A Gracious Change of Status | Zechariah 8:18-23 | Richard Caldwell

Scripture

• Zechariah 8:18–23

About this sermon

Introduction: The kingdom that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, will usher in — a kingdom of one thousand years — will be a kingdom in which there will still be national identities. Babies will be born. Families will live out long lives together. The earth will experience a renewal that does not represent the eternal state but will still be a glorious state unlike anything we have ever known. There will still be a need for teaching, for instruction in salvation — and for those who are born into that kingdom, there will be the need for regeneration. Just as there was the need for faith in the Christ who was seen when He came the first time, there will be a need for faith in the Christ who will be present because He gloriously returned. The earth will be filled with righteousness. Christ will rule the nations with a rod of iron. And Israel, with the city of Jerusalem, will enjoy an exalted status — not based on a history of faithfulness, but based on the fulfillment of unconditional and gracious promises. God will glorify Himself — His wisdom and power and mercy and grace — by making something of Israel that Israel could never make of herself. The people known for ungratefulness. The people known for unfaithfulness. The people famous for idolatry after unmistakable revelation from the only true God. The people who rejected their Messiah at His first coming. Will have their status changed so that they become a teaching instrument for the nations. And in Zechariah’s day, that promise of millennial glory was being used to exhort them to present faithfulness. God’s method has never changed. Present faithfulness is married to future grace. Our present acts of disobedience are always acts of unbelief, because to the degree that we CLEARLY SEE OUR FUTURE, and we SINCERELY ANTICIPATE OUR FUTURE, we will put away sin and choose the pathway of peace. Sin is what we choose when we do not believe God. Sin is what we choose when we do not believe God about the future. That is the message of the closing portion of this Word of the Lord through Zechariah. I. FASTING DAYS TRANSFORMED INTO FEASTING DAYS (vs.18-19) This word takes us all the way back to 7:2-3 when the group of men from Bethel came inquiring about the self-imposed fasts of the last 70 years. Those fasts expressed mourning over memorable events connected to the destruction of Jerusalem. They also represented longing for restoration. Well, the Lord is saying, through Zechariah, that the day is coming when no one will remember those fast days. The days of fasting will have become days of feasting. In other words, God will have changed conditions so that the people are full of joy and recognize a gracious prosperity from the Lord. II. FUTURE DAYS TRANSFORMING PRESENT DESIRES (vs.19b) But the most important part of this statement about the future is what follows it. God is saying, “BECAUSE THESE FUTURE DAYS OF BLESSING ARE COMING, CHOOSE THE PATHWAY OF BLESSING RIGHT NOW!” If you long for the days of the kingdom of Messiah, then live for the Messiah right now. Have a strong affection for TRUTH and for the pathways of PEACE that are found in the truth. TO CLAIM THAT YOU LONG FOR A WORLD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS WHILE YOU PURSUE THE WAYS OF WICKEDNESS IS TO REVEAL THE INSINCERITY OF YOUR CLAIMS. READ ISAIAH 59. III. FUTURE STATUS EXPLAINED BY NOTHING BUT GOD’S GRACE (vs.20-23) Days of joy instead of mourning. Days of prosperity and celebration instead of great difficulty. Days of feasting instead of fasting. But there is something more. A people famous for failure, will be INFLUENTIAL FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS in the day that is coming. God will make use of them as a teaching instrument. Their status for the influence of righteousness will be transformed. AND IT WILL BE BECAUSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD. A. GLOBAL DESIRES EXPLAINED BY THE GRACE OF GOD (vs.20-22) The Lord describes a day of great spiritual hunger and desire among the nations. How do you explain such hunger? It is the desire produced by the grace of God. Men, since the fall of Adam, do not hunger and thirst for righteousness. That kind of hunger is initiated by God before it is satisfied by God.

Topics

• Grace