Zechariah 3 sermon manuscript

Title: Claim Your Prize

Big Idea: As Christians, we are God’s possession. If we are God’s, then satan has no right to claim us because God defines our identity.

Aim: That the hearers will leave with confidence to be more bold in their walk of faith as a result of knowing that they belong to God alone and that their identity is eternally tied to him.

Introduction: Besides Jesus, you know who I’ve had the closest relationship with? My mother... I’ve recently been contemplating why she’s so special to me... I’ve concluded that it has to do with how I’ve seen her as a result of her being so confident in her own identity. To me she’s been the best mother and spiritual leader a son could ever hope for. Though she’s known herself as a mother and wife, most importantly she’s identified herself as a possession of God. My mom is absolutely identified by her belonging to God and that’s why I love her so much as a mother. This morning we’re going to look at the idea in Scripture of what it means to be God’s possession. After all, shouldn’t that be key in how we see our own identity? This morning we’re going to be looking at a passage of Scripture in...

Zechariah 3:1-10- I want you to visualize the imagery of this passage as I read. This section of Scripture gives us insight into the spiritual realm hardly shown elsewhere in the Bible.

Text Synopsis: We see here a vision of the prophet Zechariah in which satan is accusing the high priest of Israel before God. satan is accusing Joshua on the basis of his filthy garments with the intent to claim Joshua as his. Following God’s rebuke of satan, God removes the dirty garments and clothes Joshua with clean garments. The angel of the Lord then tells Joshua to walk in God’s ways now that he has been made clean. The vision ends with a picture of a great day of prosperity to come.

1. satan stands to accuse (3:1) in order to claim us as his possession
1. Revelation 12:10- satan accuses the brethren day and night before God. His very nature is to accuse; in fact, that’s what his name means. Jesus says that he’s a liar and that he only speaks lies.
2. Perhaps you haven’t recognized it as the voice of the accuser, because we think what he’s saying is true. Here we have the picture of satan accusing Joshua on the basis of his filthy garments, and if we’re too quick to draw a conclusion we may agree that satan’s accusations are true. Though satan’s accusations may be factual, they are not true. satan wants to identify us according to our mistake-ridden past, while God identifies us as those created for a future of eternal life. satan’s accusations of Joshua were factual in that he and the nation of Israel had earned the filthy garments by sin, but they were untrue because God didn’t define Israel by her sin; He redefines her with clean clothes.
3. Maybe we’ve fallen for the same trick in our own lives. You may be tempted to believe the lie that if you’ve had sex outside of marriage, then you’re a fornicator. Maybe you’ve been deceived into thinking that if you’ve lied, then you’re a liar. Or perhaps you’ve allowed satan to stamp you as a sinner because you’ve sinned.
4. Jude 1:9 contains an interesting account of a dispute between Michael the archangel and satan over the body of Moses. satan is rebuked in the same way he’s rebuked in our Zechariah text. I believe satan accused Moses with the intent to have him for eternity. If you remember… Moses’ life ended with a sin that hindered him from entering the promised land. He struck the rock that God commanded him to speak to and dishonored God’s name before Israel, thus God didn’t allow him to enter the promised land.

Transition: It does not end there, for Moses nor for us

2. God stands to claim his possession (3:2) God’s rebuke of satan signifies the truth that Moses belongs to God and satan can’t have him, because Moses’ faith was not in himself. His faith was in God. Likewise God stood to defend Joshua and Israel as his possession; and in the same way he claims us as his possession. But how do we know that we’re a possession of God?
1. Matthew 28:18-20- When Jesus gave the great commission, he commanded that disciples be baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. The language here implies that the disciple is being baptized into the possession of the Father, Son and Spirit. Just as Joshua’s iniquities were removed when God removed his filthy clothes, so were our iniquities when we were baptized for the forgiveness of our sins, as we read in Acts 2:38.
1. If baptism is the point at which we become God’s possession, what’s the most logical point of attack for the accuser? Doesn’t it make sense that the deceiver wants people to believe that baptism is unnecessary to become God’s? Furthermore, for those of us who are familiar with what God does at baptism, satan wants us to doubt that our baptism was legitimate. Why do so many of us question whether our baptism produced the results that God promised? It’s because satan is constantly accusing Christians that we don’t belong to God. For those of you who may struggle with doubt in this area, let me give you a word of encouragement: If your faith was in Jesus to forgive your sins at baptism, then Jesus forgave your sins. What a peace that ought to give us!
2. 1 Peter 2:9-10 speaks of the church now that we belong to God, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Do you remember when you once didn’t belong to God? Much like Joshua and the nation of Israel we stood clothed in filthy garments. But now, praise God, we are His possession! We are now a kingdom of priests! You and I have become God’s priesthood now that we belong to him. And satan can’t have God’s priesthood. In Christ, our identity is eternally tied with God.
3. As the people of God we are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that our body is a temple of God’s Spirit. Just as the Spirit dwelt in the holy of holies in the Old Testament, so God’s Spirit dwells in his holy nation, the church. The truth that God’s Spirit dwells in us as a seal of our salvation is proof that we are eternally identified with God. We are told that we are no longer our own. We’ve been bought with a price and are therefore to glorify God in our bodies. As a royal priesthood and a temple of God’s Spirit…
3. We stand clothed in his purity and holiness… today (3:3-5) We see in the vision of Zechariah that God not only removed Joshua’s filthy garments, but He clothed him with clean clothes
1. Galatians 3:26-27 tells us that we are children of God through faith in Christ and that we are clothed in Christ through baptism. Since our baptism we have literally been covered in the righteousness of Jesus. Furthermore…
2. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that those of us who are in Christ are new creatures. The old has passed away and the new has come. Not only were we a new creation at baptism; we are new creatures today. It’s not as if the cross atoned for our past sins and we have to atone for our future sins. Verse 21 here in 2 Corinthians 5 explains that Jesus, the sinless one became our sin-bearer so that we could become the righteousness of God. We’re clothed in Christ’s perfection today.
3. You notice one of those articles of clothing in our Zechariah text is a turban. I’m convinced that this isn’t limited to cultural implications. In Exodus 28:36 we see that the priest’s turban had an inscription on it that read “Holy to the LORD”. Not only are we holy, being set apart from the world, we are also holy in the sense that we are set apart unto God for his purposes. Because we are clothed with the garment that reads “Holy to the LORD”...
4. We stand to walk in God’s ways (3:6-7)
1. 1 John 1:7 says that if we walk in the light as God himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. To walk in the light is to walk in this intimate relationship with Jesus, the light of the world.
2. Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 5:7 we are told to walk by faith, not by sight. We know that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We cannot possibly know how to walk in faith if we are not constantly in God’s Word.
3. Galatians 5:16 tells us to walk by the Spirit that we won’t carry out the desires of the flesh. It’s impossible to walk in God’s ways alone. Not only are we in need for the fellowship of the church, we desperately need the Spirit’s help in our walk. After we’ve walked faithfully, guided by Jesus our Shepherd…
5. We stand with assurance that we are pure and holy in final judgment (3:8-10)
1. The forgiveness of the land that happened in one day in verse 9 of our Zechariah text is referencing Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for sin at the cross. Hebrews 9:27 says that it’s appointed for man to die once, then after comes judgment. For those of us who belong to Christ, we are defined by what Jesus did at the cross.
2. Then there’s this promise of a vine and a fig tree. If you’re like me, you’re wondering, “What does that mean?” The Israelites of the time would’ve definitely understood it to be a symbol of peace and prosperity after all enemies had be conquered. So when is the last enemy conquered for us?
3. 1 Corinthians 15:26 tells us that the last enemy to be defeated is death. Paul goes on to give us insight into what happens for Christians on the day of judgment. In verse 57 he asks, “O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ!”...

Conclusion: What you may not have known as I spoke of my mom earlier is that on January 26 of 2010 she passed away from colon cancer... Some might say that she lost her battle for her life, but that’s only those who don’t understand that her battle wasn’t merely against cancer. Her battle was against the spiritual forces of this dark world; and praise God she didn’t belong to the evil one. On January 26, 2010, on “that day”, God claimed her as his possession for all eternity. Though my mom didn’t live a perfect life, satan’s accusations against her identity were met with a rebuke, because her faith was in Christ. She became a possession of God when she died to sin in baptism, and God has claimed her as his ever since. She lived a life of boldness that reflected her identity as a child of God. In fact, during her four year battle with cancer, I saw her fall in love with God like I’ve never seen anyone. And now that it’s all said and done, she stands victorious in Christ Jesus…

That’s my mom’s story, but is that your story? Have you become God’s possession? If you are a possession of God, we can say together as the church:

If God is for us, who can be against us? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither things present nor things to come, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.