Zechariah chapter 6. Before I get to my text in verse
13, let me remind you of the historic setting in this chapter. On the day this chapter describes,
there were three Jewish men who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem
bringing gifts of silver and gold to build the temple at Jerusalem. Hilde, Tobijah, and Jediah had
remained in Babylon for many, many years after the Jews had
been released and sent back to rebuild the temple and rebuild
the city. Why they remained in Babylon,
we do not know, we're not told. In all probability, they remained
there because that's where they wanted to stay. They found life
comfortable in Babylon. After 70 years of Jews being
held in bondage there, they got accustomed to it. They had set
up shop in Babylon. They loved Babylon. But now,
they returned to Jerusalem. Now I don't know that those things
were true concerning these three men, but I do know this. Though our Lord Jesus Christ,
by his death at Calvary, set us free, put away sin, redeemed
us, proclaimed liberty to the captive, justified us, reconciled
us to God, though he did all that for us, And the King of
Glory wrote out the decree, freedom is yours. We willingly remain slaves in
a darkness and captivity far greater than that of Babylon,
because we love darkness rather than light. Until the time came
when He, our Savior, by the sweet constraint of His grace, gently,
effectually, irresistibly forced us out of our bondage into his
liberty. And I'm here to tell you that
if ever you escape Babylon, It will be because he graciously,
sweetly, gently, irresistibly forces you to do so. And you'll
be tickled to death, he did. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. It would have been natural when
these three men came to Josiah in his house and came to bring
their gifts to build the temple. It would have been natural. for
the Jews to have looked upon them with suspicion. When the
Samaritans came and wanted to help build the house, they said,
no, you don't have any part with us. You don't have any part with
us. I suspect that when these men came into Josiah's house,
they kind of looked at him like, wonder if you're sincere. Why
are you bringing these gifts now? Why are you coming now? What are you really up to? I
don't know that they did, but it would have been natural for
them to do so, and I am sure that it is natural to us to look
upon folks with suspicion. I guess we do so more than anything
else because we know we're not trustworthy ourselves. But how
sad it is, and yet how common. I can't tell you how often I
have heard people raised questions like this, when someone, as they
say with the past, as if you ain't got one, makes a profession
of faith, confesses Christ in baptism, joins the church, they raise questions, suspicious,
wonder if they're sincere, they won't last, wonder what they're
up to, can't be real, And we try to justify our suspicions
in the name of prudence, saying experience has taught us not
to get too excited when someone with a past makes a profession
of faith. But such suspicions are horribly evil. God Almighty
doesn't give grace on condition of probation. And yet, churches
like to receive his people on probationary condition. God Almighty
doesn't remember the sins of his people against them. There
we ought not to. Paul says, no matter how weak
the brother is, no matter how weak the sister is who comes
among you, receive such but not unto doubtful disputations. Anytime anyone professes to believe
the gospel of God's grace, no matter who they are, no matter
where they come from, no matter what they've been, receive them
with open arms of warmest love. Never will forget the story Brother
Barnard told of going to visit a lady up in Canada who was preaching
in churches Back in those days they'd have long revivals and
the preacher would take the evangelist out and they'd visit all day
long. I don't know when he got time to study the preacher. They'd
knock on every door in town and try to get folks to come to church.
They was walking down the street and Brother Barnard started to
open a little gate and picket fence and the pastor said, I
wouldn't go there. Brother Barnard was a little
suspicious. He said, how come? He said, well,
I just, I don't think we ought to go up there. Now Barnard walked
up and knocked on the door. The woman came to the door about
half scantily clad and said, well, what can I do for you,
big boy? He said, my name's Ralph Barnard. I'm from Winston-Salem,
North Carolina. I'm down here preaching a meeting down at this
Baptist church. I'd like you to come hear me preach tonight.
She said, you're kidding. Those folks would drop dead if I came
down there. He said, come on and do them good. And she did. Came in, sat down after service
started, sat in the back, and Barnard was able to preach the
gospel. I got done with singing. She walked down, took Brother
Barnard by the hand, confessed that God had saved her. Now Barnard
had stopped everything. He said, this dear sister has
come and said the Lord saved her. She wants to confess him
in believers baptism. What are you going to do? And
he said, it got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. And finally,
one old saintly woman stepped out from her pew, walked down
there, took her in her arms, kissed her on the cheek, and
said, Welcome home, sister. Oh, come and welcome to the Savior. And old things are passed away.
Behold, all things become new. Well, Zechariah was commanded
of God to go down to Josiah's house and to receive these gifts
that these three men brought. And he was told to take the silver
and the gold and beat them out into crowns, a crown of silver
and a crown of gold. And take those crowns and set
them upon the head of Joshua. Take those crowns and set them
upon the head of Jesus, the High Priest. That's what the name
Joshua is. It's exactly the same as if you'd
written it out, Jesus. Now this was to be done as a
prophetic picture, a prophetic act. Setting forth the fact that
at God's appointed time, there would be another man who would
appear. one upon whose head many crowns
would be placed. That man is Christ Jesus our
Lord and that's exactly what Zechariah was commanded to say
down in verse 12. Behold the man whose name is
the branch. Now try to picture what's going
on. Zechariah has got these crowns of silver and gold and he goes
down here to Jesus, this Joshua Back in chapter 3, we see this
high priest, how he was cleansed. This man was just a type of our
Savior, but he's called by the Savior's own name deliberately
by God's purpose. And Zechariah set on his head
a crown of silver, the crown of a priest. And he set on his
head a crown of gold. And he takes them and hangs them
up in the house of God. And it says, Behold the man whose
name is the branch. He wasn't saying, look at this
man standing here, look through him and behold the man whose
name is the branch and he shall grow up out of his place and
he shall build the temple of the Lord. Now, let's look at
our text. Even he shall build the temple
of the Lord and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule
upon his throne. And he shall be a priest upon
his throne. What a word. There had never
been one like that before. And never one since. A priest
who is a king. He shall be a priest upon his
throne. And the counsel of peace shall
be between them both. This man whose name is the Branch,
the Lord Jesus Christ, Would to God I could get the ear of
the whole world for this, is everything in his temple. Everything. Wherever he is worshipped, he
is everything. Wherever he is honored, he is
everything. He's the foundation stone and
he's the topmost stone. He's the foundation stone and
he's the chief cornerstone. He is the priest in his temple
and he is the sacrifice. He is the one who is the branch
out of whom life comes and he is the builder of his temple. He and he alone is all these
things. He and he alone builds his temple
and he and he alone shall bear the glory of it. With those words,
He shall build his temple, and he shall bear the glory, and
he shall be a priest upon his throne. Zechariah declares exactly
the same thing that David spoke in Psalm 110, which is reiterated
again in Hebrews, telling us that this is talking about Christ.
The Lord has sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. Was Melchizedek a type of Christ,
or was he a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ? Yes, he was. I can't say much more than that,
but this you will remember. Abraham had gone out and returned
from the slaughter of the kings, and Melchizedek comes to meet
him with bread and wine, representing the sacrifice of our Redeemer.
And this Melchizedek came out to bless him upon the basis of
that bread and wine, the sacrifice it represented. And he blessed
him as Priest of the Most High God and King of Salem, which
is King of Peace. That's who Christ is. He is that
one who, by the merit of his sacrifice, blesses his people
with the authority of that man who is priest of the Most High
God, the only one there is, ever has been, or ever shall be, and
the King of Peace. The King by whom and in whom
alone and through whom alone peace is given. Now, like Heria
and Tobijah and Jediah, God's elect come from afar. They come
from the four corners of the earth to Christ. They come to
Him for the building of His temple, not to build it themselves, but
to be built of Him in His temple. We're told in verse 15, I pray
God the Holy Spirit will enable us to behold our blessed Savior
this day. as he is in heaven sitting a
priest upon his throne. Let me show you first something
about him being a king, and then him being a priest. And then
we'll consider him briefly as a priestly king, and then as
a kingly priest. And then I'll try to say a little
bit about the crowns. First, our text declares that
Christ is the king. He shall sit and rule upon his
throne. Jesus Christ did not come into
this world so that the Jews might possibly pretty please let him
be king of a little peanut throne over in Palestine. He has no
more concern over what folks call the Holy Land over there
than he does Iraq or Iran or any other piece of ground. Our
Lord Jesus Christ came here that by his obedience unto death,
having accomplished the redemption of his people, he might sit upon
the throne of his father David forever. That is, sit as king
in the throne of glory. Now we know that is plainly what
the scriptures teach because Peter said in Acts chapter 2,
when the Spirit of God was poured out and men received the Holy
Spirit, the Lord God Almighty declared by his servant Peter,
this is what the psalmist talked about. God set him on his heel. God set him down on his own right
hand. This is the inauguration of the
exalted King. Jesus Christ is not a king. He is not coming someday to be
made a king. Jesus Christ is the King of Glory,
who entered in with pure hands and a pure heart, having never
left his soul into vanity, taking possession of the throne of God
himself in human flesh as our mediator. He's the King. Now
the scripture says here, he shall sit and rule. That implies a lot of things.
It sure implies ease. Now, I tell you, I don't think
I've ever heard or read about in any reading I've done of history
of any king or any ruler in any nation who administered his rule
sitting all the time. With great pomp and pageantry
and ceremony, they come in and sit down on their throne and
appear in this great pretense of austerity and power and they
sit. Nobody dares breathe a thought
against me. I sit, King. But give them a
year or two and their hair is either falling out or they're
gray and their faces are wrinkled and they're worried to death
because they don't rule with ease. In fact, they know full
well they don't rule at all. They just have a title to rule.
And they exercise the power of a tyrant over a few folks for
a while until somebody comes along who overpowers their rule
and topples their throne. The same is true in our day.
We watch men go into the White House and They go in, head full
of black wavy hair, a year or two they got grey hair and deep
furrows in their brows and no sparkle left in their eyes because
it's a job of constant stress. A job that is constantly taxing
every mental power. A job that is constantly, constantly
Displaying everything with utter fragility. And just one wrong
word. Just one wrong choice. Just one
wrong decision. And everything comes tumbling
down. Not the king. Oh no. He sits on his throne. With ease he rules. By the mere
exercise of his will, you do his bidding. All the demons of
hell, by the mere exercise of his will, either hoot and holler
or are chained in silence, either bring temptation or are utterly
incapable of bringing temptation. either run you through the sieve,
or have no sieve through which to run you. All according to
his sovereign will. Everything in heaven, everything
in earth, and everything in hell, and if there be somewhere else,
there too, is ruled by him. He sits upon his throne. That
has the picture A fellow comes in and he sits
down. I'm inclined to think, just as
soon as he sits down, he's going to be here a while. If he's just
coming in to say hello, or just coming in to give a message,
or just coming in to deliver a package, he'll come in, do
what he's got to do, and get out. But if a fellow walks in,
comes in my office and sits down, I just pull off my glasses, Lay
down my bed, lay my Bible aside, or little books aside, and I
said, well, we're going to visit a while. He's going to be here a while.
And I'd love for my friends to do so. The Lord Jesus, with His
own blood, entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us, and He sat down. Forever. Forever. He's King forever. His throne,
though constantly under assault, His dominion, His authority,
though constantly attacked by men, His absolute rule, though
constantly challenged by hell, so that the kings and the nations
and the people of the world rage and say, let us break His bands
asunder, let us cast His course from us, let's talk with the
king. He sets king. And he does so
by absolute, indisputable right to sovereignty. Now when we say
that Christ is king by right, obviously that means that he
is king because he's God. He who created all things, owns
all things, and disposes of all things, and he doesn't ask permission
from anybody. Daniel tells us about Nebuchadnezzar
learning that he sitteth in the heavens. And he has his way in
the whirlwind. And nobody's going to slap him
on the wrist and say, what are you doing? It ain't going to
happen. He's God. But here and throughout the scriptures,
the scriptures present our Lord Jesus Christ as our God-man mediator. As one who by virtue of his obedience
to the Father, As our covenant surety and mediator, having fulfilled
his commission, having done that for which he was sent into the
world to do, having accomplished all that he came here to accomplish,
having saved his people from their sins with his own blood,
now has earned the right to sit on his throne, and it sits there
forever. To this end, Christ both died
and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead
and the living. Jesus Christ earned the right
to rule the world as our Savior. He has been given the reigns
of absolute sovereign monarchy by the triune God as our mediator. Those things could not be given
him as God. They were given him as the God-man,
our Savior, as the reward of his obedience. You remember what
we read? The Lord God speaks of setting his king in his holy
hill of Zion, and he says to the king as he sits down, Ask
of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance.
And the Lord Jesus, when he finished his work, He said in John 17,
I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. There is no monarch like this
monarch. He has the right to rule over
all as king, and he has the power over all and he rules, oh he
rules everything, everywhere, all the time for one great purpose
to give eternal life to chosen redeemed sinners like you and
me that means brother David the
world is well ruled no matter how it looks The world is well ruled no matter
how things appear. Now, our Lord Jesus is the king
who sits on his throne, but here our text emphasizes the fact
that Christ is a priest upon his throne. That's as important as it is
blessing. He is priest as well as king, but notice in I've already
laid the groundwork for this, I'll just comment on it briefly.
He was priest before he was king. You see that throughout the scriptures
and you see it clearly here in the book of Joshua. Back in chapter
3, Joshua was already identified as high priest. Now here in chapter
6, this man Joshua, this Jesus of the Old Testament, is crowned
as the king who is also the priest. And our Lord Jesus, by His priesthood,
merits, earns, and secures His dominion as King. As we saw Him
sitting upon His throne, ruling as King, let's behold Him sitting
on His throne as the Priest. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Let
me show you. Everything in this text, everything
in this text, cannot possibly apply to anyone except Jesus
Christ our King. You can't apply it to any other
man in the Old Testament or any other man in the history since.
It cannot be applied to anyone except Christ Jesus the Lord.
Not only does he sit as a king and a priest, but he does something
no priest ever did or could do. He sat down. Every priest, we're
told in Hebrews 10 and 11, Standeth daily. Standeth daily. When you get a chance to, if
you haven't done so yet, go back to my office and look at the
model of the tabernacle sitting back there. It's very much the same
as this model of the temple without the outward structure of the
building. And there's lots of furniture in there. But I'll
tell you what you won't find in there. You won't find a chair. Nothing for the man to sit on.
Because the priest stand daily ministering and offering, oftentimes,
offering continually, the same sacrifices which can never take
away sin. Here comes one string of priests.
They get tired, the day's work's over, they go out, here comes
another one. They get tired, the day's over, they go out,
here comes another one. And so it goes on throughout
the day. From sunrise to sunset. Day after
day after day after day. Never a cessation. Never a rest. Never a stopping. Sacrifices flowing every morning
and every evening, every year throughout their generations.
Because their work could never do anything. Did you hear me? Their work could never do anything
except typically and ceremonially. They couldn't purge the conscience,
they couldn't put away sin, they couldn't satisfy God, they couldn't
satisfy justice, they couldn't hold back wrath, they couldn't
dispense mercy. Everything they did was typical
and ceremonial. Now read on, verse 12. But this
man, oh what a word, but this man, sat down on the right hand
of God from henceforth expecting till his enemy be made his footstool
for by one offering get it now and I don't care how many ways
you translate it or how many modern perverse translations
you make from it this is what it says by one offering here's
the reason he sat down For by one offering, did you get it?
For by one offering, he hath. Hath. That means done. Perfected. Oh, you can't say
that. Oh, I wouldn't think about it.
But he did. Perfect before God. And that's the only before that
matters. perfected them that were sanctified. Sanctified,
set apart, declared holy, justified, accepted in Christ before the
world began. By His one offering, He's perfected
them that were sanctified. He sits in glory because His
work is all done. Now watch this. Let's look at
these two offices combined. Our Lord Jesus is a royal, kingly
priest. When he honored the law by his
obedience, he did it as a priest who is king. When he took our
sin to be his own and bore it in his body on the cursed tree,
he did it as a priest who is king with authority. He was a
priest when he presented his one sacrifice for sin. We broke his law. He mended it. We offended his justice. He magnified the law and made
it honorable. We were cursed. He was made a
curse for us. And we rejoice in all those priestly
works. And oh, how we rejoice as we
bow before this priest and worship him and confidently trust him
as king. You see, his priestly work would be untrustworthy Were he not also king? Let us sink in. His priestly
work would be untrustworthy were he not also king. You remember
when Aaron came out and blessed the people by the commandment
of God. The Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make his
face to shine upon thee and give thee peace of soul. He did that
by God's command. But nobody there, nobody there
could really confidently say, hot dog, we're going out today
and we're going to experience God's blessings. Nobody there. Because all Aaron could do was
pronounce the blessing in the name of God, on the basis of
what was represented in the sacrifices made. He had absolutely no power
to secure the blessing. Ah, but here is our king, who
is our priest, making intercession for the saints according to the
will of God. And that means that everything about his priestly
function is irresistibly effectual. Did he make atonement? His atonement
is sure and those for whom He died cannot be charged with sin.
Did He bring in everlasting righteousness? His righteousness shall be put
upon all His chosen because the King has power to do it. Does He plead for us? Remember
how David said, O Lord, undertake for me? Jesus Christ undertook
for us, as our covenant surety before the world was, and undertaking
for us. He pleads our cause before our
Father in heaven. And that means, Merle Hart, whatever
he wants, he gets. He's the king. If any man said, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus, the Christ, the King, the righteous, and
he's the propitiation for our sin. Now, not only is he a royal,
kingly priest, our Lord Jesus is a kingly, a priestly king. He's sovereign. What do you do
when the Sovereign kissed the Son? What do you do when the
Sovereign, you bow to Him? What do you do when the Sovereign,
you cringe before Him? But sadly, there are many who
seem to rightfully cherish the fact that God Almighty is Sovereign.
But they bow their heart. I mean hard, eh? Seems a delight
in declaring reprobation and judgment and damnation and God
can do with you what he wants to if he sends you to hell, it'll
be alright with me. Hard. This sovereign is a priest who
is a man touched with the feeling of our infirmities. for what does he rule? I said a little bit ago there
was no chair in the tabernacle no chair upon which the priest
could sit in the holy place I deliberately used the word chair because there
was a seat there in the holy of holies God made one seat You
know what it's called? It's called a mercy seat. And Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus,
the King, sitting on that mercy seat in Isaiah chapter 6. And
believing sinners looking to Christ with the eye of faith
see Him sitting on the throne of grace. The mercy seat. The sacrifice finished. The sacrifice
accepted, justice satisfied, the law ended. Jesus Christ took
his seat on the throne of God Almighty, on the mercy seat in
the holy place. And now by his blood we have
boldness to draw nigh unto God through faith in him. Why does
he rule? Let me see if I can tell you
what the scriptures say. about His rule. He rules everywhere, everybody, all the
time to give eternal life to as many as the Father has given
Him. Now fight with that if you want
to. Revealed in Christ the crucified
is the declaration that God Almighty saves by omnipotent grace. He reigns to forgive. He reigns to bless. He reigns
to restore and to revive. He reigns to pick us up when
we fall. He reigns to deliver us from
temptation and trial. He reigns to comfort and console. He reigns to be gracious in when
He goes out to make war. Unlike Allah, and that ain't
another name for God, unlike Allah, and most of the religious
world that has gone out and made war in the name of God. His wars
are always bloodless except for his own blood. He does battle
with the hearts of men. He rides forth to conquer and
to conquer. You know that's how sinners are saved?
They get whipped. That's the only way he'll ever
save you. He'll whip you. He'll wrestle with you until
he pins you to the ground and forces you to confess. My name
is Jacob and I need you. That's the only way sinners ever
get saved. Only way. His battles are with the heart
and he triumphs by his grace. The counsel of peace, we're told,
shall be between them both. I don't know anything more to
say about that except this. By the priestly, kingly work
of Christ our sacrifice, our substitute, our King, our Savior,
and only by the priestly, kingly work of Jesus Christ the Lord,
the counsel of God's everlasting peace, what David called that
everlasting covenant made between the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, is fulfilled and established and brought to you. He is our by whom we are reconciled to
God, by whom we now, in our hearts, are reconciled to God. When this
priestly king comes and sets up his throne in your heart,
he causes you who hate God by nature, who are enmity against
God, to throw up the white flag of surrender in your soul. and
you're reconciled to God. In this king who is the priest,
all are united as one. His people come from far, from
far. I was talking to Brother David
Wright who was here a week or two ago, a black man you'll remember
visiting, I've known him for a long time, God saved him just
a few years ago. The only place in this world
Now listen to me, the only place in this world where black and
white don't matter is in Christ. Our Congress and Senators and
Legislatures and Presidents and Courts, not only in our country,
around the world have done their dead level best to legislate
equality, legislate away prejudice. Ain't gonna happen. I was raised
in the south in the middle of the civil rights protest. And
horrible as things were for black folks in those days, racism is
worse now than it was then. Right here in this community.
Both among black and white. The only place where it ain't
an issue is in Christ. The only place. In Christ, it
doesn't matter whether you're black or white, bond or free,
man or woman, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, powerful or weak,
it don't matter. In Christ, the middle wall that
separates us is broken down, and He is our peace. And this
King, who is priest, gives us peace in our hearts because of
His confident rule. Now, let me quickly say something
about the cross. Verse 11, Zacharias commanded
to take the silver and gold and make crowns and set them upon
the head of Jesus. Have you ever read it that way?
Set them upon the head of Jesus. First he says, take silver and
gold. Now children of God, you who
know his grace, take the choicest that you have the silver of your possessions
and the gold of your life and bring it to the king bring it to the king and make
crowns make crowns of praise from your silver, and crowns
of gold in your faith, crowns of surrender to Him and love
to Him, and set them upon the head of Jesus who is the Christ. Do you have an alabaster box?
Spikeness? Most precious? The whole of your
living, the whole of your life, bring it and pour it out on his
head, just for him. Oh, what waste. Man, if I had
that money, I could have taken it and built a new house. If
I had that money, I could have done this. If I had wasted my
time going down to that church house, I could have been doing
this. Listen to this. Listen to this. Mr. Spurgeon
made a statement. The utmost waste is economy when
it's done for him. To sacrifice strength, soul,
health, and life is to save all when it's spent for him. What
else should I do with myself and what I am? if not give it
to Him? What else should I do with what
He's put in my hands, if not use it for Him? What else? Make the crowns just for Him. And now with your own hand, send
on His hand. Crown Him! Crown Him! Crown the
Savior, King of kings! Crown Him. Then in verse 14,
down the last line, We're told that these crowns shall be for
a memorial in the temple of the Lord. For a memorial to every
Hildahite the Lord leads through this world and out of captivity
into his house of grace. A memorial to every Tobijah. The object and beneficiary of
His great goodness. A memorial to every Jediah known
of God from everlasting as the object of His everlasting love.
A memorial to every Josiah found of Jehovah. What? A memorial to these men? Oh,
but preacher, don't dare say that. Our Lord Jesus, you remember
what He said? about that woman who came and
anointed him, crowned him as it were for his burial. He said,
she hath wrought a good work on me, and till time shall be
no more, wherever sinners hear the good news of my redeeming
grace, the gospel of my kingdom, they are going to tell this story
full memorial to her. Oh, what a gracious King. He works with His for an everlasting
memorial to His people. And when He brings us in the
day of judgment and presents us faultless before the throne
of His glory with exceeding joy, as He says, To all the cursed
depart from me, ye cursed, I never knew you. His last word, His
last word in the execution of justice at the great white throne,
His very last word in time shall be this, God, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And we'll take our place in the
seats of the twenty-four elders, and worship the Lamb. And cry,
Thou art worthy to receive glory, and power, and honor, and wisdom,
and might, and to open the book, and to loose the seals of it.
For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us by Thy blood to our
God out of every nation, and kindred, and tribe, and tongue,
and made us kings and priests unto God forever. And we shall
cast our prayer at his feet, as unworthy for his head, and
give praise to him forever. Amen.