Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Okay. Are you ready for the word of God this morning?
[00:00:08] God, will you speak to us, speak to us as individuals this morning. And, Father, I pray that you will be glorified and elevated in this room this morning.
[00:00:20] Come, Holy Spirit. Okay. Last week we looked at this wonderful story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. And Zechariah and Elizabeth were the parents of John, John the Baptist. Okay. And Zechariah and Elizabeth were blameless. Scripture tells us time and time again that they were righteous in God's sight. And we looked last week that to be righteous in God's sight, to be blameless is quite a high standard.
[00:00:54] It's a very high standard. And God does have high standards. But we're reminded this morning that we will all fall short of God's high standards. That's why we need Jesus. That's why we need the help of the Holy Spirit. But to live a blameless life doesn't mean to say that we will never, ever sin again. It just means that we as believers in Christ to live blameless lives. We don't go out willfully to sin. If we know something is not pleasing in God's eyes and we carry on living like that and doing what we want, then we're not blameless.
[00:01:36] Okay? So to be blameless is not to purposely go out and sin against God. And Zechariah and Elizabeth were blameless. Were righteous in God's sight. We started 30 days, and in Genesis six this week, a few days ago, it says the world was corrupt in God's sight.
[00:01:59] Absolutely corrupt.
[00:02:02] I want you to think for a moment, what must it be like for God the creator? We read about this wonderful creation of the world in Genesis one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
[00:02:19] What must it be like for God the creator, to create human beings on the face of the earth?
[00:02:27] And there are pockets of people all across the earth from the north, the south, the east, the west, who choose him.
[00:02:39] Who quietly and privately and publicly, in their rooms, in their places of work, wherever they are, choose him.
[00:02:52] Who lock the door, bow their heads, get on their knees and say, lord, I have heard you call. Here I am. I am coming.
[00:03:03] What must it be like for God looking down on the earth and seeing people like that, people who are in awe of him, who choose him regardless of the wickedness, regardless of how corrupt things are, who say, lord, I'm coming. I'm choosing you. I'm worshipping you. Your presence is everything to me.
[00:03:31] What must it be like being God, seeing that on the face of the earth.
[00:03:37] That's why devotion is so important.
[00:03:42] Devotion when no one's looking. Devotion when everybody's looking.
[00:03:47] Devotion to God. It is precious to God when people offer up their lives in service. And last week we looked at Zechariah and Elizabeth and they were living a pretty mundane, ordinary existence in the mundane, ordinary existence of life, when we are obediently, faithfully following him, it's not long before heaven notices, it's not long before there's a visitation, there's not long before things start happening in your life.
[00:04:25] And Zechariah had this visitation, remember, he was over too much of it. You can listen to last week's sermon on the net. But it was his time, his duty, his division, part of the priesthood that would go and keep the incense burning. After the morning sacrifice and the evening sacrifice, he would go and keep the incense burning. The worshippers would gather, they would praise and pray, and he would offer the incense. And Zechariah and Elizabeth, bear in mind they were now very, very old.
[00:05:01] They'd been praying for ages for this promised child, John, and he never came. But they were still faithful. They still carried on in their everyday lives being worshippers of God. What inspiration to us.
[00:05:19] But here's the thing. The visitation came to Zechariah and it says that he was gripped with fear, gripped with fear. And this wasn't any angel that came to Zechariah. This was Gabriel.
[00:05:37] If you know your angels in the Bible, Gabriel was like a special angel. If you want any angel to visit you, it's Gabriel. Or maybe not. Maybe he's scary. So Gabriel's this messenger, if you like. And then we have Michael, Archangel Michael, who's a warrior angel, the warrior angel of the heavenly hosts and the armies of the angel armies.
[00:06:04] And then we know Lucifer as angel or was an angel. Lucifer was a lead worshiper, a beautiful lead worshiper who was thrown out of heaven because he wanted to be God. He wanted everyone to bow to him. But here was Gabriel, the messenger, and he had delivered this message to Zechariah that he was going to have a son. And Zechariah did not believe God's word.
[00:06:36] He didn't believe God's word. Do we believe God's word this morning?
[00:06:40] Well, Zechariah, although he was a good man, didn't believe God's word. There can be many good people who love God, who fear God, who do right things and yet still not believe God's word at times.
[00:06:55] I know in my own life I've been a bit shaky. I said, lord, really, is this really of you? And he was gripped with fear.
[00:07:08] I want to say something really quickly.
[00:07:12] Even in old age, Zechariah was not forgotten.
[00:07:17] Some here this morning, the best years of your life are going to be in old age.
[00:07:23] Do you believe that?
[00:07:27] Maybe you're in your 70s, your 80s. You've still not seen the promise fulfilled. You've not seen that thing happen, that dream that you know God has placed in your heart.
[00:07:38] Do you dare to believe that a visitation of the Holy Spirit can come to your life in the later years?
[00:07:50] Absolutely. But Zechariah, he did not believe at this point. And what happened as a result was his mouth was shut tight.
[00:08:01] Unbelief will mute us when we walk in. Unbelief, heavens, I believe, will mute our lives from receiving what God has for us.
[00:08:16] And I'll talk a bit about that in a moment. Do you remember a couple of weeks ago? It's probably a couple of months ago now. We started on that journey, this journey after summer, about how the Israelites, they escaped Egypt, and they came to that place where God was going to part the seas. And they had high rocks on one side, and then they had PI ahiroth on the other. And do you remember what PI ahiroth meant? It means mouth of freedom.
[00:08:51] Mouth of freedom.
[00:08:54] God was very, very gracious to the Israelites, despite their unbelief.
[00:09:01] God kept opening doors for them, and they were here, and they were already. The Israelites were grumbling against Moses. We know the scene, Moses. Why didn't we just stay back in Egypt? At least the food was great. At least we had some accommodation.
[00:09:21] And Moses says, God is going to deliver you today. Just believe.
[00:09:28] And the seas parted, and they walked through in freedom. But here is Zechariah, and he has now been muted.
[00:09:39] There's no freedom in unbelief.
[00:09:43] There is no freedom in unbelief.
[00:09:46] It's like that guy in scripture that says, lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.
[00:09:51] Anybody like that? Sometimes I believe, but help my unbelief.
[00:09:58] See, unbelief will mute us from the promise, from the freedom that God has for our lives.
[00:10:07] And the angel shut his mouth tight. How frustrating. Women.
[00:10:16] I mean, sometimes I love Heidi, my daughter. But if anybody's got a teenage daughter, I'm like, can we just mute her? Like, lord, can we? Daughters alike. Okay, Lawson's. Your daughter's getting married soon. Amazing.
[00:10:30] The 14th. Wow. Brilliant. Just thought I'd throw that one in, but let's go on to Mary. Then this morning, a completely different response to Zechariah. Mary, when she heard the message, yes, she was troubled.
[00:10:47] Yes, she was wondering about this message.
[00:10:51] I'm wondering, what is this? And then she asks a really good question, and it's not a question of doubt. She just says, okay, I've accepted the message now, but I need you to know that I'm a virgin. I need you to know, how is this going to happen now? It wasn't a doubting question. It wasn't a question that said, well, is it really going to happen? It was a question of, okay, how now? How is this going to happen? And so when the angel said to her, the most high will overshadow you, and the power of the most high will come upon you, and you will conceive and give birth to a child, this was her response. She said, I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me. As you have said, I am the Lord's servant.
[00:11:39] Newton Abbot church. Are we the Lord's servant?
[00:11:43] Are we going to walk in belief?
[00:11:48] Are we going to walk as an unmuted church in 2024? I'll talk a little bit about that in a minute. So before Mary held the baby, she goes to Elizabeth, and then she births into this wonderful song. It's called the magnificent. And if you look at the magnificent, it's full of the psalms.
[00:12:12] Now, Mary would have grown up around the reading of the Torah and the Old Testament, and she would have heard the psalms time and time again.
[00:12:24] And this is why church, it's so important that we get to grips with scripture, that it's in us. It's in us every single day. It's how we grow, let me tell you, not just grow spiritually. I believe your physical bones are going to be better.
[00:12:40] Honestly, I do. Every part, mind, body, soul, spirit, as we walk with God through his word. And so Mary, she would have heard things like in the psalms, he saves those who obey him, he watches over those who love him. And these things she'd had in her heart then abled her to say, okay, before I hold the promise, before there's probably any evidence, as a female, of whether this promise is happening or not, I'm going to burst into song. Remember last week, we said, when is it a good time to sing a song?
[00:13:19] It isn't when your feelings line up.
[00:13:24] Because I tell you what, my feelings weren't great this morning.
[00:13:28] Is it just me?
[00:13:33] Because I'm feeling rough. I've got women flu, woman flu and woman flu. It's just not as bad as man fluore. And so Mary, she says, if this is the path God you've got for me, so be it.
[00:14:02] But Zechariah, Zechariah was like, I can't believe this word.
[00:14:10] I can't believe this.
[00:14:12] How many of us have lived in that tension? I have.
[00:14:17] Really, Lord? Really? And then we try, don't we, to manipulate situations, to bring the promise. Like Abraham. Anybody read that this morning? Abraham, Hagar. In our readings, you see, we can't have. And God tells us time and time and time and time and time again in scripture. We can't have unbelief and faith coming together.
[00:14:42] It's the whole thing that Jesus, that God talks about in Isaiah, I think it's 29. Sorry, my head's a bit foggy this morning about we just give God lip service.
[00:14:53] We're just giving him lip service. I know at times I've come to worship, I've come to sing my song and I've gone through the motions because it's learnt behavior.
[00:15:08] It's learnt behavior.
[00:15:12] And God says, I want your heart.
[00:15:15] That's why before we ever come to gather as a church, it's good whether they do on a Saturday night. We do things on a Saturday night. We say, Lord, let us come sincerely this morning. This cannot be a show, this cannot be an offering. That stinks.
[00:15:29] It's got to be something of worth. I might not feel great, I might not be in good circumstances in my life right now. But I'm bringing that little. That I have, the five loaves, two fish, that's all I have. But Lord, I just have my heart.
[00:15:46] Even if there's a little bit of faith, just have my heart and the little bit of faith to go with it. And I just come and bring myself.
[00:15:53] But you see, when we walk in unbelief, I believe unbelief. Silence. It silences heaven.
[00:16:03] It silences heaven.
[00:16:06] Psalm 89. Remember last week it said, blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence.
[00:16:17] We've got to learn to acclaim.
[00:16:21] We've got to say, okay, Lord, whether I have had the promise yet, or whether I have had the answer to my prayers yet or whether life is great or not, I am going to learn to acclaim you, to praise you, to be exuberant in my worship because of who you are.
[00:16:43] See, what fueled Mary's song was not because she was asking all these questions. What fueled it was the certainty of who God was and who God is. That's what fueled her praise. That's what fueled her song. It was knowing who God is. Do we know who God is?
[00:17:05] Could we stand up this morning and say, God, I know who you are. I may not have experienced it this week, but I know, I know, I know. The truth is that you're a God who saves. You're a God who watches over us. You're a God whose plan is perfect. Your purposes are right. You've got my life in your hand. You've got my families in your hand. I'm going to trust you. I may not see it naturally, but I believe it because of who you are. And as a result, we sing this song, verse 64. It's with Zechariah from last week. It says immediately Zechariah's mouth was opened and his tongue set free and he began to speak, praising God.
[00:17:50] Just think for a moment, men, because say this situation happened to you, okay? You're very old.
[00:17:57] Your wife's going to have a baby. An angel told you, and you're really old. I don't know what's really old. 90?
[00:18:04] No, something like that. Okay, say whatever, all right? And as a result, that you don't believe you are muted for the whole nine months of your wife having that baby.
[00:18:17] Can you imagine Zechariah's frustration?
[00:18:20] He is seeing the baby grow.
[00:18:23] He is touching the baby's little feet, going all sorts, like doing a little, okay. I'm convinced, like, one of mine was going to be a drummer, ladies, you know what I'm saying? Okay, so can you imagine Zechariah's frustration? He can see what's happening, but he can't express his feelings. He's muted.
[00:18:55] If the church will not praise, if the church will not open her mouth to declare the glory of God, I believe that the blessings of heaven, and I'm not just talking on a Sunday morning here. Now we're bigger than that. We're talking like the Monday mornings, we're talking the Wednesday afternoons. We're talking the midnights on a Saturday night. We're talking in the office, the streets, wherever, okay? I believe that the presence and glory of God will move on.
[00:19:38] I believe it. I really do believe it.
[00:19:42] And I don't want his presence and his glory to move on.
[00:19:46] I want to be where he is.
[00:19:49] See, this morning we were just joining in with what already is happening in the heavenlies, where people are around the throne, angels around the throne are going, holy, holy, holy.
[00:20:03] When Zechariah's mouth was opened, I bet he just couldn't I mean, I'd be screaming, would you not be screaming? I'd be like, get running up and down, rip it up and down.
[00:20:22] And Elizabeth's probably going, oh, I was enjoying him being mute.
[00:20:34] Faithfulness, obedience, devotion, good old ordinary faithfulness.
[00:20:43] Good old ordinary devotion.
[00:20:46] Good old ordinary obedience.
[00:20:50] Don't sound very glamorous, do they?
[00:20:55] But when we walk in them on the face of the earth, on the face of the earth, we are positioned at the right place and the right time for a visitation on the earth.
[00:21:08] And God has not done with visiting his people.
[00:21:12] He came through Jesus to reveal the kingdom of God to the earth. We are kingdom carriers of his glory and his presence. But God is saying, church, unmute yourselves. You carry something glorious. You are carriers of something enormous. For such a time as this. Don't hold back. Don't hold back. There are a few things I'm going to wrap up in a bit because I'm struggling a little bit, but it's not as bad as man flu.
[00:21:53] We can be mute for quite a few reasons.
[00:21:57] We know the obvious ones, lukewarmness, having a comfortable life.
[00:22:10] Do we really need God in our life?
[00:22:17] The cares of this world choking us. Anybody got some cares?
[00:22:23] Tell you what, when you carry anxiety and worry, and I was the biggest worrier, the anxiety and panic attacks I used to have, haven't had a major one since about 2018.
[00:22:39] It chokes you.
[00:22:41] It chokes you.
[00:22:43] But there is absolute freedom and healing. Honestly, there is. I am living proof.
[00:22:50] The cares of this world choke us. Unbelief stops us from believing other reasons. We are muted. Fear, it robs us.
[00:23:00] Anybody want to walk light in freedom because it is ours. Maybe we're muted. We can't just sing that song of salvation because we're blaming God.
[00:23:13] We're upset with God.
[00:23:15] We're upset with certain things that we think he's responsible for.
[00:23:26] We've been disappointed with God.
[00:23:30] Like Zechariah and Elizabeth. They'd prayed all their life for a son, and there was nothing.
[00:23:37] And then right at the very end of their life, I don't think Zechariah and Elizabeth, for one moment, saw John to grow up.
[00:23:47] But Zechariah, when he was unmuted, prophesied about his child. His child would proclaim, the gospel would be the forerunner for Jesus. The messiah would tell people that there's forgiveness of their sins.
[00:24:02] The preacher, the proclaimer, and I love it. One of my favorite parts in scripture, it says, john says, oh, there's one coming after me. But actually he was before me. Because he has always, always existed. The word became flesh. He was with God. And was God, Jesus our king.
[00:24:28] Just finishing up this morning.
[00:24:31] The enemy has tried to mute the church for too long.
[00:24:35] He's tried to mute the church.
[00:24:41] And this is what I truly believe, right? This is what I truly believe. And I've seen measures of it over 2030 years.
[00:24:51] What praise does, and I mean more than Lawson, you led us. I mean, super this morning.
[00:24:57] I was lost. Thank you so much. But it's more than the musicians, okay? And we thank God for really great musicians who are serving us honestly.
[00:25:08] It's more than waiting for the musicians. It is a song that we sing out of a response to the story of salvation. That is what we have been saying all along. It is know beginning of this year, we're talking Ruben, weren't we? About. We've done this discipleship series that's led us into a devoted series, okay? And we have no idea how this sermon series was written, do we? It's just come about by, I don't know, praying and talking and God just seems to be doing his work in this church. God, there is a message God has for us as a church, if we will hear what the spirit is saying. And so praise. When we start praising in our life, we set those times aside. We say, God, I'm going to praise you. I'm going to sing my song of salvation.
[00:25:57] Dig into those 30 days church. Let me tell you, next week will get really tough. You'll be like, I can't do this. It will get tough next week. Just warning you all, persevere. Because in months to come in the new year, this word is going to come alive in your life.
[00:26:16] The Holy Spirit will remind you of certain things, and they're going to play out in your life as you seek him. So keep doing it. But you see, praise. What happens is praise, praising God, offering up our song of salvation.
[00:26:29] It creates an atmosphere of faith, not unbelief, not fear, but of faith. When you get a room of people who are full of faith.
[00:26:45] And we've got to find out this year what pleases God. Remember Hebrews, faith pleases God. Anyone who believes in him has to believe that he exists and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him, right?
[00:26:58] Praise when I feel like it or not, offering up my song of salvation because of the story of salvation, because of the blood of Jesus, because of all he's done, because he's so great. Faith arises when you get a room full of people who are full of faith. That's when heaven starts to notice.
[00:27:20] When heaven starts to notice, we will see supernatural signs and wonders happen.
[00:27:28] We will.
[00:27:30] Healings will start to happen. Why? Because God rewards faith.
[00:27:36] And I have seen this happen.
[00:27:41] And even if the healing doesn't happen, can I be so real? He's good anyway.
[00:27:50] He's so good because our lives are in his hands and we trust him.
[00:27:58] I know it's hard. I know it's difficult. But we trust him. So praise.
[00:28:04] A room full of people are in agreement that say, yes, Lord, we're on this faith journey. An atmosphere to heaven to go. I see you, I see you. I see you. And it's nothing to do with the sound of your voice. It's nothing to do with your vocal cords. It starts with your heart.
[00:28:23] It starts within. I'm singing a praise. Will you stand with me this morning? Just quickly, I want to pray over us. Then I'm going to hand over to Ruben.
[00:28:40] What fuels our praise is knowing God intimately.
[00:28:49] Knowing him.
[00:28:51] We will only know him church if we dive into these scriptures that have been given us.
[00:29:03] Lord, I pray that you'd restore wonder and awe back to your people.
[00:29:09] The wonder of your word, Lord, as we're reading through these next 30 days of Genesis and exodus and the nativity accounts. Lord, will you help us to have eyes and ears of faith, to believe that you are as great as your word says you are?
[00:29:30] And that, Lord, it is not over for your church.
[00:29:37] Father, I pray. Lord, if there is any unmuting to do in our lives. Lord, if we have muted ourselves because of unbelief. Lord, if we have muted ourselves because we have blamed you. Lord, if we've muted ourselves because of disappointment and hurt. Father, I pray that we will leave this place this morning saying, lord, I'm sorry. I repent. And Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.
[00:30:13] Father, you've called us lord on a mission in Newton Abbott. You've called us Lord, to see whole households saved. You've called us Lord, to see the generations come back to you. Lord, you've called us Lord, to see the addicts set free. Lord, you've called us Lord, to see the homeless find our home. Lord, you've called us Lord, to see the blind eyes set free. So, Lord, I pray, God, that as a people, Lord, that we would lift up our song of salvation to you. And we cry, pia Hiroth. Pia Hiroth, mouth of freedom come alive in Jesus name. Mouths of freedom.
[00:30:57] To declare that you are good, Lord.
[00:31:02] Lord, I pray that we would not wait as people, Lord, to see this place packed out before we start praising you, Lord, we look out now and we see a room that cannot contain the people that you're going to bring in to your house. That you're going to bring home.
[00:31:24] For your glory. For your glory.
