Luke chapter 1, and if you would want to mark that and turn also to Acts chapter 1, I'm going to read a section, brief sections actually, from both of these portions. You'll see in a moment that Luke, the author of both of these books, he makes reference to the Gospel of Luke in Acts chapter 1. So Luke one will begin in verse one, and with God's word open before us, let's seek the Lord in prayer. And as we go to the Lord in prayer, I would exhort you to ask the Lord to give you ears to hear. And I don't mean simply a physical ear to hear, but the hearing of the heart that enables you to perceive the truth and the reality of that truth. Let's pray. O Lord, as we bow in Thy presence now, with Thy word open before us, we look to Thee for the help of Thy Spirit. We pray that with His strengthening power we may give careful heed to Thy word, and may we be drawn to Christ And may we be enabled in thy power to behold him, and in beholding him may we become the more conformed to him. I pray, Lord, that thou wilt take me up and make me a vessel fit for thy use even now. And to that end, I plead the blood of Christ over my life and ask of thee, Lord, for cleansing in that fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, so that I may in turn know the help of thy Spirit, his leading and guidance. May it please thee, blessed Spirit of God, to give me strength of heart and mind, clarity of thought and speech, and especially unction from on high, that the message will indeed be perceived as a word from God for this people, for this time, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Luke chapter one, we begin in verse one. This is the word of God, let us hear it. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they deliver 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, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. And now if you would turn to Acts chapter one. Acts chapter one, and you'll notice right away in verse one, that reference is being made here to the gospel of Luke. Acts chapter one, verse one, the former treatise, and there it is, okay, the former treatise, which is the gospel of Luke. The former treatise of I made O 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 showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Amen, we'll end our reading in verse three. And we know that the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word for his name's sake. As the Lord leads and enables, I would like to take up the gospel of Luke in the days to come. We'll see how the Lord leads and guides. I feel the leading of the Lord to take this up, but whenever it comes to studying a book in the Bible, I also feel the liberty to leave it behind, if that's what the Lord would want. Very often that's the case. We may go through the book a little while, we may take a break for a while, we may come back to it, but at least to start, I feel the Lord leading us into a study of the Gospel of Luke. It raises an interesting question, I suppose. Why study the Gospel of Luke? And indeed, for that matter, why study any gospel? This should be preceded by that more basic question. Why study any of the four gospels? And I can provide a twofold answer to that question. Paul provides a very good answer to that question in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18, where he writes, but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Do you catch Paul's meaning there? With open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. In this verse, Paul is contrasting the veiled face of Moses with the open face we now have in these New Testament times. We are able with open face to behold us in a glass, the glory of the Lord. And what is it that we actually behold, even though it is through a glass, so to speak? As Paul calls it in 1 Corinthians 13, seeing through a glass darkly. Well, very simply put, it's Christ himself. When we behold the glory of the Lord, we're beholding Christ Himself. We behold Him. John 1, verse 14, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And would you notice the effect that beholding the glory of Christ should have on the believer? As a result of beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, Paul goes on to describe the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life. We are changed into the same image, he writes, 2 Corinthians 3, 18. We are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. I can think of no more important a text than 2 Corinthians 3 in verse 18 when it comes then to the matter of the believer's sanctification. What, after all, is sanctification? Well, at its core, it's conformity to Christ. So as we behold through a glass the glory of Christ, we will become conformed to His image. Doesn't happen naturally, but it does happen, you could say, supernaturally or spiritually through the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. So the glass through which we behold the glory of the Lord is the Bible itself, okay? But here is how the Bible becomes unlike any other book. And I hope you keep that in mind, that the Bible is unlike any other book in any number of respects, but especially with regard to the purpose it serves. Something happens when you read this book with an open heart toward Christ. The Spirit of the Lord works in your heart in such a way that you find yourself compelled to worship the one that you behold in this book. You find yourself compelled to worship him. We oftentimes think of the Bible, don't we, in one of two ways. We think of the Bible as being theological, and we think of the Bible as being practical. And there are many that draw too much of a distinction between these two things, theological and practical. There are those who mistakenly think that in order to be practical, you have to abandon being theological. Those of you who have sat under my ministry for any length of time will know that I constantly campaign for the practicality of the Bible being based on the theology of the Bible. Theology, in other words, is practical. But there is yet another approach to the Bible that I fear is largely overlooked today. where we can not only say that the Bible is theological and practical, but we should also note that the Bible is doxological. Boy, write that word down, huh? There's a 25 cent word you can use if you want to appear to be smart in certain circles, I suppose. Doxological. What does that mean? It means simply this. The Bible leads us to worship, doxology, worship. The Bible is not only theological, practical, it's doxological. In other words, it leads us to worship. And as we behold in a glass the glory of Christ, we should find ourselves compelled to worship Christ. And as we worship Christ, by entering into fellowship with Christ, The Holy Spirit works in our hearts to conform us to the image of Christ. Now, doesn't that put your approach to the Bible in a whole new light? When it comes not just to being here in the Lord's house on the Lord's day under the preaching of the Bible, but when it comes to your daily reading of the Bible, You should recognize, especially on those occasions, that this book is unlike any other book, and that its design and its purpose is not merely to dispense information to you, but it serves the purpose of bringing you into fellowship with Christ. I was reminded of this last week when Mark Duncan preached to us from 1 John chapter 1. You recall in those opening verses how John places a very strong emphasis on the senses of seeing, hearing, and touching, and Mark certainly made that a point of emphasis. And why does John place such an emphasis on those things? After all, the ones that he was writing to would not have seen or heard or handled Christ the way John and the apostles saw him and heard him and handled him. Was John writing to his audience merely so that his readers might be impressed with John's experience of having seen and heard and handled Christ? The answer is no, not at all. In verse three, 1 John 1, we're told, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship, John and the apostles, the readers, the writers, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Do you see from that how the Bible is designed and intended by God to be the means through which we don't simply learn about Christ and about the Father, we enter into spiritual fellowship with Christ and with the Father. And this is accomplished by the Spirit of God. I hope you approach your Bible with that aim and view of being brought into fellowship with God. Now while it's true that all of Scripture points us to Christ, it's also true that the four Gospels point us to Christ with the greatest fullness and clarity that you can find in all the Bible. That's why it becomes a matter of the utmost importance that we study any and all of the four Gospels. Now, I said a moment ago that there's a twofold answer as to why we study the Gospels. I've given you the first part of that answer. It is through the Gospels that we are enabled to behold Christ. The second part of that answer is what pertains to the Gospel of Luke in particular. You've heard me say this, and indeed I said this repeatedly when we studied the Gospel of John a few years ago. Very important when it comes to the study of any book in the Bible, that you search for the divine intention behind the book. That was one of the greatest things, I think in retrospect, that my pulpit speech teacher as a student at BJ sought to impress upon me. I'm not looking first and foremost for how this applies to me, though there is certainly room for that. But there is a question that needs to be considered that is even more basic than that, which is like this, why did God give us this book in the first place? What is the divine intention behind the book? Why has God moved by His Spirit through Luke, the author of this book, to write the things that he writes in the gospel that bears his name? And why has God inspired and preserved these things? Those are good questions to ask. And sometimes the answer is not hard to ascertain. You may find a very plain statement within the book that will answer that question for you. Okay, at this time, I'm taking a pause. I'm giving you a quiz. Oh, I'll be so disappointed if you don't pass. We went through the Gospel of John. A few years ago, I didn't check to see how far long ago it was, but I made this a constant point of emphasis. Why was that gospel written? Why did John write the things he wrote in his gospel? And the answer is given to you so plainly in John chapter 20 and verse 31. These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. What a plain and clear statement as to why John wrote the Gospel. Now, it's interesting to note how that purpose statement by John appears near the end of his Gospel. Now, in the Gospel of Luke, on the other hand, you find that purpose statement right out of the gate, so to speak. In these opening verses, this prologue, if you will, consisting in the first four verses of Luke 1. Look at what it says in verse four. That thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. Here's why Luke recorded his gospel, that you might know the certainty of the things in which you, Theophilus, have been instructed. Certainty. What a blessing. Stop and think about that for a moment. Certainty. Isn't that the crying need of the hour? To be certain about some things? Today, nobody's certain about anything. Our educational system today makes it their single point of dogma that you can't be sure about anything. Interesting to point out that they seem to be sure about that, don't they? They're sure that you can't be sure. There are no such things in today's culture as moral absolutes. There is no such thing as absolute truth. And where there is no certainty, there certainly is no security. How can there be? You can't count on anyone or anything to be certain. It's no wonder we live in a culture that says, lock your door, fasten the three dead bolts, and then set the alarm system, and make sure you know where the bullets are stored for your shotgun. The world is so unsafe because the world is so uncertain about everything. And where there is no certainty, you have shifting values. Where you have no certainty, you have no trust. And where there is no trust, you have to be on your guard. The Christian, thankfully, has been saved from this dangerous and unsettling morass by finding something that is certain. In finding Christ, the Christian has found a sure place to cast the anchor of his soul He has a sure hope because he has a sure salvation. And the gospel of Luke teaches us then what's certain. It was written that we might know the certainty of the things in which we've been instructed. What that means is that the main purpose behind this gospel, the main purpose that it serves is to minister assurance to our souls. assurance with regard to Christ, assurance with regard to the person of Christ, to the mission of Christ, to the salvation of Christ, assurance that the things that pertain to Christ and to salvation are absolutely true. So what I want to focus on this morning is this theme of certainty. I'll actually be borrowing in some measure from a message that I preached many years ago when I began a series in the book of Acts. Acts was the very first book I preached through when I was ordained to be the minister of this congregation. And I should point out here by way of reminder that what you find in the book of Acts really amounts to volume two of Luke's gospel. Luke and Acts are addressed to the same man, Theophilus. And in the book of Acts, you find the author making reference to the former treatise, which is the gospel of Luke. When I preached through the book of Acts, I borrowed from this purpose statement in Luke's gospel because I recognized the connection between Luke volume one and Luke volume two, which is Acts. And I basically transferred the purpose statement that I've just read now in verse 4 of chapter 1 from Luke's gospel to the book of Acts. The same divine intention or the same purpose applies to both books is that we might know the certainty of the things wherein we've been instructed. So this is what I want to direct your attention to today. In the moments that remain, what we could call apostolic certainties. The apostles were sure to the point of conviction about some things. We need to be sure to the point of conviction about the same things. What things were they certain about? Well, let's think for a moment, first of all, that they were certain about the person of Christ. They were certain about the person of Christ. I'm sure, I don't have to spell it out, I'm sure you know this, the Gospel of Luke is about Christ, okay? But if you would look with me in Acts chapter one and verse one. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. There's a good statement about the purpose, the content in the book of Acts. It pertains to all that Jesus began both to do and teach. So you could say that they were certain about Jesus. You see the subject of Luke's former treatise that points us to Luke's gospel. I know I'm only stating the obvious when I say that Luke's gospel is about Christ. Christ is the theme. Now, as we get into these studies, I'll have occasion, I'm sure, to distinguish an emphasis in Luke from the other Gospels. We'll get to that along the way as the Lord leads, but the point I'm just making now, a very simple one, a very obvious one, yet a very needed and necessary one, that Christ is the focal point. Now there's a translation matter that I need to direct your attention to in the very first verse of Luke's gospel. Note especially the phrase, those things which are most surely believed among us. Okay, it's at the very end of verse one. For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, the authorized version is somewhat different from other English translations in the use of that phrase. most surely believed among us, and it's not a textual issue, okay? We're not dealing with different Greek words now that lead to a different translation. We're dealing with a different way in which that Greek word is translated. Hence, in the ESV version, listen to what it says, inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, That's really quite a bit of variance from our authorized version translation, isn't it? The New American Standard puts it pretty much the same way, but adds this marginal note, which reads like this, a marginal note giving now an alternate translation, and it reads, on which there is full conviction. Well, that comes a little closer, doesn't it, to reflecting what the authorized version says. The NIV, many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us. Now, what you have to appreciate about these translation variations is that there is a very definite sense in which there is no wrong answer here. Okay? We sometimes have, I think, those of us that are very simple in linguistics, and I include myself in that, there is sometimes the naive notion that when it comes to translating the Bible from one language into another, we have an exact word-to-word correspondence. You don't have that. You don't have that between languages. I can remember many years ago, I have had just two occasions in my life when I have preached through a translator. First time was in our Korean church down in Greenville. David Lee, minister of the church at the time, had invited me to preach. In order for me to do that, he had to translate my preaching while I was preaching into Korean for the sake of his audience. And I remember I would give a sentence or two and then David would translate that into Korean. Seems like it would take him five minutes to say what I had said in 30 seconds. I remember Dr. Barrett making reference to that and wondering, what's he really doing? Is he translating what I'm actually saying or is he just preaching a sermon of his own? Now, well, it illustrates perfectly that there is no word-to-word correspondence when it comes to going from one language to another. Now, I think I understand why the Authorized Version translators would use the phrase, surely believed among us. That phrase, I think, suits the immediate context, especially when compared to verse 4, where Luke references those things wherein thou hast been instructed, On the other hand, I can't deny that I love that word accomplished. I love that word because Christ's life and Christ's death can and should be viewed as an accomplishment. This is the record of what Christ has accomplished by his life and death. Interesting, in Luke 9, verse 31, you have Luke's account of the transfiguration of Christ. In that setting, Moses and Elijah appear with Christ, and Luke gives us something in his gospel that none of the other gospel writers give us. Luke actually brings us into the conversation that takes place between Moses and Elijah with Christ. So we read in Luke 9, in verse 31, who, the reference is to Christ, who appeared in glory and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Oh, the death of Christ is an accomplishment. And if you appreciate that, if you know that, that will have a very definitive impact on your view of the atonement. It's definite. It's an accomplishment. Let's not ever lose sight of the fact that Christ's life and his death was an accomplishment. His life accomplished fulfilling the law on our behalf. His death accomplished paying a debt that we could not pay. Luke is going to give us the account of that accomplishment in his gospel. And the accomplishment of Christ's life and his atoning death can certainly be said, to use now our authorized version translation, those things most surely believed among us. So really, you can bring both ideas together when it comes to the translation. What are the things that are most surely believed among us? Well, they are the things that were accomplished by Christ's life and Christ's death. Now, in Acts chapter 1 and verse 1, we read a little bit ago with reference to Luke's gospel, the former treatise, Have I Made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. The apostles were certain about the person of Christ. They were certain that Jesus was the Christ. There was a sense in which this was the whole battle that had to be fought and won in their hearts in the Gospels. So we read their testimony, and it's rather interesting to trace this through John's Gospel. In chapter 6 and verse 69, they say, the apostles, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then you look a few chapters later, in chapter 16 and verse 30, and we read there, now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee? By this we believe that thou camest forth from God. It's as if they were saying, before we thought we were sure, but now we're really sure that thou art the Christ. Interesting to note that after this strong affirmation that now they are really sure, Christ goes on to predict how they would all forsake and abandon him in just a short time. Now whatever doubts they harbored in the Gospels, I should point out, are certainly gone by the time you come to the book of Acts. However, they thought they were sure in the gospel accounts. In the book of Acts, they were definitely sure. You know, that's a battle that we sometimes face. I think I'm sure that Jesus is the Christ, even though my life may say that I'm not as sure as I should be and want to be. The devil in our humanistic, atheistic, rationalistic culture would try to convince you that the whole thing is a cunningly devised fable. And this is why I say that our convictions must be the same as the apostles' convictions. We must be as certain as they were concerning Christ, and Luke has written this gospel in order to give us assurance of that certainty that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised One. So how do we gain and maintain that certainty? How are we going to overcome the flesh in our unbelieving culture to keep suppressed our doubts and our unbelief? Well, again, call to mind the purpose statement in Luke 1, verse 4. Luke has written to Theophilus that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. And what I want you to see is that if you would know certainty, then you must go to the source of certainty. We've got to stay in the book, in other words. We must spend time in the Word. We establish and maintain and strengthen our convictions in the things that are certain by knowing where our source of certainty is found. It's found in God's word. In particular now in the gospel of Luke. Now I could say more regarding the apostle's certainty about the person of Christ. The name Jesus in verse one of Acts chapter one is a name that means Jehovah is salvation. This is a name that reflects the deity of Christ. The apostles knew and they were certain that Jesus was and is Jehovah God. They had no doubts about his humanity. They had seen him. They had been with him. They knew he was a man and they learned that he was the God man. And so we must be certain that the Christ we worship and serve is the God-man, Christ Jesus, God come in the flesh. If we are uncertain about this, then our message will be uncertain, and really our methods will become uncertain, and our very purpose for existence will become uncertain. We must be sure about the person we worship and serve. The apostles were sure about the person of Christ. But would you note with me also, secondly, now, they were certain about the work of Christ. Pretty simple course to follow, isn't it? And again, the words of Acts chapter one and verse one, making reference to the gospel of Luke, the former treatise, there it is, Luke's gospel, the former treatise, have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, underscore those words, to do. The former treatise, have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do. and to teach. Now, it's rather interesting to note that the disciples didn't understand the work of Christ. They didn't understand what He had come to do, even after He had, on different occasions, explained it to them. If you would look with me in Matthew's Gospel, if you would. Matthew, chapter 16, and look at verses 21 and 22. And I should perhaps explain a little bit of the context here. Peter has just made his confession that Jesus is the Christ. It would appear in this context, Peter now has the matter settled pertaining to the person of Christ. And once that matter is settled in his heart, we read now verse 21, Matthew 16, from that time forth, from the time when Peter made this confession forth, began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Did you get that, Peter? Well, verse 22, then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. Well, Peter didn't get it, did he? Didn't get it at all. Now, if you look back now in Acts 1, keeping in mind the reference to Luke's Gospel, we read in verse 3 in Luke 1, to whom also he, Christ, the risen Christ now, showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days, and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Okay, the word suffer, back in Matthew 16, the things that he must suffer, and the word passion, now in Luke chapter one and verse three, it's the same word. the work of Christ, the thing that Jesus began to do, is here summarily described as his passion in the book of Acts. His work, in other words, was to suffer. His work was to be apprehended, and beaten, and scourged, and mocked, and then crucified. That's what he came to do. Luke will, of course, give us his account of that in due course. And it raises the question, doesn't it, how could they possibly have understood it when Christ declared it to them? It was so far beyond them. Indeed, it's so far beyond us all that we couldn't understand it either. This is, after all, a strange work wrought by Christ that he should be apprehended and scourged and mocked and at last nailed to a cross. The apostles didn't understand it. Peter was offended by the very notion of it. It seemed so wrong. It seemed so tragic. It seemed like the triumph of evil over good. What good could possibly come of the long-promised Messiah being arrested, apprehended, put through cruel mockings in a trial, and at last crucified? Unheard of! This is why, years earlier, God said to the prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 5, Behold ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously, for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. Oh, there's a prophecy that was clearly fulfilled in the days of Christ. He told them, but they didn't understand, and they couldn't believe it. But I want you to see from the text that his passion was the beginning. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach. You could say in a sense that Christ's work of redemption began with his suffering, but it didn't end there. Peter that he would suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day Now by the time you come to the book of Acts the Apostles were certain about his work and about his sufferings because now the risen Savior had explained it to them and It's interesting, isn't it, while we're on the theme of certainty, to note verse three, which tells us that he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs. That's in Acts chapter one and verse three. What were those infallible proofs? Well, there's certainly nothing like firsthand experience to make a man certain of something. And in the former treatise, Luke's gospel, we have the account of Christ saying to his disciples, behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see. And Luke 24 and verse 39, this certainly was convincing proof to the apostles, but could you go so far as to say that this is what made those proofs infallible? I like the statement that Peter makes in his second epistle, where he reflects on another incident in the life of Christ that he had experienced firsthand. Peter was one of only three that beheld Christ in the Mount of Transfiguration, where Christ displayed His glory in a marvelous fashion that outshone the sun. And in referring to that experience, Peter says, 2 Peter 1, verse 19, We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Here is what rendered the proof of Christ's work, his death, his resurrection. Here is what renders it all as being infallible. They not only saw him, they not only handled him, but they came to understand that his suffering and resurrection were foretold in God's infallible Word. That's probably why that NIV version, I believe it was, uses the word fulfilled. Their certainty came to them the way certainty comes to us today. through God's infallible word. The former treatise referred to in verse one of our text brings us back to Luke's gospel. where Luke goes into great detail in the 24th chapter in describing how the risen Christ expounded the scriptures to his disciples. Beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, we read Luke 24, verse 27, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And there you find, a great hermeneutical principle, don't we, when it comes to interpreting scriptures. They concern Jesus Christ. This is a book about Jesus Christ. And this leads me very quickly to my final point, which in a sense is linked to what I've already said. We've seen that the apostles were certain about the person of Christ. They were certain about the work of Christ. Consider, finally, they were certain about the doctrine of Christ. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Underscore those last words, and teach. That pertains to the doctrine, then, that Christ taught. And I say the points are linked because what Christ taught had to do with what he had done. O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. That's Luke 24, verses 25 to 27. And then Christ did something very important, which gives us an important key as to what the ministry of the Holy Spirit is all about. When we read, he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. He opened their understanding. That's tantamount to saying He gave to them spiritual illumination. Now it all made sense. They understood it objectively. They felt the truth of it in their hearts. The entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament taught that we needed an atonement for our sins. If we would be forgiven, we must have an atonement. Christ was and is that atoning sacrifice. That would be a prominent part of the message that the apostles would preach. Acts 13 verses 38 and 39 We have a sermon here recorded by Paul be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are Justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. I Pause here only to make a remark that in One of the introductions that I've been reading pertaining to the Gospel of Luke, it was pointed out to me, I'm kind of ashamed that I needed to have it pointed out to me. Maybe in a sense I knew it, but it never struck with me, and that is that Luke, more than any other Gospel writer, places an emphasis on justification. We'll see that along the way. But the apostles were convinced of this, convinced of Christ, convinced of his person, his work. They were certain that this was the truth, and as a result, they couldn't be shut up. They couldn't be suppressed. You remember, some of you, some of you were on hand for that when we went through the book of Acts a long time ago. I made much of the fact that you could not shut up these apostles. You could arrest them, you could imprison them, you could persecute them, you could murder them, but you couldn't shut them up. Why? because they couldn't be robbed of their spiritual joy or vitality no matter what happened to them. They knew and were sure, they were certain about Christ. His death and His resurrection. They knew the truth concerning Christ. They knew He was the Messiah. They understood what He had done and what He had taught them. They knew what He was doing and what He would do. He was still with them by His Spirit, and they knew, in turn, what they must do. So, we must know, with the same depth of conviction, what the apostles knew. The Gospel of Luke is designed to lead us there. The reason for their power and success is really no secret. Very simply, they were convinced of the truth, the certainty concerning Christ, his sufferings and resurrection, his person and work. Luke's gospel will serve the purpose, then, of making us as sure as the apostles were sure about the truth of Christ. Doesn't that make this a good gospel, then, to read and study? If we're convinced of the same things, then we'll do the same things that they did. We'll pray the way they prayed. We'll preach the way they preached. We'll witness the way they witnessed, and we'll live the way they lived. This gospel then is given to us that we might know the certainty of the things in which we've been instructed. May God deepen our convictions in the truth so that we're governed by the certainty of the gospel. Isn't certainty a blessing? In a day when so many people are coming unglued because of a lack of certainty about anything and everything, isn't it good to know that we have been anchored to a sure foundation, Christ crucified and risen from the dead? our sins forgiven, our home in heaven secured. Oh, may Christ himself then help us to be grounded in this truth. May we draw from the gospel of Luke in the days ahead as the Lord leads and guides what the Lord would have us gain, which is an increased depth of conviction with regard to things that are certain, things in which we have been instructed. Let's close then in prayer. O Lord, as we bow in Thy presence now and bring this service to a close, we thank Thee that we have a source for certainty in the Word of God and in the Gospel of Luke. We thank Thee, Lord, for a Gospel that has been written, inspired, preserved, in order to enable us to behold Christ, and in order to enable us to be certain to the point of conviction about the things pertaining to Christ. O Lord, use our studies in this gospel to strengthen and deepen our convictions in the truth of Jesus Christ. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.