"And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He visited and accomplished redemption for His people,
And raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us,
To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
For you will go on before the Lord to make ready His ways,
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To direct our feet into the way of peace."
And
the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he
lived in the desolate regions until the day of his public appearance to
Israel."
Good Morning my beloved,
For those who know me personally, know that I love worship music and while I don’t have a great voice, I love to sing very much. Today, we'll be looking at the text often called Zechariah's Benedictus, or Zechariah's Song. It's hymn of praise and thanksgiving sung by Zechariah addressed to the Israelite people about their long-cherished hopes that the Messiah would come and establish the kingdom they have been longing for, with the realization that Messiah is going to soon come, and the fulfillment of God's promises are close at hand.
Before we get into our text for today, I'd like to address the issue of, I know some of you are chuckling, asking yourselves "What controversial topic is he going to talk about now?", well, I'm glad you asked, I'd like to address the issue of contemporary worship, I'm not talking about a certain style of music, I'm not so old that I don't recognize that every generation feels the need to express worship of God in a way that they're comfortable with. I do not believe that we can completely disregard a particular style of music because it's new, nor do I believe we should discard a particular style of music just because it's older, there are many wonderful expressions of worship that have been penned in every generation. Worship and music are often inseparably linked and both certainly bring honor to the Lord, however, the two are not synonymous, though worship may include music and singing. True worship is the attitude of the heart, and music is one way to express what is in hearts of the people of God.
I believe we need to be very careful about what we, as the church, the people of God, label as "contemporary worship music," which are in use during ministry services in many of the churches today. We have a responsibility to make sure that what the congregation and our children are listening to, that the content of that music is conveying a message worth hearing. What I'm trying to say is, I believe the content of the music is far more important than the style of music, because music has a way of conveying a specific message, especially when that message is repeated over and over again, in such a way that it's memorable and able to be easily repeated. In other words, it's the words, not necessarily the instruments that are being played or the style of music that convey the artists intended message.
That said, I believe that we, as Christians, must stay as far away from the edge of what the culture listens to and identifies with as possible, because music, like anything else in this fallen world, can be used for good or bad. Music can be used to either praise God or it can be used in a way that conveys a message that sounds like praise of God, it a way that's worldly, so it draws people back into the culture. We must learn to exercise discernment and good judgment in music, just like any other Christian liberty. Without sounding too critical, or straying away from the topic at hand, I’ve noticed that many churches, and believe me, I've been to many of them all over the place, who tend to gravitate toward music worship leaders that are practicing homosexuals, and they usually introduced as "This is so and so, our music director and he's a really nice guy and does a wonderful job." And, that may well be true to some degree, but I know a lot of habitual sinners who are nice people, but they are not Christians, though some of them profess to be, but the pattern of their lives clearly indicate otherwise. In John 4:24, Jesus said that
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
So, I believe the issue is that anyone involved in a position of ministry, in whatever capacity that may be, must be a person with a transformed heart, evidence by a changed life. The Lord does not want false believers with a fleshly mind that are not concerned about the consequences of their sin, to worship Him in vain, I believe that's clearly illustrated in Isaiah 1:13-17, when He said "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of convocation—I cannot endure wickedness and the solemn assembly. My soul hates your new moon festivals and your appointed times, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Indeed, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, purify yourselves; Remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good." You cannot worship God when you do not know the God Whom you're worshiping. Scripture tells us God hates the sin of pride. Pride is the egregious sin upon which all other sins feed. Pride says that you the right to have what you want, when you want it, regardless of what God says about it. That's just not what the Bible teaches. Scripture is clear that the world is full of counterfeit Christians and the modern church is full of professing Christians who obviously have no authentic relationship with Him.
In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God says "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments." Folks, that is the biblical definition of a true believer, one who has been regenerated. A transformed heart that been cleansed from all filthiness and desires to obey God's ordinances. True salvation is being given a pure heart, a heart that has been cleansed from habitual sin. I dare to say, that many pastors today are checking sound doctrine and the concern for salvation at the door, embracing the filth of the ungodly culture; accepting just about everything to embrace the concept of tolerance, and love one another in a non-divisive, non-confrontational way. True Christians live counter-culturally, they represent Christ in the world, putting all of His attributes on display by living for the glory of God. You can't do that when you're focused on your own sinful desires. True discipleship is far more than a profession, a promise to follow Christ, Peter made that profession unflinchingly, but when the rubber met the road, he didn't practice it, he denied Christ three times. And when he finally realized what he had done, he wept bitterly, agonizing over his sin, he didn't skip through Jerusalem, rejoicing and waving a flag! True discipleship is permanently practiced, it's resisting sin and temptation in whatever form it presents itself, and when we occasionally fall short, and we will, we weep bitterly, mourning over our sin, coming to Christ in genuine repentance.
Why do I preach so much about the controversial topics of sin, repentance, true salvation and false teaching? Because I have a tremendous love for our Lord Jesus Christ and the church in general, I am deeply concerned about what the Church of Christ ought to be. I have endeavored to share these very foundational priorities in my heart with you over my years in ministry, because I desire to see hearts transformed, lives changed, and God has graciously blessed me to be able to see that abundantly, there is no question about it. I've been blessed tremendously to see people coming to Christ from many places all over the planet, people who have been trapped in false religion their entire lives and even more wonderful than that, several of them have since ministered to numerous others in their communities, bringing them in to be a part of His Church, even at the risk of their own lives.
People have asked me, "What are you doing to attract people, your ministry is continuing to grow while others are losing people at an exponential rate?" First of all, allow me to say, that the success of a church should never be measured by it's size, because the number of people isn’t an accurate indicator, attracting people is one of the easiest things to do, especially if you're willing to say everything that people want to hear, quite frankly, many of them will turn out to be false Christians, I’m not the least but interested in that. I am confident in the fact that my assignment is to proclaim the Gospel, in Truth and if you've been around for very long, I'm sure you're aware that I’ve always been committed to glorifying God and exalting Christ above everything else, because the world is in such a dire condition and it's going to get worse, people need to be warned about the coming judgment. After I've done that, I just get out of the way, and allow Christ to build His Church the way He wants, I don't concern myself with how He's going to do it. It's not up to me who believes and who doesn't, I'm well aware that many won't believe but that's a job for the Holy Spirit, He's the One Who gives life. We must remind ourselves that Judas Iscariot heard the Truth, he was among those who followed Christ, and having known the Truth, and witnessed the many miracles Christ did, ultimately, he walked away and betrayed Him, even though he was "visibly attached" to Christ, it was a superficial relationship. There are many people that make a superficial profession of faith but they do not abide in His Word. In Luke 6:46, Jesus posed the very important question, "Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"
The Bible is the Word of God, it is the only authority, it is accurate and without error, and in it is contained all necessary Truth for eternal life. When a person rejects the Word of God, they have rejected God Himself, and the consequences are horrific and lasting for all eternity. There is nothing more important than salvation, because it is the only way that anyone will escape the horrors of Hell. It doesn't matter how religious you are, how spiritual you are, how much Scripture you know, without a relationship with Jesus Christ, you will burn in Hell, guaranteed. The evidence of a genuine salvation, is the Holy Spirit living in you, and if the Holy Spirit abides in you, you are equipped with the desire and ability to obey God, though imperfectly, which you could never do on your own. In the flesh, you can do no good thing. In a nutshell, all true Christians abide in Christ and have the Holy Spirit abiding in them, therefore, all genuine Christians produce attitudes of righteousness though not all to the same degree. Your commitment and love for Christ, will determine that, not your profession.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Amen
Today's Message: Preparing Your Heart
Open your Bibles with me, if you would and turn to the first chapter in the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 1. Today, we will be looking at verses 67 through 80, the end of the chapter. I invite you to follow along
with me read this text to you, to set it in our minds.
"And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He visited and accomplished redemption for His people,
And raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us,
To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
For you will go on before the Lord to make ready His ways,
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To direct our feet into the way of peace."
And
the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he
lived in the desolate regions until the day of his public appearance to
Israel."
Let's look at verse 67, "And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying." The first thing I want you to notice, is Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, the forerunner to the Messiah, who had just been born about a week earlier, was filled with the Holy Spirit. At first he didn't believe God, even though the angel Gabriel completely clearly spelled everything out, so for nine months he was made miraculously mute, he couldn't say anything, not even to praise God for his son's miraculous birth. Now he gets it, he understands, and it's absolutely crystal-clear that the Messiah coming and he knows exactly who it is, because Mary, who had just spent three months with Zechariah and Elizabeth, is pregnant with the Messiah. As soon as his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, he broke out in this incredible song of praise.
Verse 68, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He visited and accomplished redemption for His people." Zachariah knew that God made covenants promises there was the Noahic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, neither of which provided a means of salvation, then there was the Davidic Covenant the Abrahamic Covenant. The New Covenant covenant promise He made to Israel, in which God promised to forgive sin and restore fellowship with those whose hearts are turned toward Him, was dependent on the arrival of the Messiah. He anticipated promises of the Messiah who bring the kingdom, free them from oppression of all who hate them and give them back their land, make Israel a great nation, and the redemption of Israel. Zachariah knew the forerunner who would announce Messiah, was none other than his son, John the Baptist, who was now born and Mary was pregnant with the Messiah. Finally, it looks like everything God promised to Israel was all about to happen, now that coming of the Messiah wasn't far behind, so he is rejoicing over what is coming to pass.
Verse 69, "And raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant—" Zachariah knew the Messiah, the Savior, will come in the house of David, not only Son of David, the promised King but Son of the Most High and He would establish His eternal kingdom, that's what he expected, it was all so close he could hardly believe it. Clearly his rejoicing here is indicating the Messiah and not his son, who he does refer to a little later, as some have suggested. Surely, he was thinking of 2 Samuel 7 and Psalm 132, where the Messiah is even called "the horn of David," who will establish His eternal kingdom. Zachariah knew exactly what was happening and he was excited. What Zechariah didn't know was the Messiah would come but He didn't establish His kingdom, because Israel would reject their King, in fact, they want Him killed. Like everybody else in Israel, he didn't understand all of the nuances of prophetic fulfillment. All he could see was that the King would come, overthrow Rome, bringing peace and prosperity to Israel, and that He would rule the world. Even the disciples were confused to the very end, because things didn't go the way they thought. The Messiah would come to bring salvation, because without it, no one will experience the kingdom. Without salvation, nothing else matters, because the barrier is unforgiven sin, we understand that, right?
Verse 70, "As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—" Immediately he connects the horn of salvation to the promises God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, Zachariah, being a priest knew the Old Testament covenants well, he knew God made the promise to bring salvation, but there's nothing in the Abrahamic Covenant or Davidic Covenant that can save the sinner, they would have to put their trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But as a nation, they were trying to earn it because the barrier of disobedience was still there. All Zachariah could see was a kingdom like no other kingdom that has ever existed and deliverance from their enemies.
Verse 71, "Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us." Israel was forever and always besieged by their enemies and those who hated them, they longed for deliverance and to be set free from all of that. He knew the potential fulfillment of the redemptive aspects of the Abrahamic covenant, that they would soon be free, without fear of attack or oppression from their enemies was all tied to the coming of the Messiah. That's exactly what was promised in Psalm 106:10, "So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy." They wanted their freedom and independence from the Gentile nations who were always against them.
Verse 72, "To show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant." The Abrahamic Covenant didn't talk about a kingdom like the Davidic Covenant, the promises were different. God made a promise to Abraham to make Israel a great nation, and it's repeated eight times in the book of Genesis. The Abrahamic Covenant God made is irrevocable, and like all of His promises, it will come to pass. If God is capable of breaking His covenant with Israel, what makes you think He won't break His promise to save you? Are you any less rebellious than they? God's mercy once given to Abraham, started with a non-Jew chosen by God, before the existence of the nation of Israel, so there were no Jews but that's not where redemptive history ends, His mercy toward sinners has spread to Israel and throughout the world, in fact, that's why we're all here today.
Verses 73-74, "The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear." The oath which God swore to Abraham, recorded in Genesis, He swore by Himself, for there is no one greater He, that his seed should possess the gates of his enemies, and in it all the nations of the earth should be blessed would be fulfilled by the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Notice, God told Abraham to leave his country, leave his relatives and go to the land of Palestine, as we know it today, and I will make a great nation, and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, it's very important to note, God didn't ask Abraham to agree to anything, it was a command, saying you shall keep My covenant. God's promise came to pass, the Jewish people have been and still are a great nation.
Verse 75, "In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days." The Davidic Covenant and the Abrahamic Covenant were connected, the Davidic Covenant brought the rule of Messiah and the Abrahamic Covenant brought the promised blessing. They were going to enter into a time of peace and prosperity, if you study the history of Israel, you'll see it didn't last long. That does not negate that fact that God made a holy covenant and is still unfolding His promise to the wonderful people of Israel. The only way to understand it, is it's a promise of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. Abraham was counted righteous, even though he didn't know about Christ, but because he believed God. There's no such thing as time in God's economy.
Verse 76, "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to make ready His ways." Zachariah, an expert in Old Testament Scripture, knows his son is the forerunner, and he probably had little John in his arms as he spoke these words to him as he breaks forth in praise to God for these great promises. Until Israel acknowledges Jesus Christ as the crucified Messiah who died in their place, they will not receive the fulfillment of all the Abrahamic or Davidic blessings. In the meantime, salvation is available to everyone who believes! Zachariah knew the salvation of God was about to come and he basically singing a song of praise, songs of praise are all throughout the Bible, that’s what people do when they celebrate. Even today, much of our singing is connected to the joy of our salvation. And, the coming of the Savior is the greatest occasion in all of human history!
Verse 77, "To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins." This is the first time this is mentioned, the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sin. Neither the Davidic or Abrahamic Covenants talk about forgiveness. We need salvation and the the forgiveness of sin, if we were lost in sin, we damned and nothing else matters if we die in our sin, does it? The reason God can forgive sin is because Jesus paid its penalty in full. Only those who have been cleansed from their sins forgiven by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ will experience salvation, all others are cursed, that's why preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins is so critical. As a footnote, the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants was promised particularly to Israel and it is through the nation of Israel blessing all the families of the earth that we're able to be a part of it, there is absolutely no room in Christianity for antisemitism. The blessings promised to the nation Israel has been postponed, not canceled, the Church has not replaced Israel, the Jews were looking for the Messiah, they didn't believe it was the Lord Jesus Christ, because didn't fit their theology, but there will be many converted Jews in the kingdom along with the rest of us, God promises that. There will also be many converted Muslims, Roman Catholics, Seventh Day Adventist, Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists and any others who have come to the Truth, we'll all be there together. Many of the people I love most are Jews; there Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and there's Peter, John and Paul, but above them all, there’s the Lord Jesus Christ, He's Jewish too!
Verse 78, "Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us." I believe tender mercy is what defines God, forgiveness is only made possible because of His tender mercy. Zachariah understood that, didn't he? He knew that the covenant of forgiveness was going to be fulfilled in the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah. The Sunrise from on high will visit us, is a reference to Malachi 4, which says "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall." Then God says "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh." That’s the last word in the Old Testament, before God went silent until He appeared to Zachariah by way of the angel Gabriel. The Sunrise from on high refers to the dawn that breaks through the darkness of night. Jesus came to dispel the four hundred years of darkness, didn't He. In John 8, Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." To which the Pharisees said to Him, "You are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true." It's sad that it's so hard for many of the Jewish people to see the Truth about Christ, I believe that we must pray for God to change their hearts, and for everyone who has a false view about Christ. God will sometimes put us through really serious crises to bring about a change, He has the Jewish people and they're still going through it today, but have you ever noticed nobody has been able to annihilate them? God won't allow it.
Verse 79, "To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To direct our feet into the way of peace." Isaiah 9:2 says, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in the land of the shadow of death, the light will shine on them." Isaiah sees a glorious day when the dawn breaks and there's a light shining on those wandering through the darkness, those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, to direct them from death to life. Scripture makes unmistakably clear is that all men are sinners, it's much more than just how we act, or how we speak, it's in our nature, sin is a driving force within us, that draws us to itself, like a magnet and a paper clip, if a paper clip gets close enough that magnet will pull it right to itself and the stronger the magnet, the more paperclips it will be able to pick up. That's why Scripture tells us to watch to we subject ourselves to, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
It's important to understand how powerful the force of sin is, no threat, no matter how formidable, can overpower our disposition to do evil. All you have to do is look at what going on in our world, sexual sin is running rampant, and they keep finding new ways to lower the moral standards of society. The desire of a reprobate mind to commit sin is stronger than the fear of the consequences because the heart of man is corrupt. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can know it?" God will be patient toward sinners until the time when sin will be dealt with, then man will come face to face with the eternal consequences of his misdeeds and rebellion, and the wrath of God abides on them. Christ appeared as the Light of the world, to expose the sinfulness of man and offer him forgiveness and they rejected the notion that they were sinful and they hated Him and His message, so they killed Him. The Truth of God has always convicted the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
That brings us to verse 80, "And the child continued
to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the desolate
regions until the day of his public appearance to Israel." John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets and the greatest prophet among those born of women and the forerunner of the Messiah, was a New Covenant preacher, he preached a message of baptism and repentance for the forgiveness of sins. When John came preaching, they would not acknowledge that they needed to be redeemed from sin, they wouldn't hear it, his message was was intolerable to their self-righteous, hardened hearts. Because only when sinners recognize they have violated the law of God, only when sinners repent of their sin, and turn away from it, and ask Him for forgiveness, will their sins be forgiven, until then, man is literally under the shadow of eternal death. By God grace, that forgiveness is still available to any sinner, and today, we are the forerunners, called to make ready a people prepared for the Lord Jesus Christ.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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