LESSONS LEARNED FROM LOOKING THROUGH LUKE

“What Did Luke Said About the Bible?”

Luke 1:1-4.  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 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, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Luke tells us “It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,”   Many in our day do not believe the Bible to be the Word of God. Many will wait too late and find in eternity when it was indeed the LIVING WORD OF GOD.

A young farmer in North Dakota brought home a fancy barometer for which he paid $24.65. In the following days he watched it CAREFULY as it predicted the weather. On one of the walls of his home it hung in an honored place.

     But the day came when for three days it predicted “storm” while the sky was turquoise and clear.

      So he took it off the wall and back to town where he demanded his money back. Returning home, he and his wife became alarmed when they saw evidence of a storm ten miles out. When they turned in their yard, their home had blown away. The furniture was up in the apple trees, and the bathtub three blocks away in a pasture. But the grandmother had believed the barometer, and when a dark cloud appeared she took the two small children and went to the shelter in the old storm cellar, long unused, and they were saved.

 Bible is an old shelter, unused by most,. shelter in the time of storm

Many pass the Bible off as being to hard to understand.

SPURGEON SAID TO A YOUNG STUDIENT

The student came to Spurgeon to tell him that the Bible contained some verses which he could not understand and about which he was very much worried. To this the great English preacher replied, “Young man, allow me to give you a word of advice. You must expect God to know some things which you do not understand.”

Some believe the Bible is full of myths and stories that are not true.... like the story of Snow White and her WICKED STEPMOTHER.   .... Mirror, mirror on the wall.......!

Look with me at three things today.

I.   The Testimony of Luke.

II. The Truth about This Bible

III. The Topic of the Bible

I.  THE TESTIMONY OF LUKE.

Luke 1:1-4 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 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, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

1.   Luke was a physician (Colossians 4:14 and a gentile.)...

2.   Along with the GOSPEL OF LUKE he wrote the book of ACTS that means LUKE was responsible for writing more material in the NEW TESTMENT than any other INDIVIDUALS, INCLUDING Paul.

3.   Luke addresses the book to “Theophlus,” which means “lover of God.” Most Bible Scholars believe Theophilus was an influential man in the household of the Roman leader, Senecar.

4.   But the book is addressed to every one of us who is “A LOVER OF GOD”

5.   Luke’s testimony in these first four verses is a tribute to the TRUTH of the

      SCRIPTURES.

6.   Luke is STRIVING FOR ACCURACY....................... (Eyewitness accounts).

7.   Most IN THIS CHURCH HAVE BEEN TAUGHT CHRISITAN TRUTHS from our youth, Is the Bible TURE... Is it the WORD OF GOD?

II. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BIBLE.

Luke 1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were

EYEWITNESSES and ministers of the word;

1.   Is the BIBLE RELIABLE? Can you base your ETERNITY on it?

2.   I ask you to be OPEN MINDED to what I will say this morning as I try to show you some

       EVIDENCE that this BIBLE IS TRUE. (We never ask you to check you’re your brain at the door when you come to Pewee Valley Baptist Church.)

(A). THINK WITH ME ABOUT THE LITERARY COMPARISON.

        Jesus Said the Scriptures were from the beginning.

Luke 24:27: And BEGINNING at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning him self.

1.   IN LITERARY COMPARISON You ask how many copies of the manuscripts are still around, and how many of the manuscripts are still around.

2.   You may have studied PLATO’S WRITINGS in a PHILOSOPHY class in High School or College; there are a number of Plato’s Me-trilogies.

3.   There are 10 manuscripts Of CAESARS' GALLIC WARS.

4.   There are 643 manuscripts of HOMER’S ODYSSEY. ...... “That’s a lot!”

5.   What about the Bible – There are over 24,000 copies of the NEW TESTAMENT that date back to the first few Centuries of Christianity?   (Par Paris fragments ....of Luke’s gospel date back to the...day of Jesus Christ to around 32-33 AD)

1.   The Old Testament – The oldest copy we had prior to 1948 was produced around the 900 A.D. by a group of Hebrews known as the “Masoretes” and in 1947 the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered in a cave and they date back to 125 B.C.  This put the date back 1,000 years and the only variations and changes found in over a 1,000 years were minor spelling errors!

2.   The Jewish scribes had been ACCURATELY TRANSCRIBING THE

      SCRIPTURES for a 1,000 years with out error, this consistency has led scholars conclude that the Old Testament text has been preserved from the time of the originals.

(B). THE DISCOVERIES OF THE ARCHEOLOGIST.

1.   KING DAVID, who slew the Philistine giant Goliath and founded Jerusalem, whose life is a tale of murder, adultery, deceit and extraordinary faith and courage.

2.   For centuries, there was no archeological evidence for his

      existence. Then in 1993 in the Golan Heights they unearthed a stone from an ancient monument which had inscribed upon it, the words “KING DAVID OF ISREAL” and “HOUSE OF DAVID”

3.   PONTIUS PILATE, for centuries, historians questioned his existence and then in 1961 there was unearthed at Caesarea a stone tablet with his name on it.

(C). FULFILLED PROPHECIES.

1.   There are 300 Old Testament scriptures that have already been fulfilled in the New Testament. There are 33 Old Testament prophecies about Jesus that WERE CLEARLY FULFILLED in His LIFE. Have you ever THOUGH OF THE ODDS of that JUST HAPPENING in random fashion?

2.   DR. PETER STONER calculates that the possibility of any one person fulfilling just 8 prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That is a 1 with 17 zeros.  (A Thousand trillion) Dr. Stoner points out a better way to calculate those odds. Imagine taking one thousand trillion silver dollars and laying them on the face of the state of Texas. They will cover the entire state two feet deep. Then mark one of the silver dollars and stir the whole pile thoroughly, all over the state. Put on a blindfold and travel as far as you wish across the state and on the first try, pick up the marked silver dollar.

3.   Here are a few of the prophecies that were fulfilled exactly by our Lord.

      (1). Isaiah 7:14 He would be born of a virgin;     (2). Micah 5:2 He would be born in Bethlehem;        (3). Isaiah 9:1 His main ministry area would be Galilee;              (4). Psalm 41:9 A friend would betray Him;           (5) Isaiah 53:7 He would be silent before His accusers;           (6). Psalm 22:16 His hands and feet would be pierced; (7). Psalm 22:18 predicted they would cast lots for His clothing;      (8). Isaiah 53:9 He would be buried in the tomb of a rich man

III. THE TOPIC OF THE BIBLE.

I am referring to the entire Bible as well as the book of Luke. The key verse in Luke’s gospel is found in 19:10 and is a well-known passage spoken by our Lord in which He said OF HIMSELF:   “Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

There are 51 total parables of Jesus recorded in the Bible and 35 of them are found in Luke, and 19 are only found in Luke’s gospel.

          (A). THE MAIN INDIVIDUAL IS SAVIOUR.

            1.  PHILIP SHAFF writes about Jesus:  “Without money and arms, this Jesus of Nazareth              conquer more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed and Napoleon; without science and                    learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all the philosophers and scholars                       combined; without the eloquence of schools, He spoke such words as were never spoken before                   or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of the orator. Without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. Born in a manger, and crucified as a malefactor, He now controls the destines of       the civilized world, and rules a spiritual empire which embraces one third of the inhabitants of the globe.”

            2.  JESUS SAID THE ENTIRE BIBLE WAS ABOUT HIM. Luke 24:25-26 Then he said unto them, 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?

(B). THE MAIN INTENTION IS SALVATION 

1. Jesus Came To Us.  “The Son Of Man Is Come” Jesus Came To Us” We learn in John’s  Gospel how Jesus became flesh, and lived among us. God’s Salvation is that GOD CAME TO US that means that means we were unable to go to Him.

2. Jesus Came Seeking Us. “To Seek” He came where we were! “To the drunkard, to the harlot, to the gambler, the blind man, the sick, man. He came seeking us.

3. Jesus Came To Save Us.  “to save that which was lost” Illustrate, the Cross-”for this reason came I unto the world.