Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. We often wait in silence and we wonder if God hears our prayers. We wonder, God, are you ever going to come through with your promise in my life? The message of Christ. Which is the message of Christmas is that God remembers you.
On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about trusting in Christ's presence and victory in your life.
Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message: Salvation Song. Take God's word to Luke chapter one. Luke's Gospel, chapter one. The gospel.
The good news is the story of Jesus. And it is the song of salvation which flows out of our hearts and results in praise to God. Like Zachariah, who explodes with glorious praise. to God we cannot help. But speak and sing of those things which we have seen or heard.
But Zachariah's song, found here in Luke chapter 1, is a praise song and it is also a prophetic song. Scripture.
Now, before we read God's Word, let me give you a little background, a backstory of what's happening. Meet Zachariah. and his wife. Elizabeth. An older couple Living out in the country.
A rural Priests. Zachariah was serving unknown, unheralded. But faithful And his very name Zachariah means God remembers. Or it could actually mean the one who remembers God. Certainly, Zechariah remembers his God.
Now, it was a very, very dark and distressing time for God's people, for Israel in this day. They were living under the boot of the beast, the Roman Empire, and there was political oppression and social injustice. And to make matters worse, Israel, God's people. had no direct word from God. For nearly four Hundred Years.
It had been 1,000 years since the glory days of King David. When Israel was at the height of its power and glory. And now 400 years No word from God. No word of prophecy since Malachi had spoken and ended the Old Testament record. And the final sentence was not all that promising.
It speaks in the final words of the Old Testament of a curse or destruction that is sure to come. The people were living in destruction. And they were living in darkness. And there seemed to be very little hope. Zachariah, his wife Elizabeth.
We're doing the best they could. One day Zechariah was serving his priestly duty in the temple in Jerusalem.
Now, this was a big deal for a country preacher. Because he's actually now in the rotation, and he is invited to Jerusalem to participate in the sharing of the incense and in the holy place. And while he is in the holy place on this. This very day.
Something surprising happened. An angel shows up. And not just any angel. Later, he introduces himself in Luke chapter 1 as Gabriel. And God sends Gabriel.
To speak and bring a message, that's what angels do, Angelos, they are messengers.
So, this messenger from God, this angel messenger, shows up. And he tells Zachariah, who's an old man. An older man. that he and his wife Elizabeth, also older, are going to have a baby. That's surprising.
So surprising and so startling. that Zachariah asked the question, how can this be? How can this be? Zechariah is told that He would be the father. of the forerunner.
The one who is to set the pace before the coming of the Messiah. That this Priestly man, this good man, though doubtful. would become The link to the Messiah. Because Zechariah doubted this, God put him in timeout. And Zachariah Can no longer speak for the nine months.
He was so shocked, so surprised. Yeah. that he could no longer speak. Zechariah learned the hard way. like most of us.
in life. He learned the hard way to trust God. When God makes a promise to you, Count on it. Even if you have to wait for it. Because all of God's promises to His people are true.
Faith doesn't have to understand how it's going to happen. God's got the how. When Zechariah says, How should this happen? That's God's question and God's answer. He has the how.
And as Mary learned, there is nothing impossible with God. The scripture says there's nothing too hard for God.
So the angel, this megawatt angel, you would listen to. Yeah. Says, shut up. And listen. And so, for the next nine months, in this forced silence.
Zachariah listens. to God. And from that silence. comes this song. He listened well.
And God's word filled his heart. And When the moment comes that he holds his baby. In his arms. John The Baptist. He bursts forth in praise.
He gushes forth in the praise that we're about to read. Verses 67 to 79. Look at it. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit.
So we know this comes from God. And it comes from the filling of the Holy Spirit. And he 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.
So he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy. Promise to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. The oath that he swore to our father Abraham, again, God's promise to grant us. That we would be delivered from the hand of our enemies, that we might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. That's the Christian life.
That we would serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him. all the days of our lives. Verse 76. He turns from a focus on the Son of God to his own son, John. He's holding him in his arms, verse 76.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the most high. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy. of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. What a storm! What A Savior.
Two points to this message. One, A divine Visitation. That's what the first stanza is about. When we are told that This One from heaven. The Messiah.
would be a visitor. That God remembers his people. The silence is broken. He bursts forth in praise. Why?
Because he now knows the Savior. is on the way. We often wait in silence and we wonder if God hears our prayers. We wonder, God, are you ever going to come through with your promise in my life? Are we ever going to have that baby?
Am I ever going to get married? Are we ever going to get our finances straightened out? Am I ever going to get well? Am I ever going to see this depression lift? We wait and wait and wait.
And sometimes in our waiting, we wonder, God, do you remember me? The message of Christ. which is the message of Christmas, is that God remembers you. He knows you and has a plan for your life. He delivers on his promises right on time, exactly on schedule, every single time.
In fact, in the coming of Christ into the world, Galatians 4, 4 says that it came in the fullness or in the completion of time, translated at the exact right time, at the moment that God had planned. God came forth. Jesus was born of a virgin and came to earth. And God knows you. And he knows your name.
He remembers you. He's remembered you from your mother's womb. Just like he knew John the Baptist. in his mother's womb. When Mary He showed up to visit Elizabeth.
John the Baptist was getting a head start on his preaching career. He started kicking up in the womb. And what a reminder that is. That from the womb to the tomb and beyond into eternity. God knows our names, that we are created in His image.
We are chosen by God, even as John the Baptist was chosen. And called by God. All of us are chosen and called by God. There is a destiny to fulfill. This is why we must not abort babies from their mother's womb.
or abuse children, or abandon children. Because children are a gift from God. And so the child Now in his arms is a testimony. to the fulfilled prophecy and promise of God. But oh how we hate to wait, don't we?
But while you're waiting on God, Please remember that God is working in you. This very moment. God is working in your life and weaving His plan. For his glory and You're good. Trust in his unfailing love.
The love that moved him. To send his son to rescue us from sin. God's plan for your life will be done. You're not wasting time when you're waiting on God. You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message salvation song.
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Now let's get back to today's message, Salvation Song. God Remembers us. but he also redeems us. God redeems us. For it says that in verse 67 that he divinely visited us.
He redeemed us, which is a word which means to rescue. Literally, it means to buy back out of prison or out of slavery. This song, Zachariah's song, the Benedictus. is a song about A problem? and a plan.
Zachariah recognizes the problem. He talks about it. bondage and hatred. And change And the people who are living in darkness crushed. By Satan's power.
Living in the shadow of death with no future to speak of. That's the problem. It's a problem for all of us, isn't it? But this song focuses on the solution. And the solution is a person, a visitor, a deliverer, a liberator, a light-bearer, a life-giver, and his name is Jesus.
The Lord of heaven has visited us, and the word visit here. It's a word which really means to visit in a time of trouble or to visit in a time of crisis. It is to visit and to relieve people in times of misery. That's what he's saying. that the divine visitor God Himself.
Redeemed us by visiting us and freeing us from the bondage of sin and death and shame to turn darkness into light. When Zachariah sings this song, when he speaks these words, he speaks in. To get a little technical with you right now, in the Aorist tense in the language of the New Testament, the Greek language, he speaks in the Eoris tense in all of these words and verbs, which means. It's a tense in which it means it's already accomplished. He's fast forwarding.
And he sees what is about to take place, and he says, this is a done deal. He's at Christmas Eve. The Savior hasn't even been born yet. But. He knows in his heart that This word visitor.
This visit is divine. John's gospel tells us in John 1:14 that the word became flesh. and dwelt among us. That God himself came, Emmanuel. God with us.
His presence. is with us. He didn't send An Old Testament prophet, though John. You could say, is the last of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, is the last of the Old Testament prophets and the first of the New Testament preachers. But he really didn't send another preacher.
He didn't send an angel. to exclaim it to the ends of the earth this redemption. He didn't write it on a page, a piece of parchment. Though we treasure God's word, It wasn't another word, little W, but it's now the word, big W, Jesus that he sends. He doesn't write it on parchment.
He doesn't send us a text or an email. He comes. He arrives. He is with us. Personally.
God himself has visited places. Planet. Earth.
So Zachariah He's praising God for this. This divine Visitation. But not only this divine visitation, but he speaks secondly. And finally, I might add. of a dramatic victory.
It's a visitation. Christmas is a visitation. Christianity is this incarnation, but it is also a victory. It is a celebration. For verse 68, there speaks of this horn of salvation.
Do you know what that means? The horn of salvation, that's imagery, obviously. It's taken from the Old Testament. And the horn is a symbol of authority. And power.
And victory. For example, Soldiers in the past. We've even seen it in the 20th century past. would wear horns on their helmets. or spikes on their helmets.
So It's a reference to a mighty, powerful Battle or victory that is won, but most likely the horn of salvation or the horn of of salvation refers to the horns of an animal. A powerful Destructive animal. Zachariah is singing about The horn of salvation. That God has killed and destroyed sin. He has defeated the darkness.
The horn of salvation, Christ is mighty to save. That's what it means. Zachariah is excited because he knows what we know. That the Savior has come and given us victory. In Jesus.
He mentions here The prophets. and the patriarchs. Abraham and David. He refers to his own son, John the Baptist. Who was born to speak one sentence?
as the forerunner of the Savior. Behold, the Lamb of God. who takes away the sin of the world. Mary's little lamb. It's Jesus who comes to take away the sin.
of the world. that all the prophets spoke of this Savior, this Messiah. Who has come? of one who would be born of a virgin. In the place called Bethlehem, David's royal.
The city. who one day would rule the nations. Of whom Isaiah wrote, His name shall be called wonderful counselor. Mighty God, the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. Zachariah is pumped.
He's praising God because now the wait is over. God has kept his promise. And one last thing. He has defeated the darkness. This is our victory.
Look at verses 78 and 79 again in the scripture. It tells us that the sunrise has come. The tender mercy of God, the sunrise will visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide us in the way of peace. This light has come, is a glorious light. It is God's light.
It is a guiding light in the way. of peace. Stay with me. Zechariah, of course, is referring to spiritual darkness in the world. He's referencing Moral.
darkness in the world. And when he announces the sunrise has come, the day star has arrived. It means the dawn is breaking. The light has come.
So often they say the darkest night is just before the dawn. Maybe you've had some sleepless nights when you've wondered when will the light ever come? When will the day ever break? Zachariah is saying, morning is broken. Bethlehem's morning has come and the Savior is born.
And the light has come. And we know who is the light. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He is the life-bearer and he is the life-giver because Life cannot exist without light. No wonder we're sitting in darkness.
And in the shadow of death. But the darkness is no match. for the light of the world. Jesus has come. The sunrise.
is finally here. And one final thing: this light of Jesus now in us, we're to take that message to the world. Because our Lord said, you now are the light of the world. And there are millions who are groping in darkness. Who are living in the shadows of death all around us?
Who need you to walk into their lives with the light. of Jesus Christ. And be a witness. of the one of the God who remembers. who never forgets his promise.
of the God who rescues. forgives us and cleanses us from all our sins. and the God who rises in our hearts. It's Lord of life. And water ball.
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Zachariah spent nine months in forced silence. and from that quietness emerged a song that has echoed for two thousand years. What if your season of waiting, your period of unanswered questions, is actually preparing you for your own song of praise. The Christmas story doesn't end with us receiving light. It begins there.
You've been entrusted with something the world desperately needs. In your workplace, in your neighborhood, in your family gatherings over the next few weeks, you'll encounter people sitting in their own darkness. They're waiting for someone to show them that God still remembers, still redeems, still brings victory over whatever shadows they're facing. Don't just celebrate the light. Be dangerously intentional about carrying it into the dark places.
That difficult co-worker, Peter. that estranged family member, that neighbor you've been meaning to reach out to. They need to see the sunrise reflected in you. not your religious platitudes, but your transformed life. Not your words alone, but your presence that says God moved into our neighborhood, and He's still here.
Zachariah couldn't speak, so he had to listen. Maybe this Christmas, instead of filling every moment with activity and noise, you need to create space for silence. Let God speak into your waiting. Let him remind you of promises you've forgotten. Let the wonder well up until it must overflow.
The wait is over. The promise has been kept. The light has invaded the darkness and won. But here's the stunning reality. God didn't just visit us once 2,000 years ago.
He's taken up permanent residence in you through his spirit. You carry the presence that Zachariah sang about. you embody the victory he prophesied. The question isn't whether the light is powerful enough. The question is, Will you let it shine through you starting today?
And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember that when you give a gift to PowerPoint, your gift will be doubled by a generous matching grant.
So text the word match to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about why you can live without fear and full of great joy. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
