Surprise, Part 2

Today on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Knowing the goodness of God is what will give you the ability to pray bold audacious things for your marriage and your children and your family and for your co-workers and run reach people groups around the world. God I trust you, you're good and there's nothing better than what you would declare over me and nothing I would rather have than your intentions for me. Welcome to Summit Life with J.D. Greer.

As always, I'm your host Molly Vidovitch. Today as we return to the Gospel of Luke, Pastor J.D. is asking a pivotal question and one we've all probably asked ourselves at some point. Can God's plan triumph over all of life's hurts and disappointments?

Is He really still in charge? We'll get to the important answer in just a moment, but if you're interested in learning more about this ministry, you can always visit us online at jdgreer.com. Now let's get into the lifeblood of this program and the reason we exist, the Word of God. We're rejoining Pastor J.D. for the second half of his message titled Surprise. You got your Bible?

I want you to take it out. I want you to open it to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1 verse 5.

Here we go. In the days of Herod the king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah and he, Zechariah, had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. Verse 7, but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both of them were advanced in years. It was hardly anything worse for a couple or for a family in Israel during that time. And so this is more than just they're lonely, this is their hopes for the future are gone. But you see the Bible is very careful to know this this was not a curse.

Do you see that? They were righteous, they walked blamelessly before the Lord. That didn't mean that they were sinless, just that they had not done anything that singled them out for God's judgments. Verse 8, now while he was serving as a priest before God when his division was on duty according to the custom of the priesthood he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and to burn incense and there appeared to him while he was in the holy of holies an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense and Zechariah was troubled when he saw that angel and fear fell upon him and the angel said to him don't be afraid Zechariah. The angel says your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you will call his name John. You will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great before the Lord. He must not drink wine or strong drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

People prepared for what? The birth of another baby. This guy's going to lead to a national repentance and he's going to prepare the way for the birth of an even greater child the Messiah. Verse 18, and Zechariah said to the angel how shall I do this because I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years. So Zechariah is like I don't believe you and that you got to hear the tone in his words. I don't believe you. I don't believe you because year after year we prayed and asked God for this and there was no answer and now you're telling me that when I'm old and about to die that me and my geriatric wife are going to have a baby?

Where were you when we were 30? Now we're 80 and you're telling me that we're going to have a baby? And the angel answered in verse 19 I am Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you to bring you this good news. The angel's like really Zechariah really just a minute ago you were in the corner wetting your pants and now you're all like are you sure this can happen? So verse 20 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. Now before you write off Zechariah as a stubborn old fool I want you to try to relate to him for a minute. Zechariah's refusal to believe is arising out of a deep and bitter past hurt. He's got a heart full of doubt that God is capable or able because of his disappointment in the past.

Zechariah thinks his bitter past trumps the promises and the power of the sovereign God. Jump down to verse 57. Verse 57 now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth and she bore a son and her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her and they rejoiced with her and on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child right and they would have called him Zechariah after his father but his mother answered no he shall be called John and they said to her but none of your relatives are called by this name and they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called and he asked for a writing tablet and he wrote his name is John.

It looks like our old boys learned something in nine months hadn't we? Yeah he's not like ah yeah call him John I like John. John's a strong name. He's like no call him John quick before God kills me call him John. And they all wondered see that verse 63 they all wondered and immediately verse 64 his mouth was opened and his tongue was loose and he spoke blessing God pit up worship explodes out of Zechariah's mouth.

For nine months he has sat there and he has watched in silence all the while getting excited all the while learning to believe the gospel and when John is born this old man sings and dances and spins around and starts freestyle rapping. Here's the point I'm trying to make to you listen the purpose of God's discipline in your life is that you overflow with joy and happiness in God in a way that makes you burst out in praise. Some of you've never really been able to worship at least you've never been able to really worship with your heart and God puts you through discipline because he wants you to be able to have joy in him. Some of you have been disciplined some of you are being disciplined right now and what I want you to know is that he is doing it in love. He is doing it because he wants you to learn to love and trust him. I know that it feels painful. I know that sometimes you feel like God is trying to destroy you but his intentions are not your destruction his intentions are your healing. That's why you need to pay attention. You see tucked let's see this tucked into the middle of this story is another story about did you notice that we jump from verse 26 all the way down to verse 57 what went on between those there's another little story tucked in there about another angel who appeared to another person with a message of an unexpected and in many ways even more unbelievable pregnancy that person's name was Mary verse 26 take a look in the sixth month that Elizabeth was pregnant the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and that virgin's name was Mary the angel appeared to her and of course like I explained she's absolutely terrified so the angel says to her verse 30 do not be afraid Mary behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will call his name Jesus 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 and of his kingdom there will be no end verse 34 now watch this and Mary says back to the angel well how will this be since I'm a virgin I know how this works I don't have a husband I've never had sex I know that you can't get pregnant without one of those things that sounds a lot like Zechariah's question doesn't it the words are the same but the heart behind them is totally different Zechariah's question was asked in scorn and disbelief Mary's question was asked in wonder and amazement verse 35 and so the angel answered her the Holy Spirit will come upon you the power the most high will overshadow you therefore the child born to you will be called holy the son of God and behold your relative Elizabeth in her old age seriously can the Bible never bring this woman up without pointing to you I'll tell you how old she is I mean even now Elizabeth in heaven is going seriously every time I gotta be the old chick every time Elizabeth the old chick has also conceived the son and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren for nothing will be impossible with God nothing's impossible no natural inability keeps you from fulfilling God's promises no sin is too great that it puts you beyond the reach of God's grace no mistake in your past disqualifies you from God's good plans for you in the future verse 38 and Mary said behold I am the servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word now there's a phrase to live by isn't it let it be to me according to your word let it be to me according to your word that by the way that's not a grit your teeth and surrender to Jesus kind of phrase that is a dare I rearrange my life and dare I rearrange my outlook in light of God's promises to me that's what that statement means do I really dare to rearrange my whole life and adjust my entire outlook in light of God's promises to me what if you did that what if you did that what if you really believe Psalm 23 6 that goodness and mercy followed you all the days of your life what if you believe Isaiah 26 2 that that God will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed upon you what if you believe Jeremiah 29 11 that God knows the plans he has for you plans to give you a future and a hope and a promise not condemnation and judgment what if you believe Romans 8 1 that there is no condemnation toward those who are in Christ Jesus and that God's intentions for you now are only good only blessing only prosperity in the way that he understands prosperity Romans 8 28 that all things are working together for good in your life to those who love God and are called according to his purpose Ephesians 1 9 that every single molecule in the universe he has under his sovereign control working for the plan that he has for you what if you really believe that and rearranged your life around that and your entire outlook Mary believed it in fact she says bring that stuff on me God and the angel verse 39 departed from her and Mary could still talk you see when it comes to faith it's only pass fail that's a really important point y'all when it comes to faith it's only pass fail Zachariah and Mary both had questions but it's almost like getting on a plane if you get on a plane even if you have a lot of doubts and questions about how the plane flies if long as you're on it when it gets to where it's going you'll be there you could be an aeronautical engineer a scientist and understand flight but if you don't get on that plane you're not going to get to where it goes here's Zachariah the priest who should know better asking questions of unbelief and doesn't get on the plane then here's Mary the teenager the unwed teenager she unwed teenager she gets on the plane and she gets to where she's supposed to go you see when it comes to faith it's only pass fail Zachariah failed Mary passed both of them had supernatural babies but Mary got to talk to people about how awesome it was a whole lot sooner than Zachariah did here's what I want from you in a nutshell I want you to learn to trust in the goodness of God y'all that is the key to doing anything for God that's what will give you the ability to surrender to him that's what will give you the ability to trust him with your problems that's what knowing the goodness of God is what will give you the ability to pray bold audacious things for your marriage and your children and your family and for your co-workers and for unreached people groups around the world yes God you'll stay with Mary yes it sounds impossible to me and in fact it sounds like it even may cause me some problems like Mary the idea of being an unwedding mother as a teenager and have a kid doesn't sound like it's going to be easy but God I trust you you're good and there's nothing better than what you would declare over me and nothing I would rather have than your intentions for me be it unto me according to your word you're listening to summit life with jd greer to learn more about this ministry visit us online anytime at jdgrier.com before we get back to today's teaching I want to take a moment to remind you about an extremely helpful resource that we offer our listeners in addition to this daily teaching if you have questions about life theology or the bible you won't want to miss pastor jd's ask me anything podcast in each episode pastor jd answers real questions submitted by listeners just like you using biblical wisdom along with practical advice he's gleaned from his many years as a pastor the best part is completely free you can find ask me anything with jd greer by visiting jdgrier.com slash podcasts or by searching for it on your favorite podcast platform don't miss out on this great resource by subscribing to the podcast today now let's get back to today's teaching once again here's pastor jd here on summit life what I wish I could convince some of you of is the love of God for you that even when he breaks your bones and shuts you up in silence it's because he desires your salvation not your destruction and I wish that you would realize that the love of God flows over you right now like a father gushes over a child and that you would just resign yourself completely to him and cast yourself fully upon him the love of God is the most amazing humbling force in the universe that's a conviction that grows in me the older I get the most humbling amazing awesome force in the universe is not the power of God is not the wrath of God the most amazing humbling force in all the universe is the love of God the never-ending never stopping never giving up love of God for his people that's what I wish I could convince you of is to trust the love and goodness of God let me close by explaining this there's a meaning here beyond just that God can give children to people who sometimes think there's no more chance you see listen barrenness was a sign of ultimate desolation in Jewish culture like I explained to you children were their primary source of joy and security children that you had prospects for the future children meant you had honor children meant that you were going to be taken care of so when you didn't have children it meant that you had been robbed of your primary source of joy and security your issue may not be children it might be but your issue may be something besides that maybe something else in life has let you down maybe your career hasn't turned out like you had hoped it would maybe you've never gotten the success you thought you deserved maybe you're still single and you always thought that you would be married by this point or maybe you're married and you feel like your marriage just lets you down you're like God how come I mean I'm doing everything I thought I was supposed to be doing I mean I'm trying to be the spouse that I'm supposed to be how come my wife how come my husband doesn't get it why is my marriage like this what I do wrong maybe you're sick chronically sick and you just can't get healthy listen there are many ways to be barren there are many ways to be barren and the point of this story listen is not that God will give you that thing in fact in many ways Zechariah never got the enjoyment out of the thing he hoped for did he he probably died when John was a boy he never got to see John grow up he never got to see his grandkids John the Baptist probably never took care of him in his old age the point is not that the birth of John the Baptist took away their souls barrenness no there was another baby who was in the process of being born to somebody else who would do that this story you see is part of the birth narrative of the Messiah ultimately it is he Jesus that was the answer to our souls barrenness you see the reasons our hearts are not happy are not because we don't have children or romance or money or success it's because we're separated from God Jesus' primary mission was to restore us to God and that's what takes away our real barrenness the Messiah that was to be born to Mary would take away our sin and our condemnation by dying for it in our place and removing our separation from God he would make it so that we could know God again and God is such a treasure you see that when you have him you can deal with the disappointment of childlessness or poor health or a terrible marriage or singleness when you don't want it now it's not that he doesn't also often give good gifts like children or success or marriage just that the best gifts that he gives the ones that really take away sadness and despair and fill your life with true joy and real security is not any of those things the best gift is God himself the best gifts of God are not BMWs or houses or even marriage or children the best gifts is God himself his presence so don't confuse God's lesser gifts with his ultimate ones sometimes God gives you a kiss as maybe a metaphor I'll use a token of his favor and I look at my life and I look at my marriage and I look at my children and I look at the blessings that God has poured out of me and I recognize those as the goodness of God to me but they're just signs of his favor the real gift the ultimate blessing and the final proof and the ultimate answer to my barrenness was the gift of himself purchased for me by Christ so enjoy the signs of God's gift ask for them but find your refuge in God himself I've heard it said like this listen all of us eventually face some disappointment in life we all do and when that happens we'll do one of four things I get these from Tim Keller listen to this number one first thing we'll do blame the thing itself we'll focus our attention on that thing and we'll start to blame it it let you down so you need something else so your boyfriend breaks your heart lets you down what do you do you trade him in for a new one and he says some kind of nonsense about oh baby you and I are special we're going to make it forever we're soulmates cut out of the same cloth in the universe he's lying he probably knows he's lying but he's definitely lying you turn to another version of the same thing to answer your soul's barrenness it lets you down too some of you were in marriages right now and it wasn't working out for you so you got to do a new marriage thinking that would take care of it and it doesn't some of you gave up on the idea of marriage altogether you may have stayed in your marriage but you just kind of emotionally turned yourself off and some of you men buried yourself in your work because you thought man if I could just be successful then my soul wouldn't feel so barren life disappoints you so you make an idol out of your family all right so you become obsessive and possessive and always complaining that your children are letting you down because you're blaming all these things in life now you're going to turn to your your kids you're just going to turn to your kids your job is frustrating you so you turn to the refuge of alcohol drugs pornography you blame the thing itself and you find a new thing here's the second option you blame yourself you think something's wrong with you you hear those voices and you believe them problem is I'm a loser I'm a failure that's why I'm miserable people who live this way develop guilt complexes they become depressed they think something's wrong with me I can't do anything that's your second option blame yourself third option blame the world well there's just no happiness in the world life is a tale told by idiots there's no happiness until you become cynical you get a job teaching at one of our local universities then you get older you just become a bitter old person there's a lot of sad bitter old people you want to know why because they just went through the list everything let them down now in their old age they're expecting their kids to do it the kids aren't doing it so they're just mad because they don't have anything left and they go to their grave in bitterness having been disappointed by the whole world here's your fourth option realize that you were created for another world for god see and when you realize that when you realize you were created for god then the birth of a baby who would bear your sin and your judgment and the things that separated you from god and who had the ability to reconcile you to god becomes very very relevant people are always saying to me like I want my pastor to be relevant I want him to say things that apply to my life like you want four tips on good communication in your marriage or three ways to get along with your dog or some kind of something and as if this was irrelevant because you're listen because your soul was created for god there is nothing on earth more relevant to you than the birth of jesus and learning five steps to good communication will not do nearly as much for your deep soul needs as embracing the billion steps that he took to you when he came to earth as christ and died for your sin and so this messiah's birth is not just a religious event in history it is the answer to your whole life struggle it and it alone takes away your soul's barrenness so this is how luke begins he starts with people who are barren he says the birth of messiah is going to be the answer to that barrenness do you know him do you know him has your soul found its refuge in him it may be summer but guess what this week we are skipping ahead a bit and celebrating christmas and the birth of jesus here on summit life with jd greer we're so glad that you joined us today so jd in this new series we are studying the book of luke and luke offers a unique perspective on the life and ministry of jesus different than the other gospel writers right well you know the most unique gospel with the most unique material is probably john but i would say after that it's luke because luke is actually the longest gospel of the four of them sixty percent of the material in the gospel of luke is unique um and that we just wouldn't know about if luke hadn't taken time to write it down for us luke has in his mind because of his his background he has in his mind some of the greek and roman um intellectuals and he's trying to answer questions that they have which means that it's really helpful i think for us in in our context and one of the things he focuses on is on jesus's dependence on the heavenly father and the power that is available to the church in the spirit when they depend on the father the way that jesus did to go along with the series on luke we've produced these 20 bible studies that will take you deeper in the gospel of luke you know just when i'm i'm preaching as much as i love getting into the into into the weeds so to speak the good stuff of the scriptures there's a lot of stuff i have to leave on the on the cutting room floor through these bible studies you're able to press in on some of those things and not only that you're able to hear directly from the holy spirit as he speaks to you through his word so i would say that if you're enjoying these messages get these bible studies to go along with them because it'll take you a lot deeper we'd love to get you a copy of this set of 20 devotionals as you work through the content we pray that it'll encourage you to align your life around the gospel message get a hold of kingdom come 20 devotions from luke when you donate today to support this ministry call 866-335-5220 that's 866-335-5220 or you can give online at jdgrier.com i'm molly vidovich inviting you to join us again tomorrow when pastor jd discusses the inauguration of the king you won't want to miss wednesday here on summit life with jd greer today's program was produced and sponsored by jd greer ministries