The REALIZATION Of GOD’s GUIDANCE-IV—
Luke 1:67b-80(:57-80)
Attention:
PETA's Response to Obama's Fly “Execution”—June 18, 2009
Exerpted from: OneNewsNow.com, Reuters, ABC News.
In 2009, then U.S. President Barak Obama(2008-2016) stopped during an interview, to swat & kill a fly that was buzzing around his head. “Get out of here,” the president fussed at the fly. When it didn't, he waited for the fly to settle, put his hand up & then smacked it dead!
“Now, where were we?”, Obama asked his interviewer. Then he added: “That was pretty impressive, wasn't it? I got the sucker.”
As a result, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals(PETA) called the fly incident an “execution”, & scolded the President to show more compassion...”
Bruce Friedrich, the then V.P. for Policy at PETA stated, “We support compassion for even the smallest animals”, “We support giving insects the benefit of the doubt.” Friedrich said that PETA support “brushing flies away rather than killing them” & was disappointed that the president had killed the fly.
The group sent the president a ‘Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher’, which traps bugs & allows their safe release back into nature.
PETA was way over-the-top in their assessment of the ‘fly-execution’ situation. !Given that flies are known vectors for disease, PETA was in need of some ‘common-sense’ guidance.
Similarly, we ALL stand in need of guidance, BUT more pointedly, we ALL stand in need of the ‘common-sense’ of GOD’s perfect GUIDANCE!
1:76-79—““And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness & the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.””(cf.-Isa. 9:6-7; Isa. 40:3-5;)
God’s ‘GUIDANCE’ can come to any individual, thru their willful & conscious, personal trust in Jesus Christ.
And the ‘evidence’ of the Savior’s ‘salvation’ in a person, is seen in that person’s trust in Jesus as ‘the Lord’ of their life, as they allow God to ‘guide’ their life choices.
And by means of a person’s living a life guided by God, His GUIDANCE becomes a priceless gift that is made available to & for others to apprehend by their own personal faith.
BUT the ‘touchstone’ for the arrival of God’s promised GUIDANCE, was the birth of John-the-Baptist. With John’s birth, God’s promise began to be realized in real time.
Need:
There is a battle that continually rages in us, between the offer of God’s guidance versus our own fleshly choices. And that battle describes the dilemma we constantly answer thru freewill!
So all people stand in need God’s ‘Guidance’ & direction!
Willfully AVOIDING God’s ‘Guidance’ & direction, leaves your life devoid of real answers to the most troubling quandaries of life.
On the other hand, willfully RECEIVING God’s ‘Guidance’, gives a beautiful & peaceful, clarity & purpose to your life!
Luke records prophetic events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist.
The means towards God’s ‘guidance’(1:79) was realized thru the birth of John the Baptist.
God’s ‘guidance’(in the way of peace) has been historically realized.
But:
?How is God’s guidance realized for you & me today?
We are attempting to answer that question by examining...
...6 Realizations that bring God’s Guidance to us.
So far we’ve found that ‘God’s ‘Guidance’ is realized thru a’:
1. Prophetic BIRTH(:57-58)
2. Prophetic RITUAL/CUSTOM(:59)
3. Prophetic ENCOUNTER(:60-64)
& a:
4. Prophetic GRASP(:65-67a)
And TODAY we’ll find that:
5—God’s ‘guidance’ is ALSO realized thru a Prophetic...
REVEALING(:67b-79)[Part-1--:67b-69]
Explanation:(:67b-79)[part-1--:67b-69]Expose/Disclose/Make known
:67—“Now his father, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, & prophesied, saying:”[See: 'The REALIZATION Of GOD’s GUIDANCE-3']
:68—“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited & redeemed His people,”
By “the Holy Spirit”, Zacharias proclaims that “the Lord the God of Israel” is such a treasure to His people, that He is “blessed” by them, & is to be “blessed” by all.
God thru Zacharias, wanted all to know, that the events surrounding the birth of Zacharias’ son John, were intended as an obvious sign that “the Lord” had “visited” or ‘shown up’ for His people Israel, in answer to God’s promise!
As did the fulfilling of the promise of John’s birth, SO, there is the nearness & certainty of Messiah-Jesus’ coming! God had indeed accomplished “redemption” for those whom He calls His own.....
*‘REDEEM’—‘To release by the payment of a price’, or ‘to buy back.’
•In God’s scheme of things, people must be “redeemed” from their personal sin with it’s resulting sinfulness. The MEANS to be “redeemed” is offered to all people, by God, thru Jesus Christ only!
To be “redeemed” TO God is to be returned, or be ‘brought back’ to a fundamental & expected relationship...with eternally lasting results... So from a point of initial trust, the “redemption” seen by Israel, is carried forward throughout eternity, being made available to all people!
*Note that Zacharias’ prophecy declares to us that God “has” ALREADY “visited & redeemed” “His people.” In the historical context of John-the-Baptist’s birth, that “redemption” is spoken of as if it had already fully occurred! Whereas Jesus had not even been born yet!
•That’s because God is always perfectly & powerfully faithful! Anything God ‘intends’, is as good as done!
•It’s NOT that the “redeeming” had been brought to FULL fruition in John’s day. The “redeeming” at that time, had only begun to be physically set in motion thru John-the-Baptist’s birth. With his birth, the fulfillment of the ‘New Covenant’ was now a near reality.
•Thru God’s “visitation”, unalterable things had been set in motion which would, with absolute certainty, accomplish the intended “redemption.”
•John-the-Baptist’s birth & presence in the world, is one sign of the certainty of the Savior’s presence & work in the world!
:69—“And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David,”
God’s redeeming visitation(:68), seen here thru John-the Baptist’s birth, had ensured & would ensure that someone(Jesus) of very tangible ‘power’(“a horn”), would be “raised up” by God’s intent, design, & sovereignty, that would provide both ‘spiritual’ “salvation” for God’s people.
The plan of “salvation” that God brings to the table “for us”, involves God’s “raising up” that One in Whom there is no limit of power....Christ Jesus!
•That is what the picture of “a horn”, presents. It’s an OT metaphor for ‘power’, drawn from “horned” animals in nature—Cattle/Elk/Deer/Moose/Caribou/Antelope/Rhinocerous, etc.
*The “salvation” spoken of here, is the actual/real “salvation” from the penalty of personal sin, & from the resulting sins we commit against God, & so, against others.
That One bringing “salvation for us” will be from & thru “the house of” God’s “servant” “David”, the King of Israel.
•David’s physical kinship has always been a vital part of God’s plan thru Israel.
•And at the time of these events with the birth of John, David had been dead for ~900 years!
•We are told that David was a man after God’s own heart!
1Sam. 13:14—the prophet Samuel to King Saul--the 1st king of Israel—“But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, & the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
Acts 13:22—“And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony & said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
•A conflation of 3 texts: Ps. 89:20; 1Sam. 13:14; Isa. 44:28.
God had promised to “raise up a horn of salvation” thru His ‘Messiah’ promised to Israel. ‘Messiah’ is the Hebrew word, & ‘Christ’ is the Greek word—both meaning ‘Anointed.’
•And that ‘Messiah’ would be from David’s flesh or genealogical line.(Isa. 9:7; 11:1-2; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:20-26; Eze. 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Amos 9:11; Rom. 1:3).
•In Psalm 132:17, the promised Messiah is called the “horn of David.”
Thru DAVID:
Isa. 11:1-5—“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom & understanding, The Spirit of counsel & might, The Spirit of knowledge & of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.”
Mat. 1:1-2, 5-6, 16 —“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac....”....“Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, & Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.”....“And Jacob[NT] begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”
Rev. 22:16—“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you[apostle John] these things in the churches. I am the Root & the Offspring of David, the Bright & Morning Star.”
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Remember how PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) designated President Obama's killing of a pesky fly, as an “Execution”?
PETA was way over-the-top in their assessment of the ‘fly-killing’ situation. They were in need of some ‘common-sense’ guidance.
Similarly, we ALL stand in need of guidance, BUT more pointedly, we ALL stand in need of the ‘common-sense’ of GOD’s perfect GUIDANCE!
Action:
God’s guidance is realized thru a Prophetic...
5. REVEALING(:67b-79)[Part-1--:67b-69]
1. BIRTH(:57-58)
2. RITUAL/CUSTOM(:59)
3. ENCOUNTER(1:60-64)
4. GRASP(:65-67a)
Pnt# 5[Part 1--1:67b-69] only! presented to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
