God has promised blessings to Israel, but we have seen that His blessings are always covenantal. This means that we may never walk away from our obligation to live in the way that God commands, knowing always that He gives His beloved what He commands. Grace enables us to walk rightly; it does not waive …
And When You Run Out of Things to Say, Go On to the Next Verse
“The surest way to maintain variety in to keep to the mind of the Holy Spirit in the particular passage under consideration. No two texts are exactly similar; something in the connection or drift of the passage gives to each apparently identical text a shade of difference. Keep to the Spirit’s track and you will …
The Flying Scroll
Up to this point, the visions have been greatly encouraging. But God is a holy God, and covenant blessings are never poured out blindly, apart from God’s recognition of our obedience or lack of it. The blessings are utterly inconsistent with continued sin. “Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying …
Spiritual Nutrition
“Whatever else may be present, the absence of edifying, instructive truth, like the absence of flour from bread, will be fatal” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 71).
Greater Works
INTRODUCTION: The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation. The Incarnation of the eternal Word is the miracle of miracles, the first wonder of a series of wonders. The Incarnation was the foundation, the Crucifixion and Resurrection the capstone and roof, and the Ascension the great steeple. But there is another wonder beyond …
Golden Oil
In the previous vision, God had given great encouragement to Joshua the high priest. In this vision, He gives comparable encouragement to Zerubbabel, the civil leader. Joshua represents the priestly power, and Zerubbabel represents the civil authority. They were united in Melchizedek, separated throughout the history of Israel, and then reunited in Christ. The type …
Pulpits That Go Poof
“Rousing appeals to the affections are excellent, but if they are not backed up by instruction they are a mere flash in the pan, powder consumed and no shot sent home. Rest assured that the most fervid revivalism will wear itself out in mere smoke, if it be not maintained by the fuel of teaching” …
An Imputed Garment of Righteousness
We come now to a glorious picture of justification through faith in the coming Messiah, the Christ. While these visions were given to encourage the saints of that day, if the word were limited to that day, all encouragement would ultimately fail. “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of …
Hand-Packed Grace
“Horses are not to be judged by their bells or their trappings, but by limb and bone and blood; and sermons, when criticised by judicious hearers, are largely measured by the amount of gospel truth and force of gospel spirit which they contain. Brethren, weigh your sermons. Do not retail them by the yard, but …
Let All the Earth Keep Silence
The third vision of Zechariah, that of the measuring line, promises a glorious future for Zion. The promise of that future has not yet been completed, but enough has been fulfilled for us to know that God always keeps His prophetic word. “Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a …