His Name Is John
How many came to have church this morning?
I’m not talking about just going through the
motions today!
I’m not talking about coming in here and playing
church!
You can play church on your on time. Amen?
How many came to really have some church in the
house of God this morning?
Well turn to your neighbor and say "Neighbor,
Welcome to Church Alive!"
Tell ’em say "Neighbor, This ain’t no dead church,
It’s alive."
This ain’t your Grandma’s church!
This ain’t your Grandpa’s church!
This might not be the kind of church that you’re
use to.
’Cause it’s not the traditional church!
But that’s alright ’cause It’s God’s church!
And I don’t know about you, but I come into God’s
church this morning that I might praise Him in
the sanctuary!
I’m gonna worship Him in the house of God today.
Amen?
I’m gonna shout about His glory in this place
today!
I’m gonna thank Him for the breath in my lungs
and the song in my heart!
I give Him glory for the very life He’s given to me!
And I praise Him for the very life that He gave for
me!
His praises will continually be in my mouth!
Because where his people are praising His name
the Bible says that His presence is there also!
And where His presence is how many know’s that
that’s where His power flows!
You can’t be in the presence of God without
having the power of God there also,
And you can’t experience the power of God
without the presence of God being there first.
Amen?
How many in here this morning knows that God is
here this morning!
We’re standing in His presence this morning!
And how many knows that that’s right where we
need to be!
Because in His presence is where life is!
That’s where the gifts of his Holy Spirit are
manifest!
In His presence is where the fruit of the Spirit
become ripe!
That’s where God’s power flows!
It’s where healing takes place!
It’s where grace flows freely to all who will believe!
And it’s where we were created to be!
God created each and everyone of us to commune
with Him,
And to come into His presence to fellowship with
Him!
Since the beginning of time He has desired to have
fellowship with man!
The Bible says that He walked in the Garden of
Eden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve.
The Bible says that Enoch walked with God!
And God spoke to Noah!
The Bible says that He made a covenant with
Abraham and fellowshipped with Him,
And that He appeared unto Isaac and confirmed
that covenant with Him!
And not only did He appear unto Jacob in the
desert,
The Bible says that Jacob wrestled with God!
He had a close encounter with God! Amen?
God wants us to have a close encounter with Him
this morning!
He’s willing to do whatever is necessary to lead us
into His presence this morning!
In Moses’ day He appeared in the form of a
burning bush and called Moses that He might
redeem unto Himself the children of Israel.
And He led them out to Mt. Horeb into His very
presence!
He commanded Moses to build a tabernacle in the
wilderness that they might live in His presence.
And at the dedication of Solomon’s temple He
filled it with His chekinah glory to the point that
the minister’s were not able to stand.
And they were being slain in the Spirit all over the
House of God.
He wants to have that same kind of encounter
with you this morning!
He wants us to come into His presence to the
point that we lose control and are over whelmed
by His Spirit!
And how many knows that He’s willing to go to
extremes to get what He wants.
He was willing to wrap Himself in human flesh
and come to this Earth over 2000 years ago,
And die on a cross that He might restore the
fellowship that He once had with man in the
garden.
And after He conquered death, Hell, and the grave
and ascended into Heaven,
He still desired that we all might be in constant
communion with Him.
So on the day of Pentecost the Bible says that He
poured out His Spirit among men that we might
all walk in His presence daily.
God wants to fellowship with us daily! Amen?
If He had His way not a second of every minute of
everyday would go by when we were not in His
presence!
The problem with the church today is that we
don’t feel the need to come into the presence of
God!
We don’t invite God into our churches let alone
our every day lives! (Homes, Families, etc.)
We don’t see God moving in our services like He
did in the New Testament church,
And it doesn’t even trigger any alarms that
something’s wrong.
Some churches have even written off miracles as a
thing of the past!
They have a form of Godliness but deny the power
thereof! Amen?
They’ve replaced Bible truths with man made
theology!
And they’ve replaced the presence of God with a
love for the traditions of men!
And because of the lack of the presence of God in
these churches they’ve become what one might
call a Dead Church!
Oh but aren’t you glad to be in Church Alive this
morning?
I believe that this Church is Alive because of the
presence of God in it. Amen?
He is the source of all life and without Him we
cannot experience life the way that it was intended
to be.
And without Him we cannot have life and have it
more abundantly!
Without Him the Bible says there’s only death and
then the second death which is eternal damnation.
Oh but because of Him we are a church alive in
Christ this morning!
And how many want it to stay that way?
How many want to continually see this Church
living in His presence.
Continually walking in His power & authority.
Operating in the gifts of the Spirit.
Flowing freely in the anointing that breaks the
yoke of bondage!
Having life more abundantly!
Well praise the Lord! God’s got a word for you this
morning!
Luk 1:57 Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
Luk 1:58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
Luk 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
Luk 1:60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
Luk 1:61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
Luk 1:62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
Luk 1:63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
How many in here this morning knows that
names are important?
All through the Bible there are names given that
kind of tell a story on there own.
The name Abraham meant "Father of Multitudes"
and that’s what He became.
Methusalah meant "after me the deluge or flood"
and when He breathed His last breath God closed
the doors on the Ark and down came the rain.
Moses means to "draw out" and not only was he
drawn out of the Nile but God used him to draw
his people out of bondage in Egypt!
The list just goes on and on. Amen?
But this morning as we look at the name of John
the Baptist I ask you what was so important
about this name!
Could it be the fact that the actual name John
means "God is a gracious giver"
The actual name of John is praises on our lips, or
is it something else.
I believe that the most important aspect of the
name of John the Baptist is the fact that it broke
the back of tradition.
See I believe the number one cause of sudden
death in the church today,
The thing that causes church alive to become
church dead is tradition!
When the church gets set in a certain pattern or
routine we start relying on these traditions instead
of the moving of the Spirit.
Then God is calling for one thing and we’re
pursuing another.
God is saying seek my face but the church gets
blinded by tradition. Amen?
We’ve all said this morning that we want to see
this Church living in God’s presence.
And walking in His power & authority.
Operating in the gifts of the Spirit.
Flowing freely in the anointing and having life
more abundantly!
but I’m here to tell you that tradition can hinder
all of that.
Tradition can be a hinderance to us because how
many knows that it can bring us out of the will of
God?
Let’s look back in our text this morning...
Luk 1:57 Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
Luk 1:58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
Luk 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
Well let me ask you something this morning
church!
Who on God’s green Earth do they think that they
are?
How many have children in here this morning?
Could you imagine on the day that your child was
born your neighbor or cousin naming your child
something other than what you had planned to
name them.
What gives them them the right or authority to do
something like that!
That would be against your will. Amen?
In the same way it was against Elisabeth’s will
because she said in verse 60 his name was to be
called John.
But if it wasn’t enough that tradition had gone
against the will of Elisabeth.
And if it wasn’t enough that the tradition of
naming a child after someone in the family had
caused problems in the family,
How about the fact that tradition had gone against
the will of God!!!
You say well Pastor JB where are you getting all of
this from?
Well let’s look back a few verses in...
Luk 1:13 But the angel (Gabriel) said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
God had purposed for this child to be born!
And He had called him to a very specific ministry
of being the forerunner of Christ.
But verse 13 also says that He had already named
Him even before he was concieved!
He had commanded through His angel Gabriel
that he should call His name John!
This was God’s will yet tradition called for
something else!
Well I tell you this morning that when tradition
goes against the will of God it’s time to show
tradition the door!
We cannot go around letting tradition dictate our
actions because tradition can take us out of the
will of God!
And when we get out of the will of God we start on
a downward spiral that takes us out of the
presence of God!
And when we get out of the presence of God we’re
no longer operating under the power of God,
Or the anointing of God!
And slowly but surely the church that was once
filled with life has no sign of life in it at all!
The Pentecostal, Holiness, and Charismatic
movements have all at one point or another been a
conduit for the power of God to flow through!
But today some of the churches in those
movements haven’t seen an outpouring of God’s
power in decades because they’re too focused on
the traditions of men.
They’re so tied up in tradition they’ve gotten out of
the will of God!
The church today needs to stand tall against the
enemy’s weapon of tradition.
We need to put our foot down and claim the
victory this morning if we’re gonna continue in the
will of God. Amen?
In our text this morning Elizabeth had come to
terms with what God was doing and she was not
going to mess with even the smallest detail of His
plan.
She was going to be obedient to the will of God
especially if it means praising God every time she
said her son’s name.
I can here her now saying God is a Gracious Giver!
But they tried to reason with her for traditions
sake in verse 61 and “They said to her, "There is
no one among your relatives who has that name."”
They’re more concerned about breaking from
tradition instead of praising God for what He has
done.
Was it not miraculous enough that she bore a
child in her old age?
Was it not miraculous enough to break tradition
that Zechariah had been muted miraculously?
Was the fact that scripture says everybody already
believed that he had seen a vision not enough?
Does it not strike anyone else as odd that in the
midst of all of these non-traditional things they
are all caught up in the traditional naming
process?
Did these miracles that surrounded the birth of
John not set of any alarms?
The Church today is the same way!
No matter how much God is working in our lives
and churches,
Miracles or no miracles if the leading of the Spirit
is leading us away from tradition we don’t want no
part of it!
If the Pastor is being led by the Spirit and is
preaching against tradition some churches would
rather fire the preacher than be obedient to the
leading of the Holy Ghost!
Some christians would rather find a new church
that’s more traditional than let the power of God
transform their mind.
When we don’t like what the evangelist has to say
we would rather call off the revival than conform
to the word of God!
We look for a way to get our way even if it’s
outside of God’s will!
Look at verse 62 ” Then they made signs to his
father, to find out what he would like to name the
child.”
They didn’t care what Elizabeth said!
They had the gall to ask her husband because she
has obviously lost her mind.
She was wrong! - This is tradition! - You can’t just
name a child anything you want!
Tradition says….”The name has to be Zacharias…
“The denomination on the sign has to say….
The preacher has to have a doctorate in theology…
The women can’t wear pants, or make up, or
jewelry…
The men can’t wear shorts or have long hair….
But in the face of all this tradition Zacharias put
his foot down and shouted in his heart because his
voice was still silent;
"His name is John!"
And He wrote his words down upon the writing
table, and He broke the back of tradition!
Thank God that Zacharias did not bow to
tradition.
And I thank God for those in here this morning
who have stood up for God and broke the back of
tradition!
I believe that God will reward your obedience.
Amen?
Our text says that He rewarded Zacharias by
loosing his tongue that He might praise God!
And it goes on to say that He was filled with the
Holy Ghost and began to prophesy!
And those that had once stood for tradition stood
in awe of the power of God.
And they too began to rejoice and praise God!
And I believe that when we stand against tradition
and praise Him with our lips,
We will continually be in His presence!
And we will be filled with His Spirit!
We will operate in the charismatic gifts of God and
in turn,
People will see that we are not compromised by
tradition.
And that we are on fire for the Lord.
And that His presence and power is here and alive
in Church Alive!
And I believe that many will be reached for the
kingdom of God because of our obedience!
There are some in here this morning who are still
holding on to tradition.
Tradition is still a hinderance in your life!
God is calling you to let go of what ever is holding
you back from experiencing all that He has for
you.
Will you make a stand for Him this morning?
