Dr. Kevin DeYoung | That You May Have Certainty

Sunday Evening, November 23, 2025
Given by Dr. Kevin DeYoung | Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church

That You May Have Certainty

Luke 1:1-4

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Transcript

Our Father in heaven, we ask for your help – not simply because sermons begin with a prayer – more importantly, because we really need your help. I need your help to preach your word faithfully, boldly, humbly, clearly. We need your help if we are to hear and to receive and be changed. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

From now through the end of the year, we’ll be moving through the very beginning of Luke's gospel, which takes us through the anticipation of the incarnation and these familiar passages leading up to Christmas. And so, this morning we come to the first paragraph, Luke chapter 1, the first four verses. Here's what we read. 

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

There was a conference this week in Boston – the Evangelical Theological Society. I don't know how many hundreds, maybe numbering in the thousands, of academics gather to hear papers, give some papers, meet, network, and several people from RTS who went – I was there, Chad, Blair, Will, Pastor Eric went. So, Christ Covenant was well represented, and you may remember that Trisha and I met when we were at school in Boston's North Shore. So, I do like New England, and it was – there were three beautiful fall New England days. It was cold – kind of like fall should be – cold enough that the allergens seem to have died, which was a nice reprieve for me. And got up in the morning and went on a run down Commonwealth and into the Boston Commons and to Park Street and back around, and it was beautiful. 

So, the little gift shop in the hotel – I thought, you know, my kids always want something, but to get gifts ninefold is very difficult and expensive, so I've ceased to do that for most trips. I got one small memento, very small – a little snow globe. I’m sure you all have a snow globe. I know there are some people here who collect snow globes, and you looked in, and it said Boston, and it had Faneuil Hall and South Church and had a little statue of Paul Revere. It was all very quaint and picturesque, and you know, you turn it upside down and you shake it around and some glitter and some snow falls. I know down here in Charlotte, we say that's where you can keep the snow – just right in there in that little globe. Maybe once a year. Once a year it'd be nice to have a snow. We did – did you survive the blizzard from a week and a half ago? It was pretty there for a few moments with the snow flurrying in the air. And you look at a snow globe like that, and it's based on true things. Those buildings, that statue, exist, but they don't all exist nestled right next to each other like that. And they don't exist quite in such an idealized picturesque form. That's the whole point of – you get a snow globe. It's some scene from some city or nation, and it's meant to be extremely picturesque, idealized, evocative of warm, fuzzy feelings, even as you tip that upside down and you see the snow. It's not real life, but it's beautiful, and it makes you feel good. 

I wonder if a lot of Christians – non-Christians too, but even some Christians – approach this Christmas season thinking that the Christmas story is a snow globe. There are lots of Christmas snow globes. In fact, you can get whole nativity scenes. You can get nativity scenes that have Santa Claus decked out in red bowing before the manger, which has some theological truth to it – historically, perhaps inaccurate. You think about the Christmas story. We love this season of Advent and leading into Christmas – we have Thanksgiving this week, and then it's fully upon us. Like me, you've probably been listening to Christmas music, some of you cheaters, already. And the Christmas season has that kind of warm, good, comfortable feelings about it. And even, we can come to the familiar stories in the Gospel of Luke, and we love to get the stories, and there's angels, and there's dreams, and there's a heavenly host, and there's Mary giving birth and Joseph leading her and all of the things that are familiar to us. And if we're not careful, we look in at that Christmas story, and it's a snow globe. It's not quite real. It's picturesque. It's idealized. It's sort of based on some things that are true, just like you get the cityscape of Boston, picks four buildings, idealized. There it is. I wonder if some Christians come into the Christian season, and they love the good feelings of Christmas, but when you think about the reality of what took place, you're not quite so concerned that it really, truly happened. And if that's true for some Christians – and maybe you're not a Christian here; we're glad that you're with us. Many non-Christians certainly come to this season, and they're looking forward to all of the cookies and the presents and the stockings and It's A Wonderful Life and whatever your favorite traditions are, and it has the warm, comforting glow of a snow globe. But it doesn't quite matter whether or not it's based on anything that truly, actually, in time and space and history happened. 

This opening paragraph of Luke's gospel – it's probably the least well-known of the opening to the four gospels. It's very easy to overlook this paragraph. Let's get to all the good stuff, to the Christmas story, to the angels, to the announcement, to Elizabeth and to Mary. Let's get on to that. This opening paragraph is blah blah blah. You almost think he was at a meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. I studied this. I got a degree. I did all my homework. I have some footnotes. I'm writing to some person with a big, fancy name. Alright, Luke, just get on with it. But you and I will not understand the Christmas story correctly without this paragraph. Do not skip over this paragraph, lest you experience these next five or six weeks as if you were in a stylized but not realistic scene inside a snow globe. Luke will not allow us to look at the Christmas story in that way. 

I want you to notice three things that he gives us that were important for his audience, and to this man Theophilus we'll come back to at the end, and are also important for us if we are to reach the conclusion – there in verse 4 – “that you may have certainty.” At the end of John's gospel, he helpfully tells us that these things have been written that you may believe and by believing in Jesus you can have life in his name. Well, here Luke establishes at the very front end – now, there's lots of themes, but here's the big driving ambition in Luke's gospel – that you may be certain. I want you to notice three things. 

First, he talks about his sources. Notice some of the key words here. We don't want to skip over them: “inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative” – many, thinking, perhaps, of the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John gospel writers. There may also be other sources that in God's providence have not been handed down to us. Or he may be talking about oral sources – those don't undermine the authority of the Scriptures in any way. The point is there are a lot of people who have been going to great pains to make sure this story is correct. Many have undertaken this. So this is not in the realm of someone just got a private revelation that told them where the golden plates were or how to translate them. This is given publicly such that many people – Luke can say, you know, many people have tried to compile an accurate account of these amazing things that happened. And now look at this word – some of you kids will like this word: among us. Among us. If you know, you know. Among us. Where did this happen? This did not happen – you know the scroll that happens at the beginning of Star Wars – far away, a galaxy. This is not some galaxy far, far away. This is not in some mythical recesses of prehistory. This is not in some other dimensional universe. This happened among us. He's writing, and he could say that there were some alive who would have been witnesses to these things. Maybe not eyewitnesses – we'll come to that word in a moment – of all of the particular things, but this happened. 

This was not on the planet Venus. This is saying “and this happened” – you remember? This happened in America, or this happened in the Carolinas. This happened among us. Notice the word eyewitnesses – “just as those from the beginning were eyewitnesses.” How do we know something from history is true? We're going to have lots of historical remembrances, if you're into these things, over the next eight months leading up to July 4, 2026. The Ken Burns – I haven’t gotten a chance to watch it all yet on PBS – he did six-part series on the American Revolution, and I hope he doesn't mess it up. You look – how do we know what happened in the past? It's basically two records – especially before you have video recording and photographs – two things: you have written documents, and you have eyewitness testimony. And those are still two things that will show up in a court of law. Those are still two things that you're going to cite if you have to write a paper for something. And that's what Luke is talking about. Many have undertaken this account and he's studied things, looked at the sources, and here he references the eyewitnesses. So he's not referring to something that happened four centuries ago, and he's relying on some very suspicious retelling of the story that got passed down like spiritual telephone, and we didn't hear about it for 400 years. No, there were people who saw these things from the beginning. And you say, "Well, but maybe the eyewitnesses lied. Maybe they made up stories. We can't always trust eyewitnesses. Or maybe they meant to tell the truth, but they got it wrong." Well, notice this other word he says after that: eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. This is a formal designation for those who would have given authoritative reports – certainly the apostles, those under the apostolic umbrella, ministers of the word have delivered them to us. Do you see what Luke is doing very carefully? He's saying we didn't just go around and take some sort of survey, and what do you think happened? We looked at, talked to, eyewitnesses and those in particular who were ministers of the word – you know, had skin in the game, had something riding on this. They saw it, and these were authoritative sources to tell us what had taken place. So first we see he talks about his sources. 

Second, notice he talks about his approach. He says his work was the fruit of investigation. “It seemed good to me also having followed all things closely for some time past.” Luke, we know from Acts, is a physician. He was a learned man. He's a smart man. He also wrote the book of Acts. And in Acts, he is a very careful historian. He's noting time and place. He's noting geography. He's noting formal names and terms for various officials within the Roman Empire. He's naming people who were with Peter or Paul and on the missionary journeys. And so here with his gospel, he says, "I have looked at this very carefully. This is the product of careful investigation. You know, almost any local news channel – people still watch that – will have, you know, “channel 5 on your side.” I don't even know if we have a channel 5, but on your side. And then here's our team of investigative reporters. And they're there, that they've gotten to the bottom of it. And some – usually it's some sort of scandal, you know, the dollar store was charging $1.50 or something. You know, something really – everyone, we're here. We're here to let you know what's going on. People hire a private detective. My wife and I have watched umpteen British period shows that have DCI – detective, chief, inspector – have some kind of inspector, some kind of investigator. We all know what they are. And that's what Luke is saying he did. This is not something that Luke woke up one Saturday morning and adjusted, you know – got the microphone set up and adjusted the camera and said, "I think I'm going to do a gospel podcast today. I got some things on my mind, and I just want to share them with you. I thought about it for minutes before this, and now I'm ready to go." He says, "I have looked at these closely." 

So, not only investigate them, that's his approach, but how he studied them – closely, for some time past – and what's his aim here? To write an orderly account. He says, in other words, “I have looked at the various sources. I have talked to eyewitnesses.” Sometimes we have this idea when the biblical authors wrote the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit just overcame them, and they didn't know. And maybe – you know in the old TV shows when they would sort of have the wigglies on the screen, and this, you know, some kind of flashback or some sort of dream that the person just entered a trance, and they didn't even know what they were doing, and it was as if God just took the pen in their hand. Well, the effect of God's inspiration is to such a degree that we can have the confidence as if it had taken place in that way. So some theologians talk about the results of inspiration along those lines. But they do not talk about the means of inspiration along those lines. Not – here's the terminology that been around for awhile – not a mechanical dictation. Not God like a puppeteer controlling the quill and the pen to write down on the page. Not God invasion of the body snatchers just removing their brain, putting in God's brain, so that now they're automatons taking over. No, we see that Luke continued to operate as a thinking, functioning human being. The technical language is that God wrote the Bible by a concursive (cone = with, together = operation) – he wrote it together with – now, in such a way that the result is entirely infallible and trustworthy. But we notice here Luke does not say that “I went into a cave, and I starved myself, and then I entered into some sort of visionary trance,” but rather I studied these things – and you picture him, you know, he's got, maybe, some rudimentary books or scrolls open. Maybe he has his handwritten notes. Maybe he's jotted down an outline of what he wants to do, just like anyone would do in writing a paper and in writing a book, and he's organizing. Maybe we'll put this here and here, in order that he might outline an orderly account, to get his chronology, his geography, to get it all in an order that's true, understandable, based on what really happened. This is why it's absolutely unthinkable that Luke would write these stories just as a kind of sop to pagan mythology. 

I think I mentioned before, years ago I was having a conversation with a liberal pastor in my previous denomination – thankfully not in the PCA, my previous denomination – this pastor was saying how he didn't believe in the virgin birth. And I said, "Do you tell your congregation that at Christmas?" And of course, he said, "Well, no, no, no. That would be too upsetting to them." Well, you really, if that's what you believe and you think they're believing a lie, you ought not to lead them astray. He said, "Well, I choose to focus on that part of the promise that ‘nothing is impossible with God’ rather than ‘and the virgin shall conceive.’” I made the point if nothing is impossible with God, maybe we could believe this. But he said this was a bit to just make an appeal to popular pagan mythologies. That is the last thing that would have engendered support from a good Jew. Jews were not looking for – you know what we need more in our stories? We need more pagan mythology – nor does Luke give any impression he's doing anything like this. In fact, he could hardly make it clearer that is not what he is doing. He's not just writing a dramatic epic story with poetic license that kind of has a poetic truth about it. No, he says eyewitness accounts, sources, many people. I've laid it out. I'm giving you an orderly account. He could not be any clearer to communicate that what he is writing down is not legend. So think about the familiar words, which no doubt we will hear more than once in the coming weeks, from Luke chapter 2. And if you study other religions, if you read about, say, the birth of Hercules, or how the gods and goddesses in Hinduism came forth, or the gods of Shintoism, or various other stories about how their gods were born, and you ever think to yourself, well, I guess Christianity, we just have a story of gods being born, too. Could not be any clearer that Luke is putting this into an entirely different category, in a category that those other stories never even pretended to amount to. 

So, think about this from Luke 2: “In those days” (okay, so when did this happen? A certain time in history) “a decree” (a decree was something known that the Romans issued from time to time) “went out from Caesar Augustus” (a worldwide known figure, even to our day – you could hardly have named somebody who is more known in all the world, so, it's anchoring this) “that all the world should be registered.” This was the first registration when – and here's the word just to make the, you know, second grader lose sleep at night – Quirinius was governor of Syria. Now, that's an extra bit of history that Luke throws in, and scholars today aren't quite sure where to place this Qurinius chronologically, but the point is Luke is adding extra material to position what happened here as someone who has done his research. “And all went to be registered, each to his own town, and Joseph” (a real name of a real historical person) “went up from Galilee” (that's a specific region – it's like saying “went up from Mecklenburg County) “from the town of Nazareth” (that's a specific town – everyone could have known it) “to Judea” (another specific location) “to the city of David” (so that's another historical reference) “which is called Bethlehem” (there's another name for the city and another prophetic referent) “because he was of the house and the lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes” (just as you would any child – not wrapped him in moon beams and unicorn dust) “and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” There is absolutely nothing in that paragraph that sounds like a fairy tale, and everything in that paragraph to show that Luke means to tell us a story that is accurate, precise, verifiable and historic. 

So the third: he talks about his sources, talks about his approach, and then third and finally, he talks about his purpose. We see in verse 4 he is writing to a man called Theophilus. Now we don't know exactly who this man is. You can break apart his name. Theos = God, philus like Philadelphia, city of brotherly love – so this name means “God lover" or “friend of God.” It seems he was an important man, because he's given the title “the most excellent Theophilus.” This is not something you just give to your friends. In the book of Acts, which Luke also wrote, Felix and Festus, who are two Roman magistrates, are both called excellent. So, it's likely here in Luke's gospel that he is writing to someone else who has some position of power and influence in the Roman world. Theophilus was a Roman official, a Gentile perhaps, probably well off. Just as an aside, there's one of the reasons that Luke and Acts have so many lessons directed toward the rich, that Luke has the most to say about the warnings of wealth. Not because Luke and Acts were written to the poor, but precisely because they were directed toward the rich, toward Theophilus, to say to somebody “you’re important, you're a magistrate, maybe you're a judge. You're an official in the Roman Empire. You're most excellent. You have a name. You have a degree. You have a title. You probably have money. You have privilege.” He's writing to show, can someone like that be a Christian? They can. He says to Theophilus, “I want you to be certain concerning the things you have been taught.” So, it seems that Theophilus is either on the cusp of becoming a Christian – maybe some of you are – or I think, likely, that he is a Christian. He's been instructed in the gospel. He's received these things. He's perhaps a baby Christian. He's incorporated them. And now Luke says, "I want to give you a full accounting of what happened. Glad that you're interested in Jesus. I'm glad that maybe, even, you have made some sort of profession of faith in Jesus. But now I want you to have certainty.” 

So Luke says, right at the very beginning, I want you to know I've researched this thing. I've talked to eyewitnesses. I've read the other reports. I've studied the story from top to bottom. All of these things before his birth, his birth, his childhood, his teaching, his miracles, his parables, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, all of it. And I've written it down in an orderly manner so you can be sure. That's what Luke wanted Theophilus to understand 2,000 years ago, and that's the point of this passage for you: to know and be confident that this is a real story, real history. Now, history doesn't mean just the bare recitation of facts. That's never good history, to just lay out a chronology, and this happened and this happened and this happened. 

People say, "Well, but Luke has an angle." Of course he has an angle. What history doesn't have an angle? You watch any good documentary, it's making a point. It's telling a story. It's trying to convince you of something. It's ordering the facts in a way to present a conclusion. So, of course, that's what Luke is trying to do. But he makes absolutely clear, here at the beginning, that they are still facts. There's an order. There's a design. There's a purpose, just like a filmmaker tries to tell a story to persuade, and that's Luke's gospel. History, facts, with a theological point. This is what God wants you to remember as we come into the Christmas season. Because if you know this story, you know what's about to happen here in Luke. Angels, dreams, a man who's miraculously made mute for a time, a singing company of the heavenly hosts, and yes, a virgin birth. And before we come into all of that, Luke wants you to know, the Holy Spirit wants you to know, this is not a snow globe. This is not a picturesque, idealized, a few realities but made up, beautiful picture to help people feel nice things at the holidays. 

I want you to think about four groups and which one you may be in this morning. Maybe you're not a Christian. Maybe you think you are, but you've recently thought, "I don't really know if I believe this stuff." Or maybe you're here, you're visiting – we're glad you're here – and you've never really committed to these things. Maybe you grew up around the church, but you don't really believe them. I encourage you, friends, to deal seriously – as you come into Christmas, if you're going to enjoy Christmas, I hope you do – but deal seriously with this paragraph. Luke does not mean to give us legend or myth. And if he gives us history, if he gives us fact, then nothing in the world is the same. It means that a virgin miraculously conceived under the power of the Holy Spirit and pushed out of her womb, like every other woman had done before her, this painful experience of a baby in all of the glory and mess of childbirth. But this baby was God in the flesh. That's what Luke says happened. 

Maybe you're a new Christian. Think about these things, just like Luke wrote to Theophilus, to know that to be a Christian is not to just believe things because you think belief is a good way to live your life. I guess there's mysteries in the world, and I got to believe something. We believe based on evidence. Now, ultimately, you need God's Spirit to testify to your spirit that these things are so. There's no logical deduction in itself that can lead you to become a Christian. You must be born again, Jesus said. And yet, this is written here so that you who are a young Christian – maybe an adult who just became a Christian, or maybe you're eight years old and you've been around this stuff your whole life – and God wants you to know and to be certain that you can believe this story. 

Or perhaps you're a wandering Christian in some way, maybe doubting, maybe you even took the first step or two towards deconstructing in your faith, or maybe you're, to put it nicely, a sort of so-so Christian – you might even say that about yourself. Yeah, I'm a Christian. I don't got a problem with Christians. I go to church once in a while. Does Luke really leave that option open to us? Does God's word really mean to tell us here's the most amazing event that ever happened in human history, that all the prophets were predicting, that changes everything, that God was born, died, raised again, ascended into heaven, coming again, and you think, "Eh, I guess I can sign up for that but not have it make much difference in my life.” That doesn't make a lot of sense. 

Or maybe a fourth category, you're an anxious, fearful Christian. If we're honest, most of us are anxious and fearful Christians at some point. Maybe you’re coming to the end of your life, and you think, "Well, what if I don't really – what if I really haven't believed these things enough? I mean, I think I believe,” but you're prone to that introspection, and you, “But I don't know if I really do believe.” Or maybe you have a moment where you think, with everything I'm going through, can I trust that God is really there? Or maybe, have you ever thought this? You think, I think, you know, I've grown up a Christian my whole life and I like it. I got no problems with the Bible, but is it possible that maybe I just grew up with this, and what if I just chose the wrong religion? There's a lot of other options out there. And I guess I'm doing the best I can with this one, but how do I know that this is really it? You need the Holy Spirit to speak to your spirit. But he will speak to your spirit through different means, and one of the means is what Luke has laid out to us here: to give you confidence. Yes, on those nights when you wonder, is God really there? Is this listening? What if this – is this Christianity thing really true? What about my suffering? What about my belief? Do I believe enough? This story is not ultimately about your belief. It's about what took place. 

Luke – yes, he wants Theophilus to be certain of these things and to believe, so that is far from immaterial, that's absolutely essential. But don't start there. Start here. Luke, with great precision and care, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has written out these things. In this absolutely unique, totally normal, and, at the same time, totally supernatural event. This child, predicted for millennia, prophecies made about him for centuries. A virgin had never given birth before nor since, because God had never come to his people like this: Emmanuel, God with us. It's not a myth. It's not a legend. It's not a fairy tale. A real boy, born to a real woman, in a real town on a real 24-hour day, so that you can know that there is a real Christ to save his people from their real sins. God came down to earth on Christmas to live, to die, to be raised, to ascend, and to come again. It's all gloriously true, and it is no snow globe. So, you and I can be certain. Let's pray. 

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your word. All the reasons you give us to be confident in this story – a real story that took place in history as all the great stories have, and yet totally unlike those stories, in that you were doing something that had never been done before and that changed, for all time, the world in which we live. May it also, then, change our lives and our eternities. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.