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[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. Zechariah chapter 6, and we're going to look at the whole chapter, but if we just read again from the beginning.

[0:17] So Zechariah chapter 6, reading from the beginning. Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains.

[0:27] And the mountains were mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them strong.

[0:42] Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my Lord? What are these, my Lord? And I'm sure that we're familiar with the phrase, it's not what you say that's important, but how you say it.

[1:01] It's not what you say that's important, but how you say it. However, I stumbled across an article the other day which highlighted the opposite. That it's not how you say it that's important, but what you say.

[1:15] Because what you say has to be right in the first place. And you know, we can often say or even spell words and phrases wrong without realising it.

[1:27] For example, some people ask for an expresso rather than an espresso. Others insure their car, while some people like to insure their car.

[1:40] There are those who whet their appetite, and there are those who whet their appetite. But you know, the phrase that really drew my attention, it was a bit of a tongue twister.

[1:51] It was the phrase, here comes the calvary. Here comes the calvary. Rather than, here comes the cavalry. Now, you can appreciate that it can be very difficult to say and spell calvary and cavalry.

[2:07] But calvary and the cavalry, as you know, they're completely different things. Calvary, as you know, is the place where Jesus was condemned and crucified in our place outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

[2:22] In fact, calvary is the Latin name for the crucifixion site. Whereas Golgotha is the Aramaic name for the same crucifixion site.

[2:33] It's the place of the skull. However, the cavalry, not calvary, the cavalry is of course from the old American westerns. Where there'd be this group of soldiers on horseback and they just swoop in to rescue the damsel in distress and save her just in time.

[2:53] And so we would say, here comes the cavalry. Not, here comes calvary. But you know, it's interesting that in Zechariah chapter 6, you could actually say that both phrases are true in what's happening here.

[3:10] Because when Zechariah sees four chariots and their horses, he could say, here comes the cavalry. But when Zechariah is urged to crown the high priest as king, he could also say, here comes calvary.

[3:27] Here comes calvary. So here comes the cavalry and here comes calvary. Don't say it too fast, you'll get your tongue twisted. And so I'd like us this evening just to consider Zechariah's eighth vision in chapter 6.

[3:41] And I want us to think about it under three headings. The cavalry, the crown, and the Christ. The cavalry, the crown, and the Christ.

[3:53] So first of all, the cavalry. The cavalry. It says in verse 1, I lifted my eyes and saw and behold four chariots came out from between two mountains.

[4:04] And the mountains were mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses.

[4:16] All of them strong. Now as you know and as we've discovered in our study of this book, Zechariah was called and commissioned to comfort and challenge God's people with God's word as they were living and looking beyond lockdown.

[4:33] The Israelites, they had spent 70 years living in lockdown in Babylon due to their rebellion and rejection of the Lord. But now by God's grace and through God's providence, this remnant has returned to the promised land of Israel and they've returned to rebuild and restore and renew and rededicate their lives to the Lord.

[4:56] But as we've discovered, that wasn't without its problems because after they returned and returned to the land of Israel, this returned remnant, they left the temple lying derelict and desolate for about 15 years.

[5:11] And they left it that long until Haggai came and issued a call, a call to rebuild. And then Zechariah followed with a call to repent.

[5:23] And then only about five months into this restoration project, the Lord spoke to the return remnant through Zechariah using eight night visions.

[5:33] And the purpose of these night visions was to remind and reassure this returned remnant that even though they are unsettled and unsure and uncertain about their future, the Lord was still with them.

[5:49] And in the first vision, which we saw in chapter one, Zechariah saw King Jesus on a red horse and he was standing among myrtle trees and he was exhorting and encouraging the church not to give up.

[6:05] Then in the second vision, Zechariah saw four horns and these four horns were the four empires that the Lord used in history as part of his perfect plan and purpose for the people of God and the proclamation of the gospel.

[6:22] Then Zechariah's third vision was a man with a measuring line. And he assured the church that even though she may look small and weak and fragile, he said the Lord will be a wall of fire around her and his glory will be in the midst of her.

[6:40] Then Zechariah's fourth vision was of Joshua the high priest. He was standing before the Lord with Satan accusing him. And Joshua, you'll remember, he had his rags removed and then replaced with a robe of righteousness and a turban put on his head.

[6:56] And it was a message of full and free forgiveness from the Lord. Then in the fifth vision, which is chapter four, Zechariah saw a golden lampstand, which was a reminder and a reassurance that the church is not to despise a day of small things, but shine as a light in a dark world.

[7:20] Then in Zechariah's sixth and seventh visions, which we consider last Lord's Day in chapter five, Zechariah saw UFOs. He saw unidentified flying objects.

[7:31] One was a flying scroll and the other was a flying basket. And both UFOs, they taught the church about the need for cleansing and commitment to the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

[7:47] But now as we come to chapter six, we come to Zechariah's eighth and final vision, where he sees four chariots, four chariots coming up between two mountains.

[8:03] And you know, in his commentary, the late professor John L. Mackay, he wrote, he says, the final vision brings the series to an end by returning to the same theme as was found at the first.

[8:16] The Lord's supremacy over the whole earth and the outworking of his providential control for the good of his people. Now you remember in Zechariah's first vision, King Jesus was among the myrtle trees and he was promising blessing and fruitfulness to his people.

[8:36] And King Jesus, in that vision, he was riding on a red horse and he was there as commander-in-chief of his heavenly hosts. Because as we read, behind him stood this angelic army who were sent out as scouts to patrol the whole earth.

[8:54] And when the report came back to King Jesus that everyone was at ease in their sin and that no one had an interest in King Jesus as the saviour, we're told that King Jesus revealed his anger towards the apathy of the nations.

[9:12] But now in Zechariah's concluding vision, we see that it's not scouts that are being sent throughout the earth. It's soldiers. Soldiers are being sent throughout the earth to bring judgment.

[9:25] And they're soldiers riding on chariots. And as you know, chariots, they were used in the ancient world as powerful weapons against the enemy.

[9:38] And they were powerful weapons because of their speed and their agility. Chariots were used to make the first strike and break through against the enemy.

[9:49] And it was then closely followed by the infantry running in behind. And so in a case of war, a chariot, it was pulled by two horses and there were two men in the chariot.

[10:02] One was the driver and the other was a bowman. But together, in this chariot, they were a powerful and penetrating force against the enemy. And that's the image that Zechariah sees.

[10:15] He sees four colored chariots coming out from between two mountains. And they were coming out to bring judgment. Now these two mountains were told that they were bronze mountains or mountains of bronze.

[10:32] And these two mountains, they were sent to be Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. So Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. Mount Zion was where the city of Jerusalem was situated and also where the temple was being rebuilt.

[10:47] And the Mount of Olives, which was just to the east of Mount Zion, that's where the Garden of Gethsemane was located. And it seems that because this was the last of the eight night visions, it seems that the sun was now rising over Zechariah's bedroom in Jerusalem, which would account for the fact that both mountains, Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives, they were both bathed in bronze.

[11:17] And they were bathed in bronze because of the light from the rising sun. But as we read, the four colored chariots, they were coming up between the two mountains.

[11:30] Between these two mountains. They were coming to bring judgment and they were traveling between the two mountains. And as you know, between two mountains is a valley.

[11:42] And between Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives was the Kidron Valley. And you know, what Zechariah sees is these four colored chariots bringing judgment upon the earth.

[11:56] And they're leaving from, what we're told is the presence of the Lord. They're leaving from, we can suggest it was the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. And they're traveling both north and south through the Kidron Valley.

[12:10] And as we read in verse six, the black chariot and the white chariot, they travel north through the Kidron Valley. Whereas the dappled chariot, it travels south through the Kidron Valley.

[12:26] But notice there's no mention made of the red chariot, which suggests that it remained in the temple at Jerusalem for a reason. But these powerful chariots, which were to bring judgment against their enemies, they're described by their symbolic color.

[12:45] Which, and these colors, they seem to be the same or even similar to the colors of the four horsemen in Revelation chapter six. So you have Zechariah chapter six, you have four chariots with colors.

[12:58] And Revelation chapter six, four horsemen with colors. And these four horsemen in Revelation chapter six, they're often referred to as the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

[13:09] But the word apocalypse, it just means revelation or even vision, as it is here in Zechariah chapter six. So there were four horsemen in John's vision in Revelation six.

[13:21] And here we have the four chariots of Zechariah's vision in Zechariah six. And the black chariot, which traveled north towards Babylon, it symbolized famine or mourning.

[13:36] Because as you know, we often associate black with mourning. But as we read, the black chariot was followed by the white chariot traveling north behind the black chariot.

[13:50] And the white chariot symbolized victory and peace. And you know, it was an affirmation that the Babylonians were a defeated enemy.

[14:02] And there is now victory and peace because of that defeated enemy. Then we read that the dappled chariot or the spotted gray chariot, or you could say it was a pale colored chariot or chariot horses.

[14:19] And it symbolized death. It's very similar to the pale horse mentioned in John's revelation in Revelation six, where John said, I looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was death and hell followed with him and power was given to them to kill with the sword.

[14:40] And here we're told that the pale horse or the pale chariot, it traveled south through the Kidron Valley towards Egypt, which was another defeated enemy.

[14:54] So you have Babylon in the north, Egypt in the south, and their defeated enemies. And you know, this message for an unsure and unsettled and uncertain remnant is that the cavalry of the Lord's chariots of judgment, they have already gone out on numerous occasions in the past to expose their enemies and to eradicate these empires.

[15:19] And the Lord, my friend, he hasn't changed. This is the wonder. He's still sovereign. He's still in control. He's still ruling over and overruling all the kingdoms and empires and governments in this world.

[15:34] He's still ruling over and overruling all the armies of heaven and earth. And you know, we might think, well, the world we're living in today is chaos and it's full of confusion and it's full of change.

[15:48] But the wonderful thing is the Lord hasn't loosened his grip and he hasn't lost sight of his goal. Because the Lord's goal, my friend, it's the salvation of his people.

[16:03] And that's why I believe the red chariot remained in Jerusalem. Literally, the red chariot was a blood red chariot. Of course, symbolizing bloodshed.

[16:15] It was the king's chariot. It was the chariot of King Jesus. He didn't travel north towards Babylon. He didn't travel south towards Egypt through the Kidron Valley.

[16:30] No, the wonderful thing about Jesus is that he crossed the Kidron Valley from Mount Zion to the Mount of Olives in order to receive judgment.

[16:41] Because, my friend, when Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley, you can read about it in John 18, he crossed from Mount Zion to the Mount of Olives. He crossed from the city of Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane.

[16:55] And it was there that Jesus received judgment. Jesus received the cup of his father's wrath. It was there that Jesus was betrayed by Judas. He was arrested by the chief priests and he was imprisoned by the Romans.

[17:10] And when Jesus received judgment, there was no cavalry. Just cavalry. When Jesus received judgment, there was no cavalry.

[17:25] Just cavalry. And that brings us to consider, secondly, the crown. So the cavalry and the crown.

[17:37] The cavalry and the crown. Look at verse 9. And the word of the Lord came to me. Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jediah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah.

[17:56] Take from them silver and gold and make a crown and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. You know, when someone mentions the crown in our day and generation, most people think that they're talking about the historical TV drama about the life and lineage of Queen Elizabeth.

[18:19] It's currently been shown on Netflix. And I have to confess, I haven't seen the crown, but I've been informed that it's good and it's worth watching. Because in the programme and in reality, there's always this tension between the position of the crown and the power of the crown.

[18:36] But as you know, the crown is much more than a precious object that sits on the queen's head. The crown is a powerful symbol of sovereignty.

[18:49] And in these verses, we read that Zechariah is instructed to have a crown formed and fashioned and set upon the head of Joshua, the high priest.

[19:00] We read in verse 9 that Zechariah said, the word of the Lord came to me. Which indicates that this time it wasn't a vision from the Lord, but it was an instruction from the Lord.

[19:13] And it seems that this instruction came immediately after Zechariah's eighth night time vision. And so in the morning when Zechariah got up after his busy night of night visions, after the Lord instructed Zechariah, he said, we're told in verse 10, we're told, take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedidiah who have arrived from Babylon and go the same day to the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah.

[19:43] Take from them silver and gold and make a crown and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. These three men that we read about in verse 10, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedidiah.

[19:58] It's interesting, they weren't among the returned remnant. Do you remember that when the exiles returned from living in lockdown in Babylon, they returned to rebuild and restore the temple.

[20:10] But there was only about 50,000 of them. They were a small remnant. But these three men, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedidiah, they weren't among this returned remnant that had returned about 15 years earlier.

[20:25] They had only recently returned. They had returned from living in lockdown in Babylon. But they returned with precious metals and money to help fund the reconstruction and the restoration of the temple.

[20:43] And it seems that a portion of the materials and the money was being given by the Persian government at the authority of King Darius. But another portion of the money and the materials that was being given by many of the Israelites who were still living in Babylon or in the region of Babylon that was now part of the Persian Empire.

[21:05] And these three men, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedidiah, they had come to this small returned remnant. They had come from Babylon with all these materials and these funds from both the state and from the saints in the Persian Empire and they had come to help rebuild and restore the temple.

[21:28] And you know, it's interesting that when you read the book of Ezra, when you read the book of Ezra alongside the books of Haggai and Zechariah, you're given more of the historical context of what was going on at the time.

[21:43] Ezra, as you know, he was not only a scribe, he was in many ways, he was like the historian of the Old Testament. And the book of Ezra records what happened when this returned remnant began looking beyond lockdown.

[21:57] And in Ezra chapter 6, Ezra records the decree of King Darius. This decree to provide materials and funds from both the public parish, the government, and also private donations from the saints living in Babylon.

[22:16] and it was all to help rebuild and restore the temple. And King Darius in Ezra chapter 6, he says, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God.

[22:31] The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue. And whatever is needed, let it be given to them without fail.

[22:42] I, Darius, make a decree. let it be done with all diligence. And, you know, the generosity of the gifts and the giving of both the state and the saints, you know, it's a reminder to us of the importance of supporting and sustaining the work of the gospel, not only financially, but also physically.

[23:06] because, you know, we have to support and sustain the work of the gospel, not only with our head and our heart, but also with our hands.

[23:17] We have to be willing and wanting to serve in the kingdom of God anywhere and in any way that we can. And not just in our own locality, but also further afield.

[23:31] Because, you know, these three men that are mentioned here, Heldite, Hobiah, and Jediah, they were, in effect, missionaries. They had travelled 1,500 miles from Babylon to Jerusalem.

[23:46] And they had travelled bringing materials and money to help rebuild and restore the temple. They had come to this small return remnant, not only with their financial gifts, but also with their physical gifts.

[24:02] Because Heldite, he was a soldier, so he had something to offer. Tobijah and Jediah, they were priests, so they also had something to offer. And so as missionaries, they'd come from afar to help the Lord's people in their mission to rebuild, restore, renew, and rededicate their lives to the Lord.

[24:25] And, you know, reading this passage, it should make us query and question our head, our heart, and our hand. for mission. Because as the Lord's people, we have to be willing and we have to be wanting to serve in the kingdom of God anywhere and in any way that we can.

[24:46] We have to be willing and wanting to learn and to grow and to serve God's kingdom anywhere and in any way we can.

[24:58] but the question is, are we willing? Are we wanting? Are we wanting to serve the Lord any way that we can?

[25:10] Because for Zechariah, he was instructed by the Lord and he was instructed by the Lord to immediately go to the house of Josiah. Now, of course, this Josiah wasn't Josiah the king.

[25:24] He had reigned a hundred years earlier. This Josiah was Josiah the goldsmith and Zechariah was to instruct Josiah the goldsmith to form and fashion a crown of both gold and silver so that it would be set upon the head of Joshua the high priest.

[25:43] And you know, it's interesting that the crown was to be formed and fashioned using both silver and gold. And the reason for that was to draw attention to the two roles that Joshua would perform as both priest and king.

[26:02] Gold and silver, priest and king. And you know, it's fascinating that Joshua the high priest, he was anointed and appointed king of Israel. And this was interesting because Zerubbabel was actually the governor in Israel.

[26:18] Zerubbabel was in many ways, he was the tetrarch of Israel. He was a vassal king. He was a subordinate king to the Persian king, King Darius.

[26:30] And you know, had the kingdom of Judah not been part of the Persian empire, Zerubbabel would have been the king of Israel. He would have been the king of Judah because he was of royal descent.

[26:41] He was a descendant of King David. And yet what we're seeing here is that in this symbolic act, the Lord is instructing his prophet Zechariah to crown Joshua, not Zerubbabel, to crown Joshua, the high priest, to be king over Israel.

[27:00] The prophet was to crown the priest to be king. The prophet was to crown the priest to be king as a pointer to a Persian.

[27:13] Because you know, this symbolic act of combining the priesthood and the kingship in Israel, it was pointing to the person of Jesus Christ.

[27:25] And that's why I want us to consider lastly, the Christ. The cavalry, the crown and the Christ. The cavalry, the crown and the Christ.

[27:37] So last of all, the Christ. Look at verse 12. And say to him, this is to Joshua, thus says the Lord of hosts, behold the man whose name is the branch.

[27:49] For he shall branch out from his place and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall be a royal honour and shall sit and rule on his throne and there shall be a priest on his throne 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 Helm, Tobijah, Jediah and Hen, the son of Zephaniah.

[28:19] You know, in these verses Zechariah explains the symbolic act of crowning Joshua the high priest as king over Israel. Because the union of these two offices of priest and king, the union of the priesthood and kingship, it pointed to a Persian, to the Persian of Jesus Christ.

[28:42] But you know, the interesting thing is that there was another person in scripture who held this dual role and practiced this dual office of priest and king and that was Melchizedek.

[28:57] Because Melchizedek, he was both the king of Salem and the priest of God Most High. And Melchizedek, whose name means the king of righteousness, as you know, he appears for a very brief moment in the Old Testament in Genesis 14 and he appears for this moment to bless Abraham who was the father of the covenant promise.

[29:21] And Melchizedek, he appears before Abraham, we're told, with bread and wine, which is very interesting. And as priest of God Most High, Melchizedek blesses Abraham and his descendants, and as the king of Salem, which was later renamed Jerusalem, Melchizedek, he gave Abraham a tenth of all that he had.

[29:44] And that's all we read about this priestly king, Melchizedek. He blesses Abraham and he gives Abraham a tenth of all that he has. And that's all we hear about this interesting person for a thousand years.

[29:59] There's no mention of him in scripture for a thousand years until David prophesies about him in Psalm 110. And he says that the Messiah will have a priestly king.

[30:13] He will be a priestly king. The Messiah, we're told, will possess and practice this twofold office of priest and king. And it will be after the order of Melchizedek.

[30:27] Melchizedek. We're told in Psalm 110, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

[30:40] And you know, this is what's being symbolized here with the coronation and the crowning of Joshua, the high priest. Joshua was being symbolized as a Melchizedek, a king of righteousness.

[30:53] And that's why this messianic title, you see there, he's called the branch. Because the Messiah was said to be the branch of the Lord.

[31:05] He's mentioned in the book of Isaiah. And as the branch of the Lord, he was to be a righteous branch. He was to be a righteous king. He was to be a king of righteousness.

[31:18] He was to be a Melchizedek. The branch was to be a priestly king. He was to possess and practice this twofold office of priest and king after the order of Melchizedek.

[31:33] But you know, don't you find it interesting that the crowned priest who was to possess and practice this twofold office after the order of Melchizedek, don't you find it fascinating that he was called Joshua?

[31:47] He was called Joshua. Joshua was to be a priestly king. And the name Joshua, as you know, it's the Hebrew for Jesus.

[31:59] Jesus was a Greek name. Joshua was the Hebrew name. Both Joshua and Jesus, they both mean salvation. And they both emphasize that salvation is from the Lord.

[32:12] Therefore, this symbolic act of crowning Joshua, the high priest, as king over Israel, this union of the priesthood and kingship in Israel after the order of Melchizedek, it was all foreshadowing.

[32:26] It was all a pointer to what would happen to the greater than Joshua, our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, you know, Melchizedek, he's only mentioned in three places in the Bible.

[32:40] He's mentioned in Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and in the letter to the Hebrews. And what we always need to remember about the letter to the Hebrews is that it's a letter which reminds and reaffirms and reassures us that Jesus is better.

[32:58] Jesus is better. If you read through the letter to the Hebrews, you'll see that Jesus is better than the prophets. He's better than the angels. He's better than Moses. He provides a better sabbath.

[33:11] He's a better high priest. He has a better covenant. He's a better sanctuary for his people. And he also provides a better sacrifice than all the blood of bulls and goats in the Old Testament.

[33:22] Jesus is better. That's the message of the letter to the Hebrews. And it also says that Jesus has a better office because his office is after the order of Melchizedek.

[33:38] It was an office of priesthood and kingship. He's a priest and he's a king. And as our catechism teaches us, Christ is our redeemer.

[33:50] He executes his office of a prophet, a priest, and a king, both in his humiliation and his exaltation. Both in his humiliation to the cross and his exaltation back to glory.

[34:06] And he executes his office of a prophet by revealing to us through his word and spirit the will of God for our salvation. He executes his office as a priest by offering up himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and in order to reconcile us to God and make continual intercession for us.

[34:27] And as the catechism teaches us, he executes his office as a king by subduing us to himself, by ruling and defending us, and by restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

[34:40] Jesus has a better office, my friend, because he has a priestly office and a kingly office after the order of Melchizedek. He's both a priest and a king.

[34:54] But you know what? I love what's said here about our branch or our king of righteousness or our Melchizedek. I love what's said about him that he will build the temple of the Lord.

[35:06] He will build the temple of the Lord. And what he's going to build is not a physical temple with structural stones. No, it's a spiritual temple.

[35:17] It's a spiritual temple by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit where the Lord's people are to be spiritual stones in a spiritual structure.

[35:28] We're to be living stones. As Peter said, we are living stones and we're being built up into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

[35:46] But more than that, Zechariah says in verse 13 that our branch, our king of righteousness, our Melchizedek, our Jesus, says, he shall bear royal honour and shall sit and rule on his throne and there shall be a priest on his throne.

[36:06] Notice that. There shall be a priest on his throne and the council of peace shall be between them both. Zechariah describes a glorious and majestic king who reigns with all authority in heaven and on earth.

[36:24] But he's also a kingly priest. He has a royal priesthood and his priesthood is a permanent priesthood because through his death and resurrection his royal priesthood we're told in Hebrews chapters 5, 6 and 7 we're told that his royal priesthood lives forever.

[36:49] It continues forever because he ever lives to make intercession for us. My friend, Jesus is better because as our royal priest he appeared once to bear the sins of many.

[37:06] he offered himself up as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice. And this is the wonder of wonders. When he finished his work he sat down upon his throne.

[37:21] He sat down upon his throne and this was unheard of because kings sat upon their throne not priests. Priests don't sit.

[37:35] Priests never sat. In the Old Testament a priest never sat at the tabernacle or even at the temple. The priests stood daily. That's mentioned in the letter to the Hebrews as well.

[37:47] The priests stood daily. They never sat because their service never ended and their sacrifices were never complete. But you know the wonderful thing about our royal priest our branch our king of righteousness our Melchizedek our Jesus the wonderful thing about him is that when he finished his work of redemption he sat down.

[38:14] He sat down because he finished the work that the father gave him to do. And that's also what the letter to the Hebrews affirms to us. Hebrews chapter 12 for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross despising its shame and he is now sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

[38:39] He sat down. This royal priest sat down because he finished the work that the father gave him to do.

[38:50] My friend Zechariah is reminding us this evening he's reminding us about the cavalry he's reminding us about the crown and he's reminding us about the Christ the Christ and his Calvary the Christ and his Calvary and he's saying to us tonight look to Calvary look to our royal priest look to our branch look to our king of righteousness look to our Melchizedek look to Jesus because he is the author and he remains the finisher of our faith and my unconverted friend the wonderful thing about this Jesus is that he is able he is able to save to the uttermost you are not beyond the pale you are not too far gone because he is able to save you if you come to him that's what you've been encouraged to do this evening look to

[40:00] Jesus because he is the author and he is the finisher of our faith well may the Lord bless these few thoughts to us let us pray together our heavenly father we give thanks to thee for for thy son Jesus and we thank thee that we are able to see him even in the old testament that he is there concealed in the old but revealed in the new and Lord we pray that as we study thy word together that we would see Jesus in it that we would see Christ in the word of God and that we would see that he is the hope of glory that he is our only hope and our only comfort in life and in death Lord bless us we pray help us to keep looking to our Melchizedek our king of righteousness our Jesus that we would keep our eyes firmly fixed upon him knowing him and loving him as the author and the finisher of our faith go before us Lord into a new week keep us on the way we don't know what's before us but we give thanks that thou are the one who knows every step of the way do us good we pray for

[41:23] Jesus sake Amen well we're going to bring our service to a conclusion this evening by singing the words of Psalm 110 that Psalm which mentions Melchizedek and how our great high priest Jesus he was a kingly priest after the order of Melchizedek so we're singing Psalm 110 in the Sing Psalms version from verse 3 down to the verse marked 6 when you display your power your people flock to you at dawn arrayed in holiness your youth will come like Jew unchangeably the Lord with solemn purpose swore just like Melchizedek you are a priest forevermore we'll sing these verses of Psalm 110 to God's praise when you display your power you people talk to you at

[42:33]  Lord our great in holiness here you will come my dear unchangeably the Lord with solemn purpose song just like Melchizedek you are a priest forevermore the Lord is a dear right hand then we will never stay he on his day of proud will cross the king to find his way our nations he will trust the love the king of the earth will be mine he will trust all who is to be mine turn some