Monthly Archives: September 2010

Luke 3:[1] In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, [2] during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. [3] And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. [4] As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

[5] Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

[6] and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

[7] He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [8] Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. [9] Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

[10] And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” [11] And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” [12] Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” [13] And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” [14] Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Luke 3:7 – John’s has harsh words to those who came to be baptized. People who come to be baptized are the ones who are religious and want to obey God and try to do better. But it can also be a matter of legalism and ritual and empty tradition. John sees right into the souls of these people and knows that their desire for baptism is miles ahead of their desire for holiness. And that will not do.

It is so easy to be religious and do religious things and be in a religious community doing what other religious people do. Religion can make a person so deceived about one’s own status with God. John’s message is for these religious ones to repent and prove their repentance by genuine deeds.

He says three things to them:

1)”bear fruits in keeping with repentance”- it is so easy to say “sorry”. But real repentance is a change of mind and a change of direction that will always result in changes of behaviour. Don’t claim to be sorry for sin if the sorrow is not accompanied by change of behaviour.

2) “Do not begin to say to yourselves ‘We have Abraham as our father’”. Do not trust your religious tradition. If God should ask you today why you should spend eternity with him what would your answer be? If you directed God to your family name, your connection to a church, your church attendance, your baptism, your denomination, your giving to good causes … God would plug his ears to you. We must never rely upon our religious tradition, our heritage, our religious activity. This would have been a serious blow to these Jews who believed that simply being Jewish put one in good standing with God. Such ideas have not changed. We may not be Jewish, but this type of deception still lives.

3) “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” The issues are very serious. We are not tinkering with trivialities here. John’s hearers will ignore them at their own eternal peril. We can ignore the call of the Gospel and shrug it off as not worth our time and effort. But we will be judged.

Then John tells the three groups of people listening to him what they must do. Those who have enough to share must share. Those who collect taxes must not cheat. Soldiers must be content with their wages. All three have to do with money and possessions.

Wouldn’t it have been nicer if he had said, “read your Bible every day and be sure to have a prayer time”? Do you have these marks of repentance? Has a real soul saving relationship with Jesus Christ made you generous? Has it made you impeccably honest in your dealings with others so that you never benefit yourself at their expense? Are you content – with your wages or in life in general? John the Baptist was an Old Testament prophet whose job was to point to Christ. This little example of his preaching certainly shows how much we need a Saviour. It shows us what real faith in Christ will produce.

Do you have these marks of really turning to Christ?

Colossians 3:[1] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. [3] For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

[5] Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. [6] On account of these the wrath of God is coming. [7] In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. [8] But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. [9] Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices [10] and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. [11] Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

[12] Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, [13] bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. [14] And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. [15] And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

(Colossians 3:1-17 ESV)

From the Toronto Star:

A Toronto judge has struck down Canada’s prostitution laws, effectively decriminalizing activities associated with the world’s oldest trade.

“These laws, individually and together, force prostitutes to choose between their liberty interest and their right to security of the person as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Justice Susan Himel of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice said in Tuesday’s landmark decision.

Such a ruling by a court in Ontario is not a great surprise. The laws that we have, as bad as they may be, have been in force because of Christian influence since the country was established. Canada is no longer even remotely Christian and this is the result. But Christianity has never been, and will not now need to be dependent on the laws of the land in order to prosper. As has been said in this blog before, Christianity was founded in the midst of one of the most immoral and inhumane empires the world has ever had to endure. It got changed because of the faithfulness of a small group of people who believed in Jesus and in 300 years the number of believers went from 3000 converts to over 3,000,000.

If the Christianity that exists today needs the laws of the country to back it up in order to thrive then it has already abandoned the faith that it professes. The Christian faith in Canada needs what it has always needed: solid “take up your cross”, not-conformed-to-the- world belief that does not need to depend on the secular courts to back it up.

What marks the end of a culture is not the godlessness of the godless. It is the conformity to the godless that exists in those who profess to know God. We need a Christianity that is made up of men who never secretly visit prostitutes, but seek to rescue them from sin. It needs men who are foreign to the perniciousness of pornography. It needs men who can say to their sons that women are not sex objects.

What marks the perilousness of the last days according to Paul in I Timothy 3:5 is that those who have a form of godliness but do not exhibit any of the power of godliness. The power of godliness is living in the secret place during the week with the same commitment as one shows in church on Sunday morning.

It is a travesty that Ontario is on the verge of celebrating another form of sexual immorality. The solution is not for us to petition the government and protest the fact that the culture is in the dumper. The solution is the Gospel of Jesus Christ believed, lived consistently and delivered with a desire to see God glorified in the world and embraced by the repentant.

What should we do in light of another example of the godlessness of our time and place? Live in the power of the Gospel in holiness, righteousness and faith. Teach through example our sons and daughters that a fulfilled life is one lived for Jesus without a secret corner of our hearts reserved for pagan worldliness. Demonstrate real joy in Christ, delight in the Word, and happiness in obedience.

Our culture can be turned around for God. It will not do so with a court order or legislative edict. It will happen because those who believe watch their lives and doctrine closely. Don’t panic over this news of prostitution winning a court battle. Live in the sure knowledge that the Gospel is not chained and that God really does make new creatures out of people when they come to faith in Christ. And make sure people hear of that faith from you and see it in you.

Don’t curse the darkness – light a candle.

Luke 2:[41] Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. [42] And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. [43] And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, [44] but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, [45] and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. [46] After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. [47] And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. [48] And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” [49] And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” [50] And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. [51] And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

Luke 2:49 – Jesus expected His parents to understand what He was doing and why. This is not the only time we see Jesus being surprised at the ignorance of people regarding who He is and what He is about. See John 3:10 and Luke 24:25. It seems that Jesus expected people to know their Bibles better than they did.

In the case of His parents it could possibly relate to what they have been told regarding who He is, the circumstances of His birth, the things they have already seen in the first twelve years of His life, things He has said. All of these and more should have given a little more understanding to His parents.

How culpable does this make us? We have the whole completed canon of Scripture. We have two thousand years of church history. We have the great writings of the world’s greatest theologians at our fingertips. In the west we have almost unlimited resources coupled with the freedom to worship. Our ignorance of Jesus and what He is all about should embarrass us.

Sadly, we have the concept promoted and believed by many that the Bible is a “how-to” manual for handling the calamities of life or for ensuring good marriages, good money management, getting large churches etc. instead of a Book about knowing God.

We have the idea that education is a detriment to sound spirituality. There are those who vaunt ignorance and while promoting direct revelations from God as the norm. They are not. Jesus expects us to know our Bibles. His parents had far better reasons than we do for their lack of understanding.

To whom much is given much is required and we have been given a great, great deal. Let us not be satisfied with a cursory knowledge of the Bible and what it tells us regarding God and man and salvation and life in Christ. We do so at our own peril and it need not be so.

How good and gracious God has been to us in giving us so much that can help us in our quest to know Him. They will all be useless of course if the Holy Spirit does not open our hearts and minds. But if we are truly His, then He will help and guide us. It is an immense privilege to be able to open this Book. Let us do so with great joy and expectation.

Luke 2:[21] And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.[22] And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord [23] (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) [24] and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

Luke 2:22-24 – Jesus was born in poverty. Luke goes out of his way to tell us about the sacrifice that Joseph offered in the dedication of Jesus. It is the offering the poor offered because of their inability to buy a sheep (See Leviticus 12:6-8).

If the Son of God had come in the way that the Jews thought the Messiah was going to come – as a triumphant king, and lived in great luxury and riches with servants and every temporal desire satisfied with a simple order to a servant, then it would still be true that Jesus “became poor that we through His poverty might be rich”. For the King of glory who has lived as the sovereign Creator of all that is, to become human and live here is a great act of condescension and love, even if He was unbelievably rich.

But Jesus did not just become human. He became a poor human. And He was not only a poor human. His family received gifts from the wise men which would have funded the eventual trip to Egypt ( Matthew 2:13-15). He lived off the largess of others. This is a pattern that continued all throughout His life even to His death. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. (No problem there though – it wouldn’t be used by Him for long. The original owner would not need to purchase another). Jesus did not just identify with us as humans. He identified with the poor of the world. He is born in a stable and his first bed is a manger. He lives without a home of his own as an adult (Luke 9:58).

What a lesson for us. Even believers get enamoured with the rich and what riches can obtain. We strive for more. We envy those with plenty. And the One we claim to follow had nothing and lived off the charity of others all His life. We measure everything wrong. We get everything back to front. We need to remember that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, had nothing in this life. We need to remember that we are called to follow His example. We need to remember that our station in life is not the crucial issue and that if God does bless us with much it is for the purpose of giving it away (Ephesians 4:28).

Don’t follow the world in chasing after riches. Do not even desire to be rich (I Timothy 6:8-9). Don’t believe the nonsense that tells you God wants all believers to be rich.

You can do much better than that. You can be like Jesus instead.

Psalm 72 :[1] Give the king your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to the royal son!

[2] May he judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice!

[3] Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness!

[4] May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the children of the needy,

and crush the oppressor!

Psalm 72:4 – “May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,”

What an incredible thing to say. The poor of the people. The nation of Israel was the covenant nation of God. They were they chosen of God, the apple of God’s eye, the people through whom God would bring the salvation of the world. And some of them are poor. Don’t let that one get away from us.

You listen to some preachers and you get the impression that the nation of Israel was Paradise on earth and that even today they are incapable of error. But the thing that is so striking here is the fact that THE people have poor among them. Note that this Psalm was written by Solomon. These are the glory days of Israel. The Kingdom is larger than it will ever be again. There is prosperity and peace and exploration and education and more. It is the height of Israel’s political, economic, educational life. And the King offers a prayer for the poor.

Wherever you find great wealth you will find great poverty, and the glory days of Israel were no different. These poor are not less chosen than anyone else. They are not half citizens. They do not live in the faithless district of Jerusalem anymore than anyone else does. In fact, when the nation does fall away from God and His Law, it will be the rich who will be blamed for their abuses of the poor. These poor are the brothers and sisters of the rich. They are full participating members of the commonwealth of Israel.

The church of Jesus Christ is the chosen of God. We are a chosen race, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. And there are poor of whom this is true and for whom we should be petitioning our God.

The sad reality, in the church in North America is that so few churches have poor people who are an integral part of their assembly. We hear Christian people talking about their church’s efforts to “help the poor”. But so often there is a tone of “us and them”. There has to be. Many times their churches do not have poor people in them. In their experience there are no “poor of the people”.

Why is it that the poor are so often people who are “out there”? Why is charity for the poor a work that is a bridge to the Gospel and not a work done for those in the body of Christ who are needy? Quite often it is because the church has no needy people. The poor are more noticeable and more numerous in the city and the suburbs is often where evangelicals congregate. Some will say that getting saved gets one out of poverty- a kind of respectable prosperity theology without having to carry the name. They will talk about the poor getting saved and becoming more industrious and disciplined, leaving the impression that their poverty was because they were lazy and haphazard. No doubt some are. Some of the rich are too, but it is easier to hide it behind large quantities of money.

The church worldwide seems to be made up of poor people. Churches in dumps because that is where the people from the church live; churches made up of Untouchables; churches of people who live hand to mouth. And yet, we can still speak, in this part of the world, or at least in the parts where our churches are, of the poor as those who we need to reach out to.

Rarely do we hear about the poor as those who we associate with on a daily basis, have into our homes for dinner, go to their homes for dinner, go on outreach teams with, who serve as deacons, Sunday School teachers, ushers or nursery workers. Is it because they are such an integral part of our churches that we do not mention it? That would be nice. But I fear that it may be because our churches are not the mixed bag of different kinds of people that we like to think they are.

When we talk about different kinds of people we think of race, culture, nationality. We do not often think of economics. God defends the cause of the poor of His people (Psalm 72:4). It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (and don’t bring up the nonsense about some needle gate – it doesn’t, and never did, exist) (Luke 18:25). God has chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith (James 2:5).

My world is very small and it could be that my experiences, reading, and observations do not reflect the norm in the North American church. But even if that is the case it is still appropriate to encourage a call to pray that our churches reflect, more and more, the diversity in our culture that includes the poor.

May we be able to talk about the glories of seeing Psalm 72:14 being a truth in our churches for our people – He defends the cause of the poor of His people.

The ultimate “royal son” mentioned in this Psalm is Jesus Himself. He has done what the Psalm asks God to do. And He has passed onto us the task of demonstrating it to the world.

Psalm [68:1] God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him!

[2] As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!

[3] But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!

[4] Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!

[5] Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

[6] God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

[7] O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah

[8] the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

[9] Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished;

[10] your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

[11] The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host:

[12] “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!” The women at home divide the spoil—

[13] though you men lie among the sheepfolds— the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold.

[14] When the Almighty scatters kings there, let snow fall on Zalmon.

Psalm 68:12 – “The women at home divide the spoil…” – This Psalm is about God granting victory to His people. The enemies of the people of God shall be scattered and God shall be praised and worshipped. The men of Israel will go out to battle and they shall defeat their foes and they shall come home triumphant. And the women at home shall divide the spoil. A few thoughts:

1) The women did not go to war with the men. They would not have wanted to and they knew that they were particularly fitted for different, yet equally important, work. It is a crying weakness that in the 21st century equality has come to mean sameness. It doesn’t. Men and women are equal but they are not the same. They are created and are not meant to do all the same things. God made women because men cannot do all that needs to be done. The cry for sameness denies this and the saddest thing about it is that the cry for equality rarely, if ever, means that a woman wants to be at home or wants to raise the kids or wants to keep the home. These are considered demeaning. What really matters is to able to do what men have been traditionally been called exclusively to do. The women of this Psalm are at home while their men are at war. Nothing unequal about that.

2) They divided up the spoil. Well, how did they come into possession of it? The men brought it home. There it is. Men who use the profits of their craft to benefit the home. Picture the man going through the streets and homes and shops of defeated cities and eyeing the various articles and possessions of the foe. What is he thinking? “What can I take that my wife and children will profit from?” He is not fighting for his own glory. He has been fighting to defend his home and ensure that those who would hurt his loved ones will not be able to do so. He is fighting so that his family can prosper. Men are to lead and work and rest so that the home for which he is responsible is benefitted. He does not pick up things for himself. He picks up that which he fully trusts his wife at home to use for the good of the family. It’s a good division of labour indicated in this Psalm. The cries for equality and justice from women is often justified because men do not demonstrate real love in their homes.

3) But here is an even bigger point. This is about Jesus Christ. The church is the bride of Christ. Jesus is the husband and He has gone off to war and won a great victory for us. We are greatly loved and provided for and He has returned in victory and lavished on us the spoils of His battle. The enemy was death and sin and hell. And we have eternal life, holiness and heaven as a result. What a Saviour.

Luke 2:[8] And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. [9] And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. [10] And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. [12] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

[14] “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

[15] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” [16] And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. [17] And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. [18] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke 2:20 – “And the shepherds returned…”. What an amazing statement. They have had a visit from angels. They have been told, before anyone else other than Jesus family, about the birth of the Messiah. They have seen the long promised deliverer of the people. And they return back to the hills to tend their sheep? How many church ministries or prominent well known church leaders would recommend such an action?

When you have a life changing encounter with God; when you have met the Messiah; when you have witnessed the most glorious event in the history of the world, it is hardly appropriate to tell a few people and then go back home – especially if home is a flock of stupid, wandering, stinking sheep. No, one does not go home. One goes on the road. One demands to be heard. One broadcasts the Gospel to all who will give ear. But one will not go back home. That would be a waste of information. Why do you think God gave you the privilege of meeting this Messiah in the first place? What a mistake that was.

But it wasn’t a mistake. And the shepherds did the right thing. And we should follow their example.

Not every encounter with God is a call for us to start a new ministry, find a soap box to announce the new work that God is doing through us or even enter an official ministry at all. It may be no more than an opportunity to go back home and influence the corner of the world where God has placed you.

We have had an encounter with God and God does call us to do something as a result. For most of us it is to follow the good example of these ancient shepherds. We are called to go back home with the praise of God in our hearts and on our lips and live a life for the glory of God.

We do not know the name of any of these shepherds. We never hear of them in Scripture again. We all want to do something big for God. We would like to be famous, write the soul stirring book, have people clamour to hear our insights into Scripture, be responsible for the conversion of thousands of repentant souls. But the primary call upon all believers, even the famous, is to do what these shepherds did – to go home glorifying and praising God.

Cultivate faithfulness.

Luke 1:[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

[34] And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Luke 1:34 – Mary said “How will this be…?” When Zechariah was told that he and Elizabeth were going to have a child he said “How shall I know this?” and he was struck dumb (and probably deaf too – see verse 62). When Mary asked her question there is no indication that Gabriel was the least bit upset. The reason? The difference between the questions is cavernous.

Zechariah basically says “I need some proof from you before I am going to believe that (see verse 18)”. His “how shall I know this” amounts to “prove it” or “why should I believe this?” It is a clear indication that he does not believe what Gabriel has said is going to happen.

Mary, on the other hand says “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” In the first place she is saying that the one thing for sure that is not going to happen is that she is going to lose her virginity. She seems to know that the conception is about to happen soon and the thought that she would engage in sexual activity with anyone, Joseph or not, is simply not on her radar. She knows that God will never give a message that will violate His already revealed Word. We could learn a lot from her in that alone. Think God wants you to do something? He will not call you to violate the Scriptures.

Secondly, she does not question the validity of what is to happen. She simply wants to know how. She knows that her God can do whatsoever He pleases, but she would like to know how it is that a virgin can get pregnant.

Christians legitimately engage in this all the time. We believe that all things work out for good, but we cannot for the life of us imagine how the crisis we are in at the moment can accomplish any good thing. To ask God to explain it to us is not wrong or an evidence of doubting what He has said. Mary is not saying “Yea, right, and how is that going to happen?” She is asking quite honestly, how this can be.

And Gabriel answers her. He tells her about the Holy Spirit overshadowing her and impregnating her. It is not a sin to not be able to figure out the workings of an incomprehensible God. But when we doubt what He says because it is beyond our understanding, as Zechariah did, we are in fact, claiming to know all there is to know. Since we cannot figure out what God is doing, then it must be that God is not doing it. This is pride gone mad. It is why Zechariah was disciplined.

Mary bowed to the sovereignty of God and simply asked how He was going to do this. May God grant us all a Mary like spirit and when we get some sort of answer from the Lord then let us say with her “let it be to me according to your word.” (Verse 38).

Luke 1:8-23 (English Standard Version)

8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.” 18And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

Luke 1:18 – Zechariah – “How shall I know this…?” The Bible is not chocked full of miracles. There is a common misconception that the Bible is full of miracles. It isn’t. There are basically four main eras in the Scriptures when we see miracles occurring a lot- through Moses during the exodus and wilderness wanderings, the time of Elijah and Elisha, the miracles of Jesus and then the Apostles. There are some others, but those are the main ones.

Miracles are extraordinary events and many Christians make the mistake of thinking that miracles in the Bible times were a common occurrence. They were not. If a miracle is common it ceases to be miraculous. The reason that Zechariah doubts Gabriel’s message is because having a child at the age that he and his wife were is impossible. There hasn’t been a recorded miracle in Israel for centuries.

So here we have a man whose job is working for the God of Israel as a priest of God who refuses to believe what an angel visiting him says. He refuses to believe it because people his age do not have children. He knew of Abraham and Sarah. He knew of Jacob and Rebekah. He knew about Hannah and Elkanah. It could be that Zechariah doubted what Gabriel announced to him, out of humility. “Why should I be so blessed to have this happen to me?” But that is not what he said when Gabriel had finished telling him what was going to happen. What he said was “How shall I know this?” (verse 18) In other words, “prove it.”

There certainly isn’t much faith being demonstrated by Zechariah at this point. He stands there, talking to an angel who has miraculously appeared to him, and doubts what he is being told. The lack of faith is stunning.

There are many today who will tell us that if we lack sufficient faith, the miracles we should be expecting will not happen. But faith is not the issue here. God’s plan is. He will do what He intends to do and He will bring Zechariah along. If God only works in the world in accordance with the strength of the faith we possess then He will hardly do anything at all. But our God does all things after the council of His own will (Ephesians 1:11)and He is going to have John the Baptist born of Elizabeth and Zechariah – whether Zechariah believes it at this point or not. So He disciplines Zechariah for his unbelief and goes about bringing the promised miracle to pass.

Thank God that He is not dependent upon us for accomplishing His eternal purposes in the world. Thank God that He accomplishes them through weak, sinful and even weak faithed members of His Church in the world. And thank Him deeply that He knows how to treat us in our sinful unbelief to bring us around to trust Him and see His great works. What a God we serve.

Whew!! Last week was our annual Week of Prayer, and getting to the church every morning for 6:00  really interfered with getting a devotional done every day. It was a great week of prayer. Now, back to our regular programming.

Luke 1:5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.”

Luke 1:13 – “your prayer has been heard…” What was Zechariah praying for? Some suggest that he was praying at the moment and God’s reward was to give him and Elizabeth a child. Not likely. The child that will be born is in answer to a prayer for a child. How long has it been since Zechariah and Elizabeth have prayed for her to conceive? The text is clear that Elizabeth is beyond child bearing ability (verse 7).

God answers a prayer years after they have stopped praying for it and years after they have resigned themselves to believing that God was not going to answer in the affirmative. Zechariah and Elizabeth have come to accept that they will not have children and that God’s answer to their payers is “no”.

Their prayer is not answered because of their faith. They do not believe they will have a child. It is not answered because of their persistence. They have long since stopped praying for God to hear them on this matter. Their faith is good (verse 6) and they are living a God fearing life. But their hope for a child has evaporated. We know this by Zechariah’s disbelief when he is told that they will have a child.

Fascinating. When it appeared that Zech and Betty were not going to have a child their faith handled it very well. As soon as God tells them they will have a child Zech doesn’t believe it.

But this is a lesson about the faithfulness of God. God heard their prayer – long after they prayed it. God often answers our prayers, but He hardly ever respects our time table. Of course, if God had given little Johnny to them years ago it is unlikely that he would have been the John the Baptist that we know about and who was the voice crying in the wilderness for people to prepare a way for the Lord (John 1:19-24).

God’s timing may not be ours, but His is always better. What have you prayed for that has not been answered yet? What have you prayed for in the past that you do not pray for now because it seems certain that it will not be answered? This text does not tell us that if we wait long enough all our prayers will be answered as we wanted them to be. But it does tell us that God knows what He is doing and that it is never a fool’s errand to pray fervently for our needs and even our wants, if they are righteous.

Have faith in a great God. He loves you more than you know. Whatever He does for you is better than what you ask for.