Now turning your Bible again
to Luke chapter 1, notice verse 67 and 68. And his father, Zacharias, was
filled, filled with the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit. And being filled, he preached
the truth. The word prophesied there is
telling the truth. Same, same. Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel. I like his introduction, don't
you? Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited,
past tense, visited and redeemed, already done, his people. Wait a minute, the Lord Jesus
Christ hasn't been born yet. In the purpose of God, redemption's
always been done. in Christ. He had visited and
redeemed His people. I'm entitling the message from
verse 68, the Lord God has visited and redeemed His people. Notice that. His people. Who are these people? They're
His elect. They're His chosen. They're His
bride. They're His elect. They're called
his jewels, they're called his sheep, they're called his church.
Now it says in verse 67 that Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Spirit. Now have you ever wondered what
Holy Spirit preaching is all about? Have you ever wondered
what... A lot of folks talk about Holy
Spirit preaching, don't they? or they talk about a Holy Spirit
meeting, or a Holy Spirit church, or being filled with the Holy
Spirit and speaking in some kind of unknown language, some kind
of dialect or tongue that nobody knows what they're saying. But actually we have here in
our text today a man, we have his name, Zacharias, he was a
sinner saved by God's grace that was truly filled with God the
Holy Spirit and he spoke plainly in language that people could
understand and he declared unto us how God saves sinners. He saved sinners by his mercy
and grace through the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zacharias here, much like Peter on the day of Pentecost, When
he was blessed of the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel, what did
he tell the people about? About the Lord Jesus Christ.
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You have taken and with wicked hands have crucified the
Lord of glory. But God raised him from the dead. He's not the defeated Savior,
he's the victorious Savior. And then when Peter closes his
message, he begins with Christ, Christ crucified. And when he
closes that message in Acts 2, verse 36, he said, this same
Jesus whom you crucified is both Lord and Christ. He's Lord. And He is Christ, He is God. You see the Holy Spirit always
bears witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I read John
chapter 16 verse 13 through 15 to start our service. God the
Holy Spirit always seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in our
hearts and in the ministry. The Holy Spirit exalts Christ. The Holy Spirit never speaks
about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always bears
witness and testimony to the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now you remember the story of
Zacharias here in Luke chapter 1, how the angel came to him
and told him that his old barren wife Elizabeth was going to have
a son in her old age And his name shall be called John. You remember? Turn back to verse
13 of Luke 1. The angel said unto him, Fear
not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth
shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And
thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his
birth. His wife And Zacharias and Elizabeth
had never had any children. They had prayed that the Lord
would give them children and they were about to give up until
he was told that Elizabeth would indeed have this special son.
Now remember the story, at first he did not believe God and he
was sent in an affliction of deafness. He lost his ability
to speak and he could not hear. And that was so because of his
unbelief. If you look at verse 18 and 19
and 20 of Luke chapter 1, Zechariah said unto the angel, whereby
shall I know this? For I'm an old man, my wife well
stricken in years. And the angel answering him,
I'm Gabriel that stand in the presence of God. I'm sent to
speak unto thee and to show you glad tidings. And you don't believe
me? And behold, thou shalt be dumb.
and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be
performed, because thou believest not my words, which were the
words of God, which shall be fulfilled in their season in
due time." For nine months this man could not hear and could
not speak, not one word. He had nine months to consider
his unbelief, And I'm sure that the Lord afflicted him in his
faithfulness, that Zacharias might learn the statutes of the
Lord." That's what David said in Psalm 119. Lord, in your faithfulness
you have afflicted me, that I might learn that thou art God, beside
thee there is no other. Now, when Elizabeth gave birth
to this special son, as it says down in verse 57 and verse 58,
Of Luke 1, now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be
delivered, she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and
her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy unto her. Every mercy God shows his people
is great. And they rejoiced just as the
angel said that they would rejoice. And we read on and we find that
when the child was eight days old, according to the law of
Moses, they brought him to the temple to be circumcised. They
were going to name him after his father, Zacharias, but Elizabeth
said, not so. You see verse 60. He came to
pass on the eighth day. They came to circumcise the child.
They called him after his father, Zacharias. And his mother said,
hold on now, no, hold on now, not so. His name is going to
be John. John. Well, nobody's in your
family. Verse 61, they said to her, there's
none of thy kindred that's called John. Read on verse 62. And they made a sign to his father,
how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table
and wrote, saying, his name's John. And they all marveled. And his mouth was opened immediately
and he spake. His tongue was loosed and he
spake and he gave God all the honor and glory. Zacharias said his name shall
be called John because that's what God said his name would
be. Now I love this statement here
found in verse 66. And all they that heard them,
all that And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts,
saying, What manner of child shall this be? What kind of a
son is this going to be? This little child named John,
eight day old baby. And the hand of the Lord was
with him. Now think about that statement
there for a moment. The hand of the Lord was with
him. It says in the last verse of this Chapter, the child grew
and waxed strong. Why? The hand of the Lord was
upon him and he was in the desert. to the days of his showing unto
Israel. He wasn't raised up around the
temple. He wasn't schooled in the school of the Pharisees.
The Lord was his teacher, and the Lord gave him this ministry.
And the hand of the Lord was upon him, and the child grew
and waxed strong. The hand of the Lord was upon
him in being conceived. The hand of the Lord was upon
him in his birth. The hand of the Lord was upon
him in his early life and in his ministry. If you look over
in Luke chapter 3 verse 16, we can see the hand of the Lord
was in his ministry. Luke 3 verse 16, John Anthony
saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one
mightier than I cometh the latchet of his shoes, I'm not worthy
to unloose, and he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. and
with fire, whose fan is in his hand, he will thoroughly purge
his floor, he will gather his wheat into the garner, the chaff
will he burn with fire unquenchable." You see, the Lord gave this man
boldness in his ministry. Turn, if you will, to John chapter
1. He identified as the forerunner of Christ. He identified the
Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. He identified the Lord
Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Christ of God. In John chapter
1 verse 29. The next day, John sees Jesus
coming unto him, and he saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away, or beareth away, the sin of the world. Now, who
is the world here? Well, it's the world of his elect.
I like what else he says over here in John chapter 3. Turn
over there. Verse 27, John answered and said,
A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
You yourselves bear witness that I said, I'm not the Christ, but
I'm sent to bear witness of him. I'm sent before him. He that
hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom
which standeth and heareth him rejoices greatly. You see, John's
hope was Christ. Just like Mary, God my Savior,
rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice, this my joy
therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, I must be diminished. I must decrease. You see the
hand of the Lord was upon John in his birth, in his early life,
in his ministry. The hand of the Lord was upon
him when he was arrested and put in prison. The hand of the
Lord was upon him when he was executed in prison for the gospel. The hand of the Lord was upon
him when he was escorted and taken to glory and seated in
the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. The hand of the Lord was upon
John. What a blessing for any sinner
to experience And what a blessing every believer has. The hand of the Lord is upon
you. That's the reason you're here
this morning. The hand of the Lord brought you here. The hand
of the Lord is resting upon His people. That's true of every
one of God's elect, and His hand shall never be removed from them. It's the hand of His love, sovereign
love. It's the hand of His mercy whereby
He saves us by His grace. It's His hand. I love the scripture
in Isaiah 59 where it says the Lord's hand is not shortened
that it cannot save. His hand has all power to save. Even before we knew Him, He knew
us. and His hand was upon us from
all eternity. His hand was upon His people.
The hand of the Lord is a hand of power. Now you can overpower
my hand, can't you? You can overpower my hand. You
gang up on me and you overpower my hand. You can't gang up on
God. His hand is a hand of almighty
sovereign power. The hand of the Lord is not shortened
that it cannot save. In Daniel chapter 4, remember?
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and none
can stay His hand, or say unto Him, Lord God Almighty, what
doest Thou? You see, whatsoever the Lord
please, that did He in heaven and earth, seas, all deep places.
The hand of the Lord is the hand of almighty power. None can stop
His hand. None can stay His purpose. The
hand of the Lord is the hand of all sovereign mercies. He delights to show mercy to
His people. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. The hand of the Lord lifts us
from the dunghill and makes us kings and priests unto our God.
And we sing unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin
in His own blood. To Him be all the honor and glory.
Why do we do that? The hand of the Lord is upon
us. He's got big hands. The hand
of the Lord keeps us by His power. Those in His hand cannot perish. Is that right? My sheep hear
my voice, I know them, and no man can pluck them out of my
hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. We are called in Psalm 95, He
is our God, we are His people, we are the sheep of His hand. He owns us. He bought us. He chose us. We're in His hand. He's not in our hand. We're in
His hand. It's the hand of sovereignty,
the hand of power, the hand of mercy, the hand of love. And
the hand of the Lord was with Him. Now, verse 67. And his father, Zacharias, was
filled with the Holy Spirit, and here's his message. Zacharias
was a Spirit-filled preacher. He had a special anointing to
deliver this message, salvation is of the Lord. This is exactly
what every God-called preacher desires, to deliver God's message
in the power of God the Holy Spirit, not just in the energy
of the flesh, to glorify Christ. You see, we preach not ourselves,
but the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice here something, Zechariah
does not talk about his experience. He doesn't say, well let me tell
you something, I saw an angel of the Lord. He doesn't talk
about his experience, does he? Zechariah doesn't talk about
the miracle of his barren wife. having a son in her old age. He didn't talk about his emotional
experience. I'm sure he was a proud daddy,
but he doesn't mention that. Nor does he mention the sudden
restoration of his health. God restored my health. He doesn't
even mention that. You see, these things pale in
comparison to the message of the Gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. But rather, he delivers God's
Gospel concerning Christ and redemption from all sin through
His blood and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. I read
an interesting story just the other day. about a missionary
who spent 30 years in Burma. This was back in the 1800s. His
name was Judson. He was a missionary from England
and he traveled to Burma. That was a desolate, desolate... It still is, but you imagine
200 years ago. It's very desolate. And he spent
30 years in the jungles of Burma preaching the gospel of God's
grace. And he finally came home, finally came back to England,
and he had invitations from all the different churches in England
wanting to hear about the experiences of Judson in the jungles of Burma. And when he came to the church
and came to the pulpit, He didn't talk about what Judson had done. He talked about the Gospel of
God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. He lifted up the Lord
Jesus. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He said to
the people, we preached not ourselves, but the Lord Jesus Christ. God
forbid we should glory save in the Lord Jesus Christ. He preached
about the Redeemer who redeems. The grace of God that really
justifies and lifts up the ungodly and saves sinners effectually
by His grace. And that's what he preached.
He didn't mention anything about his hardship, his labor, his
toil in Burma for 30 years. Well, a young man escorted him
to his motel that night. And this is horse and buggy days.
And the young man driving along in that buggy turned to Mr. Judson
and said, the people were very disappointed tonight. And he
said, they were what? Disappointed, yes, they gathered
here to hear all the sorrow and experiences of Judson in Burma. And he said, I've not come here
to tell you about Judson, I came to tell you about the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what the missionaries
do. The missionaries that we support, they preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're in Mexico and in other
places. You see, they're all determined,
like the Apostle Paul, to know nothing but the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. So let's look at four or five
things here that a Spirit-filled preacher preaches about. The
first thing we see in verse 68, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. He starts with God, doesn't he?
And he praises the Lord who is God everywhere. He gives God
all the honor and glory. Blessed be God who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The psalmist put it this way
in Psalm 110. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto us. But unto thy name do we give
glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. You see, the
gospel of God is not about you. Do you know that? The gospel
of God is concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of God
is all about Christ and Him crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be the Lord God of His people Israel. The second thing He says
here, for He has visited His people. He visited, the Lord our God,
our Savior has visited His people in mercy. Visited His people
in that everlasting love whereby He draws them unto Himself. He
has visited His people, not in judgment, but in grace. He's
visited His people, not in wrath, but in love. And He has blessed
His people in Christ before the foundation of the world, He visited
them. in mercy, love, and grace. He
chose them and appointed them, not under wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 9. You see, He has visited His people. Before the foundation of the
world, we are bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God has, from the beginning, visited you,
chosen you unto salvation. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't
you glad? And in time, the Lord Jesus Christ
will visit His people in saving mercy, in saving grace. He'll
cross their path with the gospel preacher, and God the Holy Spirit
will drive that message home to their heart, and they'll be
made new creatures. They'll be lifted from a dunghill
and made kings and priests unto our God. God who has begun a
good work in you, He will do it. He will finish it. He will
get it done. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. He had visited His people and
then, watch this, redeemed them. What did He redeem them with?
Zacharias here, being filled with God the Holy Spirit, tells
us about the redeeming blood of the Savior. Doesn't he? He
redeems with His blood. We are redeemed, not with corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sin, according to the riches of His grace. That's why John,
when he came preaching in the wilderness, said, Behold the
Lamb of God. He has redeemed, visited, and
redeemed His people. Now, did you notice something
peculiar about that? He speaks in a language that
tells us that redemption is done. It's done. It's not He will redeem
or He might redeem. He visited and He redeemed His
people. He did that when He chose them
in Christ before the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Now, let's turn and read about it. Turn to Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8, verse 28. He visited His hands upon them. Oh, blessed be the Lord God of
Israel. He hath redeemed His people.
Romans 8, 28, And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, past tense, visited
and redeemed. Whom He called, them He also
justified, already done. and whom He justified, then He
also glorified. What shall we say to these things?
Well, of God before us, who can be against us? He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall anything
to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies? Who
is He that condemned it? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather it is risen again. Who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us? No one can separate us
from the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see how this man, filled with the Holy Spirit, preaches the
Gospel. He points sinners to Christ. He is the Redeemer. He is the
Savior of His people. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from their sin. Our redemption and our atonement
is complete and secure in the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal
covenant of grace. Before Adam ever sinned, before
Adam ever fell, before we were ever fallen in Adam, we stood
in the charity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this scripture. Paul said it's God who saved
us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our
work, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus. Now get a hold of this. 2 Timothy
1-9 was given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the
world. That's eternal covenant mercies
in Christ Jesus. The Lord God had visited His
and he has redeemed his Israel, his bride, his church. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. Fourthly, we can also learn from
this who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He's the Lord our God. As Mary said in verse 46 and
47, we had this last week, Luke 1, 46 and verse 47, Mary said,
My soul doth magnify the Lord, my spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Savior. He's God my Savior. He loved the church and gave
Himself for it. God bought us with His own blood. He redeemed His people, they
cannot perish. I like that, don't you? That's
what the Holy Spirit tells us about the successful ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He cannot fail. Here's the fifth
point, look at verse 69. And raised up, He raised up a
horn of salvation. Now that word horn is a symbolic
word and it's a symbol of His power. of His power, the power
of salvation for us, for us, for us, substitution for us,
wounded for us, bruised for us. In the house of David, the Messiah
was promised to come from the house of David, tribe of Judah. He's a lion of the tribe of Judah. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
a weak-handed Savior, is He? It says here, Well, God's done
His best to try to save His people. That's not what it says. Raised
up the power of salvation unto His people. What kind of power
are we talking about? Turn to John 17. The gospel of
Christ is called the power of God unto salvation. John 17 tells
us about the power of God. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. He is able, His power is able.
John 17 verse 1, Father the hour has come, glorify Thy Son that
Thy Son also may glorify Thee as Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh. that He should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given to Him. He has power to give
eternal life. And this is life eternal that
they might know Thee, the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. He finished the work. I've glorified
Thee on earth. I've finished the work You gave
Me to do. The Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah
63 talks about Him The One who is to come who is mighty to save,
Isaiah 63, verse 1. He's mighty to save. He has all
power. He is the promised Messiah from
the house of David, tribe of Judah. He's a greater David.
He shall reign forever. Look at verse 32, Luke 1, 32.
He shall be great, call his name Jesus. He shall save his people.
He shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father, David. He shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever of his kingdom. No end. He has an everlasting
dominion in heaven and in earth. Now here's the sixth thing, back
to the text. We're talking about the preaching
of Zacharias here. This is Holy Spirit preaching. He raised up a horn of salvation
for us in the house of David as he spake by the mouth of all
his holy prophets which have been since the world hath begun. God's salvation is no new thing. The gospel of God is the ancient
gospel. It's the everlasting gospel.
All the prophets of the past, All preach salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ, His redeeming work. In Acts chapter 10, it says to
him, give all the prophets witness. Our Lord said to the Pharisees,
you are they which search the scriptures, but they are they
that testify of me. Had you believed Moses, you would
have believed me. Moses wrote about me. Look at
the last chapter in the book of Luke 24, Luke chapter 24. You see, all the prophets, all
the holy prophets, they all wrote about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God.
What was their message? The Lord Jesus Christ, His person
and His work. In Luke 24, verse 44, He said
unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which
are written in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms,
concerning me. This is the resurrected Lord,
his last message here to the apostles. Then opened he their
understanding that they might understand the scripture. And
said unto them, thus it is written, thus it behoove Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance and
remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these
things. Now back to the text. He spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets that the Lord Jesus Christ would come and accomplish
salvation for us. Now in verse 71, 72, 73, 74,
75 of Luke chapter 1, three things are given to us about this so
great salvation. About this power of salvation
that all the holy prophets spoke about. Here's the first one,
verse 71. Salvation is complete deliverance
of our soul from all our enemies into the glorious liberty, the
sons of God. Verse 71, that we should be saved. Already done. Saved from our
enemies and from the hand of all them that hate us. Salvation
is complete deliverance of our soul from all our enemies. The law of God that was against
us is contrary to us. The law of God that declared
us guilty before God, the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Satan's dominion
and power has been crushed. by the seed of woman has crushed
the serpent's power and dominion, putting away sin. The Lord Jesus
Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The enemies that
were against us, the law, Satan, sin and death, He conquered death
for us, didn't He? You see, we shall be saved from
our enemies. He said this, because I live,
you shall live also. I am he that liveth and was dead.
Behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death.
Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ is complete from all them that
hate us. We have complete deliverance
in Christ. Here's the second thing. Salvation
is an act and work of the eternal covenant of mercy revealed in
Christ. Verse 72 and verse 73. To perform
the mercy promised. I love that statement. To perform
mercy promised. To remember His holy covenant.
The oath which He swore unto Abraham. Now we've seen this
before. Look back at verse 53, Luke 1. 53. He hath filled the hungry
with good things, the rich He hath sent empty away, blessed
are the poor in spirit, there to the kingdom of God. He hath
hope and helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy,
as they spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forevermore. In Isaac, the Lord said to Abraham,
all nations of the earth shall be blessed, and that seed is
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is an act and work
of the eternal mercy of God, to perform mercy. Salvation is
not what you do for God. Salvation is by His performance. Notice verse 72, to perform mercy. Verse 45 in our text, Blessed
is she that believeth, for there shall be a performance of those
things which were told her. All things in salvation are by
His performance. And you know what we call that?
Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. He hath performed
mercy. Abraham was persuaded of all
that God has promised he's able to perform. He performs all things
for us. Psalm 57. One old writer named
Robert Hocker had these comments on that statement there about
performing mercy. There is no mercy but mercy that's
found in Christ. Everything which can be called
mercy must have Christ in it, or it's no mercy at all. Christ,
He is the merciful Savior. Mercy must have its nature from
Christ, its sweetness from Christ, its value from Christ, its everlasting
continuance from Christ. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. Aren't you glad that salvation
is by His mercy? Mercy promised, mercy performed,
mercy that cannot fail. Here's the third thing. God's
salvation. Now watch this. That He would
grant, verse 74, Luke 1, 74. That He would grant unto His
people that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies
might serve Him We should be saved from our enemies and delivered
out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear
Son. It was a grant given to us that we being delivered out
of the hand of our enemies that we might serve Him without fear. Now watch this. Serve Him in
holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. God's salvation wrought in our
heart causes us to serve Him willingly without fear. We serve Him out of love. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of God's power. The love of Christ constrains
us. We don't serve the Lord out of
fear of punishment or promise of reward, but we serve Him out
of love. We love Him because He first
loved us. The Lord has saved us that we might serve Him. What
a high honor! He saved us by His grace that
we might serve Him, constrained by His love. Paul called himself
often a servant of the Lord. Now notice the last verse, 75. We might serve Him without fear
in holiness, Righteousness before Him all the days of our life. You say, now preacher, I'm a
sinner. I have no righteousness. The
best I have is nothing but filthy rags. I don't have any holiness. I can't produce holiness. I can't
produce righteousness. You're right. We don't serve
Him to be holy. We serve Him because we are made
holy in Christ. He is our sanctification. We
don't serve Him to be righteous. We are righteous in Him. You see, the point I'm making
is this. He is our holiness. You remember
1 Corinthians 1, verse 30? But of Him are you in God, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and He's our Redeemer, that we might glory only in Him. We don't serve Him to be holy.
We are holy in Christ. He is our sanctification. We
don't serve Him to be righteous. Believers are righteous in Him. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputed righteousness without words. He's called the Lord our
righteousness. You're looking at a sinner before
God is holy and righteous in Christ, before God. That's true
of every believer. I'm not going around to establish
a righteousness of my own. I'm resting in Christ who is
my righteousness. Now what a blessed privilege
and grant given of God to believe the gospel and to serve Him all
the days of our life. That is a true character of saving
faith. These all died in faith. Believers are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that they should
show forth the praises of Him who called you out of darkness
He called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Zacharias was filled with the
Holy Spirit. And what did He talk about? He
talked about redemption. He talked about the Redeemer.
He talked about the Savior who really saves His people from
their sin. That's our message.