In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes that there is only one gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although there are four evangelists who present the gospel in the Bible, they are more than just historians. They personally experienced and knew Jesus, and their accounts of him are both objective and subjective. The speaker specifically focuses on the gospel according to Luke, who was a beloved physician and a fellow worker with Paul. The sermon encourages believers to not only know Christ as the servant of the Lord but also to learn servanthood and serve God in the same way.

This is Sunday evening, August the 6th, 1972, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is being given through the blood of Stephen Cone. May we have a word of prayer? O Lord, we do thank Thee for gathering us together here this evening. God has promised us that two or three are gathered together unto my name. There am I in the midst of them. O Lord, we do gather together unto Thy name, because there is no other name for us. Thy name is above every name, and to 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. And we do gather together unto Thyself. We want to exalt 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 and we worship Thee. We are Thee, Lord, that Thou wilt make Thy presence manifest to us tonight. We pray that Thou wilt speak to us. Thou wilt open Thy word to us. Lord, and let Thou thus give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. We are not able to know Thee, but we praise and we thank Thee, because we please the Father to reveal His Son to us. O Lord, we just come in ourselves, and this time, and Thy word, and Thy work, all into Thy hand, 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 laid down a general principle. And the principle is, there is only one gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And yet this gospel is presented to us in the Bible by four evangelists. Not just one. 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. Not that there are four gospels. Only one gospel. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But because our Lord Jesus Christ is so rich, so full, it takes four evangelists to present to us a perfect picture of our Lord Jesus. These four men are more than historians. As historians, they have to be very exact and accurate in their narrating. And they are. But they are more than historians. They are evangelists. In other words, what they narrate is more than just some historical fact. What they, we call it, come out from their personal experience of the Lord Jesus. What they tell us about the Lord Jesus is what they know personally. The experience. It is more than just an objective presentation of Christ. It is also an objective presentation of Christ. The Christ that we know today comes from the reading of the full gospel. So we must know Christ in the same way as these evangelists know Christ. Whatever they know about our Lord Jesus, in their personal experience, we have to know him in our personal experience. We do not read these four gospels as just historical records. About a historical Christ. There is that side to it. And yet, when we read the full gospel, we are to experience this living Christ. And to know him as those evangelists. In the past, we have fellowship briefly on the gospel according to Matthew. Matthew is an intelligent person. He is involved in politics in his time. And yet the Lord calls him out to present to us Christ as the King. How he obeys the call of Christ. And how he follows Christ. Acknowledging him as the King of his life. So the whole gospel according to Matthew presents to us Christ as the King. And what is his kingdom? We are. If we live under his authority, then we are his kingdom on earth today. And one day, when he shall return, we will reign with him for a thousand years. Now the gospel according to Mark. Mark is a young person. But has a heart for God. For how the Lord takes hold of that young man. Disciplining him. Freeing him. Until he is fit to present to us Christ as the servant of the Lord. The perfect servant. In our union with Christ. We must not only know Christ as the servant of the Lord. But there is a servanthood that we who are the Lord must learn. And we must serve God in that fashion. Now this evening we would like to go into the third gospel. The gospel according to Luke. Let's read a few verses first. Colossians chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4. Verse 14. Luke the beloved physician. Thaddeus and Demas. Luke the beloved physician. Philemon. Philemon is a little verse before Hebrew. Philemon verse 24. Mark, Aristotle, Demas, Luke, my fellow government. Luke, my fellow government. Second Timothy. Chapter 4. Verse 11. Luke alone is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thyself. For he is serviceable to me for ministry. Luke alone is with me. The gospel according to Luke chapter 1. The first four verses. For as much as many have undertaken to draw up a relation concerning the matters fully believed among us, as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses of and attendants on the words have delivered them to us, it has seemed good to me also, accurately acquainted from the origin with all things, to write to thee with method most excellent theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed. Luke is very different from Matthew and Mark. Because both Matthew and Mark are Jews. Matthew may be a Hebrew Jew. Mark may be a Hellenistic Jew. Yet they are all Jews. But Luke is not a Jew. Luke is a Gentile, a Greek. We do not know too much about his background. We can only infer that being a physician, you know, physician at his time, is a very honorable profession. Not even today it still is. To be a physician at that time must be a very learned, cultured, refined person. And as a physician he is able to enter into the noblest of the family at that time. He belongs to the elite of society. We do not know if Luke, before he comes to the Lord Jesus, first becomes what we call today a proselyte to Judaism or not. We do not know. We know that many refined, educated, intelligent persons, Gentiles, at that time, become proselytes to Judaism. Why? Because they are attracted by the purity of Judaism. So many intelligent people at that time become proselytes. And there are two different kinds of proselytes. One is called a proselyte of the Gentiles. The Gentiles who embrace the moral teaching of Judaism and who also believe in the messianic hope of Judaism. But they do not keep the ceremonial law of Judaism. Now these Gentiles are called proselytes, proselytes of the gate. Half proselytes. And there are another kind of proselytes. They are called proselytes of righteousness. Now these people, they not only embrace the moral teaching of Judaism, but they also keep the ceremonial law of Judaism. They are full proselytes. And very often they are more prejudiced, narrow-minded, even than the Jews. So probably this physician Luke, before he comes to know the Lord, he may be a half proselyte. You know, as a preparation for his coming to the Lord. We have no record as to how he comes to know the Lord. There is no record. Now some people say that Luke is among the seven days whom our Lord Jesus sent out at his time. Other people even venture to say that Luke is one of the two disciples on the day of resurrection of our Lord Jesus who traveled from Jerusalem to Enos. One is Cleopas, but the other is unnamed. So some commentators then out that must be Luke. But Luke himself told us very clearly at the beginning of his gospel that he is not an eyewitness of the Lord. There are eyewitnesses, but he is not one of them. So he gathered his information from these eyewitnesses of the Lord. And he put them together in a methodical way, in a systematical way. So he himself refutes all these guesses. Most surely he has not seen the Lord in person. He is not a disciple of the Lord Jesus while our Lord was on earth. How does he come to know the Lord? We do not know. We do not know. And anyway, you find the Lord lay his hand upon that man. You know, as we look back, we marvel at the working of God. Even before the foundation of the world, God has chosen us in Christ Jesus. Even though we know nothing about it. And yet, God has already apprehended us. You know when a prophet starts to make a vessel, it begins with the clay. When he chooses the clay. Even before the vessel is made, that's where his election begins. So even before we are born, before the foundation of the world, God has already chosen us in Christ Jesus. We do not know anything. Suddenly, Luke does not know anything. He is a priest. He is trained as a physician. He may become a hypostolite, but he had no knowledge beforehand that one day God would use him to be an evangelist. To give us a presentation of Christ. He doesn't know a thing about it. And yet, God has already known everything. So in looking back, we cannot but marvel at the wisdom and the great grace of God. This is true with Luke, and certainly it is true with us. You know, as you look back, where you are born, how you are born, into what family you are born, how you are brought up, what education or not you have received, everything. Even before you know the Lord. All these things are in the hand of God. Not that he takes us up after we are saved. He has taken us up before we are saved. Even before we are born. For everything in our lives you can see that God is behind it. And he is apprehending us with a purpose. Now brothers and sisters, if you can see this, it would draw much worship from our hearts. It would take away all the questions, all the strains of life. Knowing that we are in his hand, and it will help us to yield ourselves more fully to the potter. Otherwise, we may repent. We may fight against his hand, thinking that it is contradictory to God's purpose. But if you can see that even before the foundation of the world, he has chosen us in Christ Jesus with a definite purpose. Anyway you find Luke. How does he come to know the Lord Jesus? We don't know. We only know that he becomes a constant companion to Paul in his many trials. You know when Paul, Barnabas and Paul, when they go out on their first missionary trip, Luke is not there. Luke is not there. It is only in the second trip Paul takes with Silas. You remember there is something between Paul and Barnabas. So Barnabas, he takes John, Mark, and go off, you know. And then Paul, he chooses Silas, and they started to go out. In the second trip, missionary trip of Paul, there you find Paul meets Luke in true way. I don't know if you remember that. You see Paul, he goes forward with Silas. And after he has traveled a distance, the place that he has visited before, you know, then he is thinking, well, maybe I'll go to Asia. Because Asia is a Roman province. Very popular. So Paul said, well, there is great need in Asia, so he is thinking of going to Asia. But the spirit of Jesus does not allow him to go. So then he thinks, well, maybe instead of going south, I'll go north to Byznia. And Byznia is another big province. But the Holy Spirit does not allow him to go north. So he cannot go south, and he cannot go north. He can only go west. So he just goes west until he comes to Truos, which is a seaport. Because that is the last place he can go. Beyond that is the Aegean Sea. He has to come to the sea. There is nowhere to go. So when he comes to Truos, he doesn't know what to do. And that night, he had a dream. A Macedonian appears to him in a dream and says, Come over and help us. Do you remember that story? And immediately after that, in the book of Acts, chapter 16, verse 10, And when he has seen the vision, immediately we start to go forth to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord has called us to announce to them the glad tidings. This is the beginning of the We section of the book of Acts. Paul gets a vision in the night. And the next morning, we conclude. Now who are the we? Why the we? Because Luke is the narrator. So he is there. He is with Paul at that time. So he says, we conclude that the Lord has called us to go to Macedonia to announce the glad tidings. Now that is the beginning of the We section of the book of Acts. Normally, Luke narrates the events impersonally because he is not involved. But starting from here, you find he is involved. So he says, we, we, he is there. That's right. So some people think, well, I have to go back a little bit. Some people think, probably, Luke is a Syrian of Antioch. Why? Because, you remember, in the book of Acts, he seems to know Antioch very well. He seems to know the church in Antioch very well. He even tells us that the disciples are called Christians, it begins at Antioch. And even when, in chapter 6, he gave the name of these deacons, you know. They choose seven deacons. He gave all the names, but with Nicholas, he said Nicholas of Antioch. He is very much acquainted with Antioch. So possibly he is a Syrian of Antioch. We don't know. But anyway, you'll find, we find him in Truett. And there he joins with Paul. He becomes a fellow companion, a fellow worker with Paul. Then they cross the sea. They enter into the first port, first big city, Philippi. And you remember the story in chapter 16, how the Lord begins to work in the city of Philippi. It begins with a woman. Paul attends a prayer meeting of the woman. There are not enough Jewish men, you know, according to the Jewish tradition, and even today it's still true. Anywhere there are ten Jewish men of leisure, you can organize a synagogue. If you have ten men, Jewish men of leisure, that is, you have the time to do that, then you can organize a synagogue. Now in the city of Philippi, there must be some Jews, but there are not ten men of leisure there. So you have only a woman's prayer room there. They don't even have a synagogue. Now Paul hears about that, for he attends a woman's prayer meeting. And during that prayer meeting, you'll find Lydia, the dear sister, and his family, and her family, get saved. They are all saved. And then later on, you remember, Paul is, and Silas are put in prison. And then the jailer comes, and his family gets saved. So that's how the church in Philippi begins. Anyway, you'll find during that time, not only Paul is there, Silas is there, and Luke is there too, and Timothy is there too. Then afterwards, a short while, Paul does not stay there very long, just a very short time, and then Paul, and Silas, and Timothy, they leave for Thessalonica. So starting from chapter 17, verse 1, And having journeyed through Amphipolis and Amphilonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the youth. Now you notice, they. Why? Because Paul, and Silas, and Timothy, they go forward, but this young church, who will help this young church? They leave Luke the physician behind to take care of the young church. We never know from the writing of Luke directly that Luke is ever healthy, has ever helped the church in Philippi. We don't know that. He is so humble, he always remained anonymous. As a matter of fact, probably he helped that young church for seven years. For the next time we find the we section is in chapter 20 of the book of Acts. He joined Paul again, but it's seven years later. So probably during that seven years, this dear physician remains behind in Philippi, anonymous, but he is faithfully helping this young church to grow up in the Lord, and what a church it becomes. You know, of all the churches that are connected with Paul, the church in Philippi is one with whom Paul has the closest ties. He can open his heart to the church in Philippi, to the brothers and sisters in Philippi, without being afraid, without the fear of being misunderstood. And the church in Philippi, how they open their hearts to Paul. And you know, it is the work of God, so that beloved. Then you find in chapter 20, he rejoins Paul. Chapter 20, verse 6. But we fell away from Philippi after the day of unleavened bread, and we came to them to cure us in five days, where we spent seven days. And from then on, you'll find the we section to the end of the book of Acts. Luke rejoins Paul at Philippi. During his last visit to him, and he is with Paul almost all the time. He goes to Jerusalem with Paul. He is with Paul in Thessalonica, where Paul was imprisoned for two years. And when Paul is sent to Rome for the trial, Luke goes with him. And when Paul stays in Rome for two years, that's where the record of Acts. So here you'll find Luke is with Paul all the time. Before Paul died, Paul said, look alone to Philippi. Luke has never left, and you know how much Paul needs Luke. Paul is not strong physically. By reading his epistles, you know that Paul is very weak physically. Very weak. In his constant traveling, how much he needs a physician to take care of him. And how well that physician must have taken care of him, because he's a beloved physician. You know, sometimes we have to have our physician, but we don't like to have our physician. They may be very skillful, but they are not too sympathetic sometimes. But here you'll find this beloved physician to Paul. How Luke means it. As Paul means it. We do not hear Luke say a word. We do not see Luke mention him in his name himself. When he writes the gospel according to Luke and the book of Acts, he does not even mention his name. He remains a prophet. And yet, at a ministry, he has rendered to the great apostle Paul. We can even say that without Luke, Paul, Paul is helpless. Paul is able to do what God has called him to do. Partly because there's Luke. Luke is taken care of all the time. Now, brothers and sisters, in the sovereignty of God, we may be trained in different ways. Our professions may be different. God does not call everyone to be a preacher or a missionary. We are trained very differently. But whatever our profession may be, one thing is certain. We must serve God with our profession. In other words, our profession is just to maintain our living. For what purpose? That we may live for God. Our profession should not be the most important thing of our life. Our profession is just something that goes alongside. That we may serve of all life. No matter what our profession is. Your profession may be a housewife. That's an honorable profession. I'm almost tempted to say that is the most difficult profession of all professions. Or you may be called to be an engineer. Or you may be like Luke. In God's sovereign provision, he is a physician. But see the difference. Luke as a physician, he can settle down in one big city, build up his profession, and accumulate his wealth. Physicians are very few. Even now. He can easily settle down in one place, build up his profession, accumulate lots of wealth, live a luxurious life, and enjoy himself. He can well do that. And many do. But look at Luke. He puts his profession under the surface. He is willing to travel here and there with Paul. He is not practicing as a physician for money. He is still a physician. The beloved physician. And most likely, God still uses his skills. If not with other physicians, at least he has a very famous patron, Paul. And he has done a good job. But anyway, you'll find he serves God in his profession. Instead of making his profession serve himself. Brethren and sisters, 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, then all professions are noble. If we do not see this, even the profession of a preacher, a minister, can be so professional that it can be the most secular of all professions. The whole difference lies here. When you take up a profession, are you serving God? With it, or you try to use it to serve yourself? That's all it is. If God should call Luke in such a way, he has to travel. He cannot build up his profession in one place. Why? If God so wants him to stay in one place and have his profession built up, fine! If he serves God. It is not a matter of outward ways. In other words, God does not really want every one of us to throw away our home, our profession, and all go out and preach the gospel. Now, if the Lord so calls us, that's fine. Fine. But it may not be so. Even in our profession, whatever God has trained us, this is where we can serve him. It does not contradict with his service. It's complementary. Our profession should not be a hindrance. Our profession should be to the service of God. Luke is more than a beloved physician. He is Paul's fellow workman. Now, do not think because he is a physician, therefore he cannot be a workman, a fellow workman. Now, today our impression is if you want to be a servant of the Lord, you have to leave your profession and all sorts of things. You have to leave your profession and you go out and be full time, and then you become a preacher or you become a minister and so forth. That is not found in the scripture. Some do, but not all. You can be a fellow workman while you are a preacher. Not only the Lord would use, the Lord uses Luke in a physical way, he uses Luke in a spiritual way. He is the one who builds up the young church, a fellow workman. I remember a dear brother in China, in Shanghai. You know, I I was brought up in Shanghai. I mean, that's my native city. And when I first came to meet with the brothers and sisters there, there was a physician there. He was an eye specialist, but he loved the Lord so much. And he was one of the responsible brothers in the church there. In order that he may serve the Lord, you know what he did? He could earn lots of money in Shanghai as an eye specialist, but he didn't. The Lord first. He wanted to serve the Lord, to serve the church. So he just opened a private clinic in his home. And he would see patients just half a day. Just enough to maintain his living. That's all he wanted. And he used his time for the Lord. And do you know that this brother, he was so greatly used by the Lord. Not only in Shanghai, but sometimes he went out, visited different churches. And the Lord had given him such a life with the Lord. He helped many, many people. I was one of them, among us. He was one who really knew what life was. I almost want to say he specialized in life. He knew the life of Christ. That hidden life with God. And when the church there at one time was in deep waters, was in trouble, it was his ministry of life that pulled the church. When the communists came, you know, they wanted to wipe out God's testimony in China. And you know what he did? One day, they rounded up all the leading brothers and sisters in Christianity where the Lord had chosen them. They are physicians. Certainly he has served God much better than some who are supposed to be full-time ministers. I'm not minimizing the other side. But I'm trying to show you this man Luke is a physician. He is Paul Seligman. And what a work he has done. And he is not only Paul Seligman, but he is chosen by God out of all these believers. He was one of the four who are privileged to write the life of Jesus, to present to us the life of Christ. Think of that. What a privilege, isn't it? Why? Because he has learned Christ in a way that is very, very He's seen as if nobody else learned Christ in that particular state, in that particular aspect as well as this physician Luke. And because of that God uses this physician to present to Christ Christ to us in that particular aspect. Think of that. What he has learned. How much he must have known of Christ in this. Dear brothers and sisters, that should encourage us, you know. That should encourage us if we really put ourselves in his hands. He knows what to do with us. He knows how to make us into a that that is safe for his and so far so much for his men. Then let's just begin a little bit on his message. You know, the man and the message are very closely related. If you are giving a living message, you have to live it in you first. Otherwise, it will be just a feast. For in giving us the gospel according to Luke, you'll find that it is more than just presenting to us an objective historical Christ. He is to share with us the Christ that he knows so easily. And what a Christ he knows. We say that Matthew knows Christ as the King, his Majesty, his Authority, his Glory. And to him we bow. Mark knows Christ as the servant of the Lord that comes to serve and even to give his life a ransom for men. What aspect of Christ does Luke know intimately? He presents Christ to us as the Son of Man. The Man after God's own heart. You know, as a physician he is always interested in man. You know, as an engineer you may be studying something else, but as a physician you study man. But of course, you study the physical body of man. And today, of course, you have to study also his psychological reaction and so forth. But actually man is a complete man. And anyway, you'll find as a physician he has always been interested in He makes man his subject. He observes man. And here you'll find God thus makes use of his training as a physician and turns his eyes to observe the man. Behold the man. As a physician he has studied man and he has found sicknesses of all kinds in man. It's very negative. But here you'll find the Holy Spirit turns his eyes towards the man and it's all positive. So he is the one who is most fitting to write the life of Christ as a son. You know the term the son of man is a very special term. It doesn't mean man's son as we ordinarily would say. The son of man in the scripture means that he is the beginning of a new mankind. To put it in another way he brings us back to the man in God's original thought. Still another word he is the man. He is the pattern. As of him we shall all be conformed. And this is the emphasis in the gospel according to it. Dear brothers and sisters God is always interested in man. He has more interest in man than anything else. You think God is interested in an elephant? He is. You think God is interested in a tender? He is. But God's interest is centered upon man from the very beginning. You know, sometimes we are so tired to be man. We want to be angels. We want to be spirits. Oh, we often say now, oh, we want to be spiritual. So spiritual that we are no longer human. Do you think I'm joking? I'm not joking. I'm telling a sad truth. We do not know what God wants. We do not know God's purpose. We do not know God's delight is with man. We don't know that. So we want to be somebody else. We want to be something else. If we become something else we miss God's whole purpose and whole desire. Dear brothers and sisters, be man. Don't be angels. Don't be spirits. Because God's purpose concerning us is that we may be man. That's God's purpose. Oh, sometimes we think if we be spiritual the more spiritual a person is the less human he must be. The more unlike man he is, the more I remember how your brother Watchman, he said, if you cannot be human how can you be spiritual? Spirituality is built on the foundation of if you do not know how to be human you have no right to be spiritual. To be spiritual and to be human are not contradictory. The world is built on the other. Dear brothers and sisters, do you know one thing? We are sub-human today. That's the problem. We are not human enough. And the redemption of Jesus Christ is to redeem us from that sub-human position into human ever. That's redemption. Redemption does not make us less human. Redemption makes us real human because we have been sub-human. That's what redemption is. It redeems us that we may be man after God. Oh my God. A man. Don't forget, it's man. Oh brothers and sisters, you know, often we think, well, if I'm a spiritual man, I shouldn't feel anything. I am as fully as a rock. I should have no feeling at all. Oh, I shouldn't think. Like a tree. Oh, I shouldn't have a will of my own. Like a weed. Or a wreath. Grow by the weed. Or some people, even if you're spiritual, you become very inhuman. You cannot sympathize with people anymore. You're stoic. These are false concepts of spirit. Because God presents to us through the gospel according to Luke that he was man. And that man is after the image of Christ. A man. 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 a man. Truly a man. And he is not ashamed of that. I don't know if I should continue. If I continue, it may be too long. But anyway, let me conclude. God wants man. He wants man after the pattern of Christ, the Son of Man. And you know what Christ comes to this world for? He comes to this world that he may recreate us into a new order of nature. We are a new species. God is man. Still homo. Still man. There is very much involved here, you know. You can see there is a lot involved here. How to be human as God originally intends us to be. And it is only when we are human in the real sense then you find spirituality beginning. Our Lord Jesus is the most spiritual person because he is the most human person. We are not spiritual because we are, of course, human. Not because we are human. It is only that we may be human in heart. And this is the redemption of the Lord Jesus. Do you know one thing? We say we believe in the Lord Jesus and we have life. Do you know what is the nature of that life? We say the life we receive is God's life. Yes. It is God's life. But more. But more. It is God's life. But it is also has been lived on earth as a man. In other words, the life of Christ that we receive is more than God's life. It is a God and man life. An Emmanuel life. And because it is God and man life in us. Therefore, you find there must be a blending, a perfect blending of the divinity and the divinity. So the human side, the humanity side, is not divinity. It is divinity. It is divinity. And it is joined to the divine side. That we may express God in human flesh. And that is the whole approach of the gospel according. So I do hope that as a foundation for us to build up later on. Let's see this. Brothers and sisters, I don't know how to reemphasize it, but I feel that we need to see this. Because the lack of such knowledge will in a sense tilt our spiritual concept and will divert us from the right straight path before God. So anyway, we thank God for this dear, beloved physician who presents to us Christ as the man, the most human of all human beings. And this is what God wants us to be in union with Christ. Shall we pray? Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank thee because thou hast presented to us through thy servant, Luke, our Christ as the man. The man after thy own heart. A man indeed, the most human of men. We praise and we thank thee because thy redemption is to redeem us out of our subhuman condition, that we may be restored to be that human, that man that 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. And this is what thou requires of us, that we may be as human as Christ is. O Lord, do impress upon us and lead us all that our whole understanding of thyself and of our past before us may not be in any way twisted or unbalanced. We offer ourselves to thee again for thy Spirit's continual working in and among us. And to thee we give our thanks. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.