God Promises a Glorious Future if they Simply Trust and Obey Him
Intro: Well morning friends and visitors. My name is Matt Johnson and today we continue our study of Ezra, but we’re looking at Zechariah. Both the prophet Haggai and Zechariah encouraged Gods people to rebuild the temple and be faithful to Gods Word in the days of Ezra…
Prayer: Well friends, when 50,000 Jews returned from Babylon to Israel in 539BC – they found their beliefs were now in THE MINORITY. After 70 years in Babylon the Promised Land was full of other cultures and religions who had no fear of God’s Word. GODS PEOPLE were now living in a post Jewish society that in some ways is similar to Australia, which is a post-Christian society. So for the Jews A PARALYSIS kicked in. Despite good, godly intentions, everyone became afraid to offend their neighbours and after 19 YEARS they still hadn’t built the temple. THIS WAS A PROBLEM because God’s temple was the keeper of God’s TRUTH and without TRUTH no one can live. The focus in today’s passage verse 3 and verses 16-17 is on truth…
In 2021 – TWO CHRISTIAN BOOKS made it on to the New York Times Best Seller list. (Slide 2) The first was “Live not by Lies” by Rod Dreher and the second was “Live no Lies” by Mark Comer. The problem is that too many “evangelical Christians” are believing the lies of the world. But you can’t really live a lie because lies produce death.
THE DIFFERENCE between truth and lies is that one leads to life and the other leads to death. It’s not that we shouldn’t live by lies. It’s that you can’t live by lies. God made the world in such a way that when we live in line with His truth – life works. When we reject God’s truth and embrace lies – life begins to unravel. This is simply the nature of gravity, the nature of love and the nature of community. It is the nature of ALL created things. REJECT THE INTRINSIC NATURE of a thing; try to turn it into something which it is not and it will no longer produce life or blessing. Humans do not determine what is truth. Truth determines what humans reap. You cannot live by lies.
Now the idea in these two books comes from a famous Russian named ALEXANDER SOLZHENITZYN. In 1974 when Solzhenitzyn finally fled Communist Russia – he wrote a short treatise called “Live Not by Lies”. In the background were all the lies of atheism, communism and the KGB. In the background was the absolute carnage of the USSR that embraced all those lies. Lies do not produce good life. So a society built on lies must become TOTALITARIAN to suppress the discontent of a populace that is suffering the carnage of its lies. So in 1974, (having lived through all this carnage) Solzhenitsyn wrote “Live not by Lies” (Slide 3). I’d say this is THE LEAST Christian’s should do. Say no to lies. Stop parroting lies. Speak only Gods truth…
As we begin TODAY I want to show you three things from the opening of Zechariah’s prophecy and then, we’ll jump to chapter 8.
Show: (Slide 4; Zech.1:1-6)
Now as you can see Zechariah starts to prophecy in the eighth month, in the second year of King Darius. This means Zechariah starts prophesying 2 months after Haggai. The messages are the same. Build the temple. Walk in the truth of God’s Word.
The second thing you’ll notice is God says; “Return to me and I will return to you.” The Jews claim to be Gods people, but again their hearts and their actions and their cowardice is telling another story. They haven’t really returned to God properly.
Finally, Zechariah and Haggai’s message is much the same. Last week, Haggai told God’s people (3 times) to GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT TO THEIR WAYS (Hag.1:5, 7; 2:15). Today, in verse 6, Zechariah says; “Did not Gods words and decrees overtake your ancestors.” This is Zechariah’s version of give careful thought to your ways. He’s saying; If you follow the stupidity of your ancestors (who reaped judgment) what do you think is going to happen to you? Give careful thought to your ways.
Perhaps this is a message the Church needs to hear again today.
Point 1: God Speaks of Jerusalem as the City of Truth
Show: Zech.8:1-3 (READ)
Explain: Well please note – that Jerusalem could be called the Faithful City OR the City of Truth. Only context determines the better translation. The commentaries I was reading – all believed it should be read “City of Truth” – because verse 16-17 talk about God’s truth. But faithful still carries the right idea – because Israel is to be faithful to Gods truth. Now this is the heart of spiritual warfare. 1) God is truth. 2) Satan is the father of lies. That’s why Satan is trying to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem because Jerusalem is going to be Gods City of truth.
Now these are verses may cause some of you CONSTERNATION – because God says He is jealous for Mount Zion. The mountains upon which Jerusalem is built are often collectively called Mt Zion. This is where Abraham was close to sacrificing his own son, Isaac. But God put an end to child sacrifice by providing a substitute ram. Mt Zion is the hill David bought from ARANUAH THE JEBUSITE and made an altar to God. Mt Zion was originally a threshing floor used to sort the wheat from the chaff. (Some suggest it may still serve that purpose today). Eventually Solomon built the first temple for Yahweh on this site – and GODS SHEKINAH GLORY came and filled the Holy of Holies.
So God speaks of being JEALOUS for Mount Zion. Now whenever God speaks of being jealous for something, it’s because God considers that thing his sacred possession. God is jealous for His PEOPLE because they belong to Him. God is jealous for our worship – because all true worship belongs to God. And God now expresses His jealousy for Mt Zion – because this mountain – somehow belongs to Him (Ex.20:5; 34:14; Deut.4:24).
Now I know that today there is a lot of POLITICS about who Mount Zion belongs to whether, the Jews or the Muslims. God says it belongs to Him. But why do so much international politics now revolve around this mountain? Is it a coincidence? Or is the spiritual battle taking place in the invisible realm overflowing into the natural world?
I want to make two comments for your consideration. First, I know that Jesus spoke of the Temple (on Mt Zion). He said every stone would be thrown down and Mt Zion would be trodden on by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles came to an end. So Jesus speaks of God allowing His Temple on Mount Zion to be destroyed because God is no longer A) drawing people to Mt Zion for truth. INSTEAD, He is drawing people to Jesus for truth. Something has changed.
But the second thing – I want you to think about in the context of spiritual warfare is that there are now TWO Islamic Mosques on the Temple Mount (the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque). Is that just a coincidence. If God is jealous for Mt Zion and used it as a beacon of truth, WHO IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM might desperately want to possess Mt Zion for himself because of his overweening pride? (PAUSE) That’s right Satan, the father of lies. If he can take Mount Zion and convince the world that Islam is the final revelation of Gods truth a great lie can be thrust upon the world. But that lie is directly against Jesus.
Let me show you just one Sura from the Quran – that is already costing Christians in northern Africa their life. (Slide 7 – READ). Now a wise person might want to ask Islam – who is going to inflict the painful punishment? Is Islam itself going to inflict painful punishment on Christians if we keep worshipping Jesus? (I think that is a reasonable question to ask). You see the final Revelation of GODS TRUTH on Mt Zion (before Satan took up residence) was that Jesus is LORD and one day he will judge the living and the dead.
Apply: Here’s the point – coming back to Zechariah 8. GOD’S ABSOLUTE TRUTH about life and death and salvation was going to radiate forth from Mt Zion. That’s why God is jealous to possess Mt Zion. Now in Zechariah’s day – that SAVING TRUTH going forth from Mt Zion – was still in the form of a distant prophecy. Zechariah 9 speaks of a Messiah who will come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zech.9). Zechariah 12 speaks of a Messiah who causes a spirit of grace and prayer being poured out on God’s people (Zech.12).
Zechariah 13 says that when the Messiah comes a fountain for the cleansing of sin and impurity will be opened (Zech.13). And Zechariah 14 speaks of a still future day when the Messiah will reclaim Mt Zion for God because it is His possession (Zech.14). The point is – Gods final, ULTIMATE SAVING TRUTH that went forth from Mt Zion (and brings salvation to all who believe) came in the form of a person – humbly born in a stable. A person who worked miracles. A person who was with God in the beginning and a person through whom all things were made. A person who showed us how much God loves us by dying on the cross for our sins. This was the promise of Judaism. This is the truth of Christianity. The Messiah has come. He is both God and a descendant of King David who took upon Himself all the sins of the world, died on the cross to save us and three days later – rose from the grave. THIS IS THE TRUTH that many Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians both embrace with joy. BUT THIS IS THE TRUTH that all forms of Islam fundamentally deny. So what is truth?
Point 2: God Promises that His Truth will bring Peace and Blessing
Show: Zech.8:9-13 (Slide 8)
Explain: Well please note that THE CALL to let your hands be strong is a call to courage, conviction and action. THE PROBLEM is not really with their hands. THE PROBLEM is with their hearts. They’ve become cowards. That’s why God tells them; “Do not be afraid.” They are just like the Jews who refused to go into the Promised Land because they were scared of all the giants. Just like Israel who refused to take on the Philistines because they were scared of the giant. But true men of faith, (the sort of men God wants us to be) fix their eyes on Jesus, make their hands strong by taking hold of the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and they just march forward.
If you do not know Satan’s two main weapons in spiritual warfare are lies and fear. The way you defeat lies is with the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). Truth defeats lies. Now the way you overcome fear is with the shield of faith. Faith stares fear in the face and calls it a sissy.
Satan’s attacks are always the same – lies and fear. So God calls these men to let their hands be strong (overcome their fear) – because what they are fighting for is TRUTH. God tells them Jerusalem is going to be the City of God’s Truth and the Temple is going to be the keeper of God’s truth. We get a similar idea in 1 Timothy 3:15 where the church, is spoken of, as the pillar and bulwark of Gods truth.
Zechariah next explains that this truth (the truth they are fighting for) is THE KEY to their peace and prosperity. In verse 10 Zechariah says (Read v.10). Please note, that there is not enough wages. No one can go about their business safely. God has turned everyone against their neighbour. Again this is Deuteronomy 28 – Curses for Disobedience. But truly, the people are cursing themselves by not obeying Gods truth. This is just the natural breakdown of society from the loss of truth. When lies, deceit, cheating and stealing become normalised (and no one has a servant heart) the economy always suffers. If suppliers can’t trust people credit disappears and the economy slows. If the wealthy are overly taxed AND services like NDIS are openly abused – everyone begins to lose. Without TRUST, a sense of good STEWARDSHIP, a WORK ETHIC and the rule of law (which God teaches in the Bible) – economics always fails. There are many examples in our world.
The same is true with PEACE. Zechariah speaks of God turning everyone against their neighbour. But again, God doesn’t really need to do it. It just happens. Without common agreement about the sanctity of life, the rule of law and the nature of morality – everyone turns against their neighbour. Welcome to Facebook, or X or Sydney on a Friday night. When people tell lies about their identity, their intentions and basic morality – trust breaks down and we start making up all sorts of PHOBIA WORDS. But some of the phobia’s may in fact be justified. Interestingly, it is usually those secular and religious ideologies that reject Jesus most vehemently that end up being the most volatile and violent. But sadly many Christians (under the guise of being nice and tolerant) participate in this destruction of society by repeating the lies…
Please notice verse 13 speaks of CURSE and BLESSING. This is again Deuteronomy 28. Gods plan for the world was always to bless Israel, so that they might bring God’s blessing to the nations. This was Gods promise to Abraham (Gen.12:2-3). But the Jews in Zechariah’s day (and perhaps the church today) were forfeiting God’s blessing because they were ignoring God’s truth spoken by God’s prophets.
Apply: Truth is life. Truth sets us free. Satan’s lies only steal, kill and destroy. Lies enslave us. And I’d say some of the biggest lies Christians have swallowed today include; 1) Satan does not exist; 2) humans are essentially good and 3) Jesus is not the only way to be saved. All too often I hear “Christians” perpetuating these lies. “Christians” saying things like; “I believe good Muslims (who don’t practice Sharia Law) will go to heaven.” Of course, in Islam a good Muslim is actually one who keeps Sharia. But either way – no Muslim is going to heaven as a good Muslim. Accepting Jesus as your Saviour and Lord is still the only way to be saved. (DO YOU STILL BELIEVE THIS) Romans 10:9 says; Whoever confesses with their mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in their heart God raised him from the dead will be saved (Rom.10:13). Now when we call Jesus Lord it means Yahweh, God. We know this because just a few verses later in Romans 10:13 – it says; “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” This is a quote from Joel 2:32 and LORD means Yahweh. So to be saved you have to accept that Jesus is Yahweh God who died for our sins and three days later rose from the dead. These are all things the Quran denies. So if you say good Muslims are going to heaven – you are denying the Scriptures and that means you are becoming a false prophet or prophetess.
I’d also like to point out – that the minute you make this argument – you turn God into A MONSTER. If you say Muslims and Buddhists can be saved (apart from faith in Jesus) you’re saying God asked his beloved Son to come and die on a cross (the worst death imaginable) – for no good reason. I mean if Jesus’ death and faith in Jesus’ death isn’t necessary for people to be saved – God is pure evil for asking His Son to go through all that for no good reason.
Then I hear “Christians” (even church leaders) talk about 1) a woman’s right over her body or 2) love being love or 3) little boys can be little girls (because I’m a super-noble, caring empath). No. The minute you start saying things that contradict Gods revealed truth in Scripture – you are becoming A FALSE PROPHET. That is serious. You need to repent. You will go to hell for spreading Satan’s lies. Look at how false prophets are condemned. Don’t speak lies that bring death. Speak God’s truth – because it is LIGHT AND LIFE AND PEACE for everyone who believes.
Point 3: God Promises Good if they Walk in His Truth
Show: Zech.8:14-17 (READ)
Explain: Well please notice that when Gods people rebuild the city of truth and are reschooled in Gods truth – God expects them to live that truth. God expects His people to speak truly – which means speaking what God has revealed is truth in the Bible. It’s not what you think is truth. It’s what God says is truth. It means upholding what the Bible says is true in our courts. We do not decide what true justice is and we have no right to be more merciful than God. If God says evil conduct (whether man or woman, adult or child, oppressed or oppressor) must be punished – that is something to be obeyed because all people stand equal before the law. Again, we are not to be people who lie or swear falsely – because notice GOD HATES ALL THIS. If you are telling lies to people about the Christian faith, lies about your spouse or lies to your employer or even lies about your own identity – please know God hates all this. Repent. Come to terms with God’s truth and just submit.
God’s new temple the Church is also built upon God’s truth and it can only be built up by God’s truth. So will you believe Gods truth ultimately revealed in Jesus and through the Scriptures or will you believe and keep sprouting the lies of the world. YOU EITHER BELIEVE what God has revealed in this precious book because he reveals its grandeur to you in Jesus or you don’t. The prophets, Jesus and the apostles ALL believed that every word in Scripture – down to the smallest letter and the least stroke of the pen is God’s Word.
Every prophet and every apostle was iNSPIRED by the Holy Spirit to write exactly what God wanted us to know. The Bible is infallible in that all it communicates to us is trustworthy. But the Bible is also inerrant which means it is without mistakes. Now if you do the work, make the time and begin to obey what Scripture says – you will begin to see the inner coherence and experience the blessings promised. But if you through pride or fear or a desire to be accepted by the world reject what God says – your choice is not life, but death. I say this in love.
When Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn.14:6) he said that in love. Now if you reject the idea that Jesus is the only way for people to be saved I’d say you are very, very close to rejecting Jesus himself as your Saviour and Lord. That is apostasy. THE TRUTH IS Yahweh God should punish you for all your sins and you are far more sinful than you even realise. But instead, Yahweh God came to earth in the man Jesus Christ and took all that you have done wrong, upon himself, so that you could be saved – BECAUSE there was no one else who could do it and no other way you could be saved. God didn’t do this just for kicks or because he is an adrenaline junkie. No! Like a perfect Father who runs into a burning building to save His child, so God came to earth in the man Jesus Christ to save us from this world that is going to burn in hell. God did this because he loved you and God did this so you can be saved so that you can be saved.
Now if you are not yet a Christian and you want to be forgiven, you want to escape the mess and begin to walk in God’s blessing, (so that you can be a blessing) – please raise your hand. Today is a good day to be saved. (Any hands? Anyone ready?) But perhaps you are here today and you consider yourself a Christian (but you are struggling to submit to Gods Word and you know you have been participating in lies) – this is also a good day to be forgiven. I want to ask you one question – “Can you accept that Jesus is the only way to be saved and that God is entirely within His rights to punish and send to hell all those who reject His Son?”
If you can’t accept this – there will be many things in Scripture that you reject – because you haven’t really submitted to Jesus as LORD. You’re saying God has no right to be EXCLUSIVIST. God has no right to PUNISH people. That is pride. I really encourage you to humble yourself, repent, stop saying lies and sincerely apologise to God for ideologically rejecting things in his Word.
Friends, if we love people and we want to see them saved; if we love people and want to see our city and our country walk in God’s blessings for generations to come – we must find courage to continue speaking Gods truth (especially that revealed in Jesus) because all else is sinking sand…
