Last SD in John chapter Nine

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2016 11:28 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  Last SD on John 9

My Worship Time     

            Message of the verses:  In our SD yesterday I said that we were finished looking at John chapter nine, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to quote the concluding remarks that Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote in his commentary.  I have used his quotations from this chapter of his commentary on John chapter nine earlier, and mentioned how I love the title he has for this 9^th chapter of John, “The Blind Man Calls Their Bluff.”  So we will look at the last few paragraphs from his commentary.

            “Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5).  The only people who cannot see the light are blind people and those who refuse to look, those who make themselves blind.  The beggar was physically blind and spiritual blind, yet both his eyes and his heart were opened.  Why?  Because he listened to the Word, believed it, obeyed, and experienced the grace of God.  The Pharisees had good physical vision, but they were blind spiritually.  Had they listened to the Word and sincerely considered the evidence, they too would have believed on Jesus Christ and been born again.

            “In what sense did the Pharisees ‘see’?  They saw the change in the blind beggar and could not deny that he had been healed.  They could not deny that he had been healed.  They saw the might works that Jesus performed.  Even Nicodemus, one of their number, was impressed with the Lord’s miracles (John 3:2).  If they had examined the evidence with honesty, they would have seen the truth clearly.  ‘If any man wills to do His [God’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine’ (John 7:17, literal translation).  ‘And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life’ (John 5:40).

            “John 10 is actually a continuation of our Lord’s ministry to the Pharisees.  The healing of the blind beggar is the background (John 10:21).  In fact, the word translated ‘cast out’ in John 9:35 is translated ‘puts forth’ in John 10:4.  The beggar was cast out of the synagogue but taken by the Good Shepherd and added to His flock!  The emphasis in John 10 is on Jesus Christ, the Good and True Shepherd, as opposed to the Pharisees who were false shepherds.

            “We never meet this healed beggar again, but surely the man followed Jesus closely and was among those who witnessed for Him.  We hope that he was able to win his fearful parents to the Lord.  While being excommunicated from the synagogue was certainly a painful experience for him, he certainly found in his fellowship with Jesus Christ much more spiritual help and encouragement than he could have ever found in the Jewish traditions.

            “Even today, there are people who must choose between Christ and family, or Christ and traditional religion.

            “The blind beggar made the right choice, even though the cost was great.

            ‘The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day’ (Prov. 4:18).”

            Although Dr. Wiersbe stole some of my thunder from the tenth chapter of John it was well worth it to me to read and quote this section from his commentary, as always he puts the cookies on the shelf where we can reach them.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To remember that there are people who are steeped in false religions and traditions and be mindful that there are times when the Lord will allow me to talk to them about Jesus Christ, the true Light of the World.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to trust the Lord as I go through some physical testing at this time to show me what He wants me to know in order to grow in His grace.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:4-5) “4. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so too we might walk in newness of life.  5. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The Publican” (Luke 18:13).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Jesus tell Mary Magdalene not to do?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/25/2016 11:58 AM                                                   

Spiritual Blindness Results in Doom (John 9:41b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/24/2016 6:45 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Spiritual Blindness Results in Doom

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  John 9:41b

            Message of the verse:  “but since you say, ‘we see,’ your sin remains.”

            These are the very condemning words that close out this 9^th chapter of the book of John and we will look at them this morning.

            I realize that when we studied the book of Mark that we learned about the unpardonable sin and wrote about it then, a sin that many scholars have said could only be committed while Jesus Christ was on the earth, and it was claiming that the miracles that Jesus was performing were done in the power of the devil and not in the power of the Holy Spirit.  People had got so far out of whack with their thinking that this is what they believed.  Now in this last part of verse 41 we see that Jesus tells these Pharisees that their sin remained.  What sin was He talking about?  I have to say that it is similar to the unpardonable sin in that they had seen some great and powerful miracles that Jesus did, they had had wonderful times listening to the truth that He spoke, or in fact should have had wonderful times listening to His messages to them, and yet they turned their backs on Jesus and that is why they were to be condemned for unbelief, for unbelief in Jesus Christ as their Messiah, as their Savior, and as their Lord.  Let us go to Matthew 12:32 “"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”  This is Matthews words about the unpardonable sin.  Hebrews 6:1-6 says “4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”  These verses surely tell the story of these Pharisees.  “29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:29-31).”

            In Matthew 15:13-14 we read of what Jesus said to some other Pharisees:  “13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.’”  MacArthur adds “Those shocking words, ‘Let them alone,’ reveal that God will sometimes judge directly unrepentant sinners by abandoning them (and even hardening them) in their unbelief (cf. Hos. 4:17; Rom. 1:18, 24, 26, 28).”

            MacArthur concludes his commentary on chapter nine by writing “Those who, like the blind beggar, acknowledge their spiritual blindness and turn to the Light ‘will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life’ (John 8:12).  But those who, like the Pharisees, persist in loving the darkness rather than the Light (3:19) will continue to wander aimlessly in the gloom (12:35; 1 John 2:11), bereft of any spiritual vision (Matt. 6:23).  The first group is destined to spend eternity in the glorious light of heaven (Rev. 22:5); the latter will be condemned to the horrifying darkness of eternal hell (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Understand the truth of this short part of verse 41 and be able to tell others about it.  Not to take these truths for granted because I have been saved from the wrath of God to come, but be so very thankful that He has saved me, and then live for Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be ready to tell those who do not know this truth so that they can know it and can be saved.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Venison” (Genesis 27:1-3).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who prayed, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner?’”

Answer in our next SD.

7/24/2016 7:13 AM

Divine Presence (Zech. 8:3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2016 4:51 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Divine Presence

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zechariah 8:3

Message of the verses:  3 “Thus says the LORD, ’I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’”

First of all notice that this is the second “Thus says the LORD” and so we are looking at the second point from this eight chapter of Zechariah.  Another thing that John MacArthur points out is that what the Lord is showing us is the Shekinah presence of God is what is seen here and there is as series of places where this is seen throughout the OT, NT, which will go into the Millennial Kingdom, and then in the eternal kingdom.  You can follow it from the beginnings of the NT all the way until it is seen in the eternal kingdom.  When the tabernacle was built as described in the book of Exodus we saw the Shekinah glory between the two cherubim on top of the Ark of the Covenant.  When the tabernacle was finished the glory of the Lord filled it so much that no one could go into it for a while.  Now before that His glory was seen in the Garden of Eden, but it was not there for very long, for after Adam fell His glory would next be seen in the tabernacle.  Next we see it fill the temple that Solomon built, but years later we see it left there as recorded in the book of Ezekiel who saw it in a vision.  Ezekiel 9-11 is where this is spoken of and on my blog I did a study of the book of Ezekiel.  There is a word that speaks of the glory of God leaving and that word is Ichabad as it actually means the glory has departed. 

Now the Jews in Zechariah’s day had never seen the glory of the Lord for the temple had been destroyed, and before that it had left so all they knew about it was only a memory.  In the 42^nd chapter of Ezekiel he has a similar vision of the glory of the Lord returning as we see here in Zechariah.  Now it is good to remember that chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel speak of the Millennial Kingdom, the temple, the city, the sacrifices, and other things that pertain to it.  “1 Then he brought me out into the outer court, the way toward the north; and he brought me to the chamber which was opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north. 2 Along the length, which was a hundred cubits, was the north door; the width was fifty cubits. 3 Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery corresponding to gallery in three stories (Ezekiel 42:1-3).”  What we see here is a great big building, a fantastic facility, a huge temple.  Now as we follow what Ezekiel is talking about we come to chapter 43:2 which says “2 and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.” 

We can also look at the glory of the Lord in the Person of Jesus Christ as seen in John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Now we know what the Jews did to the Lord Jesus Christ to get rid of His glory on earth, as the crucified Him.  1Co 2:8 “the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” 

John MacArthur writes “Now I go back to Zechariah and this is essentially what Zechariah is saying. The Lord is going to come back and the word return and dwell are so wonderful. The word dwell means to abide or reside or settle down. He's going to come back and He's going to transform Jerusalem into a city of truth. Boy won't that be something. You know the names for Jerusalem in the Bible aren't very complimentary. Did you know that? Did you know that in Lamentations Chapter 1, Jerusalem is called the unclean city? Did you know in Isaiah 1:21, Jerusalem is called a harlot and a murderer? Did you know that in Revelation Chapter 11 Jerusalem is called Sodom and Egypt?

But there's coming a day when Jerusalem will be called a city of truth. You know why? Because the God of truth will reside there. And it is also called, look at the next line, the mountain of the Lord of hosts. What does that mean? That's headquarters for the army in the kingdom by which He will rule with a rod of iron. It's also called the holy mountain. Why? Because it is the residence of the holy God. In other words, God is going to come back and he's going to live in Jerusalem in the kingdom. You can't believe what ecstasy this could bring to a Jew in Zechariah's time, think of it. God's going to come back.”

7/23/2016 5:22 PM

   

           

Spiritual Blindness Rejects Spiritual Sight (John 9:41a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2016 9:20 AM

My Worship Time                                             Focus:  Spiritual Blindness Rejects Spiritual Sight

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 9:41a

            Message of the verses:  “Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin;”

            When you ask a question that shows that you expect a negative answer and you don’t get one then I suppose that you are a bit surprised at that answer as I am sure that the Pharisees were.  I also believe that this added to the anger that was building up in the Pharisees for Jesus. 

            John MacArthur quotes John Calvin in his commentary:  “He is blind who, aware of his own blindness, seeks a remedy to cure his disease.  In this way the meaning will be, ‘If you would acknowledge your disease, it would not be altogether incurable; but now because you think that you are in perfect health, you continue in a desperate state.’  When he says that they who are blind have no sin, this does not excuse ignorance, as if it were harmless, and were placed beyond the reach of condemnation.  He only means that the disease may easily be cured, when it is truly felt; because, when a blind man is desirous (longing for) to obtain deliverance, God is ready to assist him; but they who, insensible to their diseases, despise the grace of God, are incurable.”

            Solomon may have had these men in mind when he wrote Proverbs 26:12 “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”  “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel (Pr. 12:15).”  Isaiah 5:21 says “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!”

            Warren Wiersbe writes the following on this verse “Our Lord’s reply was a paradox.  ‘If you were blind, you would be better off.  But you claim to see.  Therefore, you are guilty!’  Blindness would at least be an excuse for not knowing what was going on.   But they did know what was going on.  Jesus had performed many miracles and the religious leaders ignored the evidence to make a right decision. 

            “Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12; 9:5).  The only people who cannot see the light are blind people and those who refuse to look, those who make themselves blind.  The beggar was physically blind and spiritually blind, yet both his eyes and his heart were opened.  Why?  Because he listened to the Word, believed it, obeyed, and experienced the grace of God.  The Pharisees had good physical vision, but they were blind spiritually.  Had they listened to the Word and sincerely considered the evidence, they too would have believed on Jesus Christ and been born again.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The most important thing a person can do is to understand they are spiritually blind, receive Christ, and walk with Him for the rest of their lives.  Once I was born again in January of 1974 that took place, as I was no longer blind, however I must not be blind to what the Word of God teaches me as I am growing up in the Lord, as I could be blinded to some of the great truths of the Word of God if I don’t continue to study it every day.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to study the Word of God to learn what the Lord wants me to do.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:1-4) “1.  What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  2.  May it never be!  How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  3.  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  4.  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we to might walk in newness of life.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Twelve.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What kind of meat did Isaac send Esau to get?”  (He was hoping that he would be a dear son and get what he wanted to eat.)

Answer in our next SD.

7/23/2016 9:56 AM

Divine Punishment (Zech. 8:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/22/2016 12:26 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Divine Punishment

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zechariah 8:1-2

            Message of the verses:  “1 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’”  “So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, ’Thus says the LORD of hosts, "I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.  "But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster’ (Zech. 1:14-15).”

            As you look at the verses in chapter eight and compare them with the verses in chapter one you can see that they are very similar.  One may wonder what the Jealously of God is all about, but it is one of God’s attributes, and with all of His attributes they are holy and perfect.  You can also see that God is upset in these verses we have looked at, and again that too is holy.  MacArthur answers why God is upset “Because God has a divine covenant with the people of His love and God has seen the nations, the nations pit at Israel and oppress Israel and go beyond the bounds that He had prescribed.  And that’s what He means in 1:15 when He says, I want them to have a little affliction, but you pushed it too far.  And He says there’s coming a time when my jealousy is going to result in judging your nations that overdid it with Israel.”

            We have to go back once again to when God called Abraham who is the father of Israel and in speaking to Abraham God is speaking concerning the nation of Israel when He says in verse three of Genesis chapter twelve “3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”  I have heard that you can chart the rise and fall of major nations by how they treated the Jews, and I believe it.  Nations today that are not treating the nation of Israel rightly just because they are Jews will answer to God, and I believe that will be sooner rather than later.

            I want to quote what MacArthur writes about the word jealous.  “The Hebrew says, ‘I will be jealous.’  And the word jealous, ‘quinethe.’ An interesting word, it really means redness of face.  When somebody gets strong emotion, their face gets red.  And God is saying I burn to do this.  God is saying I will some day literally burn with zeal for Israel.  When I can no longer bear the estrangement from my people brought about by their sin.  When I can no longer tolerate the efforts of Israel’s enemy to destroy her and some day my jealousy will reach out in vengeance against those nations that have persecuted my people.  And you know as well as I do that the day when the Lord sets up the kingdom is a day of terrible, fearful judgment on the nations of the world that are unbelieving, right?” 

            He goes on to help us explain about what God’s jealousy is all about:  “Now when the Bible speaks of the jealousy of God, it doesn’t mean envy, bu tit is the boundless zeal that comes from a God who loves holiness and hates sin, who loves His own people who are godly and hates the ungodly.  It is the zeal of righteousness.  It is the zeal of love, not envy.  And because His love for Zion is so great He is jealous of her account and His love against those who oppress her, manifests itself in judgment.” 

7/22/2016 1:01 PM

           

           

           

Spiritual Blindness Refuses to Admit its Condition (John 9:40)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/22/2016 11:31 AM

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Spiritual Blindness Refuses to Admit its Condition

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  John 9:40

            Message of the verses:  We have today a very long title to this SD for a very short SD.  “40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?’”

            Now we have to understand that the question that the Pharisees asked Jesus when looked at in the Greek language expects a negative answer.  MacArthur adds “Surely Jesus could not be suggesting that they were spiritually blind like the common people who did not know the Law (7:49)?  After all, they were the elite, self-proclaimed experts in the Law and devout disciples of Moses (9:28).”  “Some of the Pharisees near him overheard this and said, "So we’re blind, too, are we?’(John 9:40 Phillips).”  My thoughts are that they though too much of themselves and they knew that Jesus was telling them that they were blind to the spiritual things that He was teaching and I am sure that this bruised their egos.  The problem was that they refused to admit that they were blind, and because of that they remained blind.  They were missing the only chance they had to be saved from Satan and from damning sin, but they refused that offer.

            Warren Wiersbe writes the following on this verse in his commentary in a chapter he entitled “The Blind Man Calls Their Bluff.”  The listening Pharisees heard what Jesus said and it disturbed them.  ‘Are we blind also?’ they asked, expecting a negative answer.  Jesus had already called them ‘blind leaders of the blind (Matt. 15:14), so they had their answer.  They were blinded by their pride, their self-righteousness, their tradition, and their false interpretation of the Word of God.”  We will look at the answer that Jesus give them in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The Bible has little if anything to say about pride and it is something I pray about everyday that the Lord will keep me away from it.  Pride can get you into nothing but trouble, so I need to stay away from it and trust the Lord to care for all of my needs.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Stay away from prideful thoughts and actions.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans. 6:1-4).  “1. What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  2.  May it never be!  How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  3.  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death.  4.  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jonathan” (1 Samuel 2:1-14).

Today’s Bible question:  “How many books are called minor prophets?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/22/2016 11:55 AM

Second Intro to Zechariah Chapter Eight

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/21/2016 9:19 PM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  2^nd Introduction to Zech. 8

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zechariah 8

            Message of the verses:  Those who have read my Spiritual Diaries have seen that I have a great problem with what is known as Covenant Theology, and I am not trying to say that every part of Covenant Theology is wrong, but what I have a problem with is how they deal with the nation of Israel.  If one takes the time to look at the Old Testament they will find that most all of it has to do with the nation of Israel, and if one looks at parts of the New Testament they will find that much of it has to do with the nation of Israel.  I site Romans 9-11 as a great example of the apostle Paul writing to the Romans about the future of the nation of Israel.  Covenant Theology says that all of the promises of Israel are now given to the Church, taken away from Israel.  Nothing in the Word of God would lead you to believe this.  Some Covent Theologists even say that the church began in the Garden of Eden.  The reason that I have such problems with this is because I believe that Satan is and was the one who started these lies, and I believe that he has done this because he wants the church to be against Israel, something in past centuries they were.  As I was listening to the sermon that goes along with this eight chapter of Zechariah by John MacArthur, he stated that Zechariah chapter eight is a chapter that totally goes against Covenant Theology, and I guess that is why I am son ready to begin looking at it with the help of John MacArthur.  He entitles his sermon on this chapter “Turning the Fast into a Feast.”

            As he begins his sermon he speaks of God’s love for the nation of Israel, and so we will quote some things from that sermon at this point in our Spiritual Diary:  “We really don't question His love for the church, we who are Christians, we who study the New Testament, but perhaps we're not as clear about His love for Israel. In Deuteronomy 7:6 it says, "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people who are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt."

“So here you have a couple of mentions of the love that God had for Israel and the consequence of that love, the calling of Israel, and the deliverance of Israel from out of bondage in Egypt. In individualizing that love we could note 2 Samuel 12:24 and I'll just read this to you. It says, "And David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and went in under her and lay with her and she bore a son and he called his name Solomon and the Lord loved him." Here then is the individual love that God has for the individual child, the individual person who is in His family.

“In the Psalms there is a great expression of God's love for His people in many places. And we could look at many, many verses, but if we just would remind ourselves, say for example, of Psalm 91, it would be sufficient to assure us of the tremendous love of God. And it talks about what God is going to do to preserve the object of His love. "The one who dwells in the secret place of the most high." Then over in Isaiah Chapter 49, I told you we were going to go in a hurry. Isaiah 49, verse 14, one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible speaking of God's love. "But Zion said," and Zion refers to the children of Israel, "the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me." And then God answers, "Can a woman forget her nursing child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Ye, they may forget yet will I not forget thee. Behold I have engraved thee upon the palms of my hands."”

He goes on to site other passages in the OT about how the Lord love the nation of Israel, passages from the book of Malachi chapter three and verses 16-17:  “16  Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."”

We will now look at another quote from this sermon about the history of why the Jews were in Babylon.  “Now remember in Zechariah's day and we'll run this by you quickly and then we'll just look at these principles as we go through the chapter, but remember in Zechariah's day the Jews had been in Babylon in captivity for 70 years. They were taken there when Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the city and flattened the temple and wiped out everything. They were taken to Babylon for a 70 year period. This was to purge them once and for all from idolatry. They had come back to the land and under Haggai and Zechariah, they are beginning to finish the building of the temple and the wall and the city.

“Many years have gone by and they are now really at the work, finally. And God had promised them through the words of Haggai and the words of Zechariah that the city will be rebuilt. That the temple will be restored. That the wall will be complete. That they will be restored to their land. But God has said all through the prophecy of Zechariah that that is only like a token or a preliminary to what God is going to do ultimately in the restoration of the nation in the millennial kingdom. For some of you who may not know what I mean by that, there is coming a time in human history according to the Bible when God is going to send Jesus Christ back to earth to reign on the earth for a thousand year period in a kingdom, a literal kingdom. And that kingdom will find its concentration and its center in the nation Israel. And there will be a throne set up in the city of Jerusalem and the throne will be occupied by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in His resurrection body.

“And in that thousand year period every promise ever given to the nation will be fulfilled. And so here all that Zechariah has been saying about the rebuilding of the restoration temple and the restoration city is only a preliminary or a token or only a down payment as it were on the ultimate inheritance that will come in the millennial kingdom. And so we see God's love here manifest in this marvelous thing that God is going to do for Israel. His love was seen in bringing them back from Babylon and His love is seen in its most magnanimous manner by seeing what he will do in the millennial kingdom.”

We will now remember the question asked in chapter seven and once again quote from this sermon on this point:  “Now Chapter 8 also is a continuation of Chapter 7. Now you'll remember in Chapter 7 that there was a question asked and the question asked was is it necessary for us to keep having these ceremonial fasts that we've been having, because ever since the city had been destroyed and ever since the Babylonians had come in and wiped them out the Jews had established a whole series of fasts, which were times of mourning and times of sorrow and times of bitterness and in each of those fasts, they would go without food and they would weep and they would wail and they would go through certain things like that. Well, now that the city was being rebuilt, now that the temple was being restored, now that there was a new revival of life and everything looked great, a group of people came from the town of Bethel to the priest and the prophets and they said is it necessary to keep on having these fasts now that everything seems to be so rosy.

“And so there is an answer to that question that comes in Chapter 7 and Chapter 8. The answer in Chapter 7 is negative and the answer in Chapter 8 is positive. Now if you were here last time you'll understand what I mean. Because in Chapter 7 there is a negative response insofar as God says to these people who are asking the questions, look I never started the fast to begin with. Secondly, you've never observed the fasts as unto me anyway. It's just been pure ritual. Remember that? And the very fact that the way they stated the question at the end of verse 3 of Chapter 7, "Do we have to keep doing this as we have done so many years?" It's getting to be a real drag.”

Now we will look at his introduction “There are two basic divisions to the Chapter and I'll just call them to your attention. Here are a few little notes. Verse 1 gives us the key phrase. "And again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying." Now look at verse 18, "And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me saying." Now you have two words of the Lord here and divide...this divides the Chapter into its two parts. In the first one, verses 1-17, God gives them the promises of the kingdom. From verses 18-23, God tells them the results of that kingdom or the results of that fulfillment of the promise. So really you have two times here when the word of the Lord of hosts comes to the prophet Zechariah. Once to describe the kingdom and the second time to describe the results of such a thing.”

“So what you have here is God presenting the fullness of His program in the millennium for Israel. It's the complete picture and incidentally the name Jehovah appears 22 times in the 8^thChapter. Boy you say what are you making all this stuff about? Why are you making such an issue? Because I want you to know this is God's message, no question. All right, let me go through the ten promises. We're not going to spend much time on them. I just want to draw them across your thinking. Here are the ten elements to God's program for Israel and the kingdom. And I want you to listen carefully folks, because you're going to be there if you're a Christian and you need really to know what to do when you get there.”

The highlighted part is what we will begin to look at in our next SD, the ten promises that we will find in this eight chapter of Zechariah.

7/21/2016 9:56 PM