Well, let us turn to God's Word
and turn into the portion we were considering this morning,
the end of Chapter 1 here in Luke's Gospel, where we took
up the subject matter of the song of Zacharias, the Benedictus,
as it's often called. I'll read the passage then once
again there in chapter 1 at verse 67 following and we're told John the Baptist's
father Zacharias 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 hath raised up an horn of salvation
for us in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth
of his holy prophets, which have been since the world begun, 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 sware 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, addressing the
newborn son, John, 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 dayspring 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 we're told
the child grew. and wax strong in spirit and
within the desert till the day of his showing unto Israel. Well it's a song of praise, it's
a prophetic song also and very much speaks of the the Lord Jesus Christ that one
of whom John came to be the great harbinger to prepare the way
of the Lord as we see back in verse 17. The angel speaking
there to Zacharias says he shall go before him in the spirit and
power of Elias for Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children and that he is obedient to the wisdom of the
just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And John comes, of course, and
preaches the baptism of repentance. And as we were going through the
son of Zacharias, his father, here this morning, we mentioned
a number of matters with regards to that salvation that would
come through the Lord Jesus Christ. There's the power of that salvation
as we have intimated there in verse 69. God visiting, redeeming His people,
has raised up a horn of salvation, a horn of salvation for us in
the house of His servant David. And Christ, the seed of David,
Christ the horn of salvation. And we read of that lamb in the
midst of the throne in the book of the Revelation. The lamb,
as it had been slain, having seven horns, it says. The horn
indicating the strength of the animal, of course. And in the
Revelation, seven, a number that suggests completeness, perfection. All that mighty work that was
accomplished in that one who is being spoken of here in Zacharias'
song, The Power, of salvation, the promise. We said something
with regards to the promise as we have it there in verse 17,
as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been
since the world began. Oh, a promise of salvation, those
holy men of God, how they spake being moved of the Spirit of
God. the testimony of Jesus the spirit of prophecy and we remarked
how it was even so from the foundation of the world before the world
began it says there at verse 70 The great Proto-Evangelium,
as they call it there in Genesis 3.15, in the midst of that chapter
that speaks of the entrance of sin, the fall of our first parents,
and yet that promise concerning the seed of the woman. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ, the promise. But not only the promise, but
of course in the song Zachariah speaks of the promise having
its performance. it's being accomplished as he
says at verse 71 following that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all that hate us to perform or mark it
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember
his holy covenant the oath which he swore to our father Abraham
the seed of the woman is the seed of Abraham that one in whom
all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed. God's
great covenant of grace, the promise that was made to Abraham,
that God confirmed by an oath, when he could swear by no greater,
we're told how he swore by himself. There's a performance of it.
There's really the perfection also. that he would grant unto
us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might
serve him without fear. And we did remark as we were
closing this morning on the significance of the words that we have previously
at the beginning in that 68th verse that was the verse really
that we concentrated on blessed be the Lord God of Israel for
he hath visited and redeemed his people and I said there the
deed is spoken of as if it is already done and yet the Messiah
was not yet born but this is what they call prophetic
perfect the thing is spoken of as accomplished because it is
already accomplished in the eternal purpose of God. This is the sure
and certain promise of God, which he will perform to perfection. And how this child that's being
celebrated by his father Zacharias, John the Baptist, is that one
who is referred to here as the great prophet of the Lord. Thou,
child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt
go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. And remember how subsequently
Christ will speak of him as the greatest of all the prophets. In chapter 7, when the messengers of John have
come, to ask that question. I thought that Christ looked
me for another, was the question. And now the Lord answers, go
your way, tell John what things you have seen and heard. The
blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Here is that one, the the promised one whom John came to prepare
the way for. Blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. And then we're told at verse
24 there in chapter 7, when the messengers of John were departed,
the Lord began to speak unto the people concerning John. What
went she out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with
the wind. But what went she out for to
see? A man clothed in soft raiment, Behold, they which are gorgeously
apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. But what
when she goeth for to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much
more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is
written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall
prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you, among those
that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than he." Oh, they're remarkable words, aren't
they? But all the privilege of those who live in this day, the
day of grace, the gospel dispensation, that's us. And yet John was the
greatest of all the Old Testament prophets. And he was preserved,
we are told here, free from all rabbinical influences. Now the
Lord comes unto his own, his own receive him not. Now the
elders and the scribes and the Pharisees and all the Jewish
Sanhedrin are so much against him, against the Lord Jesus. And what do we read concerning
this child when he grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the
deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. He was preserved
from all that influence of the rabbis who would only come to
reject him who was truly the Christ of God, that was Jesus
of Nazareth. These are some of the things
we were trying to say earlier and as I said we took really
as a text I suppose the opening words where of course the name Benedictus
comes from. Blessed, blessed be the Lord
God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people. Now
tonight I want us to consider more closely the last words of
the song verses 78 and 79, through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the Dayspring 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 to consider what is
referred to here as the Dayspring, whereby the Dayspring from on
high hath visited us. Isn't this really a reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ? To give light to them that sit
in darkness and in the shadow of death. It's interesting, isn't
it? Yesterday, of course, was the winter solstice, the shortest
day of the year, the shortest period of daylight that we know
throughout the year, the darkest time of the year. But John says
in his gospel, the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness
comprehended it not. And here is that light, the day
spring, from on high well let us come to consider these words
in verse 78 and 79 first of all I want to say something with
regards to the source from whence the day spring has come and what
are we told at the end of the verse it's the day spring from
on high the day spring from on high that is heaven that is the
heaven of heavens the high and the holy place where God is remember
John's ministry as we have the account of it in John chapter
3 and there we're told at verse Verse 26, And there were those
who came to John the Baptist, and they said to him, He that
was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness,
Behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered
and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness
that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
Either that the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of
the bridegroom withstandeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly
because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must
decrease." But what does John say here? A man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven. And this is from whence the day
spring comes. The day spring from on high.
He has come from the very presence of God. Why so? Well it says through the tender
mercy of our God. Or the force really of that opening
word through is because of because of the tender mercy of our God
whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us and as we have mentioned here
of course of the Lord our God salvation is of the Lord that one who is God over all. And Lord, as you know, is that
covenant name of God when we see it in scripture in capital
letters. Salvation is of the Lord, the
cry of Jonah from the fish's belly. And that great name, that
covenant name, It proceeds from all that God has purposed, the
covenant of Christ, the work of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although it is the second person
in the God and it is the Son who is incarnate, yet it is the
Father who sends him and it is the Holy Ghost who is there in
the conception why his mother the Virgin Mary is with child
of the Holy Ghost and as I said this morning this
is really a great song of praise when Zacharias' mouth is opened
and his tongue is loosed as we're told back in verse 64 He spake
and praised God. Oh, he is worshipping God and
is worshipping God in all the fullness of his glorious being. And all true Christians this
may boast a truth from nature never learned that Father, Son
and Holy Ghost to save our souls are all concerned. This is a
tender mercy of our God. And it's interesting That expression,
tender mercy, we have an alternative in the margin. We have the expression
bowels of mercy. We have something similar in
1 John 3.17 where we read of bowels of compassion. And these
expressions, be it bowels of mercy, bowels of compassion,
they are really Hebrew idioms. The reference of course is to
the inward part of a man. His innards, his liver, his kidneys,
etc. And the Hebrews think of that
as the very seat of a man's affections. Where do you feel anything? You
feel it in the pit of your stomach. And it's interesting how God
is pleased to speak to us of himself in these human terms.
We see time and again what the theologians call anthropomorphisms. Speaking of God as if he's a
man, but God of course is a spirit and yet we read of the hand of
the Lord, the arm of the Lord. But God condescends to communicate
with us by speaking in these ways. to convey to us something
of the wonder of what He is doing for the sinful sons of men. Oh,
here is the source, the source is in God Himself. Oh, He is
moved in His compassion. His mercy is spoken of there,
bowels of mercy, tender mercy, whereby the dayspring from on
high has visited us. Oh, the door of that mercy stands
open all day for the poor and the needy, you not by the way.
No sinner shall ever be empty sent back that comes seeking
mercy for Jesus' sake, we're told in the hymn. Here is the
source then. The source is in God and all
that God is in His gracious condescension in the way in which He deals
with the sinful sons of men, even to speak of Himself. in
such human terms. But of course, what we're really
considering is the one who is spoken on at the end of this
78th verse, the Dayspring. The Dayspring from on high hath
visited us. Again, the margin as the alternative
sun rising It's referring to the dawning
of the day. And I think I said that this
morning, it's the dawning of the day of grace. And that day
of grace, that day of grace has come. We're in the day of grace. I wonder sometimes do we really
fully understand, do we have any proper appreciation of what
it means to live in such a period of human history as the day in
which we are living. For he said, I have heard thee
in the time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored
thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation."
That great statement that we have in 2 Corinthians 6.2. and we have two beholds there
and you know the force of that word and it has the idea of considering
looking but looking with a certain intensity looking into a thing,
behold now is the day of salvation behold now is the acceptable
time oh God grant that we might appreciate it all of what we
have in Scripture, of course, here, concerning this day in
which we are living, all culminates in the great day of Pentecost.
Because this day of grace is really the dispensation of the
Holy Spirit. Not that the Holy Spirit was
not there in the Old Testament, of course He was. All those who
were the true Israel of God, they knew the new birth, they
were born again by the Spirit of God. David felt in his heart how he
must have grieved the Spirit of God. He cries out in his great
penitential psalm, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. But there
was a glorious coming of the Spirit when the Lord Jesus Christ
himself was glorified. He is the one who sheds abroad
the Spirit there on the day of Pentecost as Peter declares in
his sermon And what a splendid day, what a splendid opening
day that was and yet it's the entering into a perpetuity, it's
still that day of the Holy Spirit. And so here we are surely to
recognize that it's a wondrous period of human history that
we're living in since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. and
the accomplishment of the great work of redemption, and the shedding
abroad of the Holy Spirit, and the gospel going out to the ends
of the earth, and sinners of the Gentiles being brought to
know the only living and true God. But this expression, Dayspring,
is it not really a name that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ? Peter speaks of a light that
shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your
hearts. What a statement is that that
Peter is making there in 2nd Peter 1.19 the light shining in a dark place
and we have it here in verse 79 to give light to them that
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and when the Lord Jesus
is actually beginning his ministry remember how it's spoken of in
Matthew's account we go back to that first of the fourfold
gospel, Matthew and there in Matthew 4 at verse 12 John has
fulfilled his ministry as we are told in verse 12 Jesus had
heard that John was cast into prison and John would not come
out of the prison John was beheaded of course We're told now when
Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison he departed
into Galilee and leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum
which is upon the sea coast in the borders of Zabulon and Naphtalim
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet
saying the land of Zabulon and the land of Naphtalim by the
way of the sea beyond Jordan Galilee of the Gentiles Oh, it's
on the very borders of the Gentiles, you see. Can any good thing come
out of Galilee? The people which sat in darkness
saw great light. And to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. Oh, the Lord Jesus
is that one. In the beginning of His ministry,
He goes to those who are in darkness. those who are in the very shadow
of death. This is that day spring that
will come and bring light in the midst of darkness. He declares
himself, doesn't he, to be that light. I am the light of the
world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. This is a
ministry then that Christ comes to exercise. The source, it's
God himself, but what has God given? He has given his only
begotten Son, the great Saviour of sinners. And that is one of
the I Am statements that we have in John's Gospel. I Am the light
of the world, he says. He is the true source of light.
but let us as we begin to draw to a close
think of how we come to experience this salvation that comes as
a consequence of the day spring from on high visiting us we need to be brought to that
experimental knowledge of it how he is so worked in the souls
of men and women. We read of a visitation. We have it here in verse 78. But we have it previously, don't
we? When we go back to verse 68. He hath visited and redeemed
his people. A visitation. and a visitation
that is really associated with a revelation. When the Lord visits
us in His mercy, when the Lord comes to work graciously in our
souls, what is it that we experience? We experience a revelation. This is the work of the spirits
to make the Lord Jesus Christ known. And now we see it certainly
in the experience of the Apostle Paul who is a pattern to them
which should hereafter believe as he says himself. He's a type
of what it means to be a believer. As I said before, it's not that
we're going to have the same experiences or the same depth
of experience but there's something to be learned from that man and
his experience. And how he has to spell it out
when he's writing to the Galatians, from whence did the Gospel come
to him? It came not by man, it came from God himself. It pleased
God, he says. It's the sovereign will of God.
He pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal
his Son in me. It's not just a revelation to
him, it's an inward revelation, it's something that he's experienced,
experiencing in his soul, and surely, if we know anything of
the Lord, we know something of soul religion. We have no soul
religion, we deceive ourselves. But what is it that we experience?
Well, two things surely have to be known and felt, and we
see them in the language that we have here. there's a knowledge to be gained.
Verse 77, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by
the remission of their sins. And then verse 79, to give light
to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace. These two things there
is a revelation that issues in a real sense of a our sinnership
and the darkness that we're in. And then a revelation that brings
a true sense and knowledge of what salvation is. Well let's
first of all consider what he says here in verse 79. The dayspring
from on high have visited us to give light to them that sit
in darkness. and in the shadow of death. Are there not different stages
when it comes to an experience of the salvation of the Lord? I've already made some reference
to that verse that we find in 2 Peter 1.19, we have also a
more sure word of prophecy, where unto ye do well that ye take
heed, he says, as unto a light shining in a dark place until
the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts." You think
of the various statements that he's making there. He speaks
initially of the light shining in a dark place. And are we not by nature those
who are in that dark place? We're dead in trespasses and
in sins. We're in a state of alienation. We're enemies. We're enemies in our minds, by
wicked works. That's our condition. And the light shines in the dark
place. And when the light first shines,
we then come to have some realization of what we are and where we are.
When we're dead in trespasses and sins we're blissfully unaware. All but when the light shines
in the darkness. Jeremiah can say he brought me
into darkness and not into light. When that light shines we realize
how awful how all-encompassing the darkness is. We're in a darkness
now that we can feel. And we feel it because the Lord
is there, the Dayspring is at hand. The work has begun. The people which sat in darkness
saw a great light, it says. And to them that sat in the region
and shadow of death, light sprung up. Here is the beginning then. The
light shining in the dark place. And then it goes on there in
Peter, until the day dawns. Until the day dawns. Oh, there is some hope now. The
path of the just, says the wise man, is as a shining light. that shineth more and more unto
a perfect day. But there are degrees, you see. But now there's some realization,
maybe things aren't as black and gloomy as we first felt when
the light began to shine in that dark place. We read in Zechariah 14.7, It
shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. That's the paradox again, isn't
it, of Christian experience. You expect the light to come
in the dawning. At evening time, says the Prophet,
as the mouthpiece of God. At evening time, it shall be
light. That's evening time in the soul.
The gloom is upon us. That sense of our sinnership,
that conviction of our sins, in some measure we must know
that. But then there's hope. There will be the dawning of
a day. And then the next thing we read
of in Peter is the day star arising until the day star arrives. What can we understand by the
day star? Might we not think in terms of
a bright spot? the harbinger of the full dawn
of the day, a bright spot, some promise to encourage. And there
are promises in the Word of God. There are promises exceeding
great and precious promises. And all those promises, they
are yea and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't believe
in a yea, nay gospel. No, it's a gospel that says Yah
and Amen. Or when God gives promise. He
gives promise to Abram, the father of all the faithful, the father
of all believers and he gives promise to Abram and he can swear
by no greater so he swears by himself. He swore by himself. That's remarkable. What is God
doing? He is magnifying His Word above
His name. because His Word is as sure and
secure as He is Himself. His Word is all that He is. And when God grants us maybe
just a bright spot, oh what a comfort that brings into the soul. And the language that we have
there at the end of the Scriptures in Revelation 22. And it's the Lord who speaks.
Verse 16, I, Jesus, am the bright and morning star. I, Jesus, am
the bright and morning star. All the promises are yea and
amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then ultimately, of course,
if we might say there's a fourth thing. We've spoken of three
things from Peter. The light shining in the dark
place until the day dawn, and then
the day star arrives. But there's something else, isn't
there? Not in Peter, but it's there
back at the end of the Old Testament in Malachi 4. Unto you that fear
my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings. Oh, and the Son of Righteousness
himself, that's the Lord Jesus. The Lord's, our righteousness. And when we know that, when we
know anything of that glorious enshrining of the Gospel, that
God who commands the light to shine out of darkness, shines
in our hearts and gives the light of the knowledge of His glory
in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessed assurance
is that. And so we see the significance
of those words that follow the Dayspring from on high hath visited
us in order to give light to them that sit in darkness and
in the shadow of death. But then, that's only one part
of the experience of this salvation. There's also something else to
be learned. We have to come to a sense of
something so glorious as the reality of
that salvation, what we have in verse 77, to give knowledge,
to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission
of their sins. The knowledge of salvation, the
blessed sense of salvation, the remission of sins without the
shedding of blood there is no remission of sins all the forgiveness
of sin is only in and by the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishing
that great work that the Father had committed to him in the covenant
when he makes the great sin atoning sacrifice and pays the debts
that the sinner owes to God And what does he do? He guides our
feet into the way of peace, we read at the end of verse 79.
Oh, he has procured peace. With God, by the shedding of
his precious blood, he has reconciled that sinner who was in the state
of enmity and alienation, he's reconciled that sinner to God,
he brings peace. Isn't that his blessed legacy? As he says in John 14, 27, Peace
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth,
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. If anyone knows how to give,
it is our God. God did not withhold his Son,
his only begotten Son. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
not withhold himself. He gave himself. A ransom for
many. It is a time when people do give
gifts. I know we don't probably want
to get caught up in all the hullabaloo of the time of year, but it's
good to give gifts. It's nice to receive gifts. When
we're little children, we can't understand that. the idea that
it's more blessed to give than to receive, but it is. It's a
delight to give to those that we love. But our God is a giving
God. Oh, thanks be to God for that
unspeakable gift. What is that gift? It's Christ.
But some say those words really refer to the gift of the Holy
Spirit. It's both, I think. It's both. It's the gift of of
the Christ. It's the gift of the Spirit of
Christ. And God is a giving God, He's
a good God. The psalmist says as much, doesn't
he, there in Psalm 119, thou art good, and thou doest good. And isn't Zacharias here celebrating
all that goodness of God, all blessed, be the Lord God of Israel. For He hath visited and redeemed
His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in
the house of His servant David, to give knowledge of salvation
unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender
mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring 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. Oh God, grant
then that we might be found in that way of peace, that narrow
way that leads to life. The Lord bless his word to us. Amen.