Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
PREPARING FOR JESUS’ COMING
Sunday, December 08, 2002 AM
Luke 1:5-17, "There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel 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. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
We are entering the time of year when Christians around the world will observe and commemorate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the small village of Bethlehem, in Judea. As we enter into this holiday season, I want us to begin to examine the events that led to the birth of Jesus for in those events we can see a parallel to the events of our present time when we are, once again, waiting for the coming of Jesus to end the oppression and sin upon His chosen nation.
As we begin this message I want to remind you that the first coming of Jesus as a baby in that manger came at a time when Israel was going through the motions of worshipping God in the Temple ceremonies but there had been no prophet, no word from the Lord God Jehovah for 400 years. There was a spiritual darkness that covered the land as a result of judgment against Israel for their idolatry.
The mighty Legions of Rome under the iron fist of Caesar had a stranglehold on the land of Israel and the chosen people of God were given only a limited ability to worship the true God as they pleased. Rome had little use for their religion as they considered any nation who was conquered to have weaker god’s than their own. The Romans had a multitude of gods that they served.
Mars (the god of war) was among them, and Caesar himself was looked upon as god also. (Perhaps that part of Rome’s religious belief system has been the most influential factor in combining the exaltation of a man, such as the Pope, into the position of the Vicar of Christ, as is prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church.)
Naturally, because the Roman Legions had conquered Israel, their assumption was that Caesar, Mars and their other gods were far more powerful than the God of Israel. Little did they know that they were actually pawns in the eternal plan of the God of Heaven to bring about the birth of Jesus, God’s only Son, and bring the way of deliverance to all mankind, including these heathens of Rome.
Looking forward now into the present time in which we live, we can feel that same oppressive spirit of bondage and the presence of the spirit of the Antichrist that existed in the time of Jesus’ birth. It is not Rome that rules over the hearts of men. (even though their will be, and now exists a sort of resurrection of the Roman Empire in the form of a new world coalition of nations that were once a part of that Empire. This confederation of nations will play a major role in the final events of time before the Second Coming of Jesus.)
No, it is not these nations that have the real dominion over the earth. It is the power of Satan himself, the Great Red Dragon, the Serpent, the deceiver and liar, and the powers of darkness and sin that have all of mankind in their powerful grasp. It is sin in the hearts of men that give Satan the power to rule over mankind. Yet, even Satan and his evil spirits, demons and fallen angels are nothing more than pawns in the hands of Almighty God to bring God’s will and plan to its completion. God is still in control no matter how much it may sometime seem otherwise and don’t ever forget that fact.
If there has ever been a time of spiritual darkness that covered this world, we are living in the worst of those times right now. I know from the Word of God that this world will grow ever darker as it continues on the path to destruction and that the Second Coming of Christ is the only hope for the survival of mankind. Satan’s ultimate goal is the destruction of all that God created, especially mankind who is created in God’s own image.
Most of mankind looks upon the church as a symbol of weakness. The communist view of religion was once stated in one short sentence, “Religion is an opiate of the people.” By this statement they are saying that there is no real power in religion of any sort, Christian or otherwise. Their belief is that there are no gods at all and that man is in control of his own destiny. The only reason that mankind even makes an attempt at religion is because it gives him a false sense of hope for delivery from bondage and a false security because of a belief in a life hereafter and those hopes keep us from going insane. Don’t be fooled my friend, the wall of Berlin has fallen and the Russian juggernaut has been temporarily disabled but my Bible still places them in a battle against Israel in these last days.
Now, what does all of this have to do with our text this morning?
I am simply pointing out that we are looking for the Second Coming of Jesus and the condition of society are ripe for His coming!
The true church of God and those who are truly living the life of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus Christ are continually serving God and going about their daily lives with duty and commitment to do the work of the Kingdom of God.
Zacharias and Elisabeth were a family of the Tribe of Levi, God’s chosen people for the priesthood of Israel for it was only those of the Levites who were allowed to perform the duties of the priests. Elisabeth was faithful to her duties in support of the temple and of her husband who was, even now, serving God in the only way that he knew how. He was faithful to perform his duties of burning incense in the Temple.
I want you to note that his was not the duty of sprinkling the blood. His was not the duty of sacrificing the lamb or burning the offering upon the altar. His duties consisted of washing at the laver before the door of the Holy Place, then entering into the Holy Place to burn incense upon the Altar of Incense. The burning of that incense upon the Altar of Incense is representative of the prayers of God’s people rising up to the Throne Room of Heaven and coming before Almighty God.
After a fashion, he was faithfully doing his duty and “occupying” as Israel waited for the coming of their Messiah to deliver them from bondage.
In the Parable of the Talents found in Luke 19, we have a parable that gives us the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as He ascends back into Heaven and leaves his servants in charge of working and bringing in the harvest for His Kingdom as it says in verse 13, "…he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come."
Now that’s the commandment to you and I, as the servants of our Lord. We are to occupy, to work and bring in the harvest, until the return of our Master. Then we will all give an account of our faithfulness to His call upon our lives, just as surely as those servants in the parable did and God will reward us according to our faithfulness.
Part of our duty of what is described as “occupying” is the same as those of Zacharias and Elisabeth. We are to be faithful in the trust in God to perform and complete His promise of deliverance, we are to be ever allowing the Word of God to wash us and cleanse us and then we are to enter into the holy presence of God and offer up our prayers for every need and especially on behalf of every lost soul. Our duty is to live our lives in service to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to all mankind, and to be watching and waiting for His coming.
In the course of doing his duty of burning incense, Zacharias never dreamed that he and Elisabeth would be used as instruments and vessels to bring about the will of God and be the parents of the child who would grow and become the fore-runner of Jesus Christ.
God was going to bless them, even in their old age, with a son whose name would be John, later called John the Baptist.
You never know just how much God is going to accomplish through your faithful ministry by His direction. God has a plan for your life and a work for you to do. Just remain faithful to Him and watch what God will do.
Now most of us are like Zacharias in other ways too. Here was a priest unto the Lord, a man of God, a faithful servant in the Temple, a man who is described as “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” I hope and pray that each of us can be described as wonderfully in the eyes of God as Zacharias and through the Blood of Christ and trusting in the power of the Cross of Christ we can have that same description upon ourselves.
When the archangel Gabriel appeared and spoke to Zacharias that he and Elizabeth would have a son in their old age, Zacharias wasn’t quite prepared for that kind of announcement. According to their age the birth of a natural son would be impossible in the eyes of men but in Luke 1:37 when the angel appears to Mary he says , "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Zacharias just could not bring himself to belief that he and Elisabeth could bring forth a son. Because of the unbelief, Zacharias was stricken with the inability to speak until John would be born.
I wonder why there are so many Christian who have the inability to speak to others about Jesus and to tell others of Jesus’ Coming the way that they should? Is it because we too have a lot of doubt as to whether God will do what He has promised? Does our lack of faith in the Word of God and in the power of God to do what He said He would do limit our ability to spread the gospel? I wonder how much more we could do, or how many more souls we could reach if would just believe God’s Word and step out in total trust and faith?
I want add that the scripture says that the whole multitude where without the temple praying while Zacharias was hearing from the angel of the Lord.
I believe that this church, and the world of Christianity will only see a revival and hear the fresh, anointed Word of God and will only hear from God when the church falls on her face before God in repentance and in intercession for a lost and dying world. But we are caught up in our own little worlds and we don’t have time or give time to the offering of our incense to God. No wonder there is little real moving of the Holy Spirit in the church today! The revival is going to come and is already here in many places but there can be so much more if we just offer up that incense and listen to the Word of God.
I am convinced that God is raising up some John the Baptist’s right now. Their name may not be John the Baptist; it may be Sam, Bill, Jake, Logan, Allison or any of name you could give but, if they too will be faithful as Zacharias and Elisabeth, then perhaps they will have the “power and spirit of Elijah” to preach of the Second Coming of Christ just as John did concerning the Birth of Christ.
John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost before he was ever born. (As a side note here, I wonder if we may have already aborted many of those that God has chosen to be a modern day John the Baptist? Satan is working overtime right now to stop the plan of God in any way that he can and I am absolutely convinced that one of his greatest methods is the destruction of unborn children who could be the future John the Baptists.)
The angel Gabriel told Zacharias that John would be the fore-runner of the Son of God, …And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
In those days, whenever the king or a high ranking military or governmental official was coming through town he would always be preceded by a runner or a rider that would go before and clear the path and command the people to bow to the ruler who would soon follow him. His job was to make sure that everyone knew that someone very important was coming.
I believe that’s the same duty we have today. If you are going to be a modern day John the Baptist then get out there in the highways, byways and desert places and let people know that Jesus is coming soon.
He came as a baby to save the world the first time but this time He is coming as a King to judge and rule the world for eternity.
After John was born, Zacharias was given the ability to speak once again and the first words out of his mouth were that his son would be named John as the angel had said.
One day, when we have finally reached the place in our lives where we are totally surrendered and totally committed to doing what God has told us to do, then God will finally deliver us from those doubts and fears that keep us from speaking His Word and telling others about Jesus. Its impossible to give faith to others if we don’t have faith ourselves, so God has to bring us to that place before we can really be effective in His Kingdom.
Now, John and Jesus were born and began to grow up and prepare for the ministry that they were destined to do.
I want us to skip ahead some 33 years now and there is one final point I want to make concerning this message on John the Baptist, the fore-runner of Jesus.
Matthew 3:1-6, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."
I want you to notice the lifestyle and character of this fore-runner of Christ. If we are called to be the fore-runners of Jesus in the present world I think that it is noteworthy for us to see how John lived as well.
John lived the life of a common and even poor man according to this world’s standards. He wore coarse clothing made of rough camel’s hair and skins, a leather belt around his waist and he ate locusts and wild honey.
He didn’t ride in the finest of chariots, pulled along by a group of well trained and well groomed stallions. He didn’t wear Bill Blass suits, drive a Mercedes Benz, and eat in the finest of restaurants. According to the present day teaching of the Prosperity Doctrine you hear in so many of our churches, John would have been a “faithless and backslidden former man of God”. But that’s not God’s opinion of John at all.
At the end of the ministry of John the Baptist, when he was locked away in prison and soon to be beheaded as a result of his strong preaching concerning repentance, Jesus had these words to say concerning this “faithless and backslidden former man of God”.
Matthew 11:7-11, "And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
That’s the worldly view of Christianity and it’s the same view that has crept its way into the church in the attempt to dilute and weaken the effect of the church in preparing the world for Jesus’ coming.
The world sees the church as a weak entity that is shaken with every wind and moved with every wind of doctrine that comes along and that the church is no better, nor any stronger than the world is.
The world, and most of the church, are looking for a teacher, a prophet that will only give good news or give them some supernatural sign of power.
The world is looking, and most of the church, are looking for the pleasant life with fine clothing, earthly mansions and the riches of this life.
But John the Baptist didn’t have those things. He wore the clothing of a poor man and ate the food of a poor man, yet he was rich in the realm of the Spirit and in the sight of God.
John realized that his final destination was not this world but he was destined to dwell in a city that was not made with hands, just as God had promised to Abraham.
John realized that he was not worthy to undo the latches of Jesus’ shoes and knew that, in comparison to Jesus, that he was wretched and poor and most honored to be given the job of preaching the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
What about you this morning? What kind of fore-runner are you? Have you taken your eyes off of the coming of the Lord and placed your eyes on the things of this world?
Are you crying out, “Prepare the way of the Lord, Make your walk straight, holy and righteous for the King is Coming, the King is Coming”?
Are you ready for the Second Coming of Jesus? There weren’t many who were ready for His coming in Bethlehem and there won’t be many ready for His coming in the Clouds of Glory either!
Are you a voice crying in the wilderness, or are you hiding in the wilderness?
It’s time for those who are called to burn the incense to get on their knees and pray!
It’s time for those who are called to preach repentance to shout it from the housetops!
It’s time for those who are called to teach to prophesy the Word of the Lord!
It’s time to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord!
It’s time to cast off the things of this world and put on those garments of humility and sacrifice our lives in service to the King of Kings!
It’s time to allow the Holy Spirit to arise in us just as it did in John the Baptist who preached in the “spirit of Elijah” and allow the miracle working power of God to wash us, cleanse us and then use us to lead others to allow the Blood of the Lamb to cleanse them also!
