Sunday Evening, August 6, 1972
Richfield, Virginia
Father, we do thank You for gathering us together this evening. Thou dost promise that where two or three are gathered together unto Thy name, there Thou art in the midst of them.
How gladly we do gather together unto Thy name, because there is no other name for us. Thy name is above everything, and at that name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Lord, we do come together confessing Thee as our Lord, as our King. We do gather together unto Thyself. We want to adore Thee. We want to glorify Thee. We want to see Thee, and we want to be like Thee.
O Lord, Thou art everything to us. There is no one else. How we praise Thee and worship Thee. We ask that Thou wouldst manifest Thy living presence to us tonight.
We pray that Thou wilt speak to us and open Thy Word to us. Lord and our Father, give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. We are not able to know this, but we praise Thee because it pleased the Father to reveal His Son in us.
So, Lord, we just commit ourselves, this time, and Thy Word into Thy hands, trusting Thee to perfect the work which Thou hast begun in us, that we may be unto the praise of Thy glory. In Thy precious name we pray. Amen.
During the past two times, we have said that, in a spiritual sense, there is only one gospel: the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yet this gospel is presented to us in the Bible by four evangelists. As you open the New Testament, you find the Gospel according to Matthew, the Gospel according to Mark, the Gospel according to Luke, and the Gospel according to John.
There are not four gospels—only one gospel, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But because our Lord Jesus Christ is so rich and so full, it takes four evangelists to present to us a perfect picture of our Lord Jesus.
The Gospels are historical, and they must be historically accurate. But they are more than historical records. They are testimonies. They do not merely give us an objective presentation of Christ; they give us a subjective presentation of Christ.
The fact that we know Christ today comes from the reading of the four Gospels. So we must know Christ in the same way that the evangelists knew Christ—not merely to know about our Lord Jesus, but to know Him in personal experience.
We do not read these four Gospels simply as historical records. Of course, they are historical, but when we read them, we are to experience this living Christ and know Him as the evangelists knew Him.
In the past, we have fellowshipped briefly on the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew was a Hebrew, a Jew, and he was inspired to present to us Christ as the King.
Matthew himself was called by Christ, and he followed Christ, acknowledging Him as King. So the whole Gospel according to Matthew presents Christ as the King. If we are in Him and live under His authority, then the kingdom is upon us today; and when He returns, we shall reign with Him for a thousand years.
Mark was a young person. He was inspired to present Christ as the Servant, the perfect Servant.
In union with Christ, we must not only know Christ as the Servant of the Lord, but we also are servants of the Lord. We must serve God in that fashion.
This evening, we would like to turn to the third Gospel, the Gospel according to Luke. Let us read a few verses first.
Colossians 4:14:
Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas salute you.
Philemon 24:
Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workers.
Second Timothy 4:11:
Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee; for he is useful to me for ministering.
Let us turn to Luke 1:1-4.
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,
even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus;
that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed.
Luke is very different from Matthew and Mark. Matthew was a Hebrew Jew, and Mark was also a Jew. But Luke was not a Jew. Luke was a Gentile.
We do not know very much about his background. We can only infer that, being a physician, he was a learned and refined person. The physician was a very honorable profession at that time, as it still is today.
As a physician, he was able to enter the noblest families of his day, those belonging to the elite of society.
We do not know whether Luke became a proselyte to Judaism before he came to know the Lord. Many educated and intelligent Gentiles in those days were attracted to Judaism because of its teaching concerning the one true God and because of the Messianic hope.
There were two kinds of proselytes. One kind was called the “proselyte of the gate.” These Gentiles accepted the teaching of Judaism and believed in its Messianic hope, but they did not keep all the ceremonial law of Judaism.
The other kind was called the “proselyte of righteousness.” These people not only embraced the teaching of Judaism, but also kept the ceremonial law. They were full proselytes, and very often they became even more narrow-minded than the Jews themselves.
Perhaps this physician, Luke, was such a proselyte before he came to know the Lord. We have no record of how he came to know the Lord.
Some people say that Luke was among the seventy whom our Lord sent out. Others venture to say that Luke was one of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on the day of resurrection. But Luke makes it very clear at the beginning of his Gospel that he was not an eyewitness.
There were eyewitnesses, but he was not one of them. He gathered his information from those eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, and he put the material together in an orderly, methodical, systematic way.
Surely he had not seen the Lord in person. He was not a disciple of the Lord Jesus while our Lord was on earth. How he came to know the Lord, we do not know.
But, anyway, you will find that the Lord laid His hand upon that man. As we look back, we know that even before the foundation of the world, God has chosen us in Christ, even though we knew nothing about it.
Even before we were born, before the foundation of the world, God had already chosen us in Christ. We did not know anything about it.
Luke did not know anything. He was a Gentile, trained as a physician. He may have become a proselyte. He had no knowledge beforehand that one day God would use him to be an evangelist and to give us this presentation of Christ.
He did not know a thing about it, yet God already knew everything. Looking back, we cannot help but worship the wisdom of God.
This is true with Luke, and it is true with us. As you look back—where you were born, into what family you were born, what education you received or did not receive—you find that all these things are in the hand of God.
It is not that God takes us up only after we are saved. He has been taking us up beforehand. Even before we knew Him, everything in our lives was under His hand. You can see that God is behind it, apprehending us with a purpose.
Now, brothers and sisters, if you can see this, it will draw out much worship. It will eradicate many questions and strains, knowing that we are in His hand. It will help us yield ourselves more fully to His plan.
Otherwise, we may rebel and fight against His hand, thinking that circumstances are contrary to us. But if you can see that even before the foundation of the world God chose you in Christ Jesus with a definite purpose, it changes everything.
How Luke came to know the Lord, we do not know. We only know that he became a constant companion of Paul in his ministry.
When Paul and Barnabas went out on their first missionary journey, Luke was not with them. It was only on the second missionary journey, when Paul went out with Silas, that we find Luke joining them.
You remember that after Paul had visited places he had been to before, he thought of going into Asia, a populous and wealthy Roman province. But the Spirit of Jesus did not allow it.
Then he thought perhaps he would go north into Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit did not permit that either. He could not go south, and he could not go north, so he went west until he came to Troas. Beyond that was the sea; there was nowhere else to go.
When he came to Troas, he did not know what to do. But that night he had a vision: a man of Macedonia appeared to him and said, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
Acts 16:10 says:
And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them.
This is the beginning of the “we” section in the book of Acts. Paul had the vision in the night, and the next morning, “we” concluded that the Lord had called us to go into Macedonia.
Who are the “we”? Luke was the narrator. He was there with Paul at that time. Formerly, Luke related the events impersonally because he was not involved. But from this point on, he says, “we.”
Some people think that Luke was a Syrian of Antioch, because he seems to know Antioch and the church in Antioch very well. He tells us that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. When he gives the names of the seven deacons, he especially identifies Nicholas as Nicholas of Antioch.
We do not know for certain, but we find Luke joining Paul at Troas. There he became a fellow companion and fellow worker with Paul.
They crossed the sea and entered Philippi, the first major city in Macedonia. You remember the story in Acts 16 of how the Lord began His work in the city of Philippi.
There were not enough Jewish men in Philippi to form a synagogue. According to Jewish tradition, ten Jewish men were needed to organize a synagogue. So Paul found a prayer meeting by the river, where several women had gathered.
Lydia and her household were saved. Later Paul and Silas were put into prison, and the jailer and his household were saved. That is how the church in Philippi began.
Luke was there with Paul. But Paul, Silas, and Timothy did not stay in Philippi long. Beginning in Acts 17, they went on to Thessalonica, while Luke appears to have remained behind to care for this young church.
We do not know from Luke’s writing exactly how he helped the church in Philippi. He was so humble that he remained anonymous. Possibly he cared for that young church for some seven years.
The next time we find the “we” section is in Acts 20, when Luke joined Paul again. That was about seven years later. Probably during those years, Luke remained in Philippi, faithfully helping this young church to grow in the Lord.
What a church Philippi became. Of all the churches connected with Paul, the church in Philippi was one with which Paul had the closest fellowship. He could open his heart to the brothers and sisters there without fear of being misunderstood, and they could open their hearts to Paul.
That is the work of God.
Acts 20:6 says:
And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we tarried seven days.
From that point onward, the “we” section continues to the end of Acts. Luke joined Paul and went with him on his final journey to Jerusalem.
Luke was with Paul when Paul was imprisoned for two years. When Paul was sent to Rome for his final appeal, Luke went with him. He remained with Paul in Rome for two years.
Here you find Luke with Paul throughout those years. Before Paul died, he wrote, “Only Luke is with me.” Luke never left him.
Paul was not strong physically. By reading his epistles, you know that Paul was very weak in body. In his constant traveling, how much he needed a physician to take care of him.
And how sympathetic that physician must have been. Sometimes we need a physician, but we do not like the physician. They may be very skillful, but they are not always very sympathetic.
But here you find this beloved physician with Paul. While Paul ministered to others, we do not hear Luke say a word about himself. Yet what a ministry he rendered to the great apostle Paul.
Paul was able to do what God called him to do partly because Luke was taking care of him all the time.
Brothers and sisters, we may be trained in different ways. Our professions may be different. God has not called everyone to be a preacher or a missionary. We are all trained differently.
But whatever our profession may be, one thing is certain: we must serve God with our profession. Our profession is not the most important thing in our lives. It is something that goes alongside, that we may serve God.
Luke was a physician—an honorable profession, and perhaps one of the most difficult professions of all. By God’s sovereign provision, he was trained as a physician.
A physician could settle down in one great city, establish his practice, accumulate wealth, live a luxurious life, and enjoy himself. Physicians were few in those days, as they are still comparatively few today. Luke could easily have done that.
But Luke put his profession at the service of God. He was willing to travel here and there with Paul. He was not practicing as a physician in order to build up a great profession for himself.
The beloved physician most likely used his skill to care for other patients as well, at least enough to maintain himself. But he had put his profession at the service of God instead of using it to serve himself.
This is one thing we have to see: whatever our profession may be, it is not to serve ourselves; it is to serve God.
If we can see this, every profession is honorable. If we do not see this, even the profession of a preacher or minister can become the most secular of all professions.
When you take up a profession, are you serving God with it, or are you trying to use it merely to serve yourself? That is the question.
Luke served God in such a way that he had to travel. He could not build up his profession in one place. But this is not a matter of outward form.
God does not necessarily want every one of us to throw away our homes and professions and go out to preach the gospel. If the Lord calls you to do that, fine; but it may not be His will for everyone.
However God has trained us, that is where we can serve Him. Our professions should not be obstacles to the service of God; they should be offered to the service of God.
This is the ministry of the beloved physician. He was Paul’s fellow worker.
We often have the impression that if we want to be servants of the Lord, we must leave our profession, go out full time, and become preachers or ministers. That is not what is found in Scripture.
You can be a fellow worker while you are a physician. Not only did the Lord use Luke physically; He used Luke spiritually. Luke was one who helped build up the young church.
I remember a dear brother in Shanghai, my native city. When I first came among the brothers and sisters, there was a physician there. He was an eye specialist.
He loved the Lord very much and was one of the responsible brothers in the church. In order that he might serve the Lord, he made a definite choice concerning his profession.
He could have earned a great deal of money in Shanghai as an eye specialist. But he wanted to serve the Lord and serve the church, so he opened a private clinic in his home.
He saw enough patients only to maintain his living. That was all he wanted. Then he used the rest of his time for the Lord.
This brother was greatly used by the Lord, not only in Shanghai, but sometimes in other places as well. The Lord gave him such a life and ministry that he helped very many people. I was one of them.
He was one who really knew what it meant to have a hidden life with God. He knew the life of Christ.
At one time the church there was in trouble. The Communists wanted to wipe out God’s testimony in China. One day they rounded up many brothers and sisters, including those who were serving the Lord.
Certainly, there were brethren who had given up much more than those who were considered full-time ministers. I am not minimizing full-time ministry. I am simply trying to show this: this dear brother, as a physician, was serving God.
He was not only a fellow worker; God used him among the believers. He was one of the four evangelists who wrote the life of Christ and presented Christ to us in such a rich way.
The man and the message are very closely related. If you are to give a living message, it must first become life in you. Otherwise, it is only something objective.
In giving us the Gospel according to Luke, Luke does more than present an objective, historical account. He shares with us the Christ whom he knew, and the particular aspect of Christ that he knew.
Matthew knew Christ as King—His majesty and His authority. Mark knew Christ as the Servant of the Lord, who came to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.
What aspect of Christ did Luke know? He presents Christ to us as the Son of Man—the Man who is God.
As a physician, Luke was always interested in man. An engineer may be interested in other things, but a physician studies man—the physical body of man, and today also the psychological responses and the whole person.
A physician is always interested in man. Here you find that God made use of Luke’s training as a physician and turned his eyes to observe: “Behold, the Man.”
As a physician, Luke had studied man and had found sicknesses of all kinds in man. That is very negative. But here the Holy Spirit turned his eyes toward the Man, Christ Jesus.
So Luke was most fitted to write the life of Christ as the Son of Man.
The term “Son of Man” is a very special term. It does not merely mean “man’s son,” as we ordinarily speak. The Son of Man in Scripture means that He is the beginning of a new man.
To put it another way, He brings us back to the man whom God originally intended. He is the answer to God’s thought concerning man. This is the emphasis in the Gospel according to Luke.
Brothers and sisters, God is always interested in man. He has more interest in man than in anything else. Do you think God is primarily interested in elephants or in angels? God’s interest is centered upon man.
Sometimes we are so tired of being men that we want to be angels. We want to be spirits. We often say, “Oh, we want to be spiritual,” as though being spiritual meant that we were no longer human.
Do you think I am joking? I am not joking. We do not know God’s purpose. We do not know that God’s thought is with man. So we want to be somebody else; we want to be something else.
If we become something else, we miss God’s purpose. Brothers and sisters, do not try to become angels. Do not try to become merely spirit. God’s purpose concerning us is that we may be men—real men.
Sometimes we think that the more spiritual a person is, the less human he must be; the more unlike man he is, the more spiritual he is. That is not true.
If you cannot be human, how can you be spiritual? Spirituality is built upon the foundation of humanity.
If you do not know how to be human, you have no ground on which to be spiritual. To be human and to be spiritual are not contradictory. One is built upon the other.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you know one thing? We are not human enough today. That is the problem.
The redemption of Jesus Christ is to redeem us from our subhuman condition and to fulfill God’s purpose in making us human.
Redemption does not make us less human. It makes us truly human, because we have become less than human through sin. That is what redemption is: it redeems us that we may be what God intended us to be.
Often we think, “Well, if I were spiritual, then I should not feel anything. I should be as hard as a rock. I should not think. I should not have a will of my own.” What kind of spirituality is that?
Some people think that by living in the spirit they have become very inhuman. They cannot think or feel properly any more. These are false ideas.
God presents to us, through the Gospel according to Luke, the full Man. That Man is altogether according to God’s thought.
As you read the Gospel according to Luke, it is the loveliness of Christ that attracts you more than anything else. You see how human He is. He is truly a perfect Man, yet He is not merely a man.
Christ came into this world to recreate us into a new order of humanity. We are new creatures, but we are still men—still human.
There is very much involved here in learning how to be human. It is only when we are truly human that we can be truly spiritual.
Our Lord Jesus is the most spiritual Person because He is the most human Person. We are not spiritual because we are not sufficiently human.
We say that we believe in the Lord Jesus and that we have life. What is the nature of that life? We say that the life we receive is God’s life. Yes, it is God’s life.
But it is God’s life that has been lived on earth as a man. In other words, the life of Christ that we receive is more than God’s life in the abstract; it is the life of the God-Man. It is the Emmanuel life.
Because it is the life of God and man united together, there must be a perfect blending of the divine and the human. Everything that is right in our humanity must be brought under the divine life, that we may express God in human living.
That is the whole approach of the Gospel according to Luke. I hope this gives us a foundation upon which to build later on.
Brothers and sisters, I do not know how to reemphasize this enough, but I feel that we need to see it. A lack of true knowledge and a false spiritual concept will divert us from the right way.
So we thank God for this dear beloved physician, who presents to us Christ as the most complete of all human beings. This is what God wants us to be in union with Christ.
We do praise and worship Thee because Thou hast given to us Thy servant Luke, who presents to us Christ as the Man—the Man after Thine own heart, the most human Man.
We praise Thee because Thy redemption is to redeem us out of our subhuman condition, that we may be restored to be that human being who is in Thy heart.
We praise and thank Thee because Thou hast done it, not only on the cross, but Thou hast put this life in us. This is what Thou requirest of us: that we may be as human as Christ is.
Lord, impress this upon us and lead us on, that our whole understanding of Thyself and of our path before us may not in any way be twisted or unbalanced.
We offer ourselves to Thee again for Thy Spirit and for Thy working in and among us. We give all things into Thy hands, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.