I'd like us to look at this remarkable
prophecy from two perspectives this morning, if the Lord will
allow us. True saving faith has a real
object, and in Zacharias' prophecy, in this remarkable message that
he brings from God, he actually declares the name and the character
of God. So faith has an object. Faith looks to a person, it looks
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, look unto me, all the
earth, and be ye saved. Faith has an object. But also,
if you read the second half of Zacharias' sermon, he talks about
the operations of this God. So faith has a subject and faith
has operations. It says in verse 72 there of
Luke's chapter, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant. I've spent a bunch of time in
this last week or so talking to various people, and I keep
coming back to the same theme again and again, that people
have had remarkable religious experiences, and they base so
much of their faith and their security and their understanding
of God's call on their lives by some experience that they've
had. And I can't take away from people
what experience they've had. We have to acknowledge that the
experience is real. But we do have in the scriptures
and we do have in the life of Zechariah and in his prophecy,
we have a way of assessing whether the experiences that we've had
are experiences from God or are they false experiences. Now we're
holding on to something that is deceptive in all sorts of
ways. You see, Zechariah's had the
most remarkable experiences. I haven't met anyone that's had
the experiences that Zechariah's has had. Zechariah's met an angel. Zacharias met an angel. Zacharias
was a priest before God. Zacharias was one of the very
few people in all of history that was allowed to go into the
temple and burn incense. Very, very few people were allowed
to do that. Zacharias had experiences. Zacharias lived righteously according
to God under the law for all of his life. Zacharias was born
into the tribe of Leba. He was born in a special, extraordinary
way. He was born and he was given
a name. Zacharias means remembered of
Jehovah. And he married a woman called
Elizabeth. And she was righteous before God. and zealous, and
she was called, her name means, the Oath of God. Zacharias lived not only with
those remarkable testimonies, but he lived with a wife who
was barren. and the simple understanding in those days that if you couldn't
have babies, you were cursed of God. It was your fault. You had sinned or someone else
had sinned. And so it was a terrible shame
to her, and that's what she says, that the Lord has taken away
her shame, her embarrassment. Zacharias had these remarkable
experiences. He had his wife, an old, old
woman, conceive a baby. He had these remarkable experiences. He'd been struck dumb by an angel,
told that he wasn't going to speak for 10 months. He'd had
10 whole months where he couldn't say a single word. The remarkable
thing is that when Zacharias comes to speak, he doesn't say
a single thing, does he, about all of these experiences. If
people have had a real experience and a real meeting with God,
they will declare what Zacharias declares here. They will declare
what Zacharias declares here. We have in religion today, we
have so much that's geared towards giving people fleshly experiences. The whole Pentecostal movement
is based on people receiving experiences. In the old days
it used to be speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues, babbling
away like some fool, was a sign that God had touched your life.
It's got nothing to do with the speaking in tongues in the scriptures
whatsoever. And these days, I read yesterday
in the paper that Hillsong has 130,000 followers around the
world. 130,000 people turn up at Hillsong churches today around this world. And what are they there for?
What's Hillsong's purpose? It's to entertain them and give
them experiences and then tell them that those experiences are
the sign of God the Holy Spirit at work in their lives. And it's
no different in conservative religion. When Billy Graham came
and his son was here just a few months ago, the whole purpose
of the Billy Graham crusade was to get people whipped up into
some emotional activity. And then there would be a release
of all the guilt and shame that they felt. And they'd come down
the front, they'd come down the front, and they'd have this experience
as they were were led in praying the sinner's prayer and all of
that pent-up emotion was released and they'd had this experience.
And they cling to that experience for the rest of their days, brothers
and sisters. I promise you they do. Their
own testimony declares that they do. And people might be critical
of Billy Graham for his theology, but the reformed people that
you meet with today are exactly the same. The most conservative,
Calvinistic people today you meet with will found their salvation on
something that they've seen, something that they've happened.
And when you talk to them, when you talk to them, the first thing
that comes out of their mouth all the time is all the good
things that this person has done, all the things that they're doing.
I put on the back of your building
something out of Don Faulkner's commentary on Matthew's Gospel,
it's about the parable of the soils, but on the back of your
building it says that false faith can be greatly enlightened and
knowledgeable of the Gospel. False faith can greatly reform
the outward life as it did the Pharisees. False faith may speak
well of Christ, as the Jews did. False faith may confess his personal
sin, like King Saul. False faith may humble itself
in sackcloth and ashes with Ahab. False faith may repent in tears
with Esau and Judas. False faith may diligently perform
religious works with Saul of Tarsus. False faith may be very
generous and charitable, like Ananias and Sapphira. False faith
may tremble under the word of Under the word with Felix, false
faith may experience great things in religion. You can read about
it in Hebrews 6. False faith may enjoy great religious
privileges with Lot's wife. False faith may preach, perform
miracles, cast out devils, like those mentioned by the Lord in
Matthew 7, 21 to 23. And they come there with their
works before God. And the Lord Jesus Christ says,
away from me, I never knew you." I never knew you. They are the
most terrifying words uttered in all of the scriptures. People
going through all of this life with all of their religion, with
all of their works, esteemed by men, and they meet the Lord
Jesus Christ. They meet the Lord Jesus Christ
and He'll say, Away from me, I never knew you. My desperate
earnest prayer is that that would not be the case of anyone. Any
of the people that I love and speak to, may you pray it not
be yours. God says there are many. There
are many that will turn up on that day. False faith may attain
high office in the church like Deocraphy, as you can read about
him in John's letters. False faith may walk with great
preachers like Demas. Demas was the companion of Paul
for years. False faith may even be peaceful
and carnally secure to the end, like the five foolish virgins. And when the Lord comes, he shuts
the door. And they think they're right all that time. I tremble and I, knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord, Paul persuades men. There is so much
in this world and so much in the deceitful hearts of men that
we need to be grounded again, again and again and again, in
the glory of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And may God
give us the grace to do as he said in Zechariah's prophecy
here, that he would give light. He would give light, verse 79,
and he would guide our feet into the way of peace. People see external activities. They see external activities
in religion. And then they declare because
of the things that those people have done and the things that
those people have experienced. As one man said to me a few weeks
ago, he said, this fellow's on fire for the Lord. He's on fire
for the Lord. This is not a Pentecostal, this
is a reformed Calvinistic person. He's on fire for the Lord and
he's reason for being on fire for the Lord that there was giving
money and there's going and doing and there are all these religious
activities. And he's doing them, he's doing
them with us, with this other fellow. So he's joined with him. What does the word of God say
about that man? He's someone who's rejected the
Gospel, and he's rejected the testimony of God against him. He's encouraged in his pious
life, and yet he lives in light of what the Scriptures say, he
lives as an enemy of the Gospel. and he will be encouraged by
those religious deceivers to go that way unless the Lord does
a work of grace. Zacharias had experiences, but
Zacharias had a testimony about the Lord Jesus Christ. I love
what Martin Luther said about experiences. He says, I have
covenanted with my Lord that he should not send me visions
or dreams or even angels. I am content with this gift of
the scriptures which teaches and supplies all that is necessary
both for this life and that which is to come. The Lord has given
us this precious, precious sermon of Zacharias'. And the remarkable
thing is that Simeon and Anna spoke in that temple that we
read in Luke chapter two, and then there was another 30 years
of silence. Not a single one, a whole generation
passed by. But God has recorded this. God has recorded this for our
glory. I just want to reiterate some
of the things that we spoke about last week. There is one of the
great promises, and it's just such a comforting promise, isn't
it? It says over and over again in the, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Someone who calls is
someone who is needy. Someone who has things and has
a righteousness doesn't need to call. To call is to be dependent
and to be needy. Whosoever shall call on the name,
the name of the Lord is the character of God. It's not just words. It's not just words. It's not
just Lord Jesus Christ. It's all of what Lord Jesus Christ
means. And if you read Zacharias' prophecy,
you'll see this remarkable promise from God. And he begins, doesn't
he? He says, verse 68, blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Praise
the Lord God of Israel. First time those words are used
are in Exodus chapter five. And you might recall that Moses
had gone back into the presence, the presence of Pharaoh. He says, and he speaks to Pharaoh,
and his first words to Pharaoh are, thus saith the Lord God
of Israel, let my people go. That's what the Lord God of Israel
is saying again and again through our time, isn't it? You let my
people go. My people are captive in Israel.
You let my people go. Let my people go that they can
come and worship me." And what did Pharaoh say? This is a question
that men are asking all the time, isn't it? Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord that I should
obey His voice? You can almost think and see
Moses saying, you're about to find out, buddy. You and all
of Egypt are about to find out who the Lord God of Israel is. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. So Zacharias, after all those
remarkable experiences, begins by just praising God. Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel. He's talking about the God who
is absolutely sovereign over all things. He's talking about
a God who has a people. That's what Moses said, he says,
the Lord God says, let my people go. The Lord God of Israel has
a people in this world. And the Lord God of Israel is
going to say, let my people go. And when the Lord God of Israel
says, let my people go, his people are going to be set free, which
is what Zacharias goes on to say at the end of this passage. They're going to be given life.
They're going to be drawn out of all of the things that stand
opposed to them. That's the name of our God, the
Lord God of Israel. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord God of Israel. He's talking about God the Father,
the Lord God of Israel. The Lord God of Israel is manifested
in the Holy Spirit who brings us this word of promise. So these
are the names of our God. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And Zacharias is saying, blessed
be the Lord God of Israel. And then he speaks about The
visiting of this God, the Lord God has visited us. I think we
counted them last week. I think there are 18 or 20 personal
pronouns in this prophecy. There is an identification of
the people of God throughout this. He never ever hints that
somehow the Lord God of Israel is trying to save all of humanity,
that he's trying to do something and might fail. But this God
is a God who visits us and that's the great The great cry of the
gospel and the great blessing of the gospel, isn't it? They
shall be my people, and I will be their God, and I will dwell
with Him. What's His call? What's His name?
What's the name of the Lord? Emmanuel. What's His name mean? God with us. God visits His people. Look what
it says at the end of verse 68. He has redeemed His people. It is another name of the Lord
Jesus. All of these are names of the Lord Jesus Christ. There
are three in this first verse, aren't they, of Zechariah's prophecy.
It's the Lord God of Israel is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is
Emmanuel who visits his people. He is the Redeemer. Isaiah 54.8
says, The Lord thy Redeemer is your husband. He's your Redeemer. He has his people and his people
are called his wife, if you can go back and read it in Isaiah
54. He has his people. That's what
he says, isn't it? Bone of his bone and flesh of
his flesh. He has his people. He's redeemed
his people. He's paid the price of redemption. We know what redemption is, don't
we? We know what ransom is. You take a gold watch or something
precious down to a pawnbroker and you hand it over to the pawnbroker
and you take money for it. And how do you redeem it? How
do you redeem it? You go down and give the man
the agreed amount of money and you get it back. That's what
redemption is. The redemption of the souls of
God's people. The price to be paid was the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a precious thing. The Lord,
you are a redeemer. He has his people. If we look
last week at that horn of salvation, it is just another description
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has in his salvation, he comes
with power. The gospel is the power of God
under salvation. Salvation is a mighty act of
God's power. There is more of God's power
displayed in the salvation of his people than there is in the
creation of the universe. He didn't have to shed blood
to create a universe, all he did was speak a word. But the
redemption of his people is remarkable. It's amazing. In the house of his servant David,
and that was the declaration they made in those early sermons
in Acts, this is David's great son. David's buried and his bones
are here, but David's great son lives on. That promise that David
had in 2 Samuel 7 is a promise that he'll have a king, he'll
have a son, and he'll sit on a throne, and he'll sit on a
throne forever. Verse 70 is another description
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks. See, all the idols
of this world and all the dumb gods of man's imagination don't
speak, and they don't hear, and they don't act. That's why they
have to nail them down. That's why they have to make
Buddhas out of concrete, don't they? There are millions of them
littering the countryside. Why do they have to make them
out of concrete? Because they'll blow over otherwise, won't they?
And how do you get them to hear? It's like next door to us. You
can go and talk to it all day long if you like. It's never
said a word. It's never said a word, has it?
It can't hear. See, God says, doesn't he, if
you make those idols, you're going to become like them. Deaf
and dumb. Unable to speak, unable to react
is a lump of stone, and it's about as good to anyone as a
lump of stone, no matter how many millions of them make. There
must be a fortune made. Anyway, he speaks, he speaks,
and he speaks by the mouth of his holy prophets. He speaks,
he speaks through these men who he declares to be holy. And if
you read the lives of all of those men to be declared, that
are declared holy by God, you'll say, doesn't look particularly
holy to me. They're holy because God declares
them to be holy. He creates by his word. And when
he speaks, he creates. When he speaks, he speaks reality
into existence. And that's the word that we have
before us. I couldn't believe the fellow
yesterday I was talking to. And I was talking about something
that Paul says in one of his letters in Galatians chapter
six. He says, that's Paul's opinion. If all you have before you, brothers
and sisters, is an opinion, let's go down and party as hard as
we possibly can. Let's enjoy all the pleasures
of this world because there is no God, there is no eternity,
there is no heaven. If it's an opinion of men, it's
absolutely irrelevant. Paul's opinion, wasn't it a blasphemous
thing to say? A blasphemous thing to say, Paul's
opinion. That means it's Moses' opinion,
isn't it? And who wrote the words of the Lord Jesus Christ? It
is the opinions of men. And where do you make the dividing
line between what's an opinion and what's truth? All of a sudden,
man's doing exactly what Satan poured into our veins, poured
into our hearts in the garden. Did God really say? It's the
first words, isn't it? It means that you can stand in
judgment of God. Our God speaks. Our God saves. He speaks in verse 71, our God
saves. That's His name, isn't it? Salvation
is His name. It's the name of our Saviour.
You're called His name, Jesus. Why? Because He shall save His
people from their sins. Jehovah is salvation is His name. The great I am has Jehovah embedded
in it. And in one sense it really means
I will save in the way that I will save. I'll be God over all this
creation. Verse 72 is to perform the mercy
promised. There's a great description of
our Saviour, isn't it, throughout the New Testament. It says, He
is able. He is able. Our God performs. He doesn't try and perform. He
doesn't attempt to perform. He doesn't leave the performance
into the hands of men in any way at all. He performs. His
name is mercy, isn't it? He delights, says the scriptures.
Our God delights in mercy. It's one of the great characteristics
of our great God. He's merciful and gracious. Exodus
34. He's great in mercy, greatness
in mercy. It's the covenant and mercy is
the activities of our God. His mercy endureth forever. You can read that in Psalm 136.
It's repeated over and over again so that you'll get the message.
His mercy endures forever. The paths of the Lord are mercy
and truth. And David, David when he speaks
having had his sins declared gone by Nathan the prophet. And he comes in that remarkable
Psalm 51, and he says, against thee and thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight. His activities were evil. He
deserved death. The law of God said that David
had to die. David knew what mercy was. David
knew what mercy was. If you've ever been made a sinner,
you'll know what mercy is. It's the multitude, says David,
it's the multitude of thy tender mercies. That's why Zacharias
in verse 78 of our passage here says that through the tender
mercy of our God. So it's one thing to declare
mercy, isn't it? It's a completely different thing
to perform mercy. It's one thing to say something,
but it's another thing altogether to do it, isn't it? That's why
the Lord Jesus in Mark's Gospel, you know the story of the paralytic
man let down through the roof into that crowd. And Jesus said
to this man, he saw the faith in him, he said, of the sick
of the palsy, he said, Son, thy sins be forgiven you. What a
great word from God. Son, thy sins be forgiven you. And they knew exactly, these
Pharisees and the scribes, they knew exactly what we're saying.
Who can forgive sins but God alone? The Lord Jesus Christ
just declared himself, I'm God, I'm God, and you can watch me
for the next three and a half years, and I am God, and you
can watch everything I do and everything I say, and you can
watch my people like a hawk, and I'll give you Judas into
your hands at the end of it, and you'll find anything that
distracts from that in any way at all. I am God, I am God is
what he said. And then he says, Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they reasoned within themselves. He said, Why
reason these things in your hearts, whether it is easier to say to
the sick of the paucity of the paralyzed man, Thy sins be forgiven
thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk? See, it's
easier to say your sins are forgiven, isn't it? They're just words,
aren't they? They're easier to say. That's his point, isn't
it? But that ye may know that the
Son of God hath power, he's able, our God, hath power on earth
to forgive sins. He said of the paralyzed man,
I say unto thee, arise, take up thy bed, and go thy way into
thine house. It's one thing to proclaim mercy.
It's another thing altogether to be the God who performs mercy. I love what Psalm 138 verse 8
says of our Saviour. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Isn't that lovely? I look at
all the things that concern me. and I can't see a way out of
a multitude of problems and situations, little holes that I dig for myself
all the time. I can't get out of my own road. I don't know about you, some
people think they walk righteously well in this world. I'm a jolly
nightmare to myself. What does he say? The Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me. Those things which concern
me eternally, the Lord's going to perfect. Thy mercy, O Lord,
endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
hand. Just one final description of
our Lord Jesus Christ before we have a break. He is the highest,
if you turn down there into verse 76. He is the highest. He is the highest. He is the
deliverer in those other verses, and we'll look later on what
all that means. But He is the highest. He is the most high. Of Zion, of the Church of God,
Psalm 87 5, it shall be said, This and that man was born in
her, and the highest himself shall establish her. The highest
gives his voice. The highest. No matter how high you go, he's
the highest. There is none higher. It's a
lovely description, isn't it, of our great God. The highest. The highest. Our savior is the
highest. that in his height and in his
power he establishes his people and he accompanies his people
and he remembers his people and he visits his people because
he's redeemed his people. Let's have a break.