Well, last week, as we said a few minutes ago, we looked at the humility of Mary in the Magnificat. And she, in her song of praise, showed how that we're to be humble before a great God. And she showed us how the God has mercy on everybody who fears him, and how that would be the message that her baby would have a little later on. that he would bring salvation to those who fear God and who are humble before him. Well, tonight, we're we're going to see more of that in this man named Zechariah. He's he helped us start off this this gospel of Luke. And we heard about how the angel Gabriel appeared to him. and told him that his wife, who was too old to have children, would have a child, which was an amazing fact in itself, but this would be a particularly special child. But he had a little trouble with that. He had a little trouble believing that, and he doubted. And so God did something to him to discipline him. He made him deaf and mute. And so as we think about Zechariah tonight, this is a key thing for us to understand what's going on with him, and I think a key for us to understand what's going on in this passage. And to help us to understand that, I want to tell you about my father-in-law and my dad. My father-in-law, when I knew him, when I first knew him, he was In a middle-aged man and by then he was pretty much deaf. He had been losing his hearing over time and And by the time I got to know him it was Fairly gone and and through the as with each passing year he could hear less and less and he finally got a cochlear implant Which is the thing they stick inside your skull right behind the ear and so on and that helped some and But this man who was once a very outgoing guy, he was very outgoing, he was very talkative, he was the proverbial life of the party kind of guy, he became withdrawn. With each passing year, he would become more and more withdrawn. He was an artist, and he would go up into his studio and spend hours by himself working on his artwork. And so this had a profound impact on him. Just not being able to hear and trying to be around people, especially in a group, was exhausting for him because he couldn't distinguish where the sounds were coming from. It was very difficult for him to carry on a conversation. Well, my dad had a similar kind of experience, but for different reasons. When he was in his middle age, he had braces. And in fact, it was in a time when that was pretty unusual. And he even was in an article in the Washington Post about older people getting braces. But part of what he had to go through was he went through a surgery that required that his mouth be wired shut for three months, that his jaw be wired shut for three months. And he said that it was exhausting, especially at work. He'd be in a meeting around a conference table, and people would be talking. And he would try to interject something. And so he would have to talk like this. And it was very difficult. And you can imagine trying to string together a complete thought that way. And people recognized this. And they started taking advantage of that and talking over him. and they wouldn't listen to him. And so this exhausted him. This exhausted him. But with Zechariah, he had both. He had both. He could see, but he couldn't hear, and he couldn't speak. So it was very difficult for him to communicate. And so what we're going to see in Zechariah today in part I think because of this because of this fact we're going to see the great reversal that we talked about last week in Luke. You remember that's one of the themes of this gospel is that God will exalt the humble. and he will bring down the rich and the powerful. And we're going to see Zechariah's own personal version of that tonight because he went through this experience. Last week we also saw as part of this that women were the first ones to testify to the truth of what was happening. And in that culture, in that day, it wasn't really an acceptable notion that women would be the ones to testify first about something, much less testify at all. They weren't considered to be reliable witnesses. And so here we have women testifying first to the truth, and a priest, as we're about to see, denying it in essence doubting it and having trouble with it and God disciplines him because you see Zechariah was part of the Jewish establishment. Remember he is a priest he is a priest he is part of that whole Jewish culture and establishment and remember that's why he was in the temple that day when the angel appeared to him. is because he was fulfilling his priestly duties. In fact, it was one of a great honor. It was a once in a lifetime deal for a priest to burn incense at the temple. You were chosen by lot and you couldn't do it ever again. It was one time. And so that's what Zechariah was doing there. He was fulfilling his priestly role. And so he was an essential part of this Jewish establishment. Yet he didn't believe the angel. when the angel told him what was going to happen with Elizabeth and his son. And that isn't really what we expect. We would expect the man of God to get it and to hear what the angel would have to say. And so what we're going to see today is a great reversal in Zechariah. Zechariah sort of turned on his own head. And we'll see that not only was his mind changed, But his heart was changed. His heart was changed. And so we read the whole passage a little bit ago. So let's go ahead and begin in verse 56 where Luke records the fact that Mary remained with her Elizabeth about three months and he returned to her home. Well we don't really know where home meant you know what what that meant exactly it's unclear and Luke doesn't spend any time on it so neither are we. We're just going to understand that Luke went home or sorry Mary went home and wherever that was and that she didn't seem to hang around for the birth of John the Baptist. That's kind of the point there. And so in verse 57 that's exactly what happens is that John the Baptist is born. And now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth and she bore a son. Now, let's just pause here for a second and consider the fact that the angel Gabriel had already prophesied all of these things. This is what Zechariah didn't really get in the beginning. Elizabeth bore a son. And that is the prophecy fulfilled that the angel Gabriel proclaimed. Not only did she become pregnant past her childbearing years just as the angel said but she also gave birth just as the angel said and she also had a son just as the angel said. And so that's why in verse 58 her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her and they rejoiced with her. And so the news of this miracle had spread and as faithful friends and as friends full of faith. They rejoiced with her. And this is the kind of joy that's paralleled a little later on when Jesus is born with the shepherds in their fields and they rejoice at the birth of Christ. But here with Elizabeth and with her friends and relatives gathered around her, there's no hint of jealousy or anything like that. There's just joy in what God has done and what he's going to do. And that's what we as brothers and sisters do. It's one of the great hallmarks of being a true Christian. Romans 12 15 says that we rejoice with those who rejoice and we weep with those who weep we're there for each other both in times of joy and in times of sorrow and in everything in between we're there for each other and so then on the eighth day in verse 59 they they came to circumcise the child well circumcision as we all know was a was a was appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people. This was an abiding sign of his consecration of his people, and it was established for the Jewish nation in Genesis 17. Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised. And so that's why Zechariah and Elizabeth circumcised their baby, because they're faithful Jews. And this is just like Joseph and Mary will circumcise Jesus later on in chapter two. And so in the rest of verse 59 the friends and relatives are gathered around and they would have called him Zechariah after his father it says in verse 59. Well, to our modern Western ears, we think that must have been really common, just like it is today for a child to be named after his father. But it actually wasn't all that common, since a man tended to be identified by their father. And it went like this. If they named the child Zechariah, his name would be Zechariah bar Zechariah. In other words, Zechariah, the son of Zechariah. And so to Jewish ears that, even though it sounds symmetrical to us, it would be a little kind of just strange sounding. But on the other hand, it really wasn't unheard of that this would happen. Sometimes it did happen. And so the reason that the friends and family figured that the child should be and would be named after Zechariah is that it's just a gesture of respect and empathy because Zechariah was deaf and mute. And so they wanted to honor Zechariah. But in verse 60, and I love this, his mother answered, no, he shall be called John. And they said to her, none of your relatives is called by this name. And so Elizabeth is faithful, even under pressure. Leslie and I, when our boys were coming along, We didn't want to reveal the names that we had chosen for them because we didn't want to face that kind of pressure. But we didn't reveal it until they were born. But Elizabeth faces it anyway. She faces it and she faces a strong argument that you're going to break with tradition if you don't name the child at least a family name. None of your relatives has that name. But instead, Elizabeth remembers Gabriel's instructions, and she insists on doing it God's way. What a beautiful, beautiful act of faith. And so in the next verse, these friends and relatives, you can see this happening. They turn to Zechariah to try to talk some sense into him. You know, you're the man of the house. You're not going to name him John, are you? Come on, Zechariah. But of course, it was a little hard to communicate with him because he was deaf and mute. And that's what it says in verse 62. And they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And so they're hoping to knock a little sense into him to get him with the program and at least come up with a family name that made some sense. But look what happens. And this is this is just profound to me. In verse 63 he asked for a writing tablet and he wrote his name is John. And they all wondered. And they all wondered. Well, Zechariah knows here that he's got to be clear. There are no take-backs in giving a name. Once the child is circumcised, that's his name. And so he's not going to leave this up to gesturing and the waving of arms and so on. And so he asked for a writing tablet. A writing tablet in those days was made of wood, and it had a coating of wax on it where you could scratch in your letters. I'd love to see one. And what does he write? He writes, his name is John. Well, isn't that profound? Because here's the guy who a little while ago was arguing with an angel and now he's humbled and he's determined to be obedient. And so obviously there's something that's happened to him since that day so many months before when the angel did appear to him. He's had a lot of time to think. He's had a lot of time to pray. I'd like to think that he read a lot of scriptures. God has worked on his heart. He's a different man now. And that's evident by the fact that he writes his name as John. And I think it's very significant that he writes this down because he's about to prophesy about his son and the Messiah. And how many times do we read about God telling his prophets to write this down? God told Moses to write these words down when he gave him the Ten Commandments and all of the law and so forth. And then many times Jesus says, it is written. In other words, these are the words of God. These are the words of God. So God told his prophets to write down his words because his words are what bring us life and salvation. And it's all that writing that God has had his prophets do that allows us to hold in our hands his commandments and to be able to get a glimpse into his mind and to understand the way of salvation. And when we read those words, we know that they're true because they are God's words. And so when Zechariah wrote, his name is John, he was writing the words of God. He was writing exactly what the angel told him to name his child. And I believe that this really is part of the prophecy that Zechariah is about to give. And so Luke includes this detail to emphasize the fact that this is a commandment from God. But it's not only that this child's name shall be John and then we're done with it. God wasn't that concerned about just naming a child. There's a purpose for it. And that purpose is that God had everything to do with the arrival of this child. And he has everything to do with the life that was ahead for this child named John. And also for the Messiah that he is there to prepare the way for. And so this is really Zechariah's proclamation of faith. It's a brilliant statement of faith by Zechariah. And it's a reflection of, to me, of how much his heart had changed. It really changed. Because now he's totally humble before the Lord. He's totally willing to do it God's way. And that's why the Holy Spirit moved him in the next verse. In verse 64 it says, And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, Blessing God. Well a few verses from now in verse 68 we're going to see what the Holy Spirit is going to say through Zechariah. But right here we see that what Gabriel promised back in verse 20 being fulfilled. And just as he said in Luke 1 20, the angel said, because Zechariah doubted, he said, behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. And so now Zechariah can speak just as the angel said. But as Zechariah spoke, as a result of what he said, look at the reaction of the people. Fear, in verse 65, fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts saying, what then will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. In other words they sense that something was going on here. They sense the great move of God right there in their midst. And brothers and sisters I don't know about you but fear is the right attitude when we see. the work of God firsthand, whether it's in ourselves or in other people. I'm awed constantly by God's power when I see what he's done in our lives right here at WBF and how he's changed hearts and how he's used all kinds of circumstances for his glory and for his purposes. And that's fearful in a good sense, because then we recognize God's power. We recognize his power over the human heart, which in my mind is absolutely the hardest substance in the universe. I know they found something that is harder than a diamond. Well, the human heart is a thousand times harder in my mind. And so we see God being more powerful than the human heart. And when we see that firsthand, Doesn't it cause us to fear God in a good kind of way a reverential kind of fear because then we know that we cannot overpower God we can't outdo him. Our fear of God at first of course when we first come to the Lord is a terrifying fear of judgment and wrath. But then as we learn and grow in our faith it becomes this this holy awe of God that leads us to glorify and praise his name as we'll see later on in Luke. And so back to our verse here, to verse 65. The people ask, excuse me, in verse 66, they ask in this reverential state of mind, this reverential fear, what then will this child be? What will he be? You see, they're wondering about the role of this child. What is his purpose gonna be? But they get that it's gonna be really big. It's going to be really big. And so then Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, he tells them exactly how big this work of God is, that John the Baptist is going to be great, but not the greatest. He's going to be the forerunner of the Messiah, the one who goes before, the one who prepares the way of salvation in Christ's coming. And so in verse 67, His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. Let's say a word or two about prophecy here. Real prophecy only comes by way of the Holy Spirit. It doesn't come because of man's eloquence or his brains. They are the words of God. They are the words of God and only The Holy Spirit can be fully consistent with Scripture and Scripture is what tells us the mind of God. And when God speaks in this way it always comes to pass whenever God leads someone to prophesy what they say always happens. There's never a moment when God gets it wrong. And not only does God never get it wrong, but he always keeps his promises. He never redigs. He never changes his mind once he's made a promise. And so this prophecy that we're going to see here through Zechariah comes in two parts. The first part is in verses 68 through 75, and it's an affirmation of God keeping his promises. And by the way, it's all one sentence, 68 through 75. It's one glorious sentence. And it's also an affirmation that God has promised salvation and now he's delivering on that promise. The second part we'll get to in a few minutes and that begins in verse 76 but beginning in the first part in verse 68, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people. Well here Zechariah begins by praising God for his salvation just like Mary did. That's the way she started her song of praise and salvation is exactly what the next verse is about too. In verse 69, he says that God has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. Well, this image of a horn is poetic imagery, and it symbolizes the strength of an animal. I always think of rams smashing into each other, and somehow they survive. the impact. But in this case, we're talking about the strength of God. And so, since John the Baptist isn't in the lineage of the house of David, the horn that we're talking about here refers to the Messiah, whom John will announce. It refers to Jesus, whose mother Mary is, of course, of the house of David. Now, this was foretold in other prophecies long ago. And this is important for us to understand because real prophecies are always confirmed by scripture. Real prophecies never, ever, ever contradict scripture. We can always know that they're in line with scripture. And so in verse 70, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, well, here we see the certainty that Luke wants us to have. that God is doing these things. He's raised up this horn of salvation just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from old. In other words, this is coming true. And Luke is all about having certainty about the gospel, having certainty about who Jesus Christ is. And so here we see the certainty that this promise is being fulfilled, a promise that was made so long ago. And the promise that we live on here, what is being fulfilled is the fact that God always keeps his promises. And since this was most likely written to Gentiles mainly, Luke made sure to record these words of the prophecy. The Holy Spirit here wants them and us to understand that all of this fulfillment of God's promises isn't just a random thing. This isn't just a sort of cosmic coincidence. that God is behind all of these things. The God who sent the Son is faithful and his words are true. And when he promises, the promises will come true. And that, at the bottom of it all, means that our salvation is true. So isn't that important on those days when we have trouble seeing God when he seems really far away when our own salvation seems to be in question and we're in doubt whether we're secure in Christ. What we do then is we remember his promises and the promise that we remember as Christians is that God has promised us salvation through Christ and his promises are true. And I think that must be what was on the mind of Zechariah as he was sitting there unable to speak or to hear. That must be what he realized in the way I imagine it as he poured over scripture during that time. That God's promises are always true and that he had promised salvation. And so here it is. Here it is. And so he's looking at his scriptures. I think that's why verse 71 is here, because look at what we're saved from. We are saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Well, the way this is worded is similar to Old Testament passages like in Psalm 18, verse 17, he rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me for they were too mighty for me. Well, that's a very Jewish thought, very Jewish way of thinking to be saved as a nation from their enemies. But here the Holy Spirit through Luke wants us to see that salvation in Christ isn't only a political or nationalistic salvation from enemies. Certainly in the Old Testament God did bring that about. But what he wants us to see here is that this is a metaphorical description of our personal salvation from sin and judgment. Ultimately it is true that we'll be saved from not so metaphorical enemies as well when Christ returns on that white horse as we see in Revelation. We will be delivered from our enemies then. because those who hate us for our faith also hate Christ. And what will Christ do. He will defeat them. There's no question about it. He's going to defeat them. And when Christ does save us it's going to be with the same mercy that the Holy Spirit spoke of through Mary. You remember back in verse 50 of Luke 1. In the Magnificat, Mary, the Holy Spirit through Mary says, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. Well, in verse 72 here in our passage, the Holy Spirit says that mercy will come because of God's promise so long ago. He saves us in verse 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father, Abraham. Well, here's part of that oath in Genesis 22, 17. Isaac has just shown his willingness to sacrifice his own son for God, and God intervenes and keeps that from happening. But here's what God says to him. He says, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. And so you see in that covenant God promised to take care of his people to protect them from their enemies. And of course their enemies were God's enemies and so God did protect them. All through history God has watched over his people he's He saved them from slavery. He's disciplined them when they needed it. He's also showed them how to worship him. He gave Israel a picture of salvation through the sacrifices to help his people understand the cost and the seriousness of sin and indeed what the Messiah would one day do for them and dying on the cross and shedding his own blood. And now God is bringing them that salvation beginning at the end of verse 73 going into 74 and 75. He's bringing them that salvation to grant that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all of our days. Now the Holy Spirit through Mary said that God has mercy on those who fear him and that's a good kind of fear to have. That's a reverential fear and it's a fear that tells us that God is way bigger than we are and that he's in charge. But the fear that we're talking about here in our verse in verse 74 where it says so that we might serve him without fear. This is the kind of fear that we have for our enemies if we're without God. This is the kind of fear that can paralyze us. You see, not only do we have enemies that we can see as believers, that is those who hate God, but we also have enemies that we cannot see, that we have no power over. And these are spiritual forces who strive against God and they strive against us. But here's the salvation that Christ brings. And this is one of my favorite verses in scripture. And if I can work it into every message I deliver for the rest of my life, I will. Because I love this. This is Colossians 1, 13 through 14. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He has transferred us into his kingdom. That means that we belong to Christ now. when we believe in our salvation is finished it's complete it's secure we've been delivered from Satan's power we've been delivered from the power of sin and that allows us to serve God without fear that is without fear of those enemies. You see we do serve him with a reverential fear. And that's important that we serve him with a reverential fear. But we also serve him without fear of our enemies because those enemies have been defeated. They have been crushed. And so that's the first part of the prophecy about the goodness of God to keep his promises and the salvation that's coming because he promised it. And so in the next verse begins the second part of this prophecy. And this is a prophecy now about John the Baptist himself and also about the Messiah. And it changes from the past tense about what God has already done into the future tense about what God is going to do. So now we're back into God promising things, and I love this. He is promising things, things that will happen because he promised them. And so let's look and see what they are. In verse 76, you can visualize Zechariah holding John in his arms. That's the way I picture it. And he says, And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways. You see, John is going to be a forerunner for Christ. He's going to be the one who sets the stage. He's going to be the one who tells of his coming and who prepares the hearts of God's people for what Jesus has to say to them. But John isn't the Messiah. He's the prophet. The Messiah he's preparing for, though, is the Lord. And you see it in that passage, because Zechariah says, that John will go before the Lord to prepare his ways. And now in this, the Holy Spirit wants us to remember yet another prophecy. And this one's in Malachi 3.1. Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold he is coming says the Lord of hosts. And John is that messenger. He is that messenger. Can you imagine what Zechariah felt when he realized this when it clicked with him. The way I imagine it is because he was deaf and mute. He was off somewhere, sitting by himself, because it took way too much energy to try to communicate with anybody. And I think that's one reason why God did this to him, is so that he would have this time of solitude with the Lord. And so he turns to God's Word, because God had written it down for him, so that God could communicate with him. And then he's rolling through the scroll maybe you know he's already got the first five books of the Bible memorized the Pentateuch. So he knows his scripture pretty well but maybe he's rolling through the scroll and his eyes fall on Malachi 3 1. What a moment. What a moment. And if it happened that way, I suspect that Zechariah just fell flat on his face and he just worshipped. And then he worshipped some more. And then he kept on worshipping. His wave after wave after wave of reverential fear just washed over him. What an incredible moment. Well, the next verse tells us exactly why God sent John the Baptist. Verse 77, he sent John to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of sins. Well, the message of John the Baptist was going to be the repentance of sins, and this would be how he would prepare the way for the Messiah. He didn't actually offer salvation, but he offered knowledge of it through the baptism of repentance. Baptism wasn't a new idea to the Jews. They'd already been baptizing Gentiles who came to the faith, but John the Baptist would preach a baptism of repentance, the repentance of sins. In other words, that fulfilling the rituals of God's law with filthy hearts did not make one clean. And the only way to be clean before God was to come clean by confessing sin and recognizing their unholiness before God. In other words, A change of heart is necessary. A change of heart just like Jesus would preach and just like what's going on in Zechariah's heart. How his heart has been changed and here we see that humbleness that Mary showed us. We see a true humility before God and it's that true humility that allows us all when we are humble before him that allows us to see God for who he really is. And that compels us to repent. It compels us to see ourselves for who we are, unworthy sinners, depending completely on the mercy of God. And it's exactly that mercy that saves us, because it's by grace that we're saved. We're saved, as it says in verse 78, because of the tender mercy of our God. Before God we have no case to plead. We have no good ground on which to stand to say you know I've done some things wrong but here's why you should have mercy on me. You need to look at the good parts over here. That isn't how it works. We depend completely on the mercy of a just and holy God and it's God who chooses to have mercy on us and he gives us faith as a gift, speaking of Christmas. And that gift is faith, as it says in Ephesians 2.8. And so we're saved in an absolutely beautiful way, and that's what the next two verses are about. In the end of verse 78 and into 79. We're saved whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Well, scholars like to puzzle over this reference to the sunrise. They want to know where it comes from, and they pore over ancient texts trying to muster up its meaning and find other references to sunrises and triangulate and so on. And I just really don't think it's that complicated, because I think the Holy Spirit is just being poetic here. And I think it means pretty much what we think it means. The salvation of Christ is like a beautiful sunrise. I'm no morning person by any means, but I tell you what, I recognize the incredible beauty of a sunrise. There's a sense of hope for the coming day. And we see the dark of night just melt away and God's creation is just bathed in a beautiful, beautiful light. And so the Holy Spirit here is likening the coming of the Messiah to a beautiful, beautiful sunrise, to that beautiful light. John did the same thing in his gospel, in John 1, verses 4 and 5. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. That light of Christ, the salvation of Christ, as our passage says, guides us. And it guides us into the way of peace. It guides us into peace between us and God. And get this, peace between sinners and a holy God. And so, I think that's the sunrise that Zechariah was experiencing. He was experiencing a great reversal between night and day. And so I think that during those months of being deaf and mute, Zechariah turned to the Word of God. He might have withdrawn from those around him, but he didn't go and sulk and turn away from God. He didn't get mad at God because he couldn't hear and he couldn't speak. I think he turned to the Word. And he turned to those promises that God had made. And he trusted in those promises. And he saw how God was causing those promises to come true, Malachi 3.1. And that changed him. That changed his heart and caused him to be humble before the Lord. And so this is the father that John the Baptist had. an amazing man and an amazing mother as well, Elizabeth, these two people who were too old to have a child. And yet they did because of a miracle that God bestowed upon them. And they knew and loved God. And they saw the beautiful salvation that was about to come, not in John, but in Mary's child. And in verse 80, we see sort of a summation of of the rest of his childhood and into adulthood. The child grew and became strong in spirit and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. But in the meantime, Zechariah had experienced this great reversal from his status as a priest at the temple to a man now driven to months of solitude, unable to communicate with anybody but God. And so for us, whether it's that moment when God saves us, as he gives us the gift of faith, or whether it's when we as believers are disciplined and nurtured through our relationship with Christ, the lesson here is that salvation and sanctification come by way of humility. God causes us to be humble before him and when we're humble before him he opens our eyes to who he is. We can see what he's doing. Zechariah could have turned away from God because God disciplined him. He could have been angry at God but instead he sought out God and he fell down before he became one who prophesied. And he became one of God's mouthpieces. And he made that beautiful, beautiful statement of faith. His name is John. And isn't that the example for us as we face our lives? Our statements of faith are in answer to questions like this. Do we believe that God really is working among us? Do we believe his promises? And if we do, We'll keep turning to him. And I guarantee you, the closer we get to him, the humbler we'll become. And that is the best place on earth to be, is to be humble before a mighty, mighty God who always keeps his promises. Amen. Let's pray.