Luke, Acts, the gospel of Luke, and then his sequel to the gospel of Luke, which is the book of Acts. Luke is the most extensive gospel that we have, so the longest. Luke is the only gospel writer who writes a sequel, who tells us about the raising up of the church. Luke is a historian, he is a pastor, he is a physician, he is a poet. We have more poetry in the gospel of Luke than any other Gospel. 50% of Luke is not in any other gospel. 50%. The prodigal son, the parable of the prodigal son only in Luke. We find out that Jesus was born in a stable from Luke. We find out some things from Mary's perspective, only in Luke. We'll read. This morning we're talking about Luke, his life and legacy. And we're talking about that so that you and I, you specifically, will think about your life and your legacy. What do you want folks to remember about you? What will they remember about you? Luke has a lot to teach us. We could entitle the whole series, Lessons from Luke. We'll read this morning. beginning in verse one through verse four. This is the preface to the gospel of Luke. It is much as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. The word of the Lord. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. Your word is like grain that nourishes the soul. So Lord, nourish us today with your word. Your word is like the sledgehammer that shatters the rock. So Lord, the hardness that creeps into our lives, we ask that your word be effective. And then your word, oh Lord, is like fire that purifies the metal. And we ask Lord for that purification effect of your word as we read publicly and as we preach and dig down into your word. Oh Lord, may your word have your desired effect on each one of us, each heart and mind today. And may we live in a manner consistent with the truth that's being brought to us through your servant, Luke. So we thank you in advance for what you'll do. And we do pray for the children as they're hearing the gospel, as they're hearing truth at their level, we pray your blessing on them and the ones who are teaching them this morning. We give you thanks for all of this in Jesus name, amen and amen. So we'll look here beginning in verse one, we have in as much right there, which means since. So something happened and because of that Luke is, Writing. So he's not writing in a vacuum. He is writing because something significant has happened in the past. And he says, in as much as many, many, so whatever has happened affected many, have undertaken to compile an account Many have undertaken to compile or to write up or draw up an account or a narrative of the things accomplished among us. So, the first point, we're just going to take it point by point. Therefore, we see God's plan fulfilled. The fulfillment of God's plan. Now, I want to remind us this is good for all. It doesn't matter your age. You might be very young. You might be old. You might be somewhere in between. You might be a teenager. This is good for you. I pray that you will latch on to what Luke is sharing with us right here. We have the fulfillment of God's plan. Where he says of the things accomplished there in verse 1, the word there is fulfilled. The word comes from the root word in the Greek that means to fulfill. So he's talking about things that were fulfilled. Things that the prophets talked about in years gone by that God fulfilled. You know, we could take just the prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus, and you got Isaiah 7, and you have Isaiah 9, and then you have Micah 5 too. You have a lot of different prophecies about the birth of Jesus. Those were words spoken hundreds of years before Christ was born. But Jesus acted, God acted by sending Jesus into time and space to fulfill his word. And his word was a description of his plan to save man. So the things accomplished is the fulfillment of that plan, of that plan of salvation that God has for you. He fulfilled that plan. These weren't just words that fell to the ground. These were words of the prophets that stood the test of time. And then when it was the right time, God intervened. God brought His Son from heaven to earth. Virgin born through Mary, and he lived and grew up and ministered, he did miracles that no one could fathom, that anyone could do, and he taught as no one ever taught. He never sinned, yet he voluntarily gave his life on a Roman cross. He wasn't stoned to death like many of the prophets were stoned to death. Jesus took nails for you and I. He took our place on the cross. He suffered a death that you and I would have deserved for our sin and Jesus himself took our place. He died in our stead. He became our substitute that we would live. God fulfilled his word in Jesus by bringing him into this world and through the crucifixion at Calvary and then his subsequent resurrection. God was faithful all along to his word. He fulfilled it to the max. Nothing was left undone as to our salvation. The blood of Jesus, payment for our sin. At one time we're enemies of God, but because of Jesus. We are now brought into a place where our faith in Christ brings us into friendship with God. This is what was accomplished for us. This is the things, right there, the things accomplished among us, the things fulfilled. And Luke is talking about what God did in that day. with Jesus among those people, that first generation of those eyewitnesses that saw Christ. It's an amazing thing that God fulfilled his plan. Aren't you glad? It's wonderful. This is not a man's invention. This is God's plan. And man couldn't fulfill it. Man couldn't accomplish it. Only God could. And so we gather and we worship and we're celebrating what God can do, not what man can do, but what God can do. And we have a great and mighty God. Nothing is too difficult for him. We give him praise. So one thing I wanna throw into the mix right here, Luke. This is the preface right here. The first four verses, is he includes some terminology that you would only expect from someone educated as a doctor, okay? So the first four verses here are not Koine Greek. They're not the highest order of classical Greek, but they're right in the middle. The word in as much, is one of those words. And his preface is comparable to what a historian, what a regular everyday historian back in that day would write. He's trying to get your attention. He's trying to get you to read along. He wants a wide audience. He wants not only common folk, The rank and file, he wants the educated to be able to read this. Now, once you get through the preface, it comes down a notch and we get more of the common Greek. But he starts off with some pretty higher order of language. And it doesn't really come through in our English translation, but I think it's helpful to know that. So he uses the word in as much. He uses the word undertaken. I like the word over here where he says to compile an account. So Luke is saying when God accomplished his plan, those people in the first generation, they're trying to get it together, get all this information together. And there's quite a number of them trying to write things down. Over in Habakkuk, this kind of comes from nowhere, but Habakkuk is an interesting little stop along the way Get some clarification, Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 5. So there in verse 5 of Habakkuk chapter 1, he says, look among the nations, observe, be astonished, wonder, wonder. He says, because I am doing something in your days. This is the Lord speaking through the prophet. You would not believe if you were told. If you were told. I mean, God's doing something so magnificent. If someone were to actually tell you specifically what he was gonna do, you wouldn't believe it. It's just other worldly. It's just beyond what anyone could imagine. Well, the word told there. In the original language here in Luke, right there where he says an account, those words are related in the Greek. The Septuagint, the Greek rendering of the Old Testament, and then the Greek of the New, right there, same word. They were trying to tell a story. They're trying to tell, they're trying to compile an account. They're trying to tell a story of what Christ has done for them. And so Luke is recognizing that. He says many have undertaken this, they're writing things down about what God did and the fulfillment of his plan and what he's done through Jesus. They're trying to write about his ministry, his life, they're writing about his death, they're writing about his resurrection, all these things. And so what we celebrate in verse 1 of chapter 1 is that God fulfilled his plan. And Luke recognizes that many have tried to chronicle that story of God. Now as we move along, we find out that this plan of God fulfilled in Jesus was received. And then that's the point that God fulfills his plan. And there's actually people on the earth who will embrace God's plan. They will believe what God has done. This is the point. It's not just a story to be reminded of and to think about from time to time. No, it is what God has done. And we attach ourselves to that story by faith. And this is, I think this is where, for some people, this is where the chain comes off the bike. We think of it as a story long ago that has no impact on our lives now. We just relegate it to there and then, and we live our lives as best we can in the here and now. and that's bull, and that doesn't work. Well, I don't know where God went. No, it doesn't work. If you just separate yourself and you just think of it as a story, whether you believe it's true or legend or whatever, but if you remain detached from that story, you'll be miserable. What God has done in Jesus is not meant for us just to observe, it's meant for us to be involved in by faith. So Luke is saying what? It's hard to get out of verse one. Of the things accomplished or fulfilled, I love that last part, among us. What God did, He didn't do in a corner, He didn't do it in a back room, He did it right in the midst of people, and it was on full display. Otherwise, the many couldn't have undertaken to compile a narrative, because it would have been secret. But it wasn't secret, it was done among them, it was done with them. And these people that Luke refers to right here among us, they were attached to this story by faith. So they trust in Jesus and they're interested and they're trying to write or draw up this story. They want to document what God has done in Jesus. It's so powerful. By the way, that Greek word there for accomplish, the word fulfilled, it's seven syllables. I was gonna just say it, but I gave up on it. It's too long to write. But it means to be fulfilled. He fulfilled it. And to be fulfilled, that means it's filled and overflowing. God went to the greatest lengths. to save you and I. He didn't leave anything undone. He fulfilled his word. He didn't come short of fulfilling. He went over and above to fulfill his word and to provide a way of salvation for us. And just so you know that among us, in the grammar, it includes, it can include, all who are impacted by this message, the message of salvation. So you want some, you want to be anchored into this story and what God has done, receive Jesus by faith, and you are included in the among us, even today. 2,000 years removed from this, we're included because we are impacted as well. We're not detached from the story. We are attached. We're not disinterested. We're interested. We're not just neglecting the story or ignorant of the story. We are in the story by faith. So he fulfills God's plan. Secondly, we have The reception of the truth. So Luke received it, right? And look at verse 2, just as they were handed down. Just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. So the story of what God did, his mighty acts, these things were handed down. It's another technical term there for handed down. And who was it handed down? He says to us. So it was to be handed down, had to be received by somebody. So there is the reception of the truth. And we put Luke in that. You know, at some point Luke heard the story, at some point he likely read an account of the story and he received what Jesus had done for him. Let me ask you this morning, have you received what Jesus has done for you? What he accomplished for you on the cross? Have you received that personally? Have you received it? That's so important. Luke received it. And that story, the story of Christ, Jesus himself, that he is meant to be received by us. It's not enough to just be, you know, kind of hanging around religious activity, but to receive Jesus personally as your Lord and Savior. So that you can say, He is mine. The Lord is mine. I'm not detached from the story. I am attached to Jesus by faith. This is so important for everyone to hear. teenagers, adults alike, a personal relationship with Jesus. He says, it was handed down to us by those who from the beginning, from the beginning, from what would the beginning be? Well, probably we would think Jesus birth, but what's really interesting, Luke doesn't start with Jesus birth. Matthew starts with a genealogy. John starts with Jesus in heaven. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God. Mark starts with John the Baptist. Luke starts with John the Baptist, but not with his ministry. He starts with his birth. I mean, Luke gives you stuff that nobody else gives. So right after following this preface, you go right into the birth of John the Baptist and you are reading about details concerning his birth and how it was announced to Zechariah. So this is gonna occupy our attention for the next few weeks, just chapter one, there's 80 verses in chapter one. It's remarkable. So Luke, he just, he follows this out. We're getting to verse three right now. So not only was this message, the gospel of Jesus received, I like this one, but Luke demonstrates a personal involvement in that gospel. And by personal, I wanna put in there real strong, a personal lifelong involvement with the gospel. I mean, he wasn't, yeah, I hate to digress and use an illustration of the hokey pokey and you just put a leg in and you take a leg out and you put an arm in and you put an arm out. No, you gotta get around to that last verse where you put your whole self in. And you can turn about, but you don't take your whole self out. That kind of duplicity was never God's intent for his gospel. I'm gonna tell you something. Somebody dies to save your life, that's worthy of your attention, right? Someone dies to save your eternity, It's pretty important. And that person who does that is worthy of our full lifelong attention and whatever zeal we can muster with that. I mean, that's what he's saying here. It's personal involvement. So the plan of God's fulfilled. And then there's, that plan that is received personally. But then Luke, he just, he's, this is a great lesson. He's a great example of being personally involved in the gospel. He says, it seemed fitting. Oh, one more comment before we leave verse two. So from the beginning, that would have been John the Baptist for Luke and then eyewitnesses and servants of the word. He says, these things were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Eyewitnesses and servants of the word are one group. The eyewitnesses became servants of the word. The word become is in that, is in that verse. They were eyewitnesses, so they saw what Christ had done, but that wasn't enough. They became servants of the word. They weren't living for themselves. They became servants of the word, of the word of Jesus, of the word of Christ, the word of the gospel. What they saw, they had to tell. And so you get down to verse three and Luke is going to put himself in the mix. Verse three, it seemed fitting for me as well. Oh my. You know, some things are just so wonderful and so beyond imagination as to the truth. that you just have to be personally involved. It's not enough just to receive it, but to receive it means that you are gonna be committed and dedicated to the gospel, that you will give your life and live your life from the point of faith in Jesus and the reception of Jesus until the day you die. I mean, 24 seven until you die. I mean, and the question for anyone receiving the gospel is not how little I can do. That never crosses the mind of someone who knows Christ and has seen Christ through the word preached and what he has accomplished for us on the cross by dying on the cross, but then three days later, rising from the grave. And we think, well, how close can I get and have eternity, but not really be fully committed? We're talking about being fully committed. We're talking about total personal involvement in the gospel that God has accomplished through Jesus some 2000 years ago. Luke just says it this way. It seemed, I mean, my translation says fitting. You could put, and I think it's a better word, good. It seemed good for me. I'm gonna tell you something. Your commitment to Christ at 100% level is good. It's good. You're committed to Jesus 100%. You've dedicated your life to live for him. You've received the forgiveness of sin. You've received so many benefits of God. So you're 100% committed. You're going for Jesus all the live long day and all your life. I just want you to hear from the pulpit. That's a good thing. It's a good thing. And if you're sitting there going, oh, how can I be more involved? How can I be more devoted? That's a good thing. That's a good thing. He said, it seemed good for me as well having investigated. So this is, what was his involvement? What did it look like? Well, he says he investigated. That means he made a careful search or he did research. into the things that had been written, the things that people had talked about and written or talked about or written about Christ. And Luke is now on a mission. Let me ask you, are you on a mission? Are you on a mission for Christ? Have you dedicated your days to him? Luke was on a mission. I mean, he was totally caught up in this salvation story of Jesus. The truth of it had impacted his life where he could say, it seemed good for me as well, having investigated everything. What did he investigate? Everything. Everything about Christ. I mean, he investigates John the Baptist's birth. That's why he writes about it. He investigates the conception of Jesus. He had to talk to Mary at some point to get the information that is revealed here in Luke 1 and 2. He investigated it all. He took a deep interest in the life and ministry, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, including his ascension. And he just poured over it because he wanted to write it down. He says everything, right there, investigated everything carefully from the beginning. He uses that term again, from the beginning, to write it out for you. in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus. We really don't know who Theophilus is. Sounds like he is a dignitary of some kind because he uses that title, most excellent. So we think maybe a governor, someone of some prominence, The name Theophilus means dear to God or lover of God. And we wonder, well, what was his disposition toward the gospel? Is he someone who's lost, but he's interested in the gospel? Or is he someone who has received the gospel, but who struggled from time to time to know the full truth of the gospel so that it could impact his heart. And so Luke is writing because Luke says, I'm going to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus. He says, and then in verse four, so personal involvement. I want to encourage you today, be personally involved in the gospel. Take a deep interest in the gospel. Trying to hone in right here. Take a deep interest in the gospel. Dedicate your life to the gospel. You know, moms and dads out there, grandparents, your kids and your grandkids are watching. And you don't have to tell them one thing about what's important to you. They know. They know what's important to you. It is a blessing to a child, it is a blessing to a grandchild to see faithful church attendance, because that is something that is demonstrated and that is something that is what? Public, it's public. And it's an encouragement as you think about the legacy that you're leaving. And finally, Is there a finally? Well, yeah. Point four is verse four. So that you, why is he writing? Why did Luke, why is he so caught up in this? So that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. So evidently Theophilus knew something, whether or not he had received Jesus or not, not sure, but he'd certainly had some instruction. And Luke wants to write it down so that Theophilus, and not only Theophilus, but all of those generations following, all the people would know what? The exact truth. What's this about? It's about assurance. I mean, if you're dedicated to something, if you love Jesus, you want a good basis for that love. You want a solid foundation to stand on. You don't want to feel like, I'm not sure if this is... No, Luke wrote so that you and I would be sure of Christ. that those doubts would flee and we would have that assurance we need that God did what he said he would do through Christ and the salvation he came to impart is effective in our lives by faith. I mean, when we sing about heaven, when we sing about ministry, when we sing about God's faithfulness to us in hard times and struggles. I mean, we're not whistling Dixie. We are assured of his presence, we are assured of his interest in our lives, that he shepherds his people, and he'll bring us safely through this life, and he'll bring us into the next. And that is an assured promise revealed in the Gospels and specifically here in Luke. So the assurance of the truth. And Luke is going to go step by step through all 24 chapters. And our faith is going to build. And if we're not careful, you're going to stumble into personal revival. And you know what I say? I say that's a good thing. That's a good thing. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this day. We thank you for what we've seen. The dedication of a child. We thank you for what we've heard. Songs about Calvary, Psalms, songs about your faithfulness to us. Through thick and thin, you are there. And Lord, we have been challenged that you are worthy of our utmost undivided attention as we think not about just our own spiritual well-being, and that we should be concerned about, but as we think about our legacy, as we think about our impact on those in our family, our children, our grandchildren, as we think about the impact of our witness on those around us. Lord, help us to dedicate to you, help us to rededicate, help us to live for you, Lord, in a manner that would glorify our one and only Savior, Jesus. For it's in His name that we pray. And God's people said, Amen.