T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S He was startled. Something new was Imminent. A new order Is about to be announced. Prophecy is about to be fulfilled and Zacharias is to be hon ored. “ Pear not, for thy prayer is heard.” Prayers, based upon God’s Word, are always heard and always answered,— not according to our will, but according to God’s will— but nevertheless an swered if the request Includes, “ If It be thy w ill."' The answer Is not always visible to our sight, but always to our faith. What were his prayers? Were they for a son? Well, that was in accord ance with God’s established order. Had not God promised a Messiah through the seed of the woman? (Gen. 3:15). How can you account for the long centuries of faith among the Jewish people in a coming Messiah if the story in Genesis is not true? And how can you account for Christianity, with its marvellous history, if Genesis is not true? These Modernists who are so obsessed with evolutionary theories have some hard problems before them if they try to answer some simple questions. Zacharias is to have a son, but not the Messiah. He is to be named John, a shortened form of Jehochanan (the grace of Jehovah), a favorite Hebrew name. He was to Introduce the begin ning of the era of grace. He was to be a separated man. Joy and gladness were to be his. “ A wise son maketh a glad father.” “ The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice.” “ He shall be great in the sight of the Lord.” There are some people who are great In the sight of men who are In famous in God’s sight. Napoleon was great; Milton was great; Shakespeare was great,— in the eyes of the world; but greatness in God’s sight means— to believe His Word; to do His will; to love our fellows; to follow Christ as our Leader. “He shall be filled with the Holy
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Spirit.” Not with wine, but filled as were the believers on the day of Pente cost (Arts 2:13-17), and as every be liever should be filled, for that Is the command (Eph. 5:18) "A n d be no t drnnfc w ith w in e w he rein 1« exceM j h u t be filled w ith the s p irit.” When the Holy Spirit fills, He oper ates, He uses. A child even may be filled with the Holy Spirit. Children need Holy Spirit filled parents. “ Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God,” that is, to Jesus Christ. He was to be an Elijah — and he was. (3) THE ANNOUNCED PUNISH MENT, vs. 18-22. “ Thou shalt be dumb, because thou believest not my words.” This is the story of the lesson in a nutshell. Our thoughts are centered' in the verse: “Where there is no faith it is impossible to please God” (Wey mouth) (Heb. 11:6). A splendid text for meditation on the first Sabbath of the New Year. Here is an upright, godly Jewish priest keeping the ordinance of God and fulfilling in a faithful way his priestly functions. A man chosen of God to be the father of the promised prophet who was to be the last of the prophetic line, and himself without a peer. A man to whom God had sent His own royal body- servant with a message which should have filled him with joy and caused him to break forth into singing. And yet this man responds to the heavenly mes sage with a question mark, “How am I tp know?” He wanted some vis ble sign, some token beyond the word of God and yet before his eye was the sign manual of God Himself. It is ever this way with the heart of unbelief. It is possible to be a Chris tian, to belong to the church, to read the Bible, to be engaged in church work and vet to doubt the Word of God. The lesson is a searching one. God demands faith. If -we are to please Him we must believe Him.
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