Go! And Trust What You Have Heard
How the Gospel Writers Knew What Jesus Did and Said
INTRODUCTION
If someone today claimed to remember every word spoken by a friend three years ago, we would raise an eyebrow. We forget what we said yesterday, never mind three years ago!
And yet the Gospel writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — recorded the teachings, miracles, parables, conversations, emotions, prayers, and actions of Jesus with breathtaking accuracy. How?
Because the Gospel is not the result of impressive human memory — it is the result of divine intervention.
The apostles didn’t simply remember. They were empowered.
They didn’t merely recall. They were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
They didn’t write religious reflections. They wrote Spirit-inspired eyewitness truth.
Today we answer the vital question:
How did the Gospel writers know what Jesus said and did?
Because Jesus promised the Spirit would remind them, and the Spirit fulfilled that promise.
KEY TEXTS (NLT)
John 14:26 (NLT): “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
2 Peter 1:16–21 (NLT): For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw His majestic splendour with our own eyes…
Above all, you must realise that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
1 — JESUS PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD SUPERINTEND THE RECALL OF HIS WORDS
John 14:26 — Spirit-enabled memory
The key Greek word is hypomnesei — “He will remind you,” meaning to cause someone to remember with accuracy and clarity.
Not vague recollection — precise restoration.
Jesus didn’t expect His disciples to rely on mental strength.
He supplied divine remembrance.
John 14 is part of the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure. They feared they would lose Him — and the teachings they had come to depend on.
Jesus reassured them:“My physical presence will go, but My Spirit will guide your memories.”
Theological Truth
The Gospel accounts exist because Jesus guaranteed accuracy.
R.T. Kendall: “The Holy Spirit makes the written Word of God as real to us as the spoken voice of Jesus was to the apostles.”
Kendall reminds us: The same Spirit who brought the apostles’ memories to life now brings Scripture alive in us. This isn’t dusty history — this is living revelation.
When you open the Gospels, you are not reading human recollections; you are reading Spirit-preserved truth. Therefore:
You can trust every word.
You can build your life on its authority.
You can share it confidently with those who doubt.
2 — THE GOSPEL WRITERS WERE EYEWITNESSES OF JESUS’ LIFE AND MINISTRY
2 Peter 1:16 — “We saw His splendour with our own eyes”
Peter uses the Greek term epoptai — “eyewitnesses of the highest rank.”
This wasn’t hearsay.
Not second-hand reporting.
Not myths.
Peter was on the mountain.
He heard the voice.
He saw the glory.
Peter wrote this letter near the end of his life. He knew martyrdom was close. No man dies for something he knows is a lie. But Peter was willing to die because he had seen the risen Christ.
Theological Truth
Christianity is rooted in history — factual, observed, witnessed history.
The Courtroom Witness
Imagine a courtroom. The prosecution makes claims. The defence counters. But then an eyewitness takes the stand — someone who was there. Their testimony changes everything.
The apostles were not philosophers;
they were witnesses under oath, testifying at the cost of their lives.
John Piper: “Christianity stands on the unshakeable rock of eyewitness testimony to the risen Christ.”
Piper captures the heartbeat of our faith. The Gospels are not legends that grew over generations; they are the sworn testimonies of men transformed by what they saw.
Your faith is built on evidence, not imagination.
On sight, not speculation.
On history, not hearsay.
3 — THE HOLY SPIRIT CARRIED THE WRITERS AS THEY RECORDED SCRIPTURE
2 Peter 1:21 — “Moved by the Holy Spirit”
The Greek word pheromenoi means “carried along, driven, propelled,” like a ship carried by the wind.
The writers used their personalities, vocabulary, background — but the Spirit directed every word.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT): “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”
Greek: theopneustos — “God-breathed.”
B. Luke 1:1–4 (NLT): "Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught."
Luke investigated carefully, interviewing eyewitnesses. But his research was Spirit-guided.
C. Acts 1:8 (NLT): "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
“You will be my witnesses…” The Holy Spirit empowered their witness and their writing.
The apostles were not authors trying to remember;
they were servants being carried by God.
The Sailboat
Picture an ancient sailboat. The boat is real, built by human hands. But it cannot move until the wind fills the sails.
The Gospel writers lifted the sails; the Holy Spirit supplied the wind.
Charles Stanley: “The Holy Spirit is the divine author behind every page of Scripture.”
Stanley reminds us that while Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John held the pen, the Spirit held the authority. Every verse carries Heaven’s breath.
If Scripture is Spirit-breathed, then…
It is trustworthy.
It is sufficient.
It is authoritative for your life.
In a confused world, you need an unchanging Word.
4 — THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN WITH A PURPOSE: TO LEAD PEOPLE TO JESUS
John 20:31 (NLT): “But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
The Gospels were not written to impress scholars, but to save sinners.
Max Lucado: “God wrote His story in a way that even a child can understand it, yet with a depth that scholars can study for a lifetime.”
Lucado helps us grasp that the Spirit ensured Scripture is both accessible and profound. It meets the child and the theologian with the same power.
If the Gospel accounts are Spirit-given eyewitness truth, then:
Read them with confidence.
Share them without fear.
Stand upon them boldly in a shifting culture.
THE GOSPEL PRESENTATION — CHRIST’S DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION
The same apostles who wrote the Gospels also preached:
Jesus lived the sinless life we failed to live.
Jesus died the death we deserved to die.
Jesus rose again with power over sin and death.
Jesus now offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent and believe.
This message is trustworthy because they witnessed it,
and it is effective because the Spirit inspired it.
CALL TO ACTION — GO! AND TRUST THE WORD
If the Gospel writers were Spirit-empowered eyewitnesses, then:
Trust the Scriptures.
Stand on their authority.
Live by their truth.
Share their message.
Our world desperately needs Christians who believe the Bible again — who read it, love it, and obey it.
INVITATION TO SALVATION:
Friend, the Jesus the apostles saw…
The Jesus the Spirit reminded them of…
The Jesus they wrote about…
This same Jesus is calling you today.
Turn from your sin.
Trust in His cross.
Believe in His resurrection.
Confess Him as Lord and Saviour.
He will forgive you.
He will cleanse you.
He will give you new life.
BENEDICTION / EXHORTATION:
May you go in the confidence that the Word of God you hold is the very breath of God.
May you live boldly, read Scripture eagerly, trust Jesus fully, and follow the Spirit daily.
Go—and trust what you have heard.
