‘INITIATING The TURN’-VIII—Luke 1:21(:5-25)
Attention:
Suppose you have invited your family, friends, & neighbors over to your house, to celebrate Thanksgiving Dinner, because you are truly grateful to the Lord for all He supplies.
Those who are invited are all anticipating a heartwarming gathering.
You have considered all the various ingredients for all the various dishes that you will serve. You have even considered assigning a few dishes to some of the invitees.
You have taken into account the extra cookware needed & the logistics necessary, to get the various dishes cooked & warmed, so that they will be served at the proper time.
You have considered that you’ll need extra chairs & tables to comfortably seat such a large crowd of people.
You have considered gathering extra ‘silverware’ for the needs of a large crowd.
You have figured out the specifics of appropriate decorations for the Thanksgiving celebration.
You want everyone to feel welcome & experience the ‘Christian’ mood of Thanksgiving.
HOWEVER, consider what kind of celebration you all will have, if... Even though you’ve considered every aspect of the Thanksgiving celebration in your head, & on paper....But you never act on those plans! The enthusiasm & expectations of the guests will be frustrated!
*And I said all 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:
Whether they admit it or not, people have a deep-seated need for certainty, settled peace, & confidence in their lives. And some think we can never experience those things in this life....However...that peace, certainty, & confidence can indeed be yours. But ONLY IF you willingly & unconditionally TURN to God, by trusting Christ Jesus as Savior & Lord.
Over 2000 years ago, God ‘INITIATED’ that TURN toward Himself, thru a Jewish couple in Israel whose names were Zacharias & Elizabeth.
‘INITIATING The TURN’-VIII—Luke 1:21(:5-25)
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)
7. DIVINE CHASTISEMENT(:18-20)
Today we’ll find that:
8—In Initiating the Turn to Himself, God also uses...
An ENHANCED PERSPECTIVE(:21)
Explanation:(:21)Spiritual/Human Concern
:21—“And the people waited for Zacharias, & marveled that he lingered so long in the temple.”
“Zacharias’” extra time “in the temple” caused “the people” to “marvel” or wonder’ about what was happening. “The people” had a particular time-frame within which the burning of incense(:9) should be completed. Any variance from that expected time-frame, brought anxiety/consternation to all those outside the Holy Place.
Being ignorant or uninformed as to what was happening in the temple, ‘COULD HAVE BROUGHT’, among other concerns...
•A concern for “Zacharias’” well-being.
•Anticipation of God’s particular blessing on “Zacharias.”
•Anticipation that something ‘good’ is happening.
•A godly concern for ‘offense’ against God. That is, ?Has “Zacharias’” let us down?
•A Godly concern for what such ‘offense’ might mean for the nation.
*When we don’t have definite answers, all manner of things run thru our minds. We may think either the worst of our situation, or the best, or most likely, both.
When we are ignorant or uninformed about what God is doing, it is always a good time for personal introspection.
*When God’s people are unsure or uncertain, that drives them to pray! Through prayer we communicate with God.
And that communication has the ‘potential’ to supply us with God’s knowledge of our circumstances/situation!
*Thru communication with God, our limited ‘vision’ is ‘Enhanced’ & expanded to include ‘seeing’ our situation from God’s perspective. His vision sheds light on our uncertainty.
*And IF you allow it, God’s power may even enable you to be peacefully satisfied with remaining/being uncertain!
Deut. 29:29—“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us & to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Ps. 25:14—“The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.”
Isa. 55:8-9—“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Argumentation:
*God’s people must see/understand/perceive as God does:
Jn. 3:3—“Jesus answered & said to him[Nicodemus], “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.””
Mat. 5:17-20—“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven & earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, & teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does & teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes & Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Rom. 12:1-2—“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good & acceptable & perfect will of God.”
Eph. 5:8-10—“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, & truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”
Php. 1:9-11—“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more & more in knowledge & all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere & without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory & praise of God.”
Illustration:
Binoculars. My wife & I like to identify & watch birds. It is not enough for us to ‘guess at’ or ‘suppose’ what kind of bird we’re looking at. But since birds are by nature, somewhat skittish, we wanted a way to identify them from a distance. So we bought binoculars with 12x magnification -X-50mm diameter lenses. The binoculars Enhance our Perspective, so that we can see details of the birds that will help us identify them. An ENHANCED PERSPECTIVE
The Holy Spirit of God gives you an Enhanced Perspective!
Application:
?Can God depend on YOUR ENHANCED PERSPECTIVE of His desire, to Turn people to Himself?
?Will YOU serve God in ‘initiating the turn?’
Pt# 8 only! presented 11/12/2023am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
