Last week we began talking about the first people filled with the Holy Spirit. Usually, when we want to see the first outpouring or the first infilling of the Holy Spirit we turn right to Acts 2 and read about the Day of Pentecost and when the Holy Spirit descended upon the 120 people gathered in the upper room. While that day is the definitive birth of the church, I think it’s important that we see the work of the Holy Spirit throughout the Scriptures, especially throughout the New Testament before and after Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is a person, He is God, He is consistent and faithful, He is devoted to the glory of Jesus and the voice of the Father, He instills in us what is already in Him: unity through love, humble devotion to the glory of Another and longsuffering dedication to the redemption of men. As I have said over and over again in the last couple of months, the work of the Holy Spirit is always to accomplish three things: glory to Jesus, redemption to men and unity to the church. The beauty of His work is that these three things are all tied to each other, when Jesus is glorified men are redeemed and when men live in redemption unity is chosen. So the evidence of the work, the presence or even the infilling of the Holy Spirit is not what happens to us nearly as much as it is what happens through us. In a few weeks we are going to begin studying what we often refer to as the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the “spiritual” gifts as Paul refers to them in Romans and in I Corinthians and what we are going to explore is the reality that if Jesus is the head of the church and the Holy Spirit is “another helper”, just like Jesus in every way, then that means that the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives can’t do anything other than to reflect the character and ministry of Jesus. We have to understand that any gift given by the Holy Spirit will always be in line with the character of Jesus. If it doesn’t reflect Jesus’ character, if it doesn’t glorify Jesus, lead men to redemption and the church to unity then it is not the work of the Holy Spirit. Today I want us to look again at the first family “filled with the Holy Spirit” in the New Testament: John the Baptist and his mother Elizabeth and father Zacharias. John was filled while in his mother’s womb and leapt for joy, Elizabeth was filled at the same time John was and glorified Jesus with a loud voice and Zacharias was filled at the time of John’s circumcision and he prophesied the glory of Jesus and redemption to men. That prophesy of Zacharias which is our text today glorified Jesus as coming in redemption and salvation but it revealed not just the purpose of John but I believe the purpose of all of us. John was chosen by God to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that he could prepare the way for Jesus, announce His coming and remove the obstacles that stood between the hearts of men and the heart of God. John was filled with the Holy Spirit so that He could know Jesus and make Him known and so that when he had done the work the Spirit had called him to he could hide behind Jesus in safety, in rest and in fulfillment. Over these next couple of weeks I want us to see that we are filled with the Holy Spirit in the same manner and for the same purpose as John the Baptist was, to know Jesus, to make Him known and to hide in His love.