Zechariah 1:4-6

Zechariah 1:4-6

The Enduring Hope Found in the Logos

Zec 1:4  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. 

Zec 1:5  Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 

Zec 1:6  But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. 

1. Repent of Your Self Effort and Self Glory. – vs. 4*
1. Your fathers had a faithful witness to call them to repentance.

                                                               i.      Jeremiah 16:19-21 

2. They were warned just like you to repent of your sin and turn to Christ.

                                                               i.      Jeremiah 35:15 

3. Please do not repeat the same mistake and refuse to heed the call to repentance.

                                                               i.      Acts 3:11-26 

2. Tradition Fails. The Memory of Great Men Fades. – vs. 5*
1. Nations come to an end, great men die, and religious systems crumble. Can your identity be taken away? If so how would such and event affect your world view?
3. The Logos Endures Forever. – vs. 6*
1. God’s word endures to reveal Christ to every generation. The affect of the word, which reveals the Word, is as follows:

                                                               i.      God’s word takes root in your spirit.

1.      John 10:14-18 

                                                             ii.      You repent of your sins and live a changed life by His power

1.      Titus 3:4-7 

                                                            iii.      You live to see the goodness and justice of God.

1.      1 Peter 2:24-25 

2.      “This then, is a brief outline of this first sermon of Zechariah: He first wishes to make the people pious and God fearing by means of threats and promises; and in order to frighten them, he offers them the example of their good deeds like these, he first wants them to be pious, so that they might not think that God would be satisfied with their work of building the temple and the city, as their fathers had thought that it was good enough if they sacrificed. No, my good man, rather than all good works he wants faith and a heart converted to him. That is all he is interested in. This must come first and be preached first: ‘Return to me, and after that build me a temple’ and not, ‘first build me a temple, and after that return to me.’ Good works inflate us and make us proud, but faith and conversion humble us and make us despair of ourselves.”         – Martin Luther