17NOV23
⚔️🛡️GOSPEL🛡️⚔️
[1] “But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]. [Isa. 64:4; 65:17.]”
[1 Corinthians 2:9 AMPC]
[2] “For he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord. And he must drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit even in and from his mother's womb. [Num. 6:3.] And he will [himself] go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn back the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient and incredulous and unpersuadable to the wisdom of the upright [which is the knowledge and holy love of the will of God]–in order to make ready for the Lord a people [perfectly] prepared [in spirit, adjusted and disposed and placed in the right moral state]. [Isa. 40:3; Mal. 4:5, 6.] For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment. And she cried out with a loud cry, and then exclaimed, Blessed (favored of God) above all other women are you! And blessed (favored of God) is the Fruit of your womb!”
[Luke 1:15, 17, 37, 42 AMPC]
[3] God’s covenant is enacted upon His promise [Hebrews 8:6]. A promise is a common, ordinary word that has not been confirmed by an oath. In the Old Testament, after God made a promise, He sealed it with an oath. He swore by His Godhead to confirm His promise. Thus, His promise was made His covenant.
[4] Jesus the Saviour was the dawning sun to the dark age. His coming ended the night of the Old Testament and began the day of the New Testament. As the fruit in Elizabeth’s blessing, He is life to us [John 14:6]; as the sun in Zechariah’s prophecy, He is the light to us [Matthew 4:16, John 9:5]. As part of the Godhead, He is the accomplisher and the center of God’s redemption that His people may obtain salvation.
[5] The Holy Spirit is the emphasis of holiness; “Blessed (praised and extolled and thanked) be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and brought deliverance and redemption to His people! That we should have deliverance and be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who detest and pursue us with hatred; To make true and show the mercy and compassion and kindness [promised] to our forefathers and to remember and carry out His holy covenant [to bless, which is all the more sacred because it is made by God Himself], That covenant He sealed by oath to our forefather Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our foes, might serve Him fearlessly In holiness (divine consecration) and righteousness [in accordance with the everlasting principles of right] within His presence all the days of our lives. And you, little one, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for you shall go on before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways, [Isa. 40:3; Mal. 4:5.] To bring and give the knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness and remission of their sins. Because of and through the heart of tender mercy and loving-kindness of our God, a Light from on high will dawn upon us and visit [us] [Mal. 4:2.] To shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace. [Isa. 9:2.] And the little boy grew and became strong in spirit; and he was in the deserts (wilderness) until the day of his appearing to Israel [the commencement of his public ministry].”
[Luke 1:68, 71-80 AMPC]