Dwelling Place

Al Pittman: Today on the Dwelling Place.

Al Pittman: I’m so excited about this, this generation, because you know what, these young people are rising up. The parents won't say it, their grandparents won't say it, they're apathetic, but these young kids are rising up in the name of Jesus and boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen. Blesses my soul to see that. Because God is faithful and has a remnant in every generation. And Gen Z, I gave up on them. God did not.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to The Dwelling Place, a radio ministry from Pastor Al Pittman of Al Pittman Ministries. The purpose of this radio program is to encourage you, strengthen your walk with the Lord, and grow. To support this program financially or learn more about the ministry, visit us online at AlPittmanMinistries.com. That's AlPittmanMinistries.com. Your donations keep this radio program going. Thank you for partnering with us. Today we finish the message, "The Lord Stood By" from Zechariah chapter 3 verses 1 through 7. In the previous messages, we learned about standing before God as failures, God's rebuke and divine choice, from filthy garments to royal robes, and now we hear about commission for purpose. Now, here's Pastor Al.

Al Pittman: You know, what you're doing is you're coming against God's ordained authority and institutions that he's ordained. And here's the reality, rebellion against God, what God has ordained cannot be sustained by the perverted wisdom of mankind. You can. Amen. Praise the Lord. You can't change it. God says in his word he changes not. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. If it was sin yesterday, it's sin today and it will be sin tomorrow. You say, "Oh no, Pastor, you're not loving, you're not loving, you got to love people." But love without the truth is a lie.

I don't care how you put it. I don't want to hurt them, I want to just love them. Love without the truth is a lie. If you're going along with your children and you're not telling them the truth, and they're coming home and saying, "I'm not a boy anymore, I'm a girl," you need to lovingly say you're wrong. You don't go along with it and say, "Oh, it's all right," you know. Because you I'm just loving them. No, you're you're you're hating them. Because love without the truth is a lie. Whatever mankind says, it cannot be sustained by their perverted wisdom. God's word will not change. He changes not.

And when the devil drags us into God's court, if you will, to condemn us, he is in fact trying to redefine us. He's in fact trying to redefine what God has already ordained. He'd redefine God's purpose for us. He also when he drags us into the court to condemn us of God's court, as he has Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, the devil forgets to read the sign above the court, the entrance to the court of the Lord. What does the sign say? Romans 8:1, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. So devil, you're just wasting your time. Amen. Praise God, give him praise and glory for that.

There's no condemnation for you if you're in Christ Jesus. He's just wasting his time. The authority of God's rebuke transforms death into life. You came in this morning, maybe you don't know, you haven't given your life to Jesus Christ and you feel like, "Man, I'm dead inside. I'm looking for something, I thought I might try church this morning or whatever." Listen, God's word, his rebuke of the devil, God can give you life where there is death. Amen. Maybe you came in and you feel like my my marriage is falling apart, you know, things are decomposing spiritually. Your spiritual decomposition ceases when God rebukes the devil in that situation, when you turn your life over to Jesus Christ. Lazarus had no choice but to come out of the tomb, Amen. When Jesus called him out. Why is that? Because God's choice is always greater than the voice of condemnation against you in Christ.

Oh, give him praise and glory somebody. Aren't you glad the voice that condemned you or is condemning you this very day, that God's choice, he has chosen you in Christ. That his choice is always greater than the voice of condemnation. Verse two tells us here in our text, the latter part that the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? Jerusalem, why Jerusalem? Again, remind you. Israel, Jerusalem, had committed sin against God, was caught up in idolatry. They practiced idolatry in Jerusalem, in the temple. That's why God judged them and allowed the Babylonians to conquer them and to destroy the temple. That first glorious temple of Solomon. And after 70 years of captivity, they come back to rebuild this second temple.

But Jerusalem was devastated at this time. And yet, because God had chosen it, God had not forgotten it. Now why did God choose Jerusalem? Because Jerusalem would be the place where Jesus would make atonement for the sins of the world on the cross. Amen. That's why he had chosen Jerusalem. And by the way, Hamas and Hezbollah and everybody else that wants to destroy Jerusalem, destroy Israel, God has still chosen Jerusalem to this day. Amen. Amen. God is a God of promise. And yet, because God had chosen the city of Jerusalem, the devil was against Jerusalem. And here we really see the nature of God, because God, you know, again, Jerusalem's devastated, right? The temple's a heap of ruins. God always the nature of God is that he chooses devastated things.

He said, "Did I not choose, have I not chosen Jerusalem?" Yeah, but Jerusalem's devastated. Who wants Jerusalem? God did. He reminds us of the fact that in Christ, God has chosen us. He has chosen lives beyond human repair, chosen lives that people have given up on, people whose lives are just a pile of rubble and ruin. Yet God still chooses us. And why does he do it? He does it for his glory, because he loves us. First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 27-29 says, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised. God has chosen. And the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." There'll be nobody going up getting a trophy in heaven. Because it's only by grace and by mercy that we've been saved.

Every one of us, we were foolish and weak and we were unable to save ourselves and we are not. The devil's come and tells you that you're not, you're not good enough, you're not good looking enough, you're not successful enough, you're not smart enough, you're not educated enough. You are not, you are not. You hear that all day, all the all the time, but God says, "You are." You are my child. You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who loves you. Amen. That's what you are in Jesus Christ. And he's chosen us so that we might magnify and glorify his name, so that what God does in our life, we can't take the credit for, we have to say it was Jesus. People ask my wife and I, you know, many times, you know, we've been telling them telling them that we've been married 50 years. "What's your secret?" First thing come out of our mouth, we say it almost simultaneously, "Jesus." Nobody can take the credit for Pastor Al and Norma being together for 50 years, but Jesus, because we did everything we could to mess it up. Amen. Nobody gets the glory but Jesus Christ. Nobody gets the glory in this church, because God established this church and God will never abandon his church. Amen.

You know, he says says here in verse two, the latter part it says, "Is this not the fire brand plucked from the fire?" I wanted to notice this because Jerusalem had been plucked from the fire of God's discipline. That's a whole another thing. Because it's one thing to be accused by the devil for things you didn't do. It's another thing to be accused by the devil and he has the video of you doing it. And yet still God says, "I've chosen them. They might be a mess, but they're my mess." Amen. God had chosen Joshua, the high priest and Jerusalem. The good news is God's chastening and discipline never cancels his choice, which is you.

And all those, by the way, who are in Christ are chosen in Christ, chosen to be children of God. And we come to Christ by faith. Listen to what the Bible says about God's chastening in Hebrews chapter 12 verses 5 and 6, "And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons." If you forget this exhortation, you get bummed out, because here's the reality, God will take you to the woodshed. And I know people, I heard a guy talking the other day saying, you know, the Bible doesn't promote, you know, corporal punishment and things like that. And you know, I'm not God's not saying beat your kids to death. He's not saying that. He says, "Not spare the rod." I think that still means you gotta spank them sometimes. And um, you know, God may God disciplines us, but he does it because because he he loves us. And um, he says, "But don't don't don't forget this exhortation, you know, that he's doing it because he loves us." He goes on to say in Hebrews chapter 12, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him, for whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives." If God disciplines us, it means that he loves us.

You know, my father, uh, I knew he loved me. Woo, he loved me. Cuz he would beat my behind. A lot of love. He would spank me. And he wanted me to do the right thing. I remember one time he told me, he said, "Son, if you ever get in trouble, I don't care if you murdered somebody." He said, "Don't let me read about it in the paper." He said, "You come tell me." Got arrested one time with a bunch of knuckleheads, we're down at the police station. My dad was the only father to come down to get me. All the other dads didn't show up. So I knew I knew he loved me. Can't tell you what he said to me at the police station, but I knew he loved me. Amen. So. But I thought about that, think about that, if my dad could love me that much, how much more does God love me? If you being evil now, to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? How much more will the heavenly Father give good things to those who ask? So what makes you think you being God's child that somehow he stopped loving you? You may have been in trouble, but he still loves you. And he will discipline you. He'll correct us, it's because he loves us.

Zechariah chapter 3 verses 4 and 5 says, "Then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, 'Take away the filthy garment.'" God is speaking here. He says, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "See, I have removed your iniquity." He's talking to Joshua, the high priest, "I remove your iniquity from you. And I will clothe you with rich robes." And I said, this is Zechariah saying, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and they put the clothes on him and the angel of the Lord stood by. From rags to riches. Maybe you walked in here with rags on, filthy garments of condemnation and shame. And God is saying, "I want to exchange that filthy garment that you have for a royal robe, a rich robe, a robe of grace, a robe of mercy." Amen.

Guest (Male): We hope you're enjoying today's message so far. We wanted to take a quick break to thank you for supporting The Dwelling Place. Because of you, this message can reach the whole world. If you'd like to support this ministry, please visit us at AlPittmanMinistries.com or mail a check to PO Box 50594, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80949. That's PO Box 50594, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80949. Again, thank you for supporting The Dwelling Place. Now, let's get back into the message.

Al Pittman: From rags to riches, you don't have to walk out the same way you you walked in. God has taken away the iniquity, the filthy garments of our sin and has replaced them with rich robes of salvation through faith in Christ. Joshua is restored to his rightful place. He's the high priest. He's restored to his rightful place and God wants to restore us through faith in Jesus Christ, number one, to our rightful place and that is to be in fellowship with him without condemnation as sons and daughters of God. That's that's that's what you were created for. That's your rightful place.

And for those believers who have fallen away or you've done something shameful and you dare not stand before God, I want you to stand before God that he might remove your iniquity. The Bible says, "If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Notice Zechariah confirms God's choice. Verse 5, Zechariah says, "Then I said," I mean, he kinda injects himself in the text, you know. And I said, "Yeah, give him a a turban, a clean turban." The turban and the rich robes was the attire of the high priest. But I want you to see that Zechariah is in agreement with God's cleansing of Joshua, the high priest. What's the point there? The point is that we ought to affirm those who have been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. We're going to we ought to affirm one another who have been washed. And so many times as Christians, we're quick to condemn each other rather than affirm each other. And we need to learn the lesson that Peter learned while he sat on the roof in Acts chapter 10. He saw the blanket coming down three times in a vision and it had all these uncultured animals on it that stuff that Jews didn't eat, you know, like spare ribs and and uh, you know, pork chops and stuff like that. And God said, "Rise up, kill and eat." And Peter said, "Not so, Lord." And he saw the vision three times. Finally, God got through to Peter and said, "Peter, don't you dare call unclean what I have cleansed." How dare we call another brother or sister unclean?

We need to confirm and affirm that which God has cleansed. And that is what we see Zechariah doing here. And I want you to note that the angel, the angel of the Lord stood by. God stood by. The Lord stood by, not to coddle Joshua, but to commission Joshua. "Joshua, I you something, I've I've I've called you to do. You have a purpose. I'm not here just to coddle you and just stroke you and make you feel good." I have commissioned you and every one of us in here have been commissioned by the Lord to live for his glory, to magnify the name of Jesus Christ. God stands by us for the same reason to commission us for that we might have purpose to commission you. You know, what? To be a pastor, to to go on the mission field, or whatever. No, not necessarily that. It might be. I don't know, but but here's the thing, maybe commission you to be the best mom or dad or employee or employer that you can be, the best servant of God in the house of God that you can be to the glory of God. That's what he's commissioned us to be.

So the Lord says in Zechariah 3 verses 6 and 7, you know, I got something for you to do, Joshua. Then the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, "Thus says the Lord of Hosts. If you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command, then you shall also judge my house and likewise have charge of my courts. I will give you places to walk among these who stand here. If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my word," those are the two commandments, the two things that we should heed. We have to walk in his ways. So walking in his ways is to know his ways. To walk in God's ways, we have to spend time with God so that we know his ways. And how do we spend time with God? In prayer. How do you know somebody you know, you know, spend, you know, we see people on TV and go, "I don't like him." Why don't you like him? "Man, I don't like Do you know him?" "No, but I don't like him." Well, how can you say? You don't you've never met the brother. You haven't even met the woman. You don't even know. How do you you haven't even met him? Now maybe some things they say that you don't agree with, you don't like or whatever. But do you really know that person? We can't say we know God and not spend time with God and not pray. And we can't say we know God and and and be able to accomplish what he's called us to do if we're not keeping his word. How do you keep his word if you're not reading his word? So those two things are so important for us. See, he had something for Joshua to do. You need to walk in my ways, you need to keep my word. And then you'll be able to stand in places, stand in places where the devil once opposed you. Wow. You'll be able to walk in your purpose.

How many of you dare to walk where the devil said you couldn't walk? Dare to be the man of God. I'm so excited for Gen Z, I'm so excited for this younger generation. I know I'm going a couple minutes over, hope Nathan doesn't come back. I'm so excited about this, this generation, because you know what, these young people are rising up. The parents won't say it, their grandparents won't say it, they're apathetic, but these young kids are rising up in the name of Jesus and boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen. Blesses my soul to see that. Because God is faithful and has a remnant in every generation. And Gen Z, I gave up on them. God did not. Cause people gave up on my generation. But then there was a Jesus people movement, the Jesus revolution in the late 60s and early 70s. At the time when America's cities were burning and all that stuff going on. God had a plan, he had a purpose for us to fulfill. And so it is even to this day, God is still moving. And I love to see him moving in these new wine skins, in these young people. Amen. God has places for you to walk, a purpose for you where the devil has once opposed you because he's called you to be more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, we can live like Christian pets, like victims, or we can live as people of purpose through faith in Christ. Are you a pet or you a purpose or a person of purpose? What's a pet? A pet is a Christian pet is someone who says, they always need to be fed, they always receiving but they never give. I heard a lady say this the other day, uh in uh she's just teaching the word and she said, you know, Christians say, "Oh, I left that church because I wasn't getting fed." She says, "What are you, a cow?" I thought that was great. What are you, a cow? You know,