February 19, 2023 – Sunday Service

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

07:38

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Please stand and hear

07:44

God call you to worship through his word. Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

07:50

Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples.

08:00

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods.

08:08

For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

08:14

Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and gladness are in his place.

08:22

Give to the Lord, oh families of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength.

08:29

Give to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him.

08:35

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth be glad and let them say, among the nations, the

08:46

Lord reigns. Let the sea roar in all its fullness. Let the field rejoice in all that is in it.

08:54

Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. For his mercy endures forever.

09:01

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.

09:08

And all the people said amen and praise the Lord. Let us pray.

09:14

Oh Lord, you are the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise

09:20

God. You are the blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in an unapproachable light, whom no name has seen or can see.

09:34

To you be the honor and eternal dominion. We bless the

09:40

God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

09:47

We praise the glory of your grace that shows us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him.

09:59

We thank you that in love you predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.

10:06

We rejoice that we have been sealed in Christ with the

10:13

Holy Spirit of promise, who has given us as a pledge of our inheritance.

10:20

We worship and adore you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Open the eyes of our hearts that we may know the hope of your calling, the riches of the glory of our inheritance, and the surpassing greatness of your power toward us in Jesus Christ.

10:38

All of this you have brought about in Christ when you raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places.

10:47

Receive our worship and our praise to your glory and grace, we pray in Christ's name, amen.

10:56

Please, as you are able, kneel for the corporate confession of sin. Let us join together in confessing our sins.

11:16

Most holy and merciful Father, we confess to you and to one another that we have sinned against you by what we have done and by what we have left undone.

11:30

We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not fully loved our neighbors as ourselves.

11:39

We have not always had in us the mind of Christ. You alone know how often we have grieved you by wasting your gifts, by wandering from your ways.

11:52

Forgive us, we pray, most merciful Father, and free us from our sin.

11:59

Renew in us the grace and strength of your Holy Spirit for the sake of Jesus Christ, your

12:06

Son, our Savior, amen. Please rise for the assurance of pardon. Who is a

12:15

God like you, pardoning iniquities and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?

12:23

He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities.

12:33

He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Oh, my brothers and sisters, the bliss of this glorious thought that our sins not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and we bear them no more.

12:48

Let our souls rejoice, amen. Please take up the Trinity hymnal and turn to hymn number 580.

12:56

Lead on, O King Eternal, hymn 580. Weeps bitterly, and moves to Zion mourn.

19:15

All her gates are desolate. Her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.

19:21

Her adversaries have become the master. Her enemies prosper, for the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions.

19:30

Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion, all her splendor has departed.

19:39

Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, that flee without strength before the pursuer.

19:46

In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old when her people fell into the hand of the enemy with no one to help her.

19:58

The adversaries saw her and mocked at her downfall. Jerusalem has sinned greatly, therefore she has become vile.

20:06

All who honor her despise her because they have seen her nakedness.

20:12

Yes, she sighs and turns away. Her uncleanness is in her skirts. She did not consider her destiny, therefore her collapse was awesome.

20:22

She had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy is exalted. The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleasant things, for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you commanded not to enter your assembly.

20:38

All her people sigh. They seek bread. They have given their valuables for food to restore life.

20:46

See, O Lord, and consider, for I am scorned. Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?

20:53

Behold and see, if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been brought on me, which the

20:59

Lord has inflicted in the day of his fierce anger. From above he has sent fire into my bones and it overpowered them.

21:07

He has spread a neck in my feet and turned me back. He has made me desolate and faint all the day.

21:14

The yoke of my transgressions was bound. They were woven together by his hands. And thrust upon my neck, he made my strength fall.

21:22

The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand. The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst.

21:32

He has called an assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord trampled as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.

21:41

For these things I weep. My eye overflows with water because the comforter who should restore my life is far from me.

21:50

My children are desolate because the enemy prevailed. Zion spreads out her hands, but no one comforts her.

21:57

The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob that those around him become his adversaries. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

22:07

The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against his commandment. Hear now all peoples and behold my sorrow.

22:13

My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. I called for my lovers, but they deceived me.

22:20

My priests and my elders breathed their last in the city while they sought food to restore their life.

22:27

See, O Lord, that I am in distress. My soul is troubled. My heart is overturned within me, for I have been very rebellious.

22:36

Outside the sword grieves. At home, it is like death. They have heard that I sigh, but no one comforts me.

22:46

All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. Bring on the day you have announced that they may become like me.

22:55

Let all their wickedness come before you and do to them as you have done to me for all my transgressions.

23:02

For my sighs are many and my heart is faint. This is the word of the

23:07

Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us continue our worship by singing the

23:15

Apostles' Creed. We praise you for having delivered us from the dangers and uncertainties of this past week.

28:39

For these mercies, we bless and magnify your glorious name, humbly beseeching you to accept this, our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

28:51

For his sake, who lay down in the grave and rose again for us, your

28:57

Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions that may be best for us, granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth and in the world to come life everlasting, amen.

29:16

I ask your prayers for God's people throughout the world, for our denomination, for this church, and for all ministers and missionaries.

29:26

Pray for the church. Lord, hear our prayers. I ask your prayers for the poor, the sick, the bereaved, the burdened, and for the widows, orphans, and prisoners.

30:59

Pray for those in any need or trouble. Lord, hear our prayers.

31:44

I ask your prayers for those who do not know Christ and for those who seek a deeper knowledge of him.

31:50

Pray that they may find and be found by him. Lord, hear our prayers.

31:57

We know for those who don't know you or your

32:02

Son, now obey your gospel. Your wrath is against them. God, in your mercy, grant salvation to those who do not know you.

32:10

Lord, allow us to be ministers of your truth and your gospel, to see the word preached as the fruit of it.

32:17

Lord, in your mercy, this people to come to know your Son in truth and love, to embrace the best brothers in the faith, to watch us and rejoice.

32:27

Father, please grant us these things. In Christ's name. I ask your prayers for our children and future generations which will be born to them.

32:40

Pray that the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth through them. Lord, hear our prayers.

32:48

Dear Heavenly Father, pray for our children as they lift them up.

32:55

I pray as we raise them in the word, raise them as Christians who are in Christ, as we disciple them at home through family worship, educating them, bringing them to church every

33:16

Sunday, that this would be deeply embedded into who they are as a person.

33:23

I pray that they would, by your grace, build upon that and do it better than we did.

33:29

Pass that on to their children. Through these regular means of grace that you seem to work and build your kingdom.

33:38

This way, the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior would spread throughout all lands.

33:45

I pray this today in Christ's name, amen. Pray that we may have grace to glorify

33:53

Christ in our own day. Lord, hear our prayers. We would seek first your kingdom that we could rise to fix something.

34:08

He's a great gift of salvation, which he bought for us on the cross.

34:20

We pray, Father, that you would help us to live truly repentant lives, to live righteously before your face.

34:30

And in all that we do, in what we say, in the thing, in the actions we take, the work we do, down time, it would all be dedicated to your name that we would seek to edify one another and enhance your kingdom.

34:56

And above all, glorify you. Praise the name of Jesus. Being in agreement of all these things, we join our voices together and say amen.

35:05

Please stand and take up the insert. Again, and open to the inside for Psalm 33, our

35:15

Psalm of the month. The Lord, by his word, has created. Psalm 33. He's saying of the seven,

40:13

I'll be joy and cheerful for the house of Judah.

40:20

Therefore, thus says the

40:25

Lord of hosts, peoples shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities.

40:32

The inhabitants of one city shall go to another saying, let us continue to go and pray before the

40:39

Lord and seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will go also.

40:46

Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the

40:55

Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, in those days, 10 men from every language of the nation shall grasp the sleeve of a

41:06

Jewish man saying, let us go with you. For we have heard that God is with you.

41:15

May the Lord be pleased with our consideration of his most holy word. Please pray with me.

41:25

Oh Lord, we rejoice. We give thanks to you for you are a

41:31

God who has loved deeply. You have transformed us comprehensively.

41:40

We pray for the continued advance of the kingdom. We pray for the bold proclamation of Christ, our risen and reigning

41:51

King. And oh Lord, may you fit us for service that 10 men would grab us by the sleeve because they heard, they know that God is with us.

42:05

We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.

42:17

Three points of outline for you. And they are following the three declarations of the word of the

42:24

Lord. The first one is found in the first section, verses 18 and 19.

42:31

The first point is fasting will be turned to feasting. And that will occupy a lot of our interest this morning.

42:39

Fasting will be turned to feasting. The second, thus saith the

42:46

Lord point is many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the

42:53

Lord. Many peoples and strong nations shall come seek the

43:02

Lord. And finally, title of the message, most of it at least, we have heard that God is with you.

43:14

We have heard that God is with you. Fasting will be turned to feasting.

43:22

Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord. And third, we have heard that God is with you.

43:36

The fasts will be turned to feasts. The place of mourning will become a place of dancing.

43:46

The place of sadness will turn to a place of joy.

43:54

In order to properly understand our section today, we have to be reminded of the question posed by the delegation of the

44:03

Jews coming from Bethel. Would you turn back one chapter to chapter seven, the answer to this question is found in our section today.

44:13

Zechariah has said a number of things, but the resolution to the question, the answer is given that's offered up here.

44:21

The question of chapter seven is resolved in our section. This is the question, Zechariah seven.

44:30

Now in the fourth year of King Darius, it came to pass that the word of the

44:35

Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, Tishlet, when the people sent

44:43

Sherezer with Regem -Elech and his men to the house of God to pray before the

44:50

Lord and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets saying, should

44:59

I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?

45:07

This is the practical and theological question posed by those who have not yet come back to Jerusalem.

45:15

The temple is being rebuilt. Should we continue to fast as we have these last 70 years in exile, to travel to Jerusalem, to the house of God, to pray before the

45:30

Lord, to ask the priests and prophets, should I weep, should I fast in the fifth month?

45:38

Our section, you can turn back now to chapter eight, answers the question, should we keep the fast days?

45:48

This has become the tradition of our exile, our fathers these last 70 years.

45:56

It's also important to remember that these commemorations recall dark days in Jewish history, but they had not been commanded by the

46:07

Lord, they had self -imposed these fast days and now as the tide has so dramatically turned, the temple's being rebuilt.

46:18

The people are returning to Judea. Should the unregulated fast days continue, a significant encouragement can be taken and drawn from the question.

46:33

At least the people seemed interested in conforming their doctrine and practice to the truth.

46:40

How many today in the church never questioned the validity of their own position or asked the why of their own practices?

46:49

Well, Lord willing, today this question will be answered. This fasting had an appearance of devotion, we learned in chapter seven, but may have been selfishly executed.

47:03

You and I may make many motions of piety externally and they may betray a heart that is not longing for God.

47:14

It's very convicting for us to consider that we could have a hollow superficial religion.

47:21

Let's consider the first point. Look again at verse 18 and 19.

47:27

Fasting will be turned to feasting. The prophetic word again comes to Zechariah.

47:36

These are not the words of Zechariah, this is the Lord speaking through the human instrument of Zechariah.

47:43

This is the Holy Spirit -inspired word of God coming through the prophet.

47:50

This is what he says, thus says the Lord of hosts. The fast of the fourth month, that wasn't included in the question.

48:01

The fast of the fifth month was, the fourth one wasn't. The fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the 10th.

48:11

What are these and what do these mean? You may remember that we mentioned before what the fast of the fifth month was, but Zechariah, the

48:19

Lord himself, has expanded the reach of these fast days.

48:25

The fast of the fourth month is to remember the initial breach in Jerusalem's wall, the first day that the wall was broken open and the enemies started to come in.

48:40

There was also a theory of this time that this is also the same occasion and same day where the tablets of the original law being given were broken.

48:51

So it's kind of this two -fold warnings related to this fast of the fourth month.

48:57

This is articulated, all of these really are articulated in 2 Kings 25, if you wanna look at that later.

49:04

The fast of the fifth month was the burning of Jerusalem, the destruction of the city walls and the exile of the people.

49:17

On the fifth month, it was sure that Jerusalem had been sacked.

49:23

The city was on fire. The people were being pulled away by the military of Babylon.

49:29

They were being dragged out of the city. The fast of the seventh month corresponds with the assassination of Gedalia.

49:38

And this we read in Jeremiah chapter 40. And the failure of those efforts that Jeremiah and others were making toward reform.

49:50

Their plans of reformation were dashed and they mourned the loss of the prospect of those reforms.

50:00

The fast of the 10th month is the recognition of Nebuchadnezzar's, the onslaught and siege of Jerusalem.

50:08

It started in the 10th month. These fasts memorialize

50:16

Israel's shame and failure. And in fact, when your city is under siege, people start to starve.

50:25

A lot of bad things start to happen. So the fast seems to correspond really well with what they were facing, what they were remembering.

50:35

But the question of fasting now is brought to bear by what's happening in Jerusalem.

50:45

There's a time of refreshing at hand. There's a renewal of covenant at hand.

50:54

There is legitimacy again to the people of God as they reside in Judea.

51:00

Now Jerusalem is being rebuilt and the temple is under construction. The fasts that memorialize

51:09

Israel's shame and failure were fast commemorating the removal of God's hand of protection.

51:18

But now they shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts.

51:30

Brethren, these are encouraging words in the scripture. When I think of my sin and your sin, and I'm horrified at the ways in which we have failed our

51:44

God, but we have Christ. Well, when I think of our sin,

51:50

I think of the cross. Israel's failure to keep covenant shines a great light on God's capacity and willingness to keep covenant with them in spite of their unfaithfulness.

52:07

They had a cause for mourning. And you and I, when we approached a holy

52:12

God in worship, we had cause to tremble as we confessed our sins corporately today.

52:20

But that fasting, that mourning, that terror, that fear is allayed and removed and washed away by Christ.

52:33

God's love for his people, he says, there may have been a cause for your mourning, but now these are going to be occasions for feasting.

52:46

I'd like you to turn back with me to the book of Nehemiah in chapter eight.

52:59

I love this section. And I have been asked to preach at Presbytery this year and I'm preaching on Nehemiah eight.

53:10

I want you to sketch something here, because this is gospel and this is what the worship of God's people looks like.

53:21

And there's a lesson for us in Nehemiah eight and it illustrates something that's happening in Zechariah eight,

53:29

Nehemiah eight one. All the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the water gate.

53:46

And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the

53:52

Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding in the first day of the seventh month.

54:07

Then he read it in the open square that was in front of the water gate from morning until midday before the men and women and those who could understand in the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

54:27

So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose.

54:34

And beside him at his right hand set Mattithiah, Shema, Ananiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Messiah.

54:43

And at his left hand, Paddaiah, Mishael, Milchijah, Heshum, Hashpadonah, Zechariah and Meshulam.

54:55

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people and he opened it, all the people stood up.

55:04

And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. It's because of verses like this that we have a pulpit made of wood that we stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.

55:17

This is ancient for God's people to do these things.

55:23

They have not been hearing the word, they've not been reading the word. And Ezra blesses the name of the

55:29

Lord, the great God. And the people are zealous and they're saying amen and amen. And they lift up their hands and they bowed their heads and they worship the

55:38

Lord with their faces to the ground. Jeshua, Bani, Sherabiah, Jameen, Akum, Shabbatai, Hodijah, Messiah, Kalita, Azariah, Josabath, Hanan, Paliah and the

55:56

Levites helped the people to understand the law when the people stood in their place.

56:03

So they read distinctly from the book in the law of God and they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading.

56:11

Now I want you to imagine our friend Abraham just reading Deuteronomy, he was telling me. I want you to imagine them reading the book of Deuteronomy, the second giving of the law and the terror that would fall upon them.

56:25

They get to a place like 28, Deuteronomy 28, the blessings and the cursings.

56:31

So the people are coming and they're eager to hear the word of God and the law is open and they're so filled with hope and promise, but they're brought under heavy conviction.

56:42

Their sins have been exposed. So this day of recovery of the word of God and proclamation of it, distinct understanding and explanation expounding of it, no doubt a formulation for us in expository preaching.

57:03

It says in verse nine, Nehemiah was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scribe and the

57:11

Levites who taught the people said to all the people, this day is holy to the

57:16

Lord your God. Do not mourn nor weep for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

57:32

The exile of Zechariah's day, the people keenly understood that was because of their sin.

57:42

You have conviction no doubt on the Lord's day when you come into the presence of God and there's something in the singing or the reading of the word, the proclamation of scripture from the preacher, there's something that grabs hold of you and you're exposed and you have a sense of your unworthiness and your guilt.

58:01

I should say that this is woefully lacking in our day. There's very little guilt that leads to repentance.

58:09

Can never say anything of cause anybody to have any guilt from the pulpit today. The words of God coming to the people cause terror, that they're stricken with grief and guilt and awareness of their sin and their need of deliverance.

58:35

Nehemiah says, this day is holy to the Lord. Do not mourn nor weep.

58:42

See, this is a day of renewal and restoration. The Lord's love for you is on display.

58:51

He's correcting you as a loving father, chastens his own children.

58:59

And this part is really amazing to me. Look at verse 10, it says, I want you to think about this.

59:06

The nation's sins have been exposed. They're all pronounced guilty.

59:17

He tells them in their weeping, in their mourning, do not mourn, do not weep.

59:23

Then he says, go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared for this day is holy to our

59:39

Lord. Do not sorrow for the joy of the

59:45

Lord is your strength. The people are ready for sackcloth and ashes.

59:57

That this is the natural response, that the people are ready to wail and contrition about their sin.

01:00:06

And Nehemiah says, let's stop this now. This is a holy day to the

01:00:11

Lord. This is, in fact, a feast day. Come, kill the fatted calf, get the best wine.

01:00:21

There's people who aren't here at the assembly. Cook it all up and send them good portions for this day is holy to the

01:00:31

Lord. Do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

01:00:36

And so I say to you, I want you to be brought under heavy conviction about your sin.

01:00:45

I want you to mourn and fast briefly, but I want you to spend more time rejoicing and giving thanks and feasting for what the

01:00:55

Lord has done for you in Christ. That work of grace is greater than all of our sin.

01:01:03

That forgiveness and that love is greater than all of our transgressions.

01:01:11

When the Lord comes in deliverance, the time of fasting and mourning has passed.

01:01:17

Now we rejoice. The Lord is with us.

01:01:25

Let's turn back to our text in Zechariah. This is,

01:01:37

I believe, a shocking answer to the question. Under the guise, maybe well -intentioned in some cases, piety of the believers.

01:01:50

The fast to commemorate the dark days of Israel's history leading up to the exile and maybe the harsh treatment of Moses and the law and all those things now is set aside in favor of feast days.

01:02:06

Brethren, the Lord has called us to feast. Jerusalem is being transformed.

01:02:16

Imagine in context. The temple is being reconstructed.

01:02:21

The priesthood has been cleansed and consecrated. The hearts of the people hardened by sin are being made fleshy and pliable.

01:02:30

God has renewed covenant with them. He says, they shall be my people and I will be their

01:02:36

God. He called them to strengthen their hands for the glorious work they had been assigned to labor zealously in the

01:02:48

Lord's kingdom building work. They have duties and obligations.

01:02:54

They are to love God and neighbor, therefore love, truth and peace, it says in verse 19.

01:03:00

The weightier matters of the laws, as James might articulate.

01:03:06

The people of God have a tendency to focus on an unappointed fast day and to neglect the weightier matters of the faith and law.

01:03:21

The question for you today, should our faith be characterized by fasting or feasting?

01:03:30

I'd like you to turn with me to the New Testament in the book, the Gospel of Mark, Mark chapter two.

01:03:45

I'm going to read verses 18 through 22. The Pharisees, they were the people who looked really spiritual and the only rivals and maybe they eclipsed them were the disciples of John, many of whom would become the apostles of the

01:04:05

Lord Jesus Christ himself. There's something big here for us and it's gonna be developed from here to the end of the scripture.

01:04:18

Mark two, beginning at verse 18. The disciples of John and of the

01:04:24

Pharisees were fasting. They came and said to him, why do the disciples of John and of the

01:04:32

Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, can the friends of the bridegroom fast?

01:04:45

While the bridegroom is with them. As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

01:04:56

But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and they will fast in those days.

01:05:04

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment or else the new piece pulls away from the old and the tear is made worse.

01:05:14

No one puts new wine into old wineskins or else the new wine bursts the wineskins.

01:05:20

The wine is spilled and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.

01:05:33

The question I have for you to consider,

01:05:40

I think it'll become clear what my position is by the end of this. Do we have the bridegroom with us or are we waiting for him?

01:05:52

It's a tough question, isn't it? Is Christ really present in the supper?

01:06:03

Are we really filled with his Holy Spirit? Things are not yet consummated to what they shall be, so there must be an already and not yet.

01:06:14

I acknowledge that. But has the presence of Christ departed from his church?

01:06:24

Are we waiting for the bridegroom? I'd like us to turn to Psalm 23 really quickly.

01:07:05

This is probably the first or second ranked most memorized portion of scripture.

01:07:13

John 3, 16, Psalm 23, one and two. The Lord is my shepherd,

01:07:22

I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

01:07:29

He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

01:07:41

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.

01:07:51

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And that was the point

01:07:58

I want you to really slow down on. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

01:08:17

Verse four, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

01:08:24

He leads me, he makes me to lie down. He restores my soul. The Lord has prepared a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

01:08:39

You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

01:08:52

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If you be a

01:09:00

Christ, it's impossible that you could be snatched out of the

01:09:06

Father's hand. If you be the bride of Christ, there's no possibility, like a cheesy

01:09:15

Hollywood movie, that you would be left at the altar. This marriage, this betrothal, wherever we are in that process, it will come to its full consummation and completion.

01:09:31

There's not gonna be a certificate of divorce for the church of Jesus Christ. Ever leaves us or forsakes us,

01:09:45

I think he's with us. He is Emmanuel, after all, incarnation.

01:09:51

He's God with us. Did he come to be with us that he might leave us? I don't think so.

01:09:58

Turn back quickly to Matthew chapter 22.

01:10:07

Thank you for your patience. I could have just read through these. I have them written down, but I think reading it sometimes is helpful when we look at it in the scripture ourselves and see it.

01:10:24

Matthew 22. This idea of feasting is very prominent in the ministry of Christ.

01:10:36

Matthew 22, beginning at verse one. And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and they were not willing to come.

01:11:00

Again, he sent out other servants saying, tell those who are invited. Now, I wanna tell you here that the servants who go out are the prophets, the apostles, particularly the apostles in this time referring to the prophets calling upon Israel to repent and turn to the

01:11:20

Lord. But today, the people of God, the priesthood of the church, we too are the servants who go out and herald in the streets as town criers, we say, be reconciled to God and Jesus Christ.

01:11:39

Repent and believe the gospel. That's our job too. So this idea is something that's been happening throughout the history of God's people and we continue to be the people who herald and call with the invitation of Christ and his gospel to come to the wedding supper of the lamb.

01:12:02

Look at verse four again. It says, see, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fatted cattle are killed and all things are ready, come to the wedding.

01:12:14

But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.

01:12:21

And the rest seized the servants, treated them spitefully and killed them. When the king heard about it, he was furious and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers and burned up their city.

01:12:37

And he said to his servants, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Of course,

01:12:43

I think this has big implications for national Israel, it's happening and the

01:12:48

Olivet discourse coming and all of that. Therefore, go into the highways and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.

01:13:00

This is a big part of Gentile inclusion, it's the unwillingness of Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham to turn to their

01:13:08

God. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all they found, both bad and good.

01:13:18

And the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in and he saw the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.

01:13:31

So he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

01:13:39

I'll tell you what that wedding garment is, it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's what you have to have to come to the wedding supper, the wedding feast of the lamb.

01:13:51

The king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot, take him away and cast him into outer darkness.

01:13:58

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called, but few are chosen.

01:14:08

Lastly, I'll end my tour through the scripture in Revelation, if you turn to Revelation chapter 19,

01:14:14

I'll do this now and we'll complete our section. Revelation 19, Zechariah is very important because the imagery of Babylon is prominent in Revelation.

01:14:35

So if you wanna know about Revelation, the study in Zechariah, I think is very helpful.

01:14:44

Revelation 19, and I've heard, this is verse six, I'm sorry, Revelation 19, six.

01:14:51

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters and the sound of mighty thundering saying, hallelujah for the

01:15:00

Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready.

01:15:18

And to her, it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

01:15:30

And he said to me, right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb.

01:15:42

Brethren, you as the people of God have been called to the feast.

01:15:52

Fasting has some value, but don't ever fast on Sunday.

01:15:58

Don't fast this table on Sunday. That would be beyond counterproductive.

01:16:09

And finally, Revelation 21, beginning at verse two,

01:16:21

I'm gonna read two little sections, three actually smaller portions. Revelation 21, verse two.

01:16:30

Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

01:16:42

Brethren, I think mystically, Jerusalem is the church.

01:16:50

And I think physical Jerusalem no longer holds that place.

01:16:56

I believe Revelation is clear about who the whore of Babylon is. It's Jerusalem and her disobedience.

01:17:08

The people of God, the new temple in Christ, they make up the new

01:17:15

Jerusalem. The people who have been washed in the blood of the lamb, the people who are clothed in fine linen and the righteousness of Christ, these are the ones who are prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

01:17:34

Listen to what it says. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people.

01:17:47

Sounds a lot like Zechariah. God himself will be with them and be their

01:17:53

God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.

01:18:01

There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away.

01:18:08

He who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. He said to me, write for these things, for these words are true and faithful.

01:18:25

Skip down to verse nine. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying, come,

01:18:35

I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy

01:18:49

Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.

01:18:57

Finally, skip over to verse 22. The description of this glory in this new

01:19:04

Jerusalem is given, and look what it says in verse 22. I saw no temple in it, for the

01:19:17

Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple. The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it.

01:19:27

The lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

01:19:40

Zechariah 8, same language. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

01:19:59

There shall by no means enter in anything that defiles or cause an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the lamb's book of life.

01:20:15

We feast, turn back to Zechariah, we feast because Christ has come.

01:20:25

His abiding presence is with us. We feast in anticipation of the greater wedding feast of the lamb.

01:20:39

This is rehearsal dinner. The wedding is coming, it's unstoppable.

01:20:47

The freight train of the wedding is coming, it's happening, no one's gonna be lost, they're all gonna be there.

01:20:54

This is the rehearsal dinner. This is where we say we belong to Christ and he belongs to us.

01:21:02

He takes us as his own and we own him as our savior. Joyful gladness and cheerful feasts.

01:21:19

As we just learned, this is nothing less than the salvation of the nations that's being articulated in Zechariah and finds its consummation and revelation.

01:21:31

Look at verse 20. People shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities.

01:21:41

The habits of one city shall go to another. The Jews who are still in exile will begin to stream into Jerusalem.

01:21:51

About 10 to 15 % only of them have returned and so there's certainly a local and a temporal fulfillment that is in view here.

01:22:02

But Jerusalem, the place where people meet with God, do you know where that is now?

01:22:10

It's the church. That's where people meet with God. It's not the building, the wood chapel of the

01:22:19

Episcopal church. It's us, the dwelling place of God in the spirit.

01:22:27

The nations are coming in. In the old economy, the pilgrims traveled in person to Zion.

01:22:34

Now they press into the kingdom in the four corners of the earth by being assimilated into the body of Christ through baptism and they receive ongoing refreshment and renewal and nourishment and union with Christ in the supper.

01:22:51

Zechariah anticipates the arrival of the king and his ever expanding, the reach of which will never end kingdom.

01:23:05

Something else that happens when God turns your fasting into feasting and makes you alive and makes you joyful and cheerful and thankful.

01:23:16

Like the woman of Samaria, the converts to Christ will be equally concerned about the salvation of their fellow man.

01:23:24

I will tell you, I'm greatly encouraged. It's the first time in a number of years. There are many of you led by our young men, particularly when very vocal, they are eager to see people saved.

01:23:39

That is a healthy sign for our church. More and more, we need to have a desire to see the nations brought in.

01:23:53

Like the woman of Samaria, the converts, people shall come, look at the text. The inhabitants, verse 21, of one city shall go to another saying, let us continue to go and pray before the

01:24:05

Lord. And that language there, I believe, talks about more than just offering up a prayer, it is participating fully in the life of the covenant people of God, a full assimilation into the ecclesia of God, the church of God, going there to seek the

01:24:26

Lord of hosts. The nations are coming and they're seeking the

01:24:35

Lord. Well, it's been a lot of time on the first point, ran through the second,

01:24:41

I'm gonna equally do that in the third. Come to the third point, and I love the language of this section.

01:24:49

The title of the message, we have heard that God is with you. You'll remember that at Pentecost, the witness of the church rapidly expands.

01:25:00

The Jews have gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost and they come together.

01:25:08

And 3000 of them, it seems, are converted in this preaching exhibition and baptism of Peter, incredible time.

01:25:17

At the beginning of the book, it says in Acts 1, but you shall receive power when the

01:25:23

Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all

01:25:29

Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. In Zechariah, this had to be a little bit puzzling because this is a big deal for the remnant of God's people now to be in communion with him and fellowship with him.

01:25:46

The promise is worldwide salvation in Christ. This is a massive magnification, an expansion of the reach of the

01:25:57

King, the Messiah. The disciples are told to wait in Jerusalem until the

01:26:08

Holy Spirit comes. Wait there, he says, until I pour out my spirit.

01:26:15

In chapter two, the prophecy of Joel comes to fruition. It says in Acts 2, verse 27, that whoever calls on the name of the

01:26:25

Lord shall be saved. Look at verse 23.

01:26:36

Don't you long to see a day like this? It may not happen in our lifetime, but what if it did?

01:26:47

There's a dubious revival happening that everybody's talking about. It'll be known by its fruits, if it's real or not.

01:26:59

But what will happen in those days when 10 men from every language of the nations are laying hold of the people of God and saying, show us

01:27:10

Christ. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Take me to the house of the

01:27:16

Lord. Can you imagine 10 people grabbing you? DJ, can you imagine how terrible that would be for you?

01:27:24

10 guys grabbing you and saying, show me the way of Christ. Zechariah anticipates a day when 10 men will grab the sleeve of every man of faith and seek reconciliation and communion with God.

01:27:47

You and I have to be salt and light. As we learned again in Sunday school, one of the hallmarks of genuine

01:27:57

Christianity is fruit -bearing obedience and holiness. It's very unpopular today.

01:28:05

We've got this Christianity of proposition and assent intellectually only.

01:28:11

It's not the real faith. You and I have to be salt and light.

01:28:17

We have to maintain our faithful covenant witness that the world would see the glorious reflection of Christ's radiance on our faces.

01:28:30

That they would see us, they would hear us speak, and they would say, surely God is with them.

01:28:35

That's the kind of people we ought to be. We can be in the power of the Spirit as the redeemed in Christ.

01:28:43

This is a noble goal for us to aspire to. Are you going to be one who the world sees the reflection of Christ's glory, the radiance of the glory of Christ on your countenance, on your face?

01:28:59

Brethren, the king is taking a bride.

01:29:06

He's bringing all of his elect in. No circumstance or bad report will thwart his plan.

01:29:16

If we are on the cusp of World War III, then God will do something with it for his glory, and millions will be saved or something.

01:29:27

Whatever bad report we hear, this plan will not be thwarted. He's calling us, you and I, to labor in the fields of harvest.

01:29:38

He's calling us to this lifelong pursuit of full maturity in Christ. We are called to make every man with Paul complete in Christ.

01:29:52

May we see a genuine, powerful, working, the

01:29:57

Holy Spirit in our own day. We prayed that. May the Lord be pleased to bring that to pass.

01:30:04

Well, finally, I have a word of application for each of those thus saith the

01:30:10

Lord's. First, keep the feast. Feast at the

01:30:18

Lord's table. Never again will the Lord's supper be a funeral service for you or for me.

01:30:28

Turn your mourning into dancing, your sorrow into joy. You have been reconciled to God and have been given the ministry of reconciliation.

01:30:41

There's nothing more exciting than to see a young bride who really loves her husband and eagerly anticipates that day.

01:30:53

That's who we are. We're the gushing bride of Christ. We're at the rehearsal dinner.

01:31:01

There's no stopping this train. We're going to be united to him in fullness.

01:31:09

Second, you and I need to be zealous about proclaiming the good news of Christ the

01:31:14

King. Go down to the highways and byways and invite everyone to the marriage supper of the

01:31:22

Lamb. Preach Christ. Make disciples.

01:31:29

Assist them in their full maturity and growing up in the faith. Equip them to do the work of ministry.

01:31:39

And finally, this is the biggest challenge for us, I think, today. You and I have to live as those who are in perfect communion with God.

01:31:52

Are we accurately portraying and representing that to the world? Is your life filled with joy and thanksgiving?

01:32:01

Does the radiance of Christ, does that shine and reflect your life? You and I need to be filled with joy and thanksgiving.

01:32:12

And maybe 10 men will grab you by the sleeve and say, take us with you to Zion.

01:32:20

For we have heard that God is with you. Please pray with me.

01:32:31

Lord, we rejoice that you have called us to be your own.

01:32:40

And we acknowledge, Lord, that we sometimes like to have a scowl on our face and tell everyone, like the

01:32:48

Pharisees, that we're fasting. I pray that misguided fasting would be turned to feasting, that we would be eager and zealous to celebrate with you all that you've done, to take a bride to yourself, to wash her sins away, to clothe her in your righteousness.

01:33:15

Oh Lord, we pray that you would put this on our lips and that it would overflow out of our hearts.

01:33:24

And oh Lord, I pray that you would fill us with your spirit, that people would see in us that God is with us.

01:33:36

We ask that you would make us those kind of people. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Let's continue our worship through the presentation of the tithes and offerings.

01:34:16

Please stand and let's pray together. Lord, we rejoice, give thanks.

01:34:30

You have work for us to do and we're compensated for those labors,

01:34:36

Lord, and we return them back to you, acknowledging your ownership over all things. We pray that these would be received, they'd be pleasing to you, and they'd be used effectively for kingdom work.

01:34:48

We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Let us raise our voices with great zeal as we give glory to the

01:34:58

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in the singing of the Gloria Patria. It is right and a good that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, oh

01:36:08

Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Everlasting God, because you sent your beloved

01:36:14

Son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in 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.

01:36:31

Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify your glorious name evermore, praising you and singing.

01:36:44

To have you as our

01:38:52

God. And, oh Lord, we come to the feast considering our own sin, and it causes us to have tears and broken hearts when we think of our egregious sin.

01:39:12

It would cause us to mourn and to fast, but you say instead,

01:39:19

I have finished the work of atonement and redemption and salvation. Turn your tears to laughter and your mourning to dancing.

01:39:33

Come and keep the feast. And, oh Lord, we cling to the promise that you would be our

01:39:41

God and our good shepherd, that you would never leave us nor forsake us.

01:39:48

And we thank you for the feast and how it binds our hearts and knits us together with you and with your people.

01:39:58

And we ask that these creaturely elements of bread and wine would communicate to us the real presence of Christ in the spirit, that we would be one with him and that he would be one with us.

01:40:16

We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Our Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, take, eat, this is my body.

01:40:35

Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is a new covenant in my blood. Drink from it, all of you, for as often as you eat this bread or drink this cup, you proclaim the

01:40:46

Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, we proclaim the faith.

01:40:53

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

01:40:59

Let's approach the table by praying together now in unison. We do not presume to come to this your table,

01:41:08

O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.

01:41:16

We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same

01:41:23

Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear

01:41:31

Son, 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, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us, amen.

01:41:50

Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feasts, the gifts of God for you, the people of God.

01:42:00

Thanks be to the Lord. Amen.

01:42:36

♪ Tis the Christ, my soul, was the strongest gain.

01:51:12

♪ We grow and increase daily in the faith of the Father.

01:51:19

Send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our

01:51:27

Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory now and forever.

01:51:34

Amen. Please stand. In the love of God.