[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this evening, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read in the book of the prophet Zechariah and chapter 3.
[0:12] Zechariah chapter 3, and if we just read again at verse 1. We're going to look at the whole chapter, but if we just read again at verse 1. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
[0:32] He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
[0:47] Do you know, our Bible clearly confirms to us that on the day of judgment, we must all stand before the Lord. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account.
[1:02] And make no mistake, the day of judgment is a day that has been appointed by the Lord. No one knows the day nor the hour except the Father only. It's an appointed day and it's an appointment that none of us will miss.
[1:17] For our Bible, it tells us that it's appointed unto man once to die. And after that, the judgment. The Lord has appointed a day to judge the world in righteousness.
[1:31] And we have that assurance that this appointment will take place because Jesus was raised from the dead. That's what we're told in Acts 17.
[1:41] God has appointed a day and he has approved that appointment by raising Jesus from the dead. And you know, on that great and awesome day of the Lord, God will judge the living and the dead.
[1:56] Jesus said, that we never forget throughout the endless ages of eternity.
[2:32] Because it will be on that day. It will be on that day that every knee of every royal, of every emperor, of every president, of every prime minister, of every first minister, every celebrity, every politician, every citizen, in every place, throughout every generation, everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess in heaven and on earth and in hell.
[3:03] They will all confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Do you know, my Christian friend and my unconverted friend, you will be there on that day and so will I.
[3:22] We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account. But you know, one thing I never considered before until now, until reading this passage, is that on the day of judgment, when we have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, Satan will also be standing beside us.
[3:44] And as you can be sure, Satan will not be there to advise us. He will be there to accuse us. Because that's what his name means. Satan means accuser.
[3:55] He is the accuser of the brethren. And it seems from this passage we can say that on the day of judgment, when we stand at the bar of God's judgment, Satan will make his accusations and his allegations and he will make his attacks against us in order to bring us to hell with him.
[4:16] At least that's what the vision Zechariah received from the Lord. That's what it seems to describe. And you know, I'd like us to think about this this evening and I want us to consider it under three headings.
[4:31] Satan before the Lord, sanctification by the Lord, and salvation from the Lord. I want us to see Zechariah's vision under three headings.
[4:41] Satan before the Lord, sanctification by the Lord, and salvation from the Lord. So first of all, Satan before the Lord.
[4:53] Satan before the Lord. We read in verse one, Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
[5:04] And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?
[5:18] Now as you know, Haggai and Zechariah, they were not only contemporaries in the prophetic ministry, they were also colleagues. They had the same call and the same commission to comfort and to challenge God's people using God's word.
[5:34] They were to comfort and challenge them as they were living and looking beyond lockdown. Because you remember that the Israelites, they had spent 70 years living in lockdown in Babylon due to their rebellion and the rejection of the Lord.
[5:49] But now through God's good grace, a returned remnant had come back to the promised land of Israel, and they'd come to rebuild and restore and renew and rededicate their lives to the Lord.
[6:02] And yet, as we've seen before, that wasn't without its problems. Because for 15 years after returning to the promised land, this returned remnant, they had neglected the temple.
[6:16] They left the temple derelict and desolate. And they left it until Haggai and Zechariah both began prophesying and proclaiming God's word in the year 520 BC.
[6:30] Haggai began with a call to rebuild. And then Zechariah, he followed with a call to repent. But then only three months into his ministry and about five months into the restoration project of the temple, we're told that the Lord spoke to this returned remnant through Zechariah.
[6:51] And he spoke to them using these night visions. There were eight night visions. And the purpose of these night visions was to remind and reassure this returned remnant that even though they were still unsettled and uncertain and unsure about their future, the Lord was with them.
[7:12] The Lord was with them. And last Lord's Day, we considered the first three visions. In the first vision, Zechariah saw a man on a red horse standing among the myrtle trees.
[7:25] It was King Jesus. And King Jesus was exhorting and encouraging his church not to give up. Then in the second vision, Zechariah saw four horns.
[7:37] And these four horns were the four empires that the Lord used as part of his perfect plan and purpose for the people of God and the proclamation of the gospel.
[7:51] And then the third vision, which we looked at in chapter two, it was a man with a measuring line. And this man with a measuring line, he assured this returned remnant that even though that the church may look small and weak and fragile, the wonderful thing is the Lord of hosts is on our side.
[8:10] And the Lord of hosts, he says, he promises his protection and his presence to his people because he will be a wall of fire around them and his glory will be in the midst of them.
[8:22] And so you can see that Zechariah's visions, they are to encourage the Lord's people. They're to encourage the Lord's people who are living and looking beyond lockdown.
[8:35] And this evening, we're considering Zechariah's fourth vision. And it's a fourth vision with Satan standing before the Lord. That's what we see in verses one and two.
[8:47] Satan is standing before the Lord. Now, the first person Zechariah sees in his vision is a person with position and prominence.
[8:59] We're told he is the angel of the Lord. He's the angel of the Lord. We touched on this last week when Zechariah saw the angel of the Lord standing on a red horse among the myrtle trees.
[9:14] And we say that the angel of the Lord is a particular title of the Lord himself. He's not an angel of the Lord but the angel of the Lord.
[9:26] So Zechariah saw the Lord. He saw the one who keeps covenant. He saw the covenant king, the second person of the Trinity. He saw the son of God, the pre-incarnate Christ.
[9:39] He saw the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, my friends, Zechariah saw King Jesus and he saw him sitting upon his throne. Zechariah saw King Jesus sitting upon his throne.
[9:55] And you know, in my mind, it seems that this is the judgment seat of Christ. It's the judgment seat of Christ. And standing before King Jesus is this man Joshua.
[10:07] Joshua, the high priest, and Satan, his adversary. Now, we don't know much about Joshua, the high priest. He's not to be confused with the young Joshua who was born in Egypt and came out of the Exodus with Moses.
[10:24] That Joshua, he lived over 850 years earlier and he was used by the Lord to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. But this Joshua, this Joshua was born in Babylon and he came out of Babylon with the returned remnant.
[10:43] And this Joshua, he was from the tribe of Levi. He was from a priestly family. He had been brought up to lead the people of God in worship. In fact, Joshua's grandfather was called Saraiah and he was a high priest.
[11:00] He was the high priest when the temple was destroyed in 586 BC. But now the time has passed and the remnant have returned. They've returned to rebuild the temple and Joshua is now the high priest.
[11:15] But you know, what we have to note is that the Bible doesn't record anything that Joshua said or anything that Joshua did. And so the focus of Joshua is not the person of Joshua but the position of Joshua because as we read he was the high priest.
[11:36] Which means that as high priest, Joshua not only represented the priesthood in Israel, he also represented the people in Israel. As high priest, Joshua not only represented the priesthood in Israel, he also represented the people in Israel.
[11:55] And that was often the case. The high priest represented the people in Israel, particularly on the day of atonement. That one day in the year when the high priest would stand before the Lord and he would stand before the Lord in the Holy of Holies as the people's representative.
[12:16] He would be their mediator, their intercessor and he would stand on behalf of the people. He would stand before the Lord on behalf of the people. And you can read about the day of atonement and what took place in Leviticus chapter 16 where the high priest, he would have to make atonement for, first of all, his own sin using the blood of Abul.
[12:40] But then he would take two goats and one goat was the scapegoat where the high priest, he would confess the sins of the people onto the head of the goat and then send the goat out into the wilderness.
[12:54] He would send the scapegoat into the wilderness bearing the sin of the people never to be seen again. Then he would take the second goat and the second goat would be slaughtered and then the blood of the goat, it would be sprinkled upon the mercy seat.
[13:13] It would be sprinkled on the judgment seat in the Holy of Holies where the Lord sat among his people. And so the high priest would be the representative of the people.
[13:26] He would be the intercessor for the people and he would seek to make atonement on behalf of the people where the blood of the goat would be sprinkled on the judgment seat in order to make atonement.
[13:40] And as the Lord reminded his people, it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
[13:52] But you know, what we must notice about Zechariah's vision is that it's not only the Lord sitting upon his throne and it's not only Joshua the high priest standing before the Lord, we also see that standing beside Joshua is Satan.
[14:09] Satan is standing beside the high priest. Joshua is standing before the Lord out of service. But Satan is also standing there out of spite.
[14:22] And he's there to live up to his name because as we said, the name Satan means accuser. He's the accuser of the brethren.
[14:33] The Bible says he's the devil. He's the diabolos. He's the divider. He's the deceiver. He's the tempter. He's that ancient serpent. He's the roaring lion that goes around seeking to devour God's people.
[14:48] He's the father of lies and he's been a liar and a murderer from the beginning. He's the fallen star. He's the fallen angel, we're told. He's the angel of the bottomless pit and he comes to us as an angel of light.
[15:02] He's also called Beelzebub. He's the antichrist. He's the prince of the power of the air and he's the prince of demons. My friend, Satan has given all these descriptive names in the Bible because he has power and he has passion.
[15:19] And you know, Satan's passion, my friend, is to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan's passion is to steal, kill, and destroy.
[15:32] And you know, that's why John Bunyan described Satan in the Pilgrim's Progress as Apollyon. He was the destroyer because he comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
[15:45] But you know, what we ought to notice about Zechariah's vision at the judgment seat of Christ is that when Satan accused Joshua, Joshua was silent.
[15:59] When Satan accused Joshua, Joshua was silent. Joshua had nothing to declare in his defense. But the Lord did.
[16:11] The Lord did. And the Lord said, verse 2, the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, O Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you.
[16:23] Is not this a brand plucked from the fire? And you know, the Lord's question there at the end of verse 2, it brings us to consider sanctification by the Lord.
[16:36] So we see, first of all, Satan standing before the Lord. The Lord is on his throne. Joshua is standing before the Lord with Satan right beside him and he's accusing him.
[16:47] So we see Satan before the Lord but then sanctification by the Lord. Sanctification by the Lord. Read again in verse 2.
[16:58] The Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, O Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this a brand plucked from the fire? Now Joshua was standing before the angel clothed with filthy garments and the angel said to those who were standing before him, remove the filthy garments from him.
[17:17] And to him he said, behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you and I will clothe you with pure vestments. You know, when Satan accused Joshua the high priest, when he accused him at the judgment seat of Christ, as we said, Joshua was silent.
[17:36] Joshua couldn't declare anything in his defense because he knew that everything Satan was saying was true. Everything Satan was saying was true.
[17:50] And you know, you can actually imagine what Satan said to Joshua because he's probably said it to you too. Satan would have accused Joshua for being a faithless witness and also being a failure in his service to the Lord.
[18:06] Satan would have alleged that as God's people they were disobedient and dishonest. They were selfish and self-righteous. Satan would have asserted that this returned remnant was insignificant to the world and the world was indifferent to them.
[18:23] You know, my Christian friend, like he does with us, Satan would have argued with Joshua that there's no point rebuilding and restoring the temple and there's no point renewing and rededicating your life to the Lord.
[18:35] Satan would have said, just give up and go home. Give up and go home. And you know, Satan, he would have made all those accusations and allegations and assertions and arguments and he would have made many, many more because he's still making them today.
[18:52] He's still making them today. And the thing is, all these accusations and allegations and assertions and arguments, they're all true. They're all true.
[19:06] Because we are failures. We are faithless. We're often self-righteous. We're often focused on self. We're often inward-looking. And the world is indifferent to the church.
[19:21] But you know, do you remember how Christian responded to all the accusations and allegations and assertions and arguments of Apollyon? Do you remember Christian, what he said in the Valley of Humiliation?
[19:32] He said, all this is true and much more. But the prince whom I serve and honour is merciful and ready to forgive.
[19:43] And you know, that's where our hope and confidence lies. Because you know, Satan, he will beat and buffet and batter and brutalise us with all his accusations and allegations and assertions and arguments.
[19:59] But the wonderful assurance given here in God's Word is that when we are left silent, the Lord will speak for us. When we are left silent, the Lord will speak for us and the Lord will rebuke and restrain Satan.
[20:15] That's what he says, the Lord rebuke you, O Satan. The Lord rebuke you. The Lord will speak on our behalf. The Lord will defend us when Satan attacks us.
[20:28] You know, that's what we were singing in Psalm 89. For God is our defence and he to us doth safety bring. The Holy One of Israel is our Almighty King.
[20:41] My friend, that's the hope and confidence we have as we encounter and experience and endure the accusations and the attacks and the afflictions of Satan. Our hope and confidence at the judgment seat of Christ is that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
[21:06] And notice what the Lord says about his people. is not this a brand plucked from the fire? Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?
[21:19] You know, I love that. I love it because my Christian friend, it's a reminder of what we have been saved from. We've been plucked as a brand from the burning.
[21:32] And yes, it's good to be reminded of what we're being saved to. That we're being saved to salvation. in Jesus Christ. But you know, we should never forget what we have been saved from.
[21:45] Because we've been saved from eternal destruction, damnation, and death. We've been saved from condemnation and the consuming fires of hell.
[21:57] And the thing is, we didn't save ourselves. No, we were plucked as a brand from the burning. Plucked as a brand from the burning. burning. And you know, the image that Zechariah is describing here of a brand plucked from the burning, it's so descriptive.
[22:16] Because it's an image, and you can see it in your own mind, it's an image of a small charred and blackened stick. It's an image of a small charred and blackened stick that could so easily have been consumed in the heat of the fire.
[22:34] but it was plucked out. And that's us. That's us. Because were it not for the redeeming grace of God, my friend, and were it not for the outstretched hand of divine mercy pulling and plucking us from the burning, then we would be condemned.
[22:52] And we would be consumed by the fires of hell. Were it not for the wonder of wonders that God stretched forth and plucked us from the burning, that that's where we would be tonight.
[23:06] The wonder of wonders is that we're saved and we're sanctified by the Lord. We're saved and sanctified by the Lord. And you know we see that in the way in which the Lord dealt with Joshua the high priest.
[23:21] Joshua as we said he represented this returned remnant. He was the mediator. He was the intercessor. He was the representative before God.
[23:32] And what he experienced is representative of the people of God and what they would experience when they're saved and sanctified by the Lord. Because we read in verse 3 Joshua was standing before the angel clothed with filthy garments and the angel said to those who were standing before him remove the filthy garments from him.
[23:55] And he said to him he said behold I have taken your iniquity away from you and I will clothe you with pure vestments. Zechaniah saw Joshua standing before the Lord and Satan accusing him while he was clothed in filthy garments.
[24:15] And you know that phrase filthy garments in verse 3 it literally refers to clothing being soiled and smeared with human excrement.
[24:26] That's what it literally means. clothing that is soiled and smeared with human excrement. But of course this is a vision. We have to remember that this is a vision.
[24:37] Joshua is a representative and he's representative not only of the spiritual poverty of the people but also he's representative of the spiritual pollution of the people.
[24:49] They were clothed in filthy rags. And you know is that not how Isaiah described the people 200 years earlier? But he said our righteousness is as filthy rags.
[25:03] Our righteousness is as filthy rags. They were clothed in filthy rags. And you know that's how Paul described his own works of righteousness before God isn't it?
[25:16] When Paul discovered the grace of God in Jesus Christ when Paul's eyes were opened to the wonder and glory of the gospel he testified to the church in Philippi. He said I count all things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord.
[25:35] For his sake I suffered loss the loss of all things and count them as done that I may win Christ. Paul saw that his righteousness before a holy God was as filthy rags.
[25:50] It was but done in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord. Because my friend it's when we know Jesus as Lord that the Lord is our righteousness.
[26:05] He is our Jehovah Sidkenu. He is the Lord our righteousness. And when Jesus is our righteousness he removes our garments of filthy rags and he replaces them with garments of full righteousness.
[26:21] You know my friend when Jesus is our righteousness. When Jesus is our Jehovah Sidkenu he removes our garments of filthy rags and he replaces them with garments of full, full righteousness.
[26:36] And that's what we see happening to Joshua the high priest. He's the representative of the people of God. We see that the Lord instructed his angels to strip Joshua of his filthy garments.
[26:50] And then he informed Joshua that his iniquity has been taken away. Behold I have taken your iniquity away from you and I will clothe you with pure vestments.
[27:03] You know it's the language of atonement. It's the language of the day of atonement where sin, iniquity and transgression they're all removed from the people.
[27:16] And there is forgiveness and holiness and righteousness imputed. It's the language of atonement. It's the well known language of Psalm 103 where we're told that as far as east is distant from the west so far hath he from us removed in his love all our iniquity.
[27:41] It's the language of atonement. But there's more because when Joshua is clothed again with these pure priestly garments we see that Zechariah he interjects and he says put a clean turban on his head.
[27:58] Put a clean turban on his head. Now you remember a couple of years ago we studied the tabernacle together and we studied all its furniture.
[28:11] And at some point I said back then at some point I'd love to do a study on the garments that the high priest wore. And God willing we'll do it at some point. But you know there's this fascinating little book by C.W.
[28:24] Slemming and it's called These are the Garments and it studies all the different parts of the high priest's garments. And you know it's well worth reading if you have the time to read it.
[28:37] But the turban that Zechariah refers to here the turban was a distinct headdress worn by the high priest. A better translation would probably be a diadem or a mitre.
[28:50] It was a linen strip that was wound around the head of the high priest and then tied to the high priest's turban on the forehead using a blue cord was this plate of pure gold.
[29:04] It was a plate of pure gold with the words inscribed upon it, Holy to the Lord. Holy to the Lord. And this golden plate it sat above the forehead of the high priest and it sat there continually as the Lord says in Exodus 28, the high priest shall bear any guilt of the people and make them acceptable before the Lord.
[29:32] So this plate above the high priest's head on the turban which read holiness to the Lord, it was there so that the high priest would bear the guilt of the people and make them acceptable before the Lord.
[29:47] And so the only way that the Lord's people were going to be holy to the Lord was through the passion and work of the high priest. The only way that the people were going to be holy to the Lord was through the passion and work of the high priest.
[30:03] And that's what we see in verse six. The angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.
[30:23] The Lord calls Joshua the high priest and he calls the people he represents and he calls them to be holy to the Lord. He calls them to live a life of personal holiness, public holiness, and practical holiness.
[30:41] The Lord calls his people to be holy to the Lord. He calls them to live a life of personal holiness, public holiness, and practical holiness.
[30:53] But what does it mean to be personal, public, and practical in our holiness? Well, my good friend J.C. Ryle, he wrote a whole book about holiness and it's a book I'd highly recommend to you.
[31:07] If you've never read Holiness by J.C. Ryle, my friend, read it. Read it. Because Ryle, he says, holiness is hating what God hates, loving what God loves, and measuring everything in God's world by the standard of God's word.
[31:27] Holiness is hating what God hates, loving what God loves, and measuring everything in God's world by God's word. My Christian friend, Zechariah's vision is reminding us this evening that we have been saved and we have been sanctified by the Lord.
[31:46] We're being made holy and we're to be holy to the Lord. We're to live a life of personal holiness, public holiness, and practical holiness.
[31:59] But you know, the only way to be holy to the Lord is through the passion and work of our great high priest, Jesus Christ. And that's what I'd like us to consider lastly and briefly under our third heading, salvation from the Lord.
[32:17] Salvation from the Lord. So we've seen Satan before the Lord, we've seen sanctification by the Lord, then lastly salvation from the Lord. Salvation from the Lord.
[32:30] Look at verse eight. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are assigned. Behold, I will bring my servant the branch.
[32:42] For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts. And I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
[32:57] In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbour to come under his vine and under his fig tree.
[33:10] You know, in the concluding verses of this vision, Zechariah hears the Lord's announcement to Joshua the high priest. And what Zechariah hears is that the great high priest, the messianic high priest, he will be a servant, a branch, a stone, and a vine.
[33:30] The great high priest will be a servant, a branch, a stone, and a vine. And of course, with our New Testament spectacles on, we know that Zechariah's vision is pointing us forward to Jesus.
[33:48] Because, my friend, Jesus is our great high priest. Jesus is our suffering servant. Jesus is the branch of King David. Jesus is the chief cornerstone.
[34:00] And Jesus is the true vine. My friend, Zechariah's vision is pointing us to Jesus. He's pointing us to Jesus. But, you know, I love what the Lord says to Joshua the high priest in verse 9.
[34:16] He says, Behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts.
[34:28] And this is the interesting thing. I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
[34:41] Now, Joshua, he highlights here that, or the Lord highlights to Joshua, a single stone with seven eyes. Now, seven is the number of perfection, which means that this single stone is a perfect stone.
[34:59] It's a unique stone. We could say it's a divine stone. We could even say it's a chief cornerstone. And it's a stone with a written inscription and a removed iniquity.
[35:11] It's a stone with a written inscription and a removed iniquity. And the wonder of wonders is that this stone achieved atonement. This stone secured salvation.
[35:23] This stone redeemed us from ruin. And he did it all on a single day in history. I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
[35:38] You know, my friend, Zechariah's vision is pointing us not only to Jesus, but also to Calvary. Zechariah's vision is calling us to survey the wondrous cross upon which the Prince of Glory died.
[35:55] Because, you know, it was on that single day at Calvary that the true day of atonement took place. It was on that single day at Calvary that our great high priest entered into the most holy place.
[36:09] Not with the blood of bulls or of goats, but with his own precious blood in order to secure an eternal redemption. It was on that single day at Calvary, my friend, that our suffering servant was wounded for our transgressions and he was bruised for our iniquities.
[36:28] It was on that single day at Calvary that the branch of King David, the descendant of King David was lifted up in order to draw us to himself.
[36:41] It was on that single day at Calvary that our chief cornerstone was despised and rejected by men. And, you know, my friend, it was on that single day at Calvary that our true vine he declared to this dying world that greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
[37:04] You are my friends, he says. If you do whatsoever, I command you. And the command, my friend, is to believe. The command, my friend, is to follow Jesus.
[37:16] The command, my friend, is to come to Calvary. To come to this Calvary and find rest for your soul. And, you know, my friend, Zechariah's vision of the judgment seat of Christ, it's pointing us to Calvary.
[37:31] Because that's where we need to come before we come to the judgment seat of Christ. We need to come to the Christ of Calvary before we come to the judgment seat of Christ.
[37:45] We need to come to Christ on bended knee before we come to the judgment seat of Christ on bended knee. We need to come to Christ, my friend, on bended knee, before we are found before him on the last day.
[38:06] On bended knee, whether in heaven or on earth or in hell. And so we've considered Satan before the Lord, sanctification by the Lord and salvation from the Lord.
[38:20] But you know, my friend, looking at this vision in chapter 3, when I read this vision, all I can see is Jesus. And that's what I want you to see.
[38:32] I want you to see Jesus. He's here in this wonderful vision. He is the angel of the Lord. He is the branch that is mentioned. He is the servant that's mentioned.
[38:42] He's the stone that's mentioned. He's the vine that's mentioned. But even the name Joshua, the fact that the high priest was called Joshua, points us to Jesus.
[38:55] Jesus is our great high priest. But the name Joshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. Jesus is a Greek name. And both Joshua and Jesus mean salvation.
[39:08] Call his name Jesus. Call him salvation. For he shall save his people from their sins. Call him Jesus because salvation is from the Lord.
[39:21] And my friend, what we're being reminded this evening in this wonderful chapter is that there is salvation in no other. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must, we must be saved.
[39:37] And that name is Jesus. And my friend, you need to call upon that name. You need to call upon the name of Jesus. You know, my unconverted friend, before death calls you and judgment finds you and eternity holds you, you need to make sure that you call upon the name of Jesus.
[40:01] And that you call upon him as your Savior and your Lord. Because he's been revealed to you tonight in the glory of this vision.
[40:12] And he's urging you to come to him. Because my friend, one day, and one day soon, we will have to stand like Joshua stood.
[40:24] We will all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account. And I can assure you, my friend, like it was for Joshua, Satan will be there.
[40:36] And he will be there not to advise you, but to accuse you. To bring you to hell with him. So my friend, you make sure that your great high priest on that day, you make sure your intercessor, your mediator and your Savior is this Jesus.
[40:53] Make sure it's Jesus for time and for eternity. And may the Lord bless these thoughts to us. And let us pray together.
[41:07] O Lord, our God, we give thanks to thee for the wonder of thy word. Thy word that reveals things to us and makes us see the urgency of the gospel.
[41:19] That we need to come to Jesus. We need to come to him as our Savior. As our great high priest. As the branch of David.
[41:32] As the true vine in whom we need to be engrafted into. As the chief cornerstone upon whom the whole building fits together. That we need to come to this Jesus.
[41:45] Who was the suffering servant. Who was able to redeem us by his own precious blood. Or that we would come to him. And that we would keep coming to him.
[41:56] Because we are promised in thy word that when we come to him. We will find rest for our souls. Help us then, we pray, to rest in thee. And to wait patiently upon thee.
[42:07] As we go into a new week. A week that is unknown to any of us. But known only to thee. Keep us then, we pray. Go before us. Take away our iniquity. Receive us graciously.
[42:18] For Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, we'll bring our service to a conclusion this evening. By singing the words of Psalm 103. Psalm 103, we're singing from verse 8.
[42:32] Down to the verse marked 13. Psalm 103, verse 8. The Lord our God is merciful. And he is gracious. Long suffering and slow to wrath.
[42:44] In mercy plenteous. And then in verse 12, as we mentioned earlier. It's those wonderful words of atonement. As far as east is distant from the west. So far hath he from us removed in his love.
[42:57] All our iniquity. We'll sing the verses of Psalm 103. To God's praise. The Lord our God is merciful.
[43:11] And he is gracious. And he is gracious. He will sing the verse of Psalm 103. And he is gracious. And he is gracious. And he is gracious.
[43:22] He is gracious. In mercy plenteous. He will shine continually. He will shine continually. Nor be quiz and burst still.
[43:48] With us he dealt not as we sinned. Nor did we quite a hill.
[44:03] As far as east is distant from the west.
[44:15] So far hath he. From us reneweth in his love.
[44:27] All our iniquity. Such pity as some other hand.
[44:44] And to his children dear. Like great he shows the Lord to such.
[44:59] And worship him in fear. Even after will he come to the last chapter.
[45:17] To you....
[45:34] Have a good day. No then I'm glad.