To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins (Luke 1:77).

The knowledge of salvation consisting in the forgiveness of sins! This is what Christ Jesus accomplished for us. This is what John the Baptist was raised up to announce. This is the centerpiece of our existence. This is the foundation and cornerstone of the superstructure of our lives. Apart from this reality, everything in our lives would crumble in meaningless futility. 

Over the past three years, I spent from thirty minutes to an hour every day following the largest technology company in the world. I invested 820 hours (equivalent to 20 weeks working a full-time job) and made a relatively large sum. Pretty cool, right? What's perhaps more telling is that I could have made the same amount simply by parking my money in the S&P 500 Index. I would have saved myself from all the stress I experienced through the roller-coaster ride of the stock. I would have paid less in taxes. 

But none of these things is what is most important. Most significantly, I would have gained time! I would have had 820 more hours to focus on the mainstay of my life, namely, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I am reminded of Jesus' words: "Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions" (Luke 12:15). Jesus taught us to be "rich toward God" (Luke 12:21) rather than worldly rich. 

This is how I have applied this to my life at the present time. I have set our present standard of living as a kind of economic ceiling for our financial ambition. We can live with less but will not pursue more. Whatever accumulation we have going forward is to enable us to maintain our standard of living while we gain greater time and freedom to pursue the things of God. 

Friends, unless you have some particular calling from God, I do not encourage anyone to take a vow of poverty, nor do I encourage lofty extravagance. But I encourage everyone to prayerfully consider a reasonable ceiling for your financial ambitions. By God's grace, we may achieve our self-sustaining ceiling in a few years. Then we can have greater freedom and time to more vigorously pursue and give toward the priorities of God. 

If you do not have such a plan in place, then by all means give to your church's missions efforts. They have a plan. Otherwise, there will be no end to your ambition or the satisfaction of your "needs". Either you will order your life and finances, or you ought to have another, like a good church, do it for you. 

Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. It is about being rich toward God. It is wise to position yourself so that you can give the greatest attention, time and energy to serving the priorities of God. 

Now, this is not to suggest that you can only serve God once all of your financial goals are achieved. Not at all! Everything we do now should be sanctified. Our work should be sanctified, so that it is more than simply a vehicle for income but also an avenue for ministry. The education of our kids should not be secular but sacred, so that every aspect of their learning draws them to a deeper awareness and appreciation for the majesty of God and a greater preparation to effectively serve Him.

Consequently, when we are financially unburdened, we can give even more liberally. We can serve even more freely, less constrained by the limitations of the present world order. It is not so much that we will serve God after we have achieved our goals, but we serve Him now and, at the same time, prepare in such a way that we can serve Him even more and better at some later time. 

Friends, I'm speaking of application, everyone can apply God's Word differently to their lives. I simply share with you one way to do it.

A brother recently asked me a great question:

I was reading Luke tonight and was wondering about Luke 1:15 which mentions that John will have the holy spirit from birth. 

Do you think that it implies that he was saved from birth – and thus not born from sin?  Once we receive the holy spirit we are born no longer of flesh but of spirit correct? And thus John could not be born out of sin – there would have been no physical birth per se (no birth from flesh).  Jesus says that “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:6).

Thus John would be the only one not born condemned since Adam…

I responded...

It seems that Zechariah had been praying for a child and he might have stopped praying for it due to his old age.  The angel, however, appeared to him during his priestly duty and told him that his wife would be with a child.  As I was reading it, it dawned on me that God may answer our prayer when it is least expected. I've been encouraged that I should not despain in any ways when I pray for a certain matter according to his will because he may answer my prayer when I expect its answer least or even completely forget about it.  He is trustworthy and faithful!

It seems like Zacharias just burst out in praise to God as soon as he can speak!  I admire that, I reflect that never having been denied my voice I cannot fully know what would burst out of my mouth at the moment I could first speak, I pray that God is in my heart in a way so as to start every day speaking His praises.

And Mary said: 'My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed" (Luke 1:46-48).

I don't think at this point Mary realized what kind of life her Son would live and how He would die. Her celebratory song is certainly appropriate; however, it would not be so obvious when she witnesses the Jewish leaders turn against Jesus and when she sees the crowd clamoring for Pilate to crucify Him. A more fitting expression of what was to come for Mary is spoken by Simeon:

"And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:35).

The Book of Hebrews says,

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

The magnificence of the birth of Christ was not simply that God had regard for Mary, a poor and faithful young woman, to use her as a vessel to bring the Messiah into the world. It was that the Messiah Himself would be born into poverty, learn perfect obedience through suffering, and be exalted through death on a cross for the sins of the world. Even though passages like Isaiah 53 made this clear hundreds of years before Christ, there was hardly a one to anticipate the nature of His first coming. It was fully unexpected.

Friends, I sense that just as there was something of the unexpected in the coming of Christ, and even as Paul's well-ordered life was turned this way and that by the leading of God's Spirit, we ought not to expect to easily discern the pattern of our own lives. Let us expect the unexpected, recognizing that God often works in this way. 

When we find our lives disorderly or our experience confusing and hard, let us remember the consolation that God gave to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you" (Hebrews 12:9). And let us be comforted in knowing that our experience puts us in good company with those who had an even harder and more challenging experience. "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2). We know our glorious end, namely, eternal salvation in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Him we will exalt!

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 who from the first were 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 (Luke 1:1-4).

Luke indicates that there were "many" that have undertaken to write about Jesus. Of these many, four have been considered authoritative and inspired so that they were early recognized(perhaps in the first century and certainly by the second century) as authoritative by the early church fathers and later, in the fourth century, included in the Canon of the New Testament Scriptures.

What Luke does not say and would not know is that there would be spurious and pseudonymous accounts written centuries afterwards (e.g. the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Peter, etc.). While these were early rejected by the church and formally discredited and branded heresies by the Councils, modern scholars (e.g. Bart Ehrman and Elaine Pagels) and popular writers (e.g. Dan Brown) have once again tried to restore them to favor to a new and uninformed public. Here's an interesting article that discusses these supposedly "lost gospels" ("Why the 'Lost Gospels Lost Out' by Ben Witherington III in Christianity Today).

But we know, as did the early church fathers and councils, that the four gospels we have were "eyewitness" accounts by those who carried apostolic and prophetic authority to write Scripture. As Peter would write, 

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty... We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:16, 19-20). 

Notice that Peter says that his account is based on eyewitness testimony led by the Holy Spirit and not something of his own devising. The apostle John reaffirms the eyewitness nature of their writings:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete (1 John 1:1-4).

John repeatedly declares that their testimony is based on what they have seen, heard, and touched. Thus, the church is built on the foundation of Jesus and the eyewitness testimony of the apostles and prophets, to which Paul was included as an apostle untimely born:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).

Paul includes himself among the apostles: "After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1 Corinthians 15:6-9).

Paul proves his apostleship: "I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles" (2 Corinthians 12:12).

The apostle Peter equates Paul's writings with Scripture: "Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15-16).

It is by this apostolic authority from those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus that we have the authoritative Scriptures today. And the Scriptures we have today is all that we need to do everything God desires from us:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Therefore, I say again, watch out for those that claim to be "prophets" or "apostles" today. These offices and gifts were foundational for the church and have the special distinction of being the medium by which we have received the Scriptures. But the Canon of Scriptures is closed, so that even the apostle Paul would write, 

Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” (1 Corinthians 4:6). 

Yet, modern-day, self-proclaimed prophets and apostles make prophetic declarations about the nations, or about America, or about the church, etc. They talk about their personal visions of Christ and conversations with Him, as well as other experiences in the heavenlies. They also make demands of their followers, as if their words are instructions from God. It may well be that Paul had such people in mind when he wrote,

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body,supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow (Colossians 1:18-19).

Such people take no accountability for what they proclaim. They invoke the authority of God when they make their proclamations but are unwilling to except responsibility when their predictions fail. I have discovered that these are the very kinds of people that have led and continue to lead IHOP and the Kansas City prophetical movement. And what they do and proclaim, like those who are trying to resurrect the "lost gospels," are not new. They are like the Montanists of old (see Wikipedia on Montanism), who tried to proclaim a new era of prophecy that fulfilled and superceded the doctrines proclaimed by the Apostles. This makes them a great danger to orthodox faith. 

Back to Luke.

He writes that he is presenting "an orderly account." Therefore, as a general rule, if there is a question of chronology between the different gospels, Luke should probably be the standard to follow. He is also likely to provide the most technically exact account with less in the realm of theological embellishments, since he seems more concerned with facts than drama, with history than theology. All in all, Luke presents a reliable and authoritative Gospel account of our Lord. His Gospel is one of the sixty-six books of the Bible that constitute the sufficient (i.e. all that we need and nothing more) Scripture to live a life that is pleasing to God.

Zechariah father of John the Baptist, writes a prophetic song about the coming of Christ.

Zechariah's Song
(Luke 1:68-79)
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

There were several things I took from this passage.  Firstly, as Zechariah prophesizes about the message of Grace he tells it so beautifully.  He writes that because of Gods tender mercy - he will give us the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. This was the sacrifice of Jesus.  He fortells Jesus as the rising sun who will shine light on those living in darkness.  This was a key message of Jesus, that the Truth of the Gospel is a light that uncovers all darkness (that leads to death).  He continues that the 'sun' (Jesus) will guide our feet - this would be of course the 3 year ministry and teaching of Christ (the Truth).

Finally, Zechariah writes that the horn of salvation (the savior) will enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness.  This is a powerful message of Grace - Jesus came to remove the fear that Jews felt trying to save themselves by following endless laws. Consider that there were several hundred laws given by Moses, and the Jewish teachers added to this list.  They must have felt overwhelmed at the condemenation from intentionally or unintentionally breaking one of these laws.

This is also for me a turning point in my relationship with God.  As Christians we are told to be Christ like (holy and righteous), this is akin to telling a 2 year old to run like Micheal Johnson.  We are given an impossible assignment, which can discourage us as we fail to rise to the standard set by a perfect being.  Grace was given so that we wouldn’t fear our failure (because of the promise that sins would be completely erased), thus Grace enables us to keep pursuing Christ likeness without dwelling on our failures.  

What a wonderful God we have.

Friends, we read in Luke 1:37, "For with God nothing will be impossible." Does this sound familiar? We found a similar expression in Mark 10:27, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." Again, in Matthew 19:26, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." In these latter instances, Jesus was responding to Peter's question, "If it is hard for the rich, who we considered blessed of God, to be saved, then who can be saved?" Jesus' response reveals that salvation is impossible for people to achieve; however, God could do it.

In Luke 1:37 Mary asked Jesus how it could be that she could bear a child since she was a virgin. The angel Gabriel responded that such is humanly impossible, but God could and would do it. The angel adds further that Elizabeth would have a child in her old age. Again, God would do the impossible.

What do we learn? God is not subject to the laws of nature. Why? He created them. He is above such laws.

In light of God's doing the impossible, how do Mary and Zecharaias respond?

When Zecharias was given the news of his son, he did not immediately believe. He said, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years" (Luke 1:18). He wanted proof. And Gabriel made him mute as proof and because he did not believe (Luke 1:20).

On the other hand, Mary believed Gabriel's announcement but desired an explanation: "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" (Luke 1:34). The angel gave her a remarkable explanation. And we are told Mary responded in faith: "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Mary's faith is confirmed by Elizabeth, who says of her later, "Blessed is she who believed" (Luke 1:45).

Friends, may I suggest to you that these two instances of unfaith and faith in the promises of God are given for us to understand something. Whether people disbelieve or believe, God's purposes will not be thwarted. Would Zecharias' unbelief have caused God to suddenly reverse course and punt the idea of a forerunner for the Messiah? What would be the significance of the Old Testament prophecies if they were contingent on the response of the people? One could always say, "They did not respond as God wanted, and that is why none of the prophecies were fulfilled." No, my friends, God's purposes will be accomplished whether you or I like it or not:

      For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
      And do not return there,
      But water the earth,
      And make it bring forth and bud,
      That it may give seed to the sower
      And bread to the eater,

      So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
      It shall not return to Me void,
      But it shall accomplish what I please,
      And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).

So Jesus says in Matthew 5:18, "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Here Jesus refers to the law as the OT refers to the law, as representative of the entire OT revelation by God to that point. Jesus does not mention any conditions here, but that everything, even every "jot" and "tittle," which are the smallest letter and marker in the Hebrew language, will be fulfilled.

Why this long excursis on God's unthwartable plan? It is because some people still retain an exalted view of themselves, thinking that "free will" is the one thing that God cannot violate. Hollywood certainly teaches this. In the Jim Carey movie, "Bruce Almighty," Morgan Freeman, who plays God, explains that even God cannot override human free will. Also, in the most watched opinion news program, "The O'Reilly Factor," Bill O'Reilly, a Roman Catholic by affiliation, strongly asserts that God does not violate human free will.

Friends, many theologians have confused the "free" in free gift with the "free" in free will. The first speaks of God's unilateral action in salvation. The second refers to the autonomy of man. With this false correlation, the argument is made that God's free gift is contingent on man's free will. In other words, God can only save those that freely believe. Please note that this is different from saying, "God saves those who believe," which is what the Bible says. The additional words "can only" and "freely" change the meaning of the promise. Now, it is no more free, because it is contingent on faith. And God is no longer sovereign, because He is subject to human "free will."

Some argue that if we don't support the idea of "free will" in salvation, we would negate the biblical teaching on human responsibility. But is this right? It is not that the Bible is against free will per se. In fact, all indications in the Scriptures suggest that human beings use their free will contrary to God's purposes (Romans 3:9-18). That means that human beings left to their free will would not freely chose God, but do just the opposite, that is, reject God. Therefore, while there is "free will," just as their is human responsibility for sin, free will has no part in salvation, because salvation is completely a work of God (Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:4-5).

If salvation even in part depended upon people's faith, salvation would be secure for no one, for just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, even if God accomplished 99.9% of the salvation process, our .1% faith would be enough weakness to condemn us. Remember, Jesus told the disciples that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed (i.e. the smallest seed in a garden), they could move mountains. Obviously, they did not even have this much faith. And would you or I boast of a greater faith than those that walked and talked with Jesus for three years? No, my friends, the faith that saves us, was given to us by God as part of the free gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). And we are secure, not because of our great faith but because of the faithfulness of our God to keep His promises to us.

Friends, someone asked this question:

Luke 1:17 CEV

"He will go ahead of the Lord with the same power and spirit that Elijah had. And because of John, parents will be more thoughtful of their children. And people who now disobey God will begin to think as they ought to. That is how John will get people ready for the Lord."

Why do you think God planned to have parents more thoughtful of their children  a part of the preparation for Jesus' arrival?  The other things John is prophesied to do to herald the arrival of Christ makes sense. But not this part. 

And do you think this will be part of what is to come to prepare for Christ's second coming?

This was my response to her:

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.” (Luke 1:16, 17 NKJV)

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” (Luke 18:17 NKJV)

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. (Luke 10:21 NIV)

``Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. (Matthew 10:34-36 NASB)

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18 NKJV)