Sunday Service 6-7-2020 - Luke 1,67-71 - Zechariah's Song Part 1 - The Horn of Salvation

Luke 1 Sermon G (67-80) - Zechariah's Song 67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, We should give reverential attention to Zechariah's song because this is the Holy Spirit's song ... Zechariah is the instrument, the Holy Spirit is the composer, the musician. To prophecy means to forth tell or to foretell. "Whenever a servant of God faithfully proclaims God's message, whether that be a word of condemnation, reproof, command, admonition, consolation, prediction, or any combination of these, he prophesies" We will tread through this passage slowly to take in the Holy Spirit's details. 68 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people How can we bless God? To speak goodness. God does this effectively. We do this prayerfully or ascribingly (to recognize or affirm or confess). The focus of this blessing: his concern for his people (what is man that you are mindful of him, "Who am I that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt, who am I that the eyes that see my sin would look on me with love and help me rise again?" Zechariah epitomizes his own prophecy - he received a visit, but he fell short of the glory of the one who visited, he was redeemed. The verb "visit" is the same verb in Matt 25:36 - I was sick and you looked after me ... He has looked after ... came to where we were, entered into our place of suffering, our room of sickness, nursed us, provided for us, cared for us, bandaged us, fed us, brought us back to health. Even Zechariah, a righteous man (blameless), had hidden sin in the heart, hidden unbelief, lack of faith/trust, hardness toward God perhaps. This was mercifully healed by God through discipline as we've already discussed previously. This looking after, visitation, redemption is more fully laid out in what follows. 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, A horn of salvation = the horn of a ram, symbol of power, destructive power. Jesus' power to destroy the enemies of his people in saving/delivering them. We must think here of the power of Jesus displayed in his earthly ministry, to trample over scorpions, to heal, to cast out demonic beings, to command the wind and the sea to obey him, to teach with authority to put the religious hypocritical know-it-alls in their place, not allowing them to exploit people for their own power/gain ... But, we must ultimately think of his resurrection from the dead. NOTHING could stop him, in fact the more you try to stop him, the more his power is on display. "El Shaddai" God, Almighty ... YHWH Sabbaoth (Lord of Hosts - Commander of legions, the mightiest warrior) ... Ish Milhama (man of war) ... gibbor aris (awesome valiant champion) Exodus 15:3 "The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name." Jeremiah 20:11 "But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail." Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory" Psalm 24:8 "Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle." Psalm 2:8-12 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break[b] them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Isaiah 25.8: "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces." Acts 2:24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 1 Cor 15:52-58 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Job 19:25-27 25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.b 26And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet inc my flesh I shall see God, 27whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. 1 John 3:8 (ESV) 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Revelation 19:11-16 (ESV) 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. We're talking about the power of Jesus - the one who is the horn of salvation, not the meek/mild, but the one who rides on the white horse in the book of Revelation, with blood stains on his robe, the one who is the commander of the armies of heaven, the one who is YHWH who says, "I will fight for you", the one who deals death the death blow, the of whom the disciples said, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the waves obey him", the one who is the warrior whose armor we are to put on in Ephesians 6. Who do you say that he is? As we look at the chaotic forces at work in our world, racism - true and falsely accused, riots, antifa or forces stoking the flames of division and violence, viral pandemics, crippled economies, corrupt politicians, interfering foreign governments out to manipulate and weaken our system, false religions who indoctrinate their adherents to hate and to attack their enemies, demonic forces masquerading as Christianity going against the Word ... WE long for a Hero, one who can conquer all of this, who can command the attention and respect and obeisance of the world, who can subdue and bring peace, who can put humanity in its place ... the HORN of salvation. BUT, as fearsome as this warrior is, he uses his power in surprising ways. As terrible as his wrath is against sin and sinners, he took the horn to himself!! He is the Lion and the Lamb of Revelation. (CS Lewis - Narnia - Aslan - Ellie/Eva) John 16:33 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." Revelation 17:14 (ESV) 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." "Fight the good fight." 1 Tim 6:12 (I have fought the good fight 2 Tim 4:7) Q: How doth Christ execute the office of a king? A: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself,1 in ruling and defending us,2 and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.3 1. Psalm 110:3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. 2. Isaiah 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us. 3. 1 Corinthians 15:25. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. Acts 12:17. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place. Acts 18:9-10. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. This is why we find true and ultimate comfort in this faith in Christ ... What is our only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own but belong body and soul, in life and in death to a faithful savior Jesus Christ ... In this context, we see the stark picture, the overwhelming/scandalous picture of this same Jesus washing the feet of his servants, speaking to the servant girls as he raises her from the dead "Talitha Cum" - Little girl, get up. Him saying, the one who exalts himself will be humbled, the one who humbles himself will be exalted, Him telling the parable of the father who runs to meet his wayward son. In the house of his servant David - as we've said before, this is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, the fulfillment of the promise that a son of David would reign on the throne forever, and this is what so much of the Psalms and the Prophets agonized over - the promise seemed to be abandoned, the house of David had failed and fallen, becoming wicked and corrupt, making deals with foreign powers, becoming subservient to them, leading the people into the worship of false gods, and culminating in the fall of Jerusalem and the Davidic king (Zedekiah) being led away captive in chains with his eyes gouged out. So for Zechariah to mention this is to bring this most sensitive, sore, controversial subject to the foreground and to say, "You think you've seen the end of that, don't you ... you ain't seen nothing yet." 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, Whose coming is from of old, from ancient days - this is a continuation, a fulfillment of the old, old story. And, all of the prophets bore witness to him from Moses to David to Malachi, each giving an aspect of Him, so that together they give a full picture ... But, notice, it was the mouth of the prophet, but it was God speaking the whole time ... the power of the horn is in the power of the WORD (has the power to divide bone and marrow, the Sword of the Spirit) ... "His holy prophets." The lower our view of inspiration, the smaller the blessing we receive and the capability of permitting the Word to be a blessing to others. 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; See above ... is this a physically or spiritually focused verse? Though physical life is not out of the picture, the primary focus from which all else flows is spiritual ... see 77, 79, END: Zechariah: a spiritually mature man still needing to grow, subdued by God, brought to a much deeper level of trust and effectiveness, given eyes to see the greatness of God ... His attention during this most amazing, blessed time of his life is not even on the gift (his own Son) but the Giver and the greater gift of His Son. God calls us to see His strength, to see Him as our Strength, that he fights for us with awesome and terrible power, that he uses His power to save us even through His own ultimate suffering ... See His Power and His Love ... See that power at work in you to free you from anything that holds you back to bring you to a deeper level of trust and peace ... See that power at work in Your own love, to love God more than the world, to love Christ and His Kingdom more than your own life, for that love to flow as a river of the Spirit from your heart to the Church, the rest of the body of Christ and feel their love as well, and for that love to be seen in the World, to give them pause to ask ... Who is this King of glory? For Jesus' question to rise up in them as it did in us, "Who do you say I AM?" A Mighty Fortress Is Our God 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us Abrahamic Covenant, equal to the same theme in the Magnificat (V54-55). Again, Luke is eager to show the continuity of everything leading up to this point. This too is Paul's big message of the Gospel, that it is the fulfillment of the covenant God made to Abraham, and that we are the true offspring of Abraham (Rom, Gal, Eph). Hebrews 6:13-20 (ESV) 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less) 74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. The purpose of our salvation is the service/glory of God. It is a God-centered salvation. Psalm 23 "for his name's sake" ... Other passage in prophets, "For my own name's sake I will save you ..." He saves us from our slave master so that we would be his slaves ... because in Him we are truly free, truly happy/blessed ... These things must always be held together ... His Glory, Our Good ... to Glorify God and to Enjoy Him forever. ... Paul's glad willingness to call and consider himself the servant/slave of God/Christ. 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. V79: think of the shadow, the darkness, the hell we would be in ... those of you who sit in darkness, who sit in the shadow of death ... who wish death upon yourself, who think it would be better if you weren't alive or had never been born, whose sin, weakness, conflict, tension, anxiety, pressure, worthlessness, meaninglessness, failure, evil ... see the picture God paints through his prophet Zechariah ... the sunrise ... after darkness, dawn, to awake from a nightmare; ... what is the destination? Peace ... more precisely, the WAY of Peace. The path of peace. Involves walking, a manner of living, a manner of thinking, feeling, orienting, directing ourselves that puts our feet on solid ground. Remember Zechariah epitomizes his own prophecy.