The Certainty of Our Faith

Luke chapter 1 verse 1. stick him with the King James version for a couple of reasons and joining a little stilted language for as much as many have taken in hand to set in order set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed Among Us even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and Ministers of the word it seemed good to me also Luke says having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order sequentially most oh excellent Theophilus that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou has been instructed so I want to speak to you tonight on the certainty of our faith God bless you please be seated in October we've been focused on the mission of the church that we are to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth we need to keep our witness silently by the character and quality of our lives but we're also to witness with our words keep it silent and spoken we must ask his brother Joel preached so they can answer have you asked and have you answered the gospel is a message that must be spoken and last Wednesday night I taught on the word of Our Gospel and then of course Sunday Brother jury preached that we are Mighty through God it is a powerful one-two punch of the word and spirit the word of God is the sword of the Spirit by that I believe that the spirit directs the word whether you're praying about what to teach or preach whether you're praying about what to say to a lost person it is a spirit that quickens the word the letter itself kills but the spirit gives life Jesus said the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are alive they're not just dead ladder and Our Gospel that we teach and preach and testify about releases the power of God that was the emphasis of my mess message last Wednesday night that when you speak God confirms his word with signs following and I thank the Lord by the way for our ministry team be in sync and preaching and teaching to stay focused on what the spirit is saying to the church so my focus tonight is on the certainty of our faith if we're going to share our faith if we're going to keep our faith we must be assured of our faith that it is true that it works that it is eternal that is significant and important when the word of God Is Spoken the power of God is released and I kind of jumped ahead but this is where it is in my notes Mark 16 20 and they went forth and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following Amen in the book of Arc is closed we work very hard to be a balanced Church of this and that not the tyranny of or this or that but they say the genius of and this and that and in a matter of evangelism reaching lost people with the gospel we know it takes the word of God and it takes the spirit of God no man comes to the father unless the spirit the Holy Ghost has to draw people to himself but it is the word that brings faith in our hearts faith comes by hearing and hearing by or hearing the word of God that's what sparks faith in the heart of a person so today I want to focus on what I think is a fascinating interesting introduction to the Book of Luke to my knowledge I've never taught a bible study on this introduction although I've taught the book of Acts and taught the gospels The Life of Christ in a bible college and certainly refer to this so Luke in Acts the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke and the book of Acts are a sequel both written by Dr Luke most likely a gentile acts as a continuation of the thought Luke refers to his first book The Book of Luke in his introduction to the book of Acts both of these books are addressed to a man named Theophilus I am convinced that it was not just a generic name that referred to people in general are a group of people but a specific person and I've kind of searched around and died in my home homework to come to that conclusion acts 1 and 1 acts 1 and 1 the former treaties does anybody know what the former treaties is The Book of Luke the former treaties have I made a Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after that he through the Holy Ghost had given Commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen to whom also he shoot himself alive after his passion after his death burial and Resurrection by many infallible proofs this is fascinating the 40 days following the resurrection and prior to the Ascension of Jesus 40 days and he revealed himself by many infallible proofs primarily his resurrected body to his disciples he was seen above 500 people at one time the Bible says many eyewitnesses so these were infallible proofs being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining the kingdom of God now he had done that during his pre-death ministry before the cross but now they have understanding he's opened their understanding and he's teaching them now Luke writes an orderly account of all that Jesus began to do and teach before he ascended and the book of Acts is all that Jesus continues both to do and teach but he is not here in person he is there in spirit when a person receives the Holy Ghost the Holy Spirit it is not in it it is not a thing it is a spiritual presence of Jesus Christ it is Christ in you the hope of glory Jesus said I am with you this comforter but shall be in you we know that we are filled with Jesus Christ a spiritual presence of Jesus Christ so the book of Acts is a continuation in of all that Jesus is doing and teaching by the Holy Ghost through the church acts is not about the apostles it is about Jesus continuing to work through people not just the apostles and I could take a while and show you why I don't think the Acts of the Apostles fully demonstrates what that book is about it is the actions of the Holy Ghost through Spirit-filled people including the apostles so that's the book of Acts and in Acts Luke looks back and he talks about this former treaties that he wrote of all that Jesus began both to do and teach so we know that Luke is going to be a book about all that Jesus was doing and teaching now Luke is an interesting book some call it the Gentile Christian Gospel Luke was a companion of the Apostle Paul and some of the missionary travels and they're what are called the we narratives where Luke writes as if he's on the trip and then in the book of Acts he'll say they so if you're reading the book of Acts and he says we were here we were doing this or that that's Luke writing about him being a companion of Paul on those Journeys and there's a need for Luke to write an orderly account of the ministry of Jesus Christ because many people were new in the faith they needed something to lock in on and there was a lot of teaching the oral presentation of the Gospel but now something needed to be pinned for all times one writer said that Luke's gospel is the most beautiful book that's ever been written some would argue John or Revelation but this Theologian renin said Luke that it combines so many facets and is a really interesting book in the New Testament it challenges Luke The Physician to a higher level of writing in the Book of Matthew Jesus is presented as king Mark presents him as a servant John presents him as the Son of God but Luke writes with the warm human touch very sympathetic and he presents Jesus Christ as the son of man he is God in flesh but it is a focus on the humanity of Christ The Compassion of Jesus Christ and is very interesting and Luke presents this Humanity of Jesus Christ so much so that where Matthew's genealogy is more Jewish back to Abraham the genealogy in Luke goes all the way back to Adam so it's a different way of looking at the genealogy of Jesus Christ now in the Book of Luke he gives us the detail account of Mary the mother of Jesus the humanity of Christ we read about his childhood in the Book of Luke the parables in the Book of Luke have a warm human touch to them because that's just the way compassionate Dr Luke was anointed by the Holy Spirit to write and he still sees Jesus Christ in his divinity but Luke also has some unique information they're common verses Matthew Mark and Luke you've heard me say before are called synoptic gospels and the word synoptic means to view together they follow a similar pattern in recording the life the words and works of Jesus Christ the life of Jesus John is very different some call it the supplement gospel or the spiritual gospel he leaves out much and he says things that are unique to the Gospel of John but in blue compared to the other gospels there's 50 percent of its content is unique to Luke alone so you need to make sure in your Bible reading that you read all of the gospels in the Book of Luke there's a joyous note he writes about Elizabeth's praise to God and Mary's called The Magnificat or when she says my soul shall magnify the Lord he writes about Zacharias praise and the angels talking about glory to God in the highest and simeons note about holding Jesus up in his arm and my servant can depart in peace for I have seen the Lord's Christ in Luke it is truly a gospel of good news of great joy for all people that's the way Luke writes and then there is this prologue these verses that we read in our text tonight a little analysis might help us with the Book of Luke now early on before the gospels were written and Mark probably the first gospel it's called the priority of Mark but before there was anything written there were stories told it was the oral not tradition in the sense of not truth but truth told the apostles teaching passing this on but as this first generation of apostolics are aging now we need to preserve the words and works of Jesus Christ for the next generation and Luke tells us that a number of people had said in hand they had endeavored to put down in writing what these early Witnesses had seen and heard that's what a witness is those that have been eyewitnesses of his majesty as Peter would write and based all Jesus in his Earthly Ministry from the very beginning but Luke inspired by the Holy Ghost I'm not taking out that part and I'll I'll get to the Apostle Peter talking about no prophecy and holy men of old God wrote by their when they were moved by the Holy Ghost we'll get to that later but Luke wants to write about the words and works of Jesus Christ and he says that he's done some painstaking research he's investigated all the facts to make sure that everything he writes is good but then he said I wanted to write to you in order that's the primary reason for sticking with the King James that's how I read scripture memorize scripture and it flows better for me but but it is probably in my thinking based on what Luke said the best chronology of the four gospels he said I wanted to write this down to preserve this record but it is to set in order it is sequential is what the implication of the Greek word is and then he said I'm going to write this to a man named Theophilus now uh Theophilus I already mentioned is a person I believe it means I've found three different definitions one who loves God one who is loved of God or a friend of God but Theo file us a friend of God someone who is loved of God and loves God so whoever this man is his name means that he is a person that has a relationship with God and Luke calls him most excellent Theophilus now you can search and if you find something definitive about Theophilus please email it to me but I have searched and there's very little there's not a lot about him was he a high-ranking Roman official possibly I think that would be implied by the fact that he's probably a gentile he's most excellent Theophilus a person of rank a person of imminence and maybe someone newer in the faith and I I think that is implied I'm not trying to prove that tonight but I think the text Bears it out Theophilus needs to be grounded in the faith now Luke tells him the things that you've been instructed in so somebody has been teaching Theophilus Jesus who he was what he did salvation whatever they taught Theophilus he's a new testament believer meaning he had obeyed Acts 2 38 I believe he's a Christian when he's reading the writings of Luke Luke writes after Pentecost maybe in the 60 early 60 a.ds and I purposely was not planning to talk about the dating of the Book of Luke in the book of Acts but Luke is going to nail it down he's got this high-ranking person excellent Theophilus and he wants to make sure that Theophilus faith is not hanging by a thread that it is not based on experience alone that is not even based on Word of Mouth or reliable teaching he wants Theophilus Faith to be rooted in what is written something that he can go back to something that will help him secure his faith and Luke says I want you to know the certainty of the things that you've been instructed in so I'm going to go back to the beginning of the of the birth of Jesus Christ I'm going to trace his genealogy I'm going to tell you where and when he was born I'm going to talk about his mother I'm going to unpack his life for you Theophilus so when you finish Reading This Book of Luke your faith will no longer be uncertain it will be certain now let me just pause here to say that I thank God for prayer and we need a lot more of it private prayer corporate prayer but it is the word of God that will ground you and keep you and will come to you when you're in the moment of Temptation you need to file away the word of God in your heart now we're all blessed by the warm writings of Dr Luke because a man named Theophilus needed to know the certainty of his faith Luke 1 and 4 the New Living Translation says so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught now Luke's source of knowledge seems to come from eyewitnesses from researching the stories to make sure that the history of The Life and Times of Jesus Christ that Luke will write is accurate reliable but it is also anointed what is spoken was anointed but it doesn't have preservation it's not going to live beyond a generation but what is written will have a life beyond what was started at the beginning so Luke is going to undertake an effort to to write an account that is sequential that is accurate that will occur false Theophilus to be assured of his faith oral tradition May accurately transmit truth but in itself it is not authoritative written records May accurately record truth but apart from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in the writer they are not authoritative but Luke has done his homework and the Holy Ghost has worked in him and what he has written will establish Theophilus and you and me in the faith amen I was thinking about God's wisdom in in the written word of God 40 different writers from Divergent backgrounds over a period of about 1500 years pinned the word of God and unlike every other book ever written it has unity it has continuity it is Anointed by the Lord all 66 books of the Bible 39 in the Old Testament in 27 in the new all 1189 chapters in your King James Bible yet a single message of redemption amen Luke said it that you know that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost that is probably the heart of the book so I want to give you some verses tonight I want to help you with the certainty of your faith that is found in the word of God that we need to make sure that we having grafted into our lives so let's go through a few verses Isaiah 48 the grass withereth the flower fadeth but the word of our God shall stand forever Jesus said in Matthew 24 35 Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away second Peter 1 16 the verse I should have waited to try to quote for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but Simon Peter says but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for he received from God the Father honor and Glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent Glory this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount so I want you to think about what the Apostle Peter has already said we were eyewitnesses of the ministry of Jesus there was a voice from Heaven at his baptism there was a voice from Heaven on the Mount of transfiguration when Peter James and John were there but the Apostle Peter in verse 19 says with all of those ways that God revealed himself by The Voice by eyewitnesses he said we have also a more sure word of Prophecy where until you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day Dawn and the day star Dawn in our hearts and now he's getting to the Bible knowing this first that no Prophecy of the scripture as of is of any private interpretation let me pause right there I know the Bible says to work out your salvation your own salvation with fear and trembling but it doesn't mean that you or I or anyone can interpret the Bible in their own way for it to be a private interpretation you can apply it to your life in obedient Faith but you cannot read into it and make it say what you think it should say and be saved that's called isagesis but we let the word of God speak for itself we lift it out as exegesis we let the Bible speak amen and then he says for the prophecy came not in all time by the will of men but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost praise God I was looking today briefly at a series I taught on bring back the Bible and all the archaeological and all the prophetic and all of the historical evidence of the word of God that is external evidence but the word of God testifies of itself that it is the word of God and it is true and we know it is true because it works amen First Peter 1 22. going back in First Peter and Peter seeing you have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the Brethren see that you love one another with the Pure Heart fervently being born again not of corruptable seed but of Incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever the Apostle Peter said remember last Wednesday if you were here the seed of the word of God Matthew 13 Parables of the Kingdom planted in a heart the farmer that wasn't that brilliant but he knew how to plant seed and he knew that it would grow the Earth bringeth forth fruit of itself right so the Apostle Peter says you're begotten but you're born again by this Incorruptible seed the word of God which liveth and abideth forever for All Flesh is grass for all the and all the Glory of man as the flower of grass and now he quotes the Old Testament the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away now I want to stop just for a moment here because I was thinking about grass and flowers that die there's a seed that brings forth life but that life has a lifespan it has a limit it has a shelf life and ultimately the flower the grass withers and dies and the Petals of the flower fall away and die it is temporary as is everything else in this life verse 25 but the word of the Lord endureth forever you see it is the word of God God Almighty who is eternal amen he has no beginning he has no ending he is the same yesterday today and forever and his word is the manifestation of his nature it is God in word and the Apostle Peter said it endures forever but then he says this and this ties back into my message last week and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you it is this Eternal Word it is a word that will never die it is a word that is able to save your soul amen and Luke wanted Theophilus to know that this word if you will put it in your heart and put it in your mind that it will cause you to have certainty in your faith if you meet an unstable Christian if you meet a person that is wishy-washy you can almost guarantee that they're not a Bible reader they're not a Bible student they may pray or they may just experience the presence of God in corporate worship but a person who has a walk with God that includes prayer and the word of God is building a foundation in their life that is secure and sure it is a certainty the certainty of your faith amen now sometimes when we're trying to emphasize one thing we have a tendency to de-emphasize something else that is my not my intention at all tonight talking about the word of God you know as opposed to prayer but it is this and that but I want you to think about Jesus Christ when he was tempted what he did in the moment of Temptation Matthew chapter 4 verse 1. then Jesus was led by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be tested to be tempted by the devil do you think God would ever lead you to a place like that Jesus was led into a wilderness to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights afterward he was hungry that might be an understatement afterward he was hungry now the tempter came to him this is New King James he said if you are the son of God command these stones to become bread now you'll notice that Satan here is trying to question get Jesus to question who he is has he ever made you question whether or not you were saved whether or not you were right with God that you were a Son of God or a daughter of God of course he has he's the accuser of the Brethren and the sisters so he asked Jesus if if you're who you say you are then work a magic trick command that these Stones become bread you're hungry you're powerful make bread e but he answered him and said let me pray about it of course he didn't now Jesus prayed he got up a great while before day went into a deserted place and prayed he went into a mountain and prayed all night Jesus was a man of tremendous prayer but what I want you to see tonight is in the moment of Temptation it was not prayer that was his default it was the word of God because you can pray your ideas and thoughts you can actually pray pitiful prayers and sympathize with the devil and feel sorry for yourself but you cannot ever go to the word of God and not pull back into objectivity and Clarity so in the moment of Temptation it's like the the law of aerodynamics you know gravity is pulling the plane down but the law of aerodynamics or up for a bird is lifting it up and it is this word of God that lifts Jesus above the temptation it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God verse 5 then the devil took him into the holy city and set him on the Pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are the son of God throw yourself down now the idea is there's people there you're going to throw yourself down die miraculously raised from the dead everybody's going to believe in you that's what's implied and the devil now quotes the Bible out of context like he always does remember with Eve has God said he's always going to make you question the word of God so for it is written he shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone Jesus said to him on purpose I'm saying this let me pray about it he said no I've got the certainty of my faith amen it is written again you shall not tempt the Lord your God this ladies and gentlemen is why we do not handle snakes this is why we do not do dumb things to see if God will come through for us this is why I wear a seatbelt among other things right I'm not here to preach on seat belts but there are certain things I trust God again verse 8 the devil took him on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their Glory one of the synoptics says in a moment just like like a video show all the kingdoms of the entire world and the glory of them and he said to them the prince and the power of the air said to him all these things well I give you if you will fall down and worship me now that's what the devil wants that's what he wanted from the beginning his eye Wills maybe in Isaiah 14 I will Ascend I'll make my Throne I'll I'm going to be above God I'm going to I want what belongs to God I want worship for myself so he wants Jesus to worship him and if he does what is implied is look you're headed for a cross you know whether Satan knows that or not if the princes of this world would have known it they would have not crucified the son of Glory but in Genesis 3 Satan heard him say that the son of this descendant of the woman was going to crush his head so he said oh you know no pain lots of gain just cut a corner I'll give it to you now you don't have to do another thing then Jesus said to him away with you Satan for it is written you shall Worship the Lord your God and him Only You Shall Serve and the devil left him and behold Angels Came and ministered to him I just wanted to review for you that Jesus Christ God in flesh knew the word of God quoted the word of God in the moment of Temptation relied on the word of God it will ground you it will keep you amen it will help you know the certainty of your faith that's why Luke was written that's why acts was written amen the word the written word of God was the resource of choice for Jesus Christ in his moment of Temptation and we should make it ours we're testifying to other people about our faith in God if you were at a loss for your for words well God never promised that your words would not return void or that my words would not return void that's why in our church on our ministry team we have a strong conviction to preach and teach the Bible isn't that novel right preach the Bible preach the word find illustrate tell a story help apply it but it is the word of God that stands forever and doesn't come back empty amen so you can just turn to the Bible and it has power it is Anointed by the Holy Ghost amen it will keep your faith and it will help people like Theophilus be strong in theirs let the word of God speak let the Bible give you an assurance for your faith was thinking about you know the foolish man the wise man foolish man builds his house on sand that is just hearing the word of God but not obeying or doing it the wise man builds his house on a rock Matthew you don't really see this and Luke you do that he dig deep down to rock and built his his house there it is the word of God that solidifies the quicksand of a faith that is only built on experience and emotion and doesn't have that daily relationship is not undergirded by the word of God when you read Luke 1 I would love to know when we get to heaven if you'll remind me planning to go I hope you make it I think you will if you will remind me to find Theophilus I'm just making this up you know find Theophilus Theophilus I want to know what was your relationship to Luke when did you meet him what was your friendship of all the people that he could have addressed Luke Acts 2 why you it makes me believe and I'm inclined to believe it by the context I'm not just reading some crazy idea in that based on the stated purpose for the writing of Luke that Theophilus is dealing with some uncertainty questions doubts maybe Temptations the first generation Christians is keeping the story alive but without being written it will die in time Theophilus has heard that Jesus is born of urgent he's a descendant of King David eyewitnesses say they saw him after his resurrection they say 500 people saw him at one time the disciples said that he ascended into heaven these are really transformative powerful stories but now for Theophilus after the days of his flesh are over and Jesus is gone he's just got stories of Faith he's got a living faith in him but he's he's got these this teaching that he's been receiving and if the faith of Theophilus was being tested and if uncertainty was trying to drive out his faith in God trying to dislodge the truth that was in those opening verses surely believed Among Us I would love to see the day that Theophilus saw his favorite carrier pull up to his door UPS FedEx U.S right Postal Service I don't know I'm just you know and there's a package for Theophilus he opens it however it was conveyed to him we don't know but somehow Luke wrote it Theophilus received it Theophilus read it and we all are blessed to have it too but I can see Theophilus holding this manuscript from Luke in his hands for the very first time maybe trembling and he opens the scroll and he starts to read for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are surely believed Among Us even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and Ministers of the word it seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus there's his name in this letter and then why the talmidists know the certainty of those things wherein they thou has been instructed if you ever get to a place or I believe like Theophilus you need a confirmation you need certainty I encourage you to pray but I encourage you to pray with an Open Bible and let the word of God speak to you and establish you and strengthen you and settle you that you will have the certainty of your faith if you're able would you please stand you know as I prayed about what to speak tonight whether to continue or start something new in November felt directed to this passage and as I told you I've never taught from this passage before I do not know where you are experientially with the Lord I do not know what attacks are coming against you or what your struggle may be but I trust God and I trust his word and I hope that tonight has encouraged you some with the certainty of your faith and maybe if you're not in the context of reading your Bible through [Music] what about starting in Luke 1 and read through the Book of Luke all 24 chapters and then God skip John for now start in Acts 1. where Luke writes the former treaties have I made unto the Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach and read that sequel that had intention to help Theophilus move to a place of stability and certainty of the things in which he had been instructed I'm gonna invite you to come and pray if you have a few minutes tonight I know that this message has more homework maybe than alter work but if you need strength from God tonight I'm praying that the word of God would speak to you and encourage you and strengthen you and establish you so that you would have an unwavering faith in God amen let's lift our hands right now or open your heart however you want to do that open your heart to the Lord and pray