Zechariah 3:2 And the LORD said to Satan, The LORD rebuke you, O Satan; even the LORD that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you… Satan is represented in the context as an accuser of his brethren. He brings serious charges against Joshua, the high priest. He never committed a greater folly. The Lord never fails to come to the defence of the redeemed. The Lord represents Joshua as a trophy of sovereign grace. "Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire?" I. IF THIS FIGURE MEANS ANYTHING, IT MEANS THAT UNSAVED SINNERS ARE IN THE FIRE. "Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire?" We are accustomed to think of hell as something in the future. There is a sense in which this is true, but it is not all the truth. It is not at death that bad men enter into hell; they are there already. II. IF THIS IMAGERY MEANS ANYTHING, IT MEANS THAT UNSAVED SINNERS HAVE A NATURAL AFFINITY FOR THE FLAME THAT CONSUMES THEM. A brand is a piece of wood that readily catches fire. The sinner is meet for destruction. See how eagerly men yield themselves to the sins which consume them. III. IF THIS IMAGERY MEANS ANYTHING, IT MEANS THAT RESCUE FROM THE DEVOURING ELEMENT IS ONLY POSSIBLE BY DIVINE INTERPOSITION — "Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire?" A brand in the fire will remain there until it is utterly consumed unless it is taken out. Salvation is a Divine act. "By grace are ye saved." IV. IF THIS IMAGERY MEANS ANYTHING, IT MEANS THAT SAVED SINNERS RETAIN THE MARKS OF THE BURNING. Forgiven, saved, but scarred. Even in heaven there will be evidences of the flame. V. IF THIS IMAGERY MEANS ANYTHING, IT MEANS THAT DELAY IN THE MATTER OF RESCUE IS INFINITELY PERILOUS. Plucked out of the fire. There is no estimating the possibility of sin. There is enough latent fire in any unregenerate heart to effect its ruin. The flame which is smouldering in the concealed places of human life may be even more ominous than that which blazes forth under the open heavens. These facts should have a twofold influence. 1. They should serve to awaken alarm in the unsaved, and arouse the saved to the intensest solicitude and zeal for their rescue. The human brand is not a dead piece of wood. He has reason, judgment, sensibility, will. He needs to be made to realise his peril. 2. There is no time for dallying. The service is urgent. (B. D. Thomas.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? |
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