Heavenly Father, we want to thank You, Lord, for the newborn King that You sent so long ago, that in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead. Father, as we come to Your Word, We know, Lord, that it speaks of Him. And Lord, I pray that we might gain a new vision of who He is. And Lord, Your plan of salvation for us. Father, I thank You for the answers to prayer that we've heard tonight. Father, there are many prayer requests. and you know them all, but we just want to leave them in your hands. We ask that thy will would be done, that you would bring healing where healing is needed, and Father, that you would be merciful, and that Lord, they would bring about, your will would be done. And so, Father, we just give you all the glory and praise. And now, Father, we just ask that you would speak through your word once again, we pray in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one, we're beginning a short Christmas series on Sunday nights here, a three-part series, and I title it God's Promised Forerunner. God's Promised Forerunner. And of course, if I were to just give you that phrase, that title, God's Promised Forerunner, who would that be? Yes, very good, thank you, John the Baptist. And so the Lord led me to this amazing story account of how God was planning to bring forth another child. you know, as Christ was gonna be born, God had part of that, part of the plan was another child would be born and his name would be John. And so I wanted to look into his story the next few Sunday nights and look at his parents, Zacharias, Elizabeth, and then finally John. But we're gonna start here, if you would with me, And we'll look into God's promised forerunner and into his parents and how this all began here as God unveiled this plan. Luke chapter one, and we'll pick it up at verse five. Let's read five through seven. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, There was a certain priest named Zacharias of the division of Abijah. I'm sorry, Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. And they had no child because Elizabeth was barren. And they were both advanced in years. Here we are presented in the days of King Herod were presented this account of a certain priest whose name was Zacharias. And Zacharias, he was one of the priests. He was a high priest. I'm sorry, one of the priests, not a high priest, but he was one of the priests and his wife was actually a descendant of Aaron, and the priesthood was divided up into different groups under different names through the years, and he was in the division of Abijah, and so they would choose, and during Jesus' time, Believe it or not, there were up to 20,000 priests from different divisions. And so, for you to be involved, if you're part of the priesthood, to be involved in the days of Jesus, they basically would take lots. and cast lots to see, okay, who's gonna be the priest for this Sabbath, this week, these feasts, or on the Day of Atonement, and carrying out the duties of the priests in the temple. And so sometimes it is said that some of these priests would get maybe one shot at being in the temple to serve. I mean, they served in other capacities outside the temple, and we will see that he was chosen by lot in just a moment. But what do we know about them here? It mentions him and his wife, Elizabeth, in verse six. What do we find out here in six and seven? They were both righteous in the sight of God. righteous in the sight of God. What were they doing in their life? They were walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. And then we come to verse seven. So you would think that all of a sudden you'd come to verse seven after reading that, and you would read, and God blessed them with many children. because of their righteousness, because they were righteous in the sight of God. And walking blamelessly before Him, look what God has blessed them with. We don't see that, do we? No, suddenly we see something that, to the Jews, they would look on a woman that's barren, who had no children, as no doubt she has sinned. And so they would immediately put that woman in a special category of not being blessed by God, and there must have been sin in her life. That's why she's not being given a child. And that was the Jewish mentality. That blessing, if you were obeying God, you were gonna be blessed with children. Oh, but we find out again and again that God works differently, and he was doing something so that he might get the honor and glory, and so through their continuing to walk blamelessly before the Lord in all his ways, God had chosen not to give him a child. And notice what it says in verse seven, she was barren, and they were both by this time advanced in years. So they were beyond, she was beyond childbearing age. And so pretty much they no doubt had come to a conclusion, well the Lord has chosen not to give us children. Now sometimes when God withholds things from us that we are praying for, we're asking for answers to prayer and we bring petitions to Him and God chooses not to answer and years go by and we don't see that answer. It is so easy for us, isn't it, to become bitter. to become bitter over what the Lord's doing, what His plan is, why He hasn't heard my prayer. And we may not be able to say, well, it's because of this or this in my life, I haven't been walking with the Lord or disobeying Him, but you can't find anything, and you've been seeking to live as Zacharias and Elizabeth did, and that they were living for the Lord. But what touches my heart is that they were withheld children through all these years, and yet it did not affect their walk with the Lord. It did not affect their walk with the Lord. And they continued to serve the Lord, to serve Him in the temple and to walk blamelessly before Him. I put them in the same category as Job. Right? And in all this, Job did not sin with his lips, nor charge God with what? Anybody remember? With any wrongdoing. And so, they must have been doing the same thing. We are gonna honor God? This is His will for our lives. And this is going to change, of course, as we know the story. And those tests will come into our lives when God withholds things, and He will allow us to be tested. And He wants to test our faith. Will we trust Him? Will we continue to walk in His ways in spite of God saying, no, not yet, not giving us the answer to our prayers? And so we come to now verse eight. Now it came about while he, Zacharias, was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, and here it is, he was chosen by lot. You see that? say he was chosen by Lot to enter the temple of the Lord and he was chosen by Lot to burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense burning. So here he was chosen by Lot and he was chosen to burn the incense, to burn the incense. As we look back in Jewish history, what would happen was before dawn, hundreds of worshipers would gather outside the temple And the morning sacrifice began when the incense priest walked towards the temple through the outer courts and he struck a gong-like symbol known as a magrafa. At this point, the Levites assembled and got ready to lead the gathered people in songs of worship to the Lord. And at this point, there were two other priests that were chosen by Lot, again, to go with this priest who was the one who was gonna burn the incense. And that's what fell upon Zacharias. This was his duty on this day. He was chosen to offer it. So all three of them would enter into the holy place Together, one priest set the burning coals on the golden altar, which was in front of the Holy of Holies, the curtain, the great curtain. So on the golden altar, one priest set burning coals on there. The other priest arranged the incense. And so when it was ready, those two priests left the temple, and so now the incense priest was left all alone in the holy place, right in front of the Holy of Holies. And he was going to light the incense and burn it. And there it was in front of him. And there was an 18-inch square table, about three feet high, upon which this incense sat. And so I want you to have that picture. In the meantime, you have all those people, multitudes outside, They were praying, then they were gonna sing, but there was much prayer going on at this time. Now, if you recall, considering the Holy of Holies, there was no Ark of the Covenant. That had been taken away back when Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Israel and Jerusalem, and we don't know what became of the Ark of the Covenant. So if you wonder, here is the temple, and by the way, this temple is called the third temple, okay, in Jewish history. And why is it the third temple? The first temple, of course, was Solomon's. Second temple, that was made was the rebuilding by Zerubbabel and the exiles that came back from Persia and were allowed to come back and they rebuilt the temple. That was the second temple. Well this, that fell in disrepair and pretty much was just all in pieces by the time Jesus' day came around. They never really fully made it beautiful again. And so that's when Herod the Great became king and he decided to make the Jews happy by rebuilding Jerusalem. their temple, and so that's why it's called the Third Temple, and it's Herod the Great who built this one. And this is the magnificent temple that Jesus and the apostles and the disciples were part of. And so that's what, this is, of course, that temple. But as to the Ark of the Covenant, you know, I began to think, well, if the Ark is gone, what's behind the curtain now? if there's no Ark of the Covenant? What do they do, like, you know, the high priest once a year is supposed to bring in the sprinkle of the blood on the mercy seat? There's no mercy seat anymore. Well, it's quite interesting that behind, at this particular time, behind the Holy of Holies, and remember, it was built on the exact same spot as the other temples and rebuilt there, but But there's what's called the foundation stone. The foundation stone is in there. And it was on that stone that the original Ark of the Covenant sat and rested. And so as it sat there, then of course the high priest would come in to the Ark of the Covenant, but that foundation stone held the Ark of the Covenant. Well, the Ark of the Covenant's gone, but the foundation stone is still there. And so what they did, the Jews did, is they continued to make the sacrifices and sprinkle the blood on that stone, the foundation stone. So it's as if the mercy seat used to be there, but they're gonna use the same stone. So that's all that was behind the curtain at this time. But I thought that was interesting to understand that. But, Here is Zacharias, and what's he going to do? Well, he is going to burn the incense, burn the incense. And of course, the angel of the Lord is going to appear before him. And we come to verse 11. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, Okay, remember, he's alone. Standing to the right of the altar of incense, and Zacharias, Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear gripped him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, And you will give him the name John. You know, we talked about giving names to the babies. Well, here's a baby that was given a name, but it was given from God. You'll call his name John. And then the angel goes on and says, 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 he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And verse 17, and it is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit of the power of Elijah. And he, of course, the angels talking about him, the Messiah, that this would be, this baby would be a forerunner of the Messiah. And in the Messiah, but before him, and he would come in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn, not Elisha, Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And so that's why he is, John was considered the forerunner. That he was put, God sent him to make way for the Messiah, make way for Christ, the Son of God. And that he would call Israel to repentance, much in the spirit of Elijah. And of course there are, we won't take time to look at it, but there are the Old Testament scriptures, prophecies that speak of that this coming forerunner who would come like Elijah would. And so we see, first of all, if you go back to verse 11, we see it was an angel of the Lord appeared. And we will, of course, know who this is in just a moment. But when Zacharias saw him, as you and I would, Verse 12, he was troubled when he saw him and fear gripped him. That would happen to any of us if an angel appeared before us, I'm sure. And so he was kind of petrified here. And as he was scared, it's wonderful how, we find angels say this a lot, do not be afraid. after they're seen. Remember on the shepherds, you know, do not be afraid, for I bring you glad tidings of good joy, so great joy. And the angel said to him, don't be afraid, Zacharias. Then he says, for your petition has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. Your petition has been heard. Question, do you think that Zacharias and Elizabeth were still praying for a baby at this point, since they were advanced in years? I don't know if they were, I don't think so. I mean, they knew God could do anything, but I think they no doubt came to a place of, this is God's will for us, we're past the age of having children, and so, So the petition, no doubt that he's talking about the petition of Zacharias and Elizabeth to have a baby, was petitions that were years ago, when they were probably first married and they prayed for children. And then one year went by, two years, three years, four years, no child. And all those petitions. And there again, God was withholding that blessing, but he had a purpose. He had a wonderful purpose and plan. Now God doesn't always answer the prayer of the barren woman. And there are many that those prayers go unanswered. And here, they thought, you know, well, they, I mean, they very well could have still been praying for a baby. We don't know, but it would make sense that those prayers, those are prayers that they had prayed in the past when she was of childbearing years. So, Here, the angel is making it clear to him, saying, your prayer's gonna be answered. It has been heard, and so God's gonna answer now, years later. You're gonna have a son, and you will name him John. and what's John gonna do, and he's gonna, and you will have joy and gladness, of course, and many will rejoice at his birth. You can only imagine this elderly couple suddenly having a baby. My wife and I kind of relate to that. We had our first one, and we won't go into that story, but you know, when you're, older in years, and God blesses you with a child, we know what that gladness and joy feels like. And verse 15, then the angel said, he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and look at the rest of verse 15, and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. So we take from what the angel's saying concerning the baby, He's gonna be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink no wine or liquor. And so it's believed that he was gonna be, his parents were gonna consider him to be a Nazirite. And a Nazirite, we won't take time to look at it, but if you look on your own back in Numbers chapter six, it describes what a Nazirite was. It was someone who was set apart Either they did it themselves or their parents did it, but they were set apart wholly for the Lord and sanctified for the Lord and His use completely. And so there were steps that they would live by, things that they would live by, such as no razor should touch their head. and they can't touch anything to do with the vine, grapes or wine. So no doubt, this was John, and no wine was going to, he wasn't gonna drink any wine or liquor, but I love the end of verse 15, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. How do you fit this into the abortion picture? Doesn't that say everything? That while the baby was in Elizabeth's womb, it would be filled with the Spirit. And just so beautifully, it ties in so beautifully what Jim shared with us tonight about there's that, you know, the Holy Spirit put the seed in Mary, Right? And his, and suddenly, and the hymn, the fullness of the Godhead dwell? Well, here's John, another baby that has not been born yet, but while in the womb, the angel says, oh, by the way, that unborn child, he's got the Holy Spirit in him. if that isn't a reason to tell the world that the sanctity of life and those that desire to abort babies here, and we're gonna see later in our story, we're gonna see something that takes place, and you already know what I'm thinking of, when there will be evidence of this Holy Spirit being filled in John in the mother's womb. But I find that so amazing, that the baby was filled with the Holy Spirit. And then the angel goes on and shares exactly what, John is called to do. He was gonna be called to be that forerunner for Christ. And then we come to verse 18. And Zacharias said to the angel, how shall I know this for certain? If you just have the translation, how shall I know this? It's basically, how shall I know this for certain? In other words, What guarantee do I have? I don't know if I can really believe this. Because notice, he goes on and says, for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. By him saying this, this tells me that they had stopped praying for a baby. You know, that that was years ago, but they were advanced in years. They figured there's no way she's gonna give birth, and so Zacharias is saying, how can I know this for sure, what you're telling me? Uh-oh, that was, suddenly doubt set in. Oh, they believed God, and they were walking blameless before Him, but suddenly there's a possibility of this grand, grand miracle. He has his doubts. Verse 19, and so, the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God. Wow, can you imagine being there in front of Gabriel, the angel who stood in the presence of the Lord? And I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And so now the angel is basically saying, you want a sign? How can you know for certain? Well, here's a good certainty here. Here's will be your sign. Verse 20, and behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place because you did not believe my words. You see the lack of faith? that Zacharias had, which shall be fulfilled in their proper time. So basically, Gabriel's saying, by the way, you're gonna be dumb. You won't be able to speak until that baby comes and is born. I'm Gabriel, and you have unbelief in what I'm telling you? I'm the angel that stands before God in the presence of God, and you won't believe what I'm saying? You won't be able to speak until these things take place. And so, verse 21. And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them. And they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And it came about when the days of his priestly service were ended that he went back home. So you can imagine all the people were outside the temple and out comes Zacharias. And as normally the incense preacher would do, and out he comes. And all of a sudden, he can't talk. Can you imagine him trying to sign language? You know, you wanna sign, well, guess what? You're gonna use sign language, Zacharias, you know, and you will believe. We want you to, the angel want him to know, this will come to pass, and the sign that it will happen is that you won't be able to speak. And so this was assigned to him as Zacharias, and God was telling Zacharias, you're unable to speak. This proves that what I have sent to you by Gabriel is going to come true. It's going to come true. There's one thing that I want to, as I think, you know, God was teaching him about faith. and about delayed answers to prayer. And God will not always answer the way we ask He would. But what struck me about Zacharias and Elizabeth, but he was given the ministry of incense, that he was called by God and chosen by lot. So you know God was in the choosing of the casting of the lot, that he would be the one to carry in the incense. And the incense would be burned as a fragrance unto God. And as I thought of incense and fragrance, I couldn't help but look at these two passages. And let's close with these. Ephesians chapter five. If you go over to Ephesians five with me, Ephesians 5, verses 1 and 2. Ephesians 5, 1 and 2, look what Paul says here to the church. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us. as what? An offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma, just like incense. When Jesus died on that cross, His sacrifice was actually incense to God. It was a beautiful fragrance of his son dying for the sins of the world because he had now been sent and he was the ultimate sacrifice and the offering that would be pleasing to God, which of course, the Old Testament, the Jews here in the temple and in the tabernacle, when they would light the incense, It was just a foreshadowing of Jesus who would be the incense on the cross and then be a beautiful Roman to the Lord. But then the last place I want to look is 2 Corinthians 2. So if you go to 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14, 2 Corinthians 2 and come to, excuse me, look at verse 14. But thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ and manifests through us, you and me, who have Christ in us and His Spirit who manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. And I love this, for we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one, an aroma from death to death. It's those who are remaining unsaved and refuse the gospel, our aroma of Christ is like death to them. But to the other, an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? But there in verse 15, we are a fragrance of Christ to God. And this is what Zacharias and Elizabeth were. He was bringing the incense into the temple, and then God brought an answer to prayer and a miracle to him and his dear wife. But he actually himself has been an incense to God and an incense to others as they walk blamelessly before the Lord. And here it is, Paul is saying, this is what we are to be. We are to be a fragrance of Christ to the world. May that be said of us as we leave here. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much, Lord, for this wonderful account. of Zacharias, Elizabeth, and your plan to bring John into the world as a forerunner of your son. Father, I pray that we might be like him, Lord, and when we have those times of doubt and we lack the faith, Lord, I pray that you would, Lord, work in our hearts that we might believe your promises no matter what. No matter what you may withhold from us, May we continue to be a fragrance of Christ in this life. And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.