Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Intro* -- One the second day of their honeymoon, Eric takes Louise’s hand and says, “Now that we’re married, Dear, I hope that you won’t mind if I mention a couple little defects that I have noticed about you.”
Louise replies, “Not at all.
It was those little defects that kept me from getting a better husband.”
Well, we’re all defective in some way, aren’t we?
But Zechariah, whom God used to break His 400 year silence in Israel, show God uses flawed people.
Even as His perfecting work continues, we can be useful.
It is critical that we get it through our minds that God can and does use flawed people.
WE don’t want to be any more defective than necessary!
But God uses defects – let’s all of us in!
Last week we saw that Zechariah was forgettable (the world’s perspective); faithful; fearful but favored.
And there is more today that will encourage us that God never calls someone to faith in Christ without having a place for them to serve.
One without the other is unknown in Scripture.
Drawbacks to service are in our minds, not His.
Zechariah illustrates this further.
*V.
He was Fruitful*
Zechariah’s life is about to become especially fruitful through his son, John.
We will look at him as a pattern for fruitfulness.
But we must first note that every true believer will bear fruit.
Every one.
Look at John 15.
Verse 1: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Many think this describes two kinds of Christians – fruitful and fruitless!
But that is not true.
First, why would Christ only prune the fruit-bearers?
Surely, if all were Christians, he would prune all, especially non-producers.
Further, note the fate of the fruitless branches in verse 6 “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
That cannot be the fate of a true believer.
That is someone who looked like a true branch, who did Christian things.
But they never owned Christ as Lord.
They weren’t real, so they are separated from God’s presence.
True believers bear fruit, so let’s ask, what fruit is there in my life?
Like the fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal 5:22-23 – love, joy, peace, etc. Do those things characterize our lives?
But we must also ask, does my life point to Christ?
Above all, that distinguishes believers from pretenders.
John models a fruitful life in 4 ways to measure ourselves against.
*A.
A Fruitful Life is Spirit-Filled*
Verse 15: “for he will be great before the Lord.
And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”
John the Baptizer is unique from the start.
He is a miraculous gift of God for his family and for the nation; he exemplifies greatness in a way we will not experience.
One sign of this is that he will not drink wine of strong drink.
This was one discipline of the OT Nazirites who were especially dedicated to God.
This does not mean the Bible teaches total abstinence from alcohol.
Wine, in greatly watered down form, was commonly drunk in a culture where water purity was an issue.
But the Bible unquestionably teaches moderation and self-control.
Drinking to get a buzz on, let alone to get drunk, is looking for joy in the wrong place.
Alcohol controls – and in that sense, it preempts a far more attractive alternative – to yield control to the third member of the Godhead -- the Holy Spirit.
The two contrasted here.
V 15: “And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”
God is urging – let me gladden your heart – control and empower you.
Be characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, not by the fruit of the vine.
John is unique in being Spirit-filled from his mother’s womb.
But he is not unique in the experience of Spirit-filling.
That is the expectation of every believer.
And it is required to produce fruit.
According to I Cor 12:13, every believer is baptized into the Holy Spirit.
Every believer has all of the Holy Spirit that he can ever get – just like John.
But Paul urges something else in Eph 5:18: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Be controlled by God’s Spirit, commands Paul.
Let Him set your heart on fire.
Immerse yourself in Him.
He’s 100% available to you; how much of you does He have?
You can’t bear fruit without Him.
I can prepare a sermon, but it is fruitless unless I am empowered by the Spirit.
The same is true for every action and attitude in our life!
Every comment we make at work, every action at home, every decision we take and every attitude we exhibit – every single one, is controlled by the Spirit, or it is controlled by me.
His fruit; or my failure!
Fruitful lives are Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled lives.
*B.
A Fruitful Life is Christ-Centered*
John 15:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
The Holy Spirit came selectively upon people during OT times.
But now – He is constant!
Jesus has come – and gone.
But God is not gone.
He indwells every single believer.
And His major role?
V. 26: He will “bear witness about me” -- about Christ.
The Holy Spirit has a mission to point to Christ.
Thus, Spirit-filled people point to Christ.
Notice Luke 1:15, “for he will be great before the Lord.”
Great where?
Before the Lord.
John does not live for himself, nor the expectations of his parents or friends or fellow-workers or peers.
He lives before the Lord (Jesus Christ) because the Holy Spirit within Him will have it no other way.
And notice verse 16: “16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.”
That’s a life focused like a laser on Christ.
Fruitful, Spirit-filled lives submit every action and decision to Jesus Christ.
Some of you may remember Redd, Harper, an old Hollywood cowboy actor who met Christ during the Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles in 1949.
Redd’s commitment was total.
He gave up his Hollywood career, acted in some early Billy Graham films, and became a traveling evangelist.
He came to Hutchinson, Kansas to speak at a Youth for Christ meeting one time, and ended up staying overnight at our home.
I saw Christ in a new way through him.
Christ-centered – didn’t even begin to describe Redd Harper.
He would open the screen door, sweep his arm ahead of him and say, “You first, Lord.”
His prayer before meals was intent, reverential, bold and heartfelt.
But more impressive was the way he would occasionally talk to the Lord while he was just walking along, practicing a song or some other mundane activity.
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