Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

We live in a world where nothing seems certain.

Our news media is dominated by politics that spins stories and distorts the truth.

Our economy is like a roller coaster.

One minute we feel great about the direction it is going and the next we feel like we are about to plummet down a 300 foot drop.

Our world governments are often unstable and can invade one another at the drop of a hat like we have just seen with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Our jobs are uncertain as I have recently seen with the closing of the Saint Francis Emergency Department that is imminent.

We never know when we may need to look for another job!

We even used to be certain there would be toilet paper available at the store but even that wasn’t certain for quite some time there during the COVID-19 pandemic!

And even in the midst of a toilet paper shortage - I do not recommend reusing it.

Just a needed clarification from last week…If you didn’t get that, then you need to listen to last week’s sermon.

I could go on for hours about the uncertainty that we experience throughout our lives on earth.

Our world is marred by sin.

And uncertainty will continue to be the default of this planet when it comes to anything that man has his hand in.

But in the midst of all of this depressing news, we have a hope that is certain.

There is something amazing that we can be certain about.

And that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We can be certain that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is accurate and true.

In a world marked by uncertainty, we are going to start studying a book that is written with absolute certainty by Luke.

Join me as we start a journey through the longest book of the New Testament by volume of Greek words!

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Prayer

Before we get into this amazing study of the book of Luke, I want us to have a little background information.

This book is likely written during Paul’s second imprisonment in Rome around AD 60-62.

It was also likely written along with the book of Acts around the same time.

There is almost universal consensus that this book, along with Acts, was written by Luke the physician.

We are not told much about Luke and he does not specifically give his name in the two books that he authored.

We only see him mentioned in 3 of Paul’s letters by name - Colossians 4:14 (where he is called the beloved physician), 2 Timothy 4:11 (where he alone is with Paul near the end of Paul’s earthly life), and Philemon 24 (where he is called a fellow worker of Paul).

We know that he was a Gentile and that he was a physician that traveled along with Paul - likely caring for the aged Apostle who had many run-ins with townsfolk and was beaten up far too regularly!

You know you have a rough life when you require your own personal physician!

It should be noted that Luke is the most thorough of the New Testament authors.

Not that I am biased being a physician myself, but Luke is quite the detailed fellow!

Although he only wrote two of the 27 books of the New Testament, he wrote the most Greek words of any New Testament writer.

And that is pretty amazing when you see that Paul wrote 13 of the 27 books and didn’t write as much in volume of words as Luke!

Luke wrote what amounts to approximately be 27.5% of the New Testament.

We see his attention to detail even as we begin this first chapter of his Gospel where we see 80 verses!

And no - we aren’t going to go at this 4 verses at a time through this chapter!

I just wanted to make sure we got a good introduction into this wonderful book before diving in headfirst.

We will actually be moving pretty quickly through this first chapter over the next few weeks to get to the Christmas account just time for Christmas day next month!

Now that we have a little background, lets study these first four verses and learn why we should believe the Gospel...

I. We Should Believe the Gospel Because It is Accurate (1-2)

You will see as we break down these first four verses that there isn’t a period until the end of verse 4! Luke composes an exquisitely high level Greek first sentence to start off this book.

This sentence is written to show his accuracy and attention to detail and to show his ability to compile the information in the book that follows.

Luke starts off by stating that many have undertaken to compile a narrative.

This does not mean that there were a ton of people who did this.

What he wants us to know is that he has reviewed the documents that preceded him.

He likely reviewed the writings of Mark and Matthew among others prior to writing his account.

He was well read - or pardon the pun, well versed, regarding the history of Jesus Christ.

And he has compiled all of this data into his book.

He is providing us a complete narrative so that we can know that it is accurate.

He goes even further to stress the accuracy of his research and writing by letting us know that he had even interviewed eyewitnesses.

Those who had walked and talked with the risen Christ.

You see, this is incredibly important because unlike Matthew who was one of the twelve disciple of Christ, Luke was a later Gentile convert.

He had to rely on interviewing eyewitnesses of Christ and spent a lot of time doing so in order to compile this accurate narrative.

Next we see that he also interviewed preachers of the word or ministers of the word.

This term word or the related phrase ‘word of God’ is a common theme throughout Luke’s two authored books.

It refers to the Gospel message in his writings.

And he actually uses these two terms some forty times in his two books!

People like Paul, Peter, Timothy, and others were interviewed by Luke.

Luke lived with many of these ministers and preachers for months and even years.

He was able to accurately research and compile the data in order to form this complete narrative.

And it was these eyewitnesses and ministers or preachers of the word that delivered this information to him.

The Greek word for delivered here is paradidōmi (par-a-the-though-me) and means to pass on, hand down, or transmit.

He recieved the true Word of God as delivered by eyewitness and ministers of the Gospel.

And as we also know and understand, all of this research and writing was directed by the Holy Spirit who wrote through the beloved physician to compile this narrative.

We have mentioned this Scripture that proves this time and time again in 2 Peter 1:20-21:

Why is all of this so important for Luke to tell us in these first two verses?

Luke was a Roman Gentile.

He was well versed in the understanding of writing as a historian.

He was also a physician as we have mentioned which meant he would have been a very thorough man.

He sought to establish his book as a legitimate and reliable account.

And he wanted to let his readers know that he was not bringing his own ideas or the ideas of those far off from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

He was writing from sources that were primary sources.

He wasn’t interviewing heretical people or fringe people.

He was only interviewing those who were a part of the inner circle of Jesus Christ.

My friends, we can know that his book is accurate.

The word accurate means conforming to the facts and without error.

We can know that this book that we are starting to study is accurate.

As we mentioned at the start of this sermon, there are very few things that we can rely on as accurate in today’s world.

But the Gospel is one thing that we can believe because it is without error.

It is accurate.

Next, we...

Scripture References: Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11, Philemon 24, 2 Peter 1:20-21

II.

We Should Believe the Gospel Because It is Personal (3)

Theologian Darrel Bock points out the four characteristics that mark Luke’s approach to this task.

He investigated or followed the account.

He went back to the beginning (as we see for some time past which literally means he went from the top - as we often say a top-down approach to refer to thoroughness)

He studied all things (everything).

He did his work carefully by following closely as we see here.

And not only was he diligently thorough in his work as we have mentioned already, he was also orderly with his work.

Luke 1:3 (ESV)

it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

This Greek word for orderly is kathĕxēs (kath-ex-aced) which means in sequence of time, space, or logic.

Although most of this book is written in a consistent orderly sequence of time and events, we do see some teachings grouped in logical sequence rather than time.

The overarching book is orderly in respect to time but there are cases where accounts are grouped in logical sequence rather than in a rigid time sequence.

This does not make Luke’s account any less reliable.

This style of writing was common in Greek writing and is even used in many books today.

Many history books will group things in logical sequence in certain areas in respect to what flows the best.

For example: just think if you are reading a book on world history and there are multiple battles during a war going on simultaneously.