[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to all of you this morning. Welcome to any visitors amongst us, particularly. Trust that together.
[0:11] In God's presence we may know his help and his blessing. The verse that I've chosen for us to think about as we come to worship this morning is from Malachi. That's the very last of the prophets in the Old Testament, just before the New Testament.
[0:27] Chapter 3, verse 6. I, the Lord, do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. In other words, God is saying, I am faithful.
[0:39] I do not change. I'm always the same, dependable, reliable. Those who put their trust in me will never be put to shame, will never be destroyed. The God that we worship is a God of marvelous attributes.
[0:52] There are things about him which are unique. And our first hymn reminds us of them. Immortal, invisible, God only wise. There is no God like our God.
[1:03] No God who deserves our praise and worship. And a God in whom we put our trust. 16. Let's stand together and sing. Number 16 in our hymn books. Thank God that he is approachable, our God.
[1:25] He's approachable through Jesus Christ, his son. Through him we can come to God with our praise and with our prayers. So let us pray together now. Let us pray.
[1:38] Well, Lord our God, there are no words to describe you because you are so great and infinite and unfathomable. There's nothing that we can say which truly captures who you are.
[1:52] A great list of all the words that we could imagine or think of would never come close. You are far and above these things. Far and above anything that we can even imagine or think.
[2:04] You are so great. You are so marvelous. You are so wonderful. And everything about you, Lord, is good. Everything about you is perfect. Everything about you is lovely.
[2:16] Everything about you is pure and holy and just. There's nothing in you that is sinful or wrong. You are not a God who is filled with the sinful hearts that we have.
[2:27] Not a God who is tempted towards evil as we are. You are a God, the God, who alone stands uniquely above all your creation.
[2:38] And yet, Lord, we thank you that you're not a God who has kept yourself to yourself. But you're a God who has made yourself known to us. You're a God who has not only created us and made us and given us life so that every moment of every day we are reliant upon you and are to be thankful to you because you give us breath.
[3:00] But, Lord, you are the God who has stooped down to reveal yourself to us, to bring us into that relationship with you. For that very purpose, you made us. Not that we should simply live and exist and then die, but you made us to know you, to enjoy you.
[3:16] You made us for fellowship and friendship with yourself. You made us that we might be like you, for you made humanity in your image.
[3:27] Gave us some of your characteristics. You gave us, oh Lord, the ability to love. You gave us, oh Lord, the ability to choose, to communicate, to be artistic and creative.
[3:38] You gave us that life-fulfilling soul. You gave us that spiritual aspect of our nature, oh Lord, which is more than just the flesh and blood and bones.
[3:50] We are more than these things. We know it. And the soul that you gave us, the spirit you gave us, you gave us that it might live forever with you. But, oh Lord, we know that sin has brought death to our souls.
[4:04] Sin has cut us off from you. Sin has been our choice to rebel against you and to do what we think is right rather than what you think. We have damaged and broken that relationship.
[4:17] But, oh Lord, we thank you that in Jesus you have repaired and put it right and made it better than it ever was before. Thank you that in Jesus, your son, the very person of God himself who took on our humanity, who lived amongst us, who died for us and bore the penalty for our sin.
[4:36] Thank you that in Jesus we are restored, reconciled, brought back into that life-giving and life-fulfilling relationship with you.
[4:46] Not through our own works or goodness, not through anything that we can do, but only through what he has done and through us trusting him and asking him to put things right.
[4:59] Oh Lord, we thank you that, oh Lord our God, we are here this morning because that's what you've done for so many of us. You've put the things right that were wrong. You've forgiven us our sins. You've filled us with life everlasting.
[5:11] You've made us your children who are able to call upon you as our Father. Oh Lord, we pray that this morning as we sing your praises, as we think about what you've done for us and how you've worked in the lives of others, so we pray that you would apply your word to our lives, that we may live in the light of your truth and in the power of your Holy Spirit, that we might walk in obedience and love for you every moment of our lives, that Lord we might bring glory and praise to you, the great and awesome God.
[5:48] And when, Lord, it's your time to call us home to yourself in heaven, we pray, oh Lord, that we might be ready and prepared for that day. So Lord, be with us now and grant us your help, we ask in Jesus' name.
[6:04] Amen. Amen. Began studying Luke, Luke's Gospel, and we're going to turn there again to Chapter 1. And if you have the Church Bible, one of the Red Bibles, that's page 1025.
[6:17] Page 1025 in Luke and Chapter 1. Last Sunday we looked at Luke's introduction, the first four verses, and today we're going to read that and read through to verse 25.
[6:33] So Luke Chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, reading through to verse 25. Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word.
[6:56] With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught.
[7:13] In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife, Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron.
[7:26] Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless, because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
[7:40] 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.
[7:53] And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshippers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
[8:06] 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.
[8:20] 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.
[8:35] 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.
[8:52] Zechariah asked the angel, How can I be sure of this? I am old, and my wife is well on in years. The angel said to him, I am Gabriel.
[9:05] 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.
[9:22] Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them, but remained unable to speak.
[9:36] When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and for five months remained in seclusion. The Lord has done this for me, she said.
[9:49] In these days he has shown his favor, and taken away my disgrace among the people. Please turn back to Luke and chapter 1, where we read just a little while ago, and the first 25 verses.
[10:11] I wonder, where do you start? Where do you begin? Do you look out for your address book?
[10:23] Do you go up into the loft to find the tree? Do you gather together all the ingredients for the cake? Talking about preparing for Christmas.
[10:36] How early in the year does your mind begin to think about getting ready for Christmas? And what's the first thing that you do? The first thing that you start with?
[10:51] Luke, in his gospel, tells us that he has written an orderly account of how God fulfilled his promises, and he begins with God's preparation for Christmas Day, the birth of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[11:09] Luke tells us here in verse 3, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning. And he meant it when he said the beginning.
[11:22] He doesn't start at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, which is where Luke starts. He doesn't even begin with his birth. He doesn't even go back as far as the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ.
[11:34] He goes back even further to the beginning. He goes back to the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, the man who God was to send to prepare the way for the coming of his Son, who was the Lord.
[11:50] Why does Luke begin so far back? Why does he stretch back these 18 months or so before the birth of Jesus even? Because this is the point where Luke sees God beginning to fulfill his plan.
[12:06] This is the beginning of God working in extraordinary ways to bring into being his great plan of salvation and rescue. As we thought last Sunday morning, Luke views the historical account of Jesus' life as recording what was fulfilled among us.
[12:25] See there in verse 1, many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us. Luke recognizes that the promises of God were being brought into being in the events relating to the life of Jesus, his birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection.
[12:46] We're to see in the Luke's Gospel and in God's Word here that this is God fulfilling his promises. This is God accomplishing his plan.
[12:56] This is God at work in his world. And what has taken place has been the fulfillment of what God promised again and again throughout the Old Testament. This is not some strange happening out of the blue.
[13:12] Something that God had spoken about, pointed to, promised, ever since really the beginning of creation. But I don't want us to look necessarily at those promises at this point.
[13:25] But I want us to see how already from the start of Luke's Gospel we can see patterns of how God works. We can see his fingerprints, as it were, in the actions of the past.
[13:41] Just think for a moment. Who do Zachariah and Elizabeth remind you of in the early parts of the Bar-e-Bow? An elderly couple, we're told here, very old, who could not have children.
[13:59] Who does that sound like? I'll give you a chance. Abraham and Sarah. Absolutely. Very old. Unable to have children. God had done it before.
[14:12] He's doing it again. A son of promise. Here's a bit more of a tricky question. What about a childless couple who has sent an angel to tell them that they are going to have a child?
[14:31] Any idea? Samson's parents. Absolutely. Well done. We don't know his mum's name, though she's the one that the angel comes and speaks to. The father's name was Manoah.
[14:42] And when we read about the promise, the angel tells the woman, she's not to drink fermented wine. Just like the echo here. He will be great in the sight of the Lord, never to drink wine or fermented.
[14:55] Samson was a great deliverer that God sent. John was to be one who would turn the people back to the Lord. And so when we read Luke and these first chapters, and as they will be read in the coming weeks in nativity plays and in church services and all sorts of things around the country and around the world, to our modern ears, what takes place in verses 5 to 25 is at the least very unlikely, isn't it?
[15:24] An angel. Oh, it's a nice nativity story. People who are in there, well, what is very old? I'll leave that to you to decide. Some of you would say very old must be 100.
[15:36] Some of us are a bit younger, maybe 60. Very old. To our modern ears, it appears unlikely at the very least, but to Luke's readers and to those who are familiar with the Old Testament, it sounds just in keeping with what we know God does, in keeping with how he works.
[15:57] It sounds perfectly as if God was doing it. I don't know if you saw on the news a few weeks ago a painting by Leonardo da Vinci was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million.
[16:14] Okay, not $450 or $4 million, $450 million. Well, how did they know it was a da Vinci painting? Because it was something that had only just been recently discovered.
[16:25] Well, because they'd spent time looking at the painting and comparing it with the works of da Vinci that they knew were his. was the style his, were the paints that he used the same, were the brushstrokes like da Vinci's brushstrokes.
[16:39] They all pointed to the unique style of the master. And so the handiwork of God is recognizable here in Luke.
[16:52] God's works always bear his autograph, his style, his similarities. Because God always acts in keeping with his character. God always works in keeping with who he is.
[17:06] As we saw at the very beginning of our series, I am the Lord, I do not change. When somebody does something peculiar, something which they wouldn't normally do, we might say something like this, well, that was very out of character.
[17:22] character, well, God doesn't act out of character. He acts in character. And so here at the beginning of God's work, we can put it in the New Testament, in the coming of his son, the giving of the saviour, we can immediately tell that this is in keeping with God's character.
[17:40] This is in keeping with what he's done before in the way that he works. That's what Luke wants us to know, isn't it? That's what Luke wants Theophilus to get hold of.
[17:50] That what happened amongst us, what was taking place in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, was not just some peculiar, strange event, it was exactly what God had said he would do.
[18:03] And in keeping with the way he's worked before, sending a saviour. And so, how does God work? Well, he keeps his promises.
[18:14] God always works in accordance with what he's promised. That's what we're finding here. What God said he will do, he does. We picked up on this a little bit last week, very briefly, didn't we?
[18:28] If you turn over the page to chapter one and verse 55, at the end of Mary's song, she says, just as he, that's God, promised our ancestors.
[18:39] Then on the next page, chapter one, verse 70, in Zechariah's song, as he said through his holy prophets of long ago, they're talking about the events that are taking place, the coming of John or the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the Savior, and they're saying, this is what God promised us.
[18:56] This is what God said to the prophets. This is not, this is not some new thing. God has already told us what's going to happen. That's the amazing thing about our God. He's a God who reveals his will to his people.
[19:11] Remember when he was, the Lord came down and he saw in Genesis Sodom and Gomorrah and he says to, says to himself, if I can put it that way, shall I keep this back from Abraham?
[19:25] Shouldn't I tell him what I'm going to do? And he goes and tells him what he's going to do. And so it is, God knows that in our human nature there's always that inquisitiveness.
[19:37] We want to know what's going to happen in the future. We want to know what's further down the line. That's not wrong. It's not wrong at all to want to know the future.
[19:49] It's not wrong at all to want to know what is going to happen, where things are leading. That's why there's a lot of speculation, isn't there? Speculation about Brexit.
[19:59] What will we the country like? What will business be like? What will industry be like? And speculation about the finances of the nation and so on and so forth. The trouble is that as usual, because we are sinful, rebellious people, we haven't turned to the Lord our God and to his promises to find out the future, but we've turned to anyone or anything else that claims to be able to tell us the future.
[20:27] And so we find people turning to tarot card readers and palm readers and opening their newspaper to read the horoscope in some attempt to find peace and hope for the future.
[20:39] But all that are offered in these things are vague and empty generalizations, wishes that provide a moment's satisfaction that everything will turn out all right in the end.
[20:53] Nothing solid. Nothing certain. The God that we find here at work in Luke's Gospel, the God who comes to Zachariah and Elizabeth and tells them the future, is a God who knows everything.
[21:08] He is omniscient. He knows it all. He knows everything. And he alone knows the future. This is what he said to Isaiah, one of the prophets in chapter 46.
[21:21] I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is no one like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
[21:32] I say, my purpose will stand and I will do all that I please. The wonderful thing is this, that God knows the future and we can trust him with the future but more than that, again, God has revealed to us the future.
[21:48] That's what's happening in Luke. God is doing what he said he would do. God is bringing about what he promised and that isn't any different for us. God actually chooses to share with us his future plans.
[22:03] Do you know that? God chooses to tell us what he's going to be doing in the days to come. That's why we have in the New Testament those words of our Lord Jesus particularly pointing to his second coming.
[22:16] That's why we have in the words of our Lord Jesus declarations about what will happen to this world. We go on to the apostle Paul and the resurrection of the living and the dead.
[22:27] We go to Peter and the return of Christ and how this world itself will be rolled up and be destroyed and a new heaven and a new earth. God wants us to take him seriously when he promises a day of judgment.
[22:44] Why has he told us that there's a day of judgment? Why has he told us there is a day when we shall all stand before God and be judged to how we shall live? Why has he told us the reality that there is a hell to be escaped from but is a certain end for all who will not receive his salvation?
[23:00] He's told us this future because he wants men and women and he wants us to turn to him and be saved because he wants us to be prepared for that day.
[23:11] He hasn't kept it like a secret. When the atomic bombs were dropped upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan at the very end of the Second World War there was no warning.
[23:27] the Americans didn't send a warning and say to Japan if you don't we're going to send and drop atomic bombs upon you and destroy thousands and thousands of lives.
[23:40] Just did it. Here's a merciful God. Here's a God of such mercy and grace and such loving kindness. Here's a God who says look destruction is coming, death is coming, hell is coming.
[23:54] And I'm telling you these things because of my love and mercy and grace because I've provided a way for salvation for you. Don't go on ignoring my warnings.
[24:10] Here's what God says through Ezekiel the prophet in chapter 33. As surely as I live declares the sovereign Lord I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that they turn from their ways and live.
[24:22] turn, turn from your evil ways. Why will you die? Do you get that sense of the pleading heart of God? Isn't there something that we need to reflect ourselves dear friends?
[24:40] People that we meet with day by day, the people we rub shoulders with day by day. Yes we want to tell them of the love of God and we do and we tell them of Christ's coming to be the saviour but we've got to tell them, we've got to warn them.
[24:56] God says this will happen and God is not a liar and God has promised these things because his desire is that we should turn, turn.
[25:07] Why will you die? I related on, this isn't about me necessarily but I had some Jehovah's Witnesses come to the door on Tuesday or Wednesday I think it was Wednesday maybe just before I came out to the meeting and spoke with them for some time about Christ and about various things and at the end they realised that they weren't going to get me to go to their services and I said before you go I've got to tell you this I've got to warn you that if you trust in the religion that you have that you will be lost that there's no salvation for you there's no life for you in that it's an empty it's a dead religion it's a man made religion it's not God's salvation I just felt I had to warn them I had to tell them I didn't want to say it in an arrogant way I didn't want to say it in a pompousous sort of way but I felt
[26:07] I can't let you go without saying to you this is serious but God hasn't just told us the future that there is a hell this is for the Christian he's told us the heavenly joy that is to come as well he's told us that there is something far greater so far more wonderful than we've ever imagined therefore us as believers when Christ comes again or when we pass from this world he's told us that all who trust in him should be excited about the future all that trust in him have a wonderful prospect ahead so that we might be encouraged and helped and strengthened that when things are tough and when life is hard that's not the end this is not all there is there is something wonderful which he has given us and so we have the promises of Jesus again and again here's John in chapter 14 do not let your hearts be troubled here they were the disciples going through a real heartache Jesus had said to them tomorrow I'm going to die and you're going to be without me and they were really really finding it hard to accept he says in the midst of that worry and anxiety and concern let me give you this promise let me give you this assurance you believe in God believe in me also my father's house has many rooms if it were not so I would I have told you
[27:28] I'm going there to prepare a place for you he's told us dear Christians what the future is for us the future is for us glory the future is for us joy the future is for us life it's not just same old same old it's not just pop your clogs and buried in the ground and the worms eat you it's not that there is life beyond this life do you know the future do you know your future let me say God has not kept it from you God has not hidden it away God's not kept it a secret he's made the future known to you now what are you going to do about it can you avoid such a warning Luke is telling this very verses that we're reading here in Luke are telling us
[28:32] God keeps his word promised it doing it he said it it will happen nothing in heaven earth or hell is going to stop him it's either death or it's life it's either it's hell or it's heaven as if to press home further this point Luke tells us about the means that God uses to fulfill his promises in this incident with Zechariah and Elizabeth how God keeps his word is a wonderful encouragement for us how God keeps his word is a source of immense delight for us a strengthening of our faith particularly when we're in situations where we feel as if everything is going contrary to God's plan especially when we look at the world around about us and as far as we can tell with our own eyesight everything is opposed to
[29:37] God's plan everything is working contrary to what God wants how on earth will God fulfill his promises to bring us into salvation how will he fulfill his promises to build his church and to save those for whom Christ died how on earth will he keep those promises what we see here the means that God uses to bring about his promises God is consistent in how he works therefore what he does here is how he works now see this is the thing we've got to get hold of dear friends the Bible is one book about one God doing one work our salvation and the way he does it is the way he always does it the principles he lays out and therefore if we are looking and wanting and desiring and hoping in the promises of God for our day and generation that men and women will be saved that people will be brought to faith that the church will grow not just this local church I'm talking about the church Jesus
[30:38] Christ then we need to see how God will do it what's he going to do how is he going to fulfill it well let's just look briefly he works through his people God works through his people verse 6 both of them that's Zachariah and Elizabeth were righteous in the sight of God observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly what does that mean it doesn't mean they were sinless perfect people who never got it wrong we know that because later on we find unbelief in the heart of Zachariah it does mean this they knew God they were his people they were those who trusted in his promises they were those who had relationship with the living God and that's the case isn't it God works through his church God works through his people God works through them and always has done look all the way through the Old Testament when you look at people like Abraham and Moses and David and Joshua and Samuel who were they they were people in a relationship with God and God worked through them to accomplish and fulfill his plans for his people now the wonderful thing is that God isn't restricted to working through his people in fact
[31:56] God uses those who don't even know him and are in opposition to him to fulfill his purposes there's a wonderful episode in the beginning of Ezra where the people of God have been taken into exile and God we're told moves the heart of a pagan unbelieving king called Cyrus to set the people free so they can return to the promised land why are they returning to the promised land because God had promised them that after 70 years in exile he would send them back and he uses a pagan king to do it don't think dear friends that President Bush or Prime Minister May or Angela Merkel or any of these world leaders are somehow able to stop and prevent the purposes of God from being fulfilled without being rude they're in his hands they're puppets in his hands Proverbs tells us the heart of the king is in the hand of God he can move it and steer it and guide it and he does in spite of their wickedness in spite of their rejection of him in spite of their disobedience
[33:01] God is at work he uses every person to accomplish his will but he works through his people that means you it means me whoever we are if we are Christians this morning if we are believers if we're in relationship with the living God then God works through us to accomplish his plan and will and desire in this world he works through prayer what does the angel say to Zachariah don't be afraid Zachariah your prayer has been heard clearly Zachariah and Elizabeth were people of prayer they prayed for a son they asked God for children and what happened they were answered by the Lord well that makes sense doesn't it any relationship has to have communication whether it's a marriage or friendship or partnership at work it can't exist no relationship can exist without communication and so for the
[34:02] Christian for the believer there is communication there is prayer God works through the prayers of his people here's a great mystery isn't it here's a great mind blowing universe expanding mystery how on earth is it that we can explain God has a plan which must be fulfilled and will be fulfilled yet he works for the prayers of his people to fulfill it how can that be our prayers don't change God's plan but our prayers are answered by God in keeping with his plan the simple fact is this when God's people pray God's promises are brought to life are we praying are we praying Lord you have promised you have said I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail about it Lord build your church build your church
[35:05] Lord you have promised that in heaven there shall be a number a multitude that no one can count worshipping and praising you for every tribe and tongue and nation under heaven Lord please save men and women in Papua New Guinea please save through the work of the mission please save here in Whitby please save those that we're longing for to come to Christ we're asking you to fulfill your plan and your promises and bring these people to faith are we really praying believing that God answers prayer well he does he works through prayer and he uses prayer to fulfill his plans thirdly we see here in this passage that God works through his people's powerlessness God is not limited by the weakness of his people as if our failings can somehow upset the apple cart as if somehow our frailty and our sins can prevent the Lord from bringing his promises to life that's the wonderful
[36:06] God we have never mind the age of Elizabeth and and Zachariah and her being infertile never mind that those disabilities have never stopped God have they before with Abraham and others that we thought about but what about verse 18 how can I be sure of this I'm an old man and my life is well on in years what is that well Gabriel accuses Zachariah rightly of unbelief and now you will not speak now you will be silent verse 20 and not able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe ah unbelief that must hold up the work of God the unbelief and the doubts of his people must stop God from being able to work no they don't Zachariah's unbelief in what God had promised did not scupper his plans in the slightest though it did cause Zachariah a lot of problems for nine months he couldn't have an argument with
[37:12] Elizabeth could he she had she had it all her own way for nine months and poor Zachariah just had to listen he couldn't say anything serves him right doesn't it who lost out because of unbelief did God did God's plans did his promises fail none of those things the ones who missed out the one who lost out was Zachariah didn't hold up God didn't stop God and here we have a world don't we in which we live where men and women and people of great renown and so on tell us God is dead and God doesn't exist and God's word is no relevance and who think that somehow by their unbelief and their attitude against God and their atheism that they can stop God's will being accomplished they can stop the church growing they can stop people trusting in Christ for whom Christ died they can't it's no wonder Psalm 20 and Psalm 2 tells us the one enthroned in heaven laughs the Lord scoffs at them people who stand up against God and shake their fist at God and say God we are not going to let you have your way in our lives
[38:25] God just laughs who do you think you are do you really think that you have the power to prevent me from working in the hearts and lives of the people that I've set my love upon to save do you really think that you can stop my purposes from being accomplished that you're somehow mighty than I am no God in heaven laughs what about you this morning have you set up in your heart God you're not going to have me I'm not going to become a Christian I'm not going to bow the knee to Jesus I'm going to live my life the way I want to live I know the future I have for myself I've got it all planned out my retirement where I'm going to be doing and living and how I'm going to manage I've got it all settled and you are not part of my life God let me say this to you
[39:28] God's promises never fail God's purposes cannot be thwarted he will have you if he wants to he will save you and he will turn you to himself no matter how much you set yourself up against him but be very careful because he has not published that warning in vain that unless we trust in Christ we are eternally damned one last very brief closing point verse 25 God always works to produce his people's praise the end result of all that God has promised the end result of all that
[40:30] God has planned the end result of all his fulfilment of those promises is the praise of his people and the joy of his people can you get the drift here in verse 25 of Elizabeth as she is pregnant for five months the Lord has done this for me there's a joy isn't it there's absolute delight the Lord has done it in these days he shown his favour the same word as grace taken away my disgrace amongst the people he's done a wonderful thing why does God do these things why has he made these promises for us why does he reveal to us the future why is he working to fulfil these plans he's got one purpose and end his glory and our joy his praise and our delight our happiness 1 John chapter 2 verse 25 this is what
[41:32] God has promised us eternal life eternal life dear friends is this your God the promise keeping the purpose fulfilling the praise drawing is my response in the things that God has done in my life like that of Elizabeth the Lord's done this for me for me and I'm going to praise him all my days now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or even imagine according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout every generation now tomorrow forever and ever amen to