Friday, February 12,
2016, 8:42 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Fear Not, Little Flock.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I
read Luke 1:67-75 (ESV).
Prophecies Spoken
Zechariah was a priest in the temple of God. He and his wife
Elizabeth were both upright in God’s eyes. They were both well along in years,
and they were childless. When Zechariah was serving as priest before God one day,
he was visited by an angel of the Lord, whose name was Gabriel. The angel told
him that he and his wife were going to have a child, a boy, and that he was to
name him “John.” He would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time of his
birth. He was to bring many of the people of Israel back to God, and he was to
make people ready for their Lord. Yet, Zechariah doubted the angel’s message to
him, so he was struck silent and was unable to speak until after John was born.
When Elizabeth was about six months pregnant, a relative of
hers, a virgin named Mary, was also visited by the angel Gabriel. She was told
that she had found favor with God, and that she, as well, was to have a son,
and that she was to call her son “Jesus.” She was told that he would be called
the Son of God. Mary inquired as to how this was going to happen, since she was
a virgin. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. In other
words, this child was to be conceived of the Holy Spirit, not of man. Mary did
not doubt the angel’s message, but she submitted herself to God’s will for her
life.
John was born, but he was not named until the 8th
day, the day on which he was circumcised. Evidently, other people other than
the parents had a say in the name which the baby was to be given, for they were
going to name him after his father. Elizabeth, nonetheless, spoke up and said
that he was to be called John. Since no one in the family had that name, they
motioned to Zechariah to see what he had to say. He wrote down the name “John”
on a tablet, and then his mouth was opened so that he could speak, and he began
praising and thanking God.
And
his father Zechariah 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;
to
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,
in holiness and righteousness before him
all our days.
Our Redeemer
Zechariah prophesied first of all concerning Jesus, and then
concerning his son John. Today I want to focus on what he said about Jesus
Christ. Zechariah spoke as though Jesus had already come, even though Jesus was
not born for another six months.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and
born of the virgin Mary, was the fulfillment of the prophecies of old
concerning the Messiah who was to come as Savior of the world. He was the
promised seed of Abraham through whom all nations would be blessed. When he
walked this earth he was fully God and fully man. He suffered as we suffer and
he was tempted in like manner as we are also tempted, yet without sin. During
his years of ministry on the earth, he healed the sick and afflicted, raised
the dead, comforted the sorrowful, encouraged the timid, and forgave sins. He
confronted sin in sinful humans, warned of judgment, and called people to
repentance and to faith in him. He preached repentance for the forgiveness of
sins and for eternal life with God.
He was loved by some, but hated by many. The religious
leaders of the temple despised and rejected him, so they made it their ambition
to harass him at every turn, to try to discredit him, and to attempt to destroy
his ministry and message. Yet, they were unsuccessful. So, they plotted his
death, which they carried out. They crucified him on a cross, although he had
done no wrong. Yet, in his death, he took upon himself the sins of the entire
world. When he died, our sins died with him, and were buried with him, and when
he was resurrected from the dead, he rose victorious over Satan, hell, sin and
death. He became our sacrificial Lamb whose blood was shed for us for the
forgiveness of sins. He took our place on that cross so that we could be
delivered out of slavery to sin and so we could now become servants of
righteousness. By his stripes we are healed!
Our true enemy is Satan. He was the one behind getting Jesus
hung on a cross to die, and he is the one behind all the persecution we now
face as followers of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, though, he
was victorious over Satan. He not only died to deliver us out of bondage to
sin, but also to free us from the control (influence, power) of Satan over our
lives. When we are born into this world, we are born with sin natures, without
hope, and without God, destined to spend eternity in hell. We are under the
power of Satan. By Jesus’ blood sacrifice for our sins, though, through faith
in Jesus Christ, we can be turned from darkness (sin) to light (righteousness),
and from the power of Satan over our lives to God, and to walking with him in
his holiness by the Spirit of God within us. This is God’s mercy and grace to
us in delivering us from the control of sin and Satan over our lives, and in
freeing us to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness.
Yet, we do have physical enemies, as well, who are under the
control and/or influence of Satan. One day our Lord will return to take us to
be with him forever. At that time, he will deliver us from those who seek to
harm us and to take our lives; those who now hate us and who persecute us. Yet,
even while we are on this earth, and we are being hotly pursued by Satan and
his servants and messengers, our Lord delivers us from fear of them, so that
they have no power to get us to back down from our faith or to compromise our
convictions. Through the power and working of the Spirit of God in and through
our lives we are able to stand strong on the Word of God, resist Satan, flee
temptation, and draw near to God. We are able to speak boldly in the name of
Jesus the gospel of our salvation, even though many oppose us, and many are
coming against us fiercely to try to get us to give up our faith.
So, we don’t need to be afraid when our enemy Satan comes
against us, or when his followers attack us, or when those closest to us betray
us and turn their hearts away from us because of our walks of faith and our
stand for the gospel of salvation. We may be sad and hurt now, but when Jesus
returns for us one day, he will wipe every tear from our eyes. And, while we
are still here, his grace, love and mercy will sustain us. He will never leave
us or forsake us. He is completely faithful in all that he does. We just have
to trust him, rest in him, believe all his promises to us, and keep on keeping
on in our walks of faith, and in giving testimony to God’s saving grace and to lives
changed by the power of His Spirit.
Fear Not, Little Flock / An
Original Work
Based off Luke 12 / February 10, 2016
Fear not, little flock,
Your Lord’s always near.
Jesus will come and
Wipe every tear.
Trust in His mercy,
Rest in His love.
He’ll give you comfort
From heaven above.
Our precious Redeemer,
Jesus, our friend,
He will be with us,
True to the end.
He will not leave you,
Faithful He’ll be.
Believe His promises,
Rest on His knee.
Our God, and provider,
He knows our need.
He’ll not forsake you.
Follow His lead.
He’ll love and comfort you
To the end.
Know, on His Word,
You can always depend.
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