Turn with me this morning to Luke, the gospel according to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1, the text this morning is verses 76 through 78B or 78A. But we will read verses 57 through the end of the chapter. Luke 1 starting at verse 57. Now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered. And she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her. And they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child. And they called him Zacharias after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelled round about them. And all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? and the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that 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, 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. And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. The text this morning is verses 76-78a. Let's reread those verses. And thou, child, shalt be called a prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. to give knowledge of salvation through the tender mercy of our God. At this point in the history of the people of Israel, it was a dark time for God's people. It was a dark time politically. The nation of Israel was under the rule of enemies. The Roman Empire had conquered most of the known world and they were in control over the land of Israel. And worse, the Roman Empire had set up a king over the Jews named Herod. Herod was an Edomite. and a hated enemy of the children of Jacob, a descendant of Esau. He ruled over the Jews. It was a dark time, not only politically, but it was a dark time religiously. The people of Israel had strain. Many in the church lived an evil life. There were many publicans, There were many who followed the Roman and pagan way of life. In addition to that, the leaders of the church were leading the church astray. The Pharisees and the scribes had taught their own doctrine of works righteousness. They had made up their own laws. And many followed. And in this dark time, God had not spoken for a long time. For 400 years, God had been silent. He did not come to correct them. He did not send a prophet to speak to this straying church and to this nation. But one day, in this dark time, there was a glimmer of light and of hope. Zacharias was in the temple, praying to God for the people. And suddenly an angel, the angel of God, Gabriel, appeared to him and spoke to him the words of God. God finally spoke. He told Zacharias, through the angel Gabriel, that he would have a son, a son in his old age. But more importantly, God told Zacharias that after his son, the Messiah would come. The Lord would come after his son. The long-awaited Christ. But the one to whom God spoke did not believe. And thus he was struck with dumbness for his lack of faith. When he came out of that temple, he could not relay to the people what he had seen and what he had heard. The people of God waited again. Finally, after ten months, a child was born. The promised son, John, was born to the mute man, Zacharias, and to his wife, Elizabeth, in their old age. And after eight days, his parents brought John to the temple to be circumcised and to be named. Zacharias wrote out his name. His name is John. And immediately after he had written that name in faith, he was able to speak again. People were astonished. People were astonished because Zacharias spoke immediately after he wrote the name of his son and identified his son as John. But they were astonished. Especially because Zacharias did not speak in praise to God for his son mainly But he spoke in praise to God for the coming Messiah finally God speaks to the people through Zacharias that the Messiah is coming and coming soon after the running of the Prophet John Yet in the midst of his singing Zachariah is not only speak of the Messiah, but he speaks of his son, John. And today we consider this small portion of Zacharias song about his son under the theme Zacharias song of his son. First, the song of his identity. Second, the song of his work. And third, a song that was fulfilled. Zacharias sings about his son, John, and identifies him, in verse 76, as the Prophet of the Highest. It gives to him a prestigious title, Prophet of the Highest. Now, we may be tempted to think that this term, Prophet of the Highest, means that John was the highest prophet, or the one who was the greatest, or the best prophet that ever lived. But the word highest does not describe John as an adjective describes a name. The term highest is a title that refers to a certain person, a certain being. It refers to the source or the possessor of the prophet John. The word highest refers to God. and self. God, who is the highest? John is not the highest, but God is the highest who lives in the highest heavens, who reigns supreme over all things. He is the highest. Really, this title of God refers to the attribute of God. Call his transcendence. He is above all things and distinct from every creature. John says Zacharias. in this song of prophecy, is the prophet from God, from the Most High God. He's a prophet from God. What is a prophet? A prophet is one who speaks the words of God. Verse 70, part of Zechariah's song, identifies what a prophet is. as he that is God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets. A prophet is one who is God's mouthpiece, who speaks with his mouth the very words of the Most High God. A prophet has the authority of God. He is sent by the king to herald what the king wants all to know. He says what God says. What kind of words does a prophet speak? He speaks about the future. He foretells what will take place either in the immediate future or in the far future. Sometimes a prophet will speak to interpret the present events, what is taking place. He will speak to God's people, exhorting them to turn from their sins. Or he will speak of past events and interpret those past events for God's people. Those are the kinds of words that a prophet speaks. There were inspired preachers speaking what God wanted them to speak. Zacharias now identifies his son as such a prophet. He was the one sent from the highest God who would speak the very words of God. He would be that inspired preacher who would especially speak concerning the things of the immediate future. Something is going to happen, John was going to say. Something very soon in the imminent future. This title, Prophet of the Highest, struck the people that listened to Zacharias sing. To understand their wonderment, we must place ourselves in the shoes of those people. They wonder at the child. Even before Zacharias saying this prophecy, they were already marveling. They were considering the fact that Zacharias and Elizabeth were very old. They were well nigh past the age of having children. They were marveling at that fact. Many probably also knew that this was the fulfillment of a prophecy that Zacharias had been given through an angel in the temple. They were marveling at that fact. Many perhaps had heard Elizabeth speak of how this child had to be a special child, for it had leaped in her womb at the very presence of Mary, the mother of the Christ. They were marveling, perhaps, at that fact. And the context shows that they were especially standing in awe of the fact that Zacharias spoke, after having been mute for a while, he spoke after writing the name of his son John on a tablet. This they saw as a sign from God. This son, who had to be named John, had to be a special child. And so they responded in verse 66, What manner of child shall this be? But now in addition to all that, they now hear Zacharias proclaim something astounding. This was the prophet of the highest. A prophet. Now to understand their awe at this identification, we must understand that there had not been a prophet for 400 years. Malachi had been the last prophet, the last prophet of the Old Testament. God had not spoken through a man for 400 years. Through 400 years of darkness, God had been silent. Enemies had attacked. Enemies had taken control of the people of Israel. The church was straying away from the truth of God's Word, and the people of God waited. Where is the prophet? Is God going to send the prophet to tell us what he wants? What he wants us to do, and what he has in store for us in the future? And now, finally, God tells the people, through this prophecy of Zacharias, this baby, this son of Zacharias, is the long-awaited prophet from God. Someone like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Elijah is finally here. Finally, God was going to speak to them. The people must have been struck with wonder and with joy And this identification of John as the prophet from the highest God. But not only the Zacharias identify his son as the prophet of the highest, but he identifies his son as the forerunner of the Lord. And our child shall be called the prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before or run before the face of the Lord. The child is one who would go in front of the face of the Lord. He would come, and he is here. And after him, the Lord, the Messiah, would come. The people who listened to Zacharias probably did not have a very clear view of what this meant. They did not think of the Messiah being born of a virgin. They did not think of a Messiah coming in humility, born in a manger. This was still a mystery to them. In their view, when they heard these words, they probably thought that after John, the Messiah would come and with him would come the end of the world where God would destroy all the wicked and gather his people. The reason that many thought this way can be seen if you look with me at the prophecy of Malachi that was certainly in the minds of the people gathered there with Zacharias. Look at the prophecy of Malachi chapter three. Malachi chapter three. And there in verses one and two, we read, behold, I will send my messenger, that's John, and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom ye seek, that's the Christ, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. After John, says Malachi, the Messiah will come. And who will stand before his fiery wrath? And then, later on, as the last words of his prophecy, Malachi spoke in chapter 4, verse 5. Behold, I will send you Elijah, that's John, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers with their children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Zacharias was telling the Pete or Malachi was prophesying that the forerunner of the Lord would come and after him the Lord would come. Would bring that great and dreadful day. Zacharias now was telling the people that John was the fulfillment of this prophecy that meant that soon after this Son, the great and the dreadful day of the Lord would come. Now we understand how the people must have trembled when Zacharias proclaimed that this was the forerunner of the Lord, the Christ. They must have been struck with excitement, and perhaps many were struck with fear. This was the forerunner of the Messiah who would come. the great and dreadful wrath. Since we live after the time of John and after the time of the Messiah, we can understand this more clearly than the people gathered around Zacharias and Elizabeth that day. In our minds, we think of John being born six months before the Messiah. Six months before the Messiah, who would come as a baby in a manger born of the Virgin Mary. We think of John as the forerunner who would preach in the wilderness and after him would come Christ to minister or begin his public ministry as the Son of God. That is what we accurately think about when we think of John as the forerunner of the Christ. Malachi and all the prophets and Zacharias and even John the Baptist himself saw the day of the Lord as one event. One event that meant that the day of the Lord would bring the end. The Messiah would come and he would bring the end. They did not see it as clearly as we did. We see the day of the Lord that would come after John as two events. One event being the birth of Christ born of a virgin, and the second event yet to come is that great and dreadful day, that end. That end when he will come again to destroy the wicked and bring his people to be with him in glory. Zacharias now sings of John as the forerunner who would come before both the first and the second events. of the great and terrible day of the Lord. Zacharias then goes on to speak of the work that his son would engage in as the prophet of the highest. John, as the prophesying forerunner, was going to prepare the way of the Lord. He shall go before the face of the Lord, says verse 76, to prepare his ways. The word prepare means to get everything ready. That is what the construction workers were doing before the winter came. They on the highway were preparing the road or the way so that it would be ready for us to drive on in the winter. John prepared the way. He prepared the way of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The way is a path or a road, as indicated by the illustration. But a way figuratively refers to someone's life, what someone does as he walks down life's narrow pathway. So Zacharias now prophesied that his son would Prepare everything make everything ready for the life of Christ who would come after him How was John going to prepare for Christ's life Simply put John would prepare it prepare by preparing the hearts of God's people for Christ's life is going to prepare the hearts of God's people by giving them knowledge of salvation. That's what verse 77 of our text says. How is he going to prepare Christ's ways to give knowledge of salvation? He, as the prophet of the highest, was going to come and he was going to preach. He was going to teach God's people about salvation. He was going to teach God's people so that they would understand and know the salvation that Jesus Christ would accomplish with his life or his way. He was going to teach them about that Messiah so that their hearts would be prepared to receive that Messiah and understand the work of that Messiah. Of course, part of this preparation was not only positive, but negative. As John preached, the purpose was also to harden the hearts of the reprobate and many others who would later turn. That prepared the way of Christ as well. For in the hardening of the hearts of many people, God accomplished his purpose of crucifying or having them crucify his son and die for his people. But Zacharias here focuses not on the negative preparation, but on the positive preparation of the hearts of God's elect people. God was going to use John to prepare his elect people's hearts for the coming of the Messiah. He was going to prepare their hearts by giving them knowledge of what Christ would do in saving them. There are especially two subjects of salvation that Zacharias says John will teach in order to prepare the hearts of God's people. First, he would teach God's people, John would teach God's people that salvation was by the remission of sins. Verse 77 says that the knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of sins. That is what salvation is. The people of Israel needed this teaching badly. Many did not think of salvation as the remission of sin. As many today think. Salvation to many in that day was salvation from earthly oppressors and the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was over them. King Herod, the Edomite, had them in control. And like many Jews today and many people today, the people then thought that the Messiah was coming to establish an earthly kingdom. He would destroy their earthly oppressors and give back to them the land, the earthly land of Canaan. They did not think of salvation as the remission of sin. And in addition to that, many did not believe that they needed such a salvation. They did not think of themselves as great sinners, but led by the Pharisees and scribes. They believed that they were good. They were self-righteous. Zacharias now prophesies that John was coming to change that. He was coming to prepare the hearts of God's people to understand that salvation that the Messiah was going to work was not an earthly salvation, but it was the remission of sins, the spiritual salvation that he would work on the cross and through his life. The inspired Zacharias is clear here. Salvation is the remission of sins. That is the forgiveness of sins. The erasure of sins. The washing away of sins through the blood of the Messiah. This was true salvation. Contrary to many who preach today. Many false teachers who teach that salvation is an earthly kingdom. Zacharias, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and John after him, teaches salvation is by the remission of sins. Second, not only would John prepare the hearts of God's people by teaching that salvation was by the remission of sins, but he would also teach that salvation is through the tender mercy of God. That's what we read in verse 78. Remission of sins through the tender mercy of God. The people in Israel also needed this teaching. They thought, many thought, that their birth as a Jew was good in the sight of God. And that would bring them to heaven when the Messiah came. They thought that their birth would save them from the wrath of God. Many thought that their good works and their sacrifices would save them from the wrath to come. And the apostate leaders, the Pharisees and the scribes in that day, led the people to think that way. And so Zacharias says, John must come. The forerunner of the Lord must come and prepare the hearts of God's people to know. Salvation was not by one's own work, was not because of one's own descent. Salvation was through the tender mercy of God. Literally, it was because of the bowels of the mercy of God. In those ancient days, many believed that The seat of emotions, the place where the emotions came from, were the bowels or the entrails or the intestines of a human being. That was where the emotions erupted from. So here, the inspired Luke, or the inspired Zacharias rather, applied this to God. The inner love that normally in a human being springs forth from the intestines or the bowels of a person. That inner love and mercy of God is the reason for salvation. It's the reason for the remission of sins. It was not because of man's work. It was not because of anything men did or merited. Zacharias now prophesied that John would teach that was through or because of God's tender mercy. John would make God's people realize that they were sinners, sinners that could not save themselves. sinners, filthy, rotten, helpless sinners that depended on God's tender mercy. That's how John would prepare the hearts of God's people for the way or the life of Christ. Zachariah's song concerning his son's identity and his son's work of preparing the hearts of God's people was fulfilled. John showed himself to be that prophet. He showed himself to be the fulfillment of the identification that he was the forerunner. He also showed himself to be the one that prepared the way for Christ. He came as that prophet. Verse 80, right after the text, records John growing up in his parents' home for a while and then growing up for much of his life in the wilderness, in the desert, surviving on honey and locusts. And there in the desert, God revealed to John the Baptist the words that he would speak concerning the life of Christ. Around 30 years of age, he emerged from that wilderness, dressed in camel's hair, and with a leather belt about his waist. And the people flocked to him to listen to this prophet from the highest. They knew he was a prophet. They had seen the sign of God, or many had seen the sign of God when he was circumcised. Many knew that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the angel in the temple to Zacharias. Many knew that Zacharias had spoken, inspired by the Spirit, when he said, this is the prophet of the highest. And many, when they heard John speak the word of God in the wilderness, knew in their hearts that this had to be the prophet of the highest. For he spoke with authority. He spoke with power, calling the people to repent, telling the people that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The people did not flock to Him because He performed many miracles. In fact, John 10 verse 41 says that He did not perform a miracle. Instead, they flocked to Him to listen to Him because they knew that this was finally a prophet. After 400 years, this was finally a prophet who would speak to them God's own Word. Jesus spoke of this prophet. That's one among them that are born of women. There has not risen a greater than John the Baptist, Matthew 11, 11. He fulfilled this prophecy of being the prophet from the highest. It was a great prophet, but he also was the forerunner of Christ. As a forerunner, he came right before Christ, immediately before Christ. Six months before Christ was born, John was born. And six months, or a few years after John began his public ministry, Jesus began his public ministry. He came to tell everyone, as a forerunner, that the Messiah was coming. John 1 verse 7 says that he came to be a witness, to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He told everyone about the light that was coming after him. The light, the man who was coming after him. The one whose shoes, whose sandals he was not worthy to unbuckle. The one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And then, while John was preaching and baptizing, Jesus came to prove that John indeed was that forerunner. Jesus came right after Christ. And John, or Jesus came right after John. And as the forerunner of Christ, John announced, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me cometh one, a man which is preferred before me. John was truly the forerunner of Christ, the one coming before Christ, the one speaking of his coming, and the one announcing his arrival. But John also did what Zacharias said he would do. He prepared the way by teaching the people that Christ came to accomplish the remission of sins through the tender mercies of God. That is what John was teaching when he called the people to repent. Repent. Repent. He showed the people that they were sinners in need of repentance. And he ought to show us that fact as well. Whether we are Jew, whether we are a Gentile, no matter who we are, we are in need of repentance. We all deserve the wrath of God for our sin. That was John's message. But it not only showed that all were sinners that deserve the wrath to come. But he showed that there was a way of salvation from this wrath of God. He showed the remission of sins. He did that with his preaching. He spoke to them of the remission of sins. He did that when he preached, as recorded in Luke 3, verse 3, the baptism of repentance. He preached this. He explained to them that they could be washed of their sins. And then He showed them that sign of baptism. At the edge of the Jordan River, He baptized many to show the remission of sins that Jesus would accomplish. In this way, He pointed to Christ, the Messiah. who would be the basis for the forgiveness of our sins. That's how we prepare the hearts of God's people. In closing, let us apply John's ministry to our lives. John was a prophet of the highest that came before Christ to prepare the hearts of God's people for his coming. Can we identify ourselves with John? Remember, Christ is coming again. We run before Christ as John ran. And we are called, like John, to prepare that way as well. Notice in Matthew 28, the Great Commission, well known to us. That the work that we are called to as a church. Is very similar to the work that John was called, John was called to teach about the remission of sins through the tender mercy of God, and he was called to baptize to show. That truth. The Great Commission says, go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. That was John's work. And that is our work. We're called, like John, to be active in mission, speaking Preaching the gospel truth of the remission of sins through the tender mercy of God and now we know on the basis of Christ's work in his life We're called to do that through missions through evangelism And in this way we prepare the hearts of many Repair the hearts of the elect So that they understand what salvation truly is. Many are deceived. Many are lost. Many have hearts that need to be prepared. In this season of Advent, we praise God, and rightly so, for His first coming. But we also look forward to the second Advent. We ought not to be waiting passively We ought to be running, for running, if you will, like John. Telling others about that great and dreadful day of the Lord, which is coming very quickly. And then also speaking about the gospel, the remission of sins through the tender mercy of God on the basis of Christ's work on the cross. As John did, let us do that. Let us do that as prophets of the highest. Amen. Let's pray. Merciful God, we praise Thee for Thy tender mercy unto us, shown by the sending of the Messiah after Thy servant John. Make us Thy servants as well. Make us active. An active church and an active people. Preparing the way. For Christ's second coming. In his name we pray. Amen.