I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this morning. Let us ask the Lord's
blessing, let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
we do thank thee that we are able to gather once more in thine
earthly courts, and we do seek, Lord, thy true spirit of worship,
that we might be of those upon this earth who give thee the
praise and honour and glory due unto thy name. and that thou
hast helped us to sing thy worthy praise this morning, and to grant
thy blessing in our own souls, and may thyself be made most
precious to us. We ask this through thy name,
Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 20. Tune, Carey's 314. Let us read together from the
holy word of God The Gospel according to Luke chapter 1, and we'll
commence reading at verse 57. If you have one of our free Bibles,
that is page 943. Luke chapter 1, and from verse
57, and this is the count of the birth of John Baptist and then the
prophecy and what his father Zacharias speaks when he is named
John. So Elizabeth was the mother of
John Baptist. So verse 57. Now Elizabeth's
full time came that she should be delivered and she brought
forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins
heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her, and they
rejoiced with her. And it came to pass that on the
eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him
Zacharias after the name of his father. And his mother answered
and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said
unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this
name. And they made signs to his father,
how he would have him called. 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. And fear came on all that dwelt
round about them. And all these sayings were noised
abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they
that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What
manner of child shall this be? and the hand of the Lord was
with him. And his father Zacharias was
filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his
people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the
house of his servant David. as he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we
should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that
hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and
to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our
father Abraham, that he would grant unto us that we, being
delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him
without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all
the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called
the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face
of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation
unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender
mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited
us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child
grew and worked strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the
day of his showing unto Israel. The Lord bless to us that reading
of his holy word and help us as we come before him in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
our loving Heavenly Father, we come before Thee through our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and plead that name. Thou who
hast said, if ye ask anything in my name, I will do it. Lord, Thou hast said also that
he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. We come then seeking
to worship Thee, to give Thee the honour and glory due unto
Thy name, to look into Thy holy sacred Word, and seek to see
Thee there, to hear Thee speak to us, and to have Thy blessing
conveyed to us through Thy Word. We thank Thee for this Gospel
day, the day in which we have the clear light of Thy coming
and of Thy work and of the Scriptures being sealed. And Lord, we thank
Thee for that word given unto us, that though heaven and earth
shall pass away, yet Thy words shall not pass away and forever
O God, thy word is settled in heaven. Do grant us grace, then,
to listen to thy word, that which we have read and shall hear set
before us soon. And, Lord, that we might have
those ears to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, to this
church. Do grant thy blessing upon each
gathered for worship this morning. May each soul be precious in
thy sign. We pray for the children, do
bless them in their souls while they are young. With a love to
thee, a love to thy house, a love to thy people, a love to thy
word, a love to the gospel. Do be pleased to draw them unto
thee, and grant them the new birth while they are young, giving
them ears to hear and a heart to understand the things that
they hear. O Lord, do be pleased to bless
each gathered, and may thou favour us as a church and people, and
strengthen and build us up. And Lord, do bless that the church
is represented here. And Lord, may thy blessing be
upon those joining with us online. We pray for them, do bless them
where they are, and Lord, do remember them for good also. Lord, as we gather on this Lord's
Day, this last Lord's Day of another year, we do record with
thankfulness thy faithfulness, thy goodness, thy care, thy keeping,
that we have been brought through another year of time of services
in the house of God, times of worship, times of gathering,
times of help, times when we have heard thy voice, when thou
hast been pleased to bless thy word, when thou hast been pleased
to supply our every need. in spiritual ways, material ways. And Lord, we do seek of Thee
that as we anticipate moving to another year, that Lord, we
might prove once more Thy goodness and that we might find those
blessings in another year that find us come to the close of
that. Even with Thy house filled with
hungering, thirsting souls, with seeing the increase of thy kingdom
here below, in seeing thy offspring come, and Lord, that seeing thy
blessing upon those round about us here in this town. We do see, Lord, that thou prepare
us for that time when thou will come again. We know that thou
will come, and do be pleased to grant us to be redeeming the
time, because the days are evil, who grant that we might be like
those that wait for their Lord, that we might be those that walk
as though they really have a purpose and are seeking to know and do
Thy will. O Lord, leave us not sleeping
and careless and indifferent when Thou hast given us such
a chance to send forth Thy Word and to be sought and lined and
to be of those who know their God. O Lord, do be pleased to
bless us and make us a blessing to those round about. We do seek
also that in the midst of tribulations and sorrows and difficulties,
that we might have and know the joy of the Lord, which thy word
declares is our strength. O Lord, do be pleased to bless
us then with that peace inwardly, that hope beyond the grave, a
blessing that this world does not have and those outside of
Thee do not have. O Lord, we do count it to be
the greatest blessing, the pearl of great price, the treasure
in a field to know and love. our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You be pleased then to bless
us here, bless each of thy labouring servants. We do pray for them
that minister in this land and also other lands. We pray for
our churches in Australia, in America and Canada, and be with
our dear friends in Holland. We do commit them each unto thee. And we pray, Lord, that those
be where loved ones and friends gather for worship and have gathered
the other side of the world. Oh, Lord, do be pleased to send
spiritual revivings. Lord, do remember this, our guilty
land, and do pour out thy spirit upon us. Open the king of England's
eyes. Lord, do cause that he, that
the queen and the royal family the Parliament, that they might
hear thy word, that they might know the truth, that righteousness
might exalt this nation. Lord, we confess that sin is
a reproach unto us at this time. And Lord, we too pray that thou
wouldst overturn the desires to bring in further laws that
are contrary to thine, that bring dishonour to thy name, and grieve
thy people Lord, we do seek for help to pray, Lord, to remember
us each personally and as churches, to keep us close to Thee. May
we have that access in prayer and often be found at the throne
of grace. Help us to be like the children
of Israel that used means as well as prayer. Help us to join
those both together to be doers of the word. not hearers only. Lord, do grant that we might
not neglect the means of thy grace and that thou favour us
with thy blessing as we use those means. Lord, we do seek as we
enter upon another week, and Lord, in that week, the changing
from one year to another, that thy blessing might be upon the
gatherings of thy people for worship, especially on New Year's
Day. Lord, may thou be with us throughout
this day, but as we gather to open a new year, may there be
that sweet savour of Christ, that joy and expectation of thy
blessing, the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich and addeth
no sorrow within. O Lord, do renew our souls then
and feed us with the bread of heaven. Do grant, Lord, that
help thy spirit to trace thee through time and through the
scriptures. Lord, do grant unto us faith
mixed with what we hear and faith coming through what we hear.
For thou hast said, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the
word of the Lord. We thank thee for every blessing
out of a deserved hell. Thou art good to all, thy tender
mercies are over all thy works. Thou openest Thy hand, Thou satisfiest
the desire of every living thing. Lord, Thou art a merciful and
gracious and long-suffering God, and we do thank Thee, Lord, for
every time Thy word has been made meat and drink to us, when
it has been our shepherd and guide, and when we have seen
the Saviour there, when it has warmed our hearts, when it has
drawn us to Thy people and drawn us to Thee. O Lord, do hear prayer
then, that while in the means we are found, that that means
we'll be blessed, that thy promise might be realised in thy presence
amongst us, that we might know and feel, like dear Jacob did
at Bethel, that truly God is in this place, and I knew it
not. Lord, may we feel it like the
two on the way to Emmaus. Did not our heart burn within
us while he talked with us by the way, to forgive our many,
many sins. We thank thee for thy redemption,
the precious blood shed at Calvary, and that thou art exalted to
give repentance and remission of sins unto Israel, unto thy
people. And Lord, when we think of our
secret sins, our thoughts and affections off by sin defiled,
when you think of those things that are hidden, from those round
about us but not to Thee. And when we think of our past
offences that pain our eyes, remember not the sins of our
youth. O Lord, wash and cleanse us,
renew us unto repentance. Do forgive those sins committed
since we have known Thy name. O Lord, do deliver us from every
evil way, set our thoughts aright, deliver us from every false walk,
and do cleanse us, sanctify us, Make us meat for the Master's
use. Do pour out that real godly sorrow
and repentance for sin, that we might not be hardened. Give
us, dear Lord, a tender conscience, a teachable spirit, that fear
offending and a hatred of sin. Lord, may we know both signs,
a love to Thee and a hatred to evil and sin. Thou hast said,
ye that love the Lord, hate evil. O Lord, grant us grace to be
what Thou hast have us to be, to think what Thou hast have
us to think, to speak what Thou hast have us to speak, and do
lead us forth by the right way. And may we see, as we trust we
have this past year, that Thou hast gone before us, Thou hast
provided. We thank Thee for answers to
prayer. We pray especially, Lord, for
the ministry and the blessing upon it here. thy word that goes
forth, and do bless the Bibles as they are sent out, we thank
thee for that increased, great increase of interest and desire
for thy word. In answer to prayer, we thank
thee for it, and we pray, Lord, that there might be many of those
asking, that thou hast moved them, that thou would use that
word, that thou would bless their souls through the means, that
there might not be thy word wasted as it were. Thou hast said, my
word shall not return unto me void. It shall accomplish the
thing whereto I sent it. And so, Lord, we follow with
our petitions, Lord, the sending forth of thy word, and pray,
Lord, thy blessing upon it. Now, Lord, do be with us as we
turn to thy word. Bless us as a continuing in worship. May we see the Lord Jesus Christ
and believe in him to the joy and rejoicing of our souls. We ask through thy name, Lord
Jesus. Amen. The announcements, God willing,
I am expected to preach here this evening at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday at seven o'clock
and next Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. New Year's services
will not be held here at Cranbrook, but they are held at many surrounding
chapels, prayer meetings at Maidstone and in Rotherfield in the morning
We have services in the afternoon and evening at Tenderton, details
on the notice board here at the chapel, and online. In fact, online on our notice
board, we have a list of the special services throughout 2025
in churches surrounding us here in the locality. So, if you want
to know what services are being held, then you can look on our
notice board. Today is the fifth Lord's Day
and so we hold a special collection and today it is for the Christian
Institute and given the boxes here or online through stewardship
to the fifth Lord's Day collection. The Lord bless you in your giving. Hymn, 514. Tune, Regent Square 684. Now I'm going to read from verse
69, but it is 70 I wish to speak from. This is Zacharias speaking,
prophesying, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the world began. Luke chapter 1 verse 17. And it is Christ foretold from
the beginning of the world. John Baptist here is identifying
or gathering up all of the prophecies right from the beginning of the
world to this time and pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ that
John Baptist, his son, would be a forerunner of. He's a reminder to us that the
Bible God's holy word speaks to us from the beginning of the
world. It will be those that try to
reconcile evolution or science and say there are some millions
of years. No, here we have another reminder
that God's word speaks right from the beginning of the world
and we can trace it here from the time where we are now that
the world is approximately 6,000 years old. Also, we are told
in this verse that God has had his prophets as well, right from
the beginning of the world, that have been pointing to the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those that lived all through
those years were not left ignorant of God's provision of a Saviour. Now we have in the Word of God
the promise of being drawn to Christ, and really the way that
God's people are blessed, with the evidence that they are blessed,
is when they read in the Word of God of the Lord Jesus Christ,
they see Him there with the eye of faith, and their hearts are
touched, they rejoice, They are glad in Him, they see in Him
their soul's salvation. We have it very clear in the
Word of God that these things are hidden from the wise and
prudent and they are revealed unto babes. And we should never
overlook this mark of the people of God. When our Lord rose from
the dead, he only appeared to his own people. And it is through
his appearing to his people that he makes them known that they
are his people and they are brought to love and follow and rejoice
in God their Savior. And so it is a blessing when
we see Christ. And I desire this morning to
trace, as it were, and it can only be just a brief tracing
of what Zacharias had in mind here. He's saying, God spake
by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world
began. Well, what has he spoken? How has it been unfolded and
shown to those who have gone before us? We, of course, have
a very clear light and understanding in the gospel, in Christ's coming,
in his death, his sufferings and resurrection, but all these
things had been foretold, and it was the good news, it was
the gospel, in the day of those who had gone before. And so when
we trace through time, right from the beginning of the world,
right from Genesis, we're going to expect that we'll be told
how the Savior should come, we are told that he will come, something
about his person, something about his titles, what titles God will
give him or has given him, and the time of his coming will have
been mentioned as well throughout scriptures, and even where he
should come in this world. That is also set forth, and his
work, what he should do, and how he should do it when he came,
and also who. Who should be blessed in him? Was it just Jews, or was it Gentiles? Also, no, the Gentiles as well. So, we could look at those things
that are foretold of him, looking at those headings, but what I
felt to want to try and do, and again, it is only going to be
using years, approximate years, but some kind of idea tracing
through time as if we were perhaps a time traveler, picturing going
back, going back to Genesis, going back to Adam and to walk
through time and to see what God unfolded through that time. And of course, in the time that
we have this morning, we cannot possibly cover everything. And there may be those things
that as I'm speaking, you will think of that I have not mentioned.
But the idea will be to think of the passage of time, the history
of this world, those 4,000 years in the Old Testament from Genesis
right through to Matthew when our Lord came and what is revealed. So I want to do it in several
steps. Firstly, to just look at Genesis,
one book. Now we said that we have 4,000
years from the beginning of the world unto Christ, and yet in
that book of Genesis, we cover more than half that. We cover
2,190 or so years. In fact, the first 1,640 years of the world's history up to
the flood, we do not have that much that is set before us. We do have right at the very
beginning, we have Adam and Eve after they had sinned, after
they had rebelled against God, disobeyed God, then the Lord
had a word that he spoke to Satan, a man could stand by and listen
to what God was saying to him in Genesis 3, 15, which is acknowledged
as the first promise of the Savior. And I will put enmity between
thee, that is Satan, and the woman, between thy seed and her
seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. And so in that first promise,
there is an expectation that the blessing would come through
the seed of the woman. And later on, it was said that
Eve should be saved in childbearing. So the idea that the Savior,
when He came, He should come as born in the generation of
the sons of Adam and of Eve. Also, it is speaking of conflict,
it's speaking of the work that should be done by the Savior
in bruising Satan's head a death blow, but also that it should
cost him. His heel should be bruised. It
was going to be a path of suffering for that Savior, that Redeemer,
the one that should come. And it would not just be reflected
in the conflict between the Savior and Satan, but between all of
Satan's seed, those that are not Christ, and all of those
that are Christ, his seed, and you see right through time, there
is the persecuted church, there is a conflict between those that
are the Lord's and those that are not, and that begins very,
very soon with the case of Cain and Abel, their own children. Eve anticipated when she bore
Cain, you almost think that she's thinking, here is the promised
seed, I have borne a man-child from the Lord, but he wasn't,
he was a, he ended up a murderer. But you see the expectation,
when Adam and Eve had sinned, they were conscious of their
death spiritually, that they couldn't stay in communion with
God, they felt their nakedness, they tried to cover it. God provided
it with skins of animals, with blood shedding, and then gave
to Adam and Eve and their children the pattern of the work of the
Saviour. And so we have Abel bringing,
in the process of time, a lamb, a firstling of the flock, to
offer it. Cain he brought her the fruit
of the field, the curse field. God had respect to Abel and his
offering, but to Cain he did not. And right from there, we
find the work of the coming Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was set
forth. He was to be a lamb. There was
to be blood shed. It was to be an offering unto
God that he was to do. And right from early on, we have
this work. Then when we trace it through,
we have, of course, Noah that was a preacher of righteousness. We have many types and shadows
through scripture, but what Zacharias emphasizes is actually prophecy. It's things that are said rather
than things that are demonstrated, though I hope to mention a few
of those times. We have the case then of Abraham
when Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees and he was
told that in thee and in thy seed shall all nations of the
earth be blessed. So the Lord is telling to Abraham
and to all of them where that promised seed should come through. It should come through Abraham
and when we come to Matthew Right in the very beginning of Matthew,
we have the long list of names and it begins with Abraham. And
we have 14 generations from Abraham to David and from David to the
carrying away into Babylon and from the carrying away into Babylon
unto Christ. And so that pattern very early
on with Abraham is set forth. This is the line. This is where
we are to expect. And it shall not be just the
Jews. In thee and in thy seed shall
all nations be blessed. And this is before there was
any Jews, because Abraham had not yet had his children. There
was no Levi, there was no law. There was no law given. It was
given, but not written. And sin is not imputed when there
is no written law. And so we have that established. Then we have the idea of the
father and the son. When Abraham was tested on Mount
Moriah, Genesis 22, to offer up his son, Isaac said, my father,
where the fire, the wood, but where is the lamb for a burned
off? And my son, God will provide
himself a lamb. So again, they were told God
is going to provide himself And in what happened there was a
substitute. Isaac taken off the altar, the
ram that was caught in the thickets was put in his place, a substitute
was shown them. And then, because thou hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son from me, that in thee and
in thy seed shall all nations be blessed. And Paul says, it
was not seeds of many, but thy seed, which is Christ. And Christ
says, Abraham saw my day and rejoiced at it in what happened
there. And so Abraham also had told
him, because the relationship, the son that he had, his only
son, the son in all his hope and the hope of the church was
bound up in Isaac. he had not withheld him, he brought
him, he was willing to offer him up in obedience to God. And we get a picture of the father
sending the son, his only begotten son, to offer him up for us all. And these messages very early
in the word of God, these prophecies concerning the Lord. Now contemporary
with Abraham would have been Job. We don't know for certain,
but many things in the book of Job parallel with Abraham's time. And so Job, he says that, I know
that my Redeemer liveth. So we have set forth the coming
Messiah. He was to be a Redeemer. He was
set free by the payment of a price. And he says, shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. another clear indication that
he shall walk as a man upon the earth, he shall stand on the
earth. Then we have with Jacob, we have
when he is coming back to his father and Esau comes against
him and he wrestles with the angel. and it is said that he
has wrestled with God and with man and has prevailed his name
was changed from Jacob to Israel as a prince and we read there
wrestled a man with him to the break of day that is the Lord
Jesus Christ, a pre-incarnation appearance, and there's many
throughout scriptures, he did to Abraham as well. But specifically
in that, we get the picture of God and man, in one person, shown
to Jacob. Jacob, he asked for his name. Wherefore ask thou after my name? and he blessed them there. Several
times through the Old Testament, those who have had an appearance,
a pre-incarnation appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, have
asked for his name and none of them were given it. And so when
we have in Matthew, his name shall be called Jesus, that is
such a marked difference. It's that name which was secret
is now revealed in the name that he came here below. We think
of also what was said with Abraham on the Mount, Jehovah-Jireh,
God will provide. And so we have this for the first,
in the first book of the Bible, in the first 2,000, say 200 years
of the world's history, more than half of that time up to
Christ, and we do not have Many things said, but they are very
important things, a very clear idea for those Old Testament
saints of both the manner of coming and the work of the Savior,
that it should be through sufferings, through sacrifice, through coming
and walking upon this earth. I want to then go on to Moses. So we're now looking at Exodus
and Deuteronomy. Now Moses is very much marked
for really Christ seen in types, in shadows, in all that was done
in the worship, in the wilderness, in the coming out of Egypt. We have a beautiful time of our
Lord Jesus Christ in the Passover, the Passover Lamb. Nine great
signs had not resulted in any release of the children of Israel
out of Egypt, but with the sacrifice, with the Passover Lamb, they
were immediately released. The promise was, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. They had to slay a lamb put their
blood on the doorpost and on the lintel, stay in the houses
and shelter there. The destroying angel went over
and destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt and in Israel if they
weren't sheltering beneath the blood. And that very night they
were then thrust out of Egypt. And so we have in that, again,
the picture of the way of redemption is through blood. the effect
of redemption, immediate release from bondage, and to be gathered
as a people, gathered together on their own, separate from Egypt,
coming out from among them. And there God gave them all their
laws and wonderful times. The beautiful times, of course,
the ark and all the furniture of the tabernacle at Mount Sinai
when the law was given. The first tables were broken
by Moses as he cast them down. He saw the people's idolatry
with the golden calf. But then God wrote the tables
again, and those full tables were put in the ark. An ark is
the type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the presence of God with the
children of Israel. Remember what Moses said, except
thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. That is
the great expectation, Emmanuel, God with us, the presence of
the Lord with his people. And so the types, of course,
were the manna, they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, that rock was Christ. And Moses' own words, a prophet,
shall the Lord thy God raise up unto you, like unto me, him
Shall ye hear? So the people then had an expectation
of one like Moses that should arise and lead his people be
like him. We have another name of the Lord
given in Deuteronomy is the Rock. His name is the Rock. And in Exodus 33, there is a
place by me, I hide thee in the cliff to the rock. And the Lord
is set forth as the rock there, the smitten rock in Moses' time. So you're looking there at some
1400, 1500 years before our Lord came. And All of the sacrifices during
Moses' time in the institution of Levitical law, the ceremonial
law, it was always to be the sacrifice, the lamb slain. And it always had to be a lamb
without blemish. 44 or so times throughout Exodus,
it's emphasized that their lamb had to be spotless and pure. And so the expectation When the
Savior came, when the promised seed came, he would be pure,
he would be spotless, he would be holy, he wouldn't be sinful. And going back to Job, Job marveled
at this, how can a clean thing come out of an unclean? And his
mind obviously was going, if it is going through the seed
of the sons of Adam, everyone that is born is a sinner, is
unclean. How is it going to be? Of course
we know with the virgin birth, the overshadowing of the Holy
Spirit, how he was that holy thing which shall be born of
thee. Well then we go from Moses and
we go to David. So now some thousand years before
Christ. Now I say this, there's in David,
and the next one that we look at is Isaiah, But it is in those
two, in Psalms especially, and in David's life, that we have
more clear than in any other part of Scripture concerning
our Lord, who he was, his work, his sufferings, and the people
that he came to save. With David in many of the Psalms,
it is speaking of a suffering saviour. My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? They pierced my hands and my
feet, Psalm 22. We think of Psalm 69, that they
hated me without a cause. Those things that are spoken
of him, of his death, Thou will not leave my soul in hell. He's
rising up again from the grave, that he has ascended up on high
in Psalm 69, led forth a multitude of captives, captive. And we
have in Psalm 110, where David is prophesying, our Lord speaks
of that, the saying unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till
I make thine enemies thy footstool, David's Lord, and yet David's
son. And he is set forth as to be
his son, the son of David. In Psalm 24, he's spoken of as
the king of glory. He's given a name. David's life was characterized
by wars, by bloodshed, by conflict. But David was a man after God's
own heart, and you put David's life and Solomon's life, and
you put them both as a type of our Lord. The work of our Lord
is suffering, and in our work of our Lord, as to be a greater
than Solomon is here, a bring in peace. In a way, by all David's
wars and conflicts, he made way for the peace in Solomon's day.
And our Lord has that word many times in scripture. It needs
two people to tell of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the Old Testament, the king was not a priest. They couldn't be
in one person. And in the Lord Jesus Christ,
he is king and he is priest, both together. But the expectation
then, in going through the Psalms is that when this one comes,
when the Savior comes, when the promised seed comes, that he
shall be evil, entreated with. He won't be easy received. He'll be hated. Without a cause,
he will. And they will crucify him, pierce
his hands, his feet. Those things are said. In David,
we have in Psalm 80, let thy hand be upon the man at thy right
hand, the son of man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. And
just in that one Psalm, Psalm of Asaph, you have the Lord's
hand against one close to him, one that has been made strong
for the Lord. one that is to be the Lord's
provision. My God will provide himself a
lamb. And so with David, many times,
many words spoken concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we
have coming 740 years before Christ, we have Isaiah and Hezekiah. One interesting thing at that
time, People have often thought, well, Isaiah is the gospel according
to Isaiah. But when you think, that's this
is in Hezekiah's time. So this is when Assyria, the
Gentile nation, the nation that Jonah did not want to go and
preach any peace to because they were enemies to Israel, that
they had come and they'd taken away 10 tribes. And then we have
Hezekiah and Judah, wonderfully preserved, a little part of land
preserved from Assyria, miraculously. Sennacherib killed and slain
with 185,000 of his men. At the same time, Hezekiah was
sick unto death, miraculously given his life again, added 15
years, and at that time, no seed. the siege line to Christ would
have stopped if his life hadn't have been preserved. So this
is at the time of Isaiah and yet amazingly it is Isaiah that
speaks so much about the Gentiles and the calling in of the Gentiles
and the blessing upon them and it must have been a strange thing.
to Judah to actually hear these prophecies and think the Gentiles
are just taking away our 10 tribes. They're just adversaries to us.
How's the blessing of the Lord going to be upon them? And yet through Isaiah, again
and again, we have this. And very clearly then, we have
pictures set of how the Lord should come. In Isaiah 7 and
verse 14, we are told that he shall be born of a virgin. Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. Then we are told his name, shall
call his name Emmanuel. In another place we're told Emmanuel,
God with us. In the 11th chapter, of Isaiah,
we have the promise of it coming through David, there shall come
forth a rod of the stem of Jesse, a branch, again we are given
the name of the Lord, shall grow out of his roots. In verse 2 of Isaiah 11, we have
something of the spirit or characteristics of the coming Messiah, The spirit
of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the Lord shall make him of quick understanding in
the fear of the Lord. The things that are said in this
11th of Isaiah, you think of when our Lord came, they marveled
at the gracious words that proceeded out of his lips. They said, whence
has this man knowledge, having never learned, and knowing words,
never learned? And this is all foretold through
Isaiah's time, some 740 years before our Lord Jesus Christ. Then in the ninth of Isaiah,
we're given those beautiful names, five names. of our Lord, and
to us a child is born. Again, the seed of the woman,
the idea a child shall be born. When Messiah cometh, when the
Christ comes, he shall be a child born into this world. A son is given, the government
shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called. And his
five names, wonderful, Councillor, the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David,
upon his kingdom, to order it, to establish it with judgment
and with justice, from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the
Lord of Hosts will perform this. And this is all told beforehand. Our Lord often said, I tell you
beforehand that when it come to pass, you may know that I
am He. Well, Zacharias, John Baptist's
father, he had been dumb for all that period of the pregnancy
because he had not believed the angel when he had been told of
the birth of his son. And this then was a great sign,
a great wonder, when suddenly, when the child is named, and
he has to write the name down first, because he can't speak.
And then as soon as he said his name is John, an act of real
believing, then his mouth was loosed. And this is where he
goes back. He looks back right through time. These things are being fulfilled. These things were written. and
foretold of the Lord. And so, for a space really, if
we talk with David and Isaiah, a space of some 260 years in
the whole 4,000 years before Christ, you see so much revealed
of the Lord during that time, so much that faith would have
laid hold of, would have believed and rejoiced in, in the coming
Messiah, a picture of how he should be coming, what his work
should be. And of course, regarding his
work, Isaiah is very clear. In fact, Isaiah 53 is, in one
way, a very interesting chapter in that it begins with the same
ideas as in the Psalms of the rejection and hatred, but it
also gathers the people of God together and shows how the Lord
should suffer and bleed for them. The way it begins, who have believed
our report, to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And it
is set forth how there is no form or comeliness. When we should
see him, no beauty that we should desire him. These things are
very important to draw the picture, a real man coming to the earth,
looking at him. There's nothing to make us desire
him. He's just like a root out of
dry ground. Not a beautiful plant, but a
shriveled plant, as it were. This is what the Jews in their
day, that is what they saw. They said this, and there's Jesus,
the carpenter's son, they're offended at him. Here's just
what Isaiah had foretold it would be like. Verse three, he is despised
and rejected of men, man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We
hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. and all the time that relationship,
how the people are looking at the Lord, how they are going
to treat Him, how are they going to value Him, and then the work
that He was to do. Wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was
upon Him, with His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep,
have gone astray. We've turned every one to his
own way, and the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her, sheer as his dung, so he
openeth not his mouth. And right through that chapter,
We have the Lord Jesus Christ in his sufferings and his death
set forth. We have in the previous chapter,
the lead up to him, the coming of the Lord. We have in the following
chapter, the blessing of the Church of God. Sing, O barren,
thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing, cry aloud. And then we have the gospel message,
really, in Isaiah 55, how everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters. He that had no money, come ye
buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without
money, without price. Those living waters that would
flow forth from Jerusalem. The gospel, in one sense, of
Isaiah, in one way, You look at the names and the titles given
and you think this is going to be a very great, important person,
one that is going to be greatly extolled and be a king and a
wonderful counsellor. And on the other hand, he's despised,
he's rejected, he's cast out of men and he's suffering and
he's dying and he's doing this for his people. And you get this
picture through time. these balancing of these two
things. And those Old Testament saints
must have, in one way, struggled to see how all that could be
reconciled. How could it be said of one person,
one provision, one coming of Immanuel God with us, and that
he should be all of these things at the same time, and all of
these things happen at the same time. They would have been like
Mary, many of them, to ponder these things in their hearts,
to look at these things. We know from a gospel point of
view and the account of our Lord, how these are fulfilled in our
Lord Jesus Christ. I want to just look briefly at
the last part. So going from Jeremiah to Malachi,
a period of approximate 200 years, of course there was some 400
years of silence from the last prophets to our Lord. But we
have in Jeremiah, his name set forth as the branch, the same
as in Zechariah, his name is set forth as the branch. And
in Jeremiah, this is the name where with he shall we call the
Lord our righteousness. And this was then named even
before our Lord came. In Micah, the second verse of
chapter five, is the only place in scripture where it is set
forth where the Lord would be born, in Bethlehem, the little
amongst the tribes or numbers of cities of Israel, and yet
in thee, there shall be the Lord Jesus
Christ that he would be born. The blessings that are to flow
forth from the Lord Jesus Christ and his death are set forth very
much in Zechariah. Again, awake a sword against
my shepherd. The sufferings that he should
endure, they are all set forth There, a fountain open for sin
and all uncleanness. These are the pictures that are
set forth in Zechariah. In Haggai, when they came out
from their captivity, when the second temple was being built,
and there were those that were very sad because the second temple
was not beautiful and big like the first. Then the prophets
encouraged them and said, the glory of this latter house should
be greater than the first. And the reason was, was that
the Lord Jesus Christ would come and he would be in that house. The seed of the woman, the one
that should come, would walk and did walk in that second house. And so these pictures that are
set forth, these messages, right the way from the beginning of
the world right the way through the scriptures, and we've only
just very briefly glimpsed at them, but this is what Zacharias
would have thought and had in mind as he spake by the mouth
of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began. God
raising up men in each generation and showing them a little bit
more, a little different aspect of how the promised seed should
come, where he should come, what his work should be, what his
name should be, how he would be received, how he would die,
how he would be raised again, how he would ascend up into heaven. All of these pictures. And it's
a blessing to us when we look through the scriptures in that
way, and when we come across, perhaps unexpectedly, one of
these prophecies, one of these verses, and see the Saviour there,
and our heart leaps, and we recognize Him, we see Him. Remember our
Lord on the way to Emmaus, with those two there, He said, O fools
and slow of heart to believe All the prophets have spoken,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into
his glory, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, expounded
unto them all things concerning himself. And he spoke of what
had been written in the Psalms concerning me. And it was, and
what a, Beautiful sermon that must have been to go to those
two on the way to Emmaus and in a perfect way take them right
through the scriptures and reveal to them all about himself. We read their heart burned within
them and at the end of that journey he revealed who he was to them
And this is the great mark, the great blessing for the people
of God. They are brought to see the Lord,
to believe in him, to rejoice in him, to trust in him for their
salvation. In their measure, to really bless
God like Zacharias did here, as he spoke and praised God and
was able to clearly see The Lord's salvation didn't just suddenly
happen at Bethlehem. It didn't suddenly happen at
Calvary. It'd been planned from eternity,
and it'd been slowly unfolded all the way through time. And
it's a blessed thing to realize that, that this is God's plan,
and he's executed it, he's told it through time, and it beautifully
fits together. Many things that we couldn't
understand and those who've gone before us couldn't, but in God's
own time it's opened up. It's a reminder to us. Let us
not stumble at those things we cannot understand. Let them commit
them unto the Lord. The Lord knows what he is doing
and the Lord is still gathering his people and still revealing
himself to his people. And may our prayer be, Lord reveal
thyself to me. In these Gospel days, we don't
just have the New Testament to preach from. We have the whole
Bible. We have the rich treasure of
the Old Testament that shows us really in much more depth
than we even have in the New. The New unlocks the Old for us
and brings great treasure to feed upon and to rest upon God's
plan and purpose and provision. And so may we Be like Zacharias,
and may we see the Lord, may we be able to see God's plan
and to see our own part or interest in it, that this was done for
us. This provision is for us. It
is vital for us to be a believer, to trust solely in the Lord Jesus
Christ. There is no other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. There is no other saviour
in this world. He is the only saviour, and He
is to be set forth in every nation, every kindred, every tongue,
and lifted up, and those that are drawn to Him and believe
in Him and trust in Him will be saved. He will give them repentance. He will give them sorrow for
sin. He will give them to trust in
Him. and he will give them his righteousness,
so that they stand at last faultless before God's throne. May we be
of those who believe in, see and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been
since the world began. Amen. Hymn, 557. Tune, Sweet Name 730. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.