visits His people, He
stirs in His people an earnest desire for Himself, to worship
Him. It is surely a token of God's
grace and favor, a token of His divine visitation when needy
sinners seek the Lord of Hosts, entreating His face. It shall
be said in that day, Lo, this is our God. We have waited for
Him, and He will save Him. This is the Lord. We have waited
for Him, and we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
There's something else here. When the Lord visits His people,
He revives both His people and His preachers. I'm not really
sure whether revival spreads from the pew to the pulpit, but
in verse 21, When Zechariah heard God's promise
that the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,
let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord
of hosts, he said, I sure would like to get on that. I will also
go. This I know, one of the surest
tokens of God's presence, visiting his people. is a zealous, devoted gospel
ministry. Zealous, devoted preachers of
the gospel. Men who are described by God this way,
he said, I will give you pastors according to my own heart who
shall feed you with knowledge and with understanding. Some
of you men may have never observed it, but when your wives prepare
a big dinner, I'm not talking about when they fix a bologna
sandwich. That's good. I like the bologna sandwich, but when
they prepare a big dinner, do you know what it takes to peel
potatoes, boil them, and mash them, and mix in the butter and
the cream, and make the gravy? Fry the chicken and go to the
store and buy it and select it and plan the other things to
go along with it. Set the table and serve it up to you and you
consume it in ten minutes. Do you know what it takes? It
takes labor. Devoted labor. Devoted labor. God says, I'll give you pastors
who will labor in the Word for your souls. to feed you with
knowledge and understanding. Pastors like Paul and Barnabas
who gladly hazard their lives for the gospel, separating themselves,
devoting themselves to the cause of Christ. I keep praying, Spirit
of God, make me such a pastor. A man devoted giving his life
to the only business worthy of the sacrifice of a man's life,
preaching Jesus Christ the Lord. I've often said to my wife and
daughter, I would never, I would never,
and I believe I'm speaking the truth, make the sacrifices of
my time with my family that I've made over the years with my family.
for any work, any position, or any amount of money in this world.
But if God will give me grace, it is my determination, more
zealously tomorrow, to devote myself to this work, day and
night, than ever in the past. Why? Cause of Him. That's all. Heal. Here's something else. When God visits His people in
grace, they mutually stir, arouse, and help one another, encouraging
one another in the worship of Him who loved us and gave Himself
for us. They say to the inhabitants of
one city, going to another, let us go speedily and pray before
the Lord. They didn't say, now listen,
I want you to go to church Sunday. They stopped by and they get
their minivan out and they say, listen, wife and I, kids, we're
going down to worship God. Come worship with us. Haven't
seen you in a while. Let's go worship God. Encouraging
one another in the worship of God. And we need such encouragement,
don't we? We are concerned for one another. For the worship of God, we feel
empty ourselves when one of God's people show signs of emptiness
himself. The picture is this, you come
to the house of God and Mother Bob Ponce is not there. That seat right there, it's empty. I'm going to tell you what, if
he's not there, I feel it there. Something wrong. Something wrong. Something wrong with Bob. Something
wrong. Let's encourage one another.
Come, let's go worship our God. Well, I can't today. I've got
something more important coming up. Oh, really? Yeah, I need
to go to ballgame. No, you didn't really say that,
did you? You didn't really say that, did
you? Oh, I wish I hadn't. Believe I'd throw those tickets
away and go worship. So God's people wouldn't do that.
Yes, they do. Yes, they do. And worse, they
need continual encouragement. Let us, who are just like our
brethren, prone to every weakness and every evil, Encourage one
another in the worship of God. And to do so with urgency. Let's
go speedily. Speedily. Because you need Him. We need Him. He promised this
is where He'll meet. Let's go speedily to pray. Not to be praised, but to pray.
Not to hear a man, but to hear Him. Not to see Job, but to see
God. Let's go speedily to the house
of God. And I will go. If you don't go, I'm still going.
And if you do go, I'll go with you. For as for me and my house,
We will worship the Lord. Amen. Brother Rob, loosen the
hymn please. Number 166.