There is a priest, of the priestly, Levi line.

It’s interesting to study what their names mean. "Zechariah" means "God remembers," and "Elizabeth" means "His oath." So if you put Zechariah and Elizabeth together, it’s "God remembers His oath." Those of you who’ve been through the Old Testament will remember His oath. God swore that Abraham’s descendants would be multiplied and inherit the Land (Genesis 12). To David, He promised his throne would be established forever (2^nd Samuel 7). I hope this gets you excited such that you want to study the Bible on your own. You put Zechariah and Elizabeth together and you get "God remembers His oath." Is that not great!? But there is a problem. Let’s read on.

Not in the sight of man, but in the sight of God.

They had their act together. They knew what they were doing.

Do you remember the story of Abraham and Sarah? It’s a wonderful story about depending on God through faith. Now we have another situation with an old and barren couple.

Study this well.

You’ll see diagrams of this in your Bible. The altar was located in the Most Holy Place. The priest would enter the Most Holy Place to burn incense. The aroma was indicative of God listening to the prayers of the people. Exodus 30 describes this scene in detail. That’s what Zechariah was assigned to do by lot (per God’s plan). I know I’m drawing this out but this is good stuff.

The people couldn’t see Zechariah burning this incense. He was the only one allowed in at this time.

Can you picture this? Zechariah goes in, burns some incense, and an angel appears beside the altar.

He said, "Hey, Wow, this is great! I can’t wait to go home and tell Elizabeth." No…

Wouldn’t you be? Don’t miss this. Where is he? He’s at the altar of incense which signifies the prayers.

Isn’t that amazing!? Isn’t that great!? What prayer?

So Elizabeth and Zechariah have been praying for a son. An angel of the Lord appears at the altar of incense and says, "Your prayer has been heard." His prayers have been answered! What do you think Zechariah should do? Be excited. Be thankful. Tell everyone. It’s just like us, when our prayers are answered—what’s our reaction? We’ll find out.

How about that!?

This is talking about John the Baptist.

I know this will generate so many questions in your mind…John didn’t stand a chance, did he? I know some of you will say, "There you go—predestination." Look at it. "He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth," or some of you may have "from his mother’s womb." Think about that. He is going to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Before you get carried away, remember that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth has already been impregnated by Zechariah but John will be filled with the Holy Spirit while inside her.

One other thing about the fermented wine or drink—the Book of Numbers talks about being a "Nazirite." A Nazirite was one who committed himself to God in a very special way. John the Baptist was also known as a Nazirite, not just from the priestly tribe.

Elijah was one of the prophets in the Old Testament. The angel says that John the Baptist will have that same kind of power. Elijah was an unbelievable prophet with all kinds of power from God.

Notice what else he says there, "turn the hearts of fathers to their children." That shows me that there is a gap between parents and children (or teenagers or adult children). It’s there. Why? John the Baptist is going to preach "Baptism of Repentance," not "Baptism of the Holy Spirit," like Jesus. Baptism of Repentance says, "Look at where you are and how you’re depending on the world. Stop that. Repent and orient yourself toward God. Go in a different direction—toward God." That’s what Luke is describing that John the Baptist did. John the Baptist was a great man. Remember that the Jews have been waiting and waiting. John the Baptist comes on the scene before Christ to prepare the way. That’s why Jesus says that John was such a great man.

Now, wait a minute. He’s been praying for it. God sent His angel, Gabriel, to say, "Listen, you and Elizabeth are going to have a son." Zechariah says, "What!? No way!"

Whoa!

This is an angel straight from God, not some other little, insignificant angel. This is a big-time angel.

Think about this. We pray for things. We can pray for something for years, it’ll come true, and what will we do? Question it, like, "Whoa! Wait a minute! How did that happen? What happened? How did that work out?" The last thing we think of is, "God intervened." But God intervened with Zechariah and Elizabeth and He intervenes with us. Don’t you think Zechariah learned a thing or two about faith and prayer? He failed, like we do, but do you think he learned from it? Yes, he does.

It’s not described in detail here, but can you imagine the kinds of motions and charades he went through? <Pointing, flapping hands like wings, making a circle over head like a halo.> He’s trying to tell the people what went on in there but he’s dumb (can’t speak). Do you think that when he became dumb he believed? You’d better believe it and yet now he couldn’t tell anybody.

Back then, it was considered a disgrace (not to have children).

Right after the miraculous birth of John the Baptist is the miraculous story of the birth of Christ. Five months later, Mary is visited by the Holy Spirit.

The reason I went through the Concordance / Index / Contents / Dictionaries is that you can now spend some time on your own trying to see what you can find out about Mary of Bethany for next week. It will shock you. Next week, some of you will say, "Why hasn’t anyone told us about this? Why haven’t there been sermons on this? Carlton, why haven’t you told us about Mary of Bethany?" That’s what’ll happen if you’ll study ahead of time.

Zechariah couldn’t hear either.

I wanted to read these verses just to show you the historical details Luke will give you. That tells you how valid Luke’s writings are. Luke referenced all kinds of secular history milestones. You can read in secular history about Tiberius Caesar, a brilliant but brutal ruler in Rome.

There’s a problem with having two high priests. That was a "No-No."

John the Baptist is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments. John the Baptist is saying, "It’s time for the Messiah." That’s what is significant about John the Baptist.

The other thing I want you to see is that John the Baptist did not have a prideful bone in his body. He was humble at all times. He recognized his purpose in life and he accomplished his purpose. Toward the end of his life (with his purpose completed), he said about Christ, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30; KJV). You cannot imagine what it’s like to live life knowing your purpose. You know every day why you have to get up and go to work. You know what your purpose is. You don’t know what energy you have when you have purpose. If any of you have had days where you woke up and said, "What’s the use?"—you know your energy is nil. Purpose gives us energy.

There’s something else you should notice about John the Baptist. When you hear John the Baptist’s name, what do you think of? Wild hair. Eating locusts and honey. In the desert. Remember that he’s from a priestly tribe. His father was serving in the Temple and burning incense on the altar. What could he have been? A priest. He could’ve been right there with his father. Now, today, you can’t stand on a street corner, eating locusts and honey. Some people witll think you are a little crazy. So how do you honor God today? John the Baptist honored God within his frame of reference.

This is the other thing. John the Baptist went to the desert. Let’s say you hear about a man dressed in rags, preaching God’s Word in Hoboken, Georgia. You’d have to ask yourself, "Am I going to get in a car and drive five hours to listen to some nut, yelling and screaming?" That’s what we’d think today. We would not be turned on to him. The people were at this time because they so anticipated the messenger for the Messiah. John the Baptist went out to the desert, away from the people. Do you realize the crowds he could have reached if he’d stayed in the Temple area? What did he do? He removed himself, went to the desert, preached God’s word, and said, "You come to me if you want repentance." If you went to him, he’d baptize you in the Jordan River.

This baptism was not an identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection like we have today. It was a Jewish, ceremonial cleansing but it was still an identification. You’re identifying with someone. That’s what baptism is about. John the Baptist is saying, "You are being baptized. You are cleansed from your past. You now have remission of sins." Remission of sins, not forgiveness of sins (which is what Christ will give). John’s baptism identified a changed life unto remission. Jesus’ baptism was for forgiveness, if you read it carefully.

So what can you do? How can you honor God today? You’re not going to put on rags and eat locusts and wild honey. How do you honor God? Serve others with a humble heart. You listen to the needs of others. You respond quickly. You make looking out for other people your top priority. Then they’ll ask you, "Why are you different?" There’s something different about you and you honor God.

That goes right along with your level of commitment. How much are you committed to Christ? What’s the commitment level of John the Baptist? Total. "I leave my mother and father. I will go out into the wilderness. I’ll eat whatever I can. Because I have a purpose in life. I know what I’m here for."

Read Luke 3:7-14. That talks about the preaching of John the Baptist. You’ll see that it’s very similar to what Christ is going to say.

John was calling it like it is. He called them a bunch of snakes.

"Producing fruit" was a key thing for them, as it is for us. We can only tell a difference in a Christian’s life it they’re producing fruit.

They thought that just because they were Jews, they were set. "God promised our Father, Abraham, so we’re protected."

That means that God can raise up anybody—he/she doesn’t have to be a Jew.

In my opinion, this is a reference to Israel. Israel is the main theme right now, but what happens after Christ? Israel is put aside and it’s the time of the Gentiles. So actually the "ax" is ready to fall on Israel. Israel is cut off (until the End Times).

See that? They were waiting expectantly. They thought, "Maybe John’s the Christ."

Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit the first time He comes. That’s the grace we have. He will baptize with fire at His Second Coming with judgment.

His brother’s name was Phillip. Herod thought he could just marry anybody he wanted to so he married his brother’s wife. That’s an adulterous situation. John told him so.

Later Herodias’ daughter danced for Herod. Herod said, "I’ll give you anything you want up to half my kingdom." You’ve seen this on TV or in movies. That’s really what happened. She said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist." So he was killed, martyred for Christ.

We mentioned this when we went through Luke. We saw where Herod had put John in prison.

It’s implied here that John’s disciples were definitely loyal to John the Baptist. They were upset that Jesus was baptizing and getting more notoriety. They were concerned for John. Then we have John’s response.

John the Baptist shows us that he has a lot of insight into God’s word and God’s plan. He mentions the "bride and the bridegroom." He uses that as an illustration of himself but also know that God uses that in the Old Testament to say that Israel is the bride and He (Jehovah, God) is the bridegroom. In the New Testament, we know that the Church is the bride and Christ is the bridegroom. John the Baptist is relating to that when he says that he, the friend, attends the bridegroom, waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. He’s celebrating with the bridegroom. So John the Baptist is definitely giving an idea here that he is the one sent ahead of Christ, the Messiah, who will bring the Kingdom of God. We’ll see more about this in a minute.

As we anticipate the "40 Days of Purpose," and we try to understand our purpose in life, John the Baptist had a clear idea and a clear definition of his purpose in life. That was to be sent ahead of Christ. He came and plowed the ground for that. He says, "That joy is mine and it is now complete," meaning that his purpose was complete. He was ready to be put in prison by Herod.

If only we could get that across to ourselves as we continue to grow in Christ. Christ should become greater in our lives and we must become less. That is such a tough, hard concept for growing Christians. We all want to hang onto our identity. As a matter of fact, the world tells us over and over that we should "Stand up like a man", "I am woman. Hear me roar.", "Be your own person", "Look out for number one", etc. We will find through the "40 Days of Purpose" that our purpose is defined by God. Once that purpose is defined, we’ll find out who we really are and what our purpose is.

Obviously, he’s talking about Jesus Christ. Jesus came. He is God. He has seen God. He knows God. He knows all the attributes of God. He explains to people who God is but no one accepts it.

That gives us an indication again that the Holy Spirit empowered Christ to do what He did on Earth. Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit while He was tempted in the wilderness, while He performed miracles, while He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, while He was on the cross, etc. At all times, Jesus Christ depended on the Holy Spirit. We must also have the Holy Spirit at all times to get through this world. We also know from our study in the Old Testament that the Holy Spirit would come and go on people. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is our seal, our mark, and our guarantee that God will send His Son again. That’s the spiritual power we have within us as Christians, through the Holy Spirit. And he says at the end of verse 34, "God gives the Spirit without limit." He is not going to limit the Holy Spirit’s work in our life in the Church Age.

It’s interesting to look at the original Greek words in "Whoever believes in the Son." God reveals Himself and we decide to accept or reject His revelation. The Greek word for "believe" comes from a word that means "obey." So it’s, "Whoever obeys the Son has eternal life." The obedience there is not just for the commands of Christ which we follow as we grow in our walk and our life with Christ, but the idea that God has authority over our lives and we desire to obey that authority. If you understand the obedience, it follows that "whoever rejects the Son will not see life." We’ve seen that before in John whenever he uses the word "life." It doesn’t mean that they’ll be dead or anything but they won’t experience the abundant life that God has for them. "God’s wrath remains on him" means God’s judgment for sin remains with that person.

This is an interesting question that John the Baptist would ask. We’ve already seen John baptize Jesus and recognize and talk about the ministry of Christ. Obviously he knew about the coming Messiah but from his question, it looks like he’s asking, "Are you the One or is there another one?" John the Baptist’s idea of the Messiah is that he’s expecting someone to come and establish the Kingdom of God. From what he could tell from Jesus to this point is that there was no Kingdom established. Jesus talked about the Kingdom and preached about the Kingdom, but He hadn’t established an earthly kingdom. So John the Baptist was wondering, "What is Jesus’ purpose?" and he asks the question.

That’s the ministry of Christ, again, which John the Baptist knew.

A lot of that comes out of Isaiah, as a prophecy. That’s what Jesus is telling John the Baptist.

I think this may be one of those "tripping verses," like you’re going to blame Christ for falling away. Actually the concept here is that if you are not offended by hearing the things of Christ—His deity, His miracles, His resurrection, etc.—then you would be blessed. It’s the people who do not accept those things who will fall away in terms of being offended by Christ.

This is Jesus, talking to those around him about John the Baptist.

This is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God on Earth, talking about another man, John the Baptist. All of the things He said are very interesting. He asked the people why they wanted to go out and see John. He answered for them, "To look at nature? No. To see a sharp-dressed man? No. To see a prophet? Yes." Remember that we’re going into the New Testament. The New Testament hasn’t been written yet. The people were expecting the Messiah. All of the prophecy in the Old Testament was pointing to a Messiah. Here’s John the Baptist, a prophet.

Remember that I compared John the Baptist to Samuel and some of the other prophets of the Old Testament. We’ve had a 400-year period of silence and then John the Baptist bursts on the scene through a miraculous birth. He is a prophet but he’s also a priest, from the priestly line. Now he’s preaching and teaching God’s word. He says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is near. The Kingdom of God is at hand." He is a prophet and that’s why the people went out to see him. Jesus is reminding them, "Yes, you went out to see a prophet but you saw more than a prophet. He is fulfilling prophecy, ‘I send a messenger ahead of you who will prepare the way before you.’"

That’s a fascinating statement by Jesus. Of all the people who’ve been born, there is no one greater than John. Think about that. But as soon as He says that, He says, "Yet, the one who is the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist." How can Jesus be saying that John, being born of a woman, is so great and yet those who are least in the Kingdom of God are greater than John? Again, Jesus is presenting the spiritual perspective. John the Baptist was born of a woman, born in the world. There is no one greater on Earth.

But when you get to the Kingdom of God, there’s a whole new set of criteria for "greatness" and "least." We’ll talk more about this when we get to Corinthians, but basically our worldly priorities and our worldly criteria for "greatness" are turned upside down. I tend to think (and the Bible says) that the people who are least are the greatest. Who are the "least" in this world? It’s the prisoners, the poor, the widows, children, etc. These are the "least" in the Bible—those who are humble in spirit, those who know that they’re sinners and are saved only by grace, etc. In other words, from a worldly perspective, we’d say that they were "down and out" and not part of the "in crowd." But Jesus makes this very profound statement that in the Kingdom of God, those people are going to be even greater than John the Baptist. That’s just an amazing, amazing statement by Christ.

From a spiritual point of view, while we are on Earth, we are limited in what we have in terms of physical boundaries. In Heaven, those physical restraints will be removed. For example, someone who is handicapped on Earth will have that handicap removed in Heaven. We’ll no longer have earthly, physical limitations.

This tells you a little about Herod. Herod was a brilliant and brutal person. When he heard about the miracles Jesus had been performing, he was so obsessive, suspicious, and scared of John the Baptist because of the power and authority with which John the Baptist had accused him of sin. That’s mentioned in verse 3.

John the Baptist was someone Herod did not want to put up with. Herod wanted to get him out of his hair.

This should tell you a little bit about Herodias (Phillip’s wife).

Look at Jesus’ response to the news about John the Baptist’s death. John the Baptist was killed but he fulfilled his purpose in preparing the way for Jesus Christ. He plowed the ground. He is the key link between the Old and New Testaments in preparing for Christ. John the Baptist represented a "reawakening" of biblical prophecy. When John the Baptist came, everyone asked him, "Are you the Christ?" But he didn’t have a prideful bone in his body. He knew that he was not the Christ but was here to prepare the way, to recognize, to baptize, and to decrease as Christ increased. That’s a phenomenal recognition of a purpose in life.

As we get to the "40 Days of Purpose," each one of us will be challenged on what our purpose is here on this Earth. I know many of us will want to know, "What is my earthly, worldly purpose on Earth?" I can tell you right now that as you get into the Purpose Driven Life that you will not find that answer. You will find and identify your spiritual purpose for being here, identifying why God has pleasure in creating you, listening to you, and allowing you to worship Him. That’s what we’ll find out. John said that his joy was complete because he saw the bridegroom coming. That’s something I hope we can all say as we get into the "40 Days of Purpose," that our joy is complete—that we are set free from the bondage and physical limitations of this Earth and that we can understand and appreciate what God has done for us through His spiritual plan and purpose for each of our lives. I can’t wait for that to happen.