Now That's A Testimony!
Notes
Transcript
I. Who enables Zacharias to do this?
I. Who enables Zacharias to do this?
The Holy Spirit
This should be our desire at all times. To be filled with the Holy Spirit. To speak, act, and think in a way that is spirit filled. That should be our prayer. Yet, anytime we pray this prayer it should be met with a prayer of thanks and praise! Why? Because if you are a Christian you are already filled with the Holy Spirit!
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Yet, something gets in the way at times from us speaking, acting, and thinking in a spirit filled manner. We have seen it, maybe even done it, where we speak of Christ and how happy we are. Where our words are saying yes and our face is saying no way. There are some Christians that when they speak of God it looks like they are auditioning to be a pallbearer. They have embalming fluid running through their veins. It looks like they ran over their dog on the way to Sunday School. We typically would not describe that as Spirit filled. So something gets in the way at times. I once heard the saying that there is a difference between being spirit filled and indwelt with the Holy Spirit. I have even said it before, but I do not necessarily agree with it anymore because that implies that God is being given in parts. That you received part of the Holy Spirit at times and the whole portion at others. I do not agree with that. So, something gets in the way.
II. What stops us from being Spirit filled?
II. What stops us from being Spirit filled?
Ourselves. Our pride, our sin. Our disbelief. Our disobedience.
This is the interesting, at times confusing, part of our faith. God is in perfect and in complete control. He has bought us at the price of His Son’s blood. He has adopted us into His family. He has filled us with the Holy Spirit at conversion. The Holy Spirit has all the same attributes as God the Father, so He too is perfect and in complete control. That indwelling is permanent. Yet, at the same time, we are somehow able to get in the way. This goes back to conversation about God being Sovereign and man having our own personal responsibility. God is the one who saves. Yet, we have to willingly call on Him for salvation. God is the one who sanctifies us. Yet, we are commanded to pursue holiness. God is the one dwelling inside of us. Yet, we are the ones commanded to be Spirit filled. Where do these things match up? I do not know. The reason that I do not know is because I have a very simple theology, if the Bible says it. I believe it. The Bible does not say where these things meet up. God gives us no indication of where these things line up.
Some may say, “Well, that is quite rude that God is not giving me an answer to my question.” No. We are just asking the wrong question. We have to remember that teacher knows best. (maybe not this one) Capital T teacher knows best. It is not the fact that God is not answering our question, which is truly theoretical, it is the fact that He has already answered the question we need to ask. One example of this is found in theodicy, otherwise known as the problem of evil. If God is good and He is all powerful, why does evil exist? The Bible does not give an answer. Yet, it does give an answer to the question we should ask. “If God is good and all powerful, why am I still alive?” Because God is merciful and calling on you to repentance through Jesus Christ.”
Jesus dealt with this in Luke 13:22-24
And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Christ moved from something that is completely theoretical to something that is practical, because the Christian faith is not a theoretical faith. It is practical where we can immediately take the things we learn from the Bible and apply them to our life. So then, with the question of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The theoretical question lies in asking, “How can I already be filled with the Holy Spirit, but at times not be filled with the Holy Spirit?” To this the Bible does not give an answer. Yet the question we should ask “Am I Spirit filled?”
III. Are you Spirit filled?
III. Are you Spirit filled?
Now we have something to work with!
A few marks of being Spirit filled from the life of Zacharias.
1. You are born again.
2. You have repented of any known sin in your life. Luke 1:63
And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled.
3. You have completely submitted to God
As mentioned last week. Zacharias gave everything to God.
4. You are praising God!
One final thing to note is that being Spirit filled happens on God’s timing not yours. You’ll know when you are though.
Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people,
This word blessed is not saying that Zacharias is blessing God in the sense that He has given Him something. When used in the context of God it is a term of praise. When we say that we are blessed we are saying that God has shown us grace.
He visited AND redeemed His people.
IV. What is the significance of the word “And”
IV. What is the significance of the word “And”
It shows God’s abounding, unending, matchless grace.
Not only did He visit (referring to Gabriel coming), but He came to redeem.
Something has to happen before someone can be redeemed. They must have first been deemed something. To be deemed means to be regarded in a specific way.
V. What are humans deemed as?
V. What are humans deemed as?
Sinner. Enemies of God. Haters of God. Children of wrath.
Yet through Christ we are REdeemed. We are regarded specifically again. As children. As heirs. As friends.
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began,
This horn is called a Shofar. A shofar is the horn of a ram. Anytime you see the word trumpet or horn in the Bible is is referring to a shofar. They are loud.
So this salvation has always been proclaimed. As indicated by God using the prophets. Jeremiah 23:5
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
Sin has blinded the Jews from seeing this though.
This is just another indication of how much thought went into salvation. It was not a last minute decision. God did not , and does not take it lightly, neither should we.
That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us,
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which 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 the days of our life.
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.