Concerning the coming of Christ as the Messiah, we don't often look at this text. It's not one that's so familiar to us, but it does speak to that. In a book entitled The Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, a man by the name of Michael Brown points out that the Jews rejected the idea of a suffering Messiah, but they embraced the idea of a ruling Messiah. They were looking forward to the coming of Messiah. But they wanted him to come and to throw off their oppressors. and to bring in that rule of righteousness and peace, and to establish them in the earth. That's what they were looking for, and of course we understand that that's why they rejected Jesus, because he came as a suffering savior, a suffering messiah, and that didn't fit with their thinking and their planning for the messiah. They, as they looked at the Old Testament scriptures, they saw the promises of blessing and messiah's reign, and they liked that. but they didn't like the stuff about suffering. So they rejected those portions of the truth about Messiah. You know, we sang in that hymn that we just sang about how we can have joy in the midst of the trials and troubles of life, knowing that they're coming from the loving hand of God. There's a reason for the suffering. There was a reason for the suffering of Messiah. He had to suffer and die in order to provide salvation for us. But Michael Brown entitled this text, The Royal Priesthood of Messiah. Put those two things together, The Royal Priesthood of Messiah, because that's what this text speaks to. The kingliness of Christ and the priestly ministry of Christ. He goes on to say that Messiah will be a priestly king, doing the priestly work of making atonement for the sins of the world before doing the royal work of establishing the kingdom of God on earth. And we know from scripture that Jesus was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, not after the order of Aaron. And the writer of Hebrews explains the superiority of Christ's priesthood as opposed to that of Aaron. But Melchizedek was not only the priest of the Most High God, as it says in Genesis 14, 18, but also the king. of Salem. I know it's Sunday night. You're going to have to think with me tonight, okay? This is not an easy message. This is not sit back and just be entertained or whatever. You're going to have to think, okay? So we're talking about Jesus coming as priest and king. And that was the promise that was made to David in Psalm 110 and verse 4. The Lord said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. That was a promise given to David about his descendant, the Messiah that would come. So Zechariah gives us a prophecy about Jesus coming as the priest king. And that's what we're looking at tonight. But how does this prophecy come about? How is it that this prophecy is given? What's the circumstances around it? And what does it tell us then about Christ? So if you'll notice in Zechariah 6, beginning in verse 9, we read about some men that come from Babylon bringing an offering from the captives. Their names are Heldi, Tobijah, and Judiah. And the word of the Lord comes to Zechariah saying, take of them of the captivity, even of Heldi, of Tobijah and of Judiah, which are come from Babylon. And come thou the same day and go into the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. So these three men have stayed in Babylon. Remember that Zechariah is writing to the remnant, about 50,000 people that came back to rebuild the temple and resettle the land of Israel. Zechariah is prophesying to them to encourage them in the work of rebuilding the temple. And so these men come, they didn't come originally, they come from Babylon and they're bringing an offering of gold and silver from the people that remained in Babylon to help pay for the materials to build the temple. and to provide the gold and silver that's needed for the things of the temple. And they lodge in the home of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. And so the Lord tells Zechariah, go to their home. And verse 11, he says, take the silver and the gold and make crowns and set them upon the head of Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest. Now that would have been an unusual thing for the Lord to say to Zechariah, because you didn't normally crown the high priest, you would crown the king, or even perhaps in this case, there's no king in Jerusalem or in Judah, there's a governor, Zerubbabel, you would think the crown would be put upon his head. But no, God says, put it on the head of Joshua, the high priest, and speak unto him, verse 12, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold, the man whose name is the branch, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and sit and rule upon his throne, and shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. We'll talk about what all that means in just a moment, but the point of this crown, they're putting it on the head of Joshua, the high priest, Again, to point to the fact that the man whose name is the branch is the one that is going to wear this crown. He's going to be not only a king, but also a priest. And so the crowns then shall be to Helam, for a memorial in the Temple of the Lord. Those are the same men, by the way, Helam, and Tobijah, and Judiah, and Hen, the son of Zephaniah, the same four men that were mentioned originally, the three that came from Babylon, and Josiah, whose home they dwelt. Here, Josiah is referred to as Hen, which would have been another name or a nickname. It means, I think it means grace or something to that effect. But it's a nickname that's given to him or another name that he had. But notice what God says. Take that crown. Now you've made the crown from the silver and gold that they have brought from Babylon for the Lord's work. You've made these crowns. You've put them on the head of Joshua. Now take them back off because he is only a type of the one who would actually wear that crown or the crown. put them in the temple for a memorial. A memorial for what? Well, I think there's two things that that memorial is for the people of Israel. First of all, it's a constant reminder or if you will, a testimony to the willingness of these men to do this thing for the Lord, to bring this offering from Babylon. It was not an easy trip to make from Babylon back to Jerusalem, but they were willing to make the trip to bring this offering from the people, and God honored them and their sacrifice, as well as the sacrifice of the people in Babylon who sent the offering. God honored them. It just reminds us, you know, God honors us when we honor him. that there's nothing that we do for God that God will not reward. And we ought to serve the Lord because it's the right thing to do because He is deserving of that. He has created us for His glory and for His service. We turned against Him. We were like sheep, we've gone astray, we've turned to our own way. But the Lord, the Father laid on the Son all of our iniquity, all of our going our own wayness. but God created us to go His way and to do His will. We decided to go our way, but God provided a way of forgiveness, and so when we're redeemed, we're also then, we're bought by the Lord, and so He really twice deserves our service, and we ought to serve Him because it's the right thing to do, because He has a right to our life and to our service. But God will honor that as we obey Him and do what He has created us to do, God then will honor us. We don't deserve it. When we get to heaven, we'll receive crowns, the Bible teaches us, and we'll turn around and we'll cast those crowns at Jesus' feet in acknowledgement of the fact that, Lord, we don't deserve these crowns because any good that there was in us, it is of you. We need to remember that. when we get to thinking that we might be somebody or something. Whatever good there is in us, it's not of us, it's of God. And He should get all the glory and we should never be lifted up in pride because it is God. But God will honor us. Even a cup of cold water given in Jesus' name will receive a reward. So we shouldn't hesitate to serve the Lord. We shouldn't hesitate to give of our time and to give of our energy and to give of our money to the Lord's work Because number one, He is worthy. He deserves the full surrender of our lives and all that we are and all that we have belongs to Him. He deserves it. and he will honor it as well. He will reward it. But secondly, it's not only a memorial to those who gave the offering and brought the offering and just a reward, if you will, for them. And every time the people went into the temple to worship the Lord and the priests would go in there and serve, they would see those crowds and they would be reminded that God had honored these men who had served him in this way. But it was also a constant reminder to them of the fact that Messiah is coming. that every time they would look upon those crowns, they would be reminded that Messiah is coming, that one day, these promises that even have been given, as these crowns were made and put on the head of Joshua, that there were promises about Messiah that were given with that, and as those promises were given, they will be fulfilled, that there is a better day coming. and that would be a constant reminder to them. You know, it's easy for us, we look back to the cross, we know that Jesus came the first time, we know he's coming again. We've had the scriptures, we've had all the scriptures, we've seen the fulfillment of the first coming of Christ. It's easy for us to look at this and say, well, yeah, okay, I know all this. And it should never get old to us. But we need to remember too, that when they're receiving these revelations, they're still looking forward to both comings of Christ. They haven't seen him come and give his life as a sacrifice for their sins. They know he's coming. They know that God is making provision for their forgiveness. But they haven't seen it. And God is encouraging their faith. And it's a wonderful reminder that God does that. that he's constantly encouraging our faith. He's constantly giving us truth and examples of his faithfulness to encourage us in our faith. As we trust God, God then encourages us to continue to trust him. He doesn't leave us alone. He doesn't leave us to ourselves. He encourages our faith and our trust in him. And he's doing that through these crowns. that have been made and placed first on the head of Joshua and then placed into the temple. And what a blessing that we serve a God who knows our weakness. He knows our frailty. He knows like the man who came to him and said, Lord, I believe help thou mine unbelief. He knows that we sometimes struggle with faith. And so he's constantly giving us truth and giving us demonstrations of his faithfulness to encourage our faith. What a great God, what a gracious God we serve. But all of this was prophetic of the Christ, the Messiah. We know that Jesus is the fulfillment of all this and will be the fulfillment of all that is yet to come. But what does it tell us about the Christ? And there are several things that this prophecy reveals to us about the Christ. First, that he would be a man. Go back to verse 12, and here's the prophecy. After the crowns have been set upon the head of Joshua, the son of Josedec, the high priest, Zechariah is to speak and say, thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, behold the man. And again, that's old truth to us. We know Jesus was a man. He was God come in the flesh. but it was telling them what we know to be true, that the Messiah would be a man. Now we know he's also God, and there are things in this text that would point to that as well, but there is an emphasis there, behold the man, that Jesus would be God come in the flesh, that he would have humanity just as we do, yet without sin. In Isaiah 7.14, our text, it says, the Lord himself shall give you a sign, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name Immanuel, God with us. But she would have a child, a man child would be born to her. And we know that that speaks of the Lord Jesus, because in Matthew 1.23, Matthew tells us that Jesus' birth was a fulfillment of Isaiah 7.14. Why did Jesus come? Why did the Messiah have to be a man? You ever think about that? Why? And I've had somebody ask that question. Why did Jesus have to become a man? Well, first of all, to be our savior. Because the penalty for sin, the wages of sin is what? Death. So death is the payment. Death is the judgment against our sin. So if our sin is not forgiven, we have to die. But God can't just say, I'm just going to forgive your sin. You've broken my law, but hey, I don't care. That's all right. Forget it. We're not going to worry about it. There's no penalty. I'm just going to let you off. God would not be just if he did that. And so he became man, took upon himself life that he might die for our sins. So that instead of us having to pay the penalty of death for our sin, Jesus paid it for us. And so he became man that he might die for our sins. Hebrews 2.9 says we see Jesus who is made a little lower than the angels. What's lower than the angels? Well, that's us. He became, it's the way that the writer of Hebrews is telling us, he became a man. He became a little lower than the angels, why? For the suffering of death. That's why he became a man, that he might die. And then we see him crowned with glory and honor. but that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. Jesus died not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. He tasted death for every man, because every man is a sinner, and under the penalty of death, and the only way he can be forgiven is through faith in Jesus' death on the cross. And so in Hebrews 2, verses 14 and 15, it says, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. Why? That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Behold the man, because if he's gonna be our savior, he has to be a man, he has to be able to die for our sins, die in our place to pay the penalty that we deserve to pay for our sin. But not only does he become a man to be our savior, but also to be our sympathizer, or as the writer of Hebrews says, our succorer. The word succorer means to come to the assistance and support of someone in a time of hardship and distress. Jesus knows how to help us in our life and all the struggles and troubles and trials that we have in life. And so again the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 2 verses 17 and 18, Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He provided a way that we could be reconciled to God despite our sin. We were enemies of God before we got saved and through our faith in Christ that enmity between us and God is removed. And now we are at peace with God. We have peace with God through our faith in Jesus Christ. We're justified. God looks in on us, not as sinners, but as righteous. And we have no fear of God's judgment, his wrath because of Christ. And so he became a man, he was made like unto his brethren so that he could make reconciliation for the sins of the people. And in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. He's able to help us. When we struggle in life, he understands. You know, this past Wednesday, I was speaking at the nursing home, the Patriots Colony Convalescent Center, and I made a statement to them that is true, to try and encourage them that God cares about every one of them. God loves every one of them, and God cares about everything that's going on in their life. And that is true. And he cares about everything that's going on in your life. Now, it's especially true for the believer because he is in a special relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He cares. He knows. He understands. We can talk to him and tell him how we feel and what we're thinking and what our struggles are and what our joys are. We can talk to him and share our heart with him like we could share with no other, knowing that he not only cares, but he actually has answers. When we have questions, you come to me with your questions. I might have answers for you, but the only answers I can give you are in the Word. But I may not know where in the Word to point you, but God does. And you can talk to him and you can ask him your questions and he can point you to the scriptures that answer those questions. But he knows, he can help those that are tempted because he also was tempted. And so we read again in the book of Hebrews chapter four, that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God. And so let us hold fast our profession, don't turn away. "'cause you have one to help you. "'For we have not an high priest "'which cannot be touched with the feeling "'of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, "'like as we are yet without sin. "'And so let us therefore come boldly "'unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy "'and find grace to help in time of need. "'We can go to the Lord, and we find that His grace "'and mercy is there to help us "'in every situation that we face.'" Do you believe that tonight? Do you find yourself going to the Lord for help? when you're struggling? Do you go to the word when you're struggling and ask God to direct you to the truths that will help you and bolster your faith and give you that encouragement and comfort that you need when you're facing struggles? Jesus became a man. Behold the man, the man who came to be your savior and the man who now is your sympathizer and one who can help you in every situation that you face. behold the man, but he goes on to say, whose name is the branch, not only would he be a man, but he would have humble beginnings, because as their again, their view of the Messiah is he's coming as a king. Matter of fact, that passage we read in chapter nine is Jesus is coming into Jerusalem riding upon the donkey, and the people are, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. They're hailing their Messiah, and they're seeing him coming as a conqueror, and they're expecting him to be the one who would overthrow Rome, and establish the reign of Israel over the earth, and him as their king, and that's what they're looking for. But in this text, we're told, no, that's not the way it begins. That's the way it ends. But that's not the way it begins, because again, the man had to also come as the branch. He couldn't come as the king and give his life for our sins. He had to come as the servant, as the lowly man. And so that branch, the term, the word branch there, and if it's in your Bible, it's probably all in caps, because it's a term for the Messiah. It is a name for Jesus. It's given in the Old Testament. Matter of fact, it occurs here in Zechariah, as we've already seen it in chapter three, in verse eight, when the Lord says to Joshua, the high priest, for behold, I will bring forth my servant, the branch. He says to Joshua and his fellow priests, your types of the great high priest that would come, whose name is the branch. He comes as a servant. He comes in lowliness. Jeremiah 23, five says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and justice in the earth. The branch will be a king, and he will reign and execute judgment and justice in the earth. But that's, again, not where he starts, that's where he ends. And so when the term branch is applied to the Lord Jesus, it's speaking of His humble beginning. In Isaiah 11 and verse one, it tells us, there will come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And it's a reminder, we've looked at this text, I think last Christmas, but the fact that when Jesus came into the world, that there was just a stem of Jesse and the roots, in other words, the house of David had fallen on hard times. It wasn't completely gone. But what was Joseph? He's a carpenter. Joseph would have been the king if David's line had continued, if people had not sinned and been sent into captivity. If the kingdom had continued and the kingly line had continued, Joseph wouldn't have been a carpenter, he'd have been a king. But that's how low David's family had fallen, that no longer are they kings. It's just a carpenter, just a blue collar workers, and that's who Joseph is. But it's out of that, out of the family of Jesse and David, when they're in that state of humility, out of that situation, the branch is going to come. And we go to the Christmas story, and we see the Lord Jesus coming into the world, being born to Mary, a descendant of David, and Joseph being the legal guardian, and so the Lord, through Joseph and Mary, having a right to David's throne, but he's coming in humility. He's born in a stable and placed in a manger. This is not the way a king comes into the world, but that's the way Jesus came, because he came first. to be the high priest who would not only offer the sacrifice for sins but be the sacrifice for our sins. And so in Isaiah 53 and verse 2 we read of Jesus that he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground, and he hath no form nor comeliness. And when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." And again, I don't think when Isaiah writes of Jesus and he says, he has no form nor comeliness and we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. I don't think he's talking there about the physical appearance of Jesus. I think Jesus would have just been a typical Jewish man of that day, nothing unusual about him. I think that when he speaks about there's no beauty that we should desire him, it's in the way that he came into the world and the way that he lived his life. Again, they're looking for a king. He's coming, he's born in lowliness in Bethlehem, he's raised in Nazareth. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? He lives his life as a servant, not being served, but serving others. And they look at that and they say, that's not what we want. there's nothing in Him that attracted them to Him, because He wasn't what they were looking for. And that's what Isaiah is telling us, and that's what God is saying through Zechariah. Behold the man whose name is the branch, the one who would have those humble beginnings. And we read in Micah 5 too, but now Bethlehem, Ephrathah. though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler." in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. He came into the world. He didn't begin that day. His goings forth, his activity has been from everlasting, from eternity past. The Lord Jesus has existed and has been working, but he came into the world, but he came into the world in Bethlehem. O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. He came into this world in humility. He lived as a servant. He lived in poverty and died as a common criminal. He had humble beginnings, but he won't remain in that state of humility. But he goes on to say, he shall grow up out of his place. And that indicates the fact that he begins small, but then if you will, he branches out, he grows up out of his place. Again, in Micah 5.2, he's coming into the world in Bethlehem, that little place among the thousands of Judah, yet he comes forth that is to be ruler in Israel. He doesn't remain in that humble state. He grows up and rules. In Jeremiah 23.5, again, the Lord will raise unto David a righteous branch and a king shall reign and prosper and execute justice in the earth. He had humble beginnings, but he's coming back as a king. He's coming to rule and to reign. And so He'll also then bear the glory, it says in verse 12. His name is the branch. He'll grow up out of His place. I'm sorry, in verse 13, He'll build the temple and He shall bear the glory in that day when He comes again, not coming in humility. becoming as a king, and he will come in all of his glory. And instead of being rejected by his own, instead of being rejected by the world, he'll be received as Savior and as sovereign, as Savior and as ruler. And there is coming a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And the Bible tells us that when Jesus comes and establishes his Millennial Kingdom, he will put down all unrighteousness, he will put down all of his enemies, and the world will worship him. He will sit on his throne in the temple in Jerusalem, and the world will worship him, and the world will respect him, and the world will honor him. And they'll come and bring their offerings to the Lord, and they'll come and sit at his feet and learn of him. and they will, instead of rejecting Him, they will exalt Him and honor Him and glorify Him. But it also tells us that He'll build the temple. Again, verse 12 and verse 13, and He shall build the temple of the Lord. And it's stated again for emphasis, even He shall build the temple of the Lord. This is the one that's going to build the temple. But now, what temple is He going to build? when he says, this is the one that's gonna build the temple, what are the people that are receiving this prophecy, what are they doing? They're building a temple. When it says, he, even he shall build the temple of the Lord, is it talking about that temple? Well, probably not, because in Zechariah 4, verse 9, the Lord has already said, the hands of the rubble will lay the foundation of this house, this temple, and his hands will finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. So what temple is he talking about? Well, it could be the millennial temple because there will be a temple in the millennium. Jesus will sit upon a throne in the temple in Jerusalem and all the world will come and worship him there. And, you know, in verse 15, again, it tells us that they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord that in that day, again, the Gentiles will come to Jerusalem and worship the Lord and help build the Temple. That's what it says in verse 15, they'll build in the Temple of the Lord. In Isaiah 60 and verse 10 it says, The sons of strangers shall build up by walls, and their kings shall minister under thee. For in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. The Lord says in that day as the Millennial Kingdom begins that even the strangers, that is the Gentiles will come and they'll help rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the cities of Israel, and they will come and worship the Lord because God will turn in favor to his people. But I really think the temple that he's speaking of here is not even that temple, but the spiritual temple. I think it's a reminder that, again, it's God. You know, in Matthew 16, 18, as Peter made his great confession, the Lord said, who do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Peter said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And the Lord said, blessed art thou, Simon of Arjona, flesh and blood is not revealed unto thee, but my father, which is in heaven. And he says, and I say also to thee that thou art Peter, you're the little rock, you're a little stone. And upon this rock, this huge rock, I will build my church. and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. God is building his church today. Now he's using men. You know, Paul talked about being a wise master builder and laying the foundation of Jesus Christ in Corinth. And other men are coming to build on that foundation that Paul had laid there in Jesus Christ. And Paul cautioned them about how they would build, that they needed to use gold, silver, and precious stones and not wood, hay, and stubble. But God was using men, but God was doing the building. Christ said, I will build my church. Today, the Lord is building his church and he's building it through local assemblies. And he's bringing people to himself and he's saving them and he's building the church. But in that day spoken of here, it won't be the church. It'll be the nation of Israel. In Psalm 147, verse two, it says, the Lord doth build up Jerusalem. And note this, not only does he say he builds up Jerusalem, but he gathers together the outcasts of Israel. Who is the outcasts of Israel? Well, where is Israel today? Now, there are a number of them that are back in the land of Israel. But where are most of the Jewish people today? They're scattered. They're the outcasts. And the Bible teaches us that in that day, the Lord is going to bring them back. And just as God uses men today to build the church, so God is gonna use men to build the house of Israel in that day to bring, how are those outcasts gonna come back? Well, some of them are gonna come back on their own. But it's interesting, matter of fact, let me have you turn. Turn to Zechariah, I mean, I'm sorry, turn to Isaiah chapter 66. Go back, backwards. in your Bible, go back to the book of Isaiah, and go to chapter 66. And look at verse 20. Again, this is talking about the time when the Lord comes again and establishes the kingdom. But it says, and they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all the nations. Who is the they? Well, it's the Gentiles. the Jewish people are scattered among the Gentiles. And in that day, when the Lord puts down all of his enemies, and establishes his throne in Jerusalem, rules the world, in that day, at the beginning of that millennial kingdom, the Gentiles are gonna bring the people of Israel, the Jewish people, back to Jerusalem on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering and a clean vessel unto the house of the Lord. They'll consider it an offering to God to be able to bring his people back into the promised land, to bring them back to Israel. Go back to Isaiah 60, just a few chapters back, and look at verses nine and 10, where he says, surely the aisles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, this is the Lord speaking, to bring thy sons from afar their silver and their gold with them under the name of the Lord thy God and to the Holy One of Israel because he has glorified thee. They'll have a respect for the nation of Israel and they will, again, bring them back to Israel. And the sons of strangers will build up thy walls and their kings shall minister unto thee. For in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor I had mercy on thee. And then in chapter 49, verse 22, you don't need to turn, but you can, but I'll read this verse to you. Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. In that day, nobody's gonna say, let's, from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free. They won't be saying that. They'll be saying, you know what, these Jewish people, they're in favor of God. And we, we see that and we respect them and we honor them. They're God's people. Let's help them get back there. Let's, let's take them back to Israel. You know, let's, let's honor the Lord by bringing his people back and the Gentiles will be bringing God's people back. Some of them will, you know, they'll be elderly and they'll need help. They'll be sick and they'll need help, but they're going to get them there. Whatever it takes. even if they have to bear them, as it said, in litters, you know, and bring them in an ambulance, but they're gonna get them there because of the respect they'll have for God and for his people in that day. By the way, we'll be there, but we won't be like Israel that day. They're gonna be in their unglorified bodies. We'll be there ruling and reigning with Christ in our glorified bodies in that day. He'll rule as priest and king, going back to the book of Zechariah in chapter 6, back to our text and the prophecy. And he shall sit and rule upon his throne, and be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. He's going to rule as king and priest. Now, I dealt with that significantly, or a lot, in the introduction, so I don't wanna go back and rehash that, but just, he's a king, he's a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was both king of Salem and priest of the Most High God. But the interesting thing about this, to me, is this. Today, and by the way, I'm almost done, so. Today, we believe in the separation of church and state. Now, it's not in the Constitution, I understand that, But we believe that. There should not be a state church. The state should not direct the church, nor should the church dictate to the state. We don't want a priest or even a pastor telling our leaders what to do. Now, as Christians in this nation, we have a privilege of having say in our government. And we should. And if God leads you to run for office and serve in that way, that's great. And if you do that, you should be up front with people. I'm a Christian. I'm going to represent you as a Christian. I'm going to represent Christian values. This is who I am. And if that's what you want, vote for me. And I have a right, as a Christian in this nation, to try and influence the people that I put into office, I voted for office, to honor God in the decisions that they make. I have that right. But what I don't want is for even a Christian president to stand up there and say, now, everybody, you have to obey the Bible, you have to do what the Bible says, you have to go to church, you have to give your tithe. We don't want that. We want people to be free to make their own decisions. Now, there are things that morally ought to be out of bounds. I mean, just because of the harm that it does to our society. But we believe in the freedom of men to make a choice. I mean, that's where our nation was founded. Of course, when the when the early settlers came, they, even the pilgrims, were fleeing the state church and then they set up their own state church. And people came here looking for freedom and then turned around and oppressed everybody. I mean, you go down to Williamsburg and you find out, you go down there and you study the history of Williamsburg and you find out that you had to go to church. The state required you to go to church and to pay taxes for the support of the church. There was no separation of church and state initially. That came about because of the Baptist influence pressing for the separation of church and state, that there would be no state church. So whenever the church and the state have joined together, it's been disaster. What has often happened is true believers are persecuted. Think the Spanish Inquisition. And the church becomes worldly and corrupt when Constantine back in was at 313, supposedly was converted, and he made Christianity the religion of Rome, and all of a sudden, everybody who's a Roman citizen is now a Christian. Well, so all of a sudden, you got all these people in the church who aren't even saved, who have no heart for God, no heart for the things of God, and what do they do? They corrupt the church. And so the church becomes worldly. We don't want that. The only way it'll work is when Jesus is the king and the priest, when he is, if you will, the head of the church and the head of the state. He's the only one that can make that work. Between the two, the council of peace shall be between them both. Between church and state, there will be harmony because of the one who is the head of both. That's the only way it'll work, and that's the only time it will work Until that day, we don't want it. But in that day, it will happen and it'll work because it will be the Lord Jesus who is just and holy and righteous. And yes, in that day, there will be a law and men will be required to obey that law. But again, it is God who is doing that, and it will work, because it is Jesus. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus, will unite office of priest and king perfectly, since he is holy, he is just, he is all wise, and he is all knowing. And so there's, in the conclusion of this message, there is this challenge to the people of that day, It says in the end of verse 15, and this shall come to pass if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. It's a challenge to the people. It's not questioning whether Jesus will come as priest and king. That was certain. The challenge is, if you want to be part of this, then you need to be one of the obedient ones. And obedience begins with trust in the Messiah as Savior. One day the multitudes asked Jesus a question, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Do you know how Jesus answered them? He said this, this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent, that you believe on Christ. The first step of obedience to Christ, to God, is to believe on Jesus Christ as Savior. And once we have done that, then there is the direction of our life is towards obedience. We don't do it perfectly, but that's the direction of our life. And the Lord saying to them, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, you will be able to participate in these blessings. And in that day, when Jesus comes again, not all Jews, and we read that this morning in the book of Romans, not everyone who is a physical descendant of Abraham will enter into that millennial kingdom and enjoy the blessings that God has promised to Israel, that he still promises to Israel and he will fulfill those promises to the Jewish people, but not all Jews. only those who believe on Jesus as their Messiah. And during the tribulation, he'll be weeding out of this world and out of the nation of Israel, the unbelievers. So that when Jesus comes again, the Bible says, and we're getting ahead of ourselves because this comes out of the book of Zechariah, they'll look upon me whom they have pierced and they will mourn when they realize we messed up. Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus was the branch, and we rejected him, and we were wrong. And they will fall on their faces in humility and repentance, and they will own him as their savior. And those are the ones, the Jewish people, that will enter into the Millennial Kingdom and enjoy all the blessings that God has promised to the nation of Israel, to Abraham, to David, and to the Jewish people. Those who believe, they're the ones who get to enjoy the blessing. And the same is true for us, where we have all the promises of God about a blessed time coming in heaven and even on earth, if we have believed on Jesus as our Savior. And I trust that you have, and that you know that when Jesus comes again, that you will go to be with him, or when you die, you'll be with him. And until that day, we are encouraged, we look forward to the coming of the branch, the man whose name is the branch, who will rule as priest and king. Let's stand together for prayer. Our Father, we thank you for your word and for these even detailed prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and his coming And we thank you that just as he came the first time in humility, he'll come again the second time as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And we do look forward to that day. Help us, Lord, in the meantime, to live with the hope and expectancy of that which is to come, to faithfully serve you, to never hesitate to give of ourselves to you and to your work. Lord, though we don't deserve it, we thank you that you do honor our service and reward us. And you encourage our faith, and we thank you for that. May we be a light of testimony to the lost world around us, of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, the hope that is found in these promises of the coming Messiah. And we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.