Well, good morning, everyone. If you care to open your Bibles to the Book of Luke, we're going to, Lord willing, begin a study through the Book of Luke this morning. I just have decided to go through the Gospels. I've preached through the Gospel of John before, but never the other three. Going to go through all of those, at least through Luke, in the next few months. So before we begin, let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you that you've allowed us one more opportunity to meet together and to worship your precious name. And Father, I pray this morning that by your power that you would make this a true hour of worship.

Father, enable us to look into your word and to, by faith, see our Lord Jesus Christ and to believe him more, to love him more, to trust him more, to have our faith encouraged and strengthened in seeing who he is and everything that he has done for his people. Father, let us see our Savior, in his redemptive glory, his glory, whereby he has the both the power and the will and the loving kindness to save poor, wretched sinners such as we are sinners who have no hope, find hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, let us let us seem and worship him in spirit and in truth this morning. Father, I pray you send your spirit and enable me to rightly divide the word of truth to preach Christ and get out of the way, to exalt him so that all we see is Christ. And Father, be with your people. Give us a hearing ear and a believing heart that we might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as we hear him preached.

And what we pray for ourselves in our class here this morning, Father, we pray a special blessing for our children's classes going on right now that Father, you might be pleased to use this time to plant the seeds of faith in the hearts of our young ones. Father, of all the cares and worries and things that we desire for our children, chiefly, Father, we desire and beg of you that you would be pleased to be merciful to them. Reveal to them who and what they are. Reveal to them Christ the Savior Give them the faith to run to him. Father, that's our chief prayer for our children.

And also, Father, we would pray that you'd be pleased to bless your people wherever they're meeting together today. Father, bless for your great namesake. In this dark, difficult day in which we live, Father, give your people a time of refreshing and encouragement through hearing the preaching of Christ this morning. Father, we also lift up to thee those that you brought in at the time of trouble and trial. There's sickness, there's heartbreak, there's many difficulties of this flesh, and Father, we hold them up to thee.

We pray that you give them a fulfillment of your promise that your grace is sufficient, that you would comfort their hearts at this time and deliver them as soon as it could be thy will. And Father, all these things we ask, and we give thanks in that name which is above every name. the name of Christ our Savior. Amen. Now I've titled the lesson this morning, What Believers Believe.

Now this is the third gospel, the gospel of Matthew presents the Lord Jesus as the long promised Messiah. Mark presents the Lord Jesus as Christ the servant of God. John reveals the Lord Jesus to us as the son of God, deity, who's also man. Now Luke, he presents the Lord Jesus as the son of man, who is also God. He's man, but he's also God, and he's the perfect man. He's the man of perfect faith. He's the man, even though he's perfect, has compassion for sinners. The man who is God.

And Luke, the writer of this epistle, or this gospel, is the beloved physician. And we know of this much of Luke, that he was a faithful man. There was one time towards the end of Paul's life, he said, everybody's deserted me, only Luke is with me. Only Luke, he's a faithful man.

And he writes this gospel to a man named Theophilus. Theophilus, people don't know for sure who he was, but we think he was a Roman citizen of some rank and probably a new believer. That's who this was written to. And his name means the friend of God. the friend of God. Imagine like Abraham being a friend of God. But you know, that's every believer. Every believer is the friend of God, loved of God.

So in that way, this gospel is written to every believer. And it begins, we'll read the first four verses here. For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth an 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. Now Luke is writing so that Theophilus and all of us would know the things that are most surely believed among us.

Now who is the us? Peter talked about those that God's not willing that any of us should perish. Who is the us? Well, it's not every son of Adam. The us is believers. Clearly, the scripture clearly makes a distinction between believers and unbelievers, us and them.

And he writes so that we would know the surety, the certainty of these things. He said, we're eyewitnesses, we're eyewitnesses. And, but you know, every believer is an eyewitness. You're an eyewitness, firsthand knowledge of the saving, calling, regenerating, keeping, comforting grace of God. You've experienced that firsthand. You're an eyewitness.

And he's, and Luke is writing here, not just so that we have a historical understanding of the times of the Savior's earthly ministry, but so that we will believe on Christ. He writes these things, not so that we'll have, you know, understand how many ever points of doctrine that you want to understand, but so that we will believe on Christ. That's why we're here every week. That's what every passage of scripture is written to reveal Christ so that we believe on him, so that we believe him.

And there are some things, if you would believe on Christ, there are some things that you will believe that every believer believes. I don't care where you find them, what time in history you find them, there are some things that every believer believes. Every believer believes the word of God. Every believer, if you don't believe what's written in the word of God, then you're not a believer. Every believer believes the word of God. I might not have thought that before, I might not have believed that before, but when somebody shows it to me from God's word, I believe it. God said it, and that settles it. God said it, and I believe it because he said it. It's the word of God.

Every believer believes in the sinfulness of my sin, that I am ruined. in Adam. I'm ruined. There's no hope for me in anything that I do because I'm completely sinful. Every believer believes that. Every believer believes in God's electing love. Every believer, every believer knows this for sure. If God didn't choose me first, I never would have chosen him. Every believer believes that.

Every believer believes that Christ died for his elect and only his elect. Christ didn't die for somebody who's going to perish anyway. Christ died for the people that the father gave him to save and he completely and utterly saved them from all of their sin. None of them can perish because Christ, by the shedding of his blood, put away their sin. Christ cannot fail to save anyone for whom he died.

Cannot do it. Every believer believes that. Every believer believes that salvation is by grace. It's by God's free and sovereign grace, through faith, without any of my works being added to it. Now, I'm gonna work to serve God out of love, but my works don't add to my salvation in any way whatsoever. Every believer believes that.

And I could keep going and going and going on that, from things that we read in scripture until our time's gone, I like for us, and that's what Luke means, he means the whole gospel, the whole word of God. But I'd like to just try to confine myself in the time I have left to these things that are spelled out in Luke's gospel that we most certainly believe. We're sure that these things are true. So we're just gonna take a quick survey of the gospel of Luke, and we'll get a taste of what we'll see coming in the next few months. But the first thing, every believer believes this. Every believer. And they rest in this, the virgin birth of Christ.

Look in chapter one, verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin, a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came and told Mary that she was gonna be with child, and skip over to verse 34. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Now the Virgin Mary gave birth to a baby boy, and he was a real baby boy. He was a real man in the flesh, but he's also the son of God.

That baby is the eternal father. What a mystery. What a glorious, how can I say, way that God would choose to save his people from their sin by his son, God, becoming a man, becoming a baby. Raised up by his parents, growing up the same way that you and I did. But the difference between him and us is this, he's God.

And since he's God, he's righteous. He's holy. He is able to obey God's law perfectly. And he must obey God's law perfectly because since he's God, he cannot sin. He cannot sin. He will obey the law. And here's the thing that thrills the hearts of every believer. This is why we find such comfort in hearing about the virgin birth. The Savior was born of a virgin, so he did not partake in Adam's sin. He did not have Adam's nature in any way. And he came as the second Adam, the second representative man. And when he obeyed the law, so did all of his people, because they're in him.

That's the only way a sinner like you and me can be righteous. The only obedience to the law that we have is the obedience of Christ, our representative. Just like we were made sinners in Adam, the first Adam, our representative, what he did, we did. When he broke the law, so did we. When he rebelled against God, so did we. When he died spiritually, so did we. When Christ, our representative, obeyed the law, so did we, and were made righteous.

You know, is there any doubt that since Adam is your representative, he made you a sinner? There's no doubt on that whatsoever, is there? Well, if Christ obeyed the law for you and he's your representative, you're made righteous, surely and completely made righteous. Christ is our righteousness. That's why David said, I'll make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. Christ is our righteousness.

He was able to be that because of the virgin birth. Number two, every believer believes in a sovereign savior. He saves whom he will, when he will. Verse 30 in Luke chapter one, the angel said unto her, fear not Mary, for thou has found favor with God and behold thou shall conceive in thy womb and shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He should be great and should be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David. Now the Savior's coming to save whom he will. And I'll tell you the people he came to save. Who is it that Christ will save? Everyone that the Father gave him to save.

And he has the right to do it because he sits on the throne of his father, David. In the Old Testament scriptures, that prophecy of David having a son to sit on his throne forever, that's not Solomon. I mean, I guess it did have some reference to Solomon, but Solomon didn't sit on David's throne forever, did he? The Lord Jesus does. He sits on that throne as king over all of creation.

And since he's king, it's only right that he does as he will, that he saves whom he will, when he will, that he has mercy on whom he will have mercy. And if you look at Luke chapter four, in our Lord's first recorded public message, he made this Plain and obvious, he saves whom he will. He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. He'll be gracious to whom he will be gracious. Luke 4, verse 25. But I tell you of truth.

Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, but unto none of them, none of those Jewish widows was Elias sent. Saved under Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman, a Gentile woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed. Not one Jewish leper was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

Now our Lord gave them two examples here. The king saves whom he will, when he will. He sent mercy, not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. And oh, that made them so mad, they couldn't stand hearing that. But he showed us here, Christ saves the worst of sinners. His mercy is for sinners, and it's sent to the worst. And believers love to hear that. I love to hear that God is merciful to the worst of sinners. Not to good folks, but to the worst of sinners, because I qualify there. being the worst of sinners.

I love to hear of Christ, the sovereign savior, saving whom he will. I love that because I cannot save myself. I cannot save myself. I cannot make myself righteous. I cannot do anything to obligate God to show mercy to me. But if Christ saves whom he will, there's hope for me. There's hope for me. And rather than argue about it, rather than get mad about it and say, well, everybody deserves a chance. And you better hope God doesn't give you a chance to be saved, because if he does, you're going to blow it. We don't need a chance to be saved. We need somebody to save us.

And if the sovereign Savior saves whom he will, there is a good opportunity right there, good hope for me to be saved. And rather than argue about it and tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to say, Lord, save me. Lord, you save whom you will. I see that, that's your right. Lord, save me. Lord, be merciful to me. Believers love that, it's our hope. Then here's the third thing. Every believer believes that salvation is a person. Look at Luke chapter two, verse 22.

In the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses were accomplished, They brought him, the baby Jesus, to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it's written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, separated unto the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms. He took that baby in his arms. Can you just see that old man taking that baby up in his arms and looking at that child?

And bless God. and said, Lord, now let us thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Simeon told us here, there's no question. Salvation's a person. I have seen thy salvation. He didn't say, I see how you save sinners. I didn't see the method of salvation. I didn't see the plan of salvation. I saw your salvation.

See, salvation is more than a legal standing before God. Salvation is a person. It's knowing a person. It's knowing his name. Knowing him is life eternal. Whom to know, he said, is life eternal. Salvation is trusting a person. It's not trusting a finished work. It's trusting a person. It's not trusting a set of doctrines. It's trusting a person.

Salvation and loving a person. I love him who first loved me, whom having not seen you love. It's union with a person so that you're in him, that you are what he is. That's the only way that I could be saved is if I'm in Christ so that I am what he is. The only way I could be accepted of the father is through union with Christ that when he accepts his son, he accepts me too because I'm in him.

And every believer believing that Christ is my salvation, and without him, there's no salvation. See, we're not trusting a thing, are we? Believers trust a person. We love a person. Then fourth, look at Luke chapter five. There's something every believer believes, the necessity of the new birth. Luke five, verse 36. And he spake also a parable unto them. No man putteth a piece of new garment upon an old. If otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.

And no man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved, No man also, having drunk of old wine, straightway desireth the new, for he sayeth the old is better. Now, when the Lord here talks about bottles, the word translated bottles here, they put wine and drinks in skins that they dried out, and that's what they used to hold their wine in. And no body, the Lord says, puts new wine into an old skin. It's dried out, it's cracked, as that new wine, as it ferments and does whatever wine does, it'll burst the skin. And the Lord uses this as a picture of the new birth.

Our old man, every believer believes this, is dead in sin. I died in Adam. And the evidence of it is the sin nature that I carry around with me from the day I'm conceived. When I'm conceived in the womb, I'm conceived as a sinner because the seed that conceived me is the seed of my father, who's also a sinful man. The only thing it can produce is another sinful man. Every believer believes I am dead in sin.

I must be born again. You know, the Lord wasn't whistling Dixie when he said you must be born again. I must be born again because my old man can't hold anything spiritual. You can't put anything spiritual into the old man. He can't hold it. He doesn't love it. He'll spit it out. He'll pour it out. He doesn't have anything to hold something spiritual in. He can't believe. He can't believe. He doesn't want to believe Christ. He can't understand any spiritual truth. When you tell that old man a spiritual truth, he starts arguing. He starts trying to find an exception. He starts trying to say that's not true. Because he can't understand it.

So we must be born again. God's got to birth in me a new nature that can hold these spiritual truths. He's got to birth in me a new heart, a new nature that his spirit can dwell in. He's got to give me a new nature that does believe Christ. That will just rest in Christ. Just trust Him to do everything that God requires of me. Just trust Him to do everything that it takes to save me. I've got to be given a new nature that has new eyes to sees. I see Christ. I see Him so that I understand something about who He is so that I'll trust Him. I've got to be born again with a new mind.

A mind that can understand the gospel. I need a new heart that loves the gospel. Not just hears it and says, yes, that's true, and I'll fight anybody that says it's not true. But a heart that loves it, that loves the gospel, that needs the gospel. I've got to be given a new appetite. I mean, everything about me has got to be made new in this new man.

It's salvation, or the new birth, is not the old man getting some light and getting some understanding. I want to preach so that you understand, so that you understand what I'm saying, so that you understand the scriptures and understand what the scriptures are saying. But listen, just a mental understanding of that is not salvation. It's not educating the old man. It's certainly not giving the old man some life because that old man is dead. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. It'll always be nothing but dead, sinful flesh. It died in Adam and it's been dead ever since.

I need a new heart. And this is the necessity of the new birth. I believe this. The Holy Spirit must move in power. and give me a new heart and a new nature. He's got to give me a nature that is holy. Without that holiness, without which that holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Now, the only way I'm going to see the Lord is if God makes me holy. And the only way he'll make me holy is in the new birth.

Every believer believes in the necessity of the new birth. And maybe you can't explain it. I mean, who can exactly explain you know, the new birth, and that there's two natures in a believer, and those two natures are fighting with each other all the time. The old man can never believe Christ. The new man can never trust the flesh. How can you exactly explain that?

Well, I talked to a dear brother one time, actually, at a golf course, and he said, I know I have two natures. I know I do. I know I do. I've experienced that fight. I've experienced that struggle. I've experienced the struggle between the old man and the new man. And I have a desire to hear the gospel. Well, that's not the flesh, that's the spirit. I have a desire to pray. Well, that's not the flesh, that's the spirit. It hasn't always been that way. You know it if you've experienced it. Remember about being eyewitnesses, you've experienced it firsthand. If you've experienced a new birth firsthand, you know this for sure, I had to be born again. I had to be born again. Then fifth, look at Luke chapter seven. Every believer believes that Christ forgives sin. He forgives sin because he shed his blood to put it away. Romans 7, verse 36.

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went in under the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner. She was a notorious, well-known sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat at meet at the Pharisee's house, brought in an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind him, weeping. and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment."

And you know this story, the, oh, the hubbub that came up, this sinful woman touching the master, touching this man who's supposed to be a spiritual leader. And the Pharisees thought, I wouldn't let her touch me. You know, I'd tell her, I'm holier than thou, you stay away from me. Oh, the hubbub that was caused about this. But look what our Lord said in verse 44. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house.

Thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

And he saith unto her, thy sins are forgiven. What would you give to hear the master say that to you? Thy sins are forgiven. But you know, if you believe Christ, he has said that to you. He said it to you through his word. Thy sins are forgiven. Thy sins are forgiven because I've shed my blood. If Christ shed his blood for you, he's cleansed you from all sin and made it so you cannot be charged with any sin. Satan will charge you. He'll accuse you. Other people will accuse you, but no charge can stay because the blood of Christ paid for your sin.

It washed you white as snow. And I love how the Lord dealt with this woman. If you were with a group of people, and you understand how this was, they reclined, had their feet out behind them, I guess, leaned on one elbow and ate with the other hand. His feet are behind him. And a woman comes up and starts crying, dripping her tears on your feet, and washing your feet, kissing your feet. I'd feel so weird. Wouldn't you? I'd say, don't do that. Don't do that. Our Lord didn't say don't do that.

He let her do it because he's the master. He's the savior. He deserves this worship. And what tender compassion the Lord has for sinners. This woman was a great sinner. People speculate about what her sin was, but I don't care what it was. She's no greater sinner than me. She's no greater sinner than you. We're all great sinners. And the Lord had such tender compassion for her. Now he didn't have that compassion and tenderness for the self-righteous, did he? But he does for poor, guilty sinners.

And he says, your sin's forgiven. My blood has washed you white as snow. Now trust him. Now trust him. In verse 50, says he said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. Now you know it's not faith that saves, it's Christ that saves. It's Christ that saves. The Holy Spirit gives us faith so that we trust Christ, so that we lay hold on Christ. But it's Christ that saves.

Faith is the conduit by which we receive it. But here's the, again, the tender compassion for sinners, the understanding that sinners cannot provide anything for themselves. Sinners can never do anything to deserve any blessing. God the Holy Spirit gives us faith. It's the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. He gives us faith in Christ, and then he blesses us for having it. Salvation's of the Lord. Now trust him. Trust him. Here's the sixth thing.

Christ came to destroy the power of the devil. Luke 8, verse 28. This man of the gatherings, when he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice, Said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God? See, these demons in him, they knew the man Jesus is the son of God. He's a man who is God, the most high.

I beseech thee, torment me not. For he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him, and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters, and he'd break the bands and was driven of the devil into the wilderness. And the Lord came to this man, filled with this legion, and cast him out.

In verse 35, people of the city heard about it, and they went out to see what was done, and came to Jesus and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Christ came to cast, this is a picture, Christ came to cast out the power of the devil. And the power of the devil is unbelief. The power of the devil is to make us not believe Christ and deceive us with a lie. And Christ came to set his people free. The only way we can be made free is Christ. It's his power.

We can't be bound by the law. You could bind somebody where they can't move their arms and legs, and if they're a murderer, maybe they can't murder somebody physically anymore. but it's still in the heart. It's still in the heart. Take the chains off and see what happens. Gary, you probably saw in your career a lot of men, well, they're not really doing anything wrong now. Open the cell door, open the door on the wall, see what happens. Probably not a good idea, is it?

But in the power of Christ, he sets his people free. So that they see Christ, they believe Christ, you find them clothed in the righteousness of Christ and sitting at his feet. And every believer believes. The only reason I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ and sitting at the feet of Christ, I hear him, I love him, I believe him, I hear his gospel and believe it. The only reason is Christ set me free. And he put me in my right mind by giving me a new one. And then last, quickly, look at Luke chapter 24. Every believer believes and trusts in a victorious savior who's risen on high. Luke 24 verse 50.

And he led them out as far as to Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And he came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.

Now what a comfort it is for us to read. Not just that our Savior, He was born as a man. He was born of a virgin. He was born of Mary, laid in that manger, and He lived. He lived a life. He grew to a full-grown man. He obeyed God's law perfectly, even that He was crucified for the sins of His people. He was made sin, and the Father put Him to death for the sins of His people. even that he rose again from the dead, showing his sacrifice justified his people.

But then what comfort to read that the Savior was received back up into glory. And when he got there, the Father said, you sit here on my right hand on the throne of glory till I make your enemies your footstool. And there our Savior right at this moment sits. He sits on the throne ruling over all of his creation to ensure that his will is done. to ensure that all of his people are brought to faith in Christ, they're kept and preserved, and in his time brought to be with him where he is. That's gonna happen because our Savior's on the throne and nobody can override his will. He sits on the throne as the mediator, ever living, making intercession for his sinful people, always interceding for his people that our sin is forgiven. And he sits on the throne.

And all he's doing is waiting. He's just waiting until the point in time comes for him to gather all of his people to himself. And when that time comes, our Savior's gonna stand. And he's gonna come in the clouds and gather all of his people to himself. And he's not gonna miss one. He's not gonna leave one here before he burns this world up. because he's the sovereign savior who cannot fail. Don't you love to think about your savior sitting on the throne of glory right now? Oh, what a blessing that is. All right, well, glory bless that to you.