He Hath Visited And Redeemed

Q: What does the Bible say about grace?

The Bible teaches that grace is a gift from God, enabling us to receive salvation without our own works. Grace, as revealed in Scripture, signifies God's unmerited favor toward humanity. It is through grace that individuals are enabled to recognize their need for salvation and to see that it is not achieved through their own efforts but through God's provision. This truth is rooted in Ephesians 2:8-9, where it states that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works, so no one can boast. True grace must be revealed by God, as humanity, by nature, tends to rely on works for earning God's favor. Hence, grace is foreign to those who are not enlightened by God's Spirit, making it essential that His revelation breaks through our natural inclinations.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

The doctrine of election is rooted in Scripture, showing God's sovereign choice in salvation. The doctrine of election highlights God's sovereign authority in choosing those He saves, as exemplified in passages like Romans 8:28-30 and Ephesians 1:4-5. In these Scriptures, it is clear that God acts according to His own wisdom and purpose, electing individuals not based on their own merits but solely by His grace and mercy. This is echoed throughout the historic Reformed tradition, which emphasizes God's sovereignty in all aspects of salvation. Election assures believers that their salvation is grounded in God's eternal plan and not affected by human works or decisions. It's an expression of God's love, revealing that He takes the initiative in redeeming His people.

Q: Why is the doctrine of salvation important for Christians?

The doctrine of salvation is crucial as it defines the means by which God redeems His people and grants them eternal life. The doctrine of salvation is paramount for Christians because it encompasses God's redemptive work through Christ. Salvation is not merely a get-out-of-jail-free card; it represents a transformation that reconciles sinners to a holy God. Luke 1:68-69 captures this beautifully when it states that God has visited and redeemed His people, demonstrating the depth of His love and commitment to His covenant promises. The understanding of how Christ fulfills the law, pays the penalty for sin, and grants us righteousness is foundational to Christian faith. Furthermore, this doctrine assures believers of their security in Christ and the certainty of their hope in eternal life, leading to a life lived in obedience and gratitude towards God.

Luke chapter 1. May the Lord truly bless us. May He quicken us and cause us to worship. Luke chapter 1. So far in this chapter we've looked at Elizabeth's announcement of the gospel, We've looked at the angel Gabriel's announcement of the gospel. Last week we looked at Mary's announcement of the gospel and it's all the same. I was thinking about when we have a conference and we announce the men who are going to stand and this man gives his declaration of the gospel and then the next man gives his declaration of the gospel and it's all the same. And with that being said, the first time that I read Mary's declaration of the gospel, it blessed my heart so much. It was a blessing to me so much. The first time I really saw it, really heard it.

Anytime a believer sees and hears Christ glorified, really, I mean something in here, really, Anytime a believer sees and hears Christ honored, Christ highly lifted up, it is food to the soul of that believer. It's food to the soul. We live and move and have our being in and on the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. the glory of Christ. When you get to the heart of what it is to preach a gospel message, it's this, the glory, honor, and praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. What opens blind eyes and deaf ears and quickens dead hearts is The declaration of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're just talking about Him. And if you're talking about Him, it's glorious because that's all He is. The glory of Christ in creation. The glory of Christ in salvation. The glory of Christ in eternal perfection. The glory of Christ in everything concerning everything.

That's what it is to preach the gospel. That's a gospel message. Years ago, there was someone who visited here a few times, and someone else who had never visited here asked this person, Kingsport Sovereign Grace, is all they talk about down there just election and predestination and stuff like that? And this person said, No, not really. Pretty much all they talk about is Christ.

And I was so glad to hear that. I was honestly so happy to hear that. I was so glad that that was the core object, the subject matter that was perceived by our declaration. What are you hearing when you listen down there? Christ. It's pretty much all just Christ. The person, the work, the honor, the glory of Christ. And then we stop talking. Well, that's what we've had in every word of this chapter so far. That is definitely what we heard in Mary's declaration last week. I want to remind us of it before we continue on in the message.

Look with me at Luke 1 verse 46. And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior, for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, for he that is mighty hath done to me great things. and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

He hath showed strength with his arm. He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich hath he sent away empty. He hath helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever. And Mary abode with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her own house."

That's beautiful and glorious, isn't it? Now we're gonna pick up today with verse 57 and we're gonna listen to Zacharias's declaration of the gospel. This is John the Baptist's father, Zacharias. Look with me at verse 57. Now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered and she brought forth a son And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed 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 this name. And they made signs to his father how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table 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 that dwelt round about them, and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. Now, before we get into Zacharias's declaration, I want to point out that the name John means grace. It means Jehovah is a gracious giver. Jehovah has graced.

And when grace comes, When grace is truly made known to men and women, because all that men and women know by nature is works. Let me just kind of make this clear very quickly. All that men and women know by nature, by the world, by being born, by the flesh, by human reasoning, all that men and women know is works. That's all they know.

Grace is so popular. The word is so popular, so common. You see grace everywhere. But people don't know what grace is. They don't know grace. They can say they know grace. They can give a definition. You can look it up in a dictionary. You can give a definition for grace.

But men and women don't know grace. They don't know grace. Men and women are blind to grace, deaf to grace. They actually reject. By nature, the flesh rejects grace when it hears it. No, no, no, that's not right. Men and women don't know grace. They don't know grace. Grace has to be revealed. It has to be revealed by God.

Grace is of God. Grace is by God. And by nature, men think they need to please God. That's works. When grace is revealed, men and women see that God has to please himself for men and women. That's grace. Men and women naturally think they need to earn something from God. They need to earn God's favor. They need to earn heaven. That's works. When grace is revealed, men and women realize God had to earn their place in heaven for them. God had to earn his own favor toward them for them.

That's grace. So when grace is first introduced, and I'm talking about true grace, it's completely foreign. is completely foreign. Men and women say, they hear this and they say, now wait, that's not what we know. That's not our natural way. That's not our family's traditional way. Verse 61.

They said unto her, she said, His name is John. Grace, verse 61, they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that's called by that name. What do you mean, grace? When grace comes, it's a marveling thing, truly marveling thing, look at the end of verse 63, it says they marveled all.

Verse 64, and Zacharias's mouth was open. He couldn't speak because he didn't believe the word of the angel. And the angel said, until this child is born, you're not going to be able to speak. And he was born and grace was announced and revealed. Verse 64, and his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue loosed.

When grace comes, it's a freeing thing. It's a freeing thing. The poem says, run, run, the law demands. But gives me neither feet nor hands. The gospel bids me sweeter things, bids me fly and gives me wings. Our Lord said, if God ever reveals the truth to you, the truth will make you free. You will be free.

The truth concerning redemption, the truth concerning salvation, the truth concerning Christ's fulfillment of the law for his people. Everybody wants to turn the page and say, but what about that? It says that. Well, what about this over here? It says this. When grace comes, people come to know of Christ's fulfillment of the law for his people. Yep, Christ did that. Yep, Christ did that. Yep, Christ accomplished that. Christ's satisfaction of the sin debt for his people.

If God ever reveals the truth concerning His grace, it will set a sinner free. It will set a sinner free. Verse 64 says, His mouth was opened immediately and His tongue loosed and He spake and praised God. If God ever sets a sinner free by revealing the grace of Christ to that sinner, that sinner will praise God. only, totally, completely.

Verse 65 says, and fear. Praise and fear. The grace of God will bring the fear and reverence of the Lord. Verse 65, And fear came on all that dwelt round about them. And all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts.

It will become an issue of the heart. Out of the heart are the issues of life. Grace will become life. Christ will become life. It'll become our hope. It will become our comfort. It will become our peace. It'll become our all. And it will cause us to say with Zacharias.

Now, this is his declaration. I told you we were going to look at his declaration of the gospel. Here it is. This is what God's work and God's revelation caused him to say. Verse 67, his 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. That one verse says it all. That one verse says it all.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Blessed be the sovereign God, the Lord God. The word Lord means sovereign. Blessed be the sovereign God over his particularly chosen to salvation people. Blessed be the sovereign God over what He has done for His selected sinful people. Who's that? Well, it's Jacob. It's the sinner. It's His seed, spiritual Israel. What did He do, Zacharias? Verse 68. He hath. Just like Mary said, And just like the angel said, just like Elizabeth said, there is only one message. There is only one faith. And it's because there's only one truth concerning God. There's only one truth concerning God.

What is it? And the next word is glorious. He hath visited. Isn't it so nice to visit with people you love? He hath visited. The Lord came down. Aren't you so thankful that God Almighty did not stay up in holy heaven? And leave us down here in this place where we were alone. Aren't you so glad in his heart this was out of the heart was this issue with him? In his heart, he chose to come down. God Almighty came down. God Almighty came down to this sinful cesspool where his people were.

And he brought help. He brought help to them. That's what Mary said. He's helped us. He brought care to them. He brought love to them. God commended his love. How? He visited. He visited. Verse 68 and he redeemed. How did he bring all that care and love and? He redeemed them. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people. Redeemed means he paid their price in full. He delivered them from the penalty. He delivered them from the wages of sin.

It was death. How did he do that? By dying for them in their place. We will never enter into the amazement of the fact that the high and holy, sovereign, almighty God left holy, sinless heaven, came down to a cesspool, and died in that cesspool for His maggots. We'll never enter into the glory of that. He visited, hung on a cross, and died for them. in their place.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Verse 67, his 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.

Generally in the scripture, the word horn means strength. And it means that Christ is that strength. But in addition to that, this particular word horn means it's a reference to the horns of the altar, the altar of sacrifice. And that's how Christ was made to be our strength.

God the Father provided him to be the sacrifice. The lamb that was slaughtered, the saving strength that was displayed by that sacrifice. Verse 68, blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up and horned up salvation for us in the house of his servant David. In the kingly line of his servant David.

Christ, the son of David, the man, God manifest in the flesh, the root and offspring David God and man verse 70 as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began he said the entire Old Testament prophesied that this day would come verse 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us who are our enemies Who are our enemies? We are our own enemies. You are your own enemies. Our sins, which so constantly plague us and attack us, are our worst enemies. And it's because those very sins are what caused us by nature to be God's enemy. at enmity against him.

Thank God Christ came to save us from ourselves. Listen to the wording of this. I entered into this more than I ever have before. Listen to the wording of this. Christ came to save us from our sins. Call his name Jesus for he'll save his people from their sins.

Everybody thinks that means he'll take them away. And that's what he did. But that was the great enemy we needed to be saved from. That was the whole problem facing us. Christ came into this world to save us from our sins. Our sins, that's what we needed to be saved from.

Verse 72, he came to perform the mercy promised. Isn't that good news? To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the mercy promised. Why did God show mercy to his people? Because he promised to. He promised to. Why did He promise to? I don't know the answer to that one. I do not know. Why did God love? You know, we love Him because He first loved us. Why did God love us? I do not know the answer to that. But thank God. That's all I know to say. Thank God.

He promised by an oath for the reasons known to Him. for the secret things known to Him. In eternity past, He promised in His own... He made an oath and a covenant. Hebrews 6 says, because He could swear by no greater. And this was in eternity past. Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself. I swear to myself, he said, I swear, I will be the lamb slain for my people. The blood of mercy shed to cover the sins of my people.

I'll provide that, I promise. I make an oath. Who heard it? The Father and the Son and the Spirit. Well, the father made the oath, the spirit made the oath, God heard it. He said, I promise I'll finish the work. I will perform that mercy. I will perform that mercy. And by God's grace, he did.

David said, although my house be not so with God, he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things insured. Do you know that's our assurance? Us acting like a better citizen in America is not our assurance. You know what our assurance is? The oath, the covenant, the promise that Jesus Christ made to redeem us from our sin. That's our assurance. How do you know it applies to me? Because I'm such a wicked sinner, it has to apply to me. If you think you're the worst one in the room, it has to apply to you. He came to do this for sinners.

Verse 70. 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.

Grant, that means freely, graciously. If you've ever received a grant for anything, it's a free gift. It's freely given. Verse 74, that He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear. He promised that by his work of redemption, we would be graciously accepted into his presence with full access to his throne, being made worthy to come boldly to him, that we may receive grace and mercy anytime we need. Verse 74. 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." Holiness and righteousness. That means in Christ, that we would serve him in Christ. Christ is our holiness. Christ is our righteousness.

And Zacharias. said in this declaration, he said, John, he ends it by saying something to John, his son. He said, you're the one that's been called by God to deliver that announcement to this world. You're the one that's been called. You're the one who was promised to declare the glory of this salvation. Not in type. All the Old Testament declared it in picture. He said, John, you've been given the gift. You've been given the honor of declaring him in person. In person, the one who was promised to come, that prophet, that Messiah, the deliverer himself, God's lamb is here.

Let me tell you something. You know how the apostle Paul said, I speak as a fool. Let me speak as a fool for just a minute. I would imagine every preacher who's ever preached would like to be in the pulpit preaching when the Lord returns so they can say, there he is. See, I told you. God told us. He said, John, you've been given the privilege to, you go out there and baptize and you show people what sinners they really are. Confessing sins. You've been given the one who gets to say, there he is. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. There he is. All the 150 Psalms. 3,000 Proverbs, not all written.

There he is. In person. In person, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Verse 76, he said, 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, not man's ways, his way. His ways, His ways. Verse 77, to give knowledge of salvation unto His people, not the world. His people by the remission of their sins. He said, John, you're not going to announce salvation to this entire world, but you are going to announce full, complete, total salvation to every soul that the Father gave to this man who's coming.

Verse 76, 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.

That's Christ. The day spring from on high. The son of righteousness with healing in his wings. That's Christ. Verse 79, to give light to them that sit in darkness, And in the shadow of death, to God our feet in the way of peace. That's Christ, our light, our way, our peace.

And that's, and then after the word peace is a period, that's the end of his declaration. And what a, what a beautiful declaration that is. Verse 80 says, and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. Now, let me close our message by saying this. Thank God for that showing. Thank God for that showing. With no glory being given to John. with no glory being given to John. John wouldn't have that. John wouldn't even say his name. He wouldn't even say his own name. He said, I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness. Behold Him. Behold Christ.

Behold the Lamb of God. Thank God for His mercy and His grace in sending an announcer of Christ to His people. This is the means the Lord has chosen to reveal salvation and to reveal redemption to His people. And thank God He was pleased to purpose for all of His people to be brought to a man, a physical man, who would tell them, look to Christ and Christ alone. Look to Christ and Christ alone.

I thank God he was pleased to send a messenger to me. I do. I thank God. What a privilege to declare this announcement. What a privilege to hear this announcement and to believe this announcement. Revelation 1 says, blessed are all who read, hear, and believe the words of this book concerning Christ. Blessed. Like Mary said, blessed. That's what we are, blessed.

John's message was, he's coming and here he is. Our message today is he's coming back. He's coming back. And one day we're going to say, just like John did, there he is. No matter who's standing in the pulpit, it'll be glorious. It's going to be irrelevant. There he is. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for that. Thank God he came and performed the mercy he promised to us. He visited and redeemed. Thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to save sinners. Sinners. To him be all the glory. Amen.

He Hath Visited And Redeemed

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

Why is the doctrine of salvation important for Christians?

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About Gabe Stalnaker

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He Hath Visited And Redeemed

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

Why is the doctrine of salvation important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Gabe Stalnaker

Comments

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