Know The Certainty of The Things You Have Been Taught

The main point of Luke Chapter 1 is: Desire to be a vessel of the Lord.

In the last Bible Study, I gave an overview of the Gospel of Luke and I outlined the key themes of Apostle Paul's system of beliefs.

In every Bible study, I encourage everyone to think about this question: what does God want to tell us in this chapter? And how can we put this point into practice in our life?

God was trying to tell us through Luke Chapter 1 that we must have a desire to be a vessel of the Lord.

This first chapter recorded the birth of John the Baptist and the conception by the Holy Spirit. But we must take note that God is not just telling us some stories from two thousand years ago. God is telling us things that are closely related to us.

Most of us have experienced God's miracles and mighty powers. You may have performed many signs and wonders, and you may have healed many people in your ministry. Or perhaps you may have not experienced God's mighty power yet, but you could have witnessed that. The Gospel is God's mighty power. Only through your own experience and investigation, can you know the certainty of the things you have been taught. In our life, there are so many things that seem to be impossible for us to achieve, but God's mighty power can bring us unlimited possibilities, because "with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

Our God is called Immanuel, which means "God with us". God wishes to be with us, but do we wish to be with God? Do we wish to become a vessel of God?

If you desire to be a vessel of God, you will surely experience God's mighty power.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will find that the words of God will never fail. Your body and life will reflect the glory of God, and your prayers will be answered by God. And you will desire more and more to give your body to God as a living sacrifice. It is proper for us to give our bodies to God as a living sacrifice because it is we who need God, instead of God needing us.

If we can fully understand the Bible, we will understand what God really desires. When we start to put the words of God into practice, we will surely discover how precious God is to us. We are merely worthless jars of clay, but because of the treasure inside us, we are able to become the holy vessel of the Lord.

Learn from The Example of Zechariah

In this chapter, Zechariah the priest had no children. He and his wife Elizabeth were both very old. Being childless was very disgraceful to them in that era. The couple felt very when they hear how the neighbors were talking about them.

So they often prayed to God to give them a child. But God did not answer their prayer. But they were not discouraged by the result. Instead, the more they prayed, the stronger their faith grew. They desired to become a vessel of the Lord and they started to hope that God could give them a child so that this child could also become a vessel of the Lord. I believe that this couple never stopped praying, never stopped hoping to be a vessel of the Lord. Despite so many fruitless prayers, Zechariah and his wife became more and more eager to be used by God.

Then one day, a miracle happened to Zechariah:

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:8-17)

Being astonished by the angel's words, Zechariah replied:

“How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” (Luke 1:18)

We may have a strong desire. But when things do happen, we may still say: "How can I be sure of this?" But Zechariah should have known the certainty of this because he must know that this happened to Abraham and this is how the Israelites originated.

Therefore, the angel said:

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” (Luke 1:19-20)

Zechariah then became silent after he came out from the temple, and he had to use gestures to communicate with people. Because of his unbelief, God made him silent so that this may be a sign to him.

So never say "how can I be sure of this" when we are facing challenges. This is really dreadful. I encourage all of you not to say such words but give thanks to God. If God tells you that this is going to happen, you can just believe God's words.

When his time of service was completed, Zechariah returned home and then his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. Elizabeth then said:

“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” (Luke 1:25)

Your Desire Will Move The Hand of God

Can we have such desires as Zechariah and Elizabeth's in our hearts? Although he and his wife were both very old and past the age of childbearing, they could still give birth to a child! I would like to encourage all of you: Your desire can move the hand of our God!

Zechariah and Elizabeth did not just pray for one day and then stopped praying the next day. They prayed day after day, night after night. They had been praying for years! This is how Jesus taught in later chapters of the Gospel of Luke:

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. (Luke 1:5-8)

**"Because of your shameless audacity"! **How important it is to have a strong desire and hold on to it!

There is another story about a widow:

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” (Luke 18:1-5)

Even the judge would be moved by the widow's persistent plea! So never stop desiring to be the vessel of the Lord!

The Right Attitude toward God

This is the attitude the Bible wants to tell us. Every single line of the Bible are telling us the passion and desire we should have toward God. If one wants to be a vessel useful to God, one must have such passion and desire!

How do you think about this attitude when praying to God: "Oh God, if you are to answer my prayer, then be it! If you are not, then I'm fine with that, too!" There is a funny story: a person owns many pigs and one of the pigs fell sick one day. He invited his pastor to his house to pray for the pig. The pastor prayed like this: "Oh, Lord, I fully accept Your Sovereignty. If you are to heal this pig, then please heal it. If you are not going to heal the pig, then let it die!" Many people think that we should fully accept God's Sovereignty. But in fact, this is against God's desire.

There is a good example in the Bible: Jacob. Jacob did not get married until the age of 75. For 75 years, he had this desire for the birthright given to the firstborn. Someone may think it's impossible for a younger brother to become the firstborn. After all, no one can get back to their mother's womb and be born again. But Jacob never gave up pursuing the spiritual blessings given to the firstborn! And he indeed gained the blessings given to the firstborn from his father and God. Do you have such a desire as Jacob's?

In the Gospel of Luke, Luke was writing to Theophilus so that he might know the certainty of the things he had been taught. But the most important point Luke wants to convey is about desire, the strong desire to pursue, investigate and explore. That's how we have known the certainty of the things we have been taught. If we desire to know more and put in our efforts, God will reveal more to us.

Don't Be A Lukewarm Christian

Don't be a lukewarm Christian. The best advice I can give you is to restore the desire in your heart and to grow the desire into a passion for God. Never give up, never stop pursuing.

If you desire to meet God and desire to be a vessel of the Lord, you will surely see miracles. You don't have to rely on your own capability, your knowledge, or your family. You only have to rely on your faith in God. Then you will become a vessel useful to God.

But the problem is: are you willing to be used by God when God calls you? If God invites you to His banquet, what would be your response? "I don't have time! I have a business appointment! I have to work in my field!" Then how can you be used by God? We must see this clearly.

Sometimes I get upset because of those people who easily forget the wonderful grace they have experienced. There is a sister among us who has seen so many miracles of God: she used to be very eager to learn more about God, so she attended many ministries and did her work happily. At that time she was running a company and the company was being audited by the government. She had no difficulty coping with the auditors and the whole process went smoothly. I can still remember clearly how she gave her testimonies about the blessings she received. But after that, she gradually became more and more occupied by her business and she lost her previous desire and passion. She was inviting the devil back! After some time, she fell sick again and her business ran into trouble. She had to come back to her leader for help again.

I am very curious: how could this sister forget her own testimonies so easily? She was driven into the Kingdom of God by the devil's oppression but got enticed out of God's Kingdom by the world in the end. How can such people be used by God? If you cannot hold on to your faith in God and easily give up, how can you say you do believe in God? So we must unroot the unbelief completely from our minds.

We have all experienced God's mighty power and grace. But we are too concerned with our daily life: how can I find a boyfriend or a girlfriend? How can I get married? How can I raise my children? How about my work and business? Life is very simple but we always tend to make it very complicated. A lady got a deadly disease, but God cured her. After she fully recovered, she started to worry about her marriage and totally forget about God. I can hardly understand her. Just think about it: God saved us from deadly diseases, then is there anything too hard for God? Absolutely nothing! Even Zechariah and Elizabeth could give birth to a child in their old age! Nothing is too hard for God. But do we really believe in God? If we do, then we can just seek God wholeheartedly. We will never be disappointed by our God.

Learn from The Example of Mary

In this chapter, there is another example, Mary. Let's see how Mary was told by the angel that she was going to give birth to a child:

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-38)

We all know that Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ. But back to this time in Luke Chapter 1, what would you think if this happen to you? What would be your response? Most people would be very worried: "How can I give birth to a child before I get married? What would others think about me?" But Mary's reaction is different. She didn't give any objection. She also didn't care about other people's opinions. She just said: "I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled."

When I read this, I was very curious about Mary's reaction. How could a young girl have such a reaction? In fact, people like Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary have something in common: They have this strong desire to be a vessel useful to God. God didn't pick them at random. God chose them because of their strong desire!

Mary had a strong desire to be a vessel useful to God. She knew very well that a Messiah would be born. And she was waiting for the Messiah eagerly. We can see Mary's heart through her response: "I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled." She had been thinking this way long before the angel talked to her. She had been constantly praying: Lord, I am your servant! I hope to be your vessel, to be useful to you! Here am I! Please use me!

This is the attitude pleasing to God. God is looking for people with this attitude. There is another example in the Bible, Tamar in Genesis. Tamar was Judah's daughter-in-law. She had this desire to inherit the spiritual blessing in Abraham's family and she knew that Judah was the one who inherited this blessing. She had her heart on giving a child for Judah's eldest son so that she could become a blessing for all generations. That's why she was recorded in the genealogy of Jesus Christ and we will all speak about her when we preach the gospel.

Choose to Believe Even If We Don't Understand

Mary had been praying from day to day to be used by God. Then one day Gabriel came and said to her:

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:32-33)

Did Mary really understand the meaning of this? Not really. She had never heard about anything like this. She also had never thought about that. Even if she had read the Book of Genesis, she might not understand that as well. But this is the woman's offspring! Mary didn't stop believing even though she didn't understand. She chose to believe the words of God unconditionally. Because of her faith, the prophet of God in Genesis was fulfilled.

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:34-35)

Jesus was conceived by Mary through the Holy Spirit. To most people, this idea is totally unacceptable. But how hard could it be for the Holy Spirit to let someone get pregnant? Mary had a very positive attitude: I am the Lord's servant. I have been waiting for this moment all my life. May your word to me be fulfilled. I will give all my life to my God.

If you have the desire to be used by God, you will be great! We have come to this life, but we all end up with death. This is meaningless. If we don't know that we are doomed to die and if we don't know all those things we are pursuing in this life are just vanity, how can we desire God? If we know all these are meaningless, we would then hope to be used by God and become a vessel useful to God. God used Mary in an extraordinary way. Mary became the mother of Jesus Christ. How honorable it is!

You Will Experience Extraordinary Things If You Desired to Be Used by God

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:39-45)

Elizabeth also didn't understand her own words, but she just claimed that confidently. Elizabeth was so confident because the baby in her own womb was used by God, who was going to prepare the way of Jesus Christ. This is what you will experience if you are used by God: You will surely experience extraordinary things, beyond your imagination, because our God is a wonderful God. Blessed are those who believe the words of God!

Faith Is Treasure

And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. (Luke 1:46-56)

So Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Some may think that Mary had better get married to Joseph as early as possible and that staying with Elizabeth is a total waste of time because they fear that Mary may face many disgraces. But Mary didn't bother with that. Those who have faith in God won't bother with such things: Is there anything too hard for God? Does God have no power to stop the rumors among the people? Does God have no power to handle our nitty-gritty properly? Those who don't have such faith are nothing to God. But God takes those who have faith in Him as treasures!

Prepare the Way of the Lord

If we observe carefully those who serve God faithfully, we can see that all of them have many extraordinary experiences.

After John the Baptist was born, the neighbors and relatives wanted to name the Child after his father Zechariah. But Elizabeth said the child was to be named John, just as what God revealed before he was born.

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. (Luke 1:57-66)

Then Zechariah told a prophecy about his child:

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

“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.”

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. (Luke 1:67-80)

If we have the desire to be used by God, to be a vessel of the Lord, we are going to go on before the Lord and prepare the way for Him. We are going to guide the feet of the people into the path of peace!

Zechariah had seen how Mary stayed in his house for three months. That's why he said that the baby inside Mary's womb is "a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David". Now the prophecies from long ago were fulfilled. Then we can all serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness!

How wonderful it is! Let's say to God: “ Oh God, please let these words be fulfilled on us! We are longing to be the prophets of the Most High and walk in your desire. We hope to become your vessel and prepare the way for you in this generation. And we hope to become your faithful and good servants!" If we can walk with God and be used by God, the Holy Spirit will fill us!

Conclusion: Shameless Audacity

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:5-13)

This strong desire can be found throughout the Gospel of Luke. If we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must have such a strong desire: "Oh Holy Spirit, fill me! Fill me!" This is the kind of desire that is pleasing to God. Like the story of a man asking for bread from his neighbor: "Wake up! Wake up! Give me some bread! Hurry up!" This is what God is looking for: shameless audacity.

If you want to be a vessel useful to God, never say: "Oh, Lord, I fully accept Your Sovereignty. If you want to use me, then please use me. If you don't want to, then be it." God cannot use such people, because they don't have this desire within their hearts. If one does have such a desire, one will surely become people like John the Baptist!

We may not know much about John the Baptist. But all the Israelites knew that he was a prophet. The Bible said that John had "the spirit and power of Elijah". What does this mean? Elijah had performed great miracles. There was no one before him or after him. Like Moses, Samuel, and Elisha, Elijah was one of the most respectful prophets of all the generations.

So, John the Baptist must have the power to perform miracles. Otherwise, how could he become the prophet of that generation? He had the spirit and power of Elijah, although the Bible didn't record the miracles he performed. That's why many people think that John had no power to perform miracles. Actually John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother's womb! Can you imagine what power he could have?

We must know one thing: those who are filled with the Holy Spirit must have the power to perform miracles. I encourage all of you to have the desire to be used by God! If you don't have the desire, God won't use you. Why did I start the Doctrine of Ming Ding? Because there is no blessing to you if you don't carry the destiny! Then how can you start to carry the destiny? You can't just give yourself to God in an indifferent manner: "Oh God, if you want to use me, then please use me." You need to cry out to God: "Oh God, please use me! Here am I!" Don't be a lukewarm Christian, but be filled with desire all the time. Then you will surely be used by God and become a vessel of the Lord glorifying our God!

May the Lord bless you!