The God Who Remembers - The Village Chapel

We do study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel.

If you'd like a paper copy, just lift up your hand.

Someone will bring one along to you so you can follow along in our text.

And actually, before we get started, this might be a useful tool for you.

Crossway, and I know Lifeway and a few others make these single-use journals that have one book of the Bible, in this case it's Luke.

Could be a good companion for you as we study the book of Luke.

So each page has the text on one side and an empty page on the other side.

I find this kind of useful.

You can find it on Amazon, of course, but shop local down in Green Hills at the Logos bookstore.

I think that could be a helpful tool for many of us in this room.

Hey, so glad you're here as we begin our study today of the gospel according to Luke.

If I had to choose personally, Luke is probably my favorite of the gospel writers.

Now, pastors aren't supposed to say that, I don't think.

It's kind of like choosing a favorite child.

But I love the way that he has a command of the details.

He has a beautiful writing style.

He was well educated.

He has these descriptive narratives.

Of course, I love all the gospel writers, but his writing captures me as he showcases the glory of God in Jesus Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the spread of his gospel to all nations, including Rome, at the end of the book of Acts.

Luke is the only Gentile writer from the New Testament, although well acquainted with Jewish law and tradition.

The Apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians tells us that Luke was a physician by trade.

He was a doctor, the good Doctor Luke.

Luke's writing also reveals his skill.

He was a historian.

He was a theologian.

He was a biographer.

He was a missionary.

He was an evangelist as he served alongside the Apostle Paul.

So when you read Luke and you read Acts, the books actually don't tell us who the author is, but there is an abundance of evidence that show Luke as the writer of both the gospel we'll be studying now and Acts, or the Acts of the Apostle, which we hope to study sometime soon after we finish Luke's Gospel.

There are several possibilities about when Luke wrote Luke and Acts.

It seems likely to me it was written in the early 60s A.D., perhaps while Paul was imprisoned in Rome, although there are many other possibilities that are reasonable.

Between the Gospel of Luke and Acts, Luke has more written material in the New Testament than any other single writer, even bypassing just by a little bit the Apostle Paul.

And as we study Luke, I hope you see this, we'll quickly realize that his primary purpose, it has an evangelistic zeal.

He wants us to know who Jesus was and who he is, and his birth, and his life, his ministry, his death, his resurrection, everything that we just talked about and confessed in the Apostles' Creed.

Luke gives us an orderly account.

He tells us, no, these things actually happened.

I talked to folks that saw these things actually happen, and of course, what he did and what he intends to do when Jesus returns.

And Lord, we pray you would come again soon.

Here are a few descriptions of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, just to kind of give us a sweep.

Jesus is the Son of God.

He's the light to those in the darkness.

He's worthy of worship.

He's the one in whom all the scriptures find their fulfillment.

He's the Son of Man who came to seek and save the lost.

There right there is the mission statement of Jesus on earth.

He's the resurrected king who ascended to heaven, is reigning now, and will return again soon.

And he is our salvation.

And that word that we translate salvation is a thread that goes all throughout Luke.

It's one of his big primary themes.

And salvation is a big word, it includes a lot.

But at the cross of Jesus, he accomplished for us deliverance from judgment because of our sin against God.

But he also accomplished for us freedom today, life today and forevermore, salvation, the great reversal of all that sin has touched.

If Luke were here with us this morning in the flesh, I think he would ask anyone who would listen a simple question.

Not just what you've heard about him, but do you know who Jesus is with certainty is what he'll say.

And even those who are familiar with Luke's writings, and if you go to church on Christmas, you're familiar with Luke's writings.

He would say, Let me tell you about him again.

We could read every gospel writer, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, from now until eternity, and only begin to scratch the surface of the glory of God and Jesus Christ.

Church, can we say amen?

And we're going to set out to do that again.

Luke intends to illuminate who Jesus is for us.

I invite you to turn to Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

In our limited time, we won't be able to read all 80 verses of this expansive chapter, to the relief of many of you who are already hungry and thinking about lunch.

But we'll survey this chapter and we'll give our focus to one particular story that doesn't often get as much attention.

Let me pray for us as we begin.

What a delight to start this series today.

Father, open your word to us and open us to your word.

Open me to your word.

Give us eyes to see and ears to hear the grace that you have for us today.

And by the power of your spirit, show us the glory of Jesus.

And we do pray for revival.

That it would start here and in this city.

But Lord, start it in our hearts as we look to you, our Lord and Savior, in His matchless name, we all said.

Amen.

Luke chapter 1, starting with verse 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

I'm going to read the uh introductory paragraph and then pause for a minute just to reflect on it.

And it starts this way: inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught.

We'll pause for just a moment.

So in this introductory paragraph, which would have been par for course for this kind of writing from this time period, it tells us who he's writing to, and it gives us the explicit purpose as to why he is writing.

He's writing to, if you look there at the end of verse 3, most excellent Theophilus, and I think he probably had a monocle and a cane.

I don't know.

His name seems so sophisticated to me.

Theophilus, a Greek name.

It means lover of God, a God lover.

Some throughout history have thought that perhaps that's a generic title in Luke's writing to anyone who loves God.

And of course, Luke is doing that, but I think this is actually an individual.

He says most excellent Theophilus.

And possibly Theophilus with his monocle also has a lot of money.

He seems like that.

He might be a benefactor.

It could be the case.

For Luke's research in Luke and Acts.

So he's writing to Theophilus, and he gives us an explanation as to why he's writing.

If you can look with me there at verse 3, to write an orderly account for you, that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught.

Or some translations will say that you might know the truth or the exact truth of the things you've been taught.

Taught about what?

Taught about Jesus.

His birth, his life, and his ministry, what he's accomplished for us.

Verse 5, Luke begins his account.

His orderly account starts in the days of Herod, king of Judea.

There was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abishah.

And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was a P.K., a priest's kid.

And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.

We don't know exactly how old they were, but to call someone advanced in years at that time would have been sixties plus.

They didn't yet know that sixty was a new forty.

But they they couldn't have children, is what the author is telling us here.

And there's a reproach there, there's a certain amount of embarrassment that in that time would have been the case.

Verse 8.

Now, while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, so this is Zechariah, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

Now, don't skip over this.

Pause there for just a second.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a priest.

There were likely 18 to 20,000 other priests, and once in your life, even if you were chosen, you can do the burning of the incense in the morning or in the evening.

And Zechariah was chosen on this day, not by coincidence.

Verse 10.

And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense, and there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And Zechariah was troubled or startled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah.

For your prayer has been 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 before the Lord, the only greatness that matters ultimately.

There's lots of ways to be great in this world, but great before the Lord.

And of course, Jesus would say of John that he was the greatest, born of women.

He will be great before the Lord, verse 15, and he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Sounds like a Nazarite vow.

What Luke is saying here is he's not going to be full of alcohol or other substance, he's going to be full of the power of the Spirit, even from his mother's womb, verse 16, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and the 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 for the Lord a people prepared.

And Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know this?

For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.

And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel.

I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

In other words, Gabriel saying, My role, my job is to stand before the Lord, before Yahweh.

And it's from there that I come to you to give you this message.

Verse 20.

And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.

And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.

Apparently there was a prayer meeting outside, as he had mentioned earlier, verse 22.

And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he kept making signs to them and remained mute, a bizarre scene, I'm sure.

And when he went, and when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

Verse 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people.

We'll pause there, you might put a bookmark there, we'll come back to the text in just a moment.

It's amazing the kind of live-body detail that Luke gives us here.

It's very likely that Luke, the one who wants to give an orderly account, he mentions the eyewitnesses.

It's possible that Luke actually talked to Mary, the mother of Jesus, to verify some of these facts.

It's possible that Luke talked to the brother of Jesus, James or Jude.

It's just beautiful that this has been recorded for us.

So he does tell us at the beginning that he wants to give us an orderly account of the person and work of Jesus.

And whenever someone tells a story, when they set out to tell a story, how they begin is critical.

It's important.

And Luke, the historian, he doesn't begin with the birth of Jesus directly.

He doesn't begin with the preaching ministry of Jesus.

He begins with a story of a household, of a barren couple.

Zechariah and Elizabeth.

And that barrenness would have carried with it, like I said, shame, embarrassment, or as Elizabeth says there in verse 25, reproach among people.

That's not to mention the inner sorrow and ache that comes to every couple who want but haven't been given the gift of children.

That's a sorrow that my wife and I have walked through.

Yet, despite these circumstances, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Luke tells us that they were righteous and blameless.

Look there at verse 6.

Righteous before God, walking blamelessly, and before God is the key phrase there.

They lived their lives in such a way that it was unmistakable who they trusted, who they worshiped, who they loved.

We could sit on that for a minute.

Is my life unmistakable in that way?

Is your life unmistakable in that way?

That someone looks at the way I live my life, that it points to who I ultimately trust and, who I ultimately worship and love.

It's a good question.

Luke does provide us some historical context.

Look with me at verse 5 there.

In the days of Herod, king of Judea.

So we know how to situate it chronologically in the storyline.

And I think the original readers would have recoiled to read or hear the name Herod.

For us, think of the Imperial March song when Darth Vader walks into the room.

This was a bad guy.

This is a dark period in the history of Israel.

Herod the Great, as he's sometimes called, reigned until 4 BC.

And he was a brutal puppet king installed by Rome, and he ruled over the Jewish people with an iron fist.

He was known for refurbishing the Jewish temple.

He also built other pagan temples and other structures.

But he was really known for his tyrannical paranoia, including killing his own children, his own sons, because of a perceived threat to his power.

One person from his day said this: it's better to be Herod's pig than his son.

Herod was a bad guy.

So let's not miss the significance that Luke, the historian, in his orderly account, begins with Herod.

This was a dark period in history, in the history of the people of Israel, and seasons of darkness can so naturally lead to doubt and distrust and bitterness and a posture of suspicion, a wavering faith in the promise and power of God.

As Matt said, we don't know where you've come from this week.

But seasons of darkness like this in a culture, in a community, or in a household like Zechariah and Elizabeth, has that ever been your experience?

And have you ever felt that bitterness or that distrust or that doubt grow?

Perhaps that's what's happening there with Zechariah.

As his faith wavers, he disbelieves the word of God, and that's a very dangerous place to be.

So think categorically with me for two minutes, or for just a few minutes rather.

Personally, Zechariah in his household, the hope of children was a thing of the past, something that they had prayed for in the past and likely had let go.

So that's personally.

Then as a priest, Zechariah knew the history of God's people.

That a promised Savior would come and rescue Israel from the enemies of God, buried under years of unmet expectations and calloused by this darkness that seemed to be growing by the minute.

Our first takeaway this morning is simple, but I think profound.

God is at work in history and in households.

He's at work on a cosmic level, a universal level, but he's also working in the lives of people, of couples, of families, of singles, of children.

God created time from nothing.

He fashioned the universe ex nihilo.

He sets up nations and he tears down nations.

He orders and establishes history for his glory and for our good.

His power and might is beyond comprehension.

We'll never be able to comprehend it.

But, and we have to hold both of these together, he also knows the number of hairs on my head.

And he knows my name.

He knows your name.

And he knows your doubts.

And he knows your fears.

I think we can at least see that in this text here today.

R.

C.

Sproull.

Such an encouragement to me.

There's nothing more comforting than knowing that there is a God of providence who is aware not only of every one of my transgressions, but of every one of my tears, every one of my aches, and every one of my fears.

God, through Gabriel, calls Zechariah by name.

Look with me, if you would, at verse 13.

But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah.

And in the Bible, names matter a good deal.

And it's worth noting, we'll put it up here on the screen.

Zechariah, his name means Jehovah remembers.

Elizabeth's name means God is an oath, or God is faithful, you could translate it.

John means Jehovah has been gracious.

See, it had been 400 years since the last prophet of the Lord had spoken.

That's where we find ourselves in the text here today.

It had been 400 years of silence.

If you were with us when we studied 1st and 2nd Kings, you will remember at the end of that, God's people had been taken by the Assyrians and the Babylonians and their land and their wealth and their dignity, their hope had been taken from them, mostly judgment for their own sin.

But the prophets who spoke 400 plus years before spoke of a day when all that had been taken will be given back and things would be set right.

More importantly, that the hearts of Israel would turn back to the Lord.

That's what the prophets said 400 plus years ago, that the Messiah would come and bring light and salvation.

And then silence.

And those 400 years were not neutral.

If anything, the enemies of God had advanced, and we see that here with the occupation of Rome and Herod.

Think about 400 days just from our time, just to give us a scale of time.

400 years ago, Galilei Galileo, or rather Galileo Galilei, the astronomer.

400 years ago, Rembrandt, the painter, or the pilgrims on the Mayflower coming over here.

400 years of silence is a long time.

In the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, a minor prophet, which we'll study in the fall likely, in the final chapter, the final book of the Old Testament, Malachi tells of the day when God would once again save them.

I'll put it up here on the screen, a summary.

But for you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

And behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers.

Last book of the Old Testament, last paragraph of the Old Testament.

So in our text this morning, let's not miss the gravity of this moment between Zechariah and Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, the messenger.

Gabriel quotes from this very passage in Malachi, announcing to Zechariah that not only would he and Elizabeth have a son.

Remember how old they are.

Not only would they have a son, but that son, John, would be the one who would be given the mantle of Elijah and would prepare the way for the promised Messiah.

Look with me, if you would, at verse 16 in our text today.

Gabriel talking about John, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.

Here was John's job description.

Gabriel's message to Zechariah connects the final promise of the Old Testament with the first promise of the New Testament.

Whenever we read evangelic activity in the scriptures, we usually witness either a message from God or the comfort of God, or both, as we see in this case.

And Gabriel tells Zechariah in verse 13, don't be afraid, your prayer has been answered.

And maybe you asked this as we were reading it, what prayer?

What prayer was Zechariah praying?

In his old age, I don't think, as I read it, I don't think he was praying for a son in that moment.

Because we know his age, or we think we know his age.

I think it's more likely that Zechariah was praying along with the rest of Israel, that the Lord would remember his promises from Malachi and other prophets of old, that salvation would come in their midst and the spiritual darkness growing around them would cease.

I think that's the kind of prayer Zechariah was praying, like Simeon and Anna, which we'll read about in chapter two.

They were praying for the consolation of Israel, the hope of Israel to come.

And the Lord, of course, answers far exceeding expectations.

Put up on the screen here a rendering from the 19th-century unknown artist, Gabriel on the left there, of course, and Zechariah on the right.

And what I loved about this particular rendering is the incense in the middle, going up towards God.

The text in Luke tells us Zechariah was chosen to burn this incense.

The incense represented, quite literally, in their liturgical practice, it represented the prayers of God's people.

That's what Zechariah was chosen to do among those 18 to 20,000 priests.

He was chosen on that day to bring prayers before God.

And it's no coincidence, I don't think, that Zechariah's name means Jehovah remembers.

God was at work.

He was at work in history and in the household of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and later in the young couple to be Mary and Joseph, who were also given a message from Gabriel, that their son Jesus, the Son of God, with the king who would bring salvation to every nation.

And Gabriel tells them his kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus, would have no end.

And what a word of grace to those people then who had been waiting for 400 years for the Savior to come.

And for us today who are eagerly waiting for him to return, to make all things right, that promise is in place today.

Friends, he's at work.

He's at work in history on levels we'll never even understand, but he's at work in your household and your home, your family.

I hope you know that.

Charles Spurgeon, I love this.

He says it's noteworthy that the clearest promises of the Messiah have been given in the darkest hours of history.

That brings us to our second takeaway this morning.

God is at work, yes, in history and in households, but also in darkness and in silence.

God breaks the silence of 400 years to this ordinary priest, Zechariah.

He pierces the darkness with the promise of future hope, and he hearts turn back to the Lord.

That's what we're hoping for.

The Savior to come.

You and I should never mistake, friends, the apparent silence of God with his absence.

I'll say it again.

You and I should never mistake the apparent silence of God with his absence.

We should never mistake the darkness around us with God's lack of activity.

No, no, no.

God is at work.

That was true then, and it's true now.

Although there are seasons in life, we have to be honest about this with one another.

There's seasons in life, in the life of a believer.

Where it is quiet.

It is dark.

But we must ground ourselves in the truth that he does not leave us nor forsake us, that his eye is never closed, he's ever watchful, he knows your name.

He doesn't forget.

He knows your longings.

And it's the death and the resurrection, the life, the death and the resurrection, his ascension and his reign now of Jesus Christ that is our sure grounding, that we can trust him.

And for those, for those who need it in this room today, I pray that the Spirit might wake us up to that reality.

God is at work.

Church, we said amen.

He's at work today.

Well, let's continue reading at verse 57.

We can pick up there, finishing out the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

I think it's wonderful.

The Lord is the one who gets the glory here for the mercy poured out on Elizabeth.

And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, No, he shall be called John.

And they said to her, None of your relatives is called by this name.

And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called, and he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, His name is John.

And they all wondered.

And I was thinking today that this trend of not telling anybody the name of the child before the child's born, I guess it has some grounding here in the scriptures.

It's confounded me, I don't understand it, but here we go.

His name is John.

We actually see an act of obedience here on the part of Zechariah.

He heard the word of God.

Gabriel said, This is what the Lord wants you to call John.

And he says, No, no, no, here's his name.

And they all wondered, they were all in amazement, essentially.

Verse 64.

And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God, the only proper response, worship.

65, and fear came in all their neighbors, all their neighbors.

And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea.

And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What then will this child be?

For the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.

For he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And now Zechariah is going to talk to his son.

And you, child, you, John, will be called the prophet of the Most High.

For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Friends, this is the word of the Lord.

God had not forgotten them.

He had been working, bringing history to this moment, to a new gospel era, a new era of the Savior King Jesus, who would offer the tender mercy of God to all who would receive it.

God had been actively working in a million ways since the dawn of creation, up until this moment, and he continues to.

Working in ways that they never could have imagined, we can't imagine, leading to the birth of Jesus, whose life and ministry literally split history in half.

And everything in this story points to Jesus.

Have you noticed that all along?

Even Zechariah, in his beautiful song of worship that we just read, delights in the fact that his son would be the prophet of the one who would bring salvation.

Zechariah was delighted in the fact that his son would be a part of showcasing Jesus.

Elizabeth Elliot said this, I love it.

God is God.

If he is God, he is worthy of my worship and my service.

I will find rest nowhere but in his will.

And that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to.

God is at work, in history and in households, in darkness and in silence.

And Zechariah gives the only proper response: worship.

It says right there in verse 68, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, blessed be Yahweh.

Zechariah needed the word of the Lord to wake him up to the reality of God's work in history and his household.

You and I still need that word today.

To feed on his written word, to be reminded of it through worship and teaching, through faithful friends, the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

God does not forget, but we do.

Except that we forget.

Friends, patterns and people in your life that remind you of this truth.

You need more of those.

I need more of those in my life.

To be like a pebble in my shoe to remind me that God is at work.

Sometimes I need more than a pebble in my shoe, though.

I need something to regularly stub my toe on to remind me of the truth that God is at work.

History and households, darkness and silence.

Perhaps there's something you've been praying about or you had been praying about, and you've given up praying for it, and your hope is flagging.

We're not promised an answer to every prayer.

But we are promised he's listening.

His eyes are on you, working for your good and the good of all who call on the Lord.

Do you know him?

Do you know that he is the one?

Jesus is the one who proves that he works in history and in households.

He came to be the savior of the world and he came to seek and save the lost, individuals like me and you and households.

Everything in Luke points to him.

He is the revelation of God in the work of history.

He's the light and the salvation.

Zechariah hadn't even known, he of course hadn't seen God's plan fully worked out yet, but if you look there, verse 68, again he says, Blessed be the God, or the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.

Present tense.

God's word is as good as God's activity.

He will accomplish what he sets out to do, and for that he gave him thanks.

Friends, let's pray.

Father, we can, I can be so forgetful of your kindness to us.

Remind us afresh this morning that you have been, are now, and will continue to work in this world, in my home, and in my heart.

Lord, we confess our need of you and your word for us today.

As I'm praying, I'm thinking of folks in the last service and in this service here, I've seen their faces, of folks who are quite literally in a season of darkness and apparent silence.

And I pray that your spirit would give us renewed hope, renewed joy.

Remind us of the truth that you are at work even when we can't see it.

Ground us in the fact that that is most fully visible in your Son Jesus, who came on a rescue mission for us and who is risen and reigning even now.

We ask for a fresh measure of your tender mercy.

In the matchless name of Jesus, we all said.