WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.640 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:22.640 Well, we may have an answer for why the world's right, but we all agree that something is not right. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:27.199 And that's probably true of multiple different spheres, isn't it? 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:39.520 It's probably true that as you think about maybe your workplace or the world around you, you know, your sort of small little section of this planet that we call Earth, there are probably many things that are not going right. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:42.399 So that when someone says to you, hey, how's it going today? 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:49.759 And you say, good, you know, you kind of got this veneer of a smile on, because beneath our behind that, everything's on fire. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.200 You ever answer the question like that? 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:52.479 I certainly have. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:01:01.200 And then we, you know, you turn on the TV, you see the news, you you look at the what's happening in the world, and and surely things are not right there. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:03.039 Things are incredibly broken. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:12.879 But then you look at your own life, and sometimes you have this overwhelming awareness that even your own life is not right, even you're not living the way that you should be. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:19.280 And it just sometimes seems like everywhere you look, the world is not right. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:28.400 Now, in Zechariah chapter six, we come to the Israelites, and the Israelites really feel this. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:37.840 They had just been brought by God miraculously from Babylon to Jerusalem to build the temple, but the temple construction had halted. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:48.000 And if you know the history of Israel, you know that when there's no temple, there's no presence of God, and nothing goes well when the presence of God is not with the people of God. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:50.480 Things are not right. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:02:03.519 But they had just received these visions from Zechariah, and we studied these last week, the eight visions of the night that Zechariah received, and these visions really told a story. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:16.719 It began with the first vision, where the four chariots went throughout the whole world and everybody was at rest, and that was a problem because it showed what it showed was that people were finding rest in the things that were not God. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:22.319 God was not at rest, God had work to do, but the people were at rest. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.759 And when there was work to be done, the people were resting. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:43.280 And Zechariah had the series of visions that told a story of what God was going to do to restore his people until eventually in vision eight, again, the chariots go out and they go to the north country where the enemies of God are, and they come back, and what do they say? 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.120 The land has rest. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:48.080 God is at rest. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:03:00.400 And what Zechariah has seen and shared is this vision that in the end God is gonna work in a way that everything is going to be okay. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.199 We know the ending of the story. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:20.000 This is the joy of the Christian worldview, is that as you come to believe God's word, you come to know that the ending is already written, and what we are doing in the meantime is waiting. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:22.719 We talk about this often. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:30.240 In fact, one of the illustrations that we've used is is of sports fans would really uh resonate with this when you pre-record a game. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:40.960 This is a big no-no for some sports fans, but you pre-record a game, and before you're able to watch the game, maybe on your phone, you get this push notification that your team has won. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:47.120 And yet you're a big fan, you're invested, and so you still watch the game, you want to see the ins and outs, you want to see every play. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.120 And so you watch the game, but you watch it kind of differently, don't you? 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:57.199 You watch it, but you you know that your team's gonna win, and so you don't really go with the ups and the downs. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.960 And for the Christian, this is much of what we are doing. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:12.319 We know the end, we we know that God is gonna be victorious, we know that the heavens are gonna meet the earth, we know the end is coming, we know God is gonna win, but the question we need to ask is what do we do in the meantime? 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:15.680 What do we do while we wait? 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:24.480 Well, we've heard the saying that good things come to those who wait, and surely this is the message that Zechariah has for us this morning. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:26.879 In fact, he's gonna say exactly that. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.800 Look with me at Zechariah chapter eight, verse fourteen. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:33.839 I'm gonna start there, and then we're gonna go back to chapter six. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:43.360 Zechariah chapter eight, verse fourteen. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:52.480 For thus says the Lord of hosts, as I purpose to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:05:02.560 So again I have purposed in these days, listen to this church, to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:05.199 Fear it not. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:17.519 God's desire for Israel, God's desire for us this morning is to bring good things to those who wait on him. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:24.160 And so the question for us this morning, and the question for Israel at this time is this how do we wait? 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:26.560 How do you wait well? 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:41.279 I'm sure you guys have seen those uh videos that are pretty popular on YouTube, and I'm pretty sure we've tortured our kids with these same uh experiments before, where kids will be sitting at a table and they put down maybe a marshmallow or a piece of candy. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:42.079 Have you seen these before? 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:48.079 Maybe give me a little nod of agreement so I know that I'm not the only person who's gone down this YouTube vortex before. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:56.319 They put a little piece of candy in front of the kid and they say, Hey, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna leave, and when I come back, if this is still here, you can have two pieces of candy. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:00.399 And as adults, we look and we laugh because we understand it so clearly. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.120 If if you just wait, you're gonna get more. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.519 And it seems so childish, but there's really the adult version of this in many ways, isn't there? 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:14.240 And that's exactly what God is telling us this morning. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:18.720 Good things come to those who wait on the Lord, who trust in his plan. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:22.800 And so God's speaking to us this morning. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:42.240 He's telling us that instead of waiting for the instead of instead of pursuing joy in the world, instead of pursuing popularity with people, instead of pursuing the temporary gain of material pleasure, instead of pursuing peace outside of God, instead of pursuing comfort and things or people or vacations. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:44.560 And God is saying this to you this morning. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.079 Why why don't you wait? 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:57.040 What if you learned to wait and trusted me that those who wait will receive a hundredfold from me the things that they are looking for in the world? 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:00.000 And God's teaching us to wait. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:05.920 And Zechariah wants to show us this in chapter 6, verse 9 to the end of chapter 8. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.439 Before we work through this, why don't we spend some time praying together? 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.319 And we pray, Father, we bow before you. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:19.199 And God, we believe your words that your intention is to do good to those in Jerusalem. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:25.360 And we find ourselves, Lord, here in your presence. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.399 And God, you're speaking to us the same promise. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:31.120 You've spoken it to us so many times, Lord. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:34.399 You've told us that every spiritual blessing is in Jesus Christ. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:40.639 And so, Lord, we come to you and we long for that spiritual blessing. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:47.839 And I pray, even right now, by your Holy Spirit, Lord, would you turn us from this constant pursuit? 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:56.160 It's like running on a treadmill and getting nowhere that we have with the world and with ourselves, where we're trying to find the things that only the Lord can provide. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:57.439 And so, Lord, help us. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.560 Give us the strength, give us the trick the courage in this moment to turn from these things, God. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:05.120 Lord, we need your help. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:06.879 So help us now, we pray. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:08.720 I pray this all in the name of your son. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:09.839 Amen. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:18.319 Well, we're thinking about waiting well, and the first thing I want you to understand is this that when I'm waiting well, I'll trust the right person. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.519 I'm waiting well when I trust the right person. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.959 Now, in chapter six of verse nine, what we have is a group of exiles. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:34.480 You'll remember from Haggai when we studied it, that as the Israelites came from Babylon to Jerusalem, there were a number who came, but there was also a large number who stayed. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:41.600 But what we found, this is it's kind of like FOMO, is as the temple's being built out, there's a group of Israelites who have this fear of missing out. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:46.480 And so now they're coming from Babylon still to come to Jerusalem. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:09:02.080 Verses 9 and 10 of chapter 6, we read this that these Israelites with these crazy, hard to pronounce names, they're coming from Babylon and they're going to the house of Josiah. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.279 And they're commanded at this time to do something. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:08.799 Look what it says in verse 11. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:18.480 It says, take from them silver and gold and make a crown and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehosedech, the high priest. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:21.200 Now, if you were with us last week, you'll remember Joshua. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.559 Joshua was crucial in God's plan to restore the temple. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:34.240 In fact, the visions all culminated with Joshua being one person and Jerubbabel being the other person that would be key figures in the restoration of the temple. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:44.080 And so what we have here is God is providing the materials to make a crown to be placed on the head of Joshua. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:52.720 Joshua was the high priest of Israel at this time, but something significant would happen that had only happened a few times in the history of Israel. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.559 The high priest would be made into the king. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:01.120 Very often these were separate roles in Israel. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:11.360 Israel really had three roles of prophet, priest, and king, and the the role of the prophet, or the role of the priest was to speak to God on behalf of the people. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:16.960 And the role of the king then was to rule for God for the people. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:22.960 The king was to be God's ambassador who was establishing God's rule for his people. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:27.600 Now to have a priest on the throne was an especially exciting time. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:34.960 If you had a priest on the throne, think about it, you had a person who had direct access to God. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:42.320 And you would read throughout the history of the Israelites and all these kings that were horrible kings that made horrible mistakes. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:55.919 And here now you have in Joshua, you have a priest who has direct access to God, whose very role as a priest is to have uh communion and community with the people, and he is the king. 00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:06.960 Israel would be excited about this priest, Joshua, who is being made a king, especially because of Psalm 110. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:12.879 I want to read this for you, and you can turn there if you'd like, or you can stay here and listen to me read it. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:20.320 But in Psalm 110, this would be a song that Israel would sing continually. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.120 And it really is about a priest king. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:36.000 In Psalm 110, we read this the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:43.679 Here we read that God is going to bring a king to rule over Israel. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.919 But this king wasn't just any king. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:49.919 This king would be the king who, through whom Israel would find victory. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:58.080 And so you read this in verse 2 where the Psalm says, The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter, rule in the midst of your enemies. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:02.320 This would be the king who would bring his people to victory. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:08.320 And in verse 3 we read that it would be this incredible time of peace in the nation as the people support the king. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:16.159 And in verse 4, we find something incredibly interesting for us this morning that it says, The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:25.679 And of this king he says, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:38.639 And so here's Israel, knowing Psalm 110, seeing it very often as a people, and they know that the king who's going to bring ultimate victory to them will also be a priest. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.960 And so can you imagine the anticipation? 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:48.080 As Joshua, the high priest, is made this crown in verse 11. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:53.759 They anticipate that victory is going to come through Joshua. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:04.720 And if that wasn't enough to get everyone really hyped up, Zechariah goes on in verse 12 of chapter 6 to continue to hype up the people. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:07.440 And you're going to understand, this is something I do all the time. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:08.879 I don't know if any of you are like this. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.600 I over-promise and under-deliver all the time. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:12.720 Anyone else like that? 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:15.600 Can you put up your hands and we can start a support group together? 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:17.120 I do it all the time. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:18.720 My wife made a pie yesterday. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:24.720 I told everyone in my family at the family barbecue this is going to be two times better than the best pie you've ever had, okay? 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.320 And that actually did deliver, so maybe a bad example. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:33.200 Zechariah is not doing that here, though. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.960 In verse 12, they already know the priest king is an exciting thing. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:44.240 But in verse 12 it says, And say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, look at this man, look at Joshua. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:54.639 Behold, the man whose name is the branch, for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:14:05.200 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne, and there shall be a priest on his throne. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:09.120 And listen to this everything the Israelites were hoping for. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:27.360 Remember, they had stopped the temple building because the presence of the enemies were so great, and the council of peace shall be between them both, and the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a reminder to Helem, to Bajiah, Jedediah, and Hen, the son of Zephaniah. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:32.799 This king would usher in this period of peace. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:37.519 Now, Zechariah tells us that this priest would be the branch. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:39.919 This is his title, the branch. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:43.759 Now, what does it mean for a priest to be the branch? 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:48.000 Well, we think about this and we begin to understand the illustration, don't we? 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.799 Branches, they bear fruit. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:15:06.480 And what God is saying by calling Joshua the branch here is going is this that there is a man that he is establishing in Israel who will be the one that you go to if you want to receive the fruit that you're looking for. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:08.960 Remember, this is so relevant for Haggai. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.799 You remember when we were in Haggai 1? 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:13.200 What were the people doing in Haggai 1? 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:21.840 When it was time to be building the temple, they had stopped and they were working for their own fruit, so to say. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:31.360 So that the prophet Haggai had to come and he said, Why do you why do you drink the water that doesn't quench your thirst? 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.440 How come when you eat, you're never full? 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:38.480 How come when you make money, you earn wages and you put it into a purse with a hole in it and it falls out? 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:42.960 How come you're looking for pleasure somewhere else that you cannot find it? 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:51.120 And here, what what God is doing is He's saying, Here is the man, Joshua, who is the branch. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:58.960 And by building the temple, you will find everything you need in Him. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:02.159 He's gonna be the one that I work through. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:10.879 So that if you want to find what you're looking for, Israel, what you need to do is trust in Joshua. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:18.240 I have established a man who is going to be the branch who will bring about the fruit that you are looking for. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.039 Now many of you know where I'm going with this. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:26.480 That the altar that in the short term, Joshua will fulfill everything that is said of him here. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:33.600 And through Joshua and Zerubbabel, this temple will be built, and Israel will enjoy the presence of God in their midst again. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:43.840 But like all the promises of, or many of the promises of God, they find their short-term fulfillment immediately, but they find a long-term fulfillment in Jesus Christ. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:53.279 In fact, we read in the Gospels that when Jesus is with his disciples, I mean, this would be a fascinating conversation, and I can't wait to be with Jesus in heaven and have this conversation with him. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:17:00.799 But it says Jesus went through the Old Testament scriptures and he showed them how everything pointed to him. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:09.200 Paul would say that every promise of God finds its yes and amen in Jesus Christ. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:18.559 And the writer of Hebrews then will look at Jesus and say, You want to know the priest king whose Zechariah was really talking about? 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:19.599 It's Jesus. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.720 You want to know who really builds the temple that we actually need? 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:23.599 It's Jesus. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:27.279 So that in Hebrews chapter 8, verse 1, the writer says this. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:36.160 Now the point in what we are saying is this we have such a high priest in Jesus who is seated at the right hand of the throne. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:39.279 Well, of what throne? 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:57.359 He says, at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent, that's that is the tabernacle, or you could even translate that, the temple that the Lord set up, not man. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:04.160 And you know what Jesus says is, hey, listen, I am like a much better Joshua. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:10.559 Joshua is going to build a physical temple that will bear the marks of man building it. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.920 And anyone who's ever done construction know what knows what that's like, right? 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.680 You know, you you put your cabinets up and you'll always see the mistake that you made. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.240 You build a fence and you'll always see the problem with it. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:25.039 Something will be wrong with this temple. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:36.880 But but here, the writer of Hebrews is saying this that Jesus is bringing in a temple that is not going to be made by human man, but by human hands, but is made by God. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:49.599 You see, Israel had looked all sorts of different places, and all they had shook all different kinds of branches looking for fruit, but they did not find it. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:55.680 What they needed to do then was to shake the branch that would actually bear fruit. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:04.480 Now, some of you know that uh for two years as the pastor of this church, I only really had two things to pull illustrations from my kids and my car. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:08.400 But recently I found a third since my wife has started gardening. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:14.079 And I love sharing illustrations like from this because people will come up to me and after and say, Hey, how's your garden going? 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.359 And I get to take the praise because I've done nothing for this garden. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:21.839 But I will answer like I've actually done some, you know, gotten my hands dirty for this garden. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:22.799 I will take the praise. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:23.599 I'm happy to do that. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:25.680 But now I'm exposing myself. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:36.160 But as we've been gardening this year, we've been testing out various fruits, and and we've planted peas, and the peas, like I didn't know that a pea plant could produce so many peas. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.240 There's just all every day it's like miraculous. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:48.240 There are new giant peas on it, and the kids go running out every morning, and they know if they go to the pea plant, there's going to be vegetables there that they enjoy. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:54.000 They're gonna shake those branches and they will find food, they will find sustenance. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:58.240 Now, we also planted strawberries, and the strawberries have been a disaster. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:05.279 Every time there's been a berry that's been stolen away, so that every time you go, there's no ripe fruit. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:13.759 You can imagine the disappointment that would come to them if they ran out every morning to the strawberry bush, hoping that there would be strawberries and there was none. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:19.680 And they shook it as hard as they could, as hard as they wanted to shake it, nothing would ever come out because there's no fruit there. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:25.599 And so they run to the pea bush and they find there all the peas that they could ever want. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:28.079 And some of you are saying, like, what's up with these kids? 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.720 I tell you, my second daughter, her favorite food is peas. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:32.880 They're incredibly excited about this. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:38.559 And I think this really illustrates what the Israelites need to do, and therefore what you and I need to do. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:42.799 You see, what you and I spend our life doing is shaking branches. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:44.720 We're looking for joy. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:46.960 Give me joy. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:53.119 But unless the branch is the Lord Jesus Christ, you will never get the fruit. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:57.759 You will keep on shaking in vain, and no fruit will ever fall off. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:06.640 We're looking for rest, and so we look forward to that vacation and we say, I will have that vacation, I will finally have rest. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:17.119 And we shake the branch of our vacation, hoping for rest, hoping for peace, and little, maybe a little tiny fruit falls off, but it's not lasting because the vacation ends. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:32.880 And we get back to the busyness, and we're looking for peace, we're looking at a break from the anxiety, and we think if our life could just be ordered this way, then I could have peace, and maybe we can, you know, control our life enough to get a little bit of peace, but we just keep shaking the branch, but it doesn't provide. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:36.160 And here is Jesus saying, I'm the branch. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:39.599 The fruit that you're looking for, I have. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.799 And if you come to me, I am so willing to pour out blessing on you. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:52.400 It is it is why Paul says, every spiritual blessing is in Jesus Christ. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.599 What are you longing for? 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.680 What would make your life right? 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:06.720 You will not find it apart from Jesus Christ. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:09.119 He is the Redeemer. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:13.440 His job is to make things right. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.240 And He is making all things right right now. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:20.640 And so we run dead. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.720 The question for you then is what fruit are you looking for? 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:26.720 And what branch are you running to? 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:31.039 I love what the psalmist says in Psalm 37, verse 4. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:36.160 He says, Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:38.480 It's so clear, isn't it? 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.039 Isn't it so clear where what you're looking for is found? 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.119 And yet, isn't it so hard? 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:48.079 And so right now we pray, just a prayer of faith. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:48.960 God help us. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:54.480 God help us because it's so simple, but it can at times it can be so hard. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:56.559 What branches are you shaking? 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:00.559 Think about your parenting for a moment. 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:07.279 As you parent your children, what branches do you shake, hoping that you will find fruit from them? 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:12.319 Maybe it's the branch of your education plan, you know, it's because you're homeschooling that your kids will turn out great. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:18.480 It's because they go to public school that they're gonna turn out great, it's because they go to private school that they turn out great, and all of us have different branches. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:20.799 We're shaking them and we're gonna get fruit from this. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.640 Maybe it's the extracurricular activities, maybe it's your parenting methodology. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:30.559 Let me ask you this though, do you labor over them in prayer? 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:37.279 Do you shake the branch of Jesus Christ and say, Jesus, I'm I know you're the only one who can do anything for my kids. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:44.160 I know that I can give them the best support ever and they'll still turn out wrong unless you do a work, Jesus. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:49.119 What about for your rest? 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:51.359 We come into the summer. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:53.200 We long for rest. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:57.759 And what branches do you have your hands holding on to right now, looking for rest? 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.160 Is it is it the branch of that vacation that you're taking? 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.200 Is it the branch of the leisure that you have at home? 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:04.640 Is it the branch of entertainment? 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:09.039 What are you shaking, hoping for for it's so clear who the real branch is. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:10.160 It's Jesus Christ. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:13.279 And unless you turn to him, you will not find rest. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:16.240 Jesus is the one who said, I'm gentle and lowly. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:23.119 Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and you will find rest. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:26.799 The promise is so clear. 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:30.000 And so we need to trust the right person. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:32.799 That's what it means to be waiting well, is that we trust the right person. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:40.079 But the second thing Zechariah wants us to understand as we get into chapter 7 is that to be waiting well means that we have the right perspective. 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:53.119 Now, in Zechariah 7, verse 1, we find that two years have passed, and every indication we have tells us that the people of God at this point are really joyfully building the temple. 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:55.359 The work is progressing. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:04.880 But Zechariah is going to come in at that time to really reveal something that's very important that we understand that some of the most dangerous times in life are when things are going well. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:06.799 Don't you find that to be true? 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:12.240 Don't you find that it's like when things aren't hard, that's when you can kind of like turn away from the Lord. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:15.519 That's where it's incredibly easy to try to live on your own strength. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:20.799 But man, when you are kind of at the bottom of the bucket, you don't know what you're gonna do. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:26.880 When your life is in such shambles, you're like, I have no control over this, that's when you turn to the Lord. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:32.960 And God understands this, that it's often when things are hard that we turn to him. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:43.680 And so Zechariah, when the temple's being rebuilt, he comes with a most incredible word to tell the people of Israel and remind them that the most dangerous time can be when life is going well. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:51.279 And the context for this is again a group of people coming to Jerusalem who were not there building the temple. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:53.200 We read of it in verse 2. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:26:01.359 It says, Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharazar and Regime Melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:07.119 Now there's a little confusion in this verse as to who these people are and where they're from. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:13.759 The Hebrew that the in the Hebrew, the name could actually be Bethel Sharazar. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:16.799 It would be like if my name were Bradford Miles. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:18.240 That's how names worked. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:22.960 In fact, in the second name, there is a geographical location tied to a name. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:28.240 And so it could be that these people also are coming from Babylon, and that's a very likely scenario. 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:32.960 Or it could be that they're coming from Bethel, which is about 12 miles north of Jerusalem. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:39.359 Either way, what we have here is a group of people who have not been at Jerusalem, and they're coming to ask a question. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:41.279 And here is the question in verse 3. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:51.359 They say to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month as I have done for so many years? 00:26:53.839 --> 00:27:00.880 What these people had been doing for years and years was on the fifth month of the year, they had been participating in a fast. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:05.839 And the fast actually began once the people were exiled from Babylon. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:09.519 Fasts were not something that were often commanded by the Lord. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:22.799 In fact, you'll have trouble finding a place in scripture that commands the people of God to fast, but they were something that were done often by the people of God as sort of an act to show their seriousness and their devotion to the Lord. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:36.160 And these people had decided when they were exiled from Jerusalem into Babylon that they would have a fast on the fifth month of every year to sort of remind them that things aren't right. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:44.160 And that's the purpose of a fast, even to this day, that this the hunger that you feel is a reminder of something that you want to remember. 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:55.119 And so on the fifth month of every year, they would be especially aware that so many, however many years ago, they were exiled from their proper land and they are waiting for the return. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:11.920 Now, if that's what they're doing with this fifth month fast, they're fasting because they've been exiled and they have no temple, then you could understand that in the fourth month, a group of people who don't want to go for a month hungry are gonna show up in Jerusalem and say, hey, listen, the temple's being built. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:13.279 Do we still need to fast? 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:17.519 I mean, I can tell you right now, I would be in this group with these people. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.279 I would be there in Jerusalem. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:22.079 I'd say, I got a brisket at home in the fridge, I'm ready to smoke it. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:24.400 Like, what are we doing in this fifth month? 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:26.720 Are we gonna eat or not? 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:34.720 This is a good question, but it really reveals their heart. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:49.680 And what God wants to do in this moment is look even at our heart, and specifically our nearness to Him, and even more specifically the things that we do for Him, and ask us this question: do we have the right heart in it? 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:55.279 Do you worship God with the right perspective? 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:58.559 Do you have the right priority? 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:04.160 And ultimately, the question is this is your faith ritualistic or is it real? 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:07.759 Are you doing the things that you do for God? 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:13.039 Are you worshiping God because you love Him and have a real relationship with Him? 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:15.839 Or has this sort of become a ritual? 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:28.559 And it's an incredibly scary question because you can have two people who are doing the exact same things, and one person is doing it ritualistically, and one person is doing it out of a real relationship. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:35.680 In fact, Jesus has to address this problem time and time again in his ministry with the Pharisees, and in Luke 17, he actually shows that. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:45.359 You remember there's two people praying, and one person is praying so that he can show how great he is, and the other person is praying with this real relationship and understands his brokenness. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:52.240 Jesus tells us there in Luke 17 that he's looking for the one who is real, he is looking for the one who is broken. 00:29:52.400 --> 00:30:01.759 And here a group of people come who have been participating in this religious activity and are asking, Do I need to continue? 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:07.440 Well, what does it look like to have ritualistic faith? 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:11.039 Zechariah tells us exactly what it looks like in verse 4 to 7. 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:11.839 Look what it says there. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:14.559 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:23.680 Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh for those seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:27.519 Was it for me? 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:31.920 Do you do this for me? 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:46.079 In fact, you and I, I'm sure, could feel the condemnation if God were to appear to us this morning and say, This, are you here right now for me? 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.440 No, I'm not I'm not asking if you're here for you. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.039 I'm not asking if you're you showed up because you want something from me. 00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:55.200 I'm asking if you're here for me. 00:30:55.680 --> 00:31:05.759 I'm asking if what got you in the car this morning was this love that flows out of your heart, this desire to worship and exalt and hear from me. 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:08.960 Or did you come wanting something from me? 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:12.799 This is ritual. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:20.160 And he goes on then in verse 6 and when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:27.039 In other words, what the Lord is saying here to the people of Israel is this this whole this whole fasting thing, it's been a charade. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:32.400 You're not doing this for me, and you're not even checking to see if the fast should keep going for me. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:35.920 You don't care about me, you're doing this for yourself. 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:40.079 This is ritual versus reality. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:45.440 And the question for you this morning is this why do you worship the Lord? 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:48.880 Why do you do the things that you do for the Lord? 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:50.720 Why are you here this morning? 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:53.759 Are you here because you love the Lord? 00:31:54.880 --> 00:32:00.400 Are you here because the passion of your heart is to know God and be near to him? 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:03.519 And so you come this morning with this desire to know him. 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:05.599 God, I want to be near to you. 00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:18.319 See, if if you're here and you're worshiping God to get his love, to earn something from him, to earn favor from him, you're actually not loving God. 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:20.799 You're actually just loving yourself. 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:22.960 You're here for yourself. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:27.039 In fact, we can illustrate this in our own human relationships, can't we? 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:31.920 If you if you said to your wife, listen, you know why I love you, is because I want your I want your affection. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:33.279 Like I need your affection. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:34.960 I can't live without your affection. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:38.319 Well, you actually don't love her for who she is. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:39.519 You don't love her as a person. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:43.680 You love her to get something from her, to get a feeling from her. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:48.400 And listen to me, if your wife doesn't want that love, how much more does the Lord not want that love? 00:32:49.519 --> 00:33:02.160 Well, there's another way we might be driven to worship the Lord that's still not right, and that's if we were if we act for the Lord, we worship the Lord to get his blessing, to get something from him, so that he'll serve us in some way. 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:09.920 And it would be the exact same way if you went to your wife and, hey, listen, I I love you, and I'm gonna cut the lawn today so that you will clean the dishes. 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:21.119 And the reason that we do things, you know you know, if the reason that we did things for our loved ones was so that they would do things for us, that would not be loving them, that would be loving ourselves. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:27.039 And that would be willing to do a tri an exchange of services so that we can get something in return. 00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:31.200 And sad reality is that many of our marriages kind of function like that, don't they? 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:33.920 We don't do things out of a genuine love for that person. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:47.920 We do things out of a genuine love for ourselves with the expectation that if I do this, you will treat me in a certain way, you will show me kindness with words a certain way, or physical affection a certain way, or you will serve me in another way. 00:33:49.839 --> 00:33:53.599 That's not loving the person, that is loving yourself. 00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:01.519 And again, if if if our most loved ones on earth don't deserve that love, how much less does God deserve that love? 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:10.239 God deserves genuine love that comes to God with the expectation that what you will receive is God, that what you want is God. 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:18.559 That is why, again, Psalm 37, verse 4, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:26.639 Not if you delight yourself in the Lord's blessings of you, not if you delight yourself in what the Lord gives you, you need to delight yourself in him. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:30.960 And the problem is that some of us we have this unregenerate heart. 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:34.880 We're not actually saved, and we've been playing Christianity for so long. 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:40.239 We've been doing all the rituals, we've been doing all the right things, but we've never actually wanted God. 00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:43.360 We've just wanted something from him that he can provide. 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:51.519 And with great honesty and humility, we need to turn to the Lord right now and say, God, do I really actually love you? 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:54.000 Do I really actually love you? 00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:56.880 Or do I love the things that I could get from you? 00:34:58.239 --> 00:35:01.199 God looked at these people, he said, You're not fasting for me. 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:04.400 You're fasting for yourself. 00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:15.440 And so you can understand then that in verses 11 to 14, the Lord is angered by this act act, these actions. 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:30.559 So that he says, But they refused to pay attention and to turn and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might hear that their they made their hearts diamond hard, lest they should hear the law, and the words of the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:35.840 Therefore, great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:45.119 As I called and they would not hear, so they called and I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts. 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:52.639 This is not the love that God had miraculously worked to deliver Israel from Babylon to receive. 00:35:53.039 --> 00:36:01.119 And when he does not receive the love that he desires from his people, he is driven to this anger. 00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:09.679 And you need to understand this morning that ritualistic love of God is not the love that he sent Jesus Christ to die for. 00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:32.880 He sent Jesus so that you could have a genuine relationship with him, so that you would see the fullness of his love that would hold back not even his own son, so that your heart would be driven to truly love and delight in Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ the Father. 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:42.880 This love is clothed in religious action. 00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:50.639 These people have come having fasted, they've done the work, they look like Israelites, but their heart is not in it. 00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:55.039 And the question for you is not a question of what your life looks like. 00:36:55.679 --> 00:36:57.039 You can do all the things. 00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:09.679 You can serve on a Sunday morning, you can be here on a Sunday morning, you can be a part of a small group, you can be a part uh you can have uh ministry activity, you can do all the things, but not actually know the Lord. 00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:21.519 And we're reminded of those terrifying words where Jesus says, Depart from me, I never knew you, to those who cast out demons, to those who thought they were doing the ministry of the Lord. 00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:21.920 Why? 00:37:22.159 --> 00:37:26.960 Because they never actually knew the Lord, they were never actually there for him. 00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:31.760 So let me ask you again, do you love the Lord? 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:36.960 You love the Lord for who he is. 00:37:39.199 --> 00:37:40.559 Well, how do you know? 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:42.079 How do you know? 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:43.760 What is a way to test? 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:52.000 What is a way to test if you're actually drawing in a real way near to the Lord and not in a ritualistic way? 00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:56.320 Well, we're actually he actually tells us, and look what he says in verse 8. 00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:05.039 The word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, Thus says the Lord, render true judgments. 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:08.159 Show kindness and mercy to one another. 00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:12.639 Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor. 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:18.880 And let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. 00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:23.199 You know what the ultimate test of nearness to the Lord is? 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:31.840 Is you actually stop caring about yourself as much and you start caring about other people a lot. 00:38:33.599 --> 00:38:36.639 That is the test of nearness to the Lord. 00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:44.800 This is why in 1 John, John will say time and time again that a love for God is united so closely to a love for your brother in Christ. 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:56.239 Because when you love God, you're actually freed to take your eyes off yourself because you have everything you need in God, and there's nothing that you can actually receive from anybody else. 00:38:56.559 --> 00:39:02.239 You can't use people anymore to get their affection because you already have all the affection you need in Christ. 00:39:03.119 --> 00:39:10.400 You can't use people anymore to get your joy or to root your peace in because you have everything you need in Christ. 00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:19.679