"THE VISITOR!"

LUKE 1:67-75

We have all had visitors. Some make us glad when they arrive, others make us glad when they leave. Some visitors come for what they can give, others for what they can get. Some visitors are simply great and others simply grate. Some visitors are wonderful and others just make you wonder. Some visitors are welcome and others are, well ...! Let me tell you about one particular visitor. His name was Martin and he had a twin named Morgan. They looked so much alike that even their closest friends could not tell them apart by their looks. But looks was the only way they were alike. They certainly didn't act alike. Martin was the obedient son. He was kind to others; he was a good student and had high moral standards. Morgan, on the other hand, was a different story. He was disobedient; he was unkind; he lied; he cheated; he stole; he was always in trouble. As Martin and Morgan grew older, the differences between them also grew. Martin continued to apply himself and to excel in everything he did. Morgan, however, got into deeper and deeper trouble. He began to have run-ins with the law. First it was for minor offenses. But the older he got the more serious the trouble became. He was in and out of jail as a teenager, then as a young adult he committed the ultimate crime. He killed someone and was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to die in the electric chair. And Martin came to visit him in prison. In the text for this morning, Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, uttered a prophecy about the yet to be born Jesus. He tells about His visit and the outcome of it.

• GOD VISITED US IN JESUS CHRIST: V68:
• Some people speculate about a visit from outer space aliens; there is no speculation here: God has visited us in Jesus Christ.
• The word for visit has much deeper meaning than we ordinarily attach to it. We think we visit someone when we gab on the phone or drop by for a chat and chew session or when we just palaver. Biblically:
• To visit means to exercise caring oversight, like a parent keeping an eye on a child at play.
• To visit means to come with some charitable and beneficial action, like bringing in groceries or helping with a task.
• Jesus explained visitation when he said "For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me." Matthew 25:35-36.
• James explained what it is to visit when he said, "This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, ..." James 1:27.
• Genuine help comes from those who care enough to be personally involved in the burdens, in the struggles and in the needs; no wonder Zacharias blessed God for His visitation in Jesus.
• Helmut Thielicke: "Jesus Christ did not remain at base headquarters, receiving reports of the world's suffering from below and shouting a few encouraging words to us from a safe distance. No, He ... came down where we live in the front line trenches ... where we contend with our anxieties and the feeling of emptiness and futility, where we sin and suffer guilt, and where we must finally die. There is nothing that he did not endure with us. He understands everything."
• "It was like God to give His Son that way, in human form, a Baby in the hay; and like the Son, though very God indeed, to come as Heaven's answer to our need."
• Jesus Christ came to visit us, to involve Himself in our lives, our struggles, our failures, and to rescue us.

Martin went to visit Morgan. Morgan had run out of appeals. In spite of all the letters that had been written, and the phone calls that had been made, and all the legal approaches that had been taken, the final verdict was in: Morgan would die for his crime. Nobody had been able to secure his release, so Martin came to visit him in prison. But God visited us in Jesus He succeeded.

• GOD ACCOMPLISHED REDEMPTION: VV68-71:

• The word for redemption means to pay a price to deliver or release or save someone.
• It was a ransom price for those who had been kidnapped or taken as prisoners of war.
• It was a price paid to release someone from the penalty of law.
• It was the price paid to purchase the liberty of someone who had sold himself into slavery to settle a debt.
• To redeem someone meant to pay the price to release them from penalty, bondage or liability.
• Jesus Christ did just that by paying the highest price: His life. "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:18-19. He redeemed, released, delivered and saved us from:
• The futile, empty way of life which is trying to save ourselves by effort or sincerity or good works.
• The curse of the Law, the penalty of death for sins we've committed. Galatians 3:13
• From every lawless deed to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. Titus 2:14.
• I.e. we are delivered or released from the power and penalty of sin. We don't serve sin anymore and if we are in Christ we won't die in it!
• Jesus Christ visited us to redeem us and to release us from our bondage because He cared about us.

Martin cared for Morgan when others had long since given up on him. Martin still believed there was hope for his twin when others concluded he was hopeless. The law was unrelenting: Morgan would die. Others were unforgiving: Justice must be served. But Martin ... Well, Martin was a brother with a brother's heart and no matter what his brother had done or become, he would always be a brother. Greater than that is that God's heart is kind toward us; though we have sinned He desires to bring us His salvation.

• GOD SHOWED MERCY TO US: VV72-73:

• Grace is God giving to us what we don't deserve and Mercy is God not giving us what we do indeed deserve.
• Mercy is
• God withholding the just penalty of eternal death and separation from Him for our sins.
• Mercy is the Judge of all the earth coming to take the place of the prisoner and to receive the prisoner's sentence and penalty.
• Mercy is God's personal pledge, promise and guarantee to those who receive Christ.
• By His mercy He delivers us the privilege of serving Him.
• Jesus Christ came to bring us the fullness of God's tender mercies. He knew that was our only hope.

Martin knew that Morgan had but one hope. He convinced Morgan to take off his prison garment. He took off his own clothing and the two exchanged wardrobes. A few minutes later the guard came back to let Martin out of the cell, but instead it was Morgan who walked out the door to freedom. The next day they came to take Morgan to the electric chair, without realizing it was actually Martin. They walked him down the hall, strapped him into the chair and ended his life. Morgan was free, but he had a decision to make. He could either continue to live as he had always lived and end up back on death row, or he could take the gift Martin gave him and change his life. Martin secured Morgan's release (albeit in a questionable manner) so he might be motivated to live a different life. It is God's kind intention to save you, not so you can go on as before, but so you can live a new life. You have a decision to make: will you live as you always have, or will you live for Christ? Some of you are carrying bitterness, anger and resentment in your heart; some of you are bearing a grudge you need to forget; some of you are carrying around a negative, fault-finding, critical attitude; some of you are filled with pride and self-righteousness; some of you are filled with a desire for notice and glory and the honor of men; some of you are carrying a load of guilt and shame and fear. Those are prison garments you need to shed if you want to be free and live! Put on Christ's righteousness and be free of those things. Christ gave His life for you and rose again that you might die to sin and live to righteousness. What a love He has for you today; it's not a mushy, sentimental thing -- it's strong, it's merciful, it's gracious, it's redemptive. Let Him love and save you, and then go out to live for Him until He calls you home.

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