THE PROPHET OF THE HIGHEST
‘And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest.’
In the passage, Luke 1:76-79, we have the song of a father dedicating the infant child to missionary service.
I. It has an octave of Gospel notes.—(a) ‘Visited.’ Incarnation (Luke 19:10). (b) ‘Redeemed.’ Calvary. You are redeemed. For service. ‘Not your own—bought’ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). (c) ‘Salvation.’ ‘Horn.’ Abundance of it (Ephesians 1:3; Isaiah 55:7). (d) ‘He spake.’ Inspiration (2 Peter 1:21). (e) ‘His people.’ ‘All souls are Mine.’ The heathen are His (Ezekiel 18:4). (f) ‘Saved … delivered … that we might serve Him.’ (g) ‘Remission of sins.’ This the first rung in ladder of grace (See Psalms 103:3). ‘Thou … child, to prepare His ways.’ No forcing to ministry. (h) ‘ To give knowledge of His salvation.’
II. This the task of redeemed.—It is His salvation. We ‘to give knowledge of it.’ Its source—‘the tender mercy of our God.’ That the deep invisible spring. The stream—‘the dayspring,’ i.e. dawn of redemption day. Jesus is the light of the world. Think of Him as the Sun. His glory. His Power. Illuminates conscience. Illuminates mind. Illuminates grave. Illuminates face of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). What know of God apart from Him? Illuminates gates of heaven. Shows where they are, and how reached.
III. ‘That sit in darkness.’—Exactly describes Christless world. ‘Sit,’ i.e. their abiding condition. Observe sin’s three descriptions: bondage (Luke 1:74); darkness (Luke 1:79); wandering (Luke 1:79). ‘The way of peace.’ There is such a way. If a Christian, you know it. If a Christian, you cannot but show it.
IV. To sum up.—Here series of great realities. We have been ‘put in trust’ with all this. The realities of a Christless world. We have liberty. ‘Proclaim liberty.’ We have the light. Give it to those who ‘sit in darkness.’ We have been led into the way of peace. Lead others into it. We shall profit our own souls as we do this.
—Rev. R. C. Joynt.