Kings all mine, with ten thousand
beside Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness Morning
by morning, new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath
provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord,
unto me. And he is, isn't he? Faithful. David prayed and won the song,
and it saved me in thy righteousness and faithfulness. Luke chapter
1. Studying this, well studying this a few days ago, starting,
beginning to study it, there's some troubles weighing on my
heart. Troubles in my family, not just
to death, but some serious physical concerns. others suffering, other
families and people suffering, weighing heavily upon me, trying
to preach, study to preach the gospel, and the thought occurred
to me, this is why, precisely why we need to hear the good
news, because there's so much bad news that we go through,
and so much bad news all around us. And if we really hear and
understand the good news, The bad news won't be quite so bad.
Brother Scott said, I've never really heard any bad news since
I've heard good news. And our Lord did say, He did
say all things work together for good. It's all good. He said,
no evil shall befall you in the strictest sense of the word.
No evil. And you know, the cross of Christ
is the greatest illustration of that, the greatest act so-called
evil, perpetrated by the devil himself
and carried out by man, was the greatest act of mercy and grace
upon the human race. The whole Bible is full of stories
of sin and troubles, but yet mingled with it are blessings
exceeding great and precious. promises to God's people in the
midst of this trouble-filled sin and sorrowful world. It's a story from beginning to
end, the story of the good news of the gospel as a person, that
God sent the Old Testament promising a Savior to come into this sinful
world to save His people from it, from the God of this world. And that's what the whole book
is about. sent into this dark place to
save his people from. The Gospels, all four Gospels,
only take into account 30 some years. You know that? The stories
in the Gospels. Have you ever thought about that?
Each Gospel is the story of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From his birth to his death, resurrection, and his ascension.
Well, that's only 33 years. And oh, all that is in each gospel. Life, light, immortality, good
news in the midst of all this. Look at the time period here.
Verse 5. This was a dark day. This was
a dark day in Israel. Verse 5, the days of Herod. You're
talking about a butcher. Pontius Pilate. Caesar. Do you remember the story? The
account is not here, but in Matthew, of Herod growing angry with the
wise men and took and slew every child in the coast of Bethlehem
to and under. A barbaric butcher. These are bad times. Can you imagine? Dark. We think it's bad now,
don't we? Roman rule, bondage, captivity,
oppression, Israel, God's people. Remember Zephaniah? Remember
our study of that little book? He kept telling the people it's
going to get bad. And our Lord Jesus Christ told
the people then in Matthew 24, if God didn't shorten those days,
there'd be no flesh saved. It's going to be so bad. Bad
time. And religion had never been worse.
Never been worse. Darkness over the whole world.
Like now. Like now. Do you not see? Look around you. As Isaiah 8
said, they look to the earth. If you look to the earth, all
you see is darkness and dimness and anguish of spirit. Is that
not what you see all over the world? Or at this time, it was
never a darker period in history, was it? But the people that walked in
darkness have seen a great light. This poor man, this old man,
Zachariah, this story is about Zachariah and Elizabeth, an old
couple, no children, living in a dark day, full of troubles,
sorrows. And they're about to hear some
really good news. And I want us to see the story in the story,
okay? Spurgeon, he used to say the whole world's
a sermon. He said there's a sermon in every
tree, every leaf, every bush, every animal, plant, person,
place and thing. They used to accuse Spurgeon
of over-spiritualizing the Scripture. He'd take one verse of Scripture,
maybe even a word, and just start preaching from it. And start
making applications, spiritual applications. They accused him,
you're over-spiritualizing. Well, no. Our Lord said this. He said, my words are Spirit. Didn't He? And you read, Brother
Ron read for us 1 Corinthians 2 on Sunday morning, didn't he? Spiritual thing. He that is spiritual
understandeth all things. You can't understand this book
if you don't hear the spiritual in it. If you don't hear the
message of salvation. It's not just a moral story.
It's not just a story that tells us how this man and this woman
were faithful in what they were doing, and they weren't. And
it is a good lesson in faith. But there's a story in the story.
There's a gospel story. And it must meet our need. It must apply to us. We've got
to enter into the story to really get a blessing out of it. Verse 5, it says, there was a
certain priest named Zechariah and a wife named Elizabeth. Zechariah
and Elizabeth. That's our story today. A certain
priest. Now, he was a chosen man because
it says a certain man. It doesn't say that throughout
the Scripture. A certain man. We saw that Sunday.
A certain, certain man. These are things most certainly
believed among us. Most surely believed. We know
the certainty of all that our Lord has ordained. That He has
chosen a certain people. Listen, go with me. 1 Peter.
Chapter 2. This certain man, Zechariah,
was a priest chosen by our Lord to bear a son named John. Well, his wife Elizabeth was
a chosen woman, wasn't she? She's of the daughters of Aaron. So she, in a sense, is born into
the priesthood. They're chosen. They're members
of the priesthood. Look at 1 Peter 2, verse 9. You're a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2, 9. You're a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. Why? That
you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out
of darkness into His marvelous light. This man and his wife
are in a dark day. sad, calling on the Lord, and
they're chosen of the Lord in the priesthood. They're about
to see great light. They're about to see great light.
That's what we're going to look at tonight. And Revelation 1
says this about God's people. They say to our Lord, it says,
He has unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in
His own blood and has made us kings and priests unto God and
His Father. To Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. All you believers out there are
priests. What does that mean? Well, it
doesn't mean that we're taking confession. It doesn't mean we're
offering up sacrifices. Oh, no. There's one great high
priest Not after Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek, who
offers up one sacrifice, who offered up one sacrifice forever
and obtained our eternal redemption. That's Jesus Christ, the only
priest. There are no more priests in
that sense, I pray. We have one, one, in the Holy
of Holies. The priests of old in the Old
Testament, the common priests, were people that ministered about
the sanctuary. That's what they did. Cut wood,
washed dishes, took out the ashes, took out the garbage, cooked
food, and all that, served the people food. That's what we are.
That's all we are. A bunch of common prey. Alright? Zechariah, his job was to burn
the incense. Zechariah means Jehovah has remembered. And by the way, the only Greek
names usually don't have any meaning. These are old Hebrew
names. The Bible was written in Hebrew,
the Old Testament. I love words and so I love to
study word and do word circuit. All the old Hebrew names meant
something. God named his people after himself. Zachariah means God has remembered. Elizabeth means the God of the
oath. So in other words, these two
people, God has remembered for them His oath and His covenants. And He sent His Son, He's going
to shed His blood. That's what we sing of. His oath,
His covenant, His blood, support me. in the darkness and the overwhelming
flood, a man and a wife that God has mercifully chosen to
be in His kingdom, given to Christ in covenant relation, two sinners,
saved by grace, remembered by God, remembered His mercy, His
oath and His covenant. That's their very names. I was going to spend some time
on the thought of a man and his wife, both believers, Peter said
this, what a gracious thing it is for a man and his wife to
both be believers like Zechariah and Elizabeth. It says they were
righteous. It says they were blameless,
walking before the Lord. And here's what Peter said about
this. He says, you husbands, dwell
with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the
wife as unto a weaker vessel, as being heirs together of the
grace of life. that your prayers be not hindered. Marriage is a wonderful thing,
if it's in the Lord. All marriages, the bed's undefiled
before the Lord, but if it's in the Lord and you have a man
and his wife that both know the Lord, you see, the Lord's going
to take one of you if he doesn't take both of you again. You're
going to be a widow or a widower. It's a sad, sad, sad time. And
our Lord said, but in heaven, in the new kingdom, they're not
married or given in marriage. But now if that mate of yours
knows the Lord, she's your sister. And so He's put you two together,
not just as your typical husbands and wives. No, you're a brother
and a sister. And you're to help each other
on this road to glory. That now is what your heirs together
of the grace of eternal life. And it says that your prayers
be not hindered. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
If you're yoked together with a believer, you're both calling
on the Lord like Zachariah and Elizabeth. They were calling
on the Lord. Both of them. What were they calling for? I
don't think they were asking for a child. I mean, there comes
a time when you get old. Do you? Abraham and Sarah, you
think they gave up on that? Sure they did. A hundred years
old, forget it. If they had thought about hell,
they probably would have thought, we don't want a baby now. Right? What were they praying for? History. Salvation. Deliverance from captivity. The Christ to come. That's what
they were praying for. That's what it's praying for.
Well, they're praying. It says in verse 6, I like this,
they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless. That's what it says, doesn't
it? I'm not going to explain that away. Why would I do that? That's what the Lord said, didn't
He? And He didn't stop and tell us. Now, you understand, don't
you? But you do understand, don't
you, that there's none born righteous? You do understand that, don't
you? That there's none righteous, no, not one? That God looked
down from heaven? That man is born in sin, dead? Look at Jeremiah 23. We labor
this point all the time because you don't have a gospel if man's
not dead in sin. You don't have a gospel if man's
not depraved. Right? If man's not depraved
and dead in sin, Christ didn't need to come. If righteousness
can come by the law, Christ died in vain. That's how serious it
is. Why do we keep laboring it? Because it's so. Because I just
read, again, Martin Luther's quote. I've got it right here.
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition
every portion of the truth of God, except that point the world
and the devil are attacking, I'm not preaching the truth. And so we keep pounding these
truths now more than ever because nobody's saying it. They're saying
the opposite. You don't have a gospel if man's
not dead in sin. You don't have a gospel if man
can save himself. Christ did not need to come. But Christ said, I am come, that
they might have life. And Christ said, it is decided,
because I live, you live also. You see, He is our righteous
name. Jeremiah 23. Some of you know
these verses. If you've never seen it, mark
it down. This is the heart and soul of
the gospel. I've told you so many times,
righteousness is found in the scriptures over 500 times. Do we talk about it too much?
Righteousness is Jesus Christ's name. Look at it. Jehovah Sidkenu. Jeremiah 23.5,
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto
David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his
days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And
this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord Our
righteousness. Jehovah Sid Kenan. Remember that. One of these days
I'm going to sing that song that a brother wrote years ago. Jehovah
Sid Kenan. That's his name. Surely shall
one say, and the Lord have our righteousness. I'm one. They
asked Roland Hill, I think it was. Asked you why he should allow
you into his heaven. What right have you got to be
here? What are you going to say? Roland Hills said, I'll say I
have no rights at all. I'm here on the rights of another.
You know what God's going to say? Come on in. Come on in. That's the heart of the gospel.
This man and this, all right, look at Jeremiah 33. You know
I was going to turn over there, didn't you? 23 and 33. Remember
that. Jeremiah 33, it says, His name
shall be called the Lord our Righteousness. That's His name.
Well, His bride is married to Him. Right? And she bears His
name, doesn't she? Just like these women bear their
husband's name. All right? Look at verse 15.
Jeremiah 33, 15. In those days and at that time
I will cause the branch of righteousness. To grow up unto David, that's
Christ. And he shall execute judgment
and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name
wherewith she shall be called. Did you catch that? That's her
name. She bears his name, the Lord. Righteousness. Why is anyone
righteous? Jesus Christ. Right? Noah found grace. Before it says he was just an
upright man, in Genesis 6 it says, Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. He was saved by grace like anybody
else. He was a sinner, born of a sinful woman, dead and trespassing
sin, but God, rich in mercy, quickened him. Yes, by grace,
he said. And Noah found that quickening
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Then, God said, he's just and
he's upright before man. So this man and this woman, by
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming Christ, though they
didn't know his name was Jesus, they're looking for and calling
upon the Christ who was to come. They were both righteous before
God. Now, there's a righteousness
imputed that Christ worked out, right?
And there's a righteousness imparted. Peter wrote about this in 1 Peter
1, partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that's
in the world. There's a new creature created
in Christ Jesus unto good work, in the image of Christ, made
in the image of Christ, and that new creation John wrote about
it in his epistle. Cannot sin. He's holy, unblameful. There are two natures in a believer.
There's a new nature, a new man. There's an old man. The old man
is there till the day we die. And there's a new man. That's
the one that loves Christ. That's the one that loves holiness.
That's the one that prays. That's the one that repents.
That's the one. That's the one. The old man is
as mean as he ever was. As bad as he ever was. In fact,
he's getting worse. But that new man, created in
the image of Christ, he is righteous. Scripture says, as he is, so
are we. Paul said, I have this law warring
in my memory, sin, bringing me into captivity. But, he said,
I see another law. A new man, that with the mind
and the heart, I serve the law of Christ. But my flesh, in my
flesh dwelleth no good thing. But Christ in us is that new
creature. All right? That's what this is
talking about. They're righteous. Yes, they
are walking before God. Yes, they are keeping the commandments.
Yes, they are. And before the Lord, they're
blameless. They're blameless. Isn't that wonderful? Wonderful.
Yes, He's able to present us faultless before the presence
of His glory. Well, it says that they had no
child. They had no child. Elizabeth
was buried. Brethren, do you know how many
stories in the Scriptures are like this? Abraham and Sarah. What's that story all about?
They're going to have a child. What's that story all about?
Christ. Isaac represents Christ. Abraham
and Sarah. This is the son of promise. Isaac
is the son of promise. Jacob, Rachel was buried. You
remember? Rachel was barren. Alright, Jacob.
And God came to Jacob. An angel came. Isaac. Rebecca was barren. Rebecca was
barren. And she had Jacob and Esau. Then
Rachel was barren. And the Lord came and promised
that Jacob was praying for Rachel. And the Lord answered his prayer.
And who'd she have? Joseph. What's Joseph all about? Christ. The Gospel. Salvation. Well, what's this all about?
Oh, there's more. Manoah and his wife. Remember that? Remember
Manoah and his wife? She was barren. And they had a son. Who was it?
Samson. What's that all about? Christ. And so is this. This is what
I wanted to say. This story here. They had no child. They were
barren. Both of them were barren. Both of them. And God sent an
angel of the Lord to declare unto them the good news. You're going to bear fruit. What
kind of fruit? You're going to have a son. You're
going to bear a son. Mary, the Virgin Mary, an angel
came there. Why? With the news of a son being
born. Alright, here's the pronouncement. Verse 8, came to pass, while
he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his
core, according to the custom of the priesthood, his light
was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
Now, Israel had so degenerated, religion had so degenerated,
it was so full of hypocrisy, living, going through the motions. But not Zachariah. No, no. It says he was righteous. He was sincere. Alright, his
job was to go in to the holy place, not the Holy of Holies,
but the holy place with that incense and put it on the altar
of incense and it would go on. What do you think he was thinking
about? The prayers of that incense is always represented. The prayers
of who? The people? Yes, the people. But more importantly, the prayer
of the Lord Himself Christ. Because the high priest would
take that incense, that laver of incense off of that altar
and go beneath the veil into the Holy of Holies, not without
blood. But he'd go in there even with that incense also, and that
incense was filling that holy of holy, and he'd pour that blood
all over the mercy seat, and God accepted the sacrifice. People
were outside, hoping and praying that God would accept the sacrifice.
That incense. That all represents the Lord
Jesus Christ. Alright, Zechariah's thinking
about that. And he's praying. Didn't the Lord, didn't the angels
say, the Lord has heard your prayer? He's heard your prayer. And I said, what's he praying
for? I don't think he's praying for a child. He's praying for
the Christ to come and deliver them all from captivity. He's
coming. But Zachariah's going to have
a son who's going to be a preacher. And your son couldn't be anything
better. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if one of those boys back there
became a preacher of the gospel? The next pastor of this church.
Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wonderful thing. Well, while
he executed in order his course, he was doing what he was told
to do. And God gave the order for an angel to go to him. God
gave the order on this day in the fullness of time. God sent
an angel. Verse 10, the whole multitude
of people were outside Praying without at the time of incense.
Okay? Praying. Zechariah was praying.
Elizabeth was praying, calling on the Lord. Does God use prayer? Yes, He does. Absolutely. We've looked at it many times
that the reason, many reasons why God does use prayer, that
one thing is if we pray for something and He gives it to us, we'll
give Him all the honor and glory for it. Whereas the world doesn't
ask for things and they get it anyway. They attribute it to
chance or luck or their own, you know, whatever it is, skill. But no, God's people pray about
everything. And then when God answers, or if He doesn't answer,
you acknowledge Him in everything. Because everything is of the
Lord. And God sends other people strong delusion. He gives them
what they want without asking for it. And they think, They
know God's people pray. And he answers prayer. Yes, he
does. Call on the Lord in a time of trouble. Does God answer prayer? Absolutely. I was going to turn
over to Daniel. Daniel prayed all the time. David said, I'll pray morning,
evening, afternoon, and evening. I said, I'll awake early. And
Daniel said, at midnight will I arise and call on the Lord.
The Lord answers prayer. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved." That doesn't just mean saved
from sin, that means saved from whatever you're in, whatever
trouble you're in, whatever captivity you might be in, whatever deep
hole you're in, whatever sorrows, sickness, whatever it is. Call
on the name of the Lord. I just visited someone the other
day. The man's in his seventies, very
sickly. And he's been sickly ever since
I've known him. And he might come here, he might
not. And I, over the years, I said to him, so-and-so, I said, do
you ever call on the Lord? I said, the Scripture says, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. I said,
call on the Lord, ask Him, ask the Lord to save you, ask the
Lord to reveal Himself to you. So-and-so, do that. If you don't call, if someone
doesn't call it, the Lord's not going to save them. Call on the
name of the Lord. Daniel, I started to say, Daniel
was praying. Oh, you talk about, he was in
the middle of Babylonian captivity. And very soon going to be thrown
to the lions' den. And Daniel was praying earnestly. He said,
I gave myself. He said, I wept and fasted and
I wouldn't eat any meat. Praying, calling on the Lord
for what? Deliverance from captivity for the people. And lo and behold,
an angel of God came to him and said, your prayer, we've heard
you, Daniel. We heard you. And you're a man
beloved of the Lord and we came to answer your prayer. What was
his answer? What was the answer? He saw Christ. He saw the Lord. This prodigal son says that the
whole multitude of people were praying. I like that, don't you?
Apparently everybody outside was praying. Literally praying. Isn't that wonderful? What were they praying for? It
must have been the same thing. God heard them. God heard them. Malachi says, unto you that fear
His name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in His way.
Those that call on the Lord. And this prodigal son, living
out there in the world in darkness, child of wrath even as others,
later on I found out there was an old man named Gerald Kuhn. He was a car man. good with cars,
and I like cars, and he taught me a whole lot, he and his sons,
and I was with him later on, and the Lord revealed himself
to me, I was with him, and he said, Paul son, he was 6 foot 5 by 270 pounds,
big man, you remember, big gentle giant hands like my script, you
know, he said, Paul son, in big old tears, he said, I was praying
for you every day, Here I am. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And I'll tell you, the
effectual fervent prayer of that righteous man is the prayer that
broke this sinner's heart when he said, Father, forgive him. Because he's the one mediator.
Verse 11, alright? There appeared unto Zechariah
an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar
of incense. and angel. Often in the scriptures
angels are spoken of, aren't they? We're not to worship angels. Angels are mysterious. We're
not to study angels necessarily. They're mysterious creatures.
Some of them, obviously from Revelation, are brethren that peered to people
on earth, aren't they? Peter said, be not forgetful
to entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unaware. Often angels were in the form
of men. They still are. Now I'm not talking necessarily
about Gabriel, because any preacher of the gospel He's called an angel. Isn't that
right? It just means messenger. This
is why we're not to worship angels. Because they're no better than
anybody else. Right? They're just messengers. We're not to worship them. John
did. You remember he fell down before
the angels and said, don't do that. I'm of your brethren, the
prophet. I'm just like you. Just glorify. Worship God. No, we're not the worship angel. An angel. Often it says an angel. Doesn't it? Small a. A few times
it says the angel. Capital A. Who's that? That's Christ himself. Michael's often called that.
The angel of the Lord that went before Israel. The Holy Spirit. But God sent an angel. It doesn't
tell His name yet. On down it does tell us. He says,
I'm Gabriel. But He doesn't give His name
at first. He doesn't need to. That's not
important. His name is not important. And
because, and I didn't want to get this far, but because Zachariah
didn't believe His plain word, that he had to tell him, I'm
an angel of the Lord, Gabriel, and struck him blind. We're to
believe the word of the Lord coming from the messenger. Not
to worship the messenger, but we're to believe if it's a word
that we're to believe in. Alright, so this angel, and I
like every word is significant, he was standing on the right
side of the altar of Enzim. He's on the right side. Every
word is significant, people. An angel of the Lord in the form
of a man with wonderful news for this dying, old, barren man
and his wife. And this is what the Lord does
for all of his chosen people. You know that? He sends an angel
to dying sinners in a dark world with good news. Alright, he sent
this angel who was a gospel preacher. He's a gospel preacher who Gabriel
is at this time. He went to Mary with good news
to him. And he's on the right side of the altar of incense. He's on the right side. He's
not on the wrong side. He's on the right side. He's a right-hand
man. Do you know how often the Scriptures
talk about the man of God's right hand? God's right hand. God's
right hand. Do you know how often? Stephen,
I know you're left-handed, and that's okay. I think, is Joseph
left-handed? Genes are strong aren't they?
But most people are right-handed. Alright? That's their dominant
hand. That's their strong hand. I can't
even brush my teeth with my left hand. I can't do it. Can you?
You can, but I can't. I am beat dexterous. Right hand. But that always represents the
strong hand, the dominant hand, alright? Scripture talks about
Jesus Christ so many times as the right hand of the Lord. The
Lord at his right hand, the right hand in his holy arm of the Lord
hath gotten him the victory. The right hand of the Lord doeth
valiantly. Thy right hand hath holden me
up. I'm going to say it again with
the loudest voice because this generation is not saying it.
They're saying the opposite when they say God has no hands. Brethren, He's got hands and
his hands are Jesus Christ, they're not yours. And by the right hand
of the Lord, the right hand of the Lord, do it valiantly. Have
gotten him the victory. Have gotten me the victory. Not
my hand, his hand. The scriptures plainly says of
the children of Israel, when God brought them out, he brought
them out with a high hand. And that is Jesus Christ, the
angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord. Well,
God sent an angel with this wonderful message. Wonderful message. And Zechariah saw it. And he
was troubled. And what happened? Fear. Fear came upon him. Fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom, isn't it, Bob? Fear of the Lord. God wrote a book for them that
feared Him. In the next verse, the angel said, the first thing
he said to this man that feared him was what? Fear not. You know, that's the command
our Lord Jesus Christ gave more than any other to his disciples.
You know that? Fear not. He was constantly telling
them that. Fear not. Why? Because they were
so full of fear. Thankfully, they feared him.
And they didn't know it. They did much later. But they didn't know it. But
since they feared him, they had nothing and no one to fear. Since
they knew the Lord, and since He called them and chose them
and revealed Himself to them, they really had nothing and no
one to fear. And He kept telling them that. He said, the very
hairs of your head are numbered. He said, does not one hair fall
to the ground without your head? There is not even a bird in the
forest that falls to the ground without God willing. Not one
hair of your head. He said, in your patience possess
yourself. Fear not. You fear me? Good,
you should. But fear not. Fear not. Unto them that fear
his name, he will reveal his covenant. Psalm 25, doesn't it? Those that fear him, he will
reveal his covenant. All right? The angel said, Fear
not, Zachariah, thy prayer is heard. Thy wife Elizabeth shall
bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. A couple
of people in here ought to be really interested in this story.
Elizabeth and John. Good name. Good Bible name. Got
a bunch of Bible names in here, though. Stephen, Joseph, John,
Mary, so on and so forth. Paul, Thomas. My, my. Good name. John. What's that
mean? You're going to have a son, and
his name is going to be John. Well, the name John is a derivative
of an Old Testament Hebrew name. Johanna. It means Jehovah favored. Same thing. God has shown great
favor upon you and upon your son. He's going to be highly
favored. He's found favor. He's found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Oh, did he ever. Did John ever
find grace in the eyes of the Lord? He had the Spirit coming
from the Lord. Unbelievable. My child didn't. No child has. But he did. Isn't that amazing?
John, Jehovah favored. You've found favor, Zechariah.
Elizabeth, you've found favor. You've found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. The Lord has highly favored you. You were barren,
now you're going to bear fruit. You're going to bear fruit. And this
is the story, people, of how God comes through the preaching
of the gospel to every single sinner who's in darkness, who
calls on the name of the Lord, who's barren, who bears no fruit
under the Lord, but calls upon the name of the Lord, and the
Lord makes them righteous. The Lord sends a message of the
gospel telling them that Christ is going to be born in you. that
Christ is going to die for you and be your righteousness, and
then a miracle of miracles, He's going to be formed in you, you
old barren sinner. Me? Zechariah couldn't believe
it, did he? Like, Avery, I'm too old. Too
old, no. You're never too old for God's
amazing grace to save somebody. I told you about old brother
Herman Pruitt, Darwin Pruitt's dad. He was about 75 years old
when the Lord revealed the truth. Like Abraham. Oh my. Changed man. A new man. A new
creature. And look at this. It says, You
will have joy, thou shalt have joy, verse 14, and gladness,
and many shall rejoice at his birth. But I want us to think
about it. That when God reveals Himself
to someone, When they've been highly favored of the Lord, when
God sends the gospel through an angel of the Lord to someone
and reveals Christ and forms Christ in them, a new creature
in Christ, and they bear that fruit of love, joy, peace, gentleness,
goodness, longsuffering, faith, temperance. When they have faith,
when they have this newfound thing called They have faith.
They have life. It's cause for great joy and
gladness, isn't it? When God speaks to a dead sinner,
it is great cause for joy and gladness. When all the people
heard this and this story, it says over in verse 58, it says,
their neighbors and cousins and everybody heard that the Lord
had shown mercy upon her, and they were just all rejoicing.
Elizabeth is going to have a child. Zechariah is going to have a
child. These old people are bearing fruit. Can you think of anything
more glorious than when the Lord reveals Himself to somebody? You know, a little baby injects
life into a church, doesn't it? One time we had seven baby beds. Seven girls! And those beds were full. Little
babies. It's a new life, isn't it? And
it just sparks joy and gladness and happiness, and everybody
just shows it's just... the place is alive, isn't it? Oh, there's something much better
than that. A new birth. A spiritual birth. When the Lord opens the eyes
and ears of someone who's in darkness, Oh, with joy and glad. You hear every message through
that person. Do you not, when someone hears a message, every
message a preacher is preaching, you're listening to it through
their ears. Oh, they're going to like that.
They're going to like that. Why don't we pray to that end? An old person, anybody old? Is he yet in darkness? Barren? No faith? Young? Old? Let's pray for him. The Lord answers prayer. And
the way he's going to answer it is through an angel preaching
the gospel. And they're going to hear his
voice. And life will begin. And we'll rejoice. But if not,
I sure rejoice he's done it for me. Stand with me. Our Father in heaven, thank you,
thank you, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
We thank you for your goodness, your mercy, your grace, your
love and kindness through Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank you for
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What light it is in darkness,
what hope there is in a hopeless world, what peace it gives us
world at war, oh Lord. People that walked in darkness,
some people have seen a great light. People of your choice,
your elect, your people, thank you Lord for those certain ones
that remnant according to the election of grace that you revealed
your Son to and in. But Lord, we have a burden for
others and we hope and pray and ask that you would be pleased
to open blind eyes yet, and deaf ears, and give a new heart, and
give life from the dead, we pray, for thy glory and honor, and
for our encouragement and gladness and joy, in Christ's name, amen. You're dismissed.