One Promise, Two Answers
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How many are glad to be in the New Year? Glad to put 2022 behind us and really dive into the new year. There is something else I want us to leave in our rear view mirror is the way we think.
I want us to begin to believe and receive blessing from God’s promises.
This is the time of year for resolutions, but which has more power? Which can you count on most?
Scripture:
8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week.
9 As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.
12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him.
13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.
14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.
16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.
17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”
19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news!
20 But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,
27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.
37 For the word of God will never fail.”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
Title, Prayer:
One Promise, Two Answers
Application:
Resolution def: a firm decision to do or not to do something:
just because we make a resolution doesnt mean the we have the power to carry it out. Just like Zech who was looking at his circumstance, they are based on my strength and what I can do.
Promise Def: Declaration by one person to another that something will or will not be done, giving the person to whom it is made the right to expect the performance of whatever has been specified.
Promises are only as good as the person issuing it!
Promise from people to people- stuff happens Bren brings me Chipotle but something happens
Promise from people to God - You know, Lord…If you get me outta this one
Promise from God to people - not a man that he should lie
Intro:
How many times has God promised us something and we turn around and let our flesh get in the way? I think about twenty years ago, I stopped doing New Years resolutions. I started thinking, whats the point?
I would have different results based on the complexity of the resolution. Some would last a month or so. Some would last a few weeks. And still some would only last a few days. They were always based on some kinda way to control my circumstance or some way to manipulate my environment.
But I want us to think different. We cant go into this new year thinking like we thought last year.
Okay, so how can I apply this scripture to everyday life?
Exegesis:
1. The approach:
vs. 29 Mary wasnt questioning that it was an angel, she was questioning what it meant! Sometimes we are so focused on the who, we cant see the what. Zech - as soon as someone says to us “the Lord said...” we clinch up! we dont wanna hear what the Lord said unless we ordered it special delivery! Face gets all tore up. We rock back like we are gonna turn and run! I want to work on the Zech piece. See sometimes God will remind us of a promise. Although we dont always get it. Then we discount it. we end up with what looks like a loss. But God’s losses are not like our losses, We still get gain from God’s losses.
God will sometimes send us things thru unlikely sources. He will send answers to our questions thru someone we dont know. He will allow our enemies to help us thru our struggles. (enemies a footstool) He will send us clarity during a storm.
2. The challenge:
vs. 34 This is the part that makes me struggle. How could God just produce a baby? We know that God is God and he created the earth and man and woman, but this is me?! how is He going to do this thing. Sometimes I struggle with what God tells me to do. There are certainly things that are easy peasy. But then there are some that just seem like He just made it up. Kinda like, wait you want me to do what? If we look at this, Mary was like hold on a sec. You know I have never had, you know I am a virgin. I am not seeing what your sayin! There are times God will say to us, yeah, I know you never did this before, yeah I now you dont have experience in the process to do what I am telling you, but still yet, I am telling you.
Mary was full of questions. Sometimes we think God is too big for our questions and we dont ask Him what he means. He is big enough to handle our questions in the small way we can handle it!
3. The Glory:
vs. 35 Often we want to be the author and finisher of our faith. The Holy Spirit will come upon us but we fight to remain in control. We dont allow the Spirit to overshadow us. This is the difficult part of Glory. But when we allow that to happen, the result is something that God produced! It is not just because of a solid process, not just because we really put our heads together.
God has already made the promises
I will never leave you nor will I forsake you - Deut 31:8
Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool - Ps 110
My God will supply all your needs - Philippians 4:19
Practice what I tell you, Then the God of peace will be with you - Phil 4:9
Benediction:
Then, If we believe the promise, how does that affect how we answer? How is it then, we struggle to fulfill what He asks us to do? God is faithful to perform it. Is there something that God is telling you? I believe there is someone here that has recieved a promise from God, but... Sometimes, I think we dont really want to know. Isaiah 55:9 “9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Because God doesnt just talk about new cars and new jobs and new houses or where to go on vacation.
He talks about life changing events. He talks about things even above what we dream about.
eph 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
The things that we cant possibly accomplish on our own. Christ was, is and will continue to use people to restore order to the world. What are you doing with your life, and decisions and thoughts. Jesus wants to find someone that lives by His promises (precepts), not by tossing of the wind and the waves. Eph 4:14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
Resolutions are typically based on the negativity of the previous year. Based on things you could not get done or things that went wrong. But when you live based on Gods promises, His strength is able to carry you when you feel weak, or when temptation comes, or when circumstance comes knocking on your door.
God will present to you a promise, but which answer will you give? The question is, are you living by the promise? Are we living by the promise or still just by the seat of our pants? Are we living by the promise or still allowing the flesh to drive what we do and say? Let me put it like this, Are we afraid of our enemies, or do we know that God will make them our footstool? Its a different day when we go to work, (with that one boss) and think to ourselves, its okay, God is going to make you my footstool.