 through the study today. So let's begin reading together here in Luke chapter one at verse 57. I'll read verses 57 through 66 and then we'll get into our study and then we'll move on into verse 67 and conclude at verse 80. So we're gonna be looking today at the birth of John the Baptist and we're gonna be seeing his father Zachariah and what Zachariah has to say. Beginning at verse 57, reading to verse 66, Luke chapter one. Luke writes, now Elizabeth's full time came to her for her to be delivered and she brought forth a son. When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. Now so it was on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child and they would have called him by the name of his father Zachariah. And his mother answered and said, no, he shall be called John. But they said to her, there's no one among your relatives who was called by this name. So they made signs to his father what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote saying, his name is John and they all marveled. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed and he spoke praising God. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them and all these saints were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea and all those who heard them kept them in their hearts saying, what kind of child will this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. So in a simple and a straightforward way, Luke now announces the birth of a miracle son. This birth of John actually occurs shortly after Mary had departed for her home in Nazareth. And the response of Elizabeth's birth of this son is joy because the people see how God has dealt mercifully with her. Now the community was aware that Elizabeth was bearing shame because she was barren and desired to have a child. And so they recognized that when she became pregnant that her conception and delivery was really an act of mercy from God. And because of the great joy that Elizabeth and Zacharias now have, these people have come to share in that joy. If you take notes you might wanna remember Romans chapter 12 verse 15, very special verse there. It simply tells us that we rejoice with those who rejoice. And so the community gets together and as it says in verse 58, as she has given birth to this beautiful son, the neighbors and relatives hear how the Lord has shown great mercy and they rejoice with her. Now as this is taking place, they need to circumcise and they name the son. And so that's what's gonna take place next. In verse 59, so it was on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child and they would have called him by the name of his father Zacharias and his mother answered and said, no, he shall be called John. And so circumcision is a right that the nation of Israel has celebrated even prior to the reception of the law of Moses. Circumcision began to be a right that was practiced in their people all the way back in the book of Genesis. All the way back in Genesis chapter 17, that is where God was speaking to the father of the Jewish nation, Abram, and said to him that he was to circumcise all of those born in his house and in future generations. They were to practice circumcision. Genesis 17, 11, and 12 says, you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your four skins. It shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male child in your generations. And so circumcision was practiced all the way back during the time of Abraham as God had established that as a covenantal relationship between Abraham, his people, and their God. Now ultimately circumcision becomes to be part of the law of Moses. And Jewish law stated that the male child was to receive circumcision on the eighth day. In the Old Testament book of Leviticus chapter 12, verses two and three, the Bible says, speak to the children of Israel, saying if a woman has conceived and born a male child, she shall be unclean seven days. And it says in the days of her customary impurity, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day, the flesh of his four skin shall be circumcised. That would be what is referred to as a covenant that God had made with the nation. And often you see it can be called a covenant of blood. And the reason it would be called a covenant of blood obviously is because in the circumcision, there is the letting of blood, blood flows. And according to Hebrews chapter nine, verse 22, according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood, without shedding of blood, there's no remission. So circumcision was practiced as a covenant, a covenant between God and the nation of Israel. And what it is, it's intended to reveal the blessings of God that are passed on generationally. Circumcision is a sign of faith. It's a sign of faith in the blessings and promises of God that God had said that he would give to the descendants of Abraham. And what circumcision would do is it would initiate the child into God's covenant people and would make that child eligible for the blessings of God. Now for the father and the mother, the circumcision is an incredible experience, especially in this particular case. Because what they're doing in the circumcision is offering up their child. They're offering up their child in faith and gratitude. They're offering up the child to the Lord in love and all, and that's what's taking place here. And so they have taken John, and it's time to circumcise him to bring him into the covenant promises of the nation of Israel. And so that's what's taking place here on the eighth day. Now it says in verse 59, they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. And his father answered and said, no, he shall be called John. It was a Jewish custom for the son to be named after the father. And very often that's what would take place. Remember with me that the name Zacharias means remembered by God. And so that would be an appropriate name to give to this child who was conceived in the way that John was conceived. You see, very often what would happen is they would have a right. And as they had the right of circumcision, they would have a prayer. And that prayer would be something like this. Our God and the God of our fathers raised up this child to his father and mother and let his name be called in Israel, Zacharias, the son of Zacharias. Now that's how that would normally have concluded, but when they're making that prayer and naming the child, Elizabeth says, no, that's not his name. His name is not going to be called Zacharias. His name shall be called John. That's what it says in verse 60. Now at that point, we know that in Elizabeth's interrupting of the ceremony, she obviously had been communicated to by her husband and her husband obviously has let her know that the son's name is going to be John. Now as they hear this, notice the response in verse 61. They say to her, there's no one among your relatives who is called by this name. This isn't something that we normally do. There's no obvious connection between your son and his family if you don't give him a name that is associated with the family. And by the way, it would be a greater honor to Zacharias for his son to be connected by a name. And so there's something about the son being connected to the father by the name and they're saying, you ought not to do this. You ought to name him after his father. That's customary and it'd be a great blessing. And obviously God has done a wonderful work here. God has remembered when my wife, Marie, was pregnant with our second child with David Aaron, we went into the hospital, Pomona Valley, and I had decided my son's name if we had a son, my son's name was going to be Aaron because I love the name Aaron. It's a beautiful name. And so Marie had said to me, what do you want to name the little guy if his boy? And I said, I want to name him Aaron. She said, you don't want to name him David? I said, no. I said, there's already one David Rosales. I said, we could name him Aaron. And if you'd like, we'll give him the middle name David. And so we had made that decision. I had told her that his name was Aaron David. And so there I am with Marie and she's giving birth and David separates the womb of his mama and they take him and they minister to him. They put that little blue sucker thing in his nose and remove all that moisture and dry him up and put him in that heat lamp and everything. And I still remember when he was born because his head looked like an egg. It was just really like, oh my, oh my, my. You know, the face only a mama could love. And I was looking at that ugly little thing, oh God, please, in Jesus' name. I claim a round head, you know. But they bring this little ugly baby to me and they hand him to me and the doctor was the same doctor who had attended Corinne's birth and so he hands the baby to me and he says you have your son. And as I'm holding him in my hands looking at this head, as I'm looking at this baby, he asks me what is his name? And I looked at Marie and Marie says, what are you gonna name him? And I said, David, David Aaron. You know, I mean, my whole plan for months was to name him Aaron David but the minute I looked at this guy I said, nope, he's his daddy's boy. This is David Aaron. And so I understand somewhat the association of a son's name with a father's. And during the time there, in the time of John, they naturally would have assumed that he would be named after his father. If not his father, then after one of the relatives in the family. So there is a family connection. Now many years ago I heard and I was trying to validate this today and couldn't through the sources I use when I study but I do remember studying in years past how one of the commentators pointed out that you normally would name a child after one of the relatives for a variety of reasons, including the fact of its demonstration of it belonging to that family. And if you did not name the child with the name of one of its relatives, it was part of the problem could be that people would think that he did not belong to that man that you're married to. That could be part of the reason why they're saying none of your relatives are named John. Now remember with me the name John. The name John means Jehovah is gracious. And so God is remembered because Jehovah is gracious. And so what he does is he says no. She says no, he shall be named John. Now obviously they're having a problem with that. So in verse 62, so they made signs to his father what he would have him called. This gives us an indication that not only was he unable to speak but it may be that he was unable to hear also. So they made signs to him, what do you want him calling? He asked for a writing tablet. This writing tablet was probably a tablet with wax and he had some kind of a stick that he would write. And he wrote saying his name is John and they all marveled. And so he wrote down his name, his name is John. Some of you saw the movie, The Nativity Story. And in that he speaks out his name is John. That isn't accurate. What happened is what we just read in the Bible. He actually wrote it down. His name is John. And notice what happens in verse 64. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue loosed and he spoke, praising God. And so as he's there worshiping, blessing and thanking God and praising the Lord. This is just an act of worship and gratitude. Now, this is the one who could not speak. But at the name of the child he begins to praise the Lord. Remember his last spoken words had been words of unbelief. Remember when the angel had spoken to him and had said that his wife was going to conceive and all. He said, how could these things be? And so his last spoken words were basically words of unbelief. Now the first words that he speaks after receiving his speech are words of praise. Like the Psalmist says in Psalm 51 verse 15. Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. And so he begins to praise the Lord. Now it says in verse 65, then fear came on all who dwelled around them and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts saying, what kind of child will this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. Now it would seem that up to this point if you remember that she has a normal pregnancy several months, nine months, it would seem that they have been told, this community has been told concerning the angelic visitation and that conception that had been initiated by God himself. And so they're aware of what the angel has told him and all of that. So that would cause them to begin to wonder, especially if they were to consider what the angel had said. Let's refresh our memories for just a moment by turning back to chapter one verse 13 and remember what the angel had said concerning John. The angel said to him, do not be afraid Zacharias, your prayer is heard, your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And so he had said in verse 14, you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth and that is what's taking place here. Those again who dwelt around them and they heard the sayings, they discussed it and they kept these things in their heart. What kind of child will this be? The hand of the Lord was with him. And so they're wondering what kind of child is this? Now in verse 67, his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied saying, blessed is the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been since the world began that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And he begins to praise God and he begins to worship God and he's speaking forth praises and worship to the Lord. Now as he's speaking here, notice how he says in verse 68, blessed is the Lord God of Israel. He has visited and redeemed his people. And so the birth of John indicates that God once again is working amongst the people and that God is beginning to fulfill his promises that he has made to the people of Israel. He's prophesying under the Spirit's direction because he's been filled with the Holy Spirit and he begins by exalting God's program for man in his goodness towards man. Now God has been silent. God has been silent towards the nation of Israel for over 400 years. When you study the Old Testament you come to the last book of the Bible in the Old Testament and that's the book of Malachi. Malachi was written some four centuries before Christ and so for four centuries God has not spoken to the nation. It's been four centuries since he has spoken forth. He's been silent and the last words he had spoken found in Malachi were actually a curse. If you were to take notes, Malachi chapter four, verse one says, behold the day is coming, burning like an oven and all the proud, yes all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch. He said in Malachi four, five and six, behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. And so he had actually closed his communication to the nation of Israel with a curse. And now it's beginning to open up with a blessing because the day of redemption has come and God is now once again moving to save the nation of Israel. He's doing that by raising up a savior from the house of his servant, David. That's what he says in verse 69, he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant, David. And so that is the meaning of Christmas, by the way. You know, oh boy, I better watch out, here I go. Oh, I might as well say something, right? It's okay. I wanna save most of my comments for Christmas Eve. But I've been thinking a lot about that. Now one, it's interesting how almost every place I've gone when I go shopping, almost every place, it's amazing how it happened within two, three years. Everybody says happy holidays. And I think that's kind of funny in a way in that the word holidays is holy days. And so that euphemism really doesn't hold water. But I also find it interesting to note that we forget what the season is all about and what is the purpose of the season. You know, the purpose of the season, and let's remember that, is what the angel Gabriel had said to Joseph and what the angel Gabriel had said to Mary, that Jesus Christ, his name is Jesus because he shall save his people from what? From their sins. For unto you has raised the savior. Jesus Christ is the savior. You see, and that's the meaning of Christmas and it's odd that we have in a very short time, in a very short time, completely lost side of that one singular message. The message of Christmas isn't giving Christmas presents, we know that. It isn't simply gathering together as family and all, which is a wonderful part of doing that, of course. But the celebration has always been because of the realization of a savior that has been given, Jesus Christ. And that's what he's speaking about here. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant, David. And what he's pointing out is that Jesus is the strength of salvation. The term horn of salvation, you need to be thinking in agricultural terms. During that day, a horn, you have it on an ox, is a symbol of strength. And so a horn of salvation is another picture of the strength of God in giving to us salvation. And he does that through a descendant. He did that through a descendant of David, who was the king of Israel. And so he's saying to them that Messiah is the horn of God's salvation. It's interesting to me to note that Zacharias doesn't begin by speaking about his son, John. Did you notice that? He didn't speak about his son, John. The first thing Zacharias begins to speak about is Jesus, is the savior who is coming, which I find fascinating and absolutely revealing because John is a forerunner, but not the Messiah. Zacharias, once he has an opportunity to speak, first says his name shall be John, but then he prophesies concerning Jesus Christ, Messiah who is to come. The Psalmist in Psalm 132, verse 17 says, there I will make the horn of David grow. I will prepare a lamp for my anointed. So he's speaking of Messiah. And when you look at 2 Samuel chapter 7, verses 12 and 13, God had given a promise to King David, and this is what he had said in 2 Samuel 7, 12 and 13. God had spoken through the prophet and said to him, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body, meaning he will be a descendant, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And so this is the one who's being referred to, and the first thing he begins to do is he begins to speak concerning salvation that has been given to man that's coming through the house of David. In verse 70, he says, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been since the world began. And so he begins to give to us the fact that Jesus is the center of prophecy. If you take notes, Revelation chapter 19, verse 10 tells us that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The fact is Jesus' birth, his life, and his ultimate death are all objects of prophecy. In 2 Peter 1, 20 and 21, the Bible says, no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So Jesus Christ is the object of prophecy. Alfred Edershine, a wonderful Jewish believer who wrote several books, wrote a book called Prophecy and History in Relation to the Messiah. And in that book, he gives more than 400 messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, over 400 prophecies. All you need to do is ask yourself the question, is there any other book out there that prophesies the birth of any other religious leader? The answer is no. There aren't any books that prophesied Muhammad would come. There are no books that spoke concerning a Buddha coming. Those do not exist, because the enemy doesn't have the ability to speak forth the future. Only God does. And when you study the Old Testament, even as Edershine did thoroughly, he points out that there are some 400 plus prophecies that related to Messiah, Jesus himself. And so you could go and you can look at the book, you can look at the Old Testament and you will find prophecy after prophecy after prophecy that related to the birth of this one human being God made flesh, Jesus Christ. Even when Jesus was speaking at, after his death, burial, and his resurrection, when he was speaking to some on the road to Emmaus, he began to speak to them in Luke 24, 27, and the scripture says, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And so Jesus Christ is the object of prophecy and his birth, as you see it as it's chronicled for us in Luke and as you also see it in the Gospel of Matthew is given in great detail with scriptural reference so that you know that what you believe in is not a myth or a fable. It isn't something made up by man. You have the ability to go and to see the documents themselves and you can see how that God has spoken these words very clearly and has had them preserved. Now when you go to Israel, and hopefully all of us someday will be able to go, I hope everybody in this church one day goes to Israel at least once. But when we go to Israel, we go to the city of Jerusalem and there is a place that we go called the Shrine of the Book. The Shrine of the Book is a place where they have the Dead Sea Scrolls, they have evidences of the ancient writings and manuscripts of scripture. And you can go to the caves of Qumran where you know back in the 40s some Arab children were throwing rocks and you know just as boys do, they were throwing rocks into the caves and they heard the sound of some pottery breaking and so they went into the cave and they discovered that there were some, there were pots in this cave and they took the pots out and discovered some parchments and they took those parchments and had them examined. Ultimately they were sold to somebody who in turn sold them to somebody else and it was determined that these were the most ancient manuscripts that had the Bible that they'd ever seen and they predated all the manuscripts that were used for the translation of the Old Testament by hundreds of years. And when these documents were looked at, every book of the Bible was discovered except for the Book of Esther, when they looked at these documents they discovered that outside of some of the changes of language that take place over the centuries, they were identical. So you can get the documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls and compare them with what we were using for our Bible manuscripts and you would see that they matched up almost perfectly. And so that was a demonstration of the great care and concern that the scribes had when it came to handling the word of God. And so when you study the Bible, you will discover there are hundreds of prophecies found in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ our Messiah. And that's what he's doing here. He's speaking in verse 70, he says, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been since the world began. So he's saying that the prophets have been pointing to Jesus Christ all along. It says in verse 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. Now notice how he says that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Antisemitism isn't something new. It's been in existence for hundreds into the thousands of years. And so we're to be saved, as he said, as a people from our enemies. But he also speaks concerning the oath which he swore in verse 73, which he swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear. God had promised to save them. God had promised to save them from any enemy who hated them. It doesn't speak simply of physical enemies alone, but he also is making it clear that he will save them from any spiritual enemy that they have. When you look at the promises that God gave to Abraham, and that's what he's referring to here, when you see God's promises to Abraham, you see that God gave to Abraham something that Abraham needed and that this generation needs, by the way. What God said that he would give to Abraham was a covenant that had hope and blessing in it. As a man who likes to check out my generation, I have noted that there's one thing that people my children's age, I have children 29, 28, 25, and 23. And what I have seen, and some of you may be seeing the same thing, and perhaps you're in that age group, you may see the same thing. One of the things that I've been looking at very carefully with that generation, that that generation doesn't seem to have, is hope. That's the one thing I've been thinking about. And it's odd to me. I was listening to the news tonight, and there was a political pundit who was being interviewed. And they were saying, well, you know we're living in some pretty bad times and people are under a lot of stress. And a person responded and said, in what way? Well, you know, they just don't have much money. Rich people have money, but the average person doesn't. And this guy said, well, that's not what I see when I go to the store. Because when I go to the store, I see lines of people waiting to buy big screen TVs because the games are coming, the bowl games, and that's true. There are tons of people standing in line to buy big screen TVs. Big screen TVs cost a lot of money, don't they? I mean, you can go and buy a TV for $99, but they're not, unless they wanna put that in their van. I mean, with their buying, is there buying mega TVs where they're busting out the walls so they can get it in? I mean, they're getting some big TVs out there. And this guy was saying, the way that money is being spent right now it surely doesn't seem like people are that bad off. As a matter of fact, it would seem to be quite the opposite. There seems to be an awful lot of money flowing out there right now because people are buying these different games and things that they cost hundreds of dollars. I heard recently of a guy who bought one of those games, and I wish I could remember PlayStation and it was on eBay and he sold his PlayStation for something like $3,000. I mean, these people are spending a lot of money on toys and games and things of that nature and go through the malls right now and then you'll see that and you know that and you've gone out and you bought your Christmas gifts, I'm not knocking that, I'm making an observation. So the interesting thing is, to me, is on the one hand you can speak to somebody who's driving a new car, he's got a very expensive sound system, he's dressed in very nice and expensive clothes, he obviously gets his hair cut, not at a place where you get it cut for $10, but as a place where you go and have it done by Bruce LaRouge or whoever. And I mean, these are people who spend a lot of money but they're playing music that says I'm messed up, I'm lost, I'm a loser, everything's messed up and it trips me out, that's an old phrase isn't it? It amazes me, it amazes me because they're saturated with the mentality of no hope and that I am amazed by. But that's exactly what we need and that's what Jesus Christ brought. In the covenant that God made with Abraham, God was given to Abraham hope and blessing. That's what he was doing. Remember how he spoke to him and said, listen Abraham, even though Abraham didn't have any children, he and his wife were incapable of having him. He said to him, if you could count the grains of sand or if you could enumerate the stars in the heaven, then you're gonna be able to count the descendants that will come from you. This is he speaking to a man who is at that point married to a woman who is incapable of giving birth. And what is God giving to him? God is giving to him hope and God is giving to him blessing and that's what God intended to do. In Genesis chapter 12 verse three God said to him, I will bless those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. In Genesis 15, 13, and 14 he said to Abraham, know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will serve them. They will afflict them for a hundred years. Also the nation whom they serve I will judge. Afterward they shall come out with great possessions. You don't have any children now but I'm telling you what's gonna happen in the future. You're gonna have many children and ultimately because of their disobedience they're gonna go into bondage but I will release them from that. And what is God giving? God is giving to him a glimpse of the future and he's giving him a hope and he's giving him a blessing and that's what God gives. And that's what we have and so when he's speaking concerning this he's saying that God will remember the oath that he swore. And what's gonna happen verse 74, to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear. Verse 75, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And so God is gonna bless tremendously and ultimately this blessing that God is promising to Abram is to be received by the nation. You see in the book of Jeremiah in chapter 31 verses 31 through 34, God promises the nation of Israel and he makes these promises to them. He says I will forgive you your sins. He says I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and I will strengthen you to serve me in righteousness. This is what God promised to do and by the way that will be fulfilled to the nation of Israel but God through his Holy Spirit has already made that possible for us the church, the body of Christ. When I received Christ as my Lord and Savior he's given to me all things that pertain to life and godliness. I have the power of the Holy Spirit resident within me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am more than a conqueror in him. I live a victorious life because of him. So what God has given to me is hope in a future. God has given to me blessing and that's what God promised to do through Jesus Christ. You see one of the things that I really believe the church is failing to really apprehend and we're gonna be looking at this on Sunday so I'll be careful not to give you the Sunday message right now but when he says be filled with the Spirit it's a reminder that one we've been born again and by the Spirit of God been brought into the body of Christ and as a result of that we have a relationship with God and our in union with him. In union with Christ means that I now have a relationship with God I've been saved and I'm kept by him but on a daily basis I need to be refilled by the Spirit of God so that I might live a victorious life and so rather than giving in to the impulses of my flesh which constantly drive me away from God I awaken in the morning requesting of God to fill me with your Spirit that I might be drawn closer to you and to live out what you've already placed in me and to experience those things amongst my brothers and sisters and live a victorious life and so what God has given to us already is that we might live with a holiness and a righteousness all the days of our life because he makes it possible through faith in Christ so I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me that's why Jesus said without me you can do nothing but Paul said I can do all things through Christ you see and so as Zacharias is speaking here he's saying this is what comes to Messiah now he's been speaking and now in verse 76 he speaks to his son and you child will be called the prophet of the highest for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God with which the day spring from on high has visited us to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace so he's looking at his son can you picture that in your mind's eye for just a moment he's looking at his son and he's been and he's ministering and now he looks at his son and addresses him and that's what he says you child will be called the prophet of the highest he looks at his son now to me as a father I understand that Joseph my third born Marie said if every one of her births were as easy as Joseph she'd have had many more he was the easiest birth that she ever ever had out of our four kids he was born the day before Easter Sunday Marie began to have contractions early in the morning and she said you know honey my water's broken I need to get oh I'm having contractions I need to get to the hospital and we called or I believe my sister in law Patty might have been with us at that time or we called her but Patty came to watch David and Corrine and I took Marie to the hospital once again to Pomona Valley we were charter members there and as we were there I remember walking into the emergency room and the nurse seeing Marie saying what do you need honey? Marie said I'm contracting and I'm gonna give birth and she says oh is this your first honey? and Marie says no this is my third she said then you know your body we better get you in and so Marie had and the two previous births had you know Corrine was like 33 hours of labor and David was 20 some hours of labor and I was gonna be teaching Easter Sunday and so I took my Bible and my notebook and I took all of my necessary tools to prepare a message and as I was there in the waiting room I had it all spread out in front of me when the nurse came in and said listen if you wanna be there present at the birth of your child you better get in right now cause your wife's about to give birth she hadn't been in the room for an hour I was absolutely amazed so they give you the gown and they give you that little mask and some of you remember that mask that they put on you with that little metal piece I was so out of it that I turned the mask upside down and I pushed the piece on my Adam's apple so every time I swallowed the mask went up and down like this I remember going in and then I mean it was a birth that was so quick she gave birth within a couple hours of going into the hospital I was amazed and it was a smooth and easy delivery and once again they take the baby and they suction out all that you could sit and dry them up and this one here had bright orange bright orange hair bright bright orange hair and very very white skin and they brought this little orange to me and handed them to me and I remember as they handed him to me what will his name be his name is Joseph Andrew and so Marie wanted to name him Andrew after her father and Joseph was the name that she loves happens to be my grandfather's name so Joseph Andrew and so as I was holding the baby in my hands the only time I ever did this I looked at him and I lifted him in my hands like that I lifted this brand new baby in my hands just Marie and me in this room he's just been born and I held him up to the Lord and I said this one shall serve the Lord there was a prophetic sense that I didn't have before and I never had since this one shall serve the Lord there was just sense that God wanted to do a special thing I understand somewhat of Zacharias looking down at his son and speaking to him because I've done that and as he looked at him you child will be called the prophet of the highest you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways you will go as the prophet preparing the way of the Lord you have the honor of introducing Messiah to the nation other prophets before you spoke of the appearance of Messiah but it was always yet a future event but not you you're going to go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways you shall be a preacher of righteousness and you shall call man to repentance and the knowledge of salvation will come through the remission of their sins it's interesting how in Mark chapter one verses two and three Mark says as it is written in the prophets behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make his path straight that word prepare means to make necessary preparation get everything ready it speaks of one who has been sent on before kings on their journeys leveling the roads and making them passable and fit for the king it also speaks of preparing the minds of men to give Messiah a proper reception he went before to smooth out the road so that Jesus Christ would have access into people's lives and the way that he was to prepare them was through preaching a message that man must repent and that's the bottom line repent not regret repent not have remorse repent which means change your mind change your mind concerning how you get right with God instead of thinking that somehow you can forge your own path repent and turn to him with humility asking for forgiveness of your sins and receiving his mercy and throw yourself down on your face in front of him if you will and ask him beg him if you will to forgive me a sinner because that's repentance and what we see today I think very often is people who say well I want to give God a shot or I'll give him a chance that's not what the Bible teaches the Bible doesn't say I'm going to give God a chance to prove himself to me the Bible says that I'm in sin and I'm in need of forgiveness and rather than trying to cover my own sins with my own actions and works I need to throw myself on the mercy of the court and I need to say to the judge I am guilty forgive me a sinner and I am so sorry and I turn from my evil ways and I turn to you that's what he came to do he came to prepare the way and now notice he says in verse 78 through the tender mercy of our God with which the day spring from on high has visited us to give light to those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace the day spring is when the sun rises in the east the first sun rays that blast forth it's the darkness man has been in spiritual darkness but the son of righteousness has now arisen and so he gives to us healing because of that notice in verse 79 he says to give light to those who sit in darkness what he's doing is he's coming to bring peace and that peace comes through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and he drives out the darkness he drives out the fear of the unknown and he replaces it with peace that's why Jesus in John 14, 27 said peace I leave with you my peace I give you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid I came so that you might have hope I came that you might have joy I came that you might have peace I came that you might have forgiveness I came that you might have a relationship with God through me that's what Jesus's word teaches us and so as John is being prophesied over and spoken to by his father his father is having an incredible moment now speaking forth praise and speaking forth prophecy finally he says the child grew and became strong in spirit was in the desert till the day of his manifestation is real he didn't follow the normal route of a priest son he didn't go to the temple and learn how to serve as a priest he spent time in a desert separated unto God and waiting for God's call and it ultimately comes and we'll see that as we continue our study in the gospel of Luke