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Blessed - God's Promises Fulfilled (Luke 1:57-80)
15 Plays2 months ago
Sunday Message recorded 11 August 2024
by Mark Vickers
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Connection
00:00:08
Speaker
So if you don't know me, I'm Mark Vickers. I'm very blessed to be up here today. This church has meant a lot to me. It's a place where I got married to my lovely wife, Mindy. um It's a place where I was ordained to be a pastor. And so it's very honoring and humbling to stand here before you today and share the word of God with
Family and Preaching Role
00:00:33
Speaker
you. Just a little about me, I am married to Mindy, and I have four kids, Vanessa, William, James, and Marcus, and I am a fourth grade elementary school teacher. So we are getting ready to start back school, and Victor asked me, he's he's like, I'm going to be out of town, Josh is going to be out of town, would you be willing to preach? i said Yes, that'll be awesome.
Sermon Series: Book of Luke
00:01:00
Speaker
And so we're going to be continuing today in the book of Luke, picking back up in the book of Luke. Last week, we got to hear from the missionaries in Greece, and that was wonderful. But we're going to be picking up today, again, in the first chapter of Luke. Our main text is going to be Luke 1, 57 through 80.
Exploring the Concept of Blessings
00:01:20
Speaker
But before we get there, I want to talk a little bit just about what it means to be blessed.
00:01:27
Speaker
because earlier in the book of Luke, God had promised a blessing, and he promised multiple blessings to multiple people. And since I am a teacher, I would like to get a little bit of class participation, okay? Now, you don't have to yell anything out, okay, this, but I'm going to start today with sort of an assignment, okay? In just a second, we're going to put a sentence up on the board, and you are going to fill in the blank. Okay, if you're following along in your notes, you can do it there if you just want to think it but here is the sentence I Wish I could be blessed with and you fill in the blank What was the word that popped up in your mind when you read that sentence? I wish I could be blessed with
00:02:20
Speaker
Because you see, there's always something that seems to be in our minds of, oh, if I could only have, oh, if I could only get to this place. And see, in my life, there's been a lot of different things that I would answer that sentence with. And so when I was young and as a child, one of the first things I would have answered that sentence with, if you look up in the corner, is GI Joes.
00:02:46
Speaker
If I had a birthday or somebody gave me money and I could go to the store and buy a GI Joe, I thought I was the most blessed person in the world. I love GI Joes. Me and my friends, we played these games with them where we would roll dice and then do wrestling moves with them. We would take string and run it from the top of our hill to the bottom and send them down like a zip line. And they were just so much fun. So if I had a brand new GI Joe, it was the greatest thing in the world.
00:03:16
Speaker
And then when I got a little bit older, it was, ooh,
Adult Life and Promised Blessings
00:03:20
Speaker
it's a great blessing to play Nintendo. And this was a really great blessing for me because my mom wouldn't let me have a Nintendo. She's like, nope, that's not good. You're not going to have it. So I only got to play if I went to a friend's house that had a Nintendo.
00:03:38
Speaker
So it was a big deal to get to go over to their house and, you know, play Mario and try to save the princess. But she was always in the wrong castle until you got to the end. Or or maybe, you know, if you grew up on Nintendo, you play Contra and up, up, down, down, left, right, left,
Zechariah and Angel Gabriel's Encounter
00:03:54
Speaker
right, VA select start. And then you get 30 men and you can beat the game real easily. And then as I got a little older, I started dreaming about having a car, right?
00:04:04
Speaker
And so you dream of, oh, if I could have a Corvette or a Mustang and my dad would take us to car shows and see all these old cars. And when I was old enough to drive, I was blessed to learn on a 12 passenger van and an old Cadillac that was longer than the 12 passenger van. So I didn't quite have a sports car, but I was still blessed to be able to drive a car. And something I had always wished to be blessed with growing up was to have athletic ability.
00:04:36
Speaker
Now, if you grew up in the late 80s and 90s, maybe you heard the commercial, I want to be like Mike, because Michael Jordan was the best. And I grew up in Kentucky, where basketball is a religion. And they like it's worshipped, OK? So it's like basketball and church, people attend both equally. But I wanted to be blessed with the athle athletic ability to be a professional basketball player.
00:05:04
Speaker
And that blessing never came true. But those were some things throughout my life I would have, when I was young, finished that sentence with. You know, as you grow older, you have different things. Like, oh, I cannot wait to be blessed to be married to Mindy.
00:05:22
Speaker
I can't wait to be blessed for my first child to arrive. I wish I could be blessed with a certain job or maybe a promotion. Or sometimes as I get older, I wish I could be blessed with health, right? You reach a certain age where you wake up And you didn't do anything, but something hurts. And so you pulled a muscle sleeping, and you don't know how you did it. And it's like, what happens? And so then you have to actively start working against your body, like wearing down. So it maybe it's just, oh, I wish I could be blessed with this season of health.
00:06:01
Speaker
So these are some of the things that in my life I have wished I was blessed with. And today we're going to look in the verses and see a promised blessing come true. And so real quick, we're going to recap the first 56 verses. And I'm not going to read them all. But remember, the purpose of the book of Luke, the reason
Fulfillment of Blessings in Luke
00:06:24
Speaker
Luke wrote the book,
00:06:26
Speaker
was so that Theopolis and we could be certain about the things of Jesus Christ. And so that is the reason the book was written. And then in verse 1 through 38, it has the story, two stories. The first is the story of the promise that John the Baptist was going to be born.
00:06:47
Speaker
And you know, we can read through that story, but I was thinking about that story because Zachariah was in doing his duty as a priest. And as far as we know, there had been no prophetic word, no angelic visions for 400 years.
00:07:06
Speaker
Right, so he's in the inner sanctum, trimming the candles, doing his work, and all of a sudden, boom, Gabriel shows up, right? And I just imagine if I was Zechariah, and I'm in there, or I'm supposed to be the only person in there, and all of a sudden, boom, there's an angel, my first thought is, ah!
00:07:27
Speaker
Right? And it says, fear fell upon him. And I think that is an understatement. So the first thing Gabriel has to say is, do not be afraid. And I'm thinking, if I'm Zachariah, I'm like, no, I'm still afraid, but the presence of that the angel of the Lord. And he tells him, you and your wife Elizabeth are going to have a baby.
00:07:51
Speaker
And see, for Zachariah and Elizabeth, this is the greatest blessing they could have because they could not have children.
Naming of John and Zechariah's Obedience
00:08:00
Speaker
But it's interesting to me that an angel of the Lord came to Zachariah and told him, the thing you have been praying for and hoping for, God is going to give you, and not just to give it to you, but to give to you the people to prepare the way of the Lord.
00:08:17
Speaker
And you would think Zechariah would be like, yes, finally. But his first thought is, no, that's not going to happen. right There's an angel of the Lord standing before him. But Zechariah has been stuck in his own reality, in his own mind for so long, he cannot believe that God is going to give him and Elizabeth a child. And he actually says,
00:08:44
Speaker
with like emphasis, I am old, right? This can't happen. And Gabriel responds, I am Gabriel who stands before God. And this is going to happen. And let me help you get away from your reality. You won't be able to talk until it happens.
00:09:14
Speaker
And so Zachariah comes out and everybody knows something happens because he can't talk and he's like trying to make, you know, charades or symbols like, angels showed up, and we're going to have a baby. yeah know I don't know what he did. but But he goes on and apparently it was enough because they he just kept doing his priestly duties. And then he goes and he and Elizabeth conceive and have a baby. And it says that Elizabeth like stays hidden for five months. And I just wonder, even though the blessing is there, that they still, their past and their sorrow keeps them from enjoying that blessing. And then there's the second blessing that comes to Mary. Again, Gabriel shows up, boom. And I imagine Mary was also like, ah. And Gabriel has to say, hey, don't be afraid.
00:10:09
Speaker
Blessed are you among women because you
Zechariah's Prophecy and John's Role
00:10:12
Speaker
are going to bear a child and his name will be Emmanuel. And Mary's like, a question, I can't have children yet because I'm not married. And Gabriel's like, you you are going to conceive by the Holy Spirit. And then, so we see that the in verses one through 38, these two promises, the promise of the one who's going to come to prepare the way of the Lord.
00:10:39
Speaker
and the promise of the coming Lord and Savior. And so then in the next verses Mary goes to visit Elizabeth, her cousin, and when she gets there, if you remember when John was promised to Zachariah that he said he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even in the womb. And when Mary came and told Elizabeth that John leaped inside her womb because he knew Mary was carrying his Lord. And so we see that the people respond to the promises with praise. John prays, leaping in the womb. Elizabeth prays, blessing Mary. And then as Victor preached about Mary's song, praising the Lord.
00:11:29
Speaker
so So we have these promised blessings coming to people that were not expecting them or could not believe that they will happen. And today we get to see the blessings come true. And so we're going to look at verses 57 through 80 and see what happens when God's promises are fulfilled and we are blessed. So we're going to start in Luke 1, 57 through 59.
00:11:56
Speaker
And it says, now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
00:12:14
Speaker
And on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and they would have called him Zechariah after her father. And so what I want us to see here is that when God blesses us by fulfilling his promises, we get to rejoice.
00:12:31
Speaker
And I love the fact here that Elizabeth and Zachariah are not rejoicing alone, but they have a community and a family and a group of people with them that have probably walked through them with their sorrow, that have seen how much they long to have a child.
00:12:49
Speaker
And they are willing to worship and rejoice with Him, and they are so happy
Personal Reflections and Trust in God's Plan
00:12:56
Speaker
for them, and they have seen the mercy that God has poured upon them. And how great it is to have a community like that, and that this church is a community like that. And I just think of all the people who've poured into my family and poured into my kids and the work, Trudy,
00:13:16
Speaker
And the other children's workers do with Awanas and camps. and And Trudy is just the most organized person ever. It's amazing. I'm the least organized person ever. I tell all the teachers at school, if you feel disorganized, come look at my classroom. You'll feel better about yourself. But to have a community of people,
00:13:37
Speaker
Like the work Judy and Josh and other people have done when helping our kids come to know the Lord is just such a blessing. So we see that when God blesses us, that one way we should act is to rejoice. And so they're rejoicing with her, but they do say, it says at the end of verse 59, they would have called him Zachariah after his father.
00:14:06
Speaker
And you know that makes sense, right? Especially in that culture because everything gets passed down through the sun. And that was a culture where you followed your father's profession. So they're like, finally you have a son. We'll name him Zachariah. I'm sure he'll grow up to be a priest just like you. But we see in the next verses, verses 60 through 63,
00:14:31
Speaker
that when God blesses us by fulfilling his promises, we are to steward the blessing and obedience. And it says in verse 60, but his mother answered, no, his name shall be John. And they said to her, none of your relatives is called by this name. And they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he was asked for a writing tablet and he wrote, his name is John. And they all wondered.
00:15:08
Speaker
And see, to the to the community around and to the people, this doesn't make sense. Because they weren't there when John got the prophecy, when he got got the message from Gabriel.
00:15:24
Speaker
And to them, they're thinking in the worldly li way, this child is to carry on the name of this family. So if it's not going to be Zachariah, it should at least be like your dad's name, right? And like every one of my sons has a name from somebody in our family. William is named after my dad. And he's actually William Hamilton Vickers II.
00:15:48
Speaker
He's not a junior because it skipped a generation, so he's the second. And James Middle name comes from ah John Miller. And Marcus has my initials, M-H-V. So we wanted them all to be connected, so it's weird, you know, and especially in this culture when you name somebody something else. But
Recognizing God's Promises and Conclusion
00:16:10
Speaker
see, when John was promised to Zachariah and to Elizabeth, he wasn't just promised to them for their good and for their blessing.
00:16:18
Speaker
The main thing about John the Baptist was he was coming to start to bring people back to God and prepare the way for the Lord so they would be ready for the salvation that God was bringing. And so the angel told him, you will name him John.
00:16:36
Speaker
And remember, Zachariah, who had so much trouble believing when he was first told this, is now acting in faith and obedience to God when he writes, his name is John. And and see, this is interesting to me because often when I think of how I would like to be blessed, I'm thinking of something of how it will benefit me.
00:17:04
Speaker
not how God can use the blessings He's given me to bring His glory and grace to the world. And whatever blessings God gives me, whether it's the material blessings, whether it's my family, the gospel, I need to hold it with an open hand ready to send it out into the world.
00:17:28
Speaker
And so we are to steward the blessings God gives us in obedience. And that's not always easy to do. I'm sure it would have been easy for Zachariah to sit there in that moment and think about all the things that John could be, that he would love for Zachariah to follow, or for John to follow in his footsteps, to grow up to be a priest, just like his family had before him.
00:17:58
Speaker
but he had to not think about what he wanted for his son, but what God wanted. And this is an act of obedience when he writes, his name will be John. And so after that, the next verse is what we are going to see, is that God blesses us by fulfilling his promise and it restores us.
00:18:24
Speaker
And so in verses 64 through 66, it says, and immediately his mouth was open and his tongue loose and he spoke blessing God. And fear came over all their neighbors and all these things were talked about through all the country of Judea and all who heard them laid them upon their hearts, saying, what then will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with them. And so we see in these verses restoration. We see the restoration of Zachariah's voice, and the first thing he does is praise and bless the Lord. And then we also see not only the restoration of his voice,
00:19:17
Speaker
Remember that it had been nine months since he could speak. You know, for some of us, we might like to sit in silence for a little while, but nine months, that had to be hard. Had to be hard on Elizabeth too, right? She's pregnant. Going through that pregnancy and her husband can't even talk to her.
00:19:39
Speaker
And so his voice is restored and we see also the fear and worship of the Lord is restored in the region. It says, fear came on all their neighbors and all these things were talked about through the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts saying, what will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. So when we see God's blessings come,
00:20:09
Speaker
It restores us to where we are supposed to be with God. And then the next thing we're going to see in verses 67 through 68 in Zechariah's prophecy,
00:20:23
Speaker
is we are going to see that God fulfills his promises and it brings us hope. And I'm going to read through all the verses and then we'll go back and talk about them. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, bless be the Lord, God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.
00:20:48
Speaker
and he has raised up a horn of salvation for us, and in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.
00:21:09
Speaker
The oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us, that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
00:21:25
Speaker
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
00:21:55
Speaker
And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. And so what we see here is that God fulfilling his promise to Zachariah and Elizabeth brings hope. And it's not just hope for Zachariah and Elizabeth that, oh, we have a kid, our lineage will continue on now.
00:22:22
Speaker
because the first thing Zachariah promised there isn't about his son, but it's a reminder to the people of everything God had promised them before. That there would be a king to sit on a throne of David, that he would save them from their enemies,
00:22:40
Speaker
that He would fulfill His covenant, that He would fulfill His promises to Abraham, that they may be a people that serve Him in righteousness and holiness. All of these things Zechariah sees fulfilled as the promise of this child is fulfilled.
00:23:01
Speaker
And then he gets into what the child will be, the prophet of the Most High, to prepare the way of the Lord, to give knowledge of salvation to the people for the goodness of their sin. Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
00:23:29
Speaker
And what I want us to see here is try to see this through how Zechariah and the people of his day would see it. Because it had been 400 years since they had had a prophecy, since they had had an angelic visit. So there had been silence as far as we know, because nothing is recorded during that time. And they were living under Roman rule at this time.
00:23:58
Speaker
So seeing the promise of John fulfilled gave them hope that all the other promises of God were going to be fulfilled. And so we can see here just the hope in Zechariah's prophecy, but it's also interesting to me that last verse in verse 80, that the child grew and became strong in spirit and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
00:24:28
Speaker
Because I'm sure if somebody could have sat down and talked to Zachariah and Elizabeth and asked, what do you hope for this child? Or maybe before they had had the promise of the child, maybe they had talked to somebody like, oh, I wish we could have a child. And that they would grow up and they would be a priest like their father and they would get married and they would have kids and we would have grandkids. But that's not John the Baptist, right?
00:24:56
Speaker
John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, dressed in, I believe, camel hair, eating locusts and honey. And can you imagine Zachariah talking to somebody, hey, how's John doing? Oh, he's great. He's out in the wilderness eating locusts and honey. You mean he's not like studying and preparing for the priesthood with you? Oh, no, right where he's supposed to be. right And I just think about, you know,
00:25:27
Speaker
ah In a week and a half, we're going to take Vanessa to college. And so our oldest kid, our only daughter, taken her to college. And that scares me, right? Like, I don't want it to. I'm like, you know, we've tried to raise her well. She loves God. She's a smart kid. But at the same time, it's only three hours away. I mean, we can drive there and back in a day, but it's like, it's hard.
00:25:58
Speaker
And to let your kid go out on their own and follow the path God has for them. And not knowing where that'll take you, right? And I mean, like, I think of the Tyses and Jacob being in Japan through COVID for Tanner's family as he, you know,
00:26:19
Speaker
traveled to Greece to follow God, and that happened through COVID too, and that you just have to be willing, even with the blessing of your children, to hold them with an open hand so they can go serve the Lord. And that's what Zechariah did, because I believe Zechariah knew this through what God had taken him through.
00:26:41
Speaker
because remember at the beginning when we were recapping I said he had ah problems reconciling what God was telling him with what he knew his reality to be. And God had to silence his voice to teach him to trust him. And what I believe Zachariah had learned which I want us to take away today is this point that God fulfills his promises blessing us for our good and His glory. Every blessing of God He gives us, whatever it is, is for our good. It brings us to God. It sustains us. It provides for us. But more than that, it is a means by which God can be glorified in this broken world.
00:27:33
Speaker
And so that is what I want us to remember today. And you know, I am a fourth grade teacher, so I'm going to give you all optional homework, okay? It is optional because I'm not gonna grade it and I can't make you do it, but I want you to think about these things and I want you to share them with somebody. And I'm gonna talk about these for just a second. How do you see God's blessings in your life?
00:28:03
Speaker
And you know, that's a question I had to ask myself preparing that question. And when being honest with myself, there were days I didn't see them at all. I was like Zachariah because the things happening in my world were keeping me from receiving and believing the promises of God. You know, it could be like everybody in my family is taking turns getting sick one after another.
00:28:27
Speaker
or you know there's bills to pay, stress of trying to get ready for school, and it's easy with my reality to not see the blessings of God. And so how do you see the blessings God in your life? And you know if you decide to share and talk about these with someone, let's make it okay not to be super spiritual and have the right answer, but just let people share where they're at because then we can help each other grow towards Christ through his word. So do you see God's blessings in your life? How do you faithfully steward the blessings God has given you? And you see, this can be a hard one for me too, because you remember way back at the beginning, I talked about the blessing of GI i Joes, right? And when I got a new GI Joe, I didn't want anybody else to play with it, especially my little brothers, because they would tear them up.
00:29:27
Speaker
And so I don't know if you've ever seen like Finding Nemo and they have those albatrosses, they're mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. Like I can get like that sometime, right? And I can get like that, like with my kids, you know, Vanessa, she's mine. I don't want anything to happen to her. But am I going to steward all the blessings in my life to see God glorified and his gospel go forth?
00:29:55
Speaker
Or am I gonna be like those birds or like golem, right? From Lord of the Rings, my precious, no one else gets it. How do you faithfully steward the blessings God had given you? How can you give God praise and glory for how He has blessed you? And this is something I tried to do this week. And it was amazing how much less time I spent thinking and complaining about the things that bothered me before.
00:30:25
Speaker
When you sit and you praise God for what He's done in your life, it starts to change your mindset and help you trust in things. And then finally, and I think this is the most important question, have you received God's blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ? Because remember, these promises that were fulfilled, the one that was fulfilled that we read about today was the promise of John the Baptist And his role was to prepare the way for the Lord. So it was all about the coming salvation through Jesus Christ. And that is the greatest blessing that we can receive, that even though we are enemies to God in our sin, that he is willing to save us and to restore us with the right relationship through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
00:31:23
Speaker
And that if you believe He is Lord and confess and turn from your sins, you will be saved. So have you received that blessing from God? And there's a saying that a person that traveled in life action with Mindy and myself said that I read on Facebook once and it stuck with me a lot.
00:31:47
Speaker
Because she it was basically this, when you seek God, are you just seeking His hand or are you seeking His face? And what she meant by that was she had felt in her life at that point, she was seeking God for the stuff she wanted Him to give her, like for stuff, but not really seeking a relationship with God.
00:32:17
Speaker
And it can be easy to get caught up in that with everything that goes on in our lives. But when we seek God, yes, tell him your needs and desires, but seek his face.
00:32:32
Speaker
And, you know, again, I'm a fourth grade teacher. So one of the things they told us is that when you hear or learn or study something, if you just look at it,
00:32:45
Speaker
the first day and then don't go back to it again, the next day, 24 hours later, you'll have forgotten 70% of what you heard. And the next day, you'll be down to like 30%. And within three or four days, you'll have forgotten all of it. So what I would like us to do this week is take time, these questions are in your notes, to reread Luke chapter one.
00:33:14
Speaker
and talk about it with somebody close to you, somebody that you trust, somebody in your church family. And to say, maybe go through these questions together and to pray with one another, because they've also found if you'll interact with what you've learned for like three to five days, that you can get close to retaining 100% of it.
00:33:39
Speaker
So let's get back into God's word and remind ourselves of how He fulfills the promises. And then just again, the last thing I want to leave for us is that God blesses us for our good and His glory. And so I want to pray for us and then we will have a time of praise for what we've learned and also an invitation.
00:34:05
Speaker
So if you need to come to the front and talk, or if you just wanna come and kneel and pray, there will be time for that. So let us pray. Father God, I thank you for this day. And Lord, I just thank you for your word, how you keep your promises. And Lord, you provide things when people didn't believe it could be provided because of their reality.
00:34:36
Speaker
But Lord, nothing was going to stop you from bringing Jesus to this world, from preparing the way for him so that the gospel may go forth and people may return to you. And Lord, I pray that in our lives that we may have received that good news of Jesus Christ, that he lived, he died for our sins, he was buried and he rose again.
00:35:04
Speaker
Lord, if there's anyone here who has not accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, I pray that you will bring them to yourself through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit today. And Lord, for people here, if they're having trouble right now seeing the blessings that you've provided them because of what's going on in their life, Lord, I pray this church community will be a safe place for them to work through that.
00:35:31
Speaker
that they can see how you have blessed them and we can walk towards your glory together. Father, I pray that we will go forth today and that we will give you praise and the glory you deserve. In your name that I pray. Amen.
00:35:54
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.