Sermon Central
-
Zechariah: The Foundation For The Forerunner Series
Contributed by James Snyder on Jan 14, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: When God wants to do a work of significance, He calls a man, uniquely prepares that man for His work and anoints that man with power for the work at hand.
Introduction:
The most maligned person, from the Devil’s standpoint, is the man-husband-father. This Trinity represents to the devil, God’s authority in the home and society. Therefore, every man walks around with a target on his back.
There are more single-family homes in America today than traditional homes. This is not an accident. This is a clever ploy of the enemy to undermine and destroy God’s will in the world.
The Christian man-husband-father is under more scrutiny and attack than anybody else. I am sad to say, the enemy has been quite successful in destroying the Christian man-husband-father.
The most important aspect of every family is a godly father. The father is the priest in the home and exercises spiritual authority. The family without a father or a godly father is a family doomed for spiritual confusion. This is the importance God sets upon the husband and father in the home.
God’s modus operandi is always to work through a man.
Theme…
When God wants to do a work of significance, He calls a man, uniquely prepares that man for His work and anoints that man with power for the work at hand.
In looking at the men God has chosen, we discover that when he chooses a person for a job he spares nothing in the preparation. God does not always show His hand because He is looking for trust and obedience in the man.
You cannot obey anybody you cannot trust.
Zachariah is a rather unique man in the New Testament. Only Luke tells us about him. All we know about him is what is found here in the gospel of Luke. It would be interesting to have a full-blown biography of this man because of his importance in the road that led to the coming of the Son of Man.
Both Zechariah and Elizabeth “were advanced in years.” The burden they bore was the fact that Elisabeth was barren. In those days, not having children was looked down upon. The first son was very important in the family because that represented security for the parents in old age. They had come to that point of old age and had no children.
All of that is about to change.
It is interesting to me that so often God chooses people that, on the surface, have no potential for what God wants to do.
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:28).
God’s work is never done through man’s strength. Something that is hard for us to get a hold of. God wants us to be a channel through which He can touch the world around us.
In looking at this man Zachariah there are several important aspects with regard to God’s call upon a man.
The great calling upon Zachariah’s life was to be the foundation for the forerunner, John the Baptist. There probably is no greater man, at least in the New Testament, apart from Jesus Christ, then John the Baptist. Even Jesus gave testimony to this.
“Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11).
No greater recommendation could be had from anywhere.
Zachariah’s job was to prepare the Preparer.
I. God’s call upon a man’s life always demands
separation from the world. (1:6)
“And they were both righteous before God, walking blameless in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.”
This is the first requisite for being called of God. It is the hardest thing for any of us to do; separate ourselves completely the world. We have become so entangled with the world that we do not understand the difference between the world and the church.
If you want to have your heart broken, read Ezra 10 on your knees. This generation of Christians has so married into the world and is so full of idolatry and paganism that we are quite comfortable in the world. Like a hand in a glove.
God’s call upon my life means that I turn my back completely upon the world. You have to work out the details of that, which is between you and God. We cannot face hell and expect to end in heaven.
Christians once were known as people who were separated from the world. Now we no longer are known as that. There is a rather pagan reality show that boasts that the star is a “born again Christian virgin” in the purpose of the show is to select his wife. That man is no more born again than the devil himself. How can we be so blind to the ways of the world?
