PREPARED FOR THE PROMISE
Luke 1:8-20
GOD
POSITIONS US FOR BLESSINGS
V:8 Once
when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,
9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into
the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning
of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
DEVOTION
TO DUTY
The priest
on duty drew lots to determine what work they would perform. Zechariah drew a lot
for Burning incense in the Temple Holy Room.
This high honor was performed by a priest only once In his lifetime.
There were 24 divisions of priests, and maybe thousands of priests in each
division.
God has a
way of positioning the faithful in the right time and, the right place for His
plan.
700 hundred
years earlier, God revealed this event.
Isaiah 40:3-6
3 A voice of
one calling: "In the desert prepare
the way for
the Lord; make straight in the wilderness
a highway
for our God.
4 Every
valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough
ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the
glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
For the
mouth of the Lord has spoken."
There are
three other elements of serving God.
Follow God’s Order
God uses the
existing order to bring about blessings for the world and to fulfill his prophecy.
He chose the priesthood to bring a preacher into the world. Out
of the 20,000 Levite
Priest, God
chose a married man and his wife. He chose a priest busy doing His work
He chose a righteous
couple made faithful through time and prayer who dedicated their lives to Him
Faithfulness
Zacharias
was faithfully performing the duties of the lot he picked. His job was to take Fresh
burning coals from the burnt altar in the courtyard into the Holy place of The
temple. He would remove the ashes from the former service and replace them with
Burning coal. Sprinkle them with incense making intercessions for the people.
It is
fitting that God chose a particular priest for the particular job of fulfilling
His prophecy
of The Intercessory High priest of all mankind for all times.
God
confirmed His prophecy again 430 years before Christ.
Malachi 3:1
"See, I will send my messenger, who will
prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to
his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,"
says the Lord Almighty.
What you and
I need to understand is God sees the future in the present time. God in fact Sees
all time at once. You and I cannot see past the present moment.
This emphasizes
the unlimited tolerance and unlimited forgiveness God has for His people.
Church Support
Any time a preacher
stands before the Lord, you and I ought to be in prayer. He stands Before God
interceding for our sins and needs. Zechariah was making intercessions for the sins
of the nation. We must pray first that
the sins of the priest be forgiven. In that time to Appear before the Lord in
an unholy manner would be sudden death.
It is our
job to support the pastor in prayer. We never know what blessings God will reveal
to him for us.
EXPECT
GOD TO SPEAK WHEN YOU SERVE
V:11 Then an
angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of
incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.
The word
angel in Greek means messenger. When God shows up it can be a blessing or a
curse.
We never
know when God will show up in our lives. We need to be ready at all times to receive
Him. Notice Zechariah was in the right standings with Lord, obedient to his
call. He was busy bringing glory to the Lord with his assignment. In due time
God will reveal to us His plan for our lives.
The incense
offering was twice a day, at 9 AM and 3 PM. Zechariah had to prepare himself
for acceptable service.
Leviticus
16:11-12
"Aaron shall bring the bull for his sin
offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to
slaughter the bull for his sin offering. 12 He is to take a censer full of
burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground
fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain.
How often do
we prepare ourselves for acceptable service to the Lord? Do we just show up?
We do not
have to make animal sacrifices for our sins. Jesus' death on the cross was the
final sacrifice for all times. But we
are required to be prepared for Holy Service
Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
TRUST THE
LORD FOR AN ANSWER
V:13 But the
angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been
heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the
name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice
because of his birth.
Prayer is
our way of communicating with the Lord. Zechariah and his wife were in their
golden years, well past the normal childbearing age. They kept praying. We are commanded to pray
without ceasing even if we do not get the answer we want. Our prayers never go
unheard. Our prayers never go unanswered.
Every man
wants a son to carry on the family name to the next generation.
They were
not only blessed with a child, but a son. God did not give them the chance to
name the child. God named the child John. The Greek word John is Ioannes.
According to
the Theopolis Institute,
John means “the LORD has been
gracious.” Buried in there are the Hebrew words “Yahweh” and “chanan”, the
latter meaning “to
be gracious”. The noun form of the word, “chen” (favor), is what the
Lord gives to both Noah (Gen. 6:8) and Israel (Ex. 3:21).
The LORD’s grace and
favor will always swiftly follow his remembering, and this is why the naming of
John the Baptist is so significant. Without his name, he would have been
another forgotten rememberer. With it, he answers the lament of the Psalmist “Has God forgotten to be
gracious?” (Ps. 77:9).
We serve a
God whose grace and mercy fall fresh on us each day. We never know all that God
is doing for us
God has a
specific reason why He waits to answer our prayers. At a young age, we may not
be ready for the blessing we are asking for. God has a blessing beyond what we
are asking.
No matter
how bad we think we are, we should never be afraid to go before the Lord in
prayer.
God's delay
in answering our prayers is not to keep us from getting what we want but to
bless us so others can rejoice.
God’s timing
for answering their prayer, brought Zachariah, brought his wife joy, and the whole
nation joy. Zachariah’s blessing reach 1000’s years beyond him and brought us
joy. We are always in a blessed position
when we serve the Lord faithfully.
God appeared
to Zechariah while he was serving Him. He didn’t appear outside the Temple. He
didn’t appear with other people. The angel of God appeared
To Zachariah
in the Holy place when he was alone. Notice the angel appeared
On the right
side of the altar. The right hand of God is the hand of power and blessings.
FOLLOW
GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS
V:15 for he
will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other
fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from
birth. 16 Many of the people of Israel
will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord,
in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a
people prepared for the Lord."
Each one of
us is on a mission for the Lord. We are individuals. Our mission for the Lord Is specifically
designed for our situation and the circle of people we are placed in. God did
not call us to sit on the sidelines. Each believer was called to serve and give
God glory.
John’s
mission has several aspects
1. Turn the children of Israel back to
the Lord.
2. Stand before the Lord in spirit and
power.
3. Turn the hearts of people to wisdom
and obedience.
4. Make people ready to receive the Lord
Jesus.
John needed
the power of the Holy Spirit to preach the coming of
Jesus with
power and conviction. John was able to preach the truth
In face of
opposition, even unto death.
Do you
realize that each believer has the same mission (Matthew 28:19)?
Each
believer under the guidance of the Holy Spirit can accomplish
John’s
mission.
You and I
cannot operate as Christians without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said
without him we can do nothing. But with Him, we can do all things.
God gave
specific directions to Zechariah and Elizabeth for training their child. We
have a child training manual, the Bible. Have you read it looking for
scriptures for your children?
Train up a
child in the way he should go. As parents, we have to prepare our children to serve
the Lord. My best friend and partner shared with me her goal for her children. Serve
the Lord first and everything else will fall in place.
Your child
will be great in the sight of the Lord. It takes a commitment from the parents to
encourage that greatness. Each of us has the potential to be great. It is in
the text.
Not great
before man, but great before the Lord. You may never achieve greatness in the
world. But it is easy to obtain greatness before God. All you got to do is
serve Him faithfully. The first
training instruction is to prepare your child to serve the Lord.
Certain
missions require you to be sober at all times. We must be sober in body,
Mind and
spirit. Wine was the normal drink for the Jews. The mission of John required a
higher level of spirituality. John was set aside for God's holy use. Zachariah
and his wife were required to make a vow before the Lord.
Numbers
6:2-4
a vow of
separation to the Lord as a Nazirite, 3 he must abstain from wine and other
fermented drinks and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented
drinks. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4 As long as he
is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even
the seeds or skins. The Hebrew meaning
for Nazirite is one separated from God. Jesus was a Nazarene.
As parents, we must train our children that
they belong to God and
Have been
set aside for God’s use. I think we would train our children differently if we
see them as future servants of God. The second rule of training is to
make a vow to the Lord that your children will be trained according to His
commands.
The third
rule of training is
to nurture their spiritual growth and development.
John was
filled with Holy Spirit from birth. As
guardians of God’s children, we must submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We must allow ourselves to be
Filled with
Holy Spirit each day. Our children are influenced by us. Elizabeth and Zachariah
had to continue their devotion and serve the Lord.
When we
train our children to serve the Lord, they will draw others to Christ.
GOD SAID
IT, DON’T DOUBT IT
V:18
Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and
my wife is well along in years."
19 The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I
stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell
you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until
the day this happens because you did not believe my words, which will come true
at their proper time."
Don’t reject
the good news of the Bible. God will
give you want. You have to wait
On His
timing.
God generated
you from the cells in your mother’s body. He can regenerate anything that’s not working
in you. Zechariah made excuse for his unbelief. He had the Word, but he knew by
experience that old folk didn’t have babies. What Zechariah didn’t consider is
that there is nothing too hard from God.
Zechariah
spoke before he considered what God had already done. The Old Testament was
complete 300 years before the birth of Christ.
What God planned to do for Zechariah and his wife was nothing new. Abraham
was 99 years old and Sarah was 90 years old when Isiah was born.
Jacob was in
his nineties when Joseph was born. What God did for others, He can do for you.
When God
gives you a mission, He has already given you the capability and resources to accomplish
it. The existence of the resources lies in your faith. God's resources do not rely
on man’s abilities. What God will do for you has nothing to do with what has
been done in the past. God may do a new thing for you. Assurance in what God
can do comes from the miracles we have seen and what we know He has done in the
past.
There are
consequences for our unbelief. Our unbelief blocks God’s blessings.
Zechariah
lost his voice. He could not share the good news with the expression
He normally used.
You would expect
that a priest of God would have the greatest faith. We all fall into doubt from
time to time. God is tolerant enough to teach us the value of faith in His
Word. We can learn not to doubt God from Zachariah.
One of the
key points is God answers prayers according to His will. The answer to Zechariah
and Elizabeth's prayer was delayed to coincide with God’s Plan of
redemption. In
addition, God got the glory because a baby was born to
A couple well
past the childbearing age.
SERVE THE
LORD WITH CONFIDENCE AND JOY
Rev. M.
Mitchell
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