when God's prophet Habakkuk declared
to Israel the judgment of God coming upon that nation, declaring
that God would lay the land desolate in his wrath. He said, When I
heard, my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice, rottenness
entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself. When he heard God's
word of judgment determined against his people, his determination
to invade the land of Israel with troops and carry the nation
away in the fury of his holy wrath, his belly trembled, his
lips quivered, he trembled in himself. Then he lifted up his
heart to God and prayed, O Lord, I have heard thy speech. and was afraid. Revive, preserve, keep alive
thy work in the midst of these years. In the midst of these
years of trouble, judgment, wrath, remember mercy. And he declared
that even in his terrible judgments, God's ways are everlasting. He said, even in these things
thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation.
Even as God marched through the earth in his indignation in those
days, as obviously he does in this day, threshing the heathen
in his anger, God's prophet comforted himself with this sweet word
of grace, Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
even for the salvation of thine anointing. And with that sweet
assurance, his soul was at peace. And he said, Although the fig
tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine, The
labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no
meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet will
I rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation."
The Prophet sang in the midst of judgment, in the midst of
terrible wrath, in the midst of terrible calamity, in the
prospect of terrible war. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds'
feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. Like David many years earlier,
Habakkuk found rest for his soul in God's great purpose of grace,
even when it appeared that everything was contrary to that purpose. how well that pictures the state
of my soul, and I know for many of you the state of your souls,
in this day of great judgment and confusion. When God has sent
wrath, furious wrath, sending the nations of the world a lie
that they should believe a lie, deceived by a lie, because they
rejoice not in the truth, and receive not the love of the truth.
Yet, even in this day of judgment, while our lips quiver to think
and speak of God's judgment, and our hearts tremble within
ourselves, God's purpose is sure, and God's purpose is being accomplished. What is God doing today? He is
going forth for the salvation of his people. Understand that. No matter what headlines you
read tomorrow, no matter what comes to pass this day, God is
but going forth in his majesty for the salvation of his people,
and that salvation is sure. Habakkuk lived in days prior
to Israel's judgment. being carried away in Babylonian
captivity. Like Jeremiah, he lived when
Israel was in time of great apostasy, and prophesied of the wrath that
would fall upon them, warning them of seventy long years of
bitter Babylonian captivity. Zechariah's prophecy commenced
after Israel had returned from Babylon. Zachariah was sent to
the people of God after they had begun to rebuild Jerusalem,
and had begun to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. In the eighth
month of the second year of Darius's reign, Zachariah received his
message from the Lord God, a message that he gave to us in a series
of visions in the first six chapters of his prophecy. This is a full two years after
Zechariah had given his first message. Two years later, he
received a message from God, a message declaring the cause
of God's wrath and his determination to save his people. Zechariah
7, verse 1. And it came to pass in the fourth
year of King Darius that the word of the Lord came unto Zachariah
in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chislew. That corresponds approximately
to our October and November. The word of the Lord was precious
in those days. There were plenty of prophets.
Plenty of prophets, just as there are today. Lots of men who claimed
to speak for God. Lots who had been in Babylon
and came back from Babylon, before they were carried away into Babylon,
their forefathers said, Jeremiah is a liar, he's prophesying to
you hard things that God never spoke, God's given you peace.
And all the while they were in Babylon, they continued to claim
to speak for God, prophesying false things to the people, and
the people loved to have it so. There were many prophets in the
land, but few were true prophets. Few were those men who had a
word from God. Few were those men sent of God. Few were those men who spoke
for God. It had been two years now since
God had spoken by any man to any man upon the earth. Imagine
that. Imagine that. Two years since
anyone had heard from God. Two years. Then the word of the
Lord came unto Zechariah. Oh, what a blessing! God says,
He that hath my word, let him speak it faithfully. And Zechariah
here gives God's word faithfully. Look at verse 2. When they had
sent unto the house of God Cherezer and Rejimelech, and their men
to pray before the to worship. Or, perhaps it might better be
read, to give God no rest until God accepted them. To wrestle,
as men say, with God. People point to Jacob and talk
about how Jacob wrestled with the Lord. Jacob didn't wrestle
with the The Lord wrestled with Jacob. There's a huge difference. Jacob didn't conquer God. God
conquered Jacob. There's a huge difference. The
religion of man seeks to conquer God. The religion of man thinks
that if we can somehow bombard heaven with our prayers and our
desires and strong faith, then God will hear and God will bless. That's the attitude with which
these men came to the house of God. They came to worship, they
said. Now the message God gave to his
prophet Zechariah was God's response to this delegation sent by those
who had recently returned from Babylon. Those who came to the
house of God to twist God's arm, to bombard heaven, to get God
to bless them. Two of the men in this delegation
were specifically named. They seemed to have been men
of tremendous significance, men that I suspect the folks who
sent them, they said, now, Zachariah might not pay attention to us,
and the priest of God might not pay attention to us, but Cherezer
and Rejimelech, they won't dare speak to them like a prophet. They won't dare speak to these
men like Elijah. They won't dare speak to these
men with the same boldness as they would speak to us. Cherezer
means man of fire. Apparently a man who stood strong. A man that others kind of got
out of his way. Rejimelech means king's heel. He apparently was a man of royalty.
A man at least connected with royalty, but it doesn't just
mean royal. His name means a royal heap.
That's a pretty good representation of it. They were apparently of
mere significance, as I said, among the Jews. These men were
sent as representatives of the nation of Israel, Specifically
of that group that came later, came back to Jerusalem after
the first 50,000 had come and started rebuilding the temple.
Now these men come to the house of God, representing the nation
of Israel. But they might well represent
any nation or any people. Indeed, they represent all natural
men, because all natural men are anxious to put God in their
debt. All natural men are anxious to
twist God's arm. All natural men are anxious to
approach God, but to approach God with the idea of causing
God to bless them. They love to have a form of religion. Any form will do. Any form will
do. Does it matter what it is? I
know we live in this day of what men call political correctness,
and so we dare not say anything against any religion. Have you
noticed the news reporters when they translate things coming
out of Iraq these days? Just a few years ago, just a
few years ago, when they would translate their speeches and
those men would refer to Allah, the translators would call it
Allah, as honesty would compel a translator to do. Not today.
Not today. Oh no, when those heathen barbarians
refer to their idol God, Allah, our politically, religiously
correct folks who believe any religion is good, make it God. As if they were indeed speaking
of God. We find folks talk about faith. Our President, and I'm thankful
for him, I think he is an outstanding man doing an outstanding job
in terrible times. But his religion ain't worth
spitting. He doesn't talk about Christ, he talks about faith.
Your faith. And he speaks to a Muslim, he
talks about your faith. In the same terms. And he speaks
to that dying old fool in Rome, he talks about his faith. In
the same terms. Any faith will do. Because any
faith will pacify the conscience of man. Any faith is that by
which a man seeks to silence his own conscience and pacify
his conscience, convincing him that he is accepted of God. Any
religion will do, as long as it is a religion of their making
that pleases their flesh. That's what religion is all about. Pleasing men. Why do you think
churches all across this town and all across this state and
all across this nation advertise traditional services and contemporary
services? Contemporary services. I remember
Brother Maurice Montgomery saying here one time, he said that's
the next word after contempt in the dictionary. Contemptible
services. That's a better word for it.
Pleasing the flesh. pleasing men. This huge church
outside of Chicago. This has been nearly 20 years
ago. Folks decided to start a church. And they did a survey. You know
denominations do that all the time? They do it all the time.
They send out fellows to see what people want. And they send
out questionnaires and ask people, if you were going to go to church,
what would you want to have in the church? And they got their
questionnaires back. I'm talking about in just a short
while. They were flooded with thousands
of people because they established a church, giving folks what they
want. Men love religion as long as
it is religion of their making that pleases their flesh. All
men take delight, God said in Isaiah 58 too, in approaching
God. Approaching God on their terms.
The fact is, until we are born of God, until we are taught of
Him, every son of Adam, every man, woman, and child in this
world vainly imagines that he can do or give something to God
that will appease God's wrath and win God's favor. Look at
Micah 6. The prophets Here it gives us a word from
the Jews just exactly as that which is given here in Zechariah
7, Micah 6, verse 7. Or verse 6, wherewithal shall
I come before the Lord and bow myself to the high God? That
sounds good, doesn't it? Oh, preacher, how can I come
to God? How can I get saved? How can I get the Lord to bless
me? Whatever it takes, I'll do it.
That's what they said. Whatever it takes, I'll do it.
You name it. You tell me what God requires, and I'll do it. That's just what the children
of Israel said when God gave his law at Mount Sinai. They
said, we can do that. That's a mistake. We can perform
holiness acceptable to God, but you don't. Shall I come before
him with burnt offerings? With calves of a year old? God
required me to take some of my calves and give them to Him?
I'll do that. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?
That's not too much to ask. Or with ten thousands of rivers
of oil? Well, that's a small price to
pay. Shall I give my firstborn for
my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
I'll do that too. I'm sincere. I'm sincere. You
see, the leaven of the Pharisees permeates the hearts of all men,
all our race. Robert Hawker said, Satan infused
this deadly poison into our nature at the fall, and it runs like
blood through the veins of the whole race. These fellows came to God's priest
and God's prophet seeking approval for their devices. I'm talking to some of you right
now. You go to church seeking for this preacher or another
to approve of you. to nod their head and say, well,
God bless you, we need a little bit of your money, and I'm sure
you're serving the Lord with sincerity. God bless you, you're
so important, and the Lord will accept you, he sure will. That's
just how these fellows came. Look at verse 3. They came to
speak unto the priest, the men who were supposed to be the preservers
of the oracles of God, which were in the house of the Lord
of hosts. and to the prophets, the men who were supposed to
speak forth the word of God. And this is what they said. Should
I? Should I? Should I weep in the
fifth month, separating myself? Now, lest I fail to mention it,
that word separating, I looked it up last night, late. I wasn't
at all surprised to see what it meant. The word is, Nazariting
myself. Sanctifying myself. Making myself
more holy than others. Should I weep the fifth month? Making myself holy as I have
done these so many years. I've been at this now for seventy
years. in their proud arrogance and self-righteousness, presuming
they had done good by inventing ways to worship God according
to the traditions and customs of their fathers, these men came
to the priests and the prophets of God expecting these men to
approve of their indictions. And it was in response to this
question that God sent his word to Zechariah, and Zechariah faithfully
delivered it. They must have been shocked.
Turn back to Jeremiah chapter 5, verse 30. You see, they were accustomed
to having priests and prophets in Israel whom they admired and
loved. They were accustomed to having
priests and prophets in Israel who were motivated by the same
principles as politicians and businessmen. Priests and prophets
who they knew would tell them what they wanted to hear. Jeremiah
chapter 55 verse 30. A wonderful and horrible thing
is committed in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests bear rule by their means. That is to say,
the preachers are all liars, and those who serve in the house
of God do so for their own gain. If that shoe fits any in this
day, let them wear it to hell. That's the way it is. And my
people love to have it so. Oh, what a word. Back in Zechariah,
chapter four. Chapter seven, rather, verse
four. Then came the word of the Lord
of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto the people of the land,
and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the
fifth and seventh Even those seventy years when you kept your
solemn feast, and you fasted, and you mourned, and you touched
not, tasted not, handled not, when you observed your holy days
that you had invented in commemoration of great things, all those seventy
years, did you at all fast unto me? Even to me? Do you really expect me to believe
You were seeking me? No. And when you did eat, and
when you did drink, did not you eat for yourselves, and drink
for yourselves? The Jews kept up a form of godliness
throughout the Babylonian captivity for seventy years. But they had
utterly abandoned the worship of God. They were worshipping
God without an altar, and without a sacrifice, without an atonement. They were worshipping God on
their own terms. They continued to ignore God's
word, just as they had in the days of Habakkuk and Jeremiah,
now that they were returned. All that they did in their pretense
of worshipping God, was nothing but what the Holy Spirit calls
in Colossians 2, a show of wisdom in will worship, a show of humility,
a display of neglecting the body, all to the satisfying of the
flesh. Most people's religion, and you
here who practice religion, and practice it with some measure
of diligence, or practice it with some measure of diligence
when you don't have anything else better to do. You do so for one
reason, to satisfy your flesh. Oh, I feel guilty. I've been
off to the church this Sunday. I feel so guilty. I need to start
going to church more. I believe I'll start giving God
a little tip every now and then. I feel guilty! I believe I'll
start reading my Bible. I feel so guilty. I might even
start going midweek service. I feel so guilty. And I feel
so much better when I go to church. That's just the case with these
fellows. There was nothing in their religion for the honor
of God. They did nothing for the glory
of God. Everything they did, they did to please and satisfy
themselves. Everything. The Apostle Paul
is speaking of this specifically when he says, whether you eat
or drink, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Tonight we'll come together again
at the Lord's table. And we'll keep this blessed feast,
celebrating redemption by Christ. You will if you do it to the
glory of God. And if you've got any other reason
for it, you will only eat and drink damnation to yourself.
The gospel of Christ, redemption by his blood, salvation by grace
alone, gives all glory to the triune God alone, and shuts out
all boasting from men. These fellows asked, should I
weep in the fifth month, separating myself, making myself holy, making
myself more holy than others so that I can stick my finger
down at somebody else and say, you need to be like me. You need
to do like I did. Like others before them, and
like others after them to this day. These self-righteous men
stumbled at the stumbling stone of Christ Jesus. Being ignorant
of God's righteousness, they went about to establish their
own righteousness and refused to submit to the righteousness
of God, which is Jesus Christ himself. They wanted a righteousness. to soothe their consciences,
a righteousness so that they could lay down at night and at
least go to sleep for a while, a righteousness somehow to give
them a little peace through the day, a righteousness to give
them a little happiness in this world. But not righteousness
from the crucified substitute. Not free grace righteousness. Righteousness they wanted by
which they could be convinced that God must nail because of
their goodness, smile upon them." Faith in Christ, you see, is
such a self-denying, self-emptying thing that no one, except that
man or woman who is taught of God the Holy Spirit, can or will
trust the Son of God alone for salvation, for acceptance with
God. Religion without faith Religion
that does not look to the blood and righteousness of Christ alone
is but the mockery of God in his house. I lay this charge
at the door of all man-made, free-will, works religion, call
it by whatever name you will. It is only walking in an evil
way. men living after their own lust,
provoking God to his face openly, angrily, continually provoking
him, which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am
holier than thou. And God says, These are a smoke
in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. the prophet of God speaks, should
ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former
prophets? In those days when Jerusalem
was inhabited and in prosperity before judgment came, And the
cities thereof rammed about her when men inhabited the south
and the plain in those days of great prosperity and peace, when
God had called you to come in and possess the land, when God
had called the land to be fruitful in every corner of the land,
when your families multiplied and there was peace in the land,
and you had no war, and you had no famine, and you had no pestilence,
and you had no disease, when all your enemies bowed before
you. God spoke by Hosea and Jeremiah and Isaiah, but they refused
to hear His word. They turned their back from Him,
went a-whoring after other gods, burned incense on every high
hill, and refused to hear God's prophets who warned them and
warned them and warned them, except you repent, except you
turn to the Lord God in faith, God will send a nation among
you and destroy you. But they heard him not. And now
the Lord hath brought them back from seventy years of bondage
and captivity. Boy, that'd teach them a lesson,
wouldn't it? That'd teach them a lesson, wouldn't it, Larry? Now I'll listen to the Lord.
Now I'll hear. People have this silly, unbiblical,
anti-Christian notion That judgment brings revival. No, it doesn't. It just brings more self-righteous
religion. All the time I was in Bible college, and I still
hear it to this day. All the time I was in school,
just every few days, somebody would refer to those times of
persecution. Oh, during times of persecution,
there's great revival. No, there's not. No, there's
not. No, when folks get desperate and they can't do anything for
themselves, they just start going to church and figure they need
God. They use them like a rabbit's foot. Rub their lucky charm and
think God's going to do them a favor. And so they clean up
their lives. Folks quit drinking and quit
going to the houses of ill repute and quit their fornication and
quit their drunkenness and this, that, and the other, and they're
all straightened up all now. Oh, how the Lord has blessed
us. We've come back to the house of God. They were in the same
condition when they came back from Babylon as they were when
they went to Babylon. You see, judgment never brings
mercy. Wrath never brings repentance.
Affliction never breaks the heart. Never, never. These fellows persisted
still in their rebellion. Refusing to believe God, refusing
to trust Christ, clinging to their religious traditions, clinging
to their form of godliness, mixing works and grace, trying to sanctify
themselves rather than trust Christ. Refusing, as Micah said,
to trust the righteousness of the Lord. In all their pretended
sanctity and fasting, in all their holy observances, There
was a continual disregard to the word of God. What delusions
men choose. What refuges of lies, who set
up for themselves a form of godliness, while denying the gospel of Christ,
which is the power of godliness. Now, if God won't accept this,
what does God require? Chapter 7, verse 8. And the word
of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord
of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, show mercy and compassion
to every man to his brother, and oppress not the widow, nor
the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor, and let none of
you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. They had
despised God's prophets, they had despised God's word, they
had despised the Lord God himself, and yet he spoke the word of
the gospel to them again. And in this word he repeats exactly
what Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hosea had told by the mouth of God
long before they went into Babylon. You can read it in Isaiah 58,
Jeremiah chapter 5, Hosea chapter 4. The Lord here repeats exactly
the same thing. Indeed, he repeats exactly that
again in the book of Micah. Turn over there if you will. How often we refuse to hear. Yet the Lord God continued to
speak. What mercy. What goodness. What longsuffering. What patience. My God, how I thank you that
when I turned my shoulder like an ox not accustomed to the yokes,
when I stuck my fingers in my ear and would not hear, when
I hardened my hard heart against you, you didn't refuse to speak. that spoke again and again the
same word of grace, until at last my heart was broken in repentance
before you." Here in the book of Micah, chapter 6, God tells us exactly the same
thing as we read in Zechariah 7, 8, 9, and 10. Verse 8, He
hath showed the old man what is good. These fellows came and
said, Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord? And what doth
the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God?" Well, the preacher is there.
Micah is telling us that if we would come to God, we must indeed
fast and weep and mourn as we have all these years. We must
live morally and uprightly, doing the just thing in all of our
relationships with men, showing mercy to men all the time, and
walk in a show of humility before God. Is he really? I have not so learned Christ.
If that, Bobby Estes, is what God requires of me, I'm going
to hell. And you too. Now, preacher, I live justly.
Do you now? I love mercy and compassion.
Do you now? Show mercy to folks all the time. Perfect. I walk humbly with God
to you, really. Now there's no question, these
things are the result of coming to God by faith in Christ. pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to
visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and
to keep himself unspotted from the world. But this is not the
means by which we come to God. If you read the passage, these
things that God requires are to be done with Him, before Him,
with an eye of faith to Him. It is true, the believer is one
who is humbled before God. He is one who treats others with
mercy. And he is one who walks in justice. That's the tenor of his life.
But not in such a manner as to win God's favor. But what's this
talking about then? God requires that we do justly. That we do justice. Turn over
to Leviticus chapter 26. We have this portrayed in the
law. We do justice with our God when we confess that in ourselves,
by reason of sin, we justly deserve his furious wrath and indignation. As David put it, that thou mayest
be clear when thou judgest. Leviticus 26, verse 40. If they shall confess their iniquity,
and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass, which they
have trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary
to me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have
brought them into the land of their enemies. If then their
uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment
of their iniquity, then will I remember my covenant with Jacob,
and my covenant with Isaac, my covenant with Abraham, will I
remember, and I will remember the land." If we confess our sin, take sides
with God against ourselves, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son, cleanseth us from all unrighteousness. God requires
that we love mercy. Oh my God, if there's anything
on this earth I love, it is mercy. Him whose name is mercy. Him who is the mercy seat, the
propitiation for my sins. The mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Acknowledging my sin. Knowing
that I fully deserve His wrath. Knowing that if His fury were
poured out on me unto everlasting damnation, I would only have less than I
deserve. Thank God for mercy. Free, everlasting
mercy. And God requires that we walk
humbly with our God, trusting His mercy, trusting Christ, constantly
acknowledging that we deserve His wrath, knowing the depravity
and corruption of our hearts, gratefully acknowledging and living as a people who belong
to God by His free grace. To walk humbly with God is to
recognize you're not your own, apart from the price. God owns
me, lock, stock and barrel. in a word, to do justly, to love
mercy, to walk humbly with our God, is to find rest in Christ,
our Sabbath, calling the Sabbath a delight. This is what it is
to worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
having no confidence in the flesh. The Lord in grace says, return
to me, and I'll return to you. And men say, I'll set up a form
of godliness, and I'll bring myself to God. I'll start saying
my prayers and reading my Bible. I'll join a Bible study club.
I'll go through all the religious rituals that are required, and
I'll reform my moral behavior, and I'll fast, and I'll give
alms, and I'll quit this and start that. I'll quit drinking
coffee and start drinking milk. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! No. You'll never come to God. Your religion will take you to
hell. Well, I went down to the church
and got saved. No, you didn't. You went down to the church and
got churched. That's all. Just got you a dose of religion.
That's all. No, no. God's people are people
who, having been turned, turn to Him. of people who, having
been sought, seek Him. If we would return to God, we
must return to Him by faith in Christ, looking to Christ alone
for grace and salvation. And that won't happen until God
the Holy Spirit arranges you before the bar of His justice,
convinces you of your sin, and reveals Christ in you. How can
we come to God? We must come to God by faith
in Christ alone. Now look at verse 11. But they refused to hearken,
and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that
they should not hear. They made their hearts as an
adamant stone, lest they should hear the law and the words which
the Lord of hosts hath sent by his Spirit by the former prophets.
Therefore, that is, this is the reason God sends folks to hell. This is the reason God sent these
Jews into Babylon. Therefore came a great wrath
from the Lord of Hosts. Therefore it is come to pass
that as he cried, and they would not hear, so they cried, and
I would not hear, saith the Lord of Hosts. I scattered them with
a whirlwind among the nations whom they knew not. Thus the
land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor
returned, for they laid the pleasant land desolate." That's exactly what happens when
God Almighty sends his wrath upon the wicked. But there's hope. This adamant
stone, you may recall me telling you, the legendary stone that
could not be broken with a hammer. It couldn't even be heated thoroughly
with fire. But if it was soaked in the blood
of a goat, It's said to have dissolved and melted and was
easily broken. And this is what happens when
God saves a sinner. God the Holy Spirit sprinkles
blood upon the heart, the blood of Christ the scapegoat. in the
heart, saturated with redeeming blood, melts before Him, and
is broken by Him. They shall look on Me, whom they
have pierced, and shall mourn." Chapter 8. Blessed be God. Judgment and
wrath is what we deserve, but in all His exercises of wrath
and judgment, mercy is determined. Again the word of the Lord of
Hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, I was
jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with
great fury. When the Lord scattered Israel
in his wrath, he remembered mercy, preserving his elect remnant
for whom he had determined mercy, saying, Behold, I will save my
people. That's what he says right down
here in verse 7. Behold, I will save my people from the east
country and from the west. I will bring them, and they shall
dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. So it is to this day. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promises. Some men count slackness. But
is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish.
determined to save his people, going forth for the salvation
of his elect, riding upon his chariots of grace and great long-suffering
mercy, he has once more sent you his word. Will you hear it, or will you
stop your ears? Will you believe on the Son of
God, giving up your righteousness, giving up every claim you think
you have of God, everything, and sue for mercy on the ground
of Jesus Christ crucified, who satisfied the justice of God?
and brought in everlasting righteousness for needy sinners. God help you
to believe. Amen.