Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/john-meekin/in-that-day-zachariah-12-13/
Now, the book of Zechariah, please, in the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah, and in chapter 12. It's Zechariah and then Malachi, before you come to that page between the Testaments, and then the Gospel by Matthew.
So, the book of Zechariah, and in chapter 12. And we read from verse number 8. Zechariah 12, and verse number 8. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Now, look down, verse number 9, please.
And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications.
And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn every family apart. The family of the house of David apart and their wives apart.
The family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart. The family of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart. The family of Shimei apart and their wives apart. All the families that remain, every family apart and their wives apart.
Verse 1 of chapter 13. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered.
And the Lord bless to us what may be for some an unfamiliar reading of the sacred scriptures. Now just so that you understand what I have before me tonight. This chapter from the book of Zechariah is really telling us what is going to happen at the times of the end.
And it's really a forecast in biblical prophecy. You see at this point, if I could give you the setting of the book of Zechariah. At this point there are a number of armies which have come and are gathered around Jerusalem.
And so there's two men from the west. The Bible describes them as beast-like in their ferocity and in their character. And from the western hemisphere they will come and they will bring an army and they will encompass the city of Jerusalem.
And just at that point there is another king. And he's coming down from the north according to the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 11. The king of the north. And he with his armies comes down from the north above Israel.
And he moves through the land of Israel. And he moves to the south of Israel where there's the king of the south. And the king of the north, then he starts to move back up. And he's bringing his army around Jerusalem.
At this point there is also the armies of the kings of the east. I'm referring now to Revelation. Revelation 9 and Revelation 16. And the Euphrates river is dried up. And God says the reason why the riverbed of the Euphrates is dried up is that the way of the kings of the east shall be made known.
And we're given the number of that army. 200 million men they put into the field. And so there's the army from the west. There's the army from the north. There's the armies of the kings of the east encompassing Jerusalem.
And it just seems to be that the nation of Israel is going to be obliterated. Just wiped out. And then another king comes. And his feet touch the Mount of Olives. Zechariah chapter 14. And in that moment, the Mount of Olives, it cleaves asunder on the east of the city of Jerusalem.
And he comes forth in his majesty, in his glory, in his power. And you say, who is this king? In fact, that's what the Bible says. The people inside the city, they look and they see this splendor. The Bible says he's coming in flaming fire.
The Scripture says he comes to take vengeance on them that knew not God. He comes to set up a kingdom. And inside the city, they watch and they see these kings. They see the majesty of those kings. And then they see this one riding in splendor.
Coming in majesty. In the ferocity of his power, he comes. And you say, why is he coming? He's coming to save. And in fact, they look upon him. And they realize then, in that coming day, who this king is.
And as they look at this king of glory, they begin to understand. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The justice meant of our peace. It was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed.
And you say, what happens? They begin to mourn. In fact, where we have read, the family of the house of David, they go apart. David and his family apart. And they begin to mourn. The family of the house of Levi, apart.
And their wives apart. And they begin to mourn. The family of the house of Nathan, apart. And their wives apart. And they begin to understand. This is the Christ. And we gave him a cross. And we rejected him.
The family of Shimei, apart. And their wives apart. And there is a tremendous repentance. Every family apart. And their wives apart. They shall look upon him, whom they have pierced. That is the setting of the chapter.
I know I could get excited and start to preach to you about the coming kingdom glory of the Lord Jesus. But what I want to do is draw some parallels. You might be wondering, that is a wonderful subject.
This is a wonderful chapter. These people saved in a day. Well, what I want to do is just use it. And just as application. See the gospel in Zechariah 12 and 13. The first thing I want you to understand.
There is something of the potential of a day. I mean, it is one day. They are facing obliteration. They are thinking, we are going to be wiped off the face of planet earth. And in one day, everything changes.
In fact, we read in verse number 8 in that day. We read in chapter 12, verse number 9 in that day. We read in verse number 11 in that day. We read in verse number 1 of chapter 13 in that day. We read in verse number 2 of chapter 13 in that day.
And if you got to these people at the close of that day. And you say to them, what does this day mean to you? Do you know what they would say? This day means everything to us. You see, before this day, we were in bondage.
Before this day, we were in fear. Just before this day, we thought, this is the end for us. There is no way out now. We will just have to die. And we will have to perish. This is the end for us. But there is a day.
And this day means everything for them. Listen in this gospel meeting now. Tell me, have you got a day like that? I'm preaching to an audience tonight. And I want to ask you a very personal question. Has there ever been a moment in your life when you trusted the Lord Jesus?
Has there ever been a time in your life when you got Christ? When you understood, I'm lost. When you understood from the Scriptures, I'm helpless. When you discovered, I'm perishing. And then you understood, that's why the Lord Jesus died.
And for you, there's a day and it means everything. You know, folks, in this gospel meeting, I got a day like that. It was a Monday evening for me. And I got to tell you, I've stolen it from Mr. McCandless.
Some people talk about blue Mondays. There's never a blue Monday in my life. It was a Monday night. And I was helpless. And I was hopeless. And I was lost. In fact, I remember, I promised to stay behind this thing.
And I remember getting up from off my knees. And on my knees, I said to the Lord, I'll just have to perish. I'll just have to die in my sins. I'll just have to go to hell. And I got up off my knees. And I walked up a few stairs and along the hallway.
And was just coming through my bedroom door. And the text that I've already quoted came. He was wounded for my transgressions. And I understood then, that's why the Lord Jesus died. Actually, I turned.
I don't often tell this. But I turned right where I was. Right in the doorway. And back down the hallway I went. Down the steps I went. And my father's sitting in an old armchair at the door. And I passed him.
And I went into the kitchen. And I looked at my mom. And I said to my mom, I got it. And she looked at me. I didn't even have to tell her what I got. I got it. The only thing she ever wanted me to have.
I got on a Monday night. And she said to me, go and see your father. Tell your father. And I walked in. Now, my father's not an emotional man. Nothing against my father. He's one of the slightly older generation.
Just doesn't seem to show his emotions. But anyway, I thought he'd be in the old armchair. And there he is. He's up out of the chair. He's going up the stairs. He's going along the little hallway. And he's calling in to my brothers.
John has just got saved. Listen, folks. That's the greatest day in my life. The potential of a day. In that day. Let me ask you now. Have you got a day like that? Have you ever had a moment when your sins were forgiven?
Have you ever had a moment when you trusted the Lord Jesus? Has there ever been a moment when you were taken off the broad way? And put onto the narrow way? And as you're sitting here tonight. You know for sure.
It's Christ. Christ means everything. Christ is the hope for me. The hope of glory. The potential of a day. The second thing I want to mention very quickly here. Is not only the potential of the day. But you'll notice the problem of the day.
In verse number 1 of chapter 13 it says this. In that day. There shall be a fountain open for sin. And for uncleanness. These people. There was a big problem that they had that day. Do you know what their problem was?
They had missed the standard of God. One of the aspects of sin is this. When we are preaching about sin. You understand what uncleanness is. It's the defilement of sin. When you say what about sin here.
Do you know what this is? This is Romans 3. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We took a family vacation. It's maybe two years ago. And we were in England. One of my sisters was there at the time.
And she said to me. She said. You've got an extra day. Where would you like to go? So we went to see Warwick Castle. Very impressive. I think it's been standing. Or at least there's been a castle on the site since somewhere around the 12th century.
But it's most impressive. I mean the battlements are there. And the walls are there. And they've got haunted dungeons. My kids love that. Down into the haunted dungeons. But the thing that really intrigued me was.
They had a trebuchet. I like the trebuchet. That's a catapult. You know like an old fashioned catapult. But the thing that really got me was. They had an archer there. And he was talking the talk. I mean.
You could see. He had the targets set out. And he had a number of arrows. That were positioned down into the soil. And he was talking to us. And he was really talking the talk. And then he lifts one of the arrows.
He puts it onto the string of that bow. He draws it. And he lifts it. And he missed. And he keeps talking. And he pulls another arrow. Puts it onto the string. He draws it. And he missed. He pulls a third one.
And of course he's still talking the big talk now. Puts that arrow onto the string. Draws back the bow. Right to the center of the target. He pulls the fourth one. Does exactly the same thing on the next target.
He pulls another one. Does it on the third target. And then I understood. Ah. He was just getting his aim. He was just adjusting. Ah, but wait a moment now. You haven't. You've missed a target. Everyone here now.
God's standard has been presented. And the holiness of God. Is seen in the scriptures. And you know what God says. God says, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And you've taken his name in vain.
God says, Thou shalt not covet. And you've coveted. God says, Thou shalt not bear false witness. And you've told lies. Listen folks. In this gospel meeting. That's sin. And we have all fallen short of the glory of God.
Every one of us. And here are these people. And you know what's coming home to them? The problem of the day. We are sinners before God. We are unclean. In the very presence of God. Almost like the leper.
They could cover their lip. And they could cry. Unclean. Unclean. Anyone like that here tonight now? You've discovered. As I've been preaching from the scriptures. That you're a sinner. And you're unclean in God's presence.
You see, this is quite the message. The potential of the day. And the problem of the day. The third thing I want to touch again quite quickly. You'll notice with me. We've got the penitence of the day.
These people begin to repent. Oh, they understand. They understand what they've done now. But you say, is it because they're sins? Well, it is because of their sins. In one sense. But there's something else they understand.
Do you know what they understand? We have rejected the Lord Jesus. Tell me. Are you guilty of the rejection of the Lord Jesus? You know, I'm preaching to people tonight. And I'm almost sure. That you can't remember the first time.
You ever heard the name of the Lord Jesus. You can't remember the first time. That you ever heard the gospel. You don't recall the first time. That you ever heard those 25 golden words. For God so loved the world.
He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In fact, one of the things I remember vividly in the home that I grew up in was my mother cradling a little girl in her arms.
There's ten years between my sister Grace and myself. Ten years. And I can remember my mother cradling that child in her arms and singing into the ears of an infant Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world.
Tell me, folks. Am I speaking to someone in this gospel meeting and you've known about Christ? And you've heard about Christ? And you've heard the preaching of the Lord Jesus? And you're still in your sins.
And you're still exposed to judgment. And as I'm preaching to you tonight, you're on the very precipice. Dangling, my friend. Just on the way to hell. Listen, it's time you did business with God. And here are these people.
And they understand we need this. And more than that, we need it now. Whatever you do tonight, you get right with God. Don't put it off, folks. Don't put it off. Not another minute. It's time to get right with God.
Get right with God. And do it now. Get right with God before Him bow. For whatever you do, get right with God. The penitence of the day. In true repentance. You say, what is repentance? Repentance is a change of attitude that leads to a change of action.
And they turn and apart. Every family apart. Every person in the family apart. The family of the house of David apart. They begin to repent. The family of the house of Nathan apart. They repent. The family of the house of Shimei apart.
They repent. The family of Levi apart before the Lord. They begin to repent. We have rejected Christ. We have turned away from God. We have turned down the Savior. And in true repentance, they bow before God.
You say, did they get saved? Oh, that's the great thing about this story. The potential of the day. The problem of the day. The penitence of the day. There's the great provision of the day. Listen to what verse 1 says.
In that day there shall be a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. You know, folks, there's a great provision for sin. It was William Cowper, wasn't it? He wrote that lovely hymn. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins.
And sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. You know the story of the cross. You know they brought the Lord Jesus forth. They bring Him out 9 a .m. in the morning. You know He's suspended upon that cross until 3 p .m. in the afternoon.
And He bear our sins in His own body upon the tree. And you know there comes a cry. And the cry of the crucified Christ is this. The sixth cry. It is finished. And He bowed His head. He dismissed His spirit.
And you and I would say, everything's done now. And God said, there's one final indignity. And a soldier comes forth and he takes a mallet and he breaks the legs of this thief. And he moves forward over to this side.
And he breaks the legs of this thief. And he comes to the Lord Jesus. And the Scripture said, Psalm 34, a bone of him shall not be broken. And the soldier takes a spear and he pierces it into the side of the Lord Jesus.
And listen to what the Bible says. Forthwith came thereout blood and water. You know there's cleansing blood tonight. The Bible calls it precious blood. The Bible calls it His own blood. But 1 John 1, verse 7 says, it's cleansing blood.
The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. It cleanses us from all sin. It was my friend Mr. Procopio. He was in Fredericton, New Brunswick. There's a gentleman who sells cars there. A Christian gentleman. And my friend went to visit him.
He said to my friend, if I've got the story right, he said, did I ever tell you how I got saved? No, he said. He starts to tell him that he was in a pub one night. And there was a Baptist group and they're standing just across the street from the pub.
And he said, they have some guitars and they're singing and there's going to be street preaching from the Scriptures. And as a group comes out of the pub, this man was among them. One of the men takes that guitar and he's starting to play.
Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood. And he called across, half drunk, the man coming out of the public house. He called across and he said, do you want me to play that for you?
And that man said, sure, come and do it. And he walked across the street and he takes the guitar and he played it for them. Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood. When he was done playing it the first time and they sung the words, do you know what the man said?
Play it again. And they played it again, sung the words to it again. And he went home. Next Saturday comes, comes out of the public house. They're standing across the street. He called across to them.
He says, do you want me to play the guitar again tonight? Yeah, he said. Over you come. So he walks over. He says, what do you want me to play? Oh, he says, well, play the same one as last Saturday. Would you be free from your burden of sin?
There's power in the blood. Played it once. The gentleman who was going to preach said, play it again. They played it and sang it again. The third Saturday night comes. He comes out of that public house.
He looks across the street. And the man who was going to preach beckoned to him. He said, you coming to play for us? No, he said. No, no. Everything's different now. That man walked across the street.
He said, why won't you play for us tonight? He says, listen, I can't get those words out of my mind. Can you tell me what they mean? Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood.
Would you or evil a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power! Power! Power! Wonder-working power in the blood! I'll finish that story for you. Don't you hate it when preachers don't finish stories?
That man went home that night. He actually looked at the man who was going to preach and he said, can you tell me what those words mean? And that man poured into his ears the gospel. If it wasn't that night, it was a few nights later, that man discovered the power in the blood of Christ.
And he came to know the Savior. Listen, folks. There is a great provision for human sin. There is a Savior. His name is the Lord Jesus. He came from the blinding glory of another world. He was manifested in this world.
And He came to take away our sins. And in Him there is no sin. Just as I finish and give my brother his time, the potential of the day, the problem of the day, the penitence of the day, the provision for the day, what about the prospect of the day?
Listen to what God says. He says, in that day, I'll take away the iniquity. I'll remove it. I'll remove it from the land. He says, in that day, everything will be removed. There's absolutely nothing like knowing your iniquity has been taken away.
You see, that night I got saved, I didn't do this. But I was under the burden of sin for weeks. I still remember standing in the doorway and the moment I got Christ, the burden is gone. The moment I trusted the Savior, instantaneously, the burden was lifted.
You know what I felt like doing? I felt like going like this. It was so real. I hope you get it tonight, folks. Whatever you do, as Mr. Sweetenum comes up here to preach, whatever you do, you remember this.
You need Christ. You need a Savior. And you need your sins forgiven.