We have a prophecy, which is
a song, and a song, which is a prophecy. It is the song of
Zacharias, the prophet, or the priest, rather, as he made a
prophecy concerning his son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
and John the Baptist. And in this song, Zacharias is
expressing praise to God. You remember this priest had
been a deaf mute for nine months because of his unbelief, and
now the Lord loosed his tongue. Let's hear what he has to say.
Luke chapter 1, verse 67. And 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 spoke
by the mouth of his holy prophet, which had 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 father, and to remember his holy covenant. the oath which
he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant to us that
we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve
him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him
all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called
the prophet of the highlands, 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 springing 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 desert the day of his showing unto Israel. Now let's look first
at the prophet himself by whom this prophecy was given. Zacharias
was not a prophet but his song was a prophecy, one of the most
instructive prophecies ever given. He was not a musician but his
prophecy was a song, one of the best hymns ever written. What
was it that qualified this man to write this song and give this
prophecy? In verse 67 we're told, Zacharias
was filled with the Holy Ghost. God not only forgave this old
man of his sins, but he poured out his grace upon him in such
an extraordinary manner that he fills him with the Holy Spirit. Now there's a lot of talk in
these days about the filling of the Spirit, so let me address
that issue for just a moment. To be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Remember in Ephesians 5, 18, the apostle says, be not drunk
with wine where it is excess, but be you filled with the Holy
Ghost. He's making a comparison by a
definite reason. He's telling us that as a man
is intoxicated with wine when he drinks too much. So we must
be controlled by the Holy Spirit in all aspects of our lives. To be filled with the Spirit
is to be controlled with the Spirit, so that our lives are
governed by the Spirit of God in us, by whom Christ rules us
in all things. The fruit of the Spirit, we're
told, is different. That it's controlled from within,
so that we who believe constantly yield ourselves to the Spirit
of God and to the influence of God's Spirit, seeking grace that
he may control our thoughts, our passions, and our actions,
that he may control our lives for the glory of Christ. Every
believer ought always to seek to be filled with the Spirit,
ruled by the Holy Spirit in every aspect of his life. The Spirit-filled
life is not some kind of an emotional religious frenzy. It's amazing
to me how folks who are just Fairly intelligent about other
things when it comes to religion can be so utterly utterly utterly
ignorant But the fact is men by nature are ignorant of all
things spiritual and folks think can you imagine? Can you imagine
the God of glory? being honored by folks Talking
a bunch of gibberish nonsense flopping at mouth rolling the
floor shouting clapping their hands and jumping up there That's
just nonsense. That's just nonsense Filling
with the Spirit is not some kind of an emotional religious frenzy,
but rather the Spirit-filled life is a life of wisdom. We won't look at it now, but
you look in Ephesians 5 and compare what I'm saying with the Scripture.
It is a life whereby the understanding is made to understand what the
will of the Lord is. Oh, now that's what God teach
me every day to walk in the Word. A life that's filled with the
Spirit is a life of thanksgiving and praise to God. Paul says,
Be filled with the Spirit, giving thanks always for all things
to God and the Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Spirit-filled
life is a life of voluntary submission. Submission to the will and glory
and purpose of God Almighty in everything. voluntary submission. Submitting
yourselves one to another in the fear of God. That's what
it is to be filled with the Spirit. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians
9, I become all things to all men that I might by all means
win so. He said to the Jew, I'm as a
Jew, to the Gentile as a Gentile, to them that are under the law
as under the law, to them that are without the law as without
the law. What's he talking about? He says in all things I seek
to subject my will and my pleasure and my desires to that which
is far more important than me, and that's the will and glory
of God in serving the souls of men. Oh, hell. Be filled with the
Holy Spirit. And yet there is a sense in which
this filling of the Spirit is something extraordinary for believers
as well. Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Ghost in the sense that he was given a special unction,
a special anointing to deliver the Word of God. So that as he
speaks these words, he speaks by divine inspiration. Oh, may
God grant such anointing to this preacher this hour. I want more
than words can express. To preach to you as a man filled
with the Spirit of God. Oh, for grace. To speak a word directly from
God to you. That's preaching. That's preaching. To preach just for the praise
and honor and glory of God. for the good of men's souls.
That's what we have in our text. A message directly from God to
his people for our good and his glory. Now, what's the subject
of this prophecy? What is it that Zachariah sings
about? What is it that causes him to
give praise to God? Now, be sure you notice that
this old man had just passed through some remarkable experiences. I mean, Buddy, he had been through
some stuff. He had seen the angel of the
Lord face to face in the house of God. An angel from God had
given him a message. Because he didn't believe the
message, the angel said, OK, Bud, you're not going to hear
or say anything for nine months. And now his tongue is loosed.
His ears are open. and he speaks, what will he say? What's he going to talk about?
This old man, he and his wife, an old man now, an old woman,
are given by miraculous divine intervention, a child in their
old age, and he's not just any child, he is that child of whom
Malachi spoke, Elijah, who was to come as the forerunner of
Jesus Christ, the prophet of God Almighty. What's he going
to talk about? Oh, surely he's going to talk
about angels and signs and miracles and wonders. Surely he's going
to talk about experiences. Surely he's going to talk about
what a great, great privilege he has to be the father of John
the Baptist and my just the prophet of God. No, instead he speaks
about God, his grace, his son, his redemption, his salvation,
his praise. You see, those men who are filled
with the Spirit speak about God, His grace, and His salvation,
always. Now I want you to just hold your
Bibles open here on your laps at Luke chapter 1 as we go through
this paragraph. It contains the words spoken
by Zachariah after the Lord loosed his tongue. It contains the words
that he spoke concerning both the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior,
and God's great salvation, and the work of his Son as God's
prophet, the work of John the Baptist. As he speaks this word,
I'm sure that there are many ways we could have posted this
text to Scripture that would be perfectly legitimate, but
I want us to look here and see simply three great reasons for
praise. Now if you are God's child, if
you're a believer, if you're one of those whom the Lord God
has been pleased to call out of darkness into his marvelous
light, if God has dropped his grace in your soul, no matter
what you're going through, my soul I know some of you go through
some tough times. No matter what it is that you're
experiencing, no matter what it is that rings your heart,
let me give you some reasons to give praise to God. Zachariah's
first word of thanksgiving and praise is about God our Savior. Look how he opens the word. Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Let us ever be quick with praise
and thanksgiving to our great God and Savior. We must never
forget to thank God for his blessings but we ought to specially thank
God and praise God for his being. Blessed be the Lord God himself
and then bless him for he has visited and redeemed his people. Bless the Lord God. The entire
first chapter of Ephesians is taken up with the Apostle Paul
instructing us in reasons to bless God. He said, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. He tells us to bless God, our
Father, because He planned eternal salvation for us. And then He
calls on us to bless God, the Son, our blessed Savior, because
He purchased salvation for us by the shedding of His blood,
by which we have the forgiveness of sins. And then he calls on
us to give praise and blessing to God the Holy Spirit, because
he's called us and sealed us by his grace, performing the
work of salvation in us and preserving us in grace. Let us ever give
praise to our God, because he's God. Bless the Lord, O my soul,
all that is within me, bless his holy name. The Apostle Paul
says in everything, Now how can you do that? In everything? He didn't say for everything.
He said in everything. In the midst of everything. In
the midst of joy and in the midst of sorrow. In the midst of the
birth of a child, in the midst of the death of a child. In everything
give thanks. How come? Because this, whatever
it is that crosses your path, is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. The Apostle tells us plainly
to give thanks to Him. And he says rejoice in the Lord
always. Again I say rejoice. Rejoice
in Him. Let your joy ever be found in
Christ the Lord Himself. Not in the things. Not in the
blessings. But in the being of our God. Rejoice in Him. Rejoice in His
presence. Rejoice in His providence. Rejoice
in His purpose. Rejoice in the Lord always. And
again I say rejoice. And then look at verses 69 through
75. After ascribing praise, honor,
and glory to God, Zacharias here offers thanksgiving and praise
to God for God's great salvation. What a description we have here
of God's salvation. You read these verses and you
have a virtual body of divinity, a book of theology, all set before
you in simple statements, but oh, how profound is the doctrine
here. Here he tells us seven things
about God's salvation. First, in verse 69, we are told
that God has raised up an horn of salvation. You see that? A
horn of salvation. And those words tell us this.
Salvation is God's work. God raised up our Savior. God established the work. God
performed the work. And salvation is that work which
God has exalted and given preeminence to. He raised up a horn of salvation. This word also tells us that
God's salvation is a display of his power. Judgment is the
hiding of his power. We read it in Habakkuk, didn't
we? Here's the display of his power. A horn Horns are often
represented in Scripture as symbols of power. A beast chugs with
the horn. A beast prevails with the horn.
And here he's talking about the horn of salvation as the symbol
of God's power. Salvation of any sinner. The salvation of any eternity-bound
sinner is the work of omnipotent, irresistible grace. The work
of God's power. And this salvation is described
as a plenteous, bountiful salvation. It's a horn of salvation, a veritable
cornucopia of salvation. It's bountiful. All the blessings
and benefits of grace are God's salvation. The Lord will give
what? Grace? and glory. Thou wilt guide me
in death and afterwards receive me up in the glory. Salvation
then is God's work, a horn of salvation. Then he tells us in
verse 69 again that salvation is for a specific people. He
has raised up a horn of salvation, what? For everybody. Anybody got a Bible that reads
like that? Any translation? I'll give you a dollar for it.
Any translation. Anybody. No, no, no. He's raised up the
horn of salvation for us. For us. You see, God's work. All God's work. is for a specific
people. God never does anything haphazardly. God never does anything in general
terms. God's intention never was the
salvation of all men. His purpose never was the salvation
of all men. He didn't send his son to save
all men. God's salvation is for us. His elect, the Israel of God,
the house of David. Now look at verse 70. Here we
see that this great salvation of which we speak is a Bible
salvation. So what's so important about
that? It's salvation spoken of by all the prophets. Look at
this. As he spoke by the mouth of his
holy prophets which have been since the world began. Now this
is what that means. This whole book is talking about
God's salvation. And it's talking about the same
salvation. Now I know folks talk about, well in the Old Testament
God saved folks this way or that. God saved folks by keeping the
law. God saved folks by sacrifices. God saved folks by the Jewish
sacrifices offered on the Day of Atonement. That's nonsense. The blood of beef can never wash
away sin. God never saved anybody by their
works. He never suggested to them. In
this day we're saved by grace, but then there's going to come
a tribulation. Folks are going to revert back to sacrifice and
God's going to say, folks, what he did in the old Bible. It's
not the old Bible. It's just the old covenant. And this is the new covenant.
It is the older revelation and this is the newer revelation. But it's one word from God. And
the salvation spoken of is one. It is God's salvation spoken
of by all his population. Look at this. God's salvation
is a very old salvation. This is not some new thing which
Christ came to accomplish. This is the thing which has been
spoken of since the beginning of time. It is not some new thing
which John the Baptist came to preach, but that which was revealed
in the Old Testament as well. God's salvation has been spoken
of ever since the world began. Indeed, it was spoken of before
that. God spoke of salvation before ever he made the first
angel. He made the angels to be ministering spirits that were
to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. God's
salvation then was spoken of by him in covenant mercy from
eternity. And it was spoken of since the
first man who breathed on this earth. Adam spoke of God's salvation. How do you reckon Enoch learned
about it? Adam spoke of God's salvation. Adam spoke to his
sons about God's salvation. Why do you reckon Cain and Abel
came to worship? Adam taught them to worship God. Cain didn't
pay any attention. Abel did. But Adam is the one
who spoke of it. The Lord God revealed his salvation
in Genesis 3.15. He revealed it to Adam when Adam
and Eve were driven out of the garden. He clothed them with
the skins of a sacrificed animal and promised them, I'm going
to send a Redeemer. Adam spoke of it for he believed God. Enoch. The seventh from Adam spoke about
God's salvation. Now I know folks, sometimes we
get the idea, boy, those Old Testament saints, they sure didn't
know much. Ron, by the time we get to the
opening of the New Testament, God had been silent for 400 years.
God didn't speak to anybody for 400 years and nobody knew much.
The book was sealed to men. But back in those early days,
let me tell you what Enid did. Enoch prophesied that Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer, of whom Adam spoke to him, that Redeemer of whom
God spoke in Genesis 3.15, that Redeemer typified in the sacrifices
by which Adam and Eve were clothed as God drove them from the garden.
Enoch said, not only is He going to redeem us, He's coming again
with 10,000 of His saints. You can read it in the book of
Jude. Enoch proclaimed about it. Scriptures
tell us plainly that Noah prophesied of God's salvation. He experienced
it, he typified it, he pictured it, and he spoke of it. It was
spoken of by all the prophets. You see, God's prophets all speak
the same thing. They always have. They all speak
of God's salvation and speak of it in exactly the same way.
Then fifthly, in verse 71 we see that salvation is the complete
deliverance of our souls from all our enemies into the glorious
liberty of the sons of God. Now I have commentaries and Bibles
with men's notes in them in my study which tell us in verse
71 when Zacharias says this is God's purpose that we should
be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate
us God's going to send his son again, and he's going to restore
Israel as a kingdom and a nation, and the Jews are going to reign
over everybody. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about spiritual enemies and physical enemies,
but not for the Jews only, but for God's elect everywhere. This
is God's Savior for us. How is he going to deliver us
from all our enemies? Every day in his providence he
does. Every day. Every day. whether you know it
or not. I have over the years watched men set traps for me,
lay snares for me by which they hope to ruin me or sully my name. They don't have to work hard
at that. But I've watched them. And I just, I learned a long
time ago, I learned Rex as a young man, just keep my mouth shut
and wait, just wait. And I watched God turn him upside
down over and over and over again. I watched grown men, when I was
in college, professors try to do something by which to entrap
me so they could accuse me of some dishonest thing. I'm telling
you exactly what happened. I just watched God. Turn him
over one way or another. One time or another. Over and
over again. What do you do when men speak
against you? I speak to God. No point in talking to them.
No point in dealing with them. What do you do when men set apart
against you? I talk to God. How many wisdoms
has he done to deliver us from our enemies? But I've got enemies
bigger than man. I've got enemies called the world
and my flesh and the devil. You read about it in Psalm 73
back in the office now. And I'm going to be honest with
you. I really don't think the world or the devil is anywhere
near as big an enemy to me as my flesh. Horrible isn't it? But he's going to deliver us
from all everything. Every last one of them. The Apostle Paul, when he considers
God's providence and grace, he says, if God be for us, who can
be against us? Nobody with success. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies.
Who is he that condemns? It's Christ that died, that is
risen again. He's even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Nobody. He will deliver us from
all our enemies into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Then
fixedly he tells us in verses 72 and 73 that salvation is an
act and a work of God's covenant mercy. To perform the mercy promised
to our father. To remember his holy covenant.
The oath which he swore to our father Abraham. When God saves
a sinner. Now listen. If God speaks peace
to your heart tonight. If God gives you faith in Jesus
Christ right now. If right where you sit God calls
you to come to Him, believing on His Son. It's because of mercy,
His mercy, His covenant mercy, and the oath He made with His
Son before the world began. He has saved us and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. And then he tells us that God's
salvation, a God-wrought salvation, causes sinners to become the
willing servants of God forever. That he would grant unto us that
we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve
him, serve him without fear, in holiness and in righteousness,
before him in his immediate presence. as long as you live. All the
days of our lives. You see, saved sinners willingly
subject themselves to the dominion of Jesus Christ to serve God. And they keep doing it until
they serve him in glory Christically. All the days of our lives. So
carnal Christians don't, there ain't no such thing. Some Christians, you know, they
accept Jesus as their Lord and they start to serve Him. All
believers serve Christ all the days of their lives in His immediate
presence in holiness and righteousness. Not their own in here. And that
makes our service wrecks acceptable to God. Amen. Zachariah gives us another reason
for praise and thanksgiving to God. And that is the gift of
God's chosen servant. Zachariah here speaks about John
the Baptist, his son, but he speaks of him not as his son,
but rather as God's prophet. You see, faithful gospel preachers
are the gift of Christ and his church. It is by these chosen
men specifically called and gifted of God for the work of the gospel,
and only by such men that God speaks to, ministers to, calls,
converts, edifies, comforts, corrects, and cares for chosen
sinners in this world. Gospel preachers do not seek
and they do not want the praise of men. Faithful men seek and
crave the praise of God. We must never make idols out
of God's servants, never treat them as priests, never treat
them as mediators, never treat them as fathers, never treat
them as lords over God's heritage. But God's servants are not to
be despised. They're not to be treated as
though they were useless things. Both the welfare of your soul
And the happiness and peace of God's church is greatly determined
by the love and respect that's shown for and to those who labor
for your soul. Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. Let me show you this. I'll wrap it up. Verse 12. Paul says, We beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labor among you. A faithful pastor
as a laboring man. I have made it my business in
almost 30 years of pastoring to see to it that no man to whom
I preach spends more time at his work than I do at mine. No
man. It doesn't happen. It doesn't
happen because I intend for it never to happen. Never. Those
who labor among you. But not only do they spend time
laboring, they labor for your soul. Labor in the Word, labor
in doctrine, labor in prayer, seeking a message from God. And
our over yield. Now folks don't like that term,
but that's the way it is. God has sent pastors as shepherds
over his flock to take the oversight of his church. Most preachers
are Junebug preachers. For you folks who weren't raised
in the South, when I was a boy, I used to catch Junebugs, put
them on a little old thread, and I'd fly them around. Man,
those Junebugs would fly everywhere. I mean, he just like, but only
flew the length of my strings where I wanted him to go. And
that's what most preachers are. They're tied because deacons
hold their purse strings, and they're controlled by their money.
They're controlled by their jobs, not God's service. They labor
among you, and they're over you in the Lord, and they'd monish
you. It's seeing them very highly in love. How come? Oh, there's
something special. No. But they sure got a special
work for your soul. For their work's sake. And if
you do, you'll be at peace among yourselves. And we're about to
have ten choice servants of God come visit us. Don't you speak
a word. Don't you speak, even if you're
foolish enough to think it, don't you speak a word against them.
Not one of them. speak highly of them, reverence
them, esteem them for their work. They've come in to minister to
our souls, to prepare the way of the Lord, to bring down every
hill, to raise up every valley, to make the crooked way straight,
and to make a clear highway to our God, so sinners might run
to the city of refuge and find refuge for their souls. That's
what Zacharias is, the work of the ministry. And there's a day
of showing. John the Baptist lived in seclusion
until the day of his showing in Israel. These days, if a fellow's
been a drunk, been in prison two or three years, maybe committed
some horrible crimes, and suddenly he makes a confession of faith,
oh, we need to get you in the ministry. If God's chosen one of you men,
I'm looking at Lee, maybe God will drop his mercy in you. Call
you to the work of the gospel. If he does, you don't need to
wave your own flag or toot your own horn. God has the day when
he will show his own to his people. And everybody will know that
there's a prophet among them. Our father, bless your word to
our hearts and teach us to praise you. Lord God to praise you. from
the depth of our souls, in everything, giving thanks for our great God,
for your great salvation, and for graciously sending a man
to tell us about it. For Christ's sake. Amen. Okay, Lindsey, lead us in the
hymn, please. Number eight in your handbook.