Good morning. Let's all stand together. We'll sing hymn number 51.

Hymn number 51. Praise the Savior, ye who know him, who can tell how much we owe him. Gladly let us render to him all we are and have. Jesus is the name that charms us, He for conflict fits and arms us. Nothing moves and nothing harms us while we trust in Him. Trust in Him, ye saints, forever. He is faithful, changing never. Neither force nor guile can sever those he loves from him. Keep us, Lord, O keep us, cleaving ? To thyself and still believing ? ? Till the hour of our receiving ? ? Promise joys with thee ? ? Then we shall be where we would be ? ? Then we shall be what we should be ? Things that are not, now nor could be, soon shall be our own.

Be seated. We'll sing hymn number 256.

256. When peace like a river attendeth my way, ? When sorrows like sea billows roll ? ? Whatever my lot ? ? Thou hast taught me to say ? ? It is well ? It is well with my soul. It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, Though trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate And hath shared His own blood for my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part, but the whole! is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sighed, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.

Luke chapter 1. That man who wrote that hymn, he had five daughters. They were on a ship. The ship sank and he lost his five daughters and his wife. He was a businessman. And got on a ship and went out where they all were lost, and they said, this is where it happened, right here. And that old man wrote that song, It's Where With My Soul Standing, where he lost his whole family. That's how that song became to be written. And that's, not many people could deal with something like that. He wrote that hymn from that.

Let me start reading here in verse 47 and down to the end of the chapter. Now Elizabeth full time came that she should be delivered and she brought forth the son. neighbors and her cousins drew near or heard how the Lord had showed her great mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her.

And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by thy name, by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all, and his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God.

And fear came on all them that dwelt round about them. And all these sayings were noised abroad, saying, Throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard it, them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father, Zechariah, as was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and he hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant.

The oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us that we, being 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. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.

And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.

Our Lord and our God, in the blessed, glorious name of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, we come to do as Zachariah did. We come to praise you. We come to bless you. We come to honor you. We come to magnify your holy name. We come to talk about our Savior and the great work and person that he is and the great work he accomplished.

Lord Jesus, be with us today. Holy Spirit, come down among us. Give us some liberty. Give us some freedom of thought. Give the dear saints of God, give these people here today a heart to listen and ears to hear and a heart to believe and rejoice in the things of God Almighty. Rejoice in his word. Rejoice in what he's done for poor sinners like ourselves.

Lord Jesus, we have nothing to bring. We have no work of our own, no merit of our own, no worth of our own, nothing to commend ourselves to you, but the blood, the righteousness, the merit of our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, thy son, your son. And we bless you and praise you. And please, Lord, remember those who are so tried and in such dire straits and Things are faced every day, God be merciful to them, giving them abundance of grace, and you know whom we speak.

And Lord, open hearts today, bring sinners to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, for there's no other name, no other name given among men, and even in heaven or on earth, other than thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is salvation. So Lord, help us to be true to that message. be true to the souls of men and women that's in this world. And we ask His thanks for Christ's sake. Amen.

Let's all stand together and sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin.

you Come ye saints, admire and wonder,
Jesus matchless love adore.
Sing for Sinai's awful thunder,
shall upon thee burst no more.
Sing, though sins are black and large,
Sing for Jesus, by His dying,

Set you free from every charge. Set you free from every charge.

Sing, though sins and carnal reason
Fain would stop the joyful sound.
Sing and count it highest treason,
For a saint to hold his tongue.
Sing aloud whose holy calling
Your election surely shows,
Sing, nor fear a final failing,
Jesus' love no changes know.
Sing, for you shall heaven inherit. Sing, and ne'er the song be done. Sing, for he alone is worth it. He our sins did all atone. Sing aloud among God's people, in your heart when all alone. Sing to Father, Son, and Spirit, one in three and three in one.

Be seated. I want to talk today about Zechariah's prophecy, his prophecy. The scriptures tells us that his wife was filled with the Holy Ghost when Mary come and she knowed that Mary was going to have from her womb her Savior, her Savior, her Lord. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth's son was filled with the Holy Ghost from the mother's womb. And now Zechariah, the scriptures tells us, get over here where I was, that the Holy Ghost came on him in verse 67. And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied. He was filled with the Holy Ghost. And that word prophesy means an inspired utterance. Inspired utterance.

Now you remember that God hadn't spoken to anybody for 400 years. And the first time He spoke to anybody, He spoke to this man right here, Zechariah. That's the first man He spoke to. Hadn't spoken to anybody for 400 years. And He sent Gabriel who stood in the presence of God sent him to tell him that him and his wife's gonna have a child Well, he didn't believe it. He did not believe it and This man did not say a word for nine months from the time that his wife conceived till that angel told him until He wrote down the name of his son John God opened his mouth just like that How would you like to be quiet for nine months? impossible for most of us. It'd be almost impossible.

But I'll tell you what, there's some valuable, valuable lessons for us in this Zechariah's prophecy. Now first let's start here in verse 57. Now Elizabeth full time came that she should be delivered, and she brought forth a son. This tells us that God fulfills these words. Now look back over in verse 13 of chapter 1. God fulfills his word. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. Well, did God say it's going to happen? It happened. God fulfills His Word. When He says something's going to happen, mark it down, it's going to happen. He told things about Christ coming hundreds and hundreds and thousands of years before Christ even come. But all of Isaiah 53 was over 600 years before Christ ever come, and it told us everything that would happen to our Lord Jesus when He come into this world about His crucifixion and His death as a substitute.

Well, she brought forth a son. She brought forth a son. That's what she did. Back over here in verse 57. And all his name shall be called John. John. And look down in verse 59. Let's go through this again. And it came to pass on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. Well, everybody there said, well, let's call him after the name of his father. And that's what most people do. I'm named after my father. And his mother answered and said, Nope, that's not his name. That's not his name. He shall be called John. You know why he's going to be called John? Because God told him he's going to name him John. He said, You're going to have a son and his name's going to be John. Going to be John. And they said unto her, There's nobody in the family that's called by this name. Everybody in your family, nobody's called John. Nobody, no kindred, no people in the past, nobody in your whole family has ever been called by this name. Well, they asked, Zacharias said, well, what in the world's his name? And he asked for a writing tablet and his name, and wrote saying his name is John. And they marveled at that. How in the world did he know his name was John? He was the one that was told first and foremost that his name was going to be John. And oh my, oh and that word John, his name means the Lord is gracious. That's what his name means, the Lord is gracious.

Now look, his mouth is open. Look what it says, verse 64. And his mouth was opened immediately and he spake and the first thing he started doing was praising God. Praising God. Now you go back over here again in verse 13, look at this again. You know, verse 20, excuse me, verse 20. And he said, Behold, thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be in the season. He didn't believe what this angel told him about him and his wife having a child. But then he hadn't spoken, like I said, he hadn't said a word for nine months. God struck him dumb when he was in the temple, still in the temple, serving at the altar of incense. God shut his mouth. But the first thing that happened when his mouth was open, what's the first thing he did? He began to praise God.

That's what God does for us when he gives us a new tongue, when he loosens our tongue. gives us how to talk, and gives us the way to speak about God, and gives us the liberty to express God. And we say, praise His name. There's nobody like God. There's nobody like the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody at all that should be praised like He should be praised. I mean, His name's above every name. His name's every name that ever, never gonna be mentioned one of these days. Every knee's gonna bow, and every tongue's gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Now, he had been silent for nine months, and he had all that time to ponder the Word of the Lord. And you know why he had this? It was because of his unbelief. His unbelief. Unbelief keeps us from receiving lots and lots of blessings. And so, that's the first value that God fulfills His Word. He keeps His Word. Whatever He says He's going to do, He does.

And then look what else it says here. Look down here in verse 58. Here's another thing that we can learn. And I hope we learn this. That her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her, and they rejoiced in the Lord. This shows us the love and kindness that they showed to her, her cousins and her neighbors, people that knew her. They came and showed great kindness to her and heard how then they rejoiced with her.

And I'll tell you, they loved and you know, great mercy showed her and they rejoiced with her. And I'll tell you what, mercy and bringing forth a child for her to bring forth a child, they rejoiced with her. And you know that's what we need to learn. The scripture says, weep with them that weep, rejoice with them that rejoice.

And you know when Lazarus died, Mary and Martha's brother, all the people came to mourn with them. Excuse me, they came to mourn with Mary and Martha. But when they came to mourn with her, you know what they ended up seeing? One of the greatest miracles that ever happened in all the Bible, their brother Lazarus was raised from the dead. They just came to comfort her, come to be, you know, to bless, you know, weep with her, to weep with them and cry with them and mourn with them and help them in their grief over the loss of their brother. But they come to do that and ended up seeing one of the greatest miracles that ever happened. His, their brother, was raised from the dead right in their very presence and everybody else. Oh my.

And that's what we need to do. Rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep. That's what we need to do. And God help us. I think that if we can laugh together, weep together, rejoice together, that shows what close we are. And how many times have we seen that happen? And rejoice with one another, weep with one another, and laugh with one another, enjoy one another.

And then look what else it said here in verse 66. And they all heard them laid up in their hearts, in their hearts saying, and this is what they said, the people said this now. What manner of child shall this be? and the hand of the Lord was with him. This is the most blessed thing that you could hear. The hand of the Lord was with him. What manner of child shall this be? What kind of child is this man going to grow up to be? He's a child. They said all kinds of wonderful things about him.

But, oh, my, to have the hand of the Lord on you, of all the things that you could want in this world, And all the things that would be a blessing to us is to have the hand of the Lord on you. And that's what they said, the hand of the Lord was upon this child. And what a blessing thing it would be if the hand of the Lord was upon our children. But the hand, you know, the hand of a king, the hand of a president, the hand of some great dignitary, It's the hand of the Lord being on you 10,000 times 10,000 worth more than any king's hand on a man. For any, you know, a king may turn against you. He may end up behead you may end up putting you in jail or in prison but our Lord Jesus Christ for his hand to be on you for him to push forth his hand and put his hand on you that when that once that hand gets on you it's on you for all eternity and it never stops God to put his hand on you oh lord you think about God himself coming and putting his hand on you.

And here's the thing about it, he got people all over the world, and he can put his hand on every single one of them at the same time. And that's what I want more than anything. Oh, the hand of the Lord's with him. The hand of the Lord's upon him. The hand of the Lord's with him. And oh my, and oh, you know, God's almighty, all wise, unchangeable. And I tell you where he holds his hand, I mean, he holds it forever and ever. Oh my, to be in the hand of God. You know, that's what our Lord said. He talked about his hand. He says, you know, I lay down my life for the sheep and no man's able to pluck them out of my hand. And he said, no man's able to pluck them out of my father's hands. And here he says, His hand of the Lord is upon you. In His hand and His hand on you at the same time. How can that be? That's the way God is. That's what makes Him God. That's what makes us worship Him and bow to Him and bless His Holy Name. That He can do all that with every one of us at the same time.

No wonder Zechariah, the first time he opened his mouth, started praising the Lord. Started praising the Lord. all by now let's start at his prophecy now in verse 67 and his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying it's the first thing he prophesied the first thing blessed utterance that he gave after he opened his mouth and started praising God he said blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people

Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel. You know, when we say, blessed be the Lord, God says about us, blessed are they, blessed are they, blessed are they. And here he says, blessed be the Lord. Instead of God blessing us, let's bless him. And that's what he's talking about. And all God's blessings are in Christ, our Lord.

And look what it says, he has visited his people. He hath visited and redeemed his people. Now you notice I want you to say something. He visited. God don't just visit anybody. God does not visit just anybody. You talk about over and over in so many places in the Old Testament scripture you talk about He hath visited this vine. He had planted that tree. He come to his plantation. And he had visited his people.

For God to come, you know, when Zacchaeus was called down out of the tree, the Lord said, today I must abide at your house and salvation must come to there. He didn't visit anybody else that day. And when he come through there. Nobody else house he went to. He didn't visit everybody. He visited that man's house. He does not visit everybody. I don't care what preachers say that Jesus wants to be in your heart and he wants to save you. He does not visit everybody.

And what if he wills not to visit you? What if he says, I'm not coming to you. I'm not going to speak to you. I'm not going to visit you. I'm not coming to your house and I'm not bringing salvation to you. He's got the right to do that. He's got the power to do that. And you think about God just, you know, going by your house and going to somebody else's to visit him. That's what you call salvation, being of the Lord.

And he said, he said, and look what else he said. He said he redeemed his people. Do you notice that's in the past tense? He said he hath redeemed his people. That means he did it. He didn't say he's going to redeem his people, he has redeemed his people. It's a done deal. I was redeemed before I was born. I was paid for before I come into this world. God redeemed me and paid for my sins before I was ever. 2000, you know, Christ hasn't even come yet. And he said he has redeemed his people.

You know, how could he say that? Because he did. Well, how did he redeem his people? First thing he did, he gave them a lamb when he brought Israel out of Egypt. Brought them a lamb. A lamb had to be brought. What you do with that lamb? Slay it. Then roast it. Put it on him a cross. And then I tell you what you do. You take that blood. And he said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And then, you know, and then he said with power, he brought him out with power. How did he bring him out with power? After the blood had been shed, after the lamb had been shed, he parted the Red Sea and they walked through on dry land. That's how he redeemed his people.

And the way he did them is exactly what he did for us. Except he himself was the lamb. And oh my, redeemed his people. Look in Psalm 111 with me. Verse 9. 111. You know, he hath redeemed his people. It's something that's been accomplished. Something's been accomplished. Look what he says down in verse 9 of Psalm 119. He sent redemption. That's what he says now. He sent redemption. And to who? His people. Nobody else. And listen to this right here. He hath commanded his covenant forever. He did that. Holy and reverent is his name. He said it. He said it.

And all right, back over in our text again. And oh, look what it says. And you know, he promised this. He promised this, this redemption. You know, in Malachi 3, it says, you know, he hath redeemed his people. And this redeemed means it's something that's been accomplished. And what's the effect of this blessed redemption? Look what he said in verse 69. And hath raised up us in horn of salvation for us in the house of David. Christ being a son of David.

And a horn, why did he say a horn of salvation? A horn, it means strength. It means power. It means having the ability to put forth some force, some power, some strength. And it's like, you know, they had horns, four horns on the altar when they burnt the sacrifices to hold it. And them horns was never burnt. And our Lord Jesus Christ as a horn, he's got all the power, he's got all the strength, and he has the power and the strength to hold us up in our salvation. And the horn is to protect his people. To save and protect his people.

Look what else it says. Has raised up salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And oh my. And how to destroy their enemies. And look what he said in this as he spake. By the prophets and his holy prophets have he has since beginning of the world. Oh my. He's going to destroy. We should be saved by our enemies. And he spake this by the mouth of his prophets. You know how many times they spoke about Christ when he talks about his redemption? It said in Jeremiah 23, it says, he will raise up a branch. He'll raise up a savior. He'll raise up a redeemer. And he shall save Israel. He shall save his people. from their sins. And you know what else he says? And you know what he shall be called? The Lord our righteousness. And that's what he is.

He said, you know, David said, and this is what I said, I'll raise up unto Israel, David, David, David, somebody to protect his people. And so many people are looking for David to come or Christ to come and sit on his throne. God's going to come and do that again. But that's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. And oh, look what he said in verse 70 and 71. As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets since the world began, that we should be saved. Listen to this. This is what redemption accomplishes. That we should be saved from our enemies. That's what redemption accomplished. When he has redeemed his people, the first thing that happens, he saves them from his enemies.

What kind of enemies we got? Can't count them all. Can't count them all. I'm my own worst enemy. Sin is an enemy. Self-righteousness is an enemy. Pride is an enemy. Self-confidence is an enemy. Carnal reasoning is an enemy. Leaning to your own understanding is an enemy. Oh, the world is an enemy. We all got a traitor in this castle that we live in. And if God in his sovereign mercy don't save us from our enemies, all them enemies will destroy us. Self-righteousness will destroy us. Pride will destroy us. Flesh will destroy us. The world will destroy us. Oh, my.

But I tell you, he saved us from our enemies. You know what? How firm a foundation you say for the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word. If Christ died for us and redeemed for us and saved us from our enemies, there's not an enemy that's gonna hurt us, that's gonna do anything against us. And then look what else it says now. And from the hand of all that hate us, the hand of all that hate us,

And look what he says going, you know, this is, this redemption, salvation is by covenant. Look what he says now in verse 72. To perform the mercy promised to our father and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swear unto our father Abraham. This redemption, this salvation is, is based on a covenant. Based on a covenant. And look what it says. He remembered. He remembered to perform the mercy. Not what they deserved. Not what they merited. But the mercy. He promised our Father. And to remember His covenant. Remember His covenant.

And oh my. And that we might be able to serve Him without fear. And I want you to see something. You know when the first time remembers mentioned in the Bible? God remembered His covenant. They didn't remember it. It didn't say they remembered it, but He remembered it. Ain't you grateful that He remembered His covenant? You know, we oftentimes go all day and don't even think of Christ, don't even think about praying, don't even think about opening a Bible, and the next thing you know, God remembers His covenant. He remembers it.

I sometimes, we, we may get, and I've said it so many times, we may get to where we don't know who we are. And I tell you, that would be awful if we got that kind of condition. But I, you know, but look over here in Genesis chapter 8. First time the word remembers, it's mentioned. Genesis chapter 8. Look who, look who he remembers. It's the first time the word remembers mentioned in the Bible. Genesis 8, 1, and God remembered Noah. God remembered you. I remembered Noah. Like God could forget. He remembered Noah. And listen. He remembered Noah. He remembered Noah's name. He remembered what he promised to Noah. He remembered everything that he'd done for Noah. He remembered Noah till he prepared an ark to save him from it. And God remembers every one of his children.

In fact, he said over in Malachi 3, he said he wrote a book of remembrance. Who did he write a book of remembrance for? For them that spake of him and them that feared him. He got a book of remembrance. And I tell you what, I have more confidence in him remembering me than I do of remembering him. Oh my.

And then he goes on down to say that In verse 74, look what he says now. And the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, he swore by an oath, he could swear by no greater person than his own self, that he would grant unto us that we be delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear.

Oh my, being delivered from all these enemies, that's against us, that we might serve him. reverential fear. You know, one of the things that God accuses people of is there's no fear of God before their eyes. Now, I don't fear God in the sense that I'm afraid of him putting me off or sending me to hell or forgetting me. I don't fear him like that. But I do fear him. And you know what I fear about more than anything? Is that, is that I won't reverence him enough. Honor him enough. Glorify him enough. Praise him enough. Attribute everything to him enough. Forget so many things, but all to serve him without, you know, without fear of being lost.

I got to thinking yesterday, I got to thinking yesterday about some people that I know, I know, oh my goodness. You think about closing your eyes in death and immediately going into hell. Going in, and people, people go there, and whatever they was when they was in this life, that's what they are in the next life. If you're a liar, and a cheat, and, and, and God-hating, and Christ-rejecting, you'll be exactly that way in hell. And, and, and, and you think about people just, whoo, it's awful to think about. Makes chills run down my back to think about people Perishing. Perishing. Waking up.

But that we may serve him. Serve him. Serve him. Be his bond slaves. Be his bond slaves. Serve him without fear. Without fear, without favor. And look what he says. In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. How are we going to be holy and how are we going to be righteous? The only way we can be in the Lord Jesus Christ, huh? Oh my. And look what he says there in the first part of it, that he would grant unto us. Lord, grant it unto us. Grant these things unto us that we might serve you without fear. that we might live our lives in holiness and righteousness before you. Not before me, and before you. Before you. All the days of our life.

There's people that, and you know as well as I do, their holiness is all outward. There's people that their holiness is the way they dress, the hats they wear, the way they wear their face. You know, you go out in public and you'll see, you'll see women with the way they wear their hair and the way they wear their clothes and that. You know they're religious. Automatically, you know that they go to church somewhere and their whole life is bound up in what they wear and the way they wear their hair and the clothes they wear. And you know, and they want to be recognized and they say that's their holiness, that's their righteousness.

But holiness, holiness is not something you can produce. Be ye holy as I am holy, saith the Lord. What in the world is he talking about? How are you going to be holy? Holiness is a state of being. And you know how the only way we can be holy? sanctified in Christ Jesus, made holy in Christ. And the only way we can have a righteous life is for Christ to give us his righteousness. Now, and I've heard people say, now, I don't want to nitpick here, but I heard people say that, you know, there's the imputed righteousness of Christ, and then there's an imparted righteousness. I believe in the imputed, I believe that Christ makes us righteous, that we are righteous people. God regards us righteous. But what makes us live a life that honors God is for him to give us, the only way we're in the world, we have a new heart and a new nature and may be new creatures in Christ, not by having an imparted righteousness, but because God gives us new life. And that changes the way we live in this world. The only thing that causes us to live different in this world is a new birth, a new heart, a new mind. And God's only one can give us that. But the only righteousness that God counts to be ours is the righteousness he gave us in Christ. And we can serve him all the days of our life doing that. All the days of our life.

And all looking at us, look at John's preaching. Let's look at John's preaching now. Look down here. Oh my. Thank God he remembers his mercy. And then look down verse 76. Let's look at this covenant, this salvation by covenant and how God remembers his covenant. And look what he says in verse 76 about John, this order of this covenant. And thou child shall be called the son of the highest. the son of the highest, a child. You think about that, a child, just a child. That's why he's talking about a child.

And he shall be called the prophet of the highest. Now this is Zechariah saying this now, for thou shall go before the Lord, before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. Oh my, he's a child. what he does when he goes to prepare the way before the face of the Lord.

And this is in Malachi chapter 4 where this is all mentioned about. All these things are mentioned. And this is what he's going to do. This is what he's going to do. His message is going to be this, to give knowledge of the salvation unto his people. To give knowledge unto his people.

You know, people say, well, you know, faith is kind of, no, no, faith, faith is based on knowledge. It really is. You cannot believe what you don't know. You cannot believe in who you don't know anything about. You cannot trust anybody you don't know anything about. And he said he was gonna give the knowledge of salvation to who? His people.

And you know, that's one thing, that's one thing that people, It's sad. It is so sad that most preachers don't know and have a clue what the Bible says about anything. Anything at all. But he's going, faith isn't ignorant. Faith is not ignorant. There's not a person in this building that knows anything about Christ, knows anything about salvation, knows anything about Christ and his salvation, that their faith is based on knowledge.

And you got to know in whom you, Paul said, I know whom I have believed, not what I believed, who. And that's what you got to know. Listen, I'm not saying how much knowledge you got to have, but there's two things that I know you'll know about. First of all, you'll know you're a sinner. How are you going to know you're a sinner when you see Christ? You won't know a thing in the world about sin until you see him.

Isaiah said, when I saw the Lord, I cried out, woe is me. When John saw the Lord, he fell as a dead man. And I tell you, the hardest thing to do is find somebody that's a sinner. And the only way in the world a man's made a sinner is to first and foremost, he's got to see Christ. And I tell you what a dear, dear brother wrote the other day, that the longer we live, Now, I'm telling you something here. The longer we live, the more sinful we feel ourselves to be.

Now, how can that be? Because the more we see of Christ, the more we see of ourselves, and how desperately we need salvation. If I could find a sinner in this building, I mean a God-made sinner, not a preacher-made sinner, a God-made sinner, somebody that God takes their heart and makes them understand that, oh, there's no hope for me in this world. How in the world am I going to be saved?

And if He shows you your sin, He'll show you a Savior. And then you'll start learning. Then you'll start growing. You'll start growing. And then look what else he says, not only that, but to give the knowledge of salvation unto his people. Not everybody, his people. Now watch this now. By the remission of their sins.

He's going to tell them, your sins are going to be paid for. Not only are you going to have knowledge of salvation, but you're going to also find out that God paid for your sins. Remission. Do y'all ever get any bills in the mail that says, remit payment at once? Remit payment at once. That means they want you to pay. And then when you get it, paid. Well, Christ, he paid the remission of our sins. I mean, God gave, God gave a bill for our sins. Remit all your sins. Pay for your sins. Pay for your rebellion. Pay for your flesh. Pay for your hatred. Pay for everything that you've ever done. Pay for it. Remit it. Christ stood up and said, I'll pay it. And I'll pay it with my life. I'll pay it with my death. I'll pay it with my blood. I'll pay it with the wrath of God. I'll pay the debt that they owe.

And now, beloved, When Christ pays for your sins, you ain't got them anymore. If he's got them, you ain't got them. If he paid for them, you don't have to. That's a wonderful gospel. That's a wonderful gospel.

And then look what else he's going to do. I got to hurry on here. To give knowledge of salvation to his people. Oh my. And oh, listen. Down in verse 49, to give light to them that sit in darkness. Boy, what an awful place to be, sitting in darkness. Sitting in darkness. Boy, when, you know, when the lights go off here, you know, when your electricity goes off, everybody just goes, oh. And they're so used to having it that they'll walk in a room and go to flipping switches. Like, just flip the switch, gonna make it come back on. But to sit in darkness. for it to be off day after day after day and be dark. You got no means of turning it back on. That's what he said. You're sitting in darkness. There ain't no light. And there's no way to get any. Flip all the switches you want, you can't get no light.

But John's going to come say, see you, you fellas in the shadow in darkness here. There's a light. There's a light. Here's a light. Here's a light. See that light? See it? What is that light? John said, they said, are you the Christ? He says, no, I'm not. But he's the light of life. And he gives darkness. And with all those that are in darkness, he brings light. And that's what he's going to talk about. He's going to point to Christ and say, oh my.

And listen, what else? To those that are sitting in the shadow of death. And death has got to shatter over everybody. But thank God a shatter can't do anything to you, especially if Christ died for you. But look what he says here now. And this is another thing he does, to guide our feet in the way of peace. He guides us. He guides us. His name. Ah, boy. Our feet would turn out of the way, but God said, you know, this is the way. This is the way. And He guides our feet. We're at end to the way of peace. Christ who is our peace. Christ who established peace for us.

And look what else He goes on to say. And look what else. What's the source of this blessed salvation, this redemption? Look in verse 78. Through the tender mercy of our God. That's how he got it. That's how we got it. Through the tender mercy of our God. Tender mercy. Tender mercy. Tender mercy. God's so tender. Christ's so tender. Christ is so tender. Christ is so tender to come. And oh, he gives us tender mercy. Tender mercy. And oh, through the tender mercy of who? Our God. Through the tender mercy of our God.

And look what else he says. Whereby the day spring of on high has visited us. What is this day spring? It's the sun rising. Day spring is when the day first springs forth. Get up and the day starts to bring forth. Look in Malachi chapter 4 with me. The last book in the Old Testament, right before the book of Matthew. Look here at Malachi chapter 4 and verse 2. Look what it says. But unto you that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings. How does the Son have healing in his wings? Well, and he shall go forth, and God said he will grow up as stalls of the calf, he gonna take care of us. Oh my, that Son of Righteousness. The day sprang on high. The bright in the morning star, that's Christ. And look what it says, he hath visited us. Christ come, that he was that son of righteousness. S-O-N and S-U-N. And he's our light. And bless his holy name, he visited us. He visits us. And I'm grateful that he visits us.

Oh, our Lord and our God, blessed, blessed name of Christ, our Lord. Lord, I bless you again, another day that you give us, a day of worship, a day of truth, a day to honor our Lord Jesus Christ. God, may the gospel run well here. May it find lodgings in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls. And Lord, I thank you that you remembered your mercy, your covenant, you remembered your covenant, that you come in tender mercy, tender mercy, visited us, guides us, protects us, preserves us. Oh, Lord Jesus, you are all in all. You really, really are. You're our reality. You're our blessed hope. You're our salvation. Everything we look for in this world, we look for it from you. And we pray, oh Lord, that you'd continue to have mercy upon us. Visit us always with that tender mercy. And visit others in this congregation in tender mercy. Visit them in their hearts. Visit them in their homes. Visit them in their minds. Visit them in their souls. Oh, Lord, if you don't visit them, Lord, there'll be no hope. But oh, God, please visit them. Visit homes, hearts, and souls, and minds. And we ask these things in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Come sing 268. Houston, you come on, and Marlene will play for you. Stand together, we'll sing this to you a bit and then we'll go.

268. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord!
It is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.
What more can ye say?
Then to you he hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
for I am thy God.
I will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand.
Upheld by my gracious omnipotence,
Win through the deep water cycle.
thee to go.
The rivers of woe shall not the overflow,
for I will be with thee thy troubles to bless.
and sanctify to Thee Thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials Thy pathway shall lie,
By grace all sufficient shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee, I only desire thy trust to consume.
? And thy gold to refine ?
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
? For reward I will not, I will not ? I will not, I will not ?
Desert thee to his foes.
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake.
No never, no never, no never forsake.

Let me tell you two things before you go. If the Lord deals with you and you want to confess your faith in Christ, you come talk to me. And how you confess your faith is by Leaver's Baptism. We've got a nice baptistry up here. And if the Lord deals with you about anything, you come talk to me. You don't have to come up and make a public confession or anything embarrassing. You know, we don't do things like that. And the second thing is, No wasting our service. Enjoy your turkey. See y'all. See you next Sunday, Lord willing.