“And the angel answered and said unto her,
‘The Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.
And, behold,
thy cousin Elisabeth,
she hath also conceived a son in her old
age:
and this is the sixth month with her, who was called
barren.’ ”
Luke 1:35-36
As we go about our business during the holidays,
and see the manger scenes—or lack of them—their presence or absence
should make us think about God's Son.
As we watch some of the
Christmas specials during this season, hopefully they make us think
about God's Son. Jesus’ birth was the miraculous birth that changed
the world as it had existed up until then. Because of that birth
2000 years ago, this world could never be the same ever
again.
What many people may have forgotten is that there was
another amazing birth at that time.
Elisabeth was barren. She
was unable to conceive, and she had gotten older. But don't ever
forget, nothing is impossible for God. Her husband was a priest by
the name of Zacharias.
Luke records in his first
chapter:
“And there appeared unto [Zacharias] 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 Elisabeth
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.
‘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.
‘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,
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.’ ”
Luke 1:11-17
But Zacharias began to question Gabriel. He did
not believe the words of the angel that stands in the presence of
God. Luke then records that Gabriel told Zacharias:
“And, behold, thou shalt be dumb,
and not able to
speak,
until the day that these things shall be
performed,
because thou believest not my words,
which shall be
fulfilled in their season.”
Luke 1:20
It was recorded that Zacharias would now be
dumb. He could not speak. He would be unable to communicate verbally
with those around him until the birth of his son.
Now just
think about that for a second. Imagine this: You are advanced in
years and you have no children. God finally opens your wife's womb,
and you have to be bursting with excitement. You want to tell the
whole world about this great news, but you can't. No words can cross
your lips. You can't email all of your friends because email is far
in the future.
What do you think Zacharias would want to say?
Would he be thankful because of the child that is coming? Would he
want to praise God? Would he be frustrated because he cannot
speak?
Luke tells us about the birth of Zacharias' son in the
first chapter:
“And he asked for a writing table,
and wrote,
saying, ‘His name is John.’
And they marvelled all.
And
his mouth was opened immediately,
and his tongue loosed, and he
spake, and praised God.”
Luke 1:63-64
So we see that his response was when he could
speak was to praise God. Read Luke 1:67-79; I mean, he praised God!
He was so thankful. He knew that Salvation (the Hebrew
meaning of the name of Jesus) was coming. He knew that remission of
sins was coming. He was so thankful. He was bubbling up with an
overwhelming joy and love of God, and he just had to let it all out.
You can speak today. What do you want to do when you wake
up? Is it to just praise God with all that you have got? You didn't
speak while you were sleeping, but now you're awake and can speak.
The temporary muteness is over.
What do you want to say?
Some friends of mine who are street preachers talk about
“breaking the sound barrier.
” And what they mean
by that is that they have passed the point of being mute and not
speaking. Instead, they stand up and preach for the Lord.
They went from muteness to boldness. It was a defining
moment in their life—standing up for the Lord.
When is the
last time you broke the sound barrier in talking just one-on-one
with a lost person about Jesus? Do you know when that was?
We are here to break the sound barrier for the Lord. We are
here to tell others about Jesus. Does God have to make you mute for
nine months to get you to praise Him with all that you have got?
Wouldn't that be an interesting prayer: To ask God to make
us mute if we are not telling others about Him?
But we don't
need to pray that because, you see, you and I are really already
mute, if we are not telling the story of what Jesus has done for
this world and for each individual in it.
The testimonies
continue to roll in from people who have read "One Thing You Can't
Do in Heaven," or who have heard me speak about testifying of what
Jesus is to us, and they are boldly standing for the Lord.
These people are verbalizing about what they believe with
the lost. They have broken the sound barrier.
Satan has no
problem breaking the sound barrier when he stands up for untruth. It
is high time that we verbally stand for the eternal truth of the
Most High God.
Make sure this is the Christmas season that
you share your faith with the lost more so than any Christmas you
have ever been alive.
He is worth it.
Until the nets are full,