“Thus says the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.”
Love truth and peace because the end result of the gospel and love towards each other is joy.
God has promised a salvation that saves His way, and He will give the peace through the means appointed. We have sinned, do all manner of evil, and yet, He is RETURNED to us in love. He says, “Thus says the Lord; I am RETURNED unto Zion”, and, “so will I save you”, so that He pardons the sins, promises prosperity, and compels us to abide in Christ, doing God’s will (Zech 8:3, 13). He says that I am with you now, and the result is going to be peace – “not as the world gives”, a halting false peace in delusions and bubbles soon to burst. No, He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I” (John 14:27-28).
His peace is in the gospel of the ascended Christ, the equal with God, who came down here to obey perfectly. He has risen, come back for us in the Spirit, and taught us the gospel of God, that His exaltation is our salvation, for He was raised to proclaim redemption through His blood and sits enthroned to bring to pass our eternal good, causing us to rejoice in Him because He’s put love for Christ in the heart. This peace, which God’s Son gives, quiets the storms and makes us bold in God, no matter what.
Therefore, live the way that God says - trusting Christ and loving others - and you will experience the “joy and gladness, and cheerful assemblies” of the gospel (Zech 8:19).
The gospel isn’t a fairy tale of words only, but it changes people, brings peace, love, and strength to the heart: it DELIGHTS us – “And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be you clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matt 8:3). It is real, and as we love because we are loved, speaking truth and forgiving sinners, God will give us the pleasure He has promised.
Therefore, look to Christ to SATISFY you, and don’t take the fools gold of this world – “For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor” (Zech 8:10).
The world PROMISES peace, but you end up with GOD against you, and when this happens, no amount of praise and applause from Adam’s race can alleviate the horror that comes from God - “Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts: but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.” (Zech 7:13).
Choose peace towards others and belief of the truth, and you will have joy as the result – “For thus says the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear you not” (Zech 8:14-15).
God has promised a salvation that saves His way, and He will give the peace through the means appointed. We have sinned, do all manner of evil, and yet, He is RETURNED to us in love. He says, “Thus says the Lord; I am RETURNED unto Zion”, and, “so will I save you”, so that He pardons the sins, promises prosperity, and compels us to abide in Christ, doing God’s will (Zech 8:3, 13). He says that I am with you now, and the result is going to be peace – “not as the world gives”, a halting false peace in delusions and bubbles soon to burst. No, He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I” (John 14:27-28).
His peace is in the gospel of the ascended Christ, the equal with God, who came down here to obey perfectly. He has risen, come back for us in the Spirit, and taught us the gospel of God, that His exaltation is our salvation, for He was raised to proclaim redemption through His blood and sits enthroned to bring to pass our eternal good, causing us to rejoice in Him because He’s put love for Christ in the heart. This peace, which God’s Son gives, quiets the storms and makes us bold in God, no matter what.
Therefore, live the way that God says - trusting Christ and loving others - and you will experience the “joy and gladness, and cheerful assemblies” of the gospel (Zech 8:19).
The gospel isn’t a fairy tale of words only, but it changes people, brings peace, love, and strength to the heart: it DELIGHTS us – “And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be you clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matt 8:3). It is real, and as we love because we are loved, speaking truth and forgiving sinners, God will give us the pleasure He has promised.
Therefore, look to Christ to SATISFY you, and don’t take the fools gold of this world – “For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor” (Zech 8:10).
The world PROMISES peace, but you end up with GOD against you, and when this happens, no amount of praise and applause from Adam’s race can alleviate the horror that comes from God - “Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts: but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.” (Zech 7:13).
Choose peace towards others and belief of the truth, and you will have joy as the result – “For thus says the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear you not” (Zech 8:14-15).
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