Their classes. I invite you to take your Bible this morning and open to Luke's gospel. The gospel according to Luke. We are beginning a study through Luke's writings, starting with the gospel and then ending in the book of Acts. We are just taking off in this study. There is so much in this material. Luke has told us his purpose for writing. He says in verse 3 of chapter 1, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning to write it out for you in consecutive order. Most excellent Theophilus. So he's thinking about taking the oral tradition, those stories that had been circulated about the work of Christ, about the beginning of the gospel, and Luke is investigating. He's conducting interviews. He's writing things down. He says that he is being careful in this, and he is He's wanting to chronicle the life of Jesus for his gospel. And then he writes the early beginnings of the church in the book of Acts. So originally, Luke and Acts would be together. You wouldn't have John in between. Somewhere along the way, the gospel of John got between Luke and Acts. Just fine, as long as we remember they were one volume. Nowhere else, really, are you going to get some of the material here that you get in Luke's gospel, and you certainly don't get the beginnings of the church. other than the book of Acts. And then when you think about Luke's influence over the years, I mean, he was not an apostle, he was not a Jew, but he has had a tremendous influence on the church. I mean, just think, so you got 24 chapters in the gospel. And he includes things in this gospel that you don't get anywhere else. Especially when it concerns the birth announcement of John the Baptist, the birth announcement of Jesus to Mary. You don't get the parable of the prodigal son anywhere but Luke. You don't get the conversation, the thief on the cross. You don't get that anywhere but Luke's gospel. The Emmaus Road, we would know nothing of that except for Luke. We would have no idea of the early beginnings of the church except from acts that Luke writes down for us. This guy is everywhere. I'm gonna tell you, he is motivated to gather this material and to write it down. And what's really interesting, is at the end of Paul's ministry. So he was not just gathering information about Jesus, writing it down, he did that. Gathering information about the church, writing it down, but this guy, Luke, was with Paul. In fact, if you go to Paul's last letter, the letter that he wrote to Timothy while he was awaiting execution in Rome, Paul says these words. Only Luke is with me. I just marvel at this man, Luke. Wow, he is all over the place. And he's writing it down for us. So we would know the truth and we would be assured of the truth. And that we would have to speculate about stories. about Jesus. And what he writes is breathtaking. It's interesting that Luke makes this effort to say, you know, we've investigated this. We've carefully put these things together from the beginning And then verse four, so that you may know the exact truth about the things you've been taught. And no sooner are those words on the paper, then he goes into the birth announcement of John the Baptist, and then the birth announcement of Jesus, and then the birth of John the Baptist, and then the birth of Jesus. And those stories are full. of the supernatural, of God breaking in with regard to his activity in the earth, in space and in time. Luke doesn't back off of that. Luke asserts the supernatural activity of God in the earth. And it's just glorious, especially, you know, this time of year, we got a little snow on the outside, but we have warm hearts and we're thinking about God breaking into human history. And Luke writes this gospel as a historical document. It doesn't begin once upon a time. It begins there in verse 5, in the days of Herod. So he puts it right into human history. I would assert, just as Luke has asserted, that what he writes in this gospel actually happened It is historical. It is not fiction. It is not made up. It's not some fanciful tale, but it is a writing in which the message, if received, would change your life and my life. So I wanna read these 25, not 25, 20 verses here. So we're talking about John's, the backstory of John the Baptist, part two. And this is narrative material. So it's told as a story and we're privileged to read it. And Luke does indeed start at the beginning. John the Baptist. And we'll read. In the days of Herod, they're beginning in verse five. King of Judea. So Herod, he's a Jewish king, but he does the bidding of Rome. And he's definitely got a reputation. There was a priest named Zacharias. So he's one of about 18,000 priests. And boy, does he have a story. He's of the division of Abijah. So the priests were divided into divisions and those divisions would be assigned their priestly duties. The scripture said, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. So Zacharias and Elizabeth. And we're told in verse six, they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord, but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years. So double trouble there. Elizabeth can't have a child from a human perspective and her and Zacharias are old. I wonder what's going to happen. So verse 8, now it happened that while he, Zacharias, was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. We commented last time that this burning of incense would have been a one-time thing for a priest. He's chosen by lot because there are so many priests and they didn't want, they wanted the, They wanted to minimize the human influence in the selection of the priest to offer the incense. They wanted to maximize God's intent and his sovereignty in that selection process. So they cast lots. It's interesting. And the lot fell to Zacharias. So he's performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division. And according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. So once a priest was chosen by lot to burn the incense, that was it. He was not gonna be up for that job ever again. So the burning of incense is a big deal. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. So it's a beautiful picture of Zacharias in the holy place before the altar of incense, burning the incense, which is symbolic of intercessory prayer, and then what that Burning of incense symbolized the people on the outside are actually interceding. They are actually praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. You can just see that in your mind's eye. People gathered, a throng of people on the outside, and this priest, Zacharias, on the inside. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. So the angel of the Lord is standing between the altar of incense and the candlesticks. And the right side of the altar is the place of honor. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel and fear gripped him. And that's normal. Reading the scriptures, whenever there's a, here, an angelophany, an appearance of an angel, Usually the person who sees this appearance is gripped with fear. The translation there would be he's terrified with fear. So Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel and fear gripped him. He's terrified. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard. and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. Oh my. So Zacharias had a prayer, perhaps an ongoing prayer that has been heard according to the angel. And the angel is there to announce to Zacharias that the prayer has been heard and that Elizabeth will bear him a son. What good news? He says, and you will give him the name John. Well, we know that there were a lot of births back then and seldom were those births preceded by an angelic announcement. So there's something significant here as God sets in motion the events that lead to the coming of Jesus and his ministry on earth and the good news to sinners. So as a result of this, so Zacharias is gripped with fear. He gets the message from the angel. And then this, in verse 14, you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. The word there is many, not all. We know that not all rejoiced at John's birth, not all rejoiced at the birth of Jesus, but many. So many would rejoice at this, at the birth of John the Baptist. In fact, look at this, you have a triple joy here, because you will have joy and gladness. And many will rejoice at his birth. So we have joy three times over God's saving action. So whenever God begins to work, there is joy because he's our only hope. And God is breaking the silence here with this angelic announcement, that 400 year silence between Malachi and Matthew. He goes on to explain why the people will rejoice and why there's so much joy. It says, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. So John the Baptist, he's a great prophet in the sight of the Lord. Now here in a little bit, We'll get, well, I said a little bit, it'll be the next week or two. We'll read where the same thing almost is said about Jesus, that he's great. You say, well, how could both of them be great? How would John the Baptist be great? And how would Jesus be great? Well, here's the clue. John the Baptist is great in the sight of the Lord. Jesus is great. John's greatness is qualified. Jesus possesses an unqualified greatness. Therefore Jesus is greater than John. Okay, all right, wonderful. So he will be great in the sight of the Lord and he will drink no wine or liquor. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, this is the theme in the Gospel of Luke, that word, the filling, and the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. That's interesting. So John will have the Holy Spirit while he's in his mother's womb. This signifies the sovereignty of God and it signifies the fact that John is set apart as a prophet. The angel goes on and reveals to Zacharias what this John will do, what his son will do, what his ministry will be. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. So we'll turn, that's the word that signifies repentance. There's going to be repentance. He's going to call the people to repent. He's going to call them away from just man-made, lifeless religion. He's going to call them to God, to turn to the Lord and hear the Word of the Lord. It is He, He says in verse 17, who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children. So he will turn and then he will go as a forerunner, he will be a herald to the king. He will go before the king, he will announce the king's coming, his imminent coming. He will let the people know that there's one greater who will come, that the Messiah will come. This John the Baptist is the herald, he is the forerunner of the king. He is in the spirit and power of Elijah. What's interesting here is Elijah was known for his miracles. We think he did seven miracles. And then Elisha got the double portion of the spirit and he did 14. But with John the Baptist, you don't see physical miracles, but what you do see is a powerful message. And so evidently a powerful message is as important to God in this instance as anything else that John could or would do. So there's a power associated with the message of John the Baptist because he is in the spirit and power of Elijah. And similar to Elijah, John the Baptist is gonna stand before kings and he's gonna tell them the truth, just like Elijah did. And he's not gonna back down and he's not gonna be quiet. about sin and the need for repentance. He says he'll turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children. That's a sweet thought that fathers, their hearts would be toward their children in the sense that they have the best interests of the child in mind in the raising of the child. They have the child's spiritual well-being in mind. He says, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as, and this is the third thing here, not only to turn and not only to go before, but to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. All this is preparatory. It's in preparation for the coming of the king and for the message that the king will bring. And Zacharias said to the angel, how will I know this for certain? For I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered and said to him, let me introduce myself. My name is Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I've been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. Good news. And behold, you shall be silent. and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time." So there's a judgment on Zacharias for his unbelief. He spoke in unbelief. You can contrast that with Mary and when she is announced Her part in the whole mission of the gospel when the angel says to Mary this is what's gonna happen. What does she say? Be it done according to your word That's a statement of faith Zacharias is Will be gentle here. He's leaning into unbelief How will I know? Well, I mean you got Gabriel right there in the holy place. I What more do you need? So at this time, the people were waiting for Zacharias. Now this is a cause for concern, especially on the Day of Atonement. The only time, once a year, the high priest, the priest would go into the Holy of Holies and they'd tie a rope around his ankle in case something went wrong so they could drag him out. So when there's a lingering, when there's more time than the people are accustomed to, they get concerned. And Luke doubles down on this. Then verse 21, it's just a wonderful way that Luke puts it. The people were waiting for Zacharias. They're waiting, they're lingering. They're praying. And they're wondering at his delay in the temple. It's taken so long. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the temple and he kept making signs to them and remained mute. When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home. After these days, Elizabeth, his wife, became pregnant and she kept herself in seclusion for five months saying, This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among men. This is the word of the Lord. So let's pray. And then we've got little time to make a few observations here. Father in heaven, thank you for the day. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the communion. Lord, we know there are folks traveling, there are folks recovering from surgeries, there are folks that have been sick and Lord, we miss them when they're not with us. We pray that you would bless and heal and comfort and strengthen and all in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen. So three things in the narrative and then I've got three or four takeaways. This won't take long. The first thing that we don't want to overlook is the meaning of the name Zacharias. The meaning of the name Zacharias. If you read some, oh, some commentary or some work, they'll say, Zacharias means the Lord remembers. Well, that's not, It's true, but it's not all the way true. What Zacharias means is the Lord remembers again. He don't just remember one time, he remembers over and over and over and over again. What did he remember? Well, he's all knowing God. You remember that part where it says Zachariah's prayer is answered? What's the Lord doing? Do you think he and Elizabeth would be happy to have a child? Oh yeah, that's the best news anyone could ever have. It was considered a curse to be childless, and here they were, the angel, even in your old age, you're gonna have a child. That's wonderful news, but that's not all the Lord remembered. You know, every time they gathered for these services and the priest would go in and the people would pray, what were the people praying? They were praying for the coming of the Messiah. They were praying for that day that the Lord would set in motion the plan of salvation. That's what they were praying for. And so the Lord remembers. Isn't it interesting that our God is so big that he can work out his plan of salvation from heaven and at the same time meet your needs and my needs. Oh, yeah, those aren't mutually exclusive. God can do them at the same time. So what I'm saying is God's bringing the plan of salvation to fruition. And at the same time, he knows about Zacharias, and he knows about Elizabeth, and he knows about the burden of their heart, and he knows about the prayer they prayed. And God chose, To answer that prayer, God chose to meet that need, God chose to bring that baby in the world for them, yes, but also this would kick off the plan of salvation as God would use that baby John to be the herald of the forerunner of the King, our King Jesus. So our God is so big and massive, He works on so many levels, personal as well as corporate and universal and even beyond that, cosmic levels. And I just rejoice in that. I just want to stand here and smile and say, our God is a big God. And I love what Paul encourages us to pray, and that is that he can do exceeding abundantly beyond what you and I can ask or think. that our God can go beyond the human mind and what we can think is possible and he can go beyond it and he can fulfill and he can do his will and he can work out his plan of salvation and he can meet personal needs at the same time. The second thing I want us to see is that in this story you have a close association between prayer and God at work. Hmm. Yeah. Have you ever just, I mean, have you ever just kind of caught yourself and thought, I just feel like I'm stuck. Have you ever been stuck? I've said that to myself before. I think I just feel stuck. I'll whisper a prayer. It ain't a long drawn out prayer. It's a help me Lord, I'm stuck. I feel stuck. I'm going to tell you something, the most dangerous thing you can do is just pray a prayer to God, because He will unstick you. I mean, you go from being stuck to unstuck to having more than you can possibly do in about, you know, in just a blink of an eye. I mean, I can tell you there have been times just around here, you know, just, okay, Lord, just praying for the church family, praying for this need or that need. You just pray and something will happen. Somebody will walk in the door or you'll get a text on your phone. You just pray a prayer. God hears and God responds in his good time to our prayers. And never doubt that for a minute. And if you hadn't been living there, try it. I dare you. And you'll come in here rejoicing, rejoicing evermore. And speaking of rejoicing, number three, there's a really strong sense of joy, not only here in this story, but all through the book of Luke. So let's, we can turn to, yeah, there it is right there in verse 47 of chapter one. I just wanna show you examples of joy in the book of Luke. After Mary visits Elizabeth, she says this in verse 47, and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior. If you go on over to chapter 10, chapter 10, verse 20, Jesus said this, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. We can rejoice that our names are recorded in heaven. Yeah, it'd probably be a good thing. There's no better place for your name to be recorded than in heaven. Then we go through and over here to chapter 15. The Bible says that Jesus told a parable and He said, what man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, this is verse 3, he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it. When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep, which was lost. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more, there it is, joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. And then throughout the gospel, we find people rejoicing when they see Jesus work. And then it carries on over into the book of Acts. Those early Christians, when they... When they were the target of persecution, the Bible tells us over and over and over again, even in the midst of the hardest times, they would rejoice. There was joy in that New Testament church because of what Jesus Christ had done. Not only what he did for them on Calvary, but the way he was faithful to them in their everyday life and their experience in the church. And as citizens of heaven. So those are the things that really jump out of this narrative. And then in closing, so four things I want to encourage you with. First of all, you are called to confess Jesus as Lord. Okay, we're called to do that. You hear the salvation message, you have to feel that the Lord is calling you to salvation. It's a special invitation. to hear the gospel, to hear that someone way back when, the son of God, no less, died for you on the cross so that your sins would be cast as far as the East is from the West, that God would remember them no more, that you would be saved. So you're called to confess him. I like what Paul, I think one of the best salvation parts of the Bible is over in Romans 10. I mean, what's the point of all these, you know, the beautiful story of John the Baptist and the coming King, other than he's coming to save his people. So chapter 10 of Romans, Verse six, I always think this is really good. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows. This is verse six of chapter 10. Do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven? In other words, how can I make it to heaven? How can I be good enough to get to heaven? He says, don't say that. There are people that do that. They want to dot every I, they want to cross every T, they want to keep every rule so that they can get to heaven. That is pointless because we're coming from a place of sin and we can't save ourselves. And he goes on, he says, or who will descend into the abyss that is to bring Christ up from the dead There are some people on the other side that wanna make life as difficult as possible for themselves. I mean, they literally wanna put themselves through hell to gain God's approval. Listen, life's hard enough without that. So don't say that either, don't try that. He says, but here's what to do, but what does it say? The Lord, he says, the word is near you. The word, it's in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith, which we are preaching. Here it is, that if you. Confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. There it is. You will be saved. For with the heart, a person believes. So it's an inside work of God, resulting in righteousness. And with the mouth, he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. Wonderful promise. So you're called to confess Jesus, to believe in your heart, confess with your mouth. Secondly, you're called to walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. All of us that are believers, we are called out of anxiety and into the comfort that comes to us through the presence of God. And that makes all the difference. I think too many Christians wring their hands over every little thing. They live in anxiety when God has promised His Spirit and that Spirit is characterized as the Spirit of God who provides comfort to our lives. So that even in pain and even in difficulty, even in confusion, When we struggle, there is the comfort of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding and helping us along. And thirdly, as those who trust Jesus, we are to be conduits of the word of God. That means we're to have a hunger and a thirst for the word of God. And when we hear what God says in his word, we want to relate that to others. There are folks in your world, whether they're in your home or whether they're in your circle of friends or co-workers or fellow students, whatever, those that need to hear the Word of God. They need to hear you testify of Jesus. They need to hear the encouragement that comes from the word that they too can receive this message. They too can receive Jesus. They too can walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. They too can hunger for the word and be a conduit of the word that as we hear God's word, we can encourage others by that word. And then the last thing, and it's very important and we miss it. We'd say yes and amen. To be consistent in that walk, to be consistent. To be a Christian is not a hit and miss proposition. It's not when I'm thinking about it, God, I will serve you. That's the wrong path. It is a consistency. The thought process would be, I've received Jesus. How can I glorify Jesus? Well, I've received his Holy Spirit. I walk in that comfort of the Holy Spirit and I see the value of congregating. To hear the public reading of Scripture, to hear the Word taught, to be encouraged in that way, to be a blessing to my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord. That's important. And to be consistent in that. Listen, the lack of consistency in a Christian walk only leads to frustration. But when you're consistent and you're constantly in the mix, you're constantly seeking the Lord, the word of the Lord, the fellowship of the saints, God will build in you a faith that will never die. He will lead you. He will guide you. He will bless you every step of the way. But sometimes here again, we can be our own worst enemy. And God would have better for you, for each one of you. If you're here today and you've never trusted Jesus, today's a fine time just to trust Jesus. Lord, I'm a sinner. I recognize the fact that you came to earth. You sent Jesus to come to earth, to live, to die, to rise again, that I would be saved. I trust you. Simple prayer. Trust Jesus and then confess with your mouth that he's the Lord. Tell somebody and then walk consistently according to the spiritual resources that he provides, his spirit and his word. And walk that out among the saints. Father in heaven, we thank you for this day. Lord, what a good day. And thank you for Luke and thank you for his writing and careful research. And Lord, it's just good to be connected to the apostles and what they saw, and to know that the same faith that saved them is the faith that'll save us. So Lord, help us to be believers and help us to be ever-growing. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Please stand at turn number 318. His name is life. Master Saber