LUKE 1:67-79 BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 1:67-79 Blessed Be The Lord God

You're listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. All right, good morning. I pray it is a good morning. I pray you can hear me. If you can hear me right now, send me a text message so I know. And if I don't get into text messages, I'll know there's some more troubleshooting to do. If you can't hear me, you can open up your Bible to Luke chapter 1.

And we're going to be looking at verses 67 through 79 together. Luke chapter 1, verses 67 through 79. I haven't got any text messages, so maybe I'd better double check this. Okay, Richard Bueno says we here. All right, thank you. I forgot about the delay, so that probably accounts for that. Boy, what a struggle to get online today. I'm losing all my tech cred today.

And I'm going to blame it on the streaming service. And I think all the churches streaming live nationwide at the same time, stressing out the systems and everything. So I had some challenges, but great to be with you finally. And so we're going to dive into Luke chapter one this morning and spend some time considering the prophecy of Jesus.

Zacharias. And so if you'll open up your Bible there to Luke chapter 1 verses 67 through 79. Let me begin by reading through the passage. It says this, Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, Blessed is 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. And

As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life,

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the highest, for you will 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, with which the day spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you that you do offer to us a way of peace in the midst of chaos. Lord, in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of destruction, as a result of sin. Lord, you have provided for us a way to have peace with you.

a way to have peace within. And so God, I pray that you would lead us by those still waters. Lord, that you would bring our hearts and our minds to rest as we focus on you and believe what you have declared in your word. I pray, God, that you would bless this time together in your word and bless all those who are watching and listening. Lord, may you continue to work in us the things that you want to accomplish. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Amen. Well, as we look at Luke chapter 1 this morning, I've titled the message, Blessed Be the Lord God. And it comes from verse 68, the first part of Zechariah's prophecy. He says, Blessed is the Lord God of Israel.

And the word bless, it means to speak well of. And if I'm blessing somebody, it means to speak well of them. We get the word eulogy from this word bless. It means to eulogize, to speak well of somebody. And when God blesses us, well, he speaks well of us and we are benefactors of his goodness towards us. And when he speaks, it's not just words, but things happen and God is working in our lives.

But when it comes to us blessing the Lord, blessed is the Lord God, it's really a matter of praise. It's us lauding and extolling the name of God, the character of God, the nature of God.

And so here's Zacharias as he has just seen his son born. John the Baptist is a whole history to that in Luke chapter one. He's an old man, received a visit from an angel and the fulfillment of some incredible promises that God has given to him.

But now as John the Baptist has been born, he can't help himself. He's filled with the Holy Spirit and he begins to just praise the Lord, saying, blessed is the Lord God of Israel. And so we want to spend some time thinking about

how blessed we are to be the people of God. And we want to spend some time blessing God ourselves and praising God. And how can we do that? How can we do that in the midst of the things that we're facing, in the challenges that we face, in the midst of the situations that are in front of us, and the difficulties perhaps that we're wrestling with? There can be many times, you know,

hard, it's hard to think of reasons to praise the Lord. And so here, as we look at Zechariah's prophecy, we can recenter ourselves on the truth and be refreshed and renewed in how we can praise the Lord, really no matter what is going on. And we can bless the Lord no matter what is happening in our lives.

And so the first thing we'll look at as we work our way through this passage is that we can bless God for providing a Savior. That's point number one this morning. Bless God for providing a Savior. It tells us again in verse 67, his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "'Blessed is 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. The first reason why we can bless God no matter what, we can praise God no matter what, because he has provided salvation. Now here is Zechariah, it says in verse 67, is filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is really interesting because God had been working with his people, of course, as you work your way through the Old Testament. You see the prophets of God and you see God working and speaking to his people. But what's not recorded is then that there's 400 years of silence between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

And here, this is one of those first instances where the Holy Spirit is now working again amongst the people. As the Lord is preparing to bring forth the Savior, Zacharias is filled with the Holy Spirit and he begins to prophesy.

And the people had not heard a word from the Lord like this. The people had not heard prophecies like this for hundreds of years. But now God is bringing forth the Savior. And so he's preparing the way and announcing through John the Baptist, but even before that, through his father, Zacharias. And he announces and prophesies by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit saying, "'Blessed is the Lord God of Israel "'because he has visited and redeemed his people.'"

The prophecy of Zacharias here, although he's rejoicing and celebrating the birth of his son, it's really not about his son. He'll address his son at the end of the prophecy. We'll see that in a few minutes. But at first, he is just celebrating the work of God. God has visited and redeemed his people.

The idea of God visiting is an interesting idea because, well, we know that it tells us in John chapter 1 that God became flesh. He tabernacled or he dwelt with us. The word visit, it means to inspect something closely, to draw near to something, to examine it or to observe it.

God didn't visit us from a distance or from far away. He doesn't just kind of view, you know, on a big screen, you know, all the way at the end of the galaxy. He just kind of watches and observes what's going on. But he visits us. He has come and drawn and became a man. And he has drawn near and become like us. And he knows what it is to be human. Because Jesus Christ, although he is God, became man and dwelt on earth.

He's extremely interested in us. We're his creation and he loves us dearly. And so he has drawn near. He has visited, and Zechariah says, and redeemed. And the idea of redemption is to set something free by paying a price. It could also be said as it was ransomed. That there was a ransom and there was a holding captive, but the Lord paid the ransom and we were held captive because

by our sins and really by the judgment that we deserve because of our sins. And so Zacharias here is foreshadowing or foreseeing the deliverance that will come through Jesus Christ. And he says, God has redeemed his people.

He has sent forth the Savior to pave the way, to provide the path of redemption so that people can be purchased back, their debt eliminated, and they can be free to know the Lord and walk with the Lord. He goes on to say that God has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. God has raised up a horn of salvation. The horn is a symbol of authority and power.

There is the salvation that God has provided through the house of David. And of course, we know that the Messiah that was prophesied about, the promised savior would be coming from the line of David, but also that Jesus,

who is the fulfillment of that promise, is from the line of David, both on his mom's side through Mary, we'll see that here in Luke, and through his dad's side, and we see that also in the genealogy in Matthew. And so here he begins, first of all, just by blessing God. And this is important for us to take note of. We can bless the Lord, we can praise the Lord, first of all, because

He has provided salvation. He's provided a savior. He has visited us. He cares deeply about us. And he made the means necessary for us to be able to be set free from sin and have the hope of eternal life and forgiveness with him by believing in Jesus Christ. Well, moving on to verses 70 through 73, we get the second point this morning, and that is bless God for speaking to his people.

Bless God for speaking to his people. He didn't just provide a savior 2,000 years ago and then, you know, that's it. But he continues to speak. And it's interesting here what Zechariah says in verse 70. It says, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been since the world began. And what I find interesting here in the things that Zechariah is saying is that

The Lord has been speaking through his prophets from the very beginning. And it caused me to stop and think, who was the first prophet? If there were prophets from the very beginning, since the world began, he says, who was the first prophet?

Well, if you're looking through the scriptures, the first mention of someone being a prophet is Abraham. It's found in Genesis chapter 20, verse 7, as God is speaking to Abimelech, and he tells Abimelech that Abraham is a prophet and that Abraham will pray for him. And so that's the first instance, as you're working your way through the scriptures, of someone specifically referred to as a prophet. But there were prophets before Abraham.

An example of that is the example of Enoch. It tells us in Jude chapter 1 verse 14 that Enoch, being the seventh from Adam, so the seventh generation from Adam, he prophesied about these men and addressing the situation that Jude is addressing there in Jude chapter 1. You can check that out on your own. But the point here is that long before Abraham, there was Enoch. And Enoch was a prophet. And a prophet is...

someone who speaks on behalf of God, someone who speaks forth the word of God, not necessarily telling the future. Sometimes that's part of it. But more importantly, speaking what it is that God has said or is saying to a particular group of people. And so we find all the way back towards the beginning, the seventh generation from Adam, there is Enoch and he is speaking on behalf of God.

And it's an extension of God visiting us. It's an extension of God caring about us. It's an extension of what it means that God desires for us to hear from him and to receive from him all that he has in store for us.

But I think it's interesting to consider there is perhaps a specific reference to another prophet that goes back even further than Enoch. And it's Jesus who makes reference to it. It's in Luke chapter 11, verse 50 and 51. There he's addressing the religious leaders and addressing, you know, their problems.

rejection of his ministry and of the word of God. And he's basically saying, you guys are rejecting just like your forefathers have been rejecting. And he says in verse 50 of Luke chapter 11, the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation because of their rejection of Jesus. Verse 51, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple.

And here Jesus makes reference to the blood of all the prophets, and he mentions the

The first one and the last one. Zechariah was the last prophet chronologically. And that's, well, not chronologically, but in the Hebrew Bible, in 2 Chronicles, that's the last book of the Hebrew Bible. So from the first book, you have Abel. The last book, you have 2 Chronicles. And Jesus there refers to then Abel as a prophet. Remember the son of Adam and Eve who was murdered by Cain?

We get a little bit of insight here that he wasn't just a man who offered a good sacrifice, but that he was a man who spoke for God. He was a prophet of God. Jesus refers to him this way. And so it's important to think about this. It's interesting to consider. From the very beginning, from the very beginning of creation, from the very beginning of the world, the very first generation, here's Adam and Eve, their son Abel, he's a prophet. And God has been seeking to speak to his people today.

from the very beginning. He's been using men like Abel, men like Zechariah. He's been using men and women throughout history to bring forth his word because of his care and his concern for his people. And so we have in our Bible many of those prophets and records of many of those prophecies. And yet I would also remind you that God was doing much more than what we actually have recorded in the scriptures.

God's prophets have been promising salvation, have been bringing forth the word of God since the very beginning, since the fall of Adam and Eve, really.

And God has been speaking to the Jewish people. He's been speaking to Gentiles. He's been speaking to Assyrians and Babylonians and Greeks and Romans and Italians and Amalekites and Canaanites and Hittites and Americans and the Chinese and, you know, the European Union. He has been speaking continually and perpetually. God continues to reach out and to bring forth his message. In verse 72, it says,

He says to perform the mercy promised to our fathers. And there is another reference to God speaking. He spoke forth promises, the promises of mercy. And he is now fulfilling those promises through Jesus Christ. In verse 73, he makes reference to the oath that he swore to Abraham. And God swore an oath to Abraham in Genesis chapter 22, that in his seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

that the Messiah, the Savior, would come as a descendant of Abraham, and God promised that to him. And so over and over and over again, we see God speaking to his people. And here, Zacharias is celebrating the Lord for that. He's rejoicing and praising God for that. No matter what's happening in our lives, no matter what we're going through, we can rejoice and praise the Lord for this as well.

God is speaking. He has spoken and we have a solid foundation in the word of God. Jesus referred to the scriptures and the word of God as a solid foundation in the illustration, the parable of the wise and foolish builder. The one who was wise dug down deep and founded his life upon the rock.

Jesus says, this is the person who takes my word and puts it into practice. God has given us something sure to build our lives upon. He's given us something sure to base our eternity upon. It's his word because God has been speaking to his people since the very beginning. Bless God for speaking to us, for revealing his word and bringing forth the truth that we need to hear.

Well, moving on to verses 74 and 75, we get the third point for this morning, and that is bless God for the chance to serve him without fear. Bless God for the chance to serve him. In verse 74, he says, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear.

He says, look, having been delivered, we've been redeemed. We have, you know, that savior that has provided this deliverance for us so that now we can serve him without fear. We haven't been delivered. It's kind of a little side note here, but we haven't been delivered so that we can just do our own will and do whatever we want and live how we want and pursue what we want. But we've been delivered and God has provided all of this so that we might have the opportunity to,

To serve him.

The word deliver, it means to draw out with force or violence, to drag. And it's the idea of a forceful rescue. As, you know, maybe you would pull someone out from walking into the street, you know, when a car is coming, that you would not kind of gently tap them on the shoulder, right? If danger is imminent, you would just grab them and yank them. And in some sense, that would be violent. It would be forceful.

Perhaps, you know, you've had that experience with a child, you know, running and you have to grab and withhold and there's that use of force. And this is the idea here. This is what God did. He delivered us. We were on the path. We were headed out to destruction because of our sin and he reached in with great force and he brought deliverance through Jesus Christ by standing in the gap and receiving the penalty on our behalf.

He took the punishment that we deserve. So not just for us to do whatever we want, but the point is, as Christ has done this for us, now that gives us opportunity to serve him without fear. Serving God may be difficult to understand if you don't really know God.

If I say, oh, congratulations, I'm going to grant you the privilege of serving me. You're welcome, right? Jonathan, come tie my shoes. It doesn't make sense to us. It doesn't seem like such a privilege. But the reality is that we are created by God and for God and our highest position and our greatest good is to serve God. It's our rightful role.

And we'll never be more joyful. We'll never be more fulfilled. We'll never be better off than when we are serving God. God has given us the opportunity, the chance to serve him. It's something that we couldn't do before in our sinful condition because we couldn't draw near to God.

We couldn't come close because of our sinful condition and all we would receive then is penalty and punishment that we deserved. But because we've been delivered, now that we are delivered, he says, look, now we get the chance to serve him without sin.

Now, Zacharias was a priest, and so he was familiar with what it was like to go into the tabernacle and to go into the temple. And you could imagine it was there in the temple when an angel appeared to him, but a priest would kind of be on guard and kind of, you know, have some strong caution with him as he entered into the temple, knowing that, you know, serious things have happened in the temple for those who disregarded the holiness of God.

And so there would be great fear, even though he would serve God and enjoy it and love to serve God, there would be great fear. And now he says, we get to serve God without fear. Why did we serve without fear? Because in verse 75, he says, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. Having been delivered by the Lord, we stand before God in a condition of holiness, in a condition of righteousness. We are, the technical term is justified.

That is that God declares us righteous. Even though we still have faults, even though we're still sinful, believing in Jesus Christ, God declares us righteous. He declares that we are right before him. He declares that we are holy. Now there's also sin.

sanctification, which is the ongoing work of God moving us to become more like him and carrying us along the path of putting on and adopting his nature and character. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14 says, for by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And we have both conditions. Number one, we're perfected forever as a believer in Jesus Christ.

We can serve God without fear because we stand before him perfected forever. On the other hand, we still have this ongoing process. We are being sanctified. So it doesn't mean that we should just give up on change or give up on and allow compromise and sin in our lives. But there is that ongoing process and we need to continue to be sanctified and allow God to transform us and change us.

but we don't have to stay away from him for fear. We don't have to keep ourselves from God or put ourselves on timeout. You know, sometimes we think about sin, we think about that kind of thing, and it causes us to distance ourselves from God because we don't really believe in the grace of God, and it holds us back.

But here, Zacharias rejoices. He praises the Lord that we can serve him without fear. We can draw near. We can get to know him. We can spend time with him. We can work on his behalf without fear because we've believed in Jesus Christ. And so we stand in holiness and righteousness before him. And so we have this great opportunity to serve, this opportunity to give ourselves willingly and joyfully. It's not forced labor.

And it's not burdensome, but it's rewarding. There's promised reward. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58, There's a lot of things we don't know

For certain. There's a lot of things, especially in the days that we live, where there's just so much. Everything is changing day to day. And we don't know that we're going to have jobs tomorrow. We don't know that we're going to be able to pay our bills, you know, this coming week. We don't know that this is going to come to an end or this is going to continue. There's all kinds of speculation. We could, you know, chase down those things for ages. There's a lot that we don't know. Paul says, there is something we do know.

We can be steadfast and immovable and abounding in the work of the Lord because we know that it's not in vain. We know that it's not useless. We know that it's not meaningless. And we know that it will be rewarded. God will use the work that we do unto him for his kingdom, for his glory, for his purposes. And he will reward those who serve him.

I would compare it to digging for gold in a field that is full of gold, right? You could just go out and find a field and start digging and maybe you'll find something, probably not, right? But if the field is full of gold and you go and dig in a field that's full of gold, it's for certain. I mean, it is still going to take some effort and you're going to have to get a shovel and you're going to have to dig. But if the field is full of gold, you're going to get the reward of gold.

in a similar way serving the lord it's digging in a field of gold it takes effort and and you give yourself and you expend energy and and yet at the same time there is this promise and this guarantee of reward from the lord be abounding in the work of the lord in these days in these times there's a great opportunity for us to serve the lord he is still

looking for those who will give themselves to him and open themselves up and invite the Lord to use them. And I encourage you to be one of those people. Just ask the Lord, what would you show me? Some ways I could serve you this week. Lord, would you show me how I can represent you and how I can be an example of you to the world around me? Bless God for the chance to serve him without fear.

Well, as we continue on now, Zacharias shifts gears a little bit. Here he's been praising the Lord specifically for the coming of Jesus and the result that that will have in our lives. But then as we look at these closing verses, he'll be focusing more on his son, John the Baptist, and there's some things to bless the Lord about for that as well. And so point number four this morning, as we look at verse 76 and 77,

Bless God for my ministry of good news. Check out verse 76. He says, And so now he directs his attention to John the Baptist.

He's just a little baby, just barely born right now. But he says, you child, oh goodness, you have such a great ministry ahead of you. You're going to be called the prophet of the highest because Jesus is the son of the highest. Now you are the prophet of the highest. John the Baptist is the forerunner to prepare the way for Jesus, the promised savior.

He says, you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. You're going to help set the scene for everybody around you so that when Jesus walks in, they're ready. They're ready to hear him. They're ready to receive him or reject him. That's up to them. But the way is prepared. The way is set. You, child, will be called the prophet of the highest. And your ministry, verse 77, is to give the knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of sins.

that deliverance, that redemption that we were talking about earlier, that he was celebrating. He says, John, you get the privilege to give people that knowledge. You get the privilege of sharing that information. This is the gospel. John got to share the gospel. That was his ministry. That was his calling. Gospel also known as good news. And so bless God for my ministry of good news.

You get to come on the scene and share with people that they have the opportunity for the remission of sins. The remission of sins, it means to cause to stand away, to take sins from us. Sins have to be taken from us. They can't be worked off. You can't, you know, it's like getting a ticket and, you know, then after time it goes off your record. Like it doesn't just fade away in time. Sin doesn't fade away.

It has to be taken away. It has to be removed. And that is the forgiveness of sins or the remission of sins that Jesus provides for us. And he says, look, John, you get to

provide this. You get to give this information. You get to let people know these things that have burdened you, these things that hold your conscience captive, and you feel guilty, and you're upset, and you're a wreck, and these things that have earned you destruction that is due because of your sin, you get to be forgiven of these. And here, John, you get to go and share that message.

to give people the hope and the opportunity to know that they can have life. We can't pay the price and we work hard and we can't deal with sin on our own, but there is good news that the Lord has dealt with that sin. Aren't you glad that God has given us good news to share? You know, sometimes the way that we behave doesn't really reflect this ministry that God has given to us. Sometimes we are more...

apt, more desiring to be the bearer of bad news, to be the calling out of conspiracies, to be the sowing of discord or the spreading of gossip, it's important to come back and remember. We have been given a ministry. It's a great opportunity. It's a message that needs to be heard. There's good news. The knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins.

Now this was Zacharias looking at his son, John the Baptist, and saying, child, you get to do this. This is your ministry. And so maybe you're thinking, well, that's for John the Baptist, not so much for me. But let me remind you of what Jesus said in Luke 7, verse 28. He says, You and I have an incredible opportunity.

As Zacharias celebrates and rejoices the ministry and role that John the Baptist will have in preparing the way for Jesus, Jesus, as he comes on the scene later, says, every one of you, members of the body of Christ, you have a greater ministry than John the Baptist, not belittling the ministry of John the Baptist. He was the greatest prophet there ever was because he got to foretell the coming of the Savior. But you and I were on the other side.

And we get to declare that the Savior has. And so we can celebrate the ministry that God has given to us, the ministry of good news. If you're reading along with us through the Bible in three years, we just finish up Mark. And there in chapter 16 on Wednesday, we got to read about the Great Commission again. It's there in Matthew 28, again in Mark chapter 16. As Jesus ascends into heaven, he says, all right, guys, now go share the good news.

Go deliver the gospel message. Go let people know that there is the opportunity of salvation by the remission of sins. And so as Zacharias celebrated and praised God for the ministry of John the Baptist, you and I, we can celebrate and we can praise God for the ministry that he has passed along to us. It's the same ministry as John the Baptist. It's just the timing is different. He was speaking it ahead of time and now we're looking back and we're letting people know

God has offered a way of forgiveness and salvation. Well, finally, we're going to finish it up in verse 78 and 79 for point number five, and that is, bless God for my ministry of comfort. Bless God for my ministry of comfort. God has blessed us greatly, not only with the ministry of good news and the offer of salvation, but comfort. And it's something that is

desperately needed in these days. Verse 78 says, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the day spring from on high has visited us to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. I like how Zacharias speaks of God. He speaks about the tender mercy of our God. John, you're going to go forth and you're going to share this message through the tender mercy of our God.

Tender mercy. It's a special and immediate regard to the misery, which is the consequence of sins. The consequence of sins. It's something we're familiar with. It's something that people experience all around us. Sin brings death. It sows destruction. It's not just eternal judgment that sin results in, but sin wrecks havoc in our lives right now. And there is a misery that is attached to sin. But God has tender mercy.

He has a real regard for the issue of sin and the consequence of sin. And so he shows tender mercy towards us. And then he commissions us to represent him in extending that tender mercy and in declaring that tender mercy and expressing that tender mercy to people around us. You know, whenever someone is experiencing the consequences of their actions,

if we've been, you know, involved in their lives and warning them against that, you know, there's a temptation to be harsh and critical. But at the same time, as we look at the Lord, so many times he could say, I told you so. So many times he could be, you know, saying, look, you knew better and be harsh and critical towards us. And yet, as we experience the consequences of sin, what we experience from God is tender mercy.

That's not to say that there's never a place for firmness or tough love, you might call it, right? There is a place for that, but at the same time, it needs to be our first response, probably, that we express the tender mercy of God. The tender mercy as he extends to us that we have the opportunity and the ministry to

of comfort. Our job is not to judge. Our job is not to, you know, bring condemnation upon people. That's not our job. Our job is to come alongside people who are experiencing the consequence of sins and to bring comfort. Not a false comfort in that, hey, you don't have to repent and everything is going to be fine, but real comfort. And that is, there's healing from this.

As devastating as this might be, as destructive as this might have, or the destructiveness of the things that you're experiencing, the destruction that is going on in your life, as terrible as it might be, it doesn't have to end that way. And there's a message of comfort for the tender mercy of God to come alongside someone. He describes it as the day spring from on high has visited us. The sunrise or day spring has visited us.

And the sun rising after a period of darkness can be such a relief, such a sign of deliverance. In verse 79, he says, to give light to those who sit in the darkness. That's our job. That's our ministry. Praise God. Bless God for my ministry of comfort. I get the opportunity to come to those who are in darkness. You get the opportunity.

to go alongside those who sit in darkness, bleakness, despair, lack of hope, and to bring a message of tender mercy from God. He says, to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. If you would have asked Zacharias who the enemy was, he makes reference to deliverance from the enemies a couple times here in this prophecy, he might have answered, most of the people of his day would have answered that their enemy was Rome.

And they were looking for a savior that would throw down Rome so they could be delivered. But that's not the enemy that Jesus came to deal with. He came to deal with the issues of sin. He came to deal with spiritual enemies. He came to bring deliverance to us that we might be redeemed from our sinful condition and judgment. And so as we look at this, we can see the shadow of death. We're not just talking about physical death.

We're not just talking about, you know, that external threat, but he has given us the ministry of comfort to go to those who are in the shadow of death. Death hangs over them because of their condition in sin, because of their condition in distance from God and not knowing God and not being reconciled to God. The day spring has risen. The sun has risen.

and given us the ministry to bring light to those who are in the darkness, to bring light to those who are covered by the shadow of despair and death. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, the people were sitting in darkness and death, and distress gripped them when Jesus came, but he brought light, life, and peace. It was the dawn of a new day because of the tender mercies of God. And so we have the opportunity this morning,

to follow the pattern, follow the example, follow the path of John the Baptist. We've been given the same ministry, just a different timing. And so Zacharias looking on can say, bless the Lord God. And I can encourage you this morning, bless the Lord God, praise the Lord for what he has done. He's provided a savior. He has spoken to his people from the very beginning. Let that be an indicator to you of how much God cares for you.

He has been speaking to you since the very beginning as well. And he has a word for you. He has words for you. He has a plan for you. He has thoughts for you, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. Bless God for the chance to serve him. You don't have to fear. You can draw near to God. You can know him. And then he commissions us to turn around and represent him. He gives you a ministry of good news. You get the chance. You get the opportunity to go and share good news with

to the world around you, to bring comfort to those who sit in darkness. Do you know anybody who sits in darkness? Look to God for the tender mercy, for the compassion, for the words of wisdom and insight that he desires for you to share. Maybe it's not even words, but more direction as far as how you can bring that comfort, how you can bring forth this tender mercy that God has for us. Blessed be the Lord God. He's given us such a great privilege and opportunity today

to be a source of light and hope and relief to the world around us. And so this morning, as we wrap up, we can praise God. Thank you for tuning in and joining with us. We'll continue this pattern for the foreseeable future and spending time together in the word of God. I'll get better at it. Please be patient. We're still working through some of the tech stuff, but

At the same time, what a privilege and what an opportunity to be dispersed and scattered. You know, when the disciples were persecuted in the book of Acts and it caused them to scatter out of Jerusalem, we're not being persecuted unless you want to count the coronavirus as persecution and, you know, health-wise we're being persecuted in that way perhaps, but

But there's a lot going on. And it caused the church to be shaken up out of their normal routine. You know, they wanted to go back to Jerusalem for Sunday service, I'm sure. But God said, no, no, no. Here's what I need you to do. Go somewhere else and be spread out to different places.

And then God's going to birth new things through the midst of that. And so I want to encourage you in this time to be looking to the Lord, to be blessing the Lord and praising God, first of all, for your salvation, the security that you have in him for speaking, but then also look for those opportunities. How does he want you to be a minister of good news and a minister of comfort to the world around you? Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this morning. We thank you

for meeting with us and speaking to us and caring for us as you do. I pray, God, that you would help us. Lord, for those who are sitting in darkness, may they have the sun rise upon them. May they see you clearly and fully, that they would have light and redemption and life that you provide. And God, I pray for us as your agents, as your representatives. Lord, would you give us opportunity as we walk with you

As we draw near to you, Lord, would you allow us to be ministers of comfort and ministers of the gospel for your sake and for your glory. Lead us by your spirit. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.