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welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God for our call to worship you can turn to Psalm 132 132. I'll begin reading in verse one a song of ascents Lord remember David and all his afflictions how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the mighty one of Jacob surely I will not go into the Chamber of my house or go up to the comfort of my bed I will not give sleep to my eyes or Slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob behold we heard of it in ephratha we found it in the fields of the woods let us go into his Tabernacle let us worship at his footstool arise O Lord to your resting place you in the ark of your strength let your priests be clothed with righteousness and let your Saints shout for joy for your servant David's sake do not turn away the face of your anointed the Lord has sworn in truth to David he will not turn from Ed that will set upon your throne the fruit of your body if your sons will keep my Covenant and my testimony which I shall teach them their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore for the Lord has chosen Zion he has desired it for his Dwelling Place this is my resting place forever here I will dwell for I have desired it I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfy her poor with bread I will also clothe her priests with salvation and her Saint shall shout aloud for joy there I will make the Horn of David grow I will prepare a lamp for my anointed his enemies I will clothe with shame but upon himself his crown shall flourish amen well you may turn in your hymn books to number 164. hymn number 164 will stand as we sing together foreign [Music] please remember [Music] foreign [Music] foreign let us pray our blessed God and Holy Father we rejoice in this opportunity to gather again in your house on your day we thank you for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for the head of the church our blessed savior the one who left Heaven who took on our Humanity who died or lived and died and rose again for us that we might have everlasting life we bless you and we praise you for so great a Salvation And as we gather together tonight may this be uppermost in our minds and in our hearts and may we return that gratitude and Thanksgiving to you for your wonderful Grace that has dealt with our guilt we acknowledge that you are the most high that you are from Everlasting to Everlasting that you are The God Who created the world the God who governs the world and the God who has redeemed his elect out of the world we praise you father Son and Holy Spirit for who you are and for what you do in terms of your people and your creation and tonight we just commend ourselves to you into the word of your grace we ask God that you would forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness whenever we gather together whenever we can't uh consider you we understand that you are holy that you are righteous that your eye is too pure to look approvingly upon any evil and then we see ourselves we see ourselves as prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love we see in Romans 7 in Galatians 5 the reality in our own Hearts the good that we wish to do we don't do and the evil that we don't want to do we find ourselves doing we bless you and we praise you that You Deliver Us from this body of death through your servant the Lord Jesus Christ even now wash us and cleanse Us in that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and for any and all who've come here tonight still dead in their trespasses and sins we pray that you would awaken them you would convict them and show them their need for the Savior and set Christ before them in all of his offices to save even as Prophet priest and King we ask you would bless our children and our young people we thank you for the gifts that you have given in this regard help us as parents and grandparents to take seriously that charge to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord and we pray that you give them ears to hear and hearts to receive your truth and may they by Grace remember their creator and their youth as well God we pray for those in our midst that are struggling physically we know that there are many with challenges on an ongoing basis and we just pray God in heaven that you would undertake on their behalf that though the outer man does Decay we pray that inner man would be renewed day by day and for all of us God we all face spiritual trials and temptations and various things that assault us so we pray that by your spirit the provision of your Holy Spirit you would help us to be faithful and persevering help us to glorify and honor you and to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray for your blessing upon other churches in this community we thank you that we're not alone here in Chilliwack we pray that your rich blessing would be upon on these other churches that you that you would give grace to the pastors that proclaimed the gospel we pray that you'd give grace to the people that they would grow we pray father for sinners in this community that they would come out of Darkness into Marvelous Light we pray for the churches of Canada as a whole we know Lord God that you are good and that you have your work and that you have established many and we pray for their health and for their blessing and for their growth in the things of the Lord blessed specifically the church in Surrey we pray for Cam that you would own his preaching tonight that you would use him to be a means of edification for the Saints of Christ there we pray that you bring our brother Mike back home safely from Kirkland and we pray God that you would just encourage and strengthen him be with Ryan and Armstrong be with Dan and Josh and Dryden be with the brethren in Honduras and God continue to uphold your your people in your churches and may it be the case that we would bring glory to you as well our father we ask that he would be merciful and gracious with reference to the persecuted church as we read this morning as we read every week as we see often times during the week the amount of persecution and oppression that the people of God face in this century is is staggering and we know Lord God that you give Grace and that you strengthen and that you equip and so father we pray that in the midst of these trials and afflictions the people of God would be faithful those in prison those facing death sentences those who've lost jobs or homes or whatever it may be we just ask God in heaven that they would continue to be looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith we think particularly of Myanmar and the ongoing situation there we do long to hear of a cease fire we long to see those people those orphans those children we long to see them connected to Jesus Christ by faith alone bless Peter and the ongoing Ministry there and use this brother for your glory and God we pray for the churches in Cuba we know this is a commune State we know they are they have a great acts to grind against Christ and his church and nevertheless Christ is building his church in that land we pray for this conference that you would bless the pastors you would instruct them and build them up that you would enable them to go back to their congregations to proclaim the truth and may it be that there would be many more that come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you God that even under the midst of even in the midst of the most oppressive regimes Christ is building his church in the gates of Hades shall not Prevail against it we thank you again for this time to meet together tonight we pray that you would Aid Us by the spirit that we would worship you in spirit and in truth and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well you can turn again with me to Psalm 22. Psalm 22 be as in bravo will stand as we sing together [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] everywhere [Music] right here [Music] please [Music] Brothers praise [Music] foreign we find ourselves in Zechariah Chapter 3 A Familiar passage of scripture in our church one that illustrates the doctrine of justification by faith alone Westminster Shorter Catechism I think we're accurately summarizing Biblical teaching asks the question what is justification the answer justification is an act of God's free Grace where any 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 the most wonderful Doctrine it's the most wonderful truth and as I said it's Illustrated here beautifully in the prophet Zechariah so I'll read Zechariah Chapter 3 in its entirety so beginning in verse one 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 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 robes and I said let them put a clean turban on his head so they put a clean turbine on his head and they put the clothes on him 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 hear o 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 inscription says 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 train amen well let us pray father we thank you for your word we thank you for the Glorious doctrine of justification by faith alone we know that this is the Battle Cry of the Protestant Reformation we know that this ultimately is the truth upon which our souls rely we bless you and we thank you for that glorious exchange that our sin is imputed to the Savior and punished in him and his righteousness is imputed to us and received by faith alone we give glory and praise and honor unto you that you have satisfied all requirements that law Justice everything has been satisfied under the gospel of our blessed savior we thank you and we rejoice in your loving kindness and pray for the ministry of the holy spirit to guide us now encourage our hearts and cause us to reflect upon our our blessed Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done on our behalf you forgive us again for all sin and transgression and we pray in Jesus name amen well Zechariah along with haggai and Malachi are what's called or what or are what is called post-exilic prophets so these men prophesied after the Exile in Babylon remember that as a result of their Covenant unfaithfulness Israel was conquered by first the Assyrians in 722 BC and then by Babylon and under Nebuchadnezzar in about 586 587. at that point they spent about 70 years in that captivity and then under a decree by Cyrus the the King of Persia they were free to return to their land so the books of Nehemiah and Ezra deal with that as well as these post-exilic prophets haggai Zechariah and Malachi Malachi comes a bit later than haggai and Zechariah but they were contemporaries basically after that Exile you had the first return of Exiles in about 538 536 and then the people immediately began to restore or their Center of worship they built an altar according to Ezra 3 and they began construction on the temple according to Ezra 3. after or rather this halted for 16 years due to external opposition again you can see this in the book of Ezra there were people in that land that were not in into the Jews rebuilding their Temple and so after 16 years haggai and Zechariah preach in about 520 BC and Temple construction started again it was completed in about four years in about 516 BC and again that is in Ezra now the second Return of the Exiles took place under Ezra and Nehemiah Zechariah himself is mentioned in Ezra 5 Ezra 6 and again in Nehemiah 12 in connection with haggot and basically these men preached to encourage the returning Exiles to build the temple to build the house of God to restore religious worship and to get back on track remember they lost that they forfeit it because of their unfaithfulness so haggai and Zechariah come along and say be faithful look unto the Lord be be what God has called you to be now with reference to Zechariah he received a eight night visions and if the commentators are to be trusted they can pinpoint the particular day in February uh February 15th and 519 he received these eight night visions the one we're looking at is the fourth and it has to do with cleansing from sin that's the specific emphasis you see that later in the prophet Zechariah will visit that as we move through this material so the fourth Vision concerns cleansing from sin and as a result it would encourage the people to continue building the Temple remember the temple was the place where the Israelites met with their God they didn't meet with their god without sacrifice they needed to bring a bloody sacrifice to the Lord for atonement now all of this was prefigurement all of this was foreshadowing all of this was typical pointing forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world so that's the historical context when we drop down specifically to chapter three there's two things we ought to appreciate in the passage first the legal controversy in verses one to seven and then secondly the prophetic announcement in verses 8 to 10 and it's a night vision he sees this in his uh uh uh uh whether he's on his Bat or what the specific referent is he sees this and it communicates to him the message from God that he would communicate to the Exiles so let's look first at the legal controversy we'll spend both the bulk of our time here in verses one to seven and there's five things I want to look at first the accusation of the devil verse one secondly the response of the Lord in verse 2 third the appearance of the high priest in verse 3 fourth the Glorious Exchange in verses four and five and then following or fifthly the blessing of the Lord in verses 6 and 7A so first of all notice the accusation this is a legal controversy there is a problem and that's how the passage starts off notice in verse one then he showed me Joshua the High Praise standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose it and the Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan so we see immediately that something is going on that transcends just Joshua the high priest Joshua the high priest is a public person he is a representative this isn't Joshua the son of none who at the conquest in Canaan that this is Joshua the high priest and Joshua the high priest and this exilic community functioned in a manner of prominence remember they didn't have a king having returned after the Exile they didn't have a monarchy they had a governor and they would have the high priest and they would be the prominent ones in terms of the the Covenant Community so it's not Joshua and his individual sin that's in view you it's Israel's sin it's the Covenant Community set it's the Covenant community's breach of that Covenant God that God had made with that and with reference to the high priest we know this because of Leviticus chapter 16. in Leviticus chapter 16 what does the high priest do on the day of atonement with reference to that first goat he sacrifices it pours the blood upon the mercy seat with reference to the second he lays his hands upon the head of that scapegoat and he confesses to God the transgression of Israel and then he drives that goat out into the Wilderness the picture is one of expiation or the removal of guilt in other words what Israel witnessed in that day of atonement was not only cleansing from the the the effective said but also the removal of sin and its effects and so Joshua or rather the high priest in Leviticus 16 wasn't functioning simply for himself he was functioning on behalf of the Covenant Community as well notice to the reference to Jerusalem in verse 2 as chosen not just Joshua this transcends him it's not an individual sinner thing it is rather the Covenant Community thing as well notice the brand plucked from the fire in verse two Jerusalem's restoration after Exile and then the removal of the iniquity from that land according to verse 9. so Joshua the high priest is functioning here as a public representative he is functioning on behalf of the nation and so what we have here is this legal controversy between the devil and these people the devil or the word Satan means accuser and that is precisely what he does here in Job chapter one we see that nature of the devil or that function of the devil to accuse righteous job before our holy God you see it in Revelation chapter 12 the devil is referred to as the accuser of the Brethren so we have the parties here we have God who is sitting upon the throne the angel of the Lord is the Lord and then we have the devil appear before him in order to bring a charge against Israel in order to bring a charge against the Covenant Community so it is a legal situation John Gill describes the business of Satan this way it was here to accuse to bring charges to plead for condemnation and Endeavor to get that sentence of it passed against Joshua for we 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 look back again at verse 1 then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose that Brethren I think this is what Paul is dealing with in Romans chapter 8 verses 31 to 35 who will bring a charge against God's elect it is Christ who has died in other words when that accusation comes from the devil you're not as good as you should be you're not as good as you ought to be your hypocritical to take it to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ the devil's right in the sense that we're never perfect our obedience to God is Not entire it's not exact it's not Perpetual we fall in many ways but he's always there at our heels trying to show us that we are a fake to show us that we are a hypocrite but with reference to the gospel of our Salvation we go back to the Savior we go back to the Lord we go back to the gospel that is our strength that is our hope that is our comfort so he is there to accuse now notice secondly the response of the lord the devil is in his position to bring this charge against God's elect but before he can even open his mouth the Lord God most high rebukes him notice in verse two and the Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you is this not a brand plot from the fire so it's the Lord's initiative before the devil can open his mouth before the devil can sort of list all of the sin Friends of the Covenant Community you think God doesn't know that you think God is caught off guard God needs the devil to tell him wherein the people of God are not walking as they ought to be the Lord knows this and the Lord rebutes him and the Lord reproves him even before we see verse 3 the appearance of the high priest verse 3 indicates that the devil is kind of right the high priest is filthy the high priest is wretched the high preach is Despicable I preached is Despicable and again it's not just Joshua the high priest it's the entirety of the Covenant Community but even before we see that even before the appearance of the accused the Lord has already undertaken by way of his own initiative to silence the mouth of the devil the Lord rebuke you and notice how the Lord answers this particular charge he doesn't say well they try really hard they're doing the best they can it's tough to be a creature World filled of Temptation it's tough to be an Israelite in the land of Canaan it's tough to be an Israelite when you're surrounded by idolaters it's tough to be the kind of person that fears the Lord and walks in service to God when you're surrounded by a bunch of of wicked people that's not how God silences the devil God silences is the devil based on his Sovereign Grace and based upon his justifying them through faith in Jesus Christ notice what he says in verse 2 the Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan in other words be quiet shut your mouth you have nothing to say I don't want to hear it in other words in other words the Lord rebuke you he says the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you Brethren where does our comfort lie does it lie in our careful walk before the Lord no I'm not minimizing the necessity of a careful walk before the Lord I'm not minimizing the necessity of the letting our conduct be worthy of the Gospel I'm not minimizing that reality but where does the foundation of our comfort lie it lies in Ephesians 1 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ and then it goes on to say just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world wherein do we have comfort wherein do we have Assurance wherein do we have that ability to face the Temptation and the onslaught the accusation the devil it's in God's Sovereign Grace it's in the fact that he chose it's in the fact that the Lord is carrying out his purpose it's in the fact that the Lord according to Verses 4 and 5 cleanses sinners from all their filth and and close them with the righteousness of another so the Lord's reasons for the rebuke of the devil is the sovereignty of God in election Thomas mccomsky says the accuser has no right to expect God to destroy the nation on account of its sin his accusation is futile because God has already revealed his will for the People by delivering them from the Captivity if he had wished to let them perish for their sin the Lord would have left them in Babylon but by snatching them from the Flames of Exile he revealed that his grace notice this was even greater than their sin and that is precisely the emphasis of the prophet in this fourth night vision that he received in February of 519 it is still an abiding principle it is still an abiding piece of comfort it is still an abiding piece of encouragement for the people of God it's not our Hold On Christ it is rather God's hold on us it is not our choice for Jesus but God's choice of us from before the foundation of the world so it's the sovereignty of God in election and it's the justifying grace of God in Salvation that we'll see later in Verses 4 and 5. so we've got the accusation of the devil the response of the Lord now notice the appearance of the high priest as I said the devil I don't want to say he's right in the sense that you know sort of vindicate what he's doing but he has an accusation Joshua the high priest is filthy notice what we see there in verse 3. now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel now when you put on a shirt in the morning or a pair of trousers in the morning you might see a spot on them you might say well I can't wear that shirt I've got a business meeting and they'll think I'm you know a barbarian if I've got a big blotch on my shirt and it's kind of how we think of this filthiness you know the the high priest is there and he's a bit disheveled you know he's a little bit off he's not as fit and prepared as he ought to be with reference to an appearance before The Sovereign God Of Heaven and Earth that's not what the filthiness refers to filthiness in this particular statement refers to what we find in other passages of scripture filthiness is used of feces and and vomit and all those sorts of things that we don't like to consider as sort of dignified people on a Sunday night at church the reference to filth it does not mean less than glorious it does not mean unkempt or disheveled in appearance the root connotes more than merely soiled for its related nouns refer to human feces and they are used in conjunction with vomit so Deuteronomy 23 13 and 14 Ezekiel 4 12 for the feces and then the vomit in Isaiah 28 8. I don't say this to make you sick I say this to make you sick over the fact that this man was in fact a sinner this man represented a sinful people so when the devil is there to accuse the Brethren God rebukes him even before this evidence is on display even before we see it now when it comes to the high priest they're regalia their their clothing was glorious Ezekiel chapter 28 goes into detail as to what they wore and it was to show the the prominence of their office it was to show as well the glory of God most high and so we expect to see the high priest in all of his Beauty but what we're met with is the high priest representing the people in all of his filth in all of his waywardness in all of his unfaithfulness and in all of his sin so as I said there is a degree to which the devil has an accusation against the people of God at this particular point and that brings us fourthly to consider the Glorious exchange this is language utilized by Martin Luther relative to the gospel the idea that our sin is imputed to the Savior and his righteousness is imputed to us second Corinthians 5 21 makes this all to gathered Claire it says that God the Father made him God the son Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him now Christ wasn't transformed into a sinner Christ never engaged in the act of lawlessness but rather it's a legal thing it is a forensic thing it is the fact that God the Father heats up our sin upon God the son and punishes him in our stat punishes him in our place he satisfies Divine Justice which gets at the heart of the word atonement and that is precisely what Jesus does and as I said this passage illustrates that in a beautiful manner notice now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Lord we see this glorious Exchange in Verses 4 and 5. then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying he needs to try a little bit harder he needs to get a little bit better he needs to engage in self-atone men he needs to make sure that his faithfulness is such as to mitigate the effects of it that's not what God does God in the gospel doesn't call you to fix your life God in the gospel doesn't call you to repair your backsliding God in the gospel doesn't say once you you know sort of meet me halfway then I'll meet you with the rest of Salvation that's not God in the gospel that's man in his perverted gospel where he thinks that man has the ability it's an intrinsic ability to reach on on up to God and to actually access him that's not what we find here then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying take away the filthy garments from him that's the first aspect of justification that's the Forgiveness of sins take away the sin that's the language the Baptist applies to the Lord Jesus Christ in John 1 29 Behold the Lamb of God who does what he takes away the sin of the world the reality is is that we can't take it away we can't mitigate its effects we can't make it go out to the corn field it is only God who is able to deal with the Sinner Man that's why the gospel is absolutely crucial that's why the gospel and its preaching is absolutely crucial we live in a sin cursed world we live with a lot of people Hell Bound and the way of Salvation the way of Escape is the truth as it is in Jesus Christ his life his death his resurrection all those who look to him in faith will have everlasting life so that first aspect of justification is answered here take away the filthy garments from man and to him he said see I have removed your iniquity from you and I will clothe you with Rich robes that's the second aspect of justification it's an act 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 and put it to us and receive by faith alone so you see that we're cleansed in the blood of the Lord Jesus and were clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus and that is precisely how God deals with Joshua the high priest or the Covenant Community of Israel in this fourth night vision now if this wouldn't encourage them to build the temple if this wouldn't encourage them to seek after that ongoing representation of atonement in the levitical system I don't know what would this is God responding to the accusation of the Devil with the Glorious Grace of Salvation he removes the filthy garments and he places on him this robe of righteousness I will clothe you with Rich robes now for those of you who've been around for some time you'll know that there's a departure from the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone called the new perspective on Paul there's also one called the Federal Vision it seems to have waned a bit in the last several years it's still there though so I wouldn't you know go out looking for it to imbibe better and to embrace it but the new perspective on Paul arose in academic circles and made much of the second temple and said you know the Jews got in by Grace but they stayed in by their faithfulness in fact one proponent of the new perspective on Paul is named n.t Wright and he mocks the concept of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ he just thinks that that is so far off Calvin and Luther missed it by a mile what they said was only in response to the pope it had nothing to do with the Bible but he's wrong look at the language remember this is the courtroom this this is a legal controversy this is a pronouncement by the judge to take off the filthy garments and to put on righteous garments to put on glorious garments one man I think his last name is pronounced do good it's spelled d-u-g-u-i-d I think it's pronounced do good makes this observation relative to n.t Wright he says this clearly this scene this transaction this glorious exchange the the filthy garments are stripped from him and then these rich robes are placed upon him he says this clearly disproves right statement that quote if we use the language of the Law Court it makes no sense whatever to say that the judge imputes imparts bequeaths conveys or otherwise transfers his righteousness to either the plaintiff or defendant righteousness is not an object a substance or a gas that can be passed across the courtroom that's right that's not right that's empty right right with a W that's do good telling us what right says he mocks the concept of the imputed righteousness of Jesus you know who else does that the Roman Catholic Church they don't have an imputed righteousness of Jesus they have an infused righteousness of Jesus so that sus justification necessarily involves sanctification for the acceptance with God that's bad theology so A New Perspective Federal Vision are basically cousin to Roman Catholic theology now do good goes on to comment on right statement he says here in Zechariah precisely in a courtroom setting we have the defendant's defilement removed at the order of the judge and replaced by an alien righteousness if that is not forensic imputation then I do not know what would qualify as such turn to the Book of Romans just to see this fleshed out in the page pages of the New Testament Romans chapter 5 Paul's Federal theology Paul's comment on or commentary on the two atoms or the the atom the first and Adam the last Adam in the garden and Jesus Christ that last Adam who fulfills all that was given to him by the father notice in Romans 5 19 therefore as through one man's offense judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation even so through one man's righteous righteous act the the free gift came to all men resulting in justification of life for as by one man's Disobedience many were made Sinners so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous now made there is not transformative it's not you're going to get better you're going to be Holier you're going to be gooder at living a life that you're supposed to live no it's forensic language it's a legal situation it's imputed righteousness it's constituted as righteous it's not made transformed wise but it's made legally it's made forensically turn over to First Corinthians chapter one First Corinthians chapter 1. notice what Paul says specifically at verse 30. but of him you are in Christ Jesus again you're not in him because of you but of God you are in Christ Jesus not of you you are in Christ Jesus he's not stressing the good free will of his audience he's not stressing their choice it's not stressing their wisdom he's stressing what God does in Zechariah Chapter 3 Verse 2. he's stressing Sovereign election Sovereign Grace verse 30 but of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God I think that Dash and and could be better translated as that so we might read it this way who became for us wisdom from God that or that is rather righteousness and sanctification and Redemption Christ is our righteousness right it's not the fact that we just have to you know do everything that God has commanded in order to be accepted in his sight again in sanctification we have to do everything God commands but that's not the basis upon which we enter into heaven Christ is our righteousness I already cited uh Second Corinthians 5 verse 21 it Bears repetition because it's such a powerful statement concerning this glorious Exchange 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 Galatians chapter 2. typically not a passage persons go to for the active or the imputation of the act of obedience of Christ but a passage that I think certainly stands the task relative to this transaction notice in Galatians 2 21 I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes to the law then Christ died in vain what's Paul's point we need a righteousness in order to stand in the presence of God if it comes through the law then Christ died in vain so what's the implication it doesn't come through the law because we're Sinners it comes as a result of Christ's death on our behalf it's when Christ lives he dies and he's raised again we get the benefits in terms of forgiveness and an imputed righteousness by which we can stand in the presence of God and then one final New Testament passage look at Philippians chapter 3 Philippians chapter 3 the Apostle Paul is basically boasting here in terms of a man who if possible could have earned his way to heaven that's his point he's trying to show the Folly of what's called Judy Isaac Judy ising is when certain men would come to the Churches of Christ and say it's good for you to believe the gospel but you also must obey Moses in order to be accepted by God and so the Apostle Paul basically says in verse 3 beware of dogs he's not talking about canines he's talking about judaizers that's hard language isn't it the Lord Jesus uses that language as well don't cast your Pearls Before Swine don't cast these things before dogs do you think he's actually cautioning you from from going near pigs and and going near dogs the same passage Matthew 7 where Jesus says judge not lest you be judged tells the people of God not to throw things before pigs and dogs so whatever judge not lest you be judged means it doesn't mean what the modern proponents tell us you can never make a statement about somebody's sin you can never ever say that somebody's wrong you can never ever denounce anybody's Act of course you can you must absolutely positively do so he's talking about a judgment that's not based on God's law so I'm going to have a judgment that is hypocritical he's talking about a judgment that we oftentimes fall prey to because we're self-righteous and we're fair to say it but with reference to this casting things before dogs and Swine the Lord Jesus uses that language of of men and Paul does the same thing here in verse two beware of dots anybody that would try to pervert the gospel of free and Sovereign Grace is a dog he is a bad man notice beware of evil workers Beware of the mutilation what was the judaizer seeking first and foremost he was seeking foreskins I don't mean to be crass I don't mean to be carnal but that's precisely it he wanted persons to be circumcised that's the point in Galatians the Apostle Paul condemns that mindset again ethnically or culturally if you choose that path that's between you and your God but religiously if you think getting circumcised is going to commend you to God you don't understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord so that's Paul's Point here these are the mutilation what they're trying to engage in by way of getting you circumcised is just essentially mutilation it only you know distorts the body it doesn't commend you to God now notice he goes on for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh now here it is in Verses 4 and following he's essentially saying that if anybody could have ever thought thought they would have earned their way to heaven Paul was your guy this is Paul's religious resume this is Paul before that Damascus Road experience this is Paul S Pharisee trying to earn his way into heaven and that's what he says in verse 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh I more so circumcise The Eighth Day of the stock of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning law of Pharisee concerning Zeal persecuting the church concerning the righteousness which is in the law blameless in other words he checks all the religious boxes if ever there was a a a an Israelite in the Covenant Community that could have earned his faith a way into the favor of God Paul's your man but he uses this as a foil to describe that what he thought was good wasn't good enough it wasn't perfect and that's God's demand notice in verse 7 but what things were gained to me these I have counted lost for Christ yet indeed I also count all things lost for the Excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ now notice the language of the Glorious Exchange and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God by faith seems like n.t Wright is anti-rom when it comes to this whole idea of the imputed righteousness of our blessed savior and when we go back to the prophet Zechariah you see it there very loudly and very clearly see I have removed your iniquity from you and I will clothe you with Rich robes in Zechariah 3 5 I think this is Zechariah the prophet and I said let them put a clean turban on his hat so they put a clean turban on his head and they put the clothes on him and the angel of the Lord stood bought why the turbot to complete the priest's robes to complete the priest's appearance to to complete all that is necessary for the priesthood to function appropriately in Old Covenant Israel and then that brings us fifthly with reference to the legal controversy the blessing of the Lord in verses six and seven notice there's this exhortation to faithfulness but you need to appreciate the order the theological order justification and then saint certification we we come to God by his grace we come in faith to our Lord Jesus Christ and he justifies us freely by his grace we are forgiven we are uh have that imputed righteousness received by faith alone the moment we believe that's what's so beautiful and wonderful about justification by faith alone everybody's on an equal status Paul's no more Justified than you and I it's virgin is no more Justified than you and I now Paul and Spurgeon were probably a lot more Sanctified than I'll at least speak for myself than me but with reference to justification it's a one-size-fits-all in other words when you believe the gospel of our blessed savior you are forgiven of your sins you receive the righteousness of Christ by which you are accepted in the Beloved and so then on the heels of that there is instruction now on how they are to walk verse 6 then the angel of the Lord admonish Joshua who's now Justified who's now had the filthy garments removed and the the the Glorious robes applied and this turban on his head thus says the Lord of hosts if you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command in other words sanctification necessarily follows justification when we come to God by Grace when we come to Christ in faith we are Justified freely and on the heels of that we then live the life of sanctification now that's not perfect it's not one size fits all there's there's growth there's progress there's there's what's the word egress or Ingress or the opposite of progress the movement the other way there's the ebb and flow of the Christian life but with reference to our acceptance with God it's based on the doing and the dying and the rising of our Lord Jesus it's based on that glorious exchange it's based on the fact that our sins are heaped upon the Savior and punished in him and that Divine Justice is satisfied and then his righteousness is heaped upon us and and receive by faith alone again we live in light of that we let our conduct be worthy of the gospel and that's the emphasis relative to this particular statement so if you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command notice the blessings that would Avail for Israel notice Israel would be good would govern the house of God or the priesthood again this is typical in prefigurement of New Covenant reality so Israel will govern the house of God then you shall also judge my house I think we see this in first Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 but if I am delayed I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God which is the Church of the Living God the pillar in the ground of the truth the church in this new covenant era is the Israel of God that's what Paul says in Galatians chapter 6. that's what Paul says in Romans Chapter 2 the Jew is not one who circumcised outwardly or externally but rather he's the one circumcised inwardly by God's grace and the new birth he's been brought forth out of death into marvelous or out of darkness in a Marvelous Light so Israel will govern the house Israel will have charge of God's courts notice that they're in verse 7. if you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command then you also shall also judge my house and likewise have charge in my courts I will give you places to walk among these who stand here I think this this language at the end means communion with God these who stand here I think is a reference to the angels of verse 4. in other words the blessing upon the Justified people of God is life in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ it is life in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ wherein we have communion with God each and every Lord's day we've seen that in Ephesians chapter 2 in two places 218 222 we come to the father through the son in the spirit you see it in Revelation chapter one where is Jesus on the Lord's day he's in the midst of the lampstands so this promise to these people predicated on their just justification is communion with our blessed God this is why Paul says in Romans 5 1 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God this is why the Apostle Paul can say that that that that all these things are but rubbish all these things are done now I gain Christ I have Christ I have everything in him if you are Justified freely by the grace of God you have God you have everything this is the another impetus for coming to the church on the on the Lord's day it's to be where the people of God meet it's to be where the god of the People Meet it's to be where he dwells in a special way in this new covenant setting so what justification brings is is acceptance with God but it also brings communion and blessing and privilege and all of the spiritual blessings that Paul highlights throughout the book of Ephesians and then notice lastly in terms of the chapter it's all predicated on this Branch notice this prophetic announcement in verses 8 to 10. there's some difficult stuff here in verses 8 to 10 that I may not be able to answer but I think the gist of it is simple all that is said prior all that is said in verses one to seven is based on this branch and you'll notice that in the new King James at least it capitalizes Branch this is a title of the Messiah this is a title of our Lord Jesus Christ you see it utilized in the prophet Isaiah you see it utilized in the Prophet Jeremiah it's intriguing because in the prophet Isaiah Jesus is both the servant of Yahweh and he is the branch so the branch is the reason for the blessings that are spelled out in verses one to seven it's because of the branch that this legal controversy is resolved it's because of the branch that Israel will govern the house of God because of the branch that Israel will have communion with God it's not them it's not their performance it's not their do-goodery it is rather the grace and the power of the Lord God most high in the provision of his Messiah here entitled the branch so notice in nine or verse 8 hear o Joshua the high priest you and your companions who sit before you these would be the other priests the existing priesthood which continued after the restoration functioned as a sign or type of the coming praise even our Lord Jesus Christ remember this is not the New Testament this is not the New Covenant this is still anticipatory this is still the time of promise and so there is an existing priesthood in this post-exilic community and this existing priesthood is being encouraged and helped and blessed and benefited by this prophetic announcement so hero 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 the servant of the Lord in Isaiah envisions someone who brings Redemption to his people you see that in the servant songs he does does so through suffering according to Isaiah 53 which is the fourth and final of the servant songs in the prophet Isaiah he accomplishes the will of God in spite of Shame Isaiah 49 7 and humiliation Isaiah 50 and verse 6. as I've said we see that Jeremiah envisions the branch as a king associated with David in fact turned back to Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah chapter 23 titles of the Messiah it's a beautiful and a wonderful thing it's a way that we can see the many facets of the Glorious work of our blessed savior his person and his work we have that wonderful Banner that Mrs Mars and the Sunday school class made concerning the names of God up in the Sunday School room the names of God are revelatory the names of God show us things about God they show us his Perfections they describe for us his being they they demonstrate to us his nature and see when the Old Testament assigns these various titles or these various names to the to the Savior himself this is a help to the people of God to appreciate and to admire him even more so notice in Jeremiah 23 5 behold the days are coming says the Lord that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness a king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth in his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely now this is his name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness same emphasis the imputed righteousness of Jesus received by faith alone Christ is our righteousness Brethren just like Paul says in First Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30. and one other one other passage with reference to the branch is right there in the prophet Zechariah look at Zechariah Chapter 6. Zechariah Chapter 6 specifically at verse 12 then speak to him saying thus says the Lord of hosts 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 counsel of Peace shall be between them both he's a king priest just like Psalm 110 tells us the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool verse 4 he's a priest according to the order of Melchizedek our blessed savior is all that we need our blessed savior contains in himself all the blessings of God most high conveyed to his people all that we see in terms of the justification of Joshua is predicated on the coming of the branch the Son of God who lived who died and who was raised again and then in verses 9 and 10 again you have a sort of announcement a blessing for behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua probably some sort of a stone that was representative of the building project they were undertaking in terms of the Temple typically points to that stone which is the Lord Jesus Christ Upon This Rock I will build my church he is the Chief Cornerstone so again this passage is riddled with Biblical prophecy this is the rationale for the the alleviation of this controversy for the rather the resolution of this controversy it's all about the branch for behold the stone that I've laid before Joshua upon the stone are seven eyes behold I will engrave its inscription says the Lord of hosts and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day and then in that day says the Lord of hosts everyone will invite his neighbor under his Vine and under his fig tree that convention under his Vine and under his fig tree is used in other places in the Old Testament to speak of peace to speak of peace but when it says in verse 9 at the end and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day Zechariah has something else to say about that in chapter 13. you can look at chapter 13. we're almost done chapter 13 specifically at verse 1 in that day the fountain shall be open for the House of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and four uncleanness God promises the removal of sin God promises the institution of Peace God promises and Christ fulfills that's what Zechariah 3 is all about so just a few thoughts before we transition into the supper first with reference to the assault of the adversary if you've not read Romans 8 31-35 recently read it Paul is dealing with accusations against God's elect when the devil and it's hard I think right what what's just me in terms of remaining corruption and my own guilty conscience and and what is the devil that's right there nipping at my heels trying to tell me you know just how bad I am it's kind of hard at times to figure that out but whether it's me and you know guilty conscience or the devil nipping at my heels what's the resolution the resolution isn't my performance the resolution isn't that I did devotions this morning the resolution isn't I went to church last Sunday twice three times we prayed for the persecuted Church the resolution is the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ there is a story about Martin Luther it's retold by Walter Kaiser in his commentary here on Zechariah he says one of the most famous Ink Spots before we had computers we had ink pens and before we had the ink pens that you could just collect they had these you know little bottles of ink and you had to dip the nib of the pan in there and you wrote so back to China Luther that's how it was he didn't have word he didn't have Bix he had you know a little pool of ink and and his pen with the nib and he would write so one of the most famous Ink Spots in the world is on the wall of Wartburg Castle in Germany Luther dreamed that Satan appeared to him reading a long scroll with all his many sins from his birth on 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 so that's why there was an Ink Spot there on the wall he had some other intriguing ways of repelling the attacks and the assaults of the devil I'll leave that to your further investigation not all together Savory for a mixed crowd on a Sunday night secondly we have the power of the gospel and that fellow Ian do good I don't know that he has a commentary on Zechariah but he has an article in a book on justification and he cites this passage he expounds and deals with this passage it's very very good I think it's called Covenant justification and pastoral Ministry it's a multi-author book edited by I think our Scott Clark Westminster Seminary guys and there's several articles very very helpful on justification but he makes the observation that every privilege assigned to Joshua is matched by a move in the opposite direction by Christ every privilege assigned to Joshua is matched by a move in the opposite direction by Christ first Joshua was clothed in filthy garments Christ is the righteous and the Holy One Joshua was clothed in Rich robes the sin of the elect was imputed to Christ Joshua received a clean turban Christ received a crown of thorns Joshua is declared Not Guilty by God Christ is delivered up by Lawless hands and crucified as a criminal Joshua is Promised access to God Christ cries out why have you forsaken me it's a lot of gospel in Zechariah Chapter 3. I think it illustrates again what Luther calls the Glorious exchange and I'm not sure this is the specific place where he refers to it as the Glorious exchange but this is what Luther said the rich Noble Pious bridegroom Christ takes this poor despised Wicked little in marriage redeems her of all her evil and adorns her with all his Goods we are filthy we are undone we are disgusting before The Sovereign God Of Heaven and Earth rightly subject to the accusations of the Devil Himself but our blessed savior went in our stead to the Cross satisfied Divine Justice was raised again the third day so that all who look to him in faith will not only receive the Forgiveness of sins but they will receive the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone as we eat this bread and as we drink this cup we prove claim the Lord's death and every blessing attendant upon that death vis-a-vis the doctrine of justification by faith alone well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this wonderful passage this fourth night vision of the Prophet Zechariah we see how it does so well illustrate this doctrine of justification we see it so clearly taught in the New Testament and in the Old Testament as well for Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness we know this is not new we know this is your way this is the way you have chosen to deal with miserable Sinners and we thank you and we praise you and God when we are under accusation when we are under that that guilty conscience may we fly to that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and may we invoke the glory of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen well you can turn with me now to the Book of Matthew Matthew's gospel Matthew chapter 26 what we read where we will read the section pertaining to the institution of the Lord's Supper just a few comments in terms of the supper itself the so the supper is a four Believers only if you're an unbeliever you've not closed with Christ by faith and repentance we would just kindly ask that you don't take the supper it is for Christians it's an ordinance or a Sacrament designed to strengthen to confirm the faith and to build us up so that we may indeed continue to Traverse this this sinful World in a manner that is consistent with our God's calling secondly the ordinance or Sacrament is for believers who are dealing with their sin we learn that in First Corinthians chapter 11. the Apostle Paul has to come and deal with abuses connected to the Lord's table they had a meal in conjunction with the supper and at that meal the haves were excluding the have-nots and the Apostle upbraids them he rebukes them and says whatever it is you're doing it's not the Lord's table and then he issues this command for us to examine ourselves now examination can be done right in your bench it can be done right now if you've got sin before God confess it forsake it seek God's grace and mercy and forgiveness and understand the means or the Lord's Supper is a means to further you to help you to enable you to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior as well the ordinance is a means of Grace to be sure but the elements are not changed they've picked on romanism a couple of times today one more is probably not going to kill them this is not transubstantiation we're not changing the bread into the actual body of Jesus we're not changing the wine into the actual blood of Jesus the the Roman Catholic Church does this they say it's transubstantiation it becomes the actual body and blood of Jesus no that's not what's happening the elements remain the same though they are moved from a profane or non-sacred use to a sacred youth so that we can in them see the body and the blood of our savior and ultimately the ordinance or Sacrament points us to Christ yes look at yourself but look immediately to Jesus confess your sin but lay hold of the mercy offered in our blessed savior well if the brothers will come and pass out the bread while they pass out the bread we will remain seated and sing Psalm 130 A as in Alpha that's one three zero a and after the brothers pass out the bread and we sing this this Psalm I will then read the appropriate section in Matthew and pray and then we'll eat the bread together foreign [Music] together [Music] one more [Music] Christmas [Music] my soul away [Music] from him [Music] thank you Lord Merc [Music] y Jesus um in Matthew chapter 26 at verse 26 we read and as they were eating Jesus Took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body well let us pray but God we thank you for this glorious truth the fact that our sin was heaped upon the Savior and his righteousness is heaped upon us we give glory and honor and praise unto you for so great a Salvation and God help us to live in light of this and may it be the case that you would increase our faith that you would strengthen us that you would cause us to reflect upon that assurance that that foundation for our Assurance it's not in our works it's not in our Deeds but it's in your Sovereign Grace and in justification we bless you and we praise you and we receive this with gratitude and thankfulness even now and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll take together you can turn in your hymn books again to 349. the brothers pass out the fruit of the vine if you want uh to to take juice instead of wine the juice is in the outer ring wine is in the inner ring will remain seated and sing number 349. [Music] thank you [Music] we are free for his thyroid ism [Music] where are you now this is [Music] foreign [Music] alive foreign [Music] foreign [Music] ing in verse 27 then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung of him they went out to the Mount of Olives well let us pray for God and Father we acknowledge with the writer of Hebrews the Apostle Paul that the first Covenant was ratified in Blood and we see that with the New Covenant as well we thank you that the blood of the Bulls and the goats in that Old Testament system all prefigured and all pointed forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world we thank you that on the night he was betrayed he took the cup and he gave thanks and we know that he does what he does for the remission of sins for the many we thank you for including us in this blessed lot cause us to reflect upon this not just once a month but each and every day may we live in light of the shadow of the Cross and may it always bring that encouragement and that peace with God and we ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll take together we can turn to Psalm 134 Psalm 134 and will stand as we sing this praise unto our Triune God [Music] thank you [Music] this is [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] very much [Music] thank you o Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is abundant Redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities our gracious God we thank you for these promises of the Gospel we thank you for this day that we could gather together to worship you we thank you for this Sacrament wherein as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ we Proclaim his death until he comes go with us now help us to glorify you in this coming week protect us and preserve us and watch over each one and bring glory to your name in the lives of the people of God in this local body and we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we may be seated for a brief time of meditation thank you