THE GOSPEL OF
CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
(Chapters 1-6)
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Timothy Sparks and Ben Bailey.
Timothy Sparks:
“And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Lk. 1:6). I’m Timothy Sparks.
Ben Bailey:
And I’m Ben Bailey. Welcome to our study of the Book of Luke. This broadcast is brought to you by individuals and congregations of the churches of Christ. We hope you will visit the churches of Christ in your area, and let them know how much you appreciate their support of this broadcast. If you have a Bible question or a spiritual concern, they would be happy to help you with it. If you would like a Bible study, they also would be glad to assist you with that as well. We, too, would like to be of service if we can. Visit us on our website at www.thegospelofchrist.com, where we have streaming audio and video lessons of our broadcasts. You may download these and use them to assist you in your study of God’s Word. We also are making available CDs of these broadcasts, as well as VHS and DVDs. We will be glad to send any of these to you completely free of charge. We also would be glad to send you a Bible correspondence course. This is a course that you can take in your spare time. You receive it by mail, and when you complete one lesson, you can return it to us for grading. We then will send you that lesson (graded), along with the next lesson, and so on. At the end of the course, you will receive a “Certificate of Completion.” We believe this could prove very beneficial to you in your study of God’s Word.
As we begin the Book of Luke, we are introduced to John the Immerser. It might be said of John that he had a “head start” of sorts. Why is that the case?
Timothy Sparks:
It’s because of his parents. Zacharias and Elizabeth were “both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Lk. 1:6). So, John got a good head start in life. Luke actually begins his Gospel by pointing out that he has researched what he’s about to write, and that he’s going to set it out in an orderly fashion. His first topic is John as the forerunner of Christ.
Ben Bailey:
John’s work was prophesied in Isaiah 40:3ff., where it is said that there would come a voice “crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.’” When we think of all the good that John did, we must realize that if he had not had godly parents who acted in accordance with God’s will, and taught John to do likewise, he could not have accomplished everything he did on behalf of the Lord and His kingdom. His parents gave him a good head start. Parents, please listen very carefully. The impact you can have on your children, and thus on their lives in the church (and for eternity), is inestimable. You therefore must be very careful to teach your children to live according to God’s inspired Word. As far back as the Book of Deuteronomy, the training and teaching of children is stressed. Moses wrote:
“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:6-9).
Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” In Acts 16, we learn of another young man who received a good head start on his spiritual life because of his family situation.
Timothy Sparks:
Yes. His name was Timothy—a name that means “dear to God” or “an honor to God.” We learn from Acts 16 that his mother was a believer, but that his father was an unbelieving Gentile. In 2 Timothy 1:5, the apostle Paul referred to the impact that Timothy’s mother and grandmother had on him as a young man: “The unfeigned faith that is in thee; which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and, I am persuaded, in thee also.” We know that Timothy was told by the apostle Paul, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:14-15). Parents must use the inspired Word of God to “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). If parents fail to teach their children properly, they can end up leading them into eternal destruction. The influence of parents is so very important, because what they write on the heart of a child will be permanent and indelible, and cannot be washed away. Zacharias and Elizabeth were godly parents who were going to fit into God’s eternal plan to save humankind.
Ben Bailey:
Later in Luke 1 (vss. 27ff.), we are introduced to Mary. Here, she is informed that she will bear a son, and she is told about the role He will have in the scheme of redemption.
“The angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end’” (Lk. 1:27-33).
There
can be no doubt that this is a fulfillment of the prophecy of 2 Samuel 7:12-13 where the Lord said to King David, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest
with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I
will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My
name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” The same type of
language is used in the prophecy in 2 Samuel that we find in Luke 1. But notice how all of this harks back to
Genesis 3. Adam and Eve fall from sin. Yet in Genesis 3:15 we read, “I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed
and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Thus,
God kept His word. He foretold in
Genesis 3 that “someone was coming” Who would defeat the devil.
Samuel told of a kingdom that would last forever. And Luke used the same language
to tell Mary that her son was the One Who would fulfill all of these things.
From Adam and Eve, down through David, and ending eventually in Christ, God
kept His word to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, and made a plan that would save
each and every one of us. Christ is the fullfillment of the scheme of
redemption. Without Him in our lives, there is no hope, for He is the only hope
we have of salvation as we live the Christian life. God did what He said He
would do; now, we have to do our part.
Timothy Sparks:
In Luke 1:38, we hear Mary say to the angel, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” What a wonderful attitude Mary expressed. We, too, should have such an attitude—the attitude of allowing God to have His way with us. As the angel said to Mary, “With God nothing will be impossible” (vs. 37). Mary accepted the word of the Lord as given to her through the angel, and was willing to comply with God’s will. As we continue through the chapter, we find the following:
“Now Mary arose in those
days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of
Ben Bailey:
In the latter portion of the first chapter of Luke (vss. 76-80), Luke returns to a discussion of John and what he was sent to do. John was to be called “the prophet of the Highest,” and was to “go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” John’s job, therefore, was not to point people to himself, but to prepare the way of Christ and point people toward Him. Thus, John’s work was vitally important in the grand scheme of things. He was sent to help people come to a knowledge of God, to prepare the way of salvation, and to prepare people for the peace that comes only through obedience to Christ. John’s work, and the work of a modern-day preacher, are quite similar. While it’s true that preachers today don’t “go before” Christ to prepare the way, we nevertheless present the message that is intended to point others not to ourselves, but instead toward Jesus Christ. That ought to be the task of every Christian—to serve as a signpost that points the way to Christ so that people can have salvation, and so they can have the joy and peace that comes only through Jesus. How thankful we ought to be for John. We ought to imitate his example in order to try to lead others to Christ.
Timothy Sparks:
As the Book of Luke continues, we encounter the birth of Jesus. Interestingly, a group of shepherds is informed by an angel of the Lord about Christ’s birth.
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living
out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the
Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there
is born to you this day in the city of
Thus, from Luke 2 we learn about a pronouncement of peace. The Old
Testament prophesied of just such a peace. In Genesis 49:10, we read, “The
scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a
lawgiver from between his feet, until
Ben Bailey:
One of the greatest things about being a Christian is having the peace that comes from knowing we are right with God. Our knowledge is not based on feelings or emotions, but on the fact that you have done what the Bible says to do to be saved. Surely, one of the greatest blessings that can come to the Christian is the peace of knowing that this is what the Bible says I need to do to be right with God, and knowing that we have done what the Scriptures tell us to do. The words of mere men do not always bring peace. Men may say great and important things, but their promises and assertions do not always turn out to be true. However, we can always take solace in God’s Word because it is the Gospel of peace. Jesus is the only way to true peace in this life.
Luke 2 also tells us about a trip that Jesus and
His parents made to
Timothy Sparks:
The events surrounding Jesus’ discussion with the teachers of the law indicate that He was quite astute at a very young age. Parents today need to discipline their children, and help them focus at an early age.
Luke 3 tells us about the work of John, who is
preparing the way for Christ. We learn from verse 3 that John “went into
all the region around the
Ben Bailey:
God is indeed an impartial God. He is not concerned with the color of your skin, your race, or how much money you do or do not have. There is, however, one thing about which God is very concerned—is your heart right? From Luke 3:7-8 we learn that there were some people whom God would not accept. His refusal to accept these people wasn’t based on anything external (such as race or nationality). Rather, it was based on their “heart problem.” John said to them: “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.” From Matthew 3, we learn that these people were the “religious elite” of the day (like the Pharisees) who felt themselves to be “high up on the religious scale.” They wanted to do what everyone else was doing and be baptized of John. But they did not want to change their lives. There is an important principle here about God’s plan of salvation and how He wants our hearts to be. Joel 2:13 says, “So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” The Jews were experts at wearing sackcloth and ashes, or tearing their outer garments, as a show of alleged piety. Joel’s point, however, was that it wasn’t the tearing of garments that really mattered. Instead, the change had to be an inner change. John wasn’t trying to be unkind to the Pharisees. Rather, he was trying to get across to them the fact that they had to change both their hearts and their lives. This is why he urged them to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” From this, we learn a valuable lesson about repentance. It’s not just crying or saying “I’m sorry.” According to Luke 3:8, we have to do something if we truly repent.
Timothy Sparks:
When we repent, we change our mind and our way of thinking. In biblical terminology, we change our heart. Repentance is first and foremost a decision to no longer do what we’ve been doing wrong. I will no longer serve Satan. Instead, I will hear God’s Word, and I will do what it says. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 that godly sorrow produces repentance. It’s not the type of action we see when Judas went out and hanged himself after betraying Christ. Rather, it’s the type of action we see in Peter when he went out and wept bitterly after denying Christ three times. Peter’s repentance led to a change of mind, which ultimately led to a change in his actions and a change in his life. So, yes, John used some fairly harsh words. But he did so in order to keep people from being lost. Luke 3 shows us that John performed his function well as Christ’s forerunner.
Ben Bailey:
While John was busy trying to prepare the way of the Lord, Satan was likewise busy trying to destroy that way. Luke 4 records the
account of Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Christ was without
food and water, and Satan used this physical need on the part of the Lord to tempt
Him. Luke 4:3-4 states, “The devil said to Him, ‘If You are
the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’” Satan also tempted Christ in other ways, including trying to convince Jesus to worship
the devil. Yet as every temptation came, Jesus responded with “It is written…,” “It is
written…,” “It is written….” In Luke 4:4, we find what is
probably the theme statement of the Book of Luke: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word of God.’” How did Jesus overcome
Satan’s temptations? He did it
by appealing to God’s Word. He knew that Word so well that He could put it into
action in His everyday life. The psalmist said, “How can a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your
word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let
me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that
I might not sin against You!” (Psa. 119:9-11). The account in Luke 4 provides a valuable
lesson about how to
defeat Satan via the Scriptures.
Timothy Sparks:
As the fourth chapter of the Book of Luke comes to a close, we find
Jesus saying, “I must preach the
“Christ said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.’ And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’” (vss. 4-8).
By His actions, Jesus had made it clear to His disciples that He was indeed the Lord—the Messiah. Notice that Peter was reluctant to throw out the nets again, yet he said, “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” When we have the attitude that we, too, will do whatever the Lord says, then we will be blessed. We must trust in what God has said. In short, we must have faith.
Ben Bailey:
In Luke 6, Jesus teaches on practical things that we need to do. For
example, in verse 38 He says, “Give, and it will be given to you:
good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be
put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be
measured back to you.” This isn’t speaking just about finances. There are other
ways we can give.
In fact, we must first give ourselves to the Lord (2 Cor. 8). Then we will
want to give our
means. God wants us to give our lives to Christ. In Luke 9:23, Christ said:
“If anyone
desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Then, from Luke 6:45-46, we learn where good
comes from. “A good man out of the good
treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil
man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out
of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks” (vs. 45). This
is actually a teaching about our hearts. If we want to do right, we first must
fix our hearts and minds.
We are concerned about your soul. We want you to go to Heaven so you can live with God throughout all eternity. Maybe you weren’t blessed with parents like John the Immerser. Even so, you can still become a Christian. As long as you are alive, it’s never too late. One of the great blessings of Christianity is that it affords us a second chance. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). So what must a person do to become a Christian? Romans 10:17 tells us that we first must hear the Word of God, and that is the Word of God that produces faith. Then, we must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus said in John 8:24, “Unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.” Thus, we must believe. But according to James 2:24, belief alone isn’t enough. We must combine our belief with other biblical teaching as well. We also must repent. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Repenting means that we change our will and change our ways. When we repent, we become a different person. Then, we learn in Romans 10:9-10 that we must confess with our mouth that Jesus is God’s Son. Jesus emphasized this fact in Matthew 10:32-33. But we also must be baptized for the remission of our sins. Jesus said, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).
Today, it is our hope
and prayer that you will continue in your study of the Word of God. Do
not take our word on any of this, but search the Bible. And if the things we
are saying are true, they are true because God said them, not because we said
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Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST is brought to you by loving, caring members of the church of Christ. The McLish Avenue church of Christ in Ardmore, Oklahoma, oversees this evangelistic effort. For a free CD or DVD of today’s broadcast, please write to:
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1. Why was John the Immerser sent in advance of Christ’s earthly ministry?
2. We learn from Acts 16 that Timothy had a mother who was a believer, but a father who was an unbeliever. There was a third person in Timothy’s life who, along with his mother, had a positive impact on this young man. Who was this person?
3. What one thing can be said to have given John the Immerses a “head start” in life?
4. There is a prophecy in the Old Testament Book of 2 Samuel (7:12-13). What, or who, is the prophecy about?
5. When Mary was told that she was to be the mother of Jesus, what was her response? What is the significance of that response for us today?
6. Is the following statement true or false? “John’s baptism was for the remission of sins.”
7. In the Old Testament Book of Genesis, we learn of someone called “Shiloh.” What does the name Shiloh mean? To whom is Genesis 49:10 referring?
8. When the angel announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds, he mentioned “peace on earth.” What was the peace to which the angel referred? Back up your answer with Scripture.
9. What did Jesus mean when He told His parents: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Lk. 2:49)?
10. Luke 3:6 states that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” To whom does the phrase “all flesh” refer?
11. Luke 3:7-8 discusses certain people who were not acceptable to God. What made them “not acceptable”?
12. Joel 2:13 says, “Rend your heart, and not your garments.” What was the prophet’s point?
13. Explain why the Pharisees were willing to be baptized by John, and why John rebuked them.
14. In light of the definition of true repentance discussed in this lesson, explain the difference between the actions of Judas and Peter after each of them sinned.
15. Jesus said in Luke 4:43 that He had to “preach the kingdom of God in other cities also.” Why did He say that?
16. Jesus commanded His disciples, while they were fishing, to throw their nets back into the sea one last time. They didn’t see the need to do so, but Peter said, “Nevertheless, at Your word, I will let down the net.” How does Peter’s statement apply to us today?
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST,