Zechariah 1:2 - 4 “The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. (3.) Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. (4.) Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.”
Beloved as Christians we are not Israel, we are different in so many ways and in many ways we are just like them. Here we read a message from God to the people called His beloved “son” Israel, and that message is “Turn ye unto me”; because Israel had a great fleshly desire to turn from Jehovah God and to turn to the thinking with their fleshly minds rather than to what God wanted them to do and that was to worship Him properly in spirit and truth. Jehovah God commanded that if we (as Christians) were going to properly worship Him we were going to worship Him in spirit and truth and anything else was false worship and equal to the falling away which the Israelites so wrongly done. God spoke this warning to His prophet Zechariah to tell the Israelites. Today God has not prophets but rather His called ministers, missionaries, and pastors, and Jehovah God is still making this same command John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Keeping the commandments of God is worshiping Him in spirit and truth. If we fail to keep His commandment then His blessings will stop coming and we will fail to honor the Lord here on this earth. The Lord says our works will be tried by fire and those of wood, hay, and stubble will burn up and no reward will be given as a result. The blessings of God do not necessarily amount to earthly treasures but can; the blessings of God are mostly heavenly treasures. Heavenly treasures are opportunity to; (1.) to be allowed to do something to bring glory to God, and (2.) something that will bless us here on this earth. There are so many today that believe that God’s blessings to us are earthly treasures such as money, large congregations, lots of programs, good jobs, and etc. however while it is true that God could bless us in some of these things they are not normally what God is talking about. Let us use this example of a blessing from God; God gave the Holy Script to His beloved Israel for their care however they did such a bad job of caring for it God took it away and put it in the hands of the Gentile churches, beloved this is a great blessing for us from God. God calls men to preach or to pastor this also is a great blessing, and God has also blessed us with churches. While it is true the glory of these things are glorifying to God that are also blessings from God and while they may not have much reward here on this earth they will be of great rewards in heaven. Israel is God’s chosen nation, the nation He dealt with and allowed to do His earthly work but since they have failed to comply with God’s commandments He has removed that blessing as He will with us if we continue winking at God’s commandments. The Lord told Israel to turn unto Him or loose His blessings, God also told them how disappointed he was in their fathers but it still did not move His beloved Israel and it will not move Christians today. While so many today look at God’s blessings as earthly treasures, here God’s blessing to Israel was “I will turn unto you” and what a blessing that is. Let us notice in verse 3 the phrase “the LORD of hosts” is repeated 3 times to let Israel know this promise was from Jehovah God or the Trinity. This is like the phrase in Hebrew 13:5 “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Is actually from Joshua 1:5 which means the word “I” should also be repeated 3 time as it is a promise from the Trinity and beloved could there ever be a greater blessing from God.
This is a Landmark Sovereign Grace Baptist Blog. "Teaching The Truths Of God's Holy Script"
Meet Pastor Johnson
- Pastor Randy Johnson
- Texarkana, Texas, United States
- I am the Pastor of the Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas
Pastor Randy Johnson
Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church
I would like to welcome you to my blog. It is my purpose to bring glory to the glorious name of my Saviour Jesus Christ. It is my hope and prayer that you are saved from eternal damnation if not please read the following scriptures.
Acts 8:35-38 "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. (36.) And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (37.) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (38.) And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him."
Acts 16:30-31 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
Acts 8:35-38 "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. (36.) And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (37.) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (38.) And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him."
Acts 16:30-31 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."