We turn in the word of God to the book of Zechariah and to chapter 9. Charles Dickens opens his book Hard Times with that very famous line, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it has been repeated and a multitude of different other works because of that wonderful combination. The history of Israel is a bit like that. The worst of times was their captivity. The best of times was their deliverance from captivity and their return to the Promised Land. But we need to put Zechariah 9 in context. Babylon fell 539 BC. The Israelites began to return under Ezra and Nehemiah according to the decree of Cyrus And that decree, you may see for yourself, written on the Cyrus Cylinder, which is presently housed in the British Museum in London. It was found by archaeologists in 1879 in the ruins of ancient Babylon. So you can read the decree of Cyrus for yourself. Zechariah the prophet preached about 520 BC. Here in chapter 9 of his preaching, you have three things. You have, first of all, God's defense of the church, in verses 1 to 8, that God will defend Jerusalem. Second, you have God's promise to the church, in verses 9 and 10, And then thirdly, God's saving of the church in verses 12 to 17, the Lord our God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people. Our subject arising particularly from verse 9 and 10, only one eternal king, only one eternal King. We note first of all the promised King in verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. It was always God's intention to give Israel an earthly king. We know that from Deuteronomy 17, verses 14 to 16. God had always planned to give his people a king. The stipulation was that they were to wait upon the Lord. They were to be patient for God's time, for God's king to come. But in due time, the Israelites did not want to be different anymore from the nations around them. They became impatient. So they began to agitate for a king. And so God gave them a king in his anger in 1st Samuel 8. He gave them the kind of king they wanted, a king like the nations around them, because the purpose of their agitation was, we don't want to be different. They turned their back upon the antithesis. They turned their back upon their distinctiveness. They didn't want to be different anymore. And so they got a king. His name was Saul and his rule and reign was a disaster. He was a disaster. He was a man who lived on the fringes of the church in Israel. He was a man who was ignorant of the spiritual welfare of Israel. but he was the king God gave them, for that was the king they wanted. But out of that debacle, God raised up David, who was the ideal king. And yet, he was more than merely the ideal king. He was the messianic king. He was the figure and representative of the everlasting king who was to come. and all through Israel's history the promise of the Messiah was constantly repeated to them, one like unto David. But this raises the question, why at this juncture in Israel's history does Zechariah say to the people, Behold thy King cometh? because there's nothing it would seem in the context that would indicate in any way that the king was ever going to come. Well, as we look at the previous verses, the verses before verse 9, in due time God was going to punish all these places listed from verse 2. All these cities and peoples who had so cruelly treated God's people. But when was he going to do this? By whom was he going to do this? Well if you have And if you were following the reading carefully as you have it before you, God would send Greece. He would send a ruler from Greece, verse 13, to conquer all these cities. Well, did that happen? Did Greece conquer all these places listed from verse two onwards? Did Greece come with a particular individual who would ride roughshod over all these places? Well, he did come 200 years after Zachariah prophesied. Alexander the Great came, and what is remarkable is he followed the precise route for all these cities listed one after the other. and you will notice that Tyre or Tyrus is particularly singled out and in due course when Alexander came and conquered it was Tyre that held out against him and it was Tyre that so dramatically fell at the Battle of Tyre in 332 BC. It's famous So the children, for their homework during the week, you can Google the Battle of Tar 332 BC and you can read all about it and you will see the parallel between what happened and what is stated here in verses 3 and 4. And how the cities around them became afraid, they too were conquered. Well, why does all this matter? Because this would be the ongoing proof that Israel's king would indeed come. This was to be their focus. They were not to be sidetracked by anything else. And don't we need that reminder? We get sidetracked. We get sidetracked by political events. They are important. At times they're fascinating. We see fascinating times, but do not be sidetracked from the one king that matters. You may rejoice over Brexit. You may or may not rejoice over Trump. You may or may not rejoice over the confusion in Europe. It doesn't really matter. Don't be sidetracked from the one eternal King. the promised king would come at the ordained moment specified. But then secondly, in verses 9 and 10, the humble king, the humble king, this king is not what people expected. But he will be recognized by four characteristics. First, he is just. That is, this King would be a righteous King. One who is perfectly good, perfectly holy, sinless, and faultless. Of no other person on the world but Christ can this be said of. Of no other ruler can it be said perfectly holy, without sin, without fault. No matter how good our rulers have been, they have all been sinners. We have had some wonderful rulers in history. At least that is if you know your history. I hope you do know your history. But we've had some great rulers. We had some not so good, but nonetheless they were better than some were presently or recently had over the last 30 or 40 years. But of none of them was it ever said just, righteous, sinless, Perfect. Second, having salvation. Here is a king who absolutely saves his people from their sins, who gives salvation to those who are sinners. And this is one of the main reasons for his coming. Of no earthly ruler, no matter how civilized they have been, no matter how polite they have been, no matter how warm-hearted and good they have been, of no ruler can it ever be said, that ruler saved sinners. There's only one king who saves sinners, and that is the eternal king. Jesus Christ. We may be thankful for our monarch. We may pray that she will keep on reigning until the next in line might be senile and incapable of coming to power. We've had a long history. Charles I, Charles II. We wonder about Charles III. We've got absolutely no confidence in what's to come. So we quite like the one we have. But the one we have Never saved a single sinner. Does not possess salvation. Only one, Jesus Christ. Thirdly, lowly. We are told that having salvation lowly, he is marked with humility. There is nothing flamboyant about this king, nothing ostentatious. This is not a boastful king, this is a humble king, a lowly king. It is no accident that we read, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isn't that what is said of Christ? What beauty is there in him? But you know for the believer, beauty has become the most important aspect of our theology. Beauty, the beauty of God. The beauty of Christ, the beauty of his works, the beauty of salvation. There is a beauty that is unique and exclusive to these things. Here is a king who is lowly, who is humble. The fourth characteristic, riding upon an ass. Now it is interesting how Zachariah, by inspiration of God, writes out these things, because this statement is in marked contrast to what comes in verse 10, the chariot and the horse and the battle bow. Here's an eternal king who comes riding upon an ass, who comes without all the trappings of earthly kings. Earthly kings, they love their chariots, they love their cavalry, they love their arms. You know the old communist May Day parade where the communist leader stands in the square and he's there up on the balcony surrounded with all his generals and all their medals and they watch their army go by. and they love to stand there so proud. See how tough we are, how great we are. And of course, you see it all across the world, whenever a ruler comes to a country, they love all the trappings, you know, the outriders, the blue flashing lights of the police cars and motorcyclists, all the traffic is stopped, all the policemen stop everybody from moving, everything's cordoned off, and the rulers love this, you see. That's the mark of an earthly ruler. But here, is an eternal ruler. He doesn't need the trappings of earthly kings. You know, Alexander the Great, he had an inner circle of 300 bodyguards. They were known as the Royal Squadron. So wherever he went, you know, these fully armed soldiers, companions, bodyguards to the king, wherever he went. You see that when our Prime Minister's on the go, or when the President of America comes. You see all these earthly trappings. This King needs no worldly displays. And you see it in his birth, in his life and ministry, in his death. Without earthly trappings riding upon an ass. The humble King, But then thirdly, the reigning king, verse 10, 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. Christ as a king has a kingdom. His dominion is specified as being from sea to sea. Now what is interesting, Zachariah is quoting from Psalm 72 in verse 8. So he turns to the Psalms in order to underscore the point, Christ's dominion is universal from sea to sea. Here's a kingdom that conquers, yes, but not with carnal weapons. Verse 10 says, he shall speak peace unto the heathen. This king does not need the Red Army, does not need the SAS or the paratroopers or special forces. This king doesn't need earthly weapons. He but speaks to the sinner's heart. He speaks peace to their souls and they bow to him. And you will notice the subjects that are named in verse 9, Zion and Jerusalem. Verse 10, the heathen. Verse 11, it's the prisoners. Verse 16, the flock of his sheep. All kinds of people are drawn into his kingdom. And yet they all have a similar characteristic. They're at peace with God's king. peace with God's King. How do you know a Christian? The King has brought peace into their life. The wicked are like the troubled sea, says the scripture. They're always agitated, always on the go, always animated. But the believer has that calm and heavenly frame. Of course there are things that will ruffle and disturb the surface, but underneath that disturbed surface, there's a calmness, there's a peacefulness. For they are at peace with the Lord, they are at peace with God. And the King, in the scepter of his rule, has brought peace into their lives. Well, in light of these truths, what are we to make of it all? What is it telling us? Well, the first thing is the fulfillment of prophecy. The fulfilment of prophecy is one of the great marks of the truthfulness of the Word of God. You can trust God's Word. And we can see that fulfilment from two aspects. On the one side, you can see it in the fulfilment of prophecy regarding earthly events. Take the book of Daniel. Daniel speaks of history for hundreds of years from his day right down to and including the coming and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he continues until the destruction of Jerusalem itself in AD 7. And he speaks of four empires. He speaks of the Babylonian Empire, It's full and then of three empires that would come after it. And the fourth would be the Roman Empire. Well, did these things happen or not? They did happen. Daniel's not writing history after the event. He is writing history before it has even happened. Because Daniel is writing in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king. Zechariah, as I've said, speaks of the Greek Empire, 200 years before Greece even had an empire, before its existence. 200 years before, he is speaking of a king of Greece who would come, the right that he would take. And Zechariah prophesied Jerusalem would be spared. Now, in your library, I hope you have one particular book. It's the works of Josephus. Josephus, in his antiquities, book 11, chapter 8, paragraph 4, records how the high priest of Jerusalem ordered the city gates to be opened, and for the Jews to go out and meet Alexander, with the high priest coming after them. Instead of killing the Jews, Alexander did something unexpected. He saluted the Jews and the high priest. The kings of Syria, who were part of his entourage, thought he had gone mad. But Alexander explained that God had honored this high priest, for it was the very man he had seen in a dream the night before. Josephus then records that the high priest showed Alexander how Greece had been prophesied in scripture. So when scripture prophesies of earthly events, they will either pass or not pass. If they don't come to pass, the Bible is not true. They have all come to pass, showing the Bible is true. But there's a second aspect to this, the fulfillment of scripture in relation to Jesus Christ. These particular words are used by John in his gospel. And John records how the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled this very passage. He also records how the people themselves spoke these words about Christ, when they saw Christ riding this very animal into Jerusalem. And John then adds that though the people understood it, the disciples at that moment in time were absolutely dense. They didn't see how it all fitted together until afterwards. If we were writing John's Gospel we would say, see how clever the disciples were? How astute they were? John says, the people cried these words to the Lord Jesus Christ and the disciples didn't get it until after the resurrection. John is saying, what scripture tells you about Christ is absolutely true. I say to you friends, trust the Bible, trust the word of God. Secondly, the humility of Christ is reflected in his people. We live in a culture of narcissism, of vanity and self-esteem and all around us is boasting and great claims are made. But humility is a Christ-like characteristic that we are expected to exhibit. Firstly, it's a necessary characteristic for entering Christ's kingdom. Matthew 18 verse 3, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So it's a characteristic for entering the kingdom of heaven. No one enters Christ's kingdom Standing upright, making boats, they enter Christ's kingdom on their knees, stripped of everything, acknowledging they are nothing, confessing their own unworthiness. So I ask you, do you have this characteristic of humility? Or are you proud and vain? Second, it's a definitive characteristic of believers. Psalm 131 verse 1, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty. You see, we do esteem others better than ourselves. We do if we're believers. Recognize that we are nothing. We are finite, limited creatures. You don't know tomorrow. You don't know if you will see tomorrow. You don't know if your plans will be fulfilled. You don't even know if you'll be back this evening. You might be dead. So if you're not here this evening, can I conclude you have died and I need to call and arrange your funeral? My heart is not haughty. We are not proud people. And thirdly, it is a spiritual grace to be pursued. Colossians 3.12, put on humbleness of mind. Believers are neither showy, proud, nor boastful. Believers are not ostentatious. Believers are humble. We make no great boasts about ourselves. In fact, we don't make any boasts about ourselves. You know, one of the things that I find troubling about modern funerals apart from the fact of all being turned into celebrations. I'll put it to you this way. When you're arranging your funeral and you're saying, let's have a celebration for the life of, that surely is a statement of atheism. You're saying, there's nothing after death. The only thing I had is life. We have nothing to boast of. Do you really want it said at your funeral? Oh, this person was marvelous. They did this, they did that, they did the other. Isn't that what is said at funerals? The funeral will be your last sermon, so to speak, that you'll ever preach on earth. Let that message be, I was nothing. but Christ was everything. I was a failure, but he never failed. We have nothing to boast of. But not only are believers to be humble, preachers should be humble. I find it astonishing that we have come almost full circle back to the dark ages, where ministers boast of the trappings of wealth You know, they have their private jet, their holiday homes. They like to wear diamonds. I find this astonishing. The Savior had no private jet. He could have had if he'd wanted to. He owns a cattle on a thousand hills, but he didn't go about dressed in the trappings of bright jewels. He was humble. So when I see these glitzy, glamorous celebrity preachers boasting of their wealth, this was a very complaint of the spiritual and the dark ages. That's what Chaucer complained of, all these lazy, fat, rich preachers who didn't care about the souls of people, only their own wealth and comfort. So it's not a principle that applies just to believers, that believers are to be humble. Preachers are to be humble too. And thirdly, the Psalms were understood messianically before the New Testament era. Here is Zechariah, sixth century prophet, 520 BC. And what's he doing? He is quoting a psalm messianically. The idea that the Psalms were only messianic after the writings of the Gospels was never true. The Psalms were always messianic. Here's an Old Testament witness to this very point. The Old Testament is already coding the Psalms messianically before the New Testament. And that explains, for example, the messianic discussion that the Savior had with the scribes and Pharisees regarding Psalm 110. Because they had already grasped that Psalm 110 was messianic. long before the Saviour's incarnation. So when you read the Psalms, every single Psalm, the general thrust of every Psalm, not that every verse in every Psalm is to be twisted in order to arrive at a messianic interpretation, But the thrust of every psalm, the person spoken of in every psalm is Jesus Christ. When I hear contemporary evangelicals say, oh, you know, you Christians who sing this psalm, you don't sing of Jesus. The church was always singing of Jesus, even before he came. And here's the evidence. Zechariah? The Psalmist spoke of Christ? And then, fourthly and finally, no other king but Christ. Whatever earthly riches rulers give their citizens, whatever earthly things earthly rulers provide, both the ruler and the goods that they give are all temporary. Their rule is limited, their possessions are limited. Here is an eternal King who gives eternal possessions, possessions that will outlast this life. He brings righteousness, salvation and peace because he is the embodiment of these things. In him, there is righteousness, salvation, and peace. And the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Do you know these things for yourself? Do you have these possessions? Have you got righteousness? A righteousness not your own, but the righteousness of Christ imputed to you, received by faith. Have you got salvation? Are you justified before God? Have you got peace through our Lord Jesus Christ? Enoch Paul once famously stated in an address, all political careers end in failure. He was absolutely right, perhaps on that point. His point was that when you're at the peak of your political career, retire. Then you'll not be a failure. The politicians don't know when to quit, and they keep on going. until they're made to quit. But here's a king who's never a failure. Here's an eternal ruler who will never resign, never be made to resign. Here's an eternal king whose kingdom is eternal, whose possessions are eternal. He has blessed us with eternal possessions. Here is a king who is perfect. a king from whom beauty comes to his people. There is no other king but Christ. In that sense, we are monarchists. There's only one king that we absolutely, totally, unreservedly surrender to, and that is Christ. We own no other king. When the famous Margaret's were brought out into the Solway first, were tied, they saw the waters rising and around them were all these people who were saying to them, say, God save the king, God save the king. Oh, no other king but this earthly king. And they died refusing to do so. And we admire them for it, don't we? We rejoice in reading their loyalty. And when we get a chance, we like, if we're driving by, to stop. You can walk out now to the spot because it's a marsh and the council have put a nice wooden platform for hundreds of yards out to the very spot. Put a nice big plinth up for everyone to read it. And that's good. But it's the faith confessed that matters. Let me say to the children, children, own no other king but King Jesus. Whatever taunts are thrown at you, by your peers in the streets or wherever you are. Oh, no other King but King Jesus. Adults, demonstrate your loyalty to no other King but King Jesus. There's only one King that you subscribe to. Oh, I know we have our earthly citizenship. We want to protect that as best we can. We pray for those who rule over us. But whatever happens, There cannot be any compromise on anything that is contrary to this eternal king and this kingdom. May we all rejoice in this king and look forward to his coming. May the Lord bless his word to our hearts.