Part 1 - 6-25-2022 West Palm Beach 7th Day Baptist Pastor Garfield “Silenced In Hope” Hebrews 11;1, Luke 1, I Peter 1;9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Very often we have desires and things that we want. We all have hopes and desires and the challenge is how to manage our hope and desire. Our text today is about a man who was forced to manage his hope. Jesus is our living Hope. When there is silence sometimes something significant is happening in our lives when the silence is broken. There were 400 years of silence from God between the prophet Malachi and the book of Matthew. Four hundred years of silence between the old testament and the new testament. When the silence was broken it was about the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Very often our progress in life is silenced. Very often our finances are silenced. But out of the silence Jesus declares that my finances, my challenges, my weaknesses and my doubt have no hold on me. There is a relationship between Hope and Faith. Hope and Faith are not interchangeable. They support each other but they are different pillars of the Christian faith. When you have hope and you acknowledge this hope, you are cultivating faith. You are opening a path, making a line that will get you from your present reality of lack to the thing that you hope for. Hebrews 11;1 says Faith is the substance of things Hoped for. For faith to be activated there has to be a desire at the end so faith can begin to build a bridge from where you are to where your hope is. In I Peter verse 9 it says receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your soul. So your hope is the salvation of your soul. The end of your faith is that hope and that salvation. How you manage this hope will get you the desire that you have.
The key thing to managing your hope is to put our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the center, as the foundation. Put Him as the pillar of any journey you will take from your present reality to your desired hope. In Luke chap 1, Zacharias was married to Elizabeth. They were Levites and Elizabeth was barren so they had no children. There were thousands of Levi priests and each priest only worked two weeks for the entire year. When the group of priests came for their week assignment, there was a lottery to see who would go into the Holy place. There is a great chance that you will work as a priest and you will never get into the Holy place. When the lottery was done Zacharias was chosen to go into the Holy place. As Zacharias was doing his duties, he experienced something that taught him and forced him to manage his hope. Zacharias went into the Holy place to burn incense and God had already told them which incense to burn. Zacharias saw an angel in the Holy place. Remember now that the Holy place is not for everybody or every priest but for the appointed one to minister before God. In the very same way for us right now, the ministry that God has called you to do is not for everybody. You were called in a unique way to a unique ministry. The hope that you have for what you want to do should align with the ministry that God has for you.
In Luke 1;11-20 the angel spoke to Zacharias. Zacharias had an interesting thing happen to him that made him silent and he was quieted. He was made dumb and could not speak. At first Zacharais was afraid of the angel but then he was told to not be afraid. The angel said that God had heard Zacharias’s prayer and had sent the angel to him. The angel said Zacharias and Elizabeth would have a son and his name would be John. Zacharias and Elizabeth were both righteous people and they had one hope. That hope was to have a child. When Zacharias heard this he asked how could this happen because he was old and his wife was old too. The angel said he was Gabriel, who stands and sits before God and not just any ordinary angel. Gabriel said he was the one who God sends with important assignments and because of who the angel Gabriel is, Zacharias’s question is invalid.
So whatever your hope is, don’t be interested in how it will happen because God is a miracle working God. God has everything in the palm of His hand. There is nothing that our heart can desire that God cannot provide. After all God had send Gabriel. When Zacharias asked the question, he was displaying and exhibiting doubt. If sister Carol was a millionaire (she could be for all the nice clothes she wears) and she comes to me saying she wants to give me a million US dollars, I would not ask how is that possible. This is because she or rather God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Do you understand? There is no hope you can have that God cannot do it or give it to you. You do not need to ask God how is it possible for Him to do things that you are hoping for.
Understand that Jesus Christ is the Hope of the nation and not only for salvation but for all things we need in life. So the angel, with all authority and power given to him by God, said to Zacharias that he would make him dumb until the birth of his son happens. The angel was really saying that with what Zacharias had said, he was not managing his hope very well. So Gabriel was going to quiet him. The angel was going to silence Zacharias so the doubt would die in him and not become contagious. The angel would not allow him to go to Elizabeth with these doubtful questions. If she has doubt then she is no longer fertile soil for the child to be conceived in.
When there is hope inside of us, our soil needs to be fertile so we are able to conceive the thing that was planted in our hearts and it can come to fruit – fruition. Zacharias could not speak as of that moment. This angel Gabriel was powerful and didn’t ask God before he made Zacharias dumb and not able to speak. Gabriel was, is an ambassador of God and has the authority and power to do whats necessary for the assignment that he has. So we, as ambassadors of God, have the authority over whatever is standing in the way of our hope. We can move the obstacle in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The next thing was that Zacharias’s child was to be named John. The name John means Jehovah is Gracious in His gifts. In those days names were significant and names spoke of where your are coming from and where you are going. When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, our birth certificate may call us Garfield or Jennifer but Jesus has an eternal name that He has given to each of us. We don’t know that name yet but the name could mean conqueror or mighty or a gift to this world. When you were baptized or given your ministry, your new name may have been formed out of that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Very often we have desires and things that we want. We all have hopes and desires and the challenge is how to manage our hope and desire. Our text today is about a man who was forced to manage his hope. Jesus is our living Hope. When there is silence sometimes something significant is happening in our lives when the silence is broken. There were 400 years of silence from God between the prophet Malachi and the book of Matthew. Four hundred years of silence between the old testament and the new testament. When the silence was broken it was about the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Very often our progress in life is silenced. Very often our finances are silenced. But out of the silence Jesus declares that my finances, my challenges, my weaknesses and my doubt have no hold on me. There is a relationship between Hope and Faith. Hope and Faith are not interchangeable. They support each other but they are different pillars of the Christian faith. When you have hope and you acknowledge this hope, you are cultivating faith. You are opening a path, making a line that will get you from your present reality of lack to the thing that you hope for. Hebrews 11;1 says Faith is the substance of things Hoped for. For faith to be activated there has to be a desire at the end so faith can begin to build a bridge from where you are to where your hope is. In I Peter verse 9 it says receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your soul. So your hope is the salvation of your soul. The end of your faith is that hope and that salvation. How you manage this hope will get you the desire that you have.
The key thing to managing your hope is to put our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the center, as the foundation. Put Him as the pillar of any journey you will take from your present reality to your desired hope. In Luke chap 1, Zacharias was married to Elizabeth. They were Levites and Elizabeth was barren so they had no children. There were thousands of Levi priests and each priest only worked two weeks for the entire year. When the group of priests came for their week assignment, there was a lottery to see who would go into the Holy place. There is a great chance that you will work as a priest and you will never get into the Holy place. When the lottery was done Zacharias was chosen to go into the Holy place. As Zacharias was doing his duties, he experienced something that taught him and forced him to manage his hope. Zacharias went into the Holy place to burn incense and God had already told them which incense to burn. Zacharias saw an angel in the Holy place. Remember now that the Holy place is not for everybody or every priest but for the appointed one to minister before God. In the very same way for us right now, the ministry that God has called you to do is not for everybody. You were called in a unique way to a unique ministry. The hope that you have for what you want to do should align with the ministry that God has for you.
In Luke 1;11-20 the angel spoke to Zacharias. Zacharias had an interesting thing happen to him that made him silent and he was quieted. He was made dumb and could not speak. At first Zacharais was afraid of the angel but then he was told to not be afraid. The angel said that God had heard Zacharias’s prayer and had sent the angel to him. The angel said Zacharias and Elizabeth would have a son and his name would be John. Zacharias and Elizabeth were both righteous people and they had one hope. That hope was to have a child. When Zacharias heard this he asked how could this happen because he was old and his wife was old too. The angel said he was Gabriel, who stands and sits before God and not just any ordinary angel. Gabriel said he was the one who God sends with important assignments and because of who the angel Gabriel is, Zacharias’s question is invalid.
So whatever your hope is, don’t be interested in how it will happen because God is a miracle working God. God has everything in the palm of His hand. There is nothing that our heart can desire that God cannot provide. After all God had send Gabriel. When Zacharias asked the question, he was displaying and exhibiting doubt. If sister Carol was a millionaire (she could be for all the nice clothes she wears) and she comes to me saying she wants to give me a million US dollars, I would not ask how is that possible. This is because she or rather God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Do you understand? There is no hope you can have that God cannot do it or give it to you. You do not need to ask God how is it possible for Him to do things that you are hoping for.
Understand that Jesus Christ is the Hope of the nation and not only for salvation but for all things we need in life. So the angel, with all authority and power given to him by God, said to Zacharias that he would make him dumb until the birth of his son happens. The angel was really saying that with what Zacharias had said, he was not managing his hope very well. So Gabriel was going to quiet him. The angel was going to silence Zacharias so the doubt would die in him and not become contagious. The angel would not allow him to go to Elizabeth with these doubtful questions. If she has doubt then she is no longer fertile soil for the child to be conceived in.
When there is hope inside of us, our soil needs to be fertile so we are able to conceive the thing that was planted in our hearts and it can come to fruit – fruition. Zacharias could not speak as of that moment. This angel Gabriel was powerful and didn’t ask God before he made Zacharias dumb and not able to speak. Gabriel was, is an ambassador of God and has the authority and power to do whats necessary for the assignment that he has. So we, as ambassadors of God, have the authority over whatever is standing in the way of our hope. We can move the obstacle in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The next thing was that Zacharias’s child was to be named John. The name John means Jehovah is Gracious in His gifts. In those days names were significant and names spoke of where your are coming from and where you are going. When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, our birth certificate may call us Garfield or Jennifer but Jesus has an eternal name that He has given to each of us. We don’t know that name yet but the name could mean conqueror or mighty or a gift to this world. When you were baptized or given your ministry, your new name may have been formed out of that.
