Luke's Gospel, the first chapter. I'm going to read a section of this long, lengthy section dealing with the Annunciation of John the Baptist and also the Annunciation of Christ to Mary. Let's start at verse 11. I went back and reviewed my tape or my recording from last week and we ended really about verse 11, got into some. I want to read verses 11 through 17. Listen as the word of the Lord is read. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, For your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. And you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine, nor strong drink, he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn away, or he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before him in the spirit and power of 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. May God bless the reading of this text and give us insight into God's redemptive purpose that he's culminating here and bringing to pass. Join me in prayer. Father, again, the word is blessed. It is always blessed because it's been inspired by the Holy Spirit of God from the writings of Moses in the Torah to the end of the book, the Bible, Revelation, John wrote, showing us the beginning and the climax of this created order in which we live. We're in the midst of it all. We see chaos in our world, just as there was chaos in the ancient world. There's always been chaos among men because we're sinful. We thank you that there is order in your universe and that there's order in our bodies and in the vegetable kingdom around us and in the seasons. There's order that we live by, the sun rising and sun setting. every day. So in the midst of chaos, because of sin, it's going to be remedied one day. And what we're looking at at the time of the birth of Jesus is what Christ is doing today and what Christ will do when he comes again. So we bless you and thank you in Jesus name. Amen. I couldn't help but ask the question in my mind, I don't know if you've asked it of yourself, why did John, not John, Luke, include this section as well as this section on the annunciation to Mary that she would conceive a child in her womb? Luke include this. There had to be a reason for that because it's, well, for one thing, it's not included in the other gospel accounts. Parts of it are. In Matthew, Joseph is disturbed because he finds his wife pregnant and his solution to the problem was to divorce her, to put her away. An angel of the Lord spoke to him and indicated how she became pregnant. Well, Luke goes into more detail on that. And in the other Gospels, we're introduced to John as the messenger. He comes right on the scene and has been ministering before Christ comes. And in Mark's Gospel, he's introduced there, baptizing, as a foundation for his ministry, that is the anointing of the Spirit coming upon him and equipping him to carry on a successful ministry. And we look at John's gospel and we see the transition there between John the Baptist and Christ coming on the scene, but it doesn't go into the detail of how this all came about. And so I think it's important for understanding that we are apprised of that. And so Luke, being the historian that he is, the researcher, and I might say that I just came across an interesting note in Dr. MacArthur's study, and he believed that during the two years that Paul was in prison in Caesarea, that is the time, and I agree with that, that is the time when Luke was doing all this research. There's divided opinion as to whether he accompanied Paul, and he did, on his journey to Rome. They were shipwrecked and went up to Rome that he wrote this gospel and then the subsequent book of Acts while he was in Rome. If he put all the research into place, you know, gathering all this information, writing it down on papyrus sheets. The likelihood of that surviving the shipwreck that they went under, everything was lost there on that tragic shipwreck because of the storm, that two-week storm, and they finally end up on the island of Malta. I think all of that work would have been lost. And so it's my opinion, I think he wrote it before while Paul was in jail there. He had all the firsthand sources, all the information that was necessary to collect for this gospel he's writing, and especially about John the Baptist. I just don't think he would have written it, or he would have had to recall a lot of information. He just wouldn't have had the first-hand sources in Rome that he had back in Caesarea. So anyway, I just thought that is an interesting background information that is important here. But what's happening here in time And that is in history. And as Luke is recording it, I believe is telling us what Paul synthesizes in his letter to the Galatians chapter four, Galatians chapter four. Relations chapter four, verse four in particular, I read these words, but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son born of a woman, that's Mary, born under the law, That is the Mosaic law. And the purpose for incoming is to redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. The fullness of time is the key phrase there. in the course of human history and as it began in the book of Genesis with the creation of Adam and Eve and their fall and you see it developing through the Old Testament accounts and particularly focusing on and through Abraham and his sons And then the 12 tribes of Israel and their conquest of the land and all of that drama that unfolds. And then it ends with the book of Malachi. The book of Malachi. And it is believed because of what we read there in that text of scripture. He's quoting there from Malachi and indicating that this is a renewal, a reinvigoration, if you please, of God's redemptive purposes now, wherein he has been silent for 400 years thereabouts, from the time of Malachi to the coming of John the Baptist. His redemptive voice through the prophets has been silenced. God is never silenced, and that is God doesn't silence, or no one silences God from speaking. But in the purposes of God, there was not a prophetic voice given from that period of time. And then when John comes on the scene, it is important to understand the drama that envelops around the advent of this person. He is the one who is preparing the way. He is resuming that prophetic voice that had been shut off for such a long time. Not only is he coming on the scene, but he is turning the hearts of many to the Lord. In other words, that stale, so to speak, society of Israel who had been waiting for the Messiah is now, through his ministry, John's ministry, reinvigorated and peaked, so to speak, in anticipation of the coming of Messiah. And when you compare all of the passages in the Gospels, including John, you realize that he's the lesser. Messiah is the greater. I told you, he said in John chapter 3, I am not the Messiah. But he was preparing the way for the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the advent of Christ. And so this concept of the fullness of time. God is preparing the moment when he would send the Redeemer, the Messiah, into the world. But more than that, he was preparing the world for the advent of Messiah so that as soon as he's resurrected and ascended back into heaven, The work of outreach begins beginning there on the day of Pentecost and all through the book of Acts, which Luke records. The gospel is beginning to spread into community after community and lives are being changed. And I can't fathom a lot of times how quickly that happened. Most of it happened before the fall of Rome because Luke ends his historical account in the book of Acts ostensibly during Paul's first imprisonment. And so what it was doing in the fullness of time was preparing the way for that expansion. of the redemptive message. How did he do that? Well, most scholars, and I didn't originate this, believe that there are three elements. There's a Jewish element, there's an element from the Roman world, the Roman Empire, and then from the Greeks, the Greeks. These three are instrumental in the expansion of Christianity. Rome had what was called a Pax Romana, and that is the Roman peace. Basically, in the empire, everything was under control, and if rebellions arose, as they did in A.D. 70, they would send troops almost immediately to put that fire out, to stop it, to squelch it, And they could move quickly because it had a network of highways all throughout their empire, which allowed them to move quickly when needed to. It'd be kind of similar to our interstate system here in the United States. I remember under the Eisenhower administration when that all began. Because I-75, they were doing construction on it behind my house, almost in my backyard as a kid growing up. It interfered with our ability to go to our little elementary school, if that's an aside. My years, fourth through sixth grade, I spent in a little school that if you could walk it, it was maybe an eighth of a mile. But if you had to go the road, it took you probably about three quarters to a mile, nonetheless. The interstate system. So they had the Pax Romana, and they had a great road network that could move people around relatively. And they controlled the seas. They controlled the Mediterranean trade routes and stuff through there. So life moved. very easily so people could travel, not as fast as we do today, but relatively for the time they could travel and take the gospel into regions. Then the Greek element, the Greek element is seen in the Greek language. It's called Koine Greek, Koine meaning common. The common language is different than classical or ancient Greek. It is the language of the people. And that's what they spoke. And so even though they had local dialects, as they did even in Jerusalem, they spoke Aramaic along with the priest in class speaking Hebrew and so forth. But wherever they went in the ancient Roman world, they could communicate because of Alexander the Great. As he expanded the Grecian empire during that time and then It was conquered by Rome. It fulfills that imagery in the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw and needed someone to interpret that, and that is the Roman Empire. But the Greeks preceded that, and they left the imprint of their language. Along with that, the Jewish element, which in conjunction with the Greek element, the language of the Old Testament was translated into the Hebrew language. common language, that is, into Greek. The Seventy, traditionally it's called, were involved in translating the scriptures. And so in each synagogue throughout the ancient world, they had the copy, not in Hebrew, but in Greek. And so there is that influence of the Septuagint as part of the Greek, but also it being in the synagogues where those who are God-fearers and the Jews themselves would read the scriptures there. So there was a familiarity in major cities all throughout the ancient empire. In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, And then there's the Jewish element. They had been dispersed across the ancient world as far as from Babylon to Rome and parts yonder and here and there. They were scattered all throughout the ancient world. They were not distinctly confined to the land ground of Israel. And that meant that there had been this influence of the Torah and the prophets and the writings that were in what's now called the Tanakh. And that is the Old Testament in the ancient world. So that Paul could go into a synagogue and begin from the scriptures expounding the Messiah no matter where he went. They were spread abroad. So you had that Jewish influence. You had that Roman influence. And you had this pervasive preparation for the fullness of time that God would use. to bring in to the world his Messiah. So that's what we're seeing here, in my opinion, unfolding here with the advent, and I call it the advent of John the Baptist, because he is the link here between the last prophetic word he would be coming in the power and in the spirit of Elijah. And Elijah was a powerful prophet in his day. as he ministered before Ahab. Got a little scared with Jezebel, that's another point, but he was a strong and powerful prophet, one that his successor Elijah emanated. And that spirit that was on Elijah fell upon Elisha in double fashion. And if he were greater than Elijah, It was because of a promise that he gave to Elisha that if he saw him depart that he would receive a double portion. But we get back here to the Annunciation of John. We got down to about verse 10. So what's transpiring here is the unfolding of the fullness of time. Verse 10 tells us that the multitude, the whole multitude, that they would come in the regions around Jerusalem and come for these special, we call devotional times. There were two times a day where the incense was offered. Once in the morning during the third hour of the day at nine o'clock, and then once in the afternoon at the ninth hour of the day three in the afternoon, and someone would be assigned to that task of the hundreds, if not thousands, of priests that were descendants of Levi and Aaron. Aaron was the high priest, and those who were descendants of him were high priests and could go in the Holy of Holies. The rest of the priesthood, it was off-limit to them, but Zachariah is part of that contingent and that order of priests that would come in a systematic and calculated order two times basically a year. There was 24 courses of priest, and as providence would have it, He is part of that eighth course. And as providence would have it, the lot to go into the holy place on that particular day fell to him. And the reason they did it by lots or by lot is so that there would not be any favoritism, any shenanigans. And it's said, at least from one sort that I had, that it was usually during the third lot. They would take a lot, and then they would take a second lot, and a third lot, and whatever the third lot fell, wherever it fell, the person who was chosen for that duty would go in. And it interested me. as to what exactly did he do? It seemed like a simple task, and it probably was, but what would the protocol be for Zacharias or any priest? What would he have to follow to burn the incense in the holy place? Well, I did a little research on that. Because you would only do it one time in your life, one time while you were living. Because if you did it once, it was not given to you to do again. And you may not have even gotten that one time. And it says of Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth, they're up in years. And so he's in the twilight of light. He may never have gotten it had he not gotten it now. Wasn't he lucky? Not in my opinion, it was the providence of God. The providence of God. It says that the protocol used by Zacharias or any priest for burning incense in the holy place, that would be in the second temple, that is the temple that was constructed by Ezra starting then and Herod in his day expanded that, that would be second temple Judaism, was highly specific and significant. Generally conducted twice a day, the duty was considered such a high favor that as a priest, It was typically chosen to perform this duty once only in a lifetime, to think that. Once only in one's lifetime would they get permission, be chosen. Chosen by a lot. Before he entered into the holy place, He would come to the laver, the brazen laver, and he would go through a purification process of cleansing to prepare to enter into the holy place. So he'd wash himself. Then at the brazen altar, The priest prepared to approach him after he took his censer and picked up hot coals from the altar. And then he would make his way to the curtain, the veil that separated the court from the inner sanctuary. And he would go in to the holy. place. And that's separate, and that's distinct. There were three pieces of furniture, if we want to call them that. On the right side, facing toward the veil, there would be the showbread. On the left side would be the lampstand, which would give illumination to that area, otherwise it would be dark in there. And then straight before him is the altar of incense. That incense had to be a sacred blend. It was a formula that was instituted by revelation given to Moses in Exodus 30. He'd enter the holy place bringing the fire. The priest would take burning coals from the great altar, a burnt offering. And then he would carry it in this censer, or a fire pan, into the holy place. And the fire used for the incense had to be the holy fire from the main altar. In the morning, the incense offering was connected to the dressing of the lamps, so there would be another priest who would come in along with him and take care of what was necessary to clean up the wicks in the lampstand and prepare it for lighting through the rest of the day. And then he would place the coals in his censer on the golden altar. And then the priest would place the burning coals on top of the golden altar of incense. And immediately the fragrance would emerge from that fire. And it was meant to serve as a picture of prayer and that as we pray our prayers, are elevated to God himself, and he smells them as a sweet-smelling savor." And this would symbolize the prayers of the people who were outside praying themselves. And I wondered myself, what are these People praying, what are they saying? What are they saying in their prayers? Well, what I could find is that basically they were praying the Ten Commandments and they were praising the Shema. They were just rote and rudimentary prayers that the people were praying. They're not praying like we do, where when we pray, a lot of times, someone called it, we scraped the Milky Way with all kinds of requests. No, they were specific in their prayers, reciting the Ten Commandments and reciting the Shema, that there's one God. And they're outside. But the interesting thing in this This connection is that there is this announcement by the angel, verse 13. The announcement by the angel said to him, I mean, it's like he appeared out of nowhere, and he probably did, or maybe he wasn't paying attention, and all of a sudden it caught his attention, and he saw it, and he was flabbergasted, so to speak, and responded with fear. He was troubled at what he was seeing. I don't know what thoughts were going through his mind. But it was a very delicate situation. And as I mentioned last week, there was always this nagging thought in the mind of priests that if they go in there, that they would fall prey to what Nadab and Abijah did, and that is to offer strange fire on the altar, something that is not acceptable to God. And I don't want to get into an aside on that, but he's troubled. There's a divine rendezvous taking place here. Zachariah thought, you know, this is a big moment in his life. This is the greatest attainment that I probably can ever experience in the entirety of my priesthood and to be here. And an angel appears to me. Maybe the thoughts are going through, am I in trouble? Am I in trouble? Well, he doesn't know exactly if he is in trouble or not. The Greek word that is used there is a word that means to cause inward agitation, commotion. It is to take away calmness of mind. His equanimity has been disturbed. He's terrified, and that's why it says, fear fell upon him. Phobia is the word, fear, utter fear. Rather than being this joyous occasion at this moment, I'm guessing the first thing that went into my trouble, that God would send a holy angel here. And says an angel, the Lord appeared to him, and the angel said to him, do not be afraid. Cease from your fears, allay your fears, set them aside, Zacharias. Why? Because your prayer's heard. Your prayer's heard. And what was the prayer that he was praying? Well, it doesn't say specifically, but it tells him specifically, and your wife will bear you a son. Ostensibly, this relates to what he's praying, and there are many commentators who believe that way. Some, however, believe that he's praying here, may your kingdom come. May your kingdom come. that you have promised through the prophets of old. May that time of spiritual refreshing and regeneration to our people come at this time. And there are others who see that, maybe a combination of both, but he just, he immediately says, your wife, Elizabeth will bear a son. Maybe that is the answer to his prayer. And before you start name guessing, that always tickles me a lot. Of course, we went through it with our own children. What do you name this child whom you don't know? They come into the world, and you've got to come to, with your wife, a consensus on their name. You've got to pick out a name for them. And I always think about this with some people's name, especially As I was thinking, they have to carry this name. Whatever I give them, they have to carry it through the rest of their lives. When I'm gone, they've still got to carry it with them. So one of the requirements I laid down for Paulette and me was that it couldn't have more than one syllable. My oldest son's Mark. My daughter, Lisa, but it's four letters. Eric, four letters. And Joanie, that's four letters. Four letter words. I wanted small letters, small words. So I didn't want it complicated. So before the words were even ended, he says, you call his name John. In other words, and you'll see when he is born, when we get to it, he's born, that they wanted to name him a family name, someone in the family line of Zacharias. Name him after that, or even Zacharias himself, the second, or whatever. Now this is the same name as Zachariah, the prophet Zachariah. But it says you call his name John. John. Interesting name. And an important name. John the Apostle is called John. And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. In other words, this child coming into their lives is going to enhance their lives for a period of time in unique ways. So much so that everyone who's surrounded around them, family members and even friends, have great joy with the presence of John coming into the world. You look later in the chapter, verse 57, it says, now Elizabeth's full time, Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered. And she brought forth a son. And when her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her." Right at the delivery. So it was on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child. They would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother answered, not gonna happen. No, his name shall be called John. And so they resist that. Verse 61, there's no one among your relatives who's called by this name. So they made signs to his father what to be called, what he should be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote saying his name is John. And so they marveled immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed and he spoke praising God. Then fear came on all who dwelled around. He's been silent ever since that judgment pronounced by Gabriel on him, and all these things were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea, and all those who heard kept them in their hearts, saying, what kind of child will this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. Very unique birth, very unique child, his name. It's called John, which means Jehovah has shown grace. And it's almost a open way of saying to his people that grace has come. Grace has come again to visit the people and it will come through the person, John. Verse 15 tells us he will be great in the sight of the Lord. I wish that, well, I take that back. A lot of men out there that I've known growing up, you know, the big guy, back in my day when I was a kid, back in the 50s, I can remember my folks anxiously turning on our black and white TV so they could watch Billy Graham. In many ways, in those days, he was stood in the forefront of most Americans, most American evangelicals and Christians at that time as the great man of the time, the great man of the hour. And before that, you had men like Billy Sunday, and then D.L. Moody before that. Men like C.H. Spurgeon, whose sermons crossed the sea, and on and on the list could go of great men, and God had used them mightily. I've never aspired to that type of greatness. I don't want that type of notoriety. It comes with enormous responsibility. Not to say I wouldn't feel it if God directed me, but I don't think He has. Directed me in that way he announces That he would serve the Lord That those who knew him would be exuberant at his birth And then his It pronounces on him a particular restriction. It's probably a Nazarite vow, similar to what Samson was placed under. And also it is believed that Samuel, the prophet, was under a Nazarite vow. He will be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. And he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit. I think there's a direct correlation there between the filling of the Spirit and abstinence from wine or strong drink. Even from his mother's womb, he will turn many, this is the scope of his ministry, he will turn many in Israel to the Lord their God. Through the time that he's ministering, crowds are coming to him from all over. He's ministering primarily up and down the Jordan River, where he could conduct baptisms and preach as he did, very strong, very powerful, calling men to repentance. And that's what the word turn means. It means conversion. Conversion includes a change of heart. It includes a repentance. And that's what he did. And it would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. That would be the power of it. And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. To make ready a people prepared for none other. than the Lord, and that would be the Son of God who is coming. And at this time of the year, we celebrate his advent. John responds by doubt in verses 18 through 23. He seeks a confirmation, verse 13, and I'm sorry, 18. And Zacharias said to the angel, how shall I know these things? For I am an old man and my wife is well advanced in years. And I've often asked the question, well, what's the difference between what he's saying and what Mary says later on? Verse 34, Mary said to the angel, same angel, how can this be since I do not know a man? How am I going to get pregnant? I don't know a man. I haven't entered into sexual relationships with any, I can't conceive. But it was a question not by lack of faith, which Zechariah, he looks at himself and looks at his circumstance. He looks at his body. He looks at his wife's body. He said, there's no way we can conceive and have a son. Can't happen. So how shall I know this? I'm old. My wife's advanced in years. We can't do this. But notice what the angel says to him in verse 20. Behold, you will be mute. and not be able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time." So his question is a statement, according to Gabriel, of unbelief. Unbelief. When the word of the Lord comes to us and tells us that we have a responsibility, what will our response be? I don't know about that. Do I really have to do that? Do we question God's guidance and direction in his word? That's what Zechariah was doing here. I mean, there's no other way to phrase it. While Mary is simply asking a question, I don't understand how this can happen, because I haven't known a man. The text tells us, verse 21, the people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. This is extraordinary. They had this like clockwork. They knew when he should have been back out from the temple. And he does come out eventually, and he could not speak. And how could they help but not conclude? They perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless. It's believed that he not only lost the ability to speak, but he became deaf. As a result, and this lasted for nine months, that'd be awful. Your wife's got to do all your communication for you. And then, according to the record, verse 24, now after these days Elizabeth conceived and she hid herself five months saying, thus the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among the people. People understood in ancient Israel to not be able to bear children was a judgment of God. It was a curse. And now that curse has been removed. There has been a reinvigoration, a rejuvenation of both Zacharias and Elizabeth, and they were able to bear children. And she is exuberant because of that. We'll stop at this point and pick up our study of the Gospel of Luke next time with God's annunciation through Gabriel of the birth of Messiah. But all of this is important. Luke's, I think his inclusion in his gospel account tells us it's important. If this left out, if this is left out, there'd be some pieces of the puzzle missing. And we're necessary to include for the people of God widely so that they understood. Now maybe in Israel they could nuance it and understand it, but not as this gospel is going out to the ends of the world. Now the question is, and it is always this, is this rooted in fact? Is this rooted in history? Or is this just a nice story to stimulate interest? And I've often asked the question, if parts or all of the Bible, I would say parts because some of it they say it's a great moral book, Jesus is a moral teacher, and we can benefit from some of the information in there. If parts of it are not correct, How is the Christian church benefited by propagating a lie, a fable, a myth, a story, a fairy tale down through the ages only to be discovered in our modern time in the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st century by these great scholars who've come along and said it's mythological. It's not true. Was there a real John? Was there a real Zacharias? Was there a real Elizabeth? Was there a real Mary? A real Jesus? There are those who even question the historicity of Jesus. I stand before you as God's spokesman and his representative and one who studied and studied the nuances and so forth. And I can assure you that this is rooted and founded in truth. which is to say not only are the historical facts correct, but God's purpose in redemption is correct. And that purpose in redemption is as we read in our scripture reading, God sent his son into the world because he loved the world and gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So as we think of this Advent season, think of the seriousness of the Advent. It's your remedy. Christ is your remedy in life. I think about people living their lives unseriously. This stuff is serious. As serious as a heart attack. Because if you die in your sins without Christ, you've missed the importance of his advent and the purpose that he came into the world. You call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Your only hope is found in him. That's why that message, the gospel message, is so, so important. Because it's not based on myth, it's based on fact, historical fact and reality. Why would these apostles go out and predicate a lie to people and die for that lie? No one would do that. They went out and propagated the truth of the gospel because they knew that Christ was who the scriptures said he was. And that it was, it is the only hope. He is the only hope for this world's problems. And it's the sin problem that needs to be dealt with. And Christ has dealt with that in his advent. And so it, What would it take to give you a serious moment this morning? A serious moment of consideration and thinking about what's unfolding here. Because it's serious stuff. I am so thankful that I am a believer in Yeshua, Jesus. He is my savior. If I died tonight, died today, died this moment, I believe with all my heart I'd go into his presence. Do you have that confidence? If you miss that, I don't care what successes you experience in life, what direction your life goes, if you miss Christ, your life is basically in vain. And I say that with all the sincerity and clarity and conviction that I can muster up. Don't, don't, don't die in your sins. Don't die in your sins because there's a redeemer. God's son, let's pray. Father, I thank you that John came. And he laid the groundwork. He prepared the way of the Lord. He enhanced the coming of Christ and confirmed through his baptism of Messiah and the descent of the Spirit that this is the one that God promised. And he knew and felt that his work was ending. And Messiah's work was only beginning and increasing. Oh, Father, into this period of Advent, may our minds again be turned away from the glitter of the holidays to the glory of our Christ. Glorious incarnation, glorious birth, glorious life, glorious resurrection, glorious reign in heaven now. and we love you Lord Jesus we love you this morning for dying for us we love you for interceding for us and we love the fact that you put a hope within us and that hope is you're coming back and clearly the markers are there for the return of Christ Jesus come even so come Lord Jesus come again and receive us into everlasting habitations. For we ask it in your name. Amen.