I don't think I'd ever heard
that last verse. That was a blessing. I'm going to speak tonight on
the birth of John the Baptist. I've never preached on that before.
And next week, Lord willing, I'm going to be preaching on
the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul Harries, you might not remember,
but you asked me to preach on that about eight or nine months
ago. Well, I'm doing it. It'll be. But would you turn
with me to the book of Malachi? Last words of the Old Testament. Behold, I will send you Elijah
Malachi chapter 4 verse 5. Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet. And the Lord tells us that this
is John the Baptist. Before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the Lord, and he shall turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children
to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Now, this was the last prophetic
word from God. And 400 years pass with no prophetic
word from God. Now, would you think about that? 400 years, no word from God. And the announcement of the birth
of John the Baptist by the angel was the first word from God in
400 years. John the Baptist, long hair,
long beard, clothed in a loincloth. I mean, he's kind of scary, isn't
he? Eating locusts. I mean, the insects. And wild
honey. That's what he had to eat. Preaching
in the wilderness. Turn to Mark chapter 1. The beginning of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it's written in the prophets,
behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare
thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John did baptize in the wilderness.
and preach the baptism of repentance for or concerning the remission
of sins. Now, that was his message, a
change of mind concerning the remission of sins. And they went
out into all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem and were
all baptized with him in the river of Jordan, confessing their
sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair and with a girdle
of skin about his loins. And he did eat locusts, and wild
honey, and preach, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after
me, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down
and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with
water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." Turn to
Matthew 11. I want you to see what the Lord
said about this man. This is the testimony of the Lord Jesus
regarding this man, John the Baptist. Now, like I said, He's
a fellow that I probably would not feel all that comfortable
going out to eat with. I mean, you know, he just he just he's
scary. And the Lord said he would come
neither eating or drinking as a Nazarite and just just a severe
way. But look at our Lord's testimony
concerning this man. Verse two. Now, when John had
heard in the prison the works of Christ. Here he is in prison
for preaching the truth. He sent two of his disciples
and saith unto them, Art thou he that should come, or do we
look for another? Now, I've heard people say, well,
John was doing this for the benefit of these men. I suppose that
could be said, but I think it's because he was doubting. He was
in prison and somebody says, how could he doubt after all
the things that he'd seen? How can you doubt? He doubts
the same way you do. He was a man just like you and
I. Jesus answered, verse four. And said unto them, Go and show
John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind
receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel
preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. Now you go show John that again.
And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning
John, What went you out to see in the wilderness? A reed shaken
with the wind? Someone who could be blown back
and forth by public opinion and public popularity? But what went
you out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? A man of riches? Behold, they
that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went
you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you,
and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is
written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall
prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, among
them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist." Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he. Now he is talking about himself.
He became least in the kingdom of heaven. And he said, I am
infinitely greater than John the Baptist. But as far as those
men who have been born of women, there has not been anybody like
him. He would be beheaded shortly
after that. Now turn to Luke chapter 1. We're going to consider
his birth. Luke chapter 1. Verse 5. There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea, a certain
priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abiah, and his wife
was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And
they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. Now, what a testimony regarding
these two individuals. They were both righteous before
the Lord. In every commandment, they walk
blameless. I used to look at that and think,
how could that be? I mean, they're men, they're women. How could
it be? Well, when I understood the gospel,
I understood. Remember, regarding Noah, thee
have I seen as righteous before me. That's how he saw these people. And that's because of the righteousness
and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. With His righteousness
as my righteousness, I am righteous before God, and I walk in all
of the commandments and the ordinances of the Lord blameless. Now, that's
the only way that could be understood in light of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm looking at some people who
are righteous before God, who walk in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord If Christ is my righteousness, that
is me. Does that mean they never sinned? Yes and no. I don't know if that's
a fair way to answer that, but yes and no. Yes, they never sinned
because they walked in all the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blameless, and they were righteous before him. But
we actually have a sin of this man, Zacharias, recorded in this
story. Look what happened in verse 18.
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? You
tell me this. How can I know it so? In other
words, he disbelieved God. He didn't believe what God said.
He said, how can I know it? I know you're saying it, but how can
I know it's going to be so? Isn't the word of God enough?
If God says something, is anything else needed to verify that it's
going to take place? Absolutely not. Whereby shall
I know this? I'm an old man and my wife well
stricken in years. And the angel answering said
unto him, I'm Gabriel. that stand in the presence of
God, and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these
glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to
speak, until the day these things should be performed, because
thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their
season." That still It's an example of his unbelief, and it doesn't
take away the reality of what was said regarding this man in
verse 6. He was righteous. He walked in
all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. And if
you're a believer, here you are. Here you are. You're righteous.
You walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless.
You're perfect in Christ Jesus. And here's your flesh. Unbelief. He didn't believe what the angel
said. Now, let's go and read verse
7. And they had no child, this couple,
Zacharias and Elizabeth. They had no child because Elizabeth
was barren. And they were both now well stricken
in years. And what a great trial that was.
I have no doubt that they had prayed over and over and over
again that the Lord would answer them and give them a child. And
they never received an answer for years. They prayed the same
prayer, no answer. And she said in verse 25, this
is you've taken away the reproach. When she had John, she felt that
this was a reproach upon her, that she did not have a child.
And they continued to pray and pray and pray, but no answer.
How many times has that happened to you? You pray about something. You pray about something. And
you pray about something. No answer. You submit to God's
will. Whatever he does is right. You
believe that. But you desire this. You earnestly
desire. You pray. You pray. And still
no answer. Years go on in prayer. But look
down in verse 13. But the angel said unto him,
Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard. Years later,
30, 40 years later, Thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth
shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." Don't
give up. Continue to pray. The Lord hears, and the Lord
answers prayer, and His timing is best, isn't it? You believe
that? His timing is the best. Verse seven, they had no child
because Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well stricken
in years. And it came to pass that while he executed the priest's
office before God in the order of his course, according to the
custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when
he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude
of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there
appeared unto him an angel of the Lord. standing on the right
side of the altar of incense. Now, we know that this angel
was Gabriel. As we go on reading, we find
out it's the same Gabriel who appeared to Daniel in Daniel
chapter 8 and Daniel chapter 9. And he told Daniel in Daniel
chapter 9 when the Lord would be born. He said he's going to
be born in 490 years. I mean, he told him that. And
indeed, in 490 years, the Lord was born. You can read this glorious
passage in Daniel chapter 9. But verse 12, and when Zechariah
saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him. You know,
anytime anybody in the scriptures was visited with either an angel
or with the Lord himself, they were scared to death. There was
a sense of fear. Why? I think I can answer that
because of a sense of guilt, a sense of weakness, a sense
of sinfulness. Anytime they saw someone from
heaven, there will always be a sense of fear. Verse 13, But
the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer
is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou
shalt call his name John. After praying for so many years,
now the prayer is answered. And he says in verse 14, 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. He's a Nazarite,
and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's
womb. Now, this gives us some idea
of the power of the gospel. It can take somebody like John
or me or you and make us great in the sight of the Lord. That's
a hard concept to get hold of, isn't it? The fact that any human
being can be great in the sight of the Lord. But here we have
it. This man is great in the sight
of the Lord. And really, anybody in Christ
is great in the sight of the Lord, because Christ is great
in the sight of the Lord. And I'm looking at some men and
women right now who are great in the sight of the Lord. And
if you're great in His sight, do you care what anybody else
sees in you? I mean, I know you do, but I mean, if they don't
like it, that's okay. If I'm great in His sight, everything
is fine. He was a Nazarite, and he was
to drink no alcohol at all, and he was filled with the Holy Ghost
from his mother's womb. Now that's a very powerful thing
to think about. I mean, when he was in the womb, he was filled
with the Holy Spirit. And I think it's interesting
that people have taken this passage of Scripture and said, see, you
don't need to hear the Gospel. Because God the Baptist never
heard the Gospel, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit from
his mother's womb. Now, if you can take that and
teach something, go ahead. That's what you want to do. But
you can't establish a doctrine from an implication of something
that took place. He was filled. with the Holy
Spirit from his mother's womb. As a matter of fact, when Mary,
remember when Mary came and told Elizabeth that she was with child,
John the Baptist leaped at her womb when he heard. He could
hear the gospel even at that time. Now, so maybe he did hear.
Maybe he just heard in the mother's womb. I don't know. He heard
something because he leaped for joy in the womb when he heard
about the birth of Christ. But he was filled with the Holy
Spirit from his mother's womb. Verse 16. 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, or Elijah, to
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared
for the Lord. Now, this is a fulfillment of
prophecy. God prophesied that this would
take place. He would come in the spirit and power of Elijah,
and he would I like this phrase, as it says in verse 17. Turn
the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, what is the wisdom
of the just, the wisdom of the justified, whether he's made
and wisdom and righteousness and sanctification, redemption,
that's the wisdom of justice, the gospel, it's the gospel that
God can justify me. And next, it says to make ready
a people prepared for the Lord. Turn back to Isaiah, chapter
40. Hold your finger there and turn back to Isaiah chapter 40.
This is another prophecy regarding John the Baptist. Verse 3. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley, every low
place, every One who has nothing shall be exalted, and every mountain
and hill, every high place shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight. That's what the gospel does.
It takes a crooked sinner and makes him straight, and the rough
place is plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it." This was the preaching of John the Baptist. Now, back
to our text in Luke chapter one. Here's Zacharias reply to the
message the angel brings him. And Zacharias said unto the angel,
Whereby shall I know this? How can I know this is going
to take place? I mean, I'm old. My wife's well stricken in years.
It's impossible. It's never happened. How can
I know this will take place. His answer was the answer of
unbelief. Now, the fact that the Lord said
it. Is all that's needed. Look in
Luke chapter one, verse 34, that his same angels come to Mary
and given her the promise of the coming Messiah, then verse
34 said, Mary, under the angel of the Lord, how shall this be? Seeing I know not a man. She
didn't say, will it be? She didn't respond in unbelief. She didn't say, well, I just
can't believe this is going to take place. She just said, how can it be?
I mean, I'm a virgin. I don't know a man. How can I
have a child? I can understand her asking that
question, can't you? But that's not what Zacharias says. He doesn't
say, how can this be? He says, how can I know it's
so? In other words, he did not believe implicitly, explicitly
what God said. He didn't. It wasn't enough.
Mary believed what God said. She wasn't rebuked for asking
how this was going to be. As a matter of fact, the angel
told her how it was going to be. She believed what God said, though.
But Zachariah, at this time, is incredulous. He said, how
can I know this is going to take place? I just don't believe it.
Now, regarding God's Word, when he says something, it's
settled. It's history. It's already done. If he said it, there's no room
for questions. Like we're looking at Bible study,
when Abraham, when God had promised to Abraham, the Messiah is going
to come through this boy. It's going to come through Isaac.
And Abraham believed God. And so when Abraham said, Or
when God said to Abraham, take him and offer him up as a burnt
offering to me, Abraham didn't say, well, I can't do that because
if I did that, then God's word would not come to pass. Now,
in other words, he couldn't believe what God said. I need to do my
part. I can't let that happen or God's
promise will fall to the ground. So he didn't believe God's word.
You see, when you believe God's word, when God says it, it is
settled. It is sure. It is certain. Now,
when he hears the word from God through this angel, he says,
I just don't know if I can believe that. I mean, how in the world
is it going to happen? Verse 19. And the angel answering said
unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and am
sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings.
And behold, thou shalt be done. and not able to speak. As a matter
of fact, he was also dead because as you go on down reading in
this passage of scripture, they had to write out to him what
they wanted him to know. He couldn't hear. He was dead
and he was dumb, stricken that way by the angel. And behold,
thou shalt be dumb and not be able to speak into the day that
these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my
words which shall be fulfilled. in their season. And this was a chastisement upon
him, not a punishment, but a chastisement. And you know, whom the Lord loves,
he chastens. And he ought to have been chastised
for not believing exactly what God said. And he didn't. But
you know something I love about this? Preachers present faith
as, well, God's hands are tied and his purpose can't be fulfilled
unless you believe. Aren't you glad it's not that
way? The angel says to Zacharias,
you didn't believe. You're going to be deaf and dumb
until these words are fulfilled. Your unbelief is not going to
prevent the Word of God from being accomplished. Isn't that
good? That's good and I'm glad. What if God's purpose was in
accordance to my ability to believe? We'd be in trouble, wouldn't
we? But he said, my words shall be fulfilled. in due season. They shall all be performed.
You'll have the child I'm speaking of. Everything God says will
be done will be done. They shall be performed in their
season. Now. Thank God his will and his purpose
is being accomplished is not dependent upon anything but his
own glorious sovereignty. He says, My will shall be done. Verse 21. And the people waited
for Zacharias and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple.
And when he came out, he couldn't speak unto them. And they perceived
that he'd seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned unto
them and remained speechless. And it came to pass that as soon
as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed
to his own house. And after those days, his wife,
Elizabeth, conceived just like the angel said. And she hid herself
five months, saying thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the
days wherein he looked upon me to take away my reproach from
among men. Now we read of Gabriel coming
to Mary. I'm not going to preach on this,
but let me read it. And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God into the city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin, a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph, and of
the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled at a saying. Every time anybody saw somebody
from heaven, they were troubled. And she cast in her mind what
manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall be great." and shall
be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob for ever, and to his kingdom there shall
be no end.' Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,
seeing I know not a man? 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 also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the
sixth month with her who is called barren, for with God nothing
shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid
of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed
from her. And Mary arose in those days.
and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah,
and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.
And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation
of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled
with the Holy Ghost. And she spake out with a loud
voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb, and whence is this to me that the
mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the
voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped
in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believeth,
for thou shalt be a performance of those things which were told
her of the Lord." This all comes to pass. Now look down in verse
57. 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 that 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. John means favor of God. And
they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called
by thy name, by this name. And they made signs to his father,
remember he couldn't hear, he couldn't speak, they wrote out
how he would have him called and he asked for a writing table
and he wrote saying his name is John. And they marveled and
his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue loosed and he
spake and praised God and fear came on all that dwelt about
them and all those sayings were noised abroad throughout all
the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them
laid up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child should 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 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, and now he's
talking about John the Baptist again, 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, and here's how he prepares
his way, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people. Now
who does he give the knowledge of salvation to? His people. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Now what is
the knowledge of salvation that he gives to his people? By the
remission. by the putting away, by the blotting
out of their sins. Now that's how I can be saved,
by God remitting my sins, my sins. My sins which are ever
before me, my sins that are more than the hairs of my head, they've
been remitted. They've been put away. They've
been blotted out. They're no more. That's what
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming Lamb of God would
do. He would cause sins to be remitted. And that is the knowledge of
salvation, the remission of sins. And then he says in verse 78,
through the tender mercy, And that is the bowels, the heart
of our God, whereby the day spring, the sun rising from on high,
hath visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness,
light as to how God saves sinners by Christ and in the shadow of
death to guide our feet in the way of peace. And the child grew
and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts. to the day
of his showing unto Israel. Now, he spent 30 years in the
deserts. What all the Lord was teaching him, I don't know. But
what I do know is teaching him the gospel. Now, look in chapter
3. Annas and Caiaphas being the
high priests, verse 2, the word of God came unto John, the son
of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And we don't have to guess as
to what that word was. Do you remember the preaching
of John the Baptist, what said of him in John chapter one, what
was his message? Behold, the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sins of the world. This is God's Lamb. This is Abel's
sacrifice. This is the The Lamb of Abraham,
God shall provide Himself a Lamb for a burnt offering. This is
the Paschal Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God which
takes away the sin of the world. This is that Lamb where the Lord
said, Abraham, rejoice to see my day. And he saw it. And he
was glad. That was the preaching of John
the Baptist. He was the one who brought in
The message of the Lamb of God. Now turn to Acts chapter 19.
You know, a lot of folks have presented
the message of John the Baptist as somewhat different, kind of
a different message until the full New Testament came in. He
was kind of halfway Old Testament, halfway New Testament. And he
had a different message. Is that the case? Look here in
Acts chapter 19. And it came to pass that while
Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper
coast, came to Ephesus. And finding certain disciples,
he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?
And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether
there be any Holy Ghost. We have no idea what you are
talking about. Who is the Holy Ghost? And he said unto them,
Unto what then were you baptized? And they said, unto John's baptism. Now, obviously, they had a misunderstanding
of John's baptism, because look at the reply. And Paul said,
John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying
unto the people that they should believe on him who should come
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this,
They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. You see, that
baptism they had was not really a baptism because they didn't
even know what they were doing. And when they heard what John's
message was, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands
upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spake with
tongues and they prophesied. And all the men were about twelve.
John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he's the one who announced, behold, the Lamb of God. And would to
God that you and I will be enabled to behold the Lamb of God. Let's pray together.