AND SO IT BEGAN
Zachariah Father of John the Baptist
The event that we celebrate each year at this time,
the earthly part of it began with an encounter between a man who believed what he saw and knew, more than what he could not see. That description fits most of us to one degree or another.
Jesus talked about this often. The Holy Spirit taught Paul about carnality (Placing the seen above the unseen) in this way and with these words:
“So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the unseen things; for the visible things are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the invisible things are of God, everlasting and imperishable.”
(2Corinthians4:18)
The carnal/flesh mind is juxtaposed against the things of God. The flesh mind is not subject to the things of God; neither can it be!
(Romans 8-7)
Here is a gem from Paul that astonishes me each time I read his words. How could a man who nothing of atoms and molecules make this pronouncement?
“By faith (that is, living in this present moment with joyful celebration of the receipt of the blood-bought and guaranteed promises of Jesus; regardless of what we see, hear, touch, smell or taste.) we understand that the worlds (universes, ages) were framed and created by the Word of God so that what is seen was not made of visible things”. (Hebrews 11:3)
Meaning: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit created everything we see from the things which we can not see.
We receive Jesus’ faith as a free gift when we accept Him and make Him our King. Old Zach and all of those who lived before Jesus bequeathed us His faith had to rely on their flesh or human faith. Of course, human faith is not very strong. Therefore, the use of faith at that time required a determination to believe, regardless of what was in sight. Jesus described human flesh faith as four types: no faith, little faith, great faith, and ever-increasing faith. Thank God we do not have to rely on those degrees of faith since we have Perfect Faith! Jesus’s faith. (2Peter1:1)
The stiff-necked stuck in the mud old dude featured here is a type of person that lives even today; old Zach is the image of the rock hard pew dweller who is incapable of and uninterested in learning new things about Jesus.
They are so attached to their religious paradigms and the traditions of men, most of which are not in the Bible, and the cares of this world and their made-up laws, rules and regulations and silly false beliefs, that they are incapable of learning the truth. Their fate is sad. They will never enter the Kingdom of God during their brief stay on earth. It is impossible for the light to penetrate the armor of self-righteousness.
Sometimes I feel precisely like Gabriel when I try to teach stiff-necked religious works and law-giving people the truth that Jesus placed us in a Grace through Faith relationship with Him. I have tried many, many times to teach Zachariah’s hard-nosed cousins the love and blood-bought great and precious promises and gifts of Jesus to no avail.
From the report of Doctor Luke
“Now it happened while Zachariah was serving as priest before God in the appointed order of his priestly division, as was the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the temple of the Lord and burn incense on the altar of incense.”
And all the congregation was praying outside in the courtyard of the temple at the hour of the incense offering. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
The angel was Gabriel, the Archangel of God. God’s personal messenger. This is how the prophet Daniel described the physical appearance of Michael, the Archangel. We can logically presume that Gabriel looked like Michael in appearance.
“At that time, I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips, and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz (an area where most of the finest gold was found)around his waist.
His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.”
(Daniel 10:4-8)
Imagine this angel appearing to you from nowhere. He was just there. Suddenly, he stood before Zachariah. Consider Gabriel’s appearance. Can you see yourself choosing not to believe a being as described above who somehow knew your prayers? Though he had never seen you nor spoken to you.
How could you doubt a being as described above? Especially when he told you what your dream was!!!
“When Zachariah saw the angel, he was troubled and overcome with fear. (Ya Think?) But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah, because your petition in prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.”
You will have great joy and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth, for he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord; and will never drink wine or liquor, and he will be filled with and empowered to act by the Holy Spirit while still in his Mother’s womb.”
N0TE: remember this statement about John the embryo. It will come up later.
He will turn many of Israel’s sons back from sin to love and serve the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous (those in right standing with God) to make ready a people perfectly prepared spiritually and morally for the Lord.”
PAY ATTENTION! HERE COMES THE STUPIDEST QUESTION OF ALL TIME!!!!
And Zachariah said to the angel, “How will I be certain of this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in age?”
Not only is that the stupidest question ever asked, but it was also hazardous. It could have altered God’s plan.
The angel replied and said to him, I am Gabriel, the messenger of God. I stand in His presence every day, and He has sent me to deliver this good news to you!
Listen carefully; you will be continually silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place because you did not believe what I told you, but my words will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
(Luke 1:4-13)
GABRIEL HAD TO SHUT ZACHARIAH’S UNBELIEVING MOUTH!
Jesus explained the power of the tongue in Mark 11:22
“Truly I tell you, that “WHOSOEVER” shall speak to this mountain and command it to jump into the sea and does not doubt in his heart that what he says shall come to pass; He will have WHATSOEVER he says.”
Gabriel and God both knew that Zachariah had the power to terminate Elizabeth’s pregnancy in his faithless heart and tongue. Zachariah’s unbelieving rant could have stopped John the Baptist from being born and would have caused unlimited disasters.
“The people outside in the courtyard were waiting for Zachariah and wondered about his long delay in the temple. But when he did come out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he kept making signs to them and remained mute”.
Did you get that picture? The congregation was waiting outside because only High Priests could enter the temple during the burning of incense. While in the temple, The Lord would speak a prophecy to them for the people, and the priests would go outside when they finished to deliver it the prophecy. It was a real ego trip that God had chosen them to deliver His annual message. The arrogant priests lavished in the admiration of the people.
Finally, Zach shows up flailing away, trying to deliver the message, and no one can understand him. They all look at him bewildered. Tell me God has no sense of humor.
The Word from God was highly anticipated and was always Good News. When old Zach walked out and started waving his hands and making gestures to the people, they thought that God had punished him by making him stupid and mute. How ego-crushing and embarrassing for Zach!
The Holy Spirit dictated this message to James:
“The tongue is a in a sense a fire, the very world of injustice and unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body parts as that which pollutes the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6)
This teaching is about the contrast between the way Mary and Zachariah responded to a direct personal message to them from God through His messenger. There will always be two types of people; Mary’s and Zachariah’s. Which are you?
Mary believed the most outlandish report that anyone had ever heard; Mary did not hesitate one second in her instant belief. That is why she and Caleb are my hero’s of faith. That is why I wish folks a Mary Christmas. The Holy Spirit spoke these Words about her through Elizabeth, who also experienced a miraculous pregnancy:
“And blessed by God is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her by the angel sent from the Lord.”
This is a huge message from God Himself to us. In the words of the late great Bible teacher Loyd Skidmore: “Believe and Receive, Doubt and do Without!”
Zachariah had the audacity to question the angel of the Lord. You just read his punishment. Mary believed, and you just read her reward.
Mary the biologic Mother of Jesus and Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist
What you are about to read is entirely impossible yet absolutely true; it is the expertly researched and accurate account of two of the most breathtaking, astonishing happenings in the history of humanity.
Dr. Luke personally interviewed every eye witness to these events and recorded what he was told. He was not one of the disciples, He was a follower of Paul. He went to Jerusalem and wherever Jesus had been to interview these eyewitnesses. He became a personal friend of Mary and they ministered together after Jesus left the earth.
Read it with an open mind and heart. The Holy Spirit and I guarantee that your life will never be the same!
God personally chose Elizabeth to receive one of the greatest blessings/miracles He ever produced.
Ironically, Elizabeth, the wife of Zachariah, falsely believed that her barrenness was a product of some unreported violation of one of the six hundred and three man-made ordinances and the ten commandments given to the Jews by God because of the fear of what others thought of her.
She falsely believed that she was suffering the curse of the Abrahamic covenant. The Jews had placed themselves under a King and laws because they rejected God as thier King and refused to listen to Him. God honored their request. The consequences were harsh. If one failed to keep any of the ten commandments or the man-made ordinances, they reaped the curses of the Abrahamic covenant.
(1 Samuel 5:8, Exodus 20:19, Deuteronomy 28: 15-68)
The opposite was true. As you will discern, Elizabeth was highly esteemed by God. Just as we, Elizabeth, was continually judging herself and allowing others to do so as well. She had no idea that God does not keep score of our sins. She did not know that God only sees good in those who believe in and believe Jesus.
(Romans 8:1, Colossians 1:22, Hebrews 10:10-17, Hebrews 8:12, Psalm 101:1-3 and 12, Zephaniah 3:17,
Isaiah 53:4-5, 1Peter2:24, John 1:29)
Let’s study Doctor Luke’s description of the events in Elizabeth’s life:
Zachariah’s work was finished a few days after his flawed meeting with Gabriel. Having been made mute by the Archangel who stands before God every day, Zach went home, humiliated. Gabriel had no choice because of Zachariah’s unbelief than to strike him dumb; his mouth was dangerous. As Jesus put it, from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and you will have what you say and expect without a doubt. (Luke6:45 and Mark 11:22-24)
Zachariah could have wrecked the entire program with his negativity. Sorry dummy (literally), you can and will talk later.
Let’s pick up where we left off.
“So it was as soon as the days of his service were completed that he departed to his own house.”Now, after those day’s his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she hid for five months, saying: Thus The Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Elizabeth was speaking of the condemnation the community gave her for being barren. She spoke of her constant embarrassment. That is what she meant by “My reproach among people.”
“Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a girl never having been married and a virgin engaged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgins name was Mary.”
The Virgin Mary is widely considered by theologians and historians, and students of humanity to be no older than 15, but most probably younger. That was the custom of the day. Don’t rush to the conclusion that God was condoning pedophilia. Being engaged did not mean being sexually active.
On the contrary, engagements sometimes lasted for several years until the betrothed was of age.
“And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was.
Gabriel then said to her, do not be afraid, (too late, Bub!) Mary, for you, have found favor with God. And pay attention, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and 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(Israel and His believers) forever, and of His Kingdom, there shall be no end!”
Jesus’ Kingdom is everything that exists. His Kingdom is this present moment. His Kingdom was from the beginning and will always be. He was in the beginning, and He will be for all of eternity. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
The Messiah
Messiah means the one who is to come. At the time of this encounter, Jesus was the Messiah because He had not been born. At the instant that Jesus was born, He was no longer the Messiah.
He was the child Jesus who became the man Jesus. Fully God and, fully, man.
The Christ
The word Christ is from the Greek word Christos, meaning the anointed one. The Hebrew word for the anointed one is Hamashiach. In His thirtieth year, the Holy Spirit descended on Him as a dove and anointed Jesus to complete His three-year ministry. When Jesus finished His ministry and breathed His last breath on earth, He became the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is not the Christ. Christ is not His last name. The word Christ was errantly inserted by translators relying on Greek texts.
Emanuel (God with us), Yeshuah, King Jesus, these are proper names of our Lord and Savior.
And He shall reign forever and ever Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!!! He cherishes you! And He will never leave you or forsake you!
Pay attention to Mary’s reaction to this prophecy and the difference between belief and unbelief! Mary asked Gabriel a technical question in belief. Zach asked a sarcastic question in disbelief. Mary got blessed. Zach got cursed.
“Then, Mary said to the angel. How can this be since I do not know a man?”
A vast difference between the question Zachariah asked and Mary’s question. Mary asked, a how are we going to do this question. Zach asked a snarky, unbelieving, doubting question.
“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.”
At this point, most women would have died from shock! God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, spoke through the archangel Gabriel that the Holy Spirit would hover over her, and the power of God, would overshadow her, and she would become pregnant.
PAY ATTENTION TO THESE STUNNING WORDS OF BELIEF THAT GOD WANTS TO HEAR FROM ALL OF US.
“I am the handmaiden (the servant) of the Lord!!! Let it be done according to the Words that you have spoken.”
As my buddy/partner says: HARRUMPH.
That acceptance brought GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY, which shall be to all people to the entire world.
The news of how the Lord would put on His earth suit was not the end of the message that He gave Mary; there was much more ahead. This news concerned her beloved and barren and much older cousin Elizabeth. Her husband describes Elizabeth as being “Well Advanced In Years.” I have no idea, but my guess would be near 70.
“Now indeed Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.”
WOW, JUST WOW!!!!!
Are you grasping the prophetic pronouncement dictated and sent by God to Gabriel to Mary and us?
Gabriel announced not just the greatest miracle of all time in which Mary would be a significant player, but the second greatest miracle up to that moment. Both involved women for whom pregnancy was utterly impossible: not one, but two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Think about that! Have you ever meditated on the fact that the Holy Spirit caused two impossible pregnancies?
If you have trouble believing the whole virgin birth thing,
ask yourself this, who on earth could possibly have created such a story?
Elizabeth would give birth three months later to the greatest man to have ever walked the earth until Jesus, John the Baptist; a man who walked in more power than the greatest man who ever lived before him; Elijah the prophet.
Nine months later, Mary would give birth to the flesh body of God, Almighty. Stunning, hard to grasp, and thoroughly impossible for the flesh or carnal mind to conceive. (please forgive the unintended pun.)
And what was the little shepherd girl’s reaction? “Bring it on !!!” Her blind acceptance and joyful expectation led to the most fantastic event the world would ever know.
Just as Gabriel explained to Mary how she would conceive, He explained how Elizabeth got pregnant. Here it is:
“FOR WITH GOD NOTHING IS EVER IMPOSSIBLE, AND NO WORD FROM GOD SHALL BE WITHOUT POWER OR IMPOSSIBLE OF FULFILLMENT!”
Stitch that declaration from God to us through His personal messenger, to your forehead! When the evil one makes you believe that the promises of Jesus are too outlandish to be true, remember them. Say it every day. Fight to tame your flesh and make a decision to believe it without a doubt.
Here is the definition of faith, pay strict attention; the course of your life depends on it.
“Then Mary said, I am the servant of the Lord! Let it be done to me according to your Words.”
What would happen if we all believed His message without a doubt and, as Mary, acted with a joyful celebration of its truth???
“And Gabriel departed from her.”
“Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste (crazy fast). to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zachariah and said hello to her cousin.”
Folks, this is the most power-packed moment you will ever read or hear! It is almost a little scary. You are about to read and visualize an experience created by God, employed by the Holy Spirit, and involving two women who could not possibly have known what they knew.
“And it occurred that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit.”
BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS!!! You have never known or heard of a moment like this. It will shock and amaze you if you have a pulse.
“For behold, the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things spoken to her from the Lord.”
Remember that Gabriel declared to Zachariah that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother’s womb?
Before Jesus left us the indwelling Holy Spirit, very few people experienced His involvement and power in their lives. Now, because John, who was filled with the Holy Spirit at conception, jumped for joy, the Holy Spirit filled His mother, Elizabeth, and she was filled with knowledge and joy.
So get this picture; the baby John perceived by the prompting of the Holy Spirit that His King was present and jumped for joy in the womb and Elizabeth.
Because John was encased in the womb of Elizabeth, she got a dose of the Ghost as well! And while she was drunk in the Spirit, under His guidance, She began to prophesy things, she had no way of knowing at all. That is just one piece of the astonishing series of events. Read on:
“And, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your howdy-do sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb FOR JOY!.”
Soak in those words for a moment. Open your spiritual eyes and receive them. Ask yourself these questions:
How could Elizabeth know that Mary was pregnant? Mary never had a chance to tell her. Mary could not have been showing. No baby bump.
How could Elizabeth know that Mary was blessed among all other women? How could she know that the fruit of Mary’s womb was blessed? How could Elizabeth have known that Mary was the Mother of her King?
NEVER FORGET THESE NEXT WORDS!!!!! Paint them on the back of your eyelids!
“BLESSED IS SHE WHO BELIEVED FOR THERE WILL BE A FULFILLMENT OF THOSE THINGS WHICH WERE TOLD HER FROM THE LORD!”
That statement is true for everyone who decides to believe every Word and promise of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Allow me to summarize what Elizabeth just said: Mary believed the utterly impossible words of the messenger of God. Therefore, because of her belief and joyful celebration of the fulfillment of the promises given her by God, she enjoyed seeing those promises come true in her life, every single one of them.
Jesus has given us great and precious promises for free. We only have to receive them by steadfastly believing Jesus with a joyful celebration of receipt of the great and precious promises that He bought for us and guaranteed us, with His blood regardless of what we see, hear, touch, smell, or taste.
We can not believe what we do not know. It is our responsibility to learn the promises and teachings of our King. Once having learned them, it is our choice to believe and receive or doubt and do without.
A very Mary Christmas to you all!
For twenty years, I have been typing and spreading His weekly teachings under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Three years ago, we learned how to get them into the medium that you read them on. The operators of it have no idea that God, not they, created their platform for the very purpose of teaching His message of love, faith, grace, and mercy.
Since then, thousands and thousands of you have indicated that you like and love His teachings. The book that the Holy Spirit dictated and asked me to type is full of these messages. It explains the Gospel and its meaning in an easy to read and understand way that no human could.
THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT
Have you ever asked God to reveal more of His Truth to you? Have you told Jesus that you would like to know Him better?
The truths that the Holy Spirit filled this book with will bless you richly. He has been teaching you this message in your heart all of your life; the Words and the Scriptures and the explanations included will confirm what you have always believed with the evidence of the specific scriptures. Few have heard this message in church.
The title of the book is “Why Jesus Ain’t Gonna Do Nothin!”
The title is facetious; the message is that Jesus has already done everything that He can do, and the scriptures that explain how, what, when, why, and where He did. You will be so blessed and happy to learn how deeply and personally that Jesus loves you and all that He did for you; you will jump for joy.
For example, did you know that Jesus has forgiven every sin that you have ever committed and will ever commit and that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit chose before the beginning of time to forgive them and never be able to remember or speak of them?
(Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 10:10-17, 1Peter2:24, Isaiah 53:4-5, Psalm 103:1-3, Zephaniah 3:17)
Did you know that God has made you rich?
“And my God has supplied every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:19)
Did you know that Jesus has already given us everything we want or need, including His faith, and that all we need do to receive them is believe Him?
(2Peter 1:1-4)
Please order the book now by clicking on this link:
KnowJesusKnowGrace.Com
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If you have already read the book, buy several copies, and give them to the people you know and love, it will change their lives forever. Christmas is on the way. Order the book now before supplies become limited due to printing and shipping times. This Christmas gift will show you and others all of the Christmas gifts that Jesus gave us.
Our ministry has one goal, to teach as many possible the unmitigated, unqualified, complete, and accurate Truth of the Gospel of Jesus so that they may live limitless lives with the Joy of Jesus in them, and their joy and gladness will be full and complete. Our goal is to see all people live love-filled, prosperous, happy, healthy, and empowered lives so that they can reflect the Love of Jesus. That is the only purpose for promoting the Holy Spirit’s book.
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The Love of Jesus to all of you!
Pastor Allen Fleming
