Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Perpetua was a young Christian woman who had also just become a mother.

The emperor of Rome believed that Christians were weakening the empire and ordered that they deny the faith, make a sacrifice on behalf of himself or die.

It was not long before Perpetua and some of her friends were imprisoned.

Initially, she was kept from her newborn baby, but after a few days was allowed to nurse him.

When her father brought her son to her, he begged her to recant her faith first for himself and then for her baby.

He would die without her to nurse him.

She refused to recant.

Later her brother came making much the same plea.

Finally, at her hearing before the governor, the governor himself, feeling compassion for her and her baby, asked her to recant and offer the sacrifice.

She refused and so she was ordered to die.

She and her friends were taken to a coliseum in which initially wild animals were set loose on them.

When the crowd became dissatisfied at the length of time it was taking to kill these young believers, they were lined up and slain with the sword.

These kinds of stories often strengthen a Christian’s resolve to stand for Jesus and die for their faith.

They certainly can give pause to non-believers as to the sacrifice that becoming a believer can entail.

But most Christians won’t be asked to die for their faith.

Most Christians are simply asked to live according to their faith.

I remember a comment my brother made, almost in passing: “Sometimes I think it is easier to die for Jesus than to live for him.”

This morning, we are looking at marvelous faith.

But in this case, we aren’t looking at someone who died for their faith, but two people who lived according to their faith.

It is more often than not that people with marvelous faith live, not die.

As we look at Zechariah and Elizabeth, we see a faith that brings people to marvel.

But what kind of faith is marvelous faith?

I see three qualities of marvelous faith.

The first quality is that it is emphatically confident.

The second quality is that it is explicitly clear.

And finally, marvelous faith is extremely concerning.

Emphatically Confident

Explicitly Clear

Extremely Concerning

Emphatically Confident

The first quality of marvelous faith is that it is emphatically confident.

Nine months has passed since Zechariah was told by the angel Gabriel that he and Elizabeth would have a son.

An older, life-long barren woman had become pregnant and carried that baby to term.

And the time had come to give birth.

It was around this time that Mary had returned to Nazareth, leaving the birth to Elizabeth and other family and friends.

Luke tells us that the neighbors and relatives had heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her.

And he truly had shown her mercy.

She knew it.

Zechariah knew it.

The neighbors and relatives knew it.

Everyone was well aware of what God had done for her.

“And they rejoiced with her.

Predicted son.

Check.

Predicted joy from the masses.

Check.

God was doing exactly as he had promised.

He had given great mercy to Elizabeth.

In spite of the discomfort that comes with pregnancy and in spite of the discomfort that comes with growing old, and in spite of the pain that comes in child-birth, everyone understood that the Lord had been merciful to Elizabeth and everyone rejoiced.

Can I ask you a question?

Do you see God’s great mercy in spite of your discomforts and pain?

I mean, I know we all have our moments of weakness, where the discomfort and pain can be overwhelming.

But overall, would you say that you look and remind yourself of God’s great mercy upon your life?

I would venture to say that it is easier to live a marvelous faith when we do than when we don’t.

Polycarp, one of the Apostle John’s disciples, famously said, when he was asked to recant his faith or die, “Eighty and six years have I served Christ, nor has he done me any harm.

How then could I blaspheme my King who saved me?”

It was not as though he lived without pain or discomfort those 86 years.

It was that he chose to see God’s mercy through them all.

Do we see God’s great mercy in spite of discomfort and pain?

But let us notice how experiencing this great mercy affected Elizabeth and Zechariah.

In Elizabeth’s case, it caused her to have an emphatic confidence.

According to law, a baby boy was to be circumcised on the eighth day and according to tradition, that was when he was named.

So John was in his home with his parents, everyone rejoicing, and was circumcised.

And the way the text reads, the family was discussing baby names.

It sounds like the consensus was to name him after Zechariah.

But look at verse 60 one more time.

Now this may not sound like much as we read it, but that’s because the emphasis cannot be seen in the English.

But in Greek, the word “No” is an emphatic “no.”

There is your normal “No” ouk in Greek.

It just means “no.”

But then there is your emphatic “No” ouxi.

Which indicates that whatever it is in response to, is totally dismissed.

“No way!” his mother answered, “He shall be called John.”

It is an emphatic response to those who wanted to sway her away from God’s will.

And it was a lone response.

The family and friends were on one side of the issue; Elizabeth on the other.

Zechariah is not even in the picture at this point in time.

That is not to say that the relatives and neighbors were purposefully going against God’s will.

They weren’t in the temple.

They hadn’t heard about the name Gabriel said the baby was to be called.

They were doing what had always been done.

They were just living life as always.

But marvelous faith doesn’t just live life as always.

When Jesus told his disciples he’d be betrayed.

Peter responded:

Peter wasn’t purposefully going against what God had said or planned.

It just seemed inconceivable that what Jesus said could or would happen.

But look at Jesus’s response.

“Get behind me, Satan!” Talk about emphatic confidence.

This was the way he was to go and no one would stop him.

Peter didn’t know he was being used as a tool from Satan; He didn’t even think that his plans and God’s plans were at odds.

Nor did the friends and relatives of Elizabeth realize that they were trying to turn her from doing as God had instructed.

But Elizabeth saw it for what it was, and in emphatic confidence, did as was commanded.

So how about us?

How do we express ourselves in faith?

Is it with emphatic confidence?

Or is it closer to an apology?

“I’m sorry, but” or a “No way.”

Notice how the people responded to Elizabeth’s confidence: