Special Meetings 03 4 Precious Titles — John W. Bramhall

Almost unnecessary to begin preaching it was so good. But tonight it is a real joy to be here again and take the precious word of God looking in the book of Zechariah, next to the last book in the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah chapter 10.

Four Precious Titles in Zechariah 10

One of the great joys that I'm sure we've already been having during this conference is the joy of seeing some of the excellent glories and the values of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ from the precious word of God.

Tonight we turn to the 10th chapter of Zechariah to see more of the glories and excellences of our Saviour. Chapter 10 reading verse 1 through verse 4. They comforted in vain, therefore they went their way as a flock.

They were troubled because there were no shepherds. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the ghosts. For the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock of the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in battle.

Out of him, that is, out of the house of Judah, came forth the corner, or the cornerstone. Out of him, the nail. Out of him, the battle bone. Out of him, every oppressor together, better literally translated, out of him the absolute ruler, or monarch.

May the Lord bless the reading of this portion from his word, and may the Spirit direct our hearts to four precious titles that are found in the fourth verse in relation to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

They are some of the most unique but glorious names that have been attributed to the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Someone has said, and I'm sure that it is true, and even more so, you could find a different name given to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in the word of God, you could find a different name that would give you one at least for every day in the year.

And I believe some have proved that there even are more. But here we have in this word of Zechariah chapter 10 verse 4, four precious titles that are given to Christ. He is called the cornerstone. He is called the nail.

He is called the battle bone. He is called the absolute monarch or ruler. These are four precious titles of our Lord and Saviour. There is a verse that is found in the ninth psalm and the tenth verse that opens with these words, and they that know thy name will put their trust in thee.

Every name that you will find in the word of God given to the Lord Jesus has a definite meaning interpreting his character and his person. Those names have a definite revelation as to who he is and also what he is.

For they convey the character of our blessed Saviour. How multiple are the names belonging to him and how multiplied is the glorious character of our Lord Jesus who has so many names. Here are but four of them, the cornerstone, the nail, the battle bone, and the absolute ruler.

They that know thy name will put their trust in thee. May I ask by the way of introduction to our message, can every one of us here in this audience say, I know those four names personally in my own soul.

He is my cornerstone. He is my nail. He is my battle bone. He is my absolute ruler. Now the names we are given primarily to the people of Israel in this great prophecy of Zechariah. One of the most appropriate prophecies in the word of God today for study is the prophecy of Zechariah.

It has much to do with the last times that you and I are living in on the threshold of our Lord's return and in relation to the restoration of Jerusalem and the remnant of the people of Israel when our Saviour comes to set up his earthly kingdom.

The prophecy certainly covers the purposes of God in relation to Jerusalem, in relation to his people Israel, as well as in relation to the nations of the earth. Study the prophecy through and it will give you much blessing to see the purposes of God as they are about to be fulfilled in a very soon coming day.

But here are four precious names given by the prophet as belonging to the one who was to come out of the house of Judah, even Israel's Messiah. He came to be the cornerstone for Israel and he was the foundation stone upon which the glory and the greatness of Israel must and will yet be built.

Christ the Cornerstone of Israel and the Church

Israel cannot stand and never will stand unless Christ the Messiah becomes and is acknowledged their cornerstone, that he came to be when he came to the earth. He presented his credentials, he proved his credentials and he came to be the foundation stone upon which his earthly people could build for the glory of their kingdom according to the promises of God.

But unfortunately they rejected the cornerstone. The one upon whom they would build they crucified and to this very day they have been blinded to the person of their Messiah as well as to the purpose for which he came to be their foundation stone.

But my beloved, though that be true in relation to Israel, how precious to recognize while Israel has been laid aside temporarily in the purposes of God, our Lord Jesus Christ has become the cornerstone for the church.

How precious to hear the Lord Jesus say in Matthew 16, upon Peter's confession thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock, not Peter, but the Lord Jesus himself, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against them. Christ alone is the foundation stone for the church.

My beloved, may I suggest, he is the foundation stone for every individual who would build his soul and her soul for eternity to be in eternal blessing with Christ and God. Paul writing to the Corinthians said these words in 1 Corinthians 3 .11.

No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He is my foundation stone, upon him I build for eternity. With the poet I sing, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, on other ground its sinking sand. My beloved, is he your cornerstone? Does your soul rest upon him as the foundation upon which you build your eternal hope for the glory of that heaven of which we have sung tonight?

He alone is the foundation stone upon which we must build. Can you say, he's my cornerstone? But may I point out, he is not only the foundation stone for his people, he is the cornerstone that holds the building of the church together.

Paul writing to the Ephesians in chapter 2 speaks of that one body, and he speaks of it comprising both believing Jew and Gentile, and that Christ is the cornerstone that holds the body together, and that binds the believing Jew and the believing Gentile in that one body, which is the body of Christ the church.

He is the cornerstone that binds his people and holds them together in that spiritual house which he is building. Praise the Lord. Peter also wrote of him as being the chief cornerstone, or the topstone of glory.

For the day is coming, even now it's true, but the day is coming when he shall be manifested as the topstone of glory to the church. And with what joy it will be, the church will acknowledge the glory of her coming Lord in that day when she is exalted with him, for he is the crowning stone of glory.

Israel rejected the cornerstone, and the prophet the psalmist has written, the stone which the builders rejected has now become the headstone of the corner, and our blessed Lord Jesus, he is the cornerstone.

Both for Israel, but especially in this period for the church, and for every individual who will put his and her trust in the Saviour. No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

May I repeat the premise of Psalm 9 and verse 10, and they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. Have you trusted the Lord Jesus for your foundation upon which to build for all eternity? O Christ the solid rock, can you say I stand, and remember what the Irishman said, all other rocks are shamrocks, and with what joy we acknowledge there is but one, he is my cornerstone.

Christ the Nail Bearing Sin and Burdens

Note the next title, so precious, the most unique I believe in the word of God. The name. Now in the Old Testament a name was used particularly for two purposes according to the revelation of God's word.

Sometimes in the Hebrew it was translated by the expression a tent peg, a tent pin, holding down the tent. And then it has also been used in the Old Testament as being embedded in the walls of the Oriental buildings long ago.

In the house of the Lord, the treasury of the house of David, there were many nails embedded within the walls of that building. Upon those nails there hung the glorious shields and instruments of gold that Solomon collected and had made.

And for the glory of the house of the Lord and the house of David they were displayed upon those nails embedded within the walls. And a name was used to hang those things upon. Now strange that such a title should be given to the Lord Jesus.

You find it repeated in relation to the Lord Jesus prophetically in Isaiah chapter 25. Where the prophet writes concerning Eliakim coming, who would be as a nail in a sure place. And upon him would be hung the treasures of the Father's house.

But may I point out to you the significant way the name of the nail is related to the Lord Jesus. First of all, as indicated, the nail is to bear burdens. Upon the nail things are to be hung. Upon the nail burdens are to be placed.

The nail is to uphold and bear whatever is placed upon it. May I present to you the most precious thought regarding this title belonging to the Lord Jesus. When he was placed upon the cross of Calvary, they nailed him to that tree.

But the nails that embedded his feet and pierced his hands were incomparable to the fact he himself was the nail that was upon the tree of Calvary hung. For upon him God laid what has never been laid upon another.

What could never be laid upon another. God hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Can I quote the words of Isaiah 53 fully? Verse 6. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way.

And Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. It took about 1500 years to write the Old Testament, or at least between the writing of Moses in the Pentateuch and the completion in the day of our Lord Jesus when he came.

Approximately 1500 years. And if two men could travel, one from Adam, the other from Christ, and go toward each other through history, they would meet in the center of that Old Testament period in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 5 and 6.

Where we read that he was wounded for our transgressions, but he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his Christ we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way. And Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Oh, may I take that precious verse and break it down with you? All we like sheep have gone astray. The picture of sheep scattered in every direction, going throughout the world in their own way.

And yet God takes and gathers together and brings to one place the iniquities of those wandering sheep. And he gathers their iniquities and he lays them upon one who alone was able to bear the iniquity of us all.

And the nail holds. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. My beloved, with what gratitude your heart and mind should be filled, Jesus bore them all for you and me. Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a nail.

Oh, my beloved, what a strange but a unique and precious idol. Do you know the nail? They that know thy name will put their trust in thee. Oh, the joy of faith. At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my sin rolled away.

It was there by faith I received my sight. Now I am happy all the day. He is my nail. He bore my sins in his own body upon the tree. But then he continues to be the nail. The prophet wrote in the book of Psalms, chapter fifty-five, verse twenty-two, these words.

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. For century after century, the blessed followers of the Lord Jesus, they have been bringing their burdens to him. They have carried them to the nail.

They have hung them upon him. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. Peter wrote saying in first Peter five, six and seven, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he might exalt you in due time.

Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. He not only has borne the burden of my sins, he carries the burden of my cares. He is my nail. How about you? Do you place your cares upon him? Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

Hallelujah to have such a nail. A nail upon whom you can put everything. Not something, everything. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. You have a burden? My dear Christian, he's the nail for you and me. Cast your burden upon him.

Hang it upon the nail. And may I remind you, when you hang your burden there, do what the hymn writer says, take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there. Don't pick them up again and carry them away.

But then you know, Eliakim was told in Isaiah 25 that the glory of the treasury of the house of David should be hung upon him. And in the book of Ezekiel, the Lord Jesus was prophetically told as being a nail that would be in a sure place, and the glory of his father's house would be hung upon him.

He is not only the nail for my sins. He is not only the nail for my cares. He is the nail for the glory of my life. I should hang the glory of my life upon him. And all that I live for should be for his glory.

And all my life should be showing the honor and glory of which he is worthy, for that to be hung on him alone. My beloved, no honor, no blessing, no privilege that may be yours and mine should be kept for ourselves.

The glory is his. Hang the glory of your life as you live it upon him. He's the nail. Can you say, he is my nail? He has borne my sins? He bears my burden? He bears the glory of my life. Note the third title, most unique.

Christ the Battle Bow and Israel's Deliverance

He is the battle bow. The battle bow? Oh my beloved, what is that commentary when we think of Israel? Nailing their Messiah to the tree. Rejecting the one who came to deliver them. Rejecting their own Messiah and Savior and Lord.

And rejecting him not only as such, but rejecting the one who alone can be and will be yet their deliverer in a coming day. He is the battle bow. Go with me to the book of Exodus please, will you? Chapter 15.

May I point out these words? And there are many contemporary scriptures that could be followed. But let me just mention a few. The book of Exodus, chapter 15 please. Following the great deliverance out of Egypt and the destruction of the enemies of Israel as they saw the host of Pharaoh dead upon the seashore.

Note verse 1, 2 and 3 as we read Exodus 15. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord in faith saying, I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and song and he is become my salvation. He is my God and I will prepare him an habitation. My Father is God and I will exalt him. And note these next words. The Lord is a man of war.

The Lord is his name. The Lord is a man of war. Go with me to the second book of Chronicles. The second book of Chronicles, chapter 20. Note these words in the 20th chapter of the book of Chronicles. And the preciousness of them as God spoke to Jehoshaphat and the children of Judah.

Will you please go with me in chapter 20 of this book? And shall we not read as Abel speaks to the congregation. Go down with me to verse 16. May I say for brevity's sake. The opening of the chapter reveals the outnumbered host of the Moabites and the Ammonites coming against Jerusalem and the children of Jerusalem and Judah.

And Jehoshaphat seeks the Lord and seeks the faith of the Lord in prayer and asks for deliverance. Now note these words that are given through Jehaziel the son of Zechariah. Verse 16 and 3, verse 15, 16 and 17.

He said, Archan, ye all Judah, ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, thou King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid, nor dismayed, by reason of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

Oh my beloved, how we fail to realize that. The battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold they come up by the cliff of Ziv. Ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jerusalem.

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, oh Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.

And the context reveals, when they came out to where the enemy was, the enemy had been destroyed completely. And they gathered the spoils of battle. The Lord is the man of war. Go with me to the prophecy of Zechariah from whence we've been reading.

And may I point out to you, that same Jehovah will yet appear as the battle bow for Israel. Go with me to the last chapter of the prophecy, beginning to read, if I may, at verse one. Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee.

And may I state very frankly and fearlessly, the day is coming when Israel as a nation, and the godly remnant of the people, will be delivered by the battle bow, the coming of their Messiah, who will take up the battle for Israel.

And read what follows. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, the women ravaged, half of the city shall go forth into captivity, the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

And may I emphasize, my beloved believer, this second verse is yet to be fulfilled. And the day is coming when all nations will be gathered around Jerusalem, and the hatred of the nations will be heaped upon God's earthly people for their evident destruction.

And at such a time they face the destruction of the enemy, the city is taken, the women are ravaged, many are taken into captivity, Jerusalem will be the centrality of the world's greatest battle, and the heart of it will find the earthly people of God within it.

Now read verse three. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle. O my beloved, he will yet be the battle bow for Israel, and in that coming day deliver them.

And he will be the one who has fought their battles in the past, and who will ever be the same to them when he delivers them in that coming day. My beloved, may I say this, no one ever yet has been able to beat that blessed one in battle.

I think one of the stupendous and amazing things that faces this godless world is that moment when our Lord Jesus shall come from heaven with the glory of the angels and the strength attending, and visit the earth with his judgment, and deliver his earthly people.

And in that day, as the prophet writes, his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives as he manifests his power, the battle bow. Revelation 19 tells, out of his mouth goeth a shot, two-edged sword, and what a day it will be.

And oh, the joy of knowing, here is the mighty victor, here is the mighty conqueror, here will be Israel's battle bow. But may I bring to your own heart and mind the words that Paul, as he wrote them in Romans 8 verse 37.

That precious chapter of Romans 8, one of the most incomparable chapters in the word of God that delights the people of God today. And in verse 37 you have these words, For we are more than conquerors through him that loveth us.

They that know thy name will put their trust in thee. He is my battle bow. He fights my battles. He desires to fight your battles too, my fellow believer. And Paul said, we are more than conquerors through him that loveth us.

Henry Pickering of Scotland wrote an interesting story many years ago in one of his writings, telling of a man, an ordinary brother in an assembled company of believers, who in the prayer meeting one night read those words of Romans 8 verse 37.

For we are more than conquerors through him that loveth us. He said, brethren and sisters, as he commented, what does it mean to be more than a conqueror? Well, he said, beloved, we know what it means to be a conqueror.

A person who is a conqueror is one who wins by fighting. But a person that is more than a conqueror is one who wins without fighting. Can I ask the question, do you fight your own battles? It's not necessary, believer.

And there are many battles facing us. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principality, against power, against the darkness of this world, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high or heavenly places.

But Paul said, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. He's my battle-ball. What a joy to recognize. We face the world, we face the flesh, we face the devil. But every fall we have a battle-ball for our gracious help, and that person is the Lord Jesus himself.

He is my battle-ball. Oh, may I say, my beloved Christian, the battles of life that you and I face, and there are many, and sometimes we feel outnumbered. Why don't you let him fight them? If you know he's the battle-ball.

They that know thy name will put their trust in thee. Lord, I have a great battle facing me. Then say, Lord, you fight it for me. I trust you to be my battle-ball. And may I say, he's never lost a battle, and again and again he's proved invulnerable, and no one could ever indeed defeat him.

There's a little book written, a little booklet, it was a pamphlet, published during World War II, and it was called The Lord Reigneth. And he gave incidents of many conditions and situations in World War I as well as World War II, where the Lord overruled the power of the enemy.

And the booklet introduced a story at the commencement of it, of the San Francisco earthquake in the early part of this century, when the city of San Francisco was devastated by a mighty earthquake. There was a salesman who came to the city following the earthquake.

He had been there many times before, but when he saw the rubble and the ruins, he was unable to find his way around the city. The familiar landmarks had disappeared. He hired a young native boy to take him to the places he desired to find.

And as he was walking with the lad to the places that he desired to get to, the youngster looked at the man's face and he saw the horror, the amazement written upon his countenance as he looked at the destruction all around of this great city that he had known for many years.

And as the boy looked at the man's face, he said, Take no use, is it, for a fellow to think he can lick God? It isn't. O my beloved, the joy of knowing here is a name that belongs to the person who says he is the battle-bolt.

And if he is your battle-bolt and mine, then it's your responsibility and mine to put our trust in him and say, Lord, you're my battle-bolt. Last of all, the last title given, the absolute ruler, the monarch, the mighty king, for he is the absolute king.

Christ the Absolute Ruler and Coming King

There is no other. Note Zechariah 14 again, please. I want you to note verse 9 for brevity's sake. The prophet writing to say, In that day when he comes to the earth, when Israel shall be delivered, and the Lord shall be king over all the earth, in that day shall there be one Lord and his name one.

The Lord shall be king over all the earth. When he descends from heaven, upon his vesture will be written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And O the mighty king, when he comes, he'll be the absolute monarch.

Oh, would to God he were here. Would to God that the earth was being ruled over by him, that mighty one, knowing that he will be the king over all the earth. May I remind you of some precious psalms. I just throw this by suggestion to you.

If you sometimes will begin reading at Psalm 42 and read down through Psalm 48, you will find a sequel of psalms that bring to a climax the great deliverance of Israel in a coming day. You will find in Psalm 42 and 43, the very picture of Israel today, under oppression, crying for deliverance, calling upon God, and cast down because of their condition as they were once in Egypt.

If you read Psalm 44, you will find them calling for their king, command deliverance, O God, our king, out of Jacob. You read Psalm 45, and you have the lovely description of the king, as we've sang tonight, coming out of the ivory palaces, his garments dipped in cassia and myrrh and so on.

And the king is described, who is coming, girding his thigh upon his thigh, his sword in majesty, to deliver his people. You read Psalm 46, and you'll find the nation raging, and in tumult, and the earth in great tumult, and the king comes.

And that city, Jerusalem, is delivered. And he speaks peace, and he tells all the nations, be still, and know that I am God. And he destroys the ungodly. And you read Psalm 47, and you'll find Israel rejoicing and saying, he's king over all the earth.

The Lord is king over all the earth. And in Psalm 48, you'll find Israel inviting all the nations to come and see the city of the great king. Jerusalem elevated, as Zechariah declares in the fourteenth chapter of his prophecy.

The mountain of Olives splits in two, and Jerusalem will be a high elevated city in the kingdom to come, and the majesty and glory of the king's palace will be displayed, and the nations invited to see the glory of the king and of his palace in that coming day.

Hallelujah, I'm glad he's coming, to be king over all the earth. My, I wish he were here. Big cheers for the king, huh? Amen, hip-hip-hooray. The joy of knowing he's going to be the king over all this, the absolute monarch.

May I point out something to you, very precious to me in this prophecy? Not often noted, but I want you to notice something. I believe it's in Isaiah chapter thirty-three, if I'm, yes it is, chapter thirty-three, and verse twenty-two.

And I want you to note something. It rejoices and thrills my soul when I know what kind of a king he will be. Note these words. But you know it's a wonderful thing when he comes and sets up his earthly government.

Isaiah chapter thirty-three, verse twenty-two, for the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king. He will save us. Now I want you to see what we said in Zechariah ten-four. He will be the absolute monarch.

And here in this verse, note something. The judicial, the judicial department of justice will be in his control. The Lord is our judge. Oh my beloved, justice is in the streets today, lying many times, as in past times.

But when the Lord is king upon the earth, righteous judgment will be his decree. And the Lord, says the prophet, will be our judge. He will control the justice department. You know beloved, we have our own different departments of government.

But the justice department in the days of our Lord's reign will be under his authority. And the HBI will be in control. Heaven's Bureau of Investigation. For the angels will be used in that day. For the angels will take out of the earth everything that offends.

I'm telling you, when the heavenly host come down to the earth, they're going to find every ungodly sinner and get him out of the place. Where man fails in his judicial responsibility, the Lord Jesus will never fail.

And the angels will be the instruments of justice to carry out the righteousness of his reign in relation to judging the earth. Hallelujah! What a case. But they know, not only the judicial department, but the legislative department of the government will be in his control.

The Lord is our lawgiver. No democrats, no republicans, know nothing of politics. The Lord is our lawgiver. And you have only to read Matthew 5, 6 and 7, and you've got the constitution of his law. The constitution of his kingdom.

And you can't plead the fifth amendment either in that day. For he says in that great section, I say unto you, I say unto you, I say unto you, I say unto you, his authority is final. But, it will be righteous.

And then the prophet says, not only the judicial department, not only the legislative branch of the government, but even the executive branch, the Lord is our king. King of kings! Lord of lords. Reigning over the earth in madness.

Hallelujah! What a king! But oh my beloved, listen. You and I do not need to wait for that day. Can I quote the poet who has wrote that lovely hymn? King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be.

And all the precious joy, that they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. And they will say, he's my king. The absolute ruler of my life. The absolute monarch over all that I am and all that I have.

For in that coming day, the Lord will be king over all the earth. But in this day, they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. And they will say, he's my king. Four precious titles. My cornerstone, my name, my battle bow, my absolute ruler and king.