ZECHARIAH 13: LIVING WATER

Zechariah 13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Zechariah is prophecying of a coming day when God would provide a fountain of living water where sins are forgiven. Jesus was the water. Here Jesus is teaching us the ultimate message. He is the only water for eternal life. Jesus had come to give his people of the House of David the new covenant which God would do the reconciling for his people. As Zechariah goes on he makes other prophecies.

Zechariah 13: 6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
7Awake, 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: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and 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.

Jesus when he was ressurected showed them his scars. They, his followers had rejected him and ran as Jesus was persecuted and killed. He shows them at his ressurection his fulfilment of his teachings. He had risen. Verse 9 talks of the people calling him their God. Paul made references to this verse as fulfilled within the church in which jews and gentiles now are part of which is the new covenant promise to the jews. All the earth now can taste of the water though few will do it. The road is narrow but the water has been supplied and will satisfy us forevermore.

LEARN FROM THE DOG

I once read a poem and it made me understand something I never realized. We are less worthy than even a dog. Listen to this poem:

Did Christ Have a Little Black Dog
I wonder if Christ had a little black dog,All curly and wooly like mine,With two silky ears, and nose round and wet,Two eyes brown and tender that shine?I am sure if He had, that that little black dog,Knew right from the first He was God,That he needed no proof that Christ was divine,But just worshipped the ground where He trod.I'm afraid that He hadn't because I have read,How He prayed in the garden alone,For all of His friends and disciples had fled,Even Peter, the one called a "Stone."And oh, I am sure that that little black dog,With a true heart so tender and warmWould never have left Him to suffer aloneBut creeping right under His arm;Would have licked those dear fingers in agony clasped,And counting all favors but loss,When they took Him away, would have trotted behind,And followed Him right to the Cross.

As I read the poem I have to admit tears flowed from my eyes and I couldnt hardly finish it from the water obscuring my view. My spirit was showing me I wasnt worthy, the disciples werent worthy, we all arent worthy. And yet even as the disciples rejected him, just a few weeks later would rise up in faith and change the world. I think a dog has many purposes in life but the most important is this one. They teach us obedience no matter what. They are always there to follow. They are always answering our call. The dog, not humans, are always there.
Sometimes we call dogs a stray dog but the real truth is they arent strays. They just want a master to be there master so that they can obey. They love their masters. We on the other hand are the strays.
Thank God for the dog. Mans best friend...maybe. Mans best teacher...probably.

IS THERE A WRONG WAY TO WITNESS FOR CHRIST

We got into this discussion in sunday school last week and there were many different views. As I examined all of the thought processes I came to these conclusions.

First I must say the words of scripture and its teachings are the most powerful words a person can speak and there are many ways we can get the word out to the world especially in this day and time. We have access to give the word out on paper like tracts, sing about God on the radio and television, teaching through way of radio, tv, or in class settings, internet and communication methods in which to reach others, and the oldest and most effective way of witnessing which is our own voices in person.

The two main things we need to be careful of in using these methods is to be in truth aligned with Gods word and the way we present it in tone and expression. As we present the gospel we should remember to do it in love and also remember that the person you are witnessing to will not neccessarily accept what you say, as a matter of fact, most you witness to will not accept Christ. Do it in love and let God prick and move the person as he wills. We are told to be fishers of men and not catchers. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 3 that we are to plant and water and God will give the increase. We are not in charge or responsible for the growth, that is Gods.

The other point is this. Most witnessing if we are doing our jobs is a one time event. We come in contact with someone and present the gospel and never see them again or they are aqaintances like coworkers who we come in contact with who we have little time to witness to. The key to remember is witness in truth and kindness in love but do it as much as possible and that you are not in control of their decision on the words you speak.
You will be able to make close developement with some to help them accept Christ and help them grow in faith but this again occurs only if they accept Christ to begin with.
This is also the rairest witness encounters. Most of Christs encounters were one time events and so will ours be. Just cast that net and throw those seeds and remember God is in charge of the increase.

The wrong way to witness I would have to say first off is false doctrine or untruths about your own beliefs in this case Gods word. The other is our tone. I will say this however. No matter how soft you speak Gods word is powerful and pierces the hearts of sinners and offends most people in some way weither snall or greatly. It is offensive because the person you are speaking to is lost and part of the wrong army. Remember they are on the wrong side and are still in Satans grasp. Only the Holy Spirit can move on them and pull the scales from their eyes and hearts and cause them to see. Again its up to God. There are also I believe many cases in which even a loud forceful witness can cause a great impact. Imagine a man stands on a table in a cafateria or in a public square and starts preaching to all around that they are sinners and are going to hell if they dont change who they are and follow Christ. Some people these days may think thats rude and unneccessary but think about it. This man witnessed to a large group of people in truth at one time. Was this offensive? Of course. Is this what God could have wanted him to do? Absolutely. Before you disagree remember these people: your preacher, John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, paul, Stephen, Moses, and Noah. All these people did and are doing the same thing and it was effective. It was also Gods will. Just plant the seeds. Just toss the seeds.

WHY THE DISCIPLES FOLLOWED JESUS

Listen to these verses and then I will elaborate on what is going on here.

John 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

John 1: 32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

John 1:40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

John 1: 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

The days had came in which those who knew the word of God in their heart would realize he was coming that year to his people as the anointed one who would take away the sins of the world and be the Savior and King of Israel. These statements by John and the soon to be disciples show us this mindset. These men were looking for and waiting on the appearance of the Messiah. When he appeared this is why they so quickly followed him. They couldnt take the chance not to.

John was the one prophecied in Isaiah 60 to come before Christ and prepare the way. He did this by preaching repentance and the soon coming kingdom of God. Malachi also speaks of this.
John also reminds us of prophecys in the old letter of the anointing that would take place on the one who would take away sin. John was referring to Daniels prophecy of chapter 9. Andrew quickly went and told his brother that they had found the Messiah. These men knew the scriptures and when John told them who he was after his anointing they quickly left John and followed Jesus. They all had been waiting for his arrival. Phillip talking to Nathaniel said the one Moses talked about was here the new covenant King. Nathaniel quickly and hastily proclaims Jesus as the king of Israel. And think of this. Why would Matthew drop his well paying job as tax collector and immediately follow Jesus? Matthew must have also in his heart remembered the scriptures he learned as a boy and was also hoping the Messiah would come that year. I see no other reason to believe he left all for Jesus than this. He too was waiting for the Messiah. They as jews who studied the scriptures knew Jesus was to appear in the 483rd year of Daniels prophecy and it was that year. They also knew he would come during the Roman Empire because of Daniel 2. Knowing the word of God eventually saved their souls. because they held the scriptures in their hearts they knew when he arrived. The Word will also save us one day this same way. We look to the day when we can also see our Messiah.