1

Building Zion – Part 2 (Zechariah 2:1-13 and 5:5-11 January 28, 2018)

A few weeks back I spent a couple of days down the Gold Coast. One beautiful afternoon – I had been for a swim – I was looking out at the sea – crystal clear with the waves rolling in. I had my wife and kids sitting there with me – and I found myself thinking – Ahhh! – this is what heaven will be like. I don’t know about you – but from time to time I let my mind wander to heaven. What usually happens is that I find myself imagining it in terms of the things of this life that bring me the greatest joy.

Family. The mountains. The sea. Seafood.

And I do think it is probable that these things in some perfect form will be part of the new heavens and new earth. But what the prophet Zechariah would say to me is this:

Craig, Craig, Craig – God has so much greater blessings in store for you than that! The best of this world is but an echo of the real joy of heaven.

Zechariah wants me to know that the ultimate blessing will come when I am completely holy – done with every vestige of sin – living in a holy place – no enemies, no evil – and united for all eternity with the glory of God – sharing in His holy perfection and infinite worth. I thought a lot about this through the week. I am a Pastor – a seminary graduate … I have a piece of paper that says so – my favourite book of the Bible is Revelation – I have meditated much about heaven – and

2

I still find it so hard to wrap my mind around this concept that being free of sin and enjoying fellowship with God is far greater than any delight in this world. I find it a constant struggle to think in heavenly terms rather than earthly. I know theologically that me sharing the glory of God is the greatest joy possible – but so much of my heart says – a prawn cocktail by the sea with my wife – actually sounds better. And related to this I struggle to remember how a pilgrim on the way to Zion should live in this time between times. I am not yet in the Heavenly Zion so what does this mean for how I should live today? Our passage this morning helps us answer this question. What we will find is that: The day will come when we will share God’s glory in Zion – but until then we must strive to flee Babylon and proclaim His glory to the world. I am not the first and will not be the last to struggle with the idea of how we should live in this world – when we are heading for the Heavenly Zion. This was the very issue the Jews in the days of the prophet Zechariah struggled with. After their time in exile, the Jews returned to the Promised Land. They were trusting in the promises that God would build Zion there – a city of extraordinary power and beauty. But after 16 years all they saw was a small Temple foundation and a lot of rubble. They asked God – where is your promise to build Zion? The book of Zechariah is God’s answer. Because it is so hard for us to lift our hearts from the earthly to the heavenly – Zechariah gives the same answer three times but using different ways to convey it. Through Prophetic Visions 1-6 Through Prophetic Answers 7-8 Through Prophetic Events 9-14 Last week we began the Prophetic Visions. We looked at the Summary Vision in which God said – I know it does not look like it – but I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy – I am building Zion – My plan is right on target.

3

However: Where you are struggling is that you are thinking of an Earthly Zion – a city like David’s Jerusalem. But my plan is greater. I am building a Heavenly Zion. How?

God’s plan is to build a heavenly Zion By destroying every enemy, sharing His glory and making us holy Through His Priest-King This is the message we are going to see repeated and woven right throughout the fabric of Zechariah. This God’s plan to build Zion. As well, we saw last week that the first way God communicates this in the book of Zechariah is through a series of linked prophetic visions.

I have put the visions that are linked in the same colour. Last week we looked at the initial set of linked visions that told us that the first step in building Zion was: To destroy every enemy. Every false teaching, every worldly system, everything that seeks to draw us away from the Lord.

4

Today, we come to the second group of linked visions: And what these visions tell us is that: The second step to building His Heavenly Zion is for God to share His glory. To see this, please turn with me to Zechariah 2. Notice if you will that God’s glory coming to the city is the repeated theme of this vision. For example: Verse 5 – I will be the glory within Zion. Verse 8 – In pursuit of His glory He sent me against the nations. But one of the problems is – many of us struggle to even comprehend what God’s glory is. Maybe I can put it this way. Christians are notorious for their use of Christianese – and I put my hand up here – you are looking at one of the biggest culprits. We throw around words like – sanctification, justification, election, sovereignty – as if they are self-explanatory. The reality is that many of these words mean something different to different people. And even when we seek to discover the biblical meaning of the words they can still be hard to define. Our passage this morning brings us front and centre to one of the most notoriously difficult words to define – but it is a word you will hear used in just about every church service and Bible study. That word is – glory. Christians throw this word around all the time:

May this be to Your glory Lord. I want to glorify You Father. Show us your glory Lord.

One of the 5 solas is – Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone be the glory. But just what does the glory of God mean? What does it mean to glorify God? What does it mean to be glorified by God?

5

What is it that comes to mind when you think – glory? If I asked you – what is glory? – how would you define it? John Piper says that “defining the glory of God is impossible.” Thanks for that John. But then he says – but we do have to have some definition, so he goes on to give it his best shot and not surprisingly his best shot is really good. He says:

The glory of God is the manifest beauty of His holiness. It is the going public of His holiness.

I think that is a great definition – but for what it is worth – here is how I want to define these terms for us this morning. The glory of God – the display of His holy perfection and infinite worth. The heavens are a display the holy perfection and infinite worth of God. The fire on Mount Sinai is a display the holy perfection and infinite worth of God. Jesus at the transfiguration was a display the holy perfection and infinite worth of God. God is glorious – that is who He is. He is holy, perfect and of infinite worth. To glorify God – to proclaim His holy perfection and infinite worth. We are to declare His holy perfection and infinite worth to the nations – in our lives and in sharing His gospel. To be glorified by God – to share in His holy perfection and infinite worth. Romans 8:29–30:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined … and those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Absolutely amazing – when God is done with us – His plan is that we – sinful, fallen you and men – we will share in His holy perfection and infinite worth. Now with these somewhat imperfect definitions in mind – I want to now put up two other Scriptures. The first is Isaiah 48:11 which says:

My glory I will not give to another.

6

But, when we come to the New Testament we have a number of verses that say – the ultimate destiny of Christians is to share God’s glory. I just quoted Romans 8 – but there are many others – consider 1 Thessalonians 2:12:

God … calls you into His own kingdom and glory. The New Covenant teaching that we will share God’s glory was a huge stumbling block to the Jews. No one shares God’s glory! At first glance these two verses do seem contradictory. I won’t share My glory. I will share My glory. But what we are going to see this morning is that what Scripture says is – there is a group God will not share His glory with – and there is a group that amazingly He decrees He will share His glory with. So, turn with me to: 2:1-13 God’s glory will build Zion Zion – the heavenly city – will be built by, sustained by and empowered by God’s glorious presence. First – God’s glory will build Zion:

By forming a city of fire and light Zechariah 2:1–2:

And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

Zechariah looks and sees a man – not an angel – a man like us – and he is measuring up Jerusalem – getting ready to start the rebuilding. This young man clearly views the promise to rebuild Jerusalem as meaning a bricks and mortar city will rise up and it will be built by men – and he should get cracking building it. Not so fast. God is not primarily building that kind of a city. Verses 3-5:

7

And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”

The final Zion is not going to be a bricks and mortar city. The picture is of a city of fire and light – a city built as God infuses His holy perfection and infinite worth into it. God’s plan is not to have an Earthly Zion as His focus. The Jews pictured a city like David’s Jerusalem – only greater. The angel runs to say – no – wrong picture! Jerusalem and the Temple will be rebuilt – but only as a sign of the Zion to come. You need to think greater. Think – city without walls. Think – a city that flows throughout the land. Think – a city with God as the building blocks. Think – a city of fire and light. God wants the Jews to reorient their whole expectations. But, as we saw last week – this vision of the Zion God is building is fulfilled in two stages. First: Spiritual Zion – the church. This Zion is made up of Christians – those bought by the blood of Christ. Living stones added one by one to the cornerstone – Jesus. But – Grace Bible Church – or any church – is not the final fulfilment. Thank the Lord that what we have today is not as good as it gets. The church is just one step on the path to: Heavenly Zion – eternity – the New Jerusalem. Now – each of these Zions has as its centre – the glory of God. In Earthly Zion – the glory of God dwelt in the ark of the covenant, in the holy of holies, in the Temple, at the heart of the Jerusalem.

8

In Spiritual Zion – God puts His glory inside us – inside flawed vessels like us. Both of these glories were veiled – by the ark or by flesh. But Zechariah says – in the Heavenly Zion – the glory of God is unrestrained. It flows through Zion as fire and light – holiness and glory – as the very essence of God infuses the city. This city is made up of the visible glory of God. This city has no need of sun or moon for the glory of God is its light. What characterizes this city is – glory. Dena and I have started going to Starbucks in every city we visit. We don’t go for the coffee – we go for the mugs. What Starbucks does is they put the most iconic landmark for each city on the mug – the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the London Eye, New York’s Statue of Liberty. What the angel says is that Zion’s most iconic landmark is the glory of God. And it is not just at the centre of the city. We are not to think of eternity as this enormous place – with everyone crammed into one localized city – and then within that is a localized spot containing the glory of God. Earthly cities have limits – in Zechariah’s day the city wall marked the limit. Zion doesn’t have limits – it doesn’t have physical walls because of the multitude of people and livestock. The city extends without limit. The picture is one of the city of God filling the new heavens – and God glory infuses every part of it. Eternity is this world re-fashioned by the glory of God. Notice that God’s glory not man’s efforts will build Zion. This young man is enthusiastic – but it is not his job. That this is not our job is really easy to picture when we think Heavenly Zion. I doubt even chippies like Tim Cotton picture themselves building their heavenly mansion. But, truth is today – like the Jews in Zechariah’s day – it is so tempting to think we have to pick up our tools and build the church. That if Spiritual Zion – the church – is going to get built – it is up to us. But Jesus is clear – He builds His church – not us. God can choose to use us – but He is the builder not us.

9

This is a lesson I have to keep reminding myself of – because I keep finding myself waking up and thinking – today, I have to build Zion. It’s up to me. As a Pastor, it is so easy to move into kingdom building mode – rather than being used by God mode. You can feel it all depends on you. The weight can be crushing. I have to build the church. I have to see it grow. I have to make sure it thrives. I have to change the minds of society and governments. But our calling is not to bear the responsibility of building Zion but to be faithful, available and teachable vessels God can work through as He builds Zion. God may choose to use us to His glory. And it is not just Pastors that struggle with this. We can all feel the pressure to build our own part of Zion – wherever we are involved – whether it is the church, homegroup, our friends, our family. Many of us feel all the responsibility for my children growing up to be spiritual giants. The job of fashioning the next Jonathan Edwards or Elizabeth Elliot falls on me. No God – bears the responsibility for kingdom building. We have to be faithful, available, teachable vessels – but the final responsibility is His – so He gets the praise not us. God will build His city by pouring His essence – His glory – His holiness – His power – into it. He builds Zion. There is a second truth – God’s glory will build Zion:

By calling us out of Babylon to Zion Zechariah 2:6–9:

Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me.

Wow – even when you read this a few times it is not easy to get what Zechariah is saying.

10

The key verse here is verse 8. It is notoriously difficult to translate, and every translation reads a little differently. Apple of his eye is literally the pupil of the eye – so literally verse 8 reads:

For thus said the LORD of hosts, after glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the pupil of His eye.

Here is how I understand what is going on. This vision tells us the nature of the heavenly Zion. The heavenly Zion is this world transformed. This heavens and earth are literally refashioned by God’s glory. The day will come when God’s glory will come into this world and transform it. Every evil, every iniquity, every person and nation that opposes God will be driven out of Zion by God’s glory and then these enemies of God will be plundered – destroyed. But in contrast – God’s glory in us means we are precious to God. In verse 5 God said – I will be the glory in her midst. God infuses His glory into His people. We become His. Because we bear His glory – we become precious to Him. How precious? Don’t try this at home – but if you accidentally poke yourself in the eye you react. Your eye is really sensitive. Poke me in the eye and I will react. Because His glory is in us – to touch us is to poke God in the eye and His reaction will be severe. Don’t brush past this verse. Here we find you and I – sinful, worldly, too often failing. But because God chose us and placed His glory in these jars of clay – it means we are precious to Him. To touch you is to poke God in the eye and rouse the wrath of God. Those who hate you for being a Christian, those who oppose you – the day will come when God will plunder them because they dared touched you – His beloved. Their opposition to us – and to the glory of God – means His wrath will fall on everything that does not share in the glory of God.

11

But these verses tell us more. There is only one place of refuge – one place that will escape the wrath of God – and that is Zion – because it shares God’s glory. The heavens and earth will be purified by the glory of God – and a holy people in a holy place will unite with their holy God for all eternity. This is all yet future. But notice what Zechariah says. How can you tell if you are one of those who will find refuge in Zion on that day? Because today – in this age – our lives will be characterized by fleeing from Babylon. The glory of God in us makes us hate Babylon and love Zion. The land of the north mentioned here is Babylon – but as we saw last week – this is a symbol for the world, the enemies of God, those who oppose God and His people. The message here is that judgment is coming on Babylon – and you don’t want to be in Babylon when that occurs. God will shake His hand over them and they will become as plunder. You show that you belong to God – that you share His glory – by choosing Zion over Babylon. By loving God over the world. By fleeing from Babylon to Zion. This is a constant theme in Scripture. Isaiah 50:11:

Depart, depart, go out from [Babylon]; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD.

Those who bear the vessels of God are those who bear the glory of God. We have to depart from Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:6:

Flee from the midst of Babylon; let everyone save his life! Be not cut off in her punishment.

All the way to the last book of the Bible – Revelation 18:4–5:

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, [come out of Babylon] lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her

12

plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Judgment is coming on Babylon and all who are in her. The only place of refuge is Zion. Earlier I quoted Isaiah 48:11 where God says – I will not give My glory to another. The context of that chapter is crucial to understanding this verse. In that chapter He addresses His people Israel – and He says – you call yourself My people – you swear by My name – you say you belong to the Holy city – but you dealt treacherously – you tolerated sin – to share My glory with you would be to profane My name. You have linked yourself to Babylon – therefore I will not share My glory with you. But then in Isaiah 48:20 He implores:

Go out from Babylon ... the Lord has redeemed His servant. If you flee from Babylon – God will save you by sharing His glory with them. Scripture is very clear – God will not share His glory with those who remain in Babylon – but God will share His glory with those who flee from Babylon. That is the context of Isaiah 48 – that is the context of our visions this morning. So, what does it look like today to flee Babylon? Isaiah said it meant to remove ourselves from the impurities of Babylon. 1 John 2:15–17 is more explicit:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

This world – Babylon – is passing away but those who turn from the world to God – they will abide forever – in Zion. You show you belong by fighting to shake off the filth of Babylon. That is not easy. The stain of Babylon runs deep. The Jenners have just arrived in Australia. You may have noticed Rob carrying around a little idiom book to help him understand Aussie slang, Aussie culture, Aussie ways.

13

He really wants to be Aussie Rob. Sorry Rob – not yet. In 40 years time – maybe … maybe he will be somewhat Aussie Rob. But little Ellie – one year old Ellie Jenner – in 40 years time she will be Aussie Ellie through and through. Aussie accent, Aussie husband, Aussie kids. She will grow up Aussie. Zechariah is speaking to Jews who had spent 70 years in Babylon. Most of them were born there. Seventy years surrounded by idols, immorality, worldliness. They marinated in Babylon. They imbibed Babylon. But, they are not of Babylon and must not stay part of Babylon. If the glory of God is in them – then they will fight to flee Babylon and escape to Zion. If the glory of God is in you – then you will fight to flee Babylon and escape to Zion. You will fight against worldliness, lust, greed, materialism. You will fight the idea that this earthly world is what really counts. I don’t know what your greatest spiritual battles are. Greed, lust, gossip, laziness. Here is what I do know. If the glory of God is in you then you will hate sin. And by the power of God you will pray and fight. You will find accountability. You will be in the Word. When you fall – you will repent and ask God to send fresh strength. You will persevere and not give up. When you do this – when you fight to flee Babylon and set your compass toward Zion – then you will know the assurance and joy of your union with God. Zechariah 2:10–13:

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And the Lord will inherit Judah

14

as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

God is building Zion. Zion is not just Jewish. Zion is a heavenly city built with living stones from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Those who fled the world and joined themselves to God – and God put His glory in them and dwells in them. God has not abandoned Jerusalem – He has chosen Jerusalem – but it is a new Jerusalem – a city of fire and light. And there is great joy if you are in this Zion. God’s glory will build Zion. Now let us turn our attention to the linked vision. 5:5-11 God’s glory will cleanse Zion. Zechariah 5:5–11:

Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

Unless you are a true Bible nerd – the meaning of this vision probably did not jump off the page to you. This vision assumes that we have a good understanding of something that happened just before Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. In Ezekiel chapters 8-11 – we find the details of the glory of God departing from Israel. Remember, the glory of God dwelt in the ark of the covenant, in the holy of holies, in the Temple, in Jerusalem.

15

This setup was designed to picture the final heavenly Jerusalem where God would dwell as the glory of Zion. Ezekiel 8 begins with the glory of God dwelling in the heart of Jerusalem. Then Ezekiel is told to lift his eyes to the north – Babylon – and he is told Judah has allowed all the abominations of Babylon into the city – and this sin – this impurity – will drive God from His sanctuary. God is holy – His eyes cannot even look upon sin. The holy glory of God simply cannot co-exist with sin. So, over the next few chapters of Ezekiel we see the glory of God leave. In chapter 9 – the glory of God rises up from the ark of the covenant and moves to the threshold of the Temple. Then in chapter 10 – the glory moves from the threshold of the Temple to some form of a mobile ark of the covenant – a mobile housing for the glory of God – which is carried by cherubim – holy angels of God. Then in chapter 11 – these cherubim carry the glory of God in this mobile ark – away from Jerusalem. The glory is gone. Judah allowed sin, the corruption of Babylon into the city and God will not dwell in the presence of sin – so the glory of God departed. The city was now vulnerable. It had lost its rock, its protector and it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. However – that is not the end of the story in Ezekiel. It should have been – but it is not. Grace means God does not abandon us forever, even when that is exactly what we deserve. In Ezekiel 40-48 – we have the promise God will still build His Heavenly Zion and Heavenly Temple. And in Ezekiel 43 we have the vision of the glory of God returning to dwell in this Heavenly Zion. Let me see if I can put all of this together. In Ezekiel 8-11 we see:

16

An ark, containing God’s glory, carried by holy angels, away from earthly Zion and away from the Temple. Now notice that here in Zechariah 5:5-11 we see: An anti-ark, containing anti-glory, carried by anti-angels, to an anti-Zion and an anti-Temple. Zechariah looks and he sees a basket – literally an ephah. An ephah was a basket used to measure grain. But again, and again the Old Testament warns the Jews not to use a dishonest ephah. Not to use a basket of the wrong size to extort those they were dealing with. So, an ephah came to symbolise a dishonest container. The angel says that in this ephah – in this dishonest basket – there is the iniquity – the sin of the land. He wants to see what this looks like so he opens the lid and looks inside and he sees a woman. The angel says – this is Wickedness. This woman embodies sin. A woman associated with Babylon becomes a repeated symbol for all the sinful forces opposed to God. In Revelation 17 we read of Babylon the Great, mother of prostitutes and earth’s abominations. She is filled with all the impurities and immoralities of the land. That is why the angel points to this woman and says – this is Wickedness. Then two winged-women appear. They had the wings of a stork. Storks were designated as unclean in the Old Testament. They are anti-holy angels. They pick up the basket containing Wickedness and they take it to Shinar – which is another name for Babylon. And in Babylon there will be a house, a shrine, a temple to house this iniquity. So, we have: An anti-ark, containing anti-glory, carried by anti-angels, to an anti-Zion and an anti-Temple. Here is the point – the glory of God simply cannot coexist with sin. The day will come when the unveiled glory of God will appear and it will drive every vestige of sin and wickedness from Zion.

17

In Ezekiel we saw the nation tolerating the sin of Babylon which caused the glory of God to leave. But sin will not win. In our first vision – the one in 2:1-13 – as in Ezekiel 43 – we see the glory of God will return and this holy perfection now drives every vestige of sin and impurity out of Zion into Babylon – which as we saw will then be utterly destroyed by God. God’s glory not only builds Zion, it cleanses it. You put these two visions together and the picture is of God’s glory transforming the world into Zion – flowing through it as holy light – driving out every vestige of sin. The city is now ready to be inhabited – but it can only be inhabited by a holy people – and that vision is coming next week. For now – realise that this cleansing of sin from the world only happens at the end of time – when the Lord Jesus returns a second time. So, is there any message for us today in these verses? Yes – yes there is. Zechariah has made the point for us very clear. The day will come when we will share God’s glory in Zion – but until then we must strive to flee Babylon and proclaim His glory to the world. When we turn to the pages of the New Testament we find some amazing truths. John 1:14 says this:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

The Word – Jesus – became flesh – and the glory of God now dwelt in Him – not the ark – but in Christ. This glory was veiled in flesh. Only on the Mount of Transfiguration – was the veil of flesh lifted so that His full glory shone forth. But then we come to the last night of Jesus’ life. In John 17 He prays to the Father. In verses 1–5 He says this:

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you .... And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

18

It was time for Jesus to shed His body of flesh so that His full glory may once again be revealed. But, in verses 22–23 Jesus says something absolutely remarkable:

The glory that you have given me I have given to them [to the church], that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me.

God’s glory left heaven – dwelt in Christ – and now after Jesus leaves – He will leave some of His glory in us. His glory will unite us to God and Christ – forever. Holy God united with sinful man – by the glory of God that cleanses us. Wow! Let that sit with you for a moment. The holy perfection of God is in us. And that is what we find in passages like 2 Corinthians 4. God puts His glory in frail, fallible weak jars of clay like you and like me. But, Zechariah’s prophecy tells God is not done. God’s glory will not dwell in the presence of sin. So, the day will come when God’s glory will drive every vestige of sin from us and from the world – but today is not that day. So how should we live today? Zechariah says we are to show His glory is in us by fighting to flee from Babylon. 1 Corinthians 6 deals extensively with this. Let me read a few snippets from verses 9–20:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? … But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. … He who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. [So] flee from sexual immorality. … Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.

God chose you – washed you – put His Spirit in you. His glory exists today in flesh and blood Temples. But this means – God bought you – so you need to glorify Him in your body. We have to strive to display His holy perfection and infinite worth in the way we live.

19

This is what shows we share His glory. Fleeing from Babylon – from the world and its passing pleasures – by praying for the strength to live holy, by longing for the holiness that will finally be ours in the heavenly Zion. If any here this morning are not Christians – know – everything God said would happen – to Judah – to the church – it happened. And when He says a day will come and anyone not in Zion – not connected to His Son will be destroyed – that will happen. But – today – you can flee Babylon by trusting in Christ. By returning to Christ, repenting, drawing near to God – and when we do that – He draws near to us. Christians – brothers and sisters. I know just how hard it is to think heaven instead of this life. I know that a prawn by the beach seems real and a city of fire and light seems so hard to grasp. I also know Babylon is so attractive. But, never forget this truth – Zion is coming – God is coming – vindication and redemption are coming. The city of fire and light is coming. But until that day – we who bear the glory of God in clay pots are called to strive to declare His perfect holiness and infinite worth in the way we live, in what we say and in every facet of our life. This is how we allow God to build His Zion through us. This is how we reflect the glory God placed in us.

20

Building Zion – Part 2 (Zechariah 2:1-13 and 5:5-11 January 28, 2018)

Main Point: The day will come when we will share God’s glory in Zion – but until then we must strive to flee Babylon and proclaim His glory to the world. Please pick a few relevant questions from each section and ensure the majority of the time is focussed on application. General Questions: 1. Why is it so hard to move our hearts from living in this world to focus on heaven?

2. Why is the term glory so hard to define? 3. How would you define it? Discuss this definition – The glory of God – is the display

of His holy perfection and infinite worth. 4. How does Zechariah describe the nature of the Heavenly Zion? Does this make

you long for heaven or not? Why? 5. What is the difference between building God’s church and being used by God to

build His church? Why is this important?

6. Why does God’s glory in us make us precious to Him?

7. In what ways do we imbibe the culture and sin of our world?

8. What does it look like to flee Babylon? Why is this so hard?

9. What are the implications if we don’t hate sin and are content to let sin exist in us? (1 Corinthians 6).

10. What does it look like for us to glorify God in our bodies?

11. How does God’s glory unite us with Christ and the Father for all eternity? Application Questions: 1. What makes you long for heaven? What are the greatest joys you are looking

forward to in heaven?

2. In what ways do you feel the pressure to build the church or build Zion? What do you need to do to let God build it not you?

3. What helps you hate sin and flee from Babylon?

21

4. What is the role of the church, homegroups, accountability in helping you flee Babylon?

5. What are your greatest spiritual battles? What aides are available to help you in

this battle?