Luke chapter 1, and I want to
begin reading in verse 67. You remember the context of this. This old man and lady, Zacharias
and Elizabeth, had prayed for years for a child. Zacharias
went in to offer incense at the temple. The angel of the Lord
appeared to him and told him Elizabeth was going to have a
son. His name would be John the Baptist. And the old man didn't
believe. He said, how shall I know this
is true? And the angel said, you're going
to be smitten with dumbness until the child is born because you
believe not the Lord's word at my mouth. And then Elizabeth
had the child, John the Baptist, and the old man's tongue was
loosened, and that's where we take up at, verse 67. And his
father Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, was filled with the Holy
Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people. He hath raised up
no horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which shall bend
since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercies
promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would
grant us that we be delivered out of the hand of our enemies.
might serve him without fear, and holiness and righteousness
before him all the days of our life. 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 sprang from
on high as visitors, to give light to them that sat in darkness,
and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet unto the way of
peace. And the child, John the Baptist,
grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the
day of his showing unto Israel." Here in verse 67 is a wonderful
statement concerning this old man. And he was filled with the
Holy Ghost. Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Ghost. And I thought to myself, what
a wonderful, amazing statement that is. And I think, Len, we
don't realize how amazing it is because we know really so
little of this Holy Spirit, of who He is. And let's begin this
evening. My first point is just to enlighten
us just a minute from Scriptures on who He is. He's more than
an influence. He is a person. The scriptures
calls him basically the third person of the sacred trinity. There are three that by record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy
Spirit. And these three are one. So he
is one with God. He's one with the Father. He
is eternal. He's God, the Holy Spirit. And
let's look at some things that is attributed to his person. We often attribute things to
God, even the Father. We attribute to the Son. But
listen to some of the things that's attributed to the Holy
Spirit. Job 26.13, By the Spirit of the
Lord were there heavens decorated, garnished. Psalms 33, 6, By the
word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them
by the breath, by the Spirit of His mouth. You remember when
darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the water? He is the Creator. Creation is
attributed to Him. Now, brothers and sisters, a
mere influence can't create anything. He's a person. He's a person. He said to create. He said to
move people. The prophecy came not in old
time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. He's a person. He speaks to people. The Holy Ghost spake by the mouth
of David. And in the New Testament, Acts
13 and 2, the Holy Ghost spake to the church of Antioch and
said, Separate me, Barnabas and Paul, for the ministry whereunto
I have called them. He speaks to men. He calls men
to the ministry. You know, there's no gifts that
you and I can have. There's no gift for me to preach.
There's no gift for your brethren to teach. There's no gift for
helps. There's no wisdom. There's no
gift of knowledge. There's no gift of him. There's
no gifts that the church has unless the Holy Spirit gives
those gifts. And He gives it according to
His own will. An influence don't have a will,
does it? But a person does. person does. The new birth is
attributed to him. Except you be born of the Spirit,
you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Holy Spirit
is spirit. It's said that he's the Comforter.
When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, Even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father,
he shall testify of me." He's a person. I will pray to Father
and He'll give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever.
And then He tells us who this Comforter is. Even the Spirit
of Truth. He's a Comforter. He's said to
be a revealer of the deep things of God. He's a teacher. This
is I Corinthians 2.9, "...Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
neither has it entered into the hearts of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
these things unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God." And you and I haven't received
the Spirit that's of the world. But we receive the Spirit which
is of God, that we may know the things that are freely given
to us of God, which things the Holy Spirit teaches." He's the
teacher. And listen to how the Lord Jesus
says this, and listen to how He emphasizes that He's a person. When He, the Spirit of truth,
has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak
of Himself, But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak,
and he will show you things to come. He will glorify me, for
he shall receive of mine, and show it unto you. All things
that the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I unto you, that
he shall take of mine, and he shall show it unto you." He's
not just a mere influence. He's a person. He's a teacher. He's a competent. He's the creator. He teaches us, doesn't He? You
know the Bible says that no man can come to Christ except he
be taught. Ain't it essential for the Holy
Spirit to teach us? Teach us of God, teach us of
Christ and His work, teach us of ourselves, teach us of sin,
teach us of judgment to come, and make us know these things.
We try to teach one another, and God help us to do so and
study to do so, but you know, we can't enlighten the understanding
of it. We need a sovereign teacher,
and this is who this is. The Holy Ghost is a sovereign
teacher. He will show you things to come. And the scripture says that he's
the only one that can give us assurance that we're sons of
God. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God. He's called the Spirit of Life.
The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the
law of sin and death. He gives new life. He upholds
the life that He gives. He dwells in the churches. He
speaks to them through the scriptures. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. He's here today. Jesus Christ is not here in His
flesh. It's impossible for Him to be
in heaven in His body and here in His flesh. But here's the
advantage of Christ going back to heaven and praying the Father.
He can do something in His Spirit that He can't do in His body.
It's expedient for you that I go away. Why? If I go away, the
Comforter will not come. If He don't come, I can't abide
in you. The only way I can abide in you is by the Holy Spirit,
the third person of the Sacred Trinity. And you know He's here.
He's here. He's speaking to the churches
this very day. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. And He implants in every believer
His graces. Every time He saves somebody,
He implants within them. what we call the graces of the
Holy Spirit. Love, faith, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, kindness. He's present in the heart, and
He implants those graces within us. And I'll tell you something
else that's attributed to Him, and that's the resurrection.
We often talk about the Father's part in the resurrection. We
often talk about the Son says, I'll speak, and the dead shall
come forth. But listen to the Spirit's part
in this resurrection. Romans 8 and 11. If the Spirit
of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies, listen, by His Spirit that dwells in you. The resurrection
of the dead. is attributed to the Holy Spirit. Now what do we learn from all
this? He's a divine person. If you're a creator, you're divine.
If you can speak and raise people from the dead, you're divine.
He's a divine person. He's not just an influence, but
he's a divine person. And if we don't have this Spirit,
we don't belong to Christ. We don't belong to Christ. And
this man Zacharias, the scripture says, was filled with this divine
person. Isn't that amazing then? Once
we know a little bit more about him, to be filled with this Holy
Ghost. Now let me tell you two or three
things, and then I won't keep you too long. First of all, I
want you to notice in this text how suddenly sometimes the Lord
works. I love it when the Lord does
things suddenly. I don't love it when suddenly
He lays the rod to our back, or suddenly He kicks the props
out from under us. But I love it when we're down low, and we're
tried and tested, and we're poor and weary. He suddenly lifts
us up. And that's one of the things
here we see in this text. Here was a man, Zacharias. that had been under the chastening
rod of the Lord for nine long months. He couldn't speak. He was smitten with dumbness.
And every word this man went, he took this little writing tablet
with him. The only way he could communicate
was by writing it out. And you know the Bible says no
chastening for the present seems to be joyous but grievous. And
here's a man that probably wept over his sin of unbelief for
nine long months. The Lord had hid his face from
him. Can you imagine how he felt? And suddenly this child was born. They said, Zacharias, what's
his name? He said, his name shall be called
John. And then suddenly he was filled
with the Holy Ghost. His tongue was loosed. He was brought out of the depths
The whip was moved from his back and he was caught up suddenly
in the joy and satisfaction and the liberty of being filled with
the Spirit of God. And it all happened suddenly.
Just that quick. Suddenly. You know so many things
in the Scriptures we're told to happen suddenly. And we're
told that to let us know that sometimes When you and I are
in our worst state, when it's the darkest night that we're
in, that the Lord can turn it into light, and He can do it
suddenly. He does this so often. Remember
David, when he said, I was in a horrible pit in the Mariclay.
There was no standing there. I kept sliding, he said. I kept
slipping. I was sinking. But suddenly something
happened. The Lord brought me up, he said.
And not only brought him up, but look at the extremes. He was down sinking in that pit.
No place to stand. Suddenly the Lord lifted him
up. And He said, He set my feet on a rock and established my
God. And when I was groaning and praying
and didn't have a song in my heart, suddenly He put a new
song in my heart. even praise unto our God. He does that suddenly. Saul of
Tarsus was on the road to Damascus to punish Christians. And the
scripture says about noonday, suddenly there shined round about
him a light from heaven. How sudden it was. How unexpected
it was. Saul had no idea what the Lord
was ready to do. And nobody else did. And the
Lord sent Ananias over there and said, Pray for him. And as
soon as Ananias laid his hands on him, it said immediately,
scales fell from his eyes. He saw. And it all happened immediately. And you know something else that's
going to happen immediately? The resurrection of the dead.
The Scripture tells us that in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, The dead are going to be raised. The living are going
to be changed. Can you imagine not only how
quick that will happen, but can you imagine how extreme that
will be? What a change that will be? Here
we are in this vile flesh. We're groaning, waiting for our
redemption. And then suddenly, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, this corruptible Shall put on incorruption? Can you imagine what a change
that will be? God's noted for doing things like that. This
weak flesh shall be raised in power in a moment in the twinkling
of an eye. And it all happens so quickly
in a moment. And to me, this teaches you and
I this afternoon that whatever situation that we may find ourselves
in, that what we can hope that the Lord can not only deliver
us from it, but I'm telling you, He can deliver us immediately.
He can deliver us quickly. He can deliver us fully. And
He's been known to do that. And here's a man that can bear
witness to that. Nine long months, he could not
communicate. The rod of God was upon his back.
He was so down. But then suddenly, he was filled
with the Holy Ghost. and lifted up, his tongue was
loose, given great liberty that he hadn't experienced in so long.
That's the first thing. That's the first thing we see
from this. Second thing is this. Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Ghost. And when you and I look at these
people here in chapter 1 and chapter 2 of Luke, and see what
kind of people these were, I tell you it's very telling. who God
visits in His grace. Just go back some time and look
at these again, and you see the Lord visiting these people here
in these two chapters, and they were the most common people in
the world. Zacharias and Elizabeth, you
know who they were? Just two old people that lived
in the hill country. They were basically nobodies.
And yet the Lord visited them. Who was Mary? She was a poor
virgin that she lived up in the despised city of Galilee. Who were these shepherds? They
were not watching. Watching their sheep by night. Nobody. And as soon as the Son
of God came into this world, He said, the Father has sent
me to preach the gospel. And do you remember who He said
the Father has sent me to preach to? He has sent me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. He has sent me to deliver the
captives and to recover the sight of the blind and to set at liberty
Those who are bruised. The Lord's in a habit of visiting
people just like these people. Nobody's. Nobody's. Zacharias wasn't a member of
the Sanhedrin. He wasn't a master of Israel.
As far as we know, he wasn't a teacher at all. But the scripture
says here that he was filled with the Holy Ghost. You know, brothers and sisters,
I don't want to be somebody, do you? I sure don't want to
be somebody in the eyes of this world. I don't want to be famous. I don't want to be renowned.
I just want to be what the Bible tells me I am, a poor sinner. In a few more days, leaving this
world and going out into eternity, to heaven or to hell, that's
all we are. That's all I am. That's all I
want to be. And know my need of a Savior. That's all I want. Is that all
you want? I am not skilled to understand
what God has willed, what God has planned. Oh, how little we
know! Not skilled to understand what
God has willed, what God has planned. I only know with His
right hand. is One who is my Savior. I take Him at His Word indeed.
Christ died for sinners, this I read, and in my heart I find
a need of Him to be my Savior. That's all I want of you. I don't
want to be rich. I don't want to leave a legacy.
I don't want to be anything. I want to be visited of the Lord. I tell you, I don't know about
you, but the older I get, the more broken I am. I tell you,
God has so brought me down, and He's reduced me to nothing. I'm
nothing. I know nothing. I can do nothing.
I am nothing. But you know, when I read this
Bible, I find that that's the very kind of people that He in
His grace and even fills them with His Holy Spirit. Where was the Sanhedrin at? They're
over there making their laws and making their rules. And He
passed right on by them and came here and visited these common
people. That's encouragement to me, and
that's encouragement, I'm sure, to you. Oh, he was filled, this
common man, this nobody, was filled with this divine, sovereign
person, the Holy Spirit. It brings me to this. What's
it like to be filled with the Holy Spirit? How would you describe
what it was like to be filled with the Holy Spirit? We've had
people to tell us that they've been filled with the Holy Spirit.
They did this and they did that and they said this and they said
that. And we don't know if they were filled with the Holy Spirit
of God. We have no way of knowing that. But when you read in the
Scriptures that this man was filled with the Holy Ghost, and
that other men in the Scriptures and women were filled with the
Holy Ghost, we know they were. And when we look at how they
acted, when they were filled with the Holy Ghost, then we
can say, well, now here's what happens when you're filled with
the Holy Spirit. And what's the first thing this
man did? Well, we're told here in verse
67 and verse 68, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and
he prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. What's the first thing this man
did? And what's the first evidence that we have that he was filled with the Holy
Spirit? Well, his heart turned towards heaven. You read it,
didn't you, in Psalms 148? How many times did it say, Bless
the Lord? Bless the Lord. Bless him in
his heights. Bless him in the depths. Bless
the Lord. I think that's one of the things it means to be
filled with the Holy Spirit. The heart is filled. The mind
is filled, the spirit, the thoughts are clear. The whole man turns
towards heaven, towards God, and he blesses the Lord God of
Israel. I don't know what physical effect
this may have had upon this man. If you and I were standing there
watching him, I don't know. If looking at him, you could
have said, boy, he's filled with the Holy Spirit. Stephen was
filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible says his face shone
as the face of an angel. I don't know if Zechariah's face
was shining. I don't know if he's waving his
hands. I just know what he said. And I know the boldness with
which he said it. He lifted up his voice and he
said, I praise the Lord God of Israel. That's the first evidence. that we have in the scriptures
that this man was filled with the Holy Spirit. In the book
of Acts, when these men were filled with the Holy Ghost, they
did the very same thing that Zechariah did. They magnified
the Lord. We have a group, a denomination
that has been around for a long time now. When they talk about
being filled with the Holy Ghost, it is always speaking with unknown
tongue. That's an evidence. But you know, it's very telling
when we see men in the New Testament that was filled with the Holy
Ghost. Everybody that heard them speak knew exactly what they
were saying. Listen to Acts chapter 2. How
often they tell us, you know, Acts chapter 2 is the unknown
time. But listen to Acts chapter 2. They heard them speak. These were men which were filled
with the Holy Ghost. They began to preach. They heard them speak
in their own language the wonderful works of God. They magnified Him. Their minds
were so clear upon who God was and the glory that was due Him
and what He did, His wonderful works. Listen to Acts chapter
10. The Gentiles were filled with
the Holy Spirit, and Peter and the other men with him Heard
them speak in other languages and magnify God. None of these men were gibbering
in some language that they had no idea what they were saying.
They began to praise and magnify God and speak of His wonderful
works. And everybody heard what they were saying. The Holy Spirit
doesn't bring confusion when He comes. He does not. Do you
know what He does? He makes things clear as the
noonday sun. And I'm emphasizing this for
this reason. When these individuals were filled
with the Holy Ghost, whether it affected their physical beings
or not, it affected their hearts. It affected their thoughts. The
understanding was enlightened. Their understanding was clear,
their thoughts were clear, and their thoughts were centered
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know their affection
was always so warm. They were filled with love and
faith. When these New Testament people
were filled with the Holy Ghost, you know what they did? They
sold their possessions and gave them out to the poor. Brothers
and sisters, and no man said anything that he possessed was
his. Now, isn't it a wonderful thing,
brothers and sisters, then, to be so filled with this divine
person, that you're lifted up out of your troubles, and your
understanding is open, you're filled with the knowledge of
God, and you're filled with love and faith And you're enabled
or you're filled to lay aside everything that you own and concerned
about and been so burned about and say, that's not mine anyway.
And your heart is turned towards heaven. And there you stand and
there you are. And you're caught up with God
and with Christ and with the wonderful things of the Lord.
Oh, wouldn't you love to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Oh, God
fill us. with a blessed Holy Spirit. This glorious divine person filled
my mind, filled my heart, filled my thoughts, filled my affections,
subdued my will, all my soul. Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Ghost. Something else here, not only
when he was filled was his tongue loosed and his heart filled The
Lord in praise is an adoration. But we've told something else
here in verse 68. Something that Zacharias realized. And he said here in verse 68,
Bless the Lord God of Israel for he has visited, he has visited
his people. This word visit means to go and
see someone for a special purpose. The Lord has visited. One of
the first things he realized when he was filled with the Holy
Spirit, the Lord has visited. That's a wonderful thing. You
know it. You know it. Well, I don't know. I don't know.
Well, you don't. It clears everything up. When
the Holy Spirit fills us, He makes us to know the Lord has
just visited. This word is used so many times
in the scripture. I don't know how many times.
I wrote down quite a few of them. Just listen to this. What a visit
is and how important a visit is. The Lord visited Sarah and
she conceived, as the Lord had said, and bore son Isaac. The Lord visited Hannah and she
conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The Lord said,
I will surely visit you and bring you out of this place unto a
land that I have promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. David knew
the importance of the Lord visiting him, and he said this, Lord,
remember me with the favor that you bear to your people, and
visit me with your salvation. What happens when the Lord saves
a man? He visits him. He comes to visit him with a
purpose in mind. Jeremiah said, They shall be
carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until I visit them,
saith the Lord, and bring them again to this place. Seventy
years. After seventy years will I visit
them and perform my good word towards you in causing you to
return to this place. The Lord their God will visit
them and turn away their captivity. And Peter said, God has visited
the Gentiles and taken out of them a people for His name. And when the Holy Spirit fills
a man, one of the first things he recognizes, the Lord has visited. The Lord has visited. And here
in verse 68, he says something else. Not only does he recognize
the Lord has visited, but he recognizes why he visited. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and hath redeemed his people. As soon as a person
is filled with the Holy Ghost, you know where his thoughts go.
To redemption. And to the Redeemer. The Holy
Spirit wrote this Bible, did he not? He wrote the whole Bible. From cover to cover, one old
man said, the Holy Spirit wrote it all. And you know what this
book is. It's a book of redemption. It's
not first and foremost a book of morality, is it? It's a book
of redemption. That God has purposed to redeem
us from a fall. When Adam and Eve fail, we see
God's redemptive purpose right there. Because He killed animals
and clothed our naked parents with the skins of those animals.
that their shame would not appear. The Old Testament is full of
prophecies and pictures and types and promises of redemption and
the coming Redeemer. And you come here to the New
Testament and the Holy Ghost fills this man right in the first
chapter of Luke's Gospel. And what does he speak to that
man of redemption? Isn't that encouraging, brothers
and sisters? You know one of the reasons that's encouraging?
Because all along, that was God's purpose to redeem us. He could
have left us alone, couldn't He? And probably should have,
if we had anything to do with it. But you know He didn't. He
never had purpose to. His intentions all along to visit
us, and redeem his people. How bad sin must be. How bad sin must be. How awful
it must be that we have to be redeemed from it. And how bad it must be that it
took such a cost to redeem us from sin. The blood of Jesus
Christ poured out upon a tree of agony. But you know that's
what He did? That's why we have this book
that tells us of redemption. That was His purpose all along.
And you know something? As difficult as it was for Him
to do it, He did it with great joy. Before He went to the garden
that night, He said, let's sing a hymn. I wonder what they sang. But they sang. Sometimes when
your heart is overwhelmed with grief, it's difficult to sing.
But he must have had a degree of joy in his heart. Before he
went to the garden to sweat blood, he sang. Before he went to the
cross to shed his blood, he sang. I will rejoice over you with
singing. And the Bible says for the joy.
that was set before Him, He endeared the cross. Oh, He's a great Redeemer,
ain't He? And I tell you how we know the
Holy Spirit has visited us when our hearts are turned towards
redemption and our hearts are turned towards the Redeemer.
The very first thing this man said, the very first words out
of his mouth when he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Oh, blessed
be God. He's visited and redeemed His
people. You know what people do when
they're filled with the Holy Spirit? They talk about the very things
that you and I talk about. Ain't that amazing? We understand
it, don't we? Maybe we have a greater degree
of the Holy Spirit than we realize. Because that's what we want to
talk about, too. Redemption and the Redeemer. One last thing.
And I'll close. Look how the Holy Spirit identifies
the Redeemer. He says here in verse 69, look
at this, He identifies in two ways. God has visited and redeemed
His people and has raised up an horn of salvation for us in
the house of His servant David. He identifies Christ. as one
whom God has raised up. Who is our Redeemer? Can we identify? He's one that God raised up. God set Him up back into eternity. And He agreed there with Him
that He would come and redeem His people. A Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. God implanted His Son in the
womb of a virgin. gave Him a body. And when that
body and soul came from the womb of His mother, God the Father
held Him up. And He supported Him in all that
He did. And on the cross when they crucified
Him and put Him in the grave, the Father raised Him up. And if you and I put our trust
in any other Redeemer, But the one that God has raised up will
be disappointed. There is but one. And he's the
one that God has raised up. The one that God gave in great
love. And one last thing here in the
last portion of verse 69 through verse 70. He hath raised up them
who are of salvation for us. And he describes him like this
in the house of his servant David. He's of David's seed and lineage.
As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been
since the world began. He's the one that all the prophets
bore witness to in the Old Testament. The seed of the woman, Genesis
3.15. That's where he starts. That
he would be born of a woman. born of a virgin, of the tribe
of Judah, of the house of David. And the prophet here says, the
Holy Spirit says, all the prophets since the foundation of the world
told of Him, told of His person, of His coming, the Old Testament. Who's it about? What's it about?
It's about one thing, Christ and redemption. by Him. There ain't been a prophet of
God that talked about anything else but Him and redemption. I was talking with Brother Jim
Bird one time, and he told me, he said he saw a group of preachers. They were seminar preachers.
They wanted him to come over and have lunch with them. And
they wanted to ask him some questions. They'd been listening to him
preach. And Jim went over and met them. And here's the question
they asked him. They said, Pastor, How can you
preach Christ from the Old Testament? And Jim said they were serious
as they could be. They could not find Him in the
Old Testament. For God's sakes, I don't know
what Jim told them, but probably he advised them to get out of
the ministry. Asked God to open their eyes. My goodness, they
spoke, Abraham, Abraham, Long to see my day, and he saw it.
Moses wrote of me. They all wrote of me. Since the
world began. And here's what they wrote of.
Look here in verse 71. These verses following. Here's
what they wrote of. That we should be saved from our enemies. Oh, isn't salvation a wonderful
thing? I accepted Jesus. I made a decision for Jesus.
You need to be saved, don't you? You need to be saved. And you know what salvation is?
It's from our enemies. You know what our greatest enemy
is? Sin. You know what our greatest enemy
is? The wrath of God. And salvation is to be saved
from our enemies. And from the hand of all who
hate us, no matter who they are. He's going to save us from the
hand of all the hate. Does the devil hate us? Yes.
And listen, here's why he's going to do it in verse 72. To perform
the mercy promised to our fathers. Promised mercy. And to remember
His holy covenant. The oath which He swore unto
our father Abraham. You know salvation, brothers
and sisters, is old. It's no new thing. Then you told
us this morning, nothing new. He promised it to Abraham. Yeah,
it's old. It's older than the law. Older
than man. Older than the world. That He
would grant us that we should be delivered out of the hands
of our enemy. And look at this. What happens
when He saves us? We may serve Him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our
lives. Look what He said in verse 77.
He said, John, in verse 76, My son, My little child, are you
going to grow up and prepare the way of the Lord before His
face? And here's what you're going
to do. Give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission
of their sins. And how does that come? Through
the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring What a
way to identify Christ. He, on high, has visited us to
give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death. And ain't this the very thing you and I talk about just
all the time? We've got nothing new to say.
We talk about the same old things, don't we? The man's been talking
about darkness, hasn't he? The man says he knows the Lord
and don't love His commandment. He's in darkness. If we say we
have fellowship with Him walking now, we talk about darkness and
light. We talk about these things all
the time. And you know why, brothers and
sisters, we do. You know why that's where our heart is. Because
the Holy Spirit dwells within us. That's why. Let's pray.