THE ONE WHO POINTED TO THE LIGHT
Luke 1:57-79
AN EVANGELIST FOR CHRIST
V:57. When it was time for Elizabeth
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and
they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke
up and said, "No! He is to be called John."
61 They said to her, "There is no one among your
relatives who has that name."
A. There is always someone who wants to get in the spot
light, when they have not done
anything.
1. The text says that
when the relatives and neighbors “heard”.
2. That means they
were not there doing Elizabeth
3. They were not
there doing the birth of the baby.
4. They were not
there when Elizabeth
B. They showed up eight days after the baby was born to take
charge of naming
the baby.
1. They didn’t
know Elizabeth
2. They didn’t
know nor did they enquire why Elizabeth
3. They were not
ready to listen to any reason Elizabeth
4. We have to be
careful that we don’t try to take charge of that which we are not
in charge of.
5. They came with
“lip service” and gave congratulations.
FOLLOW GOD NOT THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS
V:62. Then they made signs to his father, to find out what
he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to
everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately
his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising
God.
A. They ignored Elizabeth
1. Their custom
was that baby ought to be named after someone in the family.
2. They came into
Elizabeth
her
household.
3. They went to
Zachariah to get him to agree with them.
4. Elizabeth’s
relatives and neighbors had good intentions, but they were
completely wrong.
5. It is a man’s
job to support His wife against outsiders.
6. The devil will
not only try to breakup the family, but will try to destroy your
relationship
with the Lord.
7. They didn’t ask Elizabeth
accepted his
answer.
B. One way to silence the devil, is to start praising God.
1. Praise is not
up for discussion.
2. When you start
praising God before man, He will exemplify you before
Man.
3. Zachariah being
obedient to God received His voice immediately.
4. When God
blesses you, give Him the praise of your lips.
Why do you think God chose the name John?
5. The name John means
the grace or mercy of God.
6. It was God’s
grace that brought a son to Elizabeth
7. It was God’s
grace that gave us the prime example of an evangelist.
8. It is the grace
of God to have Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
GOD BLESSES YOU SO UNBELIEVERS WILL KNOW HIS WORKS
V:65. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout
the hill country of Judea people were talking about all
these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it,
asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For
the Lord's hand was with him.
A. It is evident from the text that neither Zachariah nor
Elizabeth told the crowd that
her pregnancy was
foretold by angel of the Lord and the name John came from the
Lord.
1. God took what was
dead in Elizabeth
2. If you don’t
tell people how God has blesses you, they will make up their own
reality.
3. People can see
the blessing of God on your life, but they may not understand.
B. Notice again that the focus of the crowd was on
Zachariah. “The Lord’s hand was
On him” Family is a team effort. Zachariah provided
the seed, but Elizabeth
supplied the
growth with the power of God.
1. Zachariah had a
few minutes of pleasure, but Elizabeth
LET THE HOLY SPIRIT BE YOUR GUIDE
V:67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit
and prophesied:
68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel
because he has come and has redeemed his people.
A. The Holy Spirit has a power guiding effect on lives of
believers.
1. Elizabeth
when Mary entered
her house.
2. Zachariah
because of his unbelief, didn’t receive the Holy Spirit
Until he
wrote the name John on a tablet out of obedience to God
and support
of His wife after the birth of John.
B. It is God’s plan that the married couple be one flesh
with one voice
and that
outsiders know that fact.
1. Notice the Holy
Spirit enlightens us to the Word of God when we
accept with
joy the call on our lives.
2. Elizabeth
entered her house.
3. Zachariah was
enlighten when he received his voice again.
4. One of the
jobs of the Holy Spirit is to teach us all things regarding
God’s plan of
salvation for mankind.
5. It is our job
to share our excitement of the Lord with others through
praise and
worship.
REFLECTING ON THE WORK OF THE LORD
V:69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of
his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand
of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember
his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us
to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and
righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most
High;
for you will go on
before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the
forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the
rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow
of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
A. Notice Zachariah’s perfect understand of scripture.
1. Scripture
become alive in us when we reflect on the goodness of God.
2. The more we
talk about God, the stronger our faith in God becomes.
B. Zachariah understood the value and purpose of his son to
the salvation of
mankind.
1. God has a plan
for each of our children.
2. As parents we
must do our best to teach God’s words to our children
from their
birth.
3. The knowledge
of God that we teach our children, promotes their
spiritual and
physical well being.
C. Through scripture, both Zachariah and his wife understood
God’s plan for their
son.
1. When you
meditate and verbalize God Word you are enabled to act on
His
directions.
2. We may not know
as much as Zachariah and Elizabeth knew about
God’s plan for John, but we do know He has
a plan for our children.
3. Our job is to
teach our children the Word and train them to know and honor
God with their
lives.
D. The job God has for us and our children is the same one
He had for John.
1. Jesus gave us
the commission in Matthew 28:19; Go make disciples,
baptizing
them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. Our job is to
point people toward Christ.
3. We are not the
light, but we can point people to the true light.
4. Our job is to
plant the seeds of Christ through the proclamation
of His Word.
5. Our Job is to
encourage the lost, lift up the broken hearted.
and release
the captives with the Words of Scripture.
_
THANK GOD FOR JESUS OUR
LORD AND SAVIOR
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
For more lessons, follow me
on facebook and vist my
Blogs; revmmitchell.com and
goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
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