The Road To The Manger: The Messiah Praised

Luke 1:36–45 “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from…”

Today, The Lord has laid deeply on my heart for me to preach on worship. I have a question for us all: What is your view of worship? Is your view of worship a Sunday morning church service? Is your view of worship playing Christian songs while riding in your car? Your view of worship is what determines why you worship and how you worship! What if i was to tell you that worship isn’t just a mere Sunday Morning Church service? What if i was to tell you that just merely playing Christian music isn’t worship? That’s praise, but there is difference between praise and worship.

What is praise?

Praise is an action word that means to express our adoration, glorify and applaud. Our culture understands praise. We praise celebrities, successful business people, and athletes. We show them honor and applaud their achievements. If given the opportunity, we’d love to see them in person and get a selfie with them.

In a similar way, when we praise God, we’re saying he’s worthy of our attention and applause. When we sing joy-filled songs of praise to God, we recount all he’s done for us. We thank him and show our appreciation for his work in our lives. When we praise God, we’re acknowledging all the wonderful things God has done. Praise can involve singing, dancing, clapping, or raising hands. It may also involve playing an instrument.

What is worship?

Worship is different than praise. In Hebrew, the word for worship is “shachah.” It means to bow down, to lower yourself. Worship is humbling ourselves before a holy God. It’s surrendering our entire lives to him. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. (1 Chronicles 16: 29-30 ESV)

Worship gets to the heart of who we are as believers. When we worship God in our lives, we put away all other gods. You may not feel like you have other gods in your life, but as humans, we’re prone to idol worship rather than God worship. It’s easy to make idols out of the good things in our lives.

Both praise and worship should be done together, not separately.

Praise and worship isn’t a song or a service. It’s a lifestyle…

TODAY:

One of the greatest acts of praise and worship that we can read in scriptures wasn’t given to The Lord by a King, Peter, Paul, or the multitudes but from an unborn child, who would later be the forerunner of Christ, John The Baptist.

Philip Graham Ryken said:

“John The Baptist was the only child ever to use the womb for a pulpit. In the liquid darkness of his mothers womb, the unborn child kicked for joy, leaping at the sound of Mary’s voice, and in this way preparing people for the coming of Christ.”

Out of the scriptures today we are going to find out why John praised and worshiped. Why he leapt in the womb. And in that, we’ll find the reason that we ought to leap today. Why we praise and worship today.

JOHN LEAPT:

For Confirmation Vs. 39-40

Luke 1:36–45 “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from…”

The Context:

Gabriel appeared to Zacharias concerning John The Baptist. Vs. 5-25

Elizabeth 70ish years old.

Gabriel appeared to Mary concerning Jesus. Vs. 26-35

Mary 13ish years old.

Both suppose to not be with child.

Mary set out for Judah to see Elizabeth.

Many say that she left to hide her pregnancy. But that is not the case due to her just receiving the news and also according to the Biblical timeline of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.

She went because there was a sign to be seen that would confirm all of this. That sign would be a old lady named Elizabeth 5-6 months pregnant with the greatest prophet who would ever live.

The Results:

John leapt when Mary announced the news, confirming the truth of the coming King.

This isn’t the first time God used a unborn child for prophesy:

Genesis 25:21–23 “Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.””

Imagine being Elizabeth and feeling your unborn child worship God from the womb?

The Application:

We praise God out of confirmation too!

His confirmation of our Salvation.

His confirmation of His work in our lives.

His confirmation of His great blessings.

His confirmation of His great sustaining.

His confirmation of His loving chastisement.

His confirmation of His great help in troubles.

Supporting Scriptures:

Daniel 2:20 “Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.”

Deuteronomy 10:21 “He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.”

Jeremiah 20:13 “Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has delivered the life of the poor From the hand of evildoers.”

Psalm 75:1 “We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.”

Psalm 99 “The Lord reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved! The Lord is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy. The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy. Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the Lord, and He answered them. He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them. You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds. Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.”

JOHN LEAPT:

Out of Fullness. Vs. 15

Luke 1:15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”

Question:

What does it mean to be filled with The Holy Spirit?

Answer:

Is the power of the Holy Spirit taking control and effecting service to God by word or deed…

Every time you see someone in scripture being filled with the Holy Spirit you also see that God was going to use them to declare His truth either through word or deed.

Supporting Scripture:

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

Acts 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:”

Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Acts 8:29 “Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.””

John The Baptist being filled with The Holy Spirit, leapt in the womb, using it as a pulpit to preach that Christ is on his way!

Aslan is on the move!

The application:

Why aren’t you filled with the spirit?

Ligioneer Example:

“Imagine you want every room in your home painted white. And imagine that you already have a painter standing in the living room, ready to paint. The problem is that some of the rooms are locked. The solution is not to invite the painter in a second time, or perhaps invite him to somehow be even more present than he currently is - whatever that means. What is needed is for the doors to be unlocked so that the painter can work.

Although the Holy Spirit comes to live in us when we first believe, most of us have (if I can put it this way) “locked rooms”: parts of our character that are not immediately changed by his presence. When Paul calls us to “be filled with the Holy Spirit”, then, he is calling us to unlock the doors, and joyfully submit every aspect of our character and life to Him. To be increasingly conformed to the character of Christ, who lives in you.

So, the call to “be filled with the Spirit” doesn’t imply that you somehow don’t have enough of Him. You do, if you’re a believer. But it does imply that there will be parts of your character where you’ve not yet fully yielded to his sanctifying work. Where is that true for you? What doors do you need to unlock in order to be “filled with the Spirit”?”

JOHN LEAPT:

Because of Joy. Vs. 44

Luke 1:44 “For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”

Joy- delight, exhilaration, rejoicing, glee, gladness.

Christ brought John so much delight that he naturally leapt, praising and worshipping God for The Saviors coming.

Supporting Scripture:

Matthew 13:44 ““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

Psalm 95:1–2 “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”

Nehemiah 8:10 “Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.””

Luke 15:10 “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””

Proverbs 17:22 “A joyful heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.”

The Application:

Why doesn’t Christ give us joy like this? We act like all this is boring.

Why don’t you have joy?

Has sin robbed you of it?

Sin will dilute your view of Christ making Him small and undesirable in your sight.

Conclusion:

John, from the darkness of the womb teaches us the meaning of true Praise and Worship.

Example of my transmission not wanting to shift. We to have trouble shifting.

Philip Graham Ryken said:

“John The Baptist was the only child ever to use the womb for a pulpit. In the liquid darkness of his mothers womb, the unborn child kicked for joy, leaping at the sound of Mary’s voice, and in this way preparing people for the coming of Christ.”