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and make your way in them to
the gospel of Luke today. Chapter 1, verses 57 through
the end of the chapter, verse 80, we will conclude chapter
1 today in a message that I've called, God Performs His Promises. And we're really right in the
center of this passage that has been painting portraits of people
praising God, who always performs His promises. We've witnessed
Elizabeth's praise to God, we've witnessed Mary's praise to God,
and in some measure we've even witnessed John the Baptist's
praise to God from the womb of his mother, Elizabeth. And chapter
1 closes with the portrait of a priest praising God. His name? Zacharias. You remember Zacharias. He's John the Baptist's dad.
He's the one whom the angel Gabriel greeted and gave the good news
that his wife would become miraculously fruitful even though previously
she had been barren, and that they would give birth to the
forerunner of Christ himself. But Zacharias, you recall, he
faltered in his faith. That is, he didn't believe the
angel. He felt like they were too old to be about the business
of having kids now. And so, Gabriel told him that
since he did not believe his words, that he would be mute.
That he would have no words of his own to say until the day
that his words, that is, Gabriel's, or in fact, God's words, came
to pass. And guys, that's what unbelief
does to us. It robs us of our witness. It leaves us with nothing
to say. It leaves us with no praise to
shout. It just simply leaves us in silence. But you know, one of the things
that I have come to love about the Lord, and perhaps it'll bear
witness with you as well, and that is this, that He is the
God of second chances, and of third chances, and of 70 times
seven chances. You may fail, I may fumble or
falter, but God is so gracious that He will give to me, He will
give to you another opportunity to stand in faith where previously
we have failed, or we have faltered. And so too with Zacharias. And
today we find Him going from silence to shouting praise. We might understand the principle
like this, that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. It's hard to take in, isn't it?
I mean, at least for me, it's hard to really absorb because
I know me. I know where I've been. I know what I've done. I know the depravity of my own
heart. In reality, I probably don't.
It's probably much worse than I realize. But what the Bible
actually teaches is that there is more grace in God than there
is sin in me. That is, where my sin abounded. And take note of the word, abounded. My sin was abounding. It was
not nonchalant or barely noticeable. It wasn't light or in any way
diminishing. It was flourishing, man. I mean,
it was multiplying. It was expanding. It was abounding. It was on the uprise and the
increase. And yet for all of that, there
was more grace in God than there was ever increasing sin in me. And I want you to notice as well
that there wasn't just more grace, but that grace abounded much
more. The net effect, the end result
being, so that as sin reigned in death, even so, grace might
reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. More grace in God than there
was sin in me. The net effect, much more grace
than there was sin, where sin abounded, grace abounded, much
more the net effect that as sin reigned even in death, that grace
might reign in righteousness, or through righteousness, to
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, when you put it
like that, how can we not but praise the Lord? And Zacharias
felt the same way. And so notice with me, if you
will, beginning in verse 57. Now Elizabeth's full time came
for her to be delivered. And she brought forth a son.
And when her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown
great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her." What's that? Listen,
the Word of God was fulfilled and the people rejoiced with
her over the mercy that God had shown to her. Now, we talked
about this a little bit last week. It does our hearts well
to see people rejoicing over God's goodness toward someone
else. as opposed to bitter envy welling
up in the undercurrent of, why her? Or why him? Why not me? You know, the Bible is very clear
concerning our mandate as the body of Christ. If one member
suffers, all the members suffer with it. And if one member is
honored, all the members rejoice with it. Question, how does it
make you feel when God just blesses the socks off of someone close
to you? Someone you know. I mean, does
it make you feel excited for him? Are you able to rejoice
with him? Or is it more of the man, it stinks to be me kind
of an attitude, you know? I mean, God help us to find genuine
cause for rejoicing over his goodness and his grace towards
someone else or some other ministry or some other church, or whatever
the case may be. A friend of mine is working now
at the new Christian radio station in town. You're probably familiar
with that station, 105.3, New Life Radio. Send out the shout-out
over KITG right now to New Life over there. But be that as it
may, I think it made him feel a little bit weird since he was
familiar with our radio station. He had helped us get it started
and been right there in the foundations of the work that God was doing
here and all of that. And suddenly, every time I would
text him or call him, I'd never get a return text. I'd never
get a return call. It was just, it was like awkward,
you know? And so one day I just shot him
a text. And I just said, hey man, I want you to know that
I'm excited for you. I don't consider this new station
in any way competition. Man, we're co-laborers. Let's
see what we can do to reach into the community together. And it
was like this immediate release of awkward tension. It was about
30 seconds I got a text back. I mean, it was just like that.
Yeah, let's do it. Let's see how we can, you know,
get together on it and all of that. Now listen, I'm not trying
to purport that I always main this up. you know, upward-onward
attitude in every arena of life. But the idea here is that we're
to rejoice over God's grace toward others. Because if not, the enemy
uses that to sow a seed of contention and division where there ought
to be harmony, unity, and glory given to God. And so let's be
careful to safeguard that. How do I feel when God blesses
someone that's not me? Someone who's close to me, or
whatever the case may be. Now look at verse 59. And so
it was on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child,
and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother answered and said,
no, he shall be called John. But they said to her, there's
no one among your relatives who's called by this name. And so they
made signs to his father, what he would have him called. And
he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, saying, his name is
John. So they all marveled. What's
that? Your attention please. Listen,
this is not the way that we traditionally do things. That's what they're
saying. According to customs, according
to tradition, he'd have been named after his father or someone
in his family. But here's what I want you to
see, you guys. Just because we've always done it that way, that
doesn't necessarily indicate that that's the only way to do
it, or the only way that God will honor it. I'll use our worship
team as an example. We typically do about five songs
on a Sunday morning. We usually start off with one
or two songs, a little more up-tempo, kind of get us awake and alert
and just rejoicing and praising God. And then we'll have a time
of prayer and bring it into a little bit more of a meditative, kind
of a worship-oriented environment. And all of that, slow things
down, put the check center in our heart and all of that, and
then we'll move on From there, why do we do it like that? Well,
because it's just the way we do it. You know, I mean, if we
wanted to do one song and then roll into the study, if we wanted
to do seven or eight songs and end on an upbeat praise song
and hearts readied and people rejoicing, I mean, or whatever,
it's okay. There's no biblical mandate for
how many songs or what the general rhythm or tempo of the song should
be. I mean, who cares if it's tradition?
In reality, tradition can ensnare you. It can cause you to put
God in this box and think that He only operates within a certain
parameter, when in reality, He's much broader than our narrow
vision. Now, He won't violate His Word,
we know that. But as long as you have scriptural
credence for the way things are conducted, go for it. I mean, knock yourself out. It
doesn't matter. It was following tradition when
they sought to name him, they just assumed Zacharias. Elizabeth
said, no, it's John. Now, God had ordained that his
name was to be called John, but they're stumped. They're kind
of stupefied. That's not how we do things.
You're violating the tradition, the custom, the culture, all
of that. They look at Zach and they start
making signs to him. What do you want him to be? They're kind of trying to go
over her head. They're pulling rank on her and all of that.
Because they made signs to Him, you know, motioning to Him, that
has led some to believe that perhaps not only had He been
struck mute, but death as well. That's possible, but the Bible
doesn't say that. It may have been a typical point
of frustration, no different than in our communication so
often with someone who's perhaps just learning the English language
from a different country or something, you know. And so often times
we speak really slow and really loud for them, you know, kind
of a thing. It's like, they're not deaf.
But for some reason we feel as though if we just speak a little
louder, it'll help them understand. You know? Well, you know, Zacharias
may be all, hey listen, I can't speak, but I'm not deaf. So just
give me something to write on, you know? He asked for a tablet.
And he writes on the tablet, they hand it to him, he writes
on it, his name is John. No ambiguity, no lack of clarity. His name had been called by God
before He was ever conceived. It's John." It blew their minds. Now, back in verse 59, we read
there that He was circumcised on the eighth day. God had declared
in Leviticus chapter 12 and verse 3 that the flesh of the male
child's foreskin was to be circumcised on the eighth day. The question
that confronts us is why? I mean, what was the point of
circumcision in the first place? I mean, was it for health reasons?
I mean, was it the fact that when God created man, He realized
later on there was a design flaw, and so He administered this aftermarket
modification? I mean, what's the deal there? Well, you know, we mentioned
the reference to the law in the book of Leviticus, but even prior
to that, women always think that's funnier than the guys, I don't
know why, but even prior to the law, God
had established the right of circumcision as a sign of the
covenant that He had established between Himself and Abraham,
who was the quintessential patriarch of the nation of Israel. And
it was to apply not only to him, but also to all who would come
after him, who would come through him, who were of him, that is
of his lineage. Listen, leave the book of Luke,
travel back with me to the book of Genesis chapter 17. Just leave,
keep your finger there in Luke chapter one, go back to the book
of Genesis chapter 17. We'll wait on you, because I'm
still going too. Genesis 17. Draw your attention, if you would,
beginning specifically there in verse 9 of Genesis 17 where
we read that God said to Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my
covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant which you
shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you.
Every male child among you shall be circumcised. Verse 11. And
you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and
it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. And he who
is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male child
in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought
with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He
who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money
must be circumcised, and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an
everlasting covenant. And this uncircumcised male child,
who is not circumcised, in the flesh of his foreskin, that person
shall be cut off from his people, he has broken my covenant." We'll
stop right there. Here's where things went awry.
Over the course of time, the nation of Israel ceased to remember
what circumcision stood to represent, and they began to trust in the
right, that is, in the ritual. What it was that happened outwardly
through circumcision versus what it stood to represent inwardly. It was never meant to be a legalistic,
ritualistic procedure that made you right in God's sight. You
know, here, just do this and everything will be okay. I think
that as mankind is generally what we're looking for, what
we're wanting to hear from God, just do this and everything will
be okay. And that's kind of how the Jews
came to believe. But it was never intended to
point to an outward work of the flesh. But rather an inward separation
from the life of the flesh. You recall that Paul the Apostle
spent significant time and effort demonstrating the fact that no
one will be justified by the works of the law, but by grace
through faith. We are never, and this comes
up a lot around here, we are never to trust in what we do,
but rather in what he has done for us. Circumcision was a covenant
sign that was to typify or represent the cutting away of the flesh
life. That now I'm going to lead my
life, set apart to God, walking in the Spirit, not after the
flesh. It was a separation of the flesh and a sanctification
unto the Lord. Paul put it plainly in Romans
chapter 2 when he said, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,
that is, ethnically, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the
flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in
the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. To the
Colossians he said, in him you were also circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands by putting off, here's the key,
the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.
You see, it's not about cutting this little piece of skin. It goes beyond that to typify
the whole of my life and separation of a life led after the sins
of the flesh. Now when Jesus came along, he
amped it up. I mean, he took it to the next
level. He took it way beyond the severing of the foreskin. He illustrated the principle
via the image of crucifixion, that is, crucifying the flesh
in totality. He said, whoever desires to come
after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow
me. And Paul the Apostle kind of
underscored, amplified that when he said, and those who are Christ
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. And so the idea of circumcision
went beyond outward ritual. It was meant to be a symbol of
what was taking place in the heart. A cutting away of the
flesh life to lead a life, set apart, to God. Today, we use
or utilize baptism to speak the same message. That it is no longer
I who live, I have been crucified with Christ. The Bible declares
that when we are baptized, we are baptized into His death.
And when I come up, I'm saying out of that water, I'm saying
that now I'm walking in the newness of life. The resurrection life
that He's given to me. So that the life that I now lead,
I no longer lead for myself, but for Jesus who loved me and
gave Himself for me. But you realize that just the
same, people get caught up in the act of baptism, as opposed
to the intent of baptism. And many... falter in thinking
that righteousness is imputed to them through the outward ritual,
when in reality, it's to go way beyond the outward demonstration
to bear witness and testify of the inward transformation in
my heart. Okay. They take John to be circumcised
on the eighth day. Zacharias declares his name to
be John. And then in verse 64 we read
immediately, his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed and he
spoke praising God. And then fear came on all who
dwelt around them and all these sayings were discussed throughout
all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them
kept them in their hearts saying, what kind of child will this
be? And the hand of the Lord was
with him. A few things here briefly. Number one, we note that as soon
as Zacharias moved forward in faith, obeying the word of God
for his life, that his mouth was opened and his tongue was
loosed. Now we drew attention in our
introduction to the fact that his lips were sealed, that his
unbelief caused him to sit in silence for some nine or ten
months. but through faith demonstrated
in obedience in calling the child what God told him to call the
child, his mouth was opened and immediately he glorified God. From silence to shouting praise
through the means of moving forward in faith. And I love that attention
is drawn to the fact that he used his mouth to magnify God. You know, David said in Psalm
51, Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your
praise. I think it's tragic how often
our mouths are used to tear down and speak shamefully when God
has called us to use our mouths to bring him glory. Paul said,
let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that
you may know how you ought to answer each one. God performed
his promise. Zacharias responded in praise.
Number two, I want you to notice the reaction to Zacharias' declaration,
followed by his exaltation of God. The people responded with
reverential fear, ongoing spiritual dialogue and discussion, followed
up by personal meditation and contemplation concerning the
plan and the purposes of God. I mean, this is the type of reaction
that every pastor dreams of for every service. You know, I mean,
it's like people move by what God is doing, talking about it,
meditating on it, considering how do I need to respond to it? What am I to make of this? And
number three, I want to draw brief attention to the fact that
concerning John the Baptist we read, the hand of the Lord, there
in verse 66, and the hand of the Lord was with him, even as
a child. Now we drew attention to this
a couple of weeks ago when John the Baptist was conceived, and
the angel Gabriel said that he would be filled with the Spirit
even from the womb. I don't know why it is that when
it comes to the things of the Spirit, we generally consider
that more of a mature matter, an adult kind of business. Listen,
God loves young people. I mean, he loves older people.
God loves people, but he loves to use young people to accomplish
his purposes. I mean, we could consider David,
we could think about Samuel, or Jeremiah, or Daniel, of course
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these kids. Paul told Timothy,
let no one despise your youth. Man, if you're young, be an example
to the believers in word, in love, in conduct, in love, in
spirit, in faith, in purity. Jesus himself said, let the little
children come to me and do not forbid them for of such is the
kingdom of heaven. God will use any vessel that's
yielded to him regardless of age. You know, we talk about,
we use Moses often as our example of where the pendulum swings
to the other side. Eighty years old when God called
him into the ministry. It just doesn't matter, regardless
of age, or gender, or social status, or whatever. God's just
looking for one ability. Availability. That's it. Okay. In verse 67, now his father Zacharias
was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, now wait,
I want to stop real quick right there. Here's what I love. Back
in verse 41, We read where Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
And we just presume that John was as well most likely at that
point in her womb because the angel declared that would be
the case. But now here we have Zacharias filled with the Spirit. What are we seeing here? We're
seeing a family, listen, we're seeing a family filled with the
Spirit of God all in unity in their desire to glorify and magnify
God. You guys, that's a precious thing.
And I pray that be the testimony of your home that you and your
spouse and your child or your children might all be filled
to the overflow with the Holy Spirit of God, working in harmony
as a family, bringing glory to God. Now, the voice of prophecy
has been silent for some 400 years up to this point. No word
of prophecy has been given to man I mean, Gabriel spoke here
within the last nine or ten months, but from the mouth of man, it
hasn't come forth since Malachi. Now, Zacharias makes this prophetic
utterance, and it's to declare that the time is at hand. Man,
the salvation is here. That both Messiah and his forerunner
are coming to Israel. Now look at verse 68. where we
read that Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied saying,
Blessed is the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed
his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in
the house of his servant David as he spoke by the mouth of his
holy prophets who have been since the world began. That we should
be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate
us to perform the mercy promise to our fathers and to remember
his holy covenant. the oath which He swore to our
father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the
hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear." It is without
worry about what others think or might do, in holiness and
righteousness before Him all the days of our life. Okay, we'll stop there. A few
things to take notice of before we begin in a few minutes to
move Toward our clothes Zacharias lifts up his voice and blesses
the Lord in verse 68 saying blessed is the Lord God of Israel For
he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn
of salvation for us in the house of his servant David now we love
the fact that Even though Jesus hasn't been born yet, this prophecy
is all about Him and the salvation that comes to us through Him. We read in Revelation 19 verse
10, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And
that's exactly what we see happening here. Zacharias draws attention
to the time of their visitation. The fact that God has redeemed
his people and raised up a horn of salvation for us. Now, this
is interesting because Zacharias speaks to the time, or to the
fact, that the time of their visitation is upon them. But the day will come a few years
from this point, a number of years, some 33-ish years, where Jesus will actually rebuke
them because they didn't realize it, they didn't recognize it,
and so they missed the opportunity that God had availed to them
in Christ. Now, if you want to jot it down,
it's chapter 19, verses 41 through 44, where Jesus weeps over the
city of Jerusalem because they did not know the time of their
visitation. But listen. Listen, the same tragedy takes
place all the time, even to this day. People miss their time of
visitation. Therefore, they miss the opportunity
for salvation that God was availing to them in Christ. It may be
through cynicism. It may be through criticism.
Ultimately, it's unbelief. But people reject Jesus Christ,
and they forfeit the time. of their visitation. Zacharias
recognized it and rejoiced in it. Can I just encourage you
that if God is seeking in some manner to deal with you right
here, right now, today, don't harden yourself against it, but
rather recognize it, don't reject it, receive it, repent, and receive
the glorious gift of salvation that will come to you as you
realize the time of your visitation. But what does it mean in verse
69, raised up a horn of salvation? Well, the horn in view here isn't
a musical instrument. It's speaking of that which represents
the strength of an animal. You think of the ram's horns,
you think obviously of steer, you think of the deer and that
you see sometimes them ramming and this and that. But the horn
typifies, it's a picture of strength. And the idea is that Messiah
would be mighty to save. A Savior who is stronger than
any stronghold, any sin, any chain that might bind you. Where sin abounds, grace abounds
much more. Jesus is mighty to save. And
He said that whoever will, may come. Jesus said that if anyone
thirsts, let him come to me and drink. I just want to encourage
you, you have not sinned to the extent that God can't save you.
The offer goes out. Redemption is available in Christ. Well, we read that in verse 68,
He has redeemed His people. What does that mean? What does
the word redeem mean? Well it speaks of setting something
or someone free through a purchase price. It might be the release
of a prisoner. It might be the liberation of
a slave. You and I, the Bible declares
in no uncertain terms, we're in bondage. We were enslaved
to sin under the authority of sin and ultimately Satan. But Jesus came along and He redeemed
you. That is, He paid a purchase price
for your freedom. What was the price? Well, it
was the shedding of His blood. It was His life for yours. Paul
said in the book of Ephesians that in Him we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace. Something else that we note as
we kind of survey this song that Zacharias shares with us, prophesies
for us, or you know, whatever, is found in verse 70 and following,
and that's the fact that none of this was a random chain of
events, but it's come to pass exactly as God said it would
through the mouth of His holy prophets, even from the fall
of man forward since the world began. God will always perform
His promises. God made a covenant with Abraham.
That in Him, all the families of the earth would be blessed.
That Messiah would come through Him, through David, to us. Okay? To the world. And God has
kept, and will continue to keep, every nuance of any promise He's
ever made. Okay. Now, we want to note, real
quick, the net effect. What is the result of our salvation
to be? our sanctification through Christ.
It's found in verse 74. I trust that it jumped out at
you or you perhaps drew attention to it, maybe underlined it. If
not, I'd encourage you to now. We've been set free not to do
our own will, leading us back to bondage, but rather to serve
Him, that is, serve the Lord without fear in holiness and
righteousness before Him all the days of our life. Now listen. We are not, and don't phase out,
we're not far from finished, but listen. We are not allowed
to serve God in our own way. You know, however we deem appropriate. That's a no-go. It's a no-can-do. The Bible is clear that we are
to serve Him in holiness and in righteousness. And not just
while we're at church or around fellow believers, but all the
days of our life. Now, I don't want you to be confused
as to the difference between holiness and righteousness. Holiness
is the root. Righteousness is the fruit, okay? Holiness is what happens inwardly. Righteousness is demonstrated
outwardly. Now, many people seek to serve
God in righteousness. That is, they try to do the right
thing. They try to dot their I's, they try to cross their
T's. The problem is it's not from the overflow of an inward
holiness, therefore it becomes rigid legalism or simply dead
religion. OK, it becomes works righteousness. You know, I haven't really received
Christ inwardly, but I'm going to go through the motions outwardly.
I'm just going to tell you that will only lead to frustration
and ultimately condemnation. Our outward righteousness must
stem from inward holiness. And that, believers, can only
happen through faith in Christ. Holiness is the inward transformation. Righteousness is the outward
demonstration. Holiness is character. Righteousness is conduct. Okay? Zacharias turns to his
son, begins to proclaim God's plan for him in preparing the
way of the Lord. Let's look at verse 76. And you,
child, will be called the prophet of the highest, for you will
go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. to give
knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their
sins through the tender mercy of our God, with which the day
spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those who
sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into
the way of peace. Now check this out. John would
be used by God to bring the knowledge of salvation, we read here, through
faith in Christ, here called the Dayspring, speaking of the
dawning of the new day, the light shining forth in the darkness,
and all of that. But here's what I think is kind
of cool. God was adamant that the child's name be called John. Which means, God is gracious,
or the grace of God, you know, whatever. Here's the picture. God was proclaiming the way of
salvation, preparing the people for their time of visitation
through John or through God's grace. Do you understand that?
The way of salvation brought through grace by faith in Jesus
Christ. Great picture. The knowledge
of salvation through the remission of their sins. Now, of course,
remission speaks of a removal or a dismissal. If you've ever
known anyone with cancer who, through medical or miraculous
means, has come to a place where they say, well, it's gone into
remission. Well, what that means is that it's gone. It's no longer
a factor or cause for concern. And when you, through Christ,
receive the remission of sins, what that means is that your
sin is no longer a factor, as far as God is concerned, because
it's gone away. You've been cleansed by the blood
of Jesus Christ, and your sin has been cast as far as the East
is from the West. In Christ, it's been put away
completely through the tender mercies of our God. A new day has dawned for you.
If you're in Christ, you're no longer sitting in darkness, blindly
stumbling toward condemnation. You've been brought into the
light and walk in the salvation that's been provided for you
by Jesus Christ, who guides our feet into the way. of peace. God's word is a lamp unto our
feet. It is a light unto our path.
And he has bridged the gap, having brought us into peace with God
through the blood of his cross. Jot it down, Colossians chapter
1 and verse 20. You can check it later. Well,
here we are. And for a man, Zacharias, who
has not said anything for the last nine or ten months, Well,
he certainly compensates for it here, doesn't he? When his
silence is broken, he utters these words of praise, that John
would be the prophet of the highest, introducing Israel to the son
of the highest, who was conceived in Mary's womb by the power of
the highest. And in verse 80, finally, we
read, so the child grew and became strong in spirit and was in the
deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel." Which is to say,
translation for you and me, he lived his life focused on the
Lord, separated unto the Lord, that he, when the time came,
might be used mightily by the Lord. And it's awesome to consider,
isn't it? I mean, how God would use John,
But listen, I don't want you to be deceived. God wants to
use you just the same. You say, what do you mean? Listen,
God wants to use you to give the knowledge of salvation by
the remission of sins which is available in Jesus Christ. That
when the time of their visitation comes, you're sharing with friends,
you're sharing with family, you're giving the knowledge of salvation
through the remission of sin, through faith in Jesus Christ,
so that when their time of visitation comes, and it's upon them, salvation
might be granted to them through the tender mercies of our God.
Set yourself apart unto the Lord, in true holiness before the Lord,
that you might be used greatly by the Lord. Let's pray. God, we're thankful for the richness
of your word. But Father, it's our heart's
desire. Not only do we want to be refreshed or even challenged,
God, we want to be changed. And I pray that you would help
us that we would, having spent time in your word, be moved by
your word, spend time talking about your word, meditating on
your word, just thinking about what you wanna do in our lives
as a result of your word to us. And Father, I pray that having
been challenged, that we'd be put in check with regard to the
way we use our mouths, and that they be used to bring you praise,
to glorify and magnify you. And God, again, I just wanna
pray that every family here might be filled with the power of your
Holy Spirit, serving in harmony, bringing you glory. God, that's
our desire. And I don't know, while our heads
are bowed and our eyes are closed, perhaps as the Word of God was
shared this morning, it's stirring in you even now. Perhaps you're becoming increasingly
aware of the fact that the time of your visitation is right here,
right now. God is dealing with you. He's
wanting to to redeem you, to save you, to forgive you. Let
me encourage you that you not resist it, that you not reject
it, but that you receive Jesus Christ, that you find forgiveness
in Him. You can be the recipient of God's
tender touch of mercy even today. All you have to do is turn from
your sin and believe on Jesus Christ. Receive him today and you will
never be the same. I don't know, maybe we all know
the Lord. Maybe we're just one big family
in Christ. I mean, that'd be awesome. But maybe not. Maybe you've come
here with a friend or with family. Maybe you've come here just personally
for whatever reason the case may be. But you find yourself
in need wholeness of heart, forgiveness of sin, and a new life, man. Well, that's what this moment's
all about. If that's you, if God is dealing with you, if he's
speaking to you, if he's calling out to you saying, come, let
us reason together, your sins like scarlet, I'll make you white
like snow. Your sins like crimson, I'll wash you white as wool.
I'll give you a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
I'll give you beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. Is the time of your visitation
today? If so, I want to pray for you. I don't care how old
you are, how young you are. I don't care who you're sitting
around, beside, or in front, or behind. All I care about is
does Christ have a home in your heart? And if you can't say categorically,
if you can't say emphatically, yes, Christ is in my heart. I know him. I'm not talking about
knowing about him, you guys. Maybe you've gone to church a
lot. You know a lot about Him. But do you have a relationship?
A personal relationship with Him? I think sometimes that confuses
people. What do you mean, personal relationship
with God? Well, you have a good friend,
don't you? Or a spouse or a family member.
You have a relationship with them. It's personal. It's intimate.
It's not mechanical. It's not, you know, removed. It's personal. God wants to be
to you personal. Jesus wants to be your friend
that sticks closer than a brother. Your friend, your Savior, your
Lord. Listen, the time is now. Here's what I'm going to ask
you to do. I've talked long enough. It's time that if you're willing
to respond, let's do it. Say, what do I need to do? I
just want to ask you to raise your hand wherever you're at.
God's dealing with you. If he's speaking to you and you
need Christ in your life, then I'm going to ask you right here,
right now. Now's the time. Raise your hand and do so high
so I can see it. And then if I see it, I'll say
so you can put it back down. That's OK. But if you need Christ
to come into your life, can I pray for you? Anyone at all in that
in that place? I see you, man. Anyone else, the Lord's just
dealing with you. God bless you. And God bless you. Guys, I'm
not trying to solicit an emotional response from you, I'm really
not. But I'm trying to be real with you and just give you the
opportunity to receive Christ, receive forgiveness, anyone else
I can pray for. Because if you don't know you're
headed for heaven, man, should God call you, should you see the
Lord today, I wanna know what are you gonna hear? Well done,
enter in to the joy of your Lord, Or do you fear that you might
hear, depart from me? I never knew you. Let's share it up today. Anyone else I can pray for? God
bless you, babe. All right, Father God, we just thank
you for the work that you're doing in our midst today. And
God, you look into each one of our hearts, and you're seeing
now, hearts turning toward you and trusting in you. And God,
I know that when people raise their hand to me in reality,
they open their heart to you. And I know, Lord, that you look
upon that and are well pleased with that. You know, the Bible
says that we all sin, we all fall short of the glory of God.
But if we'll confess our sin, he's faithful, he's just to forgive
us of our sin, to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So what
I'm gonna do is I'm gonna say a prayer. If you raised your
hand, Or maybe if you wish you would have raised your hand and
for whatever reason you let it slip, it's open. I'm just going
to say a prayer and you just from the deep recess of your
own heart, just cry out to God in like manner. You can pray
out loud if you want. You don't have to. God is listening
to the cry of your heart. But would you come in agreement
with God concerning your position? Would you just say, oh, God,
here I am. A sinner. I'm a sinner. and I'm not making
excuses for it, I'm not gonna try to justify it, but I confess
it, I'm a sinner. I ask you, Lord, to forgive me
of my sin, and to come into my heart, and
to come into my life, and to fill me with your Holy
Spirit. And God, I ask you to strengthen
me that I might lead my life from this day forward all the
days of my life for you. And I want to thank you for putting
my name in your book of life. Listen, if you prayed a prayer
like that, Maybe it was tough for you to follow along. If you
just said something like, God, he's praying and I want it. Lord,
whatever he's saying, that's what I want. Whatever. I want
you to know that God has heard the cry of your heart. Christ
has come into you. That old things have passed away
and all things are made new. Rejoice in that, receive that,
be blessed by that in Jesus' name. Father, we give you glory
for your work in our midst today and we thank you, Lord, for your
love for us and your grace toward us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Lukke 1:57-80
Series Luke
God Performs His Promises
| Sermon ID | 611121920563 |
| Duration | 48:54 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Luke 1:57-80 |
| Language | English |
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