I appreciate the music so much.
I'm sitting there listening to the song, and you may not have
observed it, but my hearing is not what it used to be. Like
many things, it's probably not what it used to be. And I'm beginning
to greatly appreciate something Judy told me 24, maybe 23, 24
years ago. I'd been listening to her sing
like she did so much when she was with us, and sing with such
clarity. And she said, I commented about,
you know, just such clarity in her singing. I could hear every
word distinctly as we did just now in that song. She said, my
daddy told me when I was just a young girl and started singing,
if you're going to sing, sing so folks can hear you or no point
in singing. What a blessing. And I appreciate
the messages in the songs and the folks who performed them.
Alright, turn to Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah chapter 6. When I'm traveling, especially
going to some place that I am unfamiliar with, some place that
I have not visited in the past, I will get an atlas out and I'll
plan the trip, try to determine what roads are best to take,
how to plan stops along the way if needful. And as I begin to
get near where I'm going, there are always certain things I expect
to see. And so I start looking for signs.
I start looking for signs indicating the place that I plan to go to,
billboards indicating something that I think ought to be there
to make me familiar and say you're getting close. And when I am
going down a road and I think I've gotten close to where I
ought to be and I don't see such signs or I see something worse,
signs that look like they ought to belong to some other place,
I begin to get a little confused, especially if it's late at night
and especially if my wife has noticed it as well and she thinks
I'm lost. Well, that often happens as I
make my way through this world. I often see signs that are confusing
to me, distressing. Signs that cause me to have great
apprehension. And there are no billboards advertising
what's around the next curve. What do you do in such circumstances? Where do you turn when everything
around you is confusing, distressing? When you see things that are
so contrary to what you know they ought to be, you just know
things ought not be this way, where do you turn? Where do you
look for help? Well, a careful look at Zechariah
chapter 6 verses 1 through 8 will help. If God the Holy Spirit
will allow us to see and learn what Zechariah saw and learned
in this 8th vision the Lord gave him. Now remember what the prophet
has seen in the previous visions. Let me refresh your memory. In
chapter 1, verses 7 through 11, Zacharias saw a grove of myrtle
trees in a piece of bottom land. That grove of myrtle trees representing
the church of God at any time, in any age, in any place. And
he saw a man riding a red horse, standing in the middle of the
myrtle trees. And he saw the myrtle trees surrounded
with high mountains. Those high mountains signifying
the powers of the world that oppress and oppose and persecute
and distress God's people all the time. But the man standing
on a red horse in the middle of the myrtle trees is Jesus
Christ, our mighty Redeemer, who by the blood of His cross
constantly protects and cares for His own. So though there
is constant oppression, though there is constant persecution,
though there is constant sorrow, the Lord God says by division,
all is well. I am with you all the time. Then in chapter 1, the latter
part of the chapter, verses 18 to 22, Zachariah saw a vision
of four horns. Horns representing power. Four
horns. North, south, east, and west.
Again, representing all the powers of the world. Political and ecclesiastical. Secular and religious. Educational
powers, philosophical powers, legal powers, all the powers
of the world, not a few places, but in all four corners of the
world, all the time, always opposing God's people. That'd be terrifying. No need
for that to terrify you. All is well, he saw also four
carpenters. sent forth from God to fray the
horns of power, to beat in pieces and prevail over the horns of
power. And those four carpenters representing
God's servants, gospel preachers, who by the word of His grace
and the power of His Spirit shall overcome all things in this world. Then in chapter 2, Zechariah
saw the Lord Jesus Christ as a man with a measuring line sent
forth to measure his holy city, Jerusalem. Measuring it so as
to declare that all the city is fully inhabited and absolutely
complete no matter what men do to destroy it. He's not talking
about the physical, civil city of Jerusalem over in Israel.
No, no, he's talking about Jerusalem, which is above the mother of
Saul, the church of the living God, which was only signified
by that city. He's talking about his people
and he is declaring by this vision that his church shall be at last
in heavenly glory, a city fully inhabited and well secured with
salvation for walls and for books. He says all is well. Though the
city seems to lay in ruins in front of you, though the temple
seems to be destroyed before you, these things that appear
to your physical eye must never cause you to fear that which
God reveals in His Word to the spiritual eye of faith in your
soul. All is well, no matter how things
look, because he heard the Lord God say, I will be unto her a
wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst
of her. And then the Lord Jesus declared
to him in the eighth verse of chapter one, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which
spoiled you, for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his
eye. In the third chapter, Zechariah
saw Joshua the high priest. This is not the Joshua that led
the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, but this Joshua
is the son of Josedek. He was one who came out of the
Babylonian captivity, who had married wives among the idolaters,
who stood before the Lord in his filthy garments. He was chosen
and ordained of God to be a priest unto God, one who is accepted
of God in the holy place, but he stands before the Lord with
filthy garments. And the Lord Jesus by the power
of accomplished redemption, demands that the filthy garments be taken
off of him and that a crown be placed upon his head, and the
foundation stone Christ crucified is laid before his eyes. And
the whole thing is a picture of the grace and mercy of God
that comes to sinners in Christ according to the purpose of God
through the sin-atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ, accomplished
throughout the ages in God's wise and good providence. All
is well. Did you hear me? All is well,
no matter how bad things look. No matter how things seem to
be in chaos, no matter what the news reports are day after day,
God Almighty in all things is accomplishing His purpose of
grace in the salvation of His people. And then Zacharias saw
the Church of God portrayed as a candlestick, a light shining
in this dark world, a candlestick giving forth light but a candlestick
whose light will never be extinguished because she is fed with oil continually
by the Lord Jesus Christ, fed with the oil of His grace by
the power and grace of His Holy Spirit. All is well. It may appear
that the light has gone out, but God has His light shining
brightly in this world It may not be seen by all men, but it
shines brightly in this world, and it will shine on until time
shall be no more. In chapter 5, the prophet saw
a huge roll flying through the sky. And he tells us plainly
that he saw this thing and he was told that this roll is God's
curse upon all the earth. The curse and the judgment that
shall follow it. You see God working in his providence
and working havoc here and there. Desolation here and there. War
and earthquake and flood and famine and pestilence and disease. The dissolution of society on
all sides. Let men be as timid as they will
for fear of not being politically correct. All these things come
to pass because of sin. And all these things are the
judgments of God upon the earth because of sin. But there's no
need to be afraid. All is well. All is well. For
these judgments are measured exactly according to the altar
of God and the sacrifice of God, displaying His righteousness
and His justice in all things. The scroll was precisely the
measure of the holy place in the temple. And then in chapter
7, the prophet saw a strange thing. A woman Sitting in a basket
in an ephod, a huge basket. Sitting there as she is rising
up to appear and show her ugly face. Oh, appearing beautiful
to men, but most hideous when you see her for what she is.
For she is the great harlot Babylon, all false religion. The Lord
God shoves her back down in the basket and puts a lead weight
over the basket to shut her in. And he tells the prophet, this
is wickedness. This is the wickedness. The wickedness of the whole world. But no need to be terrified by
this whorish woman called religion. by this whorish woman that leads
the world to hell, for the wickedness of the earth is contained in
God's basket, and shall be carried to her place in everlasting destruction,
all is well, Jesus Christ is still on his throne. Now remember,
throughout these visions, our Lord's purpose is to assure us
all is well, no matter how things may appear. And now we come to
Zachariah's 8th edition. When everything seems to be confusing, when your life seems to be in
chaos, children of God fall back to the mountains of brass. Now
that's my subject this morning. And I turned and lifted up mine
eyes and looked. The prophet was anxious to learn
everything he could about his God. Every time he saw something,
what is this? Who are they? I turned and I
lifted up my eyes and looked. He had been looking this way,
now he turns and looks this way, as if to say to us, Christ is
to be seen everywhere. His works to be seen everywhere.
Let me understand what they are. And then we read, And behold,
there came four chariots out from between the two mountains,
and the mountains were mountains of brass. I read all the commentaries
I had in my office preparing the message, and that's considerable
measure. And they're all, almost all of
them, seem to want to make these mountains signify some political
kingdom in time and set some kind of a prophetic interpretation
upon them. Some of them, the interpretations
have been so old that we recognize that's not what they were talking
about. And that's usually the case when men start to try to
interpret things written in the scriptures according to what's
written in history books. We interpret the history books by
the scriptures, not the book by the history books. I am inclined,
rather, that we should look always for that which speaks to our
own hearts from the scriptures. And God's Word is written by
His Spirit in inspiration to His people in every age. It is never, it is never proper
to limit the word of God, any aspect of it, to one specific
generation or one specific time. While this is talking about the
Babylonian captivity, using those things as illustration, the message
is far more significant. We don't have to guess what these
chariots and horses pulling them represent. The scriptures tell
us plainly. Let me show you. Turn over, if
you will, to Psalm 68. These four chariots are the angels
of God. God's warriors by whom he executes
his wise decrees. Let me see if I can remind you
of a few things stated in the scriptures that show us this
clearly. You remember how Elijah was carried away into heaven?
The angels of God came and carried him away in a chariot. No, not literally. But the angels of God, God's
chariots, came and fetched his prophet home. When Elisha's servant
was terrified by the enemies around him, Elisha prayed and
asked God to open his eyes that he might see. And when God opened
his eyes, he looked around And he saw the mountains literally
covered with chariots of God. The angels of God surrounding
his own. Look here in Psalm 68. Here it's
plainly stated. The chariots of God, verse 17. The chariots of God are twenty
thousand, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them as at
Sinai. in the holy place. The angels
of God, the chariots of God, that's what they're talking about.
These angels of God are ministering spirits sent forth to minister
to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Constantly guarding,
protecting, and watching over God's people. In this day we can't see them,
and they don't speak to us, but they're always present. Somebody asked me sometime back,
do you believe in guardian angels? Do you believe everybody has
a guardian angel? Why, no. I don't believe such nonsense.
Not at all. I don't even believe the angels
watch over everybody. No. But God's elect, I have thousands
of guardian angels watching them all the time, protecting them
all the time. Several years ago, it's been
25 years ago or more, Brother Mahan and I were in a meeting
together in a large town and the traffic was heavy when we
were out. It was real heavy on the interstate. At the time we
were going through Atlanta riding together in this horrible rush
hour. If you haven't been in Atlanta
in rush hour, you haven't been anywhere in rush hour. Brother Henry looked
at somebody wrecked over here and he said to me, I'm sure glad
the angels riding on those fenders, aren't you? Watching over us all. While we
must never fail to recognize and give thanks to our God for
those mighty angels created to be our constant protectors, I'm
certain, as I've often told you, That the angels of God, most
commonly in the scriptures, refer to gospel preachers. The angel
of the Lord, the messenger of the Lord, is our Lord Jesus Christ. And God's servants, gospel preachers,
are also His angels, His messengers to His churches. They are men
who have their commission from Christ. They are sent forth into
all the world by Him, carrying His name and His gospel to the
four corners of the earth. And by the labors of God's angels,
by the labors of these faithful men, the Lord God gathers his
elect out of the nations of the world, giving eternal life to
sinners by the preaching of the gospel, granting faith to sinners
by the hearing of the word. Now I recognize there are lots
of folks who object to us declaring the necessity of people hearing
the gospel. But let them object on. The scripture
says, comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The scripture
says we are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible
by the word of God that lives and abides forever and this is
the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Let no
one ever suggest to you and let not your own wicked heart ever
convince you that you can do without hearing the preaching
of the gospel. It is by this means that God
guides his people, saves his people, sanctifies his people,
and protects and preserves his people. It is by the angels of
God. It is by the angels of God, as
Zachariah sees it, that God pulls along through the mountains of
brass Through the valley between those two mountains of brass,
he pulls along and accomplishes his absolute purpose of grace
in this world. The angels of God are those servants
of his directed and protected his elect in this world. The chariots that Zechariah saw,
these angels of God, with the horses pulling them, came out
from between two mountains of brass. There are two of them,
you see that? They are described as mountains
of brass. And the work of these chariots,
the work of God's messengers, runs in a valley between the
two mountains. What does all that signify? What
are these mountains? What are the things intended
of God to be taught here? What does he teach us by them?
Mountains are huge, massive, high, immovable. The floods may go over top of
the mountains, but they'll not wash them away. Brass represents
that which is hard. and enduring. These mountains
of brass, I have no question at all, speak to us of these
two things. Now listen carefully. They speak
to us about God's purpose. It is. God's purpose. And they speak to us about God's
properties. Now watch this. Watch this. The two are exactly the same. God's providence is an exact
copy of God's purpose. God's providence is but the mirror
of God's purpose. God's purpose we generally refer
to as predestination. Predestination is specifically
God's eternal determination to save His elect, conforming them
exactly to the image of Jesus Christ. Predestination, as it
is set forth in the Scriptures, has one object, just one object. Did you hear me? Well, I thought
predestination had a lot of objects. No, it just has one object. The
object of predestination is that those men and women loved of
God from eternity be conformed to the image of His Son in everlasting
salvation in absolute perfection. But to accomplish that object,
predestination includes everything. So that God from eternity has
predestined everything that comes to pass in time. Preacher, surely
you don't mean everything. I saw somebody's head move just
now. That too. The way you hold those glasses. That too. Everything.
Everything. When the ocean beats against
the rocks on the shore, and the water sprays against the rocks,
the path of every particle of water flies through the air exactly
according to the purpose of God. And the same thing is true with
regard to the frowns of men and the fury of hell. Nothing moves
but according to God's purpose. You remember what Satan said,
Lucifer, as is portrayed in Isaiah 14, he said, I'm going to be
God. I'll take over the God business. I'll topple God's throne. I will
ascend to the heel of God and I'll sit on the throne of the
universe. And this is what I'm going to do. And he huffs and
puffs and blows and snorts and huffs and puffs and blows like
some fairytale wolf. And you know what God did in
reaction? What am I going to do? No. Read
it for yourself. This is the purpose that is purposed. in all the earth. Satan is not a rival to God,
he's God's creature and God's servant and he does nothing except
according to God's purpose of grace for the saving of his people. Let's see if that gives you some
understanding of that passage we quote so often. We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God. Now that's not all the passage
says. In fact, the passage would be
meaningless and could give no consolation and no comfort to
anyone who had a good mind whatsoever, unless you include the last part.
To them who are the called according to his All things in providence are
work of God together for good to His elect, for their everlasting
good, and for the very best present good. Oh, pastor, this can't
be good for me. God gets you through it. You
look back and say, that was good. That was good. I promise you,
you will. According to His Providence is just the outworking
of God's purpose. Surrounded by wickedness and
the curse of the earth, enduring the trials and troubles of God's
saints in this world with his brethren, facing all those who
constantly make war with the saints. Zechariah has been sent
of God to rebuild the temple of God in the place of God's
people in Israel, in Jerusalem, to rebuild the city. And everything
seems impossible. And the Lord God shows him his
purpose and his providence. And he said, now trust me, trust
me. On the one side, he sees God's
everlasting purpose, a mountain of brass. And on the other side,
he sees an exact copy. It is God's good providence. Turn to Ephesians chapter one. Paul has been discussing God's
purpose. the purpose according to which
he blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ according as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world and made us accepted in the beloved in whom we have
redemption through his blood. And then he speaks of this purpose
and says as a word of explanation in verse 8, wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to the good pleasure which he
hath purposed in himself. and in all deep places. But he
don't. This pleasure is what he purposed
to himself. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of times, let me give you a good reading of that. So that when he gets done with
everything in time, when everything has fulfilled its purpose, He
might gather together in one. He might gather together the
angels in heaven, and the chosen among the fallen sons of Adam,
and the damned in hell, and hell itself, and all the events of
providence, all the events of history. He gathers them together
all as one great huge package. Now watch this. Might gather
together in one all things in Christ. both which are in heaven
and which are in earth, even in him, in whom we have an inheritance
being predestinated," now watch this, here's the other mountain,
"'according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will.'" Oh, how I thank God that he does. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. That includes you and me, and
yours and mine, and what's in you and me, and in yours and
mine, all things in the earth, all things in heaven, and all
things in hell, exactly according to His purpose of grace. God Almighty is telling us there's no cause
for alarm, no cause for fear. Everything you have seen and
experienced, those things that caused you
to laugh and rejoice, and those things that crushed your heart,
and shook your soul. Those things of light and those
things of darkness. Those things that everybody could
look at and say, man, that's good. And those things everybody
looked at and said, that's horrible. Everything you have seen. Everything you've experienced.
Everything you are seeing. And everything you are experiencing. And blessed be His name, everything
you shall ever see and everything you shall ever experience comes
to pass for your soul's good, my brother, for your eternal
good, my sister, for the good of God's church, for the saving
of God's people and the glory of our God according to His will. Everything. Everything. These mountains are called mountains
of brass to declare that all things are secure and to give
us blessed comforting assurance of this word from God, it shall
be well with the righteous. Turn to Isaiah 40. Let me read
several passages to you. The word of God States things
a lot better than I can. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 10. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his
reward is with him, and his work before him. Verse 21. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? Have not it been told you from
the beginning? Have you not understood from
the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are his grasshoppers,
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing.
He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Verse 26. Lift up
your eyes on high. That's good counsel. I had a
friend write to me this week, a long letter. I took a long
time trying to help him. So terribly struggling with depression. So terribly struggling with depression.
I'll tell you why. Please hear me. I know some of
you have the same difficulties. fretting about assurance and
peace and all those things. Let me tell you why. The whole
of religion, the whole of religion teaches you to sit around, bowed
down, looking at your navel. You'll get that in a minute,
hang on. Just look at your navel. Look at you. Look at me. Oh, I'm so bad. Life is so bad. Nobody has it so bad as I do. Lift up your eyes and look to
Christ sitting on His throne and be at peace. Lift your eyes
on high and behold who hath created these things. Who is it that
made these things causing you so much concern? That bringeth
out their host by number. I made them, I drag them out
by my hand. He calls them all by names. He calls them all by names by
the greatness of his might. For that he is strong in power,
not one failure. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and
speakest thou, O Israel? Merle Hart, why do you say? Don
Fortner, why do you speak? My way is hid from the Lord. What folly! What unbelief! Chapter 45, verse 11. Thus saith the Lord, the Holy
One of Israel, and His Maker, Ask of me, ask me of things to
come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands,
command ye me. You want to know what's going
on? I'll tell you. I have made the earth, and created man upon
it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all the
hosts have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness,
and will direct all his ways. He shall build my city, he shall
let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of
hosts. Verse 17. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed,
nor confounded, world without end. Verse 19. I have not spoken
in secret. in a dark place of the earth.
I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain. I, the Lord,
speak righteousness. I declare these things that are
right. Chapter 46. Remember this, and show yourselves
men. Bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that were not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Truly, thy mercy, O Lord, is
in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds. Thy
righteousness is like the great mountains. O Lord, Thou preservest
man and beast. God's purpose is immutable. His decree is unalterable. Because His purpose is unalterable,
because His decree is immutable, His providence is sure. Oh, blessed
be His name. What God desires, God does everywhere, all the
time. He's one mind who can turn Him. There are many devices in a man's
heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand. What God wills, God does all
the time. All events of time come forth
between those mountains of brass, the unalterable purpose and unalterable
providence of God, if so much as one purpose of God should
fail. Find me anything in all history
past, in all things present, or tomorrows to come. Find me
anything that you can point to and demonstrate. God doesn't
control that. I'll throw this book away. It's
just waste paper. It can't be believed. And I'll
declare to you there's no God anywhere, for everything is subject
to change and whim and blind fate and luck and chance. Go
worship the sticks and stones your forefathers worshipped.
But that can't be. That can't be. God rules! And the fact that He is declares
that He rules. Take away the absolute certainty
of God's providence, mirroring and fulfilling his purpose and
faith in God is an absolute impossibility. And I'm here to tell you that
those people who talk about faith and deny God's absolute sovereign
dominion, for them faith is nothing on this earth but a superstitious
good luck charm. That's all it is. It amounts
to nothing else. And I'll prove it to you. Watch
them when they need something to lean on. Not so with God's saints. When there are no billboards
telling me what's around the corner, when all the signs seem
contrary to everything I know God has said He would do, when
everything seems to be turned upside down, I fall back to the
everlasting mountains of brass. and rest my soul in the assurance
of God's wise purpose and God's wise providence. You can read
the verses for yourself, verses 2 through 6. Zechariah sees these
chariots, the angels of God, chariots. Did you ever see a
chariot do anything? They may look pretty, and they
may be adorned gorgeously, but chariots are utterly useless
until a horse is harnessed in the chariot. Now there's some
power. What are these horses harnessed
in the chariot? Again, we're not left to guess
what those things are. We're told these are the four
spirits of the heaven. These four chariots are the angels
of God by which he accomplishes his purpose. But the angels of
God, gospel preachers, they're nothing. They're less than useless
by themselves. But they are drawn forth, directed,
and made useful by the power of God the Holy Spirit, here
represented as four spirits. Because the Spirit of God works
everywhere, all the time, in all places, exactly as He will. Fear not, for I am with thee.
I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the
west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep
not back. Bring my sons from afar and my
daughters from the ends of the earth. Sometimes God sends His
messengers with a black horse of judgment, condemning the reprobate. Sometimes
he sends his servants as white horses of mercy and grace through
the blood of Christ. Sometimes, or red horses of mercy
and grace through the blood of Christ. Sometimes he sends them
as speckled, grizzled and bay horses, proclaiming mercy forth as white horses, triumphant
through Christ, triumphant by His Spirit, accomplishing His
purpose. And they shall bring, all your
brethren, for an offering to the Lord out of all the nations,
upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules,
and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith
the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a
clean vessel. into the house of the Lord. Now
look at verse 8. The Lord Jesus speaks again. Then cried he upon
me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward
the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country. When all God's purpose is accomplished,
when all providence has performed all predestination, and all the
enemies of our God are cast into hell, and all the host of God's
elect are saved with an everlasting salvation, the Lord Jesus says,
I will be quiet. I'll see the travail of my soul
and be satisfied. I'll rest in love and my rest
shall be glorious. Amen.