ADVENT 2016 “Our Coming Savior”
First Sunday Hope for the Barren Life: Zacharias
and Elizabeth
CONNECT
It's not fair!
We hear that a lot today. Entitlement is embedded in our culture of privilege. Because
we live in a contract world, we believe that if we do “x,y,z”, then success
will come. Sometimes, it doesn't work out that way.
Two characters
in the story of Christmas meet that description. Their names are Zacharias and
Elizabeth. Let’s meet them.
TEXT LUKE
1
Zacharias Ministers in the
Temple
5 There was in the days
of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division
of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And
they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was
barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
Here are two
people who are in the ministry. They are descendants of priests; Elizabeth is a
“daughter” of Aaron, the first high priest, Moses’ brother. They walk with God,
rarely sin, and observe all the Law requires. Yet, they have no child; they are
barren!
What a terrible
word, barren. Barren was the word for
land that produced nothing, no fruit, no progeny, no legacy, no blessing. It
was considered a curse or judgment for some terrible sin in your life or your
ancestors.
Psalm 107:33-34 (NKJV) He
turns rivers into a wilderness,
And the water springs into dry ground;
34 A fruitful land into
barrenness (a salty
waste),
For the wickedness of those who dwell in
it.
Not only that,
Zacharias and Elizabeth were not spring chicks! The possibility of fulfillment
in their own strength was gone. They were in a hopeless situation!
TENSION
Have you ever
felt that life passed you by? Even though you did everything God expected there
was no fruit, no fulfillment, no joy. It appears that your dream, your desire,
your fruit will never come and there is nothing you can do about it. You feel
barren; life has been a waste!
SOLUTION
That is where
God lives! His address is at the end of
your rope; He is the hope for the hopeless!
PRAYER
INSTRUCTION
This is the
beginning of Advent, the time of preparation for the celebration of the Lord’s
coming. The next four Sundays will have different themes and will culminate in
out Christmas Eve service. Today’s theme is hope!
Let's look and
see how hope comes to Zacharias and Elizabeth.
8 So it was, that while
he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according
to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn
incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And
the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the
right side of the altar of incense. 12 And
when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to
him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is
heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a
son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And
you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall
drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be
filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And
he will turn many of the children of Israel to
the Lord their God. 17 He will also go
before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘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.”
Zacharias and
Elizabeth had been praying. God had heard! Zacharias name means "God remembers"! The child they would
conceive would be the promised forerunner of the Messiah!
Isaiah 40:3 (NKJV)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way
of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Malachi 3:1 (NKJV)
Behold, I send My
messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.
Oftentimes, when
God fulfills a promise, it is bigger and better than we could ever imagine,
1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have
entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who
love Him.”
Who is this promised
son? John the Baptist!
Zacharias is Unable to
Speak
18 And Zacharias said to
the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well
advanced in years.”
19 And the angel
answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God,
and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But
behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take
place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their
own time.”
21 And the people waited
for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. 22 But
when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen
a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
23 So it was, as soon as
the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house.
VIDEO “Zacharias and Elizabeth”
24 Now after those days
his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25 “Thus
the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked
on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Elizabeth's name means "God is my oath"!
57 Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her
to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and
relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with
her.
59 So it was, on the eighth day, that
they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name
of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, “No; he shall be called John.”
61 But they said to her, “There is no one
among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they
made signs to his father—what he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and
wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he
spoke, praising God. 65 Then
fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed
throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all those who
heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of
child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 Now his father Zacharias was filled
with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He
has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for
us
In the
house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have
been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from
the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our
fathers
And to
remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father
Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being
delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might
serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our life.
76 “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,
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His
people
By the
remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God,
With
which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
79 To give light to those who sit in darkness
and the shadow of death,
To
guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 So the child grew and became strong in
spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
INSPIRATION
The barren womb produced who Jesus said that John was the
greatest man ever born of woman!
ACTION
POINTS
1. God remembers!
2. He is your oath!
3. Sing over your barrenness!
Isaiah 54:1 (NKJV) “Sing, O
barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you
who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than
the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
Jack Hayford story...
HASGTAG #yourenotdeadyet
