‘INITIATING The TURN’-VII—Luke 1:18-20(:5-25)
Attention:
The other day when the weather got cooler, we intended to make ‘Shepherd Pie.’ For us it’s a great ‘comfort’ food. Our version of ‘Shepherd Pie’ has ground beef, mashed potatoes, peas, lima beans, corn, onions, & cheese.
•We collected all the needed ingredients. We set out the casserole dish. We had the pots & pans & other utensils on hand.
•BUT we didn’t make the recipe! Something always came up.
•Finally one day, my wife cooked the ground beef. BUT she still had to put it in the fridge, because neither of us found the time to finish the recipe for ‘Shepherd Pie.’
•Eventually, when the time was right, we completed the recipe.
And I said that, to say this:
*Preparation is useless without ‘INITIATING’ the necessary process!
Likewise, God accomplished the promised ‘turning of people’ to Himself, by 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 ‘turns’ on Lk. 1:16-17.
Need:
Everyone has a soul-centered need to have an unchanging & eternally lasting peace, certainty, & confidence in their lives...which they CAN have...IF they are willing to unconditionally TURN to God, by trusting Christ Jesus as their Savior & Lord.
Over 2000 years ago, God ‘INITIATED’ that TURN toward Himself, thru a Jewish couple in Israel whose names were Zacharias & Elizabeth.
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 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)
Today we’ll find that:
7—In Initiating the Turn to Himself, God also uses...
DIVINE CHASTISEMENT(:18-20)
Explanation:(:18-20)clash/dissonance
:18—“And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, & my wife is well advanced in years.”
Upon hearing his future son’s purpose from the angel, Zacharias is taken aback. He cannot see that the fulfillment of God’s will, as disclosed by the angel, is possible because both he & his wife are “old” & “well advanced in years.”
Similarly, Sarah’s ‘laughter’ in Gen. 18:9-15; yet Heb. 11:11...
Gen. 18:9-15—“Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, & behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham & Sarah were old, well advanced in age; & Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, & Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
Heb. 11:11—“By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, & she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”
•Zacharias was blinded by the commonplace ‘limitations’ of ‘human experience’ & human fleshly ability.
•Zacharias did not reason that God, being the Creator, & the Creator of humanity in particular, that He was capable of overriding both Zacharias’ & Elizabeth’s fleshly limitations!
:19—And the angel answered & said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, & was sent to speak to you & bring you these glad tidings.”
“The angel” responds to Zacharias’ doubt by revealing his name & status before God. He tells Zacharias that his name is “Gabriel”, which Zacharias, being Hebrew, knows means ‘Man of God.’
“Gabriel” is one of only two holy “angels” whose names are stated in the Bible. “Gabriel” is named only in chapter-1 of Luke’s gospel(1:19, 26, 28), & in the OT book of Daniel the prophet(8:16; 9:21).
• ‘Michael’ is another named angel, who is mentioned in the OT book of Daniel(10:13, 21; 12:1), as well as in the NT books of Jude(:9), & Revelation(12:7).
•Lucifer(Lit.-‘Son of the morning’) is also named, but he is a fallen angel also known as Satan, & the devil, the dragon, the serpent, etc..
We are told here that “Gabriel” is an angel “who stands in the” very “presence of God.” That is, “Gabriel” continually “stands” in God’s immediate & perfect “presence.” And “Gabriel’s” statement, is meant as an assurance of God’s desire for Zacharias & Elizabeth regarding their future son, John. “Gabriel’s” statement of his position before God, is a statement & testament that Zacharias’ doubt is completely unfounded.
“Gabriel’s” purpose was “to speak” directly to Zacharias & reveal the “glad tidings”(euaggelizw-‘evangelize/preach the Gospel/preach the Good News) regarding his prophesied son, John The Baptist.
:20a—“But behold, you will be mute & not able to speak until the day these things take place,...”
*Zacharias is told that ‘chastisement’ will come upon him, as a result of his particular response to Gabriel’s good news.
•But Why the chastisement?
:20b—“...because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.””
•When Zacharias’ was “troubled” he did not surrender His being “troubled” & his being doubtful, to God.
Zacharias, who was a priest(1:5)(being a mediator), & who lived to please God(1:6) was chastised by God.
•Keep in mind that no one but Jesus is infallible. Neither your pastor nor the Pope!
Zacharias was chastised “because” He would not accept(“did not believe” Gabriel’s “words”) that God could work in Zacharias’ & Elizabeth’s circumstance. Zacharias did not “believe” that God would somehow overcome his & Elizabeth’s ‘natural’ limitations!
In his heart, it seems Zacharias required a ‘sign’ of some sort.
Mat. 12:38-39—“Then some of the scribes & Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered & said to them, “An evil & adulterous generation seeks after a sign, & no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.—i.e., His Resurrection.
?Why was Mary’s being “troubled” acceptable & Christ-honoring, while Zacharias’ being “troubled” was not?
*Compare Zacharias’ “troubled”(tarassw)(:12), to that of Mary(diatarassw)=“greatly troubled”/“very perplexed”[NASB] in :29. Her’s is an ‘intensified’ form of what Zacharias experienced!
•Mary was told by Gabriel that she would give birth to a Son, whom she was to name, Jesus. And that Jesus would be the Son of God who would reign eternally as the King of Israel.
Her response may SEEM similar to that of Zacharias, but her’s was NOT fraught with DOUBT, but rather with WONDER! She asked Gabriel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”(:34). And upon hearing Gabriel’s explanation, Mary supernaturally accommodated herself to God’s will, stating, “Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
*It’s not so much WHAT “troubles” us that’s important. But what is vastly more important, is HOW a person RESPONDS to the “trouble” & “fear” they face in their heart! The Holy Spirit Who indwells each one of God’s people, compels us to turn to God whenever we are “troubled” by anything!
Despite Zacharias’ reaction, Gabriel’s “words” would indeed “be fulfilled” as promised, “in their own time.” Thru what would occur regarding the birth of his son John, Zacharias would indeed know that the “fear” & “troubled” heart he experienced, were completely unfounded!
*NOW, BACK to 20a...
:20a—“But behold, you will be mute & not able to speak until the day these things take place,”...
Zacharias is told by the angel Gabriel, that he “will be mute & not able to speak until the day these things take place.”(:63-64).
Interestingly enough, Zacharias’ chastisement served as a ‘sign’ to be fulfilled at John’s the Baptist’s birth. It would serve as a means of calling attention to John’s significance in God’s plan.
*Beyond the ‘personal pain’ of any ‘chastisement’, is the fact that God uses that same ‘chastisement’ to call attention to His divine & miraculous work in YOU!
Israel was faulted for disregarding their God-intended chastisement, by not repenting of their sin/ungodliness!
•Jer. 2:17, 19—“Have you not brought this on yourself, In that you have forsaken the LORD your God When He led you in the way?”.....“Your own wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore & see that it is an evil & bitter thing That you have forsaken the LORD your God, And the fear of Me is not in you,” Says the Lord GOD of hosts.”
Jer. 2:29-30—“Why will you plead with Me? You all have transgressed against Me,” says the LORD. In vain I have chastened your children; They received no correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion.”
•Jer. 5:1-3—“Run to & fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now & know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her. Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.” O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.”
*My own ‘wickedness’/sinfulness SHOULD cause me to seek forgiveness from God, & new direction from God!
•You can work yourself to the bone thru any church of God, & end up in hell(Mat. 7:21)!
•You can work yourself to the bone & end up in heaven, BUT only get there ‘by-the-skin-of-your-teeth’(1Cor. 3:13-17)!...
If your ‘religious labors’ are ‘worked out’/expended in the flesh rather than by the Holy Spirit’s urging, then all that labor/work/effort will have been in vain/wasted. All such wasted labor/work/effort on your part is due to your having dishonored God throughout your life, by not giving Him control!
!You are unique, & God wants to use you uniquely!
Argumentation:
Job 5:17-18—““Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.”
Heb. 12:3-11—“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary & discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”[cf.-Job 5:17; Ps. 94:12]. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate & not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, & we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits & live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
1Cor. 11:28-32—“But let a man examine himself, & so let him eat of the bread & drink of the cup. For he who eats & drinks in an unworthy manner eats & drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak & sick among you, & many sleep. For if we would judge[diakrinw--scrutinize] ourselves, we would not be judged[krinw--pronounced judgment upon]. But when we are judged[krinw--pronounced judgment upon, guilty], we are chastened[paideuw--instructed as children] by the Lord, that we may not be condemned[katakrinw--worthy of punishment] with the world.”
Illustration:
Our dog, Hershey is a pet. He is not a work dog. We want to keep him from going in the road & getting killed. But more than anything we want him to come to us when he is verbally called. We train him towards those ends with a ‘shock collar.’
The collar has three types of stepped warnings for Hershey—A specific sound; a specific vibration, & a final shock. We have taught him to come to us with the sound & our call. When we want Hershey to come to the house we first call him. And if he doesn’t show himself within a reasonable amount of time, we chastise him by remotely activating the ‘sound’ on his collar. When that happens, & he doesn’t come to us, Hershey knows that he’s in danger of being remotely ‘chastised’ with the next step—a vibration. And he knows that the final ‘chastisement’ is a shock, which will definitely get his attention.
*Hershey has learned that it is best to listen to our voice, so that none of the ‘chastisement’ at any level, has to take place!
DIVINE CHASTISEMENT
Application:
?Can God depend on YOUR DIVINE CHASTISEMENT to keep you within His ‘way’, & thus to Turn people to Himself?
?Will YOU serve God in ‘initiating the turn?’
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Our ‘Shepherd Pie’ construction that did not happen, until the time was right.
Action:
In Initiating the Turning of people to Himself, God uses...
7. DIVINE CHASTISEMENT(:18-20)
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)
Pt# 7-only! presented 11/05/2023am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
