SERMON SERIES: “The Gospel of Luke”
SERMON #2: “Doubting Daddy”
OPENING TEXT: Luke 1:5-7
(Sermon Expounds on vv.5-25)
OBJECTIVE: To show that when God says something, it can be trusted. He promised Zechariah a son, and Zechariah doubted. He has promised eternal life to all who believe in Christ. Doubt about that fact keeps many from yielding to faith and trusting in Christ. God is trustworthy.
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to our continuing study of Luke’s Gospel
Today I am going to focus on the subject of “doubt”
My primary goal of this sermon is for us to see, within this narrative, that God can be trusted absolutely – what He says will be accomplished, will certainly be accomplished – even if our finite minds cannot grasp exactly how it will be accomplished
The section of Scripture we are going to study deals with the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, who was to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ
EXPOSITION: (Read the Passage and Explain)
The Ancestry of John the Baptist
[vv.5-7 “5There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years”]
a. His parents (Zechariah & Elizabeth) were from the priestly line of Aaron
b. His parents were both considered righteous in God’s sight
i. Righteousness before God comes by faith alone
ii. Habakkuk 2:4b “…the righteous shall live by his faith” (ASV)
c. The text also says that they kept the ordinances of God
i. It says they kept them “blamelessly”
ii. It is important to recognize that “blameless” is not the same as “sinless”
iii. No one is ever said to be totally without sin except Jesus Christ – in fact, just the opposite, Romans 3:23 states that all are sinners
1. The phrase “blameless” used here indicates that no person could rightfully accuse them of any evil
2. They were exemplary and conscientious in the discharge of their religious duties.
iv. QUOTE: They were “righteous before God” because of their faith and “blameless before men” because their faith showed forth by their good works – They were a good example of the balance between faith and works that Christians are called to keep
The Attributes of John the Baptist
[vv.13-17 “13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14And you wil have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also 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. 17He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”]
a. God had sent his messenger to give Zachariah the wonderful news that they were to have a baby…and not just any baby, but a baby prophesied about in the OT Scriptures
i. Certainly Zechariah a priest knew the OT Scriptures - - He must have known that the very words spoken by this angel had been prophesied by Malachi
ii. Malachi 4:5,6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet. Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
APPLICATION:
[vv.18-25]
It is at this point in the narrative that “doubt” begins to play a important role. Zachariah, rather than trusting the Angel, began questioning God’s ability to pull off this miracle
Upon realizing she was pregnant, Elizabeth had no doubts as to God’s involvement. Verses 24 and 25 show her going into a private place for five months and praising God for His work of removing the disgrace of her bareness (in her culture not being able to bear children was considered a disgrace)
But today I want us to focus most on the doubt of Zechariah
***There are three lessons concerning “doubt” that I want us to notice from this passage
I. It is Possible for People of Faith to Experience Times of Doubt
a. The text is clear in verses 5-7 that Zachariah was a man of true faith
i. He was not some “ardent atheist” or “hard hearted unbeliever”
ii. He was a man who genuinely believed in God and His ordinances
iii. Yet he still experienced a time of real doubt when faced with the test of having to truly trust a promise from God
b. Doubt is possible for even the strongest believer
i. QUOTE: In his book, Spiritual Depression, Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes: “Doubts are not incompatible with faith.…Some people seem to think that once you become a Christian you should never be assailed by doubts. But that is not so, Peter still had faith (as he panicked in the storm in Matthew 14).… His faith was not gone, but because it was weak, doubt mastered him and overwhelmed him and he was shaken…Doubts will attack us, but that does not mean that we are to allow them to master us.”
ii. Sometimes we get the wrong picture when we think of Peter falling into the water and we see only his doubt
iii. We forget to see that he was the only one of the 12 who got out of the boat, which was an act of genuine faith
c. If you are a Christian, there are times when you will be faced with doubt
i. There will be times when you will be tempted to look into the heavens and wonder “what is God doing?”
ii. Or times when you come across Scripture that you don’t fully understand and it causes you to think “what is God talking about?”
iii. QUOTE: Keep in mind Zachariah was a true believer in God who was going through the experience of true doubt – and that is possible for any believer, so we must be on our guard
d. QUESTION: How can we be “On guard”?
i. Ephesians 6 tells us about something called “the armor of God”
ii. v.17 says that there is a piece called “the helmet of salvation”
1. And what this refers to is when doubt comes to the forefront of your mind, replace that with the reminder that God has given you the great and wonderful gift of salvation
2. Then when you are facing life’s inevitable trials you can say, along with the apostle Paul, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18)
I. It is Possible for People of Faith to Experience Times of Doubt
II. Doubt causes us to Focus on what we can’t do, Rather than what God can do
a. Zachariah and his wife were well advanced in years
i. They were way past their childbearing years
ii. Besides that Elizabeth was apparently barren
b. Zachariah couldn’t get past these limitations in his own mind
i. NOTE: You would think that Zachariah, being a priest, would know that this was not the first time in history God had chosen to use a barren or older couple to bring forth a special child:
• Abraham and Sarah in God’s time and in His way brought forth Isaac
• Isaac and Rebekah in God’s time and in His way brought forth Jacob and Esau
• Elkanah and Hannah in God’s time and in His way brought forth Samuel
ii. This was not the first time, by any means, that God had chosen a couple who had no children to bring forth a special child that He would call to service
iii. But Zachariah still harbored doubts about God’s ability to use him and his wife in this manner
iv. Why? Because he was focusing on his own abilities and limitations rather than putting the focus on God’s unlimited ability to bring forth His will
c. Listen folks, when we get so caught up with what “we” can do and what “we” can’t do we are leaving God out of the equation
i. You know it takes no faith to say “let’s plan a church budget that’s the same or less than what we received in offerings last year”
ii. But it is an act of faith to say “let’s increase the budget in faith that God is going to supply the provisions and the people necessary for us to do the work He has called us to in the coming year”
iii. QUOTE: When we start a sentence with “we can’t” the very next words out of our mouth ought to be “but God can!”
1. Some people argue that they “can’t afford to tithe”
2. I have said this before, and I will say it again “God can make 90% go much father than you can 100%”
3. The truth is a Christian cannot afford “not” to tithe!!!
iv. Now why, in this sermon on doubt, do I seem to be speaking a lot about money?
1. Because Jesus said “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21)
2. And the hardest place for most of us to really trust God is in our pocketbooks
d. The point is that in church and in life we get so wrapped up in what we can’t do that we totally forget that God is able to do anything – and He doesn’t need our help; But He wants our trust
I. It is Possible for People of Faith to Experience Times of Doubt
II. Doubt causes us to Focus on what we can’t do, Rather than what God can do
III. Doubt can cause us to Forfeit the Blessings of God
a. I realize that I am sounding somewhat like a prosperity preacher today
i. I assure you I am not a “health and wealth” or “name it, claim it” preacher
ii. These preachers that say God’s ultimate will is that you get the “best parking spaces” have missed the whole point of the Gospel massage
iii. But I will tell you, if I am going to preach the whole counsel of God, there are attitudes that God will bless and doubt is not one of them!
b. Look at the blessings that Zachariah forfeited because of doubt
i. He could have had the blessing of going to those outside the temple and telling them about his angelic visitation
ii. He could have had the blessing of telling people that, even in his old age, God was going to give him a son
iii. He could have had the blessing of going home to his beautiful wife who was barren and feeling disgraced because of her inability to have a child and telling her “you are going to have a baby”
iv. But his doubt caused God to render him mute, and now he was not going to receive the blessing of sharing the news about his coming son
c. QUESTION: What “blessings” could doubt cause the believer to forfeit?
i. Assurance of Salvation
1. Why do we sing the song “Blessed assurance…”?
2. Because knowing that we are saved, and having the assurance that Christ has paid our sin debt is a wonderful blessing
3. It is a blessing the Bible says we can have
- I John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God”
- I like the Message paraphrase of I John 5:13 “My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion”
4. The Bible says we “can know” and doubt says we “can’t know”
5. And when doubt gets in the forefront it robs us of our “blessed assurance”
ii. Soul Winning
1. Proverbs 11:30b “And he who wins souls is wise”
2. I can think of no greater blessing than to lead someone to Christ
3. But when you are faced with that opportunity to share the Gospel, I promise you doubt is going to start creeping in
- You will “what if” yourself right out of witnessing because of doubt
- What if he asks a question I can’t answer?
- What if he is from another religion and gets offended?
- What if I don’t explain the Gospel the right way?
4. Satan uses these doubts to cause us to be less effective and even totally ineffective in our role as ambassadors and witnesses for Christ
iii. Confidence in our Prayer Life
1. God does not always say “yes” to our prayers – sometimes He answers with “no” or “wait”
- QUOTE: Just like you do with your children – they request, but ultimate you decide what’s best!
- What upsets me is when people, especially prosperity preachers, say God always answers the affirmative
- I will say this, As long as you pray in God’s will He will answer in the affirmative – but if your prayers are outside of God’s will for your life, you should be thankful He doesn’t answer them – he know best, and the Bible says He always does best for His children
2. Having confidence in your prayer life is not saying that God is my genie in a lamp, or my puppet on a string
3. QUOTE: Having confidence in your prayer life is praying with the assurance that God, who is infinitely wise, good and just, has heard your prayer, has received your prayer and will answer your prayer according to His will for you life
4. And doubt causes us to believe that God isn’t listening or that he just doesn’t care – and this robs us of the blessing of being confident in God
CONCLUSION: There are many negative results that come from a life lived in doubt.
As I said earlier, doubt is something we will all face, no matter our level of spiritual maturity
o It even happened to John the Baptist when He was in prison (Matthew 11:2–3) when he sent his people to ask Jesus if He really was the Messiah
o It happened to Peter and the other apostles when Jesus was taken to the cross
o It happened to Thomas when Christ arose
o And it will happen to every person who seeks to walk in Christ like obedience.
Doubt is not impossible for the Christian to experience;
It’s just not profitable for the Christian to continue living in it
QUOTE: And that is the point of today – know that sometimes we all experience times of doubt – but don’t allow ourselves to get drowned in the sea of doubt. Take up the helmet of salvation, trust that God can do what you can’t do and in faith receive the blessing of a life lived with confidence in God
