Now, if you have your Bibles with you
tonight, will you turn to the book of
Zechariah?
Go to the very end of the Old
Testament, and go one book back.
It's next to Matthew, except for one book.
You can easily find it.
The end of the Old Testament, one book
back, and you have Zechariah.
Then turn to the last chapter.
Turn, if you will, to the 14th chapter
of the book of Zechariah.
Before I get into this chapter, I want
to read the last verse of the preceding
chapter.
I want to read the last verse of
the 13th chapter.
Look at the 8th verse, if you will,
the 7th verse.
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against
the man that is my fellow, saith the
Lord of hosts.
Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be
scattered.
Now, you know, of course, that that was
literally fulfilled when Jesus was arrested at the
Mount of Olives and taken off to be
judged.
His disciples were scattered.
The sheep were scattered.
The shepherd was taken.
So you have a literal fulfillment of that
prophecy made over 500 years before by Zechariah.
Now look at the 9th verse, if you
will.
And I will bring the third part through
the fire, and will refine them as silvers
refined, will try them as gold is tried.
They shall call on my name, and I
will hear them.
I will say it is my people, and
they shall say the Lord is my God.
And that brings us right to the 14th
chapter, where we start out with the exclamation,
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and
thy spoils shall be divided in the midst
of thee.
Now look at the 2nd verse.
And I will gather all nations against Jerusalem.
The last battle against Jerusalem has not yet
been fought.
It is to be fought in the future.
God says, I will gather all nations against
Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be
taken.
It's going to be defeated.
This battle is going to be won by
those gathered against Jerusalem.
And Jerusalem is not going to win the
battle.
Jerusalem is going to lose the battle.
Now the battle has been fought again and
again in Jerusalem, many battles.
And here is the next great battle, the
final battle, when Jerusalem is taken and absolutely
defeated.
I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to
battle, and the city shall be taken, the
houses rifled.
Who knows what's going to happen?
The houses are going to be rifled.
What happens when an army marches on a
city and seeks to take that city?
They take everything that is of any value
in the city.
They're going to every house.
They take everything they can take in the
city.
They take it away.
They rifle every house.
That's what they're going to do here.
They're going to rifle every house.
And the city shall go forth into captivity.
And the rest of the people shall not
be cut off from the city.
Then shall the Lord go forth and fight
against these nations.
Here is where God comes on the scene.
And fighting against these nations is very important
in the day of battle.
The day is going to come when God
is going to rescue Jerusalem in spite of
the awful tax that's going to be made
of honor.
The day is going to come when she'll
be rescued.
She'll be delivered.
That's what God says here.
The Lord shall go forth and fight against
those nations.
It's very important in the day of battle.
His feet shall stand on that day before
Jerusalem upon the Mount of Olives.
His feet shall stand on the Mount of
Olives.
The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the
midst.
They're off toward the east and toward the
west.
There shall be a very great valley.
Half the mountain shall be moved toward the
north and half of it toward the south.
There's going to come a day when Jerusalem
will be surrounded by the armies.
She's going to fall once again.
And that fall is described in this chapter,
the 14th chapter of Zechariah.
I will gather all nations together against Jerusalem
to battle, and the city shall be taken.
Jerusalem is going to be taken.
It's going to fall.
And the houses rifled.
Second place, this army is going to rifle
the houses.
You know what an invading army does.
When an invading army comes to take a
city, you know how the houses are rifled.
And they steal everything that they can steal.
And that's going to happen when Jerusalem falls
again.
The houses shall be rifled.
And the women shall be ravished.
And you know how women suffer when a
city is captured.
And half of the city shall go forth
into captivity.
And the residue of the people shall not
be cut off from the city.
They're going to capture one half of the
inhabitants of the city, take them away to
captivity, and they're going to leave the other
half there in the city.
Then, then shall the Lord go forth and
fight against those nations as when he fought
in the day of battle.
Now for the first time, God is going
to take a part in this terrible struggle,
in this awful battle.
God is going to intervene.
And suddenly, after the city has been captured,
after it has been defeated, God comes on
the scene and God takes a part in
the battle.
The Lord shall go forth and fight against
those nations as when he fought in the
day of battle.
And his feet shall stand that day upon
the Mount of Olives, the last place that
Jesus Christ ever stood was on the Mount
of Olives.
Before he left this world to go into
heaven, he stood on the Mount of Olives.
The first place his feet are going to
stand on when he comes back is again
the Mount of Olives.
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes back a
second time, he's going to come directly to
the Mount of Olives and his feet are
going to rest on the Mount of Olives
again.
He's going to stand there before the entire
world.
His feet shall stand in that day upon
the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem
on the east.
There's no question as to what Mount of
Olives is meant, because it's the Mount of
Olives that's before Jerusalem on the east.
And now here's a great miracle.
And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in
the midst thereof toward the east and toward
the west.
And there shall be a very great valley,
and half of the mountain shall move toward
the north and half of it toward the
south.
So for the first time in the history
of the Mount of Olives, it's going to
be cloven asunder into two parts, half on
one side, half on the other side.
If you want to see the Mount of
Olives as it is today, then you'll have
to go very, very soon and see it,
because there's a day coming when Jesus Christ
returns again and a terrific change is going
to take place in the Mount of Olives,
and half of it's going to be on
one side and half on the other side.
That hasn't happened yet.
That's in the future.
May I pause to say this?
All these predictions in the 14th chapter of
Zechariah, all of them are yet to be
fulfilled.
Not one was fulfilled when Jesus Christ was
here.
Not a single one.
But when Jesus Christ comes back again, every
prediction in Zechariah 14 will be literally fulfilled.
And so this Mount, the Mount of Olives,
is going to be part of the sunder,
half toward the north and half toward the
south.
So there'll be a way for the kings
of the east to march with their armies.
Now look at the last part of the
5th verse, if you will.
From before the earthquake, in the days of
Uzziah, king of Judah, and the Lord my
God shall come, and all the saints with
thee.
Here it is in the Old Testament scriptures,
the promise of the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
The Lord my God shall come, and all
the saints with thee.
So Jesus Christ is coming back again.
He's going to bring his saints back with
him when he returns the second time.
And this verse says distinctly and plainly, the
Lord my God shall come, and all the
saints with thee.
That'll be a wonderful day.
And it shall come to pass in that
day that the light shall not be clear
nor dark, but it shall be one day
which shall be known to the Lord, not
day nor night.
But it shall come to pass that at
evening time it shall be light.
Now that only happened once before in the
history of the world.
There was one day in the Old Testament
scriptures when God lengthened the day, when he
brought the dial back in the days of
one of the kings of Israel.
That's going to happen again when Jesus Christ
returns so that he'll have time to do
all the work that he has to do
when he returns the second time.
It'll not be light nor dark.
It shall be known to the Lord, not
as day nor night, but it shall come
to pass that at evening time it shall
be light when it should be dark.
It will still be light according to the
word of God.
And it shall be in that day that
living water shall go out from Jerusalem, half
of them toward the former sea and half
of them toward the hinder sea, in summer
and in winter shall it be.
In other words, when Jesus Christ is coming
back again, there's going to be a river
that will start in Jerusalem and will flow
in two directions, to one sea and to
another sea.
I do not know where this river is.
The word of God does not tell us.
But somewhere in the city of Jerusalem there
is a spring way down in the bowels
of the earth.
And as a result of the earthquake that
God says is going to take place, at
that time this spring will burst forth into
a river and it'll be such a large
river that half of the river will flow
in one direction and the other half will
flow in the other direction.
That's going to be a miracle wrought by
God.
And in the 8th verse, and it shall
be in that day that living water shall
go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward
the former sea and half of them toward
the hinder sea, in summer and in winter
shall it be.
Now look at the 9th verse.
And the Lord shall be king over all
the earth.
In that day shall there be one Lord
and his name one.
We're praying continually the prayer.
We're praying that prayer, Thy kingdom come.
Every time we use the Lord's prayer, we
say those words, Thy kingdom come.
We're still offering that prayer.
Why is it that we're still offering it?
Because it hasn't been answered yet.
His kingdom has not yet come.
And His kingdom is not going to come
until the King comes back.
And when the King comes back, then this
prayer of the church is going to be
answered.
Thy kingdom come.
And that's what this verse says here very
plainly.
Verse 9.
And the Lord shall be king over all
the earth.
In that day there shall be one Lord
and his name one.
So there's a day coming when Satan is
going to be dethroned and when God is
going to occupy the throne of his father
David.
The Lord Jesus Christ will occupy that throne.
And He's going to reign in millennial splendor
and power for 1,000 years.
He'll reign over all the earth.
And everyone will be in submission to Him
in that day.
And the Lord shall be king over all
the earth.
There'll just be one King in the world.
That King will be the Lord Jesus Christ.
And He'll reign over all the earth and
His name one.
Now look at the 11th verse, if you
will.
And men shall dwell in it, and there
shall be no more utter destruction.
For the last time, this world is going
to be destroyed.
There'll be no more utter destruction.
It's all over with.
But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
But Jerusalem
shall be safely inhabited.
Now it's never been safe to live in
Jerusalem.
In all the centuries that have passed and
gone it has never been safe to dwell
in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem has been invaded more than 40 times
and overthrown.
Lives have been lost.
And Jerusalem is going to be invaded once
again by the armies of this world.
And it's going to be overthrown.
And men in thousands are going to die.
But it says here that after that's all
over and done with, then the Lord will
set up His kingdom with headquarters in Jerusalem
and men shall dwell in it.
And there shall be no more utter destruction.
For the last time, Jerusalem will have been
destroyed.
And the city will never again be destroyed.
And men will dwell in Jerusalem safe from
destruction.
Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
I suppose one of the most dangerous places
to live in the world is in the
city of Jerusalem.
Nobody knows when that city may fall again
or when it may be destroyed again.
We know that it's got to fall once
more.
It's got to be destroyed once more.
We know that for a certainty.
But there's going to come a time when
the last destruction will have taken place and
when Jerusalem will never, never be destroyed again.
It will be safely inhabited.
And for a thousand years, men and women
will live in Jerusalem, boys and girls.
And there will be perfect safety for a
thousand years in the city of Jerusalem.
It will never be destroyed during that thousand
-year period.
And this shall be the plague wherewith the
Lord shall smite all the people that have
fought against Jerusalem.
Now listen to this plague.
First, their flesh shall consume away while they
stand upon their feet.
These armies will be standing somewhere before Jerusalem
on their feet, great, vast armies consisting of
hundreds of thousands of people.
And suddenly God will strike them and their
flesh will consume away while they stand on
their feet.
That means that they'll crash to the ground.
They'll be overcome.
They'll be conquered.
And the Jews will be delivered.
The city of Jerusalem will be saved.
But that isn't all.
Their flesh shall consume away while they stand
upon their feet.
Second, and their eyes shall consume away in
their holes.
Suddenly they'll go blind.
Their eyes will consume away and they'll be
blinded and they'll not be able to see,
won't be able to see what's going on
right before them.
And then third, and their tongue shall consume
away in their mouth.
Here are three terrible judgments that will fall
upon all the nations of the world as
they stand before Jerusalem just after Jerusalem has
been conquered and has been overcome and defeated.
God steps on the scene.
Suddenly these men who have conquered Jerusalem will
find that their flesh is consuming away as
they stand there.
Their eyes will go blind and they'll not
be able to see.
And every one of these predictions will be
literally fulfilled.
Their tongue shall consume away in their mouths.
They'll not be able to speak.
This will be the judgment that will fall
upon these people who have tried to conquer
Jerusalem and conquer the Lord's people in Jerusalem.
Now look, if you will, at the 14th
verse.
And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem.
And the wealth of all the heathen round
about shall be gathered together, gold and silver
and apparel in great abundance.
You know Jerusalem is going to become the
wealthiest city on the face of the earth.
One of these days, the wealthiest city in
the entire world will be the city of
Jerusalem.
They'll get their wealth from the nations that
tried to conquer them.
It will all come to the Jews.
It will all come to Jerusalem.
And Jerusalem will find itself the wealthiest city
in the entire world.
Now the 16th verse.
And it shall come to pass that every
one that is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem, every one that is
left of all the nations that came against
Jerusalem shall even go up from year to
year to worship the King, the Lord of
hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
In other words, the nations, the men who
made up the nations that fought against Jerusalem,
they're going to have to appear in Jerusalem
once every year to acknowledge the Lord Jesus
Christ and to worship the Lord and recognize
Him as Lord of lords and King of
kings.
Now what's going to happen if they refuse
to go?
What's going to take place if they say
we'll not go up this year?
We refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ.
16th verse.
And it shall come to pass that every
one that is left of the nations which
came against Jerusalem shall even go up from
year to year to worship the King, the
Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast
of Tabernacles.
But listen now, 17th verse.
And it shall be that whosoever will not
come up of all the families of the
earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the
Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be
no rain.
That will be the punishment.
Now what happens when there's no rain on
a nation?
You know what the result is.
The result is famine.
What happens when there's famine?
There's nothing to eat.
The people starve to death.
And so millions of these people who came
against Jerusalem to try to conquer it will
find that if they do not go up
to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord
of hosts, there'll be no rain on their
country and there'll be famine in their country
and they'll face starvation.
And that's the way God will judge them
for not going up to worship Him at
Jerusalem.
Now what's to be the keynote of all
this?
Look at verse 20.
And that day shall there be upon the
bells of the horses holiness unto the Lord.
The key word on that day when Jesus
Christ takes over the reign of government and
reigns for a thousand years, the key word
will be holiness.
Holiness unto the Lord.
Now that's something that you and I do
not know very much about.
There's everything but holiness in this our day.
All we have to do is to look
at the signs erected everywhere and see the
lack of holiness in this city of ours
right here in Toronto.
There's very little holiness.
And if we were to go to certain
parts of this city and certain places in
this city, we would find anything but holiness.
People in Toronto are not holy.
Only a little group.
The vast majority are still giving themselves to
unholiness and they're not holy as the Lord
wants them to be.
And so God says here, in that day
there shall be upon the bells of the
horses holiness unto the Lord.
Now then, in the last verse, what does
it say?
In that day there shall be no more
the Canaanites in the house of the Lord.
You cannot find a church today anywhere in
the world where everyone is a born-again
Christian.
No such church exists today.
Go to any church you want to anywhere
in the world and you'll find the Canaanites.
You'll find that while there are Christians, there
are the unsaved in the church pretending to
worship God, never having been born again, still
Canaanites in any church you go to anywhere
in the face of this earth.
But there's going to come a day, according
to Zechariah, when holiness will be the key
word, when there will not be a church
anywhere in the world where there will be
those who are unholy.
A day when holiness will be the key
word and will rule and govern the nations
of the world and especially the people of
Jerusalem.
Holiness unto the Lord.
That day is surely coming, as sure as
we're sitting here tonight.
And Zechariah makes it very plain, very clear.
And I say once again, not a single
prediction in the 14th chapter of Zechariah has
ever yet been fulfilled.
It's all in the future.
It has yet to be fulfilled.
It was spoken 2,500 years ago.
2,500 years ago.
Zechariah was given these predictions.
Not one of them was fulfilled when Jesus
Christ was here 1,900 years ago.
And not one of them will be fulfilled
until he comes back again in his power
and in his glory to rule and reign
in this world of ours over the nations.
So when he does, when he comes again,
the key note throughout the entire world will
be holiness.
And for the first time in the history
of the world, we'll know experimentally the meaning
of the word holiness.
And there'll not be a Canaanite.
There'll not be a non-holy person anywhere
on the face of the earth.
I've read this chapter, the 14th chapter, again
and again.
Every now and again I turn back to
it and I read it once more.
It always brings me comfort to know that
there's a day coming when we're not going
to be on the weaker side.
We're not going to be defeated.
We're going to be on the winning side,
on the victorious side.
And holiness will be the key note in
the entire world at that time.
And there'll not be a Canaanite, a non
-holy person, anywhere in the world while Jesus
Christ governs in millennial splendor, power and glory
as he will govern for a thousand years.
Shall we bow together in prayer?
Our loving Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that
the day is coming when the kingdoms of
this world will become the kingdoms of our
Lord and of His Christ.
And there will be no more iniquity and
holiness will be the key note in every
nation and among all the peoples of the
world.
And when Jerusalem will at last become a
holy city, the kind of a city Thou
dost want it to be, and when all
those with whom we mingle, all those with
whom we associate, will be holy men and
women living entirely for God and for a
thousand years will enjoy life when there'll be
no sin to deal with, no crimes of
any kind, and when holiness will characterize the
nations of the world and Jesus Christ will
reign in millennial splendor, power and glory for
a thousand years.
We long for that day.
We yearn for that day.
And we pray, Our Father, that that day
may come and come speedily.
We long for the return of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And we pray tonight again that the day
may soon come when Jesus will be back
again and will be reigning with His saints
in power and in glory, and when His
reign will last for a thousand years.
We look forward to that day.
We pray that it may soon come, that
we may pray continually for it, that we
may have a share in it when that
day arrives.
Hear us in answer prayer and the glory
and the praise and the honor shall be
Thine own.
For we ask it, Our Father, in Jesus'
name and for His sake.
Amen.