Luke chapter 1, I would like to continue on into this chapter. We have already looked at the first four verses. We're going to read the first 17 verses of this chapter and I'm just going to make some comments and explain some things as we read. That's all I'm going to do. I feel like this is a little bit of a different Bible study, but we're just going to read this portion of scripture and think about it and comment on it. And that'll be that.

So verse one, Luke one, verse one, it says, for as much as many have taken in hand, to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus, that means lover of God, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. Now verse five says, there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias. Let me give a few name definitions here.

Zacharias, his name means Jehovah remembers. What his name means, Jehovah remembers. I'm just going to go ahead and tell us that if Jehovah remembers anybody, It's because of Christ. It's because of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only because of Christ. It is for Christ's sake. If Jehovah remembers anybody, you know, that thief on the cross said, Lord, remember me. We sing the song, even me, even me, let that blessing fall on me. Don't forget about me. If Jehovah remembers anybody, it is for Christ's sake.

It's for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Everything that we will read in this entire book of Luke is concerning Christ. It's all concerning Christ. It's all because of Christ. For Christ's sake. Christ. Christ. Christ. Christ. Let's start this study through the book and start this Bible study and start this day with His name on our minds. Christ. That's what we're here for. Christ, that's who we're here for.

Christ. Verse five says, there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias. The fact that he was a priest, he's a picture of Christ. That's what all of those Old Testament priests were. They were pictures of Christ. Now that Christ has come, we don't need the picture anymore.

A man gave a really good illustration one time. He said if he was, you know, away, I don't know, in the military maybe, or who knows what, and had a picture of his wife. And he'd pull that picture out and look at that picture and, oh, just loved that picture and loved to look at that picture and just fond of that picture and so thankful of that picture. When he finally came home, do you think he'd spend all his time staring at that picture?

No. You don't need the picture anymore. You have her. Well, that's how it is now. We don't need priests running all over this earth anymore. We don't need pictures anymore. We have a great high priest, Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the fact that this man was a priest means he was a picture of Christ. And we're gonna see that in the flesh, Zacharias, he's a sinner just like every other man. But as we set into this, let's realize and let's remember that every word in this book is somehow on a road that leads to Jesus Christ.

Just in case anybody hasn't heard this, I'll repeat the story that's told of many, many years ago, a young man was called on to fill in for the pastor while he was away, while the pastor was gone. And so the young man did. One Sunday morning, he got up in the pulpit and he filled in for the pastor. And after the service was over, he went up to an older man in the congregation and he said, what did you think of my message?

And the older man said, I think it was a very poor message. Poor? Why do you think it was poor? Do you think I didn't speak clearly enough? He said, no, you spoke very clearly. Well, do you think I did not study enough? No, clearly you put the time in to study. Well, then why do you think it was poor? He said it was poor because Christ wasn't in it. And the young man said, well, Christ wasn't in the text. And the old man said, young man, Christ is in every text. In every portion of scripture, there is a road that leads to Jesus Christ and him crucified. And he said, our business is to find that road and get on it. That's our business. That's our business.

Verse five is where the whole story of the book of Luke begins. And from this beginning verse, we could look at Christ all day long. Verse five says there was in the days of Herod. The king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah. This man Abiah, his name means my father is Jehovah. Well, there's no other who could say that more than Christ. He said, my father and your father. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah. And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron. The name Aaron means the bringer of light. Who do you think that is? Who do you think the bringer of light is? That's Christ. He said, I am the light of the world.

That's come to shine in this dark place. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abbai. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Elizabeth means the oath of God, the covenant of God. That's Christ. He is the covenant. His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. So in the story, okay, I just gave you some definitions. We'll recenter here and come back to the story.

In this story, we have Zacharias and Elizabeth. Verse five, there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God. walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

Do you know what Psalm 14 verse 3 says? It says, there is none that doeth good, no, not one. But what about Zacharias and Elizabeth? No, not one. Do you know what Romans 3 verse 10 says? It says, there is none righteous. No, not one. Psalm 39 verse five says, man at his best state, the finest man you could find on this earth, the finest woman you could find on this earth. It's not me. I know that. But man at his best state is altogether vanity, emptiness, worthless. Isaiah 64 verse six says, we are all as an unclean thing and all of our righteousnesses are filthy rags. Filthy rags. So how can that be said of Zacharias and Elizabeth?

How can that be said? Here's the answer. Only in Christ. Only in Christ. That is the answer for any sinner before God. That is the answer for every child of God. That's said about every child of God. What is said about them right here? That's a true statement. And it's said about every child of God. The Lord God made Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin. Why? that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. In ourselves? No. In Him. Only in Him.

1 Corinthians 1.30 says, Christ is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Everything that makes us redeemable and acceptable to God is only in Him. What that means is you can't look to yourself for it. Am I redeemable and acceptable to God? Well, you can't look right here for that. You gotta look to Him. It's in Him.

Verse six, it says, and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless before God, Their life and their walk and their deeds were without blame. They couldn't be blamed. They were blameless.

All right, well, wait a minute. Look at verse 20 with me. This is the angel Gabriel came to Zacharias and said, you and Elizabeth, the two of you are going to have a son. And they were well stricken in years. They were older. And Zacharias didn't believe him.

And look at verse 20, the angel said, behold, thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak. You're not going to be able to talk. Until the day that these things shall be performed until she delivers that child nine months. Because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. That's blamable right there. He didn't believe God. That's that's a sin against God. So how could it be said that they're blameless? How can that be said about them?

Go with me to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. If we could ever learn that. Let me just interject a little side note.

Health is not necessarily a blessing from God. Now, if we have it, God gave it to us. but it's not necessarily a blessing from God. You can be healthy as a ox and forget about God, or he can bring you to your knees and you can't take your eyes off of him. You can't stop crying out to him. Wealth is not necessarily a blessing from God.

You talk to people and they say, oh, we're so blessed. We're just so blessed. We're all healthy and jobs going great and the money's going good. Our spiritual blessings from God are in Christ. They're in the blood of Jesus Christ. There is a blessing in the blood that none of those other things have anything to do with. Everything is in Christ. Verse 4 says, according as He hath chosen us in Him. Election is in Him. People think, why would God choose me over somebody else? But it has nothing to do with you. You came from the same lump that one came from. You were just as much on the dunghill as that one was. What made the difference?

Christ. God put you in Christ and then chose Christ. We were chosen in him. Election is in Christ. Verse four, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. God's people were chosen to be without blame. It's not like it's not that they did a good job. They lived life and they made good decisions and they, you know, kept a bridle on their tongue and they They were chosen to be blameless, chosen to be without blame in Christ. Only in Christ to say that Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous and blameless.

What it means is they were chosen to be in Christ. That's what it means. They were chosen to be in the love and the election of the father. They were chosen to be in the redemption of the son. They were chosen to be in the quickening calling power of the spirit. They were chosen to be. That's what it means. Or with me back to Luke chapter one.

Verse five, there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well stricken in years.

Women in the scripture often represent the bride of Christ, the collective church. And it's especially so and especially true when you see the scripture say that a woman is barren. That means cannot produce life. That is the natural state of every soul on this earth, including God's people. That's the natural state of every soul on this earth, including the bride of Christ. There is a deadness in each one of us by nature. A spiritual deadness that has no possibility of producing People think that they're going to conjure up something that's going to produce something. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. No possibility. Eternal life with the natural flesh of man, that's impossible. That's impossible. In order for life to enter this death, A miraculous work of God has to take place. And that's what this story of this announcement is all about.

Verse six, they were both righteous before God walking and all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren. And they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass that when Zacharias executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John."

John the Baptist. This is the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist. The name John means grace. It means Jehovah is a gracious giver. Jehovah has graced. The announcement of salvation comes by grace. It comes by grace. Redemption is made known by the message of grace. The Lord God is a gracious giver. God has graced.

Verse 12 says, And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son. And thou shalt call his name John, and thou shalt have joy and gladness. That's what happens when the message of grace is preached. That's what the message of grace brings, joy and gladness. It goes on to say, and many shall rejoice at his birth. Many did rejoice at his birth. We rejoice at his birth now. Why? He was the forerunner of Christ. That's the reason why.

He was the one that was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. Verse 15, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, 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.

Why do we rejoice at John's birth? It's because he preached Christ crucified. He preached the coming and the work and the glory of Jesus Christ crucified. I rejoice at the birth of every man who God has called to truly preach Christ crucified. I thank God for every man that he has called to stand up and declare the truth concerning God and the truth concerning man and the truth concerning salvation. Jesus Christ crucified. Precious name. Oh, how sweet. That's what brings the joy and gladness to God's people.

It's the one who John declared, the one of whom John would say. Do you know what John said? When when at the announcement of the Lord's ministry. John was standing there baptizing. And all of a sudden, here comes the Lord. Yeah, and John preached the gospel in one sentence. The gospel in one sentence. We want to know what the gospel is in one sentence. Do good and make better. You turn over a new leaf and try as hard as you can and do all these things. Here's the gospel in one sentence. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. That's the gospel. What about man's response to it? Dead people don't have a response except life when it's good. That's all you do is live.

In October, it was October the 7th of 1857. October the 7th, 1857, Charles Spurgeon preached in the Crystal Palace in London. It burned down. I saw a sketch of it. Beautiful, beautiful building. Amazing. But he preached in the Crystal Palace in London to a crowd of over 23,000 people without a microphone. That's amazing.

And a few days before that, he went to the palace to test the acoustics, to try to find out where would be the best place to set the pulpit. And from one particular spot, in order to see how it rang, he shouted, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He shouted at that to 23 that gives you a whole a whole new. outlook on how loud he shouted. 23,000 people. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

And at one point I was told that there was a man up in the rafters and he heard it up in the rafters and that's not the actual account of what happened. I found the account and it says there was a workman repairing a portion of the building in one of the distant galleries off of that hall. It was a good way away.

And he thought he was alone in the building. This is three days before the event. He did not know that there was anybody else even in the building. So this voice came out of nowhere and scared him. There he is alone. And all of a sudden, this voice just comes ringing through this gray hall.

And it scared him and that man knew he was a sinner. But in that moment of silence just all of a sudden just hearing that shout ring through that there was someone who could take away sin. Out of that silence, he heard it. It didn't just go in one ear and out, you know, we talk about Christ came into the world to save sinners and we go, yeah, yeah. I mean, buddy, he heard it. And it hit him, there is someone who can take away sin. And it made him desire to look into these things. And he came and heard that man preach, Charles Spurgeon. And in the course of time, as it takes, he had Christ revealed to him.

And as many times as I've heard that story and told that story, number one, I never knew it was 23,000 people. But number two, I've never thought about the fact that to my knowledge, there's no other mention of the message of the gospel reaching any of the other 23,000 people. That whole event may have been for just that one man in that three days earlier moment in time.

But either way, the Lord has been pleased to use the declaration of the gospel of Christ to save his people, to reveal Christ, to reveal God to his people. And for that, for the hearing of the gospel sake, all of his people are glad. They're so glad to hear that there is one, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He is the one.

He is the only one who did shed his blood to cover my sin. I'm telling you, before you can enter into the glory of the gospel, you have to enter into your own sin. If you're not a sinner, that's a bad thing. Abe, are you wanting us to go out and sin? No, I don't. But you're going to. Because you're a sinner. And you're already sinning and you don't realize it. I mean, none of us realize it. I'm not trying to be all high and mighty. None of us realize it until God reveals it.

But when God reveals it, all of a sudden you realize everything I'm doing, my self-righteousness is sin. My religion is sin. All these good deeds, you know, Lord, Lord, we're preached in your name. We cast out devils in your name. Sin. But the moment it becomes revealed to the heart that there is one who shed his blood to literally cover my sin. My sin.

Oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. There is one who brought forgiveness with God to me. To me. That makes God's people glad. That makes God's people glad. The gospel means good news. That's what it means. Glad tidings. And I hope that's what the gospel is to us. I hope that's what the gospel. I hope it's a saver of life unto life. I hope we don't listen to the gospel of Jesus Christ thinking, boy, this is a saver of death unto death.

Please shut up. Let's be done. Get me out of here. Lord, please make it to be a saver of life. Unto life. Open my ears, open my eyes, open my heart. Now I have a lot more that I want to say from these verses, but we're going to stop right there and just let that be our Bible study. I think that was a strange Bible study, but that's what I felt led to say. So we'll leave that for the moment. Okay.