Divine Proclamations: Faith, Surrender, and Salvation

"Gabriel says that your prayers have been heard, and now you want to argue with him that you are too old. I know that Zacharias knew the story of Abraham and Sarah and how they had a child in their 90s. So the question is, if you think you are too old to have a child, then why would you be praying for a child? You see, you can do everything right. You can serve in the church. You can be well thought of. You can even have a high honor. You can have a high honor bestowed upon you. But if you do not have faith, you will find yourself out of favor with God. Amen?" [00:05:36] (41 seconds)


"And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be made mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place. Because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time. I imagine Gabriel would have liked to slap Zacharias in this moment. or as we put it in the South, I'm sure he wanted to slap the taste out of his mouth. But instead he says, because of your lack of faith, you will not be able to speak until this child is born." [00:06:15] (41 seconds)


"Elizabeth is now six months pregnant. And Gabriel has been sent back to the earth to the city of Nazareth in the region of Galilee. And in those days, Galilee was not... well thought of by the Jews. The whole region was overrun by Gentiles. Herod had raised up pagan temples and he held pagan sports activities throughout that land and the whole region was held in contempt by the Jews. And as for Nazareth, it had a reputation for being corrupt and we see this in John chapter 1 verses 45 and 46 where it states Philip found Nathaniel and said to him we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph and Nathaniel said to him can any good thing come out of Nazareth and Philip said to him come and see and so to this unattractive and insignificant town came Gabriel fresh from the glories of heaven looking to find a man at the house of David whose name was Joseph and Mary a virgin engaged to him and she too was of the royal Davidic line both of them were humble and poor despite the royal lineage." [00:08:09] (89 seconds)


"Look at what He says to Mary, picking up in verse 31, And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father, David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Hallelujah. Anytime that we see that word, behold, church, we need to take notice. And we need to see what follows. Here, Gabriel says that Mary is going to conceive, bring forth a son, and name Him Jesus. Then he says of Jesus that He shall be great. He will be called the Son of God, and that He will sit upon the throne of King David. And His reign will last forever, and there will be no end to His kingdom." [00:13:28] (68 seconds)


"Mary has been sitting there listening in stunned silence to all that Gabriel has had to say. And then she asked a very pointed question, how? When Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and told him that he would have a son, Zacharias asked, how can I be sure that what you say is true? And his question was rooted in unbelief. But Mary's question, well, her question was rooted in faith. You see, she was ready to accept the prophecy, but she had a problem. How could she bring forth a son when she was not married? How could she bring forth a son when she is not about to go out and break God's law? I believe, however, that as she asked the question, an understanding crept into her soul, and a scripture came to mind. Centuries ago, the prophet Isaiah had foretold that a virgin would conceive and bear a son. Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 states, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. Emmanuel, God with us. God. God. God. In the flesh, coming to live amongst his people here on earth." [00:14:55] (100 seconds)


"And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month of her who was called barren. For with God, nothing will be impossible. Amen? Church, with God, nothing is impossible. So we see the Holy Spirit. He draws a veil over the actual details of the conception. Just as He does with the actual details of the crucifixion. The conception of the Holy Spirit would be a miracle. Jesus would have a human mother, but no human father. And that expression, the Holy One, in this verse is interesting. Human life in and of itself is a wonderful thing. Made up of body, soul, spirit, mind, emotion, and a will. But the human divine nature of Christ is even more of a wonderful thing because it is a Holy One." [00:16:55] (92 seconds)


"and then we see gabriel backed up his message with more proof gabriel told mary that her cousin elizabeth was six months pregnant which in of itself it was a miraculous thing given her great age and lifelong barrenness so if god could make a barren womb spring to life he could certainly make a virgin womb spring to life there was no difference to god who conceived the whole wonderful process of conception and birth then comes one of the most powerful statements in the bible when he says with god nothing shall be impossible in church that still applies today amen come on somebody get excited come on there we go that promise should make us excited that with god nothing is impossible" [00:18:25] (70 seconds)


"And so we see that Mary gave in at once. Her commitment was total. She presented her body to be a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable unto God for this great work. This great work of bringing His one and only Son into the world. And yet Mary was well within her rights to have some concerns. See, Mary would have to face the wagging tongues of her neighbors, as well as the outrage of her family. She was taking a real risk since there was no way that she could explain this pregnancy to other people. Then what about Joseph? What would he think? What would he do? And we know that Gabriel took care of Joseph. And that's visit number three. But Mary didn't have that assurance or knowledge at this point in the story. There were the local rabbis and the other religious leaders. And to have this child out of wedlock in those days was a serious matter. Mary could have and should have, by the law, taken out and stoned to death. Do we consider that aspect of this story as we celebrate this time of year? But in spite of all of these issues, she still said yes to God. Amen?" [00:20:30] (107 seconds)


"Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. So when Joseph awakes from his dream, he carried out the instructions that were given to him by the angel Gabriel. Mary and Joseph were married, but had no intimate relations until after the child was born. And when he was born, they named their son Jesus. And Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means Jehovah saves. Amen? Therefore his name revealed his purpose in coming to earth. Amen. Amen. And we will be saved because Jesus himself came to seek and save those who are lost. and all of mankind was lost. Amen?" [00:27:23] (72 seconds)


"Jesus left the comforts of glory for the dusty roads of Galilee. He was born in an obscure Judean village with animals as the only witnesses besides his parents to his birth. Jesus, he gave up his crown for a cradle. He lived among his creation and ultimately, he took up his cross so that we might be counted as children of God. Hallelujah. It is this Jesus that the angel spoke of. It is this Jesus who willingly paid the price for our sinfulness. And it is this Jesus to whom the angel spoke of. We owe so much and yet give so little. It is this Jesus who gave his life for us. And it is this Jesus who continues to forgive us when we sin against him. So what do we owe to Jesus? Church, we owe him everything. And he deserves no less than our total commitment and sacrifice. He deserves our complete devotion and praise but most of all he deserves and desires our love after all he has promised that his love for us will never end and that church is the message that needs to be told this Christmas amen let us pray" [00:28:39] (130 seconds)