← ArchiveChristmas PlaylistChristmas Playlist – Redemption (Luke 1:67)DateDecember 22, 2024SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextLuke 1:67Passages in this sermonLuke 14:05Luke 2417:25Romans 621:301 John 523:491 Corinthians 125:57TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening.0:30Thank you for listening.1:00Okay, good morning. Whether you are here in person, and many of you are, for those who are watching online, and many of you are welcome. This is the place, this is the assembly where the gospel, uh-oh, the gospel unites us.1:28I'm going to preach like this. This is the place, because of Jesus Christ, where the gospel unites us. If you are not a person of faith, this is where the gospel invites you to come to faith and find your life changed through, as Pastor Ken has already prayed. From the cradle to the cross to the empty grave, the gospel invites you to follow Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.1:50We're just going to have to work through it. We'll figure it out. My name is Josh, lead pastor, and today I get to bring the word to you. As we continue an Advent series, we call Playlist. Now, some of you don't know what that is behind me. Actually, I don't even know what it is. But they said that used to, in museums, they would put, you could spin those things, and they would play songs.2:18Now, you stream them, right? So, a playlist is a catalog of songs that in some way either strikes your fancy or demonstrates your love. Maybe it's a theme in your life. Maybe it's something that touches your heart. And these lyrics and themes of our favorite songs also resonate with us.2:44Whether it's a value, whether it's your season of life. For instance, some of you, in your catalog of songs, maybe it's on a 45, maybe it's on iTunes, but you have right now playing All You Need Is Love by the Beatles. Maybe some of you are Whitney Houston fans, and I will always love you. I'm not going to try to be Whitney.3:14Some of you in the crowd, one of the playlists of your life is, tell me why. Ain't nothing but a heartache. We know who you are. Some of you are more rock. I don't want the world to see me, because I don't think that they'd understand. And then some of you are old school. I see trees of green. Roses too.3:45Roses too. Louis Armstrong. Today we're going to hear a song by a once mute priest that is on his playlist. Because there's something about the songs in our life that tell us what is in our heart. So if you have your Bibles with you today, turn to Luke chapter 1. I'm not even moving. I need to get a hand held. Okay.4:15Okay. Behind me. Over here. Okay. Okay.4:29There we go. Now when we light our candles, it's going to get real interesting. With one less hand. But we'll figure it out. Lord will be with us. Luke chapter 1. Two verses. Song of a dumb priest. A song of a mute priest.4:59Verse 66. Luke chapter 1. All who heard about him took it to heart. Saying, what then will this child become? For indeed the Lord's hand was upon him. Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.5:25The playlist of redemption. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that by your spirit you are greater than malfunctions and sound issues. And Lord, we thank you for the reminder today that you have put songs in our hearts. To know you.5:55And be known by you. Lord, grant us the wisdom of your word. That those who heard the prophecy of Zechariah took it to heart. Lord, may we take the gospel to heart today. This is our prayer. And this is the song of our playlist. The song of redemption. I pray in Christ's holy name. Amen. The song of redemption.6:25So to hear Zechariah prophesy might not sound like much to you. But let's rewind the tape. So in Luke, we meet a man named Zechariah. Zechariah's name means the Lord remembers. Remember that. Zechariah's name means the Lord remembers. And he's married to a woman named Elizabeth. Her name means God is faithful. So the Lord remembers, married, God is faithful.6:51And he served as a high priest from the division of Abijah. Now, in the time of Zechariah, and even now, you don't choose to be a priest. It chooses you. You had to be from the lineage of Aaron, and you had to be a Levite. And then, and only then, could you serve in the house of the Lord. Now, Zechariah lived in a place, we believe, called Ein Karim, which is roughly one day's journey or less to the Temple Mount.7:19Zechariah would have been one of around 20,000 priests in this time. Why is that important? Well, because Luke 1 chapter, Luke 1 verse 9 tells us why that's important. Luke, the good doctor, says, and it happens that Zechariah, whose name means, you forgot already, the Lord remembers.7:47Don't forget that the Lord remembers. It was chosen by Lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and to burn incense. What a milestone this would have been for Zechariah.8:13The chance that he would have actually gone into the holy place. So, you go into the Temple Mount, and then you have the court of the Gentiles. You go in, if you're a Jewish, to the court of the Jews. And then, if you're a priest, you can go into the holy place. And inside the holy place, you have the Holy of Holies. So, to go by Lot, where Zechariah has been chosen to go, would be the most holy place he could go if he was not the high priest.8:36This does not happen. And yet, it happens. And Zechariah, for a full week, would burn incense to the Lord in the most holy of places. And in this moment, I can imagine it was the greatest honor of his life, and probably the most terrifying.9:03Thinking, I will never get this close to the Lord again. So, Zechariah, at the hour of incense, the Bible tells us, which is around 3 to 4 p.m., is he is burning incense as a reminder of the prayers of God's people. And in that moment, by at the hour in verse 10 of incense, an angel of the Lord appears to Zechariah.9:30Zechariah is terrified. So, the angel says, don't be terrified. You're a priest. You believe in the Bible. You believe in God. You believe in angels. Get your act together. And then the angel says something very peculiar.9:56He says, don't be afraid in verse 13, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. It's been answered. Really, that's the angel's way of saying, Zechariah, don't worry. God has remembered you. Because your name means the Lord remembers. Listen, God has answered your prayer.10:26The Lord remembers your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a child, and his name is John, which means God is merciful. So, let's just pause here for a second. You would think a man whose name means God remembers, when an angel appears to God remembers and said, hey, do not be terrified because God remembers, the immediate response should be what? That makes a lot of sense. Because my name means God remembers, and God actually remembered, but that's not what the priest does.10:56Zechariah doesn't believe. We see in the word that he doubts this answer of the Lord. God remembers, forgets that God remembered. And so, he is struck with a celestial muteness for nine months and a week.11:21And may that be a reminder to us. There are church people among us that you know God remembers you, but you've forgotten that. Sometimes we need to hear someone come to us and say, listen, God has not forgotten you. He remembers you because he loves you. He has not forsaken you.11:48And so, God remembers Zechariah. Zechariah forgets that God remembered his prayer. And he must bear the weight of this silence for nine months. Now, I know what you might be thinking. You're thinking, okay, well, he did something wrong. He was a bad priest. He was lax in his giving.12:16He was short-sighted in his church attendance. Actually, the Bible says the opposite. Look at verse 6. This is how God describes Zechariah and Elizabeth. Both were righteous in God's sight. It's the reminder that even righteous people, even pious people, need a reminder of God's love from time to time. God gave him silence.12:44And I don't know, maybe it was through the confined silence that Yahweh reminded Zechariah that the time to speak was over. It was time to listen. And his mouth was shut. And it wasn't until verse 63 that something changed in Zechariah's life. Okay, let's, as you find verse 63, let's recap his life again.13:13Zechariah, which means God remembers, forgot that God could answer his prayer. The angel appears to Zechariah and says, hey, don't forget that God remembers you. And Zechariah says, he did, but we're old. We can't have kids. And the angel said, watch this. I'm going to give you a son whose name is God is merciful. And that son will be different. He'll be unique. He'll be beautiful. And he will prepare the way of the Lord.13:43And by the way, you can't speak for nine months. Now you would think, I would think, that the moment John would be born, that Zechariah can speak again. But that's not what God does. Look at verse 63. So he asked for a writing tablet because John is now born. And they ask Elizabeth, what is his name? Do you want us to name him Zechariah Jr.?14:12In Louisiana, they, to be a junior, they put the word, the capital T and then dash. So in Louisiana, he would have been T-Zach. T-Bob is Bob Jr. He would have been T-Zach. And Elizabeth says, no, no, his name's John. And the people say, well, you don't have a John in your family. And Zechariah says, Zechariah writes in verse 63. He says, his name is John.14:41And they were all amazed. And look at verse 64. Immediately, his mouth was opened. See, God doesn't, God doesn't release his mouth when John is born. God waits for Zechariah to act upon his faith. In the moment he names the child by faith, God is merciful, then God is merciful. And may that be a reminder, God waited to work until Zechariah acted upon faith.15:10And maybe that's where you are today. You know God's promises. You know what the Lord wants in your life. But God is waiting for you to act upon faith until he works in your life. That's how God works through his word. Do you know how long Zechariah had been waiting to speak? I would imagine he had contemplated the first words that he would say.15:38If you ask, well, pastor, well, what did he say? Luke gives us the song. Look, verse 68. If you wondered what song was in Zechariah's playlist, it was this, verse 68. And I would imagine with pinpoint exactness, he had been preparing these words for nine months and one week.16:05Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and provided redemption for his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant, David. Blessed be the name of the Lord.16:34For nine months, Zechariah has been waiting to say that. And he blurts it out. He said, God is our redemption. He has provided redemption. This is not the only time we hear that word. At the end of Luke, there's a seven-mile road going from Jerusalem to a town called Emmaus. And it's called, this might surprise you, it's called the Emmaus Road.17:03You know where the Emmaus Road goes to? Emmaus. And Jesus just appears on that road. And there are two disciples we know of among the other group. And they're arguing about themselves. They're saying, don't, what happened in Jerusalem? This Messiah died and it's been the third day. And Jesus appears in Luke 24, verse 17, and says, what is this dispute you're having? If you've ever wondered, does God have a sense of humor?17:34Yes, he does. Because God appears in the midst of people having a dispute and says, hey, what's wrong? And they tell him, they say, listen, we were hoping that the Messiah was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Sound familiar? It's the same word that Zechariah uses. Besides all this, it's the third day since these things have happened.18:02And the Messiah is not there. See, Jesus is the redemption that we have been waiting for. The word of Zechariah and the word of Emmaus means to pay the price. Redemption is something paid for. It is something that is set free. And in most languages and really in every ancient language, you can't use the word redemption without asking the question, what are you redeemed from or for?18:27So if I say that Jesus is our redemption, you should be asking the question, what are we redeemed from? Because if you're not redeemed from something, then redemption does not make sense. And so you ask the question, I'm waiting for it, what are we redeemed from?18:54The Bible gives us the answer. First, we are redeemed from, and I heard it here, the penalty of our sin. The penalty of our sin. We sin due to the hardness of our hearts. Let me make that more personal. I sin because of my hard-heartedness, not yours. And you might hear that and say, hallelujah.19:24But you sin because of the flesh that you own, not mine. And we bear the wages of sin as death. We bear the wages of our sin. And yet in Colossians, Paul says this about sin. He says, Jesus erased the certificate of debt with its obligations that was against us and opposed to us.19:46And has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. You see, Zechariah knows something about this Jesus. He knows that one day he will pay the price for our sin. And Zechariah says that the redemption of Jesus is so because he has visited us. The visitation of the Lord is a loaded term in Scripture.20:17The visitation can mean a gracious act or it can mean righteous judgment. And the reality is when you see God face to face, it's going to be one of the other. You will either face the consequences of your sin, the wages of your sin, Or you will have Jesus stand up as your advocate and say, Father, I died for his sin.20:44Be merciful. I paid the price. There's no other option. You and I will be visited by the Lord. Will it be the righteous visitation of God's judgment? Or will it be the merciful redemption of Jesus Christ? Have you been redeemed from the penalty of your sin?21:13Not only the penalty, but we're also redeemed from the power of sin. The power of sin. Christ redeems us and liberates us from its power. Romans 6, 4. Again, Paul. A sinner himself, a murderer, a blasphemer. Paul was righteous and zealous for God, but hated Jesus Christ. Until he met Jesus Christ on the road.21:44Paul says this about Jesus in Romans 6, 14. He says, sin will not rule over you because you are not under the law, but under grace. It's Paul's way of saying the redemption of Christ has redeemed you from the power of your sin, which means several things. First, if you say, well, Pastor, I sin and it's not my fault. If you are in Christ, it is your fault.22:11Because he has freed you from the power of sin. He has taken that away. Actually, 1 Corinthians says, with every temptation, God has given you a way of escape. He's given you the oxygen mask to put over your mouth. He's given you the back door to flee. He has provided a way from the power of sin. You have been redeemed.22:40So let me speak to a moment to those that are contemplating. Maybe you're being tempted right now and you're thinking, I'm going to sing about Jesus. I'm going to read his word. But I know tomorrow I'm going to go back into that life of sin. It is not worth it. Do not go back. Because Jesus has redeemed you from the power of sin. You say, well, Pastor, no, he hasn't. The power of sin is too great. Well, then do you know Jesus Christ? By faith, would you trust him as your Savior?23:10He's redeemed you from the power of sin. He's redeemed you from the penalty of sin. He's also redeemed you from the bondage of Satan. Listen to what 1 John says. He says, we know that we are of God and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. So if you say, well, this world is bad and it's getting worse, I don't understand what's wrong. The Bible has given you the answer. The world is under the sway of the evil one.23:38Every person in the world except those that belong to Jesus. 1 John 5, 18. If you have given your life to Jesus Christ, Jesus has rescued you from the bondage of Satan.23:52The evil one does not control your life because of faith in the Messiah that breaks the chains of Satan. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be under the sway of Satan or satanic influence. And it is Christ who breaks that bondage.24:22And you might ask, well, how did this happen? You might ask, how did this happen? How does redemption come? We've heard a lot of names today. Zechariah means the Lord remembers. Elizabeth means God is faithful. John means God is merciful. But there's one more name I want to teach you. And his name means the Lord is our salvation.24:51And his name is called Jesus. You see, redemption is not a theological concept. Redemption is a name. And his name is Jesus Christ. John, or Zechariah says it this way in the book of Luke. He says that God has raised up a horn of salvation for us. Verse 69. That's quite an odd compliment, don't you think?25:20God has raised up a horn. A horn in the Old Testament is a, there were horns on the four corners of the altar. It was a sign of power and strength. One commentator said it this way, that think about the horns of an ox or a rhino. He says the horns are the business end of an animal. You don't want to be on that side. And then he said this. He said, Zechariah is reminding us that Jesus is the business end of God's salvation.25:50He is the business end. Paul would say it like this in 1 Corinthians 1, 16. He says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. It is the horn of God's salvation. Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross, he is the business end. He is the power of God's salvation to all who believe.26:16We do not worship a weak God. In Jesus, we see the business end of God's salvation. We are redeemed by Jesus. But not just his death, we are also redeemed by his life. While his sacrifice atones for our sins, the new covenant offers a tremendous blessing.26:43Absolute righteousness. See, to be in the presence of God means that you have to have the righteousness of God. And the only way to earn the righteousness of God would be to live a sinless life. The life God created you to live. Because you were designed to be in his presence. Here's the issue. Raise your hand if you have lived a perfect life.27:11No one willing to take that bet. And so we live with the struggle. God, my sins are forgiven, but I still need righteousness. And that is why God sent his son, born of a virgin, to live what type of life? A sinless life. A perfect life. Because his death covers your sin, but his life provides the righteousness that we could not live.27:38You are redeemed by his death, but we are redeemed by his life, his perfect life. So the robes of righteousness that Jesus earned, he gives to you. He gives to me. So when Zechariah prophesied, blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and provided redemption for his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us.28:07But not only have you been redeemed from sin and by Jesus, there's also a for. We have been redeemed for something. You see, Zechariah praises God for this glorious salvation. Look at verse 78 in this playlist, in the song that he sings.28:35Zechariah, the mute priest, sings and says, because of our God's merciful compassion, the dawn from on high, he will visit us. And that's interesting. Because Zechariah was in the holy place.29:03Not the holy of holies, but he was as close as you could get to the presence of God when God visited with him. But Zechariah knew that the visitation wasn't for him alone. Because the angel reminded Zechariah, hey, I visited your wife. She's going to have a child and you're going to name him John. He's going to be the forerunner of Jesus. And through Jesus Christ, God will visit his people once and for all.29:31You see, what have you been saved for? You have been saved and redeemed for a relationship. Praise be to God that we have a Savior who visits with us. And this is not your Christmas visit where he drops in and drops a gift and says, I'll see you next year. No, we have a God who communes with us, who cares for us. I love what J.I. Packard says about relationship.30:01Packard says, if you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's son or daughter. And having God as his father. You see, when we understand that Jesus redeems us for relationship, it changes the way that we live. It changes the way that we live.30:30I read this story and hear this song, and I can imagine. And before I say this, actually, I don't have two hands. I'm going to need a volunteer. Luke, will you forgive me? I just need your hands. I don't need you to say anything. I just need you to forgive me. I just need you to hold this candle.31:01And hold the lighter, too. It's the microphone's fault. Thank you for being a willing participant. I can imagine the day that Zechariah forgot that the Lord remembered him was probably the darkest day of his life. I have to know and believe that it was probably the silentest day of his life.31:30And I would imagine day by day that Zechariah felt hopeless. God, you have appointed me to burn incense. This is the greatest day of my life. And, Lord, I have lost faith. God, I failed you. But in the silence, a man whose name means God remembers31:54was writing a song during the silence. A song of redemption that reminds us that something and sometimes we must be silent in order to listen to God. A song of redemption that reminds us that the faithful God who shows mercy to sinners32:20has remembered his promise to save. A song of redemption that reminds us that Jesus is the business end and the power of God's salvation. You see, it was a dark day in Zechariah's life, but something was happening in the silence. Something was happening in the darkness.32:49Can you light that for me, Luke? And just hold it. You see, the world didn't know because Zechariah couldn't say it. But on that dark day and in that quiet day, the Holy Spirit lit a flame in Zechariah's life. And I think about this. I think about the redemption of Jesus in my life.33:19And I wonder, what would it take today in your life for the Holy Spirit to light that flame again? Maybe you feel like Zechariah. You say, well, I'm the faithful priest. I'm righteous, but my love for Christ has flickered. I've been faithful and I know God is faithful, but man, there was a time where I forgot that.33:47Would you simply ask the Lord today again, Father, relight that flame. And if you have to do it in the silence, and if you have to do it in the darkness, Lord, write a new song in my life. If I have to wait nine months, Lord, when my mouth can open, it is going to burst forth in praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel34:17who visits his people. Blessed be the God of our redemption. Lord, light that fire in me again. But I also wonder, has your heart ever burned for the Lord? Maybe today for the first time you say, God, my life, it wasn't lit and now it's dark.34:43It's just dark. It's dark because of my sin. It's dark because of the penalty of my sin and the power of my sin. And Lord, I believe you can break that and I need you to break it today. Would you, this morning, give your life to Jesus Christ? The one whose name means35:12the Lord is our salvation. Would you, in just the silence and darkness of this moment, pray a prayer of faith that could sound like this so if you're watching online, if you're here in person, would you simply cry out to God and say, Father, I have sins because I'm a sinner. My life is dark. I don't want to stay that way.35:42I need you. I believe you sent Jesus to save me. I believe he lived the righteous life I couldn't live and I believe he died the death I deserve. I believe he rose again. And Lord, for the first time today, would you light a light by your spirit through faith in Jesus Christ? Lord, for the first time, I believe and I will follow Jesus no matter the cost.36:09Would you pray that prayer? A prayer that God hears. And know that by faith, he is willing and able. But do not miss the lesson of Zechariah. God did not open his mouth until Zechariah stepped out on faith. He wrote his name as John and then his tongue was loosed.36:39Faith is the step that we must take for God to act in our lives. Today, would the Lord do something new and beautiful in every heart? Today, Father,← Previous in Christmas PlaylistChristmas Playlist – The Impossibility of ChristmasNext in Christmas Playlist →Christmas Playlist – The Promise (Romans 1:1-2)More sermons on Luke →
