The Christ Is Coming #1: Preparation Proclamation
Text: Luke 1:5-25, 39-45
William Carey, Prepared By God to Inspire World Missions
The modern mission movement of which we are still a part today, began in the late 1700 and early 1800’s and on man in particular is credited with its beginning. His name was William Carey, He is called, “The father of modern missions.”
Carey was an unlikely person for God to use in such a great way. Until about 14 years old, he was a lukewarm Anglican, who said of himself, “I was addicted to swearing, lying, and unchaste conversation; which was heightened by the company of ringers, foot-ball players, the society of a blacksmiths shop….
Carey was apprenticed to a shoe maker at 15 where he and another apprentice would make repairs on old shoes. The other boy, John Warr was a Baptist and as they worked together, they would discuss the Bible. Carey always had the last word, but Warr’s sincerity began to have an affect on young Carey. Finally, at 17 after a national day of prayer and church service, Carey made the decision to follow Christ and he later he became a Baptist.
As he toiled at the cobbler’s bench, Carey with his heart now on fire for the Lord taught himself, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Dutch, and French. Soon he was the village schoolmaster and then he began to pastor a local Baptist church. His heart began to be burdened about the lost around the world when he read a biography of David Brainerd, the missionary to the American Indians. In 1792 Carey wrote a book called, “An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens.” That book and sermons he preached led to the first Baptist Missions Society and became the inspiration for almost all modern missionaries.
William Carey went to Calcutta, India where his wife Dorthy died after slipping into insanity. He married twice more, losing his second wife to death as well as several children including his first-born son.
Despite the problems he founded the first, degree granting college in India, translated the Bible into Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Hindi, Assamese, and Sanskrit. He helped launch the American Mission movement through Adoniram Judson, wrote many books and translated many Indian books into English. He established the first Indian public school and using the Bible he taught all children, boys, girls and even the untouchables. He changed missions in England and America, and he changed India through those missions. He died in 1834.
Now who would have ever thought that God could have used a cobbler to inspire missions around the world. But God had made preparation for William Carey long before William Carey thought anything about God. That is what I want us to think about this morning the God’s Preparation in the lives of His children. God in his omniscience and omnipotence leaves nothing to chance when it comes to His plans and the people he uses in those plans. As we can see in the story of John the Baptist and his parents
Zacharias and Elizebeth in Luke chapter 1.
The Prepared Gospel - Luke 1:1-4
1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word: 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.
Outline of Luke 1:
Luke begins the narrative of Jesus’ birth and life in four visits. Those visits give us an outline of chapter 1.
I. Gabriel Visits Zacharias (1:1–25)
II. Gabriel Visits Mary (1:26–38)
III. Mary Visits Elizabeth (1:39–56)
IV. God Visits His People (1:57–80)
A Prepared Book:
Luke is the only Gentile author of any portion of the Bible. Other Gentiles are recorded in the Bible but only one was chosen by God to write, Luke the physician. Luke in fact wrote more words in the New Testament than any of the other authors of scripture.
Luke wrote both his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles as a record of the life of Christ and the early church. He made this inspired record for a man named Theophilus. Now if you know anything from being in church for any length of time you know that Theo is the Greek word for God and Phileo is the word for love, Theophilus’ name then means “a lover of God.” He may have been born with that name, he may have changed his name after he was saved to reflect his new faith, or it may have been a codename to protect him if he was in a position where his faith would have brought him under persecution.
We know nothing about Theophilus but what we read here. He may have been Luke’s patron who helped him financially as Luke traveled and gathered material for his Gospel. He may also have been an official or minor ruler because Luke calls him “most excellent, Theophilus” a title like your excellency. But we really don’t know.
We know more about Luke. He was a trained physician, who joined Paul’s missionary work during the second missionary journey probably in Macedonia or Greece in Acts chapter 20. Of all the writers of the Gospel he was the most detail oriented and the most precise in place names and dates.
Prepared For Us
When you consider Luke and his writings you can’t help but realize that God prepared and used Luke to write a Gospel account that was specially prepared for us as Gentiles. Luke’s perspective wasn’t Jewish. He saw things from a former pagan background, a Gentiles background.
Today more than at any time since Paul and Luke traveled the Roman world, we need a Book prepared by God to reach a neo-pagan, godless society. We need to see this world of ours today as more like the world of Paul and Luke. We are a civilization that was built upon the precepts for God’s word. And because of that we were a civilization that was more beneficent, had more freedom, was more tolerant and opened more opportunities for more people of all classes than any other civilization in all of history.
But no longer, we have turned away from those foundational principles that made us blessed and free. Today we are much closer to the world of Luke, a world ruled by the rich, the elite and governed not by principles based up the Judeo-Christian Bible but by neo-paganism, socialism, Marxism and humanism.
If this seems dire and dangerous, well it is but understand this, never forget this, God has prepared a book, a people and a Savior that changed the world once and still can change hearts and lives today. God’s Word is still the only way to break through the chains of ignorance and free people that they might come to God.
God prepared a book and in that book is the story of the coming of the Christ, the anointed one of God, the chosen one to save mankind. And in bringing Christ, God also prepared and chose people like Zacharias and Elizebeth and their son, John who would in turn prepare the way of the long-promised Messiah.
Go to verse 5 and look how God prepared these parents for the birth of John.
The Prepared Parents – Luke 1:5-10
5There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7And they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 8And it came to pass that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, 9according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
Parents Prepared By God
Prepared by Faithfulness. In Luke 1v5 we meet Zacharias and Elizabeth. Now I love seeing the meaning of people’s names in the Old and New Testament, very often they give us insight into the background of the people that God chooses. Zacharias name means “Jehovah has remembered” while Elizabeth’s name means “God is my oath.” The Bible tells us that were both righteous before God. They were a godly couple, both of which had a linage from the Levitical line of priests. Zachariah’s line was from of Abia and even more prestigiously for Elizebeth she was a daughter of Aaron, the first high priest of Israel. The priests during this time were divided into twenty-four courses (1 Chron. 24), and each priest served in the temple two weeks out of the year.
Prepared by Providence. Zechariah was only one of eighteen thousand priests and so with that many priest they would draw lots to see what service they would perform. Luke tells us that the lot for Zacharias was to burn incense when he went into the temple. Of all the ministries a man could serve at the Temple this was considered the greatest, other than the work of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. To light the altar of incense was to symbolically show the prayers of the nation to Jehovah God. Prayers for forgiveness, prayers for the nation during the occupation by Rome and the evil King Herod and prayers for the Christ, the Messiah to come. With that many priests, the offering of incense would take place only once in a priest’s life, so this was a very special day for Zechariah and Elizebeth, what must have seemed the climax of both their lives and heritage.
Prepared by Sorrow. This great honor would be seen as the pinnacle of their lives for another reason, they were old and they had never been blessed with a child. There was a void, a vast emptiness in their lives because they had no family of their own and now were past the time when a prayer for a child could possibly be answered. According to the custom of the times a person was not considered old until they were past 60. (I guess that means I am officially old. So very, very, very old.) So that means they were probably past 60 and some put their age at 80 years old.
God, though, is at work in this old couple’s life. He has worked in the past through their family line, their heritage and He worked even through the casting of the lot to put Zacharias in the Holy place at the time of the lighting of the incense, and He even worked through their sorrow to prepare them for the part they would play in the coming of the Christ.
People Prepared By God
Over and over in the Bible we see God working this way don’t we. Over and over, we see God preparing prophets, parents, and people just like us. And those that He has prepared don’t see it coming. They can’t see it coming. Zacharias and Elizebeth sure didn’t see themselves being prepared by God to be the parent of the greatest Prophet since Elijah. A prophet who would himself prepare the way for the Lord to come.
I believe God is always preparing His people to be used in small and sometime big ways in His service and for His kingdom. And just like the Ezekiels, Daniels, Jeremiahs, Ruths and Esthers of the past, we can’t see that preparation until we hear the voice of the Lord ask us as Mordecai asked Esther, Esther 4:14 who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
We can’t see the work of preparation, but we can put our faith in the God who makes those preparations. We believe in the preparation He has made for us in salvation, in forgiveness, in preservation, in our home in heaven. As Jesus said, “I go and prepare a place for you.” He was talking about all those things.
We also believe that when it comes to being used of God for work in the church and in the Kingdom of God, He has made the necessary preparations in our past, our present and in our future.
Remember how Paul put it in Romans 8:28-31 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
We are the people of God, made to serve God by the providence and preparation of God. We can’t always see the preparation, but we believe God has already accomplished it.
In vss.11-14 we see that God’s preparation continues with a Prepared Proclaimer, the angel Gabriel.
The Prepared Angel – Luke 1:11-14
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, ‘Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth:.
Prepared to Proclaim
Of all the angels that the Bible tells us about, there are only three that are named. Two that were faithful to God and one that rebelled against God and became Satan, the Devil. The two faithful angels named in the Bible are Gabriel and Michael. I know you want to hear what their names mean. These may be of special interest to members of our church since some of them share these same names.
Gabriel means “man of God” now that’s a big name to live up to. Michael means “Who is like God?” also a big name to carry around once you know its meaning. The angel who fell, as you know was not name Satan which means opposer or Devil which means accuser, but he was name Lucifer, which mean light bearer. Michael and Lucifer were archangels of God’s throne, when Lucifer fell many believe Gabriel took his place because only these three angels in all the thousands and thousands of angels are named in God’s word. BTW the word angel just means messenger. So when we see an angel appear in the Bible it is usually accompanied with a message from the Lord. Such is the case here with Zachariah. Look at the message Gabriel brought to Zachariah and through him to Elizebeth.
Let’s set the stage for this scene. According to the Jewish guidelines for the priests during this time, Zacharias after winning the cast lot, would choose two friends or relatives to help him in his sacred duty. One friend or relative would clean the altar from the previous evening’s offering. Then he would worship as he walked backwards out of the Holy Place. Then the second person would come forward and spread live coals from the altar of sacrifice on the outer edges of the altar of incense. He then would exit as he worshipped without turning his back upon the Holy Place.
Zacharias would now spread the incense upon the altar, making a sweet savor that symbolized the prayers of the nation of Israel to God. Outside there would be a very large crowd in the outer courtyard waiting to see that sacred smoke rise. Nor would the priest tarry long in the Holy Place, for they had a great respect of their God. But on this day, the smoke ascended but Zechariah, did not come out immediately.
The Bible tells us, that an angel of the Lord was suddenly standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Likely Gabriel waited till Zechariah was alone and concentrating on his once in a lifetime honor. Then as he backed away from the altar of incense, there He stood.
When Zacharias saw him, the Bible says, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. Remember this was the Temple of the God of Israel. In times past His presence had dwelt above the mercy seat. Aaron’s sons who offered strange fire upon the altar of incense had been struck dead by God. Zacharias had just made that offering and now suddenly there was an angel looking at him. Yeah, I’d be pretty shook up as well.
But the angel said, ‘Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. We aren’t told what Zacharias was praying about but considering his and Elizabeth’s age he probably wasn’t praying for a child to come into their life now, but the prayers that they had both prayed in the past were not in vain. God had been storing them up till this special time and place. They would have a child, and not just any child but a child named by God. His name would be John and his name means “Jehovah is a gracious giver.” Now that is fitting isn’t it, since John would be a gift to his parents and he in turn would prepare the way for the greatest gift of all time, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Prepared for God’s Preparation
I just want to make a quick application here. The best way to be prepared for God’s preparation is to be faithful in service to God. That is what Zacharia and Elizebeth were doing. Just be faithful serving their God.
Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
You will be ready for the God’s preparation, if you live faithfully. You will be ready, to be used of God, if you live faithfully as God has commanded. This is when God will use you and probably is using you right now, while you are serving and living faithfully in the everyday challenges, the common tasks and daily callings of life as a child of God, you are being used of God and fulfilling the preparations He has made even if you are not aware of it.
Moses and David were working as a shepherd when God called, Joseph as a carpenter, Amos was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, Nehemiah was the kings cupbearer. All were faithfully doing their jobs when God’s preparation come to a point of personal application in their lives and they were ready. Be faithful and God’s preparation will come to fruition in your own life.
One last act of preparation by God and this the most important to our story today, the preparation of a Prophet.
The Prepared Prophet – Luke 1:15-17
15 for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’
The Preparation of the Preparer of the Way
His Character. Gabriel tells Zacharias about the character of his coming son.
Your son, Zacharias, shall be great in the sight of the Lord,
He shall not drink wine nor strong drink. He would be a Nazarite, a separated one for God’s service.
Zachariah your son will be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. Isn’t that amazing? This prophecy says that the Holy Spirit will fill John even before his birth. We see this demonstrated when Mary pregnant with Jesus the Messiah comes to visit her cousin Elizebeth and the unborn John still in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy.
Remember the story? Luke 1:41-44 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
How can anyone not believe that a child in the womb is not a child? This child was named by God, filled with the Holy Spirit and used by God to identify the Messiah all before He was born. The babe leaped for joy! Well, of course he did, he just met the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of all mankind.
The Calling of John: Gabriel then tells Zachariah what John would accomplish. He says in vs. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah). This is not just a prophecy of the great ministry of John but also a revelation of who the Messiah would truly be. Gabriel says, He would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and then he says that John would go before Him. Before who? Before the Lord their God in the power of Elijah who was prophesied in the OT to come before the Messiah. In one statement Gabriel tells us that the Messiah would not only be the son of David but would also be the son of God.
He also says that as John goes before Jesus, the Son of God, in the power and spirit of Elijah he would “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,” John’s preaching would heal divided families and divided Israel as they all turned to look upon the anointed One of God. His preaching would also turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of justice, to God’s righteousness, to God justice, to God’s wisdom. John’s ministry would see many turn from their wickedness and show their repentance by submitting to John’s baptism of repentance.
Matthew 3:1-6 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. … 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
As families were reconciled and as sinners repented, God was using John “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” We don’t know how long John preached before Jesus come to the Jordan to be baptized by this same John. However long it was, his preaching was powerfully effective. Multitudes of people poured out of the cities and towns to hear his message, hundreds, perhaps thousands believed his message, “Repent, for the Kingdome of Heaven is come.” They believed that the Messiah was coming and from that pool of believers Jesus showed himself and then chose his apostles, his first disciples and his church. John laid the groundwork, prepared the way and Jesus stepped onto that prepared stage and presented himself as the Messiah and Savior. And John withdrew having fulfilled his calling. What a great prophet, what a humble servant, what a man of God.
Are you Prepared to Prepare The Way?
There will never be another man or prophet like John. He stood with one foot in the Old Testament and another in the New. He has been called the last prophet of the Old and the first prophet of the New. No one can ever be another John the Baptist, but in our own way we are called to have a ministry like his, a ministry of preparing the way of the Lord. Not for an entire nation of course but for those who God has placed in our life.
We as the people of the New Testament, as the church of the Lord are commanded, chosen and prepared by God to prepare the way of the Lord.
We are to share the Gospel, Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
We are to share our testimony, Acts 1:8 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
We have been prepared by the Lord to reproduce in others what has been produced in us. Matthew 28:18-20 All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
How can you do this? How can you be a preparer of the way into the hearts of those who don’t know the Lord? I think it will be the same as it was for Zacharias and Elizebeth. Be faithful, be believing and just be ready.
Conclusion
We began the sermon with an introduction to William Carey, the father of modern missions. Carey once preached a sermon that helped launch the Mission Society that changed modern missions. In that sermon he gave this very famous quote.
“Expect great things from God; Attempt great things for God.” – William Carey.
Can you think of a better way to wrap up 2023 and step into 2024? God has made the preparations for us now all we need do is serve faithfully, trusting in all that He has prepared and provided and when we have the opportunity or can make the opportunity let us seize it with the same zeal of a William Carey.
“I will in 2024 expect great things from God and I will attempt great things for God.”
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