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Happy Lord's Day. We will now begin our service. (soft piano music) ♪ From the ends, the ends of the earth ♪ ♪ From the ends of the earth ♪ ♪ From the depths of the sea ♪ ♪ From the depths of the sea ♪ ♪ From the heights of the heavens ♪ ♪ From the heights of the heavens ♪ ♪ Your name be praised ♪ ♪ From the hearts of the weak ♪ ♪ From the hearts of the weak ♪ ♪ From the shouts of the strong ♪ ♪ From the shouts of the strong ♪ ♪ From the lips of all people ♪ ♪ From the lips of all people ♪ ♪ Your song we raise, Lord ♪ ♪ Throughout the endless ages ♪ ♪ You will be crowned with praises, Lord ♪ ♪ Most high ♪ ♪ Exalted in every nation ♪ ♪ Sovereign of all creation, Lord ♪ ♪ Most high be magnified ♪ ♪ From the ends ♪ ♪ From the ends of the earth ♪ ♪ From the ends of the earth ♪ ♪ From the depths of the sea ♪ ♪ From the depths of the sea ♪ ♪ From the heights of the heavens ♪ ♪ From the heights of the heavens ♪ ♪ Your name be praised ♪ ♪ From the hearts of the weak ♪ ♪ From the hearts of the weak ♪ ♪ From the shouts of the strong ♪ ♪ From the shouts of the strong ♪ ♪ From the lips of all people ♪ ♪ From the lips of all people ♪ ♪ Your song we raise, Lord ♪ ♪ Throughout the endless ages ♪ ♪ You will be crowned with praises, Lord ♪ ♪ Most high ♪ ♪ Exalted in every nation ♪ ♪ Sovereign of all creation, Lord ♪ ♪ Most high ♪ Throughout the endless.

♪ Throughout the endless ages ♪ ♪ You will be crowned with praises, Lord ♪ ♪ Most high ♪ ♪ Exalted in every nation ♪ ♪ Sovereign of all creation, Lord ♪ ♪ Most high ♪ ♪ Be magnified ♪ ♪ Be magnified ♪ - Morning. Welcome to Parin Community Church.

I just have a few announcements before we get started. First of all, those of you who've been supporting our Indian pastors, we have an annual commitment, so that annual commitment is being finished at the end of May. And so, we're asking you to recommit to that. And those of you who are not involved with that, we encourage you to try to think about that.

We've been giving updates on our Parin members page about what's going on in India. But as you guys know, our pastors have been actively working in India, despite all the stuff that's been going through. And I think the last update I gave you, that our pastors were heavily persecuted and beaten, the two pastors that we've been working with.

And so, when I was talking to them, they were still at the hospital, and I think they're out now. But again, as soon as they come out, they're telling me that they have plans to go to the next village. And I've shared this before, but part of the reason why we got involved in India is because the heaviest concentration of unreached people groups are in India.

The heaviest concentration of illiteracy is in India. The heaviest concentration of poverty is also in India. And so, even though it's a nation that's really growing fast economically, especially for the people in the village and for Christians, the persecution meter is rising heavily. So, even just during the time that we've been involved in India, they were ranked number 26 or 27 in persecution, and they have risen just in the last six, seven years to number 10 or number nine, you know, and just right below the Middle Eastern countries.

And so, despite that, they're actively working, getting the gospel in, and they're starting brand new churches. And so, the finances that we are supporting them with is going to very, very good use. I am going to be heading out in June to visit our pastors, and just to kind of scope to see that maybe we can pick up our work again in January.

And so, if things check out, we may do that, and I'll let you know at the end of summer if that is possible. But for now, the support that we are giving, again, if you committed for the year, it's coming to an end at the end of May, and then starting from June, we're going to have new sign-ups.

So, if you desire to sign up for that, our actual physical sign-up for that is going to start next week. And so, I'm just giving you a heads up to take some time to pray about it, and then it's about $50 a month for each pastor's family. There's about 60 pastors now that, pastors' families that we're supporting.

And so, please consider signing up for that for the next year. And then I'll give you a reminder next Sunday. We'll probably even have something set up so you guys can go out and then give your sign-ups for that. Other than that, I'm just going to leave the rest of the announcement for you to check on the website or the app.

I'm going to pray for our offering, and then after that, after our main worship time, our brother John Chin is going to come up, and he's going to give his testimony. He'll be baptized this morning. Those of you who are new to the church, we have a physical offering in the back.

If you brought a physical check after the service, you can go and visit right underneath that clock, and then just drop it off there. Okay? Let me pray for us. Gracious Father, we thank you so much for this morning. We pray that you would continue to guide and lead us, that wherever our hearts and our mind may have been this week, I pray again that you would help us to lift our eyes to know that Christ and Christ alone is our true hope.

Lord, as we live upon this earth, help us, Lord God, to walk by faith and not by sight. Even this offering that we give, we pray that you would bless it 30, 60, 100-fold. May it be used for your glory and your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

(soft, emotional music) - Let us all rise as you sing these praises. (upbeat music) ♪ Our God is great ♪ ♪ Our God is great ♪ ♪ The father of creation ♪ ♪ His splendor fills the earth ♪ ♪ The lightning crash ♪ ♪ The thunder sings his praises ♪ ♪ The galaxies can't help but shout his word ♪ ♪ My soul, my soul must sing ♪ ♪ To you an offering ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ Oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ Oh, how great you are ♪ - The word made flesh.

♪ The word made flesh ♪ ♪ God's promise to the fallen ♪ ♪ Came with power to save ♪ ♪ The life of life ♪ ♪ Was crushed for all to begin ♪ ♪ Died our death and rose up from the grave ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ To you an offering ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ Oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ Oh, how great you are ♪ - Our king will come.

♪ Our king will come ♪ ♪ With trumpet blast resounding ♪ ♪ To claim his blood-washed brow ♪ ♪ He'll wreck the skies ♪ ♪ Ascending in his glory ♪ ♪ And then an instant faith will turn to sound ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ To you an offering ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ Oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ To you an offering ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ Oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great you are ♪ ♪ Oh, how great you are ♪ (upbeat music) - Son of God.

♪ Son of God ♪ ♪ Shaper of the stars ♪ ♪ You alone ♪ ♪ Dweller of my heart ♪ ♪ Mighty King ♪ ♪ How beautiful you are ♪ ♪ How beautiful ♪ ♪ Son of God ♪ ♪ Father's gift to us ♪ ♪ You alone ♪ ♪ Broken on the altar of love ♪ ♪ Precious lamb ♪ ♪ Our freedom's in your blood ♪ ♪ It's in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Holy One ♪ ♪ I sing to you ♪ ♪ Forgiver ♪ ♪ Savior ♪ ♪ I'm overcome ♪ ♪ With your great love for me ♪ ♪ Son of God ♪ ♪ Strength beyond compare ♪ ♪ You alone ♪ ♪ The darkness cannot bear ♪ ♪ Lord of love ♪ ♪ Your kindness draws me near ♪ ♪ It draws me ♪ ♪ Son of God ♪ ♪ Prophecy of old ♪ ♪ You alone ♪ ♪ Redeemer of my soul ♪ ♪ Come again ♪ ♪ And lead your people home ♪ ♪ Come lead us home ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Holy One ♪ ♪ I sing to you ♪ ♪ Forgiver ♪ ♪ Savior ♪ ♪ I'm overcome ♪ ♪ With your great love for me ♪ You are worthy.

♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy of all my praise ♪ ♪ You are beautiful ♪ ♪ You are beautiful ♪ ♪ So I will lift up my hands and sing ♪ You are worthy. ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy of all my praise ♪ ♪ You are beautiful ♪ ♪ You are beautiful ♪ ♪ I will lift up my hands and sing ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Holy One ♪ ♪ I sing to you ♪ ♪ Forgiver ♪ ♪ Savior ♪ ♪ I'm overcome ♪ ♪ With your great love for me ♪ Amen, you may be seated.

(bell tolling) - Hi, church family. My name is John Chin. I'm a grad student, and it's a privilege to share my testimony with you today. I grew up in a Christian household. I called myself a Christian and attended church, but did not have a relationship with God. I understand the gospel or read the Bible.

I wanted to get good grades, get into a good college, and be successful by the world's standards. In my junior year of high school, I worked too hard, experienced burnout, and had to drop my classes. Throughout my struggle, I did not really think of God or turn to him.

I was just trying to make sense of what was going on and stabilize. I transferred schools, repeated my junior year, and did well at the new school. I was extremely thankful to God for healing me and helping me to recover. However, my relationship with God was based primarily on experience rather than belief in the gospel.

My real growth in the knowledge of the gospel started in college. I started focusing on Christ. I attended worship services, Bible studies, and served in various capacities. However, I didn't read the Bible consistently. I absorbed lots of teaching about the Bible and grew closer to God, but I still desired the things of this world-- success, wealth, comfort.

I don't recall a specific moment when I received Christ, but I'll share what I came to believe. I believe in the gospel, that there is a God, and he is holy, righteous, and good, that all mankind have sinned, fall short of God's perfect standard, and deserve eternal condemnation. But God, in love and mercy, sent his son Jesus Christ for us.

Jesus lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose from the dead to prove that he was the son of God. Jesus took the sin that was ours, and in faith we receive his righteousness. And so our response should be to turn away from sin and turn towards Christ.

Next, I'll share when I was convicted of my sin and requested forgiveness. I struggle with lust, and recently I had another relapse. I felt guilty for sinning and frustrated that the struggle with lust is so hard. I also felt separated from God. In that moment, and others like it, I was convicted of how deep my sin is.

I am a sinner to the core, in need of God's love, grace, and mercy. Afterwards, I prayed to God and asked for forgiveness. I asked God to help me repent, turn away from sin, and turn towards him. I remembered that Christ died for my sins, and that by his blood I am forgiven.

I still struggle with lust, but rather than living in sin, I seek to struggle with sin. Since I came to Berean, I have continued to grow closer to Christ. I learned how to do inductive Bible study, which has been helpful in reading the word on my own. I have had fruitful times reading the word where I have been challenged and encouraged.

I noticed interesting observations and came up with questions that I kept in the back of my mind. One of those questions is what it means to fear the Lord, and although I have a better understanding of that now, I look forward to learning more. I still desire the things of this world, but the more I love Christ, the less I care about worldly things.

In closing, I am grateful for how God has worked in my life, and I seek to run the race faithfully and with endurance. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, John, for the testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 1. I'll be reading from verse 5 through 10 this morning.

Luke chapter 1, verse 5 through 10. Luke chapter 1, verses 5 through 10. For in the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias of the division of the Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. Now, it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by law to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And a whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. Let's pray. Gracious Father, we thank you for this morning. We pray, Father God, that your word would really speak to us, allow us to hear your voice, Lord God, and not just words of men.

Help us, Lord, to be illuminated, to not only know your thoughts, but your own heart. We pray that we would get a glimpse of who you are, that we may learn to love you, to honor you, to obey you in all things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. >> You know, oftentimes when various things happen in our life, we don't have a complete answer as to why is this happening, because we're not able to see the big picture.

We don't see the past. We don't see how -- what this is going to lead to. So we oftentimes, you know, just trust that God is sovereign. We don't know where this is going. And typically we will read verses like Romans 828 says, that we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

And so we use that verse to encourage one another, to encourage ourselves, to remind us that God is sovereign. But oftentimes we don't know exactly where this is headed. And so when we look at redemptive history, we're able to see the fruition of these passages. Like what does he mean by this?

What has God been doing behind this scene? Galatians 4.4 says, "But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son. Born of a woman, born under the law, God waited for the perfect time." What made it the perfect time? And I remember thinking early on, and you hear maybe other people saying, it made a perfect time because the Romans, you know, they came into power and they created all these roads.

So that if you were going to go evangelize to the remotest part of the world, that would have been the perfect time, because all the roads have been created so that they can pretty much get anywhere they needed to go. Or it was a perfect time because the language was united.

The Greeks did such a great job of bringing people together, all of a sudden they were able to communicate. They had the local language, and then they had Greek language. And so because of that, now they were able to communicate with one another. Politically, Romans conquered so much of the land that they were able to move from place to place and didn't have much problem.

Now, all of these things may be true, but none of that is mentioned in the Bible. Those are just speculations that, yes, it was an ideal time. But what the Bible does mention is that God waited until the law exposed sin to be utterly sinful. He allowed sin to have its full effect.

In fact, when you study the book of Romans, Romans begins by telling us this very thing. And if you've studied the book of Romans, if you were with us a while back, and Romans chapter 1 was a long time ago. But if you look at Romans chapter 1, it's clear that the reference that he's making to specifically is to the nation of Israel.

Even though it has ramification to all the nations, he specifically says the nation of Israel, for even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. But they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened, professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of God for the incorruptible God, glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Now, again, this can be applied to all mankind, but specifically it's in reference to how God has given them the law. He showed his glory. He performed miracles. And yet, though God made it very clear to them who he is, showed them the glory, they chose to continue to chase after idols.

And this basically is Israel's history. So it says in verse 4 all the way down to verse 28, three separate times he mentions, "Therefore God gave them over," verse 24, "Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored among them for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, worshipped and served the creatures rather than the creator who is blessed forever.

Amen." And then again in verse 26, "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions. For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also the man abandoned natural function of the women and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." Again in verse 28, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to depraved minds to do those things which are not proper." So three separate times in chapter 1, he says wrath of God is being revealed.

And even though he made who he is through natural revelation, specifically to the Jews, through special revelation through the law, and yet they continue to chase after idols, reject him. And he says God gave them over, God gave them over, God gave them over. So Israel's history is a repeating cycle of a rebellion against God and as a result of that falling into sin and then God allowing this sin to bear the fruit that it's supposed to bear.

The reason why I say all of this is because Luke breaks into this darkness. And so it's important for us to first recognize why what made this the fullness of time? Why at this time was Jesus coming? Why couldn't he have come 400 years before? Why didn't he come 400 years later?

It's almost as if God was waiting for whatever it is that they were chasing after to have its full effect. So that when Christ comes and he turns the light on, the people who are in darkness would recognize immediately that must be Christ. There's three people that are mentioned here that I'm going to go over that on the surface kind of seems random.

Right? Because Luke started by saying that he's going to make an orderly account, a careful account. He's going to interview eyewitnesses and he's going to present it probably in a chronological manner, at least to the best of his ability and to present to Theophilus so that he may be convicted about things that he's already heard of.

Right? So typically in other Gospels, they'll either start right off with Jesus or they'll jump into John the Baptist shows up and he does ministry and he gets baptized and boom, they go into ministry. Here, he spends quite a bit of time in chapter 1 of something that seems almost insignificant.

Right? At least on the surface. Initially, he starts by saying Herod the Idrimian was the king of that time. Now superficially, that's how they dated things at that time. Right? Today, if we want to keep a record of something, we would say on this particular day, on 9/11/2001, this happened.

Right? And we know exactly when that happened. Well, at that particular time, in order to date something, they would date it based on who was the king at the time. This is the third year of king so-and-so or the fourth year or the beginning year of this and that's how they knew exactly when this happened.

But in the Gospels, it has greater significance than just dating when this happens. Because if you look at Israel's history, it's filled with God pleading with the nation of Israel to turn from their sin and warning them that if they do not, a foreign nation is going to come and dominate over them.

He warns prophet after prophet after prophet that if you do not turn from your sin, that the Assyrians are coming, that the Babylonians are coming, that they will come and take away your strongmen, your wives, your children, and you will no longer be a nation. Well, that's exactly what happens.

The Assyrians come in 900 BC and they take the northern kingdom to captivity. All ten of the tribes are taken into captivity, never to be restored again. In 587 BC, the Babylonians come and they take the southern kingdom, Judah and the Benjamites, and then they go into captivity. And so for over 900 years, Israel's history is one oppression from a foreign nation, from a pagan nation, after another.

The Assyrians come in, the Babylonians come in, after that the Persians come in. During the Persian era, God raises up a pagan king, King Cyrus, and softens his heart and he allows the nation of Israel to return back to their land to rebuild their temple. But by that time, Israelite have forgotten and have been moved so far away from God that even though they had every support that they needed to go back and rebuild the nation, only a very small remnant returned, drop in a bucket, which means majority of them have already forgotten about the covenant.

Whatever promises that God made, they've already forgotten about it because their life has already become so easy in Babylon. They've integrated into Persia. It's in the middle of this that Malachi is sent as a prophet and he's the last prophet. And after him, there's 400 years where God no longer sends a prophet.

Malachi 3.1 says, "Behold, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." So the last prophet, the last thing that he says is that once all this period that God has ordained because of your sin, after that period is done, he will come.

The messenger is going to come. John the Baptist is going to come and he's going to prepare for the Messiah to come. And that's the last prophecy that was given to the nation of Israel. And then there's 400 years of silence. No prophet is sent. Now, for 400 years, even though there was no prophet, it doesn't mean that there was nothing going on.

After that, the Greeks take over and they Hellenized everybody. If the Babylonians and the Persians made it easy to integrate into the pagan nation, the Greeks made it much easier. I mean, they even given them a name for some people who were Hellenized. Meaning they integrated so well that they began to lose their culture and even their language.

They said they were Hellenized Jews. They were Jew by heritage, but in everything else, they were Greeks. That's how good of a job that the Greeks did. And more and more people start to drift away from who God is. And then after the Greeks leave, they have turmoil during that period.

There's some hope during the Hasmonean rebellion, but that is almost immediately crushed. And then the Romans come in and they completely dominate. Romans conquered so much of that modern nation that they had to put puppet figures all over. You know, kind of like what's going on with Russia and Ukraine right now.

The Russia came into Ukraine because they want to set up a puppet president that they can control. So they can make sure that that area is going to benefit them. Well, that's exactly what happened with Israel. So King Herod of this time was a puppet king whose main job was to suppress rebellion from the Jews and to appease the Romans.

So who he was on the surface is pretty obvious by what he did. Remember the temple that Jesus comes in and he cleanses the temple, right? And he does that twice during his ministry. Well, that temple was built by this king, King Herod. Now you look at that and say, "Well, he must have cared about his religion.

He must have clearly had some affection for God." But this same king who made the temple, that same king also made dozens of pagan temples. So this guy wasn't the king of Israel. He was just a politician who was trying to appease both sides. Now that in and of itself just kind of gives us a historical background of what's going on.

But this king was so paranoid that his own family members would usurp his authority that anybody that he considered a threat, he just murdered. Kind of like what's going on in North Korea, right? Anybody that Kim Jong-un thinks is a threat, they're gone. And that's basically what this king did.

So if that wasn't enough, it's made very clear, Matthew chapter 2, 16 to 17. This king was so paranoid that, let me just read it for you in verse 16. It says, "Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, he became very enraged and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the Magi." Imagine if you were a young family of that time and you had a child under the age of two.

And this king, who wasn't even a Jew, he was an Edomite, who was a traitor to his people. And he was basically a politician setting up pagan nations, pagan temples, now came and killed one of your children simply because he was afraid that one of those children were going to be usurping his authority, that he was going to be the king of the Jews, the true king of the Jews was coming.

And just for that alone, he went and slaughtered all the children under the age of two. Imagine the frustration, the anger, the bitterness, the sadness that Israel was under at this time. And they had no power. And if they didn't submit, they would have come and completely destroyed them.

So there was constant turmoil among the Jewish nation. And so mentioning Herod the Edomite, just knowing the background, the context of which he says it, and all of this is to emphasize for us that this has become a dark period in Israel's history. Sin has become utterly sinful as a nation.

It's God gave them over to their lust, God gave them over to their passion, God gave them over to what they pursued in their rebellion. And as a result of that, this is the fruit of the nation of Israel. But along with that, we have two other people mentioned here that on the surface doesn't make any sense.

Right? Zacharias. Now we know he's a significant figure simply because he's in the Bible. Why is Zacharias even mentioned? Right? Like President Biden today, right? He was a vice president for eight years under Obama. What did you know about President Obama or President Biden today when he was vice president?

Almost nothing. Right? Because usually what happens is if the president comes out and you do a piece on the president, and you may do a little side piece on the vice president because his whole job is if he dies, he'll step in. So unless there's a danger of Obama dying, usually they'll just say, oh, this guy's a politician.

These are his views and they move on. Right? They don't do a piece about his mom, his dad, and you know, and even Hunter Biden, what's going on. All of that was revealed because he's a president. But while he was vice president, nobody really cared. Remember President Bush? Right?

Remember his vice president? Remember who he was? Most of you, many of you probably already forgot. Right? Dick Cheney. Do you remember his wife's name? Mrs. Cheney. Right? We don't know. You don't know anything about Dick Cheney's wife or husband, not husband, but mom or dad. You don't know because he was just a side piece.

Right? Just in case Bush dies. But we don't know much about him. So imagine if the president is, you know, they're running for president. They do a piece about the vice president. Not only the piece about the vice president, but his mom and dad. You would never do that.

But that's exactly what happens here. He says he's going to give an orderly account and he starts with John the Baptist who's supposed to go six months before him and then spends almost a whole chapter talking about Zacharias and Elizabeth. So we have to ask like, why is he, why are they in here?

What's the purpose? Why is he being highlighted? Clearly there must be a purpose. Zacharias' name literally means God has remembered again. Just by the name, you know what's going on. His name means God has remembered again. Not God has remembered, not God has forgotten, but God has remembered again.

And the reason why this is significant is because all throughout Israel's history is a repeat cycle over and over again. You know, many people study the book of Hosea and they come out and say, well, it's a great love story between God and sinful nation and how God is so patient.

God tells Hosea to marry this prostitute, basically, who continues to commit adultery against him and God continues to chase after him and he illustrates this between the relationship with Hosea and Gomer. And typically we come out saying, well, what a beautiful story of God's unconditional love towards sinners. Now that may be true, but if you study the book of Hosea carefully, Hosea is actually a rebuke to the nation.

It's not just saying, oh, look how much God loves us. Now, all that is true, but if you study it, the end result is because God has given you chance after chance after chance after chance and you continue to commit adultery, but the Assyrians are coming, the nations are coming and you're going to be under their bondage.

And for 900 years this happens. But along with the judgment against the nation of Israel, almost every prophet that brings judgment upon Israel, God always ends, almost always ends with a glimmer of hope. That hope is mentioned in Hosea chapter 14, four through six is I will heal their apostasy.

I will love them freely for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily and he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will sprout and his beauty will be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

Can you imagine if you heard everything that Hosea was saying and the captivity actually happens exactly like Hosea said, they would be holding on to this passage and say when is this going to happen? We get it. We sinned. We made a mistake. We want to repent but when is this going to happen?

They waited 900 years for the fulfillment of that prophecy. Now God initiated it. The final fulfillment will happen at the end. But this is what they were waiting for. And so when Zacharias appears God has remembered again. Despite your sins God has not forgotten again. He will remember you.

Zacharias it says was a priest of the order of Abijah and Elizabeth is a descendant of Aaron himself. And so they were priests together. And again to better understand what's going on here. There were 18,000 priests at that time. Of 18,000 priests and obviously they're not, you know, you don't need that many people to go in and out of the temple.

So they divided into 24 orders. And so he was under one of those orders Abijah. And so if your group happened to be chosen you came and serve one or two weeks out of the year whole year and out of that they would throw lots and whoever gets chosen one priest would represent and go into the Holy, Holy, not the Holy of Holies.

And then they were able to light the candle representing the prayers of the nation. That's why all the priests are sitting standing outside praying for the nation and that one priest that he was chosen would go in and light these candles representing the prayers. You have to understand for a priest that's like winning the lottery because majority of them have never, would never have this privilege.

Now John the Baptist was prophesied 400 years before he came. So Zacharias is the father that was necessary for the son to come. Yet all of this happens on the surface seems like by chance. Even his choosing you would think that, you know, Zacharias if some angel would appear and say Zacharias you come inside.

Instead a lot takes place and then just randomly, it's like rolling dice. It falls on him and he wins the lottery and he goes into to light the candle. What seems chaotic and random on the surface is never random because we believe in a sovereign God. In Proverbs 16 32, it says the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord.

Even the lot casting. Remember in Acts chapter 2 after Judas betrays, there's only 11 apostles left and they need to fill the number 12. And so they decide that they have some parameters that they need to be somebody that was with the Lord and saw his life and was there when he was resurrected and they break it down to two people Matthias and Barsabbas.

Now both of them qualify, but now they didn't need to choose one and they cast lots. This is the 12th person of the apostles who's going to have an eternal position and yet it was cast by lots, you know, you say the other 11 you said, well Jesus chose me.

Right? You're going to eternity and Matthias, how did you get here? It's like, oh they cast lots. Jesus didn't choose you. It's like, well, he kind of did but through the apostles through the lots, right? So it seems so random that a 12th person of the apostle will be chosen in that way.

But God says again, he didn't just randomly choose anybody. He said he met the criteria, but God chose him through the lots. So again, my point is on the surface, it seems like nothing. It seems random, but clearly God has a purpose. He's breaking into the darkness through this man to remind the nation of Israel that the Messiah is coming.

The rest of the time I want to spend on what's happening with Elizabeth. It says in verse 6 and you really have to pay attention to this because there's a, this is really the main point of what he's trying to say here. They were both righteous in the sight of God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

Let me stop right there. Clearly he's not talking about judicially he was innocent before God. The whole reason why Jesus came is because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He's saying that in their walk, just like Apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 that when it's according to the law, he was blameless, right?

He was perfect. Meaning that he lived his life to fulfill the law and to obey to the best of his ability. Doesn't mean that he was innocent before God. You know, the reason why I mentioned that is because I hear a lot of times people saying that there's nothing we can do to please God or displease God once we're justified.

No, the Bible makes it clear. You can live a life that displeases God. You can live a life that honors and pleases God. That's clear in the scripture. And that's what he's referring to that Elizabeth and Zachariah lived an honorable law abiding to the point where God was pleased with them.

But the point that he's trying to make is in the commandment and requirements of the law, but they had no child. But they had no, why does he say it like that? They had no child because he lives with barren and they were both advanced in years. Now again, understand, these are John the Baptist's parents.

John the Baptist was prophesied 400 years ago that before the Messiah comes, John the Baptist has to come. Yet his parents couldn't bear children. In fact, it says they were advanced in years. The reason why they contrast their barrenness and their righteousness is because at that time if you had any kind of physical ailment, they attached it to some spiritual defect.

We see that clearly in John chapter 9, 1 to 3. When they're walking by and they see a blind man, it said he passed, he saw a man blind from birth and his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." You see the prejudice that they had toward him?

They just automatically assumed that he must be blind because he must have deserved it or maybe the parents did something, they deserved it. And this was a common prejudice against anybody who had some sort of a physical defect. So, I mean, you could imagine like, again, we live in a culture where, you know, we have all kinds of rules and even in the church, like the bathrooms have to be certain height or, you know, like you have to make the entrances a certain way and it's like all kinds of stuff that somebody who's in a wheelchair could have easy access, right?

I mean, at this particular time, not only did they have difficulty just live, people assumed that there was some sort of curse on you because you had some sort of defect. So, can you imagine how their life was like? In fact, not only did the culture view it that way, many times even the families thought that the only way to remove themselves from the curse is remove that person from their own family.

And if you know the story in John chapter 9, that's exactly what happens. After he opens his eyes, his parents wouldn't even stick up for him because they were afraid that they were going to be shunned by shunning the synagogue. So, they said, "Well, I don't know." They could have easily said, "Clearly he was blind all his life.

Clearly there was a miracle." But out of fear, they said, "No, no, no, you talk to him." And that was the attitude of that time. So, can you imagine the suffering, the shame that somebody who was barren at that time? Clearly something, something must be going on with them.

In fact, in the Talmud, Talmud is basically the commentaries that the rabbis created to interpret the law. And in the Talmud, they said, "A man is no longer bound to his barren wife after 10 years if she does not bear a child." And he is, by law, law that they created, that he can just dismiss her if she doesn't bear him a child in 10 years.

And he is able to do that up to two times, right? Sorry, third time. I mean, so if you were barren at that time, not only do you have the pain of not being able to have a child, you have the law that's against you. You have your own family that's against you.

And you have the shame that you have to live with. So he says, "They were born, they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking in blamelessness, but despite that, she couldn't have children." As painful as this must have been, God clearly has a purpose. Just like when Lazarus was dead, he said, "This is not going to end in death.

This is for God's glory." And that's exactly what he does here. This, you know, having children, bearing children, and not being able to have children, you know, if you haven't experienced that, you don't know the pain that comes with that, right? Now, obviously, I have four children. But early on, when we first got married, Esther went through the first miscarriage, right?

And then had to go through the operation, and I could see how she was devastated. Went to the hospital and did some blood work, and they basically told her that you couldn't have children the normal way. And I remember going through that, and at that time, we were pretty young.

So my thought was, "We'll adopt it." Or, "We won't have children, and we'll have plenty of time to do ministry, go out, become missionaries, plant churches, visit churches to go speaking." And so, "Okay," you know? That's what I was thinking, the insensitive man. But in the back of my mind, I said, "Oh." They actually said she has some sort of a blood disorder that fights pregnancy, and she can't have children the normal way.

Well, she got pregnant a second time, and I remember when she was pregnant, and we thought that maybe she was going to have another miscarriage. And right around that time, I went up to a retreat, and at the retreat, we had older people who were giving testimonies, and one lady who was about 10 years ahead of me in age, and she started sharing about her testimony.

And in her testimony, she said that she had five miscarriages, and she still didn't have a child. And they've been married for a long time. But what really got me was, as she was sharing that, she was starting to break down, and she said, by the time she had her fifth miscarriage, she said, by her own words, "I no longer feel like a woman." I remember when I listened to that, I mean, my heart ached for her, but at the same time, I was thinking, "Is this what Esther's going through?" I remember I came back from that, and I didn't really share this with Esther, but I started going to morning prayer.

Every morning at 5 o'clock, I would go there, and that's all I prayed for during her pregnancy. I prayed, I prayed, "Lord, please answer this prayer. Please let her have this. Please, please, please." And then, sure enough, she had her miscarriage. If there's any one period in my prayer life where I was severely disappointed was during that period.

I mean, there's a lot of things I prayed for a long time, but I can only think of a handful of things where I literally cried out to God and pled before God, and for several months, prayed, "Lord, answer, answer. May this be for your glory. May this be for your glory." And then when she had the miscarriage, I remember thinking, "Where are you?" You know, I dedicated my life, you know.

We let go of material goods. We're willing to suffer for your kingdom, and you won't answer this prayer?" And I never shared this with anybody, but I remember the disappointment that I felt during that period. Third child comes along, right, pregnancy, and we already are thinking she's not going to have this child.

She goes to the hospital, and the doctor says, "You had another miscarriage." And so, we just, by that time, we've accepted it. She's not going to be able to have children normal way. We didn't have enough money to think about adoption. We were just thinking, "Well, let's see what happens." And so, after that initial appointment, she came back and just lived a normal life, you know.

And at that time, I was a youth pastor, so I remember taking the kids to Magic Mountain, and she rode the roller coaster and did all of that, didn't take any medicine, nothing, right, drank coffee, whatever you're not supposed to do. She did everything, right? And at the end of fifth month, she just went in for a checkup, just to see, right, just to make sure that everything has been moved from the body.

And she came back, and the way she came through the door, I knew something was wrong. And she said, "The baby's living." And I thought, "What? They already told us that we lost him." And she came back with an ultrasound. She's like, "Oops." So we don't know. I mean, maybe the doctor was just automatically assuming she's not going to be able to have a baby, so she maybe didn't examine carefully.

But whatever happened was we've already accepted that, and we knew the emotions behind all of that. And I can tell you, each one of our kids, we had some drama behind. And God allow us at least to emotionally feel what it's like to possibly have a kid with Down syndrome.

We had another kid that we thought was, you know, was premature and was in the incubator for a couple months. And then we had faith. Well, each one of us, I'm not going to go into all of that, but God allowed us to feel the emotions behind the heartache that many parents go through in different situations.

But I can tell you that not being able to have a child, I understand. And I know there's a lot of people in our generation that because of this desire, there's a temptation to compromise our Christian ethics, to do things against the will of God. I'm not going to get into that this morning, but I want to encourage you.

Our God is sovereign. What's happening in your life isn't by mistake. It's not because of a satanic attack. Trust God. Whether you end up having a child or not having a child, trust God. You know what's interesting about this story? There's major markers in how God's covenant is being fulfilled.

And each one of those markers, it comes through a barren woman. You remember Sarah? Had Isaac. She was barren. Rebecca had Jacob. She was barren. Rachel had Joseph. She was barren. Hannah had Samuel, and she was barren. This is not by accident. God is trying to convey something here.

That doesn't mean that if you have a hard time having a child, that if you trust God, that you're going to have four children. It doesn't mean that. But what it does mean is that our God is completely sovereign. That even in the most randomest and difficult and the darkest situation, God has not lost control.

The reason why Elizabeth and this story is here, which seems random on the surface, is because God prophesied this. In Isaiah 54, 1 through 8, it says, "Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have born no child. Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud. You who have not prevailed, for the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman," says the Lord.

"Enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch out the curtains of your dwelling. Spare not. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs, for you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities. Fear not, for you will not be put to shame.

Do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced, but you will forget the shame of your youth and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more, for your husband is your maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth.

For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," says your God. "For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you," says the Lord, your Redeemer.

What seems random on the surface is not random at all. When God says that He remembers every strand of hair on our head, He means it. You know, we're in a wedding season right now. You know, we have almost a wedding every week. And so I was at one yesterday and I remember just sitting around with all our bereaved and some of them that I've known for almost 20 years.

And we're thinking about how weddings used to be a long time ago, right? 15, 20 years ago when, was it 20? I forgot how long it was, but a while back, right? How many years were you married, Joe? 18. So 18 years. They were the first couple at our church, right?

But at then, most people did not have wedding coordinators because I was their wedding coordinator. Because we had the whole church involved. So whenever they got married, you know, I'd get, I'd gather up the people and say, "We need to shift. Their wedding's at four. We're going to show up at two o'clock and we're going to set up the tables and, you know, help serve the food." And then after the wedding was over, we would stay longer and clean up and we would say bye to them as they go and then we would stay behind and clean up for them.

It was like that in the beginning because our church was smaller. And so every wedding was a huge celebration, right? It made all of us feel like grown-ups, right? Stuck around and it's like, "Oh, they're getting married." And so every event, they didn't even have to send out invitations because our church was small.

It was just assumed, right? And so they would come. Like a lot of college students who had no idea who they were, they would just show up on Saturday because they had nothing to do. But that was all calculated into the meals and into the celebration. So we're just reminiscing about that and how it used to be and, you know, how every celebration when people had hardship, we were all there together, cried together, laughed together.

But one of the difficulties now that the church is bigger, it's hard, right? You know, it's hard to even get to know everybody. And so that's one of the things that happens when the church is big. And I know there's some of you who were there like 20 years ago thinking, "Oh, you know, only if it was like that, only when it was a long time ago." But obviously we're growing because God is blessing us.

There's people coming to hear the Word and so greater things are happening. But sometimes when you think about it, it is a bit sad because I know people who are going through hardship and can't be there for all of it. A lot of you have gone through a lot of hardship in the last two years.

There's things that you're celebrating and we can't make it there. Like just yesterday, we had two weddings on the same day. As we wrestle and struggle with that, as much as I would like to be there, I am not your true shepherd. I'm only an under shepherd. What I cannot do, God does.

God does. Whether you are 50, 500, 1,000, or 10,000, or a billion, our God is sovereign and He cares. Even for a barren woman in her old age, even for this old couple who may have lost all hope, that as He comes to save the world, He comes to this couple who would have no other hope than the love of Jesus Christ.

That's the sympathetic high priest that we love, that we worship. And so as we continue to study the book of Luke, as I mentioned, as His humanity is presented to us, as His compassion we're able to see up close, that you would remember, He says, "We have a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses.

Therefore, come to the throne of grace. Enter the throne with confidence to seek help in time of need." So my prayer is that we would know this Jesus, that God would not just be some figurehead, some power up above who created the universe and just kind of disappeared from the background, that we worship from a distance, but that we would see His love for us, that we would desire more than anything else to be near to this Jesus.

Let's pray. God, what an awesome God you are. Lord, as we remember that you remembered Zacharias and Elizabeth, countless number of people who came before them, countless number of hurting and aching souls that came after them, all reminding us that you care for us, that you love us, that we are not insignificant in your sight.

We pray, Father God, that you would soften our hearts, help us to see our sympathetic high priest, that we would love him as he loves us, that we would worship him as he deserves. May Christ and Christ alone be magnified. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

Amen. ♪ His work is finished ♪ ♪ He has broken this oath to make ♪ ♪ Though the sun has ceased its shining ♪ ♪ Though the world appeared as dust ♪ ♪ Christ has triumphed over evil ♪ ♪ Heaven's finished upon our floor ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Now the curse, it has been broken ♪ ♪ Jesus paid the price for me ♪ ♪ Filled the pardon He has offered ♪ ♪ Great the welcome that I receive ♪ ♪ I am ravaged by father ♪ ♪ But Jesus righteousness ♪ ♪ I was numbered and too late ♪ ♪ It was finished upon my plate ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Once my grave had fallen ♪ ♪ Fear once had a hold on me ♪ ♪ Let the Son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free in Him ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ It was once my grave had fallen ♪ ♪ Fear once had a hold on me ♪ ♪ Let the Son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free in Him ♪ ♪ Yes He rose, now we would be free in Him ♪ ♪ We from the grief and the darkness ♪ ♪ Free to love, now free to live ♪ ♪ Death has done our prayers, it was done ♪ ♪ It was finished upon the cross ♪ ♪ I will to eternal life ♪ ♪ And to receive the love of my God ♪ ♪ I rejoice in Jesus' victory ♪ ♪ It was finished upon the cross ♪ ♪ It was finished upon the cross ♪ ♪ It was finished upon the cross ♪ (upbeat music) - Let's pray.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy. To the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever, amen.

♪ God sent His Son ♪ ♪ They called Him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ He lived for a day ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to fill ♪ ♪ My Savior lands ♪ ♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because He lives ♪ Amen.

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