The Revelations of God
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We begin here a series of studies taken from the Gospel of Luke. This is the Gospel that emphasizes the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. It will suggest many things to us that will bring great blessings. We trust that God will be with us in our studies.
Let us observe several things about visions and revelations in general, and in detail the particular vision that came to Zacharias.
1. We know God by revelation. No one by searching can find out God. When Peter said of Christ, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God," Jesus said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto Thee, but My Father which is in Heaven." "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: * * neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
The truth is that revelation is the sphere of the believer's walk. The mind may roam in the things of a man, but the things of God are open only to those to whom God hath revealed them.
2. The Bible is a Book of Revelation. The Bible passes back into the beginnings of history and tells us, "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth." No human eye ever saw the origin of creation. Angelic beings saw and shouted for joy; but man was not yet on the scene. In the "beginning of things" we must walk by revelation.
Revelation is the basis of all we know of the far distant past, and revelation is the basis of all we know of the far-flung future. Salvation, itself, is a revelation. Christ as Son of God and Saviour is a revelation. The judgments of the Tribulation, of the Bema, and of the Great White Throne are all revelations.
The Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to show to willing and believing minds.
Let us now study the various aspects of revelation which the Scripture lesson presents.
I. A REVELATION TO A MAN RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD (Luke 1:5-6)
We read that Zacharias and his wife were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments of the Lord blameless. It was to such an one that God came to make Himself known, and to reveal His purposes.
1. God revealed Himself to Abraham. The Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do * *? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him."
2. God revealed Himself to David. David was a man after God's own heart. God said unto Nathan, "Go and tell David My servant, Thus saith the Lord." Then a revelation was given unto him concerning the establishment of his kingdom forever, and David learned by revelation that Jesus Christ was to sit upon his throne.
3. God revealed Himself to Isaiah. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filling the Temple; but it was only after the Lord had touched Isaiah's mouth and had taken his iniquity away and purged his sin, that the many marvels of prophecy, found in his Book, were revealed to him.
II. A REVELATION TO A MAN STRICKEN IN YEARS (Luke 1:7)
Our text says of Zacharias and Elisabeth that they had no child, and they were both well stricken in years.
1. God works where man cannot move. It is nothing with the Lord to do the impossible and to accomplish the miraculous. The Lord said to Israel, "Go forward," even when there, was an impassable sea before them.
David said, "By Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall."
He who believes God only in the realm of the natural limits the Holy One of Israel. We read of the Old Testament worthies that they accounted "that God was able." It was for this cause that they staggered not at the promises.
2. God promises to accomplish the impossible. God, by revelation, told Zacharias that his wife would bear him a son. The fact that they were both stricken in years was no hindrance to God.
The impossible has often been accomplished, for, with God, all things are possible, and what He says, He is able to perform.
In the light of past victories, in the light of past accomplishments, wrought by the hand of God, let us believe Him for future victory.
"Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" Nay, we can do "all things through Christ which strengtheneth us." Let us, then, be willing to attempt great things for God, and to expect impossible things from God. "All things are possible * * only believe."
III. A REVELATION GIVEN IN TIME OF SERVICE (Luke 1:8-10)
We read in verse eight that while Zacharias "executed the priest's office before God in the Order of his course," that the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, "standing on the right side of the altar of incense."
To me it is a very wholesome thought that the angel should speak to this man while he was in the Temple burning incense. It would not have been difficult for the angel to have spoken to him elsewhere; but it was eminently proper, and strikingly appropriate, that God's messenger should appear in God's House.
The priesthood of that day possessed some men who truly loved the Lord. Zacharias was righteous before God, walking in all the commandments of the Lord blameless. Sometimes those who are true, find themselves connected with a system which is not true to God. They, however, can, themselves, be faithful, no matter the environment in which they move.
It was while Gideon was threshing wheat that the Lord spoke unto Him. It was as Elisha followed Elijah that he received Elijah's mantle. It was while David was tending the sheep that God called him to be king. It was while Amos was among the herdmen of Tekoa that the Word of the Lord came unto him; and, it was while the Apostles were mending their nets that the Saviour called, saying, "Come, follow Me."
If we ever expect to receive a call from God to any service, or to have from Him any revelation of truth, we will receive it as we are walking in the pathway of duty.
IV. A REVELATION IN ANSWER TO PRAYER (Luke 1:13)
In verse thirteen the angel said unto Zacharias, "Thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." We have now an insight into the personal prayer life of this priest of God. He who was the priest, and who, according to the custom of his office, burnt incense in the Temple, was also a man who prayed when he was not on duty. It is one thing to carry on public ministrations; it is another thing to be faithful in private devotions.
Zacharias had no son, and he prayed for one. His prayer was definite, and we believe that he was importunate in prayer. He prayed earnestly; he prayed continuously. God hears and answers prayer, and He heard Zacharias, and granted his request. Many of us have not, because we ask not.
1. It was as Hannah prayed unto the Lord, that Eli told her of the birth of Samuel.
2. It was as Daniel prayed with fastings, that God sent Gabriel from Heaven to reveal unto him that which should befall Israel in the latter days.
3. It was as Daniel and the three Hebrew Children prayed, that God revealed unto them both the dream and the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's image.
4. It was as Jesus prayed, that He was transfigured, and discussed with Moses and Elias the fact of His corning decease.
5. It was as Peter was praying on the housetop, that the Lord revealed unto him His heart toward the Gentiles, and sent him to Joppa.
6. It was as Paul prayed, that God sent an ambassador to him to tell him of his future ministry to the Gentiles.
V. A REVELATION CONCERNING A CHILD OF DESTINY (Luke 1:14-17)
When the angel appeared to Zacharias, announcing the birth of John; he told him not only that he should have a son, but that he should have joy and gladness at his birth. He told him that his son would be great in the sight of the Lord, and that he would be filled with the Holy Ghost from his birth.
John was truly ordained of God, yea, he was foreordained. The Holy Spirit, through the Prophet, had spoken of John as the one who would go before the face of the Lord to prepare His way.
We are certain that God still purposes and plans His work, and calls His workers. The Apostle Paul said, "And when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called my by His grace." Men are called of God even before they open their eyes in birth. Thus, God, by training, by environment, and by special leadings can perfect His called ones unto His Word and work.
VI. A REVELATION RECEIVED WITH MISGIVINGS AND ACCOMPANIED BY JUDGMENT (Luke 1:18-22)
1. A doubter rebuked. The beauty of our story is marred by the doubts which crept into the mind of Zacharias. He was a good man and a great man, but he had not yet learned to believe God unflinchingly.
He said, "Whereby shall I know this?" He said, "I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." Gabriel replied, "I * * stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings."
2. A doubter chastened. The angel told Zacharias that, because he had doubted God's revelation, he should be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that the prophecy was fulfilled, and that which had been spoken was performed.
We wonder what chastisement must abide those who doubt God's revelation of things to come. God hath spoken, and shall He not fulfill it? He hath stretched forth His hand, and will man be able to draw it back?
In the last days men are still doubting prophecy. They are mockers, saying, "Where is the promise of His Coming?" What will be their chastisement?
VII. A REVELATION WHICH BECAME A VERIFICATION (Luke 1:58)
That which was impossible was accomplished; that wherein Zacharias doubted came to pass. John the Baptist was born, and Elisabeth and her neighbors and cousins rejoiced.
For a while there was a quibble as to what the child should be called. His mother said that he should be called John. The relatives said, "There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name." Then they made signs to the babe's father, as to how he would have him called. Zacharias asked for a writing table and wrote, saying, "His name is John."
Thus it was that prophecy was fulfilled. Thus it was that a revelation became a verification. Will this not be true of all that God has revealed? Of the Law Christ wrote, "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled."
VIII. A REVELATION CONSUMMATED BY A GLORIOUS ACCLAMATION (Luke 1:67-68)
We have before us, in Zacharias' magnificat a foretaste of the magnificent praise and mighty hallelujahs that will fill the Heavens as the prophecies of the Lord's Second Coming meet their fulfillment.
The Lord Himself will descend with a shout. The saints will surely ascend with a shout. The angels will break forth into praise. The very skies will reverberate with paeans of victory and of consummated revelation.
What a glorious climax Christ's Coming will be, to the beforehand Scriptural revelation of that Blessed Advent! This revelation God has vouchsafed to His children.
AN ILLUSTRATION
We are living in a day in which the marvels of prophecy, as foretold by Divine revelation, are being fulfilled on every hand. We wonder how many people are fully awake to the deeper meanings of this fact.
The Bible tells us that in the last days mockers will arise saying, "Where is the promise of His Coming?" These mockers are on every hand.
A certain denominational paper on one occasion had an editorial making light of prophecy. The editor said something like this: "If we believed like Rev. that Christ might come at any moment, we would cease our preaching to sinners, cease our missionary endeavors, and go to Jerusalem, and build us a little watchtower upon the walls of the Beloved City. Then we would fold our hands and watch for Christ to come."
Let us remember that God's Word of prophecy is made sure. The revelation of God may not always be received by the multitude, but those who love and trust Him should accept, at one hundred per cent, every God-given prophecy.