My thought comes from verse 22 "And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless." Zacharias came out of the temple with a great message, but only able to beckon unto them with his hands, his unbelief caused him to lose his voice and he was unable to tell the good news to the people.
Three things were not accepted by Zacharias that the angel told him about John, the forerunner of Christ. First, John was going to be unusual because of his birth, which was miraculous due to the age of his parents, they were past child-bearing years. The second remarkable thing was his unusual purity, which was seen in his clothes, his conduct toward drinking wine, and being filled with the Holy Ghost. Thirdly, we see his unusual power in preaching repentance. The purpose of his preaching was to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. Zacharias did not want to accept these things, therefore he no verbal message just motions. The Church is much the same way. Because the Church has refused to accept her unusual birth, her unusual purity, and her unusual power, we, too, have become speechless.
The unusual birth of the Church is the miraculous salvation by grace through faith to equip us to carry the Gospel message. The unusual purity is our difference from the world and liberal Christianity. Last, the unusual power, as Johns, is again the preaching of repentance that will prepare people for the coming of the Lord.
Its a sad day when the hottest song in our churches is "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," and the most involved project is a yard sale, Bar-b-Que sale, or a car wash. Our best social events are taking our people to the beaches and mountains for "Entertainment." Wow! How busy we are. But as I see it, we are in motion, but we are not taking any gospel message. We are so busy in sales, sports and social events that the real mission of the church has been lost.
Busy? Yes! But stop and look at the reason we are in motion. The church has substituted the ministry that operates by the power of the Holy Ghost for a purely carnal program that doesn't need God, only a group of people thinking they are doing good and working for God. In motion? Yes. With a message? Well, that will be determined by our actions. Are we a pure, powerful, voice crying in the midnight "The Bridegroom Is Coming"?......
Pastor Thomas Holbrooks
Pilgrim Baptist Church, Gastonia, North Carolina