It sure would be nice to just
sit right there. Somebody else stand up here and
preach. All right, back to Luke chapter
1. Luke chapter 1. I think that we have clearly
seen how that all Scripture, all Scripture has a spiritual
meaning. Whatever it is that we read has
a spiritual application. Like we looked at John's birth,
John the proclamation of his birth, the pronouncement. We
looked at the pronouncement of Christ's birth and how that relates
to the new birth. And I think you saw that very
clearly with me. These are more than just stories
of history. These are more than words of information. They are
not written to make us wonder and marvel at miracles and signs. Signs and miracles. Our Lord
said signs and wonders are for unbelievers, not for believers. Scriptures are not recorded for
mere facts, but they're food. They're not mere facts, but it's
food for a believer. It's not proof text, but for
our own personal testimony. It's kind of like the people
who said to the woman at the well, The woman at the well came
and told them that she'd seen Christ. And then they heard him
for themselves. And they said, now we believe,
not because of your word, because we've heard him ourselves. So
do you see what I'm trying to say? It's more than just transformation,
more than just so we'll marvel at miracles and all, but it's
for our own to strengthen our own faith, the believer. All
right? The message, the true meaning
and purpose of God's Word is a message, a spiritual message,
okay? Not just a fact. All right, these
pronouncements to Zachariah and Elizabeth, to Joseph and Mary
are also for the believer. All, everything, their testimonies
are our testimonies. We've seen that. Look at, all
right, now look at verses 57 through 59, but this is where
we left off. Verses 57 through 59. Now, Elizabeth's
full time came that she should be delivered, and she brought
forth a son, and her neighbors 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." So it says, after
the fullest of time, at least in God's time, according to God's
Word, just like he said would happen. A son was born. And according to the law, which
we read back in verse 6, Zacharias and Elizabeth walked according
to God's Word in the commandments and ordinances. And according
to the law, Jewish children were to be circumcised the eighth
day. And so they did. They did what
God's Word said to do. And just one note on circumcision. It has never really been rescinded.
It's still a good law. It's still a good law, else God
wouldn't have ordered it. It's still a good thing. All right, now let's read on.
I want to get to Zacharias testimony. Verses 60 through 63, and his
mother, now they, the people, tried to name the child Zacharias
after the name of his father. Verse 60. And his mother answered
and said, no, not so, but he shall be called John. And they
said unto her, there's 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 marveled. All of them marveled. Evidently,
John was not in the room or not around when they asked Elizabeth
what the child would be named. Zacharias was not around. And
then a little shortly after, they asked him, and he said,
Name me John. Well, they asked Zacharias. They said, Why John? John means Jehovah's favorite
peasant. They said, why John? Isn't none
of your kindred named by this name? Well, as we've seen, Zechariah
and Elizabeth did what they did according to God's Word. They did what they did according
to God's Word, and the Word came from the angel of the Lord and
told them, his name will be John. That's what he told them to name
this child, and they did according to God's Word. Their friends
and their family were ignorant of the Word of God, weren't they? They didn't hear the Word from
the messenger. They didn't hear it. And so the
name that they were going to give, the name that Zechariah
and Elizabeth were to give to the boy was strange to them. They were ignorant of the Word,
and so the name given was strange to them. What they were doing
was strange to these people that were ignorant of the Word of
God. Now, does that make sense to you? God's people knew what
they do according to the Word of God. They do what they do
based on the Word of God, nothing else, not according to the denomination,
not according to the whims of a man, a preacher, or whatever.
They do what they do according to the Word of God. The doctrine
that they preach and teach and believe is according to God's
Word, not according to just whatever sounds good, whatever feels good.
The way in which they worship, the way in which God's people
worship, the means that they use in worship, the methods they
use in worship. Are you with me? Everything they
do is according to God's Word. According to God's Word. The
doctrine they preach and teach and believe, the ways, the means,
the methods that they use in worship is all according to God's
Word. Nothing more, nothing less. And since people are basically
ignorant of the Word of God, then when you begin to stand
up and preach the Word of God, it strains to them, isn't it?
When you stand up and preach and say things like election,
It's strange to their ears. And I said, where'd you get that? Why, you believe what? Well,
nobody else is preaching that. Nobody else is preaching election.
Well, that's what God's Word says, and that's what we want
to preach. You believe what? Predestination? You really believe
that? Well, yeah, it's in God's Word,
isn't it? You see what I'm saying? Since
people are basically ignorant of the Word of God, when you
begin to preach and teach what God's Word says, what God explicitly
tells us to say, it strains to them. Like these people in the
name of John, they didn't hear the Word. And the ways and the
means of God's people. What do you do in your worship
services? What do you do? Preach. And that's it. That's it? Well yeah, where do
you find anything else in the scriptures? We sing hymns of worship, we
read the scriptures, we pray and call upon God. What else
is there? Where do you find anything else? That's it? Yeah, that's what we get from
the Word of God, so that's why we do it. Now look back at verses
19 and 20. Now, the angel, the angel that
came and told Zacharias and Elizabeth to give this man, he said this
in verse 19, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God
and am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings. And that's the way it is with
every messenger of the gospel. Every true messenger of the gospel,
as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 17. I've quoted it,
but let me just go back and read it to you. 2 Corinthians 2, verse
17. I love this verse. Paul said,
We are not as many which corrupt the word of God. Twist it. Hold back from it or add to it. or pervert it, make it say what
it doesn't say, make it not say what it does say. We're not as
many which corrupt the Word of God, but would preach it plainly,
boldly, clearly, emphatically, dogmatically, what it says. We're not as many which corrupt
the Word of God, but as of sincerity, sincere about the glory of God,
sincere about the salvation of souls, Not interested in anything
else. Not interested in numbers, not
interested in personal glory. Listen to that. As of God. As
of God. Paul said, as though God did
beseech you by Him. As of God. As sent from God,
in the sight of God. He's listening. What's going to be the message?
Paul says, we speak Christ. He's our message. He's our message. So that's what the angel said
then. Angel Gabriel said, I'm Gabriel that stand in the presence
of God and I'm sent to speak unto thee and to show thee glad
tidings. The gospel, that means the gospel.
Verse 20, and you remember Zachariah didn't believe it, did he? basically
didn't believe him. And behold, the angel said, thou
shalt be dumb. You'll not be able to speak until
the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest
not my words which shall be fulfilled, which shall be fulfilled in their
season." Zechariah was struck dumb because of unbelief. And we saw that this is a picture
of every sinner whom God first comes to with the gospel. The first thing God's Word does
to a person is shuts their mouth. That's what Romans 3.19 says. The law is written to everyone
that is under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world become guilty before God. This generation, this religious
generation, has so much to say. People have so much to say. With
all the hand-waving and all the shouting and the hollering and
all that, and God's words saying, keep your foot when you come
into the house of God. Be not hasty to utter anything
before God. God is in the heavens. Thou art
on the earth. So let your words be few. Keep
your foot. Keep your foot out of your mouth.
Keep your foot peaked. Don't be so hasty. As James said,
let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak. Swift to hear
and slow to speak. And this is what characterizes
true worship. They're more ready to hear than
say anything. It's more an inward peace and
joy than an outward show and display of religion. And it's
all based on the Word, not feeling, not emotion, but the Word. It's
all grounded and set in the truth. And when the gospel comes to
somebody, somebody who hadn't heard it before, The first thing
it does is shut their big mouth. They may think they know something
before. They may think they have something to add. I want to share
something. I want to tell you my testimony. Well, when the
gospel comes first, it shuts the big mouth to realize, hey,
I know nothing that gets out to them. I'm a child. I'm a baby.
All this is brand new to me. I need to sit and listen. That's
what Zachariah said. Until, now, in the fullness of
time, when that person sees the Son. Zechariah, when the baby was
born, then he had something to say. When he saw the Son, then
he had something to say. And like I said, it's a spiritual
picture. When a person sees Christ, then
they have something to say. And it's not, we're going to
see, it's not about themselves. It's not about the church, it's
about Him. About Him. All right, the boldest
of times, Zechariah saw the Son. Now look down in verse 64. And his mouth was opened immediately,
and his tongue loosed, and he spake for what he saw, for what
he did. Praise God. He did what every believer does,
what every sinner does whom God reveals Christ to. He praises
God. He gives all the glory to God.
He praised God. And look at verse sixty-five,
and it says, And fear came on all that dwelt round about them.
All that lived around Zechariah and Elizabeth and heard these
things, these things were noised abroad throughout all the hill
country of Judea. All the people that were around
them and heard what was going on, heard about the sun and so
forth, heard Elizabeth's testimony. And now Zechariah, it says fear
came upon them. Fear came upon them. Now,
some people, when they attend various religious organizations,
their services, so-called worship services, so-called preaching
services, when they go away from there, they go away impressed
with the surroundings. They go away impressed with the
building. They go away impressed with the speaker and say, boy,
he was a powerful speaker. He sure was. a gifted speaker. They go away impressed with the
choir, you know. Oh, my shivers went up my spine
when I heard them sing Amazing Grace. And they go away impressed
with so many things, right? When people come here, what I'd
like for them to go away doing is fearing God. That's what they did when they
were around Zachariah and When they were around these two believers,
what happened to them was they feared God. I like the people who go
away from here not saying, what a sermon, but what a Savior. I like the people at Pentecost.
The people at Pentecost didn't go away talking about the miracles,
the signs, and the wonders, did they? They didn't go away talking
about the tongues, they went away talking about, well, They
asked, what must we lose here? They weren't talking about America.
Well, and look at verse sixty-six. And all they that heard them,
heard these words, these sayings, all they that heard laid these
things up in their hearts. It was to God that he would lay
these things upon the hearts of those who hear. What manner
of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was
with him, with Zacharias, with John. What manner of child shall
this be? Now, John was a special child. It's very clear that John was
a special child. Zacharias and Elizabeth were
special parents. They were believers. That's a
rarity today. It really is. A husband and a
wife, a believer and a child. Also, it's a rarity in our day. And they said, What manner of
child shall this be? Will the hand of God be with
him? If you want the Lord's hand on
your child, And you do like Zacharias and
Elizabeth did. Did whatever he said. That's
what's said of Elizabeth, right through the beginning of chapter
one. Said they walked according to the ordinances and so forth.
They were devout. You do as he tells you in the
word concerning your child, he has a promise. As he not promised
in the proverb, train a child up in the way that it shall go,
and when it is old, it shall not depart from it. Didn't he promise that? You will
at least, based on God's Word, and I don't believe that means
salvation per se, although you have a child. It's like having
a child in the sound of the gospel. What is a parent's responsibility?
concerning children. Well, to care for them, provide
for them, nurture them, bring them up into fear and admonition
or nurture of the Lord. Okay, how long should that go
on? As long as the child is under
your roof, you better have him under, him or her, under the
sound of scoffing. If they're going to be saved,
it's going to be under the sound of scoffing. And if I were you,
and I am me, as long as my daughter is under my roof, this will be
the mandate. You will be under the sound of
the gong. Is that hard? Is that unreasonable? It's the most reasonable, loving,
caring thing a parent could do. If she doesn't like it, And decides
to leave, that's her business, I hope not. But my business,
as long as I and her carry for her, is to have her under this
sign of this way. As long as she's under my roof.
They say when they get a certain age, you buying the food, you buying the clothes, you paying
the bills, they stay together. Is this one thing that you request
and you demand, right? Show their respect and appreciation.
All right. All right. And like I said, like
God's Word said, you'll at least have this promise of God's restraining
hand upon them. God's restraining hand. They
may, like me, like a prodigal son, go astray, but yet God still
restrains from them. All right, here's Zechariah's
testimony. Zechariah's testimony sounds
like Mary's. Well, it is the same thing. All of God's people
testify the same thing. God's mercy, God's salvation,
God's Christ, and it's all based on the Word. Look at verses 67
and 68. And his father, Zechariah, was
filled with the Holy Ghost. And what do people say who are
filled with the Holy Ghost? What do they say? Well, they
don't say a bunch of undiscernible gibberish. They don't do that. They do what our Lord said they
do in John 6, John 14, John 8. See, when the Holy Spirit has
come, He'll lead and guide you in all truth. He'll take the
things of Christ and show them unto you. He'll take the things
of mine, Christ said, and show them unto you. He said, He'll
bring to remembrance all things that I said. And so Spirit-filled worship,
Spirit-filled preaching, Spirit-filled people are people who are filled
with Christ. filled with the knowledge of
Christ, a love for Christ, and they're preachers who preach
Christ clearly, discernibly, plainly, so that the people understand
the sense, that they might grow in grace
and the knowledge of Christ, not be impressed with his babbling,
his spirituality. No. Remember, they have to go
away needing Christ, fearing God. All right? John was filled
with the Holy Spirit. And he says this, verse 68, Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed
his people. He hath visited and he hath redeemed. He hath. He hath. And there we go again. That's
all Mary said, wasn't it? From start to finish. He hath.
Brother Rick and I decided to change the name of this church. We're going to call it He Hath
Church. He Hath Church. Is that all right? We'll all call ourselves He Hathites.
Because that's our testimony. This is what we believe. Everything
we believe, He hath done it. That's what Mary started out
saying, and this is what Zachariah said. He hath salvation done
the Lord. What do you believe I say about
salvation? He hath done the Savior. He hath done the election. He
hath done the calling. He hath done the Savior. He hath. He hath done the dying. He hath
done the new man. He hath. He hath. John starts
out, he hath visited and redeemed his people. He had visited and
redeemed his people. And you know that John quotes
the exact same verse that Mary did in Psalm 111, verse 9? Mary quoted part of it. John
finished it. I mean, yeah, Zachariah finished
it. Mary said this, holy is his name. Do you remember that? Mary
said holy is his name. Well, that's Psalm 111, verse
9. John said the first part of it. He sent redemption unto him. He hath commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverend is his name. That's the testimony of God's
people. The Word of God as it relates to Christ. He hath. He
hath. visited and redeemed. He hath
redeemed, Hebrews 9, 12, having obtained redemption for us. He didn't try to redeem. Christ
didn't come to make redemption possible. He came to save His
people, and He hath done that. Right? That's what His name means.
He hath. He hath. Verse 69, and have He
hath. That's where Rick read it. He
read it right. He hath. raised up, and horn of salvation
for us in the house of his servant David. I can't help but think
that he's alluding to that altar back in the temple. Remember
there were horns on the altar? And one fellow went in and grabbed
hold, laid hold on the horns of the altar, didn't he? And
they said, if you're going to kill me, you're just going to have to kill me
right here, laying hold on it. Well, Zacharias said he had an
horn. One horn. Who is that? What is that? That's Christ.
He's the one hope which we lay hold on. He is the altar. We have an altar. We have an
altar. We have one horn on it. Christ
is the altar, Christ is what we lay hold on, who we lay hold
on, of the house of David, verse 70. As we say, just like he said,
by the mouth of his holy prophet, what he said in his word. All
this is according to God's word, which has been since the world
began, saying the same. What's Zacharias saying? He's
saying the same thing that he said from the beginning. That
has always been said. That the whole book is written
about. It starts out in Genesis and ends up in Revelation saying
one thing. He hath an horn. God hath a horn
of salvation. Christ. That's what this whole
book is about. Christ said, They are they which
testify. It's all about Christ. It's all about Him. Just like
He said in His Word from the start to the finish. And we noted,
look back at verse forty five. Everything believers believe
and everything they say is based on God's word. We don't say what
we say based upon the catechism or the confession of faith, sixteen,
whatever. Say what we say based on the
word of God. Everything we believe is not according to the It's called murder. Now look at verse 45. And this is what Elizabeth concluded
in her testimony. She said, Blessed is she that
believed, or he, or whoever believed, for there shall be a performance
of those things which were told her from the Lord. It's going
to be just exactly like that said. Here's Mary's, the end of her
testimony. She said many things. And in
verse 55, she said, Well, it's all as he spake to our father,
Abraham. It's just like he said. It's
not known. He's been saying it for a long
time. I'm just repeating what he's already said. And Zechariah,
he starts his message out like that. It's all as he spake. According to God's Word, by the
mouth of His holy prophets, which have been saying the same thing
since the world began. What is it, Zachariah? What's
the message? Well, look at it. Verse 71, that
we should be saved from our enemy, and from the hand of all that
hate us, to perform the mercy promise. That we should be saved. You
mean That we deserve to be saying we ought to be saying that God
that every man deserves a chance. And what you say look over at
Acts chapter 2 with Acts chapter 2. Zacharias said he's saying. What has been said from the beginning
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand
of all that hate us that God will perform the mercy. After the people heard the gospel
and so on, and were baptized, believed, and were baptized,
verse forty-seven says they were praising God, having favor with
all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily such
as should be saved. Should be saved? That's not clear
to you. Look at Acts thirteen, Acts chapter
thirteen. If you look at some modern perversions
of Scripture, not versions, but perversions, so-called translations,
that which they're not, look at these two verses. Look at
these two verses, and you'll see there'll be changes along
many ways. But I always go to this verse
right here when I look at a new so-called version of Scripture,
and it's very revealing. Acts 13, 48, And when the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord,
and as many as what? Excepted him not, as were ordained
to return to life. They ought to be saved, God said
so. God elected them, God chose them,
so they should be saved. They should be. We don't. It's all according
to the mercy, look at verse 72, to perform the mercy promised
to our Father, to remember His holy covenant, the mercy which
He promised, and in remembrance of His eternal, holy, unchangeable
covenant which He made with Christ in giving them a new life. Yeah, they should be saved and
they will be saved. It's all according to God's purpose and
God's promise. This is written. Verse seventy-four,
he continues, and that he would grant unto us, that God would
grant unto us that we be delivered out of the hand of our enemy,
might serve him without fear. His oath, His covenant. And He
would grant us we'd be delivered out of the hand of our enemies.
He talks about His oath. He talks about His covenant. Hebrews says two immutable things.
Two immutable things, which it is impossible for God to lie,
that we might have a strong consolation who has fled for refuge to lay
hold on the hope, which is set before us. The hope, the hope. And that he would grant us mercy,
grace, grant us deliverance, that we might, that we'd be delivered
out of the hand of our enemy. What enemy might that be? In his letter to Timothy, that
many are taken captive by Satan at his will, but he hath delivered
them, a stronger than he hath delivered them. And our sin,
which is every before us, he hath delivered us from our sin. Not only the penalty of sin and
the power of sin, but someday he will deliver us from the presence
of sin. Verse 75, verse 74, and we might
serve him without fear, without fear of man, without fear of
man. Paul said, if I seek to please
men, I'm not a servant of God. If we fear what people think
and therefore we twist our message or make our message more suitable,
God has delivered us. He delivers us from the fear
of man. God's people fear God more than they do man, especially
the preachers. They fear not saying what God
says. They don't fear what people think. They fear not saying what God
says. All right, verse 75. And in holiness and righteousness
before Him all the days of our lives. This is what God has purposed,
what God has I promise that everyone whom Christ would come to, everyone
He gave Christ in that covenant of grace before the world began,
that He would present them wholeheartedly, righteous before Him, without
blame before Him for the rest of their life, all the days of
their life, the eternity that they would dwell with. Christ
said, I give unto you an eternal life, and days shall never end. That's all according to promise,
all according to purpose. And Zechariah goes on, verse
76, and he says something about John the prophet, his son. He
says, Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the high, and
thou, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare
his way, as every true prophet was. Every true prophet just
pointed to Christ, every prophet. And every true preacher now just
wants people to cry. Verse 77, to give knowledge of
salvation unto his people. To give knowledge of salvation
unto his people. Bow for the remission of their
sin. Where is salvation found? That's right. Where is salvation
found? Every person in here ought to
have that knowledge. Not necessarily, you know, have
it savingly in their heart yet, but every person down to the
smallest child in here ought to know, if I were to ask them,
where salvation could be found. They ought to have that knowledge. It's in Christ. Every one. You ask the smallest child, the
savings people, they'll tell you that. Why? That's what God
gives to His people and their children, a knowledge. No salvation. How are sins taken away? Blood. That's right. The smallest
child. Sir, you know that much. Blood. Without the shedding of blood.
You know that much, you just can't. Blood. It's the blood
of Jesus Christ that puts away sin. Everyone knows that. Has that knowledge, at least.
May God bring it home to their heart. Verse 78. And he did all
this through the tender mercy, through his tender mercy. It's all according to his mercy.
Sovereign mercy. Sovereign mercy. That's how he
started out. That's how Mary started out.
Mercy. It's all according to mercy.
Salvation is according to the sovereign mercy of God. Nobody
deserves salvation. God doesn't save people because
they're good folk, because they ought to, they deserve shame,
you know, or God needs them. It's all according to mercy.
According to His mercy He has saved us. It's tender mercy. Read on. Whereby the day spring
from on high hath visited us. The day spring on high. To give
light. He's talking about the sun. day
spring, sun rising, to give light to them that sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of
peace." Zacharias is saying what Paul said later in 2 Corinthians
4, verse 6. God who commanded the light to
shine in darkness. Zacharias already said this to
him. Paul didn't coin the phrase. And Zacharias is just repeating
what I said yesterday. See, this is what God has said
from the very beginning. And everyone who has the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God, they see it in one place. Jesus Christ. In the face of
Jesus Christ. The sun. When the sun rises. That's what Peter said in his
epistle. When the day star rises in your
heart, you'll see. You'll see very clearly, you'll
have sunspots before your eyes all the days of your life. You
ever look into the sun from that day forward, when you look, all
you'll see is spots, sunspots. S-O-N spots all the way through.
It all speaks of Christ everywhere you look. You'll be blinded with
the glory of Christ from that day forward. And verse 79, to
give light to them, to guide our feet into the way of peace. What is the way of peace? Not
a way of peace. The way of peace. Peace with
the Holy God. Peaceful that God isn't angry
with the wicked every day. Where is that to be found? Well,
if we do the best we can, if we live, it's in Christ. He is our peace. He made peace
by the blood of Jesus Christ. And God reveals that to every
sinner whom he reveals the gospel to. That they're going to have
peace with God is because Christ made peace. All right. That's his testimony. Isn't yours? That's mine. Isn't that your
joke? It was Mary's. It was Elizabeth's. It's Zacharias'. It was John's. And it'll be John
the Baptist. We'll read that a little later
on. And the child grew and waxed
strong in spirit. And how he proved that he was
strong in spirit was he just kept talking more boldly and
freely about Christ. He, you know, he was so filled
with the Spirit he forgot his own name. That's, now there's
a spirit filled man. He became so filled with the
Spirit, so overcome, overtaken by the Spirit, he forgot his
own name. Paul, he forgot who he baptized. He forgot who he baptized. He said, I bless the
Lord. He must enter. All right, I hope
that's been a blessing to you. That's just chapter one. All right, let's stand and meet
this man. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank
you, as our brother has already done, thank you for your Word,
without which we would be in darkness even as others. This
Word is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path. Lead us in paths of righteousness,
for his name's sake, to show us Christ, the light, Christ,
whom thou hast ordained, the lamp. He is the lamp, the light
of this world. He, by your Holy Spirit, enlightens
our dark hearts. Thank you, Lord. And our hearts
burn within us as you open the scriptures unto us by the way,
according to Christ. We thank you for answering prayer
concerning this. You are ever merciful, tender
mercy. You continue to open this word
up to your people, and how we thank you. Don't let us take
this for granted. Keep us coming in spite of the
flesh, in spite of ourselves. Keep us coming. Create a hunger
and a thirst for this same message, and then open our eyes to behold
wondrous things from your Word. We pray with David and we pray
with all your saints in Christ's name. Amen. So, I'm going to go ahead and get started. I'm going to go ahead and get
started. I don't know. I don't know. I
don't know.