offerings for international missions. And we refer to that, of course, as the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. Lottie Moon was a Virginian, by the way, who spent a great deal of her life, in fact, most of her life in China many, many years ago. So we are well into this particular season. And we pray that you've given, that you've given from your heart, The goal, I think, is $750 million, which is quite a bit for the missionaries that are about the globe. This particular one this morning is about harder-to-reach people, people that are located in Brazil in the Amazon Basin. So let's watch this this morning. We have certain stories in the New Testament, like the parable of the lost sheep, where you leave 99 to go find the one. And so God doesn't forsake that one lost sheep. You have these small micro-people groups. The gospel has not flowed yet because of geography, because of distance, because of cost, because of culture, because of racism. I really feel that these micro-peoples are part of his heart to go after all the sheep, to go after that remnant. In the Amazon, you can go a day without seeing another living soul, which is kind of freaky. But a lot of the reason why you can't see people is because they're hidden. These are hidden peoples, small in population, widely dispersed. They have centuries of a bloody history where they've been exploited. They're animists. They believe in spirits. When you live that way, you tend to be dominated by fear. I see marginalized people, I see forgotten people, I see invisible people that are in desperate need of the gospel. The area is massive. And so to get from where I live, which is already a jungle cities, I have to get into a land plane and fly to another port city. And then the next day, we'd get in a boat. And in this slow boat, we travel sometimes three days to get to where we're going. Because we're going into areas where the gospel's not, sometimes it just takes time. But recently, we have noticed just God opening some doors. God has been working to send out missionaries, indigenous men and women, where there's no evangelical presence. A well-trained and called indigenous man will be much more effective. They tend to be able to get into hard-reach areas without government restrictions. You have fewer language limitations. A lot of my work is training them. So if I want to teach an indigenous man how to do story, he has to see me do it first. And after a while of walking alongside, he's very capable at that point. One partner in particular, he wants to go work with a group that has killed outsiders that have walked in. He's like, I don't care. God sent me to go do it. And this is such a 180 from most indigenous culture that you have to look at him and say, God brought this change to this man. You see families coming to Christ. You do see village headmans getting permission to come in. It really confirms everything that we're out there to do. We go out and make disciples of all nations. When we have those things happen, we sit back and go, OK, this is what it's all about. They can go and they can teach others. And those people can teach others. I want to see this momentum, like a wave through the jungle, where I can say, look, I didn't see it happen. I wasn't there. But I know the gospel has reached these dark corners. When supporters of the Lottie Moon Christmas offering give, it allows us to do things like buy an outboard motor that gets us upriver, to get equipment that we need to help us stay out there in the jungle. I have been supported by Lottie Moon. Y'all's generosity is a luxury that I never want to take for granted. So I want to say thank you for that. God is faithful in the hard times as he is in the good times, and our mandate doesn't change. These people groups in the jungle, you could be born, live, and die without ever hearing the name of our Savior. So someone has to go. Because if we don't go, no one's going to go. If we don't train people to go, no one's going to go. It's worth it. This laid on your heart. I know Bill wasn't here. Do we have a tally this morning, brother? About 1,700. About 1,700. Some change, OK? So just continue to give as the Lord has blessed you. 50% of the world's oxygen is created from the Amazon rainforest. So I think that's probably something we want to keep around, is it not? Good to see you in the Lord's house this morning. For those of you perhaps that are listening and watching via the internet, we do welcome you. And with our congregation, turn with me to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. I'm becoming a believer and the grace of God that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. The last couple of weeks we looked at Matthew, primarily Matthew 19 and 20, but we did take some verses from Matthew 18 as well. And we focused on a message entitled, Who Then Can Be Saved? Why Grace Is Needed? Well, this morning we're going to take it a step further. And we're going to look at an insider that becomes an outsider, that's Zacharias, and an outsider that becomes an insider, and that's Mary. And so, two, they should be very familiar passages of Scripture to you this morning. I want to pick up with verse 5, although we will be back and forth in the chapter this morning. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years." Now, well advanced in years in Christ's day was 60. There are some 60-ish people here this morning. So 60 then was not the new 40. Okay? So 60-ish, Zacharias and Elizabeth. And so it was that while he was serving as a priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his light fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zechariah saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is well advanced in years. And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you, to bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which were fulfilled in their own time. Verse 26. Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. The sixth month here is the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, and the angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord. God will give him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom, there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month for her who is called a barren. For with God, nothing will be impossible. And Mary said, behold, a maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. May God bless the reading of his holy word this morning. Let's focus on who receives this grace. And let's pray. Father, we are grateful this morning for who you are. the ever-changing, the one that doesn't change in this world nor in the world to come, the consistent one. Father, as we've read this morning, we are reminded that we are not to doubt the Word, whether it comes from angels or from prophets. Open our hearts. Teach us who can receive this grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. C.S. Lewis in 1944 was addressing a group of young adult men who were graduating from the University of London. He had written an article entitled The Inner Ring. As you may know, he and the Tolkien, that's what I'm thinking about. Tolkien, the author of The Ring, of course, that you've seen many, many, I hope that you've read it. It's a great, great read. It's about 1,000 pages, but it's a lot better than the movies, by the way. But he and Tolkien were close friends. And so during the time that Tolkien was writing his novel, Lewis took it upon himself to write a shorter version entitled The Inner Ring, but this particular article had to do with how we all desire to be on the inside. And so he began by addressing these young men saying, I believe that in all of men's lives at certain points and in many men's lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, One of the most dominant elements is the desire to be on the inside of the local ring and the terror of being left on the outside. This inner ring offers the delicious knowledge that we are people in the know, full of delightful intimacies and confidentialities. The desire which draws us into inner rings is another matter. A thing may be morally neutral and yet the desire for that thing may be dangerous. Now we'll close the message this morning with how he closed that particular address to the young men. We would call this today the fear of missing out, FOMO. We long to be included, to be on the inside, to have some specific knowledge, the Greeks referred to this, by the way, as gnosis, some secret knowledge that other people just don't have. And especially if others can be excluded. First slide, if you would, brother. So Luke portrays the Lord differently than Matthew, Mark, or John. And in Matthew, we have seen that Jesus rebukes four types of folks about their incorrect thinking of what limits or what thresholds qualify them for the kingdom of heaven. Luke bypasses this crowd, the fear of missing out crowd, the inner ring, and he includes insiders in his community. So let's take for a moment just a brief journey back to creation. We know the story. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without light, was void, and so forth. We also know that all things were grand and glorious with Adam and Eve until chapter three. They were the ultimate insiders. Created and conformed to the image of God, these insiders remained inside the love, grace, mercy, and joy of God until chapter three. And if we read chapter three, we know that there was a great fall that occurs. And at the end of chapter three, the Lord tells one of his angels, we don't know who that is, a cherubim by the way, and he says, you go and you stand at the entrance of Eden and you guard the tree of life, they will not eat of it. And so being the ultimate insiders, having all of the fellowship with God that anyone could ever desire, they lost it through sin and became outsiders. And since then, men and women, boys and girls have been outside looking in. Yahweh, we find, chooses Abram. And Abram's progeny establishes his covenant with Abram and his progeny. And it culminates with the ultimate insider, who is God the Son, becoming incarnate and also establishing one that is outside the inextricable bond of the Trinity. We don't understand this. Last year we preached about the Trinity. How does God the Son, His Spirit, become incarnate in a human body and be separate from, and He was, physically, the Trinity? We can't define that. But that's what happened. Inside the Trinity, now outside. We're outside. and need to be brought inside. And so Luke details, takes a great deal of time to detail the one, Jesus, who is killed outside the camp. Now, I'm one of those rare people that think that Luke wrote the book of Hebrews as well. And in chapter 13 of the book of Hebrews, and in verse 13, it says that Jesus was crucified outside the camp. He was taken away from Jerusalem. More about that as we move through the message. So that you and I might be called into the camp. His socially alienated inner group included shepherds, included women, included tax collectors, included, I don't have it up here, but included harlots, Samaritans, younger sons, includes Lazarus, includes Zacchaeus, and many others in the gospel of Luke. But they respected, and Zacharias was one of them, the law constricted folk, the Pharisees, the older sons, the wealthy, the ones excluded because he prefers sinners to the self-righteous. So this theme is found throughout Luke. Now I don't have it on the overhead because it's far too long this morning, but listen while I detail as we go through the chapters. those that are on the outside that are brought in, and those on the inside that are taken out. Chapter one, we already see Zacchaeus and Mary. In chapter two, the shepherds, not the magi, come to the stable. In chapter three, Jesus says the direct descendants from Abraham are excluded. while the stones can be raised up to be included and become the inheritors. In chapter four, Jesus cried that Elijah and Elisha went not to Israel, but to a Gentile widow and to Naaman. In chapter five, Levi, vile tax collector, we know him better as Matthew, is called inside. Jesus in chapter six blesses and heals the poor and the needy. And all the while in chapter six, he castigates the rich and the self-sufficient. Chapter seven, he accepts a dinner invitation from a Pharisee because after all the invitation is for everyone. The Pharisee's name is Simon. And so he comes and Simon feeds him and somehow a harlot makes her way into the dinner. And she begins to anoint the feet of Jesus, and Jesus forgives her. And Simon, oh, Simon is livid, but the harlot is saved. In chapter 8, Jesus singles out the crowds as his brothers and his mother. and he leaves his brothers and his mother on the outside. Now, this does change, especially after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In chapter nine, a young child is held by Jesus to teach the disciples, unless they become like this child, they're going to be excluded from the kingdom of God. In chapter 10, he teaches the parable of the Good Samaritan, who were despised by the Jews But he offers this man up as an example of brotherly love. Chapter 11, Jesus cries that the men of Nineveh, Gentile sinners despised by Israel, that the men of Nineveh will rise and condemn them because of their unbelief. Chapter 12, Jesus rejects the rich that hoard and build greater barns. And he challenges those of means to sell their possessions and support the needy. Chapters 13 and 14, he invites those to a banquet through a parable that are excluded while people from the four corners of the globe are brought in and Israel is excluded. Chapter 15, the prodigal. The wayward son is welcomed back into the arms of his father while the eldest son stews outside the camp. Chapter 16, poor, wretched Lazarus enters heaven while Deaves, the rich man, is tormented in hell. Chapter 17 and 18, only the blind Samaritan, he heals ten blind men and only the blind Samaritan comes back to thank Jesus Christ. And he closes out this particular chapter by teaching us about a tax collector that smote his breast and prayed and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And he lauds that man over the egregious, selfish prayer of the Pharisee. Chapter 19, Zacchaeus, another tax collector is saved while his oppressors are shot. And Jesus utters those famous, famous words, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost, those outside to be brought inside. Chapter 20, Jesus tells of a vineyard, which is the Old Testament symbol for Israel, that is given to Gentile tenants. It will be taken from you, he says, and given to them. Chapter 21, the poor widow is lauded by Christ for her sacrificial dropping of the widow's might into the offering box, while the rich ones are again demonized. And the book closes out in chapters 23, 22, and 23 when Christ, the inside Son of God, is crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, a city that he had just hours before wept over. Little wonder, the respected, law-constricted folk, the Pharisees, the older sons, the wealthy ones, are excluded. Next slide, if you would. So if we look at Zacchaeus, we'll do some comparisons this morning, some comparisons of Zacchaeus with Mary, and then we'll see that there are some disparities between these two as well. Luke is writing, and this is perhaps one of the more understood or at least one of the more familiar passages of Scripture found in the Bible, especially during this time of the year. But he is writing about the most uncommon event that's ever occurred. This is not something that happens every day. In fact, for 400 years, heaven had been silent. Since Malachi closed out the end of his prophecy, God had not spoken. He had not spoken by prophets. He had not spoken by angels. He had not spoken by signs. It had been deathly quiet. It had been 500 years since there had been the last miracle, which was two of them found in the book of Daniel, one, the protection of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, and two, the protection of Daniel in the lion's den. For 500 years, no miracles. So when God decides to be quiet, nothing happens. But our Lord is always up to something. And that's one of the things that we need to take away this morning. In verses 11 through 13, the Bible says, the angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him, which is natural. Same thing happens to Mary. Same thing would happen to you and I. Oh, I want to see an angel. No, you don't. You don't. Every time you see him in the word of God, people are fearful. Fear fell upon him. And the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You don't get to say much about this, Zacharias. This is what's gonna happen. Similar to what he told Mary. You don't get to say much about this, Mary. This is what's gonna happen. You don't get to choose the name. It's not gonna be Joseph, Jr. It's not gonna be Zacharias, Jr. There is testimony in the names. But finally, since the angel and he spoke, and if you're listening, say amen. The angel spoke the word from God. Angels are messengers. When angels speak, they speak the message from God. We'll look later on as to why Zacharias struck mute, but one of the reasons is he disbelieves God's word. So the angel speaks and heaven's silence is broken and God invades the earth. There had never been a time in Israel's history where there would be more angelic activity than the time of Jesus' life. There had never been a time in Israel's history when there would ever be any more miracles performed than in the time of Jesus' life. There had never been a time in Israel's history where the prophets would prophesy about a coming Messiah that would have been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ and all of these wonderful teachings of Jesus. Never before. And so the great saga of redemption surrounding the arrival of the Messiah and Savior to the world, and it unfolds in two families. It unfolds in an older couple, and it unfolds in a young couple. This teaches us something about the sanctity of our homes, the sanctity of families. And these aren't traditional families. These are biblical families. We don't need to label today what are traditional, what are untraditional, what are different, what are disparate. We don't need to label that. These are biblical families. These are the way families are structured by our Lord. And so it unfolds with Zacharias and Elizabeth. who are old, but have been faithful to the Lord. And they have been faithful to each other for years, maybe 40 years, we don't know. And then Mary and Joseph, at this time they were betrothed, but they would spend many years together. We don't know how long. We think by the time Jesus became an adult, that Joseph had passed away, but we don't know that. Two families visited, both visited by Gabriel. But the contrast is deliberate between Zacharias and Mary. And we've just read that in just a few moments ago. So let's look at some of the similarities. Next slide, brother. So there are similarities here. In verse 12 and in verse 29, Zacharias is troubled. Mary is troubled. They're both challenged. And the answer is essentially the same. You don't need to be fearful. I'm here bearing good tidings. Hey, Zacharias, you're going to be a father. Mary, you're going to bear the Messiah. That's great news. That is news that has never been said before and has never been said since. A one-off working of God. The message is similar. He tells Zacharias that he and Elizabeth would have a son. He becomes John the Baptist, and he will be great. He will be the forerunner of the Son of God. And Mary, you're going to bear the Son of God. Women throughout centuries have looked forward to bearing the Messiah. Mary, you're the one. You're chosen of God. And both of them question the angelic announcement, and for good reason. Angels had not been on the site for at least 500 years. It had been 800 years since a slew of miracles had been performed in the ministry of Elijah and Elisha. When God says, I won't speak, He's true to His Word. But now, He's bringing into the world His blessed Son. Both will later on, in chapter 1, we won't look at it this morning, but later on in chapter 1, Zacharias will offer a poem to Yahweh, and Mary has what we refer to as the Magnificent, where she praises the Lord. My soul magnifies the Lord, she says. But here the similarities end. Zacharias is rebuked, and he's disciplined. Now, he's a believer. In fact, the Bible says he was righteous. But he's a child of God, and God disciplines his children. And Mary, as we see here, is not. she has found favor with the Lord. So there are some similarities. Let's look at some disparities. Zacharias was male, he was a priest, and he was well positioned in Israel's societal structure. He was in the know so to speak. He was an educated man. Mary, as far as we know, was not an educated young lady. Mary is female. Mary is very young, perhaps in her teens. She is unmarried. So there's little doubt of what she's saying in these verses when she says, how's this going to happen? Biologically it's impossible. I don't know a man. have not known a man. And she's also poor. And we know that because when Jesus was born and they went to the temple to offer the sacrifice for his circumcision, it was two turtledoves, which was the least expensive offering that a family could afford. Now, every family had to do it. They didn't get to dial up to Washington and talk to their congressman and say, I can't afford to do this. No, they had to do it. It was part of the sacrifice required to the Lord. Now, Elizabeth was also from Aaron's lineage. Mary was betrothed, but Joseph was a carpenter. Now that was generally considered to be a very important craft during the Lord's day. It's thought maybe that Joseph and Jesus, as he was a carpenter and as he was growing under the tutelage of Joseph, that he helped to build the Decapolis, the ten Roman cities that crossed the Jordan River just over the other side of the Sea of Galilee. We don't know this, it's speculation, but there have been archeological digs that apparently have found the cartouche, the symbol that Joseph would have used as a carpenter. But he's not Zachariah. Elizabeth's pregnancy would bring delight and joy, even though she's on her knees. But Mary's, she's unwed. And in Christ's day, not like today, what would have happened if abortion had been the law 2,000 years ago? Mary's pregnancy would be disgraceful, and she bore that, she and Joseph both, for a while. Now there are two different responses. Zacchaeus in verse 18 says, I'm old. He said, listen, how am I going to know this? Not only am I old, but I'm married to an older woman. In the vernacular, it says something similar to, I'm married to an old lady. How is this going to happen? And that's one of the reasons that he's disciplined. He doesn't show a great deal of respect for Elizabeth, and he certainly shows no respect for the angel. So that takes place. Mary, on the other hand, she is filled with the Spirit, the passage says that, and she has this quiet, humble wonder. And in verse 34, the passage says, how can this be, since I do not know a man? She doesn't presume to disbelieve Gabriel, and she does bring out a biological fact, which Gabriel just more or less passes over. Our response to the Word of the Lord, and that's what we see, we have Zacharias, we have Mary. Our response to the Word of the Lord indicates the state of our hearts. If the Spirit of God moves through His Word to bring about conviction and we get upset, that indicates the state of our hearts. If the Spirit of the Lord moves through His Word to bring about conviction and we respond, that shows that we have a heart similar to Mary. And this applies to you and I. Not only to Zacharias, not only to Mary. And so the disparities continue. Go to the next slide if you would. In verse 20, Gabriel punishes Zacharias. Well, preacher, this is a little, I mean, that was, no. He says, your sin, Zacharias, is you don't believe the word of the Lord. Now, did it change God's plan? No. We may choose to disbelieve the word of God, but it doesn't change God's plan in the least. It's not going to change God's plan if we choose. Those of you listening or watching this morning, if you choose to disbelieve the Word of God, choose to disbelieve that Jesus is God the Son who alone through His grace can save you, you may disbelieve that, but it's not gonna change the inevitable standing before the great white throne judgment of God. That doesn't change. Our disbelief does not change the truthfulness of God. And so, verse 45, Elizabeth greets Mary. She's six months pregnant here. She declares that Mary is blessed. Look at verse 45. Turn over there. Verse 45, this is Elizabeth speaking to Mary. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of these things which were told her from the Lord. Zacharias is doubtful. He's untrusting, he's skeptical. Now here's a religious man. He studied the Old Testament. He knew the prophecies, yet he still doubts. This again teaches us something about human nature. We can have all of our proverbial ducks in a row theologically and still disbelieve. And Zacharias did. He did not trust the word of the Lord. In Zacharias, doubt prevailed over belief. In Mary, belief prevailed over doubt. Which one of you this morning? Zacharias had all of those entering qualifications. By the way, he was inside of the temple, in the Holy of Holies, burning the incense, or rather in the inner portion of the temple, not the Holy of Holies, but he was burning incense, doing what priests were selected to do. This was probably the only time in his life that he had a chance to do this. And God sends an angel. Mary had all of the outside clutter. She had the noise. Her born into a poor family. And although Joseph had some means, he was a craftsman, he certainly didn't become wealthy over the years. And yet, grace found them both. This is the God we serve. Zechariah was mute for months. but he was forgiven. And in accordance with what Gabriel had prophesied in verse 13, in verse 63, when he comes out, he says, he asked for a writing tablet and wrote saying, his name is John. So they all marveled. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed and he spoke, praising God. He'd been dumb for quite some time, mute quite some time. You know what the name John means, or this particular rendition of John? It means Yahweh shows grace. Wow. Jesus means Savior. Yahweh shows grace. Don't we sometimes respond like Zacharias? The first thing that pops out of our mouth is typically unbelief, typically cynical, typically doubt, typically distrust. I mean, just look at the past few months that we've been involved in with this COVID stuff. We don't trust anybody. And that's sad. Mary, on the other hand, responded as the maidservant of the Lord. And she said, let it be done according to your word. Yeah. People are going to make fun of me. They're going to make fun of Joseph. But I believe. I trust. Your decision. We don't know why the Lord chose to have Mary become pregnant with God incarnate before she was married. It just goes to show that Jesus came to save sinners. And so Zacharias, who was an Israeli insider for a time, for a brief time now is outside looking back in while Mary, an Israeli outsider, is brought inside. Next slide. Who receives this grace? Mary, an outsider but chosen to be inside. So, Luke writes, excuse me, Luke writes his gospel, the longest gospel by the way. We spent six and a half years preaching through it. And he writes the book of Acts to a man by the name of Theophilus. The name Theophilus is a title. It means lover of God. So the thought is that Theophilus was some type of Roman administrative leader, some manager, some prolate, we don't know. We don't know exactly who he was, but the thought is that he became a believer. And the thought is that he became a believer while reading the Gospel of Luke. And then Luke would write the book of Acts to help him understand the movement of the Gospel throughout Asia Minor. So, go back to the first part of the gospel of Luke here for a moment and look at verse four. That you, Theophilus, may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. I've said about, Luke says, and Luke is not only a physician, he's a meticulous historian. He's Gentile, by the way. And so Luke is writing to this man, and he says, I want you to know the certainty of what I'm about to write you. He says, Theophilus, hear this. God is real. If you're a lover of God, be reminded God is real. God is active in the world. He is unstoppable in the world. That's what these two events teach us. God sent an angel to tell Zacharias that John the Baptist would be born. Zacharias didn't believe. He struck him dumb. God made the barren Elizabeth bare child. And he made the virgin Mary conceive. Because with God, nothing is impossible. Have you grasped that, Theophilus? Out of the gate, that's the way Luke writes. He doesn't mean, oh, well, let's find out where you are now. He said, out of the gate, this is the God that saves. This is the grace of God. Hear this, Theophilus. God is the prime meridian in the universe. In all of history, and the truth of his gospel. He is an all-planning, all-pervasive, all-powerful God. And know the certainty. The aphelia word meaning the certainty of the truth of God is the word that is found there in verse four. The exact truth. I'm not making this up, Theophilus. This unshakable truth means that God never changes, that God has no needs, that this real God is determined to have His will and His way in this world. And you may doubt it, just as Zacchaeus, but it will not change God's movement in the world. Know this, Theophilus, God sent Gabriel to prepare the earth to receive God the Son with the birth of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets to an old barren couple. And know this, Theophilus, God sent Gabriel to prepare earth to receive God the Son through a virgin. And learn this, Theophilus, both births are miraculous. God had not spoken or worked in the world for hundreds of years and Zacharias and Elizabeth, Elizabeth is with child and Mary's with child. Now what are you gonna do with this truth, Theophilus? What are you gonna do with the truth? Who receives this grace? Those that know the certainty of what Luke and the other gospelers are saying. Know this Theophilus, I'm gonna write in the book of Acts that the same Jesus was delivered up to Herod and Pontius Pilate along with Gentiles and the peoples of Israel were gathered together to do whatever God's hand, whatever God's purpose, whatever God's foreknowledge had structured. and nothing changed it. This is the God that you say you love, Theophilus. What's the fundamental difference between Zacchaeus and Mary? It's the same distinctives that define the church of the living God. Some doubt some trust. Mary was honest with Gabriel, and we of the Flat Creek family are to admit that we are honest sinners. Yeah, we sin, but let's be honest about the sin. We live in an inclusive culture. Everyone today wants to be included. We want to be on the inside. Let's make room for everybody. And it demands that all be included, that there be no outsiders. That all, regardless of their lifestyle or their position or their belief, whatever, all are to be tolerated. But woe to those that are intolerant of the new morally tolerant. We're to be inside the camp of Jesus and outside the world. Jesus comes for sinners, not the morally tolerant. But the morally tolerant in most cases are wrong. Not in all, but in most are wrong. He comes for outsiders. He comes for the squalid. He comes for harlots. He comes for those with failed dreams. He comes for those even used car salesmen. That's who Jesus comes for. Are you one of these Theophilus? We're all outsiders without the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, every single one of us. He is the insider who was estranged from the Trinity in such a way that in Isaiah 53, Isaiah declared him to be the ultimate outsider, wounded for our transgressions. The off-scouring of the world so that you and I could be invited into his home. Next slide, let's close this. It's been cold this week. The older I get, the more intolerant I am of cold. It's supposed to be cold, wintertime. Is tomorrow the first day of winter, I think? Should be cold, good old Virginia cold. We don't live in South Carolina. We live in Virginia. Pray for cold weather. Christ came. And in Christ we're inside. We're out of the cold. We're out of the miseries. We've been welcomed. Got a lounge chair at home? Kick that thing back, put your feet up. watching football, fall asleep, but dare not anyone touch that channel. Right? All God's people said, don't fool with that. It'll wake you up. Head back, we're in the house. And we're not there because we have some inside scoop. We're inside because of the gratuitous grace of God. We're inside the only ring that matters. We found favor with God. The fellowship of Eden, the sword, and the cherubim have been removed. And forgiveness has brought peace to our soul. Both of these babies, John the Baptist about six months older than Jesus, both of these babies died horrible deaths. They didn't languish in a hospital bed with IVs hooked to them and painkillers, both of but more importantly, the Son of God. Al Mohler said, Christians tend to believe their major problem is something that has happened to them, and that their solution is to be found within. In other words, they have an alien problem that is to be resolved with an inner solution. But what the gospel says, however, is that we have an inner problem that demands an alien solution. Now, Luke, in chapter 2, we find a host of angels announcing to probably the ultimate outsiders during that time, shepherds, that the Messiah had been born. And the Bible says, let us make haste, let us go, let us hurry, let's run, leave the sheep behind. Well, this is more important than your livelihood. We know that shepherds weren't Americans, don't we? And apparently I messed this slide up. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, hell is filled with folks that believe they deserve to be outside hell. And heaven is filled with folk that believe they deserve to be outside heaven and inside hell. I read an article this week by a young man by the name of Ben Sixsmith. He's an Englishster. And not quite 30 years of age, but he was writing about, I don't know if you keep up with this stuff, but I do, because Carl Lentz was the American pastor of the Hillsong Movement, and I'm not going into detail there, but basically it's an aberrant movement, a Christian movement, and he had several extramarital affairs. Finally, the church, finally, the church fired him. And Sixsmith wrote this. He said, I'm not religious. So it's not my place to dictate to Christians what they should and should not believe. Still, if someone has a faith worth following, I feel that their beliefs should make me feel uncomfortable for not doing so. If they share 90% of my lifestyles and values, then there's nothing especially inspiring about them. Instead of making me want to become like them, it looks very much as if they want to become like me. That sadly appears to have been true of Lentz and his celebrity acquaintances. Lewis concluded his message this way. Unless you take measures to prevent it, this desire is going to be one of the chief motives of your life from the moment you enter your profession until you are too old to care. If you do nothing about it, if you drift with the stream, you will in fact be an inner ringer. I don't say you'll be a successful one. That's as it may be. But whether by pining or moping outside rings that you can never enter or by bypassing triumphantly further and further in one way or another, you will become that kind of man. And as long as you are governed by that desire, you will never get what you want. If you succeed, there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider, you will remain. inside the Trinity, the love of the Father became outside so that you and I may be brought into the house. Who receives this grace? Those that desire to be like Christ. Let's pray. Father, into Thy hands we commit the remainder of this service. We ask that by Your mercy and through Your grace Does anyone here this morning that does not know your Savior that you would move in their heart and their life, that you would challenge them? Oh, how we need to be challenged. How we need to know that we cannot just reject the Word of God as so much falder off. that it is indeed the undoubted truth. Luke wrote this to Theophilus, and he wrote it through the Spirit to those here at Flat Creek. Have your sweet will, your divine way, the remainder of the service today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So a couple of things this morning. We're going to sing a hymn. After which I'm going to ask Brother Vance if he would have a benediction. And then before the chorus I'm going to come down. And the three young ladies that we had privilege to baptize over the past few weeks, if you want to make your way up here, we have a book that we want to give you. I did order them. They just came in this week, so my apologies for last week. But if you would, after Vance, praise just before the closing chorus. Come up and we'll give you the books. God bless you.