Read Luke 1:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 to start.

Back before Christmas, when I was preparing for the Christmas Eve service and deciding on readings, I looked up several familiar passages, in particular from Isaiah, and Micah, and of course the second chapters of Matthew and Luke. At the time, I also took a look at the context for the various passages. Some of this context is quite well known, such as the genealogy from Matthew chapter 1. Luke chapter 1 is also well known, it talks about the parentage and birth of John the Baptist and Mary’s angelic visitor. It’s a big chapter, there’s a lot that takes place in it, there’s 80 verses, making it the longest chapter in the New Testament by verse count. I’ve heard multiple different sermons that address various sections of the chapter. But not all of it. The very first part of the chapter, is one that I don’t think I’ve ever heard referenced in a sermon, or devotional, or a Sunday school lesson.

It’s not a particularly exciting four verses, it’s an introduction from Luke to explain why he has undertaken the writing of the Gospel that bears his name. His objective was to provide an orderly account of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his purpose was that the reader, originally a man named Theophilius, but by extension anyone who reads and believes, might know the certainty of what they have been taught.

Throughout our lives, we are taught many things. Some we learn by listening, some by seeing, and some by doing. Different people may learn different things in different ways, but something things you can really only learn in one way. After all, I can tell you how to tie your shoes, you can watch me tie mine, but until you do it for yourself, you won’t really know how to do it. It’s much the same with riding a bike or hitting a baseball.

If you want to learn literature or history, you will need to listen to someone tell about it, or read about it yourself, because you can’t go and relive it.  Luke’s gospel is history, it recounts real events that happened in a real time and place, and while these events took place long ago, they matter greatly to us here and now. Luke was not an eyewitness to the events of this gospel. But he certainly knew many people who were. Historians call this a secondary source, which is a compilation of information from primary sources, from the people that actually witnessed and participated in the events.

It’s one thing to hear that something is true, it’s quite another to be convinced of it. That requires proof, that requires evidence. Otherwise it will not really be believed. Here’s an example of something unimportant that you may or may not believe. One of my coworkers taped a piece of paper that says “Gullible” to the ceiling above his desk. More than once he has told someone “it says ‘gullible’ on the ceiling” and waited for their reaction. Some people will immediately look up and confirm it for themselves. Others laugh and assume that he is trying to trick them. But some of those will come back later and take a look to confirm that yes, it does say gullible on the ceiling. No one really believes it until they see it for themselves.

Something that I say at work fairly often is the expression “Trust but verify.” Sometimes I’ll say it in Russian, doveryay no proveryay, because it’s an old Russian proverb that Ronald Reagan used to say to Mikhail Gorbachev in the context of nuclear disarmament, and it rhymes. These days I say it in Serbian, verovati ali proveriti because it also mostly rhymes, and I’m Serbian, and it’s not so okay to use Russian at the moment.  At this point most of my coworkers know that I say it, and some of them say it themselves, in English only, mind you, when they want to confirm that something has been done, or perhaps that it has been done thoroughly and correctly. Trust but verify means that you may believe what you have been told, but you are going to check it for yourself.

After all, you might assume that something is true and correct, but you really should expect a bit more evidence than one person said that’s how it is. That might seem simple and easy, but it may not be enough. If you should ever have cause to doubt anything that person has said, well, then you probably have cause to doubt everything that person has said.

That’s why it’s important not to base all your spiritual beliefs, all your understanding of who God is, of what Jesus means to you, on someone else’s faith. Their faith might be great, or it might be not so great, but it’s not yours, it’s theirs. Your parents’ faith is not your faith. Your friends’ faith is not your faith. Your siblings’ faith, again, is not your faith. Your spiritual mentor, if you have someone in particular that fits that role for you, which is great if you do, but their faith is not your faith. It has to be your own, or it’s not really faith.

Luke’s stated purpose for this gospel is that the reader might know the certainty of what they have been taught. Knowing with certainty is of vital importance, because if you are not convinced of the truth of what you have learned, then it likely will not stay with you in the long term. It won’t affect your decisions, it won’t help you when you need it. If you do not deeply and truly believe in something, if you have not proved it for yourself, then it will not influence the direction of your life.

We are all likely familiar with the story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel chapter 17. This is a very well known Bible account, we know how David fought the giant using stones and a sling. We might be less familiar with the part of the story before David went out to fight Goliath, and how King Saul tried to equip him with his own equipment. I won’t have you turn there, but I’ll read a few verses, starting at (37)  David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. (38)  And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. (39)  And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. (40)  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

I’m sure that’s Saul’s armour and sword were the absolute best available to anyone in Israel at that time.  Saul was the king, it’s not like he would have had whatever garbage equipment was sitting around. No, he outfitted David with his best gear, because David was about to go and do an incredibly perilous job that no one else was willing to even consider. But David refused Saul’s helmet, his coat of armour, and his sword. They were not his, he had never used them. They were unfamiliar, unnatural, unproven. David was going into a highly dangerous situation, he was about to do battle with an enemy, and not a commonplace, run-of-the-mill, everyday sort of enemy, but indeed the Philistine champion. Earlier in the passage when David first explained to Saul how he was willing to face Goliath, Saul pointed out that David was a youth, whereas the giant had been a warrior for years, since his own youth. This was an experienced killer who would seek to destroy without hesitation or mercy. In short, this was not the time to try and break-in unfamiliar equipment. This was the time to rely on God, and to use what he already knew, which was his staff, stones, and sling. 

I’m going to go ahead and assume that we know the rest of the story, but in case you need a refresher, well, I’ll point out that we wouldn’t know about either David or Goliath if the giant had won. Goliath died that day, not because David was a highly skilled warrior who outmatched him on the field of battle, but because David trusted God and didn’t try to get fancy. He used what he knew worked, and more specifically what worked for him.

None of us have of course faced a literal giant on the field of battle, and odds are that we never will. But we do face difficulties all the time. We face temptations, we face challenges to our faith, we face those who would lead us astray, who would undermine that we hold to be true and replace that with the falsehoods of this world and the adversary who rules it for the time being. Can we face that sort of enemy if we are equipped with unfamiliar gear? Can we face the world, the devil, and our own sinful nature, on borrowed faith? The answer should be obvious.

Sadly, people try to do exactly that all the time. They try to coast along on their parents’ faith, their friends’ faith, their pastor’s faith, but it’s not really their own. When things become difficult, when that faith is tested, it will fail. If it’s not real, it’s not faith.

If it sounds like I’m speaking primarily to the younger people here, well, it’s because this happens with young people far too often. A happy and safe childhood in a loving Christian home does not offer many challenges to faith, whereas the world at large absolutely does. So to all you young folks here in the front rows, and those sitting further back as well, I don’t know precisely where you stand before God, and maybe you don’t entirely know for certain either. But if your spiritual wellbeing is going to matter to you, if the state of your eternal soul is going matter to you and it should, it really should, then you need to own your faith for yourself. You can’t get by on going through the motions and hoping that the going does not get tough. Sooner or later the going will get tough. Coasting along on easy street does not last forever.

Now, I’m not saying that we as parents should throw our children to the wolves in order to see how they fare. Certainly there are parents who have done that, sometimes by intention and sometimes by inattention, and the results are typically terrible. Far too many kids are allowed far too much leash and proceed to trip themselves on it, sometimes with disastrous consequences, but we also cannot keep them in a bubble forever, ensuring that their faith is never put to the test, nor should we assume that because we taught them the truth that they have truly grasped it. We should not expect that our faith will keep them afloat, because while it might for a time, that’s not going to work forever. Not if they are going to grow up and become independent adults, which ultimately is what we should want and expect for our children.

Even if we hang on tight and carry our children along, well, that’s not sustainable in the long term. We are all getting older, and good health can only last so long. If my children are depending on my faith, and not their own, what are they going to do when I’m gone?

Or what if I should falter and fail? What then? Certainly that has happened where a leader, whether a parent, a mentor, or in particular a church leader or evangelist, or someone with another visible ministry, has fallen into sin or error, or has outright turned their back on the truth? If your faith is relying on the leadership some person, then it’s only as good as that person, and people are never perfect. There was only one perfect man ever to walk this Earth, and if your faith is dependent on anyone else, then it is on shaky ground indeed.

You might be asking yourself, well, how do I know if my faith is real? For that matter, how do I know if any of this is real and true? These are good and reasonable questions to ask, especially in a world that advises you to doubt everything and to question everything. The world is filled with uncertainty, unreliability, and unbelief, and we should not think ourselves immune to that. It’s very reassuring to know that we do have something that is certain, and reliable, and worthy of belief, and I’m holding it here in my hand. You probably are as well, or have it close at hand, and that is the Word of God.

This brings us back to Luke’s gospel, and his stated purpose – that the reader might know the certainty of what they had been taught. In a world in which so very little is solid and dependable, we want to be certain. We need to be sure, we need to have something to hold onto, or we will drift aimlessly.

It is needful to begin with the truth. There are countless lies, half-truths, and misrepresentations out there, we need to start from truth or we will end up hopelessly lost and confused. That’s why we preach the simple and straightforward gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, of His death and resurrection, whereby ye must be saved, and why we preach that so very often. No one should have to search high and low for the truth that saves, not if we can tell them.

But it is also necessary to believe the truth and to hold fast to it, or else it won’t do you much good. A delicious meal provides no nourishment if you do not eat it. A life jacket cannot save you from drowning if you do not wear it, and wear it properly. You have to use what you have as it was intended in order to get any benefit. Luke’s gospel is intended for those who want answers, who want knowledge, who want certainty, who want to have and to hold fast to the truth. That is why the Holy Spirit inspired him to write it.

I’m not doing an extensive study on the gospel of Luke this morning, in case you are wondering. If you haven’t studied that gospel, I would highly recommend that you do. And when you do, plan to spend a good amount of time in it, there is much to uncover. Luke no doubt spoke with many eyewitnesses of the events he describes and was thereby able to include rich detail about the Lord’s life and ministry.

This is not simply a book that someone wrote long ago as an academic exercise. This was written to help someone specific with their faith, and it will help yours as well, if you read it and learn from it.

It’s not only Luke’s gospel that recounts the Lord’s ministry, there are three others, and two were written by people who participated in many of the events described, that is Matthew and John. Mark’s gospel was written by a close associate of Simon Peter, from whom he no doubt gathered a wealth of first-hand information. If you want to strengthen your faith, read your Bible. Read the gospels in particular, because they teach us most directly about Christ. From them we will learn how the reality of Christ is true and where our faith belongs.

Earlier we heard a reading from 1 Corinthians chapter 15 about the truth of the Lord’s death and resurrection. In that passage Paul reminds the believers at Corinth of what it is that they have believed, and how that Christ’s death and resurrection is the key aspect, the point around which everything else is centered. It is imperative that we understand and believe this, because otherwise what is our faith based on?

We should remember that when Paul wrote that epistle, it was a letter, directed to a real church with real people. It was written less than thirty years after Christ’s death and resurrection, and the people who are described as having seen the risen Lord, the majority of them were still around. Paul points this out in verse 6, and the implication is that if you don’t believe my report, if you don’t believe what I’ve seen and experienced and that I’m telling you about, then go and ask Peter, or James, or one of the other apostles, or one of the hundreds of other people who met Jesus of Nazareth both before and after He rose from the dead. There were well over five hundred people who could testify to the accuracy of this account, who could verify that it was true. Paul essentially told the Corinthian believers to feel free and fact check him, because there was no shortage of people who would back him up. He knew what was true, because he had seen it for himself, and so had many others.

I don’t know if anyone from the church at Corinth took him up on it, if anyone from there made their way to Jerusalem or Antioch or Caesarea or some other place where the early disciples would have been living at that time. I don’t know if they accepted Paul’s report, if they continued to have doubts, or if they felt the need to trust but verify. Certainly that option was available to them in a more direct way than is available to us now. But that does not mean we cannot have a solid faith, because what was true for Paul, for Peter, for Mary Magdalene, for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, for so many in the early church, it is still true for us. Truth does not stop being true simply because time has passed.

We cannot go and personally ask eyewitnesses about their experiences, we cannot have them relate what they have seen. But we do not need to, because it’s already collected here for us. The believers in the city of Berea, there is no mention of them looking for witnesses to provide proof, instead they looked to the scriptures for evidence. We read at Acts 17:10-12 (10) And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. (11)  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (12)  Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

These people received the truth in readiness of mind, and they went looking for confirmation. They did not accept blindly, they verified. To do so they went to the word of God, which they already were no doubt familiar with, to see if what Paul and Silas told them matched up. When their searching confirmed that this was indeed accurate, that they were not being told fanciful, made-up stories, but rather something that aligned with what the scriptures told them, then we are told that many of them believed. They trusted and they verified, and then they believed.

There is an excellent lesson for us in these few verses, because the Bereans did not have better resources available to them than we do. In fact, we have far more than they ever did, because the scriptures they had access to consisted only of the Old Testament. We of course have that as well as the New Testament, and we have it readily at hand. We have all the truth we could possibly need instantly accessible, and we should use it.

God’s Word is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, we read at Hebrews 4:12. What’s more, the same verse tells us that it penetrates to the point of dividing between soul and spirit, and it gets down to the thoughts and intents of the heart. God’s Word, if we read it and study it, if we simply spend time in it, quality time, more than merely reading a couple of verses and going about our day, but reading with the intention to understand, to absorb, to listen. There are all too many days when I am guilty of that, I read a few verses simply to say that I’ve done that, that I’ve read my Bible for the day, now I’m off to work, and it doesn’t really sink in, because I don’t let it. That is a mistake, and I’m that much the worse for doing it.

But then there are other times, when I’ll read and keep reading, because I want to see more, I want to know more. There are times when the Lord points something out to me, when a verse or a phrase or even a word or two jumps off the page and catches my attention like I’ve never seen it before. That happened to me before I decided to prepare this sermon, because those first few verses in Luke are easily skipped over, but in this time reading them, Luke’s purpose stood out and demanded attention.

The Bible is very often like that, if we let it. It doesn’t need a lot of room to manoeuvre, either, you don’t need to read ten chapters a day for scripture to speak to you. A verse you learned a week ago, a year ago, a decade ago, can suddenly come to mind, because the Holy Spirit works that way, He uses what’s up here – point to head – to change what’s in here – point to heart. But it really helps if you have some of it in your head to start with.

You want a stronger faith? Read your Bible. You have questions? Yes, ask other believers, those with knowledge and experience especially, but also read your Bible. You want to have a better Christian life, a better walk of faith? Read your Bible. You want to have a more ready response when someone asks you a question, whether this is another believer who is having difficulties, or your friend who is having doubts, or a child who is struggling to understand, or any random person who is looking for truth? Read your Bible.

I’ve yet to hear an older Christian lament that they spent too much time in Bible study when they were younger. I have heard many, though, who had spent much time in the scriptures, and were absolutely certain of their faith, and where they were going for eternity, even as their days on this world were drawing to a close. That’s the sort of faith that I want to have, that I want you to have, faith that does not crumble when the going gets tough, when things get dark. Faith that is not merely blind trust, but faith that has been verified.