Convinced of Christ
Well, this morning I would like you to turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke. As we're beginning a new sermon series this morning, I want to draw attention to the fact that over the next year or so—and I'm saying "or so" because it depends on some variables—we're going to study through the Gospel of Luke verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph.
It's been my prayer and my hope that as we embark on this study of the gospel, that we will become more and more convinced of Christ. In fact, I'm titling my sermon series through the Gospel of Luke, "Convinced of Christ."
I'm praying that we'll learn more than the mere facts of the gospel, though we must know the facts of the gospel. But I'm trusting that God will also help us understand the implications of the gospel for how it lands in our hearts and shapes our lives.
It's also noteworthy that while I'm starting a sermon series through the Gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings, we have two of our adult groups who are also studying other gospels. If you were with us in the discipleship hour this morning at 9 o'clock, our adult discipleship class is currently studying the Gospel of Matthew and will be in the Gospel of Matthew for the next two quarters. And not only that class, but our senior ladies Bible study, that will resume meetings again in January, is going to be studying the Gospel of John together.
So with this much focus on the gospels, I believe God wants us to listen carefully to his word. It is not an accident or a coincidence that God has put these books of the Bible in clear focus at this season and for this time.
Study the Gospels
We should never tire of hearing the gospels and understanding the message of Jesus Christ. These are things that our faith depends on and things that are often brought into question by our culture and by people who reject Christianity.
It's absolutely imperative that we study the gospels so that we know Christ and we become convinced of the claims of Jesus. And as we work our way through the Gospel of Luke in particular, I believe this Gospel will show us with clarity that we can be convinced with confidence that Jesus is who he says that he is, did what he said he has done, and wants us to have a relationship with him for all of eternity.
The Gospel of Luke follows Matthew and Mark as the third synoptic gospel. That is, these three gospels in particular tell the events of the life of Jesus from slightly different perspectives and backgrounds, but all with an emphasis on the work of Christ in God's world.
Luke's Focus on Christ
The Gospel of Luke in particular focuses on how Jesus' deity and humanity, as well as his death and resurrection, affect our hearts, our minds, and our actions. In fact, Luke presents Jesus in such a way that Jesus often reveals people's innermost thoughts and motivations. And Luke points us to Christ for not only our salvation, but for our transformation, so that our lives will be radically changed.
Luke was a Jewish doctor who traveled with the Apostle Paul on his missionary journeys, and he had access to other disciples of Jesus. It's with his experience as a physician that he may have even cared for the Apostle Paul and some of the disciples and early Christians. But as he wrote his gospel, he was writing primarily to a Gentile audience, that is, people who were non-Jewish. And he dedicated his writings both here in the Gospel of Luke and in the book of Acts, which follows it, to a Gentile believer named Theophilus.
Luke's gospel ranks as one of the longest books in the New Testament. And I know some of you will be like, "Uh-oh, the longest book in the New Testament might be for some really long sermon series." But I do want to keep the sermon series moving at a good clip so that we understand the context of what he is saying. And we want to see it so that our lives are affected by it and not just our intellects stirred or tickled.
From the opening paragraph of his gospel, Luke established the primary reason that he wrote to Theophilus. He says in verse 4, "so you can know for certain what you have been taught." Luke has thoroughly investigated Jesus' life and teachings, and he has become so convinced of the good news of Jesus Christ that he wants everyone, from Theophilus to us, to believe the gospel beyond any shadow of a doubt.
Sadly, there are people in every generation who question whether or not the gospels are accurate and whether or not Jesus' life was true. You see this on the shelves in the grocery store. There are still magazines that are sold, not only tabloids, but other magazines that around Christmas and Easter have a picture of Jesus on the cover and normally say, "Was he real? Did it really happen?" And when you open those magazines, you can read articles from scholars who teach in Ivy League universities and other institutions who say all kinds of things, but the bottom line is they deny that Jesus is Christ. Jesus was the Son of God. They deny what the Bible has said about Jesus. They have all kinds of other explanations and theories, but none of them would affirm what the Bible says as being true.
In fact, I would argue every generation has this repeated over and over again, starting with the first generation, that those who were around at the time of Jesus' life and death even questioned Jesus to the point of crucifying him and saying, "This man is blasphemous. He is not God." So the Jews killed him. Yet this pattern of skepticism, doubt, and unbelief has repeated through every generation. Because the gospel of Christ is true, it reverberates in every generation, and it repeats in every generation. So thus it is logical that the doubters and the skeptics will also repeat in every generation.
Over 20 years ago, Dan Brown wrote a fiction thriller called the Da Vinci Code. With the skill of a novelist and the skepticism of an atheist, Brown used disproven conspiracy theories and dubious history to undermine the gospels, and he told an incredible tale. But Brown's claims were fundamentally false, though they sounded persuasive. It's not ironic that he used fiction to portray his ideas because his ideas were indeed fictional.
In our own era, deconstructionists and ex-vangelicals, as they're called, question everything about Christianity, from the authority of the Bible to the moral ethics of Christianity. They debate Christians online and sometimes in person, but they debate with scorn and mockery, and they passionately try to evangelize Christians to join them in their unbelief. While these deconstructionists seemingly question everything, they seem incapable of questioning themselves. The only motive and the only thing that they have absolute certainty about is their own ability to discern and research what is right and what is wrong.
Yet in the Gospel of Luke, we find the assurance for believers and doubters to find answers about Christ and the gospel. We simply have to be willing to humble ourselves and listen to what the word of God says. Luke wants us to believe the gospel of Jesus for certain, and he wants us to deal with our doubts and our fears. Luke does not want us to become arrogant about what we believe. He wants us to become more assured about who we believe in. This is why Luke points us to Jesus Christ.
So this morning, I want to tackle the first 25 verses of chapter 1 and see in this section how we can believe the gospel of Jesus beyond any doubt. So let's read the first 25 verses of Luke chapter 1.
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those from the first eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zachariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Once when Zachariah's division was on duty, he was serving as a priest before God. He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
And when Zachariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He's never to take wine or fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Zachariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I'm an old man and my wife is well along in years." The angel said to him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time."
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zachariah and wondering why he had stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs, but he remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home.
And after this, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days, he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people. Amen."
Luke begins his gospel with an account of birth narratives. First, he gives us the account of the birth of John the Baptist, who is the cousin of Jesus. And then he gives the account of the birth of Jesus. In both of these, Luke is establishing the historicity of Christ by establishing his origin and where he came from.
As we look into this first section of Luke's gospel, we're only going to cover his introduction and the birth narrative for John. But in this, we see Luke making the case that we can believe the gospel of Jesus Christ beyond any doubt. And we see this at least along three different lines.
Word of God Reveals Christ
The first, and it will be my first point this morning, is that the Word of God reveals the Son of God beyond a doubt.
Luke wrote with an attention to detail that included multiple eyewitness accounts and a careful comparison of corroborating evidence. Luke acknowledged right at the start in verse number one, many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us. Luke was not claiming to be first, but he was saying that there are other accounts out there. Perhaps he was aware of the other gospel writers, but he was certainly aware of conversations and of stories that were being passed on from first-hand eyewitnesses to others.
So Luke worked to prepare an accurate and a reliable account of Jesus so that others could become convinced of Christ. In his gospel, Luke records how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament promises. He also interviewed the first-hand eyewitnesses, such as Jesus' closest disciples, in order to verify and organize their testimonies. Luke investigated these different stories so we could rule out any misinformation and he could write an orderly account, it says in verse number three.
In modern parlance, we might say Luke wrote the authorized history of Jesus. He took the eyewitness accounts, which could be random and out of order, and he put them in a chronological order that aligned with the life and ministry of Jesus. He did this to make sense out of all the different stories so that there was a clear account of what had happened. Luke was not working as a conspirator with others to try to create a false Jesus or a false narrative that presented Jesus a certain way. Luke was simply harmonizing and analyzing the information that was available to everyone at that time.
Luke's gospel was and is the word of God that reveals the Son of God who Luke calls the Son of Man, emphasizing Jesus' humanity. Ultimately, Luke wrote an authoritative account about Jesus' life and teaching, and what he wrote is trustworthy. It's consistent with the other Gospels of Matthew and Mark. It's consistent with the Gospel of John, and it is consistent with the Old Testament promises that Jesus fulfilled. Luke's history for Theophilus remains an accurate record for us today so that we, like Theophilus, may know the certainty of the things that we have been taught.
The biblical authors welcome skeptics and doubters. Some say that Christianity is scared of skeptics and doubters, but I would say it's skeptics and doubters who are scared of Christianity. Already in the first century, there were people questioning Jesus' teaching and miracles. There were doubters who were denying the eyewitness accounts of evidence for his resurrection. So Luke interviewed the first eyewitnesses, it says, and he gathered all the evidence that he could. And his research only served to strengthen his confidence in Jesus Christ.
The gospel that Luke wrote provided Theophilus certainty of the things that he had been taught. In other words, Luke investigated the stories that he had heard about Jesus and he compared them to the other eyewitnesses and the other evidence. And he concluded beyond any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ held up to scrutiny. It was absolutely true and trustworthy. Luke did not conspire with other writers to improve the story or to change the story. They simply reported what happened.
The Bible stands up to critical investigation and careful analysis. Scholars who deny the inspiration and authority of Scripture always cast doubt on what the Bible says. Like Satan in the Garden of Eden, they ask, "Did God really say? Is that really what he meant?" Yet even these skeptics and critics will admit that the people, the places, and the events described in scripture are accurate historical facts. They just choose to reinterpret them.
What's interesting is the field of archaeology only serves to confirm the record of the Bible. Archaeologists who have been skeptical and even atheist have gone searching in Palestine to try to disprove the Bible, and they've actually disproved themselves. And some of them have even become believers because they have realized that what the Bible recorded is right.
If you're a skeptic or a believer yourself and you wonder, "I don't know, can I trust any of this?" I mean, you're just saying that. I would challenge you to question your own skepticism. Where does your skepticism come from? And what makes your skepticism trump all other evidence? Instead, we ought to be willing to read the scripture, give it a fair shake, and hear what it says for itself.
In fact, I want to challenge each and every one of you to read the Gospel of Luke between now and the end of this calendar year. If you were to read two chapters a day for the 12 weekdays between now and New Year, you'll read all of Luke's gospel. Some of you may choose to read it faster. You can read it slower, but I want to invite you to read it and hear what it says. Then keep going and read the whole Bible in 2026.
In fact, this is a great time of year to evaluate your devotion life and what you want to read and be studying for this next year in your private time with the Lord. There are many Bible reading plans that are available out there, and I want to commend to you Ligonier Ministries. They have an incredibly helpful website, they have an app, and they have multiple Bible reading plans that will match your level and your engagement.
It is through the simple reading of the Word of God that God convinces us of Himself. I have heard more than one testimony of people who became believers because someone challenged them to read the Bible. And I would encourage you, if you're a believer, to invite someone else to read the Bible with you.
You can do that in a multitude of ways. It could be as simple as saying, "Let's read a chapter a day" or "a chapter a week." You can do that with others as you have access to their lives and just let the Word of God speak. Let the questions arise from the Word of God and draw confidence in that. We can believe the gospel of Jesus Christ beyond any doubt because the Word of God is trustworthy.
And Luke wants to make it clear right from the beginning that what he has written is not his own opinion or his own interpretation, but he has written what he has studied and what he has investigated, and it is accurate. Well, as Luke makes that clear, he shows us that the Word of God reveals the Son of God beyond any doubt.
And we're going to be learning more about Christ, especially toward the middle of chapter one and into chapter two. But the second thing I think that Luke shows us about the Word of God in Luke chapter one is that the Spirit of God fills His servants for service.
Spirit of God Fills Servants
So the Spirit of God fills his servants for service. While we can believe the gospel because we trust the Bible, we can also believe the gospel because the Spirit of God equips his servants to serve him.
Now that Luke has established his reason for writing, he starts his account with three servants of God: a Jewish priest named Zachariah, his wife Elizabeth, and their son John. Each member of this small family points us to Jesus Christ and his work in their lives, and as that affects other people.
Luke sets the scene, beginning in verse number five, by saying, "in the time of Herod, king of Judea," referring to Herod the Great, who ruled over Judea for the Roman government between 37 BC and 4 AD. This Roman governor over the Jews ruled during the time of Christ's birth. He himself was half Jewish, but he governed not for the benefit of the Jews, but he governed for the interests of Rome and for his own self-preservation. This same Herod would later order an execution against male Jewish babies to try to destroy Jesus, who was the promised king of the Jews, a threat to his own authority. Yet in spite of Herod's attempts to eliminate Jesus, Herod himself would be taken off the scene.
It's in this first-century context that Luke introduces a priest named Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, verse 5. Both the husband and wife were descendants of Jewish priests, and they faithfully served God over many years. They were a childless couple, Luke tells us, well past the prime of their lives. And despite their earnest desire to have children of their own, they suffered the pain and the anguish of infertility. Yet Zachariah ministered as a temple priest, and he served God with honor and integrity. It says in verse 6, both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly.
Zachariah and Elizabeth lived according to God's covenant with Israel, and God considered them righteous and blameless. This did not mean that Zachariah and Elizabeth were sinless before God, but it means that God knew their hearts and their motivations, and they genuinely loved God and served him with their lives. Ultimately, Zachariah and Elizabeth's public testimonies and ministry matched their private character, is what Luke is saying.
Luke is highlighting their character because this couple had been unable to have children. Luke described them in verse 7 as childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both very old. He doesn't give us the exact age, but he's making the point that they were old enough that they were beyond childbearing years. There was no way they could now have children on their own, but they had not become bitter against God. They had not held back and said, "God, since you didn't give us children and life didn't work out the way we had hoped, we're going to pull back from you." No, they continued to lean into their relationship with God. They continued to serve him both privately and publicly in a way that honored God. And God, in his kindness, chose to bless them.
For her part, Elizabeth had godly character. She was like her husband in that she observed all the Lord's commands, it says in verse 6. And after multiple attempts throughout their marriage, she had been unable to conceive a child and she had suffered in her infertility. No doubt, she probably experienced miscarriages, and there were people who misunderstood. Some may have even surmised that perhaps they were under a curse for something that they had done. And yet, Elizabeth remained faithful and she was said to be righteous before God. She didn't turn against God because of her own infertility and turn against God because he didn't do what she wanted. She continued to pursue him and obey him no matter her circumstances.
Everyone experiences different degrees of suffering and disappointment in their lives, all of us. For some, the suffering of infertility not only disappoints a couple who desires children of their own, but it can also lead one or both of the spouses into bitterness and, in some cases, unbelief. For others, the disappointment of a wayward child can prompt doubts about God and questions about his goodness.
Yet the Spirit of God comforts believers through our suffering and disappointment. He does not give us an escape from our suffering. We live in a culture that wants escape from any kind of difficulty. We have built a world of convenience and ease for our comfort. And as soon as there's any hint of adversity, pushback, or difficulty, we hit the eject button. We quit jobs because people hurt our feelings. We get upset with teachers because they ask too much of us. We cancel our parents because we think they were unkind when we were children. We do all kinds of crazy things in our cultural movement to escape from suffering. And yet the Spirit of God wants to comfort us through our suffering and disappointment. And here we have Zachariah and Elizabeth being introduced to us in difficult circumstances, that they have a public ministry, and yet they have private hurt.
Yet they've not allowed their private hurt to get in the way of the work that God had called them to do. It's not unlike what Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6 when he said, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of the world. We can trust and obey God with honor and integrity, even when we're struggling and when we're suffering.
After countless years of faithfully serving Yahweh, God sent a special word to Zachariah. So he saw this man in his service and in his suffering, and God chose to intervene. Zachariah's division of the priests, it says, was on duty serving in the temple where God dwelt with his people. This division of priests would have been probably around a thousand men from a tribe of Israel. And there were up to 12 to 18,000 priests that would have rotated with their tribe twice a year to minister in the temple.
And among the thousand or so men who would have been ministering each week, they chose who would go into the innermost part of the temple by casting a lot, or what we would say, rolling a dice. And as they did this, it just so happens that the account Luke shares is of Zachariah being on temple duty when the lot fell to him. He would be the one chosen to go into the temple where the most sacred space of the presence of God and burn incense. And this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No doubt, Zachariah had been to the temple grounds and would return to the temple grounds. But it's only once in a lifetime that he would be given this opportunity to go before God in this unique way.
And once Zachariah entered into this most sacred part of God's temple, the Holy of Holies, it says in verse 11: an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. And this angel of the Lord, Gabriel, who had stood in the presence of God, verse 19, was sent to speak to Zachariah and tell him good news. This angel appeared not with divine judgment, but with divine hope that would be a blessing not only to Zechariah, but a blessing to all of Israel.
What we don't always fully appreciate is that angelic appearances were not always welcomed, especially from the Old Testament context. They often involved God sending divine judgment against Israel or his enemies. Angels were not playful children plucking cords on harps like we picture today. They were usually warriors who were armed for battle or messengers with a word from God. Angels invoked the fear of God for good reason.
So when Zachariah saw Gabriel, it says in verse number 12, he was startled and he was gripped with fear. But Gabriel was not coming to bring God's wrath or judgment against this priest or against the people of God. No, this time the angel was sharing an incredible message of hope that was filled with joy that would be a blessing to them all. And Gabriel's message came directly from God, and it would overwhelm the elderly priest with good news.
When Gabriel appeared to Zachariah, he was there to inform him that his prayers had been answered. Imagine the countless times that Zachariah had privately prayed, that Elizabeth had privately prayed, that they had prayed together, begging the Lord to give them the child. You can't help but think of Hannah in the Old Testament, who was so stricken with grief and so consumed in prayer that the priests thought she was drunk in her pleading before the Lord. And now God appears with an angel and tells Zachariah, "I've heard your cries. And I have an answer."
Elizabeth in her old age was going to have a baby and they were going to name him John. Zachariah's son, John, would have a God-given name rather than his father's name or a family name. What's interesting is the name Zachariah appears over 28 times in the Bible, but it's not going to be there a 29th time for this child. Instead, they're going to take a turn and name him John. There's even going to be a question about that in chapter 2 where people are like, "Are you sure you want to name him John?" And he will confirm that that is the name.
The name John means "the Lord is gracious." And this son, given by God, would bring joy and the grace of Jesus Christ to all of Israel. In fact, Gabriel said to him, verse 15, "He will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born." The Spirit of God would fill John for his divine service, and the Spirit of God would keep John pure in heart like a Nazarite and make him powerful for Yahweh like Elijah. According to the angel Gabriel, Zachariah's son would prepare his people for the Lord. Early in this gospel account, Luke notes the role of the Holy Spirit, and he references the Holy Spirit more than any other gospel writer.
Luke also describes the role of the Holy Spirit in the early church when he wrote the book of Acts. And Luke recognized the significance of the Spirit's role in the lives of believers. All of us, from Zachariah to Elizabeth to John to us today, depend on the Holy Spirit's work.
Yet despite this incredible message from God through the angel Gabriel, and despite the Spirit's work in his life, Zachariah responded with a question. He said in verse 18, "How can I be sure of this? I'm an old man, and my wife is well along in years."
In other words, Zachariah's response paralleled what Abraham and Sarah had said when God appeared to Abram and said, "You will have a son and you will name him Isaac." They also were in disbelief because of their age. And now Zachariah is reacting and thinking, "I'm an old man. My wife is an old woman. There's no way we could have children." And they wondered how this would work.
So Gabriel answered Zachariah's question with an assurance from God. He had been in the presence of God just before coming to appear to Zachariah in the temple. And now he spoke to Zachariah to tell him this good news, verse 19. And he answered Zachariah's question.
But the answer was not how would God give Elizabeth a son? The answer was who was the one giving them a son? In other words, the angel Gabriel wanted Zachariah to focus on the covenant-keeping God rather than the mechanics of how an older lady would become pregnant. By implication, we should understand through this that the Spirit of God equips his people with everything they need for his service, even when it seems impossible to do.
To prove the power of God's message through Gabriel, the angel silenced Zachariah and made him unable to speak. We might wonder, "Well, isn't this harsh? Isn't this punitive? Why did he react this way?" Yet we should understand that Zachariah's temporary silence would put more focus on God and what he said through Gabriel. So that when the words of the angel came true at the birth of John, Zachariah, it says, gave praise to the Lord. All of this would point to God's super ability to work through his spirit to accomplish his purposes.
Luke's point in this whole section of Zachariah's encounter with Gabriel can be summarized like
Spirit Fills Servants for Service
The Spirit of God fills his servants for service because of our human limitations. Zachariah and Elizabeth could not have produced children on their own. They had tried throughout their marriage and had finally given up in their old age. Yet God, through the power of the Spirit, would produce a son for them named John, who would turn their sorrow into joy.
We are also dependent on the Spirit of God to empower us for service. Sharing the good news of the gospel involves turning people's hearts from their sins and revealing God's righteousness. We cannot convince hearts and minds without the power of the Spirit of God.
Sharing the gospel is more than simply repeating a pattern or offering a presentation. It requires the power of God. So as we have the opportunity to share Jesus this Christmas, we should share it not simply to tick a box, but we should share it with anticipation and with hope that God's power attends the gospel and his Spirit convinces people of its truthfulness.
In fact, the reason people reject the gospel is because they do not have the Spirit of God illumining their hearts and minds. The Spirit of God will fill his servants, including us, for service so we can believe the gospel of Jesus Christ beyond a doubt and share this good news with other people.
People Believe the Testimony of God
As Luke is writing his gospel, he's showing how the word of God reveals the Son of God. He's helping us understand that the Spirit of God prepares his servants for service. And the final thing I want you to see in this section this morning is that the people of God believe the testimony of God for certain.
While Zachariah ministered out of sight in the inner court of the temple where the presence of God dwelt, other worshipers were outside and they were assembled praying, it says in verse number 10. Apparently, Zachariah's encounter with Gabriel took longer than the normal time allotted, sort of like my sermons, Craig. And the people were waiting for Zachariah, and they were wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. The people must have been restless and curious, even speculating what was happening.
It was customary for the priest then to exit the temple and to pronounce a blessing on the people. Yet this time, when Zachariah finally appeared after a delay, it says in verse number 22, he could not speak to them. Suddenly, the worshipers realized Zachariah had been delayed because he had encountered the living God, and he struggled to communicate because he could not speak. The priest made signs. He found other ways to communicate. It says later that he asked for something to write on so he could express his thoughts to them.
But what was significant is that while he was unable to speak words from his mouth, he was still pointing people to the glory of God and his promises. The people of God responded to Zachariah's mute silence with rapt attention and a sense of anticipation: What is God doing? How is this going to go? They realized that he had seen a vision in the temple and they wanted to know more.
And then Luke moves on and says that Zachariah and Elizabeth continued to minister for the rest of the week while Zachariah completed his temple service. I'm sure he was overwhelmed with requests to repeat what Gabriel had said to him. And thus Luke was able to talk to other eyewitnesses and get this account down as accurately as he could.
But at the end of their service, Zachariah and Elizabeth returned home to the Judean hill country. And then, just as Gabriel had predicted, Elizabeth became pregnant in her old age, but she lived in seclusion for the first five months. And even in her seclusion, she told everyone, "The Lord has done this for me," verse number 25.
She realizes she didn't get pregnant because she sought fertility treatments, or they found an aphrodisiac, or they found some kind of herbal remedy. No, they realized that she has become pregnant because God has intervened. Infertility had not made Elizabeth bitter or doubtful. She had suffered disgrace among her people, it says verse 25, but she did not turn against God or question his goodness.
Elizabeth continued to believe in God and trust in his covenant faithfulness, both to Israel and to her husband Zachariah. Elizabeth demonstrated incredible faith because she believed the word of God, and she saw evidence of the word of God at work by the Spirit of God in her life. And now, through her life, the people of God can believe the testimony of God for certain because God assures us of his goodness and faithfulness.
Believe the Gospel Beyond Doubt
As we think about this passage, there are many things to take away, but the main one I want you to see is that we can believe the gospel of Jesus Christ beyond any doubt. Luke has written this gospel so that we might believe what Jesus has said, so that we might believe that Jesus is our savior, and we might be transformed by the message of the gospel.
We live in an era of skepticism and cynicism. Ironically, everybody considers themselves an expert, but we don't trust anyone else's expertise. Think about that for a moment. We consider ourselves experts because we can search the internet, but we don't trust anyone else's expertise. But I would argue that the best way to test someone's expertise involves watching their lives. It's not enough to simply have a great social media presence. It's much more important to be present with your family, with your church, and in your community.
There are many people online who are charlatans, but there are many people in person who are incredibly sincere and devout. They'll never get headlines. They'll never be celebrities, but they live their faith in a way like Zachariah and Elizabeth that brings honor to God and they worship with integrity. Elizabeth gave her family and friends reason to believe the testimony of God because of the way she lived her life.
And I want to challenge us to live in a way that honors the gospel of Jesus. That if we profess faith in Christ, that we would persevere in the gospel of Christ. And if we're wondering, "Is this true? Could it be real?" then we would at least give it an honest assessment by reading the scriptures, by studying the scriptures, and by testing whether or not the Spirit of God is there. And I want you to believe that he is.
This weekend on Friday night, Crystal and I went and did some Christmas shopping. And as we were doing that, we went up to the counter to check out, as you always do. And at this time of year, you're waiting and you're waiting and you're waiting. And then you finally get to go to the checkout. And when we went to the checkout, we had an incredible conversation with a fellow believer. And it was interesting. I had been praying earlier that day, "God, introduce us to somebody to remind us of your grace and your work."
Well, this lady within 30 seconds said to me and Crystal, she said, "It's just nice to be able to check out some other believers, some other Christians." We had said nothing about Christianity. I was incognito. I was wearing my Braves hat. I was not dressed in my pastor uniform. I didn't look like a pastor that day. But she called us out as Christians. And then she said, she looked right at me and she said, "And you're a pastor." I was like, "Wow, that's incredible." And I said, "Yes, I am." And that took the conversation a little bit deeper in a different direction.
Well, long story short, she had been praying for the past week or so for God to introduce her to some Christians that would encourage her faith because she had been going through some difficult times and was losing hope in some people in her life. And here in the mystery of God's providence, I had been praying something similar, not because I was going through difficulty and losing hope, but just wanted to be encouraged. And she wanted to be encouraged as well. And God used that conversation to bless all of us.
I wanted to end with that story to remind you that you can believe the gospel beyond any doubt because God is working in all kinds of people's lives doing the same thing through the gospel of Christ. He's filling Christians everywhere with his power so that the gospel would advance. And I want to challenge you today to believe this gospel, to trust Jesus, to follow him, to listen to promptings of the Spirit, and to do his work and watch him do incredible things.
And as we do that, God will bless us not only individually, but he'll grow our church because he'll bring people to our church that he wants to be a part of this assembly. But we have to have the confidence that he is still at work and do the work that he has called us to do. So with that, I would challenge you, if you don't believe the gospel, consider it, investigate it, study it, and ask God to show you whether or not it is true. And if you do believe the gospel, let me challenge you to share it and to be bold about sharing it and to know that the Spirit will convince sinners of their sin and their need for a Savior. And as we do that, God will give us these divine encounters and he will encourage us along the way as he grows his church.
Let's pray. Father, as we submit this to you, we pray that you would guide us and help us to believe the gospel beyond any doubt. Father, all of us go through seasons of questions, seasons of doubts. We have moments of skepticism and even fear.
And yet, Father, your spirit attends to us. Your spirit confirms your word in our hearts and lives. Thank you for the gospel of Luke that gives attention to this so that we can believe Jesus Christ without a doubt, that you can help us to be confident in Christ.
God, I pray that you would help us this season to trust you all the more and to declare you even more boldly, and that you would see fit to bless your word as we speak it. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.