Recognizing His Coming

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Transcript:

We’re going to be in Luke chapter 1 again as we continue looking at some of the things that led up to the story of Jesus’ birth as we’re here in the Christmas season. You know, Brother Dacus said this morning in Sunday school, he told a story about someone who once said to a group of preachers that if you can drive, I forget where you said exactly, but if you can drive and not see a sermon illustration, then you’re not paying attention. And so I have one for you.

It occurred to me this morning, getting on the highway is always a stressful experience for me, not really something I enjoy all that much. I’m pretty notorious in my family for always taking an hour longer to get anywhere because I drive so slowly and tend to take the back roads if I can. But that’s not always possible here to get across the river to even get into this part of the country.

You have to go in the interstate, so you might as well stay there. Getting on the highway this morning, it occurred to me there is such a thing as a yield sign in this country, and it is not often recognized. So if you’re one of those people who see the little sign with the upside down red triangle with the other upside down white triangle in the middle that says yield, that is what that means.

None of you in here have that problem, do you? You all yield every time. What that sign means is you are supposed to slow down or stop and wait until it’s clear.

It’s not the same as a stop sign. If it’s clear, you just go right ahead. But it means wait.

Wait your turn. Wait until it’s clear. Now I say that because that sign is there.

That sign is the law. And yet it’s often not recognized, is it? People seem to take it as a suggestion at best. I don’t know what the traffic situation is here.

I’ve never seen anybody, you know, I’m not here that much, but I’ve never seen anybody run a stop sign in Lindsay. Maybe it’s just a thing in the city. But the yield signs don’t seem to mean anything.

People fail to recognize them as being important. Or stop signs, too. I’m seeing more and more people running stop signs and red lights.

And I just sit there and go, what is that? How do you? Of course, I would be the person who would get the ticket if I did it one time.

But I see it all the time. I think, how do you not recognize? This is the law.

And on top of that, it’s just a really good idea. You know, there are some laws that I think, it’s a bad idea. And I could go into some of them for you this morning, but I’m not here to talk politics with you.

But there are some laws I think that’s just a bad idea. These traffic signals, they are the law and they are a good idea. And we neglect to recognize them and we cause trouble for ourselves and for others.

It makes a difference when we recognize them. It’s the law regardless. It’s there regardless of whether we recognize it or not.

but we do ourselves a favor and everybody else when we recognize these traffic signs for what they are and act accordingly. Where is he going with this in Luke chapter 1? Because we talked last week about Jesus being the Messiah, and we talked about the prophecies, not only that were told throughout the Old Testament, but what Gabriel came to Mary and said, the child you’re going to have, this is who he’s going to be.

talked about him being great, talked about him sitting on the throne of his father David, talking about him having this eternal rule, talked about the virgin birth. All of these things, all of these prophecies that were told going back to time immemorial, as far back as there’s been human history, it seems like, God has been preparing people for the coming of the Messiah, up to the time of Gabriel coming along and telling Mary, In all those prophecies of the Messiah, they’re going to be fulfilled in your son, and here is the kind of man that he’s going to be.

And so there’s this theme that runs throughout scripture, either looking ahead to Jesus being the Messiah, and all of the Old Testament books pointing forward and saying this is who the Messiah was going to be, so that when he came here we would know it, and then you’ve got the New Testament books looking backward and making the argument that yes, he fulfilled everything that the Messiah was supposed to be fulfilled, that he is the one who God sent to deal with the problem of our sins, that he is king of kings, he is Lord of lords, he’s the son of God, and he’s the savior of the world. Looking back and making that case, all of scripture is about Jesus Christ. All of scripture is about making the case that he’s the Messiah, that he’s the one that God promised all this time. And yet, he’s not always recognized as such, is he?

That’s where the yield sign comes in. And he’s just like the yield signs and the stop signs and the don’t get me started on the speed limit signs. Just like those are the law, whether or not we recognize them as such.

Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. He is King of kings and Lord of lords, regardless of whether or not he is recognized by such, by you, me, or anybody else.

He is who God appointed him to be, regardless of how anybody feels about it. I’ve told you before many times, I’m sure, that I like the bumper sticker, keychain, whatever they have at Mardell’s. I’ve seen both.

They probably have other stuff. It said, God said it. I believe it.

That settles it. And I like that. And that’s a good sentiment.

But we can take one of those premises out of it and say, God said it, and that settles it. Regardless of whether or not you and I accept it or not. Whether or not we believe it, God said it, and that settles it.

It is the truth. He is the Messiah. You know, some of us were talking at school the other day, some of the teachers, about something that was being done in math.

And I said, well, it could be worse. It could be Common Core. It could be.

I don’t know if any of you have seen those videos online where they try to teach them how to add 9 and 6 to make 15. You can’t just add 9 and 6 to make 15. I’m sorry, not to get off on politics, but thank God they overturn Common Core in Oklahoma because we have enough kids that can’t do math as it is.

You can’t just add 9 and 16. You have to figure out how many 10s you have, and you have to group numbers together, and so you have to subtract 1. You look at the 9 and realize you need 1 more to make 10, so you subtract 1 from the 6, add it to the 9 to make 10, you realize you have 5 left over, then you add 10.

Why can we not just add 9 and 6? But we were talking about some of the different math philosophies, And there was something where I saw a workbook where you had to go and make the case for how, was it 2 plus 2 could equal 5? Like we’re teaching them to make arguments about things that are not true.

Ladies and gentlemen, 2 plus 2 is for, has always been for, and will always be for, regardless of whether you or I are an education bureaucrat wants to say otherwise. Some things just are whether or not we recognize them. But we do ourselves a favor when we recognize the truth for what it is.

And that’s what I’m saying. Jesus Christ, because God said so, because God the Father sent him to be the Messiah, he is the Messiah, he is the anointed one of God, he is the one sent to save the world from our sins, regardless of whether you or I or anybody outside these four walls acknowledge it or not, he is. And it’s better for us if we recognize him for who he truly is.

And so we go to Luke chapter 1, we start in verse 39 this morning. we’re going to look at really the first recognition outside of Mary that Jesus was the Messiah. I love this story.

It’s a short story, and we don’t talk about it a lot, but it’s just a great account of what happened. Starting in verse 39, it says, And Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah. We left off in verse 38 where the angel Gabriel has just left her.

He has just told her you’re going to have a child. He’s going to be the Messiah. She says, how is this possible?

Because I’ve not done anything to get pregnant. And he says, the Holy Ghost will take care of that. God will create this child.

And so she agrees and says, behold the handmaid of the Lord, which is basically her saying, I’m at the Lord’s service. Let him do as he chooses. And then it says in verse 39 that we just read, Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste.

I’m not sure how much haste. I’m not sure how quickly she went. Because in those days, if you want to know how things worked in those days, think a little bit about Muslim culture today.

Not a lot. I mean, it’s not an exact parallel. But, for example, women aren’t just supposed to travel on their own in some countries.

Well, it was the same way in that world. And I’m sure there had to be preparations made, and there had to be people to go on the trip with her. She wasn’t just going to go on chaperone.

So I don’t think it’s just that she got up from her father’s house, and went immediately, said bye to no one, and left. But whether it took her, you know, whether she left that day, whether she left later that week, we don’t know. But what we do know is she hurried.

As quickly as she could, she went to go see her cousin Elizabeth because it had already been, I’m wanting to, he had told her in verse 36 that her cousin Elizabeth was going to bear a child as well. She was already six months pregnant. So she wanted to be with her cousin.

I’m tempted to think there was a little bit of confirming. Did that really just happen? But everything in Mary’s response indicates faith on her part.

So that may not have been it. But for whatever reason, she quickly, as quickly as she could, she went down to see her cousin Elizabeth into a city of Judah. Verse 40 says, And entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth.

Now we were one of the Bible classes this week. I want to say Thursday, was talking about the earlier part of this chapter that we didn’t even look at last week, where Zacharias is struck mute for doubting that he was going to have a child. That’s great.

Guys, there are so much. I know you’ve read this story. At some point, you’ve been in church.

Probably some of you longer than I’ve been alive. But these are parts of the story we don’t talk about a lot. And there’s so much that we can learn from this story.

And the idea that he was struck mute, He comes out with all these arguments and explanations about why this could. And God finally just shuts him up one way or the other. Because you didn’t believe.

So she walks in and she greets Elizabeth in Zacharias’ house. And why did she not greet him? Maybe he couldn’t respond back.

I don’t know. She entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, this is great, the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Now some of you ladies have had children, have carried children, and know what it feels like for them to move around in there.

I’ve only felt it from the outside, but those little things are just rolling around in there all the time after about six months, unless you get one that’s real calm. You know, Benjamin rolled around a lot, Madeline not as much, but they move around in there, but they don’t normally, I mean unless it’s just a really loud noise really close to them. They don’t normally move on command.

It’s not like you walk into a room and startle them and they, that’s not how it works. That Mary walks into the room and greets Elizabeth, and the Bible says that the child leapt in Elizabeth’s womb, and that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Now, lest we think this was just a coincidence, Elizabeth goes on to explain what this was, what this meant. And people could very easily try to write off this passage and say, well, yeah, that’s what Elizabeth thought.

You know, it really just was a coincidence. The baby just happened to move at that point. Listen to me.

A mother, even before they’re born, a mother knows the child. A mother knows the personality of the child. Even as the father not being the one to carry them.

All of my children, I’ve known their personalities before they were born. Because of what they did. Okay, they’re rolling around again.

Or they didn’t like that food. You know, you get to know the child. And if Elizabeth, as the mother, says, this is the explanation for what just happened, that’s good enough for me.

And she spake out with a loud voice. After the babe left in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Ghost, in verse 42, she spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Now, their cousins, I’m sure they liked each other.

They probably didn’t talk to each other like this all the time. We don’t normally see our family and go, Blessed are you for the. .

. This is the Holy Ghost speaking through her. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Already a declaration of her faith. Mary has just walked into the room.

We don’t know exactly what her greeting was, but basically she’s walked into the room and said, Hey, how are you? The future John the Baptist is rolling around in his mother’s womb, responding to her voice. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, says, You are blessed among women, and the fruit of your womb is blessed.

And to what do I owe the honor of being visited by the mother of my Lord? A tiny, unborn baby. And a woman already recognizes him and says, That’s my Lord.

Now, babies, when they’re born, are pretty much helpless. Pretty much the way Ronald Reagan described government, that it’s a huge elementary canal at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. They are completely dependent on us for feeding, for changing, for warmth.

I will never forget the days when my kids were born. And they come out, and Benjamin was born at 36 weeks. Madeline was born at 34.

So they both were a little more helpless than most. They had to be in the neonatal ICU. Tiny little helpless people. Madeline at first needed help even to breathe.

They need help eating. They can’t hold the bottle. I told you before, that takes months.

And it’s a wonderful thing when they learn to hold the bottle for themselves. It means I can go back to sleep. They need to be changed.

They need to be fed. They need to be bumped. You have to do everything for them.

They are helpless. When they are born, they are not lord of anything, even their own bodily functions. And an unborn child certainly is not lord of anything, as far as our natural faculty.

we’re not powerful we’re not born in control and yet she looks at Mary and says that her unborn child is her Lord that makes no sense that makes no sense apart from the message that God had given through the prophets and the angel Gabriel that this child was born to be king of kings and Lord of lords the Messiah that he promised and whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leapt in my womb for joy. And this is where I say the mother knows.

The mother knows whether it’s an angry movement, the baby didn’t like that, or whether the baby is tired. I’m told you can tell if they’re tired. If you’re paying attention, you can tell when the baby likes something, when the baby’s happy.

They even in the womb have personalities and individuality. And she knew her baby and said that as soon as she heard Mary’s voice, the baby leapt in her womb for joy. That this baby at six months of gestation was rejoicing for having heard the greeting of the Lord’s mother.

She said in verse 45, and blessed is she that believed. Or it says, I don’t believe this is Elizabeth speaking. And blessed is she that believed.

Oh, no, I’m sorry. She’s speaking to Mary about Mary. And blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

She says to her, basically, God will reward your faith. You’re going to be blessed for believing and for taking God at His word because He’s going to bring to pass everything. Hear me on this.

Everything that He’s promised you, He will bring to pass. And that’s it. Simple story.

Mary goes to visit her cousin and walks in and greets her and is greeted with this response in turn of faith on the part of Elizabeth and the baby who will grow up to be John the Baptist. Now next week, Lord willing, we’ll go into talking about Mary’s response to all this again. But already, we don’t know how far along Mary was at this point. Because as I said, we don’t know exactly how long it took her to get to Elizabeth’s house.

We just know she didn’t waste any time getting there. How far along was she at this point? Did Jesus have fingers and toes?

Did he have ears? Was he the size of a kumquat? I love those little websites where you can track based on how far along you are, how big is your baby.

He’s the size of a pea. He’s the size of a kumquat. He’s the size of a watermelon some days, they feel like I’m told.

But you can track, he has eyes now. He has eyelashes. He has toes.

The heart starts beating. We don’t know where Jesus was at this point, But already those who were listening to God knew that this baby was the one he’d promised all along. Knew that this baby was the promised Messiah.

And they recognized him as such. Now whether Elizabeth had admitted it or not. And whether or not John the Baptist had responded to it.

He was the Messiah. And he is the Messiah. But they recognized it to their benefit.

And the same is true for us this morning. Whether or not you recognize him as such. Jesus Christ, the one who was born, that tiny baby in the manger, in the stable, because there was no room for him in the inn.

That baby was and is and will be the Messiah. But it’s to our benefit that we recognize him as such. Three things this morning, very briefly, and then we will close.

First of all, the Spirit of God testifies that Jesus is the Messiah. The Holy Spirit indwelled Elizabeth in verse 41. says Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And as a result of that, she responds to Mary and spoke out with a loud voice these things that just don’t make sense otherwise.

She spake out with a loud voice and says, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Again, that does not make sense.

That whole confession, that whole conversation makes no sense other than God having revealed His plan. And God revealed his plan through the prophets. God revealed his plan through the angel Gabriel.

And God revealed his plan to Elizabeth when his Holy Spirit spoke to her and said, Yes, he is the one that I’ve been promising. Doesn’t the scripture say somewhere that his spirit bears witness with our spirit? The Holy Spirit of God, when we listen to the conviction and the urging of the Holy Spirit, when we listen to the teaching of the Holy Spirit, We cannot but come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah of God, that he’s God the Son in human flesh.

You hear all the time people talking about these spiritual experiences they have, and, well, I just feel like God tells me things. Okay, I try not to base my life on feelings. There are some people who base their faith and base their, on the emotion, on the feeling of the moment, or some experience that they had.

And you’ve got to be very careful, the Bible even tells us, to try the spirits. We can think we’re hearing the Spirit of God. We can think we are having this spiritual unction, but we’ve got to be very careful to test it against God’s Word, because God’s Holy Spirit will not teach us or testify to us or lead us in a direction that is contrary to what He’s already revealed.

And yet I say that as a caution, because some people go through life, well, I’m going to do this because the Holy Spirit told me this, or the Holy Spirit revealed that. And it’s completely contrary to what the Bible has said. And that tells me it’s not the Holy Spirit.

But within the context of what God has already revealed, we need to pay attention to the Holy Spirit. We need to listen to His teaching, to His promptings. We need to follow His leading.

He will not steer us wrong. Do you believe that? He will not steer us wrong.

And even to the world outside that is not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, there’s this thing called conviction, where God’s Holy Spirit, even before our conversion, convicts us of sin, pricks us in the heart, points us in the way of Christ, says this is the way you need to be going. And the Holy Spirit from the very beginning has been pointing people to Christ and still testifies His Spirit with our spirit today that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of God. And that’s why people still today come under conviction of sin and realize they have no hope but to throw themselves on God’s offered motion through Jesus Christ. And they cry out to Jesus even still.

And the same Holy Spirit who testified of Jesus then testifies of Jesus now. We need to listen to his promptings and his urgings. And we need to pray that his voice would be heard loudly by those who need to find Christ. That he would testify to them that Jesus is the Messiah.

And that they would hear it and respond. Second of all this morning, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. When the Spirit testifies this, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah gives us a cause for great joy.

Folks, His first coming is a joyful thing for the world. The Bible said that it was glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. And we talk about peace on earth, goodwill to men.

Now for those who don’t know Him, the second coming will not be so joyful an experience. But His coming, the first time as the Messiah, should be a thing of great joy because we were separated from God. Our sins had separated us from God.

And I think we as believers, if you’ve been a believer long enough, when you get to the point where you’ve been a believer most of your life, we start to forget what that’s like and what that means. I am 29 years old now. I was saved at the age of 5, so I’ve been saved 24 years.

That’s hard math to do. So I’ll say next year I’ll be 30 and we’ll have been saved for 25 years. That’s going to be, what, 82% of my life, thereabouts.

It’s hard to remember what it was like before I was saved. And we forget what it really means to be separated from God because we’ve gone through most of our lives with this relationship. And He’s always there and there’s a closeness and we don’t always hold up our end of the bargain.

But He’s always right there and He’s calling us back and He’s pulling us back and He’s loving us. And we forget what it’s like to feel the weight and the conviction of this sin and realize that we’ve sinned against God and we are separated from Him. We’ve made ourselves His enemies and that if we were to die apart from Him we’re going to pay for our sins for all eternity in a literal hell.

And we forget what that’s like. And for mankind before, before Christ came, even those who were walking with God, even those who were following the truth, the best they had, ladies and gentlemen, was to work as hard as they could, to do their best, to keep the law, and even knowing that that was not enough to save them, just to look forward to the fact that a Messiah would come someday. They walk by faith, whereas we’re able to walk by sight and look back and see the Messiah.

And suddenly, Jesus comes and changes everything. No longer do we have to just work and hope. Hope that we’ve done it right.

You see, He’s come and paid it all. And I’m not saying that they earned their salvation. Their salvation was earned by Jesus Christ. And they were looking forward to His coming.

But he came and he was born and he brought this message of peace, not just on earth, but peace between God and man. And for the first time, it really was possible to be at peace with God because he was going to take our sins on himself and they were going to be forgiven. They were going to be removed as far as the east is from the west. And so knowing that this child came as the promised one of God, knowing that he was going to deal with the problem of sin, knowing that he was going to set everything to right between God and man.

And spiritually, for those of us who believed, he has set everything to right between God and man. We now stand righteous in the sight of God, not because of any goodness that I have, or you have, thank God. Because I know me.

I’m not that impressed with me. And I know God’s not that impressed with me. But I stand in the righteousness of Christ. And it’s possible to have peace with God now.

And he spiritually has set all things to right between God and man. And you know, when it comes to the world outside, one day he’s going to come and wrap this up and he’s going to set everything to right and deal with the injustice. And just knowing, just knowing that Satan’s stranglehold on mankind was coming to an end.

Caused for great joy. John the Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb at the very presence of the Messiah. Folks, the fact that Jesus Christ has come gives us cause for celebration.

You’ve probably got trouble in your life right now. I could say you might have. You probably do.

There are probably things that are not going the way you think they ought to be going. And it’s easy to get discouraged. It’s easy to get tired and get beaten down by life.

But folks, we need to remember what God has done for us. We need to remember the cause for joy and celebration that this Messiah actually is. This is not a.

. . It’s a time for contemplation and worship, yes, but it’s also a time of rejoicing as we come into this time of year where we remember this great gift that God gave us.

And as we have a more open door than we have some other times of the year to be able to share this Messiah with other people, that they can experience the same joy. And finally this morning, not only the Spirit of God testifies Jesus as the Messiah, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah gives us a cause for great joy, but finally, anyone can recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Anyone can.

Now, we all know people, I’m sure, that we look at and say, wow, if they came to Christ, that would be a miracle. Because they seem to have run so far away from God We think, well, they can’t even hear his voice. And seem to have enjoyed doing so.

But it takes no more grace to save them than it did to save you or me. And the fact is, God is still in the saving business. God’s offer of mercy through the Messiah is still valid.

And we see in this story the whole spectrum of human life, them recognizing him for who he is. Elizabeth was so old at this point, even if she hadn’t been barren all of her life, she probably was too old to have children anyway. So she’s toward the end of her life.

And we tend to say, you know, as you get older, you get more set in your opinions. That’s certainly becoming the case for me. I feel older than I am.

And I feel crankier about my opinions than I ever have. And suddenly, wait a minute, you’re telling me that God is sending the Messiah. How?

God’s doing what now? Virgin birth? Are you kidding me?

And now everything’s different. I’ve grown up with the Jewish rituals. And this is how everything is.

And this is how it’s always been. and now you’re telling me everything is changing. And she could have very easily been like the Pharisees who rejected everything that he came to teach.

Because we do get older and set in our ways. And y’all have been in church long enough to know that. The carpet has always been green.

I don’t know if y’all have ever fought over the carpet. The carpet has always been green. 50 years I’ve been at this church, the carpet’s always been green, and we’re not changing it now.

We do that, don’t we? And we as Baptists are the worst. and yet she was able because she was listening to the Spirit of God we would look at this woman and say just based on demographics her mind is not going to change because she was listening to the Spirit of God she recognized him for who he was no hesitation no question, God spoke and she knew that it was the truth and she recognized him as the Messiah, there’s no such thing as a dog being too old to teach new tricks in this regard there’s no expiration date on the gospel. There’s no sense here of, well, they’ve wandered from God for 70 years.

They’re not going to change now. You know what? We keep praying and we keep working because anyone can recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

And the baby. He’s not even born yet. I’m not saying you can be saved before you’re born, but folks, even this unborn child recognized Jesus as the Messiah.

And we don’t teach the truths of the Bible. I don’t mean we necessarily. I mean Christianity as a whole in this country.

We don’t teach the hard truths of the Bible to our children because we think they’re beyond their comprehension. And we wonder why they get to be teenagers and then we start trying to teach them God’s word and wonder why it doesn’t stick. You know what, there’s a lot I didn’t understand at five years old.

But I understood I’d sinned and Jesus died to pay for it so I didn’t have to. And that was enough. And I recognized Jesus as my Messiah at five years old.

And some kids do. You know what, the Bible says that we’re to have the faith like a child. And even children can understand.

Children are smarter than we give them credit for. They’re also sometimes dumber than we give them credit for. Just depends on what areas we’re talking about.

You look at kids sometimes and think, not only why did you do that, how did you think of that? Oh, goodness, I could tell stories, but we’d be here all morning. Kids, about a lot of things, are smarter than we give them credit for.

And even our kids are capable at a young age. I’m not saying they’re going to be saved when they’re two years old. But even our kids at a young age, they’re capable of beginning to understand this truth that God sent Jesus to save us.

They’re capable of understanding that he’s the Messiah. And what I take from this part of the story is you’ve got an unborn baby who already recognizes the Lord for who he is. You’ve got a woman at the end of her life who recogn