I encourage you to take a Bible, go to Luke chapter one, be looking at verses 67 through 80. And in the previous section, we were told about the birth of John the Baptist. It ended with Zachariah blessing God. Why did he bless God? That was because of the amazing birth of his son. That's why. Amazing son who would pave the way for the Lord Jesus. What exactly did Zachariah bless God about? What did he say? That's what we find in the text before us. Let me pray once more before you read it. Father in heaven. We thank you for the privilege of coming to worship you. And Lord, truly there is nothing more exciting than coming to worship. Perhaps some of us struggle to believe that. We pray then that you would draw near to us during this time and that you would change our perspective, that we would be more thrilled with Christ than we ever have been. Holy Spirit, come and work, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. If you are able, please stand for the reading of God's Word, starting in verse 67. And John's father, Zachariah, 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 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 and from the hand of all who hate us. Show 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 hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the most high. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 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. To give light to those who sit in darkness and 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. The grass withers and the flower fades, but God's word stands forever. Please be seated. You probably have a title in your Bible. right before the section we just read that says Zacharias song. That's what this section is often called. It's the second of several songs that Luke records in chapters one and two. It's often called the Benedictus. The name is taken from the first term in Zacharias song from the Latin translation. It's the word blessed. And like Mary's song, the Magnificat, it has a rich historical tradition in the church. The song appeared early in Christian worship services, for example, the primary founder of medieval mass monasticism, Benedict of Nursia. He used it in the sixth century. And the song has frequently been used. in Anglican Methodist and Lutheran worship services and Presbyterians have sung it as well, various forms of the Benedictus. We will sing a form of it in just a little bit after the sermon. But what makes Zechariah's song significant is actually the theology that is bound up with it. For our purposes this morning, we're gonna focus on four theological truths and see how they connect to our lives. First, the Benedictus teaches us something about the Holy Spirit. After Zechariah's tongue was let loose, what did he do? Complain about his nine months of silence? Gossip about all the stuff that he heard for nearly a year but couldn't share with everybody? Of course not. Zechariah, verse 67, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. Luke had already specifically mentioned the work of the Spirit four times previously and now here once more. But the same Spirit who caused baby John to leap with joy and Elizabeth to praise God for the Messiah's presence in Mary's womb was the same Spirit who is now at work in and through Zechariah. And what did the Holy Spirit do in Zachariah's life at this moment? One rather simple thing is that the Holy Spirit empowered him to praise. That's what he's doing in this song. He's praising God. And we need to remember this guy, no offense to some of you, but he's up there in age. He's not a spring chicken. He faced some of the same physical trials that a few of you face. The Spirit strengthened him to worship. And the fact is, each one of us needs the Holy Spirit to do the same thing in us. We get distracted in worship. Maybe you've already experienced that today. We get silent in worship. We are weak in worshiping God. A thousand things creep into our minds when it comes time to worship the Lord. And we let our burdens keep us from praising God. We need the spirit to empower our praise. God created us for worship. God made us to have. the deepest of joys in worship. Our primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him. Plead with the Holy Spirit to empower your praise. Ask the Lord to help you to worship him. Do it on Saturday night as you prepare to come. Do it on Sunday morning as you come. Do it in the preparation for worship as you get ready to worship. The Lord empowered Zachariah's praise and he will do that for you. What else did the Spirit do in Zachariah's life at this moment? He also enabled baby John's dad to proclaim truth. That's what is at the heart of the word prophesied in verse 47. Zechariah forth told God's words like Samuel did, Elijah or Isaiah. Zechariah was filled with the spirit which caused him to speak truth. The Spirit does not cause people to speak inspired new truth like he did here with Zechariah, Revelation 22, the biblical canon has been closed. Ephesians 2.20, the ministry of the apostles and prophets to inerrantly and infallibly write scripture was a part of the foundation of the church and it does not continue today. But still, the Spirit does enable us to proclaim Bible truth. are to formally do that, a preacher, an elder, a Sunday school teacher. But generally speaking, all Christians are proclaimers in a sense. The Spirit enabled the stammering Moses to speak truth. The Spirit enabled the teenage Mary to speak truth. No matter who we are, The Spirit can enable us as Christians to speak truth, particularly truth found in the words. Luke 12, verse 12, Jesus said to his disciples, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you ought to say. And the Spirit uses means to teach us. He uses scripture. But we won't know what to say to people if we don't know scripture. We can't speak truth if we don't know the truth that has been given in the Bible. And we see in this text clearly Zechariah knew scripture. There are over 30 references or connections to Old Testament passages in this song. This guy bled Bible. And the Holy Spirit did not download information into his brain, thereby enabling him to proclaim this inspired song. That's not how it works. And on top of that, he did not sleep on his Bible and learn all this information via osmosis. Spirit used what was already stored in his mind. And sewn into his heart over years. Zachariah had memorized scripture and meditated on scripture. He had listened to scripture, read, taught, preached. If we are to speak truth. We've got to imitate people like Zachariah. We've got to place ourselves before God's word. And not let excuses keep us from doing so, like, you know, I'm too young, I'm too old, I'm too busy, I'm too uneducated. It doesn't matter, the spirit empowers people to praise and he enables his people to proclaim. But you've got to know the word. I mentioned a few weeks ago. How Presbyterians have the reputation for not talking about the spirits. Maybe that's another reason why we also have the reputation of being the frozen chosen. We don't depend on the spirit to empower our praise. And we don't rely on the spirit to help us evangelize. We don't trust the spirit to give us words of encouragement for our brothers and sisters in Christ. because we don't immerse ourselves in Scripture. The Spirit always works with the Word to empower and enable us. See Zechariah. Show me someone who is steeped in Scripture and loves Scripture, and I will show you someone who is filled with the Spirit and empowered to praise and enabled to speak truth. Ask the Holy Spirit to do that in your life today, right now. To empower your praise. And enable you to speak truth. The truth of God's word that you have set yourself before. And to speak that truth. To the people that are around you. Like parents, your children. students, your fellow classmates, those you work with, those in your family, truth to the church, words of encouragement. It's important to think about this topic, the work of the Holy Spirit. And yet, what is the exact subject, the details of Zachariah's song? He begins by describing a holy visit. You see the word visit pop up on more than one occasion in Zechariah's song. First instance is in verse 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited His people. And once again, notice the past tense verb visited. Nearly all the verbs in Zechariah's song are past tense. But they don't speak of something that happened previously. Zachariah references future events while describing them as having already occurs. Why did he do that? He's confident, he's confident in God's visitation and what will happen when he comes. He's so confident he speaks of it as if it's already happened. And you don't miss, though, that the visitation of God is an old theme in the Bible. Genesis chapter 21, the Lord visited Sarah in her barrenness and gave her and Abraham Isaac. And we will see tonight in the evening sermon, 1 Samuel chapter two, the Lord visited Hannah and she gave birth to five more kids. God's visitation is always for the benefit of his people. And God's visitation culminates in Jesus Christ, because Matthew chapter one, verse 21, Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, God who visited us. God who became one of us. He assumed our likeness. To visit us. What did Zachariah say God in Christ would do upon his visitation? With these next few weeks, you're going to go and visit some people's houses. Perhaps you could think, what will I do when I get there? This is a much grander theme. What would Christ do upon his visitation? One thing is verse 68, he will bring redemption. What does that mean? You might remember one way to look at redemption is being rescued from something. Genesis chapter 48, Jacob acknowledged that God had redeemed him from all sorts of evil. Exodus 15, by the Lord's altruistic arm, he redeemed Israel from Pharaoh's grip. Redemption is the language of freedom from mighty foes. And redemption is the language of liberation unto life. We talked about this from the book of Ruth in the evening service. Ruth and Naomi were redeemed from destitution and despair. And they were redeemed to a new life filled with joy and blessing. That's redemption. That's what this holy visitation Zechariah spoke of would bring. Who was the one doing the visiting? We heard it earlier in the assurance of pardon. In Christ, we have redemption. Jesus is the one visiting to bring redemption. And what does his redemption include? It's redemption from sin and death. It's redemption from the power and penalty of our depravity. And it's redemption to a new position before God, forgiven, not forsaken. It's redemption to a new life. Not hopeless, but hope filled. And Zachariah praised the Lord for this redemption. And every day. We have an opportunity. To praise God. For the same. Christian. Anytime you are tempted. To joylessness. Or despair. Stop right then and go back to Christ and his redeeming work. Anytime you are tempted to joylessness or despair, stop right at that moment. Take your thoughts back to Christ. Go back to Christ and His redeeming work. Ponder His life, death, and resurrection, and how you have been redeemed. Because that is truth that will cause unfading joy in the soul. What did Zacharias say Christ's holy visit would do? One thing is redeem. Another is exercise power. Verses 68 and 69, God's visit in Christ redeemed a people and raised up a horn of salvation. What in the world is a horn of salvation? It's a metaphor used several times in the Old Testament to communicate the power of God. David called the Lord. His horn of salvation. He's the one who shows his strength by tying up the strong man and plundering his house. In Mark 3, isn't that what Jesus said he came to do? To bind up Satan and to take a people out of the devil's domain? Satan is the chief example of the enemies Zachariah spoke about in verse seventy one. The devil hates God's people. The devil hates you. And on earth is not his equal. Satan is more powerful than you are. That's why if you are to be snatched from his clutches, you need one more powerful than you to visit. You need Jesus, the strong savior. And it could be you sit here today doubting Christ's power. You doubt whether he can save your lost loved one. whether he can deliver you from affliction, whether he can help you fight against a particular sin, whether he can forgive your sins. Listen to Zachariah's song because it's telling you Jesus is able. Doubt no more. Perhaps for many of us, though. We don't doubt Christ's power. We believe it. But we doubt his willingness to use his power. For our benefit. That often expresses itself when we go through seasons of hardship. We doubt whether Christ cares enough to powerfully work in our lives. We doubt that our mighty savior will exercise his might for our good. And we forget that he defines the good. Not us. Listen carefully. Sometimes Christ's power is shown. In bringing us into trials. taking us through trials and transforming us in trials. Sometimes Christ's power is shown in bringing us into trials, taking us through trials and transforming us during trials. Jesus is the omnipotence and flesh to God. Since he has redeemed us from sin and death and delivered us from the devil. He is able. He is willing. Doubt no more. Trust Christ to exercise his power in your life. For your good. What did Zachariah say Christ would do? Redeem. Exercise power. And also show God's faithfulness. Show God's faithfulness. How? Verses 72 and 73, Zachariah declared Christ's coming would show the mercy promised to our fathers. It would show God remembered his holy covenant that he swore to Abraham. And what was the nature of that covenant with Abraham? God would give Abraham a promised seed who would raise up a promised people and who would take them into a promised land. Zechariah in his song was announcing Jesus was this promised seed. Zechariah was declaring the faithfulness of God. That he always fulfills his pledges, even ancient ones. The Lord never forgets. Call that to mind when troubles come into your life. The Lord took flesh. Visited. Brought redemption. He visited and exercised power. He visited and showed that none of his promises will go unfulfilled. Including promises like Psalm 46. And the promise that God will presently help you through your most trying days. You just need the patience. To wait on God. And to rest in his goodness. It was because of Christ's love that He visited. It is because of His love that He will hold you fast as you wait on Him. God is faithful. Christ's visit is all the evidence you need of that. So trust Him. And yet, His holy visit should impact us in other ways. For example, it should compel us to holy service. Verses 74 and 75, Zachariah is saying about how Christ's advent and His deliverance of His people was so that they might serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness all their days. Zachariah praised the Lord that in Christ, They would be set free to give themselves as sacrifices to God. And then, do you know what he did? He gave a model for service. Look at verse 76. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people, and the forgiveness of their sins. His example of service is his son, John, and what he would do. We will explore the ministry of John the Baptist on a different Sunday. But just note how he is a template for service. John the Baptist was a proclaimer of the Word. He was the forerunner to Christ. He told people about salvation, repentance, and the forgiveness of sins. And he walked in holiness. He served God in these ways. Even when people opposed him. John was a model of holy service, he sought to serve God, he sought righteousness, he sought the Lord, despite the opposition of others. John had been set free to serve the Lord, and he did. In our natural state. Whom do we serve? Ourselves. The world. But we don't have to. Because Christ is the key, the key of David. Who unlocks our shackles so that we can serve the Lord, so that we can serve the Lord by seeking godliness and not the bondage of iniquity. In Christ, we have been emancipated. Sin remains, but it does not reign in the heart of the believer. As Christians, we have been set free to serve God. And it is a glad service. Let me tell you something. There is nothing more delightful in life than serving the Lord. There is nothing that will truly make you happy. Then pursuing righteousness, don't you want happiness? Serve the Lord. Dear Christian. You have been saved for service. Holiness. Serve God. Go after godliness. Many of you might recall the story of the Englishman. Who struck it rich in California during the gold rush. On his way back home. He stopped in New Orleans, he wanted to. See the slave trade in action. There was a woman on the platform. She was being bid for. Evil men were willing to pay. A ton of money. To do evil things to her. The man, as he watched it all going on, was shocked, couldn't believe it. And so he began to bid for her. Until he outspent everyone. In fact, he paid more. for a slave than anyone ever had. As the woman came down from the platform, do you remember what she did? She spit in his face. He took her over to the table and signed manumission papers. And she spit in his face again. He told her, Don't you realize what I've done for you? Set you free. The moment she paused, she looked at him. Tears began to well up in her eyes. She said, is it true that you paid more for me than anyone ever has for a slave? I said, yes, and now you are free. She paused again. Do you recall what she said? Can I be your slave forever? Can I be your slave forever? Jesus paid more than anyone ever could to set sinners like us free. came into the world to give himself. He who was rich became poor so that we who are poor would become rich in grace. That's what Christmas is all about. The child born to die to set us free. How can we not engage in holy service unto Christ? How can we not serve the Lord with love and zeal for holiness? How can we not empty ourselves for him? Who emptied himself for us? We don't need to be entertained in church. We need something better. We need to see Christ. We need to see this Christ. Because seeing Christ's loving service for us. Really should lead each one of us to say this Christmas to Jesus. Can I be your slave forever? Serve Christ. With fresh earnestness. And not on our terms. But his terms. Let us do so especially because of our last point, very brief. Holy light has come into this world. Verse 78, Zachariah closed his song by speaking about the sunrise that shall visit from on high. What kind of impact will this sunrise have? It will give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Zechariah spoke of Christ and how Jesus is the sun, S-U-N, of righteousness. He is the sunrise who breaks into the night, which means without Christ, we are left to grope in the shadows with no hope. Many of you here know that after the fall of communism, I lived in Ukraine as a missionary. At times, the local government, they turn off all the power in the city, especially at night. You couldn't see a thing. The darkness was so thick that you could virtually cut it with a knife. It was a felt darkness. The darkness of this world It's much worse. Because it is the darkness of sin. And it is so black, so bleak. We cannot make ourselves get through it. Maybe you feel that way today. Maybe you sit here today and you feel trapped by sin. You don't see a way forward. Your life, if you're honest, looks dark. What do you do? Look to the light. Look to Christ. Right now, embrace Jesus as your pilot. And he will guide your feet into the way of peace. It could be that the darkness you feel is because of the troubles of life. The gray clouds of suffering have walled you in and you cannot perceive the way ahead. What do you do? I, the light. I, Christ. He is the light of the world. He is the lamp set before you to mark your steps. Look to Christ. The Puritan John Bunyan and his classic work, Pilgrim's Progress. He has the character Christian. Go through the valley of the shadow of death. Christian had already been through one valley, it was the valley of humiliation and it was no fun. The valley of the shadow of death was much worse. As Christian journeyed, he saw on one side of him the ditch that the blind had led the blind into. On the other side was the ditch of sin that even great saints had fallen into. As he went on the path It grew narrow. At times it was so dark when he lifted his foot, he couldn't see where to step. But he did see the mouth of hell off to the side. Where sparks and noises came at him. So Christian put his sword away. And took up another weapon called all prayer. And he cried out to God, Oh Lord, deliver my soul. And this went on for a while. But then the shadow of death was turned into mourning. Do you know why? It's because God's candle was the light beating back the darkness. Christ is that candle. Christ is the one Zachariah sang about. He's the one we can sing about. He's our light, our hope, our joy, our peace, our delight. He is the way forward in the darkness of this world. Won't you today position yourself behind Christ And traces steps no matter where he leads you. Because Jesus is your lamp. He directs you by his spirit through the word. And he has a hold of you. With his nail scarred hands. Jesus will keep you from stumbling. Follow Christ in the darkness. knowing that he is the light through the darkness. Would you pray with me? Father in heaven, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ who is our light. The light who leads us through the darkness We thank you that the Lord Jesus gave himself up for us. He served us. May we serve him all our days. We thank you that he visited us and in visiting us, coming into this world, he redeemed us. He showed his power to rescue us. He showed us that you are faithful to the very end. So then, Holy Spirit, we come to you. And we pray that you would help us to depend upon you to entrust our lives to you. Father, to rest in your goodness and grace and Lord Jesus. To serve you with every ounce. Of energy that we have. We pray that you would work in us, we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.