12-19-10

GO, TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

LUKE 1:67-79

HOW MANY OF YOU FIND IT FRUSTERATING TO WAIT? ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT AND FRUSTERATING THINGS WE DO IS WAIT. WE WAIT IN THE DOCTOR S OFFICE, IN THE GROCERY STORE CHECK OUT LINE, IN TRAFFIC. THAT MAY BE THE MOST FRUSTERATING THING FOR ME, TRAFFIC! I M SURE THAT IF ZACHARIAH AND HIS WIFE ELIZABETH COULD OBSERVE OUR FRUSTERATION THEY WOULD SMILE KNOWINGLY FOR THEY WAITED YEARS AND PRAYED DAILY THAT GOD WOULD BLESS THEM WITH A SON. I M SURE YOU REMEMBER THAT ZACHARIAH WAS A PRIEST. HE HAD GONE TO GOD AND HE SAYS, OH, GOD, GIVE ME A SON. SO, THE ANGEL GABRIEL APPEARS TO ZACHARIAH AND TELLS HIM HIS PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED, THAT GOD IS GOING TO GIVE THEM A SON. WHAT WAS ZACHARIAH S RESONSE? ZACHARIAH SAYS; HOW DO I KNOW THAT? MY WIFE IS OLD AND I AM OLD AND I DO NOT THINK WE CAN HAVE A CHILD. YET HE WAS STILL PRAYING FOR A SON!! HAVE YOU EVER PRAYED LIKE THAT; YOU ASK GOD FOR SOMETHING, BUT YOU DON T REALLY BELIEVE HE IS GOING TO GIVE IT TO YOU? SO, ZACHARIAH ASKED FOR A SIGN AND GABRIEL GAVE HIM ONE. HE TOLD ZACHARIAH, YOU WILL BE SILENT AND NOT ABLE TO SPEAK UNTIL THE DAY THIS HAPPENS. THIS SILENCE WOULD BE BOTH A PUNISHMENT FOR UNBELIEF AND A SIGN VERIFYING THE GOOD NEWS OF THE ANGEL. I. GOD SAVES US FROM SIN - LUKE 1:67-71 READ VERSES 57-66. THE VERY MOMENT ZACHARIAH HAD CONFIRMED THE WORD OF THE ANGEL, HE WAS ABLE TO SPEAK AGAIN AND WHEN HE SPOKE, HE GLORIFIED GOD. UNBELIEF HAD CLOSED HIS LIPS; FAITH OPENED THEM. UNBELIEF HAD CAUSED HIM TO NOT BE ABLE TO SPEAK; FAITH ENABLED HIM TO SPEAK AND TO PRAISE GOD. VERSE 67. ZACHARIAH S SONG IS A SONG OF PROPHECY. ZACHARIAH RECOGNIZES THAT HIS SON IS GOING TO BE THE FORERUNNER OF JESUS CHRIST AS FORETOLD BY MALACHI AND ISAIAH. JOHN IS TO BE THE ONE TO ANNOUNCE THE COMING MESSIAH. VERSE 68. IT IS REMARKABLE TO ME HOW FAITH ENABLES SOMEONE TO SPEAK OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE NOT YET HAPPENED AS THOUGH THEY HAVE ALREADY TAKEN PLACE. THAT S WHAT ZACHARIAH IS DOING HERE WHEN HE SAYS, HE HAS COME AND REDEEMED HIS PEOPLE. THEY WERE NOT YET REDEEMED; THAT IS, NOT ACTUALLY, BUT HE WAS SPEAKING IN THE FAITH THAT IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. HE KNEW THAT WITH THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE OF THIS CHILD, THEN THE REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL WAS JUST AS CERTAIN TO HAPPEN. WHAT IS REDEMPTION? IT IS DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE. NOT ONLY ISRAEL, BUT ALL THE NATIONS OF THE GENTILES WERE IN BONDAGE TO SIN AND THEY NEEDED TO BE REDEEMED. BEING REDEEMED IS TWO FOLD: FIRST, WE ARE REDEEMED FROM THE JUDGEMENT OF SIN.

SECOND, WE ARE REDEEMED FROM THE POWER OF SIN, THAT IS, WE ARE FREED FROM THE HOLD THAT SIN HAS ON US. VERSE 69. AN ANIMAL S HORN SIGNIFIED STRENGTH. THE PHRASE, HORN OF SALVATION PROBABLY MEANS A POWERFUL SAVIOR AND DELIVERER. GOD HAD PROMISED THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD COME FROM KING DAVID S LINE, AND MARY COMES FROM THE HOUSE OF DAVID. SO, JESUS COMING FROM THE HOUSE OF DAVID HAS THE POWER TO BRING SALVATION. VERSE 70. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING GOD HAD SPOKE OF AND PROMISED OF THE COMING MESSIAH. AND NOW THAT PROMISED SAVIOR WAS READY TO APPEAR. HIS FORERUNNER, JOHN, HAD ALREADY ARRIVED. VERSE 71. THE 3RD VERSE OF GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN STATES BEAUTIFULLY WHAT GOD DID IN SENDING JESUS, OUR SAVIOR: DOWN IN A LOWLY MANGER THE HUMBLE CHRIST WAS BORN AND GOD SENT US HIS SALVATION THAT BLESSED CHRISTMAS MORN. BECAUSE OF WHAT OUR SAVIOR HAS DONE FOR US, WE CAN JOIN IN PRAISING GOD FOR HIS GREAT SALVATION. WE CAN LOOK TO CHRIST TO DELIVER US FROM THE DEVIL AND FROM THE THINGS THAT SEEM TO DRAG US DOWN IN THIS LIFE. II. GOD SAVES US TO SERVE - LUKE 1:72-77 VERSE 72-73. TO SHOW MERCY. HOW HAS GOD DEALT MERCIFULLY WITH YOU? HOW DO YOU PERONALLY BENEFIT FROM GOD S HOLY COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM? WE ARE TOLD IN GENESIS THAT WHEN GOD MADE THE COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM, HE SAID THAT IN ABRAHAM S SEED ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH WOULD BE BLESSED, AND HE CONFIRMED IT WITH AN OATH. SO OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST CAME AS THAT PROMISED SEED FROM ABRAHAM, AND THROUGH HIM HAVEN T YOU RECEIVED A LOT OF BLESSINGS? VERSES 74 & 75 CONFIRM SOME OF THE BLESINGS WE HAVE RECEIVED. WHAT DOES VERSE 74 INDICATE IS THE PURPOSE OF OUR BEING RESCUED? WE ARE RESCUED IN ORDER THAT WE MIGHT SERVE HIM WITHOUT BEING FEARFUL OF OPPRESSION OF SIN. IS SERVING GOD AN OBLIGATION OR SOMETHING ELSE? VERSES 76 & 77. NOW WE COME TO THE LAST PART OF ZACHARIAH S PROPHECY. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HE TURNS TO THE BABY, JOHN AND SPEAKS TO HIM. PROPHET OF THE MOST HIGH. JESUS MADE THE STATEMENT THAT THOSE THAT WERE BORN OF WOMEN THERE WAS NOT A GREATER ONE THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST. ZACHARIAH RECOGNIZED THAT HIS SON, JOHN, WAS TO HAVE THIS HIGH HONOR OF BEING THE FORERUNNER AND PROPHET OF THE SAVIOR. JOHN WENT BEFORE JESUS TO PREPARE HIS WAY, TO GIVE KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION TO THE PEOPLE. WE MIGHT JUST DON T GIVE JOHN AND HIS WORK ALL THE CREDIT HE IS DUE. WE SIMPLY THINK OF HIM AS THE PERSON WHO CAME TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, AND WE FORGET THAT HE ALSO PRESENTED A MESSAGE OF GRACE. WHEN JOHN SAID BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD, HE WAS PROCLAIMING THE 2

GOSPEL MESSAGE IN ALL ITS SIMPLICITY. JOHN WAS TO POINT THE SAVIOR OUT, NOT MERELY AS THE KING OF ISRAEL, BUT AS THE ONE WHO WAS TO PROVIDE SALVATION FOR ALL SINFUL HUMANITY. GOD SAVES PEOPLE SO THEY CAN SERVE HIM AS LONG AS THEY LIVE. BASED ON OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WE CHRISTIANS SHOULD MAKE SERVING GOD A PRIORITY. WE CAN HAVE NO GREATER MISSION THAN TO TELL OF THE SAVIOR WHO CAN AND WILL LIFT PEOPLE FROM THEIR SIN AND GUILT AS THEY REPENT AND PLACE THEIR FAITH IN HIM. III. GOD SAVES US FOR PEACE - LUKE 1:78-79 HERE IN THIS VERSE 78, HE SPEAKS OF THE GRACE OF GOD BEING MANIFESTED TO SINFUL PEOPLE LIKE THE RISING OF THE MORNING SUN AFTER THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT. LOOK AT VERSE 79: TO SHINE ON THOSE LIVING IN DARKNESS AND IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH, THAT WAS THE CONDITION OF THE WORLD ALL BOUT HIM WHEN ZACHARIAH SPOKE THOSE WORDS. AND I BELIEVE THAT IS THE CONDITION OF A LARGE PART OF THE WORLD THAT WE LIVE IN TODAY. THAT S WHY GOD ENTRUSTED THE GOSPEL TO US CHRISTIANS THAT WE MIGHT CARRY THAT GOSPEL TO ALL THE WORLD THAT IT MIGHT GIVE LIGHT TO THOSE LIVING IN DARKNESS. DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW WROTE THE POEM CHRISTMAS BELLS, WHICH PROVIDED THE WORDS OF THE HYMN I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY. HE WROTE THIS POEM AFTER HE LEARNED HIS SON HAD SUFFERED WOUNDS IN BATTLE AND LONGFELLOW FEARED HIS SON WOULD DIE. THE THIRD STANZA REFLECTS HIS CONCERN: AND IN DESPAIR I BOWED MY HEAD: THERE IS NO PEACE ON EARTH, I SAID, FOR HATE IS STRONG, AND MOCKS THE SONG OF PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN. THE LAST TWO VERSES IN THE BAPTIST HYMNAL PROCLAIMS THAT GOD LIVES AND IS ACTIVE TO ENSURE THAT ULTIMATELY WRONG WILL FAIL AND RIGHT WILL PREVAIL THEN PEALED THE BELLS MORE LOUD AND DEEP: GOD IS NOT DEAD, NOR DOTH HE SLEEP; THE WRONG SHALL FAIL, THE RIGHT PREVAIL, WITH PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN. TILL, RINGING, SINGING ON ITS WAY, THE WORLD REVOLVED FROM NIGHT TO DAY A VOICE, A CHIME, A CHANT SUBLIME, OF PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN.

LET ME CLOSE WITH THIS THOUGHT: THROUGH JESUS OUR SAVIOR, GOD PROVIDED US WITH THE GREATEST OF ALL GIFTS OUR SALVATION. ALL OF US WHO KNOW JESUS AS OUR PERSONAL SAVIOR CAN PRAISE HIM AND LIVE VICTORIOUS LIVES WITHOUT FEAR BECAUSE WE SHARE THAT PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING.