Luke chapter 1 and verse 67. And as I say, this is the prophecy
of Zacharias, who was the father of John the Baptist and husband
to Elizabeth. This is the word of the Lord. And 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 a 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 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 swear 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. Then it seems that Zacharias
turns to John the Baptist and this is the commission of John
the Baptist by the Holy Ghost. 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us once
again this reading from his word. We are anticipating Jesus in
a short series of studies about the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ into this world in human form. We call this, Christ's
coming, the incarnation of Christ. The Apostle Paul calls it the
manifestation of God in the flesh. And he says of the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a great mystery. The Apostle
Paul calls the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world,
he calls the manifestation of God in the flesh, the mystery
of godliness. His words are found in 1 Timothy
chapter 3 and verse 16, where he says, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Now we might take each of those
little phrases and expound and explain how each of them, in
a sense, is in itself a great mystery. But we just want to
touch today, given the context of our little series, Anticipating
Jesus, on the way in which the Apostle Paul calls the manifestation
of Christ, the mystery of godliness. The world, as we all are well
aware by now, I'm sure, is about to celebrate Christmastime. But what they celebrate is a
mystery to them. The world is in darkness concerning
the significance and the implications and the context and the reality
and the ramifications of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
into the world, the manifestation of God in the flesh. To them, they do not see what the believer
can see in Christ's coming. The mystery is not so much that
the incarnation happened that it did is simply a revealed truth
and it is to be believed. The mystery is rather how it
happened. That God the Son, the second
person of the Godhead, took human nature into union with his divine
nature and became a real man. So that Jesus Christ is both God and man. Holy God and holy man. A virgin conceived and brought
forth a son. And just as God had promised
in the Garden of Eden, the seed to bruise the serpent's head
was the seed of the woman. And yet it is well called the
mystery of godliness. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
could not be an ordinary man. The Lord Jesus Christ could not
be formed in the natural way. He had to be a real man. He had
to be a whole man. But he had to be without sin. And sin was part of the Adamic
legacy upon all men and women. And so there had to be something
special, something original, something new in the coming of
the child Jesus into the world. So we find when we look at these
scriptures that the human nature of Christ was formed and prepared
by the power of the Holy Ghost without the help of man. Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah
in the Old Testament had said, for the Lord had created a new
thing in the earth. a woman shall compass a man. And this is what is happening
here at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is creating
a new thing in the earth and a woman is compassing a man. Gabriel said to Mary, the Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall
overshadow thee. Mary was found with child of
the Holy Ghost and when the divine nature of the second person united
everlastingly with the human nature, then we find that the
God-man came into the world and we have the manifestation of
God in the flesh, endowed with human form, with a body, a mind,
a soul and a spirit. And we note that this new thing
of which Jeremiah spoke was done with the purpose for the purpose
of the redemption of God's elect people. The Lord Jesus Christ
came into the world to destroy the works of the devil, to destroy
the devil himself and the work which he had spawned and the
lies that he had told and the damage that he had done for the
elect chosen people of the Most High. It was done to redeem and
to recover and to restore fallen human nature by bringing sinners
like us into everlasting union with God. Well might Paul say,
this is the mystery of godliness. And the book of Hebrews tells
us that God the Father prepared a human body for the Lord Jesus
Christ. a body thou hast prepared me. And in this body our Saviour
submitted himself to the Father's will, declaring, Lo, I come to
do thy will, O Lord. And this is what we are considering
in this little series that is before us concerning the coming
of our Saviour into the world to redeem, to recover and to
restore God's elect. We in Adam had fallen into sin. We were condemned in Adam. but the Lord Jesus Christ came
to seek and to save that which was lost. I just want to, as it were, take
a little section here and draw your attention to a number of
the aspects of the preparation of the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, which I think is really wonderful to contemplate and
reflect upon. We sometimes talk about meditating. I hope that we think about some
of the things that the Lord has done, the phrases that are used,
the verses that are given, and just allow them to, as it were,
rest in our minds, contemplating and meditating upon them. But I wonder if you've ever wondered
or ever thought about how wonderful God orders and provides for every
expression of his purpose and not least in the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We started off thinking about
the promise that was given in the book of Genesis concerning
the one who would come, the seed who was promised to bruise the
serpent's head. Then we thought about the prophecies
of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to think here
about some of the works of preparation that were effected by the Lord
at the coming of our Saviour. And I don't think we should be
too quick to pass over, as it were, the incidentals of God's
ways and means of doing things as if they were in some way just
circumstantial or without significance. So take for example, some of
the aspects that surround the coming of the Saviour, the Star
of Bethlehem, or the Star of Christ. Matthew tells us concerning
that star, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying,
where is he that is born King of the Jews? We have seen his
star in the east, and are come to worship him. Now just think
on that for a moment. Whatever the astronomical phenomenon
was, Christ's star was timed perfectly to announce the birth
of the Lord Jesus and yet allow for the journey of these men
from another country all the way to Jerusalem in order that
they might worship the one whose birth is spoken of by the presence
of this star. From the creation of the world,
Christ's star was destined to move across the sky in the precise
manner, at the precise time that it did. And not only was that
physical orbit of that celestial body preordained by God, but
God also saw to it that there was sufficient wisdom and insight
and understanding imparted to these men. concerning the meaning
of the star, the significance of its appearance and its importance,
that they gathered together amazing gifts in a faraway country and
made the journey in order to find out what it was all about. There was a spiritual awareness
brought these men on their journey in order that they might worship
this child that had been born. Carrying these rich gifts to
a foreign land in search of a king to worship the royal child. Christ
was born in a stable. He was laid in a manger. But
despite that mean beginning, he received frankincense, he
received gold, he received myrrh from sages of the East. And God ordained it so to be,
setting in place, preparing from the foundation of the world and
in the experience of these men, a heritage, a history by which
their wisdom was such that when they saw that light in the star,
they knew what was happening and what they must do. I think
another interesting dimension of these men's presence was that
when they went to Jerusalem, their presence in Jerusalem was
directly related to the deaths of the many infants that died
and were slain at Herod's command. The atrocity that took place
on that occasion was because Herod had been appraised by the
presence of these wise men that a king had been born in Israel. And that prophecy had itself
been made, been given, that atrocity had been prophesied hundreds
of years before. You see, there are no accidents
with God. Nothing is left to chance. Nothing is done that shouldn't
be done, and nothing is left undone. The birth of John the
Baptist is another example of this. As we've seen in our readings
in that little introduction to today's service, in Isaiah and
in Malachi, both of these prophets wrote of a messenger whose ministry
would prepare the way of the Lord for the Lord's own ministry
that would follow immediately upon it. Or consider Zacharias
and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was old and barren. She could not have children.
And I'm in no doubt that Elizabeth had long desired a child and
perhaps long pleaded with God for a child. Being barren in
that time was a stigma and it would be a heavy weight upon
this woman that she was not able to bear a child to her husband. Now in her old age that all seemed
to be in vain, her prayers. And I think that we should take
some lessons from that personally. I think we can apply this to
ourselves. Have we prayed for something
and felt disappointed when it has not been received? Like no
doubt Elizabeth prayed and was disappointed when she did not
get that which she desired. Elizabeth's barrenness, like
Sarah's before her. added to the wonder of the miraculous
birth of John. And we're reminded that the word
of God tells us in Isaiah 55, my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Perhaps the Lord
has withheld his good gifts at the time of our prayers. in order to give us something
far better than we could ever have imagined. And Zacharias
was a priest. Zacharias was a man of faith. He was a just man. He was a true
man. He was an honest man. And yet when he saw the angel,
when the angel came to speak to him concerning the birth of
John, what was Zacharias Zacharias's response, he was filled with
unbelief. And I think we can apply that
personally as well. Do we ask the Lord for help only
to respond with unbelief when he gives it? Zacharias and Elizabeth were
believers. and yet how hard it is sometimes
for believers to believe. And Mary too is an example of
the preparation of God in the manifestation of God in the flesh. She was chosen and she was blessed. Her song of praise and worship
is a beautiful expression of personal faith as she describes
her situation and ascribes glory to her unborn child. And yet her suitability to bear
the God-man, her lineage, her preservation, and Joseph's lineage
all merge together and combine to fulfill all the prophecies
concerning the Son of God, the Son of David, and accomplish
God's purpose perfectly. In all of these, we can trace
the purpose of God's hand in the preparation of the circumstances
appertaining to the birth of Christ. I've already mentioned once when
I was young, already mentioned today once when I was young,
my English teacher and my history teacher when I was at school
both told me about Julius Caesar. I wonder what Julius Caesar's
death on the steps of the Senate at Rome had to do with the birth
of the Messiah. Well, even these secular authorities
played their part according to the will of God. Caesar Augustus,
that we read about in Luke's Gospel, was the great nephew
of Julius Caesar. And Caesar Augustus had been
educated by his great uncle. And upon the assassination of
Julius Caesar, It was Caesar Augustus, or Octavian was his
name at the time, that was made heir of Julius Caesar. And it was this Caesar, the great
nephew of Julius Caesar, who decreed that registration and
taxation of the empire should take place. So that even here
we see Joseph and Mary directed to Bethlehem exactly at the time
when she did not want to be travelling and yet it was the place where
the scripture had prophesied that the Messiah would be born. So that all of these strands
come together and the hand of God is seen in bringing these
things to pass according to his will. The Bible uses a delightful
little phrase to describe all of these separate strands, all
of these preparatory threads being woven together to perfect
the circumstances of Christ's birth. It's called the fullness
of time. And Paul tells us in Galatians
chapter 4 verse 4, when the fullness of time was come, that is when
all of God's preparations had been brought to place, when that
star that was set off in its orbit at the creation of the
world and that king had been slain on the steps of the senate
in Rome so that his great nephew could be sending out a decree
of taxation that would bring this person to this place at
this time in these circumstances. That was the fullness of time. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law. When God had put all things in
place, all the promises, all the prophecies, and all the preparation,
was just exactly ordered according to His sovereign will. When the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son. when everything was just right,
the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world. And let us remember
the active, purposeful involvement of God in this world for the
salvation of His people. From Genesis to Revelation, from
the beginning to the end, the Alpha and Omega, it is what history
is about. the salvation of the elect of
God by the manifestation of God in the flesh and the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to turn in the few minutes
that I've got remaining to this little passage that we read together
from Luke chapter one and to the prophecy of Zacharias for
the remainder of the time that we have. Because I think that
it draws, as it were, a lovely summary in the mouth of this
man, placed there by the Holy Spirit. of the work and the purpose
of God in bringing to pass this event in world history, the manifestation
of God in the flesh. And the prophecy of Zacharias
is like an echo that returns back through the years and the
centuries to Isaiah and to Job and to Moses and to Abraham and
even to the promise in the Garden of Eden because we see in Zacharias'
prophecy these things being alluded to and the awareness of this
man that this was these things coming to pass in the fullness
of time. Verse 67 of Luke chapter 1 says,
Listen. as he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets which have been since the world began. Do you
see that? Do you see what he's saying there?
Do you see what God the Holy Spirit put upon the lips of Zacharias? This child that was about to
be born. Not John the Baptist. He comes
to John the Baptist, as we mentioned, at the end of these verses. But
he is currently speaking about the Christ child. And he says
of that child, that God hath raised up an horn of salvation,
the power of salvation. That's what the word horn means.
The horn is used in scripture as a depiction of the power of
God. And so he has raised up the horn
of salvation for us in the house of his servant, David. And Christ
was called the son of David. 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. Then again, to perform the mercy
promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. So here are four little lessons
that the Holy Spirit gives the church from the prophecy of Zacharias. I'm going to be very quick. These
are just a paragraph each, so we're going to be finished in
good time. Four little reasons for the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ as they are expressed to us here in Luke
chapter one, and specifically verses 74 to 79. Here's the first
one, and it's from verse 77. The Lord Jesus Christ had come
to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission
of their sins. John the Baptist would prepare
the way for the one whose life, and more especially whose death,
would bring remission for our sins. Now remission means taken
away. It's not a word we use so very
often these days, maybe sometimes in medical vocabulary, but It
means to take away or to have taken away. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, by his death, has taken away the sins of his people. If you are one of the Lord's
people, your sins were laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ and taken
away in his death. not only the sin that I've committed and the sin that sin inspires,
but also the sin that was first brought about in this world by
Satan himself. That is the context of the bruising
of the serpent's head. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
deal with that sin problem. That sin problem which is afflicted,
which is affected, which has weighed so heavily and grievously
upon the elect from the beginning of time and the fall of Adam. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
to take away that sin. And I'd like us to notice Zacharias's
words in this context. He said, our salvation is the
taking away of our sins. Now think about the timing of
that. People talk about getting saved, or when they were saved,
and they mean some point in their personal experience, some point
in their personal history, when, I don't know, they were brought
into conviction, or they made a decision, or in some way they
had a spiritual experience, at least they felt so, and that
was their salvation. Some people even talk about a
hope that they might be saved someday. But let us be clear,
the salvation of the elect was unconditionally, irreversibly,
absolutely accomplished when their sins were taken away by
Christ on the cross. And that is what Zacharias is
alluding to, what he is prophesying about. As far as remission is
concerned, salvation is a finished work. It was finished on the
cross. And when they elect here, When
the gospel is preached, when the work of Christ is explained,
when the Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice is declared in the
hearing of the elect by faith, they believe what the Lord Jesus
Christ has achieved and they are given, listen, knowledge
of salvation. That's what Zacharias says. He
says that the Lord Jesus Christ had come to give knowledge of
salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. And so it is this knowledge of
salvation which comes to those who have faith. They see that
their salvation was won and secured and accomplished by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Redemption is complete. Our conversion
is when we first come to know about what happened on the cross
and our Christian life is living in the knowledge of that salvation. Here's the second point I want
to make, and this is another thing that we see from Zacharias'
prophecy. Verse 79 tells us, The Lord Jesus
Christ came to give light to them that sit in darkness and
in the shadow of death. Death and darkness was the legacy
of Adam's fall. Adam and Eve when they took of
the fruit of that tree at the serpent's instigation had the
knowledge of good and evil. That is, they had knowledge of
the good that they had lost and they had knowledge of the evil
that they were now under. And that is the knowledge of
darkness and the shadow of death. That is what has come upon all
men by Adam's legacy. But here in the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ is the coming of light to those that sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death. This is what Christ came to give
us. Christ in the gospel has given
us light to see the truth. He hath shined in our hearts
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. He's given us light of the glorious
gospel of Christ. And He has shown us the way to
life and deliverance by the sacrifice of the Saviour on the cross. And so here we see that this
light was also another example of the Lord Jesus Christ's blessings
in coming into this world as the light of the world. Well
might that star have shot across the sky and led those wise men
to Bethlehem. The Lord Jesus Christ, the light
of the world, was born into this world. for the illumination and
the enlightenment of his people. Here's the third thing that I
want to mention from Zacharias's prophecy. The Lord Jesus Christ
came, verse 79, to guide our feet into the way of peace. To guide our feet into the way
of peace. You see, peace and reconciliation
Peace and reconciliation is the great accomplishment of the cross. Indeed our salvation is called
the covenant of peace. Jesus Christ made peace for us
with God. at the cross. He reconciled God
to us by bearing our grief, carrying our sorrow, propitiating God's
wrath against us and against our sin. He opened the way of
peace for us to return to the fellowship that we had lost with
God. We lost that fellowship in the
Garden of Eden and the Lord Jesus Christ has guided our feet back
into that place of peace with God. He leads us in the way of
everlasting peace. Some people preach that believers
have to go to the law to be guided about how to live at peace with
God. Zacharias knew better. The Lord
is our guide and the gospel teaches us how to live to the honour
and the glory of God, because this is the great end of our
salvation, that we might have our feet guided in the way of
peace. And fourthly, and finally, Verse
74 tells us this, I think we're seeing that. as we go through some of these
10 commandments with the young people these days. It will always
bring us into fear and bondage. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And the incarnation,
the manifestation of God in the flesh is the coming of grace
and truth to the elect of God. When we serve Christ, when we
have our feet led into the paths of peace, when we serve Christ
upon a gospel foundation, we serve without fear because we've
learned that Christ is all our holiness. We have learned that
Christ is all our righteousness before God. and the law can add
nothing better to that holiness and righteousness which is ours
in Christ. This is why Christ came, that
we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness
before him all the days of our life. If you have knowledge of
salvation, the knowledge of salvation that Zacharias spoke of, by the
remittance of sin, by the taking away of your sin, you have no
grounds to fear before God. You live and walk in the paths
of peace before God in holiness and righteousness, and no iniquity
is imputed to you, and no sin is seen in you. You're accepted
in Christ and as well-pleasing in God's sight as is his well-beloved
Son. And I love the little phrase,
all the days of our life. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. In Christ's holiness and Christ's
righteousness, goodness and mercy is ours by God's grace all the
days of our life. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us. Amen.