Book of Luke - Ch. 1, Vs. 13-19 (11/17/2019)

So, we are in the book of Luke, and we began last week, and one of the things we did last week was we talked about the difference between the first four verses and all the rest.

And in the first four verses is a hint that this book was like the book of Acts, probably a document written to a

Roman official to be transferred to Caesar for the trial of Paul.

At the end of Acts, Paul is sitting in prison waiting to be brought to trial. And these are thought to be documents.

Well, the two documents are the book of Luke and the book of Acts. And we are going to comment on one thing that came up early in the book of Luke, but we are going to pick up primarily with verse 13.

So Luke 1, verse 13. But before we do that, let's pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together this day.

Thank you for providing us a place to come together to worship and to study your

Holy Word. Thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit to help us in interpreting what you've got to say to us.

Thank you for providing a Son. And it is this Son that we need to focus on.

The Son that is our salvation. Bless us and keep us. Go through us with us through the day.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. So Luke 1, verse 13 begins.

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. Now, Zacharias is in the place in the temple just in front of the

Holy of Holies. But in the place accessible by all of the priests.

He is the only one there because it is his role. He has been chosen by lot or by chance to be the person that burns the incense for this week.

So this is the week that is his time to do the service. He's in there by himself.

And an angel appears to him and says, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife

Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. Their son

John, later to be known as John the Baptist, is to become the greatest of all the prophets.

Jesus described him this way in Luke 7, verse 28. So you can thumb over there if you wish or not.

You can stay. It doesn't matter. Luke 7, 28. For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the

Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

Well, that was a takeoff point that we didn't really follow last week, but I did mention this.

I used to think that the reason for this final phrase, I'm going to read it again.

He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. What that's saying is anybody in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest of all the prophets,

John. I used to think that the least of the kingdom of heaven were permanently indwelt by the

Holy Spirit, but I don't believe that anymore. This morning, we're going to explore that issue a little further.

In Luke, the phrase breaks down this way. The kingdom of heaven, that phrase. Kingdom is

Basilia. Of is the word Tom. And God is

Theos. So that's translated kingdom of God. If you go to a parallel passage in Matthew, and I would like for you to go here,

Matthew 11, 11. That passage is going to read slightly different.

It will say, for us, it will say the same thing. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the

Baptist. Notwithstanding, he that is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Now did you notice the difference? One said the kingdom of God, and the other one said the kingdom of heaven.

So what is it? Is it the kingdom of God? Or is it the kingdom of heaven? And more than that, does it matter which one it is?

Does it matter that one translates it as the kingdom of God, and the other translates it kingdom of heaven?

Well, it's not exactly synonymous. There's a slight difference, but for all of us, there's not much difference.

For some of the commentators, there's a big difference. Brother David mentioned this to me last week, and it's in Schofield, the margin of Schofield's commentary,

Study Bible, that it says that there's two different kingdoms, kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven, and that they're slightly different.

And I don't know that I totally am on board with that or not, but this is what

I do know. What I know for certain is that Luke referred to the kingdom of God in 32 verses about 70 times, but in 32 verses.

And not a single time did he refer to the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, only

Matthew and Revelation refer to the kingdom of heaven. You don't find the kingdom of heaven in any other passage other than if it's in Matthew or if it's in Revelation.

And in Matthew, he uses both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. So I thought in light of Luke verse 1, which reads a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, that's what he said this letter or document is all about, the things which are most surely believed among us.

And Matthew Henry's remark about that, which interprets it this way, but the things which are and ought to be most surely believed, that it would be better maybe, our safest way forward might be to take the kingdom of God as our working phrase.

So our question is going to be, who inherits the kingdom of God? And when do they take possession of this inheritance?

So that's the first thing on our table this morning. Who inherits the kingdom of God?

And when do they take possession of this inheritance? Ephesians 1 verse 3 tells us who.

Let's go there. I'm going to read more than I need to, but you've got to have all of this in context or it doesn't make sense.

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, accordingly 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.

Now I highlighted or bold faced two phrases in there that I want you to hold in mind as we go forward.

One, all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Keep that in mind.

And the second one, as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.

So Paul makes it clear that those that God chose before the foundation of the world are those who will receive these blessings.

That would include all he chose. Both those who lived before and who lived after the cross.

He chose some Old Testament saints. He chose some New Testament saints.

He chose some of us. He didn't choose everyone. But the ones that will receive these blessings are the ones that he chose.

And when did he choose them? Before the foundation of the cross.

When everything was being made, that's when he chose them. And who did he choose? Well, I hope he chose me. I believe he chose me.

I think he chose me. I am convinced he chose me. And I am almost certain, almost everyone in here, that he chose all of you too.

I think we were all chosen. Before the foundation of anything.

To be those that receive this spiritual blessing. Now, that would include people that were chosen that lived before the cross.

That would include John the Baptist. That would include David. That would include Samuel. That would include probably

Samson. That would include a lot of people that lived

Moses before the cross. Now, we're going to go to 2

Corinthians for more detail concerning this inheritance. 2

Corinthians 4, verse 1. 2

Corinthians 4, verse 1. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

But if our gospel, our good news, be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.

That's another way of saying to those that were not chosen. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Why can't they hear it? Because Satan won't let them hear it.

And even if they do hear it, they'll misinterpret it. That's right.

And? Oh, you're absolutely right.

Satan doesn't have the power to keep them from hearing it. And everybody that he wants to hear it will hear it, despite Satan's best attempts.

But God will allow Satan to deceive the non -elect so that they will not hear it.

And those are the ones I was strictly focused on in that passage. But not for that reason.

Just to keep going. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants, for Jesus' sake.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Now, what did that say? It said part of our inheritance, part of the things that we're going to receive from God, our inherited treasure is our knowledge that the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ.

That is to say, in the glorious gospel of Christ. So, one of the things that we are given as part of our inheritance is the knowledge that it is

Jesus that is the manifestation of God on earth. We won't see

God. We only see Jesus. If we think we see God, we're seeing

Jesus. He says, we can see it in our fellow

Christians. We can recognize it. We can recognize it in our fellow

Christians. When they are walking, when they are walking in the Spirit. And we're going to get to that in a minute.

That's kind of where we're going with the whole thrust of this. Well, sorry. No, no, no. It's always good.

I was just going to say, you know, we've all, I think, been, we're the same.

We're on the same page, Jeff. We're the same. And it doesn't take much longer, or if it's long, to recognize that we're not.

Exactly. Exactly. But here is the passage that I wanted to get to.

The verse that I want to get to. Verse 7. This is a verse that Brother David has mentioned several times.

And he got this from his wife. And his wife is not in here this morning. She's back in the other room.

So if she could hear me, she would, I think, smile inwardly. But she wouldn't show anything. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.

That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. So what treasure is it that we have?

We have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's part of the treasure.

And where did God choose to place it? In earthen vessels.

In earthen vessels. Who are the earthen vessels? We are the earthen vessels. And that placement was not by accident.

God didn't accidentally put his treasure in a container that was fragile, about to be broken, likely to be broken.

He didn't put his treasure in earthen vessels by accident. And this is another comment that I made.

That was one comment. We are the earthen vessels. And that placement was not by accident.

But we will not always be earthen vessels. Just keep that thought in mind as we go forward.

We will not always be earthen vessels. Right now we all are. Right now we all are earthen vessels.

And we're kind of leading up to the reason why John, the greatest of the earthen vessels among the prophets, was less than the least of those in the kingdom of God.

It's because of the kind of vessels that we are and we will become. That's the way we're heading.

And I might add this. We can only receive this inheritance, that is this treasure, by and through Jesus.

And as I was writing in this morning, as I often do, listening to the guy up at First Baptist, he quoted this passage.

So I knew that I should make sure I kept it in. John 14 verse 1 is where I'm going to begin, but I'm going to go further.

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my

Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.

Now, that's not the part he quoted. He quoted this part. And whither

I go, you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said unto him,

Lord, we know not whither thou goest. How can we know the way? And Jesus said unto him,

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me.

That is a harsh statement for most of the world to hear. They like to believe that there are many ways, many pathways, and they are.

There are many pathways. And all the paths, save one, lead either straight or winding around a lot to hell.

And only one leads to heaven. And the one that leads to heaven is through Jesus Christ.

So, that I thought I needed to throw in, free from nothing. Now we're going to go to Ephesians 1, back to Ephesians 1 and pick up at verse 5.

Back to Ephesians 1, pick up at verse 5. I promise you will get to Luke today.

Okay, right. Having predestinated, I'm going to do that again.

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.

You might say, because he wanted to. To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the

Beloved. Why are we accepted among the Beloved? Because he made us to be that way.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.

And here it is. That in the dispensation of the fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him.

Now there'll come a time in the fullness of time when our treasure is no longer in earthen vessels.

Verse 11. In whom we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

I can't stress enough times who's doing it and why he's doing it.

God's doing it because he wanted to. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ.

In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after ye believed.

You were sealed with that promise with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.

Verse 14 is the reason I did this whole passage. This whole section in Ephesians.

The earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.

It's not the inheritance we don't have the inheritance yet. What we have is the earnest.

The earnest money. If it were a contract it would be the money that's put up on account to guarantee the inheritance.

And just like the signing of a contract brings some but not all of the benefits of the agreement we get some but not all of our inheritance.

So here's what we get. Here's what we get as the down payment.

As the earnest. We get a new man. Totally filled with the

Holy Spirit. I don't know whether... Was that you that brought up the difference between being filled and being filled with water and filled with wine?

Who was that last week? That's Mrs. Huber. We get a new man that is totally 100 % filled up with the

Holy Spirit. Not a drop of anything else in him. But we also retain an old man totally filled with worldliness.

So we got them both. What we've got right now. What every one of us has got. Every one of us.

Every man that lives has got and has the earnest of the inheritance.

Has got two things. They've got the old man and they've got the new man. And if Brother David says all the time if we could walk with the old man all the time which we theoretically could but we don't we could be spirit filled all the time with the

Spirit of God. But that old man is hanging around and sometimes we drift away.

Some of us more than others. John the Baptist as I understand it in reading his history

I think only drifted away one time. And that's when he looked around at the fact that he was in prison awaiting trial by Herod.

The Messiah had come. He knew the Messiah had come. He announced the Messiah had come. Even when he was a baby he knew the

Messiah had come. And yet he sent a message to say are you the Messiah?

He had lost a little confidence. But that was because he was like all of us a two person man.

A new person and an old person. And we can do every one of these.

There's every one of the people in here I know have in them a new man and sometimes they're walking in the

Spirit and they're spirit filled and good things are happening to them. And sometimes doubt creeps in.

And when doubt creeps in Satan leaps in. And when Satan leaps in he's going to try to take you as far from what you should do as he can.

And when we recognize his doings and we go back to the new man he will flee from us.

Okay. We get a new man totally filled with the Holy Spirit but we retain an old man totally filled with worldliness.

Paul confirms it. One of the greatest Christians of the New Testament Paul says this in Romans 7 .14

For we know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal sold under sin for that which

I do I allow not for what I would that I do not but what

I hate that I do then if I do that which I would not

I consent unto the law that it is good now then it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me for I know that in me that is in the old man he called it the flesh in the old man dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me that's the new man but how to perform that which is good that's the old man

I find not for the good that I would do not for the good that I would

I do not but the evil which I would not that I do now if I do that which

I would not it is now no longer more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me

I find then a law that when I would do good evil is present with me for I delight in the law of God after the inward man but I see another law of my members warring against the law of my mind bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members that's the long way of saying there's two men in me one that strives to do good and one which strives to do evil and too often

I am in the one that's striving to do evil and what he ends with is O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death and then he answers it

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with my mind

I myself serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin now so that's the condition that we're all in and that's the condition

John was in but at some point in time everything was brought to fruition we were taken up into heaven and in heaven the old man will be left behind the old man doesn't get to go to heaven the old man is left behind the only part of you that goes into heaven was the new man so the greatest of the men which possessed both the old and the new man was less than the least of those that possess only the new man now when

John gets to heaven and when I get to heaven and I get to look around and see the people

I think I want to see John esteemed highly even in heaven John will be when he's in heaven

I think one of the greater in heaven but not nearly as great as Jesus okay now we're going to go back to Luke and finish up and I think we'll get done verse 14 and thou shalt have joy and gladness and many shall rejoice at his birth 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 that's what made me discard my old belief that he was not filled with the

Holy Spirit he was even from his mother's womb I thought about following that up and going into speaking of tongues and all of that but if I did that we wouldn't get to the birth of Jesus until next

October so I decided not to go that route and just go on to the next verse and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the

Lord their God but only in this sense he will deliver the message the turning to the

Lord is the work of the Lord it is not the work of John some will turn to the

Lord and some will not I do have a passage in Matthew 33 I want to read starting in verse 1 in those days came

John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea so John the Baptist is in the wilderness of Judea and saying repent ye now an aside that's no simple change of the mind it's not regret nor remorse

John the Baptist is speaking of repentance as a radical turning from sin if you repent you are turning away from sin going in a new direction if you're just sorry for the fact that you got caught that's not repentance saying repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand for this is he that was spoken of by the prophet

Isaiah saying the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the

Lord making his path straight and it's the same John had his raiment of camel's hair and a leather vessel about his loins and his meat was locusts and wild honey then went out unto him

Jerusalem and all of Judea and all the region around Jordan so people are swarming to him it's a funny place for him to be in the wilderness of Judea with the city of Jerusalem just miles away but he's not in Jerusalem he is out in the wilderness and people from Jerusalem and all of Judea are swarming around him and they were baptized of him

John in the Jordan confessing their sins promising to turn away from their sins now this is really interesting to me we're talking about John but when he saw many of the

Pharisees and the Sadducees come unto his baptism he said unto them O generation of vipers who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come bring forth therefore fruits meat for your repentance show me that you've repented and think not to say within yourselves we have

Abraham our father for I say unto you that God is able to raise these stones as children unto

Abraham so that's what John that's what John is saying about God and that's what

John is saying about Jesus Christ now although God could have he didn't use the stones he used something probably in the

Jewish mind worse than the stones he used the dogs he used the

Gentiles to raise up children unto Abraham the people that they despised most

God is going to raise them up to be his children instead of the Pharisees and the

Sadducees that John the Baptist described as a generation of vipers okay let's go on and he, that's

John shall go before him that's the Lord their God 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 and to make ready a people prepared for the

Lord well that is, that is John's role to make the people ready for the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah Elijah like John the

Baptist was known for his bold uncompromising stand for the word of God I'm going to add something that I didn't add last time when he was in the spirit even in the face of a ruthless monarch

I'm going to read some in 1 Kings 18 starting at verse 17 about a story that we all have heard and you're totally familiar with and I'm going to stop at the most interesting part but here we go and it came to pass when

Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said unto him art thou he that troubled

Israel and he answered that's Elijah and he answered

I have not troubled Israel but thou and thy father's house and that ye have forsaken the commandments of the

Lord and has followed Balaam here's what Elijah told Ahab not

I, you have troubled Israel you have forsaken the

Lord you have followed Balaam it is you who have troubled Israel that's a pretty strong statement for a man to make in the front of a ruthless monarch and he follows it up he says now therefore send and gather to me all

Israel unto the mountain Carmel and the prophets of Baal 450 of them and the prophets of the groves 400 an interesting thing there the prophets of the groves are they were in Jezebel's court and they were involved in sexual impurity and the prophets of the groves 400 which eat at Jezebel's table so Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together in Mount Carmel and Elijah came unto all the people and said how long halt you between two opinions if the

Lord be God follow him if Balaam, then follow him read this and the people answered him not a word he said make a choice and not a single man was willing to stand with Elijah so you would think maybe

Elijah would walk away but he didn't then he said then said

Elijah unto the people I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord he was wrong about that by the way but Balaam's prophets are 450 men he didn't even count the 400 prophets of the grove let them therefore give us two bullocks and let them choose one bullock for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood and put a fire under it and I will dress the other bullock and lay it on the wood and put no fire under it in fact he's going to pour water over it and put water in the ditch and all kinds of things and you call on the name of your gods and I will call on the name of the

Lord and the God that answereth my fire let him be God and all the people answered and said it is well spoken all of those guys that weren't willing to take a stand are willing to let

Elijah take the stand for them and we know what happened they put their thing on the altar and they do all their dances for half the day they can't get the fire to come down Elijah tells them to pour water on his and put some more water on it and then he calls fire and fire not only burns the sacrifice but burns up all the water around them and it was a total and by the way it wasn't a day later after showing this great courage that he demonstrated that he was a man in an earthen vessel as well because when

Jezebel sent after him he ran and hid himself away in a cave and complained to the

Lord that he was the only one and the Lord said well there's actually two thousand of you you're not really alone but in any case that was

Elijah's story a man with great courage because he was in the spirit and when he was not in the spirit he was a craven coward

I'll just say it that way now for Mark 6 verse 14 we're now talking about John the

Baptist and his later days and King Herod heard of him now the him he's talking about here is

Jesus King Herod heard of Jesus for his name was being spread abroad and he said that John the

Baptist was risen from the dead and therefore mighty works do show forth in themselves in him others said this is

Elias and others said it is a prophet or one of the prophets but when

Herod heard thereof he said this is John whom I beheaded he is risen from the dead for Herod himself had set forth and lay hold of John and bound him in prison for Herodias his wife's sake his brother's wife's sake for he had married her and John said unto

Herod it is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife therefore

Herodias had a quarrel against him and would have killed him but she could not now why couldn't she kill him?

because Herod wouldn't let her Herod feared John knowing that John was a just man and holy and John Herod observed what

John told him and when he heard him he did many things and heard him gladly but that didn't happen long and when a convenient day was come that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords high captains and chief of states of Galilee and when the daughter of the said

Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod of them that sat with him the king said unto the damsel ask of me whatsoever thou wilt and I will give it to thee and he swear unto her whatsoever thou shall ask of me

I will give it thee unto half of my kingdom that kind of reminds me of what what

Cyrus told Daniel what the

Babylonian king told Daniel I'll give you half my kingdom they say that a lot and then they're obliged to hold their oath well that's what happened here

I think that Herod was moved this is just me thinking I think Herod was moved by John the

Baptist and he did turn from his evil ways and that he did repent and that he did become a

Christian a believer but he still had the old man and the new man and as soon as the daughter of his wife came in and danced before him the new the old man reared his head and he offered her half the kingdom in any case whether that's true or not what did she do she went forth and said unto her mother what shall

I ask and she said the head of John the Baptist and she came in straightway with haste unto the king and asked saying

I will thou give me by and by in the charger the head of John the Baptist and the king was exceedingly sorry yet for his oath's sake and for their sakes which set with him he would not reject her and immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded that his head to be brought and he went out and beheaded him in prison so that's how

John the Baptist ended one other thing don't go here Malachi 411 said behold

I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming and dreadful day of the lord the final two verses of the old testament had promised the return of Elijah before the day of the lord now back to Zachariah and Luke Zachariah knew what the

Nazarite vow meant we talked about that last week he knew what it entailed he knew what it meant to come in the spirit of Elijah he knew the prophecy of Malachi and yet he still protested

Zachariah said unto the angel whereby shall I know this for I am an old man and my wife well stricken in years

Zachariah knew of Abraham and Sarah and their son Isaac he knew of Elkanah and Hannah and their son

Samuel he should have known that giving a son to him in Elizabeth was not a job too difficult for God but apparently he didn't remember that I'm going to read one more verse and then

I'm going to stop because I was wrong we're not going to get through verse 19 and the angel answering said unto him

I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and I am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings and behold thou shall be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things be performed what things that his son be born because thou believest not in my words which shall be fulfilled in due season and we'll see later not just dumb but deaf and dumb and the people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he waited so long in the temple they already knew something was different here's what

Zacharias should have done he should have gone in he should have lit the incense he should have come back out and he should have prayed this blessing in front of them the

Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the

Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace that's what he should have done he should have lit the incense and he should have come out and he should have said that prayer so what does he do he comes out late and when he comes out late he says not a word he couldn't speak he can't say a word until after his son is born more than a year later

I don't think he can hear in that time either I think he's both deaf and dumb we'll see that next week maybe if he had been able to speak

I suspect that maybe what he would have said would have been the Lord has just blessed me with a son he wasn't able to say a word because it was all under the control of the spirit and Zacharias is another man that sometimes was in the spirit and sometimes was not sometimes walked in the spirit and sometimes did not and I guess

I could end by saying it's important for us to walk as much as we possibly can in the spirit and when we get in the old man as quickly as we recognize that we're in the old man it's time to pray and ask the