The Gospel of Luke 09/18/2022

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Well I realize that in your bulletin you have Roman 16 listed but I think

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Jason we're going to spare you from having to read that with all those Greek names and if you'll read the passage for us from Luke chapter 1 verses 5 through 25.

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Now Jason will be reading from the ESV if you have a set of my notes in front of you.

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I wrote out the text from the New King James Version. You might look at that New King James Version as Jason reads from the

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ESV and you'll notice they're pretty close alike but there are a few details of expression that are different.

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It might be good for us to consider that. And so Luke chapter 1 verses 5 through 25.

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Luke 1 verse 5. In the days of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named

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Zechariah of the division of Abijah and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was

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Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the

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Lord but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.

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Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty according to the custom of the priesthood he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the

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Lord and burn incense and the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense and there appeared to him an angel of the

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Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense and Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him but the angel said to him do not be afraid

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Zechariah for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name

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John and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great before the

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Lord and he must not drink wine or strong drink and he will be filled with the

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Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the

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Lord their God and he will go before him in the spirit of power 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 for the

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Lord a people prepared and Zechariah said to the angel how shall

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I know this for I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years and the angel answered him

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I am Gabriel I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news and behold you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their time and the people were waiting for Zechariah and they were wondering it is delay in the temple and when he had 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 when his time of service was ended he went to his home after these things his wife

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Elizabeth conceived and for five months she kept herself hidden saying thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people let's go to the

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Lord in prayer our father we thank you for this time of worship where we can hear the word of God being proclaimed we thank you

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Lord that you are truth and that your word is truth and we pray

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Lord that as we listen to these words this morning that we would hear the truth and that your spirit would help us understand it and help us to apply it to our lives we pray

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Lord that as we encounter the word of God this morning that we would be changed we thank you

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Lord for your faithfulness we thank you for your goodness and your grace and we thank you for this time together be with us now

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Lord as we continue to worship you thank you in Jesus name Amen well this is the second week of course that we have in which we are in the gospel of Luke this morning we begin to consider the infancy narrative infancy stories in Luke's gospel which are set forth both in Luke chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2 and as we stand back and look over these two chapters we'll actually discover there are seven episodes separate but they're related and we'll work through them each of them and these seven episodes include what you've got listed before you in your in your notes the birth of John the

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Baptist foretold that's what we're addressing today secondly the birth of Jesus foretold next

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Lord's Day no two weeks from today Lord willing third the visitation of Mary with Elizabeth fourth we have the record of the birth of John and then following the birth of Jesus sixth we read of the presentation of the infant

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Jesus in the temple and then the last episode deals with the boy

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Jesus when he was 12 years of age in the temple and so those are the episodes in Luke's infancy narrative now

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Jason just read for us this passage from the ESV you have the

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New King James Version I was actually weighing as to whether or not to work through the

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ESV or the New King James Version and we'll talk about how these infancy narratives are in the style of Hebrew he really the language and style of the

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Hebrew Old Testament rather than the Greek New Testament and in some ways the

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ESV displays this a little bit more in our English in the

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English translation one of the characteristics of the language of the

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Old Testament in narrative portions like the book of Genesis is that sentences begin with the word and and so and so did this and then it would follow by this and then this in fact

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Genesis 1 the word and is used almost every every every verse and as I was looking at the

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ESV it seemed to convey more the the word and at the beginning of a number of verses

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I think there were 14 or 15 instances in the ESV translation and there were only about nine in the

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New King James Version and so I was I was weighing as to which translation to use but I wanted to point that out

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I found that interesting. Well on the top of page two of your notes if you're following through we want to talk a little bit about the language style of Luke's infancy narrative.

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Last week we examined the preface of Luke's gospel in the first four verses of this gospel and we directed our attention last week gave a lot of attention to the elaborate literary

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Greek style of the writer as he commended his work to his readers and particularly to Theophilus that it was a very it is perhaps the most highly literate

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Greek sentence in the entire New Testament but having demonstrated his ability to communicate in eloquence

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Luke abruptly changed the manner of his writing beginning in verse 5 and conveyed his account in a style that may be described as Hebraic or Semitic a style pattern after the language found in the

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Old Testament and so whereas in verses 1 through 4 Luke sought to commend his writing by means of literary sophistication beginning in verse 5 his appeal and concern is to show that his story is the fulfillment of the

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Old Testament Jewish messianic hope. The Messiah of Israel was about to appear

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Jesus and the story is presented within a Jewish setting set forth in Jewish literary style and language but when we say that Luke wrote in a

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Jewish literary style it was more in the style of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament the

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Septuagint and the common abbreviation of the Septuagint is the

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Roman numeral 70 the LXX and so scholars will tell you that Luke 1 and 2 is more in tune with that Greek translation of the

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Old Testament rather than the direct Hebrew language one wrote Luke's style changes abruptly from that of the preface to one strongly reminiscent of the

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Septuagint. Elsewhere it was said of these infancy accounts throughout the narrative there is a wealth of allusion to Old Testament parallels and prophecies which demonstrates both that God's acts then were quite were entirely consonant or consistent with his early dealings with his people and also that they fulfilled his earlier promises regarding the coming of the

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Messiah. The story itself is filled with the signs of God's intervention to accomplish his purposes through the activity of angelic messengers the wonderful conceptions of both

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John and Jesus and other supernatural phenomena and so the language style is quite significant in Luke 1 and 2.

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Now let's consider the contents of this episode the annunciation the announcement of the birth of John the

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Baptist. First Luke introduces Zacharias and Elizabeth in the

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New King James Version it's Zacharias in the ESV it's Zachariah same name and so in verses 5 through 7 we have the opening to this first episode announcing the impending birth of John the forerunner of the

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Messiah. Luke began his account by first providing a short introduction of the two parents of this future child placing them within a setting of history and so he gives a description of them an assessment also of their personality and integrity which is essential for understanding the narrative they were a holy couple a godly couple and so here again our verses 5 through 7 there was in the days of Herod the king of Judah a certain priest named

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Zacharias of the division of Abijah his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was

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Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the

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Lord blameless but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years and so Luke established his infancy narrative by placing it in an historical as well as geographical setting there was in the days of Herod the king of Judea there were several men named

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Herod that reigned in Palestine in the first century this was the first then his son and a grandson as well all named

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Herod this Herod was the patriarch of the family commonly referred to as Herod the

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Great well he was anything but great morally he was an evil and brutal man he was known to have killed his father -in -law several of his ten wives and two of his sons he heavily taxed his people to support and expand his empire he was a noted builder that's probably the thing that he was noted for he built cities and built buildings throughout the land great projects most notably the expansion of the temple he actually doubled the acreage in which the temple sat and greatly embellished the temple buildings it became known as Herod's temple it's the second temple it's the temple that was built in the days of Ezra that was embellished by Herod greatly expanded but he also built the great man -made harbor of Caesarea on the coast of the

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Mediterranean Sea you look up and down that Mediterranean coast there on the east side of the Mediterranean and there's very few natural harbors

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Herod built one in fact National Geographic did an article probably 30 years ago 25 years ago in which it highlighted this harbor and there's remnants of it today and one of the fascinating things about that harbor is the invention of cement that could be poured in seawater and so they they poured concrete into frames and took the frames and they they built a harbor and a breakwater through that and it was quite a significant harbor he dedicated to Caesar and so that city and that harbor came to be known as Caesarea on the coast not to be confused with Caesarea Philippi which is up on the mountain but Caesarea the harbor on the coast it was just a short time after the birth of Jesus that it was this

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Herod who gave orders to slay the infants of Bethlehem the parents of Jesus having escaped into Egypt from his murderous effort that's recorded in Matthew's infancy narrative is not included in Luke's well

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Luke next introduced Zacharias and Elizabeth there was a certain priest named

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Zacharias of the division of Abijah his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was

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Elizabeth there were perhaps as many as 18 ,000 Jewish priests serving in Israel at this time

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Zacharias was just one of these 18 ,000 the 18 ,000 priests were divided into 24 divisions and the course to which

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Zacharias belonged Abijah was the eighth of these 24 divisions and you can read about this division of priests in 1st

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Chronicles 24 and Abijah is listed there interestingly

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Elizabeth was also of a priestly family a descendant of Aaron the first high priest of Israel the brother of Moses priests were required to marry a virgin girl from Israel but to be a priest like Zacharias who married the daughter of a priest brought special honor to the man and there is some evidence however that Zacharias may not have been held in highest honor among the priests he was a good man but somewhat of a simple perhaps ordinary priest as one wrote in many respects he seemed different from those around his home was not in either the great priest centers the

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Ophel quarter of Jerusalem nor in Jericho but in some small town in those uplands south of Jerusalem the historic hill country of Judea that's just a barren place of hills and mountains you drive from Jerusalem down to Jericho it's about 20 mile that drops several thousand feet and I don't think there's a tree between Jerusalem and Jericho lots of trees around Jerusalem but not on that road down into the

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Jordan Valley and that's the hill country of Judea and that's where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived but certainly

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Zacharias would have been highly regarded among the people of his home village it was said of him and yet he might have claimed distinction to be a priest and married to the daughter of a priest was supposed to convey twofold honor that he was surrounded by relatives and friends and that he was well known and respected throughout his district appears incidentally from the narrative it would indeed have been strange otherwise so he was a rather ordinary priest certainly popular in his little village but may have not been a standout priest in Jerusalem at the time the name

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Zacharias means the Lord remembers and Elizabeth name means my

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God is the faithful one the meaning of names was quite significant in the biblical world and God would richly bless his godly couple by them becoming the parents of the forerunner of the

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Messiah John the Baptist in verse 6 we read of the holy character of this couple they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and the ordinances of the

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Lord blameless they were righteous that is they were faithful to keep the terms and laws of the

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Mosaic Covenant they ordered their lives by the Ten Commandments and they observed the many civil and ceremonial ordinances of the

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Covenant but not only were they righteous before God but they were consistently so they were blameless

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Matthew Henry rightly said though they were not sinless yet they were blameless

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I love that statement nobody could charge him with any open scandalous sin they lived honestly and inoffensively as ministries and their families are in a special manner concerned to do and we

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Matthew Henry making an application to pastors so that the ministry may not be blamed in their blame

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Alfred Edersheim who was a Jewish man converted to Christianity a scholar in the 19th century who wrote the classic two -volume work the life and times of Jesus the

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Messiah he described Zacharias and Elizabeth in this way such a household of Zacharias and Elizabeth would have would have all that was beautiful in the religion of the time devotion towards God a home of affection and purity reverence towards all that was sacred in the things divine and human ungrudging self -denying loving charity to the poor the tenderness regard for the feelings of others and above all intense faith and hope in the higher and better future of Israel of such indeed and notice this there must have been not a few in the land the quiet the prayerful the pious who though certainly not

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Sadducees or Essenes but reckoned with the Pharisaic party waited for the consolation of the comfort of Israel and received it with joy when manifested however whereas Edersheim suggested there were probably many godly

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Jewish priestly families like this one J .C. Ryle put a different spin on it he viewed this couple to be a rather rarity in that day and so in writing of their righteousness set forth in verse 6

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Ryle wrote it matters little whether we interpret this righteousness they were righteous as that which is imputed to all believers for their justification every true

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Christian is justified in that sense or that which is wrought the righteousness which is wrought inwardly and believers by the operation of the

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Holy Ghost for their sanctification and you'll read arguments all you know this describes their justification before God through faith alone others no no it describes their practical righteous living and Ryle basically says you can't really distinguish the two the two sorts of righteousness are never disjoined or separated from one another there are none justified who are not sanctified and there are none sanctified or not justified he's absolutely right in that suffice it for us to know that Zacharias and Elizabeth had grace when grace was very rare you see he's describing them as a rarity and kept all the burdensome observances the ceremonial law with devout conscientiousness when few

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Israelites cared for them accepting in name and form he seemed to draw that conclusion perhaps from the ministry of the

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Lord Jesus and what he found it can be most certainly said of Zacharias and Elizabeth that their home was much like your home and my home ought to be they were walking in all the ordinances and the commandments of God blamelessly may

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God give us grace to do so and yet as godly and holy as this married couple was we read that they had a burden that they had long born tragically they had no child in spite of all their prayers for many years but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren notice it doesn't say they were barren

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Elizabeth was barren usually it was the woman's fault the ancient world and they were both well advanced in years they had no doubt desired children prayed to God that he would give them children but the years had passed with their prayers unanswered and now they were old well advanced in years to quote

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Ryle again let us mark for another thing in this passage the heavy trial which God was pleased to lay on Zacharias and Elizabeth we're told that they had no child the full force of these words can hardly be understood by modern

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Christians to an ancient Jew they would convey the idea of a very weighty affliction to be childless was one of the bitterest of sorrows and I can imagine how it was with them early in their marriage they looked for their first child but none came when others about them were blessed with children they to rejoice but their own longings increased and as did perhaps with the passage of time a sense of anxiety they must have had feelings of hurt and envy puzzlement when observing others who were not careful to observe the law of God and yet they were blessed with children but they remain true and faithful to their

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God even though they were childless and as the past in spite of their patient waiting for the visitation of God in which he would bless him with a child it must have become apparent to them that they would in all likelihood remain childless this reproach must have been felt very great to them but especially for Elizabeth she would regard herself and by others as the reason for their child childlessness it is said that Elizabeth was barren it seemed to be more her reproach than his she had failed to give her husband a son or daughter and perhaps the longing for God's blessing of a child was supplanted in time with a greater longing to have the reproach of childlessness removed and that this was so may be seen in Elizabeth's own speech at the end of the episode we read now after those days his wife

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Elizabeth conceived and she hid herself five months saying thus the

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Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people so we read that Zacharias and Elizabeth were childless this may have resulted in doubts about their standing with God it's true that they were faithful and righteous but being righteous they would also have been humble their difficulty must have contributed to their godly humility usually the difficulty and tribulations and the

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Christian life does that they would have humbly persisted for years and their petitions for God to bless him with a child but all the while knowing that God was free to grant or withhold blessing as he sees fit for we have no claims on God regardless of our consistency or measure faithfulness

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God is sovereign and good but even as they had lived with longing disappointment for many years they were unaware of God's wonderful purpose for them and their glorious privilege that was yet before them it was fitting that God would begin to usher in a new age with the birth of a son of a childless couple it seems to have been a common pattern in God's dealings with his people that when he was about to do something remarkable in history to bring some great deliverance or usher in a new era he worked in this fashion and so we can consider

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Manoah and his wife who was barren and then God blessed them and brought forth their child

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Samson who delivered God's people from the power of the Philistines and then there was

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Elkanah and Hannah to whom God gave Samuel the last of the prophets or last of the of the judges rather first of the prophets a child in their old age and of course the

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Supreme Old Testament example Abraham and Sarah when in their old age God gave them the promised child

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Isaac from whom emerged the nation of Israel and now we read of Zacharias and Elizabeth both advanced in years who are about to hear from God that they too after many years of waiting and praying would be blessed with a child in their old age well let's take note of this

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Zacharias and Elizabeth were faithful to God although they were childless this is important they were true to God regardless of not having received from his hands they that which they most desired the child the charge could not be leveled against them by the devil that he sought to lay against God's servant

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Job that they served God merely because God had blessed them no for this couple was faithful to God although it seemed to them that the curse of God was upon them they were nevertheless faithful this couple was not double -minded serving

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God this month something else another they were consistent they were faithful they were godly and consistently so blameless many do not seek

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God in this fashion they have some personal concern or desire that may drive them to God to seek him fervently but only for a while perhaps but if and when that thing is granted they turn aside and go their way there are many that seek

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God so to speak but only for a time due to some particular difficult hardship not because they're seeking

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God because they want to know him and worship him for he's worthy to be praised but because they really need something to escape something or obtain something and so they're seeking the

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Lord and by the way oftentimes God will use that to initially draw people to himself and then they he teaches them and they grow in their understanding and desire to know the

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Lord regardless of what falls out for them although they must have resigned themselves that they would experience loneliness and sorrow and perhaps hardship in their later years they didn't have

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Social Security they needed children to support them in their old age faithful children they nevertheless ought to live faithfully before God would the

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God that we live consistently before him though we may never see the full benefit of doing so in this life

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Zacharias was a holy man he would not have been able to serve in the temple on this occasion unless he kept himself pure or holy before the

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Lord and there were many possible ways a priest could be discredited and this disregarded from service but Zacharias lived a godly life consistently and was qualified for service when called upon I didn't put it in notes but Levites were only allowed to serve until they were 60 years of age but priests could live beyond 60 the only thing that disqualified them was some physical infirmity that would disqualify them

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Zacharias was an old man he was righteous before God they both were walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the

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Lord blameless well in verses 8 through 12

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Luke described Zacharias encountering an angel of the Lord no record in the entire

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Bible of an angel appearing in the temple except here so it was that while he was serving as priest before God and the order of his division according to the custom the priesthood his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the

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Lord and the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense and then an angel of the

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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 priest burned incense in the morning and evening

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Edersheim argued that it was the morning that he offered incense one of the newer commentators for whom

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I have a high regard said no no it was an evening and while the reason reasons he gave is that there was a large crowd of people outside that would have happened in the evening when the priest offered the incense

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I've heard men described Zacharias in terms which a scripture do not depict him he was not the high priest he was an ordinary priest and he never entered the

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Holy of Holies there was a big veil there the high priest would only go in once a year on the day of atonement he was but one of thousands of priests who were capable of ministering in the temple in that day he's depicted here not as one who had notoriety or unusual qualities he's presented as a faithful priest serving faithfully in his duties and so he performed the service of offering incense which was done every day twice a morning and evening as mentioned

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Zacharias was one priest of 18 ,000 from one course or group of 24 curse courses if you divide 24 and 18 ,000 you get 750 priests in each course in each division and each course it assigned to it temple duties two weeks out of the year and so when it came time for the course of performance responsibilities it's 750 priests came to Jerusalem for this two week period of service and of these 750, 50 of these priests would serve each day offering the morning, evening sacrifices, tending to the table of showbread in the temple, keeping the candelabra burning, keeping live coals from burning on the altar of incense most importantly however was offering the incense on that altar in the holy place each morning and we would include and evening that was the most important event performed by a priest well up to this point in his life

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Zacharias had not been called upon to do anything great the privilege of being selected for this duty was a very high honor and a very great responsibility lots were cast each morning before dawn to signify which priest would have this honor on that day to offer the incense which was an emblem of the prayer of Israel to God it was a great distinction which was conferred upon a priest but once a lifetime this is the first time and the only time

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Zachariah would ever be called to do this and on this morning the lot fell upon the aged

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Zacharias in a sense Zacharias had prepared his entire life to be equipped and qualified for this service he was about to render offering petition before God for the welfare of his people that God would grant his people salvation by sending them the

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Savior the Messiah the promised messianic kingdom of David to be ushered in and yet Zacharias knew that the lot was the means of God selecting him personally for this special duty on this particular day on the morning that the lot fell upon Zacharias he must have been at once humbled and struck with the responsibility placed upon his shoulders it was the aspiration indeed the pinnacle of a priest lifetime of service to have been chosen to perform the function of offering the morning or evening incense on the burning coals of the altar within the holy place and chosen is the proper word to use for although he was selected by lot there was no sense of having received some luck of the draw like a rolling of the dice that is perceived to be a matter of luck for the scriptures declare of course the lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing there is of the

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Lord the Lord is sovereign Zacharias would have had a keen sense of awareness that God has selected him for this task on this day here's an extended but excellent description of the proceeding for the first and for the last time in life the lot had marked him for incensing and every thought must have centered on what was before him even outwardly all attention would be requisite for the proper performance of his office first he had to choose two of his special friends or relatives to assist him in his sacred service their duties were comparatively simple one reverently remove what had been left on the altar from the previous evening service and then worshiping retired backwards and then the second assistant now advanced and having spread to the utmost verge of the golden altar the live coals taken from that burnt offering in other words the burnt offering on the altar outside the tabernacle he would have taken some hot burning coals brought them into the holy place put them on the altar of incense but he'd put them as close as he could to the edge that was next to the veil next to the holiest of holies and then he would retire and meanwhile the sound of the organ heard to the distant parts of the temple and according to tradition far beyond its precinct precincts had summoned priests

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Levites and people to prepare for whatever service or duty was before them for this was the innermost part of the worship of the day but the celebrant priest bearing the golden censer stood alone within the holy place lit by the sheen of the seven branch candlestick before him somewhat farther away towards the heavy veil that hung before the holy of holies was the golden altar of incense on which the red coals glowed to his right that is the left side of the altar that is on the north side was a table of show bread to his left on the right side or south side of the altar was the golden candlestick and still he waited as instructed to do till a special signal indicated it was a bell that was rung that the moment had come to spread the incense on the altar as near as possible to the holy of holies priests and people had reverently withdrawn from the neighborhood of the altar and were prostrate before the

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Lord offering unspoken worship in which record of past deliverance longing for mercies promised in the future and in treaty for present blessing and peace seemed the ingredients of incense that rose in a fragrant cloud of praise and prayer deep silence had fallen on the worshippers as if they watched to heaven the prayers of Israel ascending in the cloud of odors that rose from the golden altar of the holy place

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Zechariah's waited until he saw the incense kindling then he also would have bowed down in worship and reverently withdrawn had not a wondrous sight arrested his steps we read in verse 11 then an angel of the

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Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense God honored

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Zechariah's by sending to him his messenger again this is the only recorded occurrence of an angel revealing himself in the temple

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Zechariah saw this angel standing at the right side of the altar of incense again the place of prayer betrayed the fact that this was an answer to prayer either his own or the prayers of many other priests who had prayed at this place as Zacharias had done morning and evening for centuries some believe that perhaps this angel had come forth from the presence of God through the veil it's interesting behind which was the

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Ark of the Covenant the earth of the emblem for the throne of God but the text does not state that where the angel had just been but rather where he was when

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Zechariah saw him standing next to the altar and the reaction of the priest was understandable verse 12 when

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Zechariah saw him he was troubled and fear fell upon him it is natural that the sudden unexpected appearance of a strong holy dazzling angel causes a weak sinful human being a human being to tremble appreciate the comments and application of Calvin John Calvin Zechariah's was troubled though God does not appear to his servants for the purpose of terrifying them yet it is advantageous and even necessary for them to be struck with awe that admits their agitation they may learn to give

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God the glory due to his name nor does Luke only that Zechariah was terrified but adds that fear fell upon him intimating that he was to be that he was so alarmed as to give way to terror the presence of God fills men with alarm which not only leads them to reverence but humbles the pride of the flesh naturally so insolent that they never submit themselves to God until they have been overcome by violence hence to we infer that it is only when

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God is absent or in other words when they would draw from his presence that they indulge people indulge in pride and self flattery for if they had

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God as a judge before their eyes they would at once and unavoidably fall prostrate and if the at the sight of an angel who is but a spark of divine light this happened to Zacharias on whom the commendation of righteousness is bestowed what shall become of us miserable creatures if the majesty of God shall overwhelm us with its brightness that'll take place at the second coming of Christ we are taught by the example of the

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Holy Fathers that those only are impressed with a lively sense of the divine presence who shake and tremble at beholding him and that those are stupid and insensible who hear his voice without alarm well let's consider now the message of the angel to Zacharias the first words from the angel were to ease the fear of Zacharias he then informed him that he and Elizabeth would initiate the onset of the long desired long expected messianic age and so here are verses 13 and following but the angel said to him do not be afraid

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Zacharias for your prayer is heard and your wife

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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

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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'll turn many of the children of Israel to the

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Lord their God he will also go before him and the power and spirit 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

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Lord and so the angel sought to calm the man down assuring him quickly that his appearance portended

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God's favor upon him not his judgment one commentator wrote is it not encouraging to note how very often in scripture

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God and Jesus or Jesus Christ tells his people not to be afraid but instead take heart

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I put in a footnote all of the verses in the

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Old and New Testament where you find that where God says fear not for the Lord Jesus himself fear not the angel said to him that he should not fear why for your prayer is heard and your wife

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Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John when the angel appeared before Zacharias he said to him don't be afraid

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Zacharias your petition has been heard in fact there's a great emphasis on prayer this entire passage

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Zacharias was there to burn incense the emblem of prayer to God the people were assembled outside praying verse 10 and then the angel appeared beside the altar of incense which is the place prayers offered unto

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God it can be said that God used these two people Zacharias and Elizabeth the parents of the forerunner of the

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Messiah to show that God was faithful to his faithful people to fulfill their longings in answer to prayer and that ought to encourage you and me in our pray they had been faithful in prayer many of us have not because we asked not but this couple had not even though they had asked and so God revealed himself to this angel is one who would hear their prayer and grant their petition but somehow we should not probably think that the angel announced that God was going to grant the request for his son for which

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Zacharias was praying at that time it's very doubtful that on this occasion

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Zacharias would have been prayed for himself and his wife they were old he and she were probably convinced the time had passed given their advanced age and his high calling on this occasion he was not praying for himself and his wife but rather on behalf of his nation for the promised messianic kingdom that you realized the angel was telling

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Zacharias that God would answer the prayers that this couple had long been offering to God probably long before this occasion as one wrote

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Zacharias is not to fear because the angel brings good news namely his petition has been heard the answer to the prayer is bound up with the birth of a son to Zacharias but it's not certain what he was praying for many scholars think that he was prayed specifically for a son but it's doubtful whether he and his wife felt that it was still worth praying for a son and if the angel is referring to Zacharias prayer in the holy place he is unlikely who didn't train for a personal request at that time prayer for salvation for Israel was associated with the evening sacrifice and so Zachariah may have been praying for the coming

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Messiah and the era of salvation it is just possible that the reference to Zacharias personal prayer on other occasions whatever be the case

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Zachariah was to be involved personally in the era of salvation as the father of a son who would be under God's special care and play his part in the dawn of salvation now

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I think we can take a lesson from this and I think this is encouraging to consider from the long prolonged weight of this married couple in having

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God answer their prayers JC Ryle wrote we learn here for one thing that prayers are not necessarily rejected because the answer is long delayed

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Zacharias no doubt had often prayed for the blessing of children and to all appearances had prayed in vain at his advanced time in life he had probably long ceased to mention the subject before God and had given up all hope of being a father yet the very first words of the angel show plainly that the bygone prayers of Zacharias had not been forgotten thy prayer is heard thy wife

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Elizabeth shall bear thee a son we should do well to remember this fact whenever we kneel down to pray we must be aware of hastily concluding that our supplications are useless and especially in the matter of intercessory prayer on behalf of others it is not for us to prescribe either the time or the way in which

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I request are to be answered he who knows best the time for people to be born knows also the time for them to be born again let us rather continue in prayer watch on the prayer pray always and not faint delay of effects as an old divine must not discourage our faith it may be

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God has long granted before we shall know of his grant the angel said to Zacharias do not be afraid

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Zacharias for your prayers heard your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name

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John and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth and so we read their long wait had come to an end

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God was to grant their request offered in many prayers both in the sending of a child but so much more and that their son would be a cause of blessing to many for he would be the preparer of the long -anticipated

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Messiah who would bring forth salvation sent by God and so Zacharias who need whose name means the

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Lord remembers and Elizabeth whose name means my God is a faithful one our promised a son whose name will be

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John meaning God is gracious so let us take heart by this that our

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God may yet plan to answer our prayers that we have offered to him perhaps long ago blessings may come today as a result of old prayers which have almost passed from our memory and our hope although we have perhaps long since stopped prayed perhaps even have forgotten petitions of long ago nevertheless

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God is faithful to remember the prayers of a righteous one and he may see fit to answer prayer to your delight and surprise your prayers offered long ago are still on his heart as though he heard them again today the angel told

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Zacharias the father to be of John the Baptist said his son would have a high calling and a fruitful life before God the angel said for he will be great in the sight of the

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Lord shall drink neither wine nor strong drink he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb and he'll turn many of the children of Israel to the

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Lord their God he'll also go before him in the spirit of 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

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Lord so this angel spoke God's word to Zacharias after God broke silence of 400 years think about that and what the

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Old Testament had closed declaring Malachi the opening of Luke's gospel declared was about to be realized

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Malachi 4 5 and 6 the last verses of the Old Testament foretold of the time when the forerunner of the

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Messiah would arise in Israel behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great dreadful day of the

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Lord he'll turn the hearts of the fathers to the children the hearts of the children to their fathers lest I come and strike the earth with a curse and here in the temple the angel announced that John the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth would be this

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Elijah the prophet who had herald the coming of the Messiah and of course Jesus would later tell his disciples that John the

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Baptist was the promised Elijah to come he came in the spirit and power of Elijah so John would be great he'll be great because of his character for he'd be one wholly given to the service of God he'll drink no wine or liquor dedicated as say a

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Nazarite filled with the Holy Spirit from a mother's womb true greatness is determined before God based on one's character

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John would not live to indulge himself or live for his own pleasures but rather he sought to live for God who indeed gives fuller pleasure than any other worldly pursuit our

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Lord would later say of John what did you go out to see a man dressed in soft raiment he didn't order his life for the chief purpose of accumulating goods or having a good time he'd first and foremost seek his

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God and if he would find his purpose revealed for himself in the backside of a desert the hills of Judea in seclusion and in need and want so be it he would be but he would be used of God that was his desire and John would be truly great for you'd be filled with thoughts of God and desire to serve

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God he was characterized by behavior one fully devoted to God filled with power the very power of God from his youth up and these qualities lies true greatness he shall be great in the sight of the

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Lord shouldn't that be the desire of every one of us he was filled with the

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Holy Spirit before his birth and then throughout his lifetime and then John would be great because of his accomplishments he'll turn back many of the sons of Israel to the

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Lord their God this man was regarded as great because he sought to bring a ministry of reconciliation to estranged and lost people this is the heart's desire of every true great person in the sight of the

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Lord his desire and concern is that many be returned to the Lord as Paul would later write to us has been trusted the ministry of reconciliation and so it should be our prayer and effort to bring about the repentance and faith of many people to our

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Lord Jesus and then John would be great because he would make it his life's work to turn the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous if you would be great in the sight of the

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Lord you could do no better than to seek whatever station of life God has presently placed you to seek the conversion of Christ of those about you whether they be your neighbors next door your classmates at school or those with whom you work day after day pray for them pray for yourself to bear faithful witness to them and then

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John would be great because of his courage and earnestness for truth and righteousness he'd be characterized as one who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah.

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Elijah was bold he preached to kings John had a single message prepare for the kingdom of God that was at hand and he preached the same message to the common man he didn't modify it when he preached to King Herod.

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King Herod liked John in some respects he listened to him often and did many things he gladly heard

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John of course he later beheaded John but John was faithful to him it's not lawful for you to have that woman he told of Herod who had married his brother's wife and John would be great because of whom he would seek to glorify he would be great because he would go forth before him the

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Messiah and here lies the truest cause for his greatness he sought to point others to Jesus Christ he would say he must increase

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I must decrease the one who honors the

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Lord will be honored by the Lord Jesus said not a man born a woman was greater than John if it's your desire to be regarded as great by your

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God then purpose to glorify God in all that you do that means whatever you do do it with the motivation that others would thank and praise

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God for what he has done through you as Jesus said let your light so shine among men that they might behold your works and glorify your father who is in heaven we don't desire to gain credit for ourselves but that people would thank

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God for us well the response of Zacharias to this angel verses 18 through 23

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Zacharias responded in unbelief to this announcement and this resulted in the angel pronouncing temporal judgment upon Zacharias he would be unable to speak this judgment however would ultimately bring greater glory to God and a greater degree of blessing upon the birth of his son verses 18 through 23

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Zacharias said to the angel how shall I know this I'm an old man my wife is well advanced in years and the angel answered and said to him rebuked him

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I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings they 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 and the people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple but when he came out he could not speak to them and they perceived he'd seen a vision in the temple but he beckoned to them and remained speechless this was a sin of unbelief on the part of this priest the judgment on him was one of silence the glad tidings that Zacharias had heard that day would not be told to others by him until the fulfillment of the angels words had taken place nine months later and when

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Zacharias pondered the promise that he would indeed have a son and that this son would be great the herald of the promised

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King we might somewhat sympathize with him when he said to the angel how shall I I know this for certain

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I'm an old man my wife's advanced in years and so like many of us he looked to the powerlessness of himself rather than chiefly to the power of God and so he was rebuked again this very rebuke however

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God was giving a sign he would remain dumb perhaps deaf also we'll talk about that later until the time of fulfillment and so a sign was given but not to him alone but to the multitude awaiting outside waiting for his appearance and waiting for the pronounced blessing the benediction when this priest would come out and pronounce to the people that he had prayed for them and that God had heard him so the people waiting outside knew that he must have seen a vision he'd been in the temple for longer than necessary to perform his priestly duty and now he was silent unable to pronounce the benediction that the priest was who offered incense would always pronounce upon the gathered people and so it must have been in in an awkward and quiet dispersal of the people without a proper benediction and as the people departed from the temple precincts there must have been among them questioning of what it all meant what it all portended well

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Zechariah had finished his priestly duties and then departed to his home and for nine months he lived in silent solitude being held in reserve for the day in which the expectation raised due to his silence would be fulfilled when

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God himself would lose his tongue and he burst forth with praise at the birth of his son for the great work of salvation that God was about to accomplish amen let's pray father help us to be righteous before you in the manner that we think and live help us to be godly people who seek you our

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God and seek to glorify you help us to live holy lives our God every one of us

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Lord are plagued with the problem of sin we're tempted Lord in ways that that sometimes shock us we just pray our

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God that you would help us to always look to you every day help us to be faithful in prayer praying every day to you throughout every day unto you deliver us our

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God from temptation to sin and deliver us our Lord from our present sinning as well that we might be holy before you help us our

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God to be a good witnesses for Jesus Christ to those within our families and within our neighborhoods and with others our

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God strangers perhaps that we may meet in the way and we pray our God that you would use us to bring this good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to many people may you expand the kingdom of Jesus Christ in our day bless again our

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God our Johnny Appleseed festival in the labor throughout the week may this be a very fruitful season