Today for our Bible study, I
would encourage you to turn to the book of Zechariah, the book
of Zechariah chapter nine, and let's begin reading at verse
nine. The book of Zechariah chapter
nine at verse nine. Now we have here a glorious prophecy
concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen
carefully. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem,
Behold thy king cometh unto thee, he is just, having salvation,
lowly, riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the fold of an ass.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace.
unto the heathen, and his dominion, that is his sovereignty, his
dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from river even to
the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the blood
of thy covenant have I sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit
wherein is no water." Now there's a reading from Zechariah. Now
throughout the Old Testament, We see the Lord Jesus Christ
in pattern, picture, and prophecy. In Luke 24, our Lord said concerning
himself and the scriptures, listen carefully, Luke 24, verse 24
and following, then he said unto them, O fool, slow of heart,
to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ
to have suffered these things and entered into his glory, and
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them
and all the scriptures the things concerning himself." The Old
Testament is more than just a book of Jewish history. It's a book
revealing unto us the glory and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Peter preaching to Cornelius
in his house, in Acts chapter 10, verse 42, we read, And he
commanded us to preach unto the people, and testify that it is
he which was ordained of God to be judge of the living and
the dead, to him, that is to Christ, gave or give all the
prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive the remission of sin. God gave to his prophet
here in Zechariah the very exact description of our Lord Jesus
Christ as he entered into Jerusalem to accomplish the salvation of
God's people 550 years before it actually happened. Now, if
you want to jot this reference down over in Matthew 21, verse
1 to verse 11, we see exactly what God said would happen did
come to pass. Zechariah not only describes
for us the circumstances how Christ would come to Jerusalem
to accomplish salvation, but also gives us a very vivid description
of who this is that's coming to accomplish salvation for God's
covenant people. Now I want to point out for you
six things we see in these verses. The first one is this. We read
that Jesus Christ is the King or Lord of all salvation. We read Behold, thy king cometh
unto thee. The wise men ask, where is he
that is born king? They didn't ask, where is he
that will be king? You see, my friend, he was king
when he was born. Our Lord, as God incarnate, is
king of kings and Lord of lords. We read in Psalm 2, Psalm 2,
verse 6, God said, I've set my king upon my holy hill, Zion. In Acts 2, 36, we read, that God had made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, God had made him both Lord and Christ, as
king, God's king, as Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign,
that is, he has dominion as we read from sea to sea, from river
to river, under the ends of the earth. He is the sovereign king. Sovereign Lord in creation, providence,
and most certainly in salvation. He will have mercy upon whom
he will have mercy. And we read this through the
scriptures, but here's where it's recorded for us in Romans
9. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy."
So, we see this biblical truth that I've tried to preach over
the years on this radio broadcast, that salvation is of the Lord. Behold thy King coming. He's
King of creation, providence, and in salvation. Our Lord prayed
in John 17. As thou hast given him, he prayed,
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as God had given him. And this is eternal life, that
they might know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I've glorified thee on the earth.
I've finished the work which you gave 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. He has always
been king. When he was manifest in the flesh,
he didn't cease being king to execute our salvation. He is king in salvation. He'll have mercy on whom he will.
Secondly, we see this description. Jesus Christ is not only called
king, but he is a just God. We read he is just. That means
he is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his character. He did no sin. He's a spotless lamb of God. Stephen and Peter both called
and referred to him as the just one in the book of Acts chapter
three and in chapter seven. Our Lord, as a representative
man, standing in a room instead of his covenant people, went
about to establish a justifying righteousness for his own sheep
that would both honor God's holy law in all of its precepts and
all of its penalties. We read over here in the book
of Hebrews, Such a high priest became us who was holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heaven. He did not fail to honor God
and to glorify God in all things. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law, I came to honor the law as a servant of God, as a
representative man. We read in Philippians 2, he
made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of
a servant, He's God's servant and was made in the likeness
of man and being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself,
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also has highly exalted him, given him a name above every
name, at that name every knee will bow. Every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. He is not only King, but He is
just. He is holy. Third thing we see
is this. Here's another description. Jesus
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the only Savior. We read in
this prophecy, having, He's the King, He's just, having salvation. He is not only a just God, but
also a Savior. We read in Isaiah 45, tell ye,
bring them near, yea, let them take counsel together, who hath
declared this from ancient time, who hath told it from that time,
have not I the Lord, there is no God else beside me. Now listen carefully, a just
God, That is, he's holy, righteous, and a savior. There is none beside
me. Look unto me and be ye saved.
All the ends of the earth, I am God and there is none else. Paul often calls, Paul the Apostle,
often calls the Lord Jesus Christ God our Savior. He came to give his life as a
ransom to purchase his covenant people. He said that in Matthew
28. I didn't come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to
give my life a ransom for many, for his people. In Acts chapter
4 we read that he's the only Savior. There's no other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. He
is both a just God and Savior. Now this is one of the oldest
questions in the Bible that very few people consider. How can
God be just and holy? righteous in all his ways, and
yet justified the ungodly, be just and the justifier." Well,
there's only one answer to that, my friend, only in the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Romans 3, verse 24,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say it this time, His righteousness.
Grace reigns through His righteousness, that He might be a just God,
might be just and the justifier of them which believe in Christ,
having salvation. He is our Savior. Simeon declared, let your servant
depart in peace, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He is our Savior. He is just.
He is king. The fourth thing we see that
Zechariah tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ, he is also
identified with our humanity. Lowly he comes, riding upon an
ass. totally and fully God Almighty. Yes, we believe in the deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet we also believe in His humanity,
the God-man. He is a real man. We read in
John 1, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth." Again, we read in 1 Timothy 3, 16, without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, and believed on in the world, and received
up into glory as the God-man. This one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus, as the God-man, he honored the
law, perfected righteousness for us, and died as a sinner's
substitute. God made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. He suffered once for our sin,
the just for the unjust, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. It's who He is that gives glory
and power to what He accomplished. God bought us with His own blood. This God-man is just, He is holy,
and He is God, and yet The God-man mediator. The other thing we
see, number five, Jesus Christ, Zechariah declares, is our peace
with God. He shall speak peace unto the
heathen. Surely no one else has authority
to speak peace to any sinner but Jesus Christ. We read in
Romans 5, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have access by faith
into the grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the
glory of God. He made peace with God for his
people through his blood sacrifice. It pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself, By him I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated in your mind
by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of
his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight." We have peace with God, reconciled and reconciliation
unto God only through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And
he is the only one who has authority to speak peace and to give salvation,
to grant repentance, and to grant faith unto his covenant people. Number six, Zechariah also declares
Jesus Christ, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, is the deliverer. There's none other. He says,
by the blood of the covenant have I sent forth thy prisoners
out of the pit. wherein there is no water. God
said in Job 33, I have found a ransom, deliver them from going
down to the pit, I have a ransom. Our blessed Lord came to set
his people free through the blood of his sacrifice. We read in
Hebrews 13, 20, now the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. Our Lord declared in
Luke chapter 4 when he reads from Isaiah 61, the spirit of
the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. to preach deliverance to the
captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
set us free from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us, from the bondage of sin, being made our sin Atonement
to deliver us from sin, to obtain eternal redemption for us. He
came to set us free from the terror of death. Our Lord said,
because I live, you shall live. And He came to set us free from
the grip of the devil. He has set us free. He is our
deliverer. I pray the Lord will give you
grace to go back and look at these scriptures again, and I
pray the Lord will give you a revelation of the glory and beauty of the
Lord Jesus Christ as he is described in scripture, and make him the
only hope of your salvation.