What would cause a 1985 Lincoln to not start?

The list is endless. Spark and no gas--fuel filter, fuel pump in that order Fuel and no spark---first thought is the module on the distributer. Where the wire plug into the distrib. Common problem on Fords. Timing, bad or fouled plugs. Loose connection at any number of places. Bad ignition. The first thing I would look at is the distributer module. It's just a process of elimination.