0:02 Gospel according to Luke. Maybe they're in in the first chapter of Luke. And Lord, as we come now before your word, You know the hearts of every man and woman in this place. And Lord, we need a touch from you because we are prone to fall into a routine, especially this time of the year. We pray that you would rescue us from familiarity, and that you would, Lord, give us fresh eyes to see the beauty of the birth of our savior.
0:54 And with this particular message, though it may not be traditional, we ask that it would nonetheless bless, and that it would awaken our hearts. It would bring faith, hope, joy into every life who would receive it by faith. And so upon the delivery of this word, would you grant a grace? And upon our hearts, would you give us an openness to receive an attentiveness that would honor you? We look to you now in these days, especially, Lord, we look to you with great expectation and longing for your return.
1:29 In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Amen. As you know, this is the time of the year when Christians generally, rehearse the truths around the glorious and marvelous miraculous birth of the Messiah. And as we look to that, with that theme in most of our of our minds, I would like for us to highlight some precious insights from the word of God that are found leading up to that monumental event.
2:01 Our time together is gonna be different this this afternoon. It's not gonna be traditional. It's not gonna be that kind of familiar approach with the familiar message that we are prone to receiving. Instead, I want us to look at the person work of the holy spirit. The person work of the holy spirit apart from the obvious participation that he had in the incarnation of the son of God.
2:28 I think for many believers, the perception of the Holy Spirit's involvement around the events of the entrance of Christ into the world is is pretty narrow. But my prayer is that as you you and I come to this text, that our vision would expand and that our understanding of just how present he was when it comes to the arrival of Christ would be something glorious to us. It'd be something that we would be moved by. And this is gonna be a very practical message. It's not gonna be it's gonna be theological, but it's not gonna just be commentary about who the Holy Spirit is and and what purpose he played in this occasion.
3:08 I wanna speak directly to your hearts. I I want your minds to be illuminated, to realize what is possible when the person of the Holy Spirit is invited into your life to make the investment that he is able to make, if you would just believe it, if you would just trust in it and trust in him. And this goal will be accomplished as you and I turn our attention to a very special family that played an integral part in the occasion of Christ's arrival, and that's in Luke one. In Luke one, we read of a couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth, and we're given a description as we are debuting in this gospel account. They were both from the tribes of Levi.
3:59 They were righteous before God, and they kept all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. They were people who loved God. They were people who honored the word of God. They were people who wanted to please God. In addition to that, we we learn about this couple that Elizabeth was barren.
4:18 They had no children and she could not have children. And to add to that sorrow, they were advanced in years. But on a day, a special day for Zechariah as a priest who would enter into the temple, something unusual happens. The angel Gabriel appears. He visits Zachariah, and he informs this man that he would have a son, that his wife would indeed conceive.
4:44 And the conception of this child would be a miracle in itself. But more than that, the angel reveals that this child is gonna play special role in preparing a people for the Lord. He would fulfill prophecy. He would be the forerunner for the Messiah, and Zechariah is absolutely stunned. Before even considering the role that his son would play, he can't even fathom how his wife could even conceive.
5:12 And so he does act in unbelief, and we'll get to that in a moment. But it's clear just from that brief biography that this family was special, and they played a very special role in this narrative, this important chapter in redemptive history. And so much can be said about this family, but what I want to highlight to you this afternoon is the partnership of the Holy Spirit or the role of the Holy Spirit, the activity of the Holy Spirit in each of their lives, with each member of this family. I want you to see how the Holy Spirit works in them. And then from there, you and I are gonna be able to just glean some truths that I pray with all my heart would really move your soul this afternoon.
5:59 And so look briefly with me at Luke one fourteen to 15. And we read, as the angel speaks this message from heaven to Zechariah, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. This is John the Baptist. This is not Jesus we're speaking of here. In verse 15, for he will be great before the Lord.
6:22 Pause there. If you're gonna be achieving any greatness, be great before God. Don't be great before men. Be great before the Lord. 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.
6:45 Highlight that. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now scroll down in your bibles to Luke one forty one. And what do we read? And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
7:12 Interesting. Only gets more interesting as you come to the same chapter in verse 67. And what do you see? And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying. Three times in close proximity to one another, Luke was led by the spirit of God to tell us how Zachariah, Elizabeth, and their son, John, were filled with the Holy Spirit at different times.
7:48 Now you may be wondering why this is important, especially in connection to the theme of Christmas. And I'll tell you why it's important because one important reason is the fact that the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and his work in the human life because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that was dependent upon his incarnation is available now, not just to kings, not just to priest, not just to some prophets, and not just to some special households. He would be made available to everyone and anyone who would believe on the son of God. The prophet Joel spoke of a day that there would be an unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the objects of the reception of the Holy Spirit would be sons and daughters, young and old, male and female servants. They would all know a touch from the Holy Spirit that would empower them in a way that was only limited to a select few throughout history.
8:54 And so as much as what we're going to see today is unique to this family and that there are some realities that are not to be necessarily repeated. The application of the presence of God being with us still applies today. It still applies today. And so when you and I look at what's happening here with this family and how the Holy Spirit is working in and through them, I want your hearts to believe. I want your hearts to see that the same Holy Spirit who is not merely a force, who is not merely the extension of God's power, who is a person himself, can be known in your life in a very special way, in a way that is only made possible because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
9:40 And the way we're gonna do this is simply looking at a few thoughts. Very simple, very straightforward, but they're gonna be anchored in what we just read, those three verses. And the first thing that I wanna say to you today as you hear these truths is that everything that you hear mentioned today is only possible because of Christ. And that is certainly true for this first point. From what you just heard, I wanna declare to you with all the authority that I have in Jesus' name that God the Holy Spirit desires to fill our families.
10:12 God the Holy Spirit desires to fill our families. It is not an unusual thing to read in your Bibles that the Holy Spirit fills someone or filled someone. It's it's throughout the Bible. But what is very special about the verses that I just read to you is that unless you know of a different place in scripture, this is the only place in all of the bible where God the Holy Spirit explicitly tells us that every member of one household was filled with the Holy Spirit. You and I even use this vocabulary, and we are familiar with the idea of spirit filled people.
10:51 That man is filled with the Holy Spirit. That woman is filled with the Holy Spirit. And beyond that, we are comfortable and we are familiar with saying that that is a spirit filled church with a spirit filled leadership and a spirit filled people. But you know what's very uncommon at least to me is hearing about spirit filled families. Spirit filled families.
11:18 Households where the members have the holy spirit working in and through their marriage, the siblings, and the dynamics of the household altogether. And although again we see that this is a unique description of a household, the reality of it is not supposed to be unique. You see what the Holy Spirit has done here in Zechariah who was a husband and then a father and then Elizabeth who was a wife and then a mother and even in John who was their son and who had parents. What he did in them, he wants to do in us. He wants to do in every single family in the church today.
12:01 He longs for it. He desires it, and we should desire it just the same. And I think that is a very important message during this time of the year Because apart from focusing and and rehearsing the truth about Jesus, this is very much a time that we enjoy family, that we think about family. And for some of you in this place, that is a great thought. Family is associated with joy, with blessing, with healing, with with with heartfelt, safety and encouragement.
12:33 And for others, family is synonymous with trouble. It's it's it's painful. There's trauma. There's brokenness. And this time of the year is not to be looked after with great excitement, it's to be dreaded.
12:49 And I wanna tell you that if you are part of a fractured family, all of us are imperfect here. All of us have challenges. I'm talking about severely fractured families. Know that that is not God's design. That is not God's design nor is it his will.
13:04 God desires to make a mark on each household with the promised Holy Spirit. And if you want belief for that, then understand that so much is built upon that foundation of the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we think about that famous passage in in Ephesians five, right, 22 down to verse 33 about how husbands and wives should relate to one another and serve one another and love one another and respect one another, and how those instructions for the household bleeds into Ephesians six, where you have now instructions for children, how they should obey and honor their their father and mother and how the father should not provoke their children to wrath. We look at those instructions as though we're supposed to do it in our own might and strength and wisdom. As though it is separated from the the grand context of Ephesians.
13:53 What people don't realize when they jump over that at their weddings, and they put it on their little paintings at their homes, or they they go over those truths in in marriage counseling or in family, what they don't realize, I believe, most of the time, is that all of those truths are built upon Ephesians five eighteen. And what's Ephesians five eighteen? You know it very well. Do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
14:24 Paul starts there before he tells husbands how to be godly husbands. He starts there before he tells wives how to be godly wives. He starts there before he tells children how to honor their parents. We all need the Holy Spirit. What this tells me here is that the divine standard for sacrificial love, for submissiveness, for service to one another that we all long for in our homes, that we all ache for in our relationships with the closest people to us is absolutely and utterly impossible without the Holy Spirit.
15:00 That's what Paul's train of thought teaches us. True harmony in the home will never be realized if the Holy Spirit is not truly honored. But when dependency on him is realized, miracles can take place. And if dependency on him is lacking, then know this, division and devastation won't be. You see, the filling of the Holy Spirit in Zechariah's family was for the purpose of proclamation.
15:30 Right? When Zechariah was filled, he prophesied. When Elizabeth was filled, she proclaimed an outburst of praise. When John the Baptist was filled, he was consecrated in the womb so that he would be raised up to be that prophet that the Old Testament points to. But the the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives today expands beyond the purpose of proclamation and faithful witness to Christ.
15:55 Marriage is not easy. Raising children is challenging. Rebelling against your parents is a temptation that visits early on. But here's the Holy Spirit who has been granted through Jesus Christ as an ever present help for those who would believe and for those who would realize they need him. You know, Paul's order of thought there in Ephesians proves to us that the mark of a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit is not just faithful declaration of the gospel.
16:26 It is shown in how we relate to people, especially our families. You wanna see a spirit filled man? You wanna see a spirit filled woman? You wanna see a spirit filled anybody? Look how they treat people.
16:39 Look how they treat others. Look how they serve. Don't just look at what they say. Don't just look at the depth of their sermons, the depths of their teaching, the depths of their witness. Look at how they move and act and react and initiate and refrain.
16:54 It's so practical. It's so easy to understand, but very difficult to grasp in reality. And I know what some of you might be thinking in this place. If it is true that the Holy Spirit is the key to seeing I'm not just talking about things going along fine. I'm talking about exciting fruit being known in the home.
17:16 There are non believers there who have better household dynamics than Christians. But that's not the standard, you getting along and not trying to kill each other. That's not the standard of of Christian households. We're talking about partnership. We're talking about we're talking about righteousness being passed down from generation to generation.
17:34 That's what we're talking about. And I know what you might be thinking. If that is the case, then why is it that it is so difficult to identify a stable Christian home? Can I tell you why? This answer might shock you.
17:50 It's because being Christian isn't enough. Now wait there. Put your stones back in the pocket. Being Christian isn't enough, and the counseling slots will prove that. It's being a Christian with a certain attitude, a certain realization.
18:14 It's to have a heart that realizes I really wanna honor God. It's not just about having a peaceful home, a fruitful marriage, a lovely relationship with your kids. It has to come to a place where your heart says, I really want to glorify God. And if God called me to be a father, a husband, a wife, if God called me to be single but to be a young adult in my household, I really wanna honor the Lord. And it's spirit filled Christians that see spirit filled results in their lives.
18:45 And not every Christian is spirit filled, or else why would Paul instruct us to be filled with the Holy Spirit? You can be Christian and be empty till the day you die. Or you can be a Christian who knows what it means to be overflowing with the power of God. And it requires again a certain attitude, a certain faith, a certain realization. And I think when you look at Zechariah and Elizabeth's life, you get a hint of it.
19:09 Look at verse six of Luke one. You heard me describe them earlier, but here's the reference. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. This does not mean, of course, that their performance, their moral performance earned them some spiritual upgrade. You know how I know that?
19:34 Zechariah's unbelief when the angel told him about the conception of his son is enough proof to show me that this man was far from perfect. They were human just like you and I. They fell short. They made mistakes. They were disciplined by God, namely Zechariah.
19:49 But you know what? That verse that I just read proves to me that although they did fall short, oh, they had a heart for God. They really wanted to obey God. They really wanted to live for his glory, even in their destitution, even in their dire situation of barrenness. I love how we see here that this righteous couple still honored God, though they didn't have what they really wanted, and that was a son, a child.
20:14 They were just determined to live for him, and that's very important in in light of the fact that Zachariah was a priest. Zachariah was not like those other priests and religious leaders who were hypocritical and superficial. He was different. He was the real deal. And what I want to tell you today is that any couple or their families, their children who have no interest in living for the glory of God should have zero expectation of God providing them what they need in order to glorify him and enjoy his blessings.
20:46 What I'm trying to tell you today, there needs to be an attitude of desperation, an attitude of longing, a realization of your dependency on something supernatural because the things that we try to do in the natural always fail. And so here's what I wanna ask you in light of this first point of this portrait of a man, his wife, and their one son all being filled with the Holy Spirit. Whoever you are today, no matter what position you occupy, no matter what role God has called you to to operate in, when was the last time that you started your day knowing the great difficulties that were going to await you just in the front step outside of your bedroom. When was the last time you said, oh, God, if you don't fill me, I will fail. I will fail.
21:33 I will not be the man that you called me to be. I will not be the woman that you called me to be. I will not be the son or daughter that you called me to be. Ain't that beautiful? We have to hear it again.
21:45 When was the last time that you pleaded with the Lord? I'm talking about pleading with the Lord to have your selfish heart conquered by the spirit of God. When was the last time you caught yourself for a series of days being impatient or so easily agitated for no justifiable reason? When was the last time that you paused, pulled yourself away, humbled yourself before almighty God, said, oh, God, please. I don't wanna be like this.
22:16 Subdue where I lack control. I need your help. I need you to help me. That is the kind of heart posture that opens up wonderful possibilities and graces in the person of the Holy Spirit. And if we endeavor to do that listen.
22:34 I I know counseling's important. It helps. We need the church. We need wisdom. But I'm pointing you to the counselor of counselors today.
22:41 I'm pointing you to the person of the Holy Spirit. He can really change things, but it requires the first step of saying, I can't do this. I know that it sounds like a wonderful reality, but it will require every member of each household to at least do this one thing and saying, Lord, fill me. I'm gonna fill my heart with your word, and I'm gonna ask, as a child would ask a father, for a gift, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you endeavor to do that, it will not only be realized in our faithful witness to Christ like this family, but also in the way that we treat one another and love one another and serve one another with our with our silent witness to the world.
23:26 Here's what I wanna tell you this Christmas season. God the Holy Spirit wants to fill our households, and he's able to do it. Oh, I can say so much more. But let's move on to the second thought that I have for you. God the Holy Spirit offers an otherworldly joy.
23:41 God the Holy Spirit offers an otherworldly joy, and I find that here in Luke one forty four. This is when Mary visits Elizabeth, and Elizabeth experiences an unusual movement in her womb. You want a text to prove the sanctity of human life in the womb? Here it is. Luke one forty four.
24:06 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Leaped for joy. Things don't have joy. People have joy. We have a person in this womb.
24:26 He has a name. He has a purpose. And he has feelings. And at this point, the sound of the vessel that would host and mother the Messiah made the baby leap with excitement and realization of the near presence of the savior. You know, people come to this verse, this unique biography of John the Baptist, and they make it a matter of much debate only.
24:51 And I think that's a great disservice to our sanctification if we just use this as a talking point about different schools of thought and how God works before we're born and our destiny before we're born and what happens and look, that's that's fine and dandy. That's great. I think it's important to have these conversations in maturity, but don't miss what this is implying apart from the the realization that this is a truth that undeniably declares that the life of the unborn is precious and cherished by God himself. I was meditating on this and I thought and I thought there's something interesting here. There's something very interesting here on a practical level and here it is.
25:30 John experienced joy even before he entered in the world. John experienced a joy even before he entered into the world. What I mean by that is before John experienced anything in this life, before anything of this world was offered to him, there was exuberant glee in that little heart. There was delight. There was satisfaction.
25:56 There was gratification. There was there was wholeness. There was an overflowing of of love and contentment. John knew a joy that only God can give. A joy that is not relying upon any kind of connection to this life.
26:19 A joy that solely came from God the Holy Spirit. Is that your joy? Or is your joy heavily dependent upon the affairs of this life going in your favor? I see a principle here. Here is John cut off from the world, and he is still joy filled.
26:41 Here's what I wanna tell you today. You can know a joy that this world does not have to offer and cannot offer. That's yours in the Holy Spirit. And what was the object of this baby's joy? The arrival of the Messiah, the near presence of his master.
26:59 That is what filled his heart. That is what awaits you and I in the Holy Spirit. Listen. Christ really satisfies. He satisfies you to the point where it calms you.
27:10 It settles you. It keeps you. It sustains you, and it surpasses every other trick of this world. Every other trinket, every other little toy that this world has to offer comes not even near the reality of the joy of the Holy Spirit in the person of Jesus Christ. And I see that here.
27:30 I see this man, this little boy who was to be a mighty man of God, who knew this unusual joy that was directly inspired by the Holy Spirit because you heard it. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. Because the Holy Spirit is the one who opens your eyes and mind to the immeasurable greatness of Christ. His wisdom, his power, his majesty, his grace, his fellowship. He's the agent that makes it known.
27:53 He's the agent that makes it real. He's the one that today is moving in hearts and wants to make them leap for joy in Christ. There's a lot of miserable Christians out there. There's a lot of Christians out there that their joy fluctuates based on the stock market or what they bought, what they filled their closets with, what newest and not what addition. There's a joy in the Holy Spirit, purely from the Holy Spirit.
28:21 And if you think that this joy is just designated for a special child at a special time in history, you're wrong. Because this phrase, leap for joy, is found in one other place in the gospel of Luke. And when you discover it, you'll realize that this joy is not just reserved for a prophet, but available for all the children of God. Look at Luke six very quickly in verse 22 to 23. Here's the Lord Jesus, and he says in Luke six twenty two to 23, blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, and when they revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the son of man.
29:04 Notice, on account of the son of man, not because you're a rude person. On account of the son of man. Now look at verse 23. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. The same wording.
29:19 Leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in heaven for so their fathers did to the prophets. Do you see it? The sacred joy that this baby experienced in the womb is the same joy that you and I can know in this very dark world. That's what Jesus is saying, that this spirit generated gladness is so profound that it can be enjoyed and realized, not just at the revelation of Christ, not just after you discover something in the word or you see him moving in real life in your life, not beyond that.
29:54 You can know the same joy that John the Baptist knew in that special place at that special time as you face as you face the ugliness of life, the despicable unjust treatment of others, you can know that joy. I mean, think about it. Either the Lord is teasing us or this is real. He can actually command us to leap for joy when people are slandering your name, when people are ruining your reputation, when people wanna destroy your life. He says, you know what leap for joy means?
30:30 It actually means leap. I'm not gonna do it for you. I'm gonna let you use your imagination. Literally, your joy is so overpowering that it moves your physical being. That is available.
30:42 That is what is possible in the Holy Spirit. That is something that you and I must realize at this time of history as well. Oh, there's another phrase I wanna point you to, and it's in Luke as well. Luke ten twenty one. Look at this passage very briefly with me.
30:59 In Luke ten twenty one, here is another place where we are explicitly told that Jesus rejoiced. You'd be hard pressed to find another place where the the Holy Spirit tells us that Jesus rejoiced, and here it is in Luke ten twenty one. This is a sermon in itself. What made Jesus rejoice? That's not what I wanna show you.
31:22 I just wanna show you that he did and in a special way. In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, father, for such was your gracious will. He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. That word rejoice in the English does not help us understand the the pro the profound reality of this joy.
31:57 It it means exceedingly glad. It's talking about a bubbling over, just to be overjoyed. This is what's happening here with the Lord. It's visible. It was observable.
32:07 It was tangible. It was contagious. It was there. And this is not just to show us that the Holy Spirit is the source of that kind of quality of joy. What what is meant to show us here is that the Holy Spirit is the one that can bring us to a supernatural joy.
32:24 Rejoice in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a supernatural being and he produces a supernatural joy. That's what's happening here. It's a level that the human emotion cannot bring you to. It's a level that no experience in this life, no matter how great it is, can bring you to.
32:41 It's a rejoicing in God caused by God, for God. And you wanna know, well, how do I know if I have joy in the Holy Spirit? I'll tell you one mark of it. Look at what Jesus does. He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you father.
32:55 You're gonna praise God when you're filled with the Holy Spirit. You're gonna thank you're gonna have this personal relationship with God that is living, that is spontaneous, that is real, that is step by step, day by day. That's how you know that you're filled with the joy of God. Here's Jesus exemplifying that. I thank you.
33:14 I thank you, father. If you lack gratitude, you lack the filling of the spirit. But if you have the Holy Spirit and you desire this kind of a joy, then realize it has been made available to us because of Christ, and I want that for your life. God wants that for your life. Jesus knew it in his earthly life.
33:35 Why would you not want to know it in yours? And so the Holy Spirit offers us an otherworldly joy. So real, so profound, so powerful. We come to the final thought, which is related to the second. That God the Holy Spirit enables us to bless God at all times.
33:59 And I find that in Zechariah's life. Because you heard it earlier in the beginning of the message that Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied. He prophesied. Now hearing about John, though even a baby, that's a very unique thing, leaped for joy, leaped for joy in the womb, that's obvious in principle. The Messiah is coming.
34:18 He's coming to save. He's near. He's close. There's relationship. There's intimacy there.
34:23 That that makes sense, but the Holy Spirit's work in Zechariah is especially challenging to us. Yes. He prophesied, and he he gives us glorious series of profound truths concerning who Jesus is and who his son John would be and what purpose he would serve. But when you know the predicament of of Zechariah, right before we are told he was filled with the Holy Spirit, then you have an insight to just how marvelous this is. What happened to Zechariah when the angel visited him?
34:52 He did not believe, and he was disciplined by God. And the same mouth that proclaimed unbelief was muted by God. You're not gonna be able to speak until the birth of your son. For a minimum of nine months, you're not gonna be able to utter a word, and the factor that's gonna loosen your tongue is when the word of the Lord is fulfilled before your eyes. And so here's this man of God who did not believe the God that he trusted, who did not believe what God had done before through men like Abraham, who is disciplined, and he would not be able to say anything.
35:29 Now we we know that, but like many things in the bible, we don't pause to meditate the implications of that or how that must be. Zechariah was was a real man. Can you imagine not being able to say one word for almost a year? Think about how frustrating that is. Think about how difficult that is.
35:49 Think about your day to day activity and your affairs and the things that you need to get done. Think about just basic things like asking for something so simple with a few words that you cannot do. I mean, if you want a glimpse of it, look at verse 62 of Luke one. You get an idea of how frustrating it must have been. In Luke one sixty two, and they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
36:15 John was born. They wanna know, Zechariah, what do you wanna name your son? And they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, his name is John, and they all wondered. They made signs, so they were treating him as though he was deaf.
36:30 He wasn't deaf. He just couldn't speak. But here they are making signs to him, trying to communicate something. He said, just give me the tablet. So he asked for the tablet.
36:38 Right? And he writes that imagine imagine trying to communicate in this way. Imagine being treated in this way. Imagine how infuriating that is. Imagine how annoying that is.
36:47 Just just just, like, let your imagination flow. A request, when when you're hurting and you wanna you wanna you want some kind of help and you have to fend for yourself instead of requesting for somebody to come to your assistance. You can just imagine on a human level, the pent up frustration as time goes by. And then one day, everything changed. The birth of his son, it would all be altered.
37:13 And the man would finally be able to speak. And he'd be able to now, for the first time, hear his own voice and people for nine months who haven't heard him hear his voice as well. What would be your first words after nine months of not being able to say anything? What would you express? What would you communicate?
37:32 What would you utter? I think many of us are thinking very pious thoughts, but if we're honest, maybe there'll be some groans, some moans, maybe vomit out complaints about the dealings of God in our lives. But that is not what you find here with Zechariah. Zechariah here, by the power of the spirit, look at Luke one sixty four. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed and he spoke, blessing God.
38:04 That's the first thing that Zechariah does when God lifts off that burden and enables him to speak again. The first thing Zechariah does is bless God. You're saying, how was he able to do that? Well, look here at verse 67. And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.
38:33 It's by the Holy Spirit. That even after that uncomfortable season of suffering, debilitation, restriction, alteration, the first thing that this man does is praise. Praise. He doesn't squeal. He doesn't even sigh.
38:54 Imagine that. Nine months. Finally, you're able to speak. About time. Not even a sigh.
39:02 Praise. How is that humanly possible? It's not. That's the point. It's the spirit of God in you, on you, through you that can take circumstances that are beyond our control like this man experienced.
39:20 And for you to be so overwhelmed by the spirit's influence in your heart that you can you can bypass even the hard things that God allows you to experience and to see the goodness of God and to rejoice in God. It's as though if you heard this man speaking at this time, it's as though nothing had happened in the past nine months. How can that be? Well, because of the Holy Spirit. Uncontrollable circumstances do not have to control us if you're controlled by the spirit.
39:49 So even if your family is not like Zechariah's family, which is very very likely where there are one too many people who are not filled with the spirit of God, you can still know. You can still know this kind of a praise in your heart, joy in your heart, a song in that season that can only be inspired by God himself. You can know the stability, this feeling of wholeness even if in the natural, there's something missing. There's something missing in your life. And so in this Christmas season, I wanna just turn your attention to what has been made possible because of Jesus Christ coming into this world.
40:31 The Holy Spirit awaits to fill your families. And if he's not gonna if he's not gonna fill your families because some member is not saved or some member is not serious, let him fill you. Let him fill you and let the fragrance on you, let the salt in your life cause others in that household to be thirsty. God the Holy Spirit has a gift, and it's to offer you other worldly joy in this miserable bleak life. Realize that there is something from heaven that awaits to stir your heart even though you have nothing in this life like John, in that womb, vacuumed and in the dark, yet leaping with joy.
41:16 You have people in palaces. You have people who can drive whatever they want. You have people who can purchase anything and then not affect their bank account, who don't have what this baby had in that little womb. You could have it, and it can be so profound that when people mock you and scorn you, you can actually leap for joy. And lastly, the Holy Spirit can do a work in you that even though you are dreading December 24 and December 25, you are going to that house and you know it's going to be a very difficult few hours.
41:49 There's gonna be people missing that you want to be there. There's gonna be circumstances that are gonna cause you to remember things of the past that are gonna break your heart, regardless of those things, like Zechariah, God can fill that mouth with praise. He can fill your heart with joy. He can take you to another place. He can allow you to soar above all these things in this life.
42:13 This is all real, by the way. This isn't pretend. This isn't Hallmark stuff. This isn't imagination. This isn't a superhero story.
42:21 This is Christianity. This is Christianity with the real Christ, and so I offer him to you in Jesus' name. That if you're a person in this place who may not even be a Christian, you haven't even done the ABCs of this whole thing, the Holy Spirit also has another job, and he does it very well. He convicts the heart of sin. And even with a message of hope like this, your heart could be stirred.
42:44 Oh, man. I don't have what this preacher just said, but I long for it. He's ready to give it, but you have to repent. You have to turn from the sin that grieves the Holy Spirit, and you have to embrace what Christ has done. Let him wash you and forgive you and cleanse you because that is the work necessary for the Holy Spirit to come now and abide in you, and then to animate you in the things that I just said.
43:07 And this is just the peak of a great iceberg of glorious truths. And so do you know Christ today? Do you know Christ today? What is your life? What is your life, really?
43:21 What has this life under your own authority and sovereignty offered you? Christ has come to give life and life more abundantly. And let me say this to the Christian. Perhaps you're in need of revival. The Holy Spirit is the reviver.
43:42 But it's not gonna come by you coming into this place week after week saying, okay, let's see what God has got for me next. That is not the attitude that moves the heart of God. You come broken and bring your broken marriage with you. You come broken and bring your broken children with you. And you say, you know what?
44:01 On a Wednesday night I usually binge on Netflix, but I'm gonna go to the house of God and lay on my face before his presence and plead with him to do a miracle in my life. To do a miracle in my marriage. To do a miracle in my kids' lives. The Holy Spirit waits to partner with you. He moves by faith.
44:22 He moves by your faith. And I plead with you that as we come upon the new year, that you would seek God in a way that you never sought him before. And watch what he'll do in 2023 and beyond for the glory of his name and for the good of his child. That's my message to you this afternoon. Let's pray.
44:59 Lord almighty, we we pray. We really pray from the bottom of our hearts. Oh, Lord, it's so possible that there is more brokenness in this place than there is wholeness. Forgive us for not seeking the Holy Spirit, his wisdom, his power, his guidance. Forgive us for not having the faith to believe that he can do miracles, even with the most stubborn.
45:36 Lord, what was just said was an imperfect presentation of your truths, but take what was imperfect, Take the stumbling words, the stammering lips, and take even the distracted mind. And, Lord, meet us with the little faith that we have. Meet us here, Lord. We pray. We do pray that you would make every marriage whole at Maranatha Bible Church.
46:10 We pray that you would bring salvation to the children that mothers are praying for, who have been praying for years. Lord, let there be that kind of a Christmas miracle. We pray for family worship to be known again in the living room, in the dining table. Lord, fill our families. Lord, renew our joy in the Holy Spirit.
46:39 Lord, renew a happiness in God that makes us look out into this world and say, I have everything in Christ. I have all I need in Jesus. And Lord, in the times of difficulty, Lord, if Zechariah and Elizabeth teaches anything is that you can be righteous and still hurting. And Lord, if there are things in this life that we've prayed for, like this couple, and not realize it yet, may we still have the power to honor you, and worship you, and serve you as this couple did. And, lord, even if we are enduring trials, temptations, difficulties, lord, may we be able to praise and bless you through it all.
47:26 And so, lord, this Christmas week, we we we now stand in faith with hearts alive to worship you with the truths that we've heard that are available to us. Thank you for reminding us of these things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord together.
