over the past few weeks of advent we've<\/p>\n
been looking at the different songs that<\/p>\n
celebrate the coming birth of jesus<\/p>\n
and so our passage for today is luke 1<\/p>\n
to twenty five and i'll invite kunsan to<\/p>\n
read the passage to us<\/p>\n
foreign<\/p>\n
[Music]<\/p>\n
so the message that the angel gives to<\/p>\n
zechariah is actually one that has been<\/p>\n
foretold<\/p>\n
malachi 4 the last chapter of the last<\/p>\n
book in the old testament records this<\/p>\n
promise<\/p>\n
so god says that one day at the right<\/p>\n
time he will send israel a prophet<\/p>\n
who will come to turn the hearts of<\/p>\n
their parents to their children in the<\/p>\n
hearts of the children<\/p>\n
so god promises this in malachi<\/p>\n
and then from then on there's 400 years<\/p>\n
where the people hear nothing from god<\/p>\n
so we fast forward 400 years now to luke<\/p>\n
chapter 1 where zechariah the priest is<\/p>\n
in the temple by himself<\/p>\n
burning incense out there at the altar<\/p>\n
behind<\/p>\n
that's pretty quick time travel um but<\/p>\n
anyways all of a sudden an angel appears<\/p>\n
to zechariah and tells him that his<\/p>\n
prayer has been heard<\/p>\n
and two one<\/p>\n
not just a son<\/p>\n
this son will go on before the lord in<\/p>\n
the spirit and power of elijah to turn<\/p>\n
the hearts of the parents to their<\/p>\n
children and the disobedient to the<\/p>\n
wisdom of the righteous<\/p>\n
and upon hearing this zechariah doubts<\/p>\n
god and is rebuked by an angel<\/p>\n
the angel takes away zechariah's ability<\/p>\n
to speak and he leaves the temple mute<\/p>\n
so from this perplexing passage there<\/p>\n
are at least three things about doubt<\/p>\n
that we can learn from this chapter<\/p>\n
the condition of doubt<\/p>\n
the cure for doubt<\/p>\n
and what this means for us<\/p>\n
so condition of doubt<\/p>\n
so zechariah's response of doubt teaches<\/p>\n
us that doubt can happen to any one of<\/p>\n
us<\/p>\n
he's described as righteous in the sight<\/p>\n
of god observing all the lord's<\/p>\n
commandments and decrees blamelessly<\/p>\n
hoping<\/p>\n
this shows us that this is a man who<\/p>\n
knows god an upright man who keeps god's<\/p>\n
law<\/p>\n
zechariah comes to church zechariah is<\/p>\n
serving in ministry he's a priest<\/p>\n
and the fact that zechariah a righteous<\/p>\n
man and a priest doubted god's word<\/p>\n
shows us that none of us are exempt from<\/p>\n
it can happen to any one of us<\/p>\n
and if we go by luke's definition of<\/p>\n
doubt<\/p>\n
we'll see that all of us to varying<\/p>\n
degrees are doubting god's word<\/p>\n
i'm a christian i have faith i believe<\/p>\n
in jesus i believe he died for my sins<\/p>\n
and rose again and that i have new life<\/p>\n
with him i'm certainly not doubting<\/p>\n
it<\/p>\n
i had faith too he was a righteous man<\/p>\n
blameless in god's sight<\/p>\n
he's on duty he's serving as a priest<\/p>\n
he's offering incense to god which<\/p>\n
priests were able to only do one time in<\/p>\n
their life<\/p>\n
and so one commentator writes in<\/p>\n
offering the incense zechariah is<\/p>\n
performing the greatest ministry of his<\/p>\n
priestly career<\/p>\n
um<\/p>\n
and so the angel meets zechariah in this<\/p>\n
context and he says to zechariah that<\/p>\n
god has heard your prayer and even<\/p>\n
though you're old and your wife<\/p>\n
elizabeth is old you're going to have a<\/p>\n
son and it's going to be a miracle<\/p>\n
he says how can this be<\/p>\n
and the angel goes just for that i'm<\/p>\n
going to strike you mute and you won't<\/p>\n
be able to speak until your son is born<\/p>\n
that seems kind of harsh doesn't it<\/p>\n
well the reason given here<\/p>\n
the angel says is because zechariah did<\/p>\n
not believe his words<\/p>\n
but what's funny is if you read the chap<\/p>\n
the rest of chapter one you'll see mary<\/p>\n
in a very similar position<\/p>\n
in fact an angel visits mary and tells<\/p>\n
her that she is going to have a child<\/p>\n
and mary says something very similar<\/p>\n
to someone<\/p>\n
she also says how will this be since i<\/p>\n
am a virgin she also demonstrates doubt<\/p>\n
uh<\/p>\n
but instead the angel just blesses her<\/p>\n
and lives<\/p>\n
by so what's up with that<\/p>\n
you might read this and think well i<\/p>\n
guess it's like a rag got a grumpy angel<\/p>\n
and mary got an angel in a better mood<\/p>\n
well probably not<\/p>\n
maybe<\/p>\n
and if we assume that's not the case<\/p>\n
then we can see a wonderful nuance about<\/p>\n
how the bible views doubt<\/p>\n
volleyball please<\/p>\n
so the common ways of viewing doubt<\/p>\n
today<\/p>\n
is that doubt is either all good or all<\/p>\n
bad<\/p>\n
monkeys<\/p>\n
yes so for instance if you're in the<\/p>\n
sciences and medical field<\/p>\n
that is viewed as a very healthy thing<\/p>\n
it makes sense to doubt the supernatural<\/p>\n
it's not real<\/p>\n
and via<\/p>\n
but if you've grown up around religion<\/p>\n
and i mean any religion the common view<\/p>\n
is that doubting is bad<\/p>\n
you shouldn't doubt you should just<\/p>\n
believe could make a song<\/p>\n
you're in the youth group and you have a<\/p>\n
question and you ask the question and<\/p>\n
the youth leader looks at you like i<\/p>\n
wish i could strike you mute<\/p>\n
me<\/p>\n
we see instead that there is a kind of<\/p>\n
that is a sign of an open mind and a<\/p>\n
kind of doubt that is a sign of a closed<\/p>\n
mind<\/p>\n
and a kind of doubt that's already made<\/p>\n
up their mind<\/p>\n
and doesn't want answers<\/p>\n
a kind of doubt that shows that here's a<\/p>\n
person who's really open to the truth<\/p>\n
like mary<\/p>\n
and is willing to let go of controlling<\/p>\n
her own life if she can be shown that<\/p>\n
the truth is other than what she thought<\/p>\n
it was<\/p>\n
and there's a kind of doubt like<\/p>\n
zechariah where the questions are only<\/p>\n
used as a way of staying in control of<\/p>\n
one's life keeping one's mind closed<\/p>\n
what kind of doubt is yours<\/p>\n
healthy doubt like we see with mary is<\/p>\n
something that can be very good<\/p>\n
what zechariah also shows us though is<\/p>\n
that evidence is oftentimes not the root<\/p>\n
cause of unbelief<\/p>\n
evidence definitely helps<\/p>\n
but in zechariah's case it shows us that<\/p>\n
evidence is not enough<\/p>\n
he's witnessing a miracle an angel is<\/p>\n
speaking to him but that's not enough to<\/p>\n
convince him<\/p>\n
the differences between the angel's<\/p>\n
response to mary and zechariah<\/p>\n
is one commentator says the heart<\/p>\n
posture behind the doubts<\/p>\n
even though zechariah was righteous in<\/p>\n
god's sight and even though zechariah<\/p>\n
has faith<\/p>\n
he doesn't bring his faith into action<\/p>\n
call me crime<\/p>\n
he could have chosen to act on his<\/p>\n
belief in god to trust based on what he<\/p>\n
knows about god<\/p>\n
but we see that in this particular<\/p>\n
instance his faith is not brought into<\/p>\n
it's like going into a room seeing a<\/p>\n
chair knowing that it can hold you up<\/p>\n
but refusing to sit on it<\/p>\n
and what this shows us then is faith is<\/p>\n
not turning your mind off<\/p>\n
of<\/p>\n
it's an action<\/p>\n
it's a posture of confidence towards the<\/p>\n
world based on what god has revealed in<\/p>\n
his words<\/p>\n
and so faith is an action and a belief<\/p>\n
in god's words imagine what life would<\/p>\n
be like if we lived believing god's<\/p>\n
words<\/p>\n
in life<\/p>\n
when someone criticizes us at work or at<\/p>\n
school and we break down or when we let<\/p>\n
anxiety and fear of the future or fear<\/p>\n
of loss control us<\/p>\n
or when we're living our lives<\/p>\n
compromising our values because we want<\/p>\n
to be accepted by others<\/p>\n
it's all because god's voice is not the<\/p>\n
clearest or the loudest<\/p>\n
videos<\/p>\n
and so to some degree all of us are<\/p>\n
doubters we all don't believe god's word<\/p>\n
to the extent we should<\/p>\n
uh say<\/p>\n
if an angel of the lord strikes<\/p>\n
zechariah mute for asking a seemingly<\/p>\n
innocent question what hope is there for<\/p>\n
us in our doubts and unbelief<\/p>\n
tattoos<\/p>\n
one thing to notice is that zechariah's<\/p>\n
unbelief does not cause god to go i'm<\/p>\n
fed up with you for asking for a sign<\/p>\n
to bring him to a place of assurance<\/p>\n
and the angel strikes him mute and says<\/p>\n
you will not be able to speak until the<\/p>\n
day this happens which will come true at<\/p>\n
their appointed time let's time<\/p>\n
so zechariah asked for a sign and he was<\/p>\n
in effect given a sign<\/p>\n
uh igniting<\/p>\n
some kind of<\/p>\n
so if we skip ahead to verse 57 uh where<\/p>\n
the story picks up again<\/p>\n
we'll see that the angels words did<\/p>\n
indeed come true<\/p>\n
zechariah's tongue was loosed and he<\/p>\n
could speak<\/p>\n
uh yeah<\/p>\n
in other words we see god keeping a<\/p>\n
promise he made to zechariah<\/p>\n
in fact we we see even that<\/p>\n
even doubt does not stop god from doing<\/p>\n
what he says<\/p>\n
even zechariah's own doubts is not an<\/p>\n
obstacle to god's ability to keep his<\/p>\n
promises<\/p>\n
and so we see zechariah's doubt turn to<\/p>\n
assurance and joy<\/p>\n
because he witnessed god doing what he<\/p>\n
said in bringing a baby to a couple in a<\/p>\n
physically impossible situation<\/p>\n
number<\/p>\n
turns to assurance because he sees that<\/p>\n
this is the god who keeps his promises<\/p>\n
and so the cure to zechariah's doubt is<\/p>\n
witnessing god's promise being fulfilled<\/p>\n
what god said came true<\/p>\n
again even in zechariah leaning towards<\/p>\n
unbelief god doesn't say forget you<\/p>\n
zachariah<\/p>\n
instead through god's actions he's<\/p>\n
saying how can i bring you to a point<\/p>\n
where you will believe<\/p>\n
and he does so by striking him mute as<\/p>\n
both a sign and an invitation for<\/p>\n
zechariah to believe<\/p>\n
one commentator says zechariah learned<\/p>\n
from his period of silence<\/p>\n
even as an already righteous man<\/p>\n
zechariah learned to trust god's word<\/p>\n
even more<\/p>\n
and we'll see from verse 67 onwards that<\/p>\n
zechariah's assurance led to worship and<\/p>\n
praise<\/p>\n
god<\/p>\n
so god brings zechariah from a place of<\/p>\n
doubt and unbelief to assurance and<\/p>\n
ultimately to praise worship<\/p>\n
and so in the story we have a microcosm<\/p>\n
of a family<\/p>\n
in an impossible situation who god<\/p>\n
blesses with a baby<\/p>\n
but<\/p>\n
as the angel says<\/p>\n
god heard the prayer of elizabeth and<\/p>\n
zechariah and blessed them with a baby<\/p>\n
john the baptist who the one who would<\/p>\n
prepare the way for jesus and this leads<\/p>\n
him to worship<\/p>\n
again<\/p>\n
so what does this mean for us<\/p>\n
does it mean we're supposed to not be<\/p>\n
like zechariah<\/p>\n
just have more faith believe god<\/p>\n
hate me<\/p>\n
and so we see in the story of the old<\/p>\n
testament a pattern<\/p>\n
so the israelites turn away from god<\/p>\n
wanting to do things their own way<\/p>\n
they get into trouble they cry out for<\/p>\n
help god mercifully delivers them<\/p>\n
and the cycle continues<\/p>\n
over and over again cycle continues<\/p>\n
and<\/p>\n
this reveals a fundamental problem<\/p>\n
that we deep down distrust god last<\/p>\n
thing happens in people what look like<\/p>\n
clowning at lao mission<\/p>\n
and we see in this passage god moving<\/p>\n
zechariah from a place of doubt to<\/p>\n
assurance to worship by graciously<\/p>\n
showing him that god keeps his promises<\/p>\n
but if we look closely at his song we'll<\/p>\n
notice he says<\/p>\n
praise be to the lord who has raised up<\/p>\n
a horn of salvation for us as he said<\/p>\n
through his holy prophets long ago<\/p>\n
and what's more he says to show mercy to<\/p>\n
our ancestors and to remember his holy<\/p>\n
covenant the oath he swore to our father<\/p>\n
abraham<\/p>\n
so in genesis 15 one of the most<\/p>\n
remarkable incidents of in abraham's<\/p>\n
life<\/p>\n
so god promises abraham a child an<\/p>\n
offspring that would be so great the<\/p>\n
whole world would be blessed through<\/p>\n
this child<\/p>\n
and this is what zechariah sings of in<\/p>\n
his song god honoring his promise to<\/p>\n
bless the whole world through abraham's<\/p>\n
offspring<\/p>\n
but we know something about this promise<\/p>\n
that zechariah didn't<\/p>\n
like<\/p>\n
and god tells him to bring him five<\/p>\n
animals<\/p>\n
and the text says abraham cut them in<\/p>\n
two and arrange them opposite each other<\/p>\n
it might be strange to us today but back<\/p>\n
then this was the custom of making a<\/p>\n
covenant<\/p>\n
the animals would be cut and arranged in<\/p>\n
two sides and the two parties would walk<\/p>\n
between the animals<\/p>\n
it's kind of like writing a contract and<\/p>\n
signing it today<\/p>\n
but this was a symbol that meant<\/p>\n
when they walked through it if anyone<\/p>\n
failed to uphold their side of the<\/p>\n
covenant they would be cut just like the<\/p>\n
but then the text says a thick and<\/p>\n
dreadful darkness fell over the land<\/p>\n
and abraham fell into a deep sleep<\/p>\n
and a smoking firepot appeared and<\/p>\n
passed between the pieces<\/p>\n
on<\/p>\n
that night god passed through those<\/p>\n
pieces alone<\/p>\n
he knew abraham was not going to be able<\/p>\n
to perfectly and completely trust him<\/p>\n
and so he took it upon himself<\/p>\n
and this this is the gospel<\/p>\n
salvation in the christian faith is not<\/p>\n
god helps those who help themselves<\/p>\n
christianity<\/p>\n
god comes and says i will take upon<\/p>\n
myself the curse of the covenant for<\/p>\n
both of us<\/p>\n
he comes to abraham and he says abraham<\/p>\n
may i be cut off if i don't do my part<\/p>\n
of the bargain<\/p>\n
darkness came down again<\/p>\n
and at the ninth hour jesus on the cross<\/p>\n
says he was dying cried my god my god<\/p>\n
why have you forsaken me<\/p>\n
abraham had no idea what it was going to<\/p>\n
cost god to keep the promise he did<\/p>\n
on the cross jesus christ experienced<\/p>\n
darkness so that we could be brought<\/p>\n
into the light<\/p>\n
jesus christ experienced alienation so<\/p>\n
that we could be given a home<\/p>\n
today he experienced the grave so that<\/p>\n
we could be given disguise<\/p>\n
in the life death resurrection and<\/p>\n
ascension of jesus<\/p>\n
we see god keeping his promise of<\/p>\n
rescuing his people at the cost of his<\/p>\n
own life<\/p>\n
and if that's true<\/p>\n
which it is<\/p>\n
then what reason do we have now to not<\/p>\n
trust god<\/p>\n
what is stopping us from completely<\/p>\n
trusting that god<\/p>\n
some of us believe the promise of<\/p>\n
success<\/p>\n
if only i'm successful in my work then<\/p>\n
i'll be ok<\/p>\n
the promise of relationship if only i<\/p>\n
get married then i'll be okay<\/p>\n
or if only i look a certain way if only<\/p>\n
i parent my kids well if only i'm a good<\/p>\n
enough person then i'll be ok<\/p>\n
these are all promises<\/p>\n
but if we make these promises our center<\/p>\n
will only be destroyed<\/p>\n
if we live for our work we're filled<\/p>\n
with anxiety and what happens to us when<\/p>\n
we lose our jobs<\/p>\n
if we live for a relationship what<\/p>\n
happens to us when it ends<\/p>\n
if we live for our kids what happens<\/p>\n
when they grow up and become independent<\/p>\n
if whatever we're living for is taken<\/p>\n
away and it will be one day we will be<\/p>\n
destroyed<\/p>\n
these promises are empty<\/p>\n
and the satisfaction that they bring is<\/p>\n
only temporary at best<\/p>\n
sexual<\/p>\n
so tim keller he says<\/p>\n
if we look to some created thing to give<\/p>\n
us the meaning of<\/p>\n
give us meaning hope and happiness that<\/p>\n
only god himself can give<\/p>\n
it will eventually fail to deliver<\/p>\n
these promises will only let us down<\/p>\n
but jesus christ is the only one whose<\/p>\n
promises are made good<\/p>\n
food<\/p>\n
zechariah was moved from doubt to<\/p>\n
assurance to worship because he saw god<\/p>\n
keeping his promise to him<\/p>\n
sometimes<\/p>\n
and we also seen that god's intimate<\/p>\n
care of a family as he works out his<\/p>\n
grand plan of salvation on that day god<\/p>\n
answered two promises<\/p>\n
that of a son for zechariah and of a<\/p>\n
savior for the world<\/p>\n
we know what it costs god to keep his<\/p>\n
promise to give us life he's given us<\/p>\n
every possible evidence what is there<\/p>\n
now to stop us from trusting him<\/p>\n
yet<\/p>\n
if the cross resurrection and ascension<\/p>\n
are the ultimate expressions of god's<\/p>\n
ability and willingness to keep his own<\/p>\n
we can look at all of god's promises<\/p>\n
even the ones that are yet to be<\/p>\n
fulfilled and live with hope<\/p>\n
the apostle paul writes in second<\/p>\n
corinthians<\/p>\n
for no matter how many promises god has<\/p>\n
made they are yes in christ<\/p>\n
christ<\/p>\n
he's promised one day to wipe away every<\/p>\n
tear from our eyes<\/p>\n
he's promised to work out everything<\/p>\n
ultimately for our good<\/p>\n
time<\/p>\n
he's promised to be with us<\/p>\n
and he's promised to come again and<\/p>\n
completely make things right the second<\/p>\n
advent<\/p>\n
yeah<\/p>\n
so as we live in between the cross and<\/p>\n
resurrection and the second advent would<\/p>\n
we live with hope<\/p>\n
what areas in your life are you having<\/p>\n
trouble believing god bring that to him<\/p>\n
and trust him with your life believe him<\/p>\n
is<\/p>\n
this christmas remember how far god was<\/p>\n
willing to go<\/p>\n
to make good on his promises<\/p>\n
what's this<\/p>\n
lenny<\/p>\n
father would you help us to believe<\/p>\n
today that you are the god who keeps his<\/p>\n
promises help us to look to jesus and be<\/p>\n
reminded that because jesus experienced<\/p>\n
the darkness you have shown us your life<\/p>\n
because you experienced alienation<\/p>\n
you've promised us a home<\/p>\n
because you experienced the grave you've<\/p>\n
given us the skies<\/p>\n
help us to not be afraid and to be<\/p>\n
filled with a deep assurance knowing<\/p>\n
that we can stake our lives on your word<\/p>\n
hello<\/p>\n
lord jesus would your love become a deep<\/p>\n
bright reality that fills our hearts and<\/p>\n
leads us into action today<\/p>\n
jesus me<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20211223","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gatMRTrt4aY","video_id":"gatMRTrt4aY","video_duration":"42:36","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=889"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":890,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889\/revisions\/890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}