WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE
The Book of Zechariah #6
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Woodland Church
“The more we know of God, the more we loathe ourselves and repent.” –F. B. Meyer
(Zechariah 3:1–10, NLT) “Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.” Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And turning to Jeshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.” Then I said, “They should also place a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean priestly turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the angel of the Lord stood by. Then the angel of the Lord spoke very solemnly to Jeshua and said, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: If you follow my ways and carefully serve me, then you will be given authority over my Temple and its courtyards. I will let you walk among these others standing here. “Listen to me, O Jeshua the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come. Soon I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and I will remove the sins of this land in a single day. “And on that day, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, each of you will invite your neighbor to sit with you peacefully under your own grapevine and fig tree.”
1. We are saved by grace.
(Romans 4:4–5, NLT) “When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.”
(Zechariah 3:3, NLT) “Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel.”
(Isaiah 64:6, NLT) “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”
(Revelation 12:10, NLT) “Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night.”
a. Satan condemns.
b. The Holy Spirit convicts.
2. The LORD defends us from the accusations of the Satan.
(Zechariah 3:2, NLT) “And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.”
(Romans 8:33, NLT) “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.”
(Romans 8:34–39, NLT) “Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
3. The LORD gives us His righteousness.
(Zechariah 3:4, NLT) “So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And turning to Jeshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”
(Romans 3:26, NLT) “God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21, NLT) “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
4. This vision is of things to come through Christ.
(Zechariah 3:8–9, NLT) “Listen to me, O Jeshua the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come. Soon I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a singlestone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and I will remove the sins of this land in a single day.”
a. The Servant and the Branch are names for the Messiah.
(Isaiah 42:1, NLT) “Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations.”
(Isaiah 53:11, NLT) “When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.”
(Isaiah 4:2, NLT) “But in that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel.”
(Isaiah 11:1, NLT) “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.”
(Isaiah 53:2, NLT) “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.”
(Jeremiah 23:5, NIV) “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”
(Jeremiah 33:15, NIV) “In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.”
b. The stone represents the omniscience of the Messiah.
(Psalm 118:22, NIV) “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;”
(Isaiah 28:16, NIV) “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.”
(Matthew 21:42, NLT) “Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.”
(Acts 4:11, NLT) “For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”
(1 Peter 2:6, NLT) “As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”
5. The LORD uses us to serve Him if we follow Him and serve Him carefully.
(Zechariah 3:7, NLT) “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: If you follow my ways and carefully serve me, then you will be given authority over my Temple and its courtyards. I will let you walk among these others standing here.”
(Zechariah 3:2, NLT) “This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.”
(Romans 6:1–2, NLT) “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”
6. The LORD gives us His presence and His blessing!
(Zechariah 3:10, NLT) “And on that day, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, each of you will invite your neighbor to sit with you peacefully under your own grapevine and fig tree.”