1 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,080 Hi and welcome to the Via Zion Sermon Podcast. 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,240 We are a local church based here in Chennai, India. 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,560 We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,880 encourage, inspire and instill fresh faith in you. 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,720 We have started the Advent season and are thrilled that we 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:26,160 get to celebrate Jesus for all that he is, has been, and all 7 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,000 that He will do. We look at Jesus, the living 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,640 Word today, the one who left heaven and walked the earth To 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,160 be one of us. As you listen in our prayer is 10 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:40,040 that you will experience the power and fulfillment that only 11 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,720 Jesus gives. Hi Church, what a joy it is to 12 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,840 bring God's word to you today. The Advent season is upon us. 13 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,680 I personally enjoy this time of the year. 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,520 My kids and I, we set up our Christmas tree. 15 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,920 We spend a lot of time just sitting around drinking hot 16 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:58,640 chocolate and enjoying the weather. 17 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:00,960 In Chennai, we don't have sweater weather often, but these 18 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:05,000 past weeks have been amazing. And so we are just so grateful 19 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,840 to have seen an entire year. You know, more than anything I 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,680 was when I was rehashing on 20/24, I just realized God, no 21 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:13,920 matter what the highs and lows have been, God has been 22 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,040 constant. His grace has been constant. 23 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,960 And the fact that we made it to December is a gift from him. 24 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,320 And this whole year the theme has been set apart. 25 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,680 And I feel like even our Advent theme is, is, you know, us being 26 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,080 set apart because we are not looking at the traditional, you 27 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,000 know, Matthew or Luke narrative. We're going to be looking at 28 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,880 John and what the apostle John has to say to us about the 29 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,040 coming of the Lord Jesus. John was the beloved disciple of 30 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,520 Jesus, very close to him. And this is what he says in John 31 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,040 chapter 1, reading from verse one on, it says in the beginning 32 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:54,120 was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. 33 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,960 He goes down in verse 14 to say the Word became flesh and made 34 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,320 His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the 35 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,120 glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full 36 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,919 of grace and truth. As I begin, I just want to say 37 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,920 this, that Jesus is like no other. 38 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,800 Why do we celebrate Him this whole month? 39 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,960 It's not about the tree, it's not about the star, it's not 40 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,320 about the carols, it's not about any of that. 41 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,280 It's really all about Jesus, and when we look at John chapter 1, 42 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,360 the apostle John is bringing it all back to the one who changed 43 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:34,160 history as we know it, the one who was the living Word. 44 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,160 Why does he address God, Jesus as the word? 45 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,760 The word that is being used here is logos, and it's a very 46 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:44,760 multifaceted word. Theologically. 47 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,520 It basically communicates that the Logos. 48 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:53,240 Theologically, Logos signifies the communication of God's will 49 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,160 and truth to humanity. And the apostle John is 50 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:00,000 basically saying that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. 51 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,160 Whatever you receive from God, Jesus was the greatest gift. 52 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,120 Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God's heart for humanity. 53 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,320 And it's amazing because there's another explanation which says 54 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,040 that Logos is basically used as a name for the second person in 55 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,880 the Trinity, and it's expresses the thoughts of the Father 56 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:21,120 through the Spirit. And that's what Jesus did. 57 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,040 Jesus was filled with the Spirit, it says, and he walked 58 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,160 around earth doing good, teaching people, rescuing them, 59 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,720 delivering them, expressing his heart, his Father's heart for 60 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,440 the world. And so this season, the next 61 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,520 three weeks, this week and the next two weeks, we're going to 62 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,920 be looking exclusively at celebrating Jesus in very 63 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:43,760 specific ways. This week we're going to be 64 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,840 celebrating Jesus, the Word, the word, the whole of the Christmas 65 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:49,840 story. If you look at the entire 66 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,400 Christmas story the way we know it, the way we have seen it 67 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,680 portrayed, the fundamental thing is that Jesus coming to earth 68 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,320 fulfilled so many prophecies, prophecies that were made 69 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,240 hundreds of thousands of years before, right? 70 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,080 And these prophets were Speaking of things they had no clue of, 71 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,200 but they just had an inkling. And so the entire Christmas 72 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,840 story is predicated on what these prophets said. 73 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,080 So Isaiah talked about the government being on his 74 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:16,519 shoulders, the Son would be born. 75 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:21,160 He talked about how God would be this God who becomes one with 76 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,440 man will be called Emmanuel. Jeremiah talks how there will be 77 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,240 the slaying of babies and a mother weeping for her children, 78 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,520 talking about Herod's killings of children at that time. 79 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,440 Micah talks about how Bethlehem will give rise to this ruler who 80 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:36,920 will come and shepherd his people. 81 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,520 So if you look at it, Jesus was the summation of everything the 82 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,120 prophet spoke about. Everything the Old Testament 83 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:48,080 carries is fulfilled in Jesus. The entire story from Genesis to 84 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,080 Malachi was fulfilled in Jesus. But from Malachi to Matthew, 85 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,560 there's this quiet time when God had finished talking and he was 86 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,000 waiting, and the whole of humanity was in this restless 87 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,280 wait. When would the promised one 88 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:03,800 come? When would this Messiah come? 89 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:08,320 When would redemption happen? And that's what Jesus brought to 90 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,840 the earth. When Jesus came, He brought 91 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:16,120 fulfillment to everything that was ever spoken about Him. 92 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,920 So when you look back at John chapter one, verse 14, this is 93 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,000 what it says. The Word became flesh and made 94 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,080 His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the 95 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,880 glory of the one and only who came from the Father, full of 96 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,240 grace and truth. I just want to reiterate some 97 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,240 basic foundational truths from this. 98 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:36,480 The first thing is the Word became flesh. 99 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,600 The word for flesh means human. God. 100 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:45,200 Jesus was fully human. He was not part human. 101 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,320 He was not a little bit human. He was completely human. 102 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:53,320 And that's so comforting because that shows He could identify 103 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:57,080 with us completely, it goes on to say, and made His dwelling 104 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,400 among us. We have seen his glory, the 105 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,240 glory of the one and only who came from the Father, full of 106 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:05,840 grace and truth. What does that show? 107 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:08,120 What is it saying here? Glory. 108 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,440 Glory belongs to God alone. Any glory that we receive is 109 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,880 actually just bounced off glory, but all of the glory belongs to 110 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:21,000 Him, indicating that Jesus was 100% human, 100% God. 111 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:23,800 He was completely divine as well. 112 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,000 And interestingly, now it's showing a bridge between heaven 113 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,040 and earth. What is it saying? 114 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:33,160 It says he came from the Father. Full of grace and truth. 115 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,440 Jesus bridged heaven and earth, and He didn't do that. 116 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,720 He didn't leave it at that. He brought heaven to earth. 117 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,120 How did he do that? He displayed the Father's heart 118 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,880 to humanity. Up until then, God had seemed 119 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,640 like this angry, vengeful, jealous God. 120 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,480 But here he says he, he cares for you so deeply. 121 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,240 He loves you so intentionally, and that's why he pursues you. 122 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,280 That's why he's jealous for you. He was displaying God's heart to 123 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:02,280 humanity and that is what that unpacks. 124 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:05,640 John chapter one, verse 14. The Word became flesh, made his 125 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:07,600 dwelling among us. We have seen the glory, the 126 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,760 glory of the only begotten Son who came from the Father, full 127 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,280 of grace and truth. But knowing this, we already 128 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:16,680 know this. We know He was fully God. 129 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,200 We know He is fully man. We know that He brought heaven 130 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,920 to earth. But how does that impact our 131 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,440 lives today? How does Jesus being the living 132 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,600 Word change our lives? That's the question. 133 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,520 And we're going to be looking at three people from the original 134 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:35,720 Christmas story. I can't, you know, teach in in 135 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,120 the season of Advent without looking at these characters 136 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,160 closely. And as I was studying the books 137 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,720 of Matthew and Luke for this, this is what stood out to me. 138 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,400 Look at the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. 139 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:52,200 Mary is is a teenager, probably probably 16 or 17, betrothed, 140 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,480 about to be married when this bomb drops on her. 141 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,920 And, you know, the Holy Spirit is about to come upon her and 142 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,200 conceive a child within her. And the Angel Gabriel is sent to 143 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,200 her with this Allah charmingly, disturbingly new revelation. 144 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,880 And she the interesting thing is her response, and this is what 145 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,160 Mary's response to remember, she's a young girl. 146 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,400 She's probably heard of all the prophecies before. 147 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,240 A virgin will give birth to a son and you will call him 148 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,360 Emmanuel. But she I don't think she ever 149 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:24,160 dreamt that she would be the virgin. 150 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,480 But Luke 138 says I am the Lord's servant. 151 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,960 Mary answered. May your word to me be 152 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,360 fulfilled. Isn't that amazing? 153 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,240 What a response. What a response. 154 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:44,440 And I wonder if each of us, when we receive a word from God, 155 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,720 something that he asks us to do something that he is nudging us 156 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,920 in the direction, how do we respond to the word we receive, 157 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,600 the word we hear? Do we believe in simple 158 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,600 surrender like Mary? Do we just say in obedience, 159 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,160 Lord, as you say, I will do. It is my joy to honour you. 160 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,760 It's my joy to obey you. And the interesting thing is 161 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:04,520 Mary's life was not linear after. 162 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,560 It was not just a straight path. No, it had its ups and downs. 163 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:09,720 She must have been rejected. She must have been embarrassed, 164 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,000 humiliated, disgraced. People would have looked at her 165 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,400 funny. She was stretched in the most 166 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,080 uncomfortable ways. She must have had incredible 167 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,480 discomfort, the pain of childbirth. 168 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,800 And to all of it, it says she just obeyed. 169 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,560 And the interesting thing later on in, in Luke chapter 2, verse 170 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,240 19, after the shepherd's visit, the King's visit, there's this 171 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,400 one line which kind of summarizes what Mary's about it 172 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,040 says. But Mary treasured up all these 173 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:46,800 things and pondered them in her heart for a mother, for a woman 174 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:51,720 who is watching this child grow. She had other children, but this 175 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:55,400 child was different. He was heaven's gift to earth. 176 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,040 He was God's son before he was her son. 177 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:02,080 He was God's son. All she could do was savor what 178 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,000 she was watching. She saw the fulfillment, she saw 179 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,240 the unfolding of God's Word and she what she what did she do in 180 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:09,760 response? She treasured it. 181 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,160 She pondered it. Others were talking about it, 182 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:18,200 but she was treasuring it. So the first kind of response to 183 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,680 the word is Mary's response. Mary's response is unconditional 184 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:25,000 surrender, obedience. Lord, I'm here, I'll do what you 185 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,240 say. There's a second kind of 186 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,800 response, and that is what Zechariah, the father of John 187 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,680 does. Let's look at Luke chapter 1, 188 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,000 verses 19 to 20. The Angel said to him, I am 189 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,160 Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God and have been sent to 190 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,480 speak to you and to tell you this good news. 191 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,000 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day 192 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,720 this happens because you did not believe my words, which will 193 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,120 come true at their appointed time. 194 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,560 It's very interesting. The first thing the Angel 195 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,240 Gabriel tells Zechariah's your prayer has been answered. 196 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:02,600 Your wife is going to have a child. 197 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,560 Was Zechariah still praying for it in his old age? 198 00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:08,560 Because of the response? He says, how will this be? 199 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:14,320 I'm an old man, my wife is old. But he addresses a prayer that 200 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,600 Zechariah has prayed. Maybe he prayed it 30 years 201 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,840 back. I doubt it was an immediate 202 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:25,240 prayer that was being prayed. And yet at the moment where, you 203 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,960 know, the rubber hit the road, Zechariah faltered. 204 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,560 There was unbelief, there was doubt. 205 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,720 And a lot of times I can relate to Zechariah because so many 206 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,040 times God tells us things and we have doubts because our logic 207 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:40,880 kicks in. But God, this is not possible. 208 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,040 I don't have the means for this. I don't have the health for 209 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:45,920 this, I don't have the capacity for this. 210 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:47,880 But God is saying, I'm calling you to it. 211 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:49,800 I will enable you. I will do it. 212 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,560 And so many times our responses like Zechariah, where we, we 213 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:57,880 bring our logic, we bring our common sense into it and try to 214 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,560 trump faith. But the interesting thing is 215 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:04,120 that his doubt didn't change God's promise. 216 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,120 It didn't stop what God's Word said it would do. 217 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,920 John was conceived. John was born. 218 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,600 But the unfortunate thing was, in the nine months when, when 219 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,240 Zechariah should have been verbally rejoicing, vocally 220 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,840 praising God, he was put into literally a tomb of silence. 221 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,960 Nine months of quietness. There's a school of thought that 222 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,520 assumes that maybe they didn't want him to wreck the 223 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,120 environment of the miraculous with a lack of faith. 224 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,200 And it was. It's interesting he was not just 225 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,680 struck mute. It looks like he may not have 226 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:41,200 been able to hear as well. Imagine the kind of silence that 227 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:45,240 would have ensued for the next nine months in the mind space of 228 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,840 Zechariah. The beauty of having ears that 229 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:49,840 hear is that we hear everything around us. 230 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,920 Having a tongue that is released to be able to speak of what God 231 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,400 has done. But Zechariah couldn't do it. 232 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,880 Nine months. Very silent nine months. 233 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,320 And he's only set free when John is born. 234 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:07,120 And John has to be named. When he had to speak out of what 235 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:08,880 his name would be, he had to write it down. 236 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,200 And the minute he said his name will be John, his tongue is 237 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,200 released. He's able to hear again. 238 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,080 And I wonder if some of us have been looking at the word of God, 239 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,720 at the promises that God has given or the commands God has 240 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:24,680 left on our life and been so doubtful that we just sat back 241 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:26,960 and said, God, I don't want more of this. 242 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:31,600 I'm good. I love the exaltation that 243 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,280 Zechariah does. As soon as his hearing clears 244 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,560 up, his mouth is loosed. He sings this praise to God. 245 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:40,040 And I, I can't help but think a lot of times when I've given my 246 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,240 kids timeouts in their room when they misbehaved, give them like 247 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:45,200 1/2 an hour timeout. Sit in the corner of your room 248 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,040 and think about what you did. They come out with a lot of, you 249 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:49,400 know, they've taught a lot of things. 250 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,760 They come back with so many poignant understandings about 251 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,080 themselves, about their situation, about the wrong they 252 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,160 did. And it feels like nine months of 253 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:04,800 silence set Zechariah aside in a part to understand what God's 254 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,120 purpose and will would be through his precious Son and 255 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:12,600 through the Son of Mary. And I wonder if you have been in 256 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,680 a season when you felt like you've been isolated. 257 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:17,800 You feel like you've been cut off. 258 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,280 God, I can't hear things. I don't hear you anymore when 259 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,240 you've been quiet because you didn't know whether to rejoice 260 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:30,120 or to or to just tone it down. God is calling us into a place 261 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,080 where we respond to the Word, not with doubt, not with 262 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:34,640 unbelief. But Lord, if you said it, you 263 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,240 will do it. Maybe He's going to answer 264 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,120 prayers that were prayed a long time back. 265 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,760 Would that we not be like Zechariah saying I forgot. 266 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,440 I prayed that Lord, let's do something new. 267 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,760 If He's answering something like that, maybe be so present and 268 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:53,600 ready. The third response to the word 269 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,240 was the shepherd's Luke chapter 2, verses 15 to 18. 270 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,520 I love this, these passages, 15 to 18. 271 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,560 And then verse 20, when the angels had left them and gone 272 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,360 into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let's go to 273 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,440 Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord 274 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,920 has told us about South. They hurried off and found Mary 275 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,280 and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the Manger. 276 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,600 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what 277 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,560 had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were 278 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:25,760 amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 279 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,160 The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for 280 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,640 all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they 281 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:38,800 had been told. Isn't it amazing that these guys 282 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,880 were probably illiterate? They were probably guys looked 283 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:43,600 down upon. They were, you know, just left 284 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,720 out in the fields to look after the the the flocks while 285 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,480 families stayed in their homes. These guys were left on 286 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,160 hillsides alone, and God saw it fit to meet them. 287 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,480 The angels were sent to them and yet they didn't keep what they 288 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,200 experienced to themselves. I love this. 289 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:05,120 It says they spread the word. How many of us, when we hear a 290 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,520 word, believe it, experience it, and then share it? 291 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:13,840 So often we we we feel like the gospel that reached us is this 292 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:15,800 delightful secret that we sit on. 293 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,520 We experience all of it, we enjoy it, but why would I share 294 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:20,760 it? I don't have language for it. 295 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,280 I don't know if someone else is going to be blessed by what I 296 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:26,640 would share. It's time we stop discounting 297 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,000 what we bring to the gospel story. 298 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,480 Your story matters. What you've experienced of God 299 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,920 matters. What you have tasted of his 300 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,680 goodness needs to be told to someone else because they need 301 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,000 to taste and see that the Lord is good. 302 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,480 How will they hear if we don't tell? 303 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:45,960 The shepherds took it so seriously. 304 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,360 They spread the word concerning what had been told them about 305 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:52,760 this shall think about it. They had everything to lose. 306 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,720 They go and tell people this is a child, the Messiah, the one 307 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:57,760 who's going to save the whole thing, the whole world. 308 00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,600 This guy is gone. He's the Messiah, He's the 309 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,480 ruler, he's the shepherd, These amazing things. 310 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,240 But nothing had yet happened in faith. 311 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,760 They believed what they heard, the word they heard, and they 312 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,960 spread it. You and I live in this amazing 313 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:18,119 season of our lives where we are seeing God on the move. 11 314 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,520 months down. Have you seen God move? 315 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:22,440 Have you seen his hand in your life? 316 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:23,960 Have you experienced his compassion? 317 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:28,280 Maybe it was hard, but in the midst of the heart, did you see 318 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:29,760 him come through in marvellous ways? 319 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:31,440 Did you experience the miraculous? 320 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,960 If you did, you owe someone else that story. 321 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,280 You owe it to Jesus to share that story. 322 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,240 So even as this year ends, you know, I like to take stock. 323 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,240 I'm heavy on feedback. I, I, I, I take feedback for 324 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:50,800 myself, for others. I love to take stock of a year 325 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:52,920 gone by. And as I, you know, was just 326 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,280 looking at the calendar, the year ends in 30 days. 327 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,240 Where do I find myself with the Word? 328 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,120 And when I say word, I mean with Jesus. 329 00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:06,600 Jesus is the living word, He is the logos. 330 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:11,240 What does that actually mean? In the beginning was the Word, 331 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,640 the word was with God. The word was God. 332 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:20,360 We have the written word which we look at, right, the Bible in 333 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:22,880 the Old Testament times, they had the Torah, the five books 334 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,440 that Moses had got, the Law. And then of course there were 335 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:27,960 the prophetic writings which were condensed and called the 336 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,840 Law and the prophets, and this is what they had as the Word. 337 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,800 But when Jesus came on the earth, He embodied all of it. 338 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,120 He was the living word. He was the one who had breathed 339 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,440 the world into existence. He sustained the world with the 340 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,400 power of His mouth. It says the Psalms talks about 341 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:49,880 how He sends His word and heals at his word, at his command, the 342 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:52,800 heavens dropped you. This is the God we serve. 343 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,520 He is the Word. He is the word Incarnate. 344 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,680 Now if that is the case at the end of this year, where do I see 345 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,560 myself with the Word, with Jesus. 346 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:08,360 You know, many times along this year it felt like I was alone. 347 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,000 It felt like Jesus, I'm doing this thing, but I can't feel 348 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,280 you. But my constant consolation has 349 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:21,840 been that he said Be not afraid. I will never leave you nor 350 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,760 forsake. He has been by my side. 351 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,400 And the interesting thing that I looked at, when I looked at 352 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,720 Mary, when I looked at Zechariah and I look at the shepherds, I 353 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:36,400 asked myself this Have I been like Mary, that I said yes to 354 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,600 God for the things that He asked of me? 355 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:41,840 Did I follow Him where He led me this year? 356 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,760 Because Mary received the Word, obeyed it. 357 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:51,040 Do I in receiving the Word, who is Jesus, have I obeyed Him? 358 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:57,320 Have I been able to cherish His sweet company to to, you know, 359 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:01,880 enjoy His intentional love for me even in the hardships and the 360 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,440 unexpected? Or have I been like the 361 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,560 shepherd? Sometimes, you know, I I got so 362 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,680 caught up in just enjoying my story that I forgot to share 363 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:17,240 what God has done with me. Have my lips sung His praise and 364 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,240 glorified Him like they did? Even in the difficult 365 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:21,960 situations, their life was not hard. 366 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:25,040 There is no guarantee that the shepherds moved from being 367 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:26,760 shepherds that night to something else. 368 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:28,480 They went back to herding their sheep. 369 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,880 But something had changed in their demeanour, and I wonder if 370 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,320 this year elicited praise for my lips or it silenced me. 371 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,680 Or have I been wrestling with doubt and unbelief like 372 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,080 Zechariah, so much to the point where I've been tense, unable to 373 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:46,960 hear God, unable to speak his praise. 374 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,360 These are the questions I want you to wrestle with as we take 375 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:54,880 stock for this last month. I want to ask, have you been 376 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,840 saying yes, yes, yes, God? Whatever you say, I'll do it. 377 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:01,400 Have you been cherishing his presence? 378 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,320 Have you been like the shepherds, loud and proud about 379 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,040 your faith, talking about it to whoever would listen? 380 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,840 Or have you been like Zechariah in a tomb of your own 381 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,880 construction? I want to leave two things with 382 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:16,360 you. Wherever you find yourself. 383 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:19,840 You may say, well, this year has been one full of doubt. 384 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,240 I have doubted God because I didn't feel him at all. 385 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,520 Or maybe you said no. I have been talking about God to 386 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,120 people. Wherever you stand on this 387 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:30,120 spectrum, I want to leave two things about the Word with you. 388 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:35,920 Jesus, the word Logos, right? The Word. 389 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:38,680 Two things that you remember about the word. 390 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:42,400 The 1st is that God's word is unfailing. 391 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,680 Whether it's the Logos word, the written word, or the Rhema word, 392 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,360 the revealed word, the word that you know is so pivotal and 393 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:50,840 timely in a season, It is unfailing. 394 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,960 It is not like us, which oh boy, today it's raining. 395 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:56,280 I'm probably not going to do this. 396 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:57,600 I said I would do it, but I won't. 397 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,360 That's our word. God's word is unchanging. 398 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:02,840 It doesn't change based on the seasons. 399 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:04,840 It doesn't change based on His moods. 400 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,640 God is unchanging in Jesus. Every promise given is yes and 401 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,600 Amen. The only problem is many times 402 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,960 when I think about I was just thinking on the people had to 403 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,160 wait for more than 400 years for the promise of the Messiah. 404 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,000 But he was. It was not him being late. 405 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:26,080 He knew when to come. There was a careless moment when 406 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,920 Jesus arrived on the earth, not a minute before, not a minute 407 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:31,760 later. And so in with us. 408 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,920 He is not delayed in keeping His word. 409 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,840 If you've been waiting for a long time for marriage, for that 410 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,800 child, for that breakthrough in your relationship, for that 411 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,120 reconciliation, He is not late in keeping His promise. 412 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,240 He is ordering things all around you and within you so that at 413 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,120 the right time you'll be able to carry it. 414 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:55,520 But His word is unfailing when you look at the prophetic words 415 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,600 that were spoken over Him. You know what Micah said? 416 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,720 I said this, that he will be born in Bethlehem. 417 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:02,760 He will be a ruler, He will be a shepherd. 418 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,280 Wasn't Jesus? Then he said I am the Good 419 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,520 Shepherd. He is the King of kings and the 420 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,280 Lord of Lords. Isaiah talked about Emmanuel, 421 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,440 God with us. Little did we know how much He 422 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,800 would be with us in the flesh, in spirit, within us, 423 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,680 surrounding us. Whatever you have looked like, 424 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,960 whatever you've looked at God like this year, maybe you've 425 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,960 looked at God and said, Lord, you didn't keep your word. 426 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:31,240 I thought this year you would come through on this. 427 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,200 Lord, I thought I would accomplish this this year. 428 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:35,640 Maybe you're ending ending the year on a note of 429 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,280 disappointment. I want you to stop right there. 430 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,560 God's word is unfailing. The very fact that you and I 431 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:48,960 have the Logos Word with us and in US is sufficient because 432 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,040 Jesus is the fulfillment of everything. 433 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,360 He's the Redeemer, He's the rescuer, He's the Saviour, He's 434 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,160 everything we would ever need. And when He is with us, what 435 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:01,680 more do we need? So are you still waiting while 436 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,080 you're waiting with the best person? 437 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,000 You're waiting with the King of Kings, you're waiting with the 438 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,560 One who's faithful and true. He does not change like shifting 439 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,880 shadows. Your year can be looked at 440 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,880 differently when you look at the one who was with you and the 441 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,680 fact that he is unfailing. He's unfailing. 442 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,440 I found this verse this week which really blessed me. 443 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:28,240 In John 15 verse 7, it says if you remain in me and my words 444 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:33,440 remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for 445 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:38,040 you. If you remain in me, Jesus is 446 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:44,240 saying abide, rest in me. And then God's Word, Jesus 447 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:46,840 remains in you, the revealed word. 448 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,520 When God gives you a word and when that is in you, you're 449 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,480 meditating on it, you're cherishing it. 450 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:54,120 He says you can ask anything and it will be done. 451 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,840 I wonder why most of us have unanswered prayers because first 452 00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:59,240 of all, we don't know how to abide in Him. 453 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,000 Secondly, His word doesn't abide in us. 454 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:07,320 God is calling us for a reversal because when we are abiding in 455 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,600 Him and His Word abides in us, the careless time we are not 456 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,040 concerned about, we know it will happen. 457 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:14,640 We're not worried. Oh my God, it's been 10 years. 458 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:19,200 Lord, Father, I've been waiting for this for ages, 20 years. 459 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:20,800 I'm waiting for that child to return home. 460 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:26,320 He says my time is perfect, my timing is always right. 461 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:32,120 All my job is to do is to just abide and let His Word abide in 462 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:35,200 me. Thanks to Jesus, the Logos Word, 463 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:40,600 He resides in our hearts, so the onus is on us to remain in Him. 464 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,200 That's the first thing. God's word is unfailing. 465 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,640 Don't let anyone make you believe that his word will fail 466 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,680 you, that it's got an expiry date on it. 467 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,960 It doesn't Ask God to show you God. 468 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,440 Show me. I've been asking God this, open 469 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:58,560 my eyes to see how you're working this out in my life 470 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:02,440 because I feel like a dunce when I don't see it and I complain. 471 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:04,880 I want to see you in the minute details, God. 472 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:07,640 I ask that you would start praying that as well. 473 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,720 The second thing about God's word is exceedingly powerful. 474 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,680 We looked at how God's word is unfailing because Jesus is 475 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,640 unfailing, He is God's word. We now look at how God's word is 476 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,120 exceedingly powerful because Jesus is the name above all 477 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:25,880 names. When he descended into hell, he 478 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,080 overcame death, came back up as the first born from the dead, 479 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:30,960 and overcame death in its entirety. 480 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,280 He's the name above every other name. 481 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:38,160 And I love what Gabriel attests about God's word to Mary. 482 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,640 This is what he says. Luke one verse 37. 483 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,200 I'm reading from the Passion translation. 484 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:46,640 It says not one promise from God is empty of power. 485 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,280 Nothing is impossible with God. Isn't that beautiful? 486 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,280 Not one promise of God is empty of power. 487 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,600 What promise have you been standing on? 488 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,680 Did God give you a promise at the beginning of the year? 489 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:04,440 Have you been claiming it? Have you been believing it? 490 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:06,360 Have you been playing it into your situation? 491 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,880 The power that has been unleashing is unparalleled. 492 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,920 I want you to picture the most impossible thing in your life 493 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,680 right now. Multiply that by 10. 494 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,920 That's how God can work for him. Impossibility is nothing. 495 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,720 The things that look impossible to man are very possible and 496 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,280 doable by God. In fact, he he's thrilled by the 497 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,720 impossibility of a situation. Oh yes, physically this is not 498 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:33,320 possible. I'll intervene. 499 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,840 The problem is we're so busy orchestrating every detail of 500 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:42,320 our lives that we think we are the most powerful people in our 501 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,200 own lives. Or maybe we have friends with 502 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:45,800 connections. Maybe we have money. 503 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,280 Maybe we have all of that influence and and God is saying 504 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,640 all of that is nothing compared to what I will bring into this 505 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:58,560 if you would let me in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 talks about 506 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,640 the living word. It's active. 507 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,880 The word of God is alive and active, sharper and double edged 508 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:10,520 sword it it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints 509 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,880 and marrow. It judges the thoughts and 510 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,680 attitudes of the heart. What are we talking about here? 511 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:24,720 Jesus, the word of God, he is powerful and when Jesus works in 512 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,680 our life through His Spirit, he brings conviction. 513 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:29,400 Through His word he brings conviction. 514 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,040 So when you look at a double edged sword, there are two 515 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,720 elements to it. Yes, it is used on the offensive 516 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,080 to attack the enemy or to pull down something on the opposite 517 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,320 side. But it also works on convicting 518 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,800 us, not condemning us. It convicts us, it corrects us. 519 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,720 That's what God does. Jesus is not in the business. 520 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:50,960 He didn't come to condemn, He came to save. 521 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,880 His word is like a double edged sword. 522 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,360 It says he will bring down enemy strongholds. 523 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,880 The word of God, Jesus himself. He will also bring conviction 524 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:08,920 and correction to us. So I want to ask you today, have 525 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,480 you been living by the word of God? 526 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:16,040 Have you been living close to the word, the living Word, Jesus 527 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,760 himself. For in Him are all the riches of 528 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,640 wisdom and knowledge. Matthew 4 four says it is 529 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,200 written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 530 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:28,800 that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 531 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,840 Maybe this year has felt powerless for you, but it's not 532 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:36,040 too late to start. What if you started living on 533 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,360 what you hear from God? What if you start living based 534 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,440 on what you read from His word? Too many times we're so 535 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,560 dependent on what someone says as a word for the season. 536 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,280 But if you are listening closely enough, if you are reading God's 537 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,240 word for yourself, if you're planted, you're deeply rooted in 538 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:58,320 the Word of God, you will begin to see the Rhema word come 539 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,760 alive. As for a season, He will speak. 540 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,520 It'll be so apartment, it'll be so tailor made only for you. 541 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:05,760 No one else can receive that word. 542 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,480 It'll be just for you. But if we don't know the Logos, 543 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,440 we don't know Jesus, we don't know His word, there is no way 544 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,360 we will be in a position to receive the Rhema. 545 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,160 Even if we receive it, we would drop it. 546 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:24,720 God is calling us back into a place where we invite Jesus into 547 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,520 the very closed recesses of our heart. 548 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:30,920 Maybe this year Jesus was off limits from your finances. 549 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,520 You said, Lord Jesus, this year I've got it under control. 550 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,480 End of the year you're feeling maybe not I should have involved 551 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:38,200 him. Maybe in that relationship you 552 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,000 kept him all because you were afraid he would say this is not 553 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,560 the best thing for you. Maybe it was in your work. 554 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,360 Maybe it was in your education, Maybe it was in your personal 555 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,040 work with him. Whatever your ear has looked 556 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:55,840 like, I want to encourage you that you would walk in close 557 00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:00,160 communion with the Word, because if you don't have that 558 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,120 connection with the Word, you will miss out on what he's 559 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,480 trying to tell you in this time of history. 560 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,200 I love that the Holy Spirit is the one who reveals things from 561 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,840 God's Word, who enables us to understand it in the in the 562 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,680 light that it was written and intended for us. 563 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:19,920 There's this passage, I think it's in the book of Corinthians, 564 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,560 where it says when the old covenant was read, the people 565 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,320 had a veil over their eyes, much like the veil that Moses wore 566 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:27,960 when he came out of the presence of God. 567 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,880 But now in the new covenant, we have freedom. 568 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:36,200 We live by the Spirit and the veil is removed and we can see 569 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,240 Him. We can see God as He is. 570 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,440 There is no veil. You have access to the Word, who 571 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,280 is Jesus Himself, and when you have access, He will help you 572 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,440 with everything that you need henceforth. 573 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:49,960 Do you need help with your business? 574 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:51,160 Do you need help in your marriage? 575 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:55,120 Do you need help in your health? He is the one you will lean on. 576 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:56,600 He is the one you will listen to. 577 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:01,040 For man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that 578 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:07,880 proceeds from the mouth of God. As I close, I want to leave the 579 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,200 thought with you that the Word is nearer than you know. 580 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:17,960 Jesus is closer than you know. Would you read the Word for 581 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,320 yourself? Begin to read. 582 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,240 Even if 11 months you haven't done much of reading of the 583 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:27,520 Word, you can start now. Read the Word, Read it. 584 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,640 Speak the Word because when you speak it out, faith arises. 585 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,080 When you speak it out, it is sent out to do the job that it 586 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,800 has to do and share the Word. Like Mary, if you were reading 587 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,800 the Word, you would cherish and ponder the things that God 588 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:49,160 reveals through His Rhema word. Too often we don't read the 589 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,640 Word, we don't know the Logos, we don't receive the Rhema. 590 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,000 But if you want the Rhema word, you want that revelation, you 591 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,120 want that fresh insight, you need to be soaked in the Word of 592 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,120 God. You need to be so intimately 593 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,800 connected with Jesus Himself, and this is not something you 594 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,480 have to force. It is you positioning yourself 595 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,520 every single day in his presence and saying, Lord, I'm here, what 596 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:12,840 do you want to speak about with me? 597 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,320 I do this sometimes when my kids are at school, my husband's at 598 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:19,560 work, I just do lunch by myself and I picture Jesus sitting 599 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,880 opposite the table from me and I just enjoy the silence. 600 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,680 What if we need to come back to a place like Mary, of just 601 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:31,680 cherishing and pondering the things God has done for us? 602 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:34,360 The second thing is you speak the word. 603 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:39,400 Jeremiah likens the word to a fire to a hammer to bread which 604 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,160 nourishes. A fire burns up and leaves 605 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,080 behind a remnant. Hammer breaks things in pieces. 606 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,960 Bread nourishes. The Word of God is all of that, 607 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,680 but it requires that we open our mouth and speak. 608 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,880 Maybe for too long you have been mute like Zechariah saying I 609 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,120 don't have anything to add to this narrative. 610 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,080 I don't have the language, I don't have the English 611 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:01,840 knowledge. I don't know what to say. 612 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:03,480 Or maybe you're just like, you know what? 613 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:05,440 This is not for me. Yes, I received it. 614 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,520 I accept the gospel. I believe in Jesus. 615 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:11,199 God is saying it's time that you start to speak the word. 616 00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:17,320 Speak it out, speak it out. Don't be mute with unbelief and 617 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,800 like the shepherds that we would share the word. 618 00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:23,199 It's this month, December. It's amazing. 619 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,880 I love the month of January as well because in a new year, 620 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,280 people are looking for hope, people are looking for blessing. 621 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,239 And what better way to do it than to share? 622 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,880 Hey, Jesus is the one I'm going to do this year with. 623 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:39,880 Jesus is the one I celebrate. In him I find all that I need. 624 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,920 What a great story it is to share even as we close. 625 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,280 I go back to John 11. It says in the beginning was the 626 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:53,360 word so many of us in looking at 2024 probably looked at well. 627 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,840 Jan started started out great, but December not so much. 628 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,120 I don't know what your season looks like. 629 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,680 I don't know whether you started out whole and by the end of the 630 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:09,400 year you broke, Maybe relationships broke, maybe your 631 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:11,960 finances broke, maybe your health broke. 632 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:16,160 This week my my son was opening the fridge and we dropped a huge 633 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,200 porcelain bowl out and it just shattered into pieces. 634 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:23,040 And I collected the pieces and just kept it not as a monument, 635 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,680 but just to kind of remind myself that while Christmas is 636 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:30,160 also put together and it's all green and red and all of those 637 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:35,320 thrills, the reality is this, that many of our lives are still 638 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,840 broken because of things that have happened to us. 639 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,280 Things that people have put us through, things that we have put 640 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,200 people through. And the shambles are there. 641 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:48,120 But you know what it says? God in the flesh who made his 642 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:51,360 dwelling among us. And in the midst of the 643 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,600 brokenness, the shards of my life, Jesus is with me. 644 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:58,080 He hasn't left. And the encouraging thing is 645 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:04,120 that in the beginning in the book of Genesis, the Spirit 646 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:08,520 hovered over the waters and a triune God spoke existence, 647 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,040 spoke life into existence, as we note, and created the world. 648 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:16,760 You look at the Book of Revelation, Revelation 19 verse 649 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:22,040 1113 says I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a 650 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:24,960 White Horse whose rider is called faithful and true. 651 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,000 With justice he judges and wages war. 652 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,680 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. 653 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,880 He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself. 654 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,600 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the 655 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,640 Word of God. Isn't that amazing? 656 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:47,640 So whatever your Jan began like, he's the Alpha and Omega, the 657 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:51,760 beginning and the end. He's faithful, he's true, He is 658 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:56,000 the word of God. Everything in our lives, the 659 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,600 shambles, the shards, the broken pieces, he holds it all 660 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,520 together. His Word holds it all together. 661 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:07,560 So whatever this year end looks like, whatever you're going into 662 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:09,880 the new year thinking, I want you to remember this. 663 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:14,160 We celebrate Jesus, the Word, the Logos who became flesh and 664 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,880 made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory and we 665 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:21,400 will continue to see His glory till we see Him face to face. 666 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:24,160 Can I pray for you? Father in Heaven, I just thank 667 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:26,840 you so much for what you are doing, for what you have done 668 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,680 through this year. We enter the month of December 669 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,880 with great hope, Lord, that we will see the fulfilment of 670 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,760 things we began in the month of January. 671 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:40,160 We believe that we will enter a new year with a fresh, refined 672 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,800 hope. God, I pray for those who have 673 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:46,240 been finding it hard to believe your word, who have been finding 674 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:50,200 it hard to trust you Jesus, that they will have a shift right 675 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,360 now, that they will take the call to trust you. 676 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:56,720 I pray for those who have been hesitant to share the gospel 677 00:37:56,720 --> 00:37:59,360 with others, that Lord, you will put a fresh Holy Spirit fire 678 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:04,000 within them. I pray very specially God, for 679 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:05,920 those who have been unable to say yes to you. 680 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,400 They've said yes in the past, but now they would rather just 681 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,840 wait quietly. I pray that God once more their 682 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,560 hand would go up and saying yes. Jesus, where you go, I'll go. 683 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:19,280 Give us courage. Clothe us with your peace. 684 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:23,600 Lord, be with us and bless us in Jesus name, Amen, Amen. 685 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,080 God bless you. Have an amazing Advent season. 686 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:28,960 Thanks for listening to this message. 687 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:32,800 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 688 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:37,200 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 689 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:39,520 episodes. If you like what you are 690 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:44,080 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing and even sharing it 691 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,640 with friends. That would really help us. 692 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:51,920 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 693 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:57,120 Via Zion dot in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 694 00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:58,160 finds life.