Zechariah chapter 9. Now in Zechariah 9, the words God
will, God has, God shall, and you shall are written over 15
times. God says it, the Lord's people
knows that it's done. that it's finished. The Lord
says, I shall, I will, I have. We can rest in that, can't we?
Just the words, I will, is enough to the believer because we know
he cannot lie. Now, I love his choosing according
to his will and his purpose, don't you? He chose according
to his will and his purpose. What mercy there is that he purposed
to redeem a people. If we ever are able to enter
into the thought and understand that if he would have just left
us to ourself, we had no hope of redemption. We were dead,
dead, dead. And the Lord said, live to a
few dead sinners. What mercy there is in that.
Now also in this chapter, we have the prophecy of Christ riding
the ass's colt into Jerusalem, the colt of an ass. What the
scripture tells us, the young donkey And that's exactly what
happens. But this is where that prophecy
is given here in Zechariah chapter 9. The Lord gave Zechariah great
visions of the Lord Jesus Christ and specific things of what was
going to take place and transpire in his life, what was going to
happen, such as him riding on a donkey to Jerusalem. I mean,
that's what mercy there was in Zechariah, seeing the Lord. And
my hope this morning is that he would choose to show us the
same mercy. There's no greater miracle than
the revelation of Jesus Christ, whether it was Zachariah's revelation
or your revelation that the Lord chooses to give. If he does that,
it's no greater than what Zachariah, it's just as good as what Zachariah
had. It's Christ, isn't it? That's our hope. May the Lord
be pleased to reveal himself to us this morning. Because seeing
Christ is salvation. Seeing Christ is salvation. not through these eyes, but through
the eyes of faith. If you see Christ, he's given
you faith to see him, and that is salvation, period. Now let's
read our text here in Zechariah chapter nine. Let's look at verse
12. Turn you to the stronghold, you
prisoners of hope. Boy, I love that, don't you?
Prisoners of hope. Turn you to the stronghold, you
prisoners of hope. Even today do I declare that
I will render double unto thee. I would remind us that this is
the same words that the Lord gave to Isaiah, wasn't it? He
said, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. He said, Lord, what
would you have me tell them? He said, tell them they're grass.
Tell them, but I, I will give double unto them. I will give
double unto them. What is that? Well, that's the
Lord taking our sin and giving us his righteousness. Is it not?
It's a two part salvation. I will give them double, he says.
And he tells us when he's gonna do it. Verse 13, when I have
bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised
up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made
thee as the sword of the mighty man. And the Lord shall be seen
over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning. And
the Lord shall blow the trumpet and shall go with whirlwinds
of the south. And the Lord of hosts shall defend
them, and they shall devour and subdue with sling stones. And
they shall drink and make a noise as through as through wine, and
they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
And the Lord their God shall save them in the day as the flock
of his people, for they shall be as the stones of a crown,
lifted up as an ensign upon his land. And now great is his goodness,
for how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty.
Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids."
Now what is this stronghold that he says run to? He says, turn
you to the stronghold. What is this stronghold he's
speaking of? This is God's stronghold. It's
sure and steadfast. It's unmovable. It's certain.
It's for sure. It's the Lord's salvation, isn't
it? It's none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who
the righteous run to and are saved. He's the high tower the
scripture talks about, the strong tower. This is the tower. The
stronghold, this is the work of His hand, His doing. It's
Jesus Christ plus nothing, minus nothing. That's the stronghold.
That's the only place that we can have refuge from the wrath
of God. That's our only hope in the day of trouble. And that's
why we're prisoners of hope, isn't it? That's what's made
us the prisoners of hope. Who should turn to it but those
who have been made willing? David knew a little bit about
this. In Psalm chapter 80, he says, "'Turn us again, O Lord
of hosts, "'cause thy face to shine.'" Don't you love the wording
there of David? "'Cause thy face to shine.'"
Lord, I can't constrain you and I can't restrain you. I can't
prevent you or make you do anything. Lord, you're gonna have to cause
your face to shine. And when you do, we shall be
saved. If you cause your face to shine, there's salvation.
When I see Christ, there is salvation. And who turns to Christ and sees
His face shine but the prisoners of this hope. But what hope do
we have? Is it hope in self? Is our hope
in ourselves? No. No, hope in Christ alone. Is our hope in what we do? No,
it's hope in what He's done, isn't it? Is our hope in the
life that we live? No, it's the hope in his life
that he lived a perfect life before his father. It was our
hope that God would be pleased with our choice. Now our hope
is in his choosing, isn't it? He chose to have mercy on a bunch
of old dead stumps. He chose to have mercy upon dead
dog sinners. This is the hope that we have.
Our hope is in what he said here. I will and you shall hope that
he will. This is what he says in this
what we just read. He will render. He will raise
up. He will be seen. He will blow the trumpet. He
will defend his purchase possession. That's what we just read. This
is what he's going to do and who's going to stop him? Who's
going to stop him? This is his salvation. This is
what we see here, and then he tells us why we get to have hope
in all of this in verse 16. The Lord, their God shall save
them. in that day as the flock of his
people. And that's what I've titled this
message, In That Day. My question to us is when did
the Lord save his people? He's very clear in that day,
in that day. But I believe that that has,
that's fourfold by the way that I've studied it and the Lord's
revealed it to me. First of all, he saved us in that day of eternity
past before time ever began. We use the term eternity past
because we can't wrap our minds around eternity, but eternity
past means before time ever began, what was, was eternity. And there
the Lord loved his people and always has with an everlasting
love, he says, and he elected them and he redeemed them in
eternity. Christ was the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. So we are saved in that day of
eternity past. And then we are saved in the
day in time on the cross of Calvary. when the finished work of Christ
was fulfilled in the flesh, when he laid down his life freely
for his people, when he redeemed those from whom he died back
to God. Thirdly, we're saved in time when he calls us. when
he calls us in that day, the day of our hearing ear given
to us. That's when we were saved in
eternity past. We were saved on the cross of
Calvary, but are we not saved every day? Are we not crying
out, Lord, save me now? Lord, save me now. Who shall
deliver me from this body of death? Lord, save me. You're
gonna have to give me eyes of faith. I've turned my heart cold
towards you again. Don't leave me to myself, save
me again. So he saves us in time when he calls us. And he calls
us every day. That's our hope, isn't it? Lord,
don't stop calling me. Please, Lord, reveal your face.
Cause it to shine and we shall be saved. Lord, my heart will
not say unto you, I will seek your face unless you say, seek
ye my face. That's what David said. Then
my heart said, Lord, thy face will I seek. And then fourthly,
in that day refers to the eternal endless day when we shall see
him face to face. That's the fourth one. So when did the Lord save his
people? Well, he saved them in eternity, didn't he? Now, is
it dependent? Was it dependent in eternity
on man in any way? In any way? Now, think about
what I'm saying. God chose to make time. Now,
I can't wrap my brain around that, and you can't either, but
God chose to make time. Everything about us is constrained
to time. Matter of fact, most of our stress
comes from time, does it not? As we go from day to day, we're
dealing with things that have to be done. Everything has to
come down to time, numbers. How much time do I have left
to get this done? What must I do? Not God. He's not constrained
to time. He created it. Can you enter
into that? Boy, I can't. I can't. My pea brain can't handle that.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. But why did he create
time? To redeem his people that he loved before time. Isn't that
glorious? He chose to make time to become
a man, to become dust, to become a maggot, to redeem a bunch of
maggots. That's what he did. That was
what he, that's what he condescended to be. That's the love that he's
shown forth on the cross of Calvary to his people. Salvation is not
dependent upon what you and I do in any way. He doesn't say in
this chapter, if they let God have his way, then he'll be God.
No, he says, I'm going to do this. I'm God. Besides me, there
is none other, none other. Men say that let God, they don't
know who God is. I heard somebody tell me one
time that, you know, most churches, they just need to grow. They
just haven't grown yet. No, they're dead. They're dead
in trespasses and sin. They don't know who God is. And
God's going to turn the light on. God's gonna have to come
to them and reveal himself or they're gonna go to hell believing
they know Jesus. But all they've done is the same the children
of Israel did at Mount Sinai. Whenever Moses didn't come down,
they built the golden calf and they said, here be our God. His
name is Jehovah. Worship him. He's the one that
brought us across the Red Sea. That's what men do. They fabricate
lies in their heart. Thanks be to God for the day
that he wrought salvation and the day that he reveals himself
to his people according to his choosing. If not, we would form
a calf and name it Jehovah. No, they don't need to grow in
false religion, the Baptist church on the corner. They need to be
made alive. They're dead. They're dead. They're
declaring that they are God and they are more powerful than God.
They're able to manipulate God to do something. If you pray
more, you ever heard that before? If you just do a little more
for God, you ever, you pray just a little harder, God will answer
you. God will do something for you. You ever heard that before?
It's not true. You can't manipulate God. He's
God. I can't constrain Him. He's God.
That's what men do, though, in all religion everywhere. Their
devotion to God gives them some favor towards Him. Their taste
not, touch not, handle not. Their don't do this and do this.
Now God's going to recognize me in my shiny garments. No,
it's filthy rags. It's filthy rags, every bit of
it. No, it's dead works. It's iniquity. They don't need to grow. They
need to be born again. We can't restrain God or obligate
God in any way. It's impossible. He's God and
he's seated. You know, most men believe that God's playing chess
with the devil. That the devil's voted for you.
I'm sorry, the devil's voted against you and God's voted for
you. Now it's up to you to break the
tie in the game. God's moving his pawns and the devil's moving
his pawns, and let's see what happens in the end. Ain't that
stupid? That's just stupid. No, that's not true. That's false. That's false. That's not who
God is. He's seeded. He's seeded, and anything that
says otherwise is a lie. The lie from the pit fell itself. Come from the garden, didn't
it? In the very beginning, that was the lie. You can be God if you
take this fruit. It's the lie, isn't it? That's
the lie. God's not trying, God's not pacing,
God's not begging. He said he will save his people
from their sin, and he did. And then what happened? He sat
down. He sat down, it's finished. When did he sit down? After that
day. After that day was done and accomplished, when salvation
was wrought on Calvary's cross, after he shed his precious blood,
his soul was made an offering to sin and to the Father alone.
God has never offered himself to man one time. Did you know
that? Not one time does God pass by and make an offer to a man.
It doesn't happen. God says either live or they
remain dead. It's that simple. It's so clear
in the scripture, isn't it? If God would have left Lazarus
in the tomb, would he have came forth? Certainly not. Martha said he
stinks by now. Lord, what are you doing? The
Lord had to give the words of life. The Lord's the only one
with the words of eternal life. He must say the word. He must
do all the work. And it's not that he gives us
a little flicker of life and says, now make your decision.
That's that's just that's not in the scripture. That's a lie.
It's contrary to God. No, he must say live. He must
say live and he does to his people. Now, this day, that's what I'm
preaching on in that day, it's the day that the earth was created
for. It's the day of salvation. It's the day of righteousness.
It's Understand that Christ Jesus created the world for that day,
for that day when salvation would be accomplished. God created
time to redeem his people for his glory. Never make the mistake
in thinking that the cross was an attempt for anything. Christ
Jesus didn't attempt anything. Christ Jesus has always had his
people in him, perfectly safe. The father was seated before
time ever began. He rested in his Sabbath, didn't
he? That's what the scripture tells us. He rested in the finished
work of Christ before time. So could Christ have failed?
No. No, or he's not God. That's the
only two possible conclusions either. If he could have failed,
he's not God. If he could have sinned, he's not God. But God
can't sin, can he? And he can't fail. When Christ
gives a parable We're gonna look at this morning in Luke chapter
14 that explains this exact truth of the Lord. Luke chapter 14, verse 28. For
which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth
not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient
to finish it. Less happily, after he hath laid
the foundation and is not able to finish it, all that behold
it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was
not able to finish." Now think about the question he's asking
these individuals here. Is this not what men view God as that God is trying
to accomplish something? If we have to do one thing, God
is trying to accomplish something. It's not finished. We have to
do one thing. I mean, it's simple, isn't it?
If there's one thing on this building that is not completed,
then the building is not completed, right? There's something left
to be done. One brick out of place, one piece of trim somewhere.
It doesn't matter. It's not finished. It doesn't
matter the significance of the one thing, but that's what he's
saying. How many of you would not count the cost before starting
a work? How many of you? would not count
the costs before beginning a great work. And would we start something? The question would be, would
we start something that costs us everything that we knew we
were going to fail at? Now, if he's God and he knows
all things and he knew that he was going to fail at it, why
would he give everything to fail at it? That makes sense, doesn't
it? Doesn't make any sense. Oh, it's
just silly thinking it. No, the Lord didn't try. That's
the whole point. He counted the cost. And you, his people, are
the pearl of great price. You, his people, are what he
bought the entire field for, the hidden treasure in the earth.
You are who he shed his blood for. You are whom he died for.
and redeem back to God. It wasn't intent. He counted
the cost and he knew he was sufficient in redeeming and the only one
that could do it. He was the one that stood up and took the
book. He's the one that agreed, Father, I will redeem them back
to you, the ones which you have elected. And the Spirit agreed
and said, I'll regenerate them. You elect them, you redeem them,
I'll regenerate them. That's how the covenant of grace
works. Where are you and I in it? We're the benefactors of
God's finished work. That's all there is to it, nothing
else. God counted the cost in Christ
Jesus, laid down His life freely for His people. And to say that He's trying to
do something now, that's foolishness. It's blasphemy. It's blasphemy. He's not trying. To say, this
is what men believe, and this is just, I've said this to us
recently, but You have the unstoppable force of God's sovereign power. And you have the immovable object
of man's free will. And when they collide together,
God just can't do anything against that will, can he? That's what
men are saying. Does that sound silly to you?
It sounds silly because it's not in the Bible. It's not true.
It's the lie, isn't it? It's the lie. No, he's going
to blast whatever gets in his way. He's going to do that which
whatsoever he will. And he's going to, he's God. He's going to get all the glory.
The Lamb's Book of Life had the names of those written in it
before time. Ephesians 1, 4, according as he hath chosen us
in him. When? Before the foundation of the
world. He's chosen his people in Christ
before the foundation of the world that we should be holy,
when? Before the foundation of the world. We should be holy
and without blame before him in love. See, we were saved. We were saved in eternity before
time ever began. There's good news in that, isn't
there? It means it's not contingent
upon you. It's not contingent upon me. It's not up to me in
any way. God chose his people, Christ
redeemed his people, and the Spirit regenerates his people.
Now, when did the Lord see this as done? Well, in Ephesians 4,
he tells us this. For we which have believed do
enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath,
if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. It was already finished before
it started. We see that's God. That's what I'm trying to describe
to us this morning. It's not an attempt. Everything he determined
to do is finished. Beloved of the Lord, rest. There's
nothing to be done. What glory is for the child of
God. What hope we have. What hope
we have before the foundation of the world was laid, before
the first click of the first sunrise, the first tick of the
clock is all done, was all finished. It was sure. It was sure, this
stronghold was sure. God saw his people in Christ
because he eternally justified them. Now, do you believe that
God is immutable? You know what that word immutable
means? It means it changes not. He changes
not. Do you believe he's immutable?
Well, if he changes not and he sees us in Christ now, what does
that mean? He saw us before time. He's always seen us in Christ. He doesn't change. His mind doesn't
change. What hope we have in that? He can't change. He can't
lie. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. So to say that God's people were
not eternally justified before time is to imply Christ could
have failed. I hope the Lord gives us the
grace to see that God cannot fail, that God does not try,
that everything he has set out to do is finished. It's finished
in that day. In that day, he finished it before
time. and in time on the cross of Calvary,
it is finished. Someone told me recently I got
saved. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. That language isn't in the Bible.
Did you know that? I got saved. No. Look at the back of your
bulletin just a moment. Everybody has a bulletin, I assume.
If you don't, you can turn with me to 2 Timothy 1. Go on your
bulletin, you'll find these words. It doesn't say, I got saved.
It says, God who hath saved us and called us with the holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to life through the gospel. So here we have the day that
the Lord saved us before time. We have the day the Lord saves
us at Calvary, then he says the day he calls us. Now, which came
first, the saving or the calling? Look at it again. God who has
saved us and called us, which came first? That's the question
they say about the chicken or the egg, right? That's the confusion
of men. They try to figure it out. Well, this is very simple.
The Lord gives the answer, which came first, the saving or the
calling? And this is the very simplistic
gospel that we have right here. If the Lord did the saving first,
who did he save? If the Lord did the saving first,
who did he save? He saved his people. It's that simple. And
then what does he do in time? Then he calls them. Why does
he call them? Well, he gives us the answer.
With the holy calling, not according to our works, you didn't have
anything to do with it, but according to his own purpose and grace.
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Look what Christ Jesus has done. He abolished death and brought
life and immortality through the light of the gospel. That
light of the gospel, that calling that he's talking about, that's
when the Holy Spirit of God says, live and breathe the breath of
life into us. And we live. Gives us a new man. A new nature that's pleasing
unto him. The nature of Jesus Christ gives us complete substitution
before the throne of God. He sees us as holy as God himself
because of what Christ did. So what came first, the saving
of the calling? Saving did. It's very clear,
isn't it? Saving came first. God does it
all. Not by our works. Salvation is
of the Lord. Now you can take that, we can
take that as far as we want to. And I encourage us to take that
as far as possible because anything we do according to works is death.
It is not by our works, period. But don't I have to? No. But
doesn't the scripture say, yes, the scripture says, confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Who gave you that confession?
Is the Lord pleased with your confession or is he pleased with
the faith that Christ Jesus had? because that's what draws the
confession, isn't it? It's the faith of the Lord Jesus
Christ. See, that's the Spirit's job. Now you're trying to take
the Spirit's job if you say it's my confession that gives salvation.
No, it's the Holy Spirit's confession. Anytime we start adding ourself
to it, it's an abomination unto God. He will not have it. He
will not have it. Scripture is very clear that
it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to his mercy, he hath given us an opportunity to be saved. Is
that what it says? No, he saved us. He saved us. He did it in
the day of eternity past and in the day of the cross, the
day of his power, he accomplished it. And somebody said, well,
if he was so certain, why did Christ have to die? Well, it
had to be fulfilled, everything that he had purposed, but it
was so certain, Before time, it was so certain that Christ
Jesus would redeem his people that the father sat down and
rested in Christ Jesus. Who created the world? What does
the scripture tell us? Let me put it to us this way. In the
beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word
was God. Goes on to say, all things were made by him, the
word of God. Christ made the world to redeem
God's people back to Him. The Father was seated on the
Sabbath before time ever began. It could not have failed. Salvation
was finished before. It was impossible that it would
be thwarted or defeated in any way or hindered. Does that give
you hope? Well, that gives me hope. If
I can't add to it or take away from it in any way, oh, I can't
mess it up. I mess up everything. I can't
mess that up. I can't mess up salvation because it's of the
Lord. To remain us therefore a rest
to the people of God because of what he accomplished in that
day. We rest upon his doing, don't
we? We rest upon his choosing. He
said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. That's not
subject to man's will, is it? See, God don't make an offer
of salvation to anyone. If we leave here believing that
we have something to do in salvation, we're lying to ourselves. We
believe that it's a choice, we're lying to ourselves. No, salvation's
a choice, oh yeah. There's no doubt, but it's not
yours, it's God's. It's God's choice, before the
time ever began. What glorious thought in the
words, he will have mercy. He said, I will. I've chosen
to have mercy on whom I will have mercy, isn't it? There's
my hope right there, that Lord, Lord, will you have mercy on
me? Lord, can I find grace in your eyes? Lord, I see myself
as this dead dog sinner you're describing. I see myself as unable
to produce anything that you're satisfied with. Lord, don't let
my deceitful heart, that's what the scripture calls our heart,
isn't it? Deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Lord, I'll deceive myself right to hell if you don't save me.
Lord, give me grace. Give me mercy. Don't give me
what I deserve. Give me what I don't deserve. Give me Jesus
Christ. Show me that in this day he successfully redeemed
his people. Have mercy on me, the sinner. Isn't that what the publican
said? Beat upon his breast? Lord, I need a heart transplant.
That's what he was saying, wasn't it? I need a new heart. Have
mercy on me, the sinner. This is what David was pleading
for in Psalm chapter 118, if you'd like to turn there with
me. Psalm 118. Psalm 118, verse 19. Look at the plea that David has
unto the Lord. Open to me the gates of righteousness,
I will go into them. Boy, it's as clear as it can
be if the Lord don't open the gate. How you gonna open a gate?
How am I gonna open a spiritual gate? We're dead. Lord, you're
gonna have to open the gates of righteousness. And if you do, I'll go into them
if you cause me to. And I'll praise the Lord. This
gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter. I will
praise thee for thou has heard me and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders
refused has become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's
doing. and is marvelous in our eye.
This is the day. This is the day when the stone
became that which was refused, it became the stone of the corner.
When the Lord get righteousness, this is the day which the Lord
hath made. Oh, we will rejoice and be glad in it. This day,
this is what I'm preaching on this day that the Lord redeemed.
The Lord doesn't do the work. We have no hope. He's going to
open the door. He is the door. I am the door to the sheepfold.
He told his disciples, I am the door to the sheepfold. He said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man come to the
father, but by me. Understand what he means is that
we can't come to the father unless he permits us, unless he causes
us, unless he makes us. He said, you haven't chose me.
I chose you. That's what he told his disciples.
That's what he told his followers. I chose you unto eternal life. You didn't choose me. He must
do all the work. I've already quoted this, but
2 Timothy 2 tells us, nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth
sure. This chief cornerstone standeth sure. Why? The Lord
knows them that are his. In that day, the entire foundation
was laid And the entire kingdom was finished. You remember when
the Lord was talking to the Pharisees and Sadducees and they were always
giving him a hard time, trying to trick him, trap him, all kinds
of different ways, different ways. But Lord said, this temple
will be destroyed. And in three days, three days,
I will rebuild it. And they thought, this man's
a lunatic. He's lost his mind. How is he going to rebuild this
temple? It took years to build this temple. How is he going
to rebuild it in three days? He wasn't talking about that temple. He
was talking about the temple that the father was satisfied with, his
vessel, wasn't he? The Lord Jesus Christ himself.
There's the temple. There's where worship is. There's
where we're able to enter boldly into the throne of grace is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the temple. That's the
one we need. And this temple was rebuilt. This temple was
built In a day the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished it. For by
one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Do you know what sanctified means?
Holy, set apart. And what did he just say? By
one offering he hath perfected forever them that might be sanctified,
them that could be sanctified, are. I like that word, don't
you? Them that are sanctified. He did all the calling. He did
all the perfecting. He did all the sanctifying. And
how long did he do it for? Forever. Forever. His blood hath
made his people. And I can't understand this,
but we preach this and we believe this and it's the truth. But
God's people are as holy as God is. That's If time got my brain
in a tizzy, then this definitely is so much more abundant because
I don't understand how a man and a woman born in sin could
be made the righteousness of God. God's got to do it completely. There's nothing I can do that
is holy, that is separate from sinners. I am the sinner. Lord,
you're going to have to do it. And yet he says, I've sanctified
you forever. He did it in eternity past. He
did it on the day of Calvary. He did it in that day when he
calls us. Said in Psalm 110, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. That's the day he
calls his people when he choose to reveal himself. When he chooses
to reveal himself, he calls Lazarus come forth. He calls, he says,
see, he says here, he says, walk, take up thy bed and walk. He
says, live. What do we do? No, I think I'll just lay here.
I'm not going to get up. No, we, the Lord says that we
do it. Ain't that right? When he says, see that we can't
help but see, we see what rejoicing there is in seeing. Everyone. For whom he died, we'll
hear his gospel. And there is only one gospel
and the gospel is very simple. Gospel is not that Jesus died,
that Jesus was buried, and that Jesus was risen again. Gospel
is how he died according to the scriptures. How he died according
to the scriptures when he died. It's that the Father elected
a people, the Son redeemed those people, and the Spirit in time
regenerates those people. We have nothing to do with it.
That's the gospel. And in time, the Lord will reveal
this gospel to everyone he died for. He will do it with a holy,
effectual calling because we are dead and we must be called
from the dead. We are rotten corpses. When I
say we're dead, I'm not talking about just needing a defibrillator. I mean rotten, decayed, and take
that as far as you want to go. We know it's true, don't we?
We see our sin, don't we, brethren? We know how ugly we Well, we
don't know how ugly we are, but to ourself, the Lord lets us
see little glimmers of our putridness and we smell ourself and we see
our repulsiveness. And then the Lord says, look
at Christ. How about him? We say, oh, there
he is. There's my substitute. There's
the one that I have hope in, not myself, not myself. We won't come to him unless the
Lord causes it. No man will choose Christ. And
really, man, you couldn't make him your choice if we wanted
to. It's just silly. 1 Corinthians 6 tells us, and
such were some of you. We had that mentality at one
time. I like what he says next. We're such were some of you,
but now you're washed. You've been washed. Now you are
sanctified, but now you're justified. You know what the word justified
means? It doesn't mean just as if I'd never sinned. It means
never sinned one time in God's eyes. Not once, not one white
lie, not one tiny minute sin. Every single one has been put
away. But now you've been sanctified. But now you've been justified.
How? In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, by the Spirit of our
God. He did it. He did it by his blood,
by his Spirit. It's his doing. It's his doing. Nothing we can do. Nothing we
can do. Men preach that salvation takes
place when you come to an altar before a man. Did you know that
no one has ever been saved by coming to an altar? Never. Do you know why? Number one,
it draws attention to the flesh, but number two, it's contrary
to the scripture. Contrary to the scripture, the Lord didn't
say, come here and do something. He said, come to Christ through
the eyes of faith. Salvation is a work in the heart.
And the confession that we do is unto him, not unto man. We
don't come to an altar. There's nobody else to praise
with this, a personal, personal salvation. When he reveals, the
confession is brought by the faith given. It's not that we
do something to let him do something. See, that's constraining him.
Do we see that? And if we can constrain him, we can restrain
him also. We can prevent him. It's not true. It's not the God
of the scripture. That's the God of false religion.
That's the lie. He doesn't exist. Those for which God has saved,
he will call. And the calling is salvation. The calling is to repentance
and it's to faith. Salvation happens when he does
that. Then what is the confession? Oh, I've heard with the hearing
of the ear, but my eyes seen the king. Salvations of the Lord
truly. That's what we hear. That's what
we see. Spirit never draws attention
to himself. The spirit never. never draws
attention to himself. Who does the spirit point us
to? The Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? That's who he points us to.
Now we do observe two ordinances. According to the Lord's word,
this do in remembrance of me. What was it? First one is the
Lord's table, the bread and the wine, and we do it in remembrance
of him. not for salvation, but to confess that he is all. His
blood and his body is our righteousness. And we also take believers baptism. And what do we confess there?
His life, his death, his burial and resurrection is all our hope
before the father. It's the only ordinances we observe. And it's
because Christ said to do that. Everything else in religion is
just a show, doesn't accomplish anything. I'm so thankful he
doesn't leave us to ourself and he points us to Christ. And you
know, when he does that, in that day of his choosing. In the day
of his choosing, he reveals. I love the thought that it happens
in time and we don't know exactly when it happens. If you can go
back in your mind and remember a certain time where you heard
the message, that's good. I remember wrestling with it
for a while and then kind of hearing it and then hearing it,
but there's never a date and time in our mind, is it? There's
a song that says, I can take you to the time, show you the
place. If you want to, you got to go all the way back to Calvary if you're
a believer, because that's the time and place you were saved.
And then you got to go all the way back to eternity when the father struck
hands with the son before time ever began. That's the time and
place it happened. Well, that eternity is not even
in time, is it? So to say that it's silly, I can't take you
to the place or the time. I can tell you when Christ saved
his people and it was in the covenant of grace before time
ever began. I can tell you when he saved his people in time on
the cross of Calvary. And I can tell you when he saves
his people and calls them in time. is according to His will.
I love the thought that it is in time though. And so it's such
and such time the Lord's ordained. When it clicks at that second,
He brings life to His people. Isn't that awesome? Whatever
second it is of that day, at that time, He's ordained it.
I love that. It's all His time. Now in closing,
I have one more day I want to look at, and it's the endless
day. It's the one we're looking forward
to, Brother Al. Whenever we shall shed this robe of sinful flesh
and awaken his likeness, the endless day. Turn with me to
1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4, you probably
could quote this with me, but I want us to see it. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16, for
the Lord himself, shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, which are alive and
remain, shall be called up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words." 1 John 3, verse 2 tells us, Now are we the sons of God. And
it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when he
shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as
he is. See in that day, when we see
him face to face, we may like him. And that is a never ending
day. There's no night there. He's
the light of the city. It's a never ending day. We're
in his likeness, worshiping him in truth, in truth in that day. because of his choosing, because
of his saving, because of his calling, because of his keeping. He had to do all the keeping,
didn't he? Because of his keeping. We shall be found in him. Those
whom he loves will be with him forever. You know, the glorious
part of this gospel, There's an abundance of glorious things
in this gospel, so I don't want to undermine any of them, but
one of the most glorious things about this gospel is that we
are already there with him. That's how he views it. What
did the Lord say? Romans 8, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate. What did that predestination
accomplish? To be conformed to the image
of his son. Now we just said, whenever we see him, We shall
be made like him, for we shall see him as he is. So he says,
if we're going to be conformed to the image of his son, that
we'd be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, he called." Now there's time, right? Then he
called, and then he also called, he justified. That means he gave
them faith. And whom he gave faith to, he
glorified. But he doesn't say he's going
to glorify. He's already done it. He's already
done it. Now we're waiting for Him to
reveal the glory in us. But as far as God's concerned,
that's all He sees is the glory that's in us. Christ Jesus. One of these days, in that day,
we're going to wake in His presence. Realize that it's always been
accomplished. More than ever, we'll see Him
seated, reigning. And it'll be worship for endless
day. Endless day. Take heart, brethren, that you're
seated in Him right now. Right now. I was gonna see if
I had time. It's 10 till 12, so I haven't
went near as long this time as I did last time. I wanna turn
back to our text and read it to us one more time in closing.
Zechariah 9. Zechariah 9, verse 12. Turn you to the stronghold, you
prisoners of hope. Even today do I clear that I
will render double unto thee. When I have bent Judah for me,
filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion,
against the sons of Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty
man, and the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall
go forth as the lightning And the Lord God shall blow the trumpet
and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. And the Lord of
hosts shall defend them. And they shall devour and subdue
with sling stones. And they shall drink and make
a noise as though wine. And they shall be filled like
bowls and as the corners of the altar. And the Lord their God
shall save them in that day. as the flock of his people, for
they shall be as the stones of a crown lifted up as an ensign
upon his land. For how great is his goodness
and how great is his beauty. Corn shall make the young men
cheerful and new wine the maids." Now do we understand that everything
that he just said here has already came to pass? Everything he just
said there has already come to pass. And do you know this wondrous
salvation for which he'd done The Lord didn't just leave us
in this wilderness to trudge through in darkness. He's given
us the light of his gospel whereby we feast upon it. And that is
exactly what he says right here. Corn shall make the young men
cheerful and new wine the maids. Well, what is corn but the manna
of God that falls from heaven unto his people that we feed
upon? And what is this wine but the
blood of Christ that we rejoice in? That's life sustaining unto
us. We got to have his body. We got
to have his blood, his bread, and his wine. It's our life.
It's our only hope of salvation before the Father. And if that's
true, then the Lord hath saved us in that day, and in that day,
and in that day, and in that day, now and forever. There is now therefore no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Feast on Christ, brethren, now,
because that's who we'll be feasting on forever. He saved his people
on that day in eternity past. and on that day at Calvary, and
on that day when he calls us, and then that day that's endless.
Endless day, forever and ever.