Sermon Central
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The Same Outline
Contributed by Joe Rowland on Mar 1, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: As Christians we all have the same outline and we need to use it. (Bible)
The Same Outline
1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
3 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,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
In verse one it says, “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us.”
This means many, at this time, were attempting to write accounts of the life and Ministry of Christ which have proved to have no inspiration of the Holy Spirit and consequently they were unreliable.
When it says of those things which are most surely believed among us, it proclaims the Gospel as a narrative concerning facts fully established.
2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
This concerns those who were there and actually observed what took place.
These people were eye witnesses and were ministers of the Word that had been given to them.
3 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,
This is talking about the moving of the Holy Spirit as He gives understanding to the people of God.
Luke was talking about how there needed to be an understanding of all things from the first.
What this is also saying is that Luke had made absolute certain of the reliability of these eye witness accounts that he was writing for us in the day that we live in.
In verse 3 it also says to write unto you in order.
In God’s timeline, there is an order for all things.
In the beginning God created, in other words, every thing that happens in life originates from the very beginning.
Within God, there is a necessity of a chronological order.
There is a time and purpose for everything in your lives.
There was a time for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
There was a time for Cain and Able.
There was a time for Seth, Adam and Eve’s third son.
There was a time for Methuselah, the oldest man to ever live.
There was a time for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There was a time for Joseph, the dreamer.
There was a time for Melchezadak.
There was a time for Noah.
The point that I am trying to drive home is that there is a timeline that was appointed to all man.
Today is the time for you.
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Church, our instruction comes from the Word of God.
We can know for certain that this Word of God has been tested and it has been tried, but it has stood the test of time.
God did not give the Word to do nothing with, but He has given the Word for us to apply to the situations that we are going through.
9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
Israel was not to forget what their eyes had seen, they were to teach it to their children and their children’s children.
We need to teach our children to fear the Lord and to keep His commandments.
According to Luke, verse one, there was a declaration that was set in order.
Luke wants his readers to understand that God is very much alive and that Jesus really is able to operate in the situations that we go through.
The Word lets us know that when He operates within the situations that we go through to make sure that we tell our children and grandchildren what the Lord has done in our lives.
In my life, there is a timetable that I have to go through; I have to learn how to become obedient to God’s Word.
