Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

What a wonderful day my friends, we are here for the second Sunday of the month and we are celebrating Advent...

Advent just refers to His coming… Jesus coming into the world!

Last week we began by looking at the first topic of Advent, and that was Hope.

God himself had given the nation, yes even the world hope for the future.

The salvation of the Lord was at hand and soon God would send a Savior, one greater than Moses, one greater than the prophets and one greater than David.

Oh Yes! God would send his own son into the world.

Jesus!!

Now today we come to the second theme of Advent, Preparation!

God was setting the stage, He was making everything ready for the entrance of His Son into the world.

Hang on to that first part.... “...in the fullness of time....” At just the right time, when all the preparations were in place, Jesus came, born of a virgin!

This my friends is where we will begin today, the greatest point of God’s preparation, and it is with John the Baptist.

So if you have your Bibles, lets go to Luke chapter 1 and lets look at the lives of Zechariah and Elisabeth.

Luke chapter 1, verses 5-13

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What a tremendous passage, as we see the Lord at work in our world, finishing the final preparations for the coming of His Son.

He sent one ahead of the son, one who would finish the work of telling the world to get ready.

Today that message is still being heard, get ready… Jesus is coming soon!

3 things I want you to examine with me my friends....

Prayer was Heard....

Friends there is something we love to hear from God, amen! ‘Your prayer has been heard...”

Oh man, when we reach out by faith and seek His face, asking, pleading at times and yes hoping for an answer, I want you to know, God is in the business of answering.

Please note, that doesn’t mean the answer is favorable, it doesn’t mean we get our way simply because we ask, it means this .... God does answer!

The answer could be Yes, it might be No, and there is one more possibility, and that is not yet.

The world had been on hold my friends, I want you to know that many had been praying for God’s deliverer, for God’s redeemer to come… God was at work, but the timing wasn’t right just yet, but it was closer than anyone knew....

Now here in our passage there is a old couple.

Zechariah and Elizabeth…They had been praying, and I suspect as any good Jewish man or woman, they prayed for God’s deliverance, but we also they prayed for a child.

It was a sad thing to have no children, no heir and no helper along the course of a couples days.

This was the state of Zechariah and Elizabeth.

** They were faithful, it was Zechariah’s turn to serve in the temple…(explain this)

Looking at the text we know they were both from priestly lines… and they faithful, upright and sadly old with no child.

Verses 5-7 tell us this truth

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And the Bible tells us that this day Zechariah was serving in the Temple, more specifically, He was in the holy area, by the altar of incense.... and there was a visitor there.

Look with me at verses 10-13

So lets examine this a little closer… the hour of incense… what is that?

Now we know that the hour of incense corresponds to the actions of the evening sacrifice.

About 2:30pm, the Priest would make their final sacrifices of the day and have all the pieces of that sacrifice laid out on the altar.

So usually about the Ninth hour, 3pm they would begin their corresponding services and rituals…

At this time we find Zechariah inside the Temple making his offering of incense upon that altar, it was this altar that lay immediately in front of the curtain that divided the holy room from the most holy room....

So as he has done each day, he does this day… but it all suddenly changes!

The Angel of the Lord appears to him on the right side of the Altar… and Zechariah was afriad… it says he was troubled… You think....

Then the angel speaks to him… Zechariah… Your prayer as been heard...

Those my friends are the most precious words ever spoken… your prayer has been heard...

Gabriel, yes we know his name… verse 19.

Your prayer has been heard, Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you will call his name John.

How wonderful, what they have asked for… God is doing great things in their midst.

There is much we can learn right here..

A. They were Old… But they never gave up in prayer.

Why?

They believed God was able, even as they grew older and older every year.... they knew God was faithful.

Are you faithful to pray, even when the time drags on and on...

B. God was at work, not only in their lives, but in the lives of so many others as well.

What God was doing would benefit the whole world as He was making preparations for the Savior.

C. I am reminded over and over again, God is faithful...

Let me ask you a question?

What are you praying for?

Are you faithful to the point that you pray and refuse to give up?

God hears and answers prayers… Yes, No and in a while… He is always at work.

Now this brings me to my second thought of the day, as we celebrate and consider the Preparation for the World...

2. A Great Son.....

Now you might think, we know they are having a son… But I would remind you this boy will not be just any son… He will be great in the sight of the Lord.

I mean look at this, Zechariah is in the Temple, he is serving the Lord , doing his work there and the arch angel Gabriel arrives to make this special announcement...

Friends, this is the reveal party of all time… Listen, your wife will have a son, and his name will be called John.

There wasn’t any blue power going off in the Temple, but I think there was applause in heaven as God’s plans and preparations are being revealed....

Look with me at , verses 12-18

As the angel shares the joy of this coming child, the angel shares this truth....

Look at verses 14-17

A. He will bring you joy and gladness.... without a doubt, a long prayed for child brings joy to a family, especially this family.

This couple were old, they were not young anymore and for them to have a child, without a doubt was indeed a miracle of God....

B. Many will rejoice at his birth....

Not only would family and friends rejoice.

says...

They rejoiced , they were sharing the joy of Elizabeth and Zechariah… but I believe God was also getting a the glory as well....

C.

He will be great before the Lord… this is a very unique saying… it really has a meaning of standing close to God, more so than any of the prophets before him.

John would have a God given ministry, one that required much of Him but the world would be blessed as he prepared the way for Jesus.

Much required of him, He had a calling in his life, a calling that was God given.. God had set upon him a Nazarite vow… usually a person would place that upon themselves as they followed God, but God sets his on Him before he was born so that even his parents would understand how special this child was..

Most importantly, He would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from before birth.

Without a doubt this man would be God’s vessel, holy and used for his glorious purposes...

D. Walking in the spirit and power of Elijah....

He would be a man out of time, if you will.

John would be the last of the OT prophets, the last one who is proclaiming the coming of Lord’s promise…

As such we see that He will prepare the way for Jesus.

As John preaches we know the people will come and respond to God’s message or repentance.. Literally, God will use him to turn many of the children of Israel back to the Lord their God.

As such we see that He will prepare the way for Jesus.

As John preaches we know the people will come and respond to God’s message or repentance.. Literally, God will use him to turn many of the children of Israel back to the Lord their God.

John would be a great son, a holy prophet who one day will see Jesus and say… Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World.... John 1:29..

John is a great Son, He was a holy vessel, used by God for His glory… Preparing the way for the Lord.

I want you to know my friends, Jesus is coming again.

You can be vessels, filled by the Holy Spirit, used of God to help prepare the hearts of many for teh Lord’s return.

Oh, the sea is full, we must be fishers of men, bringing many with us as the Lord returns to gather His church.

Now let me share just one more thought with you my friends today....

3. Doubt leads to Praise.....

You know at times when God speaks to us, when he calls us to serve, to share or to be a witness we often doubt, God are you really asking me?

We feel unsure, when God knows us and knows our potential...

This day, as the angel of the Lord, Gabriel stands in front of Zechariah, Zechariah has some doubt...

Let return to our text.... look with me at verses 18-25

Now I want to encourage you not to look to harshly upon Zechariah, he is like us, we doubt at times.

and he did..

As Gabriel tells him this news, He is filled with doubt, how can this be… literal translation… we are old as dirt… we are well past child bearing years...

Gabriel tells him......