Behold, Our King Brings Salvation!

Zechariah 9:9–11 KJV 1900

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, And the battle bow shall be cut off: And he shall speak peace unto the heathen: And his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, And from the river even to the ends of the earth. 11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

Introduction:

Intro:

Illustration- Pollyanna's "Rejoicing Texts"

There was no reply this time, though Pollyanna waited patiently, before she tried again—by a new route.

"Do you like being a minister?"

The Rev. Paul Ford looked up now, very quickly.

"Do I like— Why, what an odd question! Why do you ask that, my dear?"

"Nothing—only the way you looked. It made me think of my father. He used to look like that—sometimes."

"Did he?" The minister's voice was polite, but his eyes had gone back to the dried leaf on the ground.

"Yes, and I used to ask him just as I did you if he was glad he was a minister."

The man under the tree smiled a little sadly.

"Well—what did he say?"

"Oh, he always said he was, of course, but 'most always he said, too, that he wouldn't stay a minister a minute if 'twasn't for the rejoicing texts."

"The—what?" The Rev. Paul Ford's eyes left the leaf and gazed wonderingly into Pollyanna's merry little face.

"Well, that's what father used to call 'em," she laughed. "Of course the Bible didn't name 'em that. But it's all those that begin 'Be glad in the Lord,' or 'Rejoice greatly,' or 'Shout for joy,' and all that, you know—such a lot of 'em. Once, when father felt specially bad, he counted 'em. There were eight hundred of 'em."

"Eight hundred!"

"Yes—that told you to rejoice and be glad, you know; that's why father named 'em the 'rejoicing texts.'"

"Oh!" There was an odd look on the minister's face. His eyes had fallen to the words on the top paper in his hands—"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" "And so your father—liked those 'rejoicing texts,'" he murmured.

"Oh, yes," nodded Pollyanna, emphatically. "He said he felt better right away, that first day he thought to count 'em. He said if God took the trouble to tell us eight hundred times to be glad and rejoice, He must want us to do it—some. And father felt ashamed that he hadn't done it more. After that, they got to be such a comfort to him, you know, when things went wrong; when the Ladies' Aiders got to fight—I mean, when they didn't agree about something," corrected Pollyanna, hastily. "Why, it was those texts, too, father said, that made him think of the game—he began with me on the crutches—but he said 'twas the rejoicing text that started him on it."

"And what game might that be?" asked the minister.

"About finding something in everything to be glad about, you know. As I said, he began with me on the crutches." And once more Pollyanna told her story—this time to a man who listened with tender eyes and understanding ears.

A little later Pollyanna and the minister descended the hill, hand in hand. Pollyanna's face was radiant. Pollyanna loved to talk, and she had been talking now for some time: there seemed to be so many, many things about the game, her father, and the old home life that the minister wanted to know.

At the foot of the hill their ways parted, and Pollyanna down one road, and the minister down another, walked on alone.

[Source: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Pollyanna/Chapter_22 accessed 4/4/20]

Raise the Need

The King of Kings is bringing salvation and that's something to get excited about!

Rejoice & shout, the King is on His way!

Orient Theme

Can you rejoice because of the Lord's salvation?

State the Purpose

Reprove the apathetic

Rebuke the scoffer

Exhort the self-prisoner

Interrogative

What do you need to know about what God has done, is doing, and will do for those who trust, love and obey Him in order to really get excited enough to rejoice and shout?

Proposition

Excited believers are those who realize what God has done (), is doing (), and will do () in them, through them, and for them!

Sub-intro: Context of Contrast = Christ vs. Alexander

  When Zechariah put this prophecy about Jesus right after his prophecy concerning Alexander the Great, he was obviously inviting his readers to contrast the two conquerors. Alexander’s arrival brought fear to people, but the Jews were commanded to rejoice and shout because their King had come. Jesus was righteous in all that He did, and His purpose in coming was to bring salvation to those who would trust Him. How different from Alexander! Alexander rode a mighty steed and proudly led a great army from one victory to another, but Jesus rode a lowly donkey and came in humility. [Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Heroic, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: ChariotVictor Pub., 1997), 132.]

  Zechariah’s far-reaching prophecies encompass at least 2,500 years of history. He sees the following events:

The destruction of Tyre and the Philistine cities by Alexander the Great ()

Christ entering Jerusalem on an ass ()

Christ’s betrayal for 30 pieces of silver ()

Christ’s crucifixion to satisfy the covenant of Moses (“cut asunder” ; “pierced” ; hands wounded in the house of His friends, ; “smitten” )

The scattering of Israel ()

The destruction of Israel by Rome ()

The Antichrist ()

The Two Witnesses of ()

The end-time Babylon ()

The Battle of Armageddon (; )

The deliverance of Israel from her enemies (; )

The repentance and conversion of Israel (; , )

The regathering of Israel (; )

Israel reunited ()

The second coming of Christ ()

Israel defeating and spoiling her enemies ()

Christ anointed as King-Priest ()

Living waters flowing from Jerusalem ()

Christ ruling the whole earth (; )

The topography of Israel changed ()

Israel dwelling in safety ()

The nations of the earth worshiping Christ in Jerusalem (; )

Judgments upon the nations that do not obey Christ (, )

Israel being holiness unto the Lord ()

The Jews honored by the nations ()

As we see, there are great Messianic prophecies in Zechariah. Not only do we see His life and ministry, but also His person and character.

Christ is identified as Jehovah God (). When Zechariah says, “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced,” in context this refers to Jehovah God. See verses 1, 3.

Christ is Jehovah’s “fellow” (). No other man can be called God’s fellow. Christ is the Son of God and the Son of Man. He is the eternal Son who was sent by the Father to be the Saviour of the world (). He is the man in whom the Father is well pleased (; ).

It is Jehovah God as Christ who will stand on the mount of Olives and defeat Israel’s enemies ().

It is Jehovah God as Christ who will come with all the saints () and be king over all the earth (). In the New Testament, we see that this is Jesus (; ).

Christ is Beauty (). He is “altogether lovely” (). He is “fairer than the children of men” (). [David W. Cloud, Minor Prophets, Way of Life Commentary Series (Way of Life Literature, PO Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 2018), .]

I. Of Daughters & Donkeys ()

Zechariah 9:9 KJV 1900

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass.

A. Terms of Endearment ~ Precious People

"Daughter" of Zion/Jerusalem

ZION. The name “Zion” means citadel and it originally referred to one of the hills of Jerusalem that was conquered by David (). It came to refer to the entire city of Jerusalem. We see from the parallelism in that Zion and Jerusalem are the same. In , “Zion” refers to the heavenly Jerusalem, but in the Psalms and the other Old Testament prophecies it refers to the earthly Jerusalem. Prophecies such as and 52:1 describe Zion’s restoration, but the heavenly Jerusalem needs no restoration! [See Israel, Jerusalem, Prophecy, Zionism.] [David Cloud, Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity, n.d.]

JERUSALEM (foundation of peace, possession of peace). The capitol of Israel. Jerusalem’s History: (1) Before King David’s Time: In Abraham’s day, Jerusalem was the city of Melchizadek, king of Salem (). Later it was called Jebus and inhabited by idolatrous people (; ; Ju. 19:10). (2) During David’s Reign Jerusalem was conquered by David’s men and made the capitol of his kingdom (). (3) From Solomon to the Time of Christ: The temple of God was built in Jerusalem in Solomon’s reign and the city remained Israel’s capitol and center of worship until it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s armies (2 Ki. 24:25). After Israel’s 70-year captivity in Babylon, Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt under the leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. (4) From the Time of Christ to Present: Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by Roman armies under General Titus. Jerusalem’s history from then until 1948 was one of subjection by a succession of Gentile powers—Arabs, Turks, European crusaders, Asian Tartars, Latins, and the British. In 1948 the new state of Israel was announced after the Jews miraculously won the war of independence against united Arab armies. Jews began to return to Israel by the tens of thousands. In 1967, following the Six-day War with attacking Arab nations, Israel captured the temple mount and has from that time controlled the entire city. Prophecies of Jerusalem’s future: (1) A new temple will be rebuilt which will be desecrated by the Antichrist (; ). (2) Israel will sign a peace pact with the Antichrist (). (3) The two witnesses of will prophecy in Jerusalem, and there will be a great earthquake following their deaths and resurrection (). (4) For the final 3 years of the Great Tribulation and of the Antichrist’s rule Jerusalem will be “given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (; ). (5) All nations will be gathered together against Jerusalem (). (6) The Lord Jesus Christ will return, destroy the Antichrist, defeat the Gentile armies, and establish His earthly capitol in Jerusalem (; ; ). [See Covenant, Israel, Kingdom of God, Millennium, Prophecy, Second Coming.] [David Cloud, Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity, n.d.]

“Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: For the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” (9-, KJV 1900)

“Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; Behold, his reward is with him, And his work before him.” (, KJV 1900)

B. Terms of Engagement ~ Prince of Peace

The Donkey of Palm Sunday

The ultimate Peacemaker, Christ

Melech, Zedek, Righteousness, Salvation, Meek

What God has done already (salvation won)

  SALVA´TION, n . [It. salvazione; Sp. salvacion; from L. salvo, to save.]

1. The act of saving; preservation from destruction, danger or great calamity.

2. Appropriately in theology, the redemption of man from time bondage of sin and liability to eternal death, and the conferring on him everlasting happiness. This is the great salvation.

Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. .

3. Deliverance from enemies; victory. .

4. Remission of sins, or saving graces. .

5. The author of man’s salvation. .

6. A term of praise or benediction. Rev. 19.1

[Noah Webster, Noah Webster’s First Edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language. (Anaheim, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2006).]

“The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness From the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.” (, KJV 1900)

Psalm 110:1–4 KJV 1900

1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 2 The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness From the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. 4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, To order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice From henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (, KJV 1900)

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, And princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, And a covert from the tempest; As rivers of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” (, KJV 1900)

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (, KJV 1900)

II. Of War & Peace ()

A. The War to End All Wars ~ Rebellion Destroyed

Illustration- H.G. Wells & WWI

Note - WWI was supposed to be the “War to End All Wars” and yet, in 1933, Wells predicted the beginning of another major conflict to occur in 1940, he was only months away from the actual beginning of WWII.

Cut off / Covenant

Point out Pronouns- thy, thee, He, I, He, His, thee (feminine), thy, I, thy

Ephraim (Israel/north 10); Jerusalem (Judah/David/south 2)

Ephraim designs the ten tribes, and Jerusalem stands for the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; and the sense is, that these shall be one in the days of the Messiah, as Kimchi observes; and that all instruments of war shall be removed from them, and there shall be an entire peace between them; see ; , [John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament, vol. 6, The Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1810), 721.]

What God is doing now, bringing peace with God to the Gentiles

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, Which shall stand for an ensign of the people; To it shall the Gentiles seek: And his rest shall be glorious.” (, KJV 1900)

“And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” (, KJV 1900)

“And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, And to the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us of his ways, And we will walk in his paths: For the law shall go forth of Zion, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, And rebuke strong nations afar off; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruninghooks: Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; And none shall make them afraid: For the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.” (, KJV 1900)

“The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)” (, KJV 1900)

“And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (, KJV 1900)

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.” (, KJV 1900)

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (, KJV 1900)

Colossians 1:20–21 KJV 1900

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

B. Peace to the Ends of the Earth ~ Dominion Restored

God's order in creation (sun, man, God as King, Christ as Head)

What God is doing now = Eternal Life (present tense)

What God will do = the Millennial Kingdom/ Eternal State of the Blessed

“But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” (, KJV 1900)

“And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, And will make them to lie down safely.” (, KJV 1900)

“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, That I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, And I will destroy thy chariots: And I will cut off the cities of thy land, And throw down all thy strong holds:” (, KJV 1900)

“And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, And I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; And I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; And the horses and their riders shall come down, Every one by the sword of his brother.” (, KJV 1900)

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (, KJV 1900)

Application:

The first reason for rejoicing is the coming of the King (v.9). The second reason is the establishment of his kingdom—a kingdom of universal peace...(v.10). [Kenneth L. Barker, “Zechariah,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 663.]

III. Of Blood & Water ()

A. The Blood of the Covenant ~ Price of Purchase

Thee = daughters = beloved = Israel = Church = Us (Note - distinguish between the material and spiritual blessings of the New Covenant)

Cross Reference Sheet for Blood of the Covenant

“For the Lord heareth the poor, And despiseth not his prisoners.” (, KJV 1900)

“For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; From heaven did the Lord behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; To loose those that are appointed to death; To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem;” (, KJV 1900)

“Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, Being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, And contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; They fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, And he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, And cut the bars of iron in sunder.” (, KJV 1900)

“To open the blind eyes, To bring out the prisoners from the prison, And them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” (, KJV 1900)

“But this is a people robbed and spoiled; They are all of them snared in holes, And they are hid in prison houses: They are for a prey, and none delivereth; For a spoil, and none saith, Restore.” (, KJV 1900)

“That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; To them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, And their pastures shall be in all high places.” (, KJV 1900)

“The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, And that he should not die in the pit, Nor that his bread should fail.” (, KJV 1900)

“Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the strong; Because he hath poured out his soul unto death: And he was numbered with the transgressors; And he bare the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” (, KJV 1900)

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to them that are bound;” (, KJV 1900)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” (, KJV 1900)

“Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (, KJV 1900)

Acts 26:17–18 KJV 1900

17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” (, KJV 1900)

B. The Bringing of the Captives ~ Prisoners of the Pit

Joseph's Pit/ the Psalmists Pit/ Jeremiah's Pit/ the Rich Man's Pit/ Captivity Led Captive/ the Bottomless Pit

He comes and offers rivers of living water (; ; ; )

Isaiah 55:1–9 KJV 1900

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, And he that hath no money; Come ye, buy, and eat; Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, Even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, A leader and commander to the people. 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, And nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee Because of the Lord thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. 6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:1–5 KJV 1900

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, And he that hath no money; Come ye, buy, and eat; Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, Even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, A leader and commander to the people. 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, And nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee Because of the Lord thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

Is. 55:1

John 4:13–14 KJV 1900

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

John 7:37–38 KJV 1900

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Jn. 7:

Revelation 22:1–7 KJV 1900

1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. 6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Rev.

  Grant that We May Patiently Bear All Evils | ; ; | Preaching Themes: Patience, Suffering | Prayer Type: Petition

Grant, Almighty God, that as we do not at this day look for a Redeemer to deliver us from temporal miseries, but only carry on a warfare under the banner of the cross, until he appears to us from heaven to gather us into his blessed kingdom—O grant that we may patiently bear all evils and all troubles. And as Christ once for all poured forth the blood of the new and eternal covenant, and gave us a symbol of it in the Holy Supper, may we, confiding in so sacred a seal, never doubt that he will be always favorable to us, and render manifest to us the fruit of his reconciliation, when after having supported us for a season under the burden of those miseries by which we are now oppressed, you gather us into that blessed and perfect glory, which has been procured for us by the blood of Christ our Lord, and which is daily set before us in the gospel, and laid up for us in heaven, until we at length shall come to enjoy it through the same, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ~ John Calvin [John Calvin John Calvin Adapted from Calvin and Owen, Vol. 5: Twelve Minor Prophets, 263.] [Elliot Ritzema, ed., 400 Prayers for Preachers (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).]

Conclusion: How many times would God have to say to you, "Rejoice" in order for you to finally get it?

What HAS HE DONE FOR YOU?

What IS HE DOING RIGHT NOW FOR OTHERS THROUGH YOU?

What CAN YOU LOOK FORWARD TO HIM DOING FOR YOU IN THE FUTURE?

What does it take to get you excited about the things of God?

  There is a beautiful order in the incidents which form our lessons, for the present and following weeks, to which a brother called the attention of the church many years ago. Beginning with the twelfth chapter, the events fall into the order of the tabernacle, or temple service. That order, it will be remembered, was, first, the brazen altar whereon the burnt offering was offered; then the layer of cleansing; then the holy place, the scene of fellowship and worship; and, last of all the most holy place, into which the high priest entered.

Following that order we have in the twelfth chapter the death of the Lord in three aspects, as the corn of wheat, the judgment of the world, and irresistible attraction. In the thirteenth chapter, the laver of cleansing; in the fourteenth and sixteenth chapters the High Priest and his associate priests in the Holy Place, in intimate communion, and in the seventeenth chapter the High Priest passes as it were behind the veil into the Holy of Holies, and the listening priests hear his voice in intercession according to .

Every Christian, certainly every Sunday school teacher, ought to study with care the typology of the Tabernacle. It gives the mould, or form, of the divine plan of redemption, and in many ways recurs through the whole Scripture.

Turning now to the lesson, we are, I think, to find its deeper truth in the answer of Christ to Philip and Andrew when certain Greeks wished to see him: “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.”

What did our Lord mean? How do his words constitute a reason for not seeing the Greeks? These Greeks were Gentile proselytes to Judaism. Why should he not see them?

Briefly, because a King offering himself to his own proper subjects, the Jews, was no object of faith to a Gentile. Rejected by Israel, He was about to be crucified for the sins of the world, Jew and Gentile, and then, as the Crucified, He would become the right Object of faith to both Jew and Gentile. An uncrucified Messiah could save no Gentile, no Jew. This is His own word: “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.”

And this word of Christ’s is the sufficient answer to all the theories of the atonement which ignore the liberation of the life of Christ that it might be imparted to all who believe. “In Him was life,” and on the cross that life was set free to enter those who, through faith in Him are born again, just as a corn of wheat, planted, dies into countless corns of wheat. Only through death could Christ become the life-giver.

We have not before us in the sin-offering aspect of our Lord’s death, but rather the whole burnt offering aspect, that sense in which His death was all for the Father.

The heart of this lesson, then, is that Christ would not show himself to the Greeks because salvation is not by the influence of His spotless life, as some say, but by faith in Him as crucified for us that we might not perish, but have eternal life. He had offered himself as a king to Israel, but during the time of his earth-ministry His disciples were carefully instructed not to go in any way of the Gentiles, but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. After the crucifixion, however, the word was to go to the uttermost parts of the earth, but the message was no longer to be, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” but “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

An uncrucified Christ was not, could not be, an object of faith to the Gentiles.[C. I. Scofield, Things New and Old: Old and New Testament Studies, ed. Arno C. Gaebelein (New York: Publication Office “Our Hope,” 1920), 206–208.]