God's Plans Revealed

Good morning!

We are going to have a few cross-references this morning, so if you want an outline, there are some clipped to the bulletin board in the hallway.

The outline has a list of all the passages we will use today.

Last week we covered Luke 1:57-66 which was the birth and naming of John the Baptist.

If you will remember, Zechariah and Elizabeth went against their family's wishes on John’s name, but in obedience to God, Zechariah’s mouth and ears were opened.

The people that were with them were amazed at what God was doing.

We ended with the final point that Zechariah and Elizabeth’s obedience revealed more of what God was doing, and it caused all to be in awe and wonder about God.

We closed with the idea that when we hear, obey, see, and share God, our understanding is made greater, and He is revealed to the people around us.

This is God’s plan for the world to know of His love, you and I sharing it.

Sharing your experiences of God with others is not an optional activity for a disciple.

Our lives and God’s activity in it will prepare people’s hearts to receive God.

When people get a taste of who God really is and how much He loves them and cares for them, it is going to cause a radical shift in their understanding.

Our lives and the world will change through our simple yet powerful acts of obedience.

Today we are going to pick up at Luke 1:67-80 and read how Zechariah responded to all that God had just done.

As we read this passage, I want to remind you that Zechariah’s occupation was a priest in the temple.

As we hear his testimony of praise and prophecy about what God is doing, remember that we learned that it was his job to know all this stuff.

When we were studying Luke 1:5-25, we speculated that this is probably why he was made deaf and mute when he didn’t believe Gabriel.

He should have known that what the angel was speaking had been done by God many times in the past.

What we are about to read is the result of him living in silence for at least nine months and thinking about all that God has said in the past about this child that was just born.

His son, John, is the fulfillment of God’s promises for Z, E, and all of Isreal.

Read this with me, and then we will break it down.

Luke 1:67-80

Can you imagine dwelling on something of this magnitude for nine months and not being able to tell anyone about it?

Has God ever given you a directive and told you not to tell anyone? If He has, what was that like for you? (If you have been released to talk about it.)

This was huge, and we see that from Zechariah’s response.

Not just for Zechariah and Elizabeth but for all people.

Zechariah now sees it and understands that his son, John, was the one that was coming to prepare the way for the Messiah.

The first thing I want us to see in this passage is what prompted Zechariah.

Zechariah began sharing after He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah had the same kind of experience that Elizabeth had when Mary came to visit.

In both cases, they were filled with the Holy Spirit after they obeyed God.

Both Z and E had a new understanding of God, one that comes only by experience through obedience.

In response to God’s completed work, Zechariah begins to praise God and to prophesy.

We are going to talk about this idea quite a few times in the next few months, and prophecy is not something we talk about often.

So what is prophecy?

PROPHECY An oral, divine message mediated through an individual that is directed at a person or people group and intended to elicit a specific response.

So, a prophecy is a message from God with the intent of changing the lives of His people.

Who is able to give a prophecy? A prophet.

So, what is a prophet?

PROPHET Any person directed by the inspiration of God to proclaim His will.

Anyone can, but you can’t just say what you want and call it God.

That happened a lot in the bible, and those persons are called false prophets.

Any person that has been filled with the Holy Spirit and has been directed by God to proclaim His will is a prophet.

This is what happens in our passage today.

Prior to being filled with the Holy Spirit, he was a priest, and now, because of his experience with God, he has become a prophet.

In fact, in prophesying, Zechariah fulfills the words of the prophet Joel.

Joel 2:28

Joel 2:28 CSB

28 After this I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.

Luke makes a point for the readers to see that what God is doing through the birth of John is a big deal.

This is not just another baby, but one that was foretold by prophets of old.

He shares that through this passage.

Zechariah recalls what God said He would do in the past and then shares what God is doing now to fulfill those promises.

He begins by simply praising God.

This is an excellent place for all of us to begin as we pray.

Thankfulness is always a great posture for our hearts.

Luke 1:68

Zechariah is praising God for what He has done in the past and what He is doing now.

Look at Luke1:69-75 with me again.

Exalting Jesus in Luke Luke 1:68–73

Zechariah blesses or praises God because God has visited and redeemed his people with a strong salvation. A “horn” is used in the Bible to symbolize strength or power. This is the powerful salvation for Israel that was promised to come through David, that was prophesied through the prophets of old, and that in verses 72–73 goes all the way back to the “fathers,” or patriarchs, and to Abraham. This salvation is an act of mercy (v. 72). God saves us to prove his mercy. The entire Bible—from Abraham to the prophets down to King David—is about this one thing: salvation. The Bible has one story: God visiting or coming to get his people. That was and is the plan.

I love how simply this commentary puts it.

The story of the Bible is about God redeeming His people.

God created us, we went astray, and God has been working ever since to bring us back.

This story of our redemption is what Zechariah is reminding the crowd about.

Remember, they are at this celebration of his son John.

Their family and friends are all there.

Zechariah wants them to all understand that God has promised something pretty incredible for their son and their future.

He is drawing from passages like:

Micah 7:20, Psalm 105:8-9, Genesis 22:16-17, 1 Samuel 2:1, Ezekiel 29:21, and many more.

John will be preparing people for this “horn of salvation.”

Zechariah finally gets to tell everyone that God has not forgotten them. (Prophecy)

Z is speaking on God’s behalf, revealing that God has done what He said He would do through those “thousands of generations.”

His prophetic message was that God is sending the promised Messiah that would deliver them.

And John would be the one that will prepare the people to receive Jesus.

Zechariah prophesied that John’s commission was to shine a light on those living in darkness, to prepare the way of the Lord.

Luke 1:76-79

God is speaking through Z in order to prepare the way because what God is doing is going to be SO shocking.

Up until this moment, God’s people lived under the sacrificial system, where they had sacrificed animals for the forgiveness of sins.

This was spoken by God generations ago and it was all these people knew.

God knew that when Jesus arrived and began to reveal God’s plan for their salvation, it was going to blow their minds.

This was going to be such a radical departure from what they understood of God that they were going to need someone to get their hearts and minds ready.

So, God sends John ahead of Jesus to begin preaching the message of salvation that only comes through the forgiveness of sins.

What is salvation? That’s a nice big “churchy” word, but what does it mean?

SALVATION Deliverance from the power and effects of sin.

The power and effect of sin is separation from God.

Prior to Jesus, the only salvation that was available was through the religious practices of Judaism.

When Jesus shows up and starts revealing that the religious leaders have missed the whole point, it is going to rock the proverbial boat.

This is why God sends John ahead of Jesus.

John’s task is to help the people begin to understand that the goal of their relationship with God was not based on their ability to keep the rules but on God’s desire to forgive them.

They had been taught that in order to be pleasing and accepted by God, they had to be perfect.

Jesus was about to show up and reveal that God loves everyone as they are.

This is the message of John that Zechariah is prophesying about.

Luke 1:77

Who was this message for?

It was for all people, but Jesus was going to focus specifically on those that had been overlooked by the people that were supposed to be leading people to know God.

This message that Zechariah is prophesying about and that John will soon be proclaiming.

It was radically different than what God’s people were used to hearing.

Consider for a moment that many of us in this room have been through this radical transformation of our understanding of God.

Many of us grew up and were taught that our actions determined weather God loved us.

We understood that if we didn’t act the right way and say the right things that God would not accept us.

Then, we heard about grace.

This same message that John is about to start preaching.

The idea that God loves us, but not based on our actions but because of who He is.

We are accepted by God as we are.

Jesus clearly reveals this through his ministry and death on the cross.

I can’t speak for you, but if completely and fundamentally changed my relationship with God.

This is the kind of revolution that God sent John to prepare for.

This is where we begin to see our application for this passage.

As we are coming to know Jesus, so that we can make Him known, we are going to learn things about Jesus that we either didn’t know or were misinformed about.

How do I know this? Because it has already been happening in my life.

There are things that I thought I understood about Jesus that are being challenged.

I hope the same is true for you as well.

I mentioned when we started this study that if we approach the bible thinking we already fully understand it, we are lying to ourselves.

How egotistical would it be for us to think we already understand it?

As we are learning who Jesus is and it changes our understanding of how He sees and loves us, it is going to be shocking at times, joyful, freeing, and, unfortunately, it could be controversial.

But I will remind you that grace felt that way at first as well.

As we discover these things, it is our job to digest it as fully as we can and then share that freedom with others.

What did we learn from our passage today?

First, before we speak, we need to wait for the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Do you tend to jump ahead of, stay in sync, or lag behind the Holy Spirit’s promptings?

What would help you improve?

I can tell you that there are a few things that I’ve been pondering on for a while, and I want to talk to people about it.

But God hasn’t released me to do that yet.

That could be for a number of different reasons, but for now, the only one that matters is Jesus said not yet.

Second, we need to keep track of all that God is speaking.

How do you keep track of what God is speaking in your life?

Have you ever gone back to read through things God spoke in the past, and if so, how did it affect you?

In the past, we have talked about the value of using a journal to record what God is speaking to you.

Over time that provides a few invaluable resources.

You can look back and see what God said about a particular thing.

If you are struggling with hearing God, write down what you think He is saying, and then you can go back and review all those things later to get clarity.

There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that God has told you to do something, experiencing Him fulfilling what He said, and then being able to share those details with others.

In our passage from today, Zechariah considered what God said in the past concerning his son and Mary’s son.

His knowledge of that history brought immeasurable richness to what God was doing.

The same can happen in your life as you journal through the years.

Third, as God gives us words for our friends and family, we will have the confidence to share it because of the experiences we have had with God.

PROPHECY An oral, divine message mediated through an individual that is directed at a person or people group and intended to elicit a specific response.

Does it sound a bit crazy to think that God would use you as a prophet?

Admittedly, yes, but I think that is primarily because that isn’t a word that we use very often, and there is a stigma about what that means.

But does it sound crazy that God would speak through you to help a friend or family member?

No, it doesn’t.

Has God ever spoken through you to another person, and how does that make you feel?

If God told you to speak to someone on his behalf, how would you respond?

This is part of what it looks like to “make Him known.”

As you are praying for your friends and family, God is going to speak to you.

He may even ask you to share what He has said with them.

It is my hope and prayer that as we spend time with God, as we come to know Him better, and as we pray for the people in our lives, that we would be willing to share what God is saying and doing.

Let’s pray.

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