Luke chapter 1 this morning. Luke chapter 1 and verse 57. Now Elizabeth's full-time came
that she should be delivered. We saw the birth of our Savior
in this same chapter. Now Elizabeth's time came and
she brought forth a son. We need to look at the circumstances
under which this child is born to see the miracle of this and
the message of it. John the Baptist is born. Under
what circumstances? Look at Luke 1.35. And the angel
answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow
thee. Therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And
behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son
in her old age. And this is the sixth month with
her, who was called barren. Who called her barren? Well, no doubt this whole world
would have considered her so. If you'd asked anybody in the
world, can this old woman have a baby, they would all have said,
no way, she's barren. Zacharias, her husband, called
her barren. Look at verse 18. Zacharias said
unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? The angel told him. Your wife is going to have a
baby. Whereby shall I know this? For
I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the
angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the
presence of God. Now you think about this. Luke
is doubting. I mean, Zechariah, he's doubting
in me. How can I be sure this is going
to happen? I'm an old man and my wife is well stricken in years. I'm pretty sure she wasn't there
when he said that. What do you think? I wouldn't say that with
Vicki around. But think about it, the angel
said, I stand in the presence of God. I came from God to tell
you this, and am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these
glad tidings. You know what that is? Gospel. And it just so happens that this
is a beautiful picture of the gospel. She that was barren. is going to have a different
name now. They called her barren. What did God call her? We're
going to see that in a minute. But look at this. I came from
God with a gospel for you. 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. Don't miss this last phrase either.
which shall be fulfilled in their season. I came from God. Now
three things in that little passage right there before we get back
to our main train of thought here. As a sinner, as an unbeliever
before God, you need to know three things. God has sent word
to you. God sent this message to you.
Are you doubting? Do you doubt the good news? God
sent a messenger to show you his gospel. It's not just a man
talking. It's not just an opinion being
expressed. This is the word of God, and you'll know it by whether what he speaks is
from the Bible, from God's word. And the second thing is this.
You need to shut up. Thou shalt be dumb. That doesn't
mean we use the word dumb as stupid, same thing as stupid.
That means you can't talk. And sure enough, if you read
chapter one, the rest of it, Zacharias had to write things
down for a while. He couldn't talk. When God is
speaking, what are we going to say? What are we going to say? And this is for me now. When
God is speaking, I need to shut up. I'm going to be talking,
but I'm shutting up. God's speaking now. I had something
to say while ago in there. I don't have anything to say
right now. God's speaking. And we all need to shut up. Just
hush until God shows you something. Then you can talk. And then the
third thing is this, what God says is certain. It shall be
fulfilled. Isn't that what he says? It shall
come to pass. God's word is truth. Whatever
he says about you, just forget what you think. I know you think
you're pretty good and that you're good, you know, you got some
good and bad. No, you need to hear what he says about you.
Shut up about what you know, whatever he says about himself. Get rid of all of your thoughts
about God and listen to him. Hush about him until he reveals
himself to you and how he saves sinners. Quit talking about walking
down an aisle and making decisions. Just shut up. Thou shalt be dumb. We're dumb because we're dumb. Now back to the main thought
here. Everybody called Elizabeth barren. She even called herself
that. She didn't think there's any
way. It's over. And the thing is, she was barren
in herself. In the flesh, she was barren.
The word means dried up, hard, and stiff. And it's from an original
word, which means cruel, stiff, and stubborn. She was called
barren by the world, by her husband, and even by herself, and she
was. But what did God call her? Let's look at verse 13 and look
at it carefully because we might miss it if we aren't careful.
Verse 13. The angel of the Lord said unto
him, talking to Zacharias, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer
is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou
shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness,
and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great
in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink. And he shall be filled with the
Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall
go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom
of just. to make ready a people prepared
for the Lord. You see what all of this is about?
It's all about the glory of God in saving sinners. All of it.
All of it. That's why he sent his son. That's
why he sent John. That's why both of them were
born into this world. Now did you see it? She was called Baron,
but God sent a message and in that message she's called something
else. Did you notice it? It's easy
to miss because he's talking about John when he says it. But
she's called Mother. his mother. Now who was right? She was called
barren. And she was barren in the experience of what we call
reality. That's just the way things are,
you know. When you get old, you're not going to have any children.
But turn with me to Romans chapter 4. I want you to see something.
I want us to see something together. Romans chapter 4. Verse 16. Therefore, it is of faith that
it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to
all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that
also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of
us all, as it is written, I have made thee a father of
many nations before him whom he believed, even God. Look at
who he calls God here. He's God who gives life. What are we talking about? A
baby being born. Life is brought into this world.
Life in her that was called barren.
And what else does he do? He calls those things which be
not. as though they were. Abraham wasn't righteous just like Sarah wasn't fertile
and neither was Elizabeth. But God who calls those things
which be not as though they were said Abraham is righteous and Elizabeth is going to have
a baby. She's not barren. Her name is
Mother. Because you see, in Christ, Abraham
was righteous. In the sight of God, in the estimation
of God, where it counts. Our experience doesn't count.
God's reality is reality. We experience in something else
now. I don't look holy to you. And in this flesh, you could
say, with with truthfulness, Chris ain't
holy, but wait a minute, if God said that he has created me in
righteousness and true holiness in Christ, who's right about
me? And by faith we experience God's
reality. What we're experiencing down
here not by faith just passes for reality. in our minds, by
nature. By faith, we know what's real. Not in our natural experience,
but God said so. God made it so in Christ. And
by his grace, I believe God. Don't you? By his grace, I believe
God. Now why did God do what he did
in the birth of John? Mary wasn't called barren. Mary
who gave birth to the Lord, she was never called barren, but
she was a virgin. Elizabeth, no doubt, wasn't a
virgin. I imagine it would have mentioned
that. But why was Mary, we know why
Mary is a virgin, why the Lord was born of a virgin, because
our Lord is holy. And you can't get clean water
out of an unclean fountain. He can't be born of the seed
of man. He's the seed of woman, no seed
of man. No sin, no sin nature. But why
this barren woman? Elizabeth wasn't a virgin, but
she was on the opposite end of that scale. She was old and unable
to bear. But why? Look at verse 37 of
Luke 1, our text. Same text now. Here's why. For with God, nothing shall be
impossible. Now, whether God did this or
didn't do this, whether Elizabeth ever has a baby or don't have
a baby, With God, nothing is impossible. What this is saying
is this. God did this so that everyone would know, everyone
would know that with God, nothing is. And everyone would know what
Job learned on the ash heap thousands of years before. He said in Job
42.2, I know that thou canst do everything and that no thought
can be withholden from thee. And that means this. No thought
that God has can ever be restrained, ever be withheld. If he thinks
it, it's done. With men it's impossible. Mark
10, 27. You see what the message is here.
This is clear gospel now. Salvations of the Lord. With men it's impossible, Mark
10, 27. The flesh profiteth nothing,
John 6, 63. It is not of him that willeth
nor of him that runneth, that is, striveth, Romans 9, 16. And yet religion is still talking
about what you need to do to be saved. It's insanity. Did the angel come to Elizabeth
or Mary, for that matter, and say, now here's what you need
to do? He didn't say one single thing
about that, did he? No. He came and said, here's what
God is going to do. Salvation doesn't come by you
doing something. Christ is salvation. In the very
context of this, in the next chapter of the book of Luke,
Simeon looked into the face of the baby, the child, Jesus, and
said, I'm looking at God's salvation. How did he come? with a message
of what God did, of what God is doing, and of what God is
going to do. That's how he came. Life, life
from the dead barrenness of our dried up souls comes by a message
of the power and grace and distinguishing love of God. He didn't come and
say, now Elizabeth, I need you to do something. No. He came
and declared what God's doing. Life and salvation come in such
a way that we are forced to know and to acknowledge that with
man it is impossible, but with God in Christ, God accomplishes
the impossible in and by His Son, Jesus Christ. That's what
the message of John's birth is. She was called barren by everybody
but God. God said she's John's mother.
That's who she is. With men it's impossible. Salvation is of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now let's read on in verse 58
in our text. And her neighbors and her cousins,
verse 58, her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had
showed great mercy upon her and they rejoiced with her. Everybody
that cared anything about her rejoiced with her in the mercy
of God. That's kind of what we're doing
this morning, isn't it? Some folks that care about
one another are gathering together to rejoice together in the mercy
of God upon us. I'm glad God had mercy on you.
I'm so glad. I'm glad to fellowship with you
and to rejoice with Him in that. He showed great mercy. You see
that? Great mercy. Why is it great mercy? Because
I'm a great sinner. And because He's a great Savior. Let's rejoice together this morning.
You want to see something beautiful now? Look at verse 59. You want
to see something beautiful? Verse 59. We'll read several
verses together here. 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, that doesn't make a lick of sense. That don't make any
sense. There's none of thy kindred that's
called by this name. Why would you call him John?
Nobody. It goes against tradition. Everybody names their child something.
Somebody in the family. If not Zacharias, then it's gotta
be Ezekiel or somebody that was in your family. And so they made
signs to his father how he would have him called. You see, Zacharias
still can't talk. He still don't have anything
to say. But he's going to now. He's going to. And wrote saying
this. He didn't know much yet, but
he said this, his name is John. And boy, they marveled. Sinners always do when they hear
of the grace of God. When our Lord spoke the gospel,
they marveled at his words. What's the big deal about this
though? Why does it matter what they named it? Zacharias is a
pretty good name. It means the Lord remembers.
That's a good name. There's nothing wrong with that.
But why did they want to name him that? That's the lesson. The lesson
is in that, the motive. Why did they want to name him
Zachariah? Tradition. Because that's the way men do
things. That's the way of man. It just
makes sense. It don't make any sense to name
him just some random name. But it's not a random name. Tradition. Nobody in the family is named
John. How can it be a bad thing to name him after his father?
You see, religion always is able to explain God's way away. There's always
a logical explanation. Well, it just don't make sense.
What you preach doesn't make any sense. Well, not to you it
doesn't. Not to the flesh. Here's the
difference. Here's the comparison here. The
traditions of men, in faith in God. Why name him
John? Because God said so. There's
just one reason. It don't make a lick of sense
to name him John except this. God said, you're going to name
him John. There are reasons to call him
Zacharias. You call him Zach for short,
that's a good name, Zach. Good family name. There's only
one reason to call him John, just one. God sent an angel and said, here's
what you're going to do. So you see the lesson here is
clear. Where God gives life to the barren, where God gives life
to the barren, we're not going to be able to follow the traditions
of men. It's not going to happen that way. God's ways are not
our ways. Why do you have an altar call?
Why do men do that? Why do they call sinners down
to an altar? Is God down here? Is that where God is? Does the
act of you coming down to the front, does that accomplish something?
Why do you do that? Well, we've always done that. It makes sense. It's traditional.
Why do you sing songs that glorify man and not God? Well, we were
raised singing that. What is the Roman road? Do you
know what that is? Oh wait a minute Chris, that's
the Word of God. No, that's man's manipulation of the Word of God.
That's man trying to take God's Word and get somebody saved.
That's what that is. What is a steeple? Why the stained
glass? The crosses, the altars, the
statues. Tradition. That's the way we
worship God. And these are aids to worship.
We can't worship without these things. That's what they're saying.
These help us worship. Nobody does things the way you
do. Nobody's named John in your whole family. It don't make sense
to name him John. Nobody's called John. Somebody is now. Because God
spoke it. There's a John now in our family.
Do you know what John means? Jehovah? is a gracious giver. Or this. Listen to this. I like
this one. Jehovah has graced. Jehovah has graced. My spiritual name is John. How
about you? Jehovah has graced. That's how
I was saved. I didn't get saved. God graced. Aren't you glad for the names
that God gives his people? Sheep. That may not sound like a very
flattering name. You know, the world uses that
as a bad thing. You have just a bunch of sheep. Only a sheep of God, though,
can say this, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall I want. I have and will have everything
that I ever want. Elect, God calls us his elect,
more than any other name given to The people of God in this
book, they're called the elect of God. Chosen. The world doesn't like that name.
Don't name us that, don't name anybody that. The world can't
stand that name, chosen. We're the ones that do the choosing,
not according to Him. Nobody's called that, oh yes
they are. God calls us that. You would have never named me
that. But God said his name is John. Look at what Mary said in verse
48. God have graced. We saw where Elizabeth was called
mother. What name did he give Mary? Listen,
verse 48. For he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. All people, everybody is going
to call me blessed. Why? Because God called her that. In verse
28, God called her blessed. So what are you going to call
me? Blessed. His name is John. Her name is
John. I like God's names for it, and look what this represents
now. Look what this represents, the
naming of him. Think about this, in the very essence of it. Zacharias didn't say, we're going
to name him John. That would have been emphatic,
that would have served the purpose. We're going to name him John,
that's it. We're going to name him, that's not what he said.
He didn't say his name will be John. He didn't say we should
name him John. He said his name is John. God
already named him. It's already done. What are we
doing even talking about it? Think about this with me. Here
is the man who did not believe the message. For Zacharias to
say what he did here, his name is John, can only mean one thing. There was only one reason for
Zacharias to say that, his name is John. And that's by the grace
of God, Zacharias believed the message that God sent to him.
God had spoken by his messenger, and among other things, he said
his name is John. And that's the only reason, you
think about it, what other reason did Zacharias say to have his
name's John? And then what happened? When
Zacharias believed, Miracle we see the miracle now
after he said it, but the truth is the miracle happened before
he said it John believed God a miracle of
God's grace happened right there That's life from the dead. That's
what's pictured by Elizabeth she that was called barren giving
life. We see it happening in Zacharias
here, don't we? He believed Look at verse 63 and let's read
some with it. He asked for a writing table
and wrote saying His name is John you see the significance
of that now not he believed the a there's no other reason To
name him John of all things, but God said so so he believes
God now what God said, that's the way it is It is that way his name is John
and And they marveled all, and his mouth was opened immediately. And his tongue loosed, and he
spake. And what did he say? Well, I'll
tell you this. It doesn't say what he said right
there. It says he praised God. So I know this about whatever
it was he said. It was all about God. And it
was good things about God. He rejoiced in God. And fear came on all that dwelt
round about them, verse 65, 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. When God brings you to the place where you call things
what he calls them. His name is John because God
said his name is John. Now that applies to everything
that God said. If God calls it sin, it's sin.
If God calls it righteousness, it's righteousness. If God calls
it truth, it's truth. If God says you're a dog, guess
what you are. If God says there's one way, this is my son, hear him. When you are able to call things
the way God calls them, then you've got something to say.
The Lord will open your mouth and loose your tongue and you
will praise God. And God calls what he said to
prosper and be heard. God used it for his glory. What
did Zacharias talk about? Well, we'll look at verses 67
through 80 next time. That's all Zacharias talking. And we don't have time to look
at it this morning. We'll look at that, I believe, next Sunday,
Lord willing, or the one after that. But let's get a little
taste of it. Here's the theme of it. Look
at verse 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For he hath visited
and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a 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. He blessed the Lord God of Israel,
because he sent his Son." Now you think about what he's saying
here. God has visited. God came where we were. God with
us. He paid us a visit. And I'll
tell you what else. He came for a reason. He came
to redeem. And he redeemed. He redeemed,
done it, his people. Redeemed every one of them. He
said, I'll lose nothing. And Zacharias said, I'm going
to call it the way God calls it. Raised up in horn of salvation
for us in the house of his servant David And it's the same I'm saying
the same thing that all of his prophets have been saying since
the world began It's the same thing God has the same message.
He sent The good news of life from the barren dead Salvation
is come the same message that God's been declaring since the
world began Do you know the difference between
free will, false religion of this world, which is everything
else? It's either Christ or anti-Christ,
right? Christ or not Christ. Everything
but the gospel. Do you know what the difference
between everything but the gospel is and the gospel? The difference
can be summed up in these simple words of Zacharias, the Lord
God of Israel hath visited and redeemed his people. Everybody else is saying he's
trying to redeem. He came to redeem. He wants to
redeem. He's made redemption possible. He's made it available
to you. Zechariah said, I'm going to
call it like God calls it. God's already called it now.
There's nothing to talk about. God's already called it. He redeemed
his people. He hadn't even done it yet. If you consider the act of him
shedding his soul-redeeming precious blood on Calvary, that hadn't
even happened yet and Zacharias said he redeemed us. He's redeemed
us. God has visited and redeemed
us. Nobody calling it like that.
It don't make any sense, does it? It's not fair. It don't make
any sense to us to call it like that. But it is like that. God hath graced. It's not up
in the air. It's not made available. It's
finished. God hath graced. And may God give us all grace
to believe Him. Just simply believe Him. To believe
God's record concerning His Son. What happened here? Let's try
to sum it up if we can. What happened here? What is all
that we've read this morning in Luke chapter 1? What happened
here? God gave life. God gave life. Not only where
there was no life, but where it was impossible for there to
be life. Alright? And God said, I have a name for
that. I have a name for that. God has
graced. Nobody calls it that. People are calling it many traditional
names. There's a lot of traditional names you could call it. You
could call it accepting Jesus as your personal savior. That's
a good name into this world. You could call it making a decision
for Jesus. You could call it giving your
heart to Jesus. That's traditional. But God don't
call it that. You know what he calls it? John.
God hath graced. That's how sinners are saved.
But by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by His
grace, we say His name is John. God hath graced. This is the
record that God hath given to us, eternal life. life from the dead, life from
a barren womb, life where there can be no life any other way.
God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son. Let's pray together.