Initiating The Turn-11(2024)

‘INITIATING The TURN’-XI—Luke 1:24a(:5-25)

Attention:

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene(Cat. 4; Landfall in Florida, Sept. 27, 2024; Sept. 28 it carried not only wind, but unprecedented amounts of rain into mountainous areas of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, & Tennessee causing devastating flooding.)

Everybody wants to help. But without organization, chaos ensues & reigns!

The disaster relief has to be approached in a planned manner. Logistics can be the difference between life & death.

I watched a YouTube documentation of a small group of church men(from North FL/south GA?), who came to the Asheville, NC to help. They brought a large trailer full of supplies for the stranded people who had lost their family members, land, homes, livelihood, & security to the storm’s devastating rains.

They pulled up to a First Baptist Church somewhere east of Asheville.

There were many pallets of bottled water arranged in the church parking lot. The person in charge of seeing to visitors with supplies, told the men that the best way for them to help, was to leave their supplies there at the church, because the church was a known & designated place for supplies coming in. He also told them that if they didn’t want to leave their supplies at the church, they should leave them at the ‘First Responder’s’ drop location at a fire station up the road some miles away.

They ‘guys from down south’, continued out of the church parking lot with their trailer still full of supplies. They continued to drive around looking for some ‘OTHER’ way to help.

As they drove along they passed the ‘First Responder’ supply drop location. All sorts of vehicles—from tractor trailers to sedans—were lining both sides of the road, loaded with supplies to help the flood victims. They all waiting for their turn to drop off their supplies.

The ‘men from down south’ continued on their way until they soon came to their first washed out bridge & couldn’t proceed further.

The ‘men from down south’ didn’t listen to good sense. They didn’t care who was in charge. They didn’t try to abide by the logistical maze of effort that had been established by authorities.

And as a result of their hard headedness & pride, they wasted their efforts as well as the efforts of the good Christians who had acquired the supplies & trusted the supplies to the men.

*And I said all that, to say this:

*There is a lot of interconnection & involvement in this Disaster Relief process. But the process must be ‘properly & correctly’ ‘INITIATED’ in order to bring about the needed relief!

Likewise, God accomplished the promised ‘turning of people’ to Himself—God’s relief & rescue mission. He did that by ‘properly & correctly’ INITIATING the actions that were necessary to bring about mankind’s eventual salvation & glorification in Christ Jesus(Eph. 1:6-8, 13-14; Rom. 8:17-21, 30; Heb. 2:9).

*The title of this sermon series ‘turns’ on Lk. 1:16-17.

Need:

Every person has a deep-seated need for certainty, settled peace, & confidence in their lives. BUT many if not most, never experience those things! HOWEVER, I can assure you, that peace, certainty, & confidence CAN indeed be yours!....

But ONLY IF you willingly & unconditionally TURN to God, by trusting Christ Jesus as Savior & Lord.

Luke informed his audience of the initial steps that God took to turn His people toward Himself.

God began the process of turning of His people toward Himself.

And we are answering the question...

...?What principles does God use to begin turning people toward Himself?

12 principles God used & uses to begin turning people toward Himself.

So far in Luke’s Gospel, we have found that:

In initiating the Turn to Himself, God uses...

1. RIGHTEOUS FAITHFULNESS(:5-7)

2. PRIVILEGED DUTY(:8-9)

3. CONCERTED & DUTIFUL PRAYER(:10)

4. HEALTHY FEAR(:11-12)

5. DIVINE COMFORT(:13a)

6. DIVINE PARTNERSHIP(:13b-17)

7. DIVINE CHASTISEMENT(:18-20)

8. An ENHANCED PERSPECTIVE(:21)

9. An ENHANCED Or SPIRITUAL SENSITIVITY(:22)

10. An ENHANCED CONTINUANCE(:23)

Today we’ll find that:

11—In Initiating the Turn to Himself, God ALSO uses...

CONFIRMING FULFILLMENT(:24a)

Explanation:(:24a)Fulfill Your Promise

:24a—“Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; ...”

Following Zacharias’ encounter with the angel, Gabriel(:11-20), He & “Elizabeth” did indeed ‘get pregnant.’

•Please keep in mind that interestingly enough, the name ‘Zacharias’, is a Hebrew name meaning,—‘YHWH Has Remembered Again’(D. L. Bock in BECNT)

“Elizabeth” who was formerly barren(:7) for all of her ‘child-bearing years’, now “conceived” just as Gabriel had said!

The historical significance of “Elizabeth’s” ‘miraculous’ pregnancy differed from that of the historical significance of Mary’s ‘virginal pregnancy’ six-months later(:34-35).

•But, “Elizabeth’s” pregnancy was STILL a miraculous work of the Lord, in that God specifically & actively enabled her to “conceive.”

So what exactly is a miracle?:

•“A miracle is an act of God that interrupts the natural course of events.” “A miracle is a divine intervention, a supernatural exception to the regular course of the natural world.”—‘Miracle’ in ‘Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics’(N. L. Geisler)