What Now?

If you have your Bible, turn to Luke chapter 1. I figured that so many of you weren't here when we started Luke, that we'd go back and do it again. That's not true. Oh, gee, I had a lot of fun with that this week with my kids. But anyway, the question is, after we have studied Luke's gospel, what now? What happens now? What do you do? You know, it's like when you come and you hear a sermon or you read a passage of Scripture, the question always is, what do you do now? And that's the way it should be for all of us.

And that's a question we must ask and answer every single time the Word of God is opened. Because it's about application. And taking God's Word and applying it to my life, that I can do more than just read a story about the Christ or read a situation that took place in Scripture. But I can actually say, okay, this is what took place, this is what God says, now this is what I now need to do.

And so I want to talk to you today about what it is you do now. Having been many years in the gospel of Luke, what have you learned and what are you going to do about what you learned? So let me give you some principles that all of us can live by based on, not just Luke's gospel, but every time we read the Word of God, things that should happen in our lives.

But in particular, Luke's gospel. Number one, we should continually praise His name. That's how the book ends, right? In Luke chapter 24, the Bible tells us that they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God. Our lives should be marked by continual praise. Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 34, verse number one.

His praise should continually be in my mouth. And what marked the apostles was the fact that that's exactly what took place. All you have to do is read the book of Acts. And so as we look at our lives, having studied the life of Christ for nine years, we should live a life of continual praise.

Why? Well, number one, because praise reveals my priority. It reveals my priority. Psalm 50, verse number 23 says, God says whenever you offer praise, you magnify my name.

You put me on display. You glorify me. And so when I give praise to God, it reveals my priority to put God on display, no matter what the situation, no matter what the circumstance. The Bible says in Hebrews 13, verse number five, that we are to continually offer up a sacrifice of praise.

And the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse number 18, that we are to give thanks to God, praise to his name in all things, for this is the will of God concerning you.

This is God's will for your life. And don't you want to do God's will? Don't you want to honor the Lord? Don't you want to magnify his name? And when you give praise to God, when you sing of his praises, when you sing of his majesty, when you just more than just say praise the Lord, it's an attitude of worship to God where you put him on display. It reveals my priority. Number two, not only does it reveal my priority, but it reflects my spirituality.

Did you know that the number one indicator of your spiritual maturity is your ability to praise God in every situation and for all things?

So it reflects my spirituality. It says over in Colossians chapter two, verse number six, these words, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude. Because you have been instructed in your faith, because you have been built up in your faith, the result of that is overflowing gratitude. And you see, when you are growing and you walk with the Lord, you have a life filled with praise, a life filled with thanksgiving because you've recognized what God has done.

And that's why these men, having been instructed by the Lord, would go back and continually offer praise to God because they had grown so much spiritually. They had grown in their walk with the Lord. And that's why over in 1 Thessalonians chapter five, these words are spoken in verse number 18. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

When you are controlled by the Spirit of God, when you are dominated by God's Spirit, when you are filled with God's Spirit, the result is that you give thanks to God. So you can indicate very clearly where you are spiritually by the attitude of praise and thanksgiving you give to God every single day. And what happens now as a result of our study of Luke, which is basically a study of the life of Christ, from his birth to his death, to his resurrection to his ascension, is that there should be praise in our hearts to God.

And therefore, when I give praise to God, not only does it reveal my priority in life, but it reflects my spirituality. It reflects where I stand with God. We should be a people that are marked by our praise. And then, not only that, but it recognizes his majesty. When you give praise to God, it recognizes his majesty. Remember way back in the book of Exodus, after Israel had just gone through the Red Sea, there was a song that was sung. It's called the Song of Moses. And you read Revelation 15, you realize that the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb are the exact same song.

They're songs of deliverance. It's what God's people do in recognition of his majesty, recognition of his royalty, recognition of his power. And they sing praises to God. And the nation of Israel got together, and it says, Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, Exodus 15, verse number 1, I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted, the horse and its rider. He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my Father's God, and I will extol him.

The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. And on and on it goes about the majesty of Almighty God. And then when you come back to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 15, Revelation 15, it says this, And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name standing on the sea of glass, holding the harps of God, and they sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty.

Righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou alone art holy, for all the nations will come and worship before thee, and for thy righteous acts have been revealed. You see, the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb are the exact same song. It's a song of deliverance. It's a song of redemption. It's a song about a mighty warrior who rules the world. And so when you give praise to God, you give it in recognition of his majesty.

And those who give praise to God are saying, I recognize that my God is the majestic God of the universe who rules over all, and all of his providence is so clearly displayed, and I want to give praise to his name. That's what we do. We give praise to his name. We continually praise him. And we do that because it reveals our priority. It reflects my spirituality. It recognizes his majesty. And praise is that which always rests in his sovereignty. It rests in his sovereignty. That's why Job could say, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job was able to rest in the sovereign power of an almighty God that when everything crumbled around him and everything was taken from him, he could honestly say, it's the Lord who gives. It's the Lord who takes away. Therefore, blessed be the name of the Lord. The Bible says over in Acts chapter 5, verse number 41, it says, after the apostles had been beaten, it says, so they went on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.

And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Their ability to praise God and to rejoice was based on the fact that they could rest in a sovereign God who was in complete control. And if you go over to Acts chapter 16, the same thing happened with Paul and Silas while they were in prison, recognizing that God was sovereign. It says, these words, Acts chapter 16, but about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God and the prisoners were listening to them.

And suddenly there came a great earthquake so that the foundation of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. They gave praise to God, not because they wanted to be released from prison, but because they would rest in the sovereignty of almighty God. You see, we have a hard time praising God because we will not rest in his sovereignty. We will not sit back and say, yes, Lord, you're in charge. You take it, you do it as you see, as you think best, as you know best, and we will rest in your control.

That's what we do, we praise God. You know, I know we gather together with friends and family at Thanksgiving and this is a beautiful holiday weekend in which Thanksgiving is given to God. But you know what, you got to remember that so many times we as Christians can destroy our testimony because we have such grumbling, murmuring, complaining spirits. If you read the book of Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 10, Paul says that Israel was killed because of their murmuring. He destroyed them. He was tired of their complaining spirits.

Why is that? Well, the book of Jude tells us that the characteristic of the false teacher, the unbeliever, is that they are grumblers. Did you know that? Let me read it to you.

It's the book of Jude, Jude 16. There's a prophecy given by Enoch about how God is going to destroy all the ungodly. And it says these ungodly sinners, verse 16, One of the marks of a false teacher, an ungodly person, is that they are a grumbler. Why would you want to align yourself with the characteristic of a false teacher by living a life that grumbles and murmurs and complains at every situation, every circumstance, all the things that happen to you? Why would you want to do that? When we should be a people, having been redeemed, having been delivered, having recognized the majesty of God, having to learn to rest in the sovereignty of God, wanting to reveal my priority before God, that I will give praise and honor to His name.

That's what happens now. You see, when you read the Word of God and you study the Word of God, it has a profound effect on you that should change your attitude, should change the way you think, the way you live, the way you respond, the way you act. And so we are to continually praise His name. Number two, number two, we should constantly pursue our God, continually praise Him for what He's done and constantly pursue Him because we just don't know enough about Him.

Do you think that because you studied the life of Christ for nine years, you know everything about the Christ? No, we can't know everything about Him because we have a finite mind. He is the infinite God, the eternal God of the universe. And what should happen after a result of nine years of studying one gospel about the Christ, it should spur us on to want to study more about the Christ. Think about that. Where are you in your pursuit of Christ? Getting to know Him, wanting to know Him, wanting to understand Him.

You see, having been in the Word of God for as long as we are, it should spur us on to want to know more about the God we serve. That's the remarkable thing about Bible study, that once you study the Bible and you learn about the Lord God, you can't get enough of who He is and what He's done and you just want to soak in all the more that you can. And so therefore, we must realize that in our pursuit of God, coming to know Him, it becomes life's most important pursuit. This is your most important pursuit.

It's not pursuing an education or pursuing further education. It's not pursuing a new job. It's not pursuing anything else other than the Lord God of the universe. And it becomes life's most important pursuit. In fact, if it's not your most important pursuit, then your pursuit of all those other things, higher education, more education, a better job, whatever the case may be, all those things will always be slowed down and not met because your priorities are all messed up. It should always be the pursuit of God.

Pursue God. Seek first His kingdom. All these things shall be added unto you. Are you pursuing the Lord God of Israel? Do you want to know the Lord God of Israel? Is He uppermost in your thinking? We want to pursue the next man or the next woman. We want to pursue a marriage. We want to pursue a job. We want to pursue a greater income. We want to pursue all the wrong things first instead of pursuing God first.

And therefore, it becomes life's most important pursuit. That's why God told Jeremiah, let not the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord God of Israel who exercises loving kindness and justice and mercy. And in these things, the Lord says, I delight. I delight in the man who pursues me. I delight in the man who wants to glory in me. I want to delight in the man who boasts in me.

I want to delight in the man who truly seeks after me, who pursues me. This is life's most important pursuit. And while it is life's most important pursuit, it is life's most impenetrable pursuit. That is, you'll never fully penetrate completely your knowledge of God. It is an impenetrable pursuit. That's why the Bible says over in Romans 11, these words, verse number 33, Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and unfathomable his ways, for who has known the mind of the Lord or who became his counselor, or who was first given to him, that it might be paid back to him again, for from him and through him and to him are all things to him, be the glory forever.

This becomes an impenetrable pursuit. You'll never get to the end of it. You'll never find all of him because he is the infinite God, the unfathomable God, which spurs us on to know him all the more. That's why the Bible says in Romans, I mean, Revelation 19, that when the Lord Jesus returns, he has a name written on him which no one knows.

And people ask all the time, do you know the name written on the robe of Jesus that no man knows? And I say, no, because no man knows. And the whole thing about that is that it's a description of how infinite God is. If no one knows the name and the name signifies the character and nature of who God is, it's going to show you that when we return with him, having been with him in glorified bodies, we still don't know him, we still don't understand him fully. And that's why you will spend the rest of eternity coming to know the true and living God.

Because even in the glorified state, yes, we will see him, yes, we'll be like him, for we'll see him as he is, we'll have a glorified body like he has, but yet we still will not fully know him as he is known, because he is the Lord God of the universe who is unfathomable. And even in a glorified state, we are not still, we are still unable to fully comprehend the majesty of the living God. So it's life's most important pursuit, it's life's most impenetrable pursuit, but it's life's most impressionable pursuit.

There's nothing that will make an impression on your life and mold you like your pursuit of God, coming to know him, coming to understand him. That's why the Bible says in Daniel 11, verse number 32, that those who know their God will display great strength and do great exploits.

Your strength is renewed through the knowledge of God. It makes an impression on you, so much so that you become stronger. Listen, the more you know God, the stronger you are. The less you know God, the weaker you are. And we talk about strength, we're talking about inner strength, we're talking about emotional strength, we're talking about mental strength, we're talking about courage. Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Look at Daniel in the book of Daniel. Look at those men. Look at Joseph. Look at Paul. Men who knew their God, who understood their God, who lived for their God. They were courageous men. They displayed strength. They did great exploits for God because they knew their God. They were impressed by their God, so much so that they were molded into his image, that they would live for him and your strength is restored, that you might be able to live for him and glorify his name. It's life's most impassioned pursuit.

Life's most impassioned pursuit. The Lord God said, when you seek me with all of your heart, you will find me. And when you find me, you will be satisfied. But you must seek me with all of your heart. He said it in Jeremiah 31. He said it in Deuteronomy chapter 4. He was always talking to Israel. Listen, you must be passionate about me. That's why it's life's most impassioned pursuit. And when we seek him with all of our heart, wanting to know him, it dictates everything about our lives. Having studied Luke for as long as we have, we should continually praise the name of our God.

No excuse not to. None whatsoever. We should constantly pursue the name of our God, coming to understand more and more of who he is. And as impenetrable that pursuit may be, we are to seek him fully. And then number three.

Number three, we must clearly portray him. Clearly portray him. We truly must live his life. How do you know? How do you know you are growing in your knowledge of God? Because you get an A on a Bible test? No. Because you have a lot of facts about who God is and what he did, and you can prove the deity of Christ, and you can prove the humanity of Christ, and you can prove that the Spirit is God, that Jesus is God, that the Father is God, that you have your Trinitarian notes all in line. Does that mean you know God?

No, not at all. How do you know you know God? You know you know him because he rubs off on you in such a way, he alters and changes, he transforms everything about your life. That's how you know you know God. Because he revolutionizes your attitude. He revolutionizes your words. He revolutionizes your thinking process. He revolutionizes your responses in joyous times and in bad times. He's done a work in your heart. And therefore we must learn to clearly portray Christ to the world. If we say we know him, we ought to look like him, speak like him, act like him, because we say we know him.

And so if we are pursuing him, then we should portray him clearly for others. The Bible says over in John 15, John 15, verse number 8, By this is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciple.

This is how my Father is glorified, that you bear fruit. What is fruit? Fruit is the attitude and the actions of Christ revealed in and through the life of the believer. Galatians 5, 22 and 23. The fruit of the spirit. It's not the fruits of the spirit, plural. It's singular. The fruit of the spirit is love, is joy, is peace, is long-suffering. What you're doing is you are portraying Christ. His attitude, his responses. And so now you clearly portray the king you say you live for. You clearly represent the kingdom that is your home.

You clearly portray the Christ. Having studied the life of Christ, the least we can do is begin to look like the Christ, right? And to live like the Christ. If you say that you abided him, 1 John 2, verse number 6. If you say that you abided him, then you ought to walk as he himself walked. Walk as Christ walked. Live as Christ lived. Paul said, for me to live as Christ and to die as gain. For me to live is to live like Christ, is to live for Christ, is to live in such a way that everybody sees the Christ.

So there should be a clear presentation of him. So having studied Luke's gospel, I should continually praise him. Constantly pursue him. Clearly portray him. And then number four, I should consistently please him. I should consistently please him. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 9, we make it our ambition, whether absent or present, to please him. That should be a result of coming to know the Christ. I should want to consistently please him. I should consistently want to put a smile on the face of the king because he is my audience of one.

He is the one that I adore. He is the one that I work for. He is the one that I sing for. He is the one that I labor for. He is the one that I live for. He is the one I seek after. He is my everything. And because he is, I want to please him. I want the Lord God to be pleased with my attitude and actions. I want him to be pleased with how I live my life. I want him to be honored. Paul said, this is my ambition in life. I want to please my God. That should be our ambition as well. I should want to consistently please him.

And lastly, and lastly, as a result of studying Luke's Gospel, I should commandingly proclaim him. Commandingly proclaim him. There should be an authoritative voice for Christ because you speak his word. He sent his men off to preach and teach during his ministry. He empowered them to preach and teach after he's sent up on high because he wanted them to be his ambassadors. They were to represent the Christ. And they couldn't do it in a wimpish manner. They couldn't do it with high-pitched voices.

Mickey Mouse voices. They had to do it authoritatively. And that's why Paul told Titus, Reprove, rebuke with all authority. Why? Because the authority comes from the spirit of God and from the word of God, right? That's where authority lies. It doesn't lie within my voice and how I say something. It lies in the fact that I speak commandingly because I speak God's word. It's not my opinion. It's not what I think. It's what God says.

And God speaks with authority. That's why he said, All authority has been given unto me, both in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go into all the world and preach the gospel. It's my authority. I'm giving it to you. Now you go out and you preach it with authority. And we should commandingly proclaim him. There should be a commanding presence when we walk into a room to speak for God. There should be a way that we talk to others about the Christ. We speak authoritatively. We speak courageously. We speak prophetically.

We speak in a way that people understand that we really believe what we say. We really believe what we say. Well, you know, I think you can know how to get to heaven. What does that mean? Do you know or do you not know? I know how you can get to heaven. You want to get to heaven? Let me tell you how to get there.

Because I know. Well, how do you know? God said so. There's only one way to heaven. And let me tell you what that way is.

Say, well, I don't believe that. Then you say, I don't care what you believe. Because I only care what God believes. And what God says is true.

And we need to speak with authority because we hold in our hand the truth. And truth is absolute. It's absolute truth. And we can speak with authority because we know what God says on the matter.

And that's what the apostles did. They spoke courageously, commandingly, never backing down, even to suffer for the sake of their Savior's name. And they would all die in the process because they were not afraid. Not at all. That's the way we should be. So what now? What do you do now? The very first thing you do is you continually praise His name.

Wake up every day praising the name of Christ. Go through the day praising the name of Christ. Lord, I want to praise you. I want to thank you. I'm going to lift your name on high. I'm going to rest in your sovereignty. I'm going to recognize your majesty. I truly am going to reveal my priority to put you on display. Lord, I praise you. I thank you. I will continually praise your name. It will continually be in my mouth. I will constantly pursue you. I'm going to go after you, Lord. I want to know you.

I want to know you all the more. And then, Lord, I want you to know from the bottom of my heart, based on all the things that I have learned, that you are the one I am clearly going to portray. Without question, I don't want a muddled picture. I want to make sure that people clearly see Jesus in me. Because, Lord, I want to consistently please you so that I can commandingly proclaim the gospel. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today and the things that you teach us, the things that we have learned, things that we will learn. And our prayer is that you go before us. Help us to be a people who seek to please their king. Help us to be a people who want to continually praise the name of their king, to seek after you, to know you, that we might live for you. Help us, Lord, during this Christmas season to truly magnify the name of our God, to live praising you for coming to earth, to die for our sins, to rise again, to ascend into glory, and to come again for us, your people.

Lord, we love you. We praise you and thank you for all that you've done. In Jesus' name, amen.