[Generated Manuscript]

Well it is a joy once more as our practice, our rhythm of life, to be with you again together all at church to worship our Lord. Our current series through the book of Revelation, as we have noted, Revelation, you recall, is a revealing. It is a revelation. It is for God’s people.

And Revelation, we have seen again and again, is full of the Old Testament. full of the Old Testament, remember. And we’ve seen this, and it’s instructed us as we acknowledge this, away from error and towards a right understanding of this remarkable book.

The next two chapters we’re going to look at, chapters 6 and 7, give elements that are foreshadowed from the prophets Daniel and Zechariah. And those two prophets foreshadow themes and visions which John is shown in the revelation that he’s given. This has been clear again and again and again and will be again as we go forward.

So I wanted to look at Zechariah again to see what was given there at this point in the timeline looking forward and what was in the collective minds of so many of God’s people here who hear this vision in the first century, these people who are steeped in God’s word, who’d embraced the Messiah from the prophets which they foretold, suffering and struggling to remain faithful under those sufferings. And so this morning we’re gonna look at Zechariah 3, so it’s fresh in our minds as we return and come again next week to the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ that was given to the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos.

But let’s, before we hear the reading of God’s Word and the preaching, ask His blessing upon it. Join me in prayer if you would. Our dear Lord, we come again before You. We thank You for this, Your Word. We thank You that it is perfect and complete, and that You have revealed Yourself to us therein. You have shown us all that we would need to know for life and godliness. We pray, Lord, that as we hear it, that we would have an appropriate posture, a posture of humility and reception, and receive it with the grace that it was given, and the absolute certainty of its truth. We ask that you would help us to do that, to believe it, to base our lives upon it, and Lord God, to find comfort as we hear it. Be with each of us now, we pray, and we ask in Christ’s name, and we all, as your people say together, Amen. Amen.

Zechariah chapter 6, if you would, I’ll be reading, starting at verse 1, verses 1 to 8. And once again, remember, this is the Word of God, the true and the living God. Let’s give our full attention to it at this time. Zechariah 6, starting at verse 1.

Again, I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, Four chariots came out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them strong. Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, what are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said to me, these are going out to the four winds of heaven After presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth, the chariot with the black horses goes towards the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go towards the south country.

When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, Go, patrol the earth. So they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me, Behold, those who go toward the north country, have set my spirit at rest in the north country.”

So far the reading of God’s word. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord truly endures forever. Zechariah 6, the gospel to the ends of the earth. Last time we looked at Zechariah, if you recall way back, it was a very turbulent time. in history, in culture, in the world, and in the country. It was six years ago. It was 2020 was the year.

But in many ways, it really always has been turbulent times in the world. And that gets clearer and clearer the older that you get. As you grow and you experience more and more of history, you begin to have eyes more attuned to looking backwards and to looking forward, not only focused on the present.

But then, and certainly now, it seems that there are fewer and fewer moments in our lives, out in a pilgrim land with which we are sojourners, where there is any peace or sanity or safety. The things going on in the culture are incredibly disruptive and disturbing and disorienting to our minds and our souls. And this can be very upsetting, especially if you’re just starting out in the early chapters of your lives or in the later chapters of your lives. We worry about raising our precious children amidst all of the blackness and brokenness of the world. And we worry about setting things in order for the loved ones that we believe behind. all while it appears that the devil is piling up win after win after win, and it can be unsettling.

Sometimes, often, it can also seem as though there’s nothing that we do personally in our lives to make any difference in the world, to add any sanity, to bring any peace, or to heal any wounds, or to advance the plan and purpose of God to build the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It can and does lead us to be, what, spiritually discouraged, slothful, lethargic, even spiritually indifferent at times.

But we need to know, brothers and sisters, that in Christ we have hope. We have hope. We don’t need to give in to despair in the midst of all of this. Those in Zachariah’s time were discouraged and lethargic and indifferent as well because of the context that they were living through. And they, like we, had trouble believing and living as if God would come through on his promises.

Zechariah is showing them throughout his book and throughout this chapter that God will be victorious and that the Messiah will indeed surely come. He’s showing that they, even where they are, that their lives and work for the Lord were important. And we see from Zechariah 6 that because God is sovereign and he will accomplish his purposes, our work for him is never in vain. And indeed, our work for him has great value because of who he is and what he’s done. Zechariah is truly a wonderful book. It’s complex and it’s challenging, but it’s truly awesome and remarkable. What we want to do this morning is to glean the big picture of what the Lord has given us here.

And to have that in mind as we come back, reflecting as we get into Revelation 6, continuing on the fulfillment of all of what this pointed towards and foreshadowed, Zechariah 6 is the end of that very busy night of visions for the prophet Zechariah. And these visions form, as many have put it, a tapestry. In fact, many have pointed out that the book is constructed, on the whole, is in a particular form. right, made of two panels connected by a center hinge as you lay out what is being said in the book as a whole, sort of like a spiral-bound notebook, right? And these structures are all over the book of Zechariah as the whole. And in these visions, these night visions, remember that the Lord has done some rather amazing things.

The people of God have gone into exile, right, thinking about where they are. They’ve gone into exile in Babylon. And then in fulfillment of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, after 70 years in captivity, God moved on the heart of the pagan king and through that king, Cyrus, the people of God come back to the promised land. And they came back and God called them to rebuild broken down Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple of God. And they were to do this so that Jerusalem might again be the center place of his people. the church in the Old Testament, where Yahweh was glorified and praised, the place where all people, not just Abraham’s family, but the nations would come and come to a covenant, living faith, trusting, and living for God. And remember as well, Zechariah and his older fellow prophet Haggai told of the blessings the Lord would lavish upon them, material blessings even, where they would build paneled houses.

But what was the problem? As perceived by them and the people, in the words that they pronounced, is that the temple of God was in ruins. And recall, there was this opposition to this rebuilding from the outside, and there was also, from the inside, they were very indifferent and slothful, numb to who they were.

And God comes to them. And He comes to them in the words of His providence and in the works of His prophets. In God’s providence, He brings them. He restores them to the land, though it is a pathetic little temple compared to the temple of old. But He allows opposition. There is hardship. The people are discouraged.

And when God brings the words of His prophets, Haggai and Zechariah speak forth the words of the Lord and the people are urged to build again the temple by Haggai and that the glory of the Lord would again fill that place. And Zechariah comes later and has this incredible night of visions, a single tapestry of visions you might say. The first vision runs from the center of chapter 1 to the end of chapter six. And what these visions tell Zechariah and what they tell us is a description of the amazing way that God will bring about his sovereign purposes to bring the glory of his name to the ends of the earth.

It’s remarkable indeed. And at the center of these visions are the figures we remember of the high priest Joshua and Zerubbabel the king. priest and king. And these figures represent God’s coming Messiah, the one who will come to the temple when it is complete.

And we see what? Resistance. Challenge on each side of these two. Opposition to God’s work and his words from inside and from the outside. As we look at the outer portions of these visions, chapters 1 and 6, the bookends if you will, we see a kind of inclusion or balance of visions connected to one another.

In chapter one, you’ll recall just by way of survey, there are scouts on horses sent out by the angel of the Lord to do what? To examine what’s going on amongst the peoples of the world while the city of God lay in ruins. And what was their report, you recall, as they returned from this mission? They said the nations were resting and content, while God’s people were down and out, depressed and discouraged.

That was the front end of the visions, this tapestry of visions. A tapestry, you’ll remember if you don’t know, as I probably didn’t know when I first read this word. is a textile or a drapery, embroidery, right? Like a wall hanging we see popularly with pictures and designs sewn in, woven in by the thread work. And on the back end of that tapestry, chapter six, we have there what? The balance or the answer of that vision.

And again, we have horses, right? Colored horses that we experience. And again, these horses, what’s different though this time in Chapter 6 than it was in Chapter 1? In Chapter 6, they’re not returning from reconnaissance to the Lord. Now they’re going out from the Lord. These are the chariots of God going out to the ends of the earth to accomplish God’s plans as a result of what’s been reported back. And when you look at chapter six in your Bibles, you see that it’s made up of two parts, right?

The Zechariah here. The chariots of God and the crowning of the Messiah. And these two things are God’s plan on the whole, right? Right here in this Old Testament prophet of Zechariah. Isn’t that awesome? It’s a small picture of the big hole right there in this prophet of old.

The chariots of God come out from his temple to conquer the nations, and the coming Messiah establishes his eternal kingdom. And it’s nothing less than a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ going out to the ends of the earth. And it is truly wonderful and glorious indeed how consistent, how unified the whole of God’s word is. from this prophet half a century before Christ comes as man. And even throughout the, to the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Revelation that we’ve been looking at, all throughout.

And Zechariah sees these horses here in chapter six, and they have just returned, right? And what it says there in verse seven, when the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go throughout the earth, eager, straining the horses were to go out. And these colored horses, pulling the chariots of God, are eager to go to the ends of the earth. And Zechariah asks, right in the first verse there, he says, I lifted my eyes and saw, behold, four chariots came out from between the two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze.

And as we see in Zechariah, if you recall, if it’s fresh in your memory or you know the structure and outline of Zechariah, In there, the visions, the details often relate to the temple and the city of God of old. Right? This is the whole point. The concept of them returning, rebuilding in opposition. The temple and the city of God are often what these visions are detailing.

And we read in places like 1 Kings chapter 7 about the massive pillars that were at the entrance to the great temple in Jerusalem. They were bronze pillars. And these mountainous bronze pillars were 50 feet high, massive in thickness as well. And Zechariah’s vision shows them as bronze mountains. And from between these mountains come the four chariots of God issuing forth.

Zechariah has the sense of God himself coming from the temple, the holiest place in the power of God’s spirit, coming out, coming forth. There is this reference as he does so in verse 5. And the angel answered and said to me, these are the four spirits of heaven going forth and standing before the Lord of all the earth. There’s actually a better rendering of the verse there. And I think it’s similar to how the New American Standard would render this. And the angel answered and said to me, these are the four spirits of heaven going forth and standing before the Lord of all the earth. The word there for winds, right? You know this in Hebrew. It’s the word ruach. It’s the same word that’s translated spirits or wind. And the four spirits of heaven going forth, going out in the power of the spirit.

And he is going where? He’s going to reach the very ends of the world. Universal in scope. And then in chapter 6 and 7, Zechariah says, with the black horses, goes towards the north country. And the white ones go after them. And the dappled ones, that is speckled or spotted or marked, these ones go towards the south country.

And when the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, go patrol the earth. And so they patrolled the earth. And that word as well, patrolled, is not the best rendering of that word. The word, what it means is walk. They walked the earth. Go walk the earth. So they walked the earth. And there’s a significant difference that we’ll see as we continue. They go up north and down south. They go throughout the earth.

And Zechariah says in verse 8, Then he cried to me, Behold, those who go towards the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country.” They’ve set my spirit at rest. Only the north is recorded in the text, but it’s a sample of the total result. We have to understand the result was that those horse-pulled chariots of God have given rest to his spirit. Rest in the land of the north. Now, if you can remember the book of Zechariah again, there at the beginning, it says what if you recall? Zechariah heard the scouts returning from the whole earth. And what was their report? Do you remember? It was that the whole earth remains at rest.

They are not bothered, or at least they are at ease in their disinterest and opposition to God and to his glory. The delight in the ruin of the church. But now in chapter six, what do we read in chapter six? It’s not the earth that is at rest. It’s not the nations of the earth. It is the spirit of God. He has come to rest because his purposes are being accomplished. And think for a moment again of that idea of rest. It plays strong in scripture. Think of creation.

At the end of that creation week, that rhythm, that pattern, after God has brought forth form and filling out of the formless and the void, after that ex nihilo, out of nothing creation, after those six days of creation, on the seventh day, he rested from all his work, the Sabbath. Or recall later, as we read, that seventh year, that Sabbath rest for the land. The people would work the land for six years. And then on the seventh year, they would what? They would give the land rest, a Sabbath for the land.

More, of course, could be said about this, but there is this pattern. God’s spirit is working and working until he finds a place where he can rest in completion and peace, satisfied from his labors. And Zechariah pictures for us that work. And we know today that this comes to fulfillment in Christ’s baptism, right? Remember, that’s why we read Mark chapter one, when the heavens are torn in two and the spirit comes down Like He had come down to earth to find rest in Noah’s day. And like in our text, in the land of the north, He comes in the baptism of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes to find rest on the person of Jesus.

And it is on and in Him that all of that pointed and pictured says that through this Jesus alone, the purposes and plan of God will come to pass. It’s a beautiful and glorious picture. Zechariah, of course, in his time didn’t have all of this detail. But God’s purpose is pictured. His purposes are shown there in the rebuilding of the temple. That they would have their final fulfillment in Christ, the one who is the true temple, the one upon whom the Spirit rests. What an encouragement that is. What a blessing and glory on this side of the closing of the canon, the full revelation of God to know this.

The north was where they came from, captivity, right? It was where their enemies were. And Zechariah sees the Spirit of God go and rest in conquest and in victory over that land. And what is this doing for Zechariah? What is this word doing for the people of God? What effect would this have upon these beleaguered people? Opposition from without and from within. It’s encouraging him that even though things are bleak, the Temple’s in ruins, it is little and pathetic. Even though the nations are opposed to the plans of God, what?

God, His will will nevertheless be accomplished. His will nevertheless will bring those plans to pass for certain. Zechariah could should and can look beyond the temporal to the eternal, beyond the passing to the permanent, and beyond the works of man to the very works of God. He can see beyond the ruins to the reality of God in all of it, in fulfilling His purposes. And even in that day of small things, right, we know the verse, opposition, harassment, weakness, discouragement, he can nevertheless lift his gaze beyond and put it all in the story of what the all-powerful God is accomplishing and one day will be complete.

And you see what a wonderful change. He has received a perspective corrected, right? It’s something that we all need, right? Brothers and sisters always have our perspective corrected by the Word of God. We need again and again and again this corrected perspective. and in the fatigue and stress and heartaches of all the dark and discouraging and truly demonic things going on in the world all around us, and even in the blackness and failures of our own hearts, we need a perspective that is corrected, that reminds us that God, our Almighty God, is yet working out His purposes, and He will bring His plans to fruition. And even though it all seems bleak and stressful and lost and broken, like everything is spiraling in the drain, even yet God’s spirit has come to rest on his son. And that son will one day make all things new, even as this has begun with his work. And you, if you belong to Him, this Jesus, if you’re united to Him, you have the promise of a home in glory wherein righteousness dwells, where you will enjoy that beatific vision and the presence of Christ for all eternity.

What a transformation of our perspective, indeed, to look beyond. And we, like Zechariah, need to see that even in the days of small things, Our small things are part of that greater tapestry that God is weaving together, and will continue to do so until the glory of His name is manifest truly throughout all of the earth.

And we know this, right, of course. Right? We know this. This is what faith is. And you recall from that great chapter from Hebrews, chapter 11, speaks of this again and again. It tells us what in verse 1, Hebrews 11, 1. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence, the confidence, the proof, the conviction of things not seen. It’s seen through the things visible to the invisible, believing God’s Word in all that it tells us. You know, it’s when we grasp the future promises of God with a trusting life of faith in the present, even when we see little or zero of them coming about in the here and the now.

And it’s a call to what? We must what in response to this? We trust. We trust. We believe what He tells us. This is the whole hall of faith, Hebrews 11, right? What is it that defines, when we look at this, what is it that defines them all? It’s faith. It’s faith amidst all of that that’s going on, right?

It says again and again, they endured, they endured looking to, seeing by faith from the visible to the one who is invisible. And they learn that greater lesson of seeing the visible by the invisible, the temporal by the eternal, the human by way of the divine. It’s their corrected perspective. And oh, Zechariah needed that corrective. He needed that vision change, even as you and I need that corrective, that same corrective over and over and over again.

As the world lies to us, as our hearts lie to us, And isn’t it wonderful, right, that the Lord has not left us in the futility of despondency of our own thoughts to grow up around and try to make sense of it all. And for this we must praise Him, brothers and sisters. Praise Him that He’s given us His perfect, sufficient, infallible Word for you and for I. And what does it do? What does it do again for Zechariah and for us? It gives us the power and the encouragement to live our days, even today, for that glorious day when Christ will be glorified in all the earth.

There were those all around Zechariah reminding him of the little pathetic temple, the disaster that was before them, and what was remaining of what once was great. Nevertheless, he’s given a vision, a vision to allow him to see that regardless of the pathetic factors of his life or the discouraging state of things in our eyes, in man’s eyes, nevertheless, this vision empowered him to know that his work in building the kingdom of God, the part that he played, was critical. Why? Because it was part of God’s plan. His work was meaningful. It mattered.

And we need to remember this as well. We have every earthly, temporal, worldly reason to be discouraged and beaten down and depressed and stressed and fatigued and on and on. I feel it too. But we must, like Zechariah, see beyond these hard times, beyond our own sinful hearts, beyond the world’s seeming victory and advancement against all that is good and right and beautiful and true.

Because the gates of hell, we have the sure word from scripture, will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. That has meaning, that’s important, that’s significant. And we have an even greater revelation than Zechariah. Yet the final future is yet future. We’ve already been united to Christ and are already citizens of the heavenly realm. We are not fully consummated. The Lord has us here for a reason.

We have work to do. And it’s an important work, right? What do we have? What is the primary mission of the church? It’s the great commandments and the great commission. We are to love our God and our neighbor for real in all that that means. That’s a challenge. It’s a challenge for us. And we are to work. as we can to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. And through that, the Lord will and is doing what? Building his kingdom for sure, for certain. And so what do we do?

What do we love is a better question behind that. What is it that we love? What holds our affection? Is it your desire in life and in all that you do to reflect the love of Christ? Or is it more important to you to reflect His love or to make sure that everyone knows that you have the right position about each and every cultural issue of our day? Which is it? Which do you love? What do you love most? We’ll have to bring this to a close, right?

Our check-in with Zechariah. But for now, let us remember Dear Christian, remember that our Lord is sovereign. He has scouted the earth. He will send back out to the ends of the earth the chariots of God and He will bring final peace. That’s not merely an abstract cosmic tale.

It is the very promise of God for your good, for your encouragement, for your life, for your hope, and your peace, and it is enjoyed by faith, brothers and sisters, by faith. We have but to believe. Oh, how we need faith. And let us remember, too, that because of His promises, the certainty of that promise, We should and could and can be encouraged and confident to live our lives knowing, no matter how seemingly small, that no work for the kingdom of Christ, no work to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth is ever in vain. So go from here, dear people. Believing and trusting this word from Zechariah, this truth of the gospel, even from the Old Testament, Go from here refreshed and encouraged and even emboldened as you do, to live for Him, to live for this One who made you new. And as you go, to tell others where life alone is found in that selfsame Jesus who gave His life, who lived and died and rose again, that we would have life. a new heart and a home in glory. Praise your King, dear people. Praise this Jesus in faith.

Let’s pray. Our great Heavenly Father, we are so humbled in your presence. We’re so aware of our weakness and our failings. Lord, we pray that even in all of that, that we would be aware even more of your greater love, your greater success, your promise. And we’d be changed by that. We praise you for your work in our lives and for your love in giving your son, that we would truly have life eternal before you.

And so we pray, even now as your people, help us to maintain faith and trust in your providence, in your person, in your work through Jesus, and in your sovereign working in this world, and even in this society. Give us the grace to love those who hate, to embrace those with whom we disagree, and help us to show love, the love of Christ to even those most difficult to show love. Give us hearts that believe you when you say that vengeance is yours. and that we are to bless and help and pray for those in need, speaking the truth in love, protect us from falling short on either side of that, but to truly stand on the truth in love. Lord, we pray, protect us from our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, and give us strength for this week until we can come again and be refreshed and reminded again of your great love for your people.

Bless us, Holy Father, as we seek to walk and work in your will for your purposes and for your glory. And we pray now, even as our Lord has taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.