Luke 1:74-75
"That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life," Luke 1:74-75. In verses 67-75 Zacharias has reminded the listeners and the readers of this gospel that God is a covenant keeper. God will do what He said He would do. Our faith and hope is in the Lord, not ourselves. "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh," Philippians 3:3.
Our only Deliverer from sin is the Lord. Is sin our enemy? How bad is sin? Is it ok to sin a little, or are there little sins that God is not really concerned about? When you think about these things, do you have peace, or fear? Let us begin by looking at our first question, "Is sin our enemy?" An enemy is an opponent, unfriendly, hostile; one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound; something harmful or deadly. The worst kind of enemy is one who convinces you that he is not your enemy. He gets close to you, you trust him, and even enjoy his company. Either you do not see the danger, or you deceive yourself by telling yourself he is not that bad. Others may come to you out of love to show you the truth about this enemy, but what usually happens is that you take up for that enemy, and become angry at the one who truly loves you and is looking out for your best interest. It is truly amazing, and sad, how an enemy can turn you against all those who truly love you. Once he gets you isolated, the enemy really begins to have his way with you. He will convince you of things that are not true. He makes himself look so good that you are swept off your feet by emotions of any kind. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren," James 1:13-16.
Sin always brings forth death; yes, sin is your enemy. How bad is sin? "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," Romans 6:23. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Romans 5:12. The result of sin is death. Sin destroys homes, marriages, and relationships of any kind. Sin plunged the world into death. Sin made impotent the strongest man in the bible. Sin defeated the greatest warrior in the bible. Sin made the wisest man in the bible stupid. We can look at multiple examples from the bible, but, let us stop for a second and think about how sin has affected our lives. How has sinful decisions affected your life today, even what we call, "little sins"? We have regrets.
To add to our dilemma, we live in a culture that promotes sin and condemns righteousness. Sin is promoted in the classroom, in the court house, and sadly in the church house. Sin is on bumper stickers, T-shirts, ball caps, billboards, in restaurants, and on our phones. We are surrounded by the enemy. The end goal of this enemy is destruction. To add to this, our flesh is drawn to the enemy. This makes it a warfare for us to serve the Lord. We need deliverance out of the hand, the power, of our enemies, that we can serve the Lord without fear.
The unknown brings with it fear. Whether it be medical, financial, relationships, etc. Death also brings fear. How will you die, when will you die? The most important question is where will you spend eternity after you die? Do you have assurance that you have been delivered from the penalty of sin? "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love," I John 4:18. According to the Scriptures, when Jesus Christ saves our souls, we have assurance that all of our sins are forgiven, and Christ gives us eternal life. With this assurance we can lay our heads down every night knowing that if we die, we will be with Him. It is absolutely wonderful to know that your sins have been forgiven according to the bible. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God," I John 5:13.
You have fear when you are not sure if the Lord has saved your soul. You have fear if you are not sure if your sins are forgiven. You ask yourself questions like, have I repented enough; was I sincere; did I say the right things? If these are the questions you ask yourself, then you should be fearful. You cannot repent enough, you cannot be sincere enough, and you cannot say the right things to be saved. Salvation is in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, not in anything that we have done, said, or felt. We trust Jesus Christ to save our souls and to deliver us from our sins! "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God," Romans 5:1-2. When we know with assurance that the Lord has saved our souls we are filled with joy. One of the results is that we serve the Lord without fear, and we live a life that produces evidences that the Lord has saved us.
The bible tells us to examine ourselves. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" II Corinthians 13:5. How wonderful it is to have the assurance that Jesus Christ has saved your soul. This is another reason it is important that we study the bible, and that we are under sound preaching. We are in desperate need of men who will stand behind the pulpit and preach the un-adulterated word of God. We need men who will not water down the word, nor sugar coat it. We need men who fear God more than they fear men. We need men who will preach Scripture and stand against sin, even if it cost them their life. We need men like John the Baptist.
Don't be deceived by sin. It is our enemy. If the Lord has delivered you, stay in the fight against sin as you grow in sanctification. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God," Romans 12:1-2.
Lord willing, next week we will pick up in verse 76 and look at the forerunners work. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
