Bible In One Year-Day 189 (Monday, July 08, 2013)

Commentary: Zech1-4. Prophets Zechariah and Haggai were contemporaries in the first return of the Jews. Zechariah’s message from that Lord to the Jews was full of God’s promises to restore them after the rebuilding of the walls and the gates. The Lord’s restoration centered on spiritual and agricultural abundance; they were going to have a renewed experience of God’s presence. This was necessary because they lived a filthy life while in exile. But their liberty was a form of deliverance, mercy and cleansing. Satan came to accuse Joshua the high priest of his past but God stood as an Attorney to defend him, Zech3:1-5.

Salvation came through Jesus.

Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of the law and by His blood we are cleansed.

Zechariah was wearing a filthy garment without knowing. There are two types of spiritual garments; that of salvation and that of righteousness.

Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

Your conversion earns you salvation, but you need to grow in grace by the Spirit of Christ to be clothed in His righteousness. The Ten virgins were Christians who experienced salvation together, i.e. they had the garments of salvation. But those with oil (a symbol of the Holy Spirit) were recognized as having the garment of righteousness because they paid some price to store up treasure for sustaining the light which they received at the time of their salvation and therefore qualified to enter the kingdom. At the time of giving your life to Christ, your spirit, which is the candle of man (Prov20:27) receives light from the Spirit of God.

Psalms 18:28 “For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.”

However, there is a price you must pay to sustain the glowing of the light otherwise the lamp will gradually be going out, just as it was in the time of Eli and Samuel (1Sam3:1-4). Eli did not know because his eyes were going so dim. If you pay more attention to the intensity of the light in you, you will know that the lamp needs refilling. The careless person will not pay attention to that, not to talk of having any reserve. To store up oil, you need to pay for it. To sustain the light you receive at salvation you need some spiritual sacrifices to make which are the prices you pay; praying, fasting, studying the word of God and walking in the spirit. These are what the Holy Spirit use to grow you into Christ likeness which qualifies you for the robe of righteousness. Garment of Salvation is a gift but you will have to work for that of righteousness as a reward; gift is different from reward. According to Matthew6:33, you must seek for ‘righteousness’

The presence of the Holy Spirit is the presence of heavenly nature, i.e. the righteousness of God. You need to maintain the relationship with Him, but to do that, there is a price to pay. To have Him, let your heart be opened to Him and the word of God to continually illuminate it. That is the only way to enjoy the fullness of Christ’s salvation.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Zechariah5-8. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA