Let's continue our worship here this evening by turning in the word of God to Luke chapter one. You're reading here in a few moments beginning in verse 67. As we've journeyed this far in the gospel of Luke we've really seen a lot of seeing haven't we. It all kind of started back with Elizabeth when Mary came and visited her. And she had a great cause for rejoicing. In fact, you'll remember as she was there at Mary, the babe in her womb, John, leaped in her womb, really at the joy of knowing that he was in the presence of Mary, but more importantly, knowing that he was in the presence of Mary's baby, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so she sang and her song was met with a second song, that of Mary's, who, unlike Elizabeth, didn't come in with excited shouts and sort of Hebrew poetry. Mary's song was more of a majestic calm to it. And of course, we studied that and we realized that her song was really a reflection of her belief in the gospel, in the incarnation, the story of Christmas. Well, as I mentioned before, Mary stayed with Elizabeth and Zacharias until John was born some three months into her visit. And of course, that was a very significant event when John the Baptist was born. And so it was another event that should be marked with another song. So that's what we have here today is a third song here in the Gospel of Luke. And this time it is sung not by Elizabeth, but by her husband, Zacharias, this old man who was a priest who once was deaf and dumb. You'll recall he was that way because of his unbelief towards the Lord. But once is the key word in that because he really found himself believing, seeing what God was doing, how God has been gracious, not only to him and his wife and giving them this son, but his graciousness to all of humanity and sending the Messiah. And so he must sing about this. And so let's turn our attention to this song that is known as Zacharias Benedictus. Luke, chapter one, beginning in verse sixty seven. And his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers. and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swear to our father, Abraham, that he would grant to us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins. Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high have visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. And then after Zacharias, a song Luke gives this brief commentary in reference to John the Baptist and says in the child grew and wax strong in spirit and was in the desert till the day of his showing unto Israel. There's a song that's an old song that we even sing here quite often at our church. Count your many blessings. It goes like this. When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God has done. Counting your blessings and naming them one by one. That's basically what we see Zacharias doing here in his song. As I mentioned, this is known as Zacharias's Benedictus, which is really just the first word that you would find in the Latin translation of this. And it just simply means blessing. We get our English word benediction or blessing from this Latin word. Blessing God, praising God. Now, as I mentioned a moment ago, Zacharias is now able to do this. He's now offered to offer praise to the Lord and sing this hymn. His formerly once tongue that couldn't speak in his ears that were stopped up have now been loosened and unstopped. The man who could only communicate via his hand motions is now able to sing unto the Lord a joyful song, and he's very excited. about what the Lord is doing, he is counting his blessings. That's hard for us to do sometimes, isn't it? Counting our blessings. Oftentimes we fail in telling God, thank you for the things that he's done, praising him for all that we have in our life. We're frail and we forget. There's busyness in life. And of course, there's our own sin that clouds our vision to see what God has done, not only in our own lives, but indeed throughout all of the earth. We forget to thank him for our families, our spouse and our children, to thank him for our jobs, our health, the ruse over our head and the food on our table and many other many blessings that come our way. But, you know, there is one thing, unfortunately, because we are such forgetful sinners that we often forget to thank the Lord for a blessing that we often fail to count. And indeed, it is this blessing that is the most tragic blessing that we forget to count each day of our average Christian life, and that is thanking God and praising God for our redemption. Well, Zacharias didn't miss this opportunity as he sings this Benedictus, this blessing of God. And certainly, as we read through that just a moment ago, I think it's safe for us to assume and infer that, yes, he was very joyful. I mean, he's an old man who's been waiting a long time to have a son and really probably gave up gave up on all prospect that he would ever have a son. And so, yes, he is joyful, no doubt, over the birth of his son, John the Baptist. But let us understand, as you look at this hymn, the thing that really energizes him, the thing that his praise circulates around is not so much the birth of his son, John, but the birth of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is praising God for the merciful mission of Messiah. His redemption, if you look at verse 78, he puts it this way, the tender mercy of our God. So this morning, I'd like to encourage us along the following lines. Let us bless God. For the merciful mission of Messiah. Zacharias praises God for a few different reasons, the first of which is how God planned this merciful mission. Let us bless God for the merciful mission of Messiah was planned. We see this beginning of verse 67 going all the way down to verse 75. Now we're told in the text here that Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was singing this song. Here's a man again, he was a priest, an older priest. And as you look at this hymn, you quickly realize here is a guy who knew his Old Testament very well. In fact, a lot of Bible scholars have pointed out that there is a certain certain Hebrew poetry to the way in which he sings a song. And some have suggested that in this short little song that somehow Zacharias is either quoted directly or made allusion to some 33 different references in the Old Testament. Here's a man who knew his Bible. He is a man. who is using the Old Testament to give unbroken successive praises unto the Lord. And it's interesting where Luke and more importantly, the Holy Spirit arranges this song to be in this first chapter and in the overall scope of the Gospel of Luke. What we see here is really a good transition into what we're going to be picking up next week with the birth of Jesus, a good segue. Because what we see in John the Baptist is a sort of narrative pattern that will be repeated as we get into chapter two with the Lord Jesus. What did we see? What's the pattern with John? The pattern was this. There was first a promise given of this son coming. And then there was the birth of John. And then, of course, now we have a Zacharias is praise of God in reference to that birth. The same pattern will be repeated as we get into chapter two with Jesus. What have we seen so far with Jesus so far? All we have seen is what the promise. But as you turn the page into chapter two, you're going to immediately see that the next thing up. Is the birth, and of course, later on, we'll see praise to God from a lot of different venues in reference to that birth, so in a sense, John is foreshadowing What really is the focal point in the climax of these first two chapters in the Gospel of Luke? You can think of it this way, not to not to make this mundane or trivial, but you can think of John kind of as the pregame show. OK, what is the pregame show all about? It's about building the hype, right? It's about getting people excited for the main attraction. Now, John is not the main attraction. Jesus is. He is building the hype for the visitation of God through Jesus Christ. And so Zacharias is taking this all in and he's just got to bless God. He's overwhelmed with the mission of Messiah. He's marveling at the mercy of it all. And part of the mercy that he is marveling at is the fact that this was already predicted and promised by God. Have you ever come to the prophecies of the Bible? And you see how God has promised something and he later fulfills that. Have you ever read those portions of Scripture and said, boy, what a merciful God we have. If you haven't, I would encourage you to think along those lines, it is a merciful God that should promise and then keep his promises. Now, what we see here in this song are really two major prophecies or you could say two major covenants that are given that of the David or the promises made to David and Abrahamic. The promises the promise made to Abraham, the first of which Zacharias references, is the Davidic one. See this in verses 68 through 71. And so the merciful mission of Messiah was planned in the Davidic covenant. Let me read those verses again. Zacharias sings, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. As he spake by the mouth of the holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us. Zacharias praises God, he says, God, you are praiseworthy because you have visited and redeemed your people. Did you catch how he said that you have visited and redeemed your people? Has that happened yet? No. He's talking about a future event, but how does he talk about it? He talks about it in the past tense is sometimes called using prophecy in the past tense. And what's the point of that? The point of that is this. The reason why he is so confident is because when God promises something, it's as good as done. It's a sure thing. You know what? That same thing holds true for you in my life. If we are a believer in Jesus Christ, we can know that if God has promised something to us in His Word, we don't have to talk about it in the future tense. We can talk about in the past tense. It's as good as done. You know, when you start to think about how God promises us things and because He is so faithful, it ought to change not only the way we think, but it ought to change the way that we speak. It ought to change our vocabulary. Not well, if God will do this in my life, if he has promised it, you can say when God does this in my life. What are the promises? Well, there are so many in Scripture, we can never even begin to scratch the surface, but let's just take one, for example, my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches. Do you have a need? You're a Christian. He'll supply it. You don't have to say if God will supply it. It's when God supplies. Now, don't don't mistake me here. I'm not talking about this naming and claimant nonsense. Wherever you dream up anything you say, OK, you're going to kind of strong arm God into making sure that he gives that to you. I'm not talking about that. A lot of times we define our needs in ways that really aren't needs. There's more of once. But if you have a legitimate need, God promises he will meet that. So you need to just grab hold of that promise and let it change the way you think and the way you speak. Well, you look at verse 68, the specific promise that Zacharias is latching on here is the visitation and redemption of God's people visitation. You know, this is something that really only the godly and the faithful in Israel at this time we're looking for. The fact is, is a lot of Jewish people by this point, because God hadn't spoken, he hadn't broken the silence for several centuries now, a lot of them had given up hope. Here they are being ruled by the Roman Empire and the iron fist of Rome was no doubt squeezing the hope out of a lot of these people. But there were people like Zacharias, like Elizabeth, like Mary. And then, as we'll see later on, Simeon and Anna, who believed that God was going to step through the silent door of human history and make his appearance known. God was going to visit. But note there, it is God doing the visiting. It is God taking the initiative. It is God doing the saving. As Jonah so succinctly puts it, salvation is of the Lord. He chooses when and where and how He will visit. And let us understand very clearly, as sinners that we are, that God in all fairness and all justice had every right to just absolutely ignore us. And if He had so chosen to wipe every one of us out, He has that prerogative. But in tender mercy. He broke the silence and he visited. He took on human flesh, came as a babe, a holy child, lived a sinless, perfect life. He lived the law that we so fail in. And he bore the penalty that we deserved. He was born in a wooden cattle trough that he would one day pick up a wooden cross. Born to die. And this leads to Zacharias, his declaration of redemption, this indeed is his redemption is the purpose of his visitation. God didn't come on to the scene and visit humanity just to say, hey, how are you doing? He came with a mission in mind. He had a purpose in mind that of redeeming his people from their sins. Now, you look at this word redemption. And we've got to immediately admit and understand that Zacharias probably didn't have as full of an idea or perspective on redemption, say, as Paul the Apostle. How could he have? And it's very highly doubtful that he would have imagined that Messiah would have redeemed his people by means of suffering a humiliating death on the cross. Nevertheless, as we do look in this passage, it does seem that he understood the basics. He grabbed hold of the kernel truths. More than likely, Zacharias probably thought of redemption much like Moses did deliverance from a foreign political oppressor. Of course, Moses would have been dealing with deliverance from Egypt. Zacharias would have thought of it more in terms of Rome, but I think it is naive. For us to say that the deliverance spoken of here is only nationalistic, that it's only political. In fact, you look down at verse 77, Zacharias sings about Messiah bringing remission and forgiveness of sin. And so, yes, Zacharias probably didn't have a full perspective on redemption, as we who are the benefactors of a completed canon have. He probably couldn't see there being two sort of phases. a spiritual deliverance in Christ first coming and then more of a political nationalistic deliverance in his second coming. He probably viewed it more as just one package, a complete deliverance, a complete redemption. To redeem. Redeem. What does that mean? It means to buy out. Buy out of bondage. We have sung about that this morning, and if you are a believer, In Jesus Christ, when you hear that word redeemed, it is a charming word in your hearing. But if you are an unbeliever, I can guarantee you it is a word that insults you. Because what it says is it says that you are a slave to sin and you need somebody outside of yourself to get you out of this predicament. But if you were here today and you have found yourself ensnared with sin. And you need to deliver and you know you do. There is great hope for you. Call upon the Lord Jesus Christ to be that great emancipator, to deliver you from the tyrannical rule of your sin. And understand that it's not going to be your morality, it's not going to be your decency or your own self-perceived righteousness that releases you from this bondage. All your works of righteousness are filthy rags. All your works of righteousness are like taking one of these little Fisher Price plastic stalls and trying to cut through and sever the iron chain of sin. It's never going to work. Only Jesus Christ. Can unlock you from the bondage of your sin? For us that are believers, those of us who have cast ourselves On the gracious mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us not live in sin. For we have been free from sin to serve Christ. It is a denial of our status in the Lord Jesus to go back and be slaves to sin. To say to ourselves, it's OK if I put on the shackles of sin again. It's OK. What's the big deal if I just buy myself to all that is wrong and unrighteous in our in this world and in our own hearts? No, for the believer. And I like how the New American Standard translates verse 68. It says God accomplished redemption. It's a done deal for you, believer. It's done. And because it is done, live like it. Live in that reality. that you have been redeemed. Well, Zacharias, this divinely inspired soloist, gives us, in verse 69, a direct reference to the Davidic covenant. What is that? Well, if you're ever interested in looking up, it's in 2 Samuel 7. We won't take the time to talk about it too much other than to say this. Basically, what God promised David was that there would be one day one greater than he and greater than his son Solomon. And the way in which he'd be greater is this. His throne would last forever. And the faithful in Israel, all those centuries, talking about a thousand years or so from the time of David to Zacharias, during all those centuries, the faithful in Israel had great hope because of this promise. It ignited their hearts with joy. Isaiah, the prophet, is a good example of one who would have had such joy, and he sings or he writes of this and Isaiah nine, he says, for unto us a child was born unto us, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace of the increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end. upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever more. This redeemer that we speak of is no weakling. He is a strong, sovereign savior. And as the text alludes to here, he is a powerful potentate that can bring peace because he is the Prince of Peace. Or, as Zacharias says, if you look at verse 69, he is the horn of salvation for us. What a beautiful metaphor to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the horn of our salvation. Now, This is the only time this is used in reference to Christ in the New Testament. And so for us to understand what this Horn of Salvation means, we've got to draw upon the Old Testament to get some significance from it. And basically, what we are dealing with here is a picture of strength in the Savior. You might want to put this little cross reference there next to that verse in chapter one of Luke. verse 69 cross reference to Psalm 92, verse nine and 10. I think it gives us a pretty helpful picture of what this horn of salvation means. You can turn there if you'd like or just listen. It says in Psalm 92. For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies will perish. All who do iniquity will be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox horn. In the Old Testament, it's a particular reference to an animal, especially that of an ox, a wild ox. It's a show of strength. You look at an ox with its horns, maybe if you've gone to the big year, some other state fair, it's got these big monstrous horns on an animal. You can see that these things If they were to get a hold of you would hurt really bad. OK. A show of strength. And so when the Old Testament talks about the lifting up of the horn, it pictures the animal flinging its head back. Showing its strength, in fact, it's been said the Cape Buffalo right before they charge its prey will scuff the surface of the ground and begin to sway its head, indicating that it's about to go on a mission of death. And so when you when you think of this horn of salvation, understand that a horn on an animal like an ox, yes, is a is a beautiful ornament. It's a decoration of beauty on that animal. But understand also that it is a weapon of vengeance. Have you ever thought of Jesus, the horn of salvation in reference to Christmas like this? See, this is the irony of the Christmas message. Yes, Jesus is much like that little lamb that that beautiful, frail little child laying in the hay like a lamb. But understand, that babe laying in the manger is one of God's greatest demonstrations of strength the world has ever known. He is a wild ox horn in that manger. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ came as a lamb to be slaughtered by His enemies, that He may be that wild ox horn to turn around and to utterly destroy His enemies. And as verse 71 says, to destroy our enemies as well. Exacting final retribution. And so if you are a sinner here today. Look unto Jesus. He is strong to save. He has slain all foes and rivals that would seek to destroy your soul. He has cleared them out of the way your sin and Satan. And so bow before him and know that the high holy horn of salvation is able to save you to the uttermost. Come to God by him. Do you sense yourself slain by your sin and left for dead? Then let Jesus come in and slay all your sin. All your lasciviousness, all your life, all your lust, all your depravity. Let him lay it low. Let him destroy it, for he alone can do this. You must understand, as Zacharias did, that God not only promised and planned redemption, but Christ was powerful enough to accomplish it. Verse 70. Redemption was planned, promised, prophesied of old by the mouth of God's holy prophets, which have been since the world began. that the horn of salvation be lifted up. Well, for what purpose, Zacharias? Why was Jesus the horn of salvation lifted up? Why verse 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us? Yes, Jesus destroys. All of our enemies. Our sin. Our spiritual enemies. And yes, one day we'll destroy even all political enemies as he gathers in his people and reigns a reign of peace. Jesus is for us, as David talked of in one of his songs, and he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliver my God, my rock, my strength and whom I take refuge, my shield in the horn of my salvation. See, Jesus is not only my defense. But he takes the offense and he vanquishes all foes, all rivals. He has slain them all. Dear people, can you think of anything more empowering and more securing than to know that Jesus is your defense as well as your offense? That there is nothing that can go through him, around him to get to you if you are in Christ Jesus. He is like that wild ox standing out before you and no enemy dare try to go against him. He protects us and he pounces on all rivals that seek to harm you. Do you understand? Do you understand that the world, the flesh and the devil can't touch you if you are in Christ? And so, like Zacharias, we need to believe and let it change our thinking. Let the gospel change the way we think and the way we even speak about these things. It's not if I have victory, it's I have victory. I'm in Christ. I'm more than a conqueror through the Lord Jesus Christ, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And this promise is backed up with his power. Well, the song transitions. Into a kind of new movement, still connected to the last one we saw dealing with the Davidic covenant, and it turns our attention now to the Abrahamic covenant. The merciful mission of Messiah was planned in the Abrahamic covenant. See, it's a verse of seventy two through seventy five. And this makes sense, right, because God's promise to Abraham was given before it was given to David. And what was that promise? What was that covenant? Basically, God said to Abraham, it's going to be through you that all nations of the world will be blessed and ultimately that would be fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham. You look at verse 72, he makes direct reference to this covenant when he says to perform the mercy promise to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swear to our father, Abraham. What Zacharias is basically highlighting here are two things you've got to know about God. One is he is merciful. The second is he is faithful. Do you understand that all you will ever know, all that you will ever, ever, ever know as a believer in Jesus Christ is the mercy of God? Now, how can I say that so confidently? Here's why. Because God is faithful. And what he promises he fulfills. He has to. He has to stay true to his word. He has promised mercy to you, so rest in that. Be assured of that. Now, why is such mercy extended to you, child of God? Look at verse 73, that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our minute enemies might might do what Zacharias serve him. In what way? without fear and holiness and righteousness before him." Well, for how long, Zacharias? All the days of our life. The reason why God redeems you, delivers you, yes, from all political foes, yes, from all spiritual foes, is that ultimately you would serve Him without fear and holiness and in righteousness. You do not come to Christ. You are not set free from your bondage to be a traitor. But to serve Him. Listen, it makes no sense at all for Christ to release us from the bondage of sin only for us to be a traitor and to go back into that sin. Listen, whether you realize it or not, every one of us in here is a slave. The question is, is who's your master? Is it your sin? Or is it Jesus Christ? Because if it's Christ, he is your master, but he is your master, delightfully so. It is a delight to serve him and dear people, if you do not feel this in your heart, if you do not sense the desire and a joy to serve Christ, then I assure you, you have not been delivered yet. You have no idea what you need to be delivered from. You cannot deliver yourself, but the strong horn of salvation can. So cast yourself on his mercy. I ask us. Do not such strong assurances of mercy and faithfulness and boldness to serve him. You see, the gospel teaches Christmas, teaches that if you come to this babe laying in the manger, you need to do so on your knees. Because he is the king of heaven. And that when you leave that place. You serve him. You serve him on your knees because he is your king. Well, beginning in verse 76, Zacharias starts in the second stanza of his song. Really, his second major reason for praising God We saw, first of all, that we're to bless God for the merciful mission of Messiah was planned. And what we see in these verses, verses 76 and verse 77, is that the mission of Messiah was prepared. I won't read these verses again, but basically, yes, Zacharias is rejoicing over the birth of his son, but he recognizes that his son is just the preparer of the way and not the way himself. Here's a man rejoicing. Can you look at Zacharias? Imagine him. Here's this old man that's been waiting all these years for a son, and he finally has it. But more than that, he's been waiting all these decades for when Messiah would visit his people. And you can kind of maybe see him looking at his son getting kind of choked up at this part of the hymn that he is singing and just looking down at his boy and saying, God, my boy, my son, to be the high prophet that would usher in and point to the Messiah. Oh, God, this is overwhelming. I do not deserve such mercy. Lord, I rejoice. That the Savior has come. Look at verse 77, you can see that Zacharias also understood the focus of John's ministry, it says there that John would give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. What was John's ministry all about real quickly? It was basically to turn the eyes of sinners away from themselves and their sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine being in that desert, that wilderness? Hearing John the Baptist belt out for that first time when Jesus came, behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Indeed, they had to be the zenith of his preaching ministry. And I say to you here today, if you are outside of Christ, you're not known his mercy to you. Though I have to say in much feebler voice than that of John the Baptist, I must preach to you what all preachers must preach, and that is behold, look to the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will take away your sins. Look unto Him. And when you do, you can know that you will have peace. There is no greater peace in all this world than knowing that your sins are forgiven. To know the peace that God, who was once your enemy, is now taking care of your enemies for you. A peace that passes all understanding. That's our last point here. Bless God. For the merciful mission of Messiah was planned, it was prepared and finally it brings peace. Look at verse 78. Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the days from on high have visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. And how is this piece brought on because of through the tender mercy of our God. Peace. You know, one of the most disturbing things to our peace. Because we are created as social creatures is to be left all alone. If you were to talk to the average prisoner, they would tell you that probably one of the worst things I've ever experienced, one of the greatest penalties that I've ever experienced is being thrown in the hole, as they call it. Solitary confinement away from everyone else, isolated, groping in the darkness. You know, that's a picture of us as sinners, prisoners held in bondage to our sin, slaves to sin, groping in the darkness, alienated and isolated from God. But in tender mercy. In tender mercy. As we lay in As it were, that rotting. Prison sale. The Lord Jesus Christ vanquished Satan, who vigilantly guarded the cell as it were. And though we as being sinners and at enmity with God, we're trying to hold back the door he and conquering power charged in and invaded. And as we sang earlier, oh, how the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed thee in tender mercy. As the text says, the sunrise from on high has visited us to give light to us that sit in darkness, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Daylight has sprung. Heaven's champion come. And if you are a believer, you'll never be the same. Other places in the Bible make reference to this and referring to the morning star has arisen in our hearts, the root and the offspring of David and the bright morning star, the light of the world. Peace. Do you know it? Has Christ invaded your heart? Peace has finally come. The absence of conflict. The absoluteness of completeness in Christ. The shadow of death is gone, darkness to light, death to life. And as Hebrews says in Hebrews 2, 14, the captive prisoner has been delivered through death. He Christ destroyed him that had the power of death. That is the devil and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Came across a pretty helpful picture that I want to have hanging your mind as we leave here this morning. It's not my own. It was actually stated by Dr. John Piper. And I want to just read to you what he said in regards to this passage, because I think it'll be helpful for us placing this image in our mind. He said, Satan may be a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, but none of those who take refuge in Christ, the horn of our salvation, can he destroy? If I were an artist, I would paint for my home a special Christmas painting this year and hanging on the wall near the manger scene. It would be one of those big oil canvases. The scene would be of a distant hill at dawn. The sun is about to rise behind the hill and the rays shoot up and out of the picture. And all alone, silhouetted on the hill in the center of the picture, very dark, is a magnificent wild ox. standing with his back seven feet tall and the crown of his head nine feet tall on both sides of his head. There is a horn curved out and up six feet long and 12 inches thick at the base. The ox stands there serene and sovereign facing the southern sky with a massive neck, slightly cocked and impaled at the end of his right horn hangs a huge lion dead. Christ has conquered all. Let us bless him. Let us bless him for the mercy of the mission he accomplished on the cross for us. Let's bow our heads.