Our Bible is Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. Life stories are fascinating. And so biographies, how many of you read biographies? Anybody out there a reader? I enjoy reading biographies and I've read several secular and a lot more sacred biographies. I've read secular biographies about George Washington. founding father, statesman, first president of the United States. I've read about Benjamin Franklin, that great inventor, moralist, very interesting to read his biography and hear him go to hear George Whitefield preach, even putting something in the collection plate when it was passed, but he was just a self-righteous man. If he didn't change before he passed away, it seems that very much like he was trusting in his goodness that he could somehow manage his life and get his life right with God, and he found out he couldn't. As you read the story, he tried to balance three virtues, and he'd go into the next week, he'd drop some from the week before and whatnot, and found the impossibility of that. But very interesting read. Clarence Thomas, the great judge in the United States on the Supreme Court, from poverty to the Supreme Court. I mean, it's just an amazing story of his life. And so I've enjoyed that. But obviously it's more enriching to read biographies, read about great men and women of God. And I've shared before some of my favorite biographies, probably number one, Hudson Taylor, Spiritual Secrets. Our family right now is reading that audibly at night together in our family devotions. And it's good to go back and see how God worked in his life. Jonathan Goforth, another great missionary to China. Went with the China Inland Mission that Hudson Taylor started, but a man that became used of God for revival in China. Darlene died but rose. Her biography's evidence not seen. She was taken a prisoner of war, as was her husband. And again, amazing stories there, and very stirring stories. This past week, we've got a email from Dr. Stedman. Some of you have met Dr. Stedman with our mission agency. He's the director of Baptist World Mission. But he has written a book, but he kind of didn't mean to write a book. He did mean to write a book, but not for the public. He wrote it for his grandkids just to share stories of his upbringing. And so it's called In the Shadow of Chimney Top. It's actually 158 pages long. And I started reading a little bit of that and it was good to see that. You know what's most exciting about a sacred biography? is to see the hand of God developing that life. Dr. Steadman was not a church kid. In fact, his parents, even as a child, didn't take him to church. Somebody invited him to Holiday Bible Club, and so he went. He went for the sweeties. He went for the fun. And by the end of the week, he heard the message of the word of God, got very convicted, went home with tears in his eyes, accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. His parents still, they would take him to church, but they took him to a church that was close by. And it wasn't a good church, a church that he had convictions about as he got older. At 16, he could drive, he bought a vehicle so that he could drive himself 20 miles away to go to a good church. And you know, you read that and you think, wow, You know, God's able to awaken somebody's life, right? You start and think, and obviously I apply it here. I think about our kids that we collect, and you know, they might not have a Christian family, but how God's able to work in their life, bring them to salvation, how God's able to work in their life, bring them to the convictions about walking with God, and that they could grow up to be a great leader for the Lord Jesus Christ. It's amazing when you stop and you think about it. So we ought to be moved by those things, When we read a biography, you gotta be moved by that, a sacred biography to say, you know what? God is able to work in and through men for his glory. You know, the Bible has some great biographies. You know, the Bible has some great narratives, some stories told about men's lives. And a few of them, are traced from birth to adulthood. So we have people like Isaac. Isaac, we know about his birth and his life. Genesis 21, three through five says, Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old as God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him. Now about Isaac himself, the Bible doesn't have a ton of information about his life. There's a lot about Abraham. Then there's Isaac and you have some about his life, but you have a lot more about Jacob. You have a lot more about Abraham. Jacob, you've got his birth in Genesis 25, 26, the son of Isaac. After that came his brother out. His hand took hold on Esau's heel. His name was called Jacob. And Isaac was three score years old when she buried him. And so a twin, you know, the younger usurps, in a sense, the older becomes the one that God uses significantly. His name is changed to Israel. A very significant Bible biography. You've got Moses. hitting the bulrushes, you know, at his birth. Again, a story from birth up through his life. Hebrews 11, 23, by faith, Moses, when he was born, was hit three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the king's Again, as a family at night, we're reading these biographies. We read Ed Nelson's biography, and that is a man that's still living. It's a great biography. We've ordered extra copies of this, you know, to give away at Christmas time, some of our family, and that, because it's a stirring thing to read that. James O. Fraser, we just read that. He was also with the China Inland Mission, went to the list of people, I think in Northern China, but a tribal people that God allowed him to break through, see revival. Right now, again, we're reading that story of Hudson. But as we get done with the reading, a lot of times as dad, I'll just, you know, I'll point some things out or we'll think about some things from the life of that person that we just read about, how God's working there. We'll pray about it a little bit as we pray. And again, it's just good to highlight those truths in those lives. Well, as we come to Luke 1, We come to miracle baby number one in the Christmas story, all right? This is the beginning, as it were, of the Christmas story, and John's birth precedes that of the Christ, precedes it by six months. The baby's name, again, I just mentioned is John, but this man is the man that becomes known as John the Baptist, John the Baptist. And although he's not the most important baby in the Christmas story, and John, I think if he was here, would want me to emphasize that, John was the one that said this, he must increase, but I must decrease, right? John 3, verse 30, the gospel of John, speaking about what John believed, John was there to lift up and exalt the Christ. But by our Lord's testimony, John the Baptist was a great man of God. Luke 7 verse 28 says, for I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. Jesus exalted, in a sense, this man, this humble man, this man that abased himself, Jesus exalted and said, I tell you, this is a great man of God. We're gonna look at the rest of the statement of Jesus at the end of the message, but what a statement to identify in John a man that was just living his life to the glory of God as a prophet of God. And so this story, as we consider it this morning, In our hearts, it ought to make us desire to have a life that is so used of God as John's was. We ought to look at that and say, God, use me. Please use me. Help my life to make a difference. Help my life to be impacting. It's great. I like to, again, read the biographies with my kids, and I like to read the biographies myself, because I want to look at what God did in somebody's life and say, you know what? God is no respecter of persons. Yes, God has a specific plan, and God hasn't called me to be a John the Baptist, but as a Ben Shor, or as fill in the blank with your name, God has a plan to use your life for his glory that you can get involved in, that you can get committed to, and that God in his grace can use us. And again, as we look at a story like this, I always throw this up and say, God, by your grace, use me. So this morning, do you want your life to be used of God for his glory? And I pray that as we consider John this morning, the Spirit of God has stir us up with that desire. Let's pray. Father, we're grateful again for a man that had a life that was mightily used for your glory. And Father, as we examine it, it's gonna be a little different this morning as we go through a lot of scripture about John's life and we see his life encapsulated. Father, may the Spirit of God speak to us through his life story, through his family story. And Fathers, we highlight some truths as we go along. I pray, Spirit of God, highlight truths in our hearts. I pray very specifically, Father, for every person that would hear this message this morning, that the Spirit of God would speak to them about their life, and the kind of biography that could be written about their life, and their walk with God, and their obedience to God. And Father, I pray that, again, you'd stir us. I pray that you'd challenge us. And Father, I pray that you give us ears to hear this morning. Bless the children in their class. I pray for Mrs. Shores, she teaches them in the creche. Father, that you'd not let the word of God fall to the ground, but that it would just get into the hearts of these kids. It's a blessing at times where a child says something and you go, wow, they're listening, they're getting it. I pray that would happen this morning. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would help me as I preach this morning. I can't preach without your enablement. I pray that the Holy Spirit would guide me. I pray, Father, that my preaching would be biblical. I pray it'd be practical. I pray that it would be powerful, and I pray that it'd be lovingly presented, the truths of the Word of God to our hearts this morning. God, encourage our church in you. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, so we're just gonna highlight the life of John. So we start with where a lot of biographies start, and that's with the parents. I think most biographies would start there. And so John had godly parents. They were the descendants of Aaron. It says in verse five, 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, all right? So we got his parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and God had ordained that the priest in Israel would be of the tribe of Levi, and Aaron was a Levite, and he was the brother of Moses, and Zacharias and Elizabeth had heritage directly from him. Now, as a priest, the priest had, again, the privilege, originally, assembling and disassembling the tabernacle, the place of worship in the wilderness. They would put it together, they would take it apart. They were the only ones that could touch those sacred things. They were set apart by God for that sacred task. As a tabernacle was set up or as a temple later was established, they were the only ones that could come in and could serve God publicly and lead in corporate worship and have access to God and access to mediate for men. And so they had a privileged position. This past Wednesday night, in our study of 1 Timothy, in chapter 3, we got to the office of the bishop and the requirements for the office of the bishop. But one thing not included in those requirements is that you be a Levite, or that you be of certain family heritage. But that was not the case back in this day. And so there was a privileged heritage that they had that allowed them to serve God. And so John, as John's born, John's born into that privilege. He's gonna grow up in a family that is a ministry family that is serving God. And so they were descendants of Aaron. They both, Zacharias and Elizabeth, were truly God's people. It says in verse six, and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. All right, they were people that were sanctified. They were godly, truly godly people. We know from this text that they were saved, as we would call it. We would call it being born again. And that means this, they had the righteousness of God given to them, just like Abraham did. The Bible says here, they were both righteous before God. So as God looked at them, God saw them as righteous, just like he saw Abraham. But the Bible tells us about Abraham and James too. And verse 23, Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. In other words, God justified him. God declared him righteous. God put that righteousness upon Abraham. God put that righteousness upon Zacharias. God put that righteousness upon Elizabeth. How do we know? Because without God doing that, we know that they would be unrighteous. The Bible says in Romans 3.10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. Yet today, the Pope is not righteous. Mother Teresa is not righteous. Mary, the mother of Christ, of herself, is not righteous because true righteousness has to be given to us by God because we're all sinners. There's none righteous, no, not one. It's a righteousness that we receive by faith. Romans 3.22 says, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. Through the crucifixion of Christ, which we talked about this morning, as we observed the Lord's table on our Sunday school hour through his death and his resurrection, his bloodshed, praise God this morning, by faith in Jesus Christ, God can give us righteousness. And see, as you look at Zacharias, you look at Elizabeth, you see people that are truly righteous, meaning they were saved people. They were right with God, but they were also sanctified. They not only had imputed righteousness, they also were in obedience to God. It says, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. It doesn't mean that they didn't sin, it means that they didn't live in sin. They were separated from that, that they kept a short account of their walk with God. So if they transgressed, they were very quick to go to God and get right with God. It's what Paul spoke about for us believers. God forgives us of our sin, but that doesn't mean that we continue in a life of sin. It means that we ought to get far away from sin. Romans 6 verse one, what shall we say then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? So the idea of continuing sin, live any longer in sin, Zacharias and Elizabeth didn't. They were made righteous by God, imputed by their faith in God, their obedience to God. God gave them righteousness, but they maintained a close walk with God. So nobody could point a finger at them and be chargeable. They were in a position of obedience to God. And then we see about his parents as well, that they trusted God despite apparent lack of blessing. It says in verse seven, and they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren and they were both now well stricken in years. Now think about it, especially back then in their day, having children was very important to them and as a symbol of God's blessing. And it seemed as if for their whole marriage, there is an apparent lack of God's blessing. But we talked about it already, their righteousness, they are saved, they are sanctified. And we know from the text that they're praying in faith, asking God for children and waiting upon God for that, but God had withheld to this point that blessing. Psalm 127, three. says, low children are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. They would have well known that Psalm, you know, that's the blessing of God and yet they could look at their life and say, but we're barren, we can't have children, we're asking God to intervene, we're doing what's right, we're obeying God, we're pleasing God, but they could look back at history too and say, you know, there are other people like us. There was Abraham and Sarah. There was Hannah and her husband, Elkanah, that couldn't have children. There was Jacob and Rachel. And John didn't get to grow up watching his parents go through this trial of apparently lacking the blessing of God, but no doubt that that crucible of trial that they were facing fashioned them into what John knew when he was growing up. He was the answer to that prayer. He was the answer to that burden, but his parents had endured that for their adult life. His father, we find performed sacred duty with care. He was very diligent in what he did here. And so verse eight and nine, it says, 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 so Zechariah's being diligent. God gave him a responsibility. He took it seriously. He was blameless. He was righteous. And then as he got into that duty, he performed it in obedience to God. It reminds me another part of the Christmas story that stood out to me this past week as well, as I read about the shepherds there in Bethlehem. And the Bible says they're out on that hillside and it just says they were keeping watch over their flock by night. Just a menial task. But like David of old, that we didn't get to this morning about David, but David, when the story of David and Goliath, David's not there, David's back, he's watching the sheep. He's doing a very menial task and he was faithful in that and obedient in that. And you see the shepherds doing the same thing and all of a sudden the glory of God breaks through in that very ordinary circumstance of life as they're just being faithful to God. This was a great responsibility that Zechariah's had as he went in to perform this duty. He does it in obedience, but we know from the story, God's about ready to break through. He's living in the ordinary, but he's gonna be stepping in to the extraordinary. And so we see John's dad was a faithful man. As we go through these points this morning, we're gonna, again, highlight parts of this story. So we're gonna look at what's taking place in the story, as we conclude a point, stop and think about, well, how does that impact my life? And so give application. Well, John had a privileged heritage. He could do sacred service. He's growing up, he's a Levite. I mean, the opportunity is there. We understand God's already got a plan for John. John is going to be greatly used of God, but he's in a place where he has that opportunity to serve God. I want to remind us this morning, that that was the Old Testament priesthood. But in the New Testament, if you're saved, if you receive Jesus Christ as your savior, God has given you opportunity to do sacred service, even as a priest, a mediatorial work where you could go to God and intercede for those that are in your family or those that are in your community, others that you could take before the Lord. 1 Peter 2.9. says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. God's given us that opportunity. We have the heritage, if we're saved, where we can say, you know, by God's grace, I have a great opportunity to exercise that opportunity for God. And then a second application, we can't make our parents godly, but we can be godly parents. There's a lot of people that grow up, they have loving parents. They have parents that care a lot about them, care to take care of their needs and things, but their dad is not the spiritual leader in their home. Their mom is not a sweet Christian lady that understands the Bible and raises them as the Word of God intends. But we can't change our parentage, but you know what? By God's grace, we can change our parenting. Those of us that are growing up, we have the opportunity to be the kind of parent that God desires us to be, even as Ephesians 6 says to fathers to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You know, it's a great thing that we can look at John and say, John had godly parents. It's a great thing that we can be godly parents for our kids. We can also trust God despite trials. You know, it might be somebody, I'm doing what's right, I'm trying to please God, and why doesn't God bless me with that? I've been praying about it. I've been waiting on God about that. You know, and that was Zacharias and Elizabeth. They're there in obedience to God, and yet God is withholding, apparently, a blessing from them. You know, James speaks about this in James chapter one, verse three. It says, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. God's working. God is shaping us. I mean, this deeply impacted John and who John is and what God's going to do as God answers. It was a trial in the will of God. And so if God's allowed that, just continue by faith to trust God. And then we can be careful to perform sacred duty with care. As we take up that mediatorial work or that responsibility that God's given to us, we can say, I'm gonna be diligent about this. I'm gonna be diligent in my personal Bible reading. I'm gonna be diligent in my evangelism. I'm gonna be diligent and disciplined in my attendance upon the word of God, publicly and personally, privately. I can get involved in missions. I can be somebody that does what I do for God and for God's glory. Colossians 3. Verse 23 says, And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, not unto men. That was Zacharias. I mean, Zacharias was there diligently serving God. And so John had godly parents. Secondly, John was a gracious gift. He was a gracious gift. It says in verse 10, and the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. As he came in to offer the incense, the incense was symbolic. The incense of itself is not something that was just standalone. It was picturesque of the prayers of God's people that were ascending up, that they were ascending up to God. And so that's taking place outside. It's an ordinary day. but something extraordinary is about to take place as John is God's gift to Zechariah and Elizabeth. So joy was coming in the morning. It says in verse 11, And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing at 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 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. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth." Again, the joy was coming. For years they had prayed. The Bible doesn't say, but I imagine as we would be praying about it, there was tears. There was sorrow, deep heartache, difficulty, and continually going on and on, waiting on God to meet that need, and yet joy was coming again in the morning. As this takes place, the angel comes and announces the birth. A lot of times, in our day, there's pregnancy tests. And so a woman finds out that she's pregnant and she plans it out maybe to break the news to her husband. She might need to say, depending on what's happening in their family life and everything going on, you need to sit down. I got some big news coming and then shares that. Now imagine this, Zacharias is getting news from an angel before conception has even taken place. I think he needs to sit down, right? I mean, this is amazing, shocking news that is coming, but it's joyous news. The name John, as God says through the angel Gabriel to name this child John, the name John is Johanan, meaning gracious. As you think about God's graciousness, God was gracious in answering the prayer for a child, but God was gracious to people to prepare their heart for the coming of the Messiah and the message that John would bring. There's a tree of life coming into the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Proverbs 13, verse 12 says, hope deferred, make it the heart's sick, but when the desire cometh, it's a tree of life. And all of us have things right now as a church, we have things that we're praying about. It's like, are we just anxious for God to answer? And yes, I mean, there's disappointment when it doesn't happen and you know you're trusting God, you know you're striving to do what's right and be in a place of obedience to God, but it's coming. And when it comes, it's gonna be a tree of life. When it comes, it's gonna be something that is such a wonderful answer to prayer that is just gonna be life-giving if you wait on God for it. And so joy was coming in the morning. And then a great plan of redemption would be heralded through John. And like the prophet Jeremiah, God had a plan for John before his birth. God said to Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, I set thee apart, I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Now there's a lot of scripture that would be pro-life. That's great scripture about pro-life. God has a plan for life. God has a plan for Jeremiah. God has a plan here in our text for John. God's plan for John is that he'd be separated from the world. He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He's gonna live a life that is chaste, a life that is set apart from that which is perverse so that he could serve God. He's separated from that, he's separated unto God. The Bible says that he is filled with the Holy Ghost. And so he has a separated life. But then John would be a great preacher and a great help to God's people. Verse 16. John says, When John got up to preach, things happened. I mean, I like to read of John. We'll read some texts here. But John was a faithful messenger of God. He was a bold declarer of the truth of God. And as he preached, men got right with God. Matthew 3, verse 1 says about that, about his life 30 years later. In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins and his meat was locust and wild honey, he separated. Then went he out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. They get right with God as a testimony. They go down through the waters of baptism testifying that they were going to deal with their sin, get right with God. And they would do that with John the Baptist. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come out to his baptism, He said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance. And think not to say within yourself, we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. and now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast in the fire." John was fearless. The false religious leaders come out and he just points at him and said, who warned you to fear from the wrath to come? He didn't fear anybody. We know as he's martyred that he didn't even fear the king. It didn't matter who that person was, they were going to be told about getting accountable to God. Praise God, John was a man who lived his life wholly for the Lord. Again, as we think about God working through the life of John, Zacharias and Elizabeth, they think there's no way this is gonna happen, but God answers their prayer. Look, 18, verse 7, it says, You know, when the angel comes, the angel comes and says, I've come because God has heard your prayer, but I wonder this, I wonder if Zacharias had stopped praying about that. Yes, he had prayed about it, but again, the Bible's silent about that, but I just wonder because of his surprise, as well as the fact that it just seemed impossible, I wonder if he got to the point where he had just stopped praying about it, but the answer was still coming. And I wonder today if there's things that we've stopped praying about that God desires to answer, God is gonna answer, God is able to answer, but just continuing in a position of faith. And then we need to recognize that God has a great plan for our lives, but if we wanna serve God, we've gotta be separated from the world, we gotta be separated unto God. The Bible speaks about it in Romans 12, verse one. It says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service. Holy is separated from the world. Holy is sanctified, right? God wants us to set ourselves there and say, God, please use my life. God, I am in a position of righteousness, but not just separated from the world, but separated unto God, offering yourself unto God, which is a reasonable service. Again, I look at us today and I think, God can use us, God could use us greatly, but not if we're in the world, not if we're not separated unto God, but if we'll live our life in a place where God, you know, surrender to God, then God's got a great plan for our life as well. And so we see that John was a gracious gift. But then third, this morning, we see that John was a merciful fulfillment. John was a merciful fulfillment. I mean it in this way, Zacharias response is not in faith and yet God's going to answer. As you see, Zacharias told this news, he doesn't respond as you think a good Christian and a man of God ought to respond. In fact, Zacharias' faith failed. It says in verse 18, and Zacharias said unto the angel, whereby shall I know this? For I am old and my wife well stricken in years. He's a godly man, and we think, surely this man of God, he's serving God, he's in obedience to God. An angel has just appeared to him. The angel has said, this is going to happen, but he looks at the angel and says, really, I can't believe it. But the problem is, what's not a faith is sin. He's not trusting God, he's not depending on God, because it seems, again, incomprehensible. Zacharias isn't the first one that has heard something from God and has doubted what God has said. We've seen that in the life of Gideon. You know the story as Gideon says to God, God, I'm gonna put a fleece out if it's wet with dew and the ground's dry and that. Judges 6.38. It was so when he rose up early on the morrow and thrust the fleece together and wring the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, let not thine anger be hot against me and I will speak but this once. Let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece, let it now be dry only upon the fleece and upon all the ground, let there be dew. And God did so that night, for it was dry upon the fleece only and there was dew on all the ground. God is gracious, right? I don't know they have the courage sometimes. I want to put out a fleece, but I don't know they have the courage to put out a fleece. Gideon says, I'm putting out a fleece again. And God in his grace and his mercy met the need. God's going to deal mercifully here with Zacharias, but it's not to his credit that his faith failed at this point. But God mercifully gave him the sign that he asked for and it fulfilled his plan. It says in verse 19, the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and I'm 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 that these things shall be performed. Because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. Zacharias should have been struck dumb or dumbstruck before he was struck dumb, right? But he blurts it out in unbelief and yet God in his mercy said, okay, I'm gonna give you the sign. Here it comes, you're not gonna be able to speak. And the commentator points out, it seems like he couldn't hear as well and that the word means that, that he not only lost his ability to speak, but he lost his ability to hear because the Bible says later in our story, when they ask about the name of John, they motion to him. Okay, so he's going to get a sign, but the sign is not what he desired, but God's going to make it very clear. He's going to make it so that as he comes out, everybody's going to know that something happened. And so verse 21, it says, And it came to pass that as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And so he fulfills that, he goes back to his house. Now again, as we apply that truth this morning, we're reminded that our faith can fail. Think about Peter, it's a sad story again to read about. He went out and he wept bitterly, but he denied Christ. And I prayed for thee, the Lord said, that thy faith fail not. When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. You got a great man of God like Moses. God says, talk to the rock. He's already been struck. It's a picture of Christ. It's a picture of the crucifixion. And yet in his anger, in his unbelief, he takes the rod and he strikes the rock. Again, sometimes our faith is going to fail. And we got to go to God and say, God, I'm sorry for my unbelief, forgive me. And there might be times where God answers and we say, I'm so sorry, Lord, I wasn't even trusting you for it anymore. Our faith can fail and yet God in his mercy will not fail to do his work. Sometimes we gotta cry out, maybe like the man, Lord, I believe, help them in unbelief. My faith is really, really struggling. God, help me to trust. You know, God in his grace is still able to do great things despite us. 2 Timothy 2.13, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. God could have stopped the miracle, but God in his grace had a plan. God was going to work. And despite a failure on the part of a man of God that looked at and thought, this is incredible what God is going to do. And then fourth, we find that John's birth was a powerful testimony. It was a powerful testimony. It says in verse 57, skipping down now, It says, and it came to pass on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, all right? And so, all of a sudden, it's not just impacting Zacharias and Elizabeth, all of a sudden, this son, it's what the angel spoke about, the news has gone out, wow, this is incredible, she's pregnant, now the baby has been born, it's a boy, and they are thrilled at what God has done, and they come to the circumcision. 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. Why? Because the angel said the baby's name was to be John. And they said unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. All right, Bible stories sometimes can be a bit humorous. And you can see these Jewish women that are there for the circumcision of the child. And they say, his name is Zacharias. And she says, not so, not so, his name's gonna be called John. They're surprised, very surprised by that. And so they made signs to the father. They go to dad and how he would have him to be called. And he asked for a writing table and wrote saying, his name is John. And they marveled all. In our words, it would say they were shocked. How could this be? You know that his name is called John, but put yourself in Zacharias' place. You've already disobeyed God by unbelief and you've been struck dumb and you can't speak. It's time to speak up for God and say, his name shall be called John as soon as he does that. His lips are opened. The Bible says in verse 64, his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue loosed and he spake and he praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them. And all these sayings were noised abroad. Again, the message is going out, the testimony, throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts saying, what manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with them. They looked at that and said, that's amazing. They heard the story of the testimony of Zacharias and being mute for all those months while the baby was coming. And all of a sudden the baby's born. He declares his name is John. God unlooses his tongue. And immediately God begins to put a testimony in front of that prophet, John. As they say that question, what manner of child shall this be? I'm reminded of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. As the sea is calm, they look at it and say, what manner of man is this? And even so, they're looking at this man, the hand of God is upon John. John's birth was a powerful testimony for the glory of God. As we again apply the truth that we consider this morning about this testimony, We need to obey God even in what men would call the tiny details. I mean, we don't think about naming a child as a big deal. A lot of people get out a baby book and they're thumbing through it. What do you think about this? What do you think about this? What do you think about this? You know, to asking all their friends, let's take a poll. Let's see, you know, what the name of the baby is going to be. But you know, it's good to pray about these things and say, God, what name do you have for the child? and begin to pray about everything and realize it's important and take notice when God verifies his word. God said through the dad, his name is John. You know, they again, if they would have fought against that, they would have been fighting against God. God said that. God was doing that. God was working in that way. And then I point out as well that we need the hand of God on our lives. Notice what it says about John. He's a baby. The hand of God was with him. That's an awesome statement. That's a biblical statement. It's not something that we just say, you know, in our modern day, hey, you know, the hand of God. That's not it. It's biblical. Here we see in the story with John, but we see in the Old Testament with Ezra and Nehemiah and others, Ezra chapter seven verse nine, it says, according to the good hand of his God upon him. Nehemiah two in verse eight, and the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Let me ask you this morning, do you have the good hand of God upon you? It's sobering, isn't it, to stop and think, you know, I need the blessing of God, I need the grace of God, I need the goodness of God, and I need to be walking in the will of God so that I can say and have that testimony, you know, the good hand of God is upon them. John's birth was a powerful testimony. And then John had an amazing mission. He had an amazing mission. Our family, in our morning devotions, we're reading 1 Samuel. And so we're reading right now about Samuel's birth, and we see him born, gifted to God, raised in the temple, and then God began revealing himself to Samuel. Samuel is gonna be a great man of God from his infancy. And that's what we see in the life of John. John was a fulfillment of prophecy, his birth was. It says in verse 76, 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. Christ is coming, the Christ that the Bible spoke about all through the Old Testament, saying the Messiah is gonna come, but there's somebody that comes before the Messiah, it's a forerunner. that the Bible also speaks about. We got close to it and we might've referenced it last week in the message on Malachi chapter three, because it's Malachi chapter four and verse five and six. It says, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet 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. All right, this baby was not ordinary in this sense, God had said what was going to take place. And I think it's kind of like, it's God's foreknowledge, it's what he knew about Abraham, that Abraham would raise his children in the fear of God. God knew that this man would be a godly man, knew that this man would take a stand for him and fulfill the word of God. Jesus said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that. Matthew 17 and verse 12, I say unto you, Elijah has come already. And they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed, likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spoken to them of John the Baptist. He's a great man of God. He's greatly used of God. God has blessed John and the hand of God was on him. But God said in the Old Testament, John's ministry is unusual. He's a fulfillment of prophecy. And John had a message of salvation to God's people. It says to give knowledge of salvation unto his people. John was a dispenser of life. As John went out into the wilderness, John was giving out life to those that heard him. He was extending to them the mercy of God. If we're saved this morning, somebody extended life to us. Might've been a parent, might've been a minister, might've been somebody that you didn't know, reached out with life and gave it. Romans 10 says in verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? See, somebody has to be the one that's the messenger. Somebody has to be the one that fulfills that responsibility, takes that message of life to the world and says, this is God, God is gracious, God is forgiving, God has paid the price for your sin. You could be saved, but somebody has to carry that message of hope, John did. His message was that God in mercy would take their sins away. It says in verse 77 at the end, by the remission, forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us. The springs of living water had opened up, the mercy of God was there coming in the Christ. He told them about forgiveness. He spoke to them about the light. It says in verse 79, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. You know, is our world walking in the light this morning? Oh, they're in darkness, aren't they? They're trying to figure out climate change. They're trying to figure out reproduction. They're trying to figure out origins. They're trying to figure out how to stop the riots. They're trying to figure out how to stop the pandemic. They're just trying to do everything without understanding that there's a God that's overall, that there's a God that loves them, that sent his son Jesus to die for them, that the answer to the drug problem in Scotland is Christ, that they can't solve it. They could be brought out of darkness into the light. John spoke to them about that. He spoke to them about peace with God. It says to guide our feet into the way of peace. If you have two warring parties, you've got to have somebody accept terms, right? To be able for that to come together. And God has terms that are there for mankind and the terms are repent, right? Agree with God, get right with God. John preached that. And if they accepted that, they had peace. Without accepting that, they had war. The Bible says the wicked refuse the terms of peace. Isaiah 57 verse 21, there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. You know, we could take that message to somebody today and say, God is the answer, Christ is the answer, but to reject that is to not have peace with God. To not have peace with God is to die and to be cast into a lake of fire for all eternity. but they can have peace with God. Romans 5 verse 1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There's peace. How many of you felt good when you got saved? Right? Praise God. The burden was lifted. A relationship was established with God. Sin was forgiven. John carried that message out into the wilderness saying, get right with God, Jesus Christ, the Christ is coming. Again, as we reflect on that, are we taking that message to the world? Forgiveness, peace, light. And certainly, have we received it? Have we received it? As you look at baby number one in the Christmas story, it says in verse 80, and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the desert till the days of his showing unto Israel. John the Baptist is a great man of God. He's going to do his job for God with enthusiasm and with great grace, and God is going to use him incredibly. John, you could say, wrote a great biography. This morning as we reflect on it, the Bible says this in John 7 verse 28, I quoted the first part of the verse, but I want to quote the last. So Jesus speaking said there's none greater than John the Baptist, but I tell you this, the least in the kingdom of God, that's us, is greater. If you've been saved, there's a greater dynamic that's in your life. It's a dynamic of not just having the Spirit of God upon us, but being indwelt with the very Spirit of God. God is able to dynamically use our lives. We ought to look at our young people and say, God can make our young people great for God and for God's glory, whether that's in full-time ministry or as somebody that is just a faithful part of a church. We ought to look at our life and say, you know what? My life can make a difference for God. But I want to ask us this morning, what kind of a biography are you writing? Zacharias and Elizabeth, righteous, faithful, enduring trials, trusting God, God would answer greatly. And as God answered that son that they prayed for and waited for, that son became a great, great man of God. Again, we just ought to be encouraged this morning and say, you know what? These stories are interesting, but more so when it's somebody that God has used. I see how God used this family. I see how God worked in this life. I see God had a plan for that life. You know, God has a plan for my life, too. And God has a plan for the lives of our young people. Let's pray and say, God, please raise up, raise up godly, godly people that have an impact for you. Let's pray and ask God to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Father, we thank you for the word of God. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God help us to be separated in our life, separated from that which is evil, separated unto God. Father, similar to John's parents walking in the ordinance of the Lord blameless, having a life that is right with God. Father, If there's something that seems to be lacking, a trial of our faith where it seems impossible, Father, may we be reminded just to continue to wait on God and to trust you and your timing to meet that need, that you're faithful. And Father, I pray that our faith would not fail. And Father, may we not be surprised when you answer. Father, like Rhoda saying Peter's at the door and they couldn't believe it, but that's what they were praying about. And so Father, I pray you strengthen our faith. I pray, encourage us, Lord, that you can use us. I pray that I don't, it doesn't matter, Lord, who somebody is, where they're at in their life, how old they are, or how young they are. Father, I believe through the truth of the word of God, you could greatly use them. And Father, I pray that the spirit of God help us to walk in the center of the will of God, believing that, Lord, you've got a great plan for our life. And I pray it could truly be said, you know what? The hand of God's on them. on her, on him, on that child. And so Father, encourage us by your word this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.