July 2, 2023 - Sunday Service

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July 3, 2023

Join the congregation of Ascension Presbyterian Church for our livestream of this week's worship service. This week, Reverend Christopher Brenyo is preaching on Zechariah 13:7-9 Visit our website and view the bulletin: https://www.ascensionpresbyterian.com/ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AscensionPre...

00:06: Grace and peace to you. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, welcome to the corporate worship of our great
00:13: God. Please stand. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down.
00:22: Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
00:33: Come now into the glorious presence of our triune God and let us worship him.
00:40: Please pray with me. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we ask that you would rend the heavens and come down, that you would lift us up, that we might see more of the glory of Christ.
00:55: We ask, oh Lord, that you would strengthen these, your people, that they would be filled with joy and gladness and thanksgiving, knowing they have the adoption as sons and daughters.
01:07: Oh Lord, I pray that we would turn from every wicked way and walk in the paths of your righteousness.
01:14: And I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Please kneel for the corporate confession of sin and let us now with one voice confess our sins together.
01:31: God of love, it is your will that we should love you with heart, soul, mind, strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.
01:42: But we are not sufficient for these things. We confess that our affections continually turn away from you, from purity to lust, from freedom to slavery, from compassion to indifference, from fullness to emptiness.
02:00: Have mercy on us. Order our lives by your holy word and make your commandments the joy of our hearts.
02:09: Conform us to the image of your loving son, Jesus, that we may shine before the world to your glory, amen.
02:18: Please stand. It is no small thing to approach a holy
02:28: God in consideration of your own wickedness, but we have
02:33: Jesus and we have forgiveness in him. Christ himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died to sins might live for righteousness.
02:48: It is by his stripes that you are healed. Oh, people of God, take heart today.
02:55: If you be in Christ, your sins are forgiven, amen. Please turn in the hymnal.
03:02: We are again without accompaniment today and DJ will start us a very familiar hymn, number 38,
03:09: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, number 38. ♪
03:21: Good Lord, by great name we praise ♪ ♪
03:53: Unresting, unending, silent as the...
05:01: ♪ Alyssa sent out the recording of this. I hope a few of you practiced this before today.
05:06: It is a pretty simple tune, though a little bit high, and I'm hoping we can drop it down a little bit, but we're going to ask
05:15: DJ any other recommendations to us and we'll have you start us. I'll probably say, it might be on the second page.
05:55: Psalm 28, Lord, I call on you. ♪
07:24: Glory to nature, real sweet,
08:02: God's true...
09:14: ♪ Please remain standing for the reading of the word from the book of James and chapter one.
09:40: James one, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in a dispersion, greetings.
09:50: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
10:06: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
10:15: But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
10:24: For that person who's not supposed to receive anything from the Lord, he is a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways.
10:33: Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away.
10:43: For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass, its flower falls and its beauty perishes.
10:50: So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which
11:02: God had promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted,
11:08: I'm being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
11:14: But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, bring forth death.
11:27: Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
11:35: Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
11:48: Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
12:00: Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
12:10: But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror, for he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
12:28: But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
12:40: If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
12:48: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
12:58: This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us now confess our faith by singing together the
13:14: Apostles' Creed. ♪
13:30: Christ is only begotten Son of the Lord ♪ ♪ Who was conceived by the
13:38: Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Born of the Virgin Mary ♪ ♪
13:45: Suffered under Pontius Pilate ♪ ♪ Was crucified dead and into hell he rose again ♪ ♪
14:19: The living and the dead believe in the
14:24: Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ I believe the Holy Catholic Church ♪ ♪
14:32: The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, ♪ ♪
14:38: The resurrection of the body, and the last day.
14:47: ♪ Turn to 460 for amazing grace, 460.
15:07: ♪ That saved the world ♪
18:53: Preparations for the prayers of the people. And seeing the multitudes,
19:11: Jesus went up on a mountain and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them saying, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
19:25: Lord, we are poor and needy. We are needy.
20:24: Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Lord, lead us in a life of repentance.
20:45: The Lord said, it's a promise of higher grace.
21:01: Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Lord, help us to find our strength in you.
21:13: Father, we are in our natural state, quite lowly. Lord God, we are, our frame is but dust.
21:20: The only light we have in us is because of the light that you breathed into us. Father, I know many of us can become proud in our own eyes.
21:30: Lord God, in any of the accomplishments or things we have done on this earth, but Lord God, we know that in comparison to your work, the eternal and holy work of the gospel, these are nothing.
21:44: Father, I pray that we would be brought low and acknowledge that we are but creatures, Lord God. We are clay and you are the pottery.
21:53: Father, I pray that we would acknowledge that as your son took on flesh, Lord God, he made himself meek and humble.
22:01: Lord God, the most powerful being person ever was lowly and meek.
22:07: Father, I pray that we would follow his example, that we would be like you and grow more in Christ's life as our redemption.
22:12: Praise him. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
22:21: Lord, may we always seek first your kingdom. Have our righteousness exceed that of the scribes and the
22:33: Pharisees. Lord, we cannot do this, but sought to taste of Christ the desire of the
22:49: Lord the Lord. Thank you, Lord, and allow us to be forgiven for the precious fruits of Christ's name.
22:58: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Lord, keep us mindful of what forgiveness means.
23:10: And our God, we ask for your mercy. You would have mercy upon us to not be like the servant who, forgetting that he's been forgiven of his debt, goes and strangles his servant to be repaid.
23:30: Keep us mindful, Lord, of the innumerable sins that you have thrown into the depths of the ocean, in the ocean of the blood of Christ.
23:39: Put that in the front of our minds, God, that as we turn to our loved ones, as we turn to our neighbors, as we turn to our enemies,
23:49: Lord, that we would be mindful of the massive and incalculable debt you have wiped for us, that we may have an attitude of mercy.
23:59: For love covers a multitude of sins. We ask the Lord for this in the name of the
24:05: Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
24:12: God. Lord, create in us clean hearts. Heavenly Father, we pray today that you would create in us clean hearts, washed by the blood of Christ, for our hearts are impure.
24:32: Just in this past week, we've thought impure thoughts, we've been covetous, we've not been truthful, we've gone down the list of sins, and we have committed many of them.
24:51: And we pray, Lord God, that today, as we ascend to your throne of grace, that we would be represented fully, perfectly, purely by Christ, and that his work would be effectual to us today, that we would walk out of here renewed in spirit, and sanctified towards Christ like this today, more than we were when we walked in here.
25:23: Pray this in Christ's name, we pray, amen. Amen. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
25:33: Lord, help us to pursue peace. Come to you as your sons and daughters.
25:43: We know that blessed are those who are peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
25:50: He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.
25:57: God, cause us not to repeat matters when they don't need to be repeated. Cause us, Lord, to not be people that separate friends, that separate brothers and sisters.
26:06: Cause us, Lord, in Christ, to be used by you as you are reconciling all things to yourself.
26:12: Things that honor it, and things that happen, making peace by the blood of your cross. Today, we appeal to the blood of the cross of the
26:21: Lord Jesus Christ, as we seek to navigate the tumultuous waters of marriage, and family life, and church life, and our jobs.
26:33: May the Lord appeal to the blood that brings peace. We ask this in the name of Jesus, amen.
26:41: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
26:47: Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
26:55: Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
27:05: Amen. Please stand, and we have a new Psalm of the month.
27:15: The tune is simple. It is crown him with many crowns. This is
27:20: Psalm 45 C. Crown him with many crowns.
30:20: Zechariah is the next to last book of the
30:30: Old Testament. I've been reading the whole chapter, verses one through nine.
30:36: This is God's holy and infallible word. In that day, a fountain shall be opened for the house of David, and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
30:54: It shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered.
31:05: I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.
31:11: It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, you shall not live because you have spoken lies in the name of the
31:22: Lord. And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.
31:30: It shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies.
31:36: They will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive, but he will say, I am no prophet,
31:42: I am a farmer, for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And no one will say to him, what are these wounds between your arms?
31:54: And he will answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Awake, O sword against my shepherd.
32:04: Against the man who is my companion, says the Lord of hosts.
32:11: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Then I will turn my hand against the little ones and it shall come to pass in all the land, says the
32:23: Lord, that two thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one third shall be left in it.
32:31: I will bring the one third through the fire. I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested.
32:41: They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say, this is my people.
32:48: And each one will say, the Lord is my God. May the
32:55: Lord be pleased with our consideration of his most holy word.
33:01: Please pray with me. Oh, Holy Spirit, we ask that you would supply unction and illumination to this word that you have inspired.
33:15: We pray that Christ would be magnified and exalted and that we would see more of the facets of his glory and beauty here.
33:27: And oh Lord, I pray that your people would be strengthened, even though their faith may be waning today, oh
33:34: Lord, I pray that you would gird them up. I also pray, oh
33:39: Lord, that we would keep covenant and renew covenant with you today and say, as this verse concludes, that the
33:46: Lord is my God. And we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.
33:53: Please be seated. We have some guests here today and Book of Zechariah has been a study that our church has been going through and this message is really part two of a message that we started last week with the first six verses.
34:09: So it doesn't stand perfectly on its own and I apologize to you for that, but I think you can get up to speed rather quickly with us.
34:20: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
34:26: This is a messianic prophecy and we're going to see its fulfillment today.
34:33: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. I've got three outline points for you for those of you who are taking notes.
34:44: First is the sword is awakened against my shepherd. The language of the text there in verse seven, the sword is awakened against my shepherd.
34:59: The second point is the title of the message. It's the same language.
35:05: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
35:13: And third, the covenant promise fulfilled, realized and renewed.
35:20: The covenant promise fulfilled, realized and renewed and I'll be chiefly concerned with verse nine.
35:35: Zechariah 13 verses seven through nine. The sword is awakened against my shepherd.
35:44: Let's look at the text again. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd.
35:50: The sword is going to be applied to my shepherd and the description of that shepherd is an amazing one.
36:01: This is intra -Trinitarian language. God is the person who's speaking.
36:08: Zechariah is quoting the very words that proceed from the mouth of God and what he says is the shepherd, my shepherd, the sword is going to come against him and he's going to come against the man who is my companion.
36:28: This is 700 plus years before the incarnation of Christ. What explanation could there be other than the incarnation of the second person of the
36:41: Trinity? There's no other explanation. This language is poetical, certainly, but this is referring to nothing less than God saying, my sword is going to be drawn against my companion and I'm going to thrust him through and this is going to be the occasion of salvation, which we learned about a couple of weeks ago.
37:06: It's also gonna be the occasion of the scattering of the sheep. The Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, the plan of redemption, the satisfaction of God's justice against sin, the efficacy of Christ's atonement, it's all right here in Zechariah, a minor prophet in this obscure book which nobody reads.
37:33: What a powerful statement. God himself says the shepherd is going to be struck.
37:43: The shepherd is going to have to bear this guilt and the man, the one who's going to do it, is my companion, the
37:53: Lord Jesus Christ, my only begotten son with whom I enjoy whatever fellowship exists between the
38:01: Godhead, the purity and perfection and bliss of that. This is the one whom this sword is going to be drawn against.
38:12: Sword is awakened against the shepherd and I want to stop here for a moment because we must remember that sometimes
38:22: Christians blame the Jews for the crucifixion, naively so.
38:29: Or they blame the pagan Roman governors of Judea for the crucifixion of Christ.
38:40: But we need to lay the blame, if we could even call it that, upon whom it's due. God the
38:45: Father himself ordains and brings to pass the death of his own dear son.
38:58: That the son's bride might be rescued from the tumult of her war. That she might be rescued from her own putrid disobedience.
39:08: That she might be a perfect, suitable bride for Christ, the son.
39:16: Powerful imagery and language here in this reminiscent, we won't go there, but in places like Isaiah 53.
39:29: Prophecies related to this in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd.
39:39: Against the man who is my companion, says the Lord of hosts.
39:45: I think, and I have to think, that this was in some ways puzzling to the original audience.
39:53: Could they have fathomed with great clarity and detail the person and work of Christ?
39:59: They anticipated and longed for a Messiah. And Zechariah has already given them some fodder to consider strange things about who the
40:08: Messiah would be. But this language is so powerful. The one who is his companion, he's the one who's going to be stricken and smitten and afflicted.
40:23: It says, strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
40:30: And I will turn my hand against the little ones. I'd like you to turn to the book of Matthew.
40:39: It's just gonna be two books to the right. Matthew 26. And we've had questions.
40:48: We've not really had, we've had rhetorical questions about is all this really about Jesus and are we making too much
40:55: Christologically about these events in Zechariah so far removed in time and history.
41:03: And we're going to see again that Jesus sees himself as the figure depicted, prophesied about in Zechariah.
41:18: I'm gonna read a lengthy portion of Matthew 26 because I want you to get a sense of the context of where we are and where this happens.
41:29: I'll begin reading in verse 17. Now on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying to him, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the
41:44: Passover? He said, go into the city to a certain man and say to him, the teacher says, my time is at hand.
41:52: I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the
42:04: Passover. When evening had come, he sat down with the 12.
42:10: Now as they were eating, he said, assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me.
42:17: And they were exceedingly sorrowful and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? He answered and said, he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me.
42:29: The son of man indeed goes just as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed.
42:38: It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. The Judas who was betraying him answered and said,
42:46: Rabbi, is it I? And he said to him, you have said it. And as they were eating,
42:53: Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body.
43:01: We say those words every Sunday before we take communion. Betrayal and the communion are right there, right close together.
43:13: He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to him saying, drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
43:25: But I say to you from, I will not drink of this vine, fruit of the vine from now on until that day when
43:31: I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. The inauguration of the
43:38: Lord's supper, the new covenant being instituted, the covenant sign being given, the pattern of covenant renewal established, betrayal, covenant.
43:54: They sing a hymn on the Mount of Olives in verse 31.
44:00: Then Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written,
44:10: I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. Zechariah's prophecy is quoted by our
44:20: Lord as he looks to the cross. And before he gets to the cross, all of these zealous, courageous disciples are gonna scatter.
44:37: I've often wondered why these events are tethered to this monumental event in the life of the church.
44:49: I will strike the shepherd, he quotes it. Jesus says Zechariah 13 is about me.
44:57: I am the good shepherd. I am about to be struck.
45:04: And you, my disciples, my representatives, and you could argue they are typological of the nations and Israel in particular, they're gonna turn their heads away from the
45:16: Savior. These are the 12. One of them betrays him.
45:21: The 11, they're going to be scattered to the wind. But after I've been raised,
45:30: I will go before you to Galilee. Another powerful and important lesson embedded here is
45:39: Peter, who just recently on Pentecost Sunday went over some of his sermon on that great occasion.
45:47: Great spokesman, fiery preacher, great leader in the church. Listen to Peter's boldness.
45:55: Peter says, answers and says to him, verse 33, even if all are made to stumble because of you,
46:02: I will never be made to stumble. And Jesus said to him, assuredly,
46:08: I say to you that this night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.
46:17: Peter doubles down and said to him, even if I have to die with you,
46:23: I will not deny you. And so all his disciples said. I want to offer a preliminary warning.
46:39: If these men could turn away temporally, certainly you could.
46:51: They're not gonna be lost forever. The Lord's mercy and grace conquers this.
46:57: But these are sobering words for us. We are prone to wander.
47:03: We are prone to not have faith. We're prone to give up. We're prone to turn our face instead of being shamed because we are identified with Christ.
47:13: This should cast a cloud of sobriety over us when we think about these things.
47:24: Continues, and we would all say, but if we were there, we would be with him and we would not have betrayed him.
47:30: And Jesus goes to the garden of Gethsemane. Look at verse 36.
47:36: It says, then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, sit here while I go and pray over there.
47:47: And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Supports Mitch at this point this morning, doesn't it?
47:54: Jesus had that inner circle of close apostles. And he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
48:02: Then he said to them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. Stay here and watch with me.
48:11: He went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
48:18: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Verse 40, then he came to the disciples and he found them sleeping.
48:32: This is the biggest night of their lives. And they've had wine,
48:39: Passover, Lord's Supper, third cup of wine at dinner. They've had a big meal, several cups of wine.
48:46: Their eyes get drowsy. They're gonna go to the cross with him, but now they can't stay up to pray.
48:55: You and I have a motivation for zeal, but our disciplines and our commitment and our follow through are lacking.
49:05: And this is true for all who have followed Christ. And Jesus expressed with great anguish this horror that awaits him that is the cross, which is the only path for our salvation.
49:20: And in his humanity, he says, let this cup pass from me. It's going to be too much to bear, but not my will be done, oh
49:30: Lord, but yours. He finds his disciples sleeping.
49:37: He says to Peter, what could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.
49:46: The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Peter's been warned.
49:55: He's been upbraided for falling asleep. Look what happens next.
50:01: I don't know about you, but this is very relatable to the Christian. He's already been corrected just now about this.
50:13: Again, verse 42, a second time he went away and prayed saying, oh my father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done.
50:24: And he came and found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy. How zealous we are when we talk about our faith in Christ.
50:37: We would die for him. We start to pray and we fall asleep.
50:49: So he left them, verse 44, went away and prayed the third time saying the same words.
50:55: And he came to his disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting?
51:03: So it looks like a third time they fell asleep. Behold, the hour is at hand and the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
51:17: Rise, let us be going, see my betrayer is at hand. And while he was still speaking, behold,
51:26: Judas, one of the 12 with the great multitude with swords and clubs came from the chief priests and elders of the people.
51:37: Now his betrayer had given them a sign saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one sees him. Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, greetings, rabbi, and kissed him.
51:50: Jesus said to him, friend, why have you come? And they came and laid hands on Jesus and took him.
51:58: And suddenly one of those who are with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
52:08: Elsewhere we learned it was Peter. Peter is a complete disaster.
52:14: He's a zealot and he can't stay awake. He can't believe that he'll deny him and he's cutting servant's ears off.
52:20: He is all over the place. Jesus said to him, put your sword in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
52:34: Or do you think that I cannot now pray to my father and he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels?
52:43: How then can the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus? In that hour,
52:51: Jesus said to the multitudes, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me?
52:59: I sat daily with you teaching in the temple and you did not seize me, but all of this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be filled.
53:11: Fulfillment of prophecy like Zechariah chapter 13, the last half of the verse
53:17: I want you to consider. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
53:24: It says, then all the disciples forsook him and fled.
53:32: These are the handpicked apostles. The betrayer has been expelled from their number.
53:42: He's told them this day was coming. And when the day comes, the day of greatest trial, they cannot stand with him.
53:58: Read it again. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.
54:08: Strike the shepherd and the sheep are scattered. Because of,
54:15: I don't wanna turn more times, I want you to do it now. Let's go to the book of James first because of the order.
54:24: We'll conclude with first Peter. I'm only gonna read a couple of verses from the book of James, James chapter one. There's something that happens in Jerusalem.
54:40: We know that Jesus appeared numerous times to his disciples after the resurrection.
54:46: We also know from the gospels that he appeared to 500 brethren at once. But we get to Acts chapter one, prior to the great outpouring of the
54:58: Holy Spirit, and there's only 120 disciples in the upper room. I don't know where the other disciples are, the other followers of Christ.
55:08: I don't know if they've already shrunk back. I don't know the story. I can't tell you where those other 400 plus people are.
55:18: But something happens to the church. Persecution comes and the people of God are driven out of Jerusalem.
55:33: They end up, by the time the Roman siege happens, the end of which happens in AD 70, most of them had taken flight to Pella about 80 miles away.
55:44: They're in what is now Jordan. They fled Jerusalem. They've been warned by God, through an angel it would seem, to not stay in Jerusalem because trouble is coming.
55:57: And this fits into our text in Zechariah. When we get to the writing of the book of James, which is very early in the
56:04: New Testament church, one of the first books written in the New Testament, it says this, James, a bondservant of God and of the
56:13: Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad.
56:25: The church has been struck and persecuted, like her master, and they scatter.
56:34: James writes to the diaspora of that community, scattered abroad.
56:40: Turn over to 1 Peter, really quickly. This has a little more significance because of what we just read about Peter, 1
56:56: Peter chapter one. Peter, now restored, now back in full power.
57:09: He's an apostle of Jesus Christ, and he writes his first epistle to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
57:25: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
57:35: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our
57:40: Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
58:08: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.
58:18: Pay close attention. It's gonna be part of our application later. Persecution trials gets us to where we need to be.
58:32: For the early saints who are gonna be the 1 3rd that are spared in our text, they're gonna take flight out of Jerusalem and it's gonna be their salvation because hundreds and thousands of Jews are gonna die at the hand of the
58:46: Roman soldiers. They are persecuted and they see the signs, they hear the message and they flee and they're protected.
58:56: But it doesn't go swimmingly for them once they get out there. They get chased by people like Saul of Tarsus.
59:05: The early church is rife with persecution but it becomes the means by which the gospel spreads to the entire world.
59:20: Been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
59:41: A more quick thing from Peter, you don't have to turn there, just listen. Peter says to the elders, the elders who are among you,
01:00:01: I exhort, I whom a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory which will be revealed, shepherd the flock of God which is among you serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock.
01:00:28: When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
01:00:36: Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility.
01:00:44: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him for he cares for you.
01:00:59: Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
01:01:06: Resist him, steadfast in the faith knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
01:01:18: But may the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered a while, and here's something very important, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you.
01:01:35: To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
01:01:42: You and I have to go through some persecution and some trials.
01:01:49: We have to share in the sufferings of Christ that we might grow up and have a mature faith, a gold silver kind of faith.
01:01:59: We need to embrace those trials and learn the lessons from them. Let's turn back to our text in Zechariah chapter 13.
01:02:21: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Very painful to read the last phrase, then
01:02:32: I will turn my hand against the little ones. The sheep themselves are going to be chased by the wolves and this is going to be the
01:02:40: Lord's doing. Like Paul, we're going to have to know how much we're going to suffer for him.
01:02:52: There's glory in a crown that awaits us, but there's a hard road between here and there.
01:03:01: There's something else in view here and this shepherd that's articulated in verse seven is the
01:03:08: Lord Jesus Christ, of course, but he's also, he's the Messiah of Israel who is not believing him.
01:03:16: And Israel has historically struggled to remain in covenant with their God. Look at verse eight, it says, and it shall come to pass in all the land, says the
01:03:26: Lord, that two thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one third shall be left in it.
01:03:36: I mentioned the flight to Pella, the siege of Jerusalem, varying accounts. Josephus says a million
01:03:43: Jews died and 97 ,000 were enslaved. Other estimates have it 500 ,000 die and a similar number who are enslaved.
01:03:53: The people of God trusting in Christ aren't there. They've been pushed out by persecution.
01:04:02: While they're going through the persecution, it's unpleasant, but that persecution is their temporal salvation.
01:04:11: Who knows how many trials that have been very painful for you have spared you other worse outcomes.
01:04:22: Look again at verse eight. It shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, that two thirds in it shall be cut off and die.
01:04:32: Apostate Israel is slaughtered in the streets and they revert to cannibalism in the darkest last days of Jerusalem.
01:04:41: Not a stone was left upright, unturned, looking for gold and treasure, the
01:04:48: Roman army. But a third will be saved. The language of Peter, the language of James, I will bring the one third through the fire and I'm going to refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested.
01:05:13: If you are going through persecution and trial, this is ultimately a good thing for you that your faith may be tested.
01:05:26: See what sort it is. That the impurities of your faith may be burned off, that old language, the dross consumed, but the substance of your treasure would remain.
01:05:45: You and I have to become more comfortable with being very uncomfortable with the difficulties of life.
01:05:55: Don't we really act as if God owes us a comfortable, soft life?
01:06:01: In our prayers, we can't have any hard things. Things have to go according to our plan.
01:06:07: They have to go to our timing. There can't be any bumps in the road. You see the arrogance of our own hearts.
01:06:15: We don't know what's best for us, but God does. And he's refining us, he's testing us so that we can keep covenant with him.
01:06:31: I love how this turns at the end of this section. I don't like the sheep scattering when the shepherd is struck.
01:06:39: I don't like that. It's horrific for me to think of two thirds of the nation dying, but it is historical fact.
01:06:50: It's what happened to all those people of the Jewish nation who rejected
01:06:55: Christ. They were slaughtered in the streets, but God is still opening his arms to Israel and to the nations, and he says, come to me, all you who are weary.
01:07:12: Come to me, all of you who are in need of salvation. Come to me, all of you sinners who need a savior.
01:07:20: He calls us and draws us to himself. The last point, they will call on my name and I will answer them.
01:07:35: The people that pass through the trials, the persecution, the fire, they're gonna call upon the name of the
01:07:44: Lord and hallelujah, praise Jehovah, he's going to answer them.
01:07:50: He answers you, his children, when you cry out to him in prayer and he responds, you are my people.
01:08:03: We respond, the Lord is my God. Covenant theology is very complicated, but this is the substance of it right here.
01:08:17: God has a people and he hears their prayers. He receives their worship.
01:08:24: He blesses them. He gives them salvation. He gives them life eternal. He gives them peace with God and with one another.
01:08:32: He says, you are my people and we respond, you are my God and we worship him and we enter into that covenant and we stay there and we renew covenant with him like we will in just a few moments.
01:08:52: The sword is awakened against the shepherd.
01:08:59: Who's the shepherd? The shepherd is the man, the incarnate
01:09:05: Christ who is God's companion. This is, there's so much rich depth in that little statement.
01:09:18: And then the Lord commands the shepherd to be stricken. He commands that the sheep be scattered and it turns out the scattering of the sheep through hard things ends up being their lives being saved on the one hand and then being beaten on the back and driven out of town causes them to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the next town and the next country and the next land over and the gospel spreads.
01:09:53: Brethren, you and I, believe it or not, can drift away from our
01:10:01: God. It takes a deep resolve in the times of peace and strength to not waver or to flinch in unbelief when the trials come.
01:10:18: Few words of application here and we'll close. It seems hard to believe that God works this way but persecution, trial, it gets you where you need to be.
01:10:34: If you have a bodily affliction, if you have a hard spouse, if you have rebellious children, if you have difficult in -laws, if your job is not going well, trial gets you to where you need to be.
01:10:53: It drives you back to Christ and his provision and his protection and his loving care and you'll find that your faith is refined, strengthened.
01:11:07: It's not gonna be long after Peter's rebellion and disbelief and denial that he'll stand before any man fearlessly and preach
01:11:19: Christ even unto death because he's been restored and renewed just like you and I have.
01:11:28: Learn from the trial, be instructed by it. It's gonna get you where you need to be.
01:11:36: Second, we have to be honest about this, your faith will occasionally be weak and wane.
01:11:47: Our sin when we sin now as believers is a little act of unbelief, a little lack of trust just like our first parents.
01:11:57: There are gonna be days and you know this to be true where your faith is not as strong as it ought to be.
01:12:08: Take heart, his mercy and love will restore, revive and renew you.
01:12:13: And after all, he says, you are my people. You see, the disciples didn't have enough faith to stick around but his covenant promises conquered their unbelief.
01:12:30: He kept them even though they failed. He kept covenant with them.
01:12:35: That's what he does with us. You fail but he continues to keep covenant and love you.
01:12:42: We got a great example for husbands loving their wives, isn't it? They may do things wrong, they may disappoint but we keep loving them.
01:12:54: Third, we have a privilege every week to participate in the renewal of covenant but I'm gonna ask you to renew covenant now in your hearts and at the table.
01:13:18: Is he your God? He requires wholehearted devotion, unwavering commitment, a singular allegiance to him.
01:13:33: I urge you today to purge every other allegiance to your wife, to your children that puts
01:13:41: God second to anything. Order your life appropriately and all those other things will fall into place.
01:13:52: Let's renew covenant with him. He says, brethren, you are my people and we say the
01:14:02: Lord is my God. Let's pray together. Oh Lord Jesus, we thank you for this prophecy about you and its fulfillment.
01:14:21: We see, oh Lord, in your great wisdom that you being struck which is our salvation is the cause of the sheep being scattered.
01:14:36: We also see, Lord, that you've used this to strengthen the faith of all those who were scattered and to take your gospel to the ends of the earth.
01:14:46: We also see, Lord, that you show your mercy by not rejecting us though we reject you.
01:14:57: You could never deny yourself, could you, oh Lord? Oh Lord, I pray that your people would renew covenant with you today, that they would deepen their resolve to walk and live as your people, as your sheep.
01:15:14: They would esteem you as the good shepherd, that they would love and adore you and they would have great hope and have great joy in thanksgiving knowing that you will never leave us nor forsake us.
01:15:28: I ask all these things in Jesus' name. Let's continue our worship, the presentation now of the tithe and the offerings.
01:15:40: Please stand and let's pray together.
01:16:21: Oh Lord, we thank you for your kindness and mercy that you've given us work to do, that you've given us households to manage, businesses to run.
01:16:30: And oh Lord, we pray that we would become increasingly better stewards of our time and our talent and our treasure.
01:16:37: And we offer to you these gifts for the furtherance of your kingdom, the proclamation of your gospel, the relief of the poor, all the things the church is to be and to do.
01:16:48: Oh Lord, we pray that we would faithfully execute these duties with joy. We ask these things in Jesus' name.
01:16:55: Amen. It would be appropriate now in light of these things, a
01:17:01: God who keeps covenant and never forgets his promise, that we would sing to him a doxology, the
01:17:08: Gloria Patri now. Let us begin. ♪ Glory be to the
01:17:14: Father and to you ♪
01:17:49: Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the
01:17:54: Lord. It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, oh
01:18:05: Holy Lord, Father almighty everlasting God. Because you have sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs of him of everlasting life, that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear, rejoice to behold his appearing.
01:18:26: Therefore the angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify your glorious name evermore praising you and singing.
01:18:38: ♪ Holy Hosea, Hosea ♪
01:19:55: Please be seated and let's pray together. Oh Lord, we thank you for your mercy and the good gifts you have given to men.
01:20:11: We thank you for bread and wine, which convey and confer to us the body and blood of Christ crucified.
01:20:20: We thank you that you have remembered our creatureliness and our proneness to have sensibilities of taste and touch and sight and sound and oh
01:20:32: Lord we thank you for condescending and showing us the gospel and the person and work of Christ and the simple meal of covenant.
01:20:42: We ask oh Lord that you would bless this time, that your people would be nourished and that they would renew covenant with you because you have made and keep and never relent in keeping covenant with us.
01:20:54: And we ask these things in Jesus name, amen. Our Lord Jesus.
01:21:08: He gave it to his disciples saying, take, eat, this is my body. Likewise, he took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, drink from it all of you.
01:21:22: For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
01:21:28: Therefore, we proclaim the faith. Christ has died, Christ is risen,
01:21:34: Christ will come again. Let's approach the table now with great humility, expectancy and thanksgiving.
01:21:44: We do not presume to come to this your table, oh merciful
01:21:49: Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.
01:21:56: We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same
01:22:03: Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear son,
01:22:12: Jesus Christ, and to drink of his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood.
01:22:24: And that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us, amen.
01:22:30: Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feasts, the gifts of God for you, the people of God.
01:22:40: Thanks be to the Lord. Thank God.
01:25:17: ♪ Swing and stagger ♪ ♪ Share the bed with sleepless eyes ♪ ♪
01:25:29: To the highest place ♪ ♪
01:25:37: I sway in Christ ♪ ♪ He is mine ♪
01:34:06: Let's make this commitment in sincerity and faith. Almighty and everliving
01:34:13: God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your
01:34:21: Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your
01:34:31: Son and heirs of your eternal kingdom. Know the Lord grants us this other benefit, that you will never allow us to forget these things, but having them imprinted on our hearts, may we grow and increase daily in the faith which you have worked in every good deed.
01:34:50: And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our
01:34:58: Lord. To name to you and to the Holy Spirit, the honor and glory, now and forever, amen.
01:35:06: Please stand. Let us with great rejoicing sing the doxology.
01:35:14: Praise God. Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will.
01:36:01: Working in you what is well -pleasing in his sight. Through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honor forever and ever, amen.
01:36:11: Amen. ♪ Christ within me,
01:36:19: Christ within me ♪ ♪ Christ behind me, Christ before me ♪ ♪
01:36:26: Christ beside me, Christ to win me ♪ ♪ Christ to comfort and restore me ♪ ♪
01:36:35: Christ beneath me, Christ above me ♪ ♪ Christ in quiet,
01:36:41: Christ in danger ♪ ♪ Christ in hearts of all that love me ♪ ♪
01:36:47: Christ in mouth, danger, salvation, salvation ♪