(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - All right, good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. If I could just ask that for your help a little bit, if we can just try to squeeze in a little bit to the middle of each row, if you can, for today. That would be greatly appreciated. But with that said, let us begin our worship service this morning with praise.

(soft piano music) ♪ Jesus, Lord of heaven ♪ ♪ I do not deserve ♪ ♪ The grace that you have given ♪ ♪ For the promise of your word ♪ ♪ Lord, I stand in wonder ♪ ♪ At the sacrifice you made ♪ ♪ With mercy beyond measure ♪ ♪ My debt you freely paid ♪ ♪ Your love is deeper ♪ ♪ Than any ocean higher ♪ ♪ Than the heavens reaches ♪ ♪ Beyond the stars in the sky ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, your love has no bounds ♪ ♪ Jesus, your love has no bounds ♪ ♪ Jesus, Lord of heaven ♪ ♪ I do not deserve ♪ ♪ The grace that you have given ♪ ♪ For the promise of your word ♪ ♪ Lord, I stand in wonder ♪ ♪ At the sacrifice you made ♪ ♪ With mercy beyond measure ♪ ♪ My debt you freely paid ♪ ♪ Your love is deeper ♪ ♪ Than any ocean higher ♪ ♪ Than the heavens reaches ♪ ♪ Beyond the stars in the sky ♪ ♪ Oh, your love, your love is deeper ♪ ♪ Than any ocean higher ♪ ♪ Than the heavens reaches ♪ ♪ Beyond the stars in the sky ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, your love has no bounds ♪ ♪ Jesus, your love has no bounds ♪ ♪ Jesus, your love has no bounds ♪ ♪ Jesus, your love has no bounds ♪ - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Breen Community Church. Before we get started, we have an announcement from our Sisters Ministry, and I forget who was supposed to come up here. Okay, Grace is gonna come up and give the announcement. (audience applauding) - Hello, church family. My name is Grace. I have all my support of my family here.

Hey, I just wanna let you know, it's that time of year again. We're excited to share that our Women's Ministry will be hosting our annual Film-O-Ship event. Can I get a raise of hands? How many of you have come to our past Film-O-Ships? Hey, pretty good. Does any of you remember what it stands for?

Oh, okay. So Film-O-Ship stands for fellowship, inspiration, legacy, and movie. So memorize that for next year. So it's gonna be taking place on October 8th from 9 to 12, and it's gonna be taking place around the movie, "The Dropbox." How many of you guys have seen "The Dropbox?" (audience laughing) Only a few?

Oh, it's so good. Okay, well, maybe you were here maybe like five, six years ago, 'cause we did actually play that movie. But for those of you who don't know what that is, it's actually a documentary based on a pastor who saw a great need to save the infants who were pretty much being abandoned and discarded in his neighborhood.

But he found an ingenious way to save these precious babies and bring hope to many families. So we just hope the sisters are able to come and be inspired to see how the love of Christ can really compel his people to follow in his footsteps, in his love and sacrifice.

The cost is $3. There's gonna be payment options in the signup link, so go ahead and check that out. There should be an email coming up. It will be posted on the various social media sites. And please sign up fast, as this is a very popular event. And if you have any questions, please email Nicole Chun.

Is Nicole here? You wanna raise your hand? See, Nicole, ah, look at that. She is pretty much putting this all together, so go and find her. (laughing) And I just gotta say, for the sisters coming, for those who are married, who have children, we gotta get our husbands, brothers, uncles, whatever it is, to help watch your kids so we can have a good time, right?

So we're gonna list the men's help as well. So anyways, thanks so much, and we hope to see you there. Thanks. (audience applauding) - I'm gonna leave the other announcements for you guys to kinda check again. There's quite a few things that are going on at churches. Keep that in mind.

A main thing is our Wednesday Bible study, or weekday Bible study, Second Peter, is starting up again this week. And so those of you guys who are new to the church and you don't know where to go, as soon as you come in, you know, if you haven't checked out our new cafe area, that's where our main Bible study, Wednesday Bible study is gonna be happening, please be mindful of where you're parking because we do not have the same permission during the weekday to park behind us or a certain area.

So just make sure that you follow the signs and wherever is designated for parking that you park. And then on Wednesdays, and Wednesdays our parking on site is available, meaning that normally on Sundays we kinda shut it down because of the number of children that are running around, but Wednesdays we do have parking here.

Just don't park in the courtyard, but anything outside of that, you can park here, and then again, you'll see the parking attendants that are coming. There's gonna be quite a few people here, so you may have to, again, park down the street and then walk over here if you come a little bit later.

The home groups are also starting this week, starting from Tuesday, Wednesday. I don't think we have anything on Thursday, but on Fridays, if you signed up and you didn't receive any information of where you're supposed to go, please let us know. Maybe you kinda fell through the crack or somehow your name got misplaced.

Let us know and then we'll give the information of where to go. So even if you're on Wednesday and you haven't received anything, please email us and we'll be able to direct you to where you need to go when you come on Wednesday. So obviously this Wednesday and this Tuesday, you know, the various Bible studies that we're having, it's gonna be a little bit more chaotic because we're starting anew, and again, we have quite a few new people who have been added to the various things that are going on, and so please help us.

Try to come a little bit earlier, and if you are new and you come a little bit later, it's gonna be difficult for us to place you, so try to come a little bit earlier. So Wednesday, we're starting at seven, so I'm gonna ask you to come at least 15, 20 minutes earlier so that you can find your seats and see who is with you so we can get started right at seven o'clock as possible.

Okay? All right, other than that, I'll leave the rest of the announcements for you to look at on our apps or church website. Let me pray for our offering, and again, if you are here visiting and you have a physical offering to give, we have a box over there under the clock, and then if you're new to the church, we encourage you to visit our welcome table.

As you are coming into the campus, you saw the welcome sign, and that's kind of where our welcome team is gathered together, and they'll take your information and answer any kind of questions that you may have. Okay? Let me pray for us, and then I'll give you a minute or two to give your offering.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your continued grace and love that you pour upon us, things that we are aware of, things that you are doing behind the scenes, Lord God, that we have full confidence that you are a sovereign God, that you work all things together for good, for our sanctification, for your glory.

So we pray, Father God, that even in this offering, help us to give cheerfully for the purpose of worship and the purpose of furthering your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) Church, may we let us stand together as we continue our worship.

(gentle music) ♪ 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 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 ♪ (gentle music) ♪ The world made flesh ♪ ♪ God's promise to the fallen ♪ ♪ He came with power to save ♪ ♪ The life of life ♪ ♪ Was crushed for our rebellion ♪ ♪ He died a death that rose up from the grave ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ Our king will come ♪ ♪ Our king will come ♪ ♪ When the trumpet blast resounds in ♪ ♪ To claim his bloodlust crown ♪ ♪ For in the skies ♪ ♪ The sun again is glowing ♪ ♪ And in its difficult turn to shine ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ Oh, how great you are ♪ Amen, before our next song, I'd like to read for us from Romans 8, one to four.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin.

You condemn sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. And in Galatians 3, 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.

For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree in order that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the spirit through faith, amen. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Now I know the voice of Jesus ♪ ♪ And the cross of Calvary ♪ ♪ He declares his work is finished ♪ ♪ He has spoken this out to me ♪ ♪ Though the sun has ceased its shining ♪ ♪ Though the war of years has passed ♪ ♪ Christ has triumphed over evil ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Now the curse, it has been broken ♪ ♪ Jesus paid the price for me ♪ ♪ Full of pardon he has offered ♪ ♪ Great the welcome that I receive ♪ ♪ Only I approach my father ♪ ♪ Moving Jesus' righteousness ♪ ♪ There is no more guilt to bear ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Death was once my great opponent ♪ ♪ Fear once had a hold on me ♪ ♪ But the son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free indeed ♪ (upbeat music) Let's sing that again.

Death was once. ♪ Death was once my great opponent ♪ ♪ Fear had won a hold on me ♪ ♪ But the son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free indeed ♪ ♪ Yes he rose that we would be free indeed ♪ ♪ Free from every plan and darkness ♪ ♪ Free to live and free to die ♪ ♪ Death is dead and Christ is risen ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ ♪ Onward to eternal glory ♪ ♪ To my Savior and 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 ♪ (gentle music) - Amen, may be seated.

If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter three, we're gonna jump back into the text here in Luke chapter three verses one, two. It's one to six. I'm just gonna reread for the first three verses. This is a two-part message that I'm gonna finish next week.

Okay, Luke chapter three, one, two, and three. I just wanna kinda give you a heads up. I forgot to inform you this at the announcement. In about two weeks, not next Sunday, but the Sunday after, we are going to be moving our cry room to the other building. So where our former cafe is, so we're taking the next couple of weeks to set up that room.

And so it's gonna be much more spacious. There's gonna be a live feed that's going on in there. So that we can, again, we're gonna be using that area for an overflow from this room. But the cry room, we're gonna make it, again, we're trying to get that made so that the parents with small children, those of you guys who are in the room right now, in two weeks, will be moved to that location.

And along with that, because our youth group is having worship in that room, we ask that you not go in there. Don't take your children in there to play during the second service, because there's an actual worship that's taking place in the corner of that building. So only go into that room if there is some business or you have to go meet one of the pastors or something or something like that.

But please do not use that room to kind of let your children run around, because there's a youth group worship that's taking place in that room. Otherwise, the cafe is big enough where you guys can kind of hang out in that area, okay? All right, let me look at Luke chapter three, verses one, two, and three, reading out of the NASB.

Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea, and Trachonetus and Dysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. In a high priest of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would anoint this time, let your word and your word alone go forth, convict us, guide us, restore us, that we may be true worshipers that worship you in spirit and in truth.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, as we are introduced to John, again, John was introduced as an infant earlier on in the book of Luke, and there is a long period of silence that we don't know much or anything about John the Baptist other than the fact that he was raised in the wilderness and his parents.

And so now we get to chapter three, as he begins his ministry, we are introduced to John the Baptist and his ministry, and so we're gonna be covering the first part today, and then his message next week. But it's interesting that it begins by highlighting some very prominent people of that generation.

You have the emperor of Rome, Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, who was the governor of the region, Herod, the king of Israel, Annas and Caiaphas in three different parts, and then you have the two high priests, Annas and, again, Annas and Caiaphas. And each one of these people on their own were famous, powerful people.

So you would think that if you were to read this in the first century and you saw their names, that there would be something about them that they would explain, and somehow how John was connected to that and how he benefited from it. But looking at it now, 2,000 years later, they're just mentioned because they're trying to introduce John the Baptist.

The real key figure here isn't Caesar. It's not the governor, it's not the high priest, it's not the king of Israel, but this obscure guy who was in the wilderness. No money, no prominence, no education, coming from a poor family, most likely. And he's the guy who's highlighted. You know, one thing that this reminds me of is all of human history, whether it's Egypt or whether it's modern history, all of it is redemptive history, and every government and every historical thing is basically in line with how it's connected and what God is doing.

So human history is not about Egypt, it's not about the Middle Ages, it's not about what happened, whether good or bad, or communism or capitalism and who's going to win. At the end of it, these guys are all side things that are happening in the context of what God is doing in history.

At that particular time, it would have been strange to say all of these people are mentioned because they're trying to introduce John. Again, in human history, maybe nobody, but in redemptive history, he's the greatest of all the prophets, as Jesus says. John the Baptist is a unique figure. You know, those of us who think of John the Baptist, who maybe have studied John the Baptist or read about John the Baptist, I mean, we could say superficially, right, at least from what we know, he was a dead serious guy.

I don't ever see him telling jokes, you know? Like, you see Jesus, like, laughing and playing with children and, you know, hanging out with his disciples, eating, but John the, all we know about John the Baptist is he's out in the wilderness, he's eating some serious food, wearing serious clothes, right, and his message is repent, right?

And then once he's done, he dies and he disappears. The whole presence of John the Baptist, every part of who he was, was an indictment against Israel. Like, I could imagine, like, John the Baptist, just by showing up somewhere, it got serious, right? Just the fact that John the Baptist was coming, I think it caused them to think, like, what am I doing wrong?

If my life is not straight, what should I do? He's a very serious figure. We're gonna look at today John's particular calling. There's four things that I wanna highlight in this text, in the introduction, and one is the calling of John. What made his calling so unique? And second, the timing of his calling, and what does that speak to about why John was sent, and then third, the place of his calling.

Even the place where he was called and where he grew up has significance, and then fourthly, the message of his calling. So this morning, I'm gonna look at the first three, and then we'll take some time next week to talk about the fourth one, about his message. But first one, the calling.

John the Baptist's ministry, it begins by saying, in the text, after introducing all of these people, that the word of the Lord, word of God, came to him. Now today, if we just listen to that superficially, without understanding the context of that phrase, we may just think, oh, God called him, or God spoke to him, but what's interesting about the word here for word, typically when we see the word word in the New Testament, what's the word that we think of as in Greek?

Logos, right, logos. The word that is used here for the word is not logos, but rhema. I think the easiest way to understand, and it's not comprehensive, it's much more nuanced than this, but the easiest way to understand what's happening here is the word rhema, the distinction between that and logos is logos is kind of like the written word, right?

It is the word, it's a universal, it's spoken to everybody in particular. I mean, it is the word of God itself, right? In the beginning was the word, word was with God, word was God, all of the statements there are all logos. Here the word is rhema. Rhema is in reference to the spoken word, in particular to that particular person.

Now even with that definition, it may not make a lot of sense, but the first century Jew would have clearly understood when they saw that statement that John the Baptist, the word of the Lord came to him, the word of God came to him, they knew that this was a distinct calling of a prophet.

The word came to him, that phrase is used whenever you see a prophet being called to speak on his behalf, it introduces that prophet by saying the word of God came to him. First Samuel 15, 10, the word of the Lord came to Samuel. Second Samuel 7, four, the word of the Lord came to Nathan.

First Kings 16, one, the word of the Lord came to Jehu. Jeremiah 1, two, the word of God came to Jeremiah. Ezekiel 1, three, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. Jonah, the word of the Lord came to Jonah. The word of the Lord came to Haggai. The word of the Lord came to Zechariah.

Each one of these prophets has specifically called the phrase, the introduction that these are people sent by God, it is introduced to us by saying the word of the Lord came to him. God specifically called that individual. The reason why this is significant is that the last time that phrase was used to refer to a prophet or the last prophet of the Old Testament didn't come to Israel until before 425 years ago.

That means over 400 years. There wasn't a prophet for the nation of Israel. And God warned the nation of Israel that because they continued to sin in the book of Amos, he says that there's gonna be a famine. But it's not a famine of food, it's not famine of water, it's gonna be a famine of the word of God.

That people are gonna be staggering from place to place, but God's not gonna send his servant to preach so that people would not know. That's what happened for 400 years. So when the text says that John the Baptist was that prophet a first century Jew would have understood that God is breaking into his silence.

That he's not like the Pharisees. He's not like the priests and the scribes who are taking and regurgitating information that they may have had. In fact, much of the teaching of that time was not even the Bible at all. It was just a lot of their opinions, a lot of their thoughts and added traditions.

So when they accused Jesus of breaking the law, it wasn't the law that the Lord was breaking, it was their tradition that they added to the law. See, when here it says that John the Baptist come and the word of God came to him is that God is speaking.

In other words, pay attention to what he has to say. There's a reason why almost every letter in the New Testament is introduced to us by saying Paul an apostle of God, or bond servant, or a slave. And he's not simply giving his title, he's saying what I'm about to say to you is from God himself.

The Holy Spirit is using me to write and to speak to you, but I'm sent by God. These are not my words, these are not my opinions, it's thus sayeth the Lord. And so that's how John is being introduced to us here today, that his calling as a prophet for 400 years, as an indictment and a judgment against Israel, the prophet was not sent and all of a sudden it was time.

And so John is gonna appear and he's going to bring the word of God to them to prepare for the coming of Christ. Secondly, the timing of John's calling. Every part of this passage where it says, "15 year of the reign of Tiberius, "when Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, "Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, "brother Philip, the tetrarch of the region of Echeria," and on and on, he mentioned all these prominent people.

And he says, again, every time a prophet is introduced, it was common practice that they would tell us exactly when they were prophesying. In Haggai chapter one, one, it's in the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, and tells us very specifically when these prophecies are taking place and in what context these prophecies are taking place.

So if you ever study the Old Testament, especially the prophets, you have to know what's going on in history. Or else it'll sound, one book, it's gonna sound exactly like the other book. And that's probably, if you've ever read it without understanding the historical context in which the prophet is speaking, it just sounds like God's gonna judge you, you better repent.

God's gonna judge you, you better repent. Then Hosea, God's gonna judge you, you better repent. Ezekiel, God's gonna judge you, you better repent. That's what you end up hearing. So if you read one, you read the other, it doesn't sound any different until you know the specific context. And in what particular sin are they being judged for?

And when they're being judged, how are they gonna be judged? And what's the result of that? And what is the promise that's going to come? And so when the historical context is introduced to us, it helps us to understand the message that they're giving specifically. And so John is no different.

When John is introduced to us, when all these people are laid out for us, there's a reason for that. It's not just to give us a specific timeline. It happened 33 AD or 37 AD. And so there's a lot of debate as to, is it 33, is it 36, is it 28?

That may be interesting, but the real reason why I believe this is here is because it gives us the historical spiritual context in which John the Baptist is breaking in and bringing the word of God. So what is the context? Well, in Galatians 4.4 it says, "When the fullness of time has come." When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of the woman, born under the law.

What made this, what made this particular period in Israel's history the fullness of time? That's an important question because God ordained this particular, it was not random that Jesus came at this particular time. He said God allowed what he has ordained to take place, and when it was fulfilled, it was the fullness of time.

Everything that he was waiting to do, everything that he had ordained to happen has happened. So all the groundwork that needed to take place, he said, has happened, and that's why now John the Baptist is coming and Jesus is coming. So the question is, what happened? So some people will say, well, the Romans took over and they made the roads easier to travel on, they had similar language, and they had political connection 'cause they conquered so much land, and all that is true, but he could have done that 1,000 years before.

He wasn't waiting for the Romans, like, I can't wait 'til the Romans get here 'cause we need the roads and we can't travel, we can't share the gospel without roads. They go to other places, they can't learn their language. That may be the case, that may be a benefit of the Romans being in power at that time, but the Bible spells out.

He said the fullness of time is because the law was given for what purpose? To make sin utterly sinful. So if there's anything that the Bible specifically points to is allowing the sin to have its full effect. The full effect of sin had to come. Why did that have to come?

Because in order for light to come into the world, they need to be able to recognize the light, and sometimes when it is dim, you don't appreciate the light. And so God was waiting until the darkest part of the day in order for the light to come. I mean, this is not my guess, the Bible says that.

When sin has become utterly sinful. So how do these people who are in power points to that? Well, as you guys know, in the Old Testament, when the prophets came, the warning was very similar. If you do not repent and turn from your sins, the penalty that he says over and over again through different prophets, through different generation, is that you're gonna lose your country.

Foreigners are gonna come and take your men and your women, and they're gonna make them their servants. And you're gonna serve as servants under their dominion and their power, and you're gonna end up worshiping their gods. And prophet after prophet after prophet, the same warning was given to them, and they did not turn.

So 735 BC, the Assyrians come in and take over the land, and then after that, the Babylonians come. After that, the Persians come. After the Persians, the Greeks come. After the Greeks come, then the Romans have come. So over 700 years, they were dominated by a pagan nation, just like the prophets said.

So when we are introduced by telling us, but it was a time of Caesar, to us, it may just be a historical event, but to a Jew, it's a reminder to them of their sin. They're in that situation because of their own sins. And that's what the prophets kept on telling them.

Pontius Pilate was a governor, and he was the one who actually had the power to carry out crucifixion and judgment. So if Israel ever rebelled against Rome, Pontius Pilate was the one who would gather the soldiers and he would oppress them. And so when they heard Pontius Pilate, he was the one who was carrying, he was the one who was crucifying their neighbors.

Herod, Philip, the Senes, these were the kings of Israel. They divided up the kingdom into different parts so that they can share the kingdom, and their great grandfather, or grandfather, Herod the Great did this so that they can retain their power. So you remember Israel, Israel's kingdom was unlike any other kingdom, because in every other kingdom, the king is the king.

But in Israel, the king was a servant of the real king. So remember, that's how Saul got into trouble. He was established as the first king of Israel, and he acted like any other king. He went and got whatever he wanted, he did whatever he wanted, and he didn't obey God.

And as a result of it, he gets rejected, and God brings in the second king. And what does he say about David? He's a man after my own heart. Meaning he's a king that's gonna represent me. See, by the time Israel is under the rule of Herod and his brothers, these guys weren't even Israelites.

I mean, forget tribe of Judah, they weren't even Israel, they were Idrumeans. They were foreigners, basically, that the Roman government established in order to use them to suppress any rebellion that might come from their country. So the fact that you had Idrumeans ruling over them, every day was a reminder to them of their rebellion.

And they're in that situation because of their sin. But as bad as all of that was, the people who did the most damage to the nation of Israel were these two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas. We don't know for sure, but according to early church historians, they believe that Annas and Caiaphas weren't even from the tribe of Levites.

Just like their king, just like these foreign rulers, they had no rightful authority over Israel. Annas actually was a retired high priest. And in order to maintain his power, he established his son-in-law, Caiaphas. So by law, there's only one high priest, but by that time, they said Annas and Caiaphas were co-reigning because Annas didn't want to let go of his power.

So automatically, that tells you that this was not about worship, was not about keeping the temple pure, it's not about worshiping, following God, it was about their own power. And that's why when Jesus came, Jesus was a threat to their power. And that's why they had to get rid of him.

It wasn't because, oh, he broke the law or he's not following our tradition. Ultimately, Jesus was calling them out of their sins and challenging their power, and so they would do anything to retain their power. And as a result of that, they end up killing Jesus. So every one of these rulers was a reminder to the nation of Israel that sin has become utterly sinful.

The weight of sin has been carried out to its peak. And so at Israel's darkest period of time, light comes, John the Baptist. John chapter one, verse one, it says, "He came to his own, and those who are his own "did not receive him." That's how dark it was.

The light came and they didn't even recognize it. They talked about the coming Messiah probably more than any subject. I think they talked about the coming Messiah like Dodgers fans during World Series, if you make it. I mean, I think the topic of the Messiah was at every conversation because every struggle, every problem was gonna be solved when the Messiah comes.

Financial problems. When the Messiah comes, there's gonna be no poor. There's gonna be no sickness. There's gonna be no foreign nations. So every time they felt any kind of effects of their sin, they said, "The Messiah's coming, "and the kingdom of he's going to come. "No one's gonna be hungry, no one's gonna be tired, "no one's gonna be crying." So I believe that the topic of the Messiah was on their tongue constantly, and yet when the Messiah came, they did not recognize him.

That's how far they drifted from God. Even though they talked about God, even though the temple was in full swing, the Romans allowed them to worship the way they wanted to worship. They had synagogues scattered all over the Roman world. Remember, wherever Paul would go to preach the gospel, he would go to the synagogue where the Jews are, and they were allowed to give worship there freely, and yet with all that time spent talking about God and the Messiah, when the actual Messiah came, they did not recognize him.

In Luke chapter 9, 22, Jesus says, "The Son of Man must suffer many things "and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests "and the scribes and be killed "and be raised up on the third day." Do you notice how Jesus says when he's rejected by Israel, he specifically points out the leaders of Israel?

He doesn't just say, "Israel's gonna reject me, "the unbelievers are gonna reject me, "the people who are chasing after ideas "are gonna reject me." He repeats it over and over again, "The leaders of Israel is going to reject me." The reason why he says that is because it wasn't just a pocket of people.

That's how far that they were led astray by these leaders, by the false prophets, and by their own lusts and their sins that even in the context of worshiping God and making sacrifices, they knew nothing of God. They didn't know him, even as he was standing in front of them.

They didn't recognize him. The timing of Jesus' coming was at the darkest of Israel's history. Jesus says in Matthew 16, one through four, "The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and testing Jesus, "they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. "But he replied to them, "when it is evening you say it will be fair weather "for the sky is red.

"And in the morning there will be a storm today "for the sky is red and threatening. "Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky "but cannot discern the signs of the times?" We are warned over and over again that not to be caught off guard like a thief that comes in the night.

He said for the rest of the world, the thief comes and it is unwelcome. When the thief comes, they come to break in and take the things that are valuable to you, the things that you were treasuring, the things that you have locked up, they're gonna come and get it.

Things that you have worked so hard to get for years and years and years, they're gonna come and destroy all of that. And he tells us, make sure that you do not get caught off guard like the thief. Because the first coming of Jesus was exactly like that. Jesus came and he disturbed their peace.

Everything that they hoped for, Jesus came and he ripped it out of their hands. And as a result of that, they rejected him. He says, "How come you're able to tell the signs "of the times when the weather is changing?" I mean, think about our generation, right? Is the crypto gonna go up or down?

Is it a good time to buy a house or not? What field of education should you go into? What school do you wanna go to in order for you to get the best jobs? What company should you join? Where should you live? Where are you gonna get the most bang for your buck for your house?

You know the signs of the times that you can read and if you are savvy, that you become, the older you get, you become better and better. How to invest your money? Raise your kids, where to buy the house, when to sell, when to buy. But he says, "When it comes to spiritual matters, "you're blind, you're so dense.

"The son of God is standing right before you "and you don't even recognize him." That's what Jesus was saying. See, the time that John the Baptist came, Israel was that blind. Obviously, there's an application to this. You and I live in a free country where we can worship God freely like no other people ever.

I know that, you know, we've been so pampered. They say, "You can't say Merry Christmas." Merry, we can't say Merry Christmas! I can understand the Indian pastors who are dying for their faith 'cause they won't let us say Merry Christmas. I mean, that's where you and I live. Because we're, let's admit it, we're snowflakes.

Right, I know that's a political term, but we're all snowflakes, let's admit it, right? Because we've been free for so long, we come to church and think about the things that we complain about, this is too far, not enough parking, the bathroom's not good, and we don't have this program, we don't have that program.

I mean, you and I are pampered, let's admit it. The things that we complain about, they would laugh at. I mean, literally laugh at in other parts of the world, literally risking their lives to come and gather together to worship God. But as a result of these blessings, we have also become blind.

Like what matters, what doesn't matter, what's true, what's not true, what honors God, what pleases God. How many of us are aware of our own hearts, our own greed, our own lusts, our own pursuits? Is Christ truly Lord over our life? I'm not saying do you confess it. I'm not saying do you remember, I'm not saying do you serve it, I'm not saying do you type.

Is he really Lord? Is he the Lord that I serve? Or did we just pick and choose what we can establish as Lord and what we can't? See, Israelites were in that state for hundreds and hundreds of years. And so the hardening of their hearts to the point where they can't even recognize Jesus did not happen overnight.

It was decades, centuries after centuries, and passed down tradition. So when they told Jesus, you're not even obeying the law, and they couldn't even recognize what was the law and what was things that they made up. That's how far they drifted away from God. John the Baptist breaks into this because he's gonna stir up the pot.

In order for Jesus to come, they needed to recognize where they've gone wrong. They needed to know what sin that they're under and why they needed a Savior. They needed to know that. And they hated John the Baptist as much as they hated Jesus. In fact, Jesus did, John the Baptist did such a great job that when he was transitioning, people were asking, oh, is he the Messiah?

And then when John came on, Jesus came on the scene, they asked, oh, maybe he's John the Baptist. I think there is some physical resemblance because they were cousins. But for the most part, what they said and what they did and how they lived and how they made their disciples looked so similar that they couldn't distinguish from a distance who he was.

That was John the Baptist. In order for him to prepare for the way of coming of Christ, he said what Jesus said, he did what Jesus would do, he went where Jesus would go. And he came up to stir the pot. People who hated Jesus hated John the Baptist.

And people who loved Jesus also loved John the Baptist. His very presence was a stumbling block to the nation of Israel. Especially to the leaders. The place of John's calling is also something that we need to recognize. Wilderness, it says. The word of God came to John the Baptist in the wilderness.

Wilderness in the Old Testament is a very prominent place because remember when Moses, he was in the palace in Egypt, in Pharaoh's palace. And they say, well, if you can get trained to lead the nation of Israel, where's the best place to get training to be the best leader?

Well, I mean, he's in Pharaoh's house. They had the best education, best technology, best training that you could have gotten in the world. And yet God orchestrates him to go out into the desert, to the wilderness for 40 years. And completely strips him of any pride. Anything that he thought would have been useful, he just completely strips him of that.

And he knows nothing for 40 years other than to take care of these sheeps. And it was at the end of that when he was ready. That even when God called, it's like, you don't want me. 'Cause I'm not trained. Maybe if you called me 40 years ago, but I believe God sent him out into the wilderness for that very reason.

God doesn't need Pharaoh's education. God doesn't need his training. He wanted to be empty. Empty. And I believe that the best person that God can use for his kingdom is people who are empty. Empty, no pride, no agenda. Just come before God and say, here am I, send me.

He says in Timothy, right? If you want to be prepared for noble purposes, what does he say? Get rid of ignoble things in your life. That's what he says. He doesn't say get training, go to seminary. He doesn't say all that. He doesn't have to say that those things don't help.

All he says is if you want to be used for noble purposes, get rid of ignoble things. It's the ignoble things. It's not what you need to get, it's what you need to get out. John the Baptist grew up in the wilderness. Wilderness is not a place of education.

Wilderness is not a place where you go to get rich. You don't make connections in the wilderness. You don't have proper systems in the wilderness. They just lived in caves. In fact, we don't know much about John the Baptist. All we know is that, again, extra biblical material tells us that John the Baptist, or John, Yohanan, is mentioned in some document in the Qumran community.

And the only reason why we know anything about this is because they found Dead Sea Scrolls in their community. And so they became prominent as a result of that, but outside of that, we know nothing. John the Baptist just grew up in the wilderness, in the caves, and then when it was time, he just walked out.

And he began to baptize, began to preach. I believe the practical reason why he was out in the wilderness is away from the reach of the leadership. Remember when Jesus was beginning to preach? His own brothers asked him. And it says, because they didn't believe, well, if you wanna be famous, and you're doing all of this stuff, go to Jerusalem.

Nobody preaches out in Galilee. I mean, where are you gonna go in Galilee? You can't become famous, you can't become prominent, you're not gonna become a member of the Sanhedrin out in Galilee. Go to Jerusalem, because he did not understand. It was very deliberate that he was out in Galilee, and it's very deliberate that John the Baptist was out in the wilderness, because he came to challenge the leaders.

He came to challenge the system. He didn't come to get their approval. He didn't come to rise up under their system, that one day they would become somebody prominent within their system. In fact, John the Baptist calls out, and we'll get into that next week, and he challenged that, you guys are brood of vipers.

You need to repent, and you need to be serious about your repentance. And instead of going into Jerusalem, he began to call them out into the wilderness. In Luke chapter 21 through seven, it says, on one of the days while he was teaching, while Jesus was teaching at the temple, challenging the system himself, preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Jesus, him, and they spoke, saying to him, "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things, "or who is the one who gave you the authority?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you a question, and you will tell me, "was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, because they can't answer him.

And the reason why they can't answer him is because if they say John the Baptist is not from heaven, there's all these people who love John the Baptist, how can you say that about the prophet, one of the greatest prophets that we've seen? If they say he is from God, then why did you treat him that way?

So it was a trick question, because Jesus knew that all of these leaders were functioning under the fear of man. They weren't serving God, they were serving themselves. They were saying things and doing things because they knew that that would gather attention for themselves. And as a result of that, because they were fear, they were functioning under the fear of man and their own greed.

That's why they emphasize certain things and not emphasize certain things. Just like today. Just like today. Well, you hear certain things because it's beneficial for the people in the room. And there's certain things you don't hear because the reaction you're gonna get. Even in our church, most of the times that I get thanked, and I'm not saying all the time, I'm not indicting all of you, I know which sermons get the best praise.

One, it has to be shorter. That I know. That'd be shorter. It has to be 30, 35 minutes. I usually get thank you when it's shorter. I rarely get a message if I go 50 minutes. They're usually quiet and just walk by. It's usually about your suffering, the Lord loves you, He cares about you, that despite your sin, that He loves you unconditionally, and He will never forget you.

None of that is false. And there are texts that emphasizes that. But there are also plenty of texts of warning. There's plenty of texts about judgment, consequence of sin. So my natural inclination, if I'm not careful, would gravitate toward that. So if I gave topical messages, I might every once in a while feel the weight of guilt, like I should preach the whole counsel of God and go to the judgment every once in a while.

But most likely, four out of five times, it would be the other side. And that's why I think the benefit of preaching through the Bible is I don't dictate what you hear. The text dictates, tells you what you need to hear. See, James chapter three one says, "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, "knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment." Man, this hit me like a ton of bricks when I was getting ordained.

Now, the funny thing was, it wasn't before I got ordained. It was as I was getting ordained. Do not strive to become a teacher 'cause you're gonna be under stricter judgment. There's nobody in this room that will be under stricter judgment than me because I preach every week, 'cause I represent the word of God.

I am more tempted than anybody in this room to be a man pleaser. I am more tempted. 'Cause I say certain things, I know the response that I'll get. And the larger the church gets, we have more good, but we also have more criticism, and it all comes with the territory.

So I am tempted. I am tempted more than anybody else in this room to pretend. To pretend like I'm doing well when I'm not. To present myself in such a way that it may or not should be true in real life. Because the more I speak and the more I present in an ideal manner, the more benefit that we get.

But a man of God must first and foremost be a fear of God. It's not because I don't fear men. They say, "Oh, I'm thick-skinned, "so nothing you say bothers me." It bothers me. But if you're gonna represent God, the fear of God must grip you stronger than any other fear.

That even if what I say drives all of you away, if it is the text, and if that's what the Bible says, that's what needs to be said. And even now, maybe some of you are uncomfortable. But the man who represent God, whether me or a pastor or an elder or a teacher, has to first and foremost be fears of God.

What will God think if I say this? What will God think if I don't say this? What will God think if I do this? What will God think if I don't do this? The leaders of Israel were serving themselves. They were serving themselves. Then even the Savior of the world, standing in front of them, not only did they not receive him, they ended up crucifying him.

That's how far gone they were. Jesus says to the leaders in Matthew 23, 13, "Bewold to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, "because you shut off the kingdom of heaven "from people, for you do not enter in yourself, "nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." I mean, their whole position was to bring them to God, and he says, "Not only are you not going to God, "you're preventing others from coming to God." That's where Israel was.

The more they were engrossed in their system, the more lost they got. The more they were dedicated to the temple, the more rebellion that they experienced. So John the Baptist breaks in to call that out. We'll look at that next week. If you don't like today's message, you're gonna hate next week's.

Today is all the circumstance of his presence, of his calling, of the timing. Next week, he's gonna actually talk, and we'll see what's gonna come out of his mouth. In Matthew 20 through 15, he says, "Behold to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, "because you travel around on sea and land "and make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, "you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." See, they were active.

It wasn't that they were self-indulgent, did nothing. In fact, it would've been better if they did nothing, but they were very active at the temple. They were very active in teaching. They were very active in gathering proselytes, but every time they came, they became just like them and even worse.

Finally, Matthew 20 through 25 says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, "for you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, "but inside they're full of robbery and self-indulgence." The danger of Bible study, the danger of learning the Bible, I can tell you, danger of seminary.

I don't know if you've ever heard it, but in seminary, there's a running joke, and we call it cemetery. We call it cemetery 'cause the people who are on fire for God come, and they get theology and Bible thrown at them, and they come out cold, like filled with theology, but their passion dies.

Some people may look at that and say, "Then don't go to seminary." The Word of God did not do that to them. Exposure to the Word of God did not do that to them, so some of you guys may think, "Oh, then let's stop starting theology "so that we can stay on fire for God "and be ignorant forever." That's not the application of that.

The problem is the Word of God is not bringing us to Him. The Word of God is filling us with knowledge, and we use that to see what other people are doing wrong. Instead of a lamp unto our feet, we become a flashlight to point out what's going on wrong with other people.

That's why it's turning that way. I'm at the most danger of that. Where I study the Word of God, I'm in front of the Word of God every day. Sometimes five, six, seven hours a day, I'm in my office and I'm at home just preparing sermons, Bible studies, and people that I'm meeting, and books that I'm reading, and as a result of that, I can spend all my time thinking about how I can present this to you and be very dense about what's going on in my own heart, in my own worship.

There's a danger for anybody who's a teacher that all of these things just kind of creep in because we have a title. Because we've been leaders for a while, we have a tendency to assume we're better off. I can tell you from my experience, the godliest people that I've met during my life were not pastors.

They weren't leaders in the church. The godliest people that affected me, I said, wow, that guy really loves the Lord, were not pastors. They weren't leaders. They don't have any specific titles. They're just humble people who met the Lord and serving God in the background in humility. And they're doing things that they would have never done if they didn't meet the Lord.

Sometimes I go to churches and I give messages, and the whole church is attentive except the pastor. He's busy running around, setting things up, and he sets up chairs and he goes out. I'm in a position where I'm in the most danger of that. So all of us need your prayers that the word of God that we teach may convict us first, that we will be broken men first, that we will be sensitive to his teaching first, that we will be aware of the dead men's bones that we've allowed to dwell in our hearts first.

Because if we're not, we can be saying lofty things to you and leading you away from God, just like the leaders of Israel. And God may have to raise up somebody in the jungles, and far away from seminary, far away from these churches, so that somebody who has not been ruined by our system can have a pure relationship with God, and that man will speak for us at the end times.

In Hebrews chapter 13, 11 through 14, it says, "For the bodies of those animals "whose blood is brought into the holy place "by the high priest as an offering for sin "are bound outside the camp. "Therefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people "through his own blood, suffered outside the gate.

"So let us go out to him outside the camp, "bearing his reproach. "For here we do not have a lasting city, "but we are seeking the city which is to come." Jesus went outside the camp, John the Baptist went outside the camp. If God is speaking to you, examine your own life, examine your own calling, examine the way you study the Bible, examine the way you serve the church.

Is that about God, is that about you? Are you coming to God because you set up this life and you need his sprinkling on that? Or have you really surrendered? Are you seeking after God? God, are you seeking after God? Are you seeking after Christ? Or are you trying to just come up this ladder in the religious system that's been created around us?

The danger, and this is just personal, I believe in our generation, just following the pattern that has been set before us is going to lead to condemnation. Yeah, that's personal. Some of you may agree, may not agree. What is normal around us is just as blind as the nation of Israel was.

If Jesus came now, like he did 2,000 years ago, how many of our pastors would be able to recognize him? How many of our church members would recognize him? If he was to raise up leaders in our generation, where would he come from? Mega churches, from seminaries, people who wrote a lot of books, celebrity pastors?

I pray that John's ministry, Jesus's ministry, would cause us to be sober enough that we are not okay with status quo. Because status quo may be where Israelites were when Christ came, that we would not fall under the same judgment, that we would come before the Lord and ask, Lord, search me and know me, see if there's any hurtful ways in me.

Before I search the world, before I search our congregation, what's going on here? Have I compromised? Have I drifted? Have I allowed certain sins to percolate and excused for days, for months, for weeks, for years, for decades? Where I can also become so blind that when Jesus comes, I wouldn't recognize him.

If this is fake, if this is fake, get as much out of it as you can. Make as many friends. Have VBS and have children, have great memories. Raise our children together. Go get a lot of money. Come to church, play football, softball, basketball. If this is fake, get as much out of it as you can.

But if this is true, if this is true, all of that could be blinding us to where we really are in Christ. Come to Christ, Christ, not just a church, not just a Bible study. Come to Christ. Let's take a few minutes to pray. Again, as we welcome our pastor, priest to come up.

We can easily become inoculated even from my own messages. We heard it enough where he just, Pastor Peter just going off again. But let's not fall into this danger to think that the blindness of Israel is not gonna happen to us. It can happen to us. We come before the Lord and say, Lord, I wanna worship you in spirit and in truth.

Open my eyes. Have I become blind myself? Am I actually walking with the Lord? Do I know this Christ? Do I love this Christ? Am I proclaiming this Christ? And take some time to pray and search the Lord as our worship team leads us. Let's pray. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) Let us stand together for our closing song.

(soft piano music) ♪ O great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Occupy my lowly heart ♪ ♪ Own it all and reign supreme ♪ ♪ Conquer every rebel path ♪ ♪ Let no vice or sin remain ♪ ♪ That resists your holy war ♪ ♪ You have loved and purchased me ♪ ♪ Made me yours forevermore ♪ ♪ I was blinded by my sin ♪ ♪ Had no ears to hear your voice ♪ ♪ Did not know your love within ♪ ♪ Had no taste for heaven's joys ♪ ♪ Then your spirit gave me life ♪ ♪ Open up your word to me ♪ ♪ Through the gospel of your son ♪ ♪ Gave me endless hope and faith ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ O great God ♪ (soft piano music) Help me now.

♪ Help me now to live a life ♪ ♪ That's dependent on your grace ♪ ♪ Keep my heart and guard my soul ♪ ♪ From the evils that I face ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ With my every heart and tear ♪ ♪ O great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Glorify your name through me ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ With my every heart and tear ♪ ♪ O great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Glorify your name through me ♪ - Heavenly Father, we pray.

Lord God, it's in us first that you would search us and know us. Lord, if we've been blinded by our own passions, by our own need for security, by our own passions, Lord God, to have things, Lord, that you did not give us. If we have been blinded, Lord God, by the counsel of the wicked of this world, that we are now standing with sinners, maybe even sitting with the seat of mockers, Lord, teach us what it means to delight in the law of the Lord, to truly meditate it on a day and night, that your word would convict us, your word would tear us down, it would break us, soften us, that we may be built up the way you desire, that we may be established for your kingdom, that we may grow for your glory.

So for that end, we pray for revival in our hearts, revival in our church, revival in our families, revival in our generation. Help us, Lord God, not to live like the times of Noah, people eating and drinking, getting married, as if we're gonna be here forever. Help us to number our days, to know we are just a mist that comes and goes.

And for that period, however long or short you have given us, that we may live, Lord God, investing for eternal things. So we pray, Father, that wherever you send us this week, that your word will resonate, that we would apply all that you've given. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

♪ God sent his Son ♪ ♪ Then called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to earth ♪ ♪ Here in forfeiture ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to prove ♪ ♪ My Savior lived ♪ ♪ Because he lived ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lived ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lived ♪ ♪ Thus you will lead the way ♪ ♪ We have found a refuge ♪ ♪ Only you can save ♪ ♪ Sing with joy now ♪ ♪ Our God is for us ♪ ♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ ♪ Raise your voice now ♪ ♪ No love is greater ♪ ♪ Who can stand against this ♪ ♪ If our God is for us ♪ Huh?

Okay, okay.