Mike Bickle explores the early lives of Jesus and John the Baptist, emphasizing the remarkable supernatural events surrounding their births contrasted with the 30 years of silence that followed. He highlights the importance of patience in waiting for God's promises, as exemplified by Mary and Elizabeth, and encourages believers not to lose hope during long periods of waiting. Bickle also discusses the significance of prophetic declarations made by figures like Gabriel, Simeon, and Elizabeth, which affirm the divine purpose and identity of Jesus. The sermon serves as a reminder that God's plans unfold in His timing, often beyond human understanding, and that faith is essential in holding onto His promises.

Well, in this session four, we're going to look at John the Baptist and Jesus from birth right up until they begin their ministry at about age 30. And one really remarkable thing that sticks out is how many supernatural events happened at the beginning of the story, and then there were 30 years of almost nothing that's recorded supernatural. It's like the purpose began with a bang, 30 years waiting on the promises. No sign of them. Everything is according to natural order. Where's the power? Where's the angels? Where's the visitations? And after 30 years, the next installment of the story begins. And one reason that God often speaks about His purposes, and that's sometimes decades or generations past, because when the fulfillment happens, He wants it to be clear that nobody manipulated the situation in the present tense. It was validated and established decades or generations earlier where nobody could manipulate the narrative or reinterpret it because it was set clearly by the Holy Spirit many years in advance. And the thing that we get from that is that sometimes there's some of you in this room, many of you are too young for this to have happened yet, where you have a promise from the Lord, 10 years go by, 20 years go by, 30 years go by, and you say, Lord, what happened? And the Lord says, read the story of Mary and Elizabeth, John and Jesus. That's how it happens. So don't give up on the storyline because the Bible makes it clear this is how God establishes His prophetic purposes. Well, we're going to start in Luke chapter 1, and we're just going to be brief on some of these passages because we only have a short session here, and we've got a lot of passages to cover, about four chapters. So we'll just miss some of it. Luke chapter 1, Luke gives his purpose. And his purpose here in Luke chapter 1 verse 1, he says, now many people have taken in hand to set in order a narrative. He's saying many people have written the story of Jesus. They've written the narrative. There were possibly hundreds of stories that were circulating. Verse 2, he says, and some of those went back to the eyewitnesses that were there from the very beginning, from the angelic encounters with Mary and Elizabeth and Jesus' early days as well as the beginning of His ministry at age 30. And Luke says, I went back to the eyewitnesses, and I interviewed them. Verse 3, he says, I wanted to write an orderly account. So he gave a thorough investigation. Luke is the only author of a book of the Bible that was not Jewish. He was Greek. He was a Gentile. He was a medical doctor. And so he's writing this orderly account, having given a deep investigation, eyewitness interviews. He went back and talked to everybody. And I have no doubt that Mary and many of the apostles wrote down many of the events after they happened. I don't believe they were all just speaking out of memory because when an angel visits and when God speaks audibly and glorious things happen, I urge you to write it down with precision. Don't trust your memory and let a few years go by. Write it down. That's one thing I've learned over the years and really value. I journal everything the Lord says to me, at least I try to, and I like to write it all down and the situation around, and many times I'll look at it and it really makes a difference. Paragraph B, Gabriel, the story begins now is that Luke starts with introducing John the Baptist's parents. And the first supernatural event is Gabriel. Things have been silent for 400 years since the last prophet Malachi in the Old Testament. There was a 400 years from the last time God spoke to Israel that's recorded. And suddenly the silence is broken. Gabriel appears from the throne of God and visits a couple in Jerusalem. And again, there's a flurry of supernatural activity that happens for about a year. And then they go back into 30 years where it goes back to normal again, as though that year of supernatural activity maybe isn't going to turn out to mean anything. But we know the end of the story that Jesus fulfills it all. And now there's 2000 years delaying from the fullness of everything that Jesus was promised. 2000 years since his earthly ministry and death and resurrection. Well Gabriel visits John the Baptist's father, Zacharias, in the temple. Now Zacharias was a priest and he lived in the area of Jerusalem, just a few miles down the road in Judea. And what happens is that the priests of Israel, they were divided into 24 divisions. All the priests came from Aaron, you know Moses and his brother Aaron. All the descendants of Aaron are the priests. And over time, David divided Aaron's descendants into 24 different categories, 24 divisions. And every year, I mean every week, one of those divisions would come to Jerusalem. Because there's 24 divisions, that means 24 times 2, 48. And so 48 weeks a year, about twice a year, each division would come to Jerusalem. They would serve in the temple. And it was a great privilege, you know, it was like going to the capital, to the temple where the glory of God was. I mean it was an amazing, amazing thing to do. So we'll pick up the story here. Verse 5, there was in the days of Herod, now this is Herod the Great. And Herod the Great died, history makes it quite clear, he died in B.C. 4. So this is just right before 4 B.C. So it's probably about early 6 B.C. It's a year or two before, while Herod is still living. And so, again, history makes it pretty clear, many, many sources that he died in 4 B.C. So in the days of Herod, a certain priest, Zacharias, and his wife Elizabeth. Verse 6, Luke makes it clear, they were both righteous. They were godly people. It didn't mean they were sinless, but they were devout, and they were really sincere for the Lord. But they had no children. And one of the reasons that Luke wants to really establish that they were godly and righteous and blameless, because some people had this idea that if they didn't have children, there were a curse, or they did something wrong. And Luke makes it clear, he goes, no, their barrenness had nothing to do with their character or anything to do with that. They were both advanced in years. We don't know how old. Verse 8, now he's serving as a priest before God, because he's one of the 24 divisions of the priests. Remember, there's 24 different divisions. Twice a year, every division went to Jerusalem. Again, so that covers the 52 weeks a year, approximately. And they would cast lots, because in every division of priests, there were hundreds of priests. So they'd cast lots, and one guy got to go into the holy place. One guy out of the hundreds. So maybe once in a lifetime, this happened. Verse 9, and they cast the lots to the hundreds of priests in Zacharias' group, and the lot fell to him. He got to go from the outer court into the holy place to burn the incense. He would go there and bring fresh coals and put them on the altar of incense at the holy place, right by the holy of holies, right next to it. Again, for a priest to be able to go in the holy place, this was really a special privilege. Maybe happened once in your lifetime. Verse 10, there's a whole group of people on the outside, Zacharias' friends and family. I mean, he gets to go in. I mean, it's amazing. And they're praying. They're praying on the outside. There's this drama is building. There's this whole company of people, like when he comes out, what was it like going in the holy place? I mean, it's the only place in the earth that God called the holy place. Very rare. Well, Zacharias goes in, and verse 11, Gabriel appears to him. Now, right now, we only know he's an angel, but in a few verses, he identifies himself as Gabriel, the archangel, and Gabriel said to him, verse 13, don't be afraid. You know, normally when an angel visits in the biblical record, the first thing they say is don't be afraid. There must be a reason for that. He says, don't be afraid, because he's absolutely shocked to see this, you know, this angelic being filled with the glory of God. And then he gives him kind of the shock of his life. He goes, your prayer's heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son. Now, Zacharias is going, wait, you know, I'm just making up because we don't know the age We're 80s. That hasn't been on our prayer list for 40 years. What do you mean our prayer's heard? We haven't prayed that prayer for years and years. And this is a very important verse on prayer, passage on prayer, because you can pray prayers that God hears, and he approves of them and releases them in the spirit in the sense of he approves of them. But they may not show up in the natural for many years, but they've been heard and approved by God. And often in the delay, even devout people give up on the prayers because they think because they've given up and they've forgotten that God has forgotten the prayers and God's given up on them. It says you're going to have the child you cried out for in your 20s and 30s and 40s and whatever, 50s, whatever it was. John is shocked. And he says, and the angel goes on Gabriel verse 15, he'll be great in the sight of the Lord. Do you know that you can live in a way that God considers great? You can have responses to God that God calls great. There's more in the Bible on that. It's not just limited to prophets like John. Jesus said in Matthew five, anyone that will obey the Lord and teach others to God will call their lifestyle. Great. I love this passage. I go, I want to put my name on this passage. I don't want to be like John the Baptist. And I want to fulfill my own calling, but I want to live in a way that God calls. My choices were great. And it goes on to describe John and his forerunner ministry. That's like Elijah. Verse 18, I'm tempted to go on that, but this isn't really about John the Baptist. This is, we're talking more about Jesus here in this series, verse 18. So Zacharias, he looks at Gabriel and says, how shall I know? And Gabriel's like, look at him right in the eye and says, well, I'm Gabriel. That's how you know. The age of verse nine says, I'm Gabriel. I stand in the presence of the most high God. He sent me here. There's been 400 years since Malachi, the last prophet of the old Testament, since there's been a prophetic word recorded. This ought to move your heart. What do you mean? How do you know? Because I just told you, he goes, well, here's going to be the sign. Verse 20, you're going to be mute. You want a sign? That will be the sign. Now, if you don't believe when the Lord visits, it's like prophetically, he's saying, well, then you'll lose your testimony for a short time. Some people think it's kind of cool to be cynical and not believe. And you don't want to be gullible, but if the Lord establishes something and you don't take hold of it, the Lord, there's a responsibility in this. And this really accents, of course, this is a major encounter, Gabriel visiting. But John's going to learn, I mean, Zacharias is going to learn that when there's a special privilege, when God intervenes, there's a responsibility to hold on to it. And a lot of folks, they lose what God has said over the years. Well, Gabriel, I mean, Zacharias, he became mute and that prophetically, he was losing his testimony because he wouldn't take hold of the prophetic word God gave him. Now, he was only mute for nine months, but still that woke him up. And that, I look at that and I say, I don't want to be mute. I don't want to lose my testimony for a day. And Gabriel makes it clear, it's because you didn't believe my words. Verse 21, so the people, there's this crowd of people praying outside, they can't wait for Zacharias to get out so they can say, hey, what was it like in there, in the holy place? I mean, who gets to go in the holy place? And they marvel because Zacharias is waiting so long. And he goes on and on, they say, wait, you're just supposed to, you know, minister at the altar of incense and it shouldn't take this long. Then when he came out, verse 22, he couldn't speak, Zacharias, what was it like? We can't understand you, speak up, Zacharias. What? Zacharias, you know, Elizabeth, Zacharias, come on, what's going on? Now, it's funny, but this was a real discipline of the Lord on him. And it's got a message in it. We don't take lightly when God intervenes. Verse 24, now after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived. And she hid herself for five months. She's like, you know, again, she's an elderly woman and she's pregnant, she's thinking, I don't need, I've got to make sense of this somehow. Now her husband is mute so nobody knows what's going on at home. He can't say a word. She's hiding, so her relative Mary, because they're down in the area of Jerusalem, Mary lives up north in Galilee and Nazareth. She hasn't heard any of the news because nobody has because Elizabeth has hidden herself. Let's go on to top of page two. So now Luke moves the storyline over to Jesus' parents, Joseph and Mary. Well, of course, Joseph is his stepfather, so to speak. Now, Luke says, I've thoroughly investigated, let's take the storyline to the main character. So it's up north, about 70, 80 miles up north in Galilee, in this kind of a very insignificant town of Nazareth. I mean, Nazareth is famous now because of Jesus' association. But in that day, it was a poor little insignificant village. Verse 26, in the sixth month, that is the sixth month after Elizabeth has been with child for six months, and we find out that in verse 36, it makes it clear, Gabriel comes a second time to visit. I mean, two visits in six months. The last visit was to Daniel. The last visit in the scriptures, 500 years before this, Gabriel visited Daniel on two occasions in his ministry, and now Gabriel visits twice in a six month period. This is remarkable. Again, you think things are going to pick up at a big momentum, and we don't know that after a year of a flurry of prophetic activity, it's going to seemingly go silent for the next 30 years, because God has established His purpose, and He intends that the people would take it seriously, and take root and count on it, and their faith would be established. So He sent the angel Gabriel to this little out-of-the-way city up in Galilee, Nazareth. I mean, just a poor, broken-down city with no honor. As a matter of fact, later on in one of the gospel stories, it says, what good thing could come out of Nazareth? It was a town that had a reputation for not being very good. They thought, Nazareth? Oh my goodness, what could come out of that? Because it had a bad reputation. Well, that's where Mary was raised, and she's a, verse 27, a virgin, and she's betrothed to a man named Joseph. Now we know that when they're betrothed, that that's a legal arrangement, because when a man and woman were betrothed or engaged, we use the word engaged, they were legally married when they made the covenant of engagement. Though they did not live together, they did not have any sexual involvement, but they were legally married together. They were legally married, though they did not live together, and typically it was about a one-year wait as a rule. So there's this virgin, and she's engaged to a man named Joseph. The angel visits, Gabriel, says, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Verse 31, You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord will give him the throne of his father, David. Now this is the greatest prophecy for anyone in Israel, the prophecy of the Old Testament, that a man would come and sit on David's throne and rule the whole earth forever, and restore the whole earth. I mean, it was the biggest, most glorious, most prominent prophecy in all of Israel. A man would come and live forever. People couldn't figure that part out. He's going to live forever? Okay, how's that work? You know, but okay, we believe it. The prophets said it. We'll figure it out when we get there. They didn't realize it was a man that was fully God and fully man. That wasn't made clear to the Old Testament prophets. Verse 33, He'll reign forever over the house of Jacob, which means Israel. The house of Jacob is another term for the nation of Israel. Verse 35, The Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel said, Now here's that what's going to happen Mary. She's just probably, you know, eyes big and just kind of like overwhelmed, like what are you saying? He says, The Holy Spirit's going to come on you, and the Holy Spirit will overshadow you. And that's how she became pregnant. This is the miraculous conception right here. She's conceived. She conceives a child because the Holy Spirit is the, is the enabling power that causes this to happen. And the Holy One born to you, He will be called the Son of God. So Gabriel is saying, God is His Father. I mean, here's this young gal, and they're probably in their teens. This is just inconceivable that this could be being said to you. God is His Father. He'll be called the Son of, His name will be Jesus. Gabriel told Mary that. He'll be called the Son of God. He'll be called the Son of the Highest. Right there in verse 31, He'll be called Emmanuel. He has several different biblical names that are attributed to Him. Now Mary didn't ask for a sign, but Gabriel says, I'm going to give you one anyway. He goes, your relative, or in verse 36, Elizabeth, and she's thinking, my relative, we don't know what it, aunt, we don't know exactly know what, but, but Mary knows she's elderly. He says, Gabriel says, she's conceived. Mary's going, my goodness, these are two very unusual conceptions. As a matter of fact, she's in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Now, again, Elizabeth's hiding, so nobody knows. And then Gabriel says, one of the most dramatic, important statements. I think this is going to be one of the, one of the key prophetic declarations in the, in the generation of the Lord returns. This declaration from Gabriel, nothing will be impossible with God. Nothing will be impossible with God. When I read the end time storyline, it is so outside of the realm of human understanding. And I have one declaration over it. I'm going to agree with Gabriel. Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing in a human situation, if God says it, this was the ultimate miracle of history right here. And what's going to happen when Jesus returns again? There's going to be an unfolding of miraculous events. And even the body of Christ is there looking towards that day. They're kind of, they know it's going to get a little different, but we love it. It's going to be so radically outside of the realm of business as usual of normal human history. When all of these things come, they'll only be, I mean, there'll be one really important declaration. Nothing is impossible with God. We're going to have to declare that like Mary declared it undoubtedly in her heart over and over. Mary said, behold, she said, yes, here I am the handmaiden of the Lord. And that's the response God wants when he gives a, an assignment or when he calls us to believe something, he doesn't want us to retreat in unbelief. I mean, if it's really him, I mean, he makes it clear it's him. He wants us to say the handmaiden of the Lord. Here I am. So be it, be it unto me, according to your word. That's what, uh, that's what, uh, the Lord is pleased by that response. Paragraph D. So verse 39, Mary, she with haste rises up and she goes north cause she lives up. I mean, she goes south. She lives up in the north and Galilee down to the hill country of Judah, which is just outside of Jerusalem. It's about probably about 80 miles south. You know, she's going to go to Jerusalem a little bit further past Jerusalem. This young woman now, again, most scholars think that she's in her late teens. I mean, who does she tell this story to, Hey dad, I'm going to go on an 80 mile trip. I mean, they didn't have highways, they didn't have cars, they didn't have, they didn't have the patrol man to guarantee your safety. It was very dangerous traveling 80 miles in that time, uh, without all kinds of protection. And we don't know who she went with, but that's a pretty dangerous trip back in that day. Takes about probably four to five days if she's really moving fast, you know, 20 miles a day. I mean, if she's really going for it, well, verse 41, she gets to Elizabeth's house and Mary Elizabeth, how are you doing? When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, heard the voice of this young woman, the baby six months in the womb jumps. Little John jumps. He leaves. Cause yes, that's it. I know that I know where this is going. And when Mary greeted her and the Holy spirit touched Elizabeth, I mean, there's even a correlation to learn here. You can speak words by the grace of God and you could stir up the prophetic spirit and other people. That's what's happening here. Mary speaks and the anointing of the spirit comes on Elizabeth. Of course, there's a very dynamic moment here, but the principle is still there that a prophetic word often stirs the grace of God and the anointing of the spirit on another person. Verse 42, she spoke out with a loud voice. This is Elizabeth. Blessed. Are you among women? Verse 43. Why has this been granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? This is staggering. She knows that the couple week year old, you know, the little, the baby is that, well, I don't know what the term is, but you know what I'm saying? The newly conceived Jesus in her womb, it's only been a few weeks now. She knows that he is the Lord. I mean, this is the same revelation that Peter had when he looked at Jesus and said, you're the Christ. And Peter said, flesh and blood didn't tell you that. That's not human reasoning. You didn't get that from someone else. God told you that well, Elizabeth is catching this by the spirit and Mary's only been pregnant a few weeks at the most. And she says, that's my God. That's the Lord in your womb. That's a remarkable statement. She said, as soon as you, the voice of your greeting, when you came in my house and said, hello, Elizabeth, my baby leap for joy, verse 45, she goes, blessed is she who believed the things God told her. And she could go on and say, Elizabeth, I know my husband is under the discipline of God. He has been for six months. I mean, he hasn't said a word for six months. You're blessed because what you're believing is more intense than what we're believing. I mean, what we're believing is that here we are, elderly, we're having a child. What you're believing is that God impregnated you and he's, and your child is God. She said, how are you buying this? I mean, the same Gabriel visited my husband and he could, he didn't, he didn't take hold of it like you did beloved. There is something blessed about a heart that when it really hears from God, it lays hold of it. And I've, over my years of watching this, I've seen a lot of folks hear from God and one, two, three, four, five years later, they've already let go of it. Two decades later, they have long forgotten it, but it was really God who, who, uh, encountered them. Blessed is the woman that believes when the Holy spirit visits, I've had a couple of supernatural experiences, pretty extreme ones. Well, angelic couple of angelic encounters and a few other pretty intense encounters with the Lord over 40 years. And let me tell you, you can have those encounters and they're so moving. But 10 years later, you look back and you go, man, I mean, I know what happened, I'm positive it happened, but just doesn't feel like it did when it happened 10 years later and 20 years later and 30 years later. And let me tell you, you are blessed. If you take hold of the word, God speaks to you and you don't let it go to the side because you don't feel the same power of it as the years unfold. Paragraph E top of page three. Well Mary, the spirit comes on her and she offers this prophetic song. I mean, first Mary greets Elizabeth, Elizabeth prophesies. Now Mary prophesies back. This is a very well known, the prophetic song, the magnificat, and that term comes from the Latin word magnifies. And this is a very famous prophetic song, but this is a song to study, to imitate how to respond in faith. These are phrases we can say back to God in our own situation in part. She starts off verse 46, Mary says, my soul magnifies the Lord. Remember she's only been pregnant a couple of weeks. She's buying into this. She goes, my spirit is rejoiced in God, my savior. Now God isn't going to tell Joseph for a while. She is going to, none of her family is going to be told by the Lord that we know of. And she is saying, Hey, God is going to work this thing out. Now again, historically we look back and say, Hey, well she, you know, Jesus was her child, but think about it in the reality of it. She is going to go through this intense hour of stigma. And even when Jesus was in his public ministry, 30 plus years later, they said to him, Oh yeah, we know the story. You were born in fornication in John chapter eight. You were born, your mother was in sexual sin. We heard the story from the elders of Nazareth. The story stayed alive. It was only 30 years, but she declares, she says, Lord, I know you're going to work it out. I know it's impossible to conceive of it happening. And if it does happen, I'm going to bear stigma for quite a while. But you know what? I'm yours. I rejoice in the calling. I say yes to your leadership. I accept the assignment. Don't care how impossible it looks. Don't care the stigma that goes with it. Don't care how much I'm going to be misunderstood. And all of those were real in Mary's life. Verse 48, for the Lord has regarded the lowliest state of his maidservant. Now she's living in this real rough, not highly educated economic city. It's a, again, it's a city with a bad reputation and she doesn't have an education. She doesn't have money. And a lot of folks, they think, well, if I have, if I know all the right people, if I'm just educated the right way, I got the right social status, got the right economic abilities. She goes, I don't have any of those. Verse 48. I'm, I'm poor, uneducated peasant girl with a poor family. But you know what? If God said it, I believe it. He looked at my lowest state. I can't qualify for this, but I'm in. And beloved, if the Lord tells you he's going to use you to do this and that, or give you a billion dollars or whatever, believe him, say, well, I don't know how to do that. Just if he says it, it's real, if it's really from him. I love that. Verse 48, he has regarded my lowliest state. He knows I don't have the qualifications to do this. Verse 49, but he was mighty has done great things for me. Let's go down to verse 53. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. Now he's, the Lord's not against rich, but what happens is Mary says, sometimes the rich people, they think they can buy their favors and they think that because of their status, they might be able to buy God's favor, but my son is not going to be moved by anybody's money. And then in terms of a deal, if the rich are hungry, they're going to receive. But if they're not hungry and they're trusting their status, they're going to be turned away empty. It's a pretty bold statement for a young gal in her, in the spirit of prophecy. She goes, but I know my soul is hungry and I ask you, are you hungry? If you're hungry to go deep in God, to be a part of what God's doing, I got a good word for you. The Lord fills the people that are hungry. Jesus would say it later in Matthew chapter five, the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the hungry. Those that hunger for righteousness, God will satisfy them. Verse 56, now Mary remained there for three more months. You know, Elizabeth's been pregnant six months, three more months makes nine. Right? So we assume she's there for the delivery and the birth of John. That only makes sense. And when you read this, the Magnificat, this prophetic song that she gives, the one thing that strikes me is how well Mary knew the Old Testament as a teenage girl. She is quoting, I think one scholar said, I haven't got all the verses down in my memory right now, but 16 or 17 references to Old Testament prophecies here in this entire, if you read the whole thing, she was a young woman in a poor little out of the way town who knew the Bible as a 16, 17 year old girl, possibly maybe younger, maybe a little bit older. Nobody knows, but I'm impressed by the way she would just flow with her knowledge and revelation. Somebody says, well, it was the spirit gave it to her. Typically when a person prophesies, they might have a phrase that's completely out there, but often the Holy Spirit will use the word that you've laid hold of and use that as some of the platform he uses to release the prophetic word in and through you. So now Mary returns three months pregnant. She's back in Nazareth. She's made that 80 mile walk back home or your mule, whatever. And now she's three months pregnant. So they're not, they don't get the story that, you know, she's like, Oh boy, Elizabeth gets it, but nobody at home gets it, especially not Joseph. Now another thing I wanted to point out, I have written here in paragraph three, the bottom of page three, that Mary says, I, my spirit rejoices in God, my savior. And the idea that Mary is acknowledging her need of a savior, because in the, in the Catholic doctrine, they say Mary was sinless. There's no testimony, biblical testimony of that at all, that she was sinless, that Mary needed salvation. Like everybody else did. That's the glory of the story that God is intervening and participating with people like us. That's the point of the story. Not the whole point, but that's one of the main points. Okay. Paragraph F the next thing that happens is John is John's birth. We're going to skip that. And then after John's birth, paragraph G, his father sings his song and he sings this prophetic song of praise, the Benedictus. And that's a well-known prophetic song as well. And in the song, the part I want you to see is particularly in verse 74. I mean, all of it really, but I want you to see verse 74, because we get insight into Jesus's ministry and his heart through these prophetic songs, the prophetic song of Elizabeth, the prophetic song. I mean, the prophetic statements of Elizabeth, Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon, they all give us insight into Jesus's heart. These prophetic oracles are around at the time of his birth, but verse 74, I love it that God is going to grant that we are delivered from the hand of our enemies, that we would serve God without fear all of our days. Paragraph three, underneath this, Jesus's ministry, it's not all that it's about, but it's core to what it's about. He came to destroy the works of the devil, to liberate us from all of our enemies forever. Beloved, this is a most remarkable storyline. We have a God, one of his goals, primary goals in salvation is to free you from every enemy that touches your life, spiritually, all the demons, all the sin, all the judgment, all of us gone, physically perfect health, resurrected body forever, financially, gold is so abundant, you walk on streets of gold, relationally, everybody in perfect unity and joy and love for billions and billions of years, living in garden of Eden type conditions. Jesus came to deliver us from everything that's against us. And he came, number four, so that we would live, we could serve God with no fear, with confidence, we're not afraid of God in the negative sense, spirit of condemnation, we're not afraid of the devil, we're not afraid of challenges, we live with confidence, without fear, that is one of the things that right here in this song that is being highlighted about the ministry of Jesus, top of page four. So now, John the Baptist is born, there's now, Mary's three months pregnant, she's back in Galilee, the story picks up, now it's Matthew picks up the story from here. John the Baptist has just recently been born, verse 18, Matthew now, he's taking a different approach than Luke, but he's telling us parts that Luke doesn't tell us of the story. Verse 18, Matthew chapter one, now the birth of Jesus was as follows, after Jesus' mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, now this is before they came together, this is speaking sexually, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. But, verse 19, Joseph is shocked by this, he says, you've been gone three months, you come back after three months, we've been engaged, and you're pregnant, and you're telling me God did it? I want to get a hold of this Elizabeth, I don't know your family that well, but I want to figure out what's going on down there. One thing that I don't like, in terms of my life with the Lord, I don't like that the Lord waits until five minutes till twelve to give the information, five minutes till midnight. He could have given Joseph the dream a long time ago, he could have given Joseph the dream before Gabriel came and says, hey Joe, she's going to need your help, I'm going to visit her next month, but just get ready, don't say nothing to her. The Lord visits just in time, but in my flesh, it's five minutes till midnight, I go Lord, how about ten minutes till midnight, that'd just be a little bit nicer. But he comes, I mean it's months afterwards, Mary's free falling, Joseph is free falling, I mean Mary believes, but she's going Lord, tell him, come on, just tell him. I don't know what she's really saying, that's what I would be saying. Verse 20, I mean Joseph in verse 19 is wants to divorce her. Verse 20, the angel of the Lord appears in a dream. Joseph, son of David, I mean even that term son of David, I mean in other words, the prophecy was about Mary's son, the real son of David, saying Joseph, you're in line with a great story here, don't be afraid to take her as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph is in this dream going, how on earth, how is this happening, this is a, I'm hearing this. Well here's the absolute verification, he'll bring forth a son, you'll call his name Jesus. Now I don't know how this worked, I look forward to talking to them one day, Mary, Gabriel told you the name of Jesus, did you hold the name secret until Joseph had the dream or did you tell Joseph and then the dream, the angel says, hey, it's even the name that your fiance told you, that is the real name and that was the confirming word right there. Joseph goes, wow, yeah in this dream I'm getting the name that Mary told me. I can just imagine Mary telling this story. But he's gonna, his name is Jesus because he's gonna save his people from their sins. And we know that the name Jesus is the New Testament name, the Old Testament name is Joshua, God is, Jehovah is the savior, he saves, saves us from our sins, saves us from our enemies, all of that is included. He goes in verse 22, in the dream, the angel says, you know that verse in Isaiah chapter seven about the virgin, your fiance is the fulfillment, the ultimate fulfillment of that verse from Isaiah chapter seven. I believe there was a partial fulfillment back in Isaiah's day with Ahaz, the king, but in a partial way, the ultimate fulfillment is your fiance, the woman that you're betrothed and so he quotes the prophecy from Isaiah chapter seven verse 14. Okay, let's look at paragraph J, all the way to paragraph J. So now a few more months come by, they're up in Bethlehem, I mean they're in Nazareth, a few more months go by, it's towards the end of Mary's pregnancy, you know it's month seven, month eight, something like that. We don't know exactly, we're back in Luke chapter two, Luke picks up the story from where Matthew, we just left off, it came to pass, again, Mary's now pregnant, six, seven, eight months, something like that, and all of a sudden the word comes out, the word comes forth, there's a decree, there's a sentence, the Roman empire is going to force all the Jews to go to the city of their forefathers. Everyone has to go to the city of their forefathers. Now Joseph has had the dream now from the angel and he's going, well my forefathers were from Bethlehem, oh my goodness, this is amazing, and the government is now demanding we go to the city of our forefathers for the government census for taxation reasons. And Joseph is going, this is amazing, because the prophecy, the Old Testament prophecy, Micah chapter five, verse two, very famous one, the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Mary, you're seven or eight months pregnant, we got to go to Bethlehem, I mean God's moving on the government to set this in motion. Beloved, there's no political obstacle that God cannot overcome to do His will. You know, sometimes we look at the government, we look at the elections, and we think that the kingdom of God is in the balance of who's in power in Washington or whatever city of the earth. I mean, they have their impact, but there's a king on a throne at the right hand of the father who's over everything, and he can move all the kings of the earth at will. I mean, I can imagine Mary. She goes, well, my great-great-grandfather is David too, and my city is Bethlehem. And he goes, well, so is that, that's my city, let's get all of our family histories, and you put them all together and go back a thousand years. And David and Bathsheba were the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents of Mary and Joseph a thousand years before. And they did the whole history. They go, and the government is making us both go back to Bethlehem. This is intense. And I'm seven, eight months, six months pregnant. This, the timing's perfect. The journey's going to be intense, but the timing is right. So verse three, they all registered to go to their own city. Joseph left up north in Nazareth, and he went down south to Bethlehem. Now, Bethlehem's only about five miles from Jerusalem. So it's down kind of near where Elizabeth lived. Verse six, and while they were in Bethlehem, the nine months were completed. So that's why we know that this census was set in motion, you know, just a few months earlier, because while they're down there, the nine months for her delivery comes. She brought forth her son. They wrapped him in the swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. Here is God intentionally identifying with the poor. I mean, the God who, his son, I mean, there is no palace worthy of his, of his throne to be in, but he's born in a manger. That's what he looks, that's what he's identifying with the human race, the poor. Okay, look at paragraph K, top of page five. Well, now they're down there in Bethlehem. They're down there in the Bethlehem. They've had the baby in the line there in the manger. There's some shepherds out in the field. Now, I think one of the reasons God visited the shepherds out in the field, he wanted to give a supernatural validation to a group of people that were not in the family circle of Mary and Joseph. I mean, completely outside a whole other sphere of people in a whole other city. So they're not around Nazareth. These shepherds, they don't know anything about Nazareth. They don't know anything about Mary and Joseph. So it's a, the Lord is doing this for many reasons undoubtedly. But one of the reasons is that he's validating his purpose and confirming it by another group of people that have no relationship, no reason to back up the story except for the angels appeared to them. And again, there's so many points to make with every one of these passages of scripture. But I'm just making just the simplest points. Verse nine, the shepherds are in the field. An angel stands in front of them. It's one angel to start with. These shepherds, we don't know how many. And the glory of God shines around. You know, maybe it's five or 10 of them. You know, in the Christmas stories, it's one or two guys, but it could have been five or 10 or 20 of them. Who knows? The glory of God shines around. These guys are going, oh my goodness, this is intense. The angel says, what they always say at first, don't be afraid because these guys are absolutely terrified. Good news is coming. Good news. It's great joy, but it's not just for the Jewish people, it's for all people. That's the key phrase there. Because this was new because many of the Jews imagined it would mostly and only be for them. But it's for the whole world. And this is new. The good news has a new dimension to it. Verse 11, there's born to you this day in the city of David. Of course, they're out in the field. They know the city of David is Bethlehem. It's just, you know, a mile down the road or whatever. They're very familiar with the local geography. He's the savior. He's the Christ. Christ means the Messiah. He's the Messiah, the anointed one. He's the one the prophets prophesy. This will be the sign to you. You'll find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. And they're thinking, a babe in a manger? That isn't, really? Yeah, and he's the savior of the world. And he's in a manger, really? That's a little bit disconnect. Just go, you'll see. Verse 13, the other angels got so excited that all of a sudden a multitude of angels appeared. I mean, it's like the veil lifted and they were all shouting, glory to God, it's happening. It's real. It's happening in time and space. God became human. He's born. And the angels declare these two great statements, world peace is coming. Beloved, I have good news for you. World peace is coming. And when it comes, it's going to be here to stay. And there's not going to be a coalition of nations to bring it to pass. It's going to be a Jewish king returning on a white horse to bring world peace. I promise you world peace is coming to stay. And I promise you nobody else will get anything close to any kind of global, stable world peace besides him. He's the only person able and worthy of it. But not only is world peace coming, the utopian dreams of the human heart are going to happen. Goodwill, that whatever you can dream of, the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 2, eye has not seen, ear has not heard. It's never entered the heart of a man. The depth of the glory he's prepared. I mean, you take Spielberg and Walt Disney and 10 other guys, put them all together. The best dream they could come up with. They can't touch where this thing is going. Goodwill is coming to the earth. The utopian dreams of the human heart are coming. Well, these first 16, these guys got so excited, these shepherds, they ran. Where's the, you know, let's go to that manger. There was the babe, just like the angel said, verse 17, these shepherds told everybody. They told everybody and everybody that heard marble, they said, you're telling me an angel appeared, shine the glory on you guys. And then a host of angels. And then they really were in the manger. Really? The guys, yes, it's 10 of them, 15 of them, whatever. We all saw it. This is true. And I mean, the word goes everywhere. 30 years later, the stories are still being told. Now, some of you, if you're 20, you think 30 years later. Oh my gosh. I mean, will I even be alive? Yes. 30 years ago was only 1986. I tell a lot of stories from 1986. That was a minute ago. Those stories were going everywhere. They're prophetic stories. The whole city says, man, remember back when those guys came through and they said those angels came, things sure got quiet for 30 years. Well, a man was about to march into Jerusalem. 30 years later, Jesus, the son of David, it didn't go. It didn't, the purpose wasn't derailed because it went quiet for 30 years. Well, let's go on to paragraph in the bottom of page five. There's Simeon and Anna, they're in the temple there. And the spirit of God falls on Simeon. Now you can read the notes there. It's about six weeks after the baby's been born. Jesus had been born. It's a little about six weeks later. They go to Jerusalem from Bethlehem. It's only five miles. They're going to present him at the temple because that's what the Jewish law, that's what the Old Testament law said to do. So they went to present him, I skipped over that in a couple of paragraphs earlier that I skipped over. So they're in the temple for that reason. In verse 27, the spirit, I mean, Simeon comes into the temple led by the spirit. He walked right over to this young couple with this baby, this six-week-old baby. And Simeon, verse 28, took the baby in his arms, said, my eyes have seen the salvation of God. You know, Mary and Joseph's going, this is, I mean, we know it's real, but this really is real. I mean, we know it's real, but this is amazing. How do you know Simeon? Well, the Holy Spirit told me he's not just going to bring the glory of God to Israel. He's going to fill the whole earth. All the Gentiles, all over Asia, Africa, all the islands, everywhere the glory of God is going to be established by his leadership. Verse 37, four, Simeon looks, this elderly man, he looks at this young, you know, 17, 18-year-old girl or younger, probably, married this young teenager with this six-week-old baby. And he says, let me tell you, verse 34, young lady, this child is destined to the rise, to the fall and the rising of many. Ooh, that's kind of a cryptic, ominous statement. His personhood, the fact that he's come to the earth, many will fall because of him, because he's going to require allegiance to him and they don't want him. And that's going to be their fall, their downfall. But many, when he calls for their allegiance, they will say yes, and they will rise. They will rise beyond anything they can imagine. They'll live in the new Jerusalem one day. They'll rule the earth with him one day. They'll rise in a way they can imagine. And those that fall will fall to a level they cannot imagine when they resist him to the end. It's called the lake of fire. Samian says, your son is destined to cause this to result. Two groups of people. Mary's listening. She goes, I just never thought of it that way. He goes, well, let me tell you another thing, Mary. Your son will be a sign that will be spoken against. He will have many more enemies than he has friends. Well, how could this be? He's the son of David. Gabriel appeared, the angels appeared. Yes, it's true, Mary. But he will have many more enemies than he will have friends. Many in Israel and many in the nations will stand against him with all of their might. I mean, we know in the book of Revelation, all the kings of the earth will come against him. They said he'll be spoken against. Matthew chapter 10, verse 34, Jesus says, I came. And when I came, I'm bringing a sword and there's going to be opposition. And many will hate me. They don't want my leadership. They don't love my father. Though they have a rhetoric about loving God, they don't love my leadership. Then he looked at Mary and he said, Mary, I have to tell you this because the Holy Spirit's resting on me. A sword will pierce even your own heart. What? A sword will pierce your heart, Mary. This glorious son who you love, which is the most glorious they can imagine. There will be pain and challenge and setbacks that you can't imagine will be involved. And you're going to feel it. See, we would imagine that if Gabriel appeared to Elizabeth, that Gabriel appeared a second time, two times in one year. Hadn't appeared in 500 years, two times in one year. Angels appear, the wise man come, came. All of these stories, these four dreams that Joseph had that we didn't highlight, but he had four prophetic dreams in the process of this year or two period. Four major prophetic dreams. You'd think your son is God and he's going to rule the earth. Pretty good. The difficulty that Mary went through is just intense. I mean, Mary's husband, Joseph died a few years later. And Mary has seven or eight children. The gospels make it clear that she had four sons and a number of daughters. So she's widowed with seven or eight children. And Nazareth, who loved her son because her son had great favor when he grew up. He had favor with God and man. He's the most popular guy in Nazareth. They turned on Jesus and wanted to kill him. Then the nation turned on him and wanted to kill him. Then they killed him. And Mary's going, wait, I thought this thing was an anointed person. It is. But it's in context to a dark world with enemies and a raging devil and God wins. But there will be challenges, setbacks. You got to stay hold of this thing. You got to take hold and keep hold of it. And the thoughts of many are going to be revealed. Like I said before, that Jesus offends the mind to reveal the heart. He says and did many things that people go, wait a second. What? And Jesus says, if you really love me, you'll find a way to make sense of what I just said. If you don't really want me, you'll find a way to throw me overboard because what I'm saying that's offending your heart is your mind is only going to reveal your heart. Your thoughts will come to the surface. And when Jesus did all these different things, I mean, many people said he's an imposter. And Jesus says, you got plenty of information to get rid of me if you want to. And another group says, but we love you. This has to be right. And he says, you got plenty of information to follow me if you want to, but I'm not changing anything. It's me on my terms. Well, top of page six, we're not going to go through it. Worship team come up. But the star, I just got to mention the star. I love the star. I think the star, the wise men are following, the magi, the wise men, my opinion. And I've read it from other sources. It's not original with me. I think the star was not a literal star in the sky because it was moving and it rested over the house. It led the wise men right to the house. I think it was the glory of God. Like in the wilderness, when the Shekinah glory of God, like a pillar of fire and the cloud and the fire, it moved and directed Israel in a bright and shining light. My guess is that's the star that they're following that rests over the house. I don't think a star like Venus came down to the earth and rested over a house. I don't think that's what it's talking about. I think it's the glory of God in the brightest way. And it's literally following, leading the wise men. And you know the story well. And they gave the three prophetic gifts, the gold, frankincense and myrrh, which spoke of his kingly ministry, his priestly ministry and his death on the cross. And then the very end, I wish I wouldn't have taken so long on the other stuff, but Jesus goes to Jerusalem at age 12. It is such a great story. But the whole part is his human process comes out. He didn't skip the human process. He really grew up and understood little by little. And he dealt with all the issues that people deal with. And he grew in understanding and favor with God and people in terms of circumstances, blessing on his circumstances. Well, amen. Let's stand before the Lord and let's tell Jesus we love him. We love you, Jesus. Jesus, we love you. Now for the next number of weeks, I'm going to take those that are taking the class. I think today we have those that start with the name A to D, something like that. I'm not sure how Kathy organized it. We're going to have a Q and A in about 15, 20 minutes. So we're going to be upstairs, but only those students according to, you know who you are. And then every week we're going to have a different group up there. I'm going to invite people to come forward. The Lord has given you a clear prophetic word and promise. And the enemy has come to attack it, or even the very delay of it has made it a challenge. And you just imagined it would happen easier. And faster. But it's being challenged and delayed in a way you didn't imagine. I'm going to invite you to come forward. I'm going to ask for a spirit of faith to touch you. For slumber to be driven away, far away from you in this hour. Lord, you gave us prophetic words, but the delay is longer than we thought. And the challenges are greater than we imagined. Like Lord, we say what Mary said, be it unto me according to your word. I believe you. Lord, I say, I'm not going to let go. I'm not going to let it fall to the ground. I believe your promise to me. Others that are in any kind of leadership, the internship, or I help you, or the admissions base, or MCF, anywhere. Go ahead and come on up. Elizabeth prophesied, blessed are you because you believe Mary. Blessed that you don't let go of this world. That's what believe means. It means not letting go when the time unfolds. Unto me according to your word. For I rejoice in the Lord. I say thank you for your word, Lord. I don't doubt your word. I say thank you for it. Lord, I ask you for a spirit of faith to remember now. It may not be easy. There may be a delay, but I assure you every word God says will come to pass. The devil is a liar. I assure you of that. Lord, I ask you for the spirit of prophecy. The renewal of the Holy Spirit right now in this room, right now. For confirmation of words given in the past. I ask you for a fresh confirmation of prophetic promises of the past. He's gonna turn it all around, just wait and see. He's gonna make everything beautiful just in time. He's gonna turn it all around, just wait and see. He's gonna make everything beautiful just in time. It's just a matter of time. Lord, I ask you to open the eyes of the fresh infusion of clarity. Faith promises again and again. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, come and overshadow your people in this room. Come and overshadow your people. Release the fire of the Holy Spirit in this room, Lord, we ask. Come and release your fire, release your fire. Come and overshadow your people by power and presence. Come and rest on earth, overshadow your people. Lord, we just invite your wind, your very breath, Holy Spirit. We want to be overcome by you, God. Come and rest on us and breathe into us. Breathe on us, breathe on us, God. Come and move again, just like the wind. Come and breathe again, just like the wind. Come and breathe again, just like the wind. Come and release the fire. Increase our hunger, make us hungry, God. Lord, we must be more, let the sealing of your hunger. If you said it, I believe it. If you said it, I believe it. Be it done to me according to your word. Be it done unto me, be it done unto me. According to your word. According to your word. We stand in faith, asking for more. We won't let go. We won't give in. We won't let go. We won't let go. We're holding on to your promises. Yes and amen, amen. All of your promises. Yes and amen, amen. All of your promises. Yes and amen, amen. All of your promises. Yes and amen, amen. All of your promises. Yes and amen. So put your hand upon my heart. Put your hand upon my heart. Let me feel it. Put your hand upon my heart. Let me feel it. Let me know, let me come in, just like the wind Let me know, let me come in, just like the wind Come in