“According to the Word” - Luke 1:1–25 - Pastor Scotty Brown

pretty fascinating book, this book of Luke.

And I've entitled the message according to the word.

And, you know, it's so awesome as you read through the Old Testament and you see the Word of the

Lord projecting the coming of a savior, right?

Where the people who sat in darkness saw a great light.

And we're going to be looking at these first few chapters of the book of Luke.

And for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given.

And the government shall be upon his shoulders.

And to hear those words and then have them come to pass.

And we are fortunate to get to see it.

We can look back through history and see how this all happened.

And so it's fascinating.

Luke is one of the four gospels, right?

You have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Some believe that Luke was written third, that Matthew and Mark were written first,

and that Luke possibly read the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and then we get his take on it.

Luke also something interesting and unique about Luke is he's the only Gentile writer in the New Testament.

And yet he almost, if the Apostle Paul didn't write the book of Hebrews, he wrote just as much of the New Testament as Paul did.

just in the two books of the gospel of Luke in the book of Acts. Luke also wrote the book of

Acts. And so quite a, quite a fella, this guy was also known as the physician or doctor.

Dr. Luke is what he's known as. And so Warren Weirsby has a little take on Luke. It says,

if ever a man wrote a book filled with good news for everybody, Dr. Luke is that man.

His key message is for the son of man to come to seek and save that which was lost.

He presents Jesus Christ as the compassionate son of God who came to live among sinners,

love them, help them, and die for them.

In this gospel, you meet individuals as well as crowds, women and children, as well as men,

poor people as well as rich people, sinners along with saints.

It's a book with a message for everybody.

because Luke's emphasis is on the universality of Jesus Christ and his salvation.

Dr. Luke is named only three times in the New Testament.

That's in Colossians, 2 Timothy and Philemon.

He wrote the book of Acts, right, and traveled with Paul.

And we just went through the book of Acts.

And so many times from chapter 16 through chapter 28, you would hear the writer say,

we.

Well, he was with the Apostle Paul.

He traveled with him.

and most believe he was a Gentile and was trained as a physician. No wonder he began his book

with detailed accounts of the birth of two important babies. I was treating for this morning,

isn't it? Maybe he practiced obstetrics. I don't know. No wonder he emphasized Christ's sympathy

for hurting people. He wrote with the mind of a careful historian with the heart of a heart of a

heart of a loving physician. And it's so true. You know, the fame of Jesus at that time was

quite large. There was a lot of writings going on, not just what we know is biblical writings,

but obviously Jesus Christ turned the world upside down, right? And I remember asking my dad one time

when I was a young Christian, man, how did word travel so fast? And he kind of looked at me puzzled

and like I was stupid, which I was.

I was just a young, stupid kid.

He said, son, it wasn't every day

that somebody got up and walked out of the grave.

I said, oh, good point, dad.

But in the gospel of Luke, there's some uniqueness to it, right?

There are some stories and accounts in Luke

that are found in none of the other gospels,

the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son,

The rich man of Lazarus, I love that one, mentioned a little bit of that at a funeral yesterday.

And then the publican in the center, you remember when the publican and the sin and the center pounds on his chest?

I love that because isn't it cool that you can identify with a whole bunch of sinners in the Bible?

Right? Because they're, you and I are.

And you see their failure.

Well, now I don't feel so bad.

See, people tell me that all the time.

but people who are scared of the Bible or don't read the Bible, they're missing out, don't you think? Right? And then probably one of the most powerful accounts in the book of Luke is the Amos Road, right? When Jesus is walking along with these guys going, hey dudes, what's up? I mean, just nonchalantly, what are you talking about? Right? And just powerful, powerful, powerful, powerful.

stuff. And so with this, with this gospel, we're going to be blessed beyond measure if we'll, if we'll

ingest it and let it just ruminate in our souls. And so with that, let's pray and we'll

start reading. Father, thank you. Thank you for your word. Thank you for people like Luke that,

Lord, wanted the world to know what we know. Lord, that you're good and that you've come to save

sinners like us and we've all fallen short of the glory of God. And yet our hope is in the perfect

son of God who was that propitiation and that payment and that powerful witness to the whole world

that there's a God in heaven who actually adores mankind even in our depraved condition.

And so, Lord, would you speak to our hearts, Lord, as we look at your word and as it is according to your word, Lord, may it so be to us.

May we hear with ears that are our spiritual ears.

And God, that your Holy Spirit would have a work in each one of our hearts this morning and this season that we're in.

In Jesus' holy name.

Amen.

He says, therefore, in as much as many have taken in hand,

verse one, to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us.

Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,

it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first

to write to you an orderly account most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty

of those things in which you were instructed. Now, this is a mouthful that Luke starts his gospel

with, right? It's four verses, but it's only one sentence. The first four verses of Luke's gospel

is just one sentence in the original Greek. They are written in the original Greek. They are written

in refined academic classical style, but then for the rest of the gospel, Luke didn't use the language

of the scholars, but of the common man, the language of the village in the street people.

Through this, Luke said to us, this account has all the proper academic scholarly credentials,

but it is written for the man on the street.

Luke wrote so that people would understand Jesus, not so they would admire,

his brain and literary skill.

Right?

Obviously he was a doctor.

The guy was smart.

And he wants to give an accurate account of the life of Jesus.

And isn't it interesting that people won't take that?

They won't do the investigation.

They'll just slam the Bible and critique it.

And it's interesting that people think

the Bible is archaic, irrelevant, mythical, and a restrictive book.

You ever talk to people like that? Right? That's what they think of the Bible.

Oh, it's got all them do's and don'ts in the book. Don't do this and don't do that.

Well, I've learned there's probably more dues in the book than there are don'ts in the book.

If you spend all your time doing the dues, you ain't got time for the don'ts.

when in reality the book is alive,

it contains everything that pertains to life and godliness, right?

It's not mythical, it's truthful, and the truth will not restrict, but it will set you free.

The truth will set you free.

The truth about God will set you free.

the truth about yourself will set you free.

That's the one that's a tough pill to swallow, right?

The truth about ourselves.

In this condition that we find ourselves in.

And it's always a struggle.

It's every morning.

I got up in this morning, I was wrestling with my flesh.

My flesh wanted to do one thing,

and my spirit wanted to do another.

And therefore, there is a battle.

and so you must learn that you just put your gloves on every morning and say,

okay, come on.

Right?

Like Paul said, I beat my body, my flesh into submission.

And that's a good fight.

It's a good fight to fight.

And God has given us all the tools of what we need.

I can't read this and talk about the validity of God's word without going to Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, excuse me, four, verses 12 and 13, where it says, for the word of God is living and powerful

and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and

marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. And there is no creature

hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

That's what God's word is. And when you live your life according to the word of God, you are different.

You live a different life than the world. You're not like the world. We can identify with the world, right?

You and I can identify with it. We know what our sin has done, what kind of death it brings to us.

And yet when the Lord comes along and he presents him,

himself to us in the simple reading of his word. I got all tipped over this morning, reading God's

word. I actually read God's word a lot of times on Sunday mornings. I don't do my personal reading,

but I read First Peter chapter one. And it just like, I'm right at the end, getting ready to come

here and I'm thinking, I got to change my whole message. Because Peter chapter, First Peter

chapter one just rocked my world. Right? Why? Because it's alive. The word of God is alive.

and people who let it sit on their shelf are robbing themselves, right?

So don't let it sit on yourself, please read it.

Now, back in the 1800s, in England, when there was a sort of wave of criticism against the Bible and against Christianity,

and there were men who had been influenced by the higher criticism of Germany and Western Europe,

they filtered into England partly as a...

a blowback to the Victorian era in England, which is the greatest era, right? That's when we had

the great preachers like F. B. Meyer and Charles Haddon Spurgeon and George McDonald and others,

and they were coming on the hills of Whitfield and the Westleys. And England was evangelized.

They heard the gospel. It was powerful. That's the way they lived. And I was looking, I was just

checking it out as I was studying for this. And actually, Darwin was born in the early 19th century.

He started pumping his idea of evolution in 1838 and then published his book, Origin of Species,

in the, I think it was 1859. And so that's some of the blowback and the people were hearing this.

And even today in Christendom, people embrace the idea of evolution.

in the church even.

It doesn't fly.

There's no absolutely no evidences whatsoever that there is an evolutionary process,

mainly that things would change from one kind to another.

Birds don't become dinosaurs.

Fish don't become people, right?

Monkeys don't become people.

And so it's fascinating how they pumped it, but even the church said, well, it has to be a lot of time.

It doesn't have to be any time at all.

The God that I serve did not need six days and six nights to create the heavens and the earth.

He could have done it in six seconds, right?

That's how big this God is that we serve or that we say we serve.

And so this was gaining traction in England back in the day.

day, but what happened after the Victorian era is you had people who looked at the values

and the morals of Victorian England and said, oh, that's so narrow-minded and so, so

prejudice. It reminds me of the three verses in Psalm chapter 2, and we've actually experienced

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

this same mindset here in America. Where in Psalm 2 it says, why do the nation

rage and the people plot a vain, empty thing. The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers

take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bonds in pieces

and cast away their cords from us. The word of God is too restrictive. Let us do what we want.

that's kind of like letting a four-year-old play with a can of gasoline and a box of matches at the same time

right they're just old enough to strike that baby an absolute disaster happens and that's what that's what the world wants

or is it?

I was pretty encouraged on November 5th.

There's some people with common sense.

Right?

That we were headed in a wrong direction.

I'm serious.

There's a country.

Right?

The whole push for men to become women

and women to become men.

It's just like,

it's so insane.

And I think people,

a lot of people are fed up with it.

Right?

you're not going to do that to my children or my grandchildren.

But there was this brilliant scholar of that time by the name of Sir William Ramsey,

and he was a historian and archaeologist.

He did not believe that the Bible was accurate.

That was his presupposition, like so many, that have never read the Bible.

Of course, it's not accurate.

It's just a book of a bunch of old wives' tales.

He never studied it really in depth, but he believed.

believed that the Bible had to be just a book put together by human beings, filled with flaws,

really, really inaccurate. And so he decided that he would take the two most historical New

Testament books to prove that those two books, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts,

right, which he wrote both of them, and written by Dr. Luke, and the reason he chose those two

books to attack is because they contain so many geographical references. When you read through the book

of Acts, it's like, oh my gosh, all these places. It was so cool. We were going through the book of Acts,

and then Caden Golden had come, and he had just been in Turkey and part of Europe there. And he

starts talking about this, it was, Samus, Sammo, Samos or whatever was. It was this town that Paul had stopped at

on one of his missionary journeys. And here's this kid in 2023, ministering to people on the coast

of this town that Paul had been in on one of his missionary journeys. And uh, kaching. Right?

Confirmation. But this guy thought, because there's so many geographical locations in these two books,

he thought, I got this. All I have to do is go and prove that they weren't there. And, um,

And so he said, because there are so many geographical references, all I have to do is go to the

archaeological digs and of those places and see if these accuracy are indeed intact or if they're fallacious.

So he began to study the background in the history of the New Testament.

He went to some of the archaeological digs and he wrote after his findings as an atheist and then moved towards being an agnostic.

Now, you all know what an agnostic is, right?

An atheist, actually, there's no really such thing as an atheist.

Because to be an atheist, you have to prove that there is no God.

Well, you can't do that.

Just like, we can't prove there is a God.

But all the evidence is on our side.

Just saying, right?

All the evidence is on our side.

And so he became,

came an agnostic, from atheists to agnostic.

Agnostic, it's amazing. I've talked to a lot of people.

They're so proud about being an agnostic.

Well, it's like it's sophisticated, right?

They can be from Yale or Harvard.

Well, I'm an agnostic.

Really, you know what agnostic means?

It means ignoramus. You know nothing.

You're proud of that?

Now I'm a dumb cowboy

And I know more than you do

Because I know Jesus

So he goes and it says

And then he eventually moved to be

To being a born-again Christian

He got saved

And right, that's the M-O of atheists

Who go on a bent, man

They go on a journey,

we're going to prove God wrong.

Christ is just a myth.

You can talk to C.S. Lewis.

You can talk to Josh McDowell.

You can talk to Lee Strobel.

You can talk to Sir William Ramsey.

It always backfires.

Because if there is a seriously honest pursuit of truth,

you're going to find it.

And it will set you free.

And that's what Ramsey,

found here.

Because he studied the Word of God.

Doesn't that make the ploy to get Bibles back in school?

All the more important?

Right?

And in some states, they've already done.

They're doing it in Oklahoma.

They're doing it in Texas, right?

That the Bibles are in the school as a historical document.

Because you can't refute it.

It is the greatest historical.

document that mankind possesses. And the scientific world tries to ignore it. And yet it explains and it

has truth that would help them. Science. The word science, it means knowledge. Where does knowledge

come from? Right? Colossians chapter one. All wisdom and knowledge is found in him. Right?

Christ is the epit of man. He is knowledge. He knows it all. He created it all. He truly holds the whole world in his hands. He's got the whole wide world. Yes. Okay? You guys are, man, you're spot on.

I'm convinced that if the word of God gets into the young people of our land, there will be a revival that the church buildings in this country cannot contain.

Why? Because young people will be set free of the anxieties of their life, right?

The suicide rate and the mental health issues. They go away.

Because what? Because God gives us a sound mind.

and helps us think right.

And so not only did Ramsey become a born-again believer,

but an apologist, one who defended the Christian faith against attacks like he had previously.

So that is the book, at least in part, that we are dealing with here in the book of Luke.

Right? It's really good stuff. It's kind of like the old Malto meal commercial.

good stuff manored come on eat away all you want right verse verse five through seven it says there was in the days

of herod the king of judea a certain priest named zacharias of the division of abijah his wife was the

daughter of the daughters of erin and her name was elizabeth and 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.

And so it goes right into a medical problem, infertility.

Right. Notice it would be a doctor that would bring that to our attention.

The prophetic word had not come for 400 years.

Right, there's a big space between the New Testament and the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, and the book of Matthew.

And so they hadn't really heard prophecy.

Now, that's not to say that during that 400-year period, prophecy was being fulfilled.

Right?

Prophecy was being.

Take the Maccabees.

Remember the Maccabian revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes when the whole Hanukkah, Feast of Light's thing,

happened. Right? That was in like 167 BC. So prophecy was being fulfilled, but we weren't

have prophecy coming our way during that period of time. And so Zacharias was a priest. He was a son of

Aaron. It is interesting that to hold the Aaronic priesthood, you had to be a son of Aaron. You had to be a

descendant of Aaron. We have a lot of people in eastern Idaho that say they hold the

Aaronic priesthood. Are you a son of Aaron? Not so. Not so grasshopper. Same with the Melchazadec thing.

I heard that on a funeral on Friday. I get so fired up. Melchizedic? Do you realize nobody can

hold the Melchazadegh priesthood except for Jesus? Because he's the Prince of Peace. He's the king of

righteousness, right? He hasn't beginning of days or end of life. Who qualifies? Nobody but Jesus

qualifies for the Melchizedek priesthood. Nobody. And so it's blasphemous to say that you have the power

and hold this position. And the priesthoods are fulfilled anyway. So, anyway, I was on a soapbox for a second,

sorry. So he was, it's interesting, Zacharias names, names, name means, name means,

Jehovah has remembered, right? Elizabeth's name means God is my oath. Right? Not cool.

These two are just stellar, stellar people. This husband and wife, Zacharias, and they, they were,

godly and they both

John the Baptist is a double-bred

Levite. He's double-bred

son of Aaron. He had the right to be

a priest and yet it didn't appear that

he was going to do that. So

now it's

interesting that the last word of prophecy

in the Old Testament is Malachi

talking about Elijah coming

This is where the New Testament takes off from where the Old Testament left off.

And so the priests on duty would draw lots.

At this time, many believe there's over 20,000 priests there in Jerusalem.

And a lot would be drawn and you would get your orders to tell you what you were supposed to do.

And so here's Zacharias, and he gets his orders, but it says his wife, Elizabeth, was barren.

And he gets a call to prayer.

So let's read verse 8.

It says, and so it was that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,

according to the custom of the priesthood,

his lot 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 Zacharias saw him, he was troubled in fear fell upon him.

So he was probably just going through the motions.

right this Zachariah? Many believe that this call would maybe only be once in a lifetime. Could you imagine?

I think I would like that just to get called to preach once in your lifetime. That would be way cool.

But he was called to offer incense up on the altar. No doubt he was getting probably some counsel from guys that had done that before.

we don't know, but it seemed to be a pretty intense thing.

And isn't, this is really cool because it's all about prayer.

It's all about seeking the face of God, this Zacharias.

And so as he's there, he sees right where he's praying, right on the altar, here's an angel shows up.

What would you do?

Right?

Almost all the time that we see angels appear to men, they fear.

When they know it's an angel.

Now, the Bible says that people haven't entertained angels,

not being aware of it, it tells us in the book of Hebrews,

that sometimes people just come and they go.

And you're just like, whoa, what happened there?

Some people have experienced that.

And so I ain't got time to talk.

or I'd tell you of one of my experiences.

But fear fell upon him, and no doubt he has a fear of the Lord, this Zachariah,

but now he's realizing that, oh, wow, the Lord is taking me deeper.

Are you ready for the Lord to take you deeper and go deeper with him?

Do you want all that God has for you?

Because when you truly want all that God has for you,

I'm going to quote my dad here, he says, get your sack open, right?

If you really want all that God has for you, get your sacks.

sack open and pursue him and chase after him because it will blow your mind what he's going to do

with your life, right? Because people have as much of Jesus as they want. It's just that a lot of

people, they don't want, they don't want it all. They kind of want to keep it right here where it's

comfortable. God's not concerned with your comfort. He's concerned with your character, right? And you do it

his way and he will make you a huge character. Verse 13, but

the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard.

Now, you would think he was interceding, praying for the people and for the nation of Israel.

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 in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink, not.

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.

Wow.

He says your prayers heard.

Now, what do you think about this for a minute?

These people were, they were old.

They were probably a little older than me.

That's pretty old.

And no doubt, they had spent a lot of years because of her infertility praying.

Because that was a black mark on your life for a woman to not bear a child.

And many believed it was a curse.

he says your prayer has been heard it might have been 10 or 15 years since they prayed that prayer

to have a baby realizing that they were past the age to bear a child and yet that's the first thing

he says when he says when he tells him says your prayer is heard and your wife shall bear you a son

man i wonder what that dude do his heart i know when i had my first son look at there

I mean, it's pretty incredible. Couldn't bear a son. But it doesn't seem like, and then the angel tells him what he's going to be, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither. He's going to be a Nazarite. He's going to be set apart. The Nazarite vow, just like what Samson was. But John the Baptist is not going to have a girl problem like Samson did. But he's going to, he's going to, he's, he's,

going to be a Nazareth. Notice the Holy Spirit from his, his, his, his birth from the womb.

That's why I love praying for a little culture this morning. The Holy Spirit gets a hold of these

little hearts when they're young. It's awesome. It's awesome to watch. And, and, and, and, and this guy is going to

have no backup in him at all. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

And he will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah.

Here's the connection.

The connection from the Old Testament.

And behold, Malachi says, Elijah will come and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the father.

And the last day.

And the angel says of John the Baptist, he will come in the spirit in the power of Elijah, turning 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.

People were just living their lives before Jesus came on the scene.

They were just doing their own thing.

You've been doing your own thing?

Maybe the Lord is calling you today make a U-turn, would you?

Right?

Doing about face.

Repent.

We're going to see John the Baptist when he comes on the scene.

His very first words are repent for the kingdom of heaven.

is at hand. People were just living a disobedient life. Oh, they might have been going through the motions,

offering sacrifice for sin and what have you. But they were just doing their own thing. And the Lord is

sending John ahead of the gospel. The conviction might come. And isn't it fitting that the parents of

John the Baptist were people of the law? The Bible says the law. The law.

is a schoolmaster to move and drive, to push you and me to Jesus. And here, the son of the law,

John the Baptist, right? He is going to push people to the Lord. Because he tells people, if you

don't repent, there is going to be a fire. And the Bible says that the Lord is going to have a

winnowing fan in his hand, and he's going to fan that flame. Because you, you know,

you won't hear and you won't listen.

And the disobedient to wisdom of the just to make ready, the people prepared,

make straight the way of the Lord Isaiah tells us about this John the Baptist.

And Zacharias said to the angel,

How shall I know this?

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

We're old.

We can't have a baby.

I can't imagine having a baby at this age.

My three-year-old grandson wears me out.

There's a reason you have children when you're young.

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

and 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 will be fulfilled in their own.

time according to his word. If God said it, right, that's going to settle it, that we don't need

anything else. It's going to happen. The Lord is coming a second time, right? Why? Because God said

he's going to come. And that's what he told these people. It's going to be fulfilled. This is going to

happen. Elizabeth is going to have a baby, and this is going to be fulfilled.

when I say.

And not until I say.

People have a hard time with God's timing.

I know you do.

I know I do.

Right?

But because he doubted, the Lord was gracious, right?

He didn't send a lightning bolt down and destroy him because of his doubt.

Right?

But he just gave him a little tongue-tied problem for a while.

And tied up his tongue to where he comes.

couldn't speak.

And so doubt will make you speechless.

When you doubt, you really have nothing to talk about.

I don't know what to say, Zachariah is probably going on the conversation in his own heart.

I don't know what to say.

How can this be?

How will I know this?

But you don't want to be a doubter.

Doubting is not healthy.

Right?

First Timothy chapter two says,

excuse me, let's go to James chapter one,

says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,

who gives to all liberally without reproach,

and it will be given to him.

Let him ask in faith with no doubting.

For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea,

driven and tossed by the wind.

For let not that man suppose that,

he will receive anything from the Lord. Well, that's kind of scary. I think that we have doubts,

but I think it's different to have doubts and to live, have a doubting attitude that you just doubt.

I think there's a difference. Yeah, I have my doubts at times, but I know that God's faithful.

I can look back over my life. I can look through God's word and see how faithful he is.

and it and it strengthens my faith.

Paul says in 1 Timothy 2.8,

I desire therefore that the men,

that men pray everywhere,

lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.

So actually our prayers can overcome that doubting.

It's interesting that that's what Zechariah was doing here.

And so,

we continue on there in verse 21, and the people waited for Zechariah

marveled that he lingered so long in the temple.

But when he came out, he could not speak to them,

and they perceived that he had seen a vision, just a little bit, in the temple.

For he beckoned to them and remained speechless.

And so it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed,

that he departed to his own house.

Now after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and she hid herself five months saying,

Thus the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach from among the people.

That would be quite a thing, this miraculous conception.

And God has plans for this kid, right?

He lays out his plan before the child is born.

Imagine, if you would.

I look at my kids' lives, and I like to kind of go back and see what God is done in their lives, right?

I got a 40-year-old.

I got a 36-year-old, a 34-year-old, and a 27-year-old, 28-year-old.

And those years get by you really quick, just saying he was in kindergarten a couple weeks ago, that youngest one.

And you look back, but if God would have told me when they were born, what they were going to be, what was going to happen in their life?

Sometimes you don't want to, you wonder, do I want to know?

I don't know if I want to know.

Because I know anyone that is worth their salt has usually been through something.

And as a parent, it is hard to watch your kids suffer.

but listen they need it they need it it's what grows them it's what stretches them and it's but it's so hard to watch

and we have this thing we want to rescue them don't rescue your kids be there for them support them

when they're right rebuke them when they're wrong and always do it in love and watch what god does

be consistent.

My best consistency is my screw-ups.

Right?

I was very consistent in that with my children.

And then having to go to them and eat crow.

What parent likes to do that.

Please forgive Dad.

I was wrong.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

You know.

And really, if you'll drop your pride level enough to be able to do that,

it's amazing.

I mean, one little boy, he would pat me on the, that's okay, dad, I love you.

They're pretty forgiving. Oh, that we would be that forgiving, right?

But he lays out what this boy is going to be and all this expectation in Zechariah and Elizabeth's life.

and so she hangs on as soon as she realizes she's pregnant.

I don't know how they figured that back in them days,

but she waited for five months.

And I think that was wisdom, right?

And why?

I think she's putting the Lord to the test.

God's not afraid for you to put him to the test.

And it says, to take away.

my reproach or my disdain or my disapproval. I was disapproved of as a woman because I couldn't have a baby.

And God took that away in giving her this child, John the Baptist. So God has a plan for every child.

And that's why the abortion issue is so hideous because it does not matter how children come into the world.

I remember Pastor Robb he talked about it when he was here.

but God has a plan.

God will bless them.

But people, there needs to be people in their life that are leading them to Jesus.

There's got to be somebody, right?

It needs to be a mom or a dad or a brother or a sister or a grandma or a grandpa.

They got to know about Jesus.

Because the Bible talks about that investment into young people's lives.

and when parents will live according to God's word, it's a powerful thing.

And First Corinthians, we're going through it right now on Wednesday nights,

and there's a passage there in chapter 7 that talks about a husband and a wife.

One's a believer, one's not.

And what do you do there?

People wonder, what do I do?

The Corinthians say, well, kick him to the curb, right?

If they're not a believer, kick him to the curb.

Paul says, no, don't do that.

If they want to leave, let them leave.

But if they don't want to, if they want to stay with you, let them stay.

Because he says, for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife who believes.

And the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband who believes.

Otherwise, listen, your children would be unclean.

But now they are holy.

But now they are holy.

There is something powerful about a parent or a grandparent that will stand in the gap for the generation that is coming after them.

I know for us it was our grandparents, right?

They were going to bat for us and we were set apart and obviously.

God had a plan.

Sure couldn't have told that 30 years ago.

because they were righteous back in verse six it says that that Elizabeth and

Zacharias they were righteous God blesses them with the son that is going to be the greatest

of the prophets right and and generated the generations before had something to do with that

Psalm 37 says something interesting in verse 28 for the Lord loves justice and does not forsake

his saints. They are preserved forever. But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

So you got descendants? Don't be wicked. You want them cut off? It tells us in the

giving of the ten commandments, Lord, that blessed are those, right? Blessed are those who walk in

faith and obey the commandments. They're generous, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're,

descendants will be blessed for a thousand generations. But God hates and cuts off those who despise him.

Hard words, huh? May it be according to God's word for our lives. And that simply means us yielding to the

word of God. Just as Zachariah and Elizabeth.

were people who embraced the Word of God and realized that it was truth. May we do the same.

That it would make us clean the Word of God, that it would be health to our bones, that it would

convert our souls. These are all scriptures. That it would keep us from stumbling. That we would stand in

awe of the great things we find in God's Word, right? May it be according to His Word towards us.

I'm going to close this afternoon by reading.

Psalm 119 is starting in verse 153.

And this may be you, but it can be kind of in the form of a prayer.

Consider our affliction and deliver us.

For we do not forget your law.

Plead our cause and redeem us.

Revive us according to your word.

Salvation is far from the wicked.

For they do not seek your statutes.

Great are your tender mercies, O Lord.

Revive us according to your judgments.

Many are our persecutors and our enemies.

Yet we do not turn away from your testimonies.

We see the treacherous and are disgusted because they do not keep your word.

Consider how we love your precepts.

Revise, revive us, O Lord, according to.

your loving kindness. The entirety of your word is truth. And every one of your righteous judgments

endures forever. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. Thank you for the powerful book that you put in front

of us and in our laps, Lord. And yet your word tells us that you esteem your word even above

your name. And Lord, that is just mind-boggling to me.

I don't totally understand that, but I know that I believe it.

And I need to live my life according to your word.

And so may it be for all of us in this room, Lord, that we would have a passion to write it on the pages of our heart, as the psalmist wrote, that we might not stand against you.

That it is a light unto our path and a lamp unto our feet.

Lord, and so we praise you that you present this to us a round.

a reputable account of the truth, of the history of who you are, and that you truly do what you say.

And so, Lord, we ask that you would just be with us this week, Lord.

And there's going to be opportunities for us to proclaim the word of the Lord.

And to, just as John the Baptist did, Lord, that repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

It appears that time is short, even with this reprieve we have, Lord.

and it seems like some good things may happen.

But Lord, help us to not to trust in this world, but in our God.

And so give us that faith, we pray.

Lord, that our faith would be bolstered and strengthened

as we put it completely in you and your instruction to us.

In Jesus' holy name.

Amen. Amen.

Let's all stand. We'll worship.

Thank you.