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good evening to everyone welcome to free grace baptist church no announcements before we begin this evening so I'd like you to turn in your Bibles our call to worship this evening will be a reading from Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 12 12 our call to worship this Lord's Day evening the Word of God who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord being revealed for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground he has no form nor comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hit as it were our faces from him he was despised and we did not esteem him surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by His stripes we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it's Shearer's is silent so he opened not his mouth he was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation for he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people he was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich at his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand then he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities therefore i will divide him a portion with the Great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors amen let's stand and sing our hymn is going to be 315 him number 315 let's stand and sing that together let's be seated one announcement of course is that it is the lord's supper this evening will be observing the Lord's Supper following the the preaching after our prayer time now and after the next Tim followed that following the preaching there will engage in the observe observationally Lord's Supper but let's go to our God now in prayer for many things let us pray Heavenly Father we rejoice in this Lord's Day evening and we thank you God that we can gather together now is the saints of Christ in this place to rejoice in you are God and we do pray that you would help us to do so we know that we need that measure of the Holy Spirit to stir our hearts unto a proper praise of our Blessed triune God and we pray for that now that this gathered assembly would hallo your Most High name we do pray that you would give us the presence of mind and spirit to be engaged joyfully and genuinely in this act of worship as we pray now as we sing as we engage in the preaching of the word we do pray that you would help us and that you would receive all honor and praise we thank you for the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we know that we stand before you not based on anything that we have done in the holiness of our hearts we stand we have salvation eternal life the forgiveness of sins so lean alone by virtue the perfect work of our Lord Jesus Christ and we thank you for that we do know that you sent him in the fullness of the times a born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons and we rejoice in that reality that we've been brought from darkness to light that we've been brought from deadness to life by virtue of your amazing grace and by virtue of the perfect work of our sage or the Lord Jesus we thank you for His perfect work of obedience to your law in the stead of all those who believe we thank you for his death upon Calvary's tree wherein he abhorred the wrath for all those who believe and we rejoice in his victorious and glorious resurrection on the third day his ascension into heaven we thank you that he there ever lives to make intercession for his people we rejoice that we have a righteousness that is not our own but the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to us received by faith alone that we can come before you humbly and with great joy singing the praises of our God and rejoicing in our Christ and we just pray that each and every day you would cause us to so rejoice and we pray now in a special way as we are gathered together a second time on your lord's day that we would now be focused attentive rejoicing in our God as seeking to bring honor to you by these acts of worship we would pray that you be with those who are unwell those with disease and injury we pray that you would strengthen them and lift them up I just caused them to know in the midst of physical suffering the grace of their God the joy of the Savior and that they would be holy resign done to your will and unto the promises of your blessed gospel we do pray that you would bless all those with children we rejoice in the gifts that you give a two-year people we pray that you would watch over each and every mother with child you would strengthen them both mother and child in the womb that you would be with fathers as well and we do pray God for all of these in due time that you would bring forth those children well physically and in due time by the preaching of the word and by your spirit you would cause them to rejoice in our Savior the Lord Jesus we do pray again that you would be with those who are persecuted around the world for the cause of Christ just be with each and every one strengthen our fellow brothers and sisters who are imprisoned and who are beaten who are just physically assaulted who are threatened whatever it may be God we would ask that he would strengthen our fellow Saints it caused them to know courage and comfort in the midst of their hardship and we do pray that you would deal with their persecutors that you would take away those who will not repent we pray that you would cause them to no longer bring violence upon your people and we do pray that you would even save some turn them from the madness of their idolatry and their sins unto the Lord Jesus Christ and everlasting life we do pray God that you would be with us now in worship we rejoice that we can gather together to worship you we thank you that we have the Lord's Supper that ordinance wherein we remember our Lord's death till he comes again and where we avail of spiritual benefits by our risen Christ sending his spirit to nourish and strengthen us in our faith and we do pray that you would be with us and help us in all that we do tonight it would be done unto the praise of your glorious grace and unto your Most High name we do pray that you would be with pastor Butler as he preaches we know that the minister is he grips this pulpit cannot lean upon his own strength but must lean upon that which the train God affords his ministers so we do pray for pastor Butler as he brings the word that he would bring it by your strength and by your aid we do pray that he would have confidence in this pulpit to proclaim rightly the things of Christ and we do pray for us that you would help us your saves to be nourished and strengthened by your word that sinners tonight would be saved unto the praise of your grace Lord God that we would all leave this place because it is possible with you that we would all leave this place this evening singing the praises of amazing in victorious grace and it's in Christ's name that we pray amen are seeing them are him then that will sing before the preaching you can stand it turn with me to 407 407 we're going to be singing that to a familiar tune o for a thousand tongues to sing so let's stand in sync 407 together please turn with men your Bibles to Zechariah chapter 3 Zechariah chapter 3i hope a familiar passage of scripture to all of us the passage we have looked at and passed thought it would be fitting for our under a time tonight before the Lord's Supper I made reference to the doctrine of justification by faith alone this morning and this is a wonderful display a wonderful illustration a wonderful picture of that doctrine of justification by faith alone I'll read chapter 3 in the Prophet Zechariah verses 1 to 10 then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him and the Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you is this not a brand plucked from the fire now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel but he answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying take away the filthy garments from him and to him he said see I have removed your iniquity from you and I will clove you with rich robes and I said let them put a clean turban on his head so they put a clean turban on his head and they put the clothes on him and the angel of the Lord stood by then the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua saying thus says the Lord of hosts if you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command then you shall also judge my house and likewise have charge of my courts i will give you places to walk among those who stand here here Oh Joshua the high priest you and your companions who sit before you for they are a wondrous sign for behold I am bringing forth my servant the branch for behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua upon the stone or seven eyes behold I will engrave its inscriptions as the Lord of hosts and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day in that day says the Lord of hosts everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree amen will let us pray our blessed God and our Holy Father we thank you for the scripture we thank you for the prophetic word we thank you for what this points forward to and in the New Covenant we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and the justification we have as a result of his life and his death and his resurrection we praise you for our beloved Savior we praise you for our beloved King and Lord that one who is a friend to sinners we thank you God for your wonderful grace and for your wonderful mercy and we pray now that your Holy Spirit would guide us as we look to this portion of Scripture we pray that he would teach us and lead us and that we would worship you as a result of the good things here in as well we pray that you would forgive us for all of our sins that you would wash us in the blood of the Lord Jesus help us never to forget that it's through that blood we have Redemption and we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord amen the Prophet Zechariah is one of the post-exilic prophets that means after the exile in Babylon there were several or a few rather prophets that spoke to the children of Israel she's going to read a brief history or a brief statement concerning the location of Zechariah in the biblical record I hope that this will be of help to set it in its context after the Exile the first return of the exiles from Babylon occurred in 538 BC and then in 536 BC as the people returned to the land they immediately began to restore their center of worship according to Ezra chapter 3 verses 1 2 3 they built an altar there and then in ezra 3 at eight to 13 they began the temple remember that in the siege upon Jerusalem by the Babylonians the temple was destroyed that the city was sacked in the since then went into the Babylonian captivity so after that 70 year period they returned to the land and as I said they began the temple they halted temple construction for about 16 years they were opposed by persons in the land then Haggai and Zechariah preached in 520 bc and the temple construction started again it only took about 4 years to complete the temple in 516 be seen as rot 6 14 and 15 indicate this Ezra and Nehemiah go with these post-exilic prophets the second return of the exiles took place under Ezra and then nehemiah zechariah is mentioned in ezra and in nehemiah in connection with Haggai the Prophet Zechariah was both a prophet and a priest and he was probably born during the Babylonian exile now in this particular section of his prophecy chapters 126 he receives 8 visions and no doubt these took place on one night and if the commentators be trusted that night was februari 15th in 519 bc now the februari obviously their month corresponding to our februari three and a half won a three and one half months after his initial message two months after hey guys final message and five months after the building of the temple commenced so you see that Haggai and Zechariah preach to the people while they were building the temple as a means of encouragement as a means of giving promise as a means of telling them the good things that God would do and here in chapter 3 it looks forward as well to the new covenant at what would be wrought under our Lord Jesus Christ so this particular vision this fourth vision concerns cleansing from sin and as a result it would encourage the people to continue building the temple as that was the location for the sacrificial system that spoke to the cleansing of sin for the nation of Israel so that's the location of the Prophet Zechariah in the history of biblical revelation let's look at chapter 3 verses 1 to 10 under three considerations first the cleansing of Joshua secondly the charge given to Joshua and thirdly the promise concerning the branch we see this figure called the branch in verse 8 be that is the Lord Jesus Christ so certainly this prophecy not only encourages the people at the time in their building of the temple but it looks forward to what God will do in and through our Lord Jesus Christ note in the first place with reference to the cleansing of Joshua we have several considerations here note first of all there is a legal controversy verses one and two then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him and the Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you is this not a brand plucked from the fire so there are several parties involved in this legal controversy in the first place we have Joshua the high priests this is a Joshua the son of nun that led the conquest that was many many years prior this is Joshua the high priest and in the absence of a king in Israel the high priest took even more responsibility and was more of a figure of great notoriety but in this particular instance Joshua's stands for the people priests were public representatives priests were men who stood for the entirety of the nation and this is borne out by several considerations in the Book of Leviticus in chapter 16 on the Day of Atonement the high priests confesses the sins of Israel he is a public representative of the nation here in verse to the reference to Jerusalem as being chosen not just Joshua as well the brand plucked from the fire in verse 2 is Jerusalem's restoration after the Exile not Joshua the high priest and as well there is a reference in verse 9 to the removal of the iniquity from that land so we need to appreciate that Joshua stands for the people the nation of Israel the post exile the returnees to their particular land then we have the introduction of this angel of the Lord most likely the pre Incarnate Christ he is there as an advocate he is there as an intercessor he is there to represent his client in this legal controversy it's almost as if what we have before us is a divine courtroom and then in the third place we have Satan we see that Satan is standing at his right hand to oppose him this is the adversary of our souls in the book of Job we see this particular function of Seita he is an accuser of job in the book of Revelation we find that Satan is an accuser of the Brethren John Gill describes his business this way the business of Satan here was to accuse to bring charges to plead for condemnation and endeavour to get the sentence of it passed against Joshua for he was at his right hand to be an adversary to him as his name Satan signifies being an enemy to mankind in general and especially to the people of God and more especially to persons in sacred public offices so you see the sea we've got Joshua the high priests representative of the nation of Israel we've got the presence of the angel of Yahweh and then we have Satan there as the accuser as the opposer notice that then the Lord God most high speaks in verse to the Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan the Lord was chosen Jerusalem rebuke you is this not a brand plucked from the fire isn't it intriguing that Satan doesn't ever open his mouth isn't it intriguing that Joshua the high priest never opens his mouth the Lord God doesn't need to listen to a lot of goings-on to establish the guilt of a particular party as we'll see in verse s3 joshua is standing there filthy joshua is scanning there in a vile situation joshua is standing there before the Lord most high in a clothe basically in dung and vomit and essentially what we find is the Lord rebuking Satan he can't even open his mouth to bring accusation against Joshua and our God already is shutting him down the Lord knows the particulars the Lord knows the ins and the outs it's not as if Satan can bring new information to the Lord and suggest that somehow the Lord ought to punish these people the Lord knows what he's doing with his people the lord justifies his people the lord sanctifies his people the lord will ultimately glorify his people so that when the accuser of the Brethren seeks to disrupt the Lord God shuts him down he doesn't give him any opportunity whatsoever to speak concerning the situation and notice the Lord's reasonings as to why he silences saitta it's not because josh was a wonderful guy not because he's a swell guy not because he is a clean man not because the nation is good and upright that is not the reason by which God the Lord shuts down Satan there are two reasons that God the Lord uses to shut down say that and the first is sovereign grace it is sovereign election it is predestination the devil can't open his Yap but rather the Lord God says the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you is this not a brand plucked from the fire it is sovereign election that shuts the mouth of the devil it is sovereign grace and predestination that shuts the mouth of the devil when you are in the depths of sorrow when you are battling with the devil do not proffer your good deeds do not put forward your law keeping but rather plead the Covenant promises of God most high rather go to Ephesians 1 for just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world in love having predestinated us on to adopt have sons by Jesus Christ it's not our goodness it's not our polish it's not our lustre but rather it is God's sovereign grace that is in the forefront in this particular position this is what successfully shuts the mouth of the of the adversary this is what successfully closes that Yap this is what successfully keeps them at bay and keeps him from destroying us brethren we will have this accuser of the Brethren seek to disrupt we will have this one seeking to whisper I don't know how it all works but there are these suggestions that enter into the minds of God's people there are these 10 de temptations and tendencies and whatnot and we must accredit some of this to the devil it isn't our goodness it is God's sovereignty that ultimately shuts the mouth of the devil and the proof positive is this reality is this not a brand plot from the fire God the Lord understood the sin of the people of Israel he could have most certainly left them in Babylon he could have most certainly left and the judgment of the nation's but it was 70 years that 70 years was fulfilled so God plucks them out of the fire he brings them back to Judah he puts them back in their land and he does indeed promise all that he had already had given to them by way of the prophets before that it's truly a glorious statement when we are in that position or when we are in that place but it's not only his sovereign election but it's also his justifying grace it is his justifying grace the Lord rebuke you satan the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you is this not a brand plucked from the fire so sovereign election but notice his justifying grace verse 3 now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel this is an intriguing passage because what we expect from the high priest is all that we read of in Exodus 28 you ever read Exodus you'll notice that the priest there has garments that are quite beautiful and majestic and glorious they are meant to reflect the glory of the living and true God the idea being that God's agents on earth to represent him in the temple are going to be decked out they're going to have all of that holy gear they are going to have all those holy accouterments they are going to be dressed in a beautiful manner that's what we expect to see at the introduction of Joshua the high priest but that's not what we see notice what we do see verse 3 now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments you see it's not the case that the Lord rebuke Satan because Joshua is a man of splendor it's not that the Lord rebuke Satan because Joshua is clothed in accordance with Exodus 28 no it's just the converse what we find is that Joshua is filthy and it's important for us to understand the particular word that is used here the reference to filth does not mean less than glorious it does not mean unkempt or disheveled in appearance Joshua and spill a little cream cheese on his way to appear before the Lord in this heavenly Court that is not what's going on in terms of Filth the root connotes more than merely soil for its related nouns refer to human feces in Deuteronomy 23 and it is equal for the root is also used in conjunction with vomit in Isaiah 28 a as Feinberg says the strongest expression in the Hebrew language for filth of the most vile and loathsome characters so you see the sea we've got Joshua in all of his filth and all of his disgustingness we've got the angel of Yahweh and we've got the devil who wants to bring charge against the Lord already knows the score the Lord already understands Joshua's condition the Lord doesn't need Satan to present evidence in terms of Joshua's guiltiness or of the nation guiltiness what we find is Israel represented by Joshua in this state of Filth and wretchedness and wickedness Thomas makovsky says feelings of revulsion turned to wonder must not God turn his back on this repulsive site and vent his anger at this affront to his holiness it seems that the accuser is justified in calling for God's judgment on the sin this filth represents you see in terms of the reality of the situation the devil's accusation would be legitimate it's not as if God doesn't know this but God rather shuts him down because of sovereign election he chose Jerusalem and because of his justifying grace and that is displayed in the following section so Joshua is filthy he's standing before the Lord and now notice what we find in verse 4 then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying take away the filthy garments from him if I was a black creature in a black church i would say at this point can I get an amen because that's glorious what does that typify what does that illustrate what does that demonstrate but the removal of our transgression God sees Joshua and Israel filthy undone vomit feces covered and the Lord God says remove the filthy garments from them isn't that our experience at the cross we come to the Savior filthy we come to the Savior filled with all manner of wickedness and lawlessness and what do we find at the cross do we find God say well you know you're not as bad as the rest I think I'm going to let you it no God says take the filthy garments off of him get rid of the sin expunge the guilt this is what the blood of Jesus is all about since white Paul says in Ephesians 17 in whom we have redemption through his blood this is why we read several times in Scripture the blood of Jesus Christ inside cleanses us from all sin later in this prophecy in Zechariah 13 1 in that day there will be a fountain open for for what for sin and uncleanness this is justification this is God's grace this is pardon for our iniquity this is the first half of Westminster Shorter Catechism number 33 what is justification justification is an act of God's free grace wherein he pardons all our transgressions that is a man worthy stuff as we suck tonight as we eat the bread and as we drank the cup realize that that shed blood is what washes you from your sins that shed blood is what secures your entrance into heaven that life and that death and that resurrection of our beloved price is what secure salvation it is the reason by which Paul can say just as he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ as we look at this filthy vomit feces covered man representing a formet feces covered nation and we hear the Lord Yahweh say take the filthy garments from him I hope it resonates in our hearts to see ourselves in this passage and praise God most high but notice it doesn't stop there we have the pardon of sin but we also have the latter half of Westminster Shorter Catechism number 33 in just a fact of God's free grace wherein he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone notice in verse 4 then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying take away the filthy garments from him and to him he said see I have removed your iniquity from you and I will clothe you with rich Rahul's i will clothe with rich robes there's our righteousness there's the the result of the work of Jesus Christ you see we need him in his death we need as passive obedience we need our guilt expunged through the blood of Jesus but we need a righteousness that avails with God we need to be clothed with the righteousness wherein we can stand in that marriage supper of the Lamb and that is secured for us by our Lord it is an act of God's free grace justification is holy and alone of our Lord he not only takes away the filthy garments but he also clothes us with rich robes I love what Luther says concerning this divine transaction he says the rich noble pious bridegroom Christ takes this poor despised wicked little and marriage redeems her of all evil and adorns her with all his goods praise God that that is the case and that didn't just come from the reformer Martin Luther but it comes from the pen of the Prophet Zechariah on that grand date in February 45 19 when he had this fourth vision at night this is what he wrote concerning and in this I hope we are encouraged and then a Zechariah speaks up according to verse 5 and I said let them put a clean turban on his head so they put a clean turban on his head and they put the clothes on him and the angel of the Lord stood by before we move on with reference to the charge given to Joshua let us consider this fact often not just when we come here once and once a Sunday for the supper but may this be our constancy each and every day the sovereign grace of God the justifying grace of God look at Romans chapter 8 for just a moment and see how the Apostle combats the accuser Romans chapter 8 verse 31 what then shall we say to these things if god is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall bring a charge against God's elect the very introduction of the question seems to assume its potential does it not you ever had this in your own life you ever had that when you've considered yourself how in the world could I be a Christian look at the way that I am you look in the mirror and you see yourself filthy or you look at your actions and you see yourself filthy or you look at Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 and you see yourself filthy who can bring a charge against God's elect if it is the devil accusing whispering in your ear who shall bring a charge against God's elect now notice Paul's arsenal it is God who justifies who is he who condemns it is Christ who died and furthermore has also risen who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us Paul's point is simply this when person's level accusation the effective response by the saint of Christ is not the saint of Christ saintliness the effective response from the saint of Christ is that it's Christ who lived it is Christ who died it is Christ who has risen it is Christ who is our all in all you see brethren that must be where and we launch our counter assault when the devil suggests or when our own heart originates these things we need to realize that our strength our comfort our stability our peace and our security do not lie in our performance they do not lie on our ability they do not lie in the things that we have accomplished rather they rely upon or they lie in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ and sovereign election sovereign grace predestination I like what Calvin says concerning this he says let us then learn to rely on the gratuitous adoption of God if we would boldly exalt against Satan and all is his assaults he says it hands follows that those men who at this day obscure and seek as far as they can to extinguish the doctrine of election are enemies to the human race not Isis not the Taliban not al-qaeda but those who twist the doctrine of election he says for they strive their utmost to subvert every assurance of salvation that's powerful isn't it we ought to stand fast on the Blessed reality that whom he foreknew he predestined that God the Lord is sovereign in his doings with reference to his people it is that which will shut the mouth of the of the accuser it is that coupled with his justifying race that is the foundation upon which the Saints find rest security and comfort now having said that I don't mean don't read your Bible lay on the couch and if the devil come just say well you got elected man and I'm justified freely by His grace certainly say that she need to be faithful and we'll see that with reference to Joshua subsequent to the justifying grace of God in his life notice in the second place the charge given to Joshua in verses 6 and 7 I note the theological progression or the specific theological order he is justified and then he's commanded how to function in light of that justification precedes in this regard sanctification sanctification without justification is an impossibility but justification is the foundation upon which sanctification necessarily follows notice in verse 6 then the angel of Yahweh admonished Joshua saying thus says the Lord of Hosts if you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command then you shall also judge my house and likewise have charge of Michael arts i will give you places to walk among these who stand here you see Joshua you've been justified you see Israel you've been brought out of darkness now function in a capacity that is consistent with God's justifying grace and I do believe that several of these things point to the New Covenant first Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 the house of God is the Church of the Living God Israel will have charge of God's courts according to the Prophet Zechariah this finds application in first Peter coming to him as to a living stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ and our function as New Covenant praise to our Lord is in verses 9 and 10 of first Peter to but you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy and I think what we have at the end of verse 7 i will give you places to walk among these who stand here probably a reference to angels i will give you places to walk among these who stand here we ought to conclude with reference to this statement it means access to God the angels of the attendance of the glory of God we are going to walk where the angels are that means that we will be in the presence of God isn't this the continent blessing of God's covenant I will be their God and they shall be my people the New Covenant description of access to the Father through the Sun by the spirit clearly indicated given to us in Ephesians chapter 2 so you see Zechariah and Haggai are encouraging the people of God but as well as a quraían hey guy are giving promise concerning the New Covenant in which the Lord Jesus Christ will come as champion to successfully affect the Covenant that was laid upon him in eternity past to bring the salvation to his people and glory to his father now notice thirdly the promise concerning the branch all of these good things hinge upon him all new covenant blessings all blessings for the people even in Zechariah Stein hinge or focus upon our Lord Jesus notice in verse 8 hero Joshua the high priest you and your companions who sit before you for they are a wondrous sign probably his fellow priests Joshua's the high priests there are other priests that are not high priests notice for behold I am bringing forth my servant the branch now this is a blessed description of our Lord Jesus that I'm sure you've met with before in your Bible reading it seems to originate in second samuel chapter 23 at verse 5 as well we have Psalm 132 17 and several times in the prophets but just take these twin identifiers of our lord I am bringing forth my servant the branch it could be the case my servant the branch or it could be two distinct references my servant and if we consider servant language in the Old Testament hopefully our minds will be taken back to what passed reporter read at the outset of worship in Isaiah 53 we see the servant of the Lord we see the servant of Yahweh we seem several times in the prophet Isaiah the servant of the Lord in Isaiah envisioned someone who brings Redemption to his people through suffering accomplishing the will of God in spite of shame and humiliation as well Ezekiel 34 associates the servant of the Lord with the Davidic Shepherd King with reference to this title branch Jeremiah envisions the branch as a king associated with David in Jeremiah 23 and again in 33 the branch reappears in Zechariah you can probably just look over in your Bible to see that in chapter 6 verses 12 and 13 notice he is the king priest who builds the temple I Zechariah 6 12 then speak to him saying thus says the lord of o's saying behold the man whose name is the branch from his place he shall branch out and he shall build the temple of the lord yes he shall build the temple of the lord he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on his throne so he shall be a priest on his throne and the council of peace shall be between them both so you see all of this hinges upon this servant the branch all of these new covenant blessings that are promised in the prophets find their focus in the Lord Jesus isn't this what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians all the promises of God are yay and amen in him so Zechariah to the people building that temple is preaching Jesus Christ it's quite a glorious passage of Scripture and then the section ends with the promise of blessing as our God is often want to do he encourages his people with the promise of blessing notice in verse 9 for behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua now this stone could have symbolized temple reconstruction which of course symbolizes the chief Cornerstone which is Jesus Christ and of course the two encouragement for the post-exilic community that they would be successful in building this temple remember they halted temple construction for 16 years why because they were opposed by people in the land certainly it would be a helpful thing for Zechariah to say look the temple is going to be built makes you swing your hammer a lot more firmly it makes you get to your work a lot more diligently it makes you rise up in the morning realizing that we are going to complete our particular task here and they did it in four years that's pretty impressive but did lack the glory of Solomon's Temple as we see in the Prophet Haggai as we see in Ezra nevertheless it was indeed God's promise that it would be successful so notice verse 9 for behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua upon the stone or seven eyes behold I will engrave its inscription says the Lord and I will remove the iniquity of that and in one day love the way Gil traces this one day to the doing in the dying of our Lord Jesus when Christ says it is finished that is when there is an end to iniquity that is when there is a removal of iniquity and then inverse tan a familiar promised in the Old Testament it's found in first kings and in Micah the prophet and it's a promise of peace and security in that day says the Lord of hosts everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree its peace its security its comfort its consolation its blessing it is the provision of Yahweh to his people after he by his grace alone elects them and justifies them freely by His grace brethren there's a few concluding observations that I think will be helpful before we move on to observe the Lord's Supper the first place you may not be of a particular bent to have Satan assault you often but it may happen there may be those instances there's a little book by karl truman called luther on the christian life its recent publication i think last year and there's a section or subsection one of the chapters called Martin Luther dr. Martin and the devil I was really intrigued Martin Luther saw the devil a lot not you know horns and a pitchfork and the Cape coming into his room and whatnot but he was conscious of the presence of the devil he was conscious of the opposer of his soul first Peter five is a reality I'm of the mind that the devil is bound visa V Revelation 20 but the binding of Satan and revelation 20 is specified so that he may not deceive the nations but feed first Peter 5 tells us that he roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour he's not a vanquished foe he is a defeated foe but nevertheless his presence is real remember that instance in Matthew chapter 16 Jesus announces that he's going to go to Jerusalem to die what does Peter say now that's not going to happen and Jesus rebukes him and says get behind me Satan when the disciples go out preaching according to Luke 10 Jesus says I saw the devil falling like lightning the Lord Jesus recognized the machinations of the devil and some of God's people throughout the history of the church have recognized those as well you need to understand that there is going to be opposition to you it's not going to be the case that you're just going to sing your way to heaven I mean saying on your way to have it but realize there will be assaults and realize there is an adversary again a reference to Luther I think he's so helpful in this matter of justification this is a statement by Walter Kaiser it's probably a familiar story on just reading kaisers version one of the most famous ink spots in the world is on the wall of the wartburg castle in Germany sure the halls would tell me on butchering wartburg it looks like wartburg Luther dreamed that Satan appeared to him reading a long scroll with all his many sins from his birth on as the reading could you imagine that the terrible dream wouldn't do to have someone reading the list of sins from your birth on I'd have to say that would be a long dream too they say dreams are what two or three seconds that would take about two or three thousand years for somebody to read all our sins he says as the reading of the list proceeded Luther's terrors grew until finally he jumped up and cried it is all true Satan and many more sins I have committed in my life which are known to God only but right at the bottom of your list the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us from all sin he grasped the inkwell on his table and threw it at the devil that's why the ink spots there on the door there on the war wall at the wartburg castle that's what we tell the devil now I don't say we tell him we talk to him you know some of the charismatic sand Pentecostals they're casting out the demons of cloudy days and all that I'm not suggesting that we do that but this is the point but right at the bottom of your list the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us from all sin if anybody ever produces that list that is your comfort the blood of Jesus Christ God saw it cleanses us from all sin that's always our comfort that's always the antidote against the devil that's how we combat the adversary whether it is the devil or whether it's our own hearts how can you be a Christian how can you say you're a believer how can you go through these motions you know your heart you know your sins you know your depravity you know your filth you know your vomit you know your feces ah but the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin Romans 8 it is he who died and has risen again Paul Usher's this challenge who shall bring a charge against God's elac the Lord Most High has chosen the Lord Most High has justified us freely by His grace that is the foundation upon which our comfort Springs as well we ought to consider in this particular section the things given to joshua find their counterpart in the things given to Jesus here I'm indebted to a great essay by in do good in a book it's not do good like do g 00 d he goes out he does good it happens to be his name Ian do good in a book called covenant justification and pastoral ministry he says that this vision of the vision should remind us of the imputation which occurred in the opposite direction in the life of Jesus Christ you understand imputation the removal of the filthy garments and the IMP patient of the righteous garments so the sin is forgiven the righteousness is imputed okay we have to understand that there was an opposite occurrence in the life of our Lord Jesus in the first place Joshua was clothed in filthy garments Christ is the righteous and holy one secondly Joshua was clothed in rich robes the sin of the elect was imputed to Christ thirdly Joshua received a clean turban what does Christ receive he receives a crown of thorns fourthly Joshua is declared not guilty by God Christ is delivered up by lawless hands and crucified as a criminal and fifthly Joshua is promised access to God I will give you places to walk among these who stand here at the end of verse 7 Christ cries on Calvary my God my God why hast thou forsaken me you see all the good that is imputed to Joshua we find with reference to Jesus the New Covenant Joshua our sin our filth our vomit our feces are all imputed to him and he pays that debt Paul brings this out beautifully in second Corinthians 5 21 for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him second Corinthians 894 you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich in that passage that Pastor Porter read at the outset of worship do you see all the stuff from us that is heaped upon him all the stuff that is ours is imputed to the Savior so that he can pay the debt at Calvary on our behalf surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken menton by God and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by His stripes we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all bless God for the doctrine of justification bless God for the doctrine of imputation blessed God for the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of Christ that is given to us and received by faith alone a faith that he himself gives us and all of this in the context of God's sovereignty of his election of his predestination so when your own heart seeks to bring a challenge reflect on theology reflect on soteriology reflect on the glory of God most high is revealed in the scripture if the devil seeks to assault you take up that inkwell and throw it at him saying that's right at the bottom of your less that Christ or rather the blood of Christ God's Son cleanses us from all sin praise the Lord Almighty for his justifying grace let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you that justification is not an abstract doctrine just given to impress theologians but is the stuff of the Christian life we thank you for this picture for this portrait for this illustration description that we find in the Prophet Zechariah and certainly as justified by grace through faith alone people we acknowledge that this is the reality our sins have been forgiven we have been given a righteousness that avails with God and we praise you for the mercy that you have shown to us we praise you for the the grace context of the sovereign grace context we praise you for election predestination and for all of your your goodness displayed through these things we ask our father that you would protect us and keep us and help us to refresh ourselves with memory of these things for our daily lives and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen you turn in your Bibles to first Corinthians 11 as we observe now the Lord's Supper and hopefully for all of us it is a joy to do so hopefully the 20 minutes the half-hour that it takes to enjoy observing the Lord's Supper isn't counted as 30 minutes of a small thing it's a high and heavy honor that we have to gather together to observe and remember our Lord's death till he comes again the Lord's Day is an absolute blessing and the Lord's Supper as well as is an absolute blessing we don't have to to borrow nullus language say oh my lemus Oro y mile eNOS because we come in on the Lord's Day and we feast upon the blessings of his worship we gather now for the Lord's table the Lord's Supper and we get to feast upon the bread and the wine and in so doing remember our Lord and it were nourished by the risen Christ giving us growth in the strength and in the grace of faith remember that when we come to the Lord's Supper will read first Corinthians 11 here in a moment but when we come to the Lord's Supper we come and we observe an ordinance of remembrance we are not offering anything up to the Lord in the way of a sacrifice or confession acknowledges that we do not come and offer up any real sacrifices for the quick and the dead but rather only offer a remembrance of that once for all sacrifice which was wrought by Christ for the quick in the dead the 2,000 years ago in remembering this by the bread and by the wine we also are nourished by Christ and gain spiritual nourishment from on high as we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord so as well the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine unlike the abomination of the Roman Catholic Church we do not assert that the bread is transformed into the actual body blood and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ we do not say that the wide becomes his literal blood it is to scripture and a common sense our confession States but rather the bread remains bread it is an emblem a symbol of Christ's body broken for us the wine remains wine it is an emblem a symbol of his blood shed for us this is a Christian ordinance or of course it's a Christian ordinance but as well it's an ordinance for Christians only if you're here tonight and you're not a Christian you're not to partake that's not because we're mean but it's because Christ in giving this ordinance gave it for Christians and one place saying that his blood is shed or the cup is the New Covenant in his blood which is shed for many for the remission of sins so it is only those who enjoy the remission of sins Christians who are to partake of these emblems of the Lord's Supper so if you're here tonight and you're not a Christian don't take if you'd like to take you can come and talk to us afterwards but the first question you should ask is it should I take the first question you should answer is who do you think Christ is is he the Christ the Son of God and do you believe in him unto the saving of your souls this is a Christian ordinance so Christians only are to partake let's read first Corinthians 11 will make just some brief observations as we read here this is first Corinthians 11 17 to 22 now in giving these instructions I do not praise you since you come together not for the better but for the worse for first of all when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it for there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you therefore when you come together in one place it is not to eat the Lord's Supper for an eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others and one is hungry and another is drunk what do you not have houses to eat and drink it or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing what shall I say to you shall I praise you in this I do not praise you now in one sense while we may not be gathered together for any sort of feast prior to the partaking of the Lord's or or in in and around those circumstances we do not necessarily partake nevertheless there are some lessons we can learn here we are to come and approach the Lord's Supper and we are to observe it for the better and not for the worst we are to prepare our hearts at for the taking of the Lord's Supper were not to take it in a casual manner yes there is nothing supernatural and magical to the elements themselves but they are consecrated from their normal use unto a high and holy use for remembering the Lord's death till he comes again so when we partake of the bread and of the wine when we now look forward to doing so we are to prepare our hearts and to prepare our hearts with both joy and solemnity because it is a joyous thing to reflect upon the saving victory of our Christ and as well with solemnity so that we are remembering with a proper seriousness and respect and reverential awe we are to partake for the better and not for the worse we are to examine ourselves if you can turn to verse 27 therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself not discerning the Lord's body for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep for if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged but when we are judged we are chasing by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world therefore my brethren when you come together to eat wait for one another but if anyone is hungry let him eat at home lest you come together for judgment and the rest I will set in order when I come we come to the Lord's Supper we are to prepare our hearts and we are to examine ourselves and ensure that we are not harboring any unrepentant sin we are to ensure that we're not keeping some sin close to our breasts not repenting of it and but rather on going in that transgression against against our Lord we are to come to the Lord's Supper with a conscience a void of offense to God and to men and we are to make sure that we do so now examine ourselves repent of our transgressions and so take eat and so take and drink there is not to be any sort of strange Protestant beating up of ourselves and going off on seasons of three months of self-reflection and some sort of dealing with our own guilt and atoning for our sins we are to immediately recognize our transgressions and fly to the fount that is opened up for sin and for uncleanness there is there is no nobility and abstaining from the Lord's Supper Sunday after Sunday if you truly have repented of your sins and if you haven't repent of your sins there is to be no Protestant monkey whereby we whip ourselves or we tie throw a bunch of heavy tires into a whittled together sack and climb Mount sham until we're worthy to take the Lord's Supper there is an advocate with the Lord Jesus Christ the righteous who has taken away our sins by the shedding of his blood so repent of your sins take and eat well let's turn to the section verse 23 you can turn their we're going to read that when we get the bread and when we get the wine just a reminder that the juice is in the outer ring if you would like the juice when the wine comes around that is in the outer ring you can stay seated and you can turn in your hymn books to him number 195 and that will be our first him 195 you paul writes in first Corinthians 11 23 for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the bread that we're about to eat and we rejoice in its in the fact that it is emblematic of our saviors body broken for us we know that not a bone in his body was broken but he did receive breach upon breach in his body and he did so in our stead upon Calvary's tree we know that we have reached his law that we have broken at time and again breach upon breach but he in our stead took the penalty that we should have bore and we rejoice in that Lord God and we thank you now that we can partake of this remembering our saviours death till he comes again we pray that we would reflect upon what this means and that we would rejoice in all those spiritual benefits that come from on high by virtue of his body broken for us and we pray that you would be with us now as we take and as we eat that we would rejoice in our Savior and that we would rejoice in our God we pray in Christ's name Amen let's take together if I could have the brothers come up and pass up the wine a reminder that the juice is in the outer ring we can sing again to our God him number for 40 stay seated and will sing for 40 s ago you paul goes on to write recounting the saviours words in verse 25 in the same manner he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes amen let us pray Heavenly Father we rejoice now that we can partake of the wine we know that its represents the blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and we rejoice in the blood of our Savior we thank you knowing that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins yet Christ did shed his blood for the remission of the sins of all those you have given to him and we rejoice that we can be counted among that number by grace and for your glory we do pray that you would help us now as we reflect upon our saviors blood shed we would rejoice in the forgiveness of sins that we would rejoice in so great a salvation and Lord God that you would cause us to remember this each and every day and to live in this lower world in light of so great a glorious salvation we pray in Christ's precious name amen let's take together well let's all stand together and sing our closing hymn it's him number 175 if you'll stand with me and sing that together 175 now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith to God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever amen Heavenly Father we pray that you would go with us now we rejoice in this lord's day that we've been able to gather as the Saints of Christ to sing your praises to bring our prayers and supplications a to you with Thanksgiving to hear the preaching of your word and your scriptures read we do pray that you'd help us now to go leaving these two doors rejoicing in the Savior is singing the praises of our triune God we pray that you would cause us by your grace and for your glory to live throughout this week conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ that we might bring glory to your name glory to the gospel of our Savior the Lord Jesus and it's in his name that we pray amen please be seated we'll have a brief time of prayer and then you'll be dismissed you