Theme: Prepare for Christ (Text: Is. 40:1-11; 2 Pet.

3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8)

Earth's first hopeful glimmer (spark) of the eternal Christ child is seen in the opening of the book of Genesis in the words God spoke to Satan. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15 NIV) The last chapter of the Old Testament closes with the following statement, which is a prelude to the birth of Christ. "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (NIV) Malachi 4:5-6

The Silence of God

Malachi was speaking these words in skeptical times. It was a time when almost everyone had given up hope of ever realizing the coming of the Messiah. It was a time of evil when people were speaking against God. Luke opens his book shattering(crushing) 400 years of silence. Luke begins his gospel precisely where Malachi left off. Luke commences his gospel with the angelic announcement of Gabriel to Zacharias, an elderly priest, that he and his wife will have a son, a son who will come in the spirit of Elijah the prophet, and who will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and will prepare the way of the Lord. He was to be the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy. In the years of silence from the closing of the Old Testament to the opening of the New Testament, God is speaking through the silence. In a very real sense, God is never silent. He speaks in nature; for we read, "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1). The faithful such as Zacharias and Elizabeth are listening. We know they were listening because they were and faithful in service. God Breaks the Silence Zechariah & his wife Elizabeth both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. Luke 1:5-17 The people considered them disgraced by God. They had given up. The silence of those barren years was broken by the angelic announcement. Zacharias prayer had been heard. (1:13) The son's name will be John, which means, "gift of God." What a perfect gift. It is not hard to follow when you can see and understand the work of God. The difficulty comes when it is impossible to see the hand of God. It is in times like these that you must trust the work of God. Silence tests the faith of each of us. In many ways the hardest part of Job's troubles was that for a long time God would not answer him. Zacharias and Elizabeth had gone through the silent barrenness with their faith in tact. According to God's pronouncement they were faithful and obedient. There are times when God wants to see how much confidence we have in Him--if we will persist in knocking on the door until it opens. The silence of waiting is not easy, but remember that God is working in the silence. God's Work During The Silent Years Luke teaches history lessons so that we may be able to see the sovereignty of God bringing history to its ultimate conclusion. From Luke's perspective of the life of Christ, we see all of history as part of God's divine preparation for the coming of the Messiah. During the 400 years of silence before this angelic announcement, God is active in developing his plan to enter the world in a personal living way. Paul penned a passage saying, "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5 NIV) This passage carries with it the idea that when God's plan was fully developed, when the world stage was set, he sent forth his Son into the world. During the 400 years of silence between the closing of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament, God was silently, but actively preparing the world stage for the coming of the Messiah. In Old Testament history, from Genesis to Malachi, God was preparing the Jews for the coming of the Messiah. In the 400 years of prophetic silence before Christ, God was setting the stage of the Gentile world for coming of Christ. God was preparing the world for the greatest gift of all time . . . the gift of his Son . . . it would be the perfect gift. In the late 7th century B. C., the prophet Daniel gave a thumbnail sketch of God's plan for human history as he interpreted the king of Babylon's dream. He told Nebuchadnezzar that three successive kingdoms would follow the kingdom of Babylon. 1. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar during the reign of the third successive kingdom the God of heaven would set up his kingdom, which would never be destroyed. Of course, that kingdom was to be set up by God's

Son. (Matthew 16:18-19) It was to be a spiritual kingdom. Daniel was seeing history from a divine perspective as God moves men and nations to accomplish the fulfillment of his redemptive plan. It was over the next 600 years that God was moving men and nations in preparation for that first Christmas. Much of that preparation for Christ birth took place during the 400 years of prophetic silence between the closing of the Old Testament and the New Testament. During the years of 356-323 BC. 2. Alexander the Great came on the world scene. As Alexander moved his conquering troops throughout the world, he set up cities and libraries for the express purpose of spreading the Greek culture and language. 3. By the time Rome came to power, the Greek language had become a universal language. It was this influence that brought about the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek language. That Greek translation is the Septuagint. This Greek translation of Jewish Scriptures acquainted the non-Jew with the principles of the Jewish faith, which played an important role in fulfilling God's plan of redemption. The apostles of the New Testament were able to travel through the Greek-speaking world preaching from the Greek Septuagint. Alexander the Great believed his mission was divine, although he never knew Jehovah God. He sought to become a son of the Sun god of Egypt. But he never really knew how divine his mission was. God used him in preparation for the birth of his Son. When Rome, the third successive kingdom of which Daniel prophesied, came to power, roads were built to all parts of the world. There was a saying that "All roads led to Rome." This fact, along with the personal freedom to move from one Roman province to another without scrutiny, made it possible to freely spread the gospel message throughout the world. Amazingly, during those troubled years, although the Jewish nation had felt forsaken by God, God was very much at work. God had spent 400 silent years making intense preparation for that first Christmas. He was preparing for the coming of his Son as he used the rise and fall of the nations to make the preparation complete. God's Personal Preparation for Us Zechariah, & his wife Elizabeth both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. (NIV) Luke 1:5-6 . Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion."The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." (NIV) Luke 1:24-25 The two words that really catch my attention are "blamelessly" and "disgrace". Why should someone who is walking "blamelessly" before the Lord feel "disgraced" when they have done all they can do? The trouble with our personal faith is that we can see God moving men and nations in preparation for the birth of his Son, but we cannot fathom the work of God in our personal lives directed toward a deeper reception of his Son. When God doesn't answer our prayers, we question God. Notice a blameless obedient person's response when his prayer is heard: Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." (Luke 1:18 NIV) We have felt the same way, but God continues his work in spite of our inability to believe. It is easy to go back and understand Daniel's thumbnail sketch of history. It is easy to see the fruition of a lifetime of silence in Zechariah's and Elizabeth's life. But the difficult part is to see the preparation God is making in my private life. Note Paul's words: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV) You don't have to look very far in these verses to see God moving heaven, earth and all the demons in hell to prepare a way of salvation for each of us in difficult times. But somehow it is hard to believe on a personal level. Whether it is 400 years of silence or a lifetime of silence or only a momentary silence, it is hard to believe in mountain moving prayers when you are experiencing the silence of God. And the angel said to Zeharaiah 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 1:19-22 . When John is born, Zacharias speaks for the first time. Listen to the praise from the lips of a dumbfounded believer. (Dumbfounded Response of Praise). It is as if, now for the first time in his life, he sees the preparation God has been making for the birth of John.

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. (NIV) 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 The beauty of what God prepared is seen in the birth of his Son for our salvation. His love is only understood when we seek to understand the preparation eternity has made for our lives. The promise of His birth was revealed long before it was fulfilled and this should remind us that His promise to return would also be fulfilled.. Do we see His birth as necessary for our redemption and restoration or do we see it just as a time of celebration? The best way to prepare for Christ is to see the great value of our salvation, be sure of it and share the good news with others. The only proper preparation for tomorrow is the right use of today. Preparation today gives success tomorrow and it is always better to prepare than to repair. Spending time on preparation reduces the actual time spent in completing the job as repairing takes up an even longer time. John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus. He told people to repent and to return to God. He also warned them of judgment if they failed to repent. Each one of us has been called to prepare the way for Jesus as well. What is it that keeps you from preparing the way for Jesus? God wants to take care of it so that you can share the good news this Christmas. Christ has promised He will return and we can be certain that He will. We can be certain because many of the things that He said and promised have already been fulfilled. His death and resurrection, His ascension to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit happened just the way He said they would. The fulfilment of these events confirms that all He said that had not yet been fulfilled would also be fulfilled. God is merciful and longsuffering and He has delayed His return because He does not want anyone to perish but that all should come to repentance. Just as in Noahs day the people laughed at him when he warned of the coming judgment, so today people are not taking the Christian message of salvation and the Second Coming of Christ seriously. And just as the flood brought sudden judgment to the world, so the return of Christ will do the same and unbelievers will once again face death and judgment. And just as the ark saved Noah, even so Jesus Christ will become the ark of safety for those who have put their trust in Him. We cannot become Christians after Christ returns. We would have missed the greatest opportunity in the world to enjoy the blessings of eternal life. The time for Christs return is closer today than it was yesterday, and its closer this moment than it was an hour ago, even a minute ago. Every second that passes brings us one second closer to Jesus return, and so we must treat every moment as though it is the moment He will appear. Today could be the day Jesus returns. Today could be the end of time and the beginning of eternity. And even if Jesus does not appear, there is no guarantee that you will live to see tomorrow, and so today could very well be the last day you live before Jesus returns. Although everyone is concerned about the future not many people invest in it. An average person invests 10-20 years of his or her life preparing for a working life of 2050 years. He or she often expects that this will take care of him or her for the rest of their life. But what does he or she do about eternity? He or she spends very little time preparing for it. When Christ returns it will not be like His first coming when He was mocked, beaten, spat upon, and crucified on a cross. He is going to return in glory, clothed in power and every knee on earth and in heaven will bow down before Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. What would happen to those who had refused to acknowledge His lordship and who had rejected and made fun of Him? They would now have to kneel before Him and face His judgement. If we reject His offer of salvation now, we will have to meet Him as our Judge at the time of our death or at His return. Would you be ready if He came this moment? Would you be ready if this were the last moment you had before facing Jesus? We should each take a critical look at ourselves because not everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian has a personal relationship with Christ. Have you put your trust in the Saviour? We should be sure of our future now. Prepare for Christ today, tomorrow may be too late. All the preparation made on earth for Christmas morning is nothing compared to the preparation God made for the birth of his Son. It was no last minute preparation for a perfect Christmas. The birth of God's Son was planned before the world began. The plan had been carefully and painstakingly advancing throughout history.