5-17-2026 Things most surely believed among us

1 Peter chapter two, for our scripture reading this morning. 1 Peter chapter two. 1 Peter chapter two, beginning at verse one, we read these words, wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word. that ye may grow thereby.

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scriptures, behold, I lay in Zion a cheap cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. I was listening to our brother Obi Williams from Kingsport, Tennessee this morning, and he read the story of the Gannorite men who lived in the tombs. You're all familiar with that, right?

The Lord was on a ship. He went across the sea, and he came to a land of Gadarene, and there was a man who lived in the tombs. So much out of control was he that they would bind him with chains and he would just break the chains. Kind of like an Arnold Schwarzenegger of that time. Able to pull him apart.

The Lord cast many, many demons. He said, what is your name to this man? And the man said, Legion, because he was full of demons. And the Lord cast all those demons out of him. He went into a swine, a herd of swine, and the swine went and ran over a cliff. These are all pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation of His people.

This is the way the Lord came to you and I. Not even knowing, just loving the dead as this man loved where he lived in the tombs. So the Lord cast him out, cast the devils out of him, saved him, and then he wanted to follow the Lord when the Lord was getting ready to leave that area and go back.

In Luke chapter 8, verse 39, our Lord says something to him. Now recently, I brought a message before you titled, you shall be with me. It comes from Mark. I forget what chapter this was in Mark, but Witnesses of God. And we looked at how John the Baptist was a witness of God, who he was. And I want to kind of continue with that very same theme. Listen to these words. This is the Lord Jesus speaking to a man that he had saved. He's speaking to all of his people, you and I, everyone for whom he died on that cross. He's saying this, return to thine own house. See, folks, we can't go with the Lord until he comes back. We couldn't go where he is right now. We have this flesh that we have to live in until it's time, until it is time to take us out of it.

So here's his instructions to you and I now as we walk through this world, as we go through this world of death, this valley in the shadow of death. It's a shadow to you and I because Christ has already died for us. If it wasn't for his blood for some people, we would all be going through the valley of death. Wouldn't be a shadow, but it's just a shadow to you and I for whom he represented on that cross.

Return to thine own house and do what? Show how great things God hath done unto thee. Obie did a wonderful job of bringing out how if we were to go to our family and tell them things like, I don't do what I used to do yesterday. Here's what I do now. I go to church on Sundays. I don't do what I used to do yesterday. Here's what I do. I feed the poor.

All they're going to think of us is, oh, boy, aren't you holy? Aren't you holier than thou? This is why when we go to our families, when we go to our friends, when we go to those that God has brought into our world, our witness to those folks is exactly what John the Baptist's witness was. Behold the Lamb of God.

I don't need to tell you what I'm doing in this world. Everything I'm doing is messed up. Let me tell you about the one who is perfectly laid down his life, who perfectly walked this earth in righteousness, that his people would have a righteousness before God. Let me tell you what great things God has done for me.

Now, I want you to turn over to Luke chapter one now, if you would. Luke chapter one. And I want to ask you if you would consider with me four things this morning. Four things that we read in these first four verses of Luke's Gospel, and I pray that God the Holy Spirit, whose words these are, will burn them into our hearts.

Luke chapter one, verse one, we read, for as much as many have taken in hand and set forth and in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us. Now I've titled it, today's message, things most surely believed among us. But that's what Luke is telling us here. He wants 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 were from the beginning, were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word. Now, what is an eyewitness? An eyewitness, when it talks about being a witness of God or an eyewitness, it means that you've seen it. One of the requirements to be an apostle was that you had to see Christ Jesus.

And people say, no, wait a minute, Paul didn't see. Yes, he did. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ so bright in his glory, even after he had risen from the dead So bright was he that he blinded Paul for three days. Paul was in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Was it not the Lord Jesus who spoke to him and said, why do you kick me? Why are you persecuting my people? That was the Lord Jesus speaking directly to Paul.

So one of the requirements for the Now, obviously, you and I are 2,000 years past the day that the Lord was risen into heaven. So we couldn't say that we actually saw him, but wait a minute, in the beginning was the Word. And now what the book says in the book of John, chapter 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was manifest in the flesh? Just like that Gadarene who stood with the Lord and had his devils cast out of him, go home. and tell of what great things God has done for you.

He was a witness. He was a witness to what God had done for us. This is what each and every one of us do. We witness that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Like I said in my prayer a moment ago, He rules everything. He is the controller, the one whose purpose every drop to fall exactly where it should, every snowflake to float down and land exactly where it should. If he's not ruler of all it is, folks, then there's no reason for us to be here. We're wasting our time.

We've come here today to worship God, our creator, because he, in his love, has shined his light in our hearts, new hearts. Not that old heart that shook its fist and said, I want to live in the tombs with the dead, but this new heart who was found in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus, praising Him, worshiping Him for His love, wherewith He loved us and sending His only begotten Son, along with all of God's people, all of those that He talks about when He says, My sheep will hear My voice. My sheep will hear his voice. Along with all of those, we bow, we bow the knee today to our God.

Verse three, it seemed good to me, writes Luke, also having had a perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theopolis, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed." Some things all Christians believe. And the first point I want to make this morning is from these opening words of Luke's Gospel is this, that the fact that there are some things that all true Christians believe. We read those words in Romans chapter 8, and we know.

Folks, I know. I don't always see the reasons or the goodness that God has given me right away, but I know that all that we go through, all that I described in our Bible study that Kathy and I have had to go through since we got out of bed this morning, even though it sounds like I'm murmuring, I know that God has purposed it. And I know it's for our good. Why? Because God's word tells us so. And I believe. Why? Because God has given me the gift to believe just as he has given you that very gift.

We were asked to attend a funeral yesterday of a lady who taught me when I was in kindergarten. She was 90, 93, somewhere around there. Marlene Harris. Some of you know Ian. His dad was O.C. Harris. They ran the church there off of Fair Oaks Boulevard, First Missionary Baptist Church, Fair Oaks, when I was in kindergarten. So she taught me how to memorize scriptures, which I still to this day can't remember. And so we were asked to go to the funeral, and we did.

And the first man There were two ministers, her minister and another one, and I'm not sure. The second one, I understand why he was a preacher, why he brought the message, because he was her son-in-law. And the first one, I think, was her pastor from a different church. So why we were meeting in this church, I don't know. It's all confusing to me, too. So get past that. So what I heard from the first guy was this. If you'll just accept God's love, this is for you, just like it was for Marlene. That's what I heard. if you will just accept." His witness was of what you would do.

Not once in his message did he mention anything about what Christ has done. Another man asked me this last week to listen to a preacher, and I listened to him preaching. Again, I know I shouldn't, but I do. Again, 37 minutes into the message, he finally mentions the name Jesus. Not once during the entire 58 minutes that he preached, and I was watching the clock because there was nothing else to do, not once in that 58 minutes did he ever say what Christ had done for him. It was all about what men would do.

True Christians believe, and we don't mince words about this, and neither should we, We believe that we let men accuse us of being narrow-minded, dogmatic, out of step with the rest of the religious world. Even some call us ugly names like antinomian, lawless, frozen chosen.

Folks, the word of God clearly declares that some things are vital and some things must be known. and believed, and those who do not believe these things are not saved. Luke tells us that when he wrote this gospel, he said, you sat forth and ordered those things which are most surely believed among us. All of us are like Theopolis, lovers of God, love those things which most surely are believed among us. What are those things? Well, here's the first one. All men and women are sinners in need of God's salvation.

Now, I don't need to tell you folks that, do I? You know it already. But there may be some day where this recording reaches somebody who's never heard this gospel before. And I'm here to tell you this morning, for those who have never heard it, every single human being is a sinner.

We know what right from wrong is. We had this discussion this morning over in the Fellowship Hall. There was someone who felt like we don't know. Tell me a little child that cowers down when they know they're telling a lie, doesn't know good from evil. It's our nature. The Lord tells us when Adam and Eve were in the garden and they sinned against God, they knew they were naked. We know what's wrong.

I don't need to tell you folks how to live. What I do need to do is tell you about the one Those two men that preached for this last week that I listened to, those three men, not once did they lift up Christ to where he belongs. The first guy who preached, he didn't say one thing wrong. That gentleman that I heard on the first, during earlier in the week, he didn't say anything wrong, but he didn't say anything right.

He left people with this thought in mind. If you will just turn yourself, if you will renew your mind, And I hope to preach on that a little bit more in the future. That was the message that I was struggling with and I couldn't put together very well. He left everyone with this thought, if you will just renew your mind, you can be a better person. That's the same thing as saying, if you will just be reborn, you can be a child of God, isn't it?

We come into this world with a mind full of sin. Sin, as Obi said, from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet. As Paul says, even the good that I do, I see evil in it. That's just talking about our pride. The worst evil there is, the pride of men. All men and women are sinners. in need of God's salvation.

The second thing that all sinners, all of God's children, all true believers believe in is that Jesus Christ is the incarnate God. The Son of God came in the flesh. Look over at Luke chapter 9, if you would. Turn over to Luke chapter 9. Look at verse 18.

And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him, he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? They answering said John the Baptist, some say Elijah's, others say that one of the full prophets is risen again. He said unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Peter answering said the Christ of God.

Now, I want you to look at the parallel one to Matthew's recording of that. Hold your place there, Luke. We'll come back to it. And turn over to Matthew 16. Some of you are familiar with this enough to to probably quote it with your eyes closed. But over in Matthew 16, we see a little more detail to this moment where the Lord is with his disciples. We're talking about true believers. First off, we must know that we are sinners and that we need God's salvation. Secondly, that Jesus Christ is the incarnate God, the Son of God, came in the flesh. Look here at Matthew 16, verse 13.

When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I am, that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say thou art John the Baptist, some say Elias, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And then he said unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Peter answered, thou art the Christ. The Messiah, the one sent of God, the Son of the living God, verse 17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. This is talking about revealing the truth of who Christ is to your heart. I can't speak to your hearts. No man can. It must be God who comes to us in the preaching of His Word and applies it to the hearts of His people. It's the same thing with knowing that we're a sinner. We can be thankful. You know, Paul wrote that. He says, I'm thankful that I was a sinner, that I'm a sinner. I'm thankful for that. I am too. If I didn't know I was a sinner, I wouldn't need Christ, would you?

Knowing that this one that we need as a savior is God Almighty in the flesh is an important belief. It's an important fact that we are blessed with, that becomes precious to us as we read in our scripture reading. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto you, also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, the rock that Jesus Christ is God Almighty in the flesh, that Jesus Christ was sent of God. You know, if you go to John chapter 17 and read how many times it says that they believe us that thou hast sent me, you'd be amazed.

That's important. If Christ says it once, that's pretty important, but if Christ says it two or four times, that's even more important, isn't it? I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Go back to Luke if you would.

The third point I want to make is the Lord Jesus Christ has effectually accomplished and obtained salvation for sinners by His obedience and death as the sinner's substitute. 68 and 69. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. Oh, to know that God has effectually accomplished and obtained our salvation for us. We talked about this the other day and how we get up and we look in that mirror every morning and we see the one who is full of sin. How can God save a sinner such as I, a worm such as I?

And we see it right there by the sacrifice and giving of his son, the Lord Jesus. The fourth thing that we see here in the book of Luke that a believer must believe in, and that is this salvation comes to us by the gift of God, according to His own sovereign, eternal purpose and grace in Christ Jesus. It's a matter of pure, free, sovereign grace. Look at Luke chapter 4. Turn over to Luke chapter 4. In Luke chapter 4, our Lord gives us, in His own words, election.

These are words that angered, angered the religious people of that day, just as they do today. You think, if I were to have stood up yesterday and told one of those two men, Jacob has he loved, Esau has he hated, I'd have been thrown out of there by a coattail. Don't you stand there and tell us that. Jesus loves everybody. Listen to what the Lord says. I tell you the truth in verse 25. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up for three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land.

Who is it that rules all things? God. He brought all this. He brought all this to be. Folks, all the troubles that we're going through with this country, this is all purposed by God for the good of his people, according to Romans 8, 28. Isn't that what he says? For our good. This should teach us not to murmur. And I'm talking to myself. I'm probably the biggest murmurer here about those things. Our Lord tells us the truth.

There was a great famine throughout all the land, then verse 26, but unto none of them was Elijah sent. Tell me that God's elect aren't chosen for before the world was. None of those that were dealing in that land in the day of the famine when Elijah was sent, saved unto a city of Sidon unto a woman that was a widow. Verse 27, and many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elijah the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. So what do we see? We see that that every believer must believe, and that is that God chose us from before the world was.

I remember a day. Do you? Can you remember the day when you weren't looking for God and He came to you in the preaching of His Word? I can remember it just like it was yesterday, even though it was 26 years ago. I'll bet Mike, who's been following the Lord's truth for many, many years, can see just the beforehand.

I know he does, because he's sitting back there smiling. I know that God, I was not looking for the true and living God. He sought me out. He came to me when I was dead in trespasses and sin, just like He comes to all of His people. Once we were blind, but now we see. We see the blue sky, that God rules all things. He's my God. He's not just my God, He's God of everything. This is the very one, the very one that this believer knows. that He laid down His life for me.

He shed His blood so that we wouldn't have to. He died so that you and I could walk through this world and see it as a shadow of what we're going to. We're going to mansions in heaven, mansions that He has prepared for us. We're going to a world, and I'm going to refer to my brother Mike again, because it's so close, A world that we won't sin anymore. There won't be any more sin in us. We won't offend our God anymore. But what we are in this flesh, because we'll be with Him face to face.

Just like He is. The fifth thing that all believers must know is that God's grace in Christ Jesus is so abundantly free that every sinner in this world who needs it has it. Look at chapter 9, verse 11. Everyone who looks to the brazen serpent that is held up on the pole.

You know, this is what bothered me about those three preachers. Not once, not once in their messages did they point you to Christ. You see, it's not always what you say. Sometimes it's what you don't say. I was asked by the gentleman who asked me to listen to that first preacher. Are you telling me, John, that you've never brought out the works of men without bringing out Christ in your message? God help me that I haven't. If I have, all I've done is blown out hot air and wasted your time. I don't think I have.

I think God has made me a gospel preacher, one who points you to Christ, one who says, Repent. Repent from those things that you weren't trusted in, and trust in the only one you can. You see, that's the message of God's preachers. Look to Christ. Look to Him.

He's the answer for it all. He's provided everything about me that I need to be with God. He's taken care of everything that I deserve of God. And he sits on his throne right now because he accomplished what he had purposed to do. Because God has accepted what his son had purposed to do, and that was save his people. He sits on his throne right now. I need somebody today sitting on their throne making intercession because I can't do it right.

I'm gonna mess it up. I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna murder. No matter how much I don't want to, people say, oh, you antinomians, you're just telling people they can live any way they want to. That's hogwash, that's bolonialism. If I could live the way I want to, I would not have any sin in me.

And God help me, someday I'll be exactly that when I stand in his presence. Look at verse 11 of Luke chapter 9. And the people, when they knew it, followed him and he received them and spake unto them of the kingdom of God and healed them that had need of healing. Isn't that something? That's free, loving grace. As a sinner who deserves nothing but God's wrath, I know that God's grace is in his Son and it's so It fills my cup to overflowing.

Look with me at another, go over to John chapter 10. Go over to John chapter 10 and I'll bring this to a close. John chapter 10. God's people are brought to know this fact. And this fact is precious to each and every one of us because we know what we would do if it wasn't for God's grace in us. Look here at verse 24, if you would. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? Who are they blaming their doubt on? They're blaming it on God, aren't they? Folks, my sin is mine.

God is not the one who causes me to doubt. The sin that dwells in this flesh that I walk in, that's what causes me to doubt. When my Lord speaks to me, He gives me assurance that, John, it's not your flesh. My grace is sufficient for you, is what He says to us. How long do you cause us to doubt? Now listen to the Lord's answer, and remember, this is a letter to God's children. This is a love letter to those whom He will call out of darkness, a heart that loves him because he died in our stead, took our place in death where we deserve.

He says, if thou, he says this, he says, I told you and ye believed not. And then he says this, the works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me, but ye believe not because ye are not my sheep as I have said unto you, my sheep, Hear my voice. You remember the first time you heard that? I can't remember exactly what was going through my mind, but I just remember getting so excited. Wait a minute, that's me.

I'm hearing the voice of Christ in his own book here, in his own words, speaking to my heart. I could be exactly what he described there in verse 25. I could be one who does not believe. I could be one who saw the works of Jesus Christ in healing the poor, causing the lame to walk, raising people from the dead and say, I don't believe you. I could be that, but no, I hear the word of God.

I hear it for truth. And then our Lord says this. He says, I know them and they follow me. How many times have I told you from this very pulpit that I was asked, Why are you going to church today, John? Because I want to. I want to hear more about this one who loves me and gave himself for me. Isn't that why you're here today?

You folks can go anywhere. There's some churches right down the street where they've got great bands who you can dance to. You can get up in the aisles of the church and dance. No, you choose to come here where the truth I pray is preached and hear about the one who has saved you to the ironmost. I believe you. Do you? I think you do. I think that's why you're here.

5-17-2026 Things most surely believed among us

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5-17-2026 Things most surely believed among us

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