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Mesa Palms Seventh-day Adventist Church - Another Elijah · Adventist Podcast Network

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Pastor Dale Tunnell: Have you ever won something?
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know, when they have a drawing.
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: I remember going to uh an expo once and I was talking to uh
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: one of the people there that uh was operating a booth and they were giving away
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: uh an iPod.
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: And I
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: didn't know much about iPods, but I wanted one.
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: I said
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: I need that to
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Pastor Dale Tunnell: put some music on.
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And I'm going to put some music on there and I'm going to have something that I can listen to while I go hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
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And so I was talking to the person there at the booth and I said, you know, we can just save you and me some time.
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Just give me the iPod
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now.
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And
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then you don't have to call me this evening
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when you have the drawing.
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And
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uh
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I don't have to drive back here and pick it up and you don't have to plan a time to meet me to give me the iPod.
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He said, You know it doesn't work that way.
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And I said, well, it could work that way.
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You
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and I could just come to an agreement
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and
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we could do it.
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And he said, no, no, no.
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And I think
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that he was probably as surprised as I was.
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When he called me that evening
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and he said, You're the winner of the iPod.
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And I said, I told you I was going to win the iPod.
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I
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don't know.
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Some people just don't believe me when I tell them that I I'm one of the luckiest people in the world.
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I have won lots of things like that.
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I mean, I was listening to the
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the
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Christian music group
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radio program there in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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And they were
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giving some advertisements and they said, hey, we're going to let
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caller number seven
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is going to receive
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uh
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certificate from the cheesecake factory to have cheesecake delivered to you and the office staff that you have.
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And a cheesecake factory.
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I
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dialed on the phone
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and guess what?
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I was caller number seven.
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I told the
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office staff, I told Cheryl, I said, we've got a whole lot of cheesecake coming tomorrow.
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Well, who's gonna eat it?
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I said
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the office staff.
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Well, who's the office staff?
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I said, I got enough for the whole board.
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I know the board wasn't there for
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at the office every day, but
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Cheesecake Factory gave me enough for the whole board.
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And so I took advantage of it.
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I tell you, when it comes to drawings like that.
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I'm blessed.
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So a lot of times I don't enter anymore.
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Give other people a chance.
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Isn't that nice of me?
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Yeah.
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In our story today, Luke chapter 1, Zechariah
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had won the lottery.
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It says that the lots were cast.
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and he had won.
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His
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his
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habit was
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he would go to Jerusalem twice a year, because that was his term of service as a priest.
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He would go there twice a year for him to serve there in the temple.
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And he would normally serve at the
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various functions of the temple.
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But when they got there, the priest would have a
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lottery.
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Or they would cast lots.
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Or however you want to say
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what they did, they would cast lots
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and they would dis
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determine by the casting of lots
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Who was going to have certain functions and what their function was going to be during their one week of service that they were there?
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And this time
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Zechariah
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had won the lottery.
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He had
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the lots had been cast
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and he was chosen to get to go into the holy place
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and to get to go up to the
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the
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the
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the altar of incense in the holy place, and during the prayer time, when the people were outside praying, he was going to get to go to the
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the altar of incense
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and make sure that the incense was lit
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to make sure that it stayed lit, to make sure that the the
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smoke was ascending.
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I mean you can almost see
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Zechariah
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as he goes into
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the sanctuary.
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I wonder
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if he was a little bit nervous.
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I don't know, it doesn't tell us.
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One of those questions you would like to know, how
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often had he won the lottery?
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How many times had he been into
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the holy place?
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Had he ever gotten to go before the altar of incense
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before?
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Doesn't tell us.
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What kind of instructions was he given ahead of time?
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Did they remind him about what he was supposed to do?
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You know, sometimes when when we're in the in the back room in the in the library back there and we talk about coming out here, some people are really nervous.
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Have you ever noticed that?
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Some people they come up here and they're not sure what to do.
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Some people still ask me, Pastor, are you ever nervous?
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My answer is
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a little bit.
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There's still
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a tinge of excitement, a tinge of nervousness, a tinge of, am
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I going to do it right?
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Because the desire is not just to
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share what I've studied through the week, but to make sure I
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give glory to God.
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To make sure it feels like
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we've come into the presence of God and we have worshiped Him
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as a
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believers,
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as a church family.
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I wonder what Zechariah thought as he he he went in the to the
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the the holy place
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there
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as he he was standing before the altar, as he was making sure the incense was
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was going up as the the cloud of incense
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went up, I can imagine that he began to pray.
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Because that that that cloud of incense that was the the the
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to represent the prayers of the people and my guess is that that Zachariah had his
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his own prayers that that they were were were going up as well
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and he he he was probably standing there watching the
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The sanctuary filled with smoke, watching as some of the smoke went over the veil
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into
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the most
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holy place.
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Before the throne of God, you wonder what was going through Zechariah's mind.
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You wonder exactly what he was praying.
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The scripture says there in Luke 1 that all of a sudden he was startled.
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Luke chapter one, let's see, verse twelve
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It says,
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and when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
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It was a surprise to him.
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Nobody else was supposed to be in the in the holy place with him.
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He was
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he was doing the
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his function there in the
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holy place.
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He was he was offering his prayers.
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The people outside were praying.
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He was praying.
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And
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and
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Who
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was this
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in here with him?
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Scripture tells us that
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the angel was at the
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right hand of the
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the altar there, the the sign of favor, but my guess is
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Zechariah
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was so startled he wasn't recognizing right or left hand.
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He wasn't contemplating on on
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was the
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angel in the right place or the wrong place.
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He was just startled that somebody was there.
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The angel has to say to him, Be
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not afraid
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My guess is
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Zachariah thought that's easy for you to say.
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You're the one that startled me
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And then the angel says, Don't be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard
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Now I don't know how long the angel paused there, but my guess is there was a a dramatic pause
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and and Zechariah's mind began to whirl a little bit.
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What prayer is is is heard?
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What prayer is is the angel talking about?
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Because I've been praying many prayers and some prayers I've been praying longer than than other prayers.
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This is the prayer that
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Somebody just gave me as I as I came into the sanctuary and they asked for me to to to to pray for their loved one that was sick?
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Was it the the one that
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w they
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gave me that uh I'm praying for the the person that's having financial problems
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Which prayer are they talking about?
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Is it the one that I've I've been praying for for years
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that the Messiah is going to come?
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That the Romans are going to be overthrown?
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That we're going to get out from under the
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the
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the
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Oh, the slavery that we're in.
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Are we going to be delivered
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finally?
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What prayer are you talking about?
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Well that was a long dramatic pause, wasn't it?
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And then the angel continued on and says, Your wife
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Elizabeth
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will bear you a son, and you will call his name John
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I'm not sure Zachariah was all that excited about hearing that.
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He probably thought, oh, that prayer.
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That
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prayer was the prayer I was praying a long time ago.
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That was 30 years ago.
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That I was praying for the sun.
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That was
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twenty-five years ago that I had continued praying.
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That was twenty
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years ago.
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We were still praying for
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some.
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What are you
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what do
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what
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what
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what
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it
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What do you mean?
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The angel continues on, and you will have joy and gladness, and and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great
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and the
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in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's
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womb
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and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord
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their God, and he will go before them in the spirit and power of Elijah
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to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people
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prepared for the Lord.
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And Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know this?
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For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.
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My guess is
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the only thing that he heard from the angel was: your
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wife is going to be with
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child.
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The
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angel said those other things.
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But Zechariah was still focused on the one thing that
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the angel had said: how
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can this
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be?
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I'm old.
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I'm too old.
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Elizabeth is old.
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She's too old.
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This time has passed in our life
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You know, at Christmas time we tell the story about
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Mary
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and how the angel comes to Mary.
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And
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says that
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you're going to be with
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child.
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And the question she asked is, how
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can this thing be?
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I've never been with a man
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I mean
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Zechariah
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though, he he he's
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he's an old man.
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He he he's a priest.
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He's been
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he's been coming to the the sanctuary here
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year after year after year after year.
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He's been te
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Itching to the people around the
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The the
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the land.
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He's been going to from synagogue to synagogue.
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He's been telling people the stories of of the history of Israel
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so that people understand who they are as a people.
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He knows the stories.
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He knows the stories about Abraham and Sarah.
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He knows the stories about Hannah.
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He knows the story about people
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pleading with God for a child.
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And yet
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Zachariah
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says, How shall I know this?
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For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.
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It's hard for us to understand.
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Sometimes we say
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God, that's not possible.
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Have you ever said that to God?
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God, what you have in mind is is is not
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going to work.
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What we really mean is, God, that's not the way I do things.
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I mean, for for us, living in the day and age in which we live, we understand how things work, and there comes a time and place where
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Things don't work like that anymore.
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And so
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God,
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you can't do it that way.
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Zacharias should have known better
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Israel walking through the Red Sea on dry land.
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Israel walking through the River Jordan
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on
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uh on dry land.
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The way God had taken
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manna, day after day, a cloud by day, a fire by night, the way God takes care of his
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people.
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Zechariah
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should have understood
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Do we
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understand
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Desire of Ages, page 98.
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Says
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the birth of a son to Zechariah, like the birth of a child to Abraham.
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was to teach a great spiritual truth, a truth that we are slow to learn
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and ready to forget.
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In ourselves
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we are incapable
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of doing any good
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thing.
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But that which we cannot do
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will be wrought by the power of God.
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In every
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submissive and believing soul
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It was through faith that the child of promise
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was given.
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It is through faith that spiritual life is begotten, and we are enabled to do the works of righteousness.
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Had Zechariah forgot how it had worked in the past?
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How guilty
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are we?
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To say, oh, it
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doesn't work that way anymore.
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We can't do it like that anymore.
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Have you ever said that
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Sometimes we do, don't we?
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Okay, I'll try not to step on your toes too much right now.
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I had some things written down here to say, and I I I may get to them, but we'll wait just a second.
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Come back up here to verse sixteen.
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I skipped some good stuff here
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The angel talking to
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Zechariah.
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I'm not sure how this is recorded in scripture.
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I don't know who gave it to
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to Luke to write down.
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I don't know if it came back to Zachariah's mind later and he recorded what the angel
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said, because I think at the time
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when he the angel announced that they were going to have a child, I really believe that
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He didn't really hear the rest of the things the angel said.
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So
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maybe there was a question and answer time later before he went back out
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and
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And uh
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before he was muted, I'm not exactly sure, but it
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somehow
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got recorded here in Scripture
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Verse 16 it says, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord
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their
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God.
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Do we realize
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the times in which
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Zechariah was living
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I went back this week
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and I read some in
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Josephus
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about
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the times in which
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Zechariah
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was living.
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I read some in Desire of Ages
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about the times in which Zechariah
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was living.
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It says the the the Jews there at that time thought they had a monopoly on the truth.
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They had been given the truth, they had a monopoly on the truth, and they were going to hold on to that.
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It says that they were going to hoard the living manna.
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And because they had hoarded the living manna, it had
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corrupted them.
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Mana
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was supposed to be
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supposed to be picked up daily.
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It was supposed to be given to the people that needed to be fed by it daily.
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It wasn't just to be hoarded.
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In
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Desire of Ages, it says
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they they they
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hoarded that.
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They robbed God of his
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glory, defrauded
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God
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of what God had expected them to do.
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Does God have expectations for us
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that He wants us to do
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Are we very similar to the people of Israel?
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It says that the people of Israel
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that they were
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had become agents of Satan
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For the destruction of Israel.
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The people who God had called to be the pillar and ground of truth
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had become representatives of Satan.
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That's pretty strong words.
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They were doing the work that Satan desired them to do, taking a course to misrepresent the character of God.
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This was in the in the days of Zechariah.
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It goes further and it says
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Satanic agencies were incorporated with men, the bodies of human beings
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made for the dwelling
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place of God.
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had
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become the habitation of demons.
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The senses, the nerves, the
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passions, the organs of men
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were worked by supernatural agencies in the indulgence of the vilest lust.
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The very stamp of demons
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were impressed upon the countenance of men.
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Human faces reflected the expression of the legions of evil with which they had been possessed.
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prospect upon which the world's Redeemer looked.
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You talk about the
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the
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the day and age when Zechariah
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was living
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It says that
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people
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were possessed by demons
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many places.
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Have you seen a demon-possessed person?
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Have you seen a person that you thought was demon-possessed?
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If you haven't, I want to take you with me to to some
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to some other countries.
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I'll take you with me to to Mongolia.
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I'll take you with me to to Vietnam.
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I
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I have seen demon-possessed people.
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In fact, the families in Vietnam, the families will tell you that every family has
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Experienced
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a demon-possessed person within the family
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somewhere.
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You talk about spiritual darkness
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That's the way it was in
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in the days of Zechariah.
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That's the way it was in the days of Zechariah.
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In
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the people
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of God, the people of Israel.
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Luke chapter one, verse seventeen.
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The angel goes on and says, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of who?
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Elijah.
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That's a key text for our our our series that we're on.
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We just spent several weeks talking about Elijah in the Old Testament.
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The reason we have the title today is
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Another Elijah
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is
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because of this text right here.
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It says that
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this child is coming, and he's going to have the spirit and power of Elijah.
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But this phrase, the spirit and power of Elijah, it is coming from Malachi
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chapter 4.
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Written 400 years before this.
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Malachi
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chapter 4.
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Oh, let's see.
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Come down to verse 4.
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It says, Remember the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb.
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For all Israel, with the statutes and the judgment.
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Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
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before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
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And he will turn the hearts of the fathers of the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
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Almost a direct quotation is what the angel is saying here to
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Zechariah.
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It says, and he will come in the spirit and power of Elijah
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to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the
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disobedient
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to the wisdom of the
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just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
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I don't know if
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if
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Zechariah was hearing this.
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I don't know if he was understanding this when the angel was
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talking to him
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there.
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I don't know how long it took for him to
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process what the angel was saying.
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But the angel was saying was
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You're going to have a son, and your son
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is going to prepare the way for the Messiah.
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Yeah, we need to say amen to that.
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Let's go back to what the angel had said
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at first.
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Don't be afraid.
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Your
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prayer
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has
23:27
been
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answered.
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What had Zechariah
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been praying for?
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He had given up on that prayer for a son many years before.
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Zachariah was praying the prayer that every person in Israel was praying.
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Every person of Israel had been praying for years and years and years, at least 400 years since Malachi.
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That the person would come in the spirit and power of Elijah
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to prepare the way for
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The Messiah.
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Because when the Messiah comes, Israel is going to be back on top
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Israel is going to be the nation that rules all other nations.
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Israel is going to be able to overthrow the Romans.
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When
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when
24:20
when
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when
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the angel says these words, I am sure this is the thought that goes through Zachariah's mind
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when he gets over the fact that Elizabeth is going to be with
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child.
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His prayer, Israel's prayer, is
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going to be answered
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Oh, he's coming in the in the power of Elijah
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to turn the hearts.
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Oh
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my, this is the
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the
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They begin to replay the power of Elijah, the spirit
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and power of Elijah.
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Elijah
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prayed, and for three years
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there was
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a drought, no
25:11
rain.
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Because of the prayers of Elijah, the spirit and power of Elijah, Elijah
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stood before the king
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and said, It's not going to reign for years until I say so.
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Elijah was that that
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person of prayer and what was
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going.
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I wonder if
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Zechariah was replaying the story of Elijah.
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How Elijah knelt
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down there on Mount Carmel.
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How he knelt
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down and he he he he prayed and and fire came down from heaven and
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devoured
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the sacrifice
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The wood
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,
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the stones, the water, and how the people had cried out, Jehovah is
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God!
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Oh, I'm
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I I
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I'm sure that Zachariah
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was
26:06
was replaying
26:08
the story as it had been told down
26:11
through the ages.
26:14
They were looking forward to the hearts being turned
26:23
Oh, if only the Messiah could come.
26:33
The
26:34
hearts turn to the children
26:37
and disobedient to
26:38
righteous.
26:40
Make people
26:41
ready.
26:43
Oh.
26:46
Oh, what a blessing that would be.
26:49
Zechariah, how
26:52
will
26:52
I
26:53
know?
26:56
He doesn't ask, How will I know that the Messiah is coming?
26:59
He only asks, How will I know this?
27:01
For I am an old man and my wife is well advanced in years.
27:05
The angel answers,
27:08
The angel answers and said, Verse 19:
27:11
and said to him,
27:12
I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
27:22
And
27:22
behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you do not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time.
27:35
The angel gave him a sign.
27:37
He said, I am Gabriel.
27:41
You read back through the Old Testament, and the last time we read about Gabriel is where?
27:47
Daniel.
27:48
Do you remember what Daniel and Gabriel was prophesying to to Daniel?
27:55
Yeah, the the the kings and kingdoms and and and what was going to happen with those kings and kingdoms
28:02
and and how it was going to come and how the Messiah was going to come.
28:06
And
28:06
here was Gabriel again
28:08
announcing that the preparer for the Messiah
28:11
was going to come
28:14
Oh, if you had been Zachariah, if I had been Zechariah, I I I'd have been almost, what's that word?
28:22
Giddy
28:26
I'd be so excited.
28:27
I'm
28:28
filled with with joy and with
28:30
eagerness and with anticipation.
28:32
And
28:33
that little boy can't grow up fast enough.
28:39
Elizabeth can't get pregnant quick enough.
28:43
This thing needs to happen and it needs to happen quickly.
28:49
Those are the kind of things that would have run through my
28:52
mind if I'd have been Zachariah
28:54
hearing the words from the angel.
28:58
And then
28:59
to say, and you will be mute
29:03
and not able to speak
29:05
until the things this
29:07
take place
29:10
Would you like to be mute?
29:13
I don't know that I would appreciate that very well.
29:18
I kind of like
29:20
talking
29:23
I don't really like
29:25
writing.
29:28
I don't really like other ways of communication.
29:32
I tell people
29:33
if you want to communicate with me, call me.
29:36
Don't text me.
29:38
Don't send me emails.
29:40
Because if you text me and send me emails, that means I have to.
29:44
Text you and send you emails.
29:47
I'd rather
29:49
talk.
29:54
My guess
29:55
is
29:58
As Zechariah turned around and and and began to go out, and the people that were outside, because it had been prayer time
30:07
He was inside to
30:09
to
30:10
take care of the the altar of incense.
30:13
The people were outside.
30:15
It was prayer time.
30:16
They were still praying and they were probably wondering
30:19
why is
30:20
what's that word
30:21
Why is Zachariah
30:23
dilly-dallying so much?
30:26
Why is he taking his time?
30:29
What's going on in there?
30:31
They were waiting for him on the outside.
30:35
And it says there that Zechariah
30:40
The people waited for Zachariah
30:42
and marvelled that he lingered so long in the temple, but when he came out
30:46
he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned
30:51
to them
30:52
and remained speechless.
30:55
He
30:56
hadn't
30:57
passed sign
30:58
language
30:58
class.
30:59
He hadn't been in Pathfinder's where he learned to do the sign
31:02
language.
31:04
He tried to communicate with them.
31:06
My guess is he began to write and write and write and he had so much excitement, so much joy.
31:11
He
31:12
Where do you start?
31:13
Do you start with
31:14
I saw an angel?
31:14
Do you start with
31:15
Gabriel came to me?
31:17
Do you start with
31:17
Elizabeth is going to be pregnant?
31:20
Where do you start with the
31:23
Messiah is coming?
31:25
The person to prepare the way for the Messiah is coming.
31:28
The Messiah may very well come in our lifetime.
31:31
Where do you start with the message?
31:34
My guess is
31:36
Zachariah
31:37
had a message to tell.
31:39
And I wonder how much time he took to tell the message.
31:44
How long did it take for him to to get it out?
31:46
How long did it take for for people to understand
31:51
what was being said?
31:52
People to understand
31:53
play pictionary and try and draw something and people guess what you're trying to draw?
31:58
He's drawing pictures
31:59
and there's a the altar of incense
32:01
and there's an angel and
32:03
yeah, yeah, yeah, got
32:04
you got it.
32:05
Okay.
32:05
And he's
32:07
you wonder how he communicated the whole
32:10
story
32:11
so that they understood
32:13
what
32:14
was going to take place
32:24
Desire of
32:25
Aegis says, Zechariah
32:27
communicated to them
32:29
what he had seen
32:31
and
32:32
heard.
32:35
He shared with them
32:37
there
32:38
just outside the the temple.
32:42
He shared with them
32:45
his
32:45
testimony
32:47
Do you and I have a testimony that we have to share?
32:55
I I made a small announcement earlier.
32:57
This is a a longer announcement.
32:59
Do you know what next year is?
33:03
The year next year is 2027.
33:07
That's the anniversary of
33:11
Oh, some of you do know
33:12
Jesus baptism.
33:14
Jesus was baptized in 27
33:17
A.
33:17
D.
33:18
And so we are
33:21
next year we will be 2,000 years from Jesus'
33:24
baptism.
33:27
Boy, does that sound like a reason to celebrate
33:30
or
33:31
what
33:32
have we done to delay his coming so long?
33:37
Uh
33:39
he said he was coming back soon.
33:41
How long is soon?
33:43
He began having some of these questions.
33:47
Seventh day Adventist World Church believes that we have a testimony to share.
33:55
That Jesus is coming soon.
33:56
And 2027
33:58
is going to be another emphasis, another opportunity for us to share Jesus.
34:04
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
34:08
Does our world need to hear about Jesus?
34:11
Do you have any neighbors that need to hear about Jesus?
34:14
Do you know anybody that needs to fall in love with Jesus
34:18
Do you know anybody that Jesus can deliver
34:23
from demon possession?
34:31
One voice, twenty-seven.
34:34
Our North American division is kind of twisting a little bit and and
34:38
uh
34:38
With a theme
34:40
all things new, and
34:42
encouraging us
34:44
conferences and churches
34:46
to
34:46
pray
34:48
Pray, pray, pray, pray.
34:55
Shall I say it again?
34:58
Next, next, because
35:03
nothing happens without prayer
35:06
Prayer is the
35:08
key that unlocks the storehouse
35:11
of everything that heaven has to offer to us.
35:15
We need
35:16
to be people of prayer.
35:19
Did we learn that as we were looking at the life of Elijah?
35:24
Just a little bit, didn't we?
35:26
Is
35:26
he a man of prayer?
35:29
We need to emulate that and and and do
35:33
things similar.
35:36
North American Division is asking us to serve our community like Jesus did.
35:41
Does our community need us to serve them like Jesus?
35:46
Do we have opportunities to serve like Jesus?
35:52
Number three, they want us to share Jesus.
35:56
Do we have a testimony about Jesus to share?
35:59
What has Jesus done in your life?
36:05
And I'm not talking about 40 years ago.
36:08
What has he done in your life
36:10
last
36:11
week
36:12
Do you have a
36:13
current testimony that you can share about what Jesus has done?
36:17
They're encouraging us to
36:19
read the book, Desire of Ages.
36:22
Every member to read it.
36:24
Now they gave us some options.
36:26
They said we want you to
36:27
September twenty f
36:28
I mean September 5th, that's the kickoff day for that's why you're hearing about it today.
36:32
That's the kickoff day for
36:35
our
36:35
getting ready for 2027.
36:38
They said
36:39
you can choose.
36:40
You can read it uh
36:41
one chapter a day between now and New
36:44
Year's.
36:46
And go through desire of ages.
36:48
I'm going to tell you, I've tried that.
36:50
I don't read that quickly.
36:53
So
36:53
I did not choose that option.
36:54
Now if you want to do that,
36:57
You can go look at One Voice
36:59
27
37:00
and they have a reading plan there that you can read
37:03
Desire of Ages
37:04
that quickly.
37:06
I chose
37:07
a different option
37:08
to read it
37:09
over a year's time
37:11
with
37:13
the Gospels, not just
37:15
Desire of Ages
37:17
Because
37:18
we need
37:19
to be studying about Jesus, the life and teachings of Jesus
37:29
And then we need to be encouraging people
37:32
to
37:33
follow
37:34
Jesus.
37:36
Encouraging people to
37:38
live a lifestyle like
37:40
Jesus
37:41
would live.
37:42
That's why we're doing the the
37:44
Tuesday morning Bible study.
37:45
And I
37:46
like the idea of Tuesday morning.
37:48
It's a pretty good idea, but I would like it better if it was
37:52
was, how do I say this, not held here at the church?
37:56
Maybe held in one of your fifty-five plus
37:59
communities where you got a room for us to meet and we could have a
38:03
uh
38:04
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
38:06
focus for a year.
38:09
Or
38:09
maybe we could just encourage you to go and uh
38:12
join the Bible study in your community that's already going on, and you could could be there and encourage people to
38:19
to talk about Jesus, to lift up Jesus.
38:22
To join in the Bible studies that are already taking place in your community.
38:26
Jesus is already at work in our communities.
38:30
Do we understand that?
38:32
Jesus is alive and
38:34
we're not the o
38:34
we
38:35
we don't have a monopoly on Jesus.
38:38
We have something extra special.
38:40
We have we have a uh
38:41
a few more things that we can share about Jesus.
38:44
We have things that God has given to us.
38:46
But
38:47
we don't have a monopoly on Jesus.
38:48
He's already aware.
38:49
There are places that we can find to serve.
38:52
We don't have to
38:53
reinvent the wheel to be able to do this.
39:00
Okay, that's an
39:01
effort.
39:01
That was a commercial, long commercial.
39:02
I'm sorry about that.
39:04
I'm not sorry about that.
39:05
It needed to be said, but I want to come back to to John.
39:09
I want to come back to Zechariah.
39:16
Verse 23.
39:18
So as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his house.
39:23
And after those days his
39:25
wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, Thus the Lord has
39:30
dealt with me
39:31
in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among the people.
39:41
Come down to Luke
39:43
One
39:47
Verse 57.
39:51
Now
39:51
Elizabeth's
39:52
full time came for her to be delivered
39:55
She brought forth a son.
39:57
When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.
40:02
So it was on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child, that he would have called him by the name of his father
40:08
Zacharias.
40:10
His mother answered and said,
40:11
No, he will be called John.
40:13
But they said to her,
40:15
There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.
40:18
So they made signs to his father that he would have him
40:21
what
40:21
he would have him called.
40:23
And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, saying, His name is
40:28
John.
40:30
And they all marveled.
40:31
And immediately his mouth was open, and his tongue was loose, and he spoke
40:38
praising
40:39
God.
40:41
He had been waiting a while to praise God verbally.
40:45
He had been doing it through his life and through his actions.
40:47
He may have been doing it through through writing.
40:49
He may have learned how some sign language.
40:52
But he was excited for his tongue to be able to to
40:57
tell the good news about God
40:59
and what God
41:00
was going to do with his
41:02
son
41:03
John.
41:05
Look at the prophecy here.
41:07
Verse 67
41:08
it says now
41:09
his father Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit
41:11
and prophesied, saying, Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.
41:17
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
41:19
in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his
41:23
holy prophets, who have been since the world began.
41:26
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.
41:35
the oath which he swore to our father Abraham
41:38
to grant us
41:38
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him
41:43
without fear.
41:44
in holiness and righteousness before him
41:47
all the days of our life.
41:48
And you,
41:49
child
41:51
in his prophecy
41:52
now he's talking to his son
41:54
John
41:54
You will be called the prophet
41:56
of the highest, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his
42:01
ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins.
42:05
through the tender mercy of our God, with which the
42:09
day spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness
42:14
in the shadow of death, to guide our feet unto the ray of peace.
42:19
This was the prophecy of uh of Zechariah.
42:24
This was the
42:25
what happened when his
42:27
tongue was loose.
42:28
And he was able to
42:29
proclaim the prophecy that
42:32
the Holy Spirit came upon him to
42:34
share with the people.
42:36
I want to point out just a couple of verses here, verse 76.
42:41
Notice it says, and you, child, will be called the prophet
42:45
of the highest.
42:48
Oh, can you believe that?
42:50
I mean, just the sound of those words.
42:52
You
42:53
are going to
42:54
be the prophet
42:56
of
42:57
God.
42:59
Did you know what you were going to do from the time you were born?
43:03
Most of you did not.
43:06
I don't remember knowing it from the time I was born as well.
43:09
But by the time I was three, I knew what I was going to be doing.
43:14
What I desired to do.
43:17
I'm gonna tell you, John
43:19
knew
43:20
before his
43:22
conception.
43:23
Uh
43:23
John didn't know then.
43:25
Zachariah
43:26
knew.
43:27
John
43:28
was was told about it from the moment
43:30
he was born, what he was going to be doing.
43:36
Notice
43:37
here it says, For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his
43:43
ways.
43:44
You're going to have a special mission that is given to you.
43:49
Verse 77, to give knowledge of salvation to his
43:53
people
43:53
by the remission of sins.
43:55
He is going to be sharing a special message
43:58
at a special time in earth's history
44:00
so that people will repent
44:02
of their sins.
44:06
Oh, friends, sometimes I think we're living in the days and age of
44:13
Do I say Elijah number two?
44:17
If I say that in Asia, they think reincarnation.
44:19
You won't think that, will you?
44:23
They will think Elijah has been reincarnated and
44:27
come back to life.
44:28
This is not Elijah.
44:29
This is not a reincarnation of Elijah.
44:32
This is the spirit and power of Elijah.
44:39
Goes on and says, Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the dayspring from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
44:51
To guide our feet into the way of peace.
44:54
Oh
44:55
friends, there were there were people in
44:57
Zechariah's time and in Zechariah's day and the age in which he was living, they
45:02
needed to hear this message.
45:06
They needed to hear the message that that John
45:10
was going to be sharing with them.
45:12
They needed to hear that they could
45:14
could have their their sins forgiven.
45:16
They needed to hear that there was a God that had tender mercy towards them, that loved them and cared for them.
45:22
Verse seventy nine, they
45:23
needed to to receive the light
45:25
because they were sitting in darkness
45:28
They had death all around them.
45:31
It was not a happy place.
45:34
They were not full of joy and
45:36
peace.
45:38
Zachariah, if you will, in his prophecy, he is preparing the way
45:46
for the prepare of the Messiah.
45:50
He
45:50
's telling the people
45:52
the one
45:52
is coming that's going to give you even more light.
45:59
Don't you like it when that happens?
46:03
Well, I have a friend that's a a missionary.
46:05
He's he's a missionary in one of those closed countries that have uh
46:10
lots of of Muslims
46:13
And he says that he was in the
46:15
his favorite store there to go into.
46:18
He says it's almost as nice as Home Depot.
46:23
And he says he likes going there because it makes him feel
46:28
at home.
46:30
Meaning
46:31
back in the States.
46:32
He was in Home Depot.
46:35
And as he was going to the checkout line, somebody came to him and says, I know
46:43
you.
46:45
And he looked at him and he says
46:49
,
46:50
I don't recall you.
46:51
And he says, No, I know you.
46:54
I saw you last night in my dream.
46:58
And
46:59
you're going to share with me
47:03
about
47:03
Jesus.
47:07
What would you do?
47:10
If you went into
47:12
fries
47:13
tomorrow, you know, a little extra shopping for the holiday.
47:17
You're picking up some last-minute supplies for the picnic you're going to have
47:21
Monday.
47:22
And somebody came to you and said, I
47:28
saw you
47:30
in my dream last night.
47:33
And
47:33
you have something to share with me
47:36
about
47:37
this man
47:38
Jesus.
47:42
Are you prepared for
47:53
I want you to know
47:55
these
47:56
are the days of Elijah