The first thing we have to see as we open scripture tonight is that we have much, much in common with the people of Zechariah's time. We have much in common with these people. Consider their situation. They've returned from exile in Babylon and they have returned to a shocking scene. Okay, Jerusalem has been destroyed and the temple has been utterly demolished and these are a people who are sitting amongst and standing amongst ruins. Isn't that how we can feel as Christians living in the UK in the 21st century? As Christians, we feel that we are standing amongst ruins. A few years ago I went to the west coast of Scotland and I was taking a service there. First thing in the morning I go in and I open the door to this church I'd never been to before and the first thing that struck me, I was shocked by how vast this place was. I mean it was massive. There was a woman with me and I asked her and she said this church seated about 900 people. You know this was a vast church. And I got up the stairs to the pulpit and I sort of looked out. Remember? 900 seats. And I counted the people that were in front of me, and there were seven people. Seven people there in front of me. You know, a church that once would have been, you know, bustling and noisy. It was just a shadow of what it used to be. And I had a sense of standing and being amongst ruins, okay? And it is the same in London, isn't it? Okay, we've got a few congregations and we've got a few buildings that are still standing, but in general the Christian scene in London, the Christian scene right across the United Kingdom, it is a scene, isn't it, of decay? And it is a scene of devastation. Well, because of that, this message that God brings to his people through Zechariah the prophet, this is a message tonight for you and I, because the only thing that is going to help us to understand our situation as Christians in Britain, the only thing that's going to provide us with any actual hope or encouragement, the only thing is a renewed picture God. A renewed picture of the God that we worship. And let me tell you, that is exactly what we've got in front of us here in Zechariah chapter 1. So please, if you haven't already, please turn with me in your Bibles to Zechariah chapter 1. Have that open in front of you because we will be going through these verses in detail. And the plan tonight is to draw out three things, three headings, three things to note about God from these verses, okay? So, let's consider the first of those. Let's consider, let's see here, the sovereignty of God, okay? The sovereignty of God, in many ways, our theme for this day, the sovereignty of God. Now, yeah, what is this? Well, what we have here is the first of eight visions that Zechariah the prophet has. Okay, the first of eight quite incredible visions. And also what is incredible is that he seems to have had all of these eight visions in the one night. Okay, the one evening. That was some night, I'm guessing. All of these eight visions, one after the other. Now, please don't think about these things as dreams. because they are not dreams. Zechariah is awake for all of these visions. He's actually, all the time, he's kind of asking questions about these visions. So they're not dreams. They are given to him by Almighty God. Now, you see the content of this first vision that you've got in front of you. Just look at verse 8. See what he sees. We're told he sees a man upon a horse. I guess immediately we focus on the fact that the horse was red. You know, like, well, that sounds a bit out there, sounds a bit crazy. This is a red horse. Don't let that sidetrack you even for a second. Because that is just the Hebrew way of talking about a normal colour of a, you know, a sort of chestnut colour of a horse. That's all this is. Don't focus on the red horse. Focus on the rider. Focus on the characters of this vision. Who have we got in this vision? Did you follow it? I said you read it. We've got this man on a horse. Now, I missed this the first time that I read this, but the man who is on the horse is the same character that is later referred to as the angel of the Lord. So the one who is upon this red horse is the angel of the Lord. So you've got him. But you've also got another individual that Zechariah sees. You've got another angel, if you see in verse 9. It's the one that Zechariah calls the angel who was speaking to me. And for that angel, I want you to think about Fernanda. Okay? Not that I'm saying Fernanda is an angel, necessarily. But think about Fernanda. Now, a couple of weeks ago, Fernanda was here in the church with her mum, wasn't she? and her mum didn't speak any English. So what Fernanda had to do was sort of carry or take, not carry, take her mother around the congregation and she would have to stand there and she would just have to interpret everything and translate everything for her mother. Now do you see that that is what this second angel does here. Now, this second angel follows Zechariah around, not just in this vision, but in all of the eight visions, and the angel is the interpreter. You know, Zechariah's seen all this stuff, and the angel is translating and interpreting what it is that Zechariah sees. So you have the angel of the Lord, and you've got this interpreting angel, but you see this scene here? I mean, where is it set? Isn't it amazing? You've got the angel of the Lord and he's on this horse. Where is he? He's down in a little ravine, in a glen. He's down amongst all these myrtle trees and crucially do you see he is standing, he's on his horse but he is in front of a group or a troop of other horses all presumably with angelic riders. This is an incredible scene here. I mean, do you see it? You have got the mounted heavenly host down in that ravine. It's all fronted by the angel of the Lord himself. And he's on horseback. But what's the point? I mean, what is happening here? Well, you see that it all kicks off in verse 10. The angel of the Lord He speaks at this point, and then he reveals the purpose of the horses. Do you see what it said? They've been going out, these horses, masses of horses, going out on patrol to patrol the earth and to report back to the Lord God. Now, that's fine. You've got it. Horses going out to patrol the earth. But I think if we're going to understand this properly, We've got to appreciate what's going on. We've got to appreciate the political climate of the time, okay? Now, at this point, the Persian Empire was absolutely vast. the biggest empire the world has seen. I mean, it stretched from one side of the known world to the other. Persian empire, massive. Now, successive leaders of that empire, so you've got guys like Cyrus the Great and Cambyses and Darius, guys that we've seen here, they all ploughed a lot of money into lines of communication. You see why? Do you? I think, as all good military leaders know, You know, if you want to keep your empire right, you need to know what's going on. You need to know what is going on in the outskirts, what your enemies are doing. And do you see that that's what we've got here with these horses? This is God's reconnaissance. These horses, that in sending out these horses here and then telling his people about them, God is saying to those people who were in Jerusalem, he is saying, I see. I've got my horses. I know, I see you tonight in your ruins. I see it. I know what your enemies are up to. And what is stressed here is the sheer comprehensiveness of God's knowledge and sight. Do you see in verse 11 where the horses go? Where do they go? They travel back and forth across the earth. You see, there is no limit. There is no boundary whatsoever to God's knowledge, to his sight, to his awareness. But friends, more than sight, this here is also about the power of our God. And that brings us to a problem. I think we've got a problem with this vision. Because I think if I say, or if we say to people, picture a rider on a horse, what do you think people are going to picture? I was speaking to my wife about this this week. I think people are going to, like, picture Keira Knightley or somebody like that. You know, somebody in a period drama, sort of sitting side saddle on a horse, you know, and going for a little trot in the afternoon and kill some of her aristocratic time, you know? That is not this. That is not this. That did not exist in the Old Testament. Do you see that a horse in the Old Testament, that was simply a weapon? A horse was a symbol of military strength. So here, when we picture these horses going out on patrol, we've got to think armor. We've got to think color. We've got to think about an army with a banner raised displaying regal majesty, regal authority. Do you see that this is not just about God's infinite omniscience? You know, his knowledge, his sight, this here, this is about God's infinite power, his omnipotence. Now, I wonder, do you see how this would have affected the people of God in the ruins, hearing from Zechariah? See, there's something you need to know here. Like I mentioned, some names of the successors and the leaders in Persia. Well, Cyrus the Great died, okay? His successor was a man called Cambyses. Do you know what one of the first things that Cambyses did when he came to power? You know, if you remember from Ezra, what did Cambyses do? Came to power, first thing he did, kill himself, okay? Now, the subsequent power vacuum in the Persian Empire, it led to all these revolts, all of these rebellions, and you say, so what? Who cares? But do you see that that gave the people of God hope? They thought, well, wait a minute, maybe God is going to use these rebellions, maybe he's going to use these revolts to bring power back to us, to bring power back to Jerusalem that was in tatters. But then what happens? Darius comes to power in the Persian Empire. And suddenly, just like that, there is peace restored to the whole empire. All these revolts, they come to nothing. And the people, do you see it? The people are dejected. They are back to total dejection. But do you see what God's message is here? Look at verse 11 with these horses. He says, I see, I see that the whole world, I see that the empire is at rest. I see that it is peace, but his message is, don't worry. I know what's going on, but I am your God. I am the Lord God almighty. Friends, I firmly believe that we, too, in here at London City Presbyterian Church, we should be encouraged by these horses amongst the myrtle trees. Because I think in the depleted state of the church in the United Kingdom, we instantly seem to think that God has walked away from us. We seem to think that God has somehow turned his back, that he has forsaken his people in this country. Look at this! See God's knowledge? God sees us in the United Kingdom. In fact, guess what? God sees us. He sees us right now in this place. More than that, consider his power that is on display here. If we are truly in ruins, in this country. It is for a reason. You know, God is sovereign and he only does what is best for his people. He does what is best for his name. He only does what is best for the kingdom of grace. So we see the sovereignty of God. There's a second thing that I want us to consider here. Let's consider, seeing the sovereignty of God, let's consider the jealousy of God. The jealousy of God. So the angel of the Lord has revealed the purpose of these horses and the horsemen. Now, instead of speaking to Zechariah, that angel, the angel of the Lord, does something else, and he addresses God himself. and on behalf of his people. Now, you hear that. I'm going to come back to that. On behalf of the people, on behalf of the people, the angel of the Lord pleads with God. Do you see what he says? Verse 12. He says, Lord, how long will you withhold mercy? How long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem? Now, I think God's response to that is both marvelous if you like but it's also bewildering because you'll see it in verse fourteen. God says, I am very jealous for Jerusalem. I am very jealous for Zion. Are you with me and do you see how that's bewildering? Like imagine that I was to stand from the pulpit tonight and sort of say, I'm jealous of that guy's wife, or I'm jealous of that guy's car. It's going to land me in a lot of problems. I'll probably lose my job. Why? Because jealousy is a negative thing, isn't it? Isn't it? I mean, don't we view jealousy as a very, very negative, almost harmful, emotional... Wait, how can You see how it's bewildering? How can we talk about our God? How can scripture talk about God as being a God who is jealous? What's going on here? Well, what this is, it's a way of describing the love of God for his people. That God loves his people in such an intense way, you know, in such a devoted way, that it's so fervent, his love for us, that it has to be described as Jealousy, and such is his intense love that literally, I read it literally, this says here, I am jealous for Zion, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and I am jealous with great jealousy, okay? But I think we can only understand the jealousy of God if we view it through the lens of the covenant, the covenant that God has made with people. Now, you know, you know what we're talking about when we're talking about covenant. You remember this when we're looking at Abraham. You remember it when we're looking at Genesis that God has has made an agreement with man. That he will be there, his, he will be their God if they do what? If they respond with, they respond with, with faith. Well, that's how we understand jealousy. What's God done in the covenant? He is true. Think about what I said to to Johnny and Sarah. He has chosen for himself a people. He's chosen for himself a bride. He is selected from all the nations. He has chosen a people. And those people are his. They belong to Him. And if His people turn away, if His people go elsewhere, if His people turn after idols, what does this make God? It makes God jealous. Do you see? That's why in Scripture you hear God's jealousy most often in portions of Scripture that are about the covenant. Exodus 34 talks about the covenant. Guess what? God is a jealous God! Deuteronomy 5. It's about the covenant. Guess what? God is a jealous God. That's why elsewhere when you hear about God's jealousy in the Bible, it's about a spousal jealousy. It's about a marital jealousy. He's chosen a bride. He wants his people's affection. He longs for his people's affection. So jealousy describes the intense covenantal love of God for his people, but there's more to it. Let's say for the next 20 years of my life, I wake up, have breakfast with my wife, Pri, and every day for the next 20 years, I tell her that I love her, but that for the remainder of the day, I do nothing to show that I love her. Then that love means very little indeed. Would you not agree? We're always being told love is a verb, love is a doing. If we love someone, if we love a spouse, then we are to be caring for that person, protecting that person. It's a doing thing. Well, do you see that that is the same with God? That God's love for his people is always, always in action. and that should color how we consider and how we view his jealousy that God is so jealous for his people that here what he's promising is that he is going to act on their behalf and see all that peace and that tranquility of the Persian Empire he's going to disrupt that we see that here God is so jealous for his people that that was why he sent them into exile in the first place to chastise them to bring them back to him but he's put yourself here Put yourself in the ruins of Jerusalem. Can you imagine? You can see the despair of these people coming back from exile, having their hopes raised, dashed. And they hear from Zechariah that God is jealous, that God loves them with such intensity that he is jealous for them. Can you imagine what it would be like to hear that? But do you not see? It's the same in here tonight. Do you not see that? Do you not see that God loves you with such immensity? That he describes that, his word, as God being jealous for you. Jealous of you and your affections and your desires. Do you not see that this should change our lives? Shouldn't it? If God demands our affections, demands that as his bride, what do we do? We've got to rid ourselves of all these other distractions and all the guff that's in our lives, all of these other idols that we build up, all of the desires. We rid ourselves of all of that. We've got a God to worship and a God who loves us more than that. a God who is jealous for Zion. So we see his sovereignty and we see the jealousy of God. I want to close, last point, third point, let's focus on the liberality of God or the abundant blessing, the liberality of God. Were you here last week in the church on Sunday night? If so, you'll remember the promise or I hope you'll remember the promise that God made, calls for the people to repent. And he says, return to me and I will, do you remember the promise? I will return to you. That was the promise last week. Here, what he does is he unpacks that promise. He shows us what it means. Please look at verse 16. He says, I will return, and it's not vague, it's very specific. I will return to Jerusalem and there my house will be rebuilt. Now you need to hear this next bit, otherwise the remainder of the sermon will not make any sense. That was a promise, not vague promise. That was a promise that God was going to come back into Jerusalem. And that was a promise that God was going to dwell again in the midst of that city, in the temple. God was promising to come back. Are you hearing me? I promise to come back and live and be with his people. Now, look at verse 17. See what that presence of God would mean for these people. He's promising to come in and live in the temple. What does that mean? Few things. Look at it. Because of his presence that would be, do you see the word prosperity? That not only with the temple, be rebuilt, but the measuring line would come out and building work would start. Not only is the temple going to be rebuilt, but the whole of the city of Jerusalem is going to rise from the ashes. There would be prosperity. So in other words, have a look, verse 17, we've also got the promise of comfort for Zion. that because God was dwelling with his people, gone is going to be the misery of the exile, all that misery gone, all the misery of the ruins, that God was going to be amongst them and that would mean lasting and real consolation. So there is prosperity, there is comfort. Do you see the last one? Verse 17, end of the verse. God promises the choosing of Jerusalem. Not that he would choose them again from out of the nations, he has done that. But he is promising that since he would come and dwell with them and be in that temple, that they would once again experience the blessing of his electing hand. Can you imagine hearing this stuff? Can you? The prosperity, the comfort, the choosing, God would dwell with these people? Well, what I want to close with It's how those promises are fulfilled in you. As you sit in London City Presbyterian Church tonight as a Christian, those promises in verse 17, they are fulfilled in you. I've got a question. Are you ready for the question? There is a rider on a red horse and he's amongst the myrtle trees. Who is he? Who is he? You say to me, the angel of the Lord. Who is he? Who is he? Who is the one here who speaks on behalf of his people before the Lord God Almighty? Who is the one here who takes the secret message from God to the people? Who is this writer? Is he not a vision of the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not he? Is it not Jesus? Is it not the one? Think about the horses. Think about the horses. Is it not the one who Matthew tells us has all the power of the angels behind him? Is it not Jesus Christ? And does your mind, now as a Christian, not go forward to the New Testament and to what Jesus was called? What was he called? Emmanuel! What was he called? God with us! That in his living, in his dying, in his rising, in his forgiveness for sin, that in the new covenant it is you and it is I that truly experience the dwelling place of God, that God is with us in his Holy Spirit. Do you see that? He is with us. He is with us here tonight. So you see with me in verse 17 what that means for us. Do you see it? What do we see? That we are experiencing the prosperity of God. You and me experiencing this prosperity in the way that he's actually changing us. He's growing us. Jerusalem is rising from the ashes. What else? Did we see the comfort? Isn't there a work of the great comforter, the Holy Spirit in our lives, the comfort of all? What we see, God's choosing that from time immemorial, God has chosen us and he's blessing us day by day by day. Do you see that God is with us? He is with us, his people. Do you see what this means? Friends, it means that we are not in ruins. We are not in ruins. God is with his church, his people in this country today in the 21st century. He is with us. We are not in ruins. So tonight you praise God that he is so jealous for Zion that what has he done? He has sent his one and only son into the world and you praise God that his son did not come riding a horse. You praise him that Jesus Christ was willing to enter Jerusalem riding a donkey. You praise him that there wasn't pomp, there wasn't any sort of circumstance, that he came in utter poverty and came to die that you might live. And we praise God that for eternity, He's never, ever going to leave us. He's never going to forsake us. Our God is with His people right now in this room, in this place, in your heart. That shall be the case forevermore. Let's pray.