We Win in the End
Notes
Transcript
Last 3 Prophets
Last 3 Prophets
Life is full of hard things
We’re studying about some of the hard things Israel went thru in the 500s BC, but much due to their own bad decisions.
You’ve heard me say, somewhat tongue in cheek, “I’ve read the last page and we win.”
Usually in reference to current issues that are difficult. If we could just hang on, it will get better.
What do I mean? I mean I’ve read the last pages of the Zechariah and the OT, Revelation and the NT.
They paint a glorious picture for believers in the end.
But, there will be tough situations between now and then.
One very important value of studying Zech is what it’s going to be like in then to encourage us to endure now.
Which leads me to think about the tough situations I’ve been thru; hard things w/ rewarding results.
Tough Situations
Tough Situations
Specifically, tough situations that we get thru that have rewarding results.
A year ago I had my annual check up and several important numbers were too high. Weight, BP, and cholesterol.
I’ve shared my journey and distaste for working out. I know my weight is down. But, the other numbers, not sure yet. I’m due for my next appt. I’ll find out. I’m optimistic, hopeful.
If they’re down, the reward of the hard work paid off.
Grad school was hard. 4-yr ThM.
3 yrs of NT Greek, 2 yrs of OT Hebrew.
The professors wrote the commentaries. They knew their stuff and expected us to know it, too.
There was no, “How do you feel about this?” Or, “What do you think?”
It was what was going in Jerusalem at the time. Where was Paul when he wrote this and what did he mean in the c1.?
They cared how we felt outside of class. But, in class...
Earning the degree was very rewarding.
Then, the real hard work began.
All this knowledge I had crammed into my little brain needed to come out.
I was 30-year old seminary grad who knew it all. Just ask me.
I could solve every church problem that ever existed, and a few that didn’t.
If they would just do what I tell them to do we’d be fine. At least in my mind.
Experience is a wonderful teacher. We’re not dogs, these aren’t tricks. I was more of a problem than any church mbr.
Due respect to all the moms; child birth is hard. But then, the reward of the baby. It’s glorious.
And, then, the hard work begins. You have to parent that little blob of rebellious flesh.
2-year olds are hard. Teenagers are harder.
Then, the reward when you like your adult children. Not perfect, but they know Jesus. Maybe we wish they were closer to Jesus, but they have to find their way just like we did.
And, the reward of grandchildren. Glory all over.
We throw around a lot. Sometimes in most inappropriate times and ways. But, it’s true:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Hearing the word, “Cancer” in your diagnosis is hard. Cancer treatments are hard. But, then the reward of results of being cancer-free is glorious.
Sometimes, you hear the cancer is back. And, that’s hard, too.
Heart surgery is hard. We have watched Sara’s dad, he had triple bypass shortly after we moved here. He still doesn’t have the strength and stamina in his legs he used to.
When it works and the blood flows unrestricted for the first time in months the rewards are astounding.
We go thru hard things in life. Some are of our own doing. Some just happen. They’re all hard.
But, the bottom line on all of it is, I’ve read the last page. We win in the end. And, the victory will be glorious.
But, between now and then, we will face some difficult situations.
One of the factors in each and every one of these situations God allows into our life, He does is so we will cry out to Him for help.
We have a choice, always. Blame God. Ignore God. Look somewhere else for help; w/in ourselves or to another.
Or, cry out to God and ask for help.
Sometimes He saves us from the storm. And, sometimes He saves us thru the storm. But, He is the only one who can save us.
We’re going to go through hard things. But, we are going to get through them. We will not get lost in them. And, when we do get through them, the reward will be glorious.
We win in the end.
This morning we are looking at passages in the last 3 chapters of Zech. This is where Zech paints this picture of hard situations that God will lead us through and to a glorious reward in the end.
To get us thru them, God sent help. The first helper Zech wrote about is powerful, capable of changing our circumstances, but he is also powerful enough to get us look w/in and see what we need to change ourselves.
God sent the HS to us when Jesus left. And, He’ll send the HS to the believers in the end to help them get thru to the kingdom.
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.
The first 9 verses set the scene of Armageddon. This is the final stage, the final preparation for the last battle before Jesus destroys all unbelievers, destroys everything affected by sin, and resets creation in the kingdom inhabited only by believers for the rest of eternity.
This is the very end.
Then, he backs up and wrote about how they got there.
Sometimes complicating and already difficult situation is the need to look w/in to see what our responsibility is for the difficulty.
Having and accurate view of ourselves is important to survival and correcting what’s wrong. What are we responsible for and what aren’t we responsible for.
God gave them the Spirit of grace and supplication.
Grace, in that it was an undeserved gift to get the chance to deal w/ their own responsibility.
God is perfectly just to destroy us the first time we mess up. And, yet, he allows us to mess up over and over and over again.
He graciously gives us the Spirit that points this out to us allowing us the opportunity to cry out for help.
That’s supplication. Humbly asking for help. Help to not repeat the behavior. Help to not do new bad behavior.
This is repentance. Grace and supplication lead to repentance.
The 4 A’s.
Admit the wrong.
Apologize for it.
Accept Jesus’ payment for it on your behalf.
Adjust your behavior w/ God’s help.
God will prompt them. He prompts us to realize the mistakes we make so we can repent. We deserve t/b punished w/out the opportunity to apologize and make it right. But, He gives us the chance before we face our final punishment.
W/out the Spirit that we have rec’d, and they will receive, we’d never cry out in repentance, owning our bad behavior.
What will they cry out for that we need to realize, too.
It was their ancestors who rejected the Messiah the first time He came.
They pierced God, the Father, spiritually when they rejected His Son. God’s heart was pierced by their unfaithful and disobedient behavior.
And, they pierced Jesus literally. 3 nails and a spear.
The Hebrew word for “pierce” means killed.
As Zech wrote this in the OT they would have had no thought that God could be mortally wounded. No way God could be killed.
We look back and understand Jesus died. His heart stopped. He was buried. But, before his body could start to decompose He came back to life.
We also know that there is so much more to life than what happens here on earth so when life ends here, it’s only a transition to the next.
We know this b/c of Jesus. His miracles. His life, death, res. The transfig. Mo and Eli had left this life over 1000 yrs earlier. And, yet, there they were.
But, that was their ancestors, not them. Why would they take responsibility for something somebody else did.
B/C, one of the things the HS will reveal to all of us is that if we were there, we’d have been in the crowd yelling for them to kill Jesus, too.
Don’t be so arrogant as to believe you’d have been an exception.
Up to the moment of faith, we reject Jesus, too.
I understand. I came to faith as a 17-yr old. Up until that moment, I lived for myself. I did what I wanted to do and in my own way I was my own lord.
We all have to admit we were all in the same place that I was before coming to faith.
Jesus makes me feel good.
Going to church gets my ________ of my back.
It was about me.
The HS brings conviction. Personal responsibility. Yes, their ancestors killed Jesus. But, they were, we are, just as guilty.
Supplication is asking, crying out for help.
So, if it’s the HS who prompts us to ask for help, Who is it that gets us to believe we don’t need help?
Why don’t we ask more?
We think we don’t need it, we can do it on our own (whatever IT is).
We thing God won’t/can’t do anything. He’s weak. Doesn’t care.
We don’t respect His power and ability and have too much respect for our own.
We’re crying out to the wrong god.
It’s the HS that God sends that reveals these things to us. He’s the One who shows us where we fail. But, He doesn’t leave us there to wallow in our failures.
He shows us grace and the opportunity to get help.
The biggest help we get is in Who God also sent.
God sent us a Good Shepherd to do more than guide us as His flock
His Shepherd
His Shepherd
“Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ ”
God sent His Son to be His Shepherd, our Shepherd.
And, He sent Him to die. God did. His Father.
He used ppl to do it. But it had to happen.
In theological theory, if Israel had received Jesus and not rejected Him, He still would have had to die.
Picture Abraham and Isaac on the altar. But, rather than God stopping him, the High Priest would have had to have killed Jesus b/c that’s the sentence.
The things we do in rebellion to God are only made right by taking a life. Either God takes ours, or we accept Jesus’ in our place. Those are the only 2 options.
No brainer choice for us.
Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter.
There have been several scatterings. And, there will be more.
When Babylon exiled Israel during Zech’s lifetime, they killed two thirds of all the Jews. 1 third was scattered throughout the region, forced into exile.
When Jesus was killed, the disciples all scattered.
In a.d. 70, when Stephen was stoned and the great persecution broke out the church scattered all over the world.
Each of these scatterings was hard. Their friends died. They left their homes, businesses, neighborhoods, churches, synagogues. No job, no salary, no farm, no crops, no income, no food, no shelter, no freedom. Beaten down, beaten up.
The last thing they needed was some insensitive, shallow, well-intentioned person to come along and quote...
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
And, yet, here it is...
This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ ”
I don’t know if you know this or not, but fire hurts.
Every year I burn myself. I’ve got scars on my fingers, hands, arm from touching something very hot in my wood stove.
Refined by fire. Made better. Words like perseverance, character, maturity, hope of glory and love.
Sometimes God will even send us into storms, on purpose, for our good.
He will send us into places where bombs are going off and bullets whizzing by.
He will send us into places were germs exist that can make us sick.
He will send us into places where poisonous chemicals are being pumped into bodies killing bad cells and some good ones like a chemo lab.
He’ll send us into an OR where a surgeon is going to cut us open, scar us, break bones, remove organs, to make us well.
Sometimes Jesus will send us directly into a storm’s path.
Sometimes He saves us from the storm. Sometimes He saves us thru the storm. All for our own good and the good of those around us.
Jesus sent the disciples into storms in boats on the water, twice. Did He not know the storm was coming? Maybe He sent the storm, too. Or, at least took advantage of the opportunity to teach the disciples some important lessons.
If you know the stories, what did they learn the first time?
Jesus is a sound sleeper.
Supplicate! Ask for help.
Don’t panic. The only thing He scolded them for was panicking.
Jesus would always be w/ them
The threat was real. Several experienced boatsmen. They knew they were going down and going to drown if Jesus didn’t do something. Others might have died that night on the water, too the way the storm blew up.
The threat. The stress. All real. Just don’t panic.
The second time Jesus did it, what did they learn?
Same as the first time, w/ a couple of differences.
Jesus didn’t start out w/ them. How will they react when He is out of sight and in Heaven?
Sometimes God may call you to defy science, logic, reason, rationality.
Men, a boat, water, and a storm. Those things together, men belong in a boat. If they are on the water, they will die. Too far to swim to shore.
When Jesus came strolling along their first thought was it was the angel of death coming to take them.
Peter realized, no, it’s Jesus, and He’s not getting thrown around by the wind and waves.
So, call me out on the water.
And, he was fine as long as, what?
When did he start to sink?
God may call you into a storm to defy science. And, when you do, Jesus will always be w/ you. Keep your eyes on Him.
Doesn’t mean you won’t leave this life. But, it means He’ll keep you calm as the storm rages around you.
Germs everywhere. They can make you sick and maybe kill you. Relax. Don’t panic. Eyes on Jesus.
Supplicate. Ask for help. He is the Lord. We are not.
Call on His name and He will answer w/ a good answer.
And, finally, we will get thru it, thru everything, and get to a place where there is only One Name we need to know.
God will send us the name that will open the door to the place where we can enjoy the best of the best forever.
One Name
One Name
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
Zechariah
Zechariah 1
If you remember Jim and Peggy Bogard. Last year they moved to Queen Creek. He used t/b in the car bsns.
He gave me the name of a guy who works at a GMC dealership in Mesa. I called the guy, gave him Jim’s name and it opened the door for me to get the best deal I could on my GMC Yukon.
We will get thru the fire. We will survive every tough situation.
Jesus, who created the earth, will re-create it in the end and have a place for us to live forever. All we need to do is drop the right name and we’re in.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Philippians
They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
No matter how hard your life is right now, how hard it’s been, or how hard it’s going to get; I’ve read the last page, and all the pages in between. We win.
We win.
I know who done it. Jesus did it.
No mystery. It’s been revealed.
So, hang on. Don’t panic. Though the storm and stress are real. We will get thru this. One day, we will look back....
No we won’t. We won’t even look back. We’ll look ahead at our King and Lord who is standing among us and we won’t have a stress in the world.
Applications
Applications
Personal Responsibility
Personal Responsibility
One of the things the HS does is reveal clearly to us what we’ve done wrong and what we’ve done right.
He’ll show you where you failed. But, He won’t leave you there to wallow in your failure.
4 A’s
Admit it
Apologize for it
Accept Jesus’ payment
Adapt your behavior
And, the guilt goes away.
A guilt-free life.
Supplicate
Supplicate
Ask for help.
Ask, Seek, Knock.
Ask for help constantly. Hound heaven w/ your requests.
Seek Jesus constantly. Focus and pursue Him doggedly.
Knock the barriers down that get in your way.
He’s Lord. He has power and ability you don’t. He knows more about the ppl and situation than you do.
He want’s us to ask.
What do you need to ask for?
Don’t Panic
Don’t Panic
Jesus is always w/ you even though He’s in heaven and you’re here.
We have an enemy that wants us to believe we are on our own. No sense in asking for help.
Wants us to believe God helps those who help themselves.
But our God is gracious. We don’t help ourselves. We have faith. We ask. We know we have hope. So, we don’t have to panic.
Is there something going on in your life that you need to change your perspective on?
God’s got it. He’ll be w/ you thru it.
We’re going to go through hard things. But, we are going to get through them. We will not get lost in them. And, when we do get through them, the reward will be glorious.
We win in the end.