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Good afternoon church. 
Today we're going to be the 

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scripture reading is going to be
from the book of Zechariah be 

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starting in chapter 1 verses one
through 6 in the eighth month in

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the second year of Darius, the 
word of the Lord came to the 

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prophet Zechariah, the son of 
Berekaya, son of Edo, saying the

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Lord was very angry with your 
father's. 

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Therefore say to them, thus 
declares the Lord of hosts 

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return to me, says the Lord of 
hosts, and I will return to you,

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says the Lord of hosts, do not 
be like your father's whom the 

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former prophets cried out. 
Thus says the Lord of hosts, 

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return from your evil ways and 
from your evil deeds. 

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But they did not hear or pay 
attention to me, declares the 

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Lord your Father's. 
Where are they? 

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And the prophets? 
Do they live forever? 

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But my words and my statutes 
which I committed, my servants 

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and the prophets, did they not 
overtake your Father's? 

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So they repented and said, as 
the Lord of Hosts purpose to 

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deal with us for our ways and 
deeds, so He has dealt with us. 

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In chapter 3. 
Then he showed me Joshua the 

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high priest standing before the 
Angel of the Lord, and Satan 

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standing at his right hand to 
accuse him. 

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And the Lord said to Satan, The 
Lord rebuke you, O Satan, the 

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Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, 
rebuke you. 

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Is this not a brand plucked from
the fire? 

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Now Joshua was standing before 
the Angel, clothed with filthy 

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garments. 
And the Angel said to those who 

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were standing before him, remove
the filthy garments from him. 

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And he said to him, And to him 
he said, Behold, I have taken 

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your iniquity away from you, and
I will clothe you with pure 

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vestments here now, oh, Joshua 
the high priest, you and your 

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friends who sit before you 
there, for they are men who are 

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a sign. 
Behold, I will bring my servant 

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the branch. 
For behold, on the stone that I 

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have set before Joshua, on a 
single stone with seven eyes, I 

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will engrave. 
It's an inscription declares the

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Lord of Hosts. 
And I will remove the iniquity 

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of this land in a single day. 
In the Angel who talked with me 

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came again and woke me like a 
man who is awakened out of his 

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sleep. 
And he said to me, What do you 

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see? 
I said, I see. 

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And behold A lampstand all of 
gold, with a bow on the top of 

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it, and seven lamps on it, with 
seven lips on each of the lamps 

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that are on top of it. 
And there are 2 olive trees by 

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it, one on the right of the bowl
and the other on its left. 

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And I said to the Angel who 
talked with me, What are these 

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my Lord and the Angel? 
Then the Angel who talked with 

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me answered and said to me, Do 
you not know what these are? 

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I said no my Lord. 
Then he said to me, This is the 

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word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, 
not by might nor by power, but 

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by my spirit, says the Lord of 
hosts, Where are you, O great 

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mountain? 
Before the Zerubbabel? 

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You shall become a plane, and he
shall bring forth the stone amid

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the shouts of grace, grace to 
it. 

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Then the word of the Lord came 
to me, saying, The hands of 

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Zerubbabel have laid the 
foundation of this house. 

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His hands shall also come 
pleaded. 

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Then you will know that the Lord
of Hosts has sent me to you. 

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For whoever has despised the day
of small things shall rejoice, 

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and shall see the Plumb line in 
the hand of Zerubbabel. 

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Chapter 6, verse 11 Take from 
them silver and gold, and make 

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him a, and make a crown, and set
it on the head of Joshua the son

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of Jehovah. 
Deck the high priest, and say to

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him, Thus says the Lord of 
hosts, Behold a man whose name 

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is the branch. 
For he I'll sit, for he shall 

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branch out from his place, and 
he shall build the temple of the

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Lord. 
It is he who shall build the 

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temple of the Lord, and shall 
bear royal honor, and shall sit 

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and rule on his throne. 
And there shall be a priest on 

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his throne, and the counsel of 
peace shall be with shall be 

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between them both. 
In the word of the Lord came to 

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Zechariah saying, Thus says the 
Lord of hosts, render true 

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judgments, show kindness and 
mercy to one another. 

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Do not oppress the widow, the 
fatherless, the sojourner, or 

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the poor. 
And let none of you devise evil 

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against another. 
And in your heart in Chapter 9, 

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verse 9, rejoice greatly. 
O daughter of Zion, shout aloud.

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O daughter of Jerusalem, behold,
your King is coming to you, 

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righteous in having salvation. 
Is he humble and mounted on a 

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donkey on a coat and the foal, 
The foal of a donkey. 

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I will cut off the chariot from 
Ephraim. 

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And what? 
The warehouse from Jerusalem. 

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And the battle bat bow shall be 
cut off, and he shall speak 

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peace to the nation's. 
His rule shall be from sea to 

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sea and from the river to the 
ends of the earth. 

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Chapter 11. 
Verse 12. 

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Then I said to them, If it seems
good to you, give me my wages, 

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but if not, keep them. 
And they weighed out as my wages

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30 pieces of silver. 
Then the Lord said to me, Throw 

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it to the Potter, the Lordy 
price at which I was priced by 

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them. 
So I took the 30 pieces of 

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silver and threw them into the 
House of the Lord to the Potter.

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1210 And I will pour out on 
those. 

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And I will pour out on the House
of David in the inhabitants of 

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Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and
pleas for mercy. 

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So that when they look on me, on
whom they have peers, they shall

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mourn for him as one mourns for 
an only child, and weep bitterly

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over him as one weeps over a 
first born. 

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On that day the morning in 
Jerusalem will be as great as 

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the morning for her dad Ramon in
the plain of Megiddo. 13 verse 

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one. 
On that day there shall be a 

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fountain open for those open for
the House of David in the 

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inhabitants of Jerusalem, to 
cleanse them from sin and 

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uncleanliness. 
Awake, O sword, against my 

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shepherd, against the man who 
stands next to me, declares the 

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Lord of hosts. 
Strike the shepherd, and the 

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sheep will be scattered. 
I will turn my hand against the 

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little ones in 14, verse 6. 
On that day there shall be no 

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light, cold or frost, and there 
shall be a unique day which is 

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known to the Lord, neither day 
nor night, but at evening time 

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there shall be light. 
On that day living water shall 

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flow from Jerusalem, half of 
them to the Eastern Sea, and 

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half of them to the Western Sea.
It shall continue in summer as 

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in winter, and the Lord will be 
king over all the earth on that 

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day. 
Lord will be 1 as His name. 1 is

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the word of the Lord. 
All right. 

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Good afternoon. 
Poor city, family, friends. 

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How we doing? 
Good. 

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My name is Kevin. 
I'm one of the pastors here and 

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it is a joy to be with you. 
And I'm looking forward to 

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working through the book of 
Zechariah with you today. 

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We've been in a series on the 
minor prophets and last week 

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John walked us through the book 
of Haggai, who is a contemporary

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of Zechariah, a book that we'll 
be looking at today. 

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Both Haggai and Zechariah spoke 
to God's people in Jerusalem 

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after their return from exile, 
about 500 years before the birth

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of Christ. 
The people have been given a 

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clear task to rebuild the 
temple, but that work had 

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stalled for more than 15 years. 
They were facing some real 

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challenges, financial strain, 
political pressure and social 

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discouragement. 
And the ruined temple had become

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a visible picture of something 
deeper, a community that was 

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struggling, weary, and far from 
what it once was. 

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Though many had returned, 
Jerusalem was still a shadow of 

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its of its former glory. 
And that's the setting into 

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which Zechariah speaks. 
And it's not that different from

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our own. 
Hardship, disappointment, 

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frustration are all common to us
in a world broken by sin. 

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Many of you have likely walked 
in here this afternoon carrying 

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burdens that had left you 
feeling worn down, maybe 

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hopeless. 
You find yourself asking 

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questions like, Does God see 
what's going on in my life? 

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Does He understand the weight 
that I'm carrying? 

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Does he care? 
Will He act? 

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How am I supposed to live while 
I wait on Him? 

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And what do you do when 
obedience feels small, slow, and

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insignificant? 
Zechariah's name points us 

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toward the answer to those 
questions. 

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His name means Yahweh has 
remembered. 

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God has not forgotten His 
people, and He had not forgotten

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His promises, and He hasn't 
forgotten you. 

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He sees you, He knows you, He 
loves you, and He will 

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ultimately and eternally come 
through for those who place 

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their hope in Him. 
Through Zechariah, God gives His

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people a vision for the future 
Kingdom to fuel their obedience 

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in the here and now. 
The main idea for us today is 

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this. 
God calls his weary people to 

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repent and trust Him by giving 
them a vision of His coming king

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and Kingdom. 
We can trace the main message of

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this book through three 
movements. 

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First, the king, the Kingdom, is
entered through repentance. 

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Second, the Kingdom is secured 
by God's work, not ours. 

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And thirdly, the Kingdom comes 
through the branch, our priest 

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king. 
So first the Kingdom is entered 

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through repentance. 
The book of Zechariah opens with

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a call to repentance. 
Therefore say to them, chapter 

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one, verse 3. 
Thus declares the Lord of hosts 

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return to me, says the Lord of 
hosts, And I will return to you,

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says the Lord of hosts, Do not 
be like your father's, to whom 

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the former prophets cried out. 
Thus says the Lord of hosts 

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return from your evil ways and 
from your evil deeds, but they 

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did not hear or pay attention to
me, declares the Lord. 

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A few years ago I got my first 
pair of noise cancelling 

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headphones, and I was amazed at 
how completely they could shut 

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off the outside world with them 
all. 

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You can lock in on whatever you 
want to listen to while 

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everything else fades away. 
Even if nothing is playing in 

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your headphones, that noise 
around you is almost entirely 

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gone. 
There's also a danger with that.

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It comes very easy to be unaware
of what's actually happening 

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around you, and you can be so 
focused on one thing that you 

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miss something important right 
in front of you. 

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And unless someone steps in to 
get your attention, you just 

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keep going, completely 
oblivious. 

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In a similar way, sin has a way 
of dulling our awareness. 

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We can become so tuned into our 
own desires, priorities, and 

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distractions that we stop 
hearing God all together. 

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And that's exactly what happened
to God's people. 

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For many years, the prophets had
been calling them to turn from 

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their evil ways again and again.
They were warned that judgement 

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was coming if they refused. 
But they heard only what they 

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wanted to hear. 
They became disconnected from 

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reality, blind to the 
seriousness of their sin and the

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certainty of God's judgement. 
And judgement did come. 

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The people of Judah, the very 
place where Jerusalem stood, 

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were sent into exile. 
For 70 years. 

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The prophets had been like 
someone tapping them on the 

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shoulder, trying to wake them 
up, but they ignored it. 

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Repentance is that moment when 
your awareness is finally 

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restored and you realize you've 
been out of step with reality 

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and you turn back to God and 
what truly matters. 

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The same root word for repented 
in verse 6 is used in verse 3 

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and 4 where it says return. 
The idea of repentance includes 

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both turning from sin and 
turning to God. 

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Guilt and shame are one of the 
ways that the Spirit taps us on 

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the shoulder to make us aware of
the reality of our sin and the 

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coming judgement. 
But they're not the same thing 

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as repentance. 
Apologizing isn't enough either.

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Anyone who has ever received an 
I'm sorry for someone that has 

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gone on to do the same thing 
again and again can attest to 

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that. 
Repentance involves turning away

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from sin and turning to God. 
Unless the people of Jerusalem 

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heard and responded to the call 
of repentance, it wouldn't 

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matter what Zechariah said in 
the rest of the book. 

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That's why he starts with 
repentance. 

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Repentance is the prerequisite 
for any work that God is 

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intending to do in our lives. 
But please don't misunderstand 

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me. 
Terrible things can happen in 

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our lives. 
Maybe they're happening right 

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now, not for lack of repentance,
but because of the present 

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reality of the broken and fallen
world in which we live. 

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Experience and hardship does not
always mean a call to 

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repentance. 
God has not changed His mind 

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about the necessity of 
repentance. 

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It's not strictly an Old 
Testament idea. 

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When John the Baptist shows up 
in the Judean countryside, he 

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comes saying repent for the 
Kingdom of heaven has come near.

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Shortly afterward, Jesus begins 
his earthly ministry when he 

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comes out of the wilderness 
saying repent for the Kingdom of

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00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:56,160
heaven is at hand. 
You might want to pump some 

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other message through your 
headphones, but this is the 

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reality of life and the message 
that we need to hear. 

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But repentance is not just a one
time thing, it's an ongoing 

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attitude of the heart. 
Luther wrote in his the first of

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his 95 theses that when our Lord
and Master Jesus Christ said 

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repent, he willed the entire 
life of believers to be 1 of 

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repentance. 
We see this call to repentance 

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not only in the beginning of the
book, but all throughout. 

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We're called to a consistent and
ongoing turning away from sin 

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and turning to God. 
When we do, we will find God 

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right there waiting for us. 
Only those who repent will enter

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00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,280
the Kingdom of God. 
Before we look into the future 

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00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:46,600
that Zechariah paints for us, we
need to look in the mirror. 

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What areas of our lives do we 
need to agree with God about our

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sin? 
Turn from it and turn to Him. 

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And when you do repent, you 
ought not congratulate yourself 

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00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,000
about it. 
The Bible teaches us that 

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repentance is both a requirement
and a gift, a human 

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responsibility and a sovereign 
work of God. 

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Secondly, the Kingdom is secured
by God's work, not ours. 

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In chapters one through 6, 
Zechariah details 8 visions he 

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received in a single night. 
Now, we're not going to walk 

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through all the 8 visions in 
detail. 

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Instead, it helps to see how 
they're structured. 

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They're arranged symmetrically, 
almost like folding them in 

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half, so that the corresponding 
visions reflect similar themes. 

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00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:41,920
Visions 2 and seven address the 
exile of God's people. 

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00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:49,680
Visions 3 and 6 focus on the 
restoration of Jerusalem, but at

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00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,560
the center of the visions are 
visions four and five in 

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chapters 3 and 4, where the 
structure clearly highlights 

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that these are the most 
important, the most critical 

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00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:04,599
visions that Zechariah is called
to proclaim. 

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These focus on Israel's leaders 
in the rebuilding effort, 

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Joshua, who is the high priest, 
and Zerubbabel who was the 

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governor, and these emphasize 
how God will accomplish his 

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00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:22,200
purposes through them. 
Through these signs, Zechariah 

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00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:25,480
is showing you that you cannot 
fix yourself. 

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God must act. 
We'll see that we need the Lord 

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00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,040
to cleanse us, and we need the 
Lord to empower us. 

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00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,320
Cleanse and empower. 
First, let's turn to the vision 

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00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:38,680
centered on Joshua, beginning in
chapter 3. 

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00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:43,640
Here we find Satan standing 
beside Joshua, who is covered in

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00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:46,400
filth, in filth. 
And it's not just dirt, it's 

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something that's far worse, 
symbolizing his own sin and the 

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00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:52,800
sin of the people that he 
represents. 

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00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:57,600
Satan is standing to the right 
of Joshua, accusing him. 

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00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:02,200
The question is obvious. 
How can someone so defiled stand

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before a holy God? 
He can't. 

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00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,280
Satan knows it, and Joshua knows
it. 

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00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,000
By all accounts, Joshua should 
be condemned. 

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00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,240
But instead of rebuking Joshua, 
the Lord rebukes Satan. 

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00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:20,800
Why? 
Because he's chosen Jerusalem as

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his own. 
Like a brand that is snatched 

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00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:27,760
from a fire, God rescues his 
people before they're consumed. 

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00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,200
Then he does something 
remarkable. 

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00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,680
Look at verse 4 of chapter 3. 
The Angel said to those who are 

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00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,800
standing before him, Remove the 
filthy garments from him. 

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00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:42,960
And he said, And to him, he 
said, Behold, I have taken your 

288
00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:47,000
iniquity away from you, and I 
will clothe you with pure 

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00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,880
vestments. 
Joshua's filthy garments are 

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00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:56,560
replaced by a flawless, perfect 
covering as a visible sign that 

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00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,200
his sin has been taken away. 
God does for Joshua and for the 

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00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,720
people that he represents what 
could never be done for 

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00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,960
themselves. 
Nothing Joshua or the people of 

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00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:11,400
God could do was able to wipe 
away the stain of their idolatry

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00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,200
and rebellion against the Lord. 
Any effort on their part to 

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00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,120
remove the stain of their sins 
by doing good works would only 

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00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:22,640
make things worse. 
It'd be like sending a robotic 

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00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,920
vacuum to clean a house after a 
pet has made a mess on the 

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00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,800
carpet. 
But instead of fixing the 

300
00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:29,800
problem, it just spreads it 
everywhere. 

301
00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:34,640
What was once a single blemish 
is now smeared across the floor.

302
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:38,400
The very thing meant to cleanse 
only made it worse. 

303
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,120
That's the picture here. 
Joshua isn't slightly dirty. 

304
00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:45,880
He's completely defiled, and 
anything that he might try to do

305
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:50,080
to clean himself up would only 
spread the problem, not solve 

306
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,400
it. 
He doesn't need improvement, he 

307
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,000
needs intervention. 
He doesn't need to try harder, 

308
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,120
He needs someone else to make 
him clean. 

309
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,040
So it is with us. 
Our sin has defiled us before 

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00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,440
the Lord, and Satan would be 
right to accuse us. 

311
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,560
And yet, if we belong to him, 
God. 

312
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:10,640
Cleans us. 
He clothes us in the 

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00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,760
righteousness of Christ so that 
we can stand before Him. 

314
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,000
Some of you might feel the 
weight of your own sin even now.

315
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,000
You know that you're not clean. 
You need to hear this. 

316
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,120
The Lord makes sinners clean. 
You can't do it yourself, and if

317
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:26,680
you try, you'll only make it 
worse. 

318
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:29,520
Others of you assume that you're
fine. 

319
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,160
You believe you stand righteous 
before God on your own merit. 

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00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,800
But Scripture is clear. 
All have sinned and fall short 

321
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,640
of the glory of God. 
And our sin is not small because

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00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,920
of how it compares to others. 
It is serious because of who it 

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00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,240
is against. 
Every sin is an offense to a 

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00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,480
holy God who is infinitely 
worthy of your worship. 

325
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,920
Only the Lord can remove the 
stain of your sin. 

326
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,800
Now let's turn to the vision 
centered on Zerubbabel, 

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00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,920
beginning in chapter 4. 
Here's Zacharias sees a vision 

328
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:05,480
of a lampstand flanked on either
side by two olive trees 

329
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:10,080
representing Joshua and 
Zerubbabel, the leaders of those

330
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,880
in Jerusalem. 
These trees supply a continual 

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00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,720
flow of oil, keeping the lamps 
burning without any 

332
00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,920
intervention. 
Though the trees symbolize 

333
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,280
Jerusalem's Jerusalem's leaders,
the point is clear. 

334
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,480
The work will not be 
accomplished by their strength 

335
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:28,800
or ability. 
Look at verse 6. 

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00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,080
Then he said to me, This is the 
word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, 

337
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:38,920
not by might nor by power, but 
by my spirit, says the Lord of 

338
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,200
hosts, Who are you, O great 
mountain? 

339
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,000
Before Zerubbabel, you shall 
become a plane, and he shall 

340
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:50,000
bring forward the top stone and 
make shouts of grace, grace to 

341
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,360
it. 
The task before Zerubbabel, the 

342
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,160
rebuilding of the temple, will 
indeed be completed. 

343
00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,560
But when it's finished, the 
credit will not go to human 

344
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,080
effort. 
It will be unmistakably clear 

345
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,200
that this is the work of God's 
Spirit from beginning to end. 

346
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,760
And when the temple is 
completed, the people will not 

347
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,640
boast in themselves, but cry out
grace, grace to it, 

348
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,800
acknowledging that it was God's 
favor, not their strength, that 

349
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,360
brought it to pass. 
And yet not everyone will see it

350
00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:24,280
that same way. 
There will be shouts of joy, but

351
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:28,680
there also be tears of sorrow. 
Those who remember the former 

352
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:33,600
glory of Solomon's temple will 
see this rebuilt temple as a day

353
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,600
of small things. 
But this temple points forward 

354
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,840
to something greater. 1 is 
coming a descendant of 

355
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,440
Zerubbabel that we find in 
Matthew chapter one verse 13, 

356
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:50,400
who will not merely rebuild a 
physical structure, but he 

357
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,640
himself will embody the true 
temple of the Lord, clothed in a

358
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,720
glory that far surpasses 
Solomon's temple. 

359
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,400
By the Spirit of God. 
He will build His church, 

360
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,600
serving as both the cornerstone 
and the capstone. 

361
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,080
It's beginning and it's end, 
drawing to Himself all who trust

362
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,240
in Him. 
To be cleansed and made new. 

363
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,000
The kind of work that needs to 
be done in our lives is an 

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00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,000
impossible thing for us to do on
our own. 

365
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,360
Jesus makes that plain in John 
15 verse five. 

366
00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:24,080
He says apart from me you can do
nothing, not some things, 

367
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,560
nothing. 
That's exactly what Zechariah is

368
00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,280
showing us. 
Just as the rubble would rebuild

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00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,840
the temple, not by might or 
power, but by the Spirit of the 

370
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:39,600
Lord, so the work God does in US
cannot be accomplished by human 

371
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,040
strength or willpower. 
What God commands, He Himself 

372
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:48,440
must empower the Word. 
The work of the work that the 

373
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,320
Lord wants to do in and through 
your life can only be 

374
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,320
accomplished by His Spirit. 
He needs to move in order to 

375
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,800
open your eyes to your sin and 
your need for him. 

376
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:02,240
He must work to bear fruit and 
keep him with repentance, making

377
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,280
you more like Jesus. 
And it is only by His Spirit 

378
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,080
that you will be empowered to 
bear a gospel witness to others 

379
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,800
where you live, work and play. 
Are you relying on Him or on 

380
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,200
your own strength? 
This is the message of 

381
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,720
Zechariah. 
The work of God will not be 

382
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,640
accompanied accomplished by 
human strength, but by his, by 

383
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,000
the Spirit of the Lord. 
And when God finishes work, 

384
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,160
finishes His work, No one will 
boast in human effort, only in 

385
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,320
His grace. 
So the Kingdom is entered 

386
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,640
through repentance. 
The Kingdom is secured by God's 

387
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,200
work, not ours. 
And finally the Kingdom comes 

388
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,800
through the branch, our priest 
king. 

389
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,520
In the second part of Zechariah 
3, we find a reference to the 

390
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,760
branch. 
Verse 8. second-half of verse 8 

391
00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:53,720
says, Behold, I will send my 
servant the branch. second-half 

392
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,480
of nine says, and I will remove 
the iniquity of this land in a 

393
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,200
single day. 
He tells us more about the 

394
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:05,600
branch in chapter 6, where he 
says in verse 12, Behold the man

395
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,640
whose name is the branch, for he
shall branch out from this 

396
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,600
place, and he shall build the 
temple of the Lord. 

397
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,760
It is he who shall build the 
temple of the Lord, and shall 

398
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:19,680
bear royal honor, and shall sit 
and rule on his throne, and 

399
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,760
there shall be a priest on his 
throne, and the counsel of peace

400
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:28,240
shall be between them both. 
The branch is the Messiah, the 

401
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:32,560
priest king, who will make a way
and usher the people of God into

402
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,440
the eternal Kingdom, where He 
will rule forever. 

403
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:42,480
Zechariah is calling us not just
to belief in promises, but to 

404
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,680
trust in Christ. 
You need more than an abstract 

405
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,280
hope. 
You need a personal Savior. 

406
00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,760
In the back half of the book, we
get more information about the 

407
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,880
One who is to come. 
When Matthew was writing his 

408
00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:02,040
Gospel, he needed an 
interpretive lens through which 

409
00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:05,320
he might be able to better 
understand the events leading up

410
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,520
to Jesus's death. 
The Spirit helped him to see 

411
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,560
that in Zechariah he had been 
pointed to the Messiah, Jesus 

412
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:17,920
all along. 
We see about the Messiah that he

413
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,800
is a humble king coming on a 
donkey. 

414
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,400
We see him as a betrayed 
shepherd sold at the price of a 

415
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:30,240
slave, and as a pierced son 
whose blood opened a fountain 

416
00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:32,880
for cleansing. 
Let's look at each of those 

417
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,560
three quickly. 
In Zechariah Chapter 9, verse 9,

418
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:41,720
we see the humble king rejoice 
greatly. 

419
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:46,120
O daughter of Zion, shout aloud.
O daughter of Jerusalem, behold,

420
00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:50,360
your king is coming to you 
righteous and having salvation. 

421
00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:54,800
Is he humble and mounted on a 
donkey, on a colt, the foal of a

422
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,200
donkey? 
Jesus came the first time as a 

423
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:04,640
humble king, gentle and lowly. 
He rode into into Jerusalem, not

424
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,680
to conquer a Kingdom, but to be 
slaughtered so that his Kingdom 

425
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,000
would come to those who would 
put their hope in Him. 

426
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:17,440
In Zechariah 11 verses 12 and 13
we see the rejected shepherd. 

427
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,600
Then I said to them, if it seems
good to you, give me my wages, 

428
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,760
but if not, keep them. 
And they weighed out as my 

429
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,960
wages, 30 pieces of silver. 
Then the Lord said to me, Throw 

430
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,600
it to the Potter, the lordy 
price at which I priced I was 

431
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,520
prized by them. 
So I took the 30 pieces of 

432
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,840
silver and threw it to the into 
the House of the Lord, to the 

433
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,320
Potter. 
Matthew, although he attributes 

434
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:51,280
this passage to Jeremiah and not
Zachariah because they both are,

435
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,160
what he shares is he draws from 
both Zechariah and Jeremiah 

436
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,520
gives credit to the more major 
prophet. 

437
00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,120
He clearly sees this as a 
reference to the price of 

438
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:06,880
betrayal paid by Judas. 
According to Exodus 2132, thirty

439
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,200
pieces of silver is the value of
a slave. 

440
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,480
Jesus was sold that he might be 
so. 

441
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,080
Jesus was sold that He might 
purchase us by His blood. 

442
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,480
Which leads us to Zechariah 
12/10, where we see the pierced 

443
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,520
son. 
Verse 10 B says, When they look 

444
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,320
on me, on him whom they have 
pierced, they shall mourn for 

445
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:33,760
Him, as one mourns for an only 
child, and we bitterly over him 

446
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,240
as one weeps over a first born. 
And then in chapter 13, verse 

447
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,800
one, on that day there shall be 
a fountain open for the House of

448
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,360
David and the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem to cleanse them from 

449
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:51,680
sin and uncleanness. 
Because Jesus was pierced, you 

450
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:56,520
and I can be cleansed. 
The splendid clothes that we are

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00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:00,120
offered instead of our filthy 
rags are the righteousness of 

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00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,560
Christ. 
We are cleansed by the fountain 

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00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:09,760
of His blood and clothed by Him.
As we consider these things, may

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00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:15,320
they sustain us and give us the 
strength we need to repent, to 

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00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,040
trust in Christ, and to obey Him
in the midst of our everyday 

456
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,880
lives by the power of His 
Spirit. 

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00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,360
Let's pray. 
God, we thank you for your word.

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00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:31,080
We thank you that you spoke to 
Zachariah 500 years before 

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00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,520
Christ was on the earth. 
God painting a picture of what 

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00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,720
he would look like and what he 
would do. 

461
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,400
God, we thank you as we approach
Easter next week for the 

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00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:47,120
sacrifice of Christ and what it 
accomplishes for those who trust

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00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:48,760
in him. 
God, if there are those this 

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00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,880
morning who have not yet trusted
you, God, may they see you as 

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00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,720
you are God. 
May they see the gospel is true 

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00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,280
and beautiful, and may they 
confess God. 

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00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,280
May we confess our sins to you, 
God. 

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00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,360
May we repent and be made new by
your Spirit. 

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00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:07,800
In Christ's name we pray. 
Amen.