The Unbelief of Zacharias

Let's pray together. Father we thank you for the true fact that you certainly do love us so that you sent your only begotten Son into this world. We thank you Lord for the great plan of salvation that you in your own way developed for us and we thank you for that. We pray today as we have the wonderful opportunity to study that story and how you brought about your perfect will by sending your Son Jesus Christ into this this awful world to redeem our souls that we might learn to celebrate you even more because of your great and wonderful love toward us in Jesus name you pray amen.

Turn with me if you would in your Bible to the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 1 that's where we're at as we study the saga of salvation how it unfolds before us as we study this great and glorious gospel written of course by the good physician Luke. As we begin I just want to remind you of something that I think every one of us has to deal with and it's the issue of unbelief having just returned from Israel and watched the the nation of Israel live in a city called the city of peace Jerusalem and to realize how they missed the truth and how they miss it today.

I marvel at their unbelief. I marvel at the fact that they in spite of the overwhelming evidence of the Scriptures that they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. When we go to Israel we go to a place called the Pool of Bethesda. You can go there today it's the exact same location of John chapter 5. So when we get to the Pool of Bethesda we open up to John chapter 5 read the story about the man who was paralyzed for 38 years and Jesus heals the man in that location. And yet in spite of what God did in that man's life the religious leaders refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

In fact it was at the Pool of Bethesda where the tide began to turn against our Lord. And so when we are there we tell people that this is where everything began to erupt against him in such a way that the plot to kill him began. In John chapter 9 there's another incident in which our Lord heals a blind man at the Pool of Siloam that has just been excavated over this last year. So we went to the Pool of Siloam set on the exact steps that the people 2,000 years ago would sit on. It's at the base of the city of David.

It's a very significant place, a very strategic place when it comes to the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated every year in Judaism. But to understand what took place at the Pool of Siloam when Jesus healed a blind man it is the only incident in Scripture where our Lord healed someone with a congenital defect. Now did He heal others with that kind of situation? Probably so. But it's the only record we have in the Bible of Him doing so. A man who was born blind from birth and God healed him. He healed him.

He was able to see and in spite of the overwhelming evidence that this man could actually now see for the very first time in his life the people still didn't believe.

It couldn't have been the same guy who was blind who was there every single day. But it was. And reading through John chapter 9 and John chapter 5 how is it that Israel could still remain in unbelief is absolutely astounding to me. And then I begin to study more of the Scripture. And go all the way back to the story we just completed with the 10 spies in Numbers 13 and 14. When those 10 spies didn't believe Joshua and Caleb believed but those 10 spies they didn't believe. And they would die because of that unbelief.

And all those 20 years and older would die in unbelief in the wilderness. Because Israel refused to believe in God's plan and provision for their lives. And then I begin to think about Moses. We went up on top of Mount Nebo and we preached about the death of Moses. And were able to overlook the Jordan Valley and understand that God gave Moses supernatural vision to see from that location the Mediterranean Sea because you can't see it from that location unless God gives you supernatural vision. And how Moses because of his unbelief was unable to enter the promised land.

Numbers chapter 20 tells us that God said to Moses, because you disbelieved in me and because you dishonored me you will not enter the promised land. I go even further back to Genesis and realize that Abraham and Sarah had a problem with belief. They lived in the realm of unbelief. When a famine would hit the land instead of consulting their God and asking their God to provide for them they made their journey down to Egypt and that journey to Egypt because they refused to believe that God would take care of them in the land that he promised to give them would lead to a tremendous disaster with Hagar.

Because they would take this handmaid from Egypt, bring her back with them in Genesis chapter 16. Sarah came up with that great idea that because she was too old to have a baby maybe Abraham could go into her handmaid, her hand servant Hagar and conceive a child. They did. Ishmael was born. They've had problems ever since because of unbelief. Unbelief is rampant throughout the scriptures. There we were on the Sea of Galilee, open up to my favorite passage of the Gospels in Mark chapter 4 when Jesus said, you know what, let's get in the boat and let's go to the other side of the lake.

So they get in the boat, about halfway through a storm comes and all of a sudden the disciples begin to fear because they refused to believe that God had already said let us go to the other side of the lake. And so because of their unbelief they lived in fear. And God had to rebuke them because of their unbelief. Why is it you of all people, of all the people in all the world, why is it you who are with me every day refuse to believe in what I've said? But they did. In fact it was the most powerful pronounced after the resurrection that the disciples didn't believe.

In fact if you're in Luke chapter 1 just turn over one page to Mark chapter 16. It says in verse number 9, Now after he had arisen early on the first day of the week, he first appeared to Mary Magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons.

She went and reported to those who had been with him while they were mourning and weeping. And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her they refused to believe it. And after that he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country and they went away and reported it to the others. But they did not believe them either. These are the disciples. These are the faithful few. These are the ones who were supposed to believe him. And then it says this in verse number 14, And afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table, and he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen.

So here was our Lord having already predicted how he would die and how he would rise again after his death. He did die just like he said he would. He rose again just like he said he would. And his disciples refused to believe those who actually saw the risen Lord. And so when he returned to them he had to rebuke them once again for their unbelief. The amazing thing about the resurrection story is that it was the unbelievers who believed and it was the believers who disbelieved. Because if you read over in Matthew chapter 27 it says this, Now on the next day, which is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate and said, Sir, we remember that when he was still alive that deceiver said, After three days I am to rise again.

Therefore give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal him away and say to the people, He has risen from the dead.

And the last deception will be worse than the first. They were afraid he was going to rise from the dead. And these were the unbelievers. And so they wanted to make sure that that didn't happen. Unbelief runs rampant through the Scriptures. You know that's a good thing. Because you know what? There are a lot of times we don't believe what God says.

There's a lot of times we don't believe in anything that God says. And God has to rebuke us and He has to chastise us just like He did the disciples. The amazing thing about Mark chapter 16 is that after He rebuked them He commissioned them to preach the Gospel. That amazes me. After He rebuked them for not believing in Him He says, Now go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Tell everybody what you've just seen. In spite of your unbelief you go preach the Gospel. And of course they believed and they did go preach the Gospel.

And because they did and they were faithful to that you and I we heard the Gospel and we're born again today. Praise be to the Lord for that. But see here's the point. A lot of us live in the realm of unbelief. In Luke chapter 1 there's a priest named Zacharias who didn't believe what God said to the angel Gabriel. We're going to study what it is he didn't believe, what happened to him and begin to understand what we need to have happen in our lives so we don't find ourselves in that same kind of predicament.

Luke chapter 1. Let me read to you the portion of the story that was best appropriate for us today. Our verses specifically our verses 18 down through verse number 25. But I think it's important because I've been gone for a couple of weeks to go back to verse number 5 and pick up the narrative there. It says in the days of Herod king of Judea there was a certain priest named Zacharias of the division of Abijah and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth and they were both righteous in the sight of God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

And they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years. Now it came about while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division according to the custom of the priestly office he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense burning. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing to the right of the altar of incense and Zacharias was troubled when he saw him and fear gripped him.

But the angel said to him do not be afraid Zacharias for your petition has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you will give him the name John 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 he will drink no wine or liquor and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God and it is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Wow! What a scene! Let me talk to you about his private revelation. Here is the man Zacharias a priest one of 18,000 priests at this time. And we told you before that two weeks a year they would go to the temple to perform their priestly duties. This was one of those weeks. And he was a blameless man. He walked righteously. He was a sanctified man. He was a justified man. He had found favor in the eyes of God and God had saved his soul. And yet in spite of that there was this malady that he and his wife had and that was she was without child.

She was barren. And the Scriptures want us to know that because you see that was a stigma in Judaism in those days. In fact in Judaism today it is a stigma. To be married and have no children would mean that God has not looked favorably upon you and there is something wrong with you. You probably sinned and therefore there is something wrong with your spiritual walk. And this guy is a priest. And he is supposed to counsel people in the ways of God and he is supposed to lead people toward a deeper walk with God and yet he has this stigma attached to him.

His wife is barren. And maybe that would hinder some of his priestly duties in his hometown. We don't know that. But we do know that he was a priest. And it just so happens on this day in Luke chapter one that the lots were drawn and his name came up. And he had something to do that he would never have another opportunity to do his entire life. And that was to put those coals on that burning incense and to let that smoke rise up to heaven which was symbolic of the people on the outside of the temple praying.

Asking for the forgiveness of sins and praying for the Messiah to come. And maybe when Zacharias did it on this one time as he went into the holy place he had never been there before. He was unable to go into the Holy of Holies but he was able to go to the holy place having never been there before, having had this one time opportunity to take those burning coals and pour the incense over them right next to the veil where the Holy of Holies is. It was a very special day for Zacharias. And maybe as he poured that incense over those burning coals he offered up one last prayer.

Oh God of heaven if it be your will cause my wife to have a child. Maybe that was his last prayer. And there was this man and he has this private revelation. All of a sudden there appears this angel right there. And the angel gives him a tremendous message. Your prayers have been heard Zacharias. Great things are going to happen. Your wife is going to have a baby boy. Not like any other baby boy who has ever lived before. He will be the forerunner to the Messiah. He is going to bring joy and gladness to your heart.

He is going to bring joy and gladness to many people. He is going to be used in a great and mighty way. This is a great thing Zacharias. He is going to be the forerunner to the Messiah. He is going to prepare the hearts of people. He is going to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children. He is going to preach repentance. People are going to give their lives to God. He is going to be used in a supernatural kind of way. He has got an incredible calling. You think Zacharias would say oh man thank you.

This is great. I can't wait to go home and tell Elizabeth. I've got to run out of here. But that's not the way it happened. After having a private revelation I want you to look and see his priestly response. Verse 18, And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this for certain? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. Instead of belief there is distrust. There is disbelief. He questions what has just been said to him. I know I've been praying for upwards of 60 years for an answer to prayer.

And just because you are here today doesn't mean I'm going to believe what you say. You are going to have to give me some proof. You are going to have to give me some evidence. I mean after all angels don't speak to people anymore. It's been 500 years since an angel spoke to anybody. Zacharias knows that. He's a priest. He knows the Old Testament. It's been 400 years since God has spoken. So how do I know God is speaking through you? It's been 800 years since there has been a miracle in Israel. And now you expect me to believe that my barren wife is going to conceive a child and he is going to be the forerunner to the Messiah.

In other words Zacharias says you've got to be kidding me. This isn't April Fool's is it? This can't be happening to me. And Zacharias expresses his unbelief. And I begin to think about that and realize you know that's a lot like you and me. We pray for something to happen. And we pray and we pray and we pray. And you know what? God answers prayer and we don't believe. It reminds me of what took place in Acts chapter 12. Remember that story when Peter was in prison? James was now dead and Peter was in prison and the plan was to kill Peter.

So because Peter was a great man of God the church got together and decided to pray for the release of Peter. So the church had a prayer meeting. And the Bible says in verse 5 of Acts chapter 12 that they prayed fervently.

It wasn't a kind of fly by night kind of prayer where you just offer one up to God on the way to work. It was a fervent kind of prayer and the church had gathered together that God would do a great and mighty work. I mean James is dead. Peter is nixed. God you've got to do something. God you've got to step in. God you've got to make it happen. And the Lord God sent an angel to prison to release Peter from prison. Peter thinks it's a vision until he finally realizes that once he gets outside the gates and it's the middle of the night that it's not a vision anymore it's reality.

And so what does he do? Well it says in verse 11 that when Peter came to himself he said, now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. What were they expecting? Death. And when he realized this he went to the house of Mary the mother of John who was also called Mark where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gate a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.

And when she recognized Peter's voice because of her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. And they said to her, you must be out of your mind. But she kept insisting that it was so. And they kept saying it must be His angel. Now you must understand the significance of this. Here they are praying for something great to happen with Peter and Peter shows up at the door. And so when Rhoda goes back to tell Him God has answered our prayers.

Peter's at the door. They're saying oh Rhoda sit down. God doesn't answer prayers like that. We need to pray some more for Peter's release. That's in essence what they're saying. And she keeps insisting no it's Peter. He's at the door. It can't be Peter. God doesn't do that. It must be His angel. You see the ridiculous attitude of these people. But it's just like you and me. We're the same way. God doesn't do that anymore. God doesn't answer prayer that way anymore. We don't believe. But Peter continued knocking.

And when they opened the door they saw Him. And they were amazed. How do you know you pray? How do you pray in unbelief? Whenever you're amazed when God answers. That's how you know. You ever heard people give testimony? We prayed and prayed and lo and behold my Father got saved. I was so amazed. Why were you amazed? Because you prayed in unbelief. That's why you were amazed. You said well wait a minute. I thought God only answers prayers of those who pray believing. Let me tell you something.

If God had to wait for you and me to believe everything that He said He'd never answer any prayer. You see God has a plan and it runs perfectly on course every way. And God doesn't need your prayers to make that plan effective. God doesn't even need you to make that plan effective. Because God is going to initiate His plan, His way, His timing without any help from anybody else because God doesn't need our help. Thank you Harold. That's good. Hallelujah. You know we tend to think that God needs our help.

In Acts 12 is a perfect illustration. God doesn't need our help. God's going to do a great work. But the next time you stand amazed at an answer to prayer realize that you were amazed because you prayed truly in unbelief not in belief. And here is Zacharias. Zacharias is a priest. Zacharias is a master of the Old Testament. He knows about angels appearing. He knows when the last time an angel appeared 500 years ago. He knows about the miracles of God because he knows the life of Elijah and Elijah.

He knows when God spoke last to the prophet Malachi. He knows all that stuff. That's probably to his disadvantage. Not to his advantage. And so having known all that he's thinking 80 year old women don't have babies. Now he knows the story of Abraham and Sarah. But see that's a lot like us too. We know the story of Abraham and Sarah. We know the story of Daniel and the lion's den. We know the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We know the story about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

And yet for some reason we can't translate that into our lives. We can't sit back and say you know what I am going to believe what God has done and trust Him because I have seen what He's done in the past and have a written word that gives me an encouragement to trust Him in the future. But we tend not to do that. And that's why this story in Luke 1 is so marvelous. Because in spite of Zacharias' unbelief it's still going to happen. Because God's got a plan. It's going to follow that plan exactly as He wants it to happen.

Verse 19, the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel. Now you know there are so many angels that we can't even begin to count them. But we only have two names, Michael and Gabriel. Michael's the warrior. He's the fighter. Gabriel's the, he's the messenger. Over in Luke chapter 1 verse number 26 it says, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. Because Gabriel is going to give an announcement now to Mary. And Mary will believe in spite of the fact that she's a virgin.

She's going to believe. And she's only about 12 or 13 years of age. Zacharias is about 80 years of age. He's a priest. He's a master of the Old Testament. He doesn't believe. Figure that one out. And so we begin to realize that God is at work in a tremendous way in the life of Zacharias. And so Gabriel says, I'm Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God. You want to know who I am, Zacharias? I am the man. Well in this case I am the angel. Okay. And I'm here to let you know that I stand in the presence of God.

And God sent me to you. And God told me what to say to you. And I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. Euangelion. I have come to bring you the gospel. Ten times it's used in the gospel of Luke. This is good news. This is the best of all news. Because this initiates the whole plan of salvation for man. For him to be able to see it unfold before his very eyes. And it begins with a forerunner. Your son's it. He's the one who comes in the spirit and power of Elijah. He's the guy.

I'm here to let you know that God sent me to tell you about this good news. The good news of the gospel. It's not about judgment, Zacharias. It's about joy. You better start feeling some joy because this is what it's about. So we go from the private revelation to the priestly response to number three, the personal reproof.

The personal reproof. Verse 20. And behold, Zacharias, stand amazed. Watch and see. You don't believe this? Well guess what? You shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place because you did not believe my words which shall be fulfilled in their proper time. Here's the personal reproof. You don't want to believe me? Tell you what. You can't speak for the whole nine months of the pregnancy. Not only can you not speak, you can't hear. You'll be silent. You won't be able to hear.

Over to verse number 62 of Luke 1. It says this. And they made signs to his father as to what he wanted him called. This is after the birth of John. They had to make signs to him because he couldn't hear them, see? He couldn't speak. He couldn't say what had just happened to him. He couldn't tell anybody the good news because he disbelieved. If you're going to be faithless about what I've said, you'll be useless in proclaiming the message. So therefore, can't say anything, can't speak, and you can't hear until the birth of the child because he says, which shall be fulfilled in their proper time.

God's got a plan that's going to go on course whether you believe or whether you don't and whether you tell anybody about it or whether you don't, Zacharias, because this is about God's plan. And you chose not to believe God's plan. Now think about that. Here he was, a priest. He's a man who's supposed to counsel people in the ways of God. He's the man who would teach people the Old Testament that they might understand about the coming of the Messiah and all that entailed. And now, he knows what Malachi 3 says and Malachi 4 says.

He knows what Daniel 9 says. He knows what the Old Testament prophets said about the coming of the Messiah and that there'd be a forerunner that would come before the Messiah. He knows all that. So when told, he doesn't believe. And because he doesn't believe, the angel says, you know what? You can't say anything and you won't be able to hear anything. Now you think about that and just think what it would be like if God did that today to you and me. Can you imagine it? Having heard the sermon, getting up, getting into the car, and looking at your husband and saying, well, honey, what did you think of today's sermon?

Honey? Honey? He can't hear you. Honey? Oh, honey. You didn't believe what the Word of the Lord said today, did you? And God made you deaf and dumb. Well, you're going to learn next time, aren't you, sweetheart? You're going to believe what the Word of the Lord says. And see, we'd be going out of deaf and dumbness, you know, week after week after week, you know? There'd be one week we'd hear real well and speak real well, and the next week we wouldn't hear at all and wouldn't be able to say anything because we didn't believe what the Bible says.

And so we need to come to grips with the fact that when God speaks, we need to believe everything He says. Everything. Not just certain things, or not just things that we like, but everything that He says. Zacharias had this great news, and he couldn't tell anybody for nine months. He couldn't say a thing. When people asked, what happened? He had to write it down. I was in the holy place, and it would just so happen that the Lord allowed me to be the one to offer up the burnt incense that day. He's writing all this stuff down.

And an angel came to me. The angel's name was Gabriel. He told me what was going to happen. I didn't believe. I refused to believe what the angel said. Therefore, I can't speak, and I can't hear. Can you imagine, as a priest, having to say that to your parishioners, or to your fellow priests, or better yet, to your wife? Can you imagine the journey home? I mean, wouldn't you like to go home and say, hey, babe, guess what I heard today? Guess what's going to happen, Elizabeth? You're going to have a kid.

It's going to be John. He couldn't even do that. He went home, and Elizabeth says, hey, honey, how was your day at the temple? Good day? He doesn't even hear you. Of course, that's a lot of husbands today, you know. But he goes, he doesn't even hear you. Doesn't hear a word you say. And he comes home, and he can't speak to you, tell you what happened. So he's like, you know, trying to go through all these gyrations, and Elizabeth's saying, Zacharias, how come you're not speaking to me? Zacharias, what happened at the temple today?

Zacharias? Zacharias, how come you're not talking to me? What's wrong with you, Zacharias? You can imagine the conflict that must have taken place between Zacharias and Elizabeth. When he finally got home, he couldn't speak, and he couldn't hear.

Wow. What a reproof. Just because he wouldn't believe what the angel said about his son. I thought about that every day, every moment for nine months, not being able to say a word or to hear a word. Boy, I tell you, that would sink deep. Now, when he has finally the opportunity to say something later on in Luke chapter 1, he bursts forth in such a tremendous praise to his God for what God does.

And he gives us the whole history of the Abrahamic covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the New Covenant as he begins his song in Luke chapter 1 at the end of the chapter. It's a tremendous study. I spent several weeks there understanding exactly what he said. But he finally bursts forth in praise.

I mean, after being shut up for nine months, I mean, you know, priests preach. You know what I'm saying? They've got to tell people the truth. When you can't say something, you're in trouble. And so after nine months of being pent up without any opportunity to speak, he lets it all out, because he can't wait to finally praise his God.

You know, to hear the Word of the Lord is a great privilege. And when you hear the Word of the Lord, the greatest of all privileges is to be able to explain that Word to somebody else. And Zacharias was able to do that. Point number four, I want you to notice with me the public reaction.

Now, imagine the people. They can't figure out what's wrong with Zacharias. How come he's not coming out of the holy place? Did something happen? Did he dishonor God? Did God zap him dead? How come he's not coming out? And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were wondering at his delay in the temple. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he kept making signs to them and remained mute. They realized because he was awestruck.

Whenever sinful man comes in contact with a holy creature such as an angel, he's awestruck. And this man was completely changed on the outside. But they couldn't understand what the delay was, because they knew about Nadab and Abihu when they offered up strange fire to the Lord, and the Lord zapped him. People of Israel know about that story. Can't offer up strange fire to God, and he accepted that, and he killed the sons of Aaron. And then you have the study of Uzzah in the Old Testament. Remember Uzzah?

God gave specific directions on how to carry the ark. Two poles. That's how you carry it. On your shoulders. Well, Israel had a better idea. Poles can be a little dangerous, so let's put it on a cart so it doesn't tip over. So they put it on a cart, and God said, that's not what I said. But they had a better idea. Like you and me, we have a better idea. God says, this is what I think you ought to be doing.

We say, no, that's not a good idea, God. I've got a better one. So we enact our plans. So they did. And all of a sudden, as they began to journey, the ark began to fall. So what did Uzzah do? I mean, this is representative of the presence of God. You can't let it touch the ground, right? So he keeps it from falling. God strikes him dead. Poor guy. But you know, if they just would have done what God had said, that would have never happened. And God demonstrated that day His holiness and His reverence.

He said to them, when I say to do something a certain way, you do it my way, and don't do it your way. And if you do, you will die. See, we don't believe that. God says the wages of sin is death.

And we say, well, I can be sort of good and still get to heaven. And God says, no, you can't. And we say, well, yeah, we can. We can do some good things to get us there. And God says, it's only by grace through faith.

There's no other way. I'm the only way. There's not a myriad of ways to heaven. There's only one way. It's my way. And if you don't do it my way, you'll never see me. See, we don't understand that. Now, for granted, we here, for the most part, do, because we've given our lives to Christ, and we understand the way of salvation. But in the practicality of daily living, sometimes we don't believe what God says.

And so the people sitting outside the temple are wondering, what happened to Zacharias? He must have done something wrong. He's not coming out. And all of a sudden he comes out, but he can't speak. He can't tell them what took place. He had to sign it to them. But they realized that he had seen a vision, that something had taken place in there that doesn't normally take place, because something happened in the life of Zacharias. And then in verse number 23 of Luke 1, it says this, It came about when the days of his priestly service were ended, he went home.

Kind of an odd ending for a phenomenal day. Would you not agree? Well, when it was all over he went home. That's it. That's all the Bible tells us about what took place. We don't know anything about the conversation between he and Elizabeth. We don't know anything about his route on the way home. We know nothing except that when his priestly duties were over, he simply went home. Now that tells me, when you go to church and you don't believe what the Bible says, you just simply go home.

That's it. You just go home. Ain't much to it. But when you believe what God says, and you act upon what God says, you do more than just go home.

You become his representative of the kingdom of God. Which leads us to our last point, and that is the powerful result. God is so good in spite of the unbelief of Zacharias. Verse 24, And after these days Elizabeth, his wife, became pregnant. Now see, she didn't become pregnant before those days. She became pregnant after those days to make sure there was no scandal. God's very good at making sure everything is above board, everything is clean, concise, and we understand what takes place. After these days, Elizabeth, his wife, became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months.

Why? Why does she keep herself in seclusion for five months? She's in her 80s. She's been barren. Who's going to believe what she says? Who's going to believe the wife of a crazy man? The guy who doesn't believe? The guy who can't speak? The guy who can't hear anymore? Who's going to believe that? Guess what? I'm pregnant. Right. You haven't been pregnant for 80 years. What makes you think you're going to get pregnant now? And look at your husband.

He's wacko. He can't speak. He can't hear because he doesn't believe in the Word of the Lord. What kind of man do you have in your house? So she kept herself in seclusion until she was able to show. See? Because who would believe her? In those days they didn't wear, unfortunately, the clothes we wear today. Those little tight things, you know, so everybody knows you're pregnant from the very first day you conceive.

Okay? In those days they wore really baggy clothes. So it would take quite a while before someone would notice that you actually were beginning to protrude and you actually had a baby inside of your stomach.

And so she remained in seclusion for five months. In verse 25, and then she says, this is what she said. This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among men. She says, God has graced me. God has shown favor toward me. God has looked down upon me and he's blessed me. You know, Elizabeth didn't even tell Mary. Gabriel had to tell Mary that Elizabeth was pregnant because nobody knew. And she would look to her Lord and she would praise him and thank him because he had dealt bountifully, bountifully with her and her husband.

This couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth were devout people. They believed in God. They loved God. But it just goes to show you how practical the Bible is because like Moses before them, like Abraham before them, like the disciples after them, they had periods of disbelief. Just like you and me. In spite of that, God is so wonderfully merciful and kind and graceful. He could have said, you know, you're not going to believe in me. I'll use somebody else. I don't have time for people who don't believe in me.

No, God works through that in our lives to get us to a point where we trust him and believe him all the more. And that's what happened with Zacharias and Elizabeth. She said, oh, God has dealt with me favorably. He has been so good to me. Of course, she waited and waited and waited and God gave her more than just another baby. God gave her the forerunner to the Messiah. God had her wait a long time before he answered her prayer because he didn't just want her to be simply another answer to prayer.

He wanted her to be an amazing example of what it means to patiently wait on God to come through in his time. And when he does, he does it for you. He gives you more than just a baby. He gives you the forerunner to the Messiah, the greatest man who ever lived, according to the words of Jesus. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and just the greatness of it. Thank you for how you dealt with Zacharias. We are grateful, Lord, that in spite of the times we pray and we pray with unbelief, you work through that, that we might learn to believe in all that you've said.

And I pray for all of us, Lord, that we've learned from this great and wonderful story this morning from Zacharias and Elizabeth about what it means to trust you and to believe in you. That when you say something, you mean it. You're a God of truth, a God who's faithful. And may we learn to believe you and trust you every single day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.