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I will occasionally see someone drive by with a steer's longhorns attached to the front of their vehicle to symbolize -- I guess -- either that they are from Texas, a rancher, a nut, or a University of Texas football fan. My brother had such a set of horns hanging in his room growing up that he used as a glorified hat and clothes rack. Say the word "horns" to people today and car honks and fog comes to mind. It's obvious that "horns" have definitely changed meanings from what they used to be in older times.

The original horns, the ones spoke of in the Bible, were the kind that come on bulls and rams. There are 103 references to horns in the Bible. And the humble "horn" was used in many different ways and used to represent many different things. Horns were readily available because the children of Israel kept sheep, cows, oxen, and goats and were always butchering them either for sacrifice or food. They used the skins of the animals for clothing, tents, and tarps. And then they were left with these, "horns." It's no surprise that almost every possible use of a horn was thought of and from it's uses came the various things that horns began to represent. You might be interested to know, by the way, that not one time in scripture is "horns" referred to as being "on the devil" even though that's immediately what some people think of when they hear the term. The devil doesn't have horns, and such a belief is a misunderstanding of a few passages of prophecy that we will eventually discuss in our midweek eschatological studies.

I mention horns in the Bible today, because of a great principle found in our text in the Book of Luke. We read the words of Zacharias, the new father of a bouncing, baby boy, who come to be known as John the Baptist. An angel had appeared to him at an old age and announced that he and his wife -- who was well past the childbearing age -- were to have a son. Despite knowing that he was talking to an angel, Zacharias, doubted because of his physical condition. Because of his disbelief, the angel told him that he would be mute -- unable to speak -- until the child was born. And that he was to name the child, John, because he would be the forerunner of the Christ, the Savior that was coming!

So for nine or so months, Zacharias had been unable to speak. But God had performed His Word and eventually Elisabeth had given birth to a child. When the child was born, the people asked him if he was going to name the boy after himself, which would have been customary for the only child of an elderly couple. But taking a writing board, Zacharias wrote "his name is John." And when he did this, the Bible says that the Holy Ghost hit him and he began to prophesy! He had been waiting to speak out a long time and when it came, it flowed!

It's interesting to note that when people get the Holy Ghost today, the scriptures teach that it is a "regeneration" of their dormant spirit. In other words, there was a part of man that died in Adam and Eve when they ate the forbidden fruit. It wasn't their physical man. It wasn't their mental faculties. It was their spirit man, the part of man that had a close relationship with God. And the scriptures say that the death of Adam has passed on to all men. You were born with a dormant spirit, quiet, inactive, and out of touch with it's creator that's crying out for God! When a person gets the Holy Ghost, their dormant spirit is brought back to life and is put back in touch with it's Creator. When people get the Holy Ghost, they began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gives them utterance, and the tongues seem to flow out of them. It's not their mental man speaking, but their spirit man! He's waited a long time for this moment! Therefore when the regeneration comes, his praise flows out of you!

Zacharias began to prophesy about the Savior that was to come, and God used him to teach the people around him and us about how great Jesus Christ would be. Certainly every phrase that is spoken by the Holy Spirit is worthy of study and noting, but there is one phrase that stands out to me in Zacharias' prophesying. I chose it for my subject today:

Zacharias said that Jesus Christ would be "the Lord God of Israel visiting and redeeming his people." And then he said that Jesus would be "an horn of salvation for us." That's an interesting phrase. Jesus is our "horn of salvation." This is actually a very powerful statement, but because we don't have a proper understanding today of what the horn represented and was used for in ancient Hebrew culture, most of us don't really grasp right away what the Holy Ghost was telling us through Zacharias. With the help of the Spirit and a bit of study, let me endeavor to change that lack of understanding in our lives. I want to preach to you about what it means for Jesus to be our "horn of salvation."

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Jesus would be "an horn of salvation." There are only two other scriptures that use that exact phrase and both were coined by David about Jehovah God. David wrote:

It's obvious that David was praising the one, Jehovah God of Israel for protecting Him and fighting for Him. David said that Jehovah was "his rock," or sure foundation. God was his "fortress," or place of safety. God was his "deliverer" or savior. God was his strength and his "buckler" or shield. He was his "high tower" which enabled him to see above his local situation and look afar off. And in the midst of this, David said that the Jehovah God of Israel was "the horn of my salvation." There's that phrase again.

To the Israeli's and to David, horns represented strength and power. It is the part of the bull or ram that they fight with and guard their territory with, and so it became the emblem of might. Alexander the Great was said to wear a hat with horns affixed to it to symbolize his greatness. The mighty Viking warriors did the same thing. David was saying that the God of Israel was a "mighty, powerful, and strong God and Savior."

So when we say that Jesus Christ is our "horn of salvation" then we are saying, in effect, that He is a "strong savior." He is a mighty deliverer. And I want to testify to you that He is definitely that! There has never been a sickness or disease formed that could best Jesus Christ! The scriptures say "He healed them all." There isn't a demon in hell that can stand in His presence, because He is a mighty savior! Even legion, who had at least 600 demons, found himself bowing themselves to Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Galilee! And when Jesus spoke, the demons -- all 600 of them -- instantly obeyed His command! Even the devil, himself, couldn't get Jesus to mess up when He was being tempted in the weakened state after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, and even the devil had to leave Him when He stood on the Word of God! The scriptures say that "He was tempted in all manner like as we are" and yet He never gave in to the temptation and sinned! I'm talking about a mighty Savior!

Jesus is a strong Savior! His flesh not wanting to die couldn't keep Him from completing the perfect will of God in His life. A traitor among His best friends couldn't keep Him down! The worst possible physical pain couldn't bring a curse or stop a forgiving prayer about His enemies from coming to His lips! Death didn't conquer Him and the Grave couldn't hold Him, because after three days, He came forth as He said He would! The devil would have you to think that Jesus was weak and frail, and I don't care what the pictures of some few homosexual painters looks like, Jesus was a mighty Savior and a strong deliverer! He was able to pay the price for the entire sins of the world and yet come forth victorious. If you are down and depressed today, you need to take heart, because as the song says: "if He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders, then surely, my brother, He can carry you!" Cast your cares on Him. He can take it: He is a mighty Savior! Don't dump your problems on some other brother and sister who will be depressed by your situation, but tell it to the One who is mighty enough to do something about it!

There are people who exist who think that Christianity and being a follower of Jesus is a sign of weakness and that they are stronger than the need for religion. I've read books of people who made such statements like "religion is just an invention for the feebleminded." Once such person, named Nero, said from Rome in about A.D. 48 "in one hundred years, we will have stamped out Christianity so complete that it won't even be thought of." "Nero, you're a liar!" It's two millenniums later and you're dead, but Jesus Christ is still ruling on the throne of people's lives! And it's the Roman empire that has fallen and that nobody misses, and yet the kingdom of heaven is still here! The famous French atheist/agnostic Voltaire said the same basic statement about how his efforts would stamp out Christianity and he devoted his life to it. He used his house for the headquarters of his "cause." When Voltaire died, it just so happened that a group of printers were looking for a place big enough to put their new invention, the printing press and they bought Voltaire's house to set up as a printing shop. What was the first book printed on any printing press and the one that is still the all time, number one, best selling book in the world? The Holy Bible. And the first one was printed in the former house of a deceased atheist!

You'd better make sure that you have Jesus in your life! It's not a sign of weakness but of strength. Strong men have Jesus. You can't save yourself on your own. You can't fix your life and live as you should on your own power. You need a mighty savior, you need Jesus, the "horn of salvation!"

There are many churches today that preach a watered down Gospel from what the Apostles preached. They preach an incomplete doctrine. They believe some of the scriptures and not all of them. They tell you to do some things that Jesus commanded but not all of them. They will tell you to believe in Jesus but not necessarily to repent. They will tell you to repent to Him, but not get baptized in His name. There are some that even tell you to be baptized in His name, but not to receive the gift that He came to baptize you with, the Holy Ghost fire! And the amazing thing is that even in many churches that are doctrinally incomplete. Who don't know fully who He is. Yet there are people that are genuinely ministered to by weak, powerless sermons. There are people healed by people praying in the name of Jesus, not even knowing fully who He is. There are people whose only experience with God is kneeling in repentance and yet whom God has delivered from drugs and alcohol and all sorts of other things. Does the effects justify the churches ignoring of scripture? No, but it does testify to one thing: Jesus is a powerful savior! He truly is the horn of our salvation. Because He can take a donkey and speak to a false prophet and then use the false prophet to prophesy blessings on His people. And even His message extremely watered down is powerful enough to make a noticeable change in many situations! Even a partial understanding of Jesus Christ is enough to see the dead raised and the blinded eyes opened!

But the real power comes from knowing who He is! Zacharias said that Jesus would be "an horn of salvation." He was quoting David who said that the one, Jehovah God of the Old Testament was his "horn of salvation." From this we can get a glimpse of why Jesus is so powerful! He is none other than God Almighty in flesh coming to reveal Himself to mankind! The one God of the Old Testament, was born of woman and became the One God of the New Testament! And His name is Jesus! He truly is all powerful, because this man that walked around on earth, was the One who had created all things (Colossians 1:16)! He is mighty! He is the horn of salvation!

And so I preach to you! There is no sin that has been invented that can not be washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ! There is no pit that is too low for Him to pull you out of! There is no hopeless case as long as Jesus can get involved! His mercy is greater than my worst. His grace is better than my best. He is my "horn of salvation!" He truly is a mighty, mighty Savior!

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I wish I had but time to do the subject justice today. But Jesus truly fulfilled His title: "an horn of salvation." Not only did horns represent strength and power, but they also were used to make trumpets. There was a horn trumpet that was kept in the Tabernacle called a "shophar" that was used to sound out across the camp to call people together for worship, religious occasions, and when it was time to sacrifice. I could preach on that a while and it's a sermon in itself. Jesus is still calling people together to worship today. He wants you to worship at your tent, but He is also calling us together to worship and sacrifice together.

When the children of Israel were traveling through the wilderness, there was a horn that would sound when it was time for them to camp and in times of war, there was a horn that would sound that signaled that it was time to rally together. They did this lest someone keep going away from the group and by themselves be devoured. Jesus is still a "horn of salvation" today calling to those afar off saying "come in and rest." He is still speaking today through His mouthpieces, "preachers and pastors." You need a man of God in your life. You need that trumpet call to keep you from wondering away. Peter wrote that you need a shepherd in your life, and to be under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, you must also be under His undershepherds, which are pastors. A man of God in your life is a horn of salvation to you, blowing the trumpet of warning when you drift too far away and keeping you focused on what you should be focused upon! Jesus is your "horn of salvation" and you need Him and the ministry that He gave as gifts for your perfecting!

Because they were so readily available and they held water, horns became in Biblical times the most common drinking vessels and cups for carrying and distributing water. They were also used to hold anointing oil and many a king of Israel was anointed by oil flowing from a vessel made from a horn.

Jesus is our "horn of salvation" still today! He spoke often in His earthly ministry about the "living water that He would give freely." At a festival before He died, we find this message from Jesus Christ:

This living water that He had spoken so often about that men and women needed to drink from, represented the Holy Ghost! And the Holy Ghost would not be given until Jesus had been "glorified" -- buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. It was first poured out on the Day of Pentecost and even though some people don't realize it, the Holy Ghost is still being poured out today! Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He is still the horn of salvation that brings living water to men freely! The Holy Ghost wasn't just for them of yesteryear, but is for "as many as the Lord our God shall call." The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is still being poured from the Horn of Salvation yet today!

And there are anointings and blessings and healings still flowing from the Horn of Salvation! You came too late to tell me that there will not be miracles and healings today. You came too late to tell me that there will not be some of this generation rise up and be mighty in God and respond to the call of God. The horn of Salvation is still among us and there is still anointing oil that flows from it upon willing humanity! There are still prophets and anointed men and women of God to preach and pastor and become missionaries and evangelists. There are still some young Davids that are quietly doing the will of God and developing a relationship with the Almighty who will stand up against the giants that raise their heads! There will be those that will let the anointing oil flow from the horn of salvation!

There are two other obscure references to "horns" in the Bible that are worth mentioning here. In the obscure verse of Habakkuk 3:4, we find the words "horns" used to refer to light rays shining out from the Almighty's hand when He will come to earth! I've preached recently about the Light of Jesus Christ and so once again, we find that He is truly our "horn of salvation" shining light into the darkness on earth and He truly was and is the Almighty visiting this place!

In Isaiah 5:1 we find this scripture:

What is neat is that in the Hebrew, the word for "hill" is actually "horn." The translators didn't mess up here by translating it as a "hill" because in Isaiah's day, "horn" was a slang term that referred to the very top of a hill. The peak of a hill or mountain was referred to as it's "horn."

There is nothing in the scripture by accident and it's no accident that Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin on the very top of another hill, a hill called Golgotha. And it's no accident that the scriptures are very clear to tell us that Jesus' cross was in the distinct center of everything. He was between the others. Zacharias had prophesied that Jesus would be "an horn of salvation" and the cross and events that day that took place at the "horn" of Golgotha truly brought and bought our salvation! By dying on a cross, Jesus truly became in every way our "horn of salvation!"

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It's amazing how that Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every prophecy and every reference to "horns" in the Bible. He is our powerful Savior, He is the trumpet that call people together to worship and sacrifice to God, He is the giver of Living Water and the pourer out of anointings. He has rays of light that shine into the darkness and He bought salvation on the top or "horn" of a hill. But there is one other reference to "horns of salvation" in the scripture that I would like to mention. It's the one that many Bible scholars believe that Zacharias was prophesying and alluding to when he uttered that phrase about Jesus Christ. They say that he was referring to the horns on the altar.

When Moses built the Tabernacle, a place for God to dwell among His people, he did so under very precise instructions. There was to be a building divided inside between the Holy Place and the Most Holy, and outside there was to be a type of fence outlining an outer courtyard. In the courtyard, there was two pieces of furniture that you came to before you ever got to the Temple structure and that was a huge altar called the "brazen altar" and then a huge basin of water called the "brazen laver." If a priest wanted to enter into the Tabernacle to go before the presence of God, he had to first stop at the altar and give a sacrifice, and then wash the blood off in the water of the brazen laver and change his garments. Since I'm here, let me mention that the altar represents the importance of repentance and the water the importance of water baptism. If you want to enter into the presence of the Almighty and serve Him as you should, you must first stop by the altar and the water laver!

The altar outside had horns on each corner. Horns were a prominent feature of the brazen altar in the courtyard and God did this to signify the importance of a blood sacrifice and the power of repentance. There is great power in true repentance, in asking God to forgive you and turning to Him because without it, you will not enter on into everything that God has for you! Repentance is a powerful tool and your friend, not something that is undesirable!

When God gave the commandments for the rules and laws of Moses, He provided an interesting provision for those who had sinned, such as accidentally killed someone or who was in violation of His law and worthy of death. If they could get to the altar at the tabernacle and grab hold of the horns of the altar, then usually their life would be spared. To "get ahold of the horns of the altar" came to mean "to find protection and mercy."

We read in our other text in 1 Kings chapter 1 about Adonijah who was one of the many sons of David. Adonijah was the victim of bad advice. He found men who told him that he should be king even though the prophet of God had not spoken and so as King David was lying on his death bed, Adonijah gathered together all of these ill-advisors and friends and began to celebrate his rise to the throne. At the same time that he was doing this, David had done God's will and anointed his son, Solomon, as king. Word quickly spread of Solomon's coronation to Adonijah's little celebration and Adonijah realized that he had made a huge mistake and had sinned against God and Israel by trying to promote himself as king. The punishment for such treachery was death and so when Adonijah realized that Solomon would be after him, he ran out of the celebration and to the temple of God and fell upon the horns of the altar and when the soldiers of Solomon came to kill him, they found him clinging to the horns of the altar refusing to let go. When Solomon heard this, he spared the life of Adonijah and the horns of the altar had become his "horn of salvation."

There is a tremendous analogy and lesson that we can learn about repentance to Jesus Christ. He is our "horn of salvation" today! When we have sinned against the King of Kings and we have messed up and find ourselves at odds to the King's words and wishes, then we will be saved if we will truly repent! We must run to the "horns of the altar" today. We must quickly find a place of repentance to Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive us and to extend His mercy! When we do, we will find that despite our failures and despite our shortcomings, Jesus Christ will be merciful! He is truly our "horn of salvation" today! There's power in repentance and power in the altar! Thank God for His mercy! Thank God for His being the God of a second and a third and a fourth chance!

But there are two sobering lessons to the horns of salvation on the altar with which I would like to close with:

The first lesson is that although Adonijah found mercy at the horns of the altar, he years later tried to make himself king again, and this time he didn't make it back to the horns of the altar before he was killed. Adonijah reached a place where he viewed God's mercy as "always being there" and so he could do what he knew was wrong and yet go and grab hold of those horns and get forgiveness again. But it didn't work out quite like he expected!

It's the same with Jesus. You're here today, and you can get to Him! Thank God for that! You'd better take advantage of this opportunity because you are not guaranteed another. And unfortunately there are some Christians who make the mistake of Adonijah of thinking that they can do what they want to do and just come ask for forgiveness every Sunday and everything will be alright. There are those who say "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission" but you'd better be careful Adonijah because if you keep sinning and doing things that you know is against the Word of God, thinking that you will just make it right later by running to the horns of salvation, then you need to realize that there might come a day when you can't get there before your sin destroys you! Somebody learn the lesson of Adonijah and hear this warning against playing with willful sin! Don't use the horn of salvation as a license to sin, or it will destroy you!

The second sobering lesson is found in the next chapter of 1 Kings where we find that Joab, who had been one of the men giving Adonijah bad advice, also ran for his life and fled to the altar and grabbed ahold of the horns and yet we have this:

Joab was pulled from the horns of the altar and killed. What worked for Adonijah the chapter before, didn't work for him. At first that might seem confusing or unfair, but there is more to the story. Joab was running to the altar for protection of judgment for siding with Adonijah making himself king. But when you study it out, Solomon didn't kill Joab because of that rebellion, but rather because long ago, Joab had ruthlessly murdered two men and never repented of it. He thought everybody had forgotten the past and that he could move on, but God always remembers. And so when Joab ran to the altar for his part in Adonijah's rebellion, he wasn't persecuted for that act, but he was persecuted for the act for which he had never approached God for.

It's possible to come repent of your sins and yet hold some things back. It's possible to be truly repentant while holding unforgiveness in your heart from years ago. It's possible to grab a hold of the horns of the altar for some things and yet be very unrepentant and bitter from other things. It's possible to come repent only of the things that everyone knows and convenient to ignore other things in our life that we know is there, but we are hoping no one else notices. Such was the action of Joab.

But I'm here to tell you, the horn of salvation will only save you if you repent of everything! The altar only works if you are willing to put everything upon it! And Jesus Christ is the King greater than Solomon, and the King knows everything! The Horn of Salvation is here to bring mercy and powerful enough to change every life and forgive any sin and deliver you from anything, but the Horn of Salvation only works with people who have surrendered everything! Who have given their all! Who will open every room of their heart to Him. Who will lay all of their flesh upon the altar and be real with Him. Grabbing a hold of the horns of the altar of repentance and yet not really surrendering all, won't work, Joab, because the things that you think you are hiding will destroy you!

And so Zacharias' words were true. Jesus Christ is "an horn of salvation." He is a powerful Savior. He is calling people today to come worship and sacrifice. He is still pouring out the Living Water of the Holy Ghost and anointing men and women for His cause. He is still the Light of the World that purchased our salvation on the "horn" or top of Mt. Calvary. And He is the still the horn of salvation that we can run to and find mercy and forgiveness. But He can only save those who allow Him to completely change them and who are willing to give Him everything! And for those who will sell out completely, they will be able to truly say with Zacharias: God has given us "an horn of salvation!" Jesus is here today, and you can get to Him! Respond to our powerful Savior!