I want to turn to Luke's Gospel chapter 1, and we'll take the reading this Lord's Day from the 57th verse of the chapter. And so it's Luke chapter 1, and we'll read from the verse 57 of the chapter. Now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered. And she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child. And they called him Zacharias after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, not so, but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them. And all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. For he hath visited and redeemed his people, and he hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which had been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that 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, that he would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thy child shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. Through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. The child grew, waxed strong in spirit, was in the deserts to the day of his showing. unto Israel. Amen, and we'll end our reading at the 80th verse of the chapter. Let's seek the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we come again before the open pages of thy word that never changes. We thank thee for the record that is before us. We thank thee, O God, for the study that we have been considering together. And Lord, we cry again for the help of thy spirit. We pray, O God, that the spirit that helped Zacharias to prophesy here would help this thy servant to preach in this house today. We pray, O God, that we might, Lord, though we may not know what the future holds and we cannot, as it were, foretell what the future holds, that has been something that has passed from the church, that office of the prophet. And yet, Lord, we can still foretell, we can still, as it were, declare thy word unto this congregation and so grant the help of thy spirit to do so. Let us not rely on our own abilities or own skill, but grant, O God, the baptism, the infilling, the unction of God the Holy Spirit, that the word of God might settle in our hearts, Lord, that it might be beyond the reach of the enemy, beyond the reach of the foe. And grant, O God, then that word to germinate, to produce fruit in our lives in coming days. And so answer prayer, and glorify thy Son. We care only for his name and for his cause, for we ask this in and through, in the name of his own dear Son, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. Amen. Two utterances are found in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel in relation to the man that we've been considering over the summer months, John the Baptist. Last Lord's Day, we consider together the proclamation of the angel Gabriel to Zacharias concerning the son that was soon to be born into his home. I want you to notice that that angelic utterance. that assured Zacharias that God was going to work on behalf of his family, came to him when he was busy in the service of his Lord and his Master. You see, it was whilst Zacharias was busy working for God that God was busy working for him. And what an encouragement that is to all of us who are engaged in serving the Lord Jesus Christ. The encouragement that God is working in us, he is working through us, he is working with us, and thank God he is working for us. You see, if you're a believer here today and all that your Christian life consists of is getting from God, and you're never involved in giving to God in some form of service, it is very probable that you're not going to see God working very much on your behalf. If you had a son or a daughter who was, and I use a local colloquialism, as lazy as shock water, and I'm sure you know what that is, maybe your parents said that to you sometime in your life, you're as lazy as shock water. Well, you can never believe that if you're such a child, that such a child is going to be rewarded by their parents. It is a child who labors. It is a child who works hard. It is a child who honors the family name as the child that's going to know the favor and the reward of their parents. See, oft times God gives his greatest rewards. those who serve him faithfully. Maybe not in this life, but certainly in the life that is to come. We must never believe that God is just going to hand out rewards like sweeties on reward day and on judgment day to every one of his children. God expects faithfulness to him and he expects us to labor for him and it is such who will be rewarded beyond life's And so let us be careful that no one steals our crown from us, as we are reminded in the New Testament. Well, nine months of silence has followed the angelic visit in the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth, at least on the part of the head of the home, because of Zacharias' unbelief concerning the promise of the Son. But that silence was about to be shattered and broken when his newborn son, eight days after his birth, was circumcised and named. Now the custom of the day was to name the eldest son after the father. And so you can imagine the surprise within the local community when instead of this boy being called John, he was called Zacharias. You can imagine the surprise in Elizabeth's heart when that happened. They thought that he should have been called Zacharias, but instead they call him John. Elizabeth on that custom, and as they decided to call the boy Zacharias, she says in verse 60, not so, but he shall be called John. He shall be called John. Now knowing that there was no one within that family circle called by that name, using some sort of Sign Language. I trust that you understand that sign language is not something that is a modern day phenomena because we read there in the verse number 62, and they made signs to his father. It is believed that Zacharias was not only dumb, but he was also deaf as a result of his unbelief. And so they have developed some sort of sign language in order to communicate with this priest. And they ask him, what is the name of the child? Zacharias is asked for a table. He asked for a writing table that's believed to be a little wooden tablet, maybe covered in wax and then given a stick. And as he's given that, he writes these words, his name is John. John. Now the name John means the grace or the gift of God. We can translate it in this way, Jehovah is a gracious giver. And surely he is, brethren and sisters. Our God is a gracious giver. He daily loads us with benefits. And surely He showed His graciousness in the giving of His own dear Son. He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? And God has been gracious to us in all of the benefits that He gives to us. But as I thought about that, I thought about how God is gracious to us even when He chastens us, or chastenings. should be much severe than what they are. Our sins deserve a heavier chastening than what we presently experience. But God is even gracious as He dispenses and as He exhibits His chastening in the lives of His people. The grace of God. That's what His name means. The grace or the gift of God. You think of that. Can I say that it was the grace of God? that was going to pave the way. He was going to prepare the way for the one who was going to bring with him grace and truth. Because it was by Jesus Christ that grace and truth came. Grace paved the way for the God of grace to come into this world. John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming Messiah. It was at the moment that Zacharias finished writing John's name that we're told in the verse number 64 that his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue was and he complained about being deaf and dumb for the last nine months. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say that he murmured against God working against him and God judging him for his unbelief, but we read here that his tongue was loosed and he spake and praised God. It's sad to say that there are those that sometimes gather with us in God's house and they're not deaf and they're not dumb, but they do not open their mouths to sing God's praise. They do not even attempt to open their hearts and to lift their voices and to praise the God of heaven. It was in this hymn of praise that Zacharias was going to speak about the future ministry of his son. And that human utterance we want to consider today in a message I have entitled, Zacharias's Prophecy Concerning the Baptist. Last Lord's Day we looked about Gabriel's proclamation concerning the Baptist. Today we look at Zacharias' prophecy concerning the Baptist. Now there is something that we need to notice about this utterance by Zacharias. It is an utterance that runs from the verse 68 right through to the verse 79. And the thing that we need to notice within his utterance is that the vast majority of it is given over, not to speak about his newborn son, as newborn fathers would do. Whenever a child comes into the home, that's all that the conversation is about, about the newborn and how they're getting on. Are they a good child? Are they sleeping well? How are they eating? None of these things are spoken of, but you'll notice that the vast majority of that little section is given over to speak about the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that John was coming to prepare the way for. And again, I believe there is a lesson for us to hear, because our talk inside and outside this meeting place, when placed on a balance, ought to be weighed heavily down on the side of Christ and the things of God and the things that are eternal. Too often our talk, my talk, and if you were honest with yourself, your talk, too often there is found too little content with respect to God and with respect to Christ, and instead our conversation, our talk is about ourselves and about the things of the world. But here is a man, a man by the name of Zacharias, who got the subject matter of his conversation right, and he got it right at least on this occasion. Why? Because he was a man who was full of the Holy Ghost. Because we read there in the verse 67, and his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying, and when a man or when a woman is full of the Holy Ghost, then they're going to be full of Christ, and they're going to be full of God, and they're going to be empty of self and their own self-importance. Because it is the Spirit's work, it is the Holy Spirit's role to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore it is little wonder that John spends two verses speaking about his son and the rest of the verses speaking about the one whom his son was going to preach about and prepare the way for. He glories in his God. A God who is going to visit His people in the person of His own dear Son. He exalts the one who is coming to redeem His people from their sin and to deliver them from all of their spiritual enemies. It is a hymn that exalts God, His Son, redemption, salvation. Our hymns ought to be like that. Not self-centered, not hymns that focus on me and my that too often our modern hymns do, those modern hymns that are sung in different places. But the hymns that we sing should exalt our God. We are singing unto our God, and so Zacharias, he prophesies here, he sings a doxology, a song unto his God, and we're going to look at that. Now though much space is given over to the Lord Jesus Christ, when we do come to the verses 76 and 77 off the chapter, Zacharias prophetically speaks about his newly named son, and thy child shall be called the prophet of the highest. Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. Two simple thoughts today, just two. two main truths that we find and we can glean from these two verses with respect to John the Baptist. I want you to notice first of all the title conferred upon John the Baptist. The title conferred upon John the Baptist. As the Spirit of God takes possession of the lips and of the tongue of Zacharias, he confers by means of his servant Zacharias, he confers a title upon the child, a child that lay so helplessly probably in mother's arms as the wandering neighbors and friends looked on. And he confers the title, and thy child shall be called the prophet of the highest. You need to remember 400 years have passed since the last great Hebrew prophet, Malachi, had uttered a message from Jehovah. 400 years of silence. During those four centuries, heaven has been silent. But on the prophetic words of Zacharias, hope revived within the nation at the event that another prophet has come on to the stage of human history, a man who's going to come with a message from God, a man who's going to come with a message from heaven. The title prophet comes from a Hebrew word that means to boil. or to bubble over. And it is suggestive of the state of the heart, the inner man, that the prophet of God possess. One whose heart was bubbling over, boiling over with a message from God to declare on to his people. What a challenge that is for my own heart. I'm not a prophet nor the son of the prophet, as the old saying goes. We don't believe that the office of prophet still exists within the church of Jesus Christ. But thank God we can declare His precious Word. What a challenge it is to my own heart, as I think as I come along, Lord's Day after Lord's Day, Wednesday night after Wednesday night. Does my heart bubble over? Does it boil over as I come to God's house? Or do I drag myself into the pulpit, trying just to put in another day, just being a career preacher? May that never be the case. You need to pray that God's servant heart, it bubbles over, it boils over. I wonder, do you possess such a heart? Do you possess such a heart? Whenever we think of Christ, does your heart bubble over? Does it boil with love for God? Is your heart strangely warmed as you hear Christ preached in his fullness and the gospel that he offers to men and women? Have you experienced what these prophets experienced? David experienced this in Psalm 39 verse 3, My heart was hot within me while I was musing. meditating, the fire burned, then spake I with my tongue." I think of the prophet Jeremiah who said in chapter 20 in the verse 9 of his prophecy, then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name. How discouraged he must have been. Have you ever been there? Have you ever been so downcast within your spirit and your heart that you feel, what's the point in going on? What's the point in going out to a children's meeting again, a youth fellowship meeting? What's the point in going to the gospel open air again? I'm just going to throw in the towel. That's how Jeremiah felt. I'm not going to speak anymore in thy name or make mention of thy name anymore. And then he says these words, but his word was in my heart. as a burning fire shot up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing that I could not stay or I could not restrain myself but speak. Oh, for gospel truth! Oh, for gospel truth to boil and to bubble up in our hearts so that our tongues become the vent through which those truths are expressed to a needy world around us. You know, in every age, men and women have gone to great lengths and to great efforts to gain earthly titles. And many wait, I don't think anyone here but maybe you do, how many wait for the Queen's birthday list or her New Year's honours list in the hope that some title of the realm is conferred upon them by Queen Elizabeth II, and yet with all the titles that men can bestow, and all the titles that men and women can have before or after their names, there is none that can be compared, I believe, to this title, the Prophet of the Highest. It was not a title conferred upon the Baptist by any earthly monarch. This was heaven's conferment. upon God's servant, John the Baptist. He shall be called the prophet of the highest. Many crave for the titles of this world, and yet can I say that the titles that heaven gives are those that are to be cherished and to be prized above all others. Today, if you know Jesus Christ, you are a believer. What a title. You are a saint. You are a child of promise. You are the elect of God. You are a fellow heir. You are a holy people. You are the redeemed of the Lord. You are a son of God. You are a daughter of God. You're adopted. These are the titles, but some of the titles that heaven confers upon his believing people. What titles they are. John Butler, he remarked through the titles of heaven, are the greatest. The world has little esteem for heavenly titles and they generally do not have much esteem for those who possess heavenly titles either. Position with God means nothing to the world. The world only sees position with man as important. It is a tragedy to be so mixed up in the perspective and value regarding titles and positions. When you sell out for the kingdoms of this world, you will lose your perspective when it counts, or where it counts the most. Unconverted friend, what value would it be if men conferred upon you the greatest title that they could, and God still called you a sinner? Unconverted, unready, what would it be Or would it not be the greatest of tragedies for a person in this place to be commended by men, but yet to be condemned by God? Earthly titles carry no weight with God, and they'll all perish in the day when death lays hold upon the person who possesses them. All we go out with To meet our God is nothing but our naked soul. That's how we go out to meet our God. Our degrees, our titles, they'll all fall to the ground. And the only thing that will matter is that you are a son or a daughter of the Most High. Now, when we think of the role of the prophet, he had two main functions. the function of foretelling future events, while at the same time he was to be a teacher or a preacher of man and the things of God. Now John the Baptist was a prophet in both senses. We read of him foretelling of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Remember he said, I baptize you with water, but he that cometh after me, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He was speaking about a future event that would happen on the day of Pentecost. But he also taught men and women about their sin. And he also spoke about how they could be saved from their sin. As I've said, the office of a prophet we no longer believe exists within the church. However, we can, by God's help and spirit, teach others the things of God. We can exhort our fellow men and fellow women, country women, to leave their sin and to find salvation from their sins in the person, the righteousness, and the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, in his role as a prophet, Who was John to prophesy of? Of himself? Of another mortal man? Not at all. He was to prophesy of the one to whom all the prophets gave witness to. Remember Peter there in the house of Cornelius? He said there to him, speaking of Christ, gave all the prophets witness. Every single prophet gave witness to the Lord Jesus Christ that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. It was the Savior himself who rebuked those fellow travelers on the Emmaus road, O fools and slow of heart to believe, all that the prophets have spoken ought not Christ who has suffered these things and to enter into his glory. In other words, their message, if you wanted to sum it up in a very succinct, short statement, what did the prophets preach about? They preached about the coming Christ. That was what their theme, their message was. And so we read Christ wants to show those men on the Emmaus road that that was the case and so we read Luke 24 verse 47 and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded on to them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself every prophet from the first Adam was a prophet to the last Malachi was a prophet they all spoke of Christ we think of Adam He heard about Christ and he related it to his sons, I believe. We find them sacrificing at the altar. I believe that Adam spoke to them about the promised seed of the woman, speaking of the coming of the Christ. Think of Moses, he preached about Christ there when he saw the brazen serpent being lifted up. It's pointing to the remedy that's found in the one who shall be lifted up, not on a pole, but on a cross where Christ would die for sinful men. David the prophet spoke of Christ in Psalm 22. Isaiah the prophet spoke about Christ there in Isaiah chapter 53. Zechariah the prophet spoke about Christ as the smitten shepherd. And we could go through all. We could go through all of the prophets. We could find Christ in all of the prophets. What a subject matter. What a subject matter John the Baptist was given to preach upon. The Lord Jesus Christ. As I thought about that, I thought, You know how much John could have gleaned? He would have gleaned ample material from the Holy Spirit's utterance through his father that would have sustained him through the six months of his ministry and beyond if God had so willed it. What do I mean? Well, I believe that John, in his prophetic ministry, he could have spoken about Christ, the heavenly visitor of his people. Notice the verse 68. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. It's as if it's been done. God has visited His people. What a marvel! What a wonder! What a wonder that the God of heaven in His own dear Son would take to Himself sinless humanity, take upon Himself sinless flesh in order that He might visit His people, and not only visit His people, but save those people, His people, from their sin. Considering the great condescension of our God from heaven to earth, the cladding of himself with our inferior clay, the robes of our flesh, that sinless humanity. We consider that condescension, that coming down of our God. We would have to say in the words of the psalmist David, what is man? That thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man. that thou visitest him." The word visitus, or the word visit here in this verse 68, it means to look upon. It means to inspect. It implies a look, an inspection in order to know the state of someone or something in order or for the purpose of eating that person or thing. An inspection to know the state of something for the purpose of eating that thing or that person. As we think about that word and we think about how God visited As we look down into this world, we think about how God, from the heights of glory, from the very zenith of the created universe, from the very throne of God, their God in eternity, God looks down through time. and sees fallen humanity. He sees where sin is going to take that humanity into the depths and into the misery of sin. And yet in viewing that and surveying that and looking at that and knowing the very situation and the state into which sin would bring the world, God then came. in the person of His own dear Son to relieve the world and sinners of sin's misery and to bring salvation to them. God visited, God looked down, surveyed the scene, stepped into humanity, wrought salvation and redemption for us. And thank God became the Savior and the Redeemer of his believing and trusting people. I asked you this morning, this afternoon, has God visited you? Has God visited you in the gospel? Has he looked down into your state today? Has he looked into your heart today? And as he's looked into that heart, has he seen sin's misery? Has He seen where sin has taken you to? Ah, but more than that, has He stepped down? Has He captured that heart? Won that heart? Saved that heart? Sanctified that soul of yours? Has God in love looked upon you? And intervened into your life, delivering you from your sin? Is your cry today in this house? In the words of the hymn writer, visit me. with thy salvation enter my trembling heart. Oh may it be so. And so he could have spoken there, he could have spoken throughout his ministry about Christ the heavenly visitor of his people, but here's another thing he could have spoken about Christ the redeemer of his people, the coming of the Messiah. not only going, the coming Messiah was not only going to visit his people but he was going to redeem them. Verse 68 again, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. What a tragedy for God to come and to do nothing about our sinful state. He could have very easily done that. God came to visit and to redeem. There is the kind of thought that we have there in Luke 19 in the verse 10, the verse comes to my mind. He came, what to do? Seek and to save that which was lost. Terrible if he only had sought us and then left us in our sin. But no, he not only seeks, but thank God he sees. He not only visits, but he redeems. He redeems. The coming one of whom John was to be the forerunner was to redeem his people from what? He was to redeem his people from the slavery of their sin. He was to deliver them and to save them from the bondage and the curse of the broken law. He was to save them from the captivity of Satan. What a message the prophet of the highest was and had to proclaim. What was his message? Redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. That was his message. Let me ask you, are you redeemed? Has the blood of Christ redeemed you? Have you trusted in the price that was paid for your redemption? Are you trusting in the blood of Christ to deliver you from sin's curse and condemnation? Is your hope of heaven built only and solely and exclusively on Christ's blood and His righteousness? Christ the Redeemer of His people. But he could have also spoken about Christ, the strength of his people. Zacharias declares in the verse 69 and the verse 70, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he had spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began. The horn of salvation, the horn. It is symbolic of strength and power. It is symbolic of glory and dignity. And by using such imagery, we are reminded that Jesus Christ, thank God, is the strong Redeemer. He not only saves his people, but thank God he keeps his people He is the horn of our salvation. Thank God we have one in the glory land today who is not only able to save his people from their sin, but he is able to keep those very people. And though the enemy comes against us, God's power and his strength is engaged in securing us and shielding us from the enemy. And though we are weak in and of ourselves, we know it well. Yet because we are in union with Jesus Christ, His strength becomes our strength that enables us to face the foe and whatever God's providence chooses to serve up to us. He is the strength of His people. Oh, brethren and sister, you're weak today. Ah, lean on God's strength, lean on God's arm. He's the horn of salvation. He's the power that you need. He giveth power to the faint. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew. That little word you renew is exchange. They shall exchange their strength. What do they do? They exchange their strength for his strength. That enables them then to mount up with wings as eagles and to run and not to be weary and to walk and never to grow faint. Wonderful. He's the strength of his people. John could have spent his ministry speaking about Christ, the strength of his people, yes, and he could have spoken in the fourth and final place, he could have spoken about Christ the day spring for his people. Zacharias, verse 78, he speaks about the day spring from on high, the day spring from on high, whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us. And as he visited, That dayspring was to give light to them that sit in darkness. The next verse, 79. And in the shadow of death, to guide their feet in the way of peace. The word dayspring means the dawning of the day, the herald of the rising of the sun. It is that point where there is the change between darkness to light, It is the first approaching of the morning, in a word, it is the spring of the day. We only but change the words about. It is the springing of the day. And as John came, he realized that he was but the pole star, he was but the morning star, as it were, not speaking of Christ and the revelation who was given the morning star, but to herald the coming of the day, because there was one who was going to come. Malachi spoke of him as the son of righteousness. who was going to arise with healing in his wings. And thank God the dark night of sin was going to be brought to an end as Christ, who is the light of the world, came from on high to dispel sin's darkness through the light of his glorious gospel. The day spring is at hand. The day's spring is coming that John the Baptist would have preached about. Oh, let me ask you, has the sunshine, has the light of Christ's gospel shone into your soul? Has the dark night of sin's ignorance been replaced by the springing of the day? Has the night of weeping been turned into the morning of joy by gospel light? Have you escaped the dread and the fear of the shadow of death? and have your feet been guided into the way of peace. He had ample material. and what his father said in this particular passage to preach upon. He could have spoken of the heavenly visitor, the Redeemer, the horn of salvation, the day spring from on high. What need had John the Baptist to speak about anyone or anything else because the person of Jesus Christ would have furnished him with enough material for a lifetime of public ministry. May God help you and me to ever preach Christ and Him crucified, the sum and substance of special revelation. When we consider some other character or personality in the Bible, may we always do so by way of comparison to Him. Because yes, John was to be the prophet of the highest, but another prophet was coming. prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy chapter 18 and the verse 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren like unto me unto him ye shall hearken. It is a prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and Christ is the great antitypical prophet. He is the end of all the prophets. He is the one to whom all the Old Testament prophets pointed to. He alone is able to make fully known the will of God to mankind. Let us therefore, let us therefore come to Him in order to be instructed in the heavenly doctrine and to be built up in our most holy faith. I need to go quickly and I will be quick. We thought about the title conferred upon John the Baptist. Think about the task assigned to John the Baptist. What was he to do? Verse 76, he was to go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation onto his people by the remission of sins. Now this idea of preparing the way, it was an idea that came from the ancient practice of heralds. They would go before royalty or some dignitary. They would tell the people that this individual was about to come into their community and into their presence. And as they told the citizens that, those citizens would have went out into the highways and they would have prepared the roads. They would have cleared the roads of sticks and stones. They would have filled up the hollows. making the pathway smooth in order that the coming royalty, the coming dignitary, would find their passage to their hometown, their village, to be a smooth passageway for them. He was preparing the way. We have today, whenever royalty comes, the police come maybe a week, maybe a few days beforehand, and they start to search in bins, they look into your boot, they're looking for explosives, then they start to seal up all the manhole covers. What are they doing? They're making the place as safe and secure for that dignitary as they possibly can. Well, so John the Baptist, that was his job, to prepare the way, to prepare the way. How was he to prepare the way? Well, John was going to do a little bit of straightening out in his preaching. He was going to straighten out the people's ideas about the salvation that this Messiah was going to bring. You see, the residents of Israel, as they looked towards the coming Messiah, they were under the authoritarian heel of the Roman authorities. And so they believed that this Messiah, he was going to bring political salvation. He was going to bring a political solution to their troubles. He trusted that God's chosen one would deliver them from the oppression of the foreign power under which they were being oppressed and he would establish his own kingdom and then they would enjoy the freedom and the liberty that they once enjoyed as a nation. However, John's ministry was going to be a corrective ministry with respect to such thinking because instead of bringing political deliverance The Messiah was going to bring spiritual deliverance, salvation by the remission of their sins. John's ministry was to show his own countrymen and women that they primarily needed not some kind of political salvation or solution to their problem, but they needed spiritual salvation, spiritual deliverance, deliverance from sin. Now why the Church of Jesus Christ is to speak out on moral and political and social issues from time to time. Church of Jesus Christ is called by God to preach the everlasting gospel. Because when the gospel of Jesus Christ lays siege and takes hold of an individual, or a community, or a nation, that gospel will deal with the moral, will deal with the political, and will deal with the social issues that are at large within the nation. John Butler, he said, if John had preached a political salvation, he probably would have lasted a lot longer than he did in the ministry. That wasn't his message, brethren and sisters. And I say that this pulpit has only one message to preach, and that is the message that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners from their sin. Jesus Christ is the sum and substance of this ministry. The apostle Paul said, woe is on to me if I preach not the gospel. Gospel. And as long as I am in this pulpit, I will preach the gospel. It is the only message, sinner, that you need to hear, and it is the only message that you need to heed, that there is remission, that there is freedom, pardon, deliverance from your sins, and it can be experienced if you leave and cleave. Leave your sin and cleave to Christ. The task assigned to John the Baptist is a task has been assigned to us. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel." The gospel. There is so much confusion and there is so much wrong thinking that exists today about the matter of salvation. You talk to every person on the street and you speak about repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ and they'll look at you as if you have two heads. To them it is a foreign gospel. Apostate religion has muddied the waters when it comes to the cardinal truth of justification. They tell their parishioners that they must do their best, do the best they can, live a moral life, attend to the ordinance of the church and all will be well by and by. But God needs this company of people. God begs this church, this denomination to stand where the apostles stood, where the early church fathers stood, and where the reformers stood unashamedly to proclaim that a person is justified before God by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone. By presenting such a message. And then by the Spirit of God applying that message to the hearts and to the consciences of men, God will do something. He will send the light. And that light he'll send to those that sit in the shadow of death. And then their feet will be guided into the way of peace. His task was to preach up Christ. to uplift Christ, to turn all eyes to Christ. And that is my task. My task is to direct you to Christ today, to behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Oh, may God enable us all to follow John's example, speaking the truth of God and love appointing men and women and boys and girls to the only Savior who can secure the remission of sins by His life, death, and resurrection from the dead. May God help us to be those who preach the Word, gossip the Word, speak of Christ, and may God help us to be faithful to this task. And this task alone this task alone, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to a fallen, sin-blighted world. May God enable us to do it by the Spirit of God. May God encourage your heart even today through His precious Word. Let's bow our heads in prayer. We seek the Lord Almighty God, we thank thee for thy word to our hearts today. We thank thee for this man that we've been considering. He is but, as it were, the shadow. The sun will soon arise and he will be gone. His ministry will be short-lived, but six months, just six months. And yet Lord, we thank Thee for a man who invested his energy and strength into proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the one who gives and can procure and has procured and can offer to men and women the remission, the pardoning, the deliverance from their sins. O God, let us never be sidetracked. Let us, Father, ever preach the gospel. Let us be faithful to Thee and help us, O God, to remain true and loyal. to the crown rights of King Jesus. Help us to be the voice, O God, a voice in this community that speaks nothing of Christ, or speaks all of Christ and nothing of self. Grant, O God, men and women to be attracted to such a ministry. And Lord, may they ever leave this house speaking only of the Savior. speaking only of the Lord, speaking only of the Redeemer, the Dayspring, the one who came to redeem, the one who came and visited his people. Visit us again, Lord. Visit us with thy power, and may we know thy hand upon us. Hide thy word in our hearts and take us safely home, for we pray this in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. Thank you.