All right, brethren, Luke chapter
1. Now when the angel of the Lord told
Zacharias that Elizabeth was going to bear a child, you know,
she had been barren. And he said she was going to
have a child. And Zacharias didn't believe
the word of the Lord. Well, so the Lord shut his mouth,
made it where he couldn't speak and made him where he couldn't
hear. He couldn't hear and he couldn't
speak because he didn't believe what the Lord had said. So all
that time that Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist,
finally her time came and they go to When the child's eight
days old, they take him to be circumcised at the tabernacle,
and they ask, you know, what's this child's name gonna be, and
somebody said Zacharias, and Elizabeth said, no, it's gonna
be John, and they came to Zacharias and said, nobody in your family's
named this, and he took a pen and he wrote for him that his
name's gonna be John, and when he did, made it so he could speak
and he could hear. And the scripture said he was
filled with the Holy Ghost. And look what verse 64 says.
And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he
spake and praised God. He was filled with the Holy Ghost,
scripture says, and he began to prophesy. See there verse
67? The child's father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Ghost.
And he prophesied, he began to preach, began to bless God, began
to praise God. You know, people will say, what
does it mean to be filled with the Holy Ghost, or what does
it mean to speak with the power of the Holy Spirit? Well, it's
not putting on a show for anybody. That's not what it is. This is
an old man filled with the Holy Ghost. We know he is. It says
it in the Word. And you know what he does? He
declares the truth of the Gospel. That's what it is to speak by
the power of the Holy Spirit. It's to declare the truth of
the Gospel. It's to declare the truth of the Gospel. The brethren
at Corinth were divided over preachers, you remember? And
they were putting a focus on the gifts that the Holy Spirit
had given, rather than on Christ, who they were given to, to exalt
and magnify. So it ended up causing them to
have a division over preachers, over who, one liked the way this
one spoke, one didn't like the way that one spoke, and so they
ended up dividing. And Paul said, when I came to
you, I didn't come with excellency of speech or of wisdom. So that's
not what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not to
come with some excellent speech or some wisdom that's above everybody's
head. He said, I didn't come with that,
declaring to you the testimony of God, declaring the witness
of God. This is the record. That's what
it is to speak by the Spirit, to declare what God says. He
said, I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's what it is. That's being
filled with the Holy Ghost to be determined to preach only
Christ and Him crucified. He said, as far as me, as far
as myself, I was with you in weakness and fear and trembling. My speech, my preaching wasn't
with enticing words of man's wisdom. So this whole thing of
a man putting on a show outwardly like he's in some kind of trance
when he's speaking by the Holy Ghost, Paul said, I was with
you in weakness. And he said, well, my preaching
was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And that manifests
by preaching the gospel, declaring the gospel of Christ. And he
said, I did it because I want your faith not to stand in the
wisdom of men, but in the power of God. You know how the Spirit
made you believe, the Spirit entered and you believed God?
That's what it is to be preached with the Spirit. The Spirit gives
you the heart to want to declare Christ. So we praise God. That's what he did. That's what
the Spirit, Christ said when he's come, he's going to glorify
me. And when you're filled with the Spirit, you're going to praise
God only. And our subject tonight is why
we praise God only. That's what that word blessed
means. Verse 68, he said, blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Praise
the Lord God of Israel. Praise be to God of Israel. Now, we saw Sunday in Ezekiel
37, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 1, the reason God saves through
the gospel is no flesh is gonna glory in his presence and those
that are saved are gonna praise only God. They're gonna glorify
only God. They're gonna give him the glory
for salvation. And that's exactly what we hear
Zacharias do here. All right, here's our divisions,
verse 68. First of all, we praise God because
he's visited us. He came to where we are. Verse
68, he said, for he hath visited his people. He's visited his
people. Number two, we praise only God
because when he came, he redeemed his people. He said he has visited
and redeemed his people. And number three, we praise him
because he is the power by which we're saved and kept and provided
for. The power, he said, verse 69,
and he hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house
of his servant David. Let's look at those three things
and next time we'll pick up, that's still one sentence, keep
going, but we'll pick up with the rest of it next time. But
for now, let's just look at this part right here. First of all, why do we praise only God? Because
God himself has visited his people. God has. God has come. God's
come. It's amazing grace to read in
that sentence that God has a people. That's amazing that he has a
people, but then that he came and visited his people. It's amazing that, and I know
that we naturally think we're pretty good, and we naturally
think the people around us are, well, they're not bad people.
There's some good people. but we're comparing ourselves
with ourselves when we think that way. And the fact is, there
are none good. And the fact is, we're talking
about how God sees it, and how God declares it, and you're gonna
meet God. You're gonna come in face to
face with God one day, and you're gonna have to have something
you cannot provide. You're gonna have to have something
you can't provide. You're gonna have to have a righteousness.
You're going to have to be perfect to be accepted of God. See, when
Adam sinned, that was... Have you ever had somebody do
something really mean to you, just hateful to you, that just
hurt your feelings so bad? When Adam sinned against God,
that was... If you've ever experienced that,
somebody just did something awful, treacherous to you, betrayed
you, Listen, it was nothing compared to what Adam did to God. That's
what it was to God, just a betrayal and a trespass against him, sinned
against him. And when he did that, we did
that. We were in Adam and we did that. So to say that God
has a people, first of all, that's what's amazing. But the fact
is, before God made time, he chose a people. Look at 1 Timothy
1. 1 Timothy 1.9 says, now really,
look at this, God hath saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace. You see, I'm saying it's amazing
grace that God has a people. When and where did he call us?
When was this holy calling? When and where did he make us
his people? He said, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began. Before the world began. God chose his people by grace,
not because of something in us. And he made us his people in
Christ. He looked to Christ and he rejoiced
in his son. And he did all this before the
world began. So it's amazing grace that God has a people See,
before we fell, he already had chosen who he'd save. All right,
but Paul didn't stop there. In the next verse, verse 10,
he said, but he's now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior,
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus, our Savior, is
God, and he came and visited us. He came and visited us. That's what Zacharias declared
God has visited his people. And Christ came to us. You know,
way back in Moses' day, the children of Israel were in bondage, and
God was illustrating us. He was illustrating our condition.
They were in bondage in Egypt. That same country over there
now that you hear about, Egypt, the children of Israel were in
bondage in Egypt. And the scripture says, they
heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel. He sent
Moses declaring this, and they heard, this is the message they
heard, the good news, that the Lord had visited his children,
the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction.
Then they bowed their heads in worship. He made them hear that. He made them know he had visited
them, and he caused them to bow down in worship. That's what
his people do when the Lord makes you know he has visited you.
When he comes to you personally and visits you, and he reveals
what he did over 2,000 years ago when he came, that's when
you bow down and you start praising only God. And you believe him,
you trust him, because you see he really is salvation. And these
things are true, these things are so. I wish our young people
could understand, everything that you know about history,
about the countries and all the division that's going on right
now in the Middle East between the Palestinians and Israel,
it's all right here. Every bit of it is right here.
It all came about because God chose the people. That's why
it's still going on to this day. God chose the people. Everything
in this book is so, and it's all glorifying the Lord Jesus. Remember Naomi, she was down
in Moab, and what does she hear? She heard that the Lord had visited
his people and given them bread up there in Bethlehem, and it
caused her to leave Moab and go all the way, and she returned.
Scripture says, then she arose with her daughters-in-law that
she might return from the country of Moab, for she heard that God
had visited his people and given them bread. She was down there
in a heathen place where there was no gospel, no brethren, nobody
Christ died for around her, they were cursed people. And somebody
comes with this good news and brought it into her ears that
the Lord has visited his people back there in Bethlehem, the
house of bread, and he's giving his people bread. And when she
heard that, she left that heathen land and returned to the Lord's
house and united with her brethren so she could feast on Christ
the bread. That's what the gospel does.
That's what the gospel does when he makes you hear he's visited
his people. Go to John chapter six with me.
John six. Just know what the Lord said.
John six, I'm saying all that stuff that happened back there
In the old scriptures, those are pictures of Christ. And the
Lord said, John 6 here, they said, Moses gave our fathers
bread in the wilderness. What are you gonna give us? And
the Lord said, verse 32, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven. Naomi heard the Lord
had visited his people and given them bread. What is this bread?
He said, Moses didn't give you that bread from heaven. My father
gave you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God
is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the
world. He that came and visited his
people is the bread. What does that mean, he's the
bread? Read on. And they said, Lord, evermore
give us this bread. And Jesus said to them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that you
also have seen me, and you believe not. All the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which is sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the
last day. Listen, you're gonna live somewhere forever. All of
us sitting in this room right here, When we draw our last breath
and these bodies go back to the ground and they bury us, we're
gonna still be living somewhere. Our soul's gonna be either with
God in the wonder of heaven or we're gonna be in eternal torment
because we rejected God. So when he said, I'm the bread
of life, that means the only way to be accepted of God The
only way to have true spiritual life and true spiritual understanding
and a perfect righteousness and a perfect holiness is the Lord
Jesus. I pray he make you hear and know
by the Spirit. I will fill you with the Holy
Spirit like he filled Zacharias and make you know the Lord's
visited his people. Because when he makes you know
that, you're gonna praise only the Lord. You'll praise only
the Lord. Some of you here, He's visited you, and you know he
has, and you praise him. Secondly, go back there now to
Luke 1. We praise God alone because he's
redeemed his people. He said, verse 68, he's visited
his people and he's redeemed his people. Now listen to me
carefully. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere in
the word of God does God say that he attempted to redeem? Nowhere. Nowhere does he say
he attempted to redeem, and nowhere does the word of God say he redeemed
all sinners without exception. Nowhere. It doesn't say that.
Those are the two greatest lies that men have spread. Number
one, that the Lord came and made redemption possible If you'll
exercise your will and trust Him, then you can make that work
to have really accomplished something. But that's a lie. He didn't say
He tried to redeem. That's not what the Scripture
says. And the Scripture nowhere says that He came and redeemed
all people without exception. Nowhere. Nowhere. Both those lies put it in your
hand. They put salvation in your hand.
And that's what it is to take the offense out of the gospel. That's exactly what Paul was
saying to the Galatians. The folks at Galatia, the false
preachers that came to Galatia were giving the people works
to do and telling them, now you have to do these works in addition
to believing on Christ or you can't be saved. That doesn't
offend anybody because that gives you some reason to be praised
and to be gloried in. God's people praise only God.
And the reason we praise only God is because He makes you to
know that none of the work is of your hand. Christ redeemed
His people and He redeemed His people that the Father gave Him
to redeem. Look there at verse 68. Read
that very carefully. He hath visited and redeemed
His people. It's done, you see that? Zacharias
was so convinced by the Holy Spirit of God that it was so
that he spoke about it in the past tense. The Lord Jesus bodily
is still in Mary's womb. He won't be born for six months.
And Zacharias said the Lord has visited us and redeemed his people.
It's done. Let me give you God's word concerning
his son. Go with me to Isaiah 42. I know
this is one I show you quite a bit. This passage is speaking about
God's son, the Lord Jesus, and let me show you what it says
about him right here. In verse four, read these first four words. He shall not fail. You see that? He shall not fail. nor be discouraged till he have
set judgment in the earth." And the isles, the peoples in the
isles scattered all over the world that are his people, they're
going to wait for his gospel. They're going to wait for it.
They're going to be saved by his gospel. See that's talking
about he shall not fail to be discourteously set judgment on
the cross He brought in judgment, and he's gonna his people scared
throughout the idols He's gonna bring in judgment in their heart
when he visits them in their heart and gives them spiritual
discernment That's what he's gonna do He came to redeem someone
and what is that? What's redemption? Redemption
is paying the price that is owed or demanded in order that somebody
can be set free. It's paying the price owed in
order that someone can be set free. Go to Galatians 3. Galatians chapter 3. Listen carefully
now. This is something I really...
Look at this now, listen. Let me make this statement and
I'm gonna read this to you, okay? Now listen carefully. Sinners
do not believe in order that we might make Christ's redemption
effectual for ourselves. In other words, it's not that
Christ came and attempted it. Now, you believe and that's gonna
make the work effectual. No. Christ redeemed us so that
he can send the Spirit and give us life and faith because he
promised Abraham that's what he'd do. Look here, see men get
everything backwards while they're dead in sin. They put us as having
we believe so that did something for Christ. Christ did it all
for his people that you might be given. faith to believe. Look here, Galatians 3.13, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. He redeemed us. He bore the condemnation
for his people. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. Here's why I did it. That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive, and the word is be given, and
I think there should be some commas here, that you might be
given the promise, comma, of the spirit, comma, through faith. God's people don't believe in
order to be redeemed. Christ redeemed us that he might
come and give us faith and all the covenant promises, give us
the Holy Spirit, and bring us to trust him because that's what
he told Abraham he would do. He's showing his faithfulness,
Go with me to Galatians 4. He says it again right here.
Must be important. He didn't even get out of one
chapter, right into the next. And he says it again, Galatians
4.4. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive, that we might be given the adoption of sons, and because
you are sons, you already were, God has sent forth the spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, wherefore
now ye no more servant in bondage, but your Son, and an heir of
God through Christ. See that? Okay, I read Isaiah
42. He shall not fail, so he has
set judgment in the earth. That's the first part of those
two verses. He came and redeemed his people. And the owl shall
wait for his gospel, That's the second part of those. He did
it that he might. Send the gospel to you and give you spiritual
discernment in your heart. Make you know you're a child
of God, been redeemed, been saved by him. And see, when he does
that, then you praise only him. Go back to Luke 1. This is what
Zechariah preached. This is what he'd said that day.
Look here, Luke 1, verse 72. He said he came. And he said he came and redeemed
us, verse 71, that we should be saved from our enemies, from
the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised
to our fathers, to remember his holy covenant, that's the promise
of the spirit, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham. You see that? That he would grant
unto us that we, having already been delivered out of the hand
of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and
righteousness before him all the days of our life. He came
and redeemed us, saved us from all our enemies, then came and
gave us the life and faith to know it, believe him, and trust
him, so we can actually worship him now without fear and torment.
See, he didn't attempt it, he did it. And he did it for people. And everybody he did it for must
and shall be given this gospel. God has visited and redeemed
his people. That's what he promised Abraham,
he promised Isaac, he promised Jacob. And so when the appointed
time came, God visited his people. He redeemed his people. so that
the blessing that he gave to Abraham, the gospel, faith, salvation,
righteousness, holiness, that that same blessing might come
on his people scattered throughout the hours. That includes you
and me, all his elect. All right, let me show you lastly. Lastly, the sinner that Christ
redeemed He's gonna believe and he's gonna praise only God because
God has exalted Christ and given him all power to save his people. God's exalted his son, giving
him all power to save all his people. Look here in verse 67,
Luke 167. Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Ghost. and he preached saying, blessed
be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited his people, he
hath redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation
for us in the house of his servant David. Go with me to 1 Samuel
2.10. The horn is power, that's what
it means, it's the power. And God raised Christ, he's the
power of God and the salvation. And here in 1 Samuel 2.10, He said, the adversaries of the
Lord shall be broken to pieces. That's our enemies. Out of heaven
shall he thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt
the horn of his anointed. Now, historically, that's speaking
of an earthly king, but spiritually, that's speaking of Christ the
king, God's anointed. Go with me to John 17.1, and
I'll show you. John 17.1. John 17.1 Why do we glory and praise only
the Lord? He's visited His people, He redeemed
His people, and He gave Christ all power, His King. His anointing gave him all power
to call us and give us faith to believe him. Look, verse one,
these words baked Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven. He said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. I'll tell you
one thing that glory was. It was, he was God, the Son of
God, with all power, equal to God. But now, he's saying, Lord,
bless me with that power as the God-man. Raise me up to be the
horn of salvation. A horn is power, brethren. And
because our substitute did not fail, because he accomplished
redeeming his people, God raised him up and gave him all power
as the God-man. That's what he did. Look over
to Ephesians 1. I'm just about near, I'm just
about to get to the end of my, ability to preach. Ephesians
1, and look here in verse 17, Paul said,
I pray for you that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
and the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints
and what is the exceeding greatness of his horn to us were to believe. That's what horn mean, power.
You might know the greatness of his power. According to the
working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when
He raised Him from the dead, set Him at His own right hand
in heavenly places, far above all principality and power and
might and dominion and every nameless name, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all
things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth
all in all. and you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sin. See, when the Lord, that same one that was spiritually,
he's in Mary, in her womb, when Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Spirit, but that one in Mary's womb, still six months
to go before he'll be born, he is He is the God who sent the
Holy Spirit and filled Zacharias with the Holy Spirit and made
Zacharias declare this good news, that Christ has visited his people,
he's God, that he's redeemed his people, and that he has raised
up the horn of salvation, the power of God unto salvation in
the house of David. That's Christ. That's what Peter
preached out on the day of Pentecost too. And in his times, when he
comes and visits you in spirit, he'll show you who is the blessed
and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who
only hath immortality, dwelling in a light which no man can approach
and to whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and
power everlasting. He makes you know his power.
And I'll tell you something else this word means. It means cornucopia. You see
the horn around Thanksgiving, we'll see that horn, you know,
that's overflowing with all the fruits and whatever. That's what
it means. He also is the power of salvation,
and this is all abundance comes from him. It's abundant salvation.
Let Israel open the Lord, for with the Lord there's mercy,
and with him is plenteous redemption. With him is plenteous mercy.
Let the wicked forsake his thoughts and come back to the Lord, and
he'll have mercy on him, and he'll abundantly pardon. Where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. This is a plentiful
salvation. Now, one more place. I said one
more place. This is it, Proverbs 3. I gotta
show you this. Now, listen to what the scripture
says. Verse 27. Proverbs 3.27, this is just a
good word, good practical commandment for you to know, but there's
a gospel right here I want you to see. Proverbs 3.27, withhold
not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power
of that hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, go
and come again, and tomorrow I will give when thou hast it
by thee. You see that? Don't you withhold
good to whom it's due when you have the power to give it, the
powers in your hand to give it. Don't tell them, come back tomorrow,
when you have it sitting right there, you give it to them. Well,
listen, Christ Jesus has come, he's visited his people, he's
redeemed his people, And God has raised him up and given him
all power. And he has a fullness of all
abundance. He has it in his hand to give
it. And he has the power to give it. and everybody he died for
and justified, it's due to them because he's their righteousness.
They're justified. It's due to them that he give
them life and faith and grace to believe. It's due, it's due
to them that he keep you all your days and bring you to the
Father and present you before the Father faultless. without
blame. It's due because of Christ's
righteousness that he raised us from the grave and bring us
to God. It's due to us. It's due to God,
because God chose us and put the work in Christ's hand. And
he has the power to do it, and he won't delay. He won't say,
come back tomorrow. You come to him now. He says,
come to me. If you can, you know why? It's
because he already gave it to you. He already gave you the
blessing, and he'll give you more blessing. And whatever you
need in this life, he's got the power to send the gospel, he's
got the power to give you a new heart, he's got the power to
give you faith, he's got the power to give you, rob you in
his righteousness, the power to keep you all your days, the
power to provide everything you need in this life, the power
to raise you up from the grave, the power to bring you into the
holy throne room of God and present you perfect to God. And it's
due, his people. because of him and everything
he is and God's grace in him, and he's gonna give it to his
people. He won't be late bringing the gospel to anybody. He won't
say, come back tomorrow. He'll give it to you today. And
when he does, you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna say, not
unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for
thy mercy and for thy true sake. You're gonna praise only God.
That's what's sacrificed. What is it? To be filled with
the Holy Ghost? That sounds so, that sounds mystical. I'm sure that's some people put
on a real, no, it's just an old man standing there in a tabernacle
declaring the truth of God. That's what it is. And your glory
only in the Lord. That's the whole point. Ezekiel
37, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 1. When I save my people, they're
gonna stop blowing in their flesh and they're gonna praise only
God. I pray the Lord to bring you to do that. The God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace and believing that you may abound
in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen. All right,
Brother Adam.