Zacharias' Song, Part 3

To open your word and to study the greatness of your character, and we ask today Lord as we begin to Understand more about the coming of Messiah That we would realize that everything in the Old Testament pointed to what was fulfilled in the New Testament and how the two so Wonderfully come together to show us a marvelous plan of salvation the plan That you had from the beginning To redeem a bride for your son That we might be a part of a great and glorious kingdom where Jesus Christ rules and reigns forever in Jesus name you pray Amen To remain your Bible to Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 It's always good to know What I'm gonna preach on from week to week It's always the next set of verses or the next verse or the next paragraph as we continue to go through the book of Luke We will conclude Luke chapter 1 today We've been in it many many weeks, but we're going to conclude today and we're going to understand more about how the Old Testament Was fulfilled in the New Testament and how the two come together Every time I get together to share with you from the Word of the Lord, especially a text like today My mind is overwhelmed by the amount of information I somehow need to communicate to you and I know that sometimes you are a little confused sometimes you're a little bit in a fog and I Asked your forgiveness for that.

I try to convey it as clearly as possible and sometimes what's in my mind Doesn't always come out through my mouth as I want it to come out But I trust that the Spirit of God will work in your hearts today and you'll be able to understand Luke chapter 1 verses 67 to 80 if you haven't been with us and your plot right down in the middle of this thing It's gonna be kind of hard for you to catch up. We have a tape ministry You can always buy the CDs or the tapes to understand where we have been But before the birth of Christ before the birth of the Messiah in Luke chapter 2 We must understand the Benedictus of Zacharias the praise of this man the father of John the Baptist what it is he was praising God for because this becomes a very Pivotal text for us to understand how Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism how Judaism is the root but Christianity is the fruit Zacharias understood that he kind of brings it all together for us Remember he was a man who was approached by an angel in the temple as he was performing his priestly duties And the angel told him that his wife would conceive and bear a child now whose wife was up in years She had been barren.

She was known as Baron Elizabeth and yet the angel of the Lord that is Gabriel would come to him and announced to him. This is what's going to take place Your wife will conceive she will have a child but he didn't believe and so there was a miracle performed on him He was made unable to speak unable to hear for nine months And he somehow had to communicate with his wife the glorious Appearance of this angel in the temple without ever having the opportunity to speak to her or hear what she says And so for nine months there's been this pent-up praise inside this man And when John is finally born He bursts forth in praise and we are able to understand what it is He said by looking at verse 67 down through verse number 80 So let me review just briefly for you as we begin to bring this text to a close It says in verse 67 and his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited us and accomplished redemption For his people.

That's the theme of Zacharias a song. It's a theme centered around redemption that God has visited his people That God is bringing redemption to his own And then he says in verse 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant Excuse me Zacharias knows that there was a promise given to David Many years ago. It's called the Davidic promise the Davidic covenant He says in verse number 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old You can read about the Davidic promise in 2nd.

Samuel chapter 7 2nd. Samuel chapter 23 1st Chronicles chapter 17 Psalm 89 Isaiah 9 6 and 7 It's a promise reiterated 40 different times in the Old Testament Because it's the root of the nation of Israel. They will have a king from the loins of David who will rule and reign on the throne of David in the city of Jerusalem forever and ever and ever and Zacharias knows that Zacharias is a priest. He understands Old Testament prophecy He understands that the horn of salvation comes from the house of David He understands that the power of God to save is in the house of David and so he refers back to the Davidic covenant the promise that God made to David that he would have a Son that would sit on the throne forever and ever and then it says in verse 71 Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us That is in essence the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant That is when the king comes and when the king rules Israel will be saved from their enemies They will no longer live in fear Their king will rule and they will serve with him and that is the essence of What happens when the king returns and then in verse 72?

It says to show mercy toward our fathers and to remember his holy covenant the oath Which he swore to Abraham our father now He goes even further back in history to talk about the God the covenant God made with Abraham The Abrahamic covenant that not only would they have a king who would rule and reign in the land But they would actually have a land and they would be a blessing in that land And they would be a blessing to other people in that land And they would understand the parameters of that land in Genesis chapter 15 a covenant reiterated eight times Specifically in the book of Genesis.

It's called the Abrahamic covenant. It's a covenant that God made with Abraham that he would show mercy to his father's Abraham Isaac Jacob and of course Joseph in verse 74 says to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies in other words when we are finally delivered from the hand of Our enemies because of the coming to the king we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him All our days that was Abrahamic promise that we would be able to serve the Lord God of Israel With holiness and with righteousness because of the mercy he shows upon us She's Zacharias is bringing everything together for us to help us to understand what is taking place Because of the birth of his son John the Baptist who was the forerunner to the Messiah Who is right now in the womb of Mary as he is giving praise to God and he will be born in Luke chapter 2 that is the Messiah so we pick up the narrative where we left off last week in verse number 76 and listen to what Zacharias says and You child will be called the prophet of the Most High For you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways Now John or now Zacharias speaks to his son John and maybe he's holding John in his arms as he's given this praise But he says and now you child He is speaking to this newborn baby eight days old We know that because earlier Luke chapter 1 this eight day old baby Named John in his father's arms.

He says you child are the prophet of the most high God Elion we've already talked about the son of the Most High. That's what Messiah will be called the son of the Most High God and now he we understand that that John will be the prophet of the Most High There hadn't been a prophet in Israel over 400 years There hadn't been a miracle in Israel over 500 years and all of a sudden God had visited his people and God was now speaking and Now John was going to be that forerunner. He was going to be that prophet who would go before the Most High God in other words Zacharias recognizes that Messiah is the Most High God Zacharias recognizes Excuse me that the baby in the womb of Mary is God In the flesh and His son is the forerunner.

His son is the prophet That makes the paths clear that prepares the way of the Lord he knows that because of what took place in verse number 17 when the angel said to him and It is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers Back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord So he knows his son is going to make clear the paths He knows he is the fulfillment of Isaiah 40 verse number 3 He know his son is the fulfillment of Malachi 3 verse number 1 He know knows because his son is coming in the spirit and power of Elijah That he is a part of fulfillment of Malachi chapter 4 Zacharias knows these Old Testament verses because he's well-versed in the Old Testament so he knows these things and He has his son in his arms that he he is speaking to a son and saying you're the one who's gonna prepare the way of the Messiah You're gonna prepare the way of the Lord You're gonna prepare the way of the Most High God You son have a great responsibility Responsibility Wow, what a what an amazing time that must have been How was his son Gonna prepare the way of the Lord What was what his son do If you go up to verse door down to verse number 80 It says and the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit and he lived in the deserts Until the day of his public appearance to Israel It isn't a desert John the Baptist was a son of a priest He should have been wearing the priestly garb, but he didn't wear the priestly garb He wore the humble garb And when he began to prepare the way of the Lord, he didn't come out to the people and say hey Guess what?

I got good news put on your best clothes. Why because the king is coming. It's gonna be a great day in Israel Let's have a celebration because the king is here. That's not what he said. He said repent For the kingdom of heaven is at hand Repent and be baptized Based on the forgiveness of your sins Listen, John the Baptist was not a preacher of the Old Covenant He was a preacher of the New Covenant Because only through the fulfillment of the New Covenant could one receive the forgiveness of sins And so although John the Baptist was in essence an Old Testament prophet He preached a New Covenant message Because he preached the forgiveness of sins based on a repentant spirit Now Israel had problems with that They didn't like that Because when their king came he would be different than all the other kings.

They wanted a monarch They wanted a man on a throne They wanted one who would overthrow the the Roman government. The Roman oppression was was weighing them down and They had been under the weight of other leaders for centuries and they were looking for deliverance. And so in their mind Redemption or deliverance was more political and more social than anything else But in reality, it was a spiritual deliverance They didn't get it In fact, we've told you before that even John the Baptist had a hard time with it, didn't he?

I mean he came and preached Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world as he pointed to the coming of Messiah and yet In the book of Matthew the 11th chapter It says this verse 2 Now when John in prison heard the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him Are you the expected one or shall we look? for someone else Here was John the forerunner to the Messiah who went and preached the coming of Messiah and preached that people should be baptized based on the forgiveness of their sins and Yet when was all said and done he was in prison Why would John be in prison if this was the Messiah?

Because his concept of Messiah was a political ruler would would be one who would overthrow the government and if John's in prison He shouldn't be there Because he was a forerunner to the coming king So he sends his men back and says you asked this one are you the expected one? Are you the Messiah? Are you the one that we're longing for? Did I make a mistake, but I say the wrong thing And Jesus responds with these words in Matthew 11 You go and report to John what you hear and see the blind receive sight the lame walk The lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are raised up the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed as he who keeps from stumbling over me You go back and tell John I'm everything they could ever dream of I am the expected one But John came and preached repentance.

He didn't like that. So whatever they do they cut off his head, right? So Jesus who followed John came and preached repentance and what did he do? What happened to him? He was crucified and the Apostles followed Christ and they began preaching repentance. What happened to them? They were all killed What's that tell you you preach a gospel of repentance? What's gonna happen? You're a dead man That's just the truth. You don't believe me. Do you revelation 20 turn there with you with me if you would revelation 20 John Richmond, this is for you.

John loves it when I speak about revelation So John this is for you revelation 20 verse number 4 and I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given to Them and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded. Oh Who's been beheaded Because the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had Not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years John says I see the those who had been beheaded because of the word of their testimony Those who had preached the gospel that was truth a gospel of repentance happens during the tribulation time What goes around comes around you preach the truth and you preach repentance and you start confronting people on their sin Guess what?

They don't like that They don't like that They get very angry with you and you start telling them Listen, let me tell you something You need to turn from your sin and turn to the Living God of the universe You see the reason most of us are not beheaded for Christ is because we preach the wrong message The reason there are so many churches that are so popular is because they're not preaching the message of repentance Based on the forgiveness of sins.

They don't preach a new covenant message And so they're well accepted by the community instead of condemned By the community John came preaching the gospel of repentance. He died Jesus came preaching a gospel of repentance and was crucified The Apostles came preaching the same exact gospel and every one of them was killed because of what they believed About who Jesus was You see we need to learn from this in our own lives, don't we Stand up and take note Stand strong on the truth of the Word of God as John did Because Jesus was the fulfillment of that word, but Israel was looking for external redemption not internal redemption Let me say it to you this way in verse 77 it says To give to his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, that's the new covenant Now it doesn't say new covenant, but I'm going to show you in a minute, but that's what the new covenant is all about It's about the the forgiveness of sins.

It's recognizing that you're a sinner It's repenting of your sins and self righteous people don't like to hear that message And the reason that message is given is because the verse 78 because of the tender mercy of our God Our God is a merciful God and we're going to talk about that here in just a second, but understand this Folks what is the what the problem is in life is our sin That that's the main issue at hand and we need to understand sin And if I was to take you back to Romans chapter 7 you understand that Paul talks about the presence of sin He calls the presence of sin the law of sin Now you need to understand what he means by the law of sin and understood to understand what the new covenant does to an individual He calls the presence of sin the law of sin and when he speaks of the law of sin He's not speaking about a set of rules or regulations.

He's speaking about a power He is speaking about a force. So when Paul says In Romans 7 about the law of sin. He's talking about the force within us Sin is a force and sin dominates an individual's life That's why the Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God That's why the Bible says that death passed upon all men for all men sin Why because they are born sinners why because we are all sons of Adam Romans chapter 5 verse number 12 That's why Romans 3 10 says that there is none good.

No, not one. There is none who seeks after God why? Because we are all sinners in the depths of our hearts and there is a force within us that moves us to continue to sin We are born sinners because of a sin nature and we are born separated from God because of that sin nature and That sin nature moves us forces us compels us bends us towards sin So once Paul speaks of the law of sin, he's talking about the force of sin. Let me give you another example the law of gravity The law of gravity you jump up guess what happens you come right back down again Why because you are forced back to the earth why because of the gravitational pull of the earth?

I'm not a big science whiz so I don't know all the ins and outs of that All I know is that if I jump up, I'm coming back down again. I'm not gonna stay up and That's a force that brings me down The law of gravity is like the law of sin It's a force that moves me and bends me to commit more and more acts of sin And There was no message that God would give there would be no law That God would give that would be able to change the force within me for example the Ten Commandments all Tell us about the character and nature of Almighty God, right?

And I can read the Ten Commandments and I can say I got to do this. I can't commit adultery. I can't still steal I can't lie. I can't bear false witness. I can't do those things I'm not supposed to do them, but there's nothing inside of me that moves me to obey them and There's nothing inside of me that makes me obey them Sure, I might go through life without ever having an affair Sure I might go through life without ever stealing a pencil off somebody's desk So I might go through life and never lie to a single soul But if you offend in one point of the law, you've broken the entire law and So we have to understand that there there is nothing within me That moves me to obey the voice of God Nothing And so I begin to realize that I can't keep the law of God.

That's what the Mosaic Law was all about The Mosaic Law was to help me realize. You know what? I can't keep these things I can't I can't always do what God says.

He only gave me ten. It's not like he gave me a hundred and ten He gave me ten Ten commandments. I can't keep even one of them Why because there's no force within me to keep it The external law does not change the internal heart of a man The law was designed to show us our sin. The law was designed to show us. We need mercy. We need grace We need forgiveness. Oh God have mercy upon me a sinner God. I can't do this. I need you That's what the law was designed to do. So we have a problem. We can't keep what God demands us to keep So, what do we do We're gonna have a solution to that God's always had a solution Because of the law of sin in my life because I am a sinner By nature because I am compelled and bent and forced and enticed to sin it's like it's like hunger can be a force can't it Thirst can be a force.

It moves me sexual Sin can be a force in an individual's life fear can be a force. It moves me to do something It compels me it controls me Sin controls me because I'm born a sinner and That's why the Bible says all your righteousness is as filthy rags it means nothing to God Because there's nothing on the inside that makes you acceptable to God There's nothing there except sin and Sin forces me and sin drives me and sin compels me And no matter how great the Davidic Covenant was no matter how great the Abrahamic Covenant was.

I couldn't do what God said And God says if you obey me if you serve me if you walk with me if you love me If you commit your life to me And yeah, I can't do that So, what do I do I'm left in no man's land God demands that I do these things that I can't I can't do it So what happens to me?

God says I've got a great plan. I got a way to make it all come together And you can read in the book of Joel the book of Hosea the back of Malachi the book of Deuteronomy all about the new covenant Because the new covenant was based on the forgiveness of sins The most familiar verse Jeremiah 31 if you got your Bible turn there with me if you would please Jeremiah chapter 31 Still with me I haven't lost you yet. Have I not asleep? That's why we make it really cold in here to keep you awake Last Sunday some of you were sleeping.

I won't name you but I wrote your names down in my Bible over here inside That's not true, I don't have my glasses on so I can't even see your faces I Just assume you all smile when I preach and all not an all nod. Yes Anyway, Jeremiah 31 verse 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord I will put my law remember the word law means force. I will put my force I will put my power within them and on their heart I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall not teach again each man his Neighbor and each man his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me From the least of them to the greatest of them declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more that my friend is the new covenant God is gonna forgive us of our sins and when he forgives us of our sins.

He is gonna put a law within our heart He is gonna put a force within our lives Which compels me now to obey the law of God and enables me to fulfill the law of God Which I was unable to do before In fact, it makes me desire to do what God says That's the new covenant And God says I'm gonna put a law.

I'm gonna write it. I'm gonna put a force in their lives I'm gonna put a power in their lives and they're gonna want to all know me for they all will and this is the salvation of Israel You see Israel will be saved Romans 11 tells us that there's coming a day where Israel will be all saved. We'll talk about that in a second Turn over to the book of Ezekiel Another familiar verse when it comes to the new covenant Ezekiel chapter 36 verse number 24 And God says for I will take you from the nations gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land That's Abrahamic promise.

Then. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances That my friend is new covenant teaching that God is going to put his spirit within you That is the new force.

That is the new law within the man of God it is the Spirit of God that takes up residence in the Individual that moves him and compels him and drives him to obey the Word of God because he loves his God See we love him because he first loved us Man doesn't by nature love God We don't come out of the womb saying boy.

It's so great to be alive. I love God We don't say that we don't love God. You can only love God because he first loved you first John teaches that and Once you recognize the magnitude of that love that he would send his only begotten Son to die on the cross for your sins Rise again the third day you give your life to him.

He writes his law on your heart He takes up residence in your life He now becomes the force that moves you compels you to want to love him and obey him for God says when this happens You will obey my statutes So you can't do it But once this happens You're going to want to do it See that's that's new covenant teaching and that's what the Bible taught And Zacharias knew it Zacharias knew that there would be the forgiveness of sins That would come to his people and they would be saved They'd be in their land And the king would rule their lives And Zacharias is bringing this all together for us But no matter how many times you read the Old Testament You never really truly knew The means by which a new covenant would be adopted So we to have in the gospel of Luke the 22nd chapter the 20th verse are these words When he takes the cup after supper saying this cup Is the new covenant in?

my blood Now you begin to understand how the new covenant all comes together It's by the blood of Jesus Christ And now you begin to understand more and more of the Abrahamic Covenant where on Genesis chapter 22 Abraham instead of seeing a resurrection of a son Experienced a substitution there on Mount Moriah because God would provide himself as the substitute He would provide himself as the sacrificial lamb and when Christ takes the cup in the upper room He says this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

This is how I'm going to cleanse you This is how I'm going to wipe away your sin Take your stony heart and make it soft and put my spirit within you. This is how it's gonna happen It's gonna come through my shed blood on Calvary's tree That's what salvation is. So the new covenant It's a promise of God eternal promise of God which he will change a sinner's heart and forgive them of their sins and One day Israel is going to experience that how do we know that Zechariah chapter 12 verse number 10 says it this way And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication So that they will look on me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son And they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn in that day There will be great mourning in Jerusalem like the morning of ha Dada drum on in the plain of Megiddo and the land will mourn every family by itself the family of the house of David by Itself and their wives by themselves and the family of the house of Nathan by itself and the wives by themselves Why is that because a new covenant is a personal covenant and yet the personal covenant eventuates into a National covenant it begins individually and moves corporately across all of Israel and it says in verse number 13 or chapter 13 verse number 1 in that day a fountain will be open for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity The promise that one day Israel will be saved one day They will look on him in whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as an only child and they will realize that They crucified their Messiah.

They will realize that he was the fulfillment of new covenant promise They will realize that that's the only way they can receive the forgiveness of sins. It's to the sacrificial substitutionary work of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross That's it. And one day they're all going to realize that on this day Zacharias understood it There'd be the forgiveness of sins for his people why because of the tender mercy of God Why are you forgiven of your sins? because of God's tender mercies That's why Remember way back in Exodus chapter 34 how God described himself to Moses Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed the Lord the Lord God compassionate Gracious slow to anger abounding loving kindness and truth who keeps loving kindness for thousands who forgives iniquity Transgression and sin That's God He is a God who is filled with mercy a God filled with compassion a God filled with goodness Because he knows if he wasn't that way we would never be saved Because we would never seek him on our own.

We would never go after him on our own He would have to demonstrate his love toward us Why and while we are yet sinners and die for us and with his tender mercies draw us to himself and Zacharias knows we received the knowledge of salvation for the forgiveness of sins because of the tender mercies of the Lord God of Israel He knows that and then he says in verse 70 With which the Sun rise from on high shall visit us Now he knows That the forgiveness of sins comes when the Sun rise from on high Visits now, who's that?

That's Messiah That's who that is Remember we talked about the phrase up in verse 68 Bless to be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people Well, when when the Bible says that God has visited us it is in essence when the supernatural invades the natural Zacharias is now saying that the Sun rise from on high Shall visit us.

In other words, the supernatural is once again going to invade the natural In essence, he is saying that the Sun rise from on high is the Lord God of Israel He in essence is saying that the the baby in the womb of Mary is the Sun rise from on high Who is the Lord God of Israel? Who's going to visit us and bring redemption to us because only God can redeem his people because the book of Isaiah says that only God is the Savior and there is no other See that Everything points to Jesus Christ the Messiah Sunrise from on high the sunrise is going to come down from heaven remember over in in Psalm 84 11.

It says that the Lord God is a sun s u n and a shield Sona speaks about the sunrise Matthew chapter 2 verse number 2 says the wise men came because they wanted to know Where he who was born king of the Jews resides? Because there was a star that led them Revelation 2 tells us that the overcomer Receives the morning star Revelation 22 tells us that I Jesus and the bright and morning star When he speaks about the Sun dawning over in Peter's epistle, it says this in 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse number 19 And so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp Shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star Arises in your hearts to a Jew.

They knew that the Messiah was the sunrise They knew that he was the dawn of a new day That he was the bright and morning star that would come and shed light in their darkness And that's what Zechariah says When he says with which the sunrise from on high shall visit us to shine Upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death That's right out of Isaiah chapter 9 See they lived in darkness. They lived in the shadow of eternal death There was no escape from their depravity. There was no escape from their despondency there was no escape from their ultimately ultimate destiny of separation from God unless the sunrise from on high should visit them and shine light on their darkness Because they lived in darkness Turn back with me if you would to Isaiah chapter 59 Says in verse 1 behold the Lord's hand is not short that it cannot save neither is his ear so dull that it cannot hear But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not Hear it's not that God is incapable of saving you It's not that God doesn't want to save you He can and he wants to the point is your condition your sins have separated you from God That's the problem and he goes on in verses 3 to 7 or 3 to 8 to describe Their sin and the essence of what it was that kept them from understanding and Realizing the Lord God of Israel verse 9 therefore justice is far from us and righteousness does not overtake us We hope for light but behold darkness for brightness But we walk in gloom we grope along the wall like blind men We grope like those who have no eyes we stumble at midday as in the twilight among those who are vigorous We are like dead men Israel knows that we have no light.

We're in darkness. We can't see where we're going We need somehow for someone to shed the light upon us so we know where to go Verse 15 Now the Lord saw and it was a pleasing in his sight that there was no justice And he saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede Then his own arm brought salvation to him and his righteousness upheld him and he put on Righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. Now, you know where Paul got it Ephesians chapter 6 And he put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself for zeal as a mantle There was no man to intercede.

There was no justice So God says I will arm myself and I will be fit for battle and I will go to man and I will redeem man And then it says this in verse number 20 and a Redeemer will come to Zion Redeemer will come Zechariah 9 9 was the fulfillment of that first coming to Zion when he rode on a donkey Romans 11 25 to 20 29 is the second fulfillment of that coming when Messiah comes to Zion and all Israel will be saved And a Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression and Jacob declares the Lord The Redeemer will come to Zion when there is repentance in all of Israel and as for me This is my covenant with them.

This is the new covenant Says the Lord my spirit which is upon you and my words which I have put in your mouth Shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your offspring nor from the mouth of your offsprings Offspring says the Lord from now and for evermore. Why verse 1 of chapter 60 remember? There's no chapter differential in the Hebrew text arise shine for your light has Come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you for behold darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness of peoples but the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will appear upon you and nations will come to your light and kings the brightness of your rising Zacharias knows this the Sunrise from on high the Sunrise from heaven the Redeemer will come and save us from our sins We walk around in darkness.

We grope as blind men. We don't know where to go. We don't know how to go anywhere And God says I will arm myself I will wrap myself I will put on the helmet of salvation and I will come and I will redeem my people in Israel And they will repent of their sins Because I am the light.

Is that not true that Jesus said I am the light of the world John says that he is the light that lighteth every man that comes into the world first John 5 says that God is Light He is that bright morning star He is the sunrise that will shine on the heart of a dark depraved dead Defiled soul that so desperately needs to be delivered from its sin That's what God does How does he save him Who is this Messiah Verse 6 chapter 61 verse number 1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has in order me to bring good news to the afflicted He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to Prisoners to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord Whoever the Messiah is that's what he will do In Luke chapter 4 when Jesus got to preach in that synagogue in Nazareth.

What did he say Isaiah chapter 61? verse number 1 This is the fable year of our Lord. He said I have come to redeem man. I have come to release the prisoner from his enslavement from his captivity How does God save us verse 10 I Will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My soul would exalt in my God for he has clothed me with garments of salvation He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness That's how God saves you that's justification. That's righteousness That's imputation where God takes his life and clothes you with himself so that he Can rule and reign your life That's salvation Zachariah said We so desperately need the Sunrise to shine upon us who walk in darkness To guide our feet into the way of what?

peace Isaiah chapter 59 verse number 8 says this They do not know the way of peace Israel does not know the way of peace But Messiah came to guide them in the ways of peace Now do you understand why you pray for the peace of Jerusalem Why they have no peace Because they don't know the prince of peace And there is never rest for the soul who does not know God There is no rest the Bible says For the wicked done And the Messiah came To guide Israel in the ways of peace.

He was the prince of peace And that's why he wept over Jerusalem Because they did not recognize the day of their visitation And I wonder this morning if you have recognized that day I Wonder if you know the identity of Jesus Christ our Lord Zacharias helps us understand forgiveness is possible only through the sunrise that shines in your heart Forgiveness can only come through the knowledge of salvation and salvation only comes to the Lord God of Israel who has visited his people And I wonder this morning if you know the way of salvation if you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior And The Bible tells us that from eight days on the child continued to grow and to become strong the Spirit he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance in Israel And we'll look at that day in Luke chapter 3 verse number 1 But before that day There had to be the birth of the Messiah The sunrise who would shine upon their hearts would be born.

In Luke chapter 2 is that infamous most wonderful story of how Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Man was born in Bethlehem's village 2,000 years ago. We're going to spend the next month studying Luke chapter 2 so you understand that the sunrise has certainly dawned on the hearts of man. Let's pray together. Father we thank you for today and are so grateful that Lord we can open the text of your word and while we can't cover every verse surrounding every topic we know the truth of God reigns supreme and we do ask if there be one person in this room today who does not know you as Lord and Savior, who has not experienced the forgiveness of sins, who has not repented of their sins and turned to the Lord God of Israel.

May today be the day of their salvation. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.