The Gospel of Luke: Light To Those In Darkness

Good morning, beloved. The Lord bless you and keep you this morning as we endeavor to bring forward the

Word of God. And if you may, please turn to Luke chapter 1. Our main text this morning will be found in Luke, the first chapter.

And we'll be examining verses 57 to 80. When you have that, please do stand for the reading of God's Word.

Again, that's Luke chapter 1, starting in verse 57. Hear ye this morning the

Word, the true and everlasting God. Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they would have called him

Zechariah after his father. But his mother answered, No, he shall be called John. And they said to her,

None of your relatives is called by this name. They made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.

And when he asked for a writing towel and wrote, His name is John, they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke blessing

God. And fear came on all their neighbors, And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea.

And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What then will this child be?

For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant

David. As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies, from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy, promise to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father

Abraham to grant us, that we, being delivered from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness, and righteousness before all of our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the

Lord to prepare his way, to give knowledge of salvation to his people, and the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our

God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, and to give light to those who sit in darkness, in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

This is the word of God. You may be seated. Let us pray.

Father, we do come before you thankful for the word which is able to make us strong.

We pray, Lord, that you would now grant us the gift of discernment and understanding, the power of thy spirit to be able to allow us to, without hindrance and without distraction, receive this implanted word.

Lord, we pray, God, that you would help us to see light in the midst of a dark world, to see how it is that you have indeed raised up the horn of salvation unto all people, all nations, all tribes, tongues, and languages, and how you, through the person and work of Jesus Christ, is in the midst, even now as we speak, of making all things new.

We pray, Lord, that you would grant us, even now, thy spirit to receive that which is good, that which is right, and that which is lovely, even that which is in your word.

In Jesus' name we do pray, amen. As we continue on this series in the gospel of Luke, here we are again introduced to a major figure of prophetic scripture.

John the Baptist is brought forth in Holy Scripture as one who is a forerunner to our blessed

Savior, Jesus Christ. John the Baptist is an important figure, not only because he's a

Baptist like we are, right? But no, even more importantly, because he is the one who is making way for the

Lord. Here in the narrative of John's birth, we see the miraculous power of God working in that which was once barren, the womb of his mother,

Elizabeth, bringing forth life where there was once death and barrenness.

God is in the business. He is in the work of making dead things live again.

And that is implanted very early in the narrative of Luke's gospel, pertaining particularly to Elizabeth and Zechariah as they bring forth

John the Baptist, and also in the womb of the young virgin Mary as she brings forth the promised

Messiah, Jesus Christ. It says in the text of Scripture, in verse 57,

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the

Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. Why did the neighbors of Elizabeth and Zechariah rejoice at what they had heard?

Well, it's a time of rejoicing any time when a child is born, but particularly when great odds had to be overcome.

And clearly, the odds were stacked against Elizabeth. They were stacked against Zechariah.

And yet God's providence, God's goodness, God's mercy was on them, and they were able to rejoice.

And on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child. This was in accordance with the Jewish custom and law and what we received in the

Old Testament, that a child was to be circumcised on the eighth day. And their parents, being the good

Jews that they were, brought the child forward to be circumcised on that day. And it was on that day in which they were to name the child.

And normally, according to Jewish custom, and in many places around the world today even, you would name your firstborn son after the father to continue the legacy and the name and the fame of the father who came before them.

Yet this was not to be the case with John the Baptist. Why not? Well, John is unique in this sense.

John is not a continuation of a line of priests or prophets.

He is actually the conclusion of a class of prophets. There would not be another like John.

John would be the last of a kind. Therefore, he would not continue in succession with the name of his father.

He would receive a new name, a different name. And this was confirmed not only by Elizabeth, but by also

Zechariah in the text of Scripture. When it says in verse 60, it says,

But his mother answered, No, he shall be called John. And they said to her,

None of your relatives is called by this name. So essentially, they were saying, Are you sure you want to do this?

Don't you want your son to bring forth the legacy of your husband?

Don't you want that tradition to stay alive and continue? And Elizabeth was not concerned at this point with tradition.

She wasn't concerned with what was to be the legacy of the family name.

Their mind was on something greater. They knew that this child had come forth into this world by fruition, by the work of the sovereignty of God Almighty.

That this child had a particular unique circumstance of life and he would have a unique ministry that he had to fulfill that was more unique than that of his father.

And his father was a priest in the house of God, was a priest in the temple who served God faithfully, upright in his generation.

Yet John's destiny was to be greater. This is why then his name was to be different, was to be

John. And it says in verse 62, and they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called.

Remember that at this point, Zechariah is mute. He cannot speak.

The Lord had made him mute because of his unbelief, because of his response to the good news of the son's birth, of his son's coming into the world.

And yet, even in his muteness, he's given a tablet to write and he writes this, his name is

John and they all wondered. And immediately in verse 64, his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed and he spoke, blessing

God. Again, the miraculous nature surrounding John's conception and also

John's birth. We see that even his father who was once mute because of his disobedience was now able to speak again and the words coming out of his mouth was blessing towards God.

There's a lesson for us there, brothers and sisters. God is not unaware of your circumstances.

God is not blind, nor is he mute to the conditions that you face.

And there are times in life where he will make you mute. There'll be times in life where he will make you blind.

There'll be times in life in which he will change the conditions and circumstances of your life for his good pleasure, for his goodwill and for the outworking of his purposes, not only in your life, but also in the life of those around you.

You see, God didn't make Zechariah mute simply to prove a point or simply to teach him a lesson, but also to teach a lesson to those around him.

You know, once I was preaching in my previous church and about once a year, and it's happened to me here recently too,

I lose my voice probably like at least once a year. And for a guy whose livelihood depends on speaking publicly, that's a scary thing and it's not always an easy thing to deal with.

And yet I always find that it's in those moments where God takes my voice away that he's teaching me something, that he is working on something in my life that needs to be addressed.

And I don't want you to overlook those things and circumstances in your own life, where there are times in which God will slow you down purposely because there's something that you're missing.

There's something that you're not seeing. And God will often slow you down in order to make you stop and to see the glories of his hand at work in your life.

And so consider this, brothers and sisters, when things aren't going your way, ask why and how can

I see things from God's glorious perspective? For as scripture says, his way is not our ways.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so much higher is God's way than ours.

So consider when life isn't going your way, turn to Yahweh, turn to the true and everlasting

God who can give you a better perspective, who can lead you in the way that you should go and who will also comfort you in the midst of whatever condition you are facing.

Notice again the response from John's father. Immediately his mouth was open and his tongue loose and he spoke not cursing

God, not saying, God, why did you do this to me? Like, for nine months, God, really? Like, do you know what

I do for a living? Do you know all the responsibilities I have? He didn't go that route. He could have.

Maybe some of us would have if we were in that same condition, if we were in that same circumstances. Because oftentimes when things happen to us in life, we ask the question, why me?

Why me? And that's a totally fair question to ask. Because I often ask it too.

Why me? Lord, haven't I been faithful in this area? Haven't I done this for you? And it's oftentimes that we bring up our good list of all the good things that we've done, not realizing that there are still things in our mortal flesh, there are still things in our depravity that must be addressed, that must be brought under the light and scrutiny of Holy Scripture.

And yet God is at work in every single one of us who believe in his son, Jesus Christ. Not only so that we may have good times, but also that in the bad times, we recognize that even then he's at work.

And so John's father gives us a great model to consider that when things do not always go our way,

God is still at work. And even when the outcome is fully realized and God is healing and he's at work, we can also bless

God as John's father did. This is why in verse 65, it's very curious what it says here.

And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea.

And so here's what happens. God works in the life of Zechariah and of Elizabeth.

And the people at that time, they see what's happened. They see the circumstances.

This guy was mute for nine months. They probably thought he would never speak again. And yet, just like that,

God loosed the tongue. And he's able to speak. He's able to prophesy. He's able to bless God and all his neighbors, all those around him.

Fear came upon them. Why? Because it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living

God. When God's at work, whether positively or negatively in the life of his people, it's a fearful thing.

Because it reminds us that we are dealing with the true and living God of history. A God who intervenes in space and time.

A God who intervenes in the life of his people. Therefore, don't consider it strange when we see

God at work in our own lives. And the fear that should come upon us likewise should be a fear of reverence.

A fear of the Lord, which is able to make us wise. A fear of the Lord, which is able to make us strong.

And a fear of the Lord that is able to make us see rightly what is before us. Therefore, the word of God says that they were talking about this through all the hill country of Judea.

Everyone was talking about it. It was the talk of town of what was happening in the life and circumstances of Elizabeth and Zechariah as they brought forth their son,

John. And it says, all who heard them laid them up in their hearts saying, what then will this child be?

What a great question. Every time I see a newborn child or I hold a newborn, especially that of my household, all my children when

I held them for the first time, one of the first thoughts that fill my mind and my heart is, what kind of life is this child gonna live and fulfill?

And of course, as a Christian parent, my hope, my prayer, every time

I held one of my babies is that this child would know the

Lord first and foremost. That they would know the Lord, that they would worship God.

You see, one of the privileges of my life has been this, having come out of a false religion from an early age, most of my family still being trapped in a false religion, is

I can rejoice in this, that generations from now, God willing, people with my last name, with my genetics, with my

DNA will be worshiping Jesus Christ. That brings me joy, that brings me hope because we have to look at things from a generational perspective.

And Christians, too often in this country, have been too nearsighted. We think that the rapture's just around the corner so why think generationally?

Why think about the future? Why think about generations from now? And brethren, we cannot secede that to the culture or that theology.

We need to think generationally. And we need to think about what the future will look like. Not only in 10 years, but 50, 100, 200 years from now.

Should we still, should humanity still be here in this fallen world under this fallen condition? We must make sure that there are generations of Christians alive worshiping

Jesus Christ and proclaiming the good news about his death, burial, and resurrection. And so when we hold that newborn child in our hands, we need to look at this child and think generationally,

I want this child and their children and their children and their grandchildren and great -grandchildren to know and worship

Jesus. That should be the cry of our hearts. Similarly, as the individuals in John's day considered, what will this child be?

For the hand of the Lord was with him. Was with him. You see, the birth of John was a sign of God's hand of blessing.

If you're following along the notes this morning, please write that in. The birth of John was a sign of God's hand of blessing.

It's a blessing any time a baby's born, but this baby is pointing towards the promise, this anticipation that was in the

Old Testament prophets that there would be one born who would have no sin, who would bring and, in fact, deliver the people from their sins.

Now, this child was not John, but John was the forerunner. He is preparing the way for this

Messiah that was promised in Holy Scripture. So the birth of John was a sign of God's hand of blessing,

God's hand of blessing upon the people of Israel and not only the people of Israel, but the entire world.

There was great anticipation then. These individuals thought to themselves, what will this child accomplish?

What will this child do? What will be of his life? And let's just think about that for a moment.

John the Baptist lived in an extraordinary life, no doubt about it, but probably not the life you would want to live.

Okay? It's a man who lived in the wilderness, a man who ate locusts, bugs.

Okay? I'm sure there's a lot of protein in that, but not the protein you might want to eat. Okay? John the

Baptist, by all accounts, probably looked like a wild man.

Okay? Think of Liver King without the muscles. Okay? He's not the cleanest looking man, not the most handsome man.

And what was his life like? Well, he went out and he preached the message of the kingdom of God, of repentance and faith.

And his ministry was far and wide. Everyone, by the time that we get to the narrative of Jesus, everyone knows about John the

Baptist. Those in authority, those in power, and even those in the back country, everyone knew about John.

Everyone did. John had become a popular figure, but a polarizing figure. You had a class of people, the elites of that time, who felt like John was a nuisance.

John was a problem. John was doing things and shaking things up in such a way that he was a danger to the establishment of the day.

And so what did they do? They began to conspire to kill this man. They began to conspire to end his ministry because if we end the man, maybe, just maybe, we'll end the movement.

Not knowing that the movement wasn't dependent upon one man, but was dependent upon the movement of the

Holy Spirit in that day, as it is even today. The movement of Christians is not dependent upon one man.

If it be one man, it be the man, Jesus Christ, obviously. But not dependent upon any regular man, but according to the

Spirit of God. Therefore, as we look at John's life, we acknowledge this truth, in fact, that he had a hard life, a difficult one, a one that was totally set apart for the kingdom of God.

Probably had no wife, no children, no legacy to leave behind other than a legacy of faith. And that ought to be enough and sufficient.

For whatever circumstance we have in life, the greatest legacy that we can leave behind is a legacy of faith.

And John was ultimately beheaded at a birthday party for someone's pleasure, for someone's convenience.

And because he spoke truth to power. Is that how you want your story to end? Probably not.

Probably not. I know as Christians, we all talk a big game, but so I'd love to be martyred.

I'd love to be, what a privilege and honor that would be. And it's true, that would be a privilege and honor, but I get the feeling that if we can't even get to church on time, how are we going to live as martyrs?

If we can't even do the things right in the kingdom of God here and now, how do you think that we're going to be able to do so when it comes to the way that we finish our earthly course?

Brothers and sisters, we must consider for ourselves what kind of lives we ought to live in holiness and godliness. We ought to consider for ourselves our course of life here and now and how that will affect the end.

John lived a life of selfless service to the kingdom of God, paving a way for the

Lord himself, for the Messiah, for Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior. Therefore, Zechariah, John's father, being filled the

Holy Spirit, he prophesied this in verse 68 of Luke chapter 1. He says, Blessed be the

Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.

Let me stop right there for a moment. What we see in the life and ministry of John the

Baptist is the God of Israel intervening, visiting and redeeming his people by bringing forth

John and eventually John paving the way to bring forth Christ. The advent of John the

Baptist is an important sign. It's an important marker in prophetic scripture. Why?

Because it is my sincere belief and conviction that John is the seal of the

Old Testament prophecy. He's the last of that kind. He's the last of the old covenant prophets that's coming before the new age, the new system, the new man,

Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus is the beginning of a new creation. Jesus is the one who introduces to us this new and exciting covenant that is in his blood.

And it's through his perfect obedience, through Christ's perfect obedience, that you and I now have the opportunity to have eternal life through faith in his shed blood.

In fact, it is in this way the Lord God of Israel has visited and redeemed his people.

It is through Jesus Christ whom John is paving the way for. John the

Baptist is indeed the sign of the end of the old covenant age.

I want you to write that in there in the second part of our notes this morning. The advent of John the Baptist is a sign of the end of the old covenant age.

It's the end. How do we know this to be true? Well, I want you, if you can, turn to Matthew chapter 11.

Chapter 11, starting in verse 11. Jesus says this concerning John the

Baptist. Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the

Baptist, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

What a perplexing statement that is. Jesus on one hand is saying, no one born of woman has been greater than John the

Baptist, yet the one who is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

How can that be? If there's no one greater than John the Baptist, born of woman, how can it be that someone in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is?

Verse 12. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until who? John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is

Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Why then is John so important? Because he's the sign of the completion of the old covenant era.

He's the sign of the completion of the end of the old covenant age, of the old covenant prophets.

He is the last prophet to prophesy until the coming of Jesus Christ.

Now, something of great importance here, and we don't have the time to go into it now, but in Daniel chapter 9, we see this prophetic word come to us about this 70 -week period.

And one day we'll go deep into that. It's really fascinating stuff. But for the purposes of today's message, here's the important part that relates to this.

In that 70 -week prophecy that we receive in Daniel chapter 9, it talks about how what must be concluded at the end of the 70 -week prophetic period is the ending of prophecy.

It's the completion of prophecy that's summed up in the 70 -week period.

It's the end of prophecy. And all things are prophesied until John, and then Jesus is the prophet of his people.

You see, back in the old covenant, there was a prophetic expectation of a new Moses. And then we receive

Elijah, and Elijah was seen almost as if he was the new Moses. He was the high prophet of the people of God.

And yet there was an expectation that someone even greater than Elijah, greater than Moses would come. And that person was

Jesus Christ. Jesus is the greater Moses, the prophet of his people, who leads his people out of bondage, out of Egypt, out of sin.

He's also the greater Elijah, and that he is the true prophet who was ascended and taken up to heaven.

Jesus is the greater Moses, the greater Elijah. He is the final and true prophet of his people.

And Jesus is the Word who was made flesh. Jesus is the

Word of God. Come to fruition, come in human flesh, to be the final declarative

Word unto the people of God. Hebrews chapter 1 says this, that God who long ago spoke through the prophets has now spoken to us in these last days by means of his

Son. Jesus is the final prophet of the people of God.

So brothers and sisters, when we look at the charlatans in this world who declare themselves to be prophets of this or prophets of that, we need not look to any other prophet than the one who has been delivered to us and given to us for our redemption and for our salvation, even

Jesus Christ our Lord. And so because of this sign, though, because of the importance of John the

Baptist's ministry, he's the end of the old covenant age, we can now look to Jesus as the fulfillment, as the true prophet of God's people and need no other prophet to intervene for us today.

He is truly sufficient in all things. And so brothers and sisters, we rejoice in this.

Jesus Christ has come. And in John the Baptist's ministry, he's paving a way for this

Christ, for this Messiah. For it says again, no one born of woman has arisen greater than John the

Baptist, yet because of our association with the new covenant, because of our union with Jesus Christ, even the least of us is greater than John the

Baptist in the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because of the new covenant being superior to that which it replaces.

The old covenant, as blessed as it was, was not sufficient in itself, apart from the shed blood of Jesus Christ, to save people from their sins.

The old covenant was there to point towards the new covenant in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we have this hope, we have this salvation that we look forward to, which is why John's father prophesies again in Luke chapter one, in verse 68, he says, blessed be the

Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. Verse 69, has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant,

David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.

There's the anticipation, there's the hope that God, through John's future ministry, will visit his people, redeem his people, and that through John's ministry, a horn of salvation is being raised up in the house of David, a horn of salvation.

Think of that in the Old Testament sense, a horn of salvation, a horn that was to declare a battle or a triumph, and the horn of salvation, the horn that God has promised his people, is that there is a redemption and a victory over sin and death, and that redemption and victory over sin and death comes through God's son,

Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, we must realize this truth, and we must make it loud and proclaim it as loudly as we can to this dying world.

There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. There's no salvation apart from Jesus.

This weekend, we were able to preach before the individuals waiting for the food ministry, and I keep thinking to myself, what a privilege it is that we get every week a captive audience of individuals there who are hungry and waiting for food, and we're able to declare the word of God to them.

And my message yesterday was very simple to them, and it was this, if you want true wisdom, if you want true knowledge, you gotta find it in Jesus.

It's only in Jesus that you'll find it, because in him is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and this world thinks that it is through knowledge that we will eventually save ourselves.

Here we are, surrounded by Fortune 500 companies every way we turn, and everyone thinks that they will find the key to immortality.

There's lots of talks about in 2050, we'll reach technological singularity, we'll have the cure to this and that, and we'll be able to essentially make man immortal.

This ain't gonna go the way they think. There's no way that you will find immortality apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ.

And what we find ourselves in, I believe, is in a new Babylon. This is the new Tower of Babel, this technological race in order to find immortality truly is a race to hell, not heaven.

And that's exactly what we found in the Tower of Babel. And so brothers and sisters, we must proclaim that there's only life and immortality through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God has raised up a horn of salvation, and it's only through Jesus. And God has spoken this word clearly and plainly, and this search for immortality that we see in today's modern context is no different from what we've seen in decades and past times as well.

Back in the 1500s, Ponce de Leon thought that he would be able to come and search this new world and find a fountain of youth.

Did he not? He thought he'd find it, and maybe he went to Florida, and he thought that he'd find it there, but all he found was alligators.

He went down to South America to the Amazon, and all he found was, you know, bugs the size of horses.

There's no way he was gonna find that fountain of living water that would be able to make him live forever because it was not to be found in this world, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.

It's only in Jesus that we receive a true fountain of living water that swells up into eternal life, as Jesus said of himself in John chapter four.

Therefore, let's continue to be steadfast and look to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith, the one who was prophesied by the mouth of holy prophets from of old.

Verse 71 of Luke 1 says this, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

You know, Zechariah prophesying these words probably didn't know the full extent of his words.

It's often in Scripture where prophets are prophesying, but they don't really know the full extent of the words that they're saying.

They don't know how these things will be fulfilled and come to true fruition. And oftentimes in the world of the

Old Testament is also in the early days of Jesus' life in ministry. The way that they would have likely have understood this is that here we have the nation of Israel under the heavy hand of Rome.

They saw Rome as the final and true enemy. Rome is the one who is occupying our land or occupying our temple mount, so much so that they built the

Fort of Antonia, which is a fort that was located very nearby the temple to kind of be as a reminder, serve as a sign, to remind the

Jewish people, hey, we're letting you do this, but you're under our thumb.

You're under our authority. We are the ones in charge here. And so they saw

Rome as the final object of their hatred and also of their enemy.

That was the enemy of the day. And so when one hears this, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, they're probably thinking the

Gentiles. They're probably thinking Rome. That's the bad guy in the story here, right?

But friends, though that might have a minor application here in the text, the true enemy is what

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, is death. That's a true enemy.

And the enemy that God has come to overcome through John the Baptist, through his son

Jesus Christ, is indeed that final enemy of death. And from the hand of all who hate us, those being the hands of those who are sinners, the hands of those who are

Gentiles, unbelieving, unregenerate, unsaved, deprived in their minds and hearts, but also the hands of those who are powers and principalities who have been raised up against us so that we may not see the glorious light of the

Gospel of Christ. And God's Word promises victory over both.

God's Word promises victory over our enemies, and our final enemy being death.

The final enemy being sin and death. God has conquered it through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Verse 72 says, And show mercy, the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father

Abraham to grant us that we, being delivered from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear.

Well, beloved, it is true that we must be delivered from the hands of our enemies, and our final enemy being death, because there's one enemy that we all have, whether you're

Jew or Gentile, whether you're black or white, whether you're rich or poor, death is coming for all of us.

For all of us. It's the ultimate statistic. Ten out of ten people die and will die.

Therefore, what kind of lives ought we to live in expectation of God's deliverance, in expectation of God's salvation, when it's clear that we might serve him without fear.

That we might serve him without fear. Now, wait a second. Didn't a couple of verses ago we read this text where it says they all feared because they had seen what

God had done, and even I just spoke to you saying that there's a fear of the Lord that we all ought to have?

Well, here's a contrast between two types of fears. The fear of the

Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, according to Proverbs. And there's a fear that we all ought to have in regard to God, because he is a consuming fire.

And we ought to approach him with fear and trembling. And yet, at the same time, there is a fear that is cast out because we've come to know not only his holiness but his perfect love, which casts out all fear.

And it's when we come to know the love of God in Jesus Christ, that we begin to see why it is that we can approach him, serve him, and worship him without fear.

I'm pretty sure none of you came to church today afraid. Maybe you should have.

But you didn't. And the reason why is because you've come to know his love.

He loves you. And he desires for you to be in this place. He desires to be amongst the throngs of God's people.

He desires for you to worship him in true holiness and reverence and in love.

This is why, again, we as the people of God can approach God without fear because of grace.

You see, the Bible in the New Testament, Hebrews 4, verse 16, says that we can now approach the throne of grace.

It's no longer a throne of judgment for those who are in an expectation of fear, but rather we've received the life -saving gift of God's Son, Jesus Christ, in whom there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

You stand before the throne not condemned, but you stand approved. Not because of anything you've done.

Not because of any merit that you've mustered. But instead, because of the perfect merit of Jesus Christ.

So even the least of us can now be greater in the Kingdom of Heaven than even John the Baptist because we're covered by grace.

We're covered by grace. Truly, this is indeed light to those who are in darkness.

It's the light of the tender affection, love, mercy, and grace of Almighty God.

Which is why, again, it says in verse 74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve

Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

You see, God has given us all that we need for life and godliness. He has given us all that we need to serve

Him, to serve Him well. To serve Him well. I want you to consider we've started a new year.

Although I believe that doesn't change anything. And whose idea was it to put the new year in the middle of winter anyway?

It's not a very bright idea. A biblical calendar would have put it in spring, which makes more sense.

But nonetheless, how ought we to live in this new year? What kind of lives ought we to live?

What kind of spiritual goals ought we to declare to ourselves and to our families? Well, brethren, may it be that in this year we continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our

Lord Jesus Christ. That should be our goal every year, every day, every single waking hour.

That we grow towards that perfect image of Christ. And that should be the cry of our hearts here as it was the prophetic word that came to Zechariah in this great moment.

And it says this, also in verse 76. And you, child, now

Zechariah speaking to his son, will be called the prophet of the

Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways.

What a fascinating statement. Clearly this is a word that he received from the Lord Himself.

This is a prophetic word that this child, those whom the people of God were contemplating, what will be of this child?

He receives now this prophetic word saying, this child will be the prophet of the Most High God.

What assurance. What blessedness came to Zechariah. What pride must have filled his heart knowing that God had appointed his son to be the prophet for the

Most High God. I can't even imagine the joy that must have filled him with.

If you're following along in today's teaching and notes, John's birth is the advent of God's redemption for his people by raising up the horn of salvation.

The horn of salvation being Christ. Christ is that perfect horn of salvation. And it is

John who is preparing the way for him to come. But it doesn't end there.

John's ministry isn't simply to prepare the way for the Messiah, for the

Christ. But also, his prophetic ministry is of great importance for the people at that time.

Because John was preaching something different from the rabbis. John was declaring something that was really, in a sense, revolutionary for the time.

He was preaching similarly to those in the Old Testament, a message of repentance, but he also coupled that with a declaration that said this.

Repent, for the kingdom of God is nigh. It's near.

It's at hand. That's what John preached. So not only did he preach repentance, the

Old Testament prophets also preached repentance. Look at Daniel. Look at Zechariah. Look at the book of Isaiah.

They preached repentance. But, John says, repent because the kingdom of God is near.

It's at hand. It's so near. And it's coming in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, repent. He was beginning to pave that way for the gospel message, for the good news of the kingdom of heaven.

And yet, even then, the people, many of them, rejoiced and were baptized under John.

Now that's a curious thing. Why did John the Baptist baptize? And what was the significance of his baptism?

What power did it have? Scripture says this was a baptism of repentance. It was to demonstrate that the people of God are readying their hearts for the

Messiah. That they're preparing themselves. They're girding their loins. They are in anticipation for this kingdom that is arriving in the person and work of Christ.

Now, in the Old Testament, they had ritual washing. If you read the book of Leviticus, temple washing was a rite for people who were entering

Jerusalem, entering a holy space. And so, if you know anything about the time of Jesus, outside the cities and in the cities, there were these bathhouses.

These bathhouses were used for ritual cleansing and cleaning. And so, matter of fact, they just discovered a ritual cleansing place in Jerusalem recently.

It's a whole new excavation that they've made and showing the biblical narrative to be true, of course. It's interesting how archeology always catches up to the

Bible not the other way around. And so yet, we have in the life and ministry of John the

Baptist, you have these pools that are used for cleansing. And so, washing and ritual washing was not unheard of or unknown in the time of the

Old Testament or the time of John the Baptist. But what was unique about John's ministry is that he saw that cleansing, that water that was used for purification for temple rites and temple rituals, not just to be not sufficient just so that you can go to the temple, but you needed it in order to approach and serve

God. In order for you to be right and to demonstrate your cleanliness, your right standing before God, you ought to be baptized.

So John the Baptist began baptizing individuals, not just so that they can go and serve in the temple, but so that they may have a right standing before God.

That was very important. This was a paradigm shift in the way that the Jewish people understood ritual cleansing and the need for water as serving as a symbol for redemption.

And obviously we receive even the greater baptism, the baptism of Christ, the New Testament, the believer's baptism, which is not just a baptism of repentance, although that it sure is, but it's a baptism signifying our joining together with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.

And my last church in Wisconsin, there's a lot of Lutherans there. And so Lutheranism is huge in Wisconsin.

Like the Missouri Synod, it's huge there. And so every time I talk to my paedo -baptist friends in the

Lutheran church, we'd always have these discussions about baptism, and one of the things that the Lutheran church prides themselves in is they say, our liturgy from beginning to end is filled with rich symbolism of the gospel.

It's filled with all this rich symbolism. And I say, you know what, I think you're probably right in that, because I'm familiar with Lutheran liturgy, and it is filled with really beautiful imagery from beginning to end, representing aspects and narratives of the gospel.

But I say, but you miss the greatest one. The greatest picture of our joining together with Christ is by going into the wars of baptism.

That watery grave, entering it, demonstrating our joining together in his death, and our rising again with him in glorious life and resurrection glory.

You're missing that entirely by your sprinkling. So though you may pride yourself in your liturgy that from beginning to end it's filled with symbolism, the richness of the gospel, you have failed in the most important ordinance that the

Lord has given for us in the Lord's baptism and in the Lord's supper. You've missed it completely.

And so friends, let us not miss the beauty and the picture and the majesty that is the gospel, that is the gospel in the

Lord's ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper. These are one of the ways that we get to acknowledge and see and taste and participate in the salvation that he has promised us.

We get to taste and see every week that the Lord is indeed good, amen, when we come before the table.

We get to taste and see. We get to join Christ in his death, birth and resurrection when we join him in obedience in the waters of baptism.

And indeed we get to see his hand at work, his mercy, his tender mercy for all those who believe in Jesus.

Closing up our time together in verses 77 onward it says that part of John's ministry was to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.

Again, this forgiveness of sins coming through faith in Jesus Christ because of the tender mercy of our

God whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.

If you're following along in the notes, the ministry of John would begin to bring light to those in darkness and make way for peace.

Now this wasn't just a figurative peace or a peace that one would just feel in the bosom of their hearts but instead this was to bring and make way for the prince of peace, the one who was promised, the one who was prophesied in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 saying this, unto us a child is born, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.

His name shall be wonderful counselor, the mighty God, everlasting father, the prince of peace.

And of the increase of his government there shall be no end. This promised peace is the

Lord Jesus Christ. It is no wonder then in the early days of the

Christian movement, the Christian movement was called simply the way.

The way of what? Well certainly the way of peace, the way of life, the way of truth.

Because Jesus himself said of himself in John 14 6 I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the father but by me. Jesus is the way.

He is the way of peace who is the light who shines in the darkness, who shines in the shadow of death to guide our feet into peace out of Sheol, out of Hades, out of the pits of hell itself so that we may have life eternal and peace with God.

That peace can be yours. It can be yours today. And the

Bible says and commands this, that men, women, and children everywhere need to repent of their sins, trust in Jesus, and believe that God has raised him from the dead.

And the Bible says you will be given the gift of eternal life. If you have not made that declaration in your own heart, if you have not repented of your sins, the

Bible says while it is still called today to not run from the voice of God, but to heed the warning that comes from his word.

Not to harden your hearts as in the days of rebellion as the Israelites did and they were destroyed, but rather that you would hear this word and that you would heed its warning to trust in Jesus.

John the Baptist preached this message. He preached this message about the way, the way that he was making, the way that he was participating in to make way for Jesus Christ.

I want you to write this in the last part of our notes this morning. John the Baptist was to be the prophet of God and who was he preparing the way for?

Notice again what it says in the text of scripture in Luke chapter 1 and it says in verse 76 and your child and you child will be called the prophet of the

Most High for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.

Prophet of the Most High, the Lord God Almighty.

So who was he preparing the way for? For the Lord God. Yahweh. Yahweh.

Namely the Christ. So I want you to write that in there. John the

Baptist was to be the prophet of God to prepare the way for Yahweh the

Lord, namely the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus is the promised

Messiah. He is the one who is He is the one who brings light in the midst of darkness, peace in the midst of death and hope for those who are hopeless.

May he be your hope, may he be your stay, may he be all that you need and require for life today.

Let me pray. Bountiful and blessed

Savior, we thank you that you have given us hope. We thank you that you have given us light in the midst of a dark world.

We thank you that you have shined your light, the light of your gospel, the light of your truth, the light of your peace upon the people of God today.

Lord we pray that if there are those here in our midst who have not yet come to receive that perfect light that light that casts out all fear, that light that shines in the darkness and men did not understand it that light that is able to transfer us from darkness into the kingdom of your beloved

Son. Lord help that light shine in the hearts of all those who believe and repent on this good news.

I pray Lord that you would help us even now as believers not to lose sight of this light that has shined in darkness but to even all the more grow in appreciation for all that you have done.

For raising up a horn of salvation, raising up John the Baptist to be the forerunner and now even in this dispensation of time as we get the benefits of being in the new covenant that we would grow all the more in appreciation for the elements and for the ordinance that you've established, namely the

Lord's Supper and baptism by immersion. We thank you for all that you do and all that you have done for the salvation of your people.

May it continue to shine brightly in our hearts as you proclaim this message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ onto the unbelieving nations that they too may receive light in darkness and that the light of the gospel of Christ may dawn on this wicked world.