Let us turn in our Bibles now to Zechariah 8 verses 9-17. Zechariah 8 verses 9-17 Let us begin. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Let your hands be strong, You who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who spoke in the day the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord of Hosts, that the temple might be built. For before these days there were no wages for man, nor any hire for beasts. There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in. For I set all men, every one, against his neighbor. But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of Hosts. For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heaven shall give their due. I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these. And it shall come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong. For thus says the Lord of hosts, just as I determined to punish you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I would not relent, so again in these days I am determined to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear. These are the things you shall do. Speak each man the truth to his neighbor. Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace. Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor. And do not love a false oath, for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord." May God bless his reading, the reading of his word, and the preaching of it to our hearts. responding to a welcoming God. Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, God has a passionate love for you. And when you consider who you were and are, that makes his love even more special. God never abandons you. His presence is always with you. And when you think how many reasons He has to leave you, it makes God's presence even more special. God gave you His promises concerning your future. And when you think how little you deserve, you know you have to respond. Those are the three things we looked at last week. And it is now your response that you will hear about today, what God expects you to do. And our headings are three. One, resolve to work hard. Second, reflect on God's goodness. And then third, respond in actions. Our goals are that seeing all the reasons you have for staying close to God, that you will then tirelessly work in thoughts, words, and actions to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ, your Savior. First, the resolve to work hard. That's your first response for God's passion for you, His presence with you, and His promises to you. the Lord encourages people to boldness. They needed boldness. They needed boldness to rebuild the temple, to restore worship and ready themselves for the expansion of the kingdom. They needed boldness to persevere against the many terrors that they were going to face at the hands later of the Greeks and then the Romans. They even need boldness to face the Samaritans and the Edomites who were their immediate enemies. So how were the Jews emboldened by God for their great job? It's easy enough to say, be brave, be strong. How? What makes you strong? Well, they were emboldened by the word that was preached through the mouths of the prophets. Jerusalem became known, as a result of that, as a city of peace. They were emboldened by the word that was preached consistently and believed by faith. That's how important the word of God was. That's why he says, these are the words, these words by the mouth of the prophets, these are the words you heard. This is what brought change. It's easy to look for a pill. Take a pill and be strong and bold. But it's even simpler than that in a way. It's going to the Word of God and know who Jesus is and what he has done for you. For 20 years after captivity, after captivity ended, there was hardly any commerce. Not for man, not for animals. There weren't enough farmers to require laborers. And with nothing to trade, the traders were in poverty. God's curse was on them after captivity because they had become busy with their own lives. They did not worship God. And when they didn't worship God, they couldn't hear preaching. When they didn't hear preaching, they suffered the consequences. They became afraid. They were not bold. Look at Haggai chapter 1. Remember when God said this to them, and remember Haggai was a contemporary of Zechariah. From verse 6, together, You have sown much and bring in little. You eat, but do not have enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages, earns wages to put in a bag with holes. You looked for much, but indeed it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why, says the Lord of hosts? Because of my house that is in ruins. Therefore, the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds fruit. For I call for a drought on the land. So that's what the Lord is saying. Remember what happened then? Then the Word of God was preached. You believe the Word of God. And then good came. But before that, they had to experience these terrible things. They had enemies that were domestic. The Samaritans. And they had enemies that were foreign. The Edomites. Some enemies were even robbers. People couldn't travel in safety. And then there were internal fights. But by the way, it's very important to know, if you notice in your text, the Bible says that God set all men against his neighbor. What does that mean? It did not mean that God was a source of sin. It simply meant that God would leave men to their natural notions, their natural inclinations, and then they would fight with each other. If God left you and your wife alone, you'll be fighting every day. If God left you and your children alone, who knows what would happen. That's how important it is to have God with you. That's why you make God's Word with you. Matthew Henry said something quite well, said about this quite well. He says, if you threw off God's love, you cannot expect to have peace with your brothers. Simple. You threw off God's love, You can't have peace. That's what the Apostle John and others reiterated in New Testament. You need to have that love of God, because that's what affects this type of love. But they left God out, and as a result, battles were internal as well. But God says, I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days. And you notice he uses the term Lord of Hosts. That's speaking of power, military might, strength, to accomplish what he said. The Lord of Hosts said, as a result, he would end poverty and strife because the Jews worked and worshiped faithfully. And when you think of God's power, why does that term use? There's no fighting here. There's no fighting between two nations. Why would he use the term Lord of Hosts? He was saying he has power to make the ground grow. He could produce food from dry ground. He could provide food in a desert, a table that is well spread. That's why he used the term Lord of Hosts in these cases. It's not just the destruction of the Samaritans and the Edomites and the Greeks and the Romans who would come after. In other words, God's Word is backed with His might. And He will do what He has promised. And what would be the response of the people? Work hard. You've got everything now you need to do the work that He is calling you to do. Rebuild the temple, restore worship, and get ready for the spread of the Kingdom around the world. What lessons can you learn too quickly first? Strife between brothers ended because the word of God was preached and believed. This truth is applied to every marriage. every issue you can possibly have in your marriage, if you go to the Word of God, you will find the answer. That's where peace comes, because truth will solve the problem and peace will be restored. This is the same thing for every child-rearing problem, every struggle within a church. It's the Word of God that we have to go back to for answers. And the Word of God will make you bold to stand up. You know, we think of young people going off to school and to university. You will face many pressures. Pressures to compromise, abdicate, give up your faith. But it's the Word of God that was preached that made them strong. And it's the same recipe today. The Word of God must be in your hearts from faithful preachers. so that you can stand up to the challenges that are going to come your way. Second, bold preaching is what the church must use to bring the lost to the new Jerusalem to find peace. Yeah, as Christians, we know that. For us, we need that regular feeding of the word of God. But this is what the world needs as well. It's the same preaching, faithful preaching of the prophets of God that will bring men to Jerusalem to find peace. Sadly, our focus is on digging wells and starting businesses. And there's a place for helping the poor. But that's not a substitute for the gospel. That's bribing people to become Christians. The Word of God has got to be preached for the lost to be saved and to be brought in to the New Jerusalem. Let's go to the second point. So you have to resolve to work hard as God equips you and He's given you all these things and His power and might are behind you. The second thing you must do in response to God's goodness to you is to reflect on God's goodness. And what God does is to, and especially when you're enjoying his blessings, that your mind doesn't wander away. Look at some of the things he says now. Prosperity will come when there is obedience and faith. Produce will come in abundance. He promises people that his people would eat to their heart's content. What they plant would grow. They would have wine in abundance. When you think of bread and water, you think, okay, that's good, but that's a necessity. You need bread and water to survive. But wine was given for joy. So this was not the matter of God will just allow you to survive, but God will give you blessings, abundance of other things that are good and helpful. So you don't feel bad if you have a nice cell phone, or you have a nice iPad, or a good car, or a nice house. Those things are part of God's blessing. You shouldn't reject God's blessing. God doesn't call on us to live in poverty and to go out in the jungle and abandon all our possessions. In fact, that's often a cowardly way of responding. God wants you to be in the world, enjoy his blessings, and be a blessing to the world. You don't have to be of the world, but you are in the world. This idea of monastic way of life is contrary to the truth of God's word. And then, of course, water. He says, there'll be water. The heavens will give their due. And you think, what's the big deal? Well, water, that was the water that the plants had. That was the only water most plants had in Palestine. Rain was very rare. And God is there saying, your plants will grow. You will have much more. But not only would prosperity come. He's saying prosperity will be kept. It will stay. It will come and move in. It was out of the grasp of the Jews before captivity, but not anymore. Malachi 3, verse 10 says, together, bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. This is a real prosperity gospel. It starts with faithfulness, to God, the love of truth that causes faithful living and then God blesses you with the tools you need that you can enjoy and that you can use for advancing his kingdom. Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 20, together At that time I will bring you back, even at the time I gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes." Now Zephaniah wrote long before. Zechariah, he wrote in fact before the northern ten and a half tribes were taken into captivity. So God's promise was already there and he's calling and saying look reflect on what I promised, reflect on what you have and know that I'm the one who is doing it. I'm the one who is doing it. This, of course, was a fulfillment of the promise that God made also to Hosea, who was there a prophet long before Jerusalem fell, during the time of Israel. And he wrote in Hosea 2, verses 18, 21, and 22, together, In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth to make them lie down safely. It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer, says the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil. So there again, the blessings of God that he has promised. And who is the one who will order the earth to produce? The Lord of hosts. He will say, give them grain, give them wine, give them oil, give them in abundance. He also said that Judah and Israel's prosperity would be visible to the nations. This wouldn't be just some secret thing you have a little bit money and you're hiding it, but this would be visible to the whole world. What a change this was from the past. In fact, think of the time in which they were. This wasn't even fulfilled as you will see in totality yet. Israel was still in captivity in many parts around the world. Many of the Jews from Judah and half the tribe of Benjamin were still in captivity in Babylon and in other places. But the Lord was promising his people that they will be so rich that the world would see that blessing. Look at Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 18. And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. And I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and an astonishment, a hissing and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them." So who's the one who sent them into captivity? God did. And then who's the one who will bring them back? God will. He will bring Israel and Judah back. Remembering God's grace from the past and the present would make Judah and Israel bold. But on what basis would God allow them to come back? Would God say, well, I really want to have some people please come back? Or will God say, well, you come, let's negotiate this thing all over again? No, the only way they would be restored is when they look to the coming Savior, when they look through Jesus Christ. And that's the story of the Old Testament. That's what all the, what the Lord said, the Psalms, the gospel, the law, they all spoke about me. And that was the point here. They were only able to come back through Jesus Christ. When they come back, look what else will happen. Not only would they be enriched, not only would the world see their riches, but Judah and Israel would cause the nations of the world to be blessed. God would use these people who were sent, first of all, they came from a barren woman, from the desert, from Sarah. Then they were sent all over the world to live as virtual slaves. But God would bring them back now. When people would see the favor of God and Judah, many would rush to the Jews. Look at the story now, Jeremiah chapter 11, 29 verse 11, together. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Wow, God's gonna give them so much more that they would have a future and they would have the blessing pass on to the nations that were around them. How certain were these things to happen? How certain that they would have this blessing of God, this blessing that is visible to the world, this blessing that would cause the nations then to come to God's people. How certain? God swore an oath that it will take place. That's how important. You know, when you get married, Your wife or your husband will not let you get away with saying, yeah, I kind of like you. We'll try to do the best we can. No, you take a vow. That's why. It's important. And that's what God does. He takes a vow. God confirmed this oath, this promise with an oath. This gives certainty. What is unique though is that the oath is quite interesting. God didn't say, I promise to do these good things for you. God compared it to what he did before. God committed to blessing Judah even as he committed to punishing them in Babylon. The intensity of the suffering would be opposed to the intensity of the blessing that would come after. Now remember, how bad was that suffering? No one could stop it, God said. God used the most powerful man in the world, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to bring that punishment upon his people and the Assyrians before that. And then God said, just as certain as your punishment, so certainly will be your blessing. What lessons can we learn? First, when you succeed in life, remember it is because of God. Don't take credit for what He does through you. He gave you skill to work. He gave you the skill to be a good father. He gave you the skill to be a good student in school. Yeah, you say, well, I'm the one who put my nose down in those books and I studied really hard. Who gave you the books? Who gave you that smart mind? Who gave you the desire to study? Who makes you remember? That's the work of God. You are God's son. You're not as important as you may think of yourself. Only God makes you special, so give Him the credit. Second, when you have challenges in life because God has given you all of these blessings, be bold. You're not fighting by yourself. Think of some of the challenges you are facing. Maybe you're worried about your health. Maybe you're concerned about the future of your children. Maybe you're troubled about Canada's future. And if you look at Canada, there are probably good reasons to be seriously concerned. But don't be afraid. Be bold. The Lord guarantees his church and his people will continue on earth forever and then in heaven when he is ready. No one forces God to change his schedule or his plans. He says, as certainly as I send you into captivity, so certainly I will make you prosper. I will make the nations come to you. There's no reason to be afraid. So ISIS killed some people. Do you think the kingdom of God will be destroyed? No, not at all. Third lesson, Judah's blessing and the blessing he brings to the world came from Jesus Christ. See, this was not simply an idea of getting rich. It was not about olive oil and figs and pomegranates. Those are blessings from God, but ultimately this blessing is from Jesus Christ. The blessing was never fulfilled in that way in Zechariah Stein. Israel was still in the Diaspora. One writer put it nicely, and I'll quote from him to save myself the ability of struggling to express it in such a good way as he did. He says, these things were fulfilled when Christ, the son of righteousness, that's from Malachi 4, shone on the earth. And he chose from the Hebrews lights through whom to dissipate darkness and illumine the minds of people who were in that darkness. That's speaking of the ones that Jesus sent out. He took those 12 lights and says, go into all the world, make disciples of all the nations. Bring them in, where? Into Jerusalem. Not the physical Jerusalem, we couldn't all fit there, of course. We're speaking of the spiritual Jerusalem. So there's that narrow understanding of this during the time of Zechariah. But the picture was to prepare for the spread of the kingdom around the world, so that all the nations will come. Revelation chapter 21, verse seven says, together, he who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. That's the promise of the spread of the kingdom that we see Zechariah prophesying about. So how do you respond then to this? Third point, response. Your response in actions. Yes, you have to resolve to work hard. Second, you have to reflect on all that God has done for you and you have to remember that it is He who is working through you. So what then is your response? Man's response starts with worship. That's the first thing. That's what we are created to do. You worship God because He is the one who made you. You worship God because He is the one who remade you. Psalm 103 verse 2 says together, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. He didn't say bless the Lord because you have a negotiation with him and if you do this he will do that for you. No, he says he's already done things for you. Remember all his benefits and you worship him. The thing is, that's only the first, the initial response. True repentance is seen in all areas of life. And then God, through Zachariah, highlighted some areas in which you will see true repentance. First of all, he says, speak the truth. Speak each man the truth to his neighbor. Truth must never be hidden, but must be boldly spoken when the opportunity is presented. You know, sometimes it's not easy to confront people with sin, to look at them in the face and say, that's not good. The way you're living, it's not good. We'd rather avoid that. And then sometimes we don't speak the truth because we want to advance ourselves. We pad our resume. We try to cover our wrongs. Well, listen to what the Apostle Paul reminded us as well. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 25, he says together, Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. See how important that truth is? It's the truth of God's word that you have to bring to your children so they can be equipped and serve the Lord even in their youth. Second, he says, establish truth in justice. For the rich and for the poor, they need justice. I couldn't help but note recently where someone did the exact same thing that former Secretary of State of the U.S. did, Hillary Clinton. Exact same action. He gets 10 years in jail, and for her they said, well, we don't find any crime. If you are influential in many ways, you are able to escape. But, the Bible says, the rich need justice, the poor need justice. And you notice the flow here, why does it start with truth? Because truth, when it is applied, the law of God, then that becomes the basis for justice. But then we come to the third one, he says, honor each other. This was to prevent them from needing to go to the gates for justice, avoiding it altogether. If you honor each other, if you put others, their good above yours, then you will not sin against them. If you honor your neighbor or your spouse or your father and mother, then you will not sin against them. If you honor the leaders in the church, you will follow the Lord. and there will be no need to go into the gates for justice and the application of that truth. Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he dwells by you for safety's sake." Your neighbor is essential. Remember we just read, we are part of one body, members of one another. Proverbs 11, 23, together, the desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. Again, we have to do what the Lord has reminded us to do for each other. Put each other first. And then fourth, he says, be careful with oaths. The Jews were not to take oaths rashly. And surely they were not to force other people to take rash oaths. Oaths were for serious matters publicly and vows for serious matter in a private setting. Read together Proverbs Psalms 24 verse 4, together, he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully, the word letter is missing there, who's sworn deceitfully. God wants us to take seriously our oaths unlike the Pharisees who liked to use oaths to look good, but had no intention of keeping them. Know also that God hates a corrupted society with corrupted actions very much. Why? Because a corrupted society is not merely an abomination to the Lord. It is also evidence of a rejection of God's Son. And He never takes the rejection of His Son lightly. That's the point that you want to think about. It's not just sin by itself. It's a society like ours that knew the Lord, who knew the truth. When most people would go to church on Sunday, we no longer do that anymore. That's a rejection, not simply of the law, but rejection of the Son. What Jesus has purchased, we flaunt it. Proverbs chapter 6, verse 16, through 19, together, these six things the Lord hates. Yes, seven are an abomination to him, a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one whose soul's discord among brethren. You see, it's more than going to church on Sunday. It's how you live on Thursday afternoon. That's how God expects you to show your thankfulness to Him, by not just worshiping, but living throughout the week. And that's probably one of the biggest areas of struggles, even in Reformed communities, where people are good at knowing the catechism. They're there. They're good at being there every Sunday. They will not break the Sabbath. But they push aside God's law on those other days as if they don't matter. What lessons can we learn? First, without faithful explication of the word of God and submission to that word, the world will be lost. The whole world. I hear that Zika could become a world problem, and people who don't get this vaccine could cause the spread of this, and the whole world could be impacted. The thing for sure that will cause the world to be lost is when God's word disappears. I saw a young man on Facebook this past week blame the judgmental nature of older folks in church as the reasons that millennials leave the church. The truth is, if the Word of God is faithfully preached and submitted to, the world will be better. The young people will be here, worshiping the risen Savior. Second, have you ever heard the phrase verba vivenda non legenda? It's a Latin phrase, good one to remember. Maybe teach your children, they'll remember that very easily. It means words must be lived by, not just read. See, that's the problem. All we go through the actions. I mentioned this morning when I preached, And I had quite a bit of conversation after because I said, you know, if you sit down at the table and you're having your meal and you open and you read your Bible and close it and put it away, unless that passage is really easy, that's almost a superstitious reading of the Bible without any discussion about what you're reading, without teaching your children. Now for some people it's a reminder and that's okay. But sometimes people just read it because we're supposed to read the Bible. No. words must not only be read, it must be lived by. You must understand the meaning and you must live by that meaning. This is what you want to see in your life. God requires all men, regardless of their religion or their creed, to obey his word. Let's conclude. Stay close to God for all his benefits. Remember your duties well. Resolve to work hard, working without fear. Regularly reflect on God's grace to you through Jesus Christ, and then respond by showing true actions of repentance, starting with worship. That's a summary, but what's the personal application we want to leave with here today? Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, to be able to do these things, you need to be emptied of all selfishness. See, that's what Judah had to get rid of. their beautiful homes that they're obsessed about, their large wine vats, their clothes, their beautiful clothes. But God wants you to be emptied of yourself. Those things in their proper place, yes, but they must not be the focus of your lives. When you are emptied of your ego, showing people how, you know, those who show people how good they are and how smart they are, then you will have room for Jesus and His glory. So where do you start? You start with knowledge. Remember, that's where we started today. You know all that the Lord has done for you, and that comes from regularly listening to good preaching. Then ask God to work that word in your heart, to empty yourself of yourself. So how does this happen? Through the word and through the spirit. This is a spiritual work, or rather it is a work of God's spirit. And when you do this, you can be sure that God's kingdom will come. as the nations come to Him, as you take that word that is in you and use it for the glory of Jesus Christ. But if you are not a believer, you don't have God's passion for you, you don't have God's presence with you, you don't have God's promises. But you can get them all if you call upon the Savior and ask Him to make you His child. He will adopt you and give you a new name. He paid the price of your entrance into that kingdom when he died on the cross. Let us pray. Thank you, Father, for your words today. There is a lot to digest, but may we reflect on what you expect from us in response for all that you have done for us. May we go back to your word. As you called Judah to do, that we might be bold, we might be determined to work for you, that we might reflect upon that truth, and that we might respond in obedience, day after day, week after week, at home, on the road, in church. And so as we work, we will see the kingdom of Jesus Christ expanding and people being drawn to the Savior. Even brought into the New Jerusalem, we ask in Jesus' name, Amen.