1. "Most problems in our lives are not so easily solved. Most problems last longer and dig their roots in deeper. Some of the problems in our lives are more like computer viruses. They spread. They get worse over time. They lock you out of the resources you need in order to fix it."

2. "God's Spirit is the power plant. The prophets are the power lines. And God's Word is the electricity that will not fail to fully energize and activate His people."

3. "Unlike the very best that PEPCO can provide for us, the Holy Spirit and the Word working together are a power grid that never goes offline. God always has more spiritual power to give us through the Spirit, working by his word."

4. "You, Christian, are a grasshopper mouse. Your resources look utterly inadequate to the challenges that lie before you. Your strength looks insufficient for the task God has given you. But you have a hidden power, the continual supply of God's Spirit."

5. "That inner pain of anxiety is a signal, like a pain in your arm, that there's too much weight, the wrong kind of weight on you. You need to take that weight off and put it on God where his infinite strength can handle it."

6. "In the Christian life, the direction you're heading is far more important than how far you've gone. Whether it's in your own life or in another member's life, encourage and reinforce every step in the right direction, no matter how small it is."

7. "This image of a scroll says God's words will enforce their own judgment. God's words will carry out their own sentence. God's words will themselves prosecute crimes against God to the uttermost extent of his own holy law."

8. "There is no safe place to hide your sin. Somehow this giant scroll manages to squeeze through the doorway of every home it needs to enter. And it consumes everything. It leaves nothing. You can't hide from God forever."

9. "When the Lord comes back, he banishes idols. When the Lord restores his people, he requisitions all the resources of our heart to be devoted to his exclusive worship. When the king returns, he claims what's his, which is all that we have given to him in loving worship."

10. "There is one monarch whom now crowned with glory will never set down that crown. There is one ruler whose rule will never be threatened."

Observation Questions

1. In Zechariah 4:2-3, what does Zechariah see in his vision, and what are the key components of the lampstand described?

2. According to Zechariah 4:6, what is the central message that the Lord gives to Zerubbabel about how the temple will be completed?

3. In Zechariah 5:1-4, what is the flying scroll's purpose, and what specific sins does it target for judgment?

4. What happens to the woman called "Wickedness" in the basket according to Zechariah 5:9-11, and where is she taken?

5. In Zechariah 6:1-8, what do the four chariots do after presenting themselves before the Lord, and what is the result described in verse 8?

6. According to Zechariah 6:12-13, what two roles will "the Branch" fulfill, and what will he build?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is it significant that the lampstand in Zechariah's vision receives oil continuously from the olive trees without requiring a priest to replenish it, unlike the lampstand in the tabernacle (Leviticus 24:3)?

2. How does the phrase "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit" (Zechariah 4:6) explain both the completion of the physical temple in Zechariah's day and God's ongoing work in His people?

3. What is the relationship between the promise of forgiveness for God's people in Zechariah 3 and the threat of judgment against sinners in Zechariah 5:1-4? How can both be true at the same time?

4. How does the vision of the woman "Wickedness" being carried to Babylon (Zechariah 5:5-11) reverse what happened in Ezekiel 10-11, and what does this reversal reveal about God's restoration of His people?

5. In what way does the symbolic crowning of Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 6:9-15) point forward to Jesus Christ, and why is it significant that the coming Messiah would unite the offices of king and priest?

Application Questions

1. The sermon emphasized relying on God's Spirit through prayer and Scripture. What specific time of day or situation this week could you set aside to pray through your anxieties and tasks, placing their weight on God rather than carrying them yourself?

2. Zechariah 4:10 warns against despising "the day of small things." In what area of your life or in another believer's growth are you tempted to become impatient or dismissive because progress seems slow or unimpressive? How might you respond differently?

3. The flying scroll in Zechariah 5 reminds us that sin cannot be hidden from God. Is there a sin you have been concealing or minimizing that you need to confess to God and, where appropriate, to another trusted believer? What step will you take this week?

4. The sermon described idolatry as anything that competes with God for ultimate loyalty, whether external or internal. What person, pursuit, or source of fulfillment most frequently competes with your devotion to God, and what would it look like to dethrone that idol this week?

5. Zechariah 6:1-8 addresses God's people's fear of powerful enemies by assuring them that God will deal with every threat. What current fear or circumstance most tempts you to doubt God's goodness or control, and how can you actively trust Him with that fear in the coming days?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Exodus 25:31-40 — This passage describes the original golden lampstand for the tabernacle, providing essential background for understanding the symbolism of God's presence in Zechariah's vision.

2. Ezekiel 36:22-28 — Here God promises to cleanse His people from idols and give them a new heart and spirit, directly connecting to Zechariah's vision of idolatry being removed.

3. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 — Paul warns that the unrighteous will not inherit God's kingdom but then celebrates that believers have been washed and sanctified, illustrating the balance between judgment and grace seen in Zechariah 5.

4. Hebrews 7:1-17 — This passage explains how Jesus is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, fulfilling the prophecy of a king-priest in Zechariah 6:12-13.

5. Ephesians 2:19-22 — Paul describes believers as being built together into a holy temple for God's dwelling by the Spirit, showing how Christ fulfills Zechariah's promise that the Branch would build the true temple.

Sermon Main Topics

I. When We're in Rough Shape, How Does God Restore Us? (Zechariah 4-6)

II. His Spirit Empowers Us (Zechariah 4:1-14)

III. His Judgment Delivers Us from Sin (Zechariah 5:1-4)

IV. His Judgment Delivers Us from Idolatry (Zechariah 5:5-11)

V. His Judgment Delivers Us from Fear (Zechariah 6:1-8)

VI. His Son Reigns Over Us (Zechariah 6:9-15)

VII. Christ Is Our True and Everlasting King

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Have you tried unplugging it, waiting 10 seconds, and plugging it back in?

I'm reliably informed that if they could, many IT professionals would tape these words to their office door. You may not come in until you have obeyed these instructions.

The other day, the power, or rather not the power, but the internet went out in the church office, and then it came back on thanks to Jonathan Keasling's persistent efforts. And after the internet came back on, I met with our pastoral interns up on the third floor, and it turned out their internet still it wasn't working. So being the kind intern supervisor that I am, I came back down to the church office and I knocked on Jamie Dunlop's door and what should he say to me but, Tell them to unplug it and wait 10 seconds and plug it back in. Thank you, Jamie. I should have known.

I should have thought of that myself.

Have you ever wished that all of your life's problems could be solved so simply? Unplug, plug back in, a simple restart or refresh. The memory gets flushed and settings are restored.

But most problems in our lives are not so easily solved. Most problems last longer and dig their roots in deeper. Some of the problems in our lives are more like computer viruses. They spread. They get worse over time.

They lock you out of the resources you need in order to fix it. Problems like that can throw your whole life out of whack. They can leave you in rough shape and you don't know what to do to reset the system. This morning we continue our series in the Old Testament book of Zechariah. Last week we looked at chapters 1 to 3.

This week we'll cover chapters 4 to 6. You can find our passage on pages 794 and 795 of the Pew Bibles. The book of Zechariah reports a series of visions and messages that the Lord gave to the prophet Zechariah starting in 520 BC. At that time, the people of Judah had been back in their land for nearly 20 years after they had been expelled from it as God's judgment against their sin. The exile was over.

But the people were still financially strapped and politically precarious. They had begun rebuilding the temple, but progress soon stopped. The problem of exile proved to be far more than a matter of simply unplugging the people from the land and plugging them back in 70 years later. They needed God himself to restore them, and they needed God to restore his dwelling among them.

And that's what the series of visions in Zechariah chapters 1 to 6 are all about. In Zechariah 1:3, as we saw last week, God urges his people, Return to me and I will return to you. And then the visions that take up most of the rest of chapters 1 to 6 spell out what it will mean for God to return to his people and how he will restore them.

When he does. So here's the question Zechariah 4:6 answers for us this morning. When we're in rough shape, how does God restore us? I'll have three points. Point one, his Spirit empowers us.

That's the main point of chapter four, the whole thing, verses 1 to 14. Please follow along as I read the chapter.

And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, 'What do you see?' I said, 'I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. And I said to the angel who talked with me, 'What are these, my Lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?

I said, 'No, my Lord. Then he said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of grace, grace to it.

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth. Then I said to him, What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand? And a second time I answered and said to him, 'What are these two branches of the olive trees which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?' He said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?' I said, 'No, my Lord.' Then he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. ' In this chapter, the Lord gives Zechariah a vision of a lampstand and in between the vision and its explanation, he gives Zechariah a message to deliver to Zerubbabel, who's the governor of the province of Yehud. That's the sort of administrative designation for now the land of Judah at the time.

The background here is that under Zerubbabel's leadership, the people had begun to construct the temple in Jerusalem to rebuild it. But opposition had brought the work to a halt. So then the message that the Lord gives for Zerubbabel sandwiched between the vision and its explanation and having to do with the temple, that message is the key to the vision. They go hand in hand. So verse 7 addresses the great mountain of opposition that stands in Zerubbabel's way.

And verse 10 rebukes those who have despised the day of small things. That is, they have looked scornfully on this shabby, failed building project as if the Lord is not really behind it. The whole of the chapter, both vision and message, reassures Zerubbabel that the Lord himself will complete the temple rebuilding. And this vision and message tells Zerubbabel how.

The Lord is going to complete the temple rebuilding. The crucial statement is in verse 6. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. God will empower his people by his Spirit to rebuild his dwelling. So we'll first consider the vision and its explanation in verses 1 to 4 and 10 to 14 and then we'll turn to the message for Zerubbabel in verses 6 to 10.

Now this golden lampstand in Zechariah's vision should immediately remind us of the lampstand of pure gold that God commanded Moses to make for the tabernacle. That's back in Exodus 25 verse 31. Solomon's temple, the one that had been destroyed, actually had 10 of these lampstands. But in any case, the tabernacle and later the temple was a dwelling place for God. And within that dwelling place, the lampstand that shone light was a symbol of God's special presence, that God's dwelling with his people brings us light and life.

Now, all the details in verses 2 to 4 about the number of bowls and lips and lamps can be a little bit tough to sort out. It almost sounds as if there's seven lights but then they each have seven more lips coming in. I think it's probably just seven, seven times seven. But in any case, you might be encouraged by Zechariah's response in verse four. What are these, my Lord?

If you're confused, you're in good company. The prophet doesn't know. But then of course, the angel will explain it to him. But the main things we need to know about the lampstand for background and that would have been obvious and familiar to the people of Judah in Zechariah's day, two things we need to know. First, the light came from lighting a wick in a bowl on the top.

A little bit like a candle but with a reservoir of oil. And that's the second thing we need to know, that the fuel it burned was olive oil. That is why there are two olive trees in the vision on either side. Olive oil was for fuel, not just for tasty food. Now, look down at the angel's explanation of the vision starting in the second half of verse 10.

These seven are the eyes of the Lord which range through the whole earth. So the angel is saying that the lampstand's seven lights represent God's personal presence. And this phrase in verse 10 about the eyes of the Lord ranging through the earth, this echoes 2 Chronicles 16:9. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. This vision of the Lord's eyes is not a warning of judgment, although it can be elsewhere in Scripture.

Here, it's a promise of God's presence. God's promise to equip us, God's promise to sustain us, God's promise to give us his strength when ours is lacking. That's what the vision is for. That's what the lampstand, dwelling in the midst of the people, the midst of the temple, symbolizes. In verse 11, Zechariah then asks the angel about what the two olive trees are and in verse 12 he expands upon that question.

What are these two branches of the olive trees which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out? Zechariah refers to branches of the olive trees because of course that's what the olives would have grown on and these branches come right up near the lampstand itself. The Hebrew word that's translated golden pipes is a little bit obscure. It's tough to pin down. I think it probably refers not to pipes that pour oil but to people who press the oil.

As if they're standing there squeezing the olives right off the tree so that the olive oil flows right into the branch. There's a parallel to this in the dream that Joseph interpreted in Genesis 40:11. Where Pharaoh's cup bearer presses the grapes so that the juice goes straight into Pharaoh's cup. In any case, whether it's pipes or pressers, this lampstand gets a continual supply of newly pressed oil. It's extra virgin, fresh off the tree.

And here's a key difference from the lampstand in the tabernacle. Leviticus chapter 24 verse three tells us that the high priest was responsible daily to replenish the oil that fed the lampstand so that the light would always keep burning. But with this lampstand in Zechariah's vision, a priest is conspicuously absent. Even if it is figures pressing the oil, there's no sense that there's priests or it's a regular duty. It's more like this is always going on.

This is God taking care of it. No need for a priest. God himself ensures that the light of his presence will keep burning brightly among his people. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, declares the Lord of hosts. At verse 14, the angel finally answers Zechariah's question and he says, these are the two anointed ones who stand before the Lord of all the earth.

You see the ESV's footnote, which gives a literal rendering of the Hebrew, two sons of new oil. The idiom here is like what Jesus said when he called the sons of Zebedee, sons of thunder. They're called sons of thunder because they're loud. They produce thunder. So here, the sons of new oil are called that because they produce of new oil.

I think that's kind of a key to the interpretation of these as people pressing the oil. And actually, Revelation chapter 11 verse 4, there's two prophetic figures and John in Revelation actually identifies those two prophets as the olive trees from Zechariah's vision. So God, the Holy Spirit, speaking through the prophet John, tells us that these two olive trees and the whole kind of process here are identified as prophets. So while there's a lot of different interpretations of these figures, I think it's most likely, especially in light of Revelation, that these two figures are Haggai and Zechariah, the two prophets who were active during that time. That might help explain why Zechariah's a little slow on the uptake even here.

He might be a little slow to recognize that the angel is talking about him. His own humility might be kind of preventing him from seeing the role that God has for him and that he's being pointed to here. So, these two prophets are given direct personal revelation of God in God's presence. They stand before the Lord and hear his word. And God works through these prophets to bring about the restoration of his people and the completion of the temple.

God supplied His Spirit to the people through the words that He gave the prophets. He worked by His Spirit through the message He gave the prophets to deliver. The prophets are the channels through which the new oil of the Spirit continually flows.

The energy supply that this building project needs will come from God's Spirit through the channel of his prophets. To bring this up into modern times, we could say that God's Spirit is the power plant. The prophets are the power lines. And God's Word is the electricity that will not fail to fully energize and activate His people. Brothers and sisters, that's how God works among us today.

The Holy Spirit working through His Word is all the power supply we need. And unlike the very best that PEPCO can provide for us, the Holy Spirit and the Word working together are a power grid that never goes offline.

God always has more spiritual power to give us through the Spirit, working by his word. This is the main message then that the Lord gives to Zechariah and that he commissions him to preach to Zerubbabel. So verses seven to 10 assert in several different ways that Zerubbabel will complete the temple. That's what all the different language about the different parts of the building and stuff like that is about. It all centers on Zerubbabel completing this task.

It will come to fruition. Verse 10 says that this will deliver a merciful rebuke to those who have despised the day of small things. Those very despisers will now rejoice. They can't help but to rejoice when they see God's work come to fruition. And again, really the thesis of this message is in verse 6.

Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. A few weeks ago, my kids and I were watching the first episode in the new documentary series, the Earth at Night. There's a portion that focuses on bark scorpions in the Sonoran Desert, which is in northwest Mexico and the southwest U.S. Bark scorpions are the most deadly venomous scorpions in North America. There's a shot that starts off on the scorpions but then it pans and you see a grasshopper mouse.

It's tiny, it's cute, it's only four inches long. So of course, me and the kids all shout out, no! Poor mousie! Run away!

But then the mouse runs straight at the scorpion and starts attacking it. They tussle, they wrestle, they're locked in together, the scorpion keeps stinging the mouse again and again and again, and eventually, the mouse chomps on the scorpion's tail, drags it home, and eats it.

What happened?

Turns out that little grasshopper mouse had a hidden power. It is immune to the scorpion's venom.

You, Christian, are a grasshopper mouse. Your resources look utterly inadequate to the challenges that lie before you. Your strength looks insufficient for the task God has given you. But you have a hidden power, the continual supply of God's Spirit. So don't judge your circumstances by what the flesh would show you.

Don't judge your circumstances by what your eyes can see. Know from where your help comes. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. So practically, rely on God's Spirit. How can you rely on God's Spirit?

We'll get to that in a minute. Rely on God's Spirit even to show you what purposes to pursue, what ends to accomplish. And when you seek God's ends, rely on God's means to accomplish God's ends. Ends. If you're a Christian, the building project that God is carrying out in your life is building you up in Christ and enabling you to build up others in Christ.

That's the building work that God is continually doing in you and through you. And even more than physical resources, this building project requires spiritual resources. So learn to recognize the limit of your ability as a cue to rely. On the Spirit. Now, how?

How do you do that? Very practically, pray. Pray, pray, pray. Set aside time to pray each day and pray as you go about the business of your day. Short prayers are still prayers.

God hears them. There is no minimum length before he starts paying attention. So pray whenever you need to, as often as you need to, as often as you think of something to pray for. If you have a schedule, pray through to the start of the day. At the start of each day, pray about the work that God has given you to do that day.

If you have a to-do list, pray through everything on it. Pray for whatever makes you anxious. That inner pain of anxiety is a signal, like a pain in your arm. That there's too much weight. There's the wrong kind of weight on you.

You need to take that weight off and put it on God where his infinite strength can handle it. Pray about whatever mountains stand in the way of your faithfully following Christ. God can make them a level plain. Pray privately. Pray with your roommates or your family.

Pray with other believers whenever you meet together. And especially, come back and pray with us each Sunday night. Our 5:00 PM service each week is a corporate declaration that we will not grow or flourish as a church by might or by power, but only by God's Spirit. How else can you rely on God's Spirit? By saturating yourself in His Word.

That's the word he inspired, that's the word through which he still speaks today. Go to God's word and press it like the prophets press out this new oil. Press God's word into your mind by reading, studying and memorizing it. And press it into your heart by meditating on it and praying through it. There's a reason why I've been giving away Don Whitney's book, Praying the Bible, almost every week in Bible study.

It is so simple but so profound. Take Scripture and pray it. That is how you press it into your life, into your heart, into your priorities and press it out into what's going on in the church and what's going on in the world around you. Press on God's word each day so that a fresh supply of the oil of the Spirit continually flows into your soul and keeps your faith alight. Verse 10 warns us about whoever has despised the day of small things.

Are you tempted to despise a day of small things?

So often God's work in His people can look slow, unimpressive, A little sad? We're impatient. We crave decisive, dramatic change and we want it right now. At the start of the service, Jonathan mentioned that this week our church celebrated our 142nd birthday. We began with 31 members and $1,700 in debt.

Was that a day of small things? Probably looked like it at the time. But by God's grace, here we still are, by the power of his word and the continual supply of his Spirit. Those of you who intend to join New Covenant Baptist Church, to do what those folks did 142 years ago but just up the road in Montgomery County, don't despise the day of small things. In any church plant, you have to deal with a whole lot of small things.

Small membership, small gatherings, small budget, small number of volunteers for set up and tear down and especially childcare, small hours perhaps in a rented meeting space where you might not be able to do all that you want to as a church. Be patient and appeal to God for a continual supply of his Spirit. New Covenant Baptist Church will not be built by might nor by power but by God's Spirit. And brothers and sisters, members of CHBC, don't despise small things when it comes to your own growth in Christ or other members' growth in Christ. In the Christian life, the direction you're heading is far more important than how far you've gone.

Whether it's in your own life or in another member's life, encourage and reinforce every step in the right direction, no matter how small it is. Make sure your zeal is paired with gentleness, your intensity with patience, your devotion with depth perception. Extend to others' progress in the faith the same charity that you want and need others to extend to you.

When we are in rough shape, How does God restore us? His Spirit empowers us. And when God takes up residence within us by his Spirit and brings his power to bear on our lives, he drives out all that is opposed to him. Which brings us to point two. His judgment delivers us.

His judgment delivers us.

This theme ties together chapter 5:1 down to chapter 6:8, which ends the sequence of visions.

There are three different visions here so this point will have three subpoints. First, subpoint: His judgment delivers us from sin. His judgment delivers us from sin. Look at chapter 5:1-4. Again, I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.

And he said to me, 'What do you see?' I answered, 'I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits. ' Then he said to me, 'This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side. And everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side.

I will send it out, declares the Lord of Hosts. And it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. ' and it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.

Why is this scroll flying? Because it represents a curse. You wouldn't normally think of a scroll as a weapon, but some words have binding consequences: accepting a job offer, signing a contract on a house, pronouncing marriage vows. This image of a scroll says God's words will enforce their own judgment. God's words will carry out their own sentence.

God's words will themselves prosecute crimes against God to the uttermost extent of his own holy law.

Now, what curse exactly does this represent? I think we're clearly meant to understand that it's the curse of the old covenant which is written down in Deuteronomy 27 and 28. In those chapters, God promised judgment against his people if they disobeyed him and that judgment is what sent the people into exile. But exile was not the end of God's judgment. Here, God reminds his people that they are still bound to his covenant.

They're bound by a solemn obligation to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and love their neighbor as themselves. And if they don't, God will judge them. This scroll is about 30 feet by 20 feet, the size of a billboard by the side of a freeway. And this billboard-sized flying scroll enters people's houses and destroys them. Verse 4 says, the thief and him who swears falsely by my name, that's who the scroll targets.

Both are sins against one's neighbor. And swearing falsely by God's name is also a sin against God because you're invoking God to back a lie. Lie. As we saw last week, chapter three offers a glorious promise of forgiveness for all the sins of the whole people. That promise will be fulfilled when a man called the branch appears.

How is this consistent? How is that promise of forgiveness consistent with this threat of judgment here in chapter five? I think the key is that in these verses, the people in view are unrepentant covenant breakers. The sins characterize them. One is identified as the thief, another is identified as him who swears falsely.

And God promises to remove covenant breakers from his covenant community.

Now, how does this apply to us today in the new covenant? Consider the apostle Paul's warning.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. So what should we do about those who profess faith in Christ but who characteristically unrepentantly break God's covenant? Paul tells us a chapter earlier in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13.

Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? Purge the evil person from among you. In other words, withdraw that formal affirmation of fellowship that the church gives when it takes someone into membership and welcomes them to the Lord's Supper. Remove that affirmation that had been given, thereby putting someone out of that fellowship. In other words, in this present age, a primary fulfillment of God's warning in this very passage is the congregational practice of church discipline.

Church discipline imposes a temporal judgment in the hope that the person will repent and escape eternal judgment. Consider verse 4 again. It shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones. What should you do with a warning like that? You should confess all your sin to God.

Where appropriate, you should confess your sin to others. Repent of all sin that you become aware of. Bring it to God, name it before God, resolve to renounce it, ask forgiveness and ask for his help to overcome it. Just like we do when we confess our sins to God in prayer as a body. The sins that are singled out here are representative examples of the two basic obligations that all people have.

By virtue of being created in God's image. Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. And there is not a person alive who has kept those two commandments perfectly.

If you're not a follower of Jesus, we're glad you're here. You might be surprised by the kind of directness and frankness of the passage. It's because there are eternal realities at stake. You need to hear this warning. I wonder what purposes God might have for you today in being exposed to this very passage.

If you're not a follower of Jesus, I would encourage you to hear, consider, meditate on this passage as warning. Ask in terms of your own life's experience, have you ever experienced anything that could even be considered a reflection or a preview of the kind of judgment described here?

For example, have you ever done something you knew was wrong and then gotten caught? What did that feel like? What did you learn from that experience?

There is no safe place to hide your sin. Somehow this giant scroll manages to squeeze through the doorway of every home it needs to enter. And it consumes everything. It leaves nothing.

You can't hide from God forever. If you don't find his mercy in Christ, his judgment will find you in eternity.

One day time will run out, room will run out, there is nowhere you can hide that God won't find you.

Members of CHBC, are you tempted to hide your sin?

What sins are you tempted to hide?

Who are you tempted to hide your sins from?

Brothers and sisters, labor to purify this church. Help each other.

To bring sin to light and to put sin to death. Second sub point, his judgment delivers us from idolatry. His judgment delivers us from idolatry. Look at chapter 5 verses 5 to 11.

Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out. And I said, what is it? He said, this is the basket that is going out. And he said, this is their iniquity in all the land. And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket.

And he said, this is wickedness. And he thrust her back into the basket and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward. The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.

Then I said to the angel who talked with me, 'Where are they taking the basket?' He said to me, to the land of Shinar to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.

In verse 7, we learn that a woman is hidden in this flying basket. She personifies the people's sin and her name is Wickedness. Is this misogynistic? Does it identify women with evil? Nothing of the sort.

For one thing, the grammatical gender of the Hebrew word wickedness is feminine, so it could naturally be personified by a woman. Further, in the Old Testament, various abstract concepts, both positive and negative, are personified by women, like in the book of Proverbs, both wisdom and folly. But I think there's another reason that this figure is female. We learn as the passage goes on that this woman represents an idol. This becomes clear from the fact that these two winged women are carrying her back to Shinar, that is Babylon, and there they will build for her a house, that is, a temple, and then they'll put her down in the temple, which is how you set up a center of worship for an idol.

So this figure is more like a moving figurine, a personified idol. And I think there's a word play going on here too. The Hebrew word for woman is isha, the word for wickedness is rishah, and the most common idol worshiped in ancient Israel, one of the most common, was Asherah.

Asherah, a feminine goddess figure that was prevalent throughout ancient Israel. So I think there's a word play pointing to God's act of removing this most prominent idol from among his people. Does this passage remind you of any other passage in Scripture? There's a figure in a moving vehicle of sorts, escorted by two others. The whole ensemble is flying through the air, departing Judah and heading east.

In Ezekiel chapters 10 and 11, We learn of a vision that God gave the prophet Ezekiel just a few decades before this. It was a vision of when God himself departed from his people. He abandoned his people as an act of judgment. His visible glory lifted up off Jerusalem, symbolized by a movable chariot throne escorted by winged Cherubim heading away from Jerusalem to the east. Seventy years earlier, God had removed his personal presence from his people as a punitive judgment.

Now he will remove idols from his people as a purifying judgment. This woman in the basket is an anti-Yahweh stuffed into an anti-ark of the covenant underneath an anti-mercy seat escorted by anti-Cherubim being taken to an anti-Jerusalem where an anti-temple will be for her. God is reversing the process. Instead of him leaving, it's bye-bye to idols. When the Lord comes back, he banishes idols.

When the Lord restores his people, he requisitions all the resources of our heart to be devoted to his exclusive worship. When the king returns, he claims what's his His, which is all that we have given to him in loving worship. That is the big movement in all eight of these visions. In all of chapters one to six, the Lord returns to his people, restores them, and rebuilds his dwelling among them. And when he does, he banishes all that resists his rule and harms his people, whether that's oppression without or corruption within.

When the Lord comes home, he kicks out the idols. Now, when did this happen? There was an initial fulfillment in Zechariah's own time. Historians observe that overt idolatry effectively disappeared from Judah in this very period. But ultimately, God would banish idols from his people's hearts when he sent his son to redeem us and his spirit to indwell us.

As God promises later in Ezekiel in chapter 36, verses 25 to 26, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols, I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. What should this promise of Zechariah 5:5-11 mean for us today? It should teach us to worship God alone and to reject all idolatry. So devote yourself totally to God and reject anything that competes with him for your ultimate loyalty. Idols are weak and worthless and useless.

This idol couldn't control its own destiny. It tried to escape and the angel stuffed it back under the lid. It had to be carried to its eventual destination like you carry a load of laundry and plop it down in front of the washing machine. This idol could not rescue those who were devoted to it. Whether it's a figurine representing a false god, or an obsessive fixation on fulfillment.

That's just as real an idol as somebody with a gold figure. Fulfillment can take hold of our hearts just as much as any overt false god can. Whether it's external or internal, no idol can deliver on its promises. Third sub point, His judgment delivers us from fear. We see this in chapter 6 verses 1 to 8.

Again, I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains, 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. Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, 'What are these, my lord?' and the angel answered and said to me, 'These are going out to the four winds of heaven after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them. And the dappled ones go toward the south country.

When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, Go, patrol the earth. So they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me, Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country. This eighth and final vision forms a pair with the first vision back in chapter 1:7-17.

We saw last week that in that vision, God warns Babylon of coming judgment. In chapter 1:15, he says, He's angry with Babylon because they went too far in judging his people. And in that vision, he sent out horsemen to gather intelligence from all the nations of the earth. Now, in this vision, God again sends out horses but they're pulling chariots. Chariots were military vehicles.

They were mounted shooting equipment. So the military action that the first vision prepared for is now set in motion. The key to the vision is in verse 8. Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country. God's spirit is at rest there because there his wrath has been.

Exhausted. The mountains of bronze symbolize the entrance to God's dwelling in heaven. Solomon's temple had two large bronze pillars flanking its entrance. So here in this vision are two bigger, better bronze pillars flanking the entrance to heaven. And from out of that entrance come agents of judgment.

So this vision marks the fulfillment of God's judgment against Babylon and even of other nations indicated by the fact that one chariot heads south, not north. But the details are all vague. All we get are cardinal directions, south, north country. It's as if God pulls the camera back so far that the details all start to blur and we're just left with this impressionistic outline. So the question is, what impression does God mean to press on our hearts?

It's that God's judgment will deliver us from fear.

Throughout the Old Covenant era, God's people dwelt along the Eastern Mediterranean's major trade route. They were a small, modest kingdom and they were never a match for the major global superpowers that hemmed them in on the north and the south. Fear of bigger, badder neighbors was a near constant throughout the history of Israel and Judah. And what is God saying to them here? He's saying, I've got it.

I'll take care of it. They will get what they deserve. You don't need to fear them. You need to fear me.

As Richard Sibbes wrote, Where we are bad, God is good. When times are bad, God is good. He can alter all. Ancient Israel's powerful neighbors were a standing trial of their faith. Would they trust in the Lord alone or in their own schemes and alliances with their neighbors?

God was testing them all along. So what about you? What standing test of your faith has God set up in your life? What in your life most frequently tempts you to doubt God's goodness? What in your life most frequently tempts you to think either that God isn't in control or that he doesn't really love you?

Whatever it is, God will eventually deal with it. If he doesn't in this life, he will in the resurrection. And whatever that test of faith is, recognize that your response to it is one of the most accurate readouts of the health of your faith. What are you afraid of? Do you trust that however God chooses to deal with that cause of fear, it will work out for your good?

He will do good to you in and through that very thing you dread, whatever comes of it.

Finally, and more briefly, point three. Not sub point, main point, shifting over one level left. Point three, his son reigns over us. When we're in rough shape, how does God restore us? His son reigns over us.

We see this in the last section of the passage, chapter 6, verses 9 to 15.

And the word of the Lord came to me, Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaih, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, the son of Zephaniah, 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, and say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold the man whose name is the branch, for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne 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 Halem, Tobiah, JedaiyA and Hain, the son of Zephaniah. And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord.

And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you, and this shall come to pass if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

So the series of visions is over. Now God commissioned Zechariah to perform a symbolic act. He often did that with the prophets. He told Ezekiel to lay on his side to symbolize the siege of Jerusalem. Last year, Isaac preached on Isaiah 20 where God told the prophet to walk around naked as a sign.

So this is a symbolic act that Zechariah is to perform. He is to take precious metals from recently returned exiles, Jews who had just come back from Babylon, probably with Babylonian silver and gold, and he is to make those metals into a crown. He is then to place it on the head of Joshua, the high priest. That is a strange thing to do to a priest. Priests wore a turban, a headdress, kings wore crowns and still do.

But this symbolic act is not a coronation, it's preparation. Just like in chapter three, here God promises the coming of the branch. As we learned from Jeremiah 23 and 33 and as we saw in Zechariah 3, the branch is a descendant of David who at this point has not yet come. This crowning is a dress rehearsal for the coming of the Messiah. The point is to prepare the way for the one who will be both king and priest.

In the second half of verse 13, the ESV makes it sound as if the branch will reign on the throne and there will also be someone else who is a priest on the throne. I think that's possible. I think it's more likely the NIV has it right. The NIV says, and he will be a priest on his throne. Speaking of the branch, speaking of the king.

In other words, the Messiah is a king who is also a priest. That's what Adam was in the Garden of Eden. That's what David acted like when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem and himself offered sacrifices. That priest and king is what Psalm 110 says the Messiah will be. And that the Messiah is both priest and king is what the whole book of Hebrews is about.

Verse 13 says, the council of peace shall be between them both. I think this refers not to two people but to one person, the branch uniting in himself the offices of king and priest. Jesus is this king who's also a priest and we need a savior who's both. God is our creator and master but we've all rebelled against him. Because we have all sinned, we all deserve like Judah was to be judged by God and rejected by God.

But God the Son became incarnate for us in order to reconcile us to God by his death, resurrection, ascension and victorious reign on the throne of heaven. Christ is the judge, judged in our place. Christ is the king who gave his life in order to redeem his subjects. Christ is the priest who offered himself as a sacrifice. If you've never trusted in Christ and turned from your sin, trust in him today.

Repent, submit to him, and give yourself to him so that he will be your savior. Christ did all this. Verse 13 tells us in order to build the temple of the Lord.

In verse 14, God tells Zechariah to keep this crown in the temple as a memorial, but that memorial is a sign pointing to the one who will come and build the temple. Verse 14 says, Set the crown in the temple. Verse 13 says, the branch will build the temple. That's because it's talking about two different temples. Verse 13 is not about the temple that Zerubbabel is about to finish.

It's about the temple that the Messiah will one day build. And what is that temple? It's us. We are God's temple that Christ is building in fulfillment of this promise. As we read earlier in the service, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:21-22, In Christ the whole structure being joined together grows into to a holy temple in the Lord.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Look at verse 15 in our passage. And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord. That's what you do every time you come to church. You build the temple of the Lord.

The temple's not a building, but a people. When you sing and pray and read Scripture, when you confess your sins, when you speak truth and love to others before and after the service, you are building God's temple. This promise tells us that many join in. It is a corporate effort. We all together build up God's temple.

And this is all a sign to the world that God's word through His prophet is coming true.

Zechariah says, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. God has kept his promises. God has caused the branch to branch out. He has branched out all the way to us. Christ reigns over us and one day he will reign uncontested.

A recent BBC news article reported that 73 million households worldwide have watched the Netflix drama, the Crown, since it premiered in 2016. The show is wildly popular here in America, which has prompted at least one writer to wonder why. An article I recently read asked, why should America, by vocation and war a republic, love a show about the British monarchy?

Part of the author's answer was this: the monarchy of England is so admired in America not because of pretty babies and attractive marriages, but because it is one unchanging thing in a world always in motion. One unchanging thing in a world always in motion. There is a monarch of whom those words are true in the strictest, fullest sense.

There is one monarch whom now crowned with glory will never set down that crown. There is one ruler whose rule will never be threatened. When we're in rough shape, how does God restore us? His Spirit empowers us, his judgment delivers us, and his son reigns over us. His son is this world's true and everlasting king.

Crown the savior, angels crown him. Rich the trophies Jesus brings in the seat of power and throne him while the vault of heaven rings. Crown him, crown him, crown him, king of kings. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for making good on all these words. We thank you for fulfilling your promise to supply us with your Spirit. We thank you that your Word warns us effectually to flee from sin and idolatry. And we pray that we would. We thank you that we can trust your purpose to set right all things that are now wrong.

We thank you for saving us through your son, who is our priest and king, and who reigns now and forever. Hallelujah. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.