1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,720 Invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the Gospel 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,320 of Luke. In the New Testament Gospel of 3 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:09,000 Luke, we're going to be looking at chapter 1 beginning in verse 4 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:11,280 57. If you'd like to know where that 5 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,800 is in the red Bibles around you, you can notice the page printed 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,160 for you or the the page number printed for you in the bulletin. 7 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:24,000 I will say this that the irony is not lost on me that I was 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,320 supposed to preach last Sunday on this passage about Zechariah 9 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:33,080 who is unable to speak and I wasn't able to preach because I 10 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,280 couldn't speak last week with the head cold that I was dealing 11 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,720 with. But I do promise you As for a 12 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,720 different reason than Zechariah. Let's listen now as we hear 13 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:49,280 God's word from Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse 57. 14 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,120 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a 15 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,720 son. And her neighbors and relatives 16 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,560 heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they 17 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,800 rejoiced with her. And on the 8th day they came to 18 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,880 circumcise the child. And they would have called him 19 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,200 Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, no, he 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,280 shall be called John. And they said to her, None of 21 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,000 your relatives is called by this name. 22 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,000 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted 23 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,080 him to be called. And he asked for a writing 24 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,880 tablet, and wrote, His name is John. 25 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,960 And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was 26 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:33,640 opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 27 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:36,480 And fear came on all their neighbors. 28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,280 And all these things were talked about through all the Hill 29 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,400 Country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them 30 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,640 up in their hearts, saying, What then will this child be? 31 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:49,840 For the hand of the Lord was with him, and his father 32 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,800 Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, 33 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:55,680 saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. 34 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,840 For he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a 35 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,880 horn of salvation for us in the House of His servant David, as 36 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,560 he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. 37 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,039 That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all 38 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:13,320 who hate us. To show the mercy promised to 39 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,800 our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath that He 40 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,720 swore to our Father Abraham, to grant us that we, being 41 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,440 delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without 42 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:28,040 fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all of 43 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,120 our days. And you, child, will be called 44 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,520 the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord 45 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,760 to prepare His ways to give knowledge of salvation to His 46 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,160 people in the forgiveness of their sins. 47 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,800 Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise 48 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,520 shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in 49 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,800 darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into 50 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,000 the way of peace. And the child grew and became 51 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,440 strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of 52 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,720 his public appearance to Israel. Let's pray together. 53 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,920 Father, we thank you for giving us your word, and we thank you 54 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,040 today in particular for giving us this portion of your word 55 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,000 that we're reflecting on. We pray that you would open our 56 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,600 eyes and our hearts that we might see what You want us to 57 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,080 see, what we need to see. But above all, Father, we help. 58 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,880 Help us to see Jesus. And I pray that as we read about 59 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,560 this and reflect on this hymn, this ancient hymn, that you 60 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,600 would use it to change us, to form us into the people that you 61 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,480 desire us to be. For we ask it in Jesus name, 62 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:43,480 Amen. Many of you no doubt are 63 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,240 familiar with the song The Sound of Silence. 64 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,600 It was a well known hit song that was originally written in 65 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:56,880 1964 by Simon and Garfunkel. It's been remade a number of 66 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,080 times, a couple of which I think are better than the original. 67 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,640 There are differing opinions about the meaning of the lyrics 68 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,200 of the song. Some argue that it's about the 69 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,720 breakdown of communication in society, cultures, distraction 70 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,720 with superficial things, people's lost ability to have 71 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,240 deep and meaningful conversations, and the social 72 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:23,680 and emotional isolation that has come as a result the the lack of 73 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,280 deep, meaningful connection with one another. 74 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,400 Zechariah surely understood something about that. 75 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,000 For nine months leading up to what we just read, Zechariah had 76 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,000 not spoken a word. And we'll talk about why in just 77 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,760 a moment. But for now, just imagine that. 78 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,320 Imagine that. Not speaking a word for not 79 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,240 months, for nine months, not even being able to speak a word. 80 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,920 And it's also likely that he was deaf during that time as well. 81 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:01,040 We'll get to that in a second. Talk about the Sound of silence. 82 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,480 This is the third Sunday of Advent, a season of waiting and 83 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:07,920 preparation to celebrate Christmas. 84 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:12,120 But it's also anticipating and waiting for the second advent of 85 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,240 King Jesus. This year we're using the season 86 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,600 of Advent to reflect on these 4 hymns that Luke records in his 87 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,800 Gospel. Two weeks ago we looked at 88 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,800 Mary's hymn, The Magnificat. Today we're looking at 89 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,880 Zechariah's Benedictus. Next Sunday, Lord willing, we'll 90 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:33,520 look at the angels, Gloria. And then on Christmas Eve we'll 91 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:35,880 hear about Simeon's nuke Demitus. 92 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,680 These 4 hymns of the first advent of the first Christmas. 93 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,920 And you may remember 2 weeks ago we, we talked about how much 94 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:49,000 hymns can impact us, the significance of the impact that 95 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,280 they can have on us. They can, they can change us and 96 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:54,920 have great meaning for us. And so our goal this season is 97 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,240 to meditate on these ancient biblical hymns and see if we 98 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,520 might be changed by them to have these hymns form and to shape 99 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:08,360 us, to better make us the people God desires us to be, to better 100 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,840 love the Lord, to better obey the Lord, to serve the Lord, and 101 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:15,560 to love and serve our neighbors. So let's look at our passage 102 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,040 today and let's see three things. 103 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:19,920 First of all, why Zechariah sang. 104 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:26,800 Secondly, what Zechariah sang. And then thirdly, how we can 105 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,520 sing like Zechariah. So first of all, why Zechariah 106 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,280 sang. Now we need to remember the 107 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:34,760 context in order for this all to make sense. 108 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,200 And the immediate context of our passage today is back in verses 109 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,840 5 through 23. There we're told that Zechariah 110 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:45,200 was a priest and he was married to a woman named Elizabeth. 111 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,240 We find out later that she's a relative of Mary. 112 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,280 Elizabeth was barren and both of them were in old age. 113 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,920 We're told that both Zechariah and Elizabeth were considered 114 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,040 righteous, that they walked blamelessly before the Lord. 115 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,560 And one day Zechariah was serving in the temple. 116 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,920 He was burning some incense for the people, and the Angel 117 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:12,400 Gabriel showed up. Zechariah was greatly afraid, 118 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,080 but Gabriel told Zechariah his prayers had been answered and 119 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,240 his wife Elizabeth is pregnant with his son. 120 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,560 He goes on to tell Gabriel goes on to tell Zechariah that the 121 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,040 name of his son is to be John and he will be great before the 122 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:29,440 Lord. He'll be filled with the Holy 123 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,200 Spirit and he will go before the Lord, preparing the way. 124 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,640 Now that was hard for Zechariah to imagine. 125 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,440 He actually questioned Gabriel. He doubted that this could 126 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,920 actually happen. It's not recommended to do that. 127 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,760 If an Angel shows up to doubt what he's telling you about 128 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,240 God's word, It's almost here, as Gabriel said, OK, you want to 129 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:54,920 doubt me. You want to doubt God's word. 130 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,080 I'll let you know how you'll know this is true. 131 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,560 You're going to be unable to speak until your son is born. 132 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,800 Well, that's where our passage picks up today in verses 57 and 133 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,600 following. Nine months later, Elizabeth 134 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,560 gave birth to his son and the family and the neighbors 135 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,040 gathered around they they came to the home and to celebrate 136 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,800 with the family and then, as was the instruction of the law, on 137 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,720 the 8th day they took their son to get circumcised. 138 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,240 It was custom to announce the name when the son was 139 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,760 circumcised, and the assumption that everybody had was that the 140 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,480 boy's name would be Zechariah after his father. 141 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:37,480 That was a common practice, but Mary said no, his name will be 142 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:45,840 John and nobody understood why. The crowd motions to Zechariah 143 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,800 and asked Zechariah what his name will be. 144 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:53,520 Now notice verse 62. They motioned to Zechariah. 145 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,840 Many scholars believe that that's indicating that he was 146 00:08:57,840 --> 00:08:59,680 also deaf during this time period. 147 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,680 They had to motion to him so because he couldn't hear the 148 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:05,640 question. Well, still not able to speak, 149 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,640 Zechariah grabs a writing tablet and he writes down his name is 150 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,680 John. Not his name will be John, but 151 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,440 his name is John. It's been decided. 152 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,280 It is already certain. Verse 64, we read that 153 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,960 immediately Zechariah's mouth was opened, his tongue was 154 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:28,320 loose, and what did he do? What did he do? 155 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:33,080 What did he say? He spoke blessing God. 156 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,840 He praised the Lord. He sang a hymn of praise and 157 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,320 worship to the Lord. Now, his hymn is what's recorded 158 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,160 for us in verses 67 to 79. We're going to look at that in 159 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:48,840 just a moment, But for now, notice why Zechariah sang. 160 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,120 He had had nine months of silence, not able to speak, 161 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,560 likely not able to hear. And it was as a result of 162 00:09:56,560 --> 00:10:00,120 doubting God's word that came to him through the Angel Gabriel. 163 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:06,680 Nine months of reflecting on his wrongdoing of his sin and he had 164 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:10,200 come to terms with the fact that he had been wrong to question 165 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,880 Gabriel and to doubt God's plan and ability. 166 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:19,720 He came to realize that he could and he needed to trust the Lord 167 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,560 to praise him for his wonderful plans and his fulfilled 168 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,840 promises. It is interesting that God 169 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,600 waited to give Zechariah his speech and hearing back until 170 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,800 Zechariah acted in faith, trusting the Lord. 171 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:36,400 Zechariah had learned his lesson. 172 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,360 That's why he sang. He had learned that he could and 173 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,960 he needed to trust the Lord's faithfulness, goodness, grace, 174 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,000 mercy, love and care for His people. 175 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,440 The right, the appropriate response is to sing to the Lord 176 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:58,120 and give glory to the Lord, the worship that he deserves. 177 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,120 So that's why Zechariah sang. Sang because he trusted the 178 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:05,520 Lord. He learned his lesson. 179 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,800 But what did Zechariah sing? Well, his hymn is in verses 67 180 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,720 to 79. And it's really easy to see that 181 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,320 it's kind of broken up into two sections. 182 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:22,120 Each section is 1 long sentence. The first is in verses 67 to 75 183 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,680 and, and there Zechariah is praising God for his 184 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:30,280 faithfulness, his faithfulness to his promises and his 185 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:34,240 faithfulness to his covenant. And then the second part of the 186 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:39,320 hymn is in verses 76 to 79, and he praises God for the role that 187 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,520 his son John would play in preparing the way for the 188 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,920 Messiah to come, the mercy of God coming to his people. 189 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,640 Now the first part of the hymn is about God's faithfulness. 190 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,760 It's in verses 67 to 75. And really what he's talking 191 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:58,160 about here is God's faithfulness to His promises. 192 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,800 First of all, to David. You can see that in verse 68, 193 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,480 beginning in verse 68. Blessed be the Lord God of 194 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,080 Israel, for He has visited and redeemed his people and has 195 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,640 raised up a horn of salvation for us in the House of His 196 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,160 servants. David. 197 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,840 That's a reference there to David, a reference back to 198 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:21,720 Second Samuel Chapter 7, where the Lord made a covenant with 199 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:26,080 David and he told David, and your house and your Kingdom 200 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,320 shall be made sure forever before me. 201 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,280 Your throne shall be established forever. 202 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,880 The Lord made that promise to David, and things looked pretty 203 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:41,400 good about that promise being kept by the Lord until Solomon 204 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:45,240 died. After Solomon died, the Kingdom 205 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:49,120 split, The Kingdom divided. Eventually the people went into 206 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:53,120 exile, and there were 600 years without a Davidic king. 207 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,000 And in Zechariah's day, Israel was being ruled by the Romans. 208 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:04,840 Had God forgotten his promise? Was he disregarding the covenant 209 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,360 that he made with David? Was he abandoning his people? 210 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,320 And Zechariah sings, and he sings about the faithfulness of 211 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,080 the Lord to the promises of David, to the promises to David. 212 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,720 Zechariah's own son John would grow up to be the one who would 213 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,160 prepare the way for the Messiah, who would come as the rightful 214 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:28,520 heir of the throne of David, who would come and establish that 215 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,200 throne forever. God is faithful to his covenant 216 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,800 promises. He fulfills them perfectly. 217 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,160 But it's not just about David that he references here. 218 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,680 He also references God's promise to Abraham. 219 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:46,440 You can see that in verses 72 and 73, to show the mercy 220 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,120 promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the 221 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,080 oath that He swore to our father Abraham. 222 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,320 That's a reference to some promises that were made back in 223 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,800 the book of Genesis to Abraham, between God and Abram, Abram and 224 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,000 Abraham. Genesis chapter 12. 225 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,360 We read that now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country 226 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,040 and your kindred and your father's house to the land, that 227 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:11,960 I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will 228 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:14,960 bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a 229 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,280 blessing. I will bless those who bless 230 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,280 you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the 231 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,680 families of the earth shall be blessed. 232 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,840 Also think about the promise made in Genesis chapter 2 when 233 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,680 Abraham almost sacrificed his son. 234 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:35,040 There we read by myself. I have sworn, declares the Lord, 235 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,200 because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your 236 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:42,520 only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply 237 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,160 your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is 238 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:50,040 on the seashore. Zechariah sang a song of God's 239 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,000 faithfulness to his promises, His promises to David, his 240 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,880 promises to Abraham. The arrival of the Messiah meant 241 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,720 that the Lord was continuing to be bring his covenant promises 242 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:05,840 to fruition, that through Christ, through the Messiah, the 243 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,920 Lord would bless the nations. So the first thing that 244 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,080 Zechariah sings about is God's faithfulness to his promises. 245 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,840 But then notice that he sings about God's faithfulness to his 246 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:21,360 covenant and to talk about God's covenant with his people. 247 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,160 Zechariah points out what God has done. 248 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,640 We see that first in verses 68 through 72. 249 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:32,800 The Lord, he says, has visited and redeemed his people. 250 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,840 It, it hasn't even happened yet, but he's speaking about it in 251 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,200 the past tense because it's that certain. 252 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,400 It's that sure. He's raised up a horn of 253 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,840 salvation for his people, He says, the horn being a symbol of 254 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,160 strength. He's saved his people from their 255 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,400 enemies, both spiritual and physical. 256 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,840 He's shown mercy to His people as He promised them long ago, 257 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,680 and His covenant with them. The Lord is faithful to His 258 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:02,960 covenant with His people. That's what the Lord has done. 259 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,640 And notice why He's done it. In verse 74, He says that we 260 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,480 being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve Him. 261 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,440 The proper response to the Lord visiting and redeeming and 262 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:21,920 saving His people of the Lord showing His mercy to His people, 263 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:27,280 is for His people to serve Him, to praise Him, to glorify Him 264 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:32,640 with all of who we are. But then notice how we are to 265 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,240 serve the Lord because of His covenant faithfulness. 266 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,360 The end of verse 74. It is without fear, he says, No 267 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,640 Fear of judgement, No Fear of being abandoned or forgotten by 268 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,760 the Lord, No Fear of Jesus coming back again, No Fear of 269 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:55,400 judgement, No Fear of being abandoned, no No Fear of man or 270 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,120 of persecution, not even fear of death. 271 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:01,920 He goes on the beginning of verse 75. 272 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,560 He says our service is to be done in holiness and 273 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:08,760 righteousness, seeking not to disobey God's word and seeking 274 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,160 to do everything that it says that we are to do. 275 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,680 He goes on at the end of verse 75 and says our service is to be 276 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:21,119 before the Lord, having a sense that that our service is for His 277 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,680 glory, that it's in His sight. It's with His knowledge that we 278 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,720 serve. And then at the very end of 279 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,760 verse 75, he says that our service is to be all of our 280 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,440 days. We're called to serve the Lord 281 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,840 until that day when we see Him face to face and then into all 282 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,640 eternity. The goal of God's redemption and 283 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,200 salvation is that His people would serve Him without fear and 284 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,800 in holiness and righteousness before Him all of our days. 285 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,120 Zechariah sings about the faithfulness of the Lord. 286 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:00,160 He praises the Lord for his faithfulness, faithfulness to 287 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,680 his promises, His faithfulness to His covenant with His people. 288 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,400 And then the second part of the hymn, Zechariah praises the Lord 289 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,000 for the role his son John would get to play in preparing the way 290 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:18,360 for the mercy of God coming to the people through the Messiah. 291 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:24,240 Look at verse 76, he says, And you child, will be called the 292 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,480 prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to 293 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,680 prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his 294 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,720 people and the forgiveness of their sins. 295 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,960 Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise 296 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,440 shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in 297 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,760 darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the 298 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,560 way of peace. You can almost see Zechariah 299 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:55,000 turning and looking at his eight day old son, addressing his 300 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:00,280 eight day old son and he praises the Lord for the Lord's mercy. 301 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,880 He starts by describing the salvation that God has provided 302 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:07,440 through the forgiveness of their sins. 303 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,960 You can see that in verse 77 and the beginning of verse 78. 304 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:16,000 Part of John's ministry was to give knowledge to the people of 305 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,480 the salvation of God's people, that salvation would come 306 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,960 through the forgiveness of their sins. 307 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,520 This salvation that God was bringing, that God would provide 308 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,040 to his people, it was not something that they would earn. 309 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:31,480 It's not something they would merit. 310 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:33,560 It's not even something they could inherit. 311 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,240 It would come to them as it says, the beginning, verse 78, 312 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,520 because of the tender mercy of our God. 313 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,600 And John's role would be to declare the arrival of the 314 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,960 Messiah, who, because of God's great mercy, would provide 315 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:52,000 salvation for his people through the work that he would achieve 316 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,960 and the forgiveness of their sins. 317 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,880 So he sings about God's mercy, the salvation through 318 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:03,600 forgiveness of sins that is coming from the Messiah. 319 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:08,160 But he also sings about God's mercy that's demonstrated in the 320 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,480 light coming into the darkness. That's what he talks about at 321 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,000 the end of verse 78 and end of verse 79. 322 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,520 A light coming into the darkness of the world. 323 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,920 In the Bible, darkness often represents despair, 324 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,280 hopelessness, doom, depravity, death. 325 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,280 And Zechariah is singing praise to the Lord. 326 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:32,200 Because the light of the world is going to come into those into 327 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,760 the darkness of the world. It will come to those who sit in 328 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,000 darkness, who sit in the shadow of death. 329 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,640 He says the sunrise shall visit the people from on high. 330 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:47,720 Clearly a reference to Jesus, the light of the world coming 331 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,800 into the world. Jesus would come into the 332 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,520 darkness of this world and the darkness of his people's lives 333 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,720 and hearts, and he would fill the the world with light, the 334 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,200 light of truth and grace and hope. 335 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:06,560 And notice at the end of verse 79 what the light does for us. 336 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:13,600 It guides our feet into the way of peace, peace with God, peace 337 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:16,320 that we have with brothers and sisters in Christ because of our 338 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:22,520 union with Christ. This is what Zechariah sang. 339 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:29,200 How can we sing like Zechariah? How can we sing like Zechariah? 340 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:34,360 3 things as we finish. The first is this. 341 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,120 We must trust in the faithfulness of the Lord. 342 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:44,160 That's the lesson that Zechariah had to learn the hard way after 343 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,760 nine months of silence. But he learned it. 344 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,040 The Lord is faithful to His promises. 345 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,920 The Lord is faithful to his covenant. 346 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,080 The Lord is faithful to his people. 347 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,680 The Lord is faithful in His work of salvation in our lives. 348 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:04,200 He said that He would provide the solution to the problem of 349 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:09,080 sin, that He would provide the solution to the consequence of 350 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,480 death. He made that promise to Adam and 351 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,120 Eve in the Garden of Eden. And then the Lord kept telling 352 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:18,840 his people over and over again throughout redemptive history 353 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,920 until eventually Jesus did come into the world and He lived a 354 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,640 life of perfect love and obedience. 355 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,480 And then He died on the cross and paid for the sins of his 356 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,560 people. And when he died, Jesus said it 357 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,560 is finished. Salvation is achieved for his 358 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:40,000 people and is completed. We need to trust the Lord's 359 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:45,920 faithfulness in accomplishing salvation for us in Christ. 360 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,680 Your sins are forgiven. We need to trust in the 361 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,600 faithfulness of the Lord and bringing the work that He has 362 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,560 started in our lives to completion. 363 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,440 That's what Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 1. 364 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,800 He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at 365 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:08,080 the day of Jesus Christ. We need to trust the Lord is 366 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,080 faithful and that promise that He's made to us. 367 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:17,240 The Lord will bring to completion the good work that He 368 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,040 has begun in each one of His people. 369 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:25,240 We need to trust the Lord's faithfulness and working all 370 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,200 things together for good for those who love Him. 371 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,280 That's what the apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 8. 372 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:37,400 Even when we can't tell what the Lord is doing, even when we 373 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:42,640 don't like what the Lord is doing, we need to trust that He 374 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,880 is faithful in His promise to work all things together for the 375 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,600 good of His people. We can admit we don't understand 376 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:54,320 how that's the case, but we also must trust that it's true. 377 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,480 Trust the faithfulness of the Lord in what He is doing. 378 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:02,720 The Lord was faithful in what He told Zechariah about Elizabeth 379 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,920 being pregnant. A son would be born. 380 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:07,760 The Lord is faithful to His promises and His covenant. 381 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,440 The Lord is faithful in His work of salvation and is faithful. 382 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,080 He is faithful to complete that work in His people. 383 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,240 He is faithful to work all things together for their good. 384 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,640 We need to trust the faithfulness of the Lord. 385 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,320 Secondly, we need to serve the Lord. 386 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:31,800 That's what Zechariah said in his hymn, God's salvation. 387 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,920 God's redemption for his people should lead them to serve Him. 388 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,360 If that was true in Zechariah's day, how much more so is it true 389 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:44,120 for those of us who understand so much more. 390 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:49,440 The full extent of what God did, the full extent of the 391 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,400 redemption that He has provided all of our lives is to be 392 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,680 service to the Lord for the purpose of bringing Him glory 393 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,680 and praise. And just like Zechariah saying 394 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,680 we should serve the Lord without fear. 395 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,200 No Fear that He won't like the service that we do. 396 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,320 No Fear of what the world thinks about us serving the Lord. 397 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,640 No Fear of judgement from the Lord or persecution from the 398 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,920 world. Service to the Lord should be 399 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,880 with No Fear. It should also be with holiness 400 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,840 and righteousness. It should be in accord with what 401 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,440 God's Word says about how we are to live our lives. 402 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,840 Our service to the Lord should have that sense that we are 403 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:36,760 doing it before Him, in His presence, in His sight. 404 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:40,960 And we should serve the Lord all of our days, not just when we're 405 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:46,320 young, not just when we're old. We should serve the Lord all of 406 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,480 our days. So what are some ways that we 407 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,640 can serve the Lord this way? Well, one of the ways that we 408 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:59,160 can serve our Lord this way is in our vocations, our jobs. 409 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:06,440 Think about how you serve and treat your employers, your 410 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:13,400 employees, your patients, your bosses, your subordinates, your 411 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,880 customers, your teachers, your students. 412 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,680 You can serve the Lord by serving in your vocation 413 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:25,920 according to the Word. You can serve the Lord certainly 414 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,040 by volunteering. You can volunteer within our 415 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,040 church. There are always lots of 416 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,200 opportunities to serve the Lord and serve your brothers and 417 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,960 sisters in Christ and our church family by volunteering to do 418 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:39,640 things. In fact, every single week in 419 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,480 the bulletin, we have AQR code there that you can click on and 420 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,280 it will just tell you what the greatest needs are right now 421 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:49,160 that you can sign up to do. You can also volunteer outside 422 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,400 of the church. Find a local ministry that we 423 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,360 support or even one that we don't support and offer to 424 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:59,600 volunteer. Offer to volunteer in the school 425 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,720 system. You can serve the Lord by loving 426 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:09,120 your neighbors and serving your neighbors, getting to know them, 427 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,960 finding out what their needs are, ways that you could come 428 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,120 alongside of them and show them the love of Jesus. 429 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,640 There are all kinds of ways that we can serve the Lord, but the 430 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,400 key point is that we are called to do so. 431 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:26,520 God's grace to us, God's mercy to us in the gospel is meant to 432 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:31,160 move us to love and to serve Him all of our lives. 433 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:37,920 How is God's mercy to you motivating you to serve Him? 434 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:49,440 Lastly, we need to hope in the light that will will return. 435 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,640 Zechariah saying about the light of the world coming into the 436 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,120 world the first time. A hope that would bring that 437 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:01,280 would come for the people who were sitting in darkness, 438 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,520 sitting in the shadow of death. And now we are waiting for the 439 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:10,240 light of the world to come back a second time, to come into the 440 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,600 world a second time, a second advent. 441 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:19,280 And as we wait, we are to wait. As people of hope, we say it all 442 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,400 of the time. Biblical hope is not the same 443 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:24,800 hope that the world speaks about. 444 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,840 Worldly hope is more about wishing that something will 445 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,920 happen, not having a a certainty about something that. 446 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:36,920 But I hope this takes place. Biblical hope is something that 447 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,600 is different. It is a lifestyle based on the 448 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:45,120 certainty of God's faithfulness. Christians have certain hope 449 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,760 that Jesus, the light of the world, is coming back. 450 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,400 The light will once more come into the darkness of our world. 451 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,600 The light will once again shine on people sitting in darkness 452 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,600 and and the depravity and the death of this world. 453 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,920 When our son Riley was diagnosed with Melanoma and before we had 454 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:10,880 much more concrete information, I talked with our family about 455 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,960 not assuming the worst, not expecting the worst, and then 456 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,920 living in the present with that assumption. 457 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,360 Biblical hope is exactly the opposite. 458 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,520 We hope for the return of King Jesus, and we are to live in the 459 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,880 present in light of what we know will happen in the future. 460 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,280 Of course, we all have moments and sometimes seasons of of 461 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,400 despair and discouragement and doubt and darkness. 462 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,520 But as God's people, we are to be people of hope as well. 463 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,960 We have the true and certain biblical hope that a light, the 464 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:54,280 the light is coming back into the darkness of this world, that 465 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:58,120 everything that is wrong and dark and broken and depraved is 466 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:06,280 one day going to be undone. And that certainty of the future 467 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,120 must impact how we live in the present. 468 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,880 One last thing here about the light that's coming in our hope 469 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,040 for that light that's coming, it should also motivate us to be 470 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:24,720 ready to tell other people about that light, to be to be ready to 471 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,120 give the reason for the hope that we have. 472 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,560 To be prepared to tell others how they can have that hope as 473 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,960 well. Trust in the faithfulness of the 474 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:39,080 Lord. Serve the Lord. 475 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,440 Hope in the light that is coming back. 476 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:56,400 Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the 477 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:00,600 hymn of Zechariah. We thank you for the model that 478 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:05,400 this hymn is to us, and we pray that as we meditate upon, it's 479 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,640 not just now, but throughout this week perhaps we pray that 480 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,840 you would use this ancient biblical hymn to form and to 481 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,280 shape us into the people that you desire us to be. 482 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:20,320 Father, fill us with joy. A joy that is not just a 483 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:25,440 feeling, but a way of life. A joy that is not the joy of 484 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,520 this world. A joy that is anchored in the 485 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:34,640 incarnation of our Savior in the hope of His second Advent. 486 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,840 Help that joy then to drive us to greater love for you and 487 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,120 greater loving obedience to your Word. 488 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,680 All this we ask in Jesus name, Amen.