1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,240 Good morning. It's good to see you all and 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,000 we're delighted to be here. My wife Sarah is here with me 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,360 and and I'm delighted that she can be with me. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,440 Sometimes we just get conflicted schedules there, her running 5 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,560 after grandkids and things such as that. 6 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,200 And and we don't get to be together when I go speak at 7 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,160 places. So it's delightful to have her 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,040 here and it's delightful to see all of you here. 9 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:29,560 I was scheduled to speak here. Well, I was scheduled scheduled 10 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,680 me in in at at the Memorial Day meeting here. 11 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,080 But the time before that when I was scheduled to speak here, I 12 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:41,440 sat at church here beside Bob Smith on the front row. 13 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:46,880 And that was in 2016. And then four years later in 14 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,520 2020, I was scheduled to speak here. 15 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,760 But there was a little bug that was going around and it got 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,920 cancelled. And so now I'm scheduled to 17 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,920 speak here in 2024. So we will see you again in 18 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,160 2028, I think on that schedule. That's what we're. 19 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,239 So that's what we're looking forward to. 20 00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:05,640 But anyway, delightful to be here. 21 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,240 Delightful to stand in front of you and talk about something 22 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,480 that is is near and dear to my heart and near and dear to your 23 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,400 heart as well. Why, why I believe the Bible. 24 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,760 That's one of the most important questions that we can ask or 25 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,560 that we can answer, I guess why I believe the Bible, and it 26 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,520 comes up more and more these days in society and school, at 27 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,200 work, things like that. When we confront issues that 28 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,280 people have concerning where do we come from? 29 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,000 Well, the Bible says, why do you believe the Bible? 30 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,520 Why is that? Why should I believe the Bible? 31 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:45,560 Or maybe when you start talking about the family, a man and a 32 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,360 woman married, right, instead of other options that people want 33 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:51,080 to have. Or when you start talking about 34 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,360 what is a man or what is a woman, those things. 35 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,840 And you talk, well, the Bible says, and they'll say, well, why 36 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:00,800 do you believe the Bible? Why should I believe the Bible? 37 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,280 Things such as that. Or when you start talking about 38 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:08,199 morality and you say, well, the Bible says this and sort of it 39 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:13,280 happens not only in school, in universities, it happens at 40 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,640 work, it happens in society, it happens all around us. 41 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:21,600 People want to question the idea of that. 42 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:26,720 We have the faith in the Bible. And I would suggest also that we 43 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,640 as Christians have an obligation to be able to tell people why we 44 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:33,440 believe in the Bible. Recall the passage, and we're 45 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:38,200 all familiar with that in in first Peter chapter 3 and verse 46 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,200 15, a verse which has haunted me for years and used to haunt me 47 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,840 for years ago there where it says sanctify the Lord God in 48 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,320 your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man 49 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,080 that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with 50 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,560 meekness and fear. So it says be ready always to 51 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,160 give an answer for the hope, the reason of the hope that you have 52 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,760 within you. And well, so who is that 53 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,760 addressed to? You know, that's the phrase in 54 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,760 which we get the word apologetics there where it says 55 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:15,240 the word reason give you a give you a reason, the one that asks 56 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,720 you a reason of the hope, that reason there. 57 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,600 That's the word applegia in the Greek. 58 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,920 That's where we get the word apologetics, which is a defense 59 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,520 as we use it oftentimes in the relationship to religion, A 60 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,160 defense of the faith, a defense of the faith. 61 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:32,880 Be ready always to give them a defense of the faith for the 62 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:34,920 reason of the hope that you have within you. 63 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,120 Is what he's saying there? Who's that addressed to? 64 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,080 It's addressed to you. That's what it says. 65 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,400 Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and if you look back up 66 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,880 there, you know Paul's Peter's been writing here in chapter 1 67 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,120 and chapter 3. He starts to servants. 68 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,480 He writes to people living under civil authority there. 69 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:55,840 He writes to servants living under masters. 70 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,360 He writes verse chapter 3, the beginning of that. 71 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,720 He writes to wives and he writes to husbands there and that's who 72 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:08,200 addresses it to and then also in verse 8 he says finally, all of 73 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,440 you be one minded having compassion for one another. 74 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,960 So then he spreads it out not talking about any specific group 75 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,240 of people, but he talks to everybody. 76 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:23,520 That's who he says so everybody as Christians, you me, we need 77 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:28,000 to have we need to have this always be ready to give an 78 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,440 answer to everyone that asked us a reason of the hope that is in 79 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,240 you with meekness and fear. We are all called to be 80 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,880 apologists according to what Peter says there. 81 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:43,960 Now what does that mean? Well, it's not quite as daunting 82 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,520 in many ways. It's very serious from 83 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,280 Scripture's sake, but it's not quite as daunting as sometimes 84 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:51,760 we want to make it to be. We think of that as being the 85 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:57,560 elite, the elite Christian to be able to get up and debate the 86 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,920 things of apologetics there. That's what he what we think of. 87 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,560 We think of these as being, you know, they the, the Delta Force, 88 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,560 the, the, the Green Berets, the, the, the, you know, the, the, 89 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,440 the, the people that go in and, and, and really solve the 90 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,520 problems there. It's not talking here about 91 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,640 limit any just to Frankie Brancato here or a, a Kevin 92 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,760 Presley or, you know, or, or, or, or any of these, any of the 93 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,760 brethren that we think of as being highly skilled in this. 94 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,720 But it says, notice what it says. 95 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:38,160 It says know what you believe. Know why you believe it and be 96 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,040 ready to tell people. That. 97 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:43,960 It really doesn't say to win the argument. 98 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,760 It doesn't say that. It doesn't say here that in 99 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:53,360 order to be an apologist, which God, which Peter calls us to 100 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,640 here, It doesn't say that we have to be able to debate and to 101 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,680 show that the Calvinist is wrong, that we have to show that 102 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,280 the Mormons are not on the right track on their faith. 103 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,160 We don't have to show the Buddhists that they're wrong, 104 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,120 the Islamics that they're wrong. We don't have to show anything 105 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,640 about this. What we have to do is we have to 106 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,440 know what we believe and know why we believe it and be ready 107 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:20,720 to explain that in a meek way with respect. 108 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,920 That's what Peter says. And So what will you say when 109 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,640 someone says, OK, you know, you're in school and you say, I 110 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,880 don't believe that teacher, because what you've said is not 111 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:35,760 what I believe. Why don't you believe that? 112 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,160 Well, because the Bible says and they said, oh, why do you 113 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,120 believe the Bible? What's the answer you give? 114 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:48,640 Well, common answer number one is, well, that's how I was 115 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,760 raised. Not that's probably an accurate 116 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,960 answer for most of or for many of us at too many times there, 117 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,280 that's probably not a very good answer. 118 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,280 It is not a good answer. That's how it was raised. 119 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,200 He's raised up your mom saying don't put your eyes, don't cross 120 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,640 your eyes. Your face will stick like that. 121 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:11,360 Well, it doesn't necessarily work. 122 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,120 Not necessarily the truth, not necessarily accurate. 123 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,680 Put a hat on. It's cold outside. 124 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:21,160 You'll catch a cold. Well, no, mom colds not hurt 125 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,280 caused by come through your head of not wearing a hat, things 126 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,240 like that. So how you're raised is not 127 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,440 necessarily how it is. If that were true, then what 128 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,360 about the Baptist or what about the OR what about the Catholic 129 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:36,320 that we they were raised that way. 130 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,520 So therefore their validity is just as valid as your validity 131 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,680 if that's all you have, if that's what you have about why 132 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,840 you believe the Bible. Well, the second common answer 133 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,080 that people gives is, oh, I've tried it and it works for me. 134 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,200 Well, that's wonderful. You tried it and it works for 135 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,480 you. There was a man who there was a 136 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,600 man who went to Alcoholics Anonymous because he had a 137 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,160 drinking problem. He was there and they told him 138 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,080 he needed a higher power. Well, he didn't, wasn't a 139 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,120 believer in God. So what he did, he looked 140 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,000 outside his house, saw a squirrel out there and he said 141 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:08,480 that's going to be my higher power. 142 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:10,920 And he watched that squirrel daily. 143 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,400 Watch that squirrel daily. And 12 years passed and he 144 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:18,040 hadn't had a drink. So that man's squirrel has as 145 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,880 much authority as your Bible, if that's the reason, he said. 146 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:26,240 I tried it and it worked for me. Need something a little better? 147 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,160 Need something a little better than that? 148 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:30,440 Need something a little better than that. 149 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:35,200 I would suggest that a valid answer that we could each give 150 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:39,880 is this why I believe the Bible? I choose to believe the Bible 151 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:41,919 because it's a reliable collection of historical 152 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,200 documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime 153 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,040 of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events 154 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,960 that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim 155 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,760 their writings are divine rather than human and origin. 156 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,160 Got that? Somebody says you. 157 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,160 Want to write that down? No, I'm not going to write it 158 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:05,320 down. But what I'll do, I'll teach it 159 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,280 to you and together we can learn this. 160 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:15,200 And together this is something that you can give to people as a 161 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,880 reason of the hope that is in you notice here. 162 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,880 And I'll show you how I show you where it comes from because it 163 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,640 does come from somewhere in the Bible. 164 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,480 Second Peter chapter 1. If you have your Bibles, and I 165 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:33,040 hope you do, please open them up to second Peter to the 1st 166 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,000 chapter. Now, you may not have a Bible, 167 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,160 you may have a, you may have one of these electronic devices and 168 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,040 you may scroll to it. That's fine too. 169 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:43,000 That's fine. That's just as valid as as open 170 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,160 in the paper. Sometimes I like paper, but I 171 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,280 use the electronic stuff too as well. 172 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:54,240 But anyway, open up your Bibles and to second Peter chapter 1. 173 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,360 It's kind of interesting in first Peter 3 verse 15, which we 174 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,920 just said, Peter said be ready to give an answer. 175 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,960 And I almost wonder if they might have written back to him 176 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:10,000 or someone communicated back to him and said, Peter, how do we 177 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,960 give an answer? How do we give an answer about 178 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,280 that? Because Peter tells them in 179 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:21,040 chapter 1 verses 16, verses 16 through the end of the chapter 180 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,080 there. Here's what Peter says here in 181 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,160 First Peter and Second Peter, chapter 1. 182 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:31,640 Now objection, You're going to use the Bible. 183 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:34,200 You can't use the Bible to prove the Bible. 184 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,080 That's circular reasoning, right? 185 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,160 Well, my goal here is not to prove the Bible. 186 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:46,200 My goal here, my goal here is to answer the question why I choose 187 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:49,120 to believe the Bible, and it has it here. 188 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,240 Charles Spurgeon once said this, and I agree with Charles 189 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,760 Spurgeon, I would no more defend the Bible than I would defend 190 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,160 the lion. You don't defend the lion. 191 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:58,120 You just let him loose and he'll defend himself. 192 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,760 And that's how it is. The person who says I'm not 193 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,080 going to use the Bible to defend the Bible, to tell somebody why 194 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,680 the Bible, to tell you someone why they believe the Bible. 195 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,440 It's kind of like the two nights in the days of yore. 196 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,440 Let's picture this. You know, they come riding up on 197 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:20,360 their chargers there. They get off, they dismount and 198 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,640 they're on their clanky, their, their, their clanky armor there. 199 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,800 And the first one reaches down and pulls the sword out of the 200 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,520 scabbard. And the second one goes, wait, 201 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:33,560 thou canst not use thy sword. I does not believe in thy sword. 202 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,240 Well, what's the first knight to do? 203 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:47,640 Well, he can put his sword up and then do whatever there, or 204 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,920 he can start cutting and things will happen when that happens. 205 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:55,640 That's what we do with the Bible. 206 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,240 The Bible, there's no higher authority than the Bible. 207 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:03,320 And so here we as believers in the Bible, we use the Bible 208 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,240 actually to explain why we believe the Bible. 209 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,400 Second Peter, chapter 1. All right. 210 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,440 Second Peter chapter 1, verses 16 through 21. 211 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:14,400 I'm reading from the English standard translation here. 212 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:18,080 It says for we Peter says, this Peter says, for we did not 213 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,400 follow cleverly, cleverly devised myths when we made known 214 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,960 to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 215 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,720 eyewitnesses of this majesty of His Majesty. 216 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,960 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and 217 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,040 the voice was born to him of the by the majestic glory. 218 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,520 This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. 219 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,840 We ourselves heard this voice born from heaven, for we were 220 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,120 with Him in the holy mountain, and we have the prophetic word 221 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,040 more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay 222 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,680 attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day 223 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,400 dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 224 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,800 Knowing this. First of all, that no prophecy 225 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,920 of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, 226 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,800 for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but 227 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,560 men spoke from God as ever carried along by the Holy 228 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:10,440 Spirit. That verse set of verses right 229 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,080 there is the basis for the response. 230 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:18,200 I believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of 231 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:22,040 historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime 232 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:25,360 of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events 233 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,680 that take place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim 234 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:31,520 that their writings are divine rather than human in origin. 235 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:38,000 Now we'll unpack this here for you this morning, step by step. 236 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,920 First of all, it is a reliable collection of historical 237 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,760 documents, a reliable collection of historical documents. 238 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,200 If you take a note, you can write that down because you're 239 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,200 going to learn this whole phrase here today. 240 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,120 We're going to learn this whole this morning here. 241 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:56,960 A reliable collection of historical documents. 242 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:58,760 That's important. It's important that it's a 243 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,720 reliable, It's important that it's a collection. 244 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,640 It's an important that it's historical. 245 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,280 That's what Peter says here in verse 16. 246 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:10,320 He says, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when 247 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,280 we've made known to you the power and coming of our Lord 248 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,800 Jesus Christ. The Bible is unlike any other 249 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,160 holy book. It is a collection. 250 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:23,800 It is a collection, not just one individual wrote this who said 251 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,040 he heard it from God and everyone then has to listen to 252 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,240 him. It is a collection of writers. 253 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,280 The Bible was written on three different continents, Asia, 254 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,000 Africa and Europe, in three different languages, Hebrew, 255 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:39,640 Greek and a little bit Aramaic. And and it was written by more 256 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:43,480 than 40 different writers, 40 different authors from all walks 257 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:45,480 of life. There were kings, there were 258 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,320 national leaders, there were generals or prophets. 259 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,960 There were fishermen, there were shepherds and many of them were 260 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,440 in prison and many of them were in different kinds of 261 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:56,240 circumstances. There, there were doctors, there 262 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:01,880 were historians, historians, tax collectors as well. 66 volumes 263 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:06,280 in all, and these 66 volume covered hundreds of issues and 264 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:10,240 subjects and they were written over a period of 1500 years. 265 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:15,520 Some 1500 years. Recap is this. 3 continents, 3 266 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:20,240 languages, more than 40 authors, hundreds of subjects and topics 267 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,440 over 1500 years. It's not just one individual 268 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:29,040 making a claim, but it is a reliable collection of 269 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,200 historical documents. Turn there from your Bible. 270 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,400 We're going to come back to second Peter, but turn to the 271 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,400 left and your Scriptures there to the book of Luke. 272 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,640 And look at the 1st chapter of the book of Luke, the first few 273 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,640 verses there. And Luke says this in as much as 274 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,160 many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that 275 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,400 have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the 276 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,240 beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, I have 277 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,960 delivered them to us. It seemed good to me also, 278 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,200 having followed all these things closely for some time past, to 279 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:09,000 write an orderly account to you, most excellent, Theophilus, that 280 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,640 you may have blind faith in what I have to say. 281 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:16,360 No, that's not what he said. He said that you may have 282 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,480 certainty concerning the things you have been taught. 283 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,840 Interesting. Luke himself was not an 284 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,280 eyewitness. He didn't claim to be an 285 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,520 eyewitness. He's a historian who claims to 286 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,960 have traced the information from eyewitnesses. 287 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:34,400 And that's what he says here in these verses. 288 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,400 Notice what Peter says. What Peter says is we did not 289 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,520 follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the 290 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,680 power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 291 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,120 In other words, these weren't myths. 292 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,280 They weren't made-up. It was not a collection of 293 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,520 myths. These were facts is what Peter 294 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:52,960 says. But secondly. 295 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,200 But secondly, it was written by eyewitnesses. 296 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,320 Peter's next phrase is that, but we were eyewitnesses of His 297 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,440 Majesty. And so the second part here is a 298 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,040 reliable collection of historical documents written by 299 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:09,240 eyewitnesses. Notice what John says. 300 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,280 And we turn to the the writer in our Bible, to the book of first 301 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,280 John, first John, chapter 1. Here's what he says here in 302 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,040 these first few verses. He says that which was from the 303 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:21,839 beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our 304 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,920 eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, 305 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,240 concerning the word of life. So what do you think John is 306 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,240 trying to say? Is he trying to make a point 307 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:31,960 here? Well, maybe verse 2 helps us 308 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,080 understand this point. The life was made manifest, and 309 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,680 we have seen it and testify to it, and proclaim to you the 310 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,800 eternal life which was with the Father and has made manifest 311 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:44,000 unto us. How about verse 3? 312 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:47,040 This ought to maybe give us some idea of what he's aiming at. 313 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,440 That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you so 314 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,480 that you may have fellowship with us. 315 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:58,520 They say we have 5 senses, seeing, hearing, touching, 316 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,840 tasting and smelling. Peter hits three of them here, 317 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,080 right? He says we touched him, we saw 318 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,360 him, we heard him. And also if you want to go to 319 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:13,200 Acts, the 10th chapter, Acts 10, verses 34 and 243, verse 41 says 320 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,240 we ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. 321 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,400 And so there they tasted, they ate with him, didn't taste him, 322 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,440 but they tasted the same food that he tasted. 323 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,640 They smelled the same food that he did there. 324 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,360 They used all of their senses. He says we know this, we saw it, 325 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:34,720 we witnessed this. So they were eyewitnesses, but 326 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,280 it was written during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. 327 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,560 And that's very, very important. Let's all look at it together. 328 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,000 A reliable collection of historical documents written by 329 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,320 eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. 330 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,880 And so now we go to 1st Corinthians, the 15th chapter, 331 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,920 turn over to the left in your Bibles there to what Paul said 332 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,400 in First Corinthians chapter 15. Here's how he expresses it. 333 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:58,720 He says this is incredibly important. 334 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,520 Many don't like this here. They don't believe it. 335 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:03,840 They want to date the Bible at a late time. 336 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,200 But Pete, but Paul here says the Bible happened during the 337 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,080 lifetime of eyewitnesses. These things are written during 338 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,480 the lifetime of eyewitnesses. So what I said First Corinthians 339 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:15,760 15 verses one through 8. Now we remind you, brethren, of 340 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,640 the gospel I preached to you, which you received and which you 341 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,600 stand, and by which you're being saved, if you hold fast what I 342 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,800 preach to you, unless you believed in vain, for I 343 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,960 delivered unto you first of all, first importance, what I also 344 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,040 received, that Christ died for sins according to the 345 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,480 Scriptures. That he was buried, that he 346 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,200 rose, was raised the third day in accordance with the 347 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,400 Scriptures. That he appeared to Cephas, then 348 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,360 to the 12. So these are witnesses of Jesus 349 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,160 after His resurrection. This is proof of Jesus 350 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,720 resurrection. He appeared to Peter and then to 351 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,480 the 12. He appeared to Peter to the 12 352 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,800 and got lost here. And then he appeared to me into 353 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,400 more than 500 brothers at one time, the most of which are 354 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,280 still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 355 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,080 Then he appeared to James and to all the apostles. 356 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,600 And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared 357 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,440 untimely born born. He appeared to me. 358 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,920 Now, if you do the math. If you do the math from what 359 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:20,320 Paul has just laid out here, you come up with at the very, very 360 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,520 least there were 251 because he said among there were 500 361 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:26,520 brethren, most of which are still alive. 362 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,120 So if you do the math and bring that to it's very, very minimum, 363 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:34,280 there were 251 eyewitnesses to the resurrection who were still 364 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:35,640 alive. From First Corinthians was 365 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:41,080 written. That was about 8050545455. 366 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,440 That's 21 or 22 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 367 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:46,880 It says there were still people here. 368 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,520 And that's very, very important that he puts this here because 369 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,200 that means that the claim that Paul was making here in his 370 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,880 writing of Jesus being resurrected from the dead. 371 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,680 Is. Falsifiable. 372 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:01,840 Falsifiable. That's not a word which we use a 373 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:07,880 lot, but what that means is that you can go and you can hear and 374 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:11,040 you can you can, you can find the testimony that someone gives 375 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,560 and you can bring other people in to testify about that as 376 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,280 well. And they can falsify that 377 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:18,600 person's testimony. If what they're saying is wrong, 378 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:25,960 they'll expose it. Now, if someone makes a claim 379 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:30,080 that cannot be falsified, oh, I was in my backyard and there was 380 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:34,280 a space saucer came down and I aliens came and talked to me and 381 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,560 told me some things there. Well, who else? 382 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,560 That's interesting. Who else saw that? 383 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,520 Nobody. Nobody did. 384 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,440 It's a claim that cannot be falsified. 385 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:50,080 It can't be proven, as we would say there, and so that's not a 386 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,360 very strong claim there. But Paul's claim about the 387 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:55,680 resurrection was falsifiable. You can go and ask these people 388 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,720 if it's wrong, they can tell you. 389 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,360 That's what Paul is inviting here by saying they're still 390 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:01,760 alive. They're still alive. 391 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:02,320 You can do that. That's. 392 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:03,720 Strong. That's a very strong. 393 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,680 And so there's the claim that people says that no, the Bible's 394 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,240 translated in too many times. It's like a game of telephone. 395 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,160 It's like a game of telephone that the ultimate answer comes 396 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,400 comes out different from the original. 397 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:18,160 There. You know what the game of 398 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,360 telephone is. You start here, I tell you 399 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:22,360 something, you tell her. Tell. 400 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,680 Chris, you going down the line there, you tell, you tell it all 401 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,200 the way through and you come down here and then finally gets 402 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,440 to Terry at the end. And then Terry says this is what 403 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,760 I heard, and you say this is what you heard, and you know 404 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:36,280 what they are. Miles. 405 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,360 Apart that's how that goes gossip, that's the term. 406 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,240 That's that's the name of it. Sometimes there telephone is a 407 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,240 better, you know, maybe a higher fluten term there on that. 408 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:48,880 Of course, telephones are different now. 409 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,440 So anyway, anyway, that's how that is. 410 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,000 But that's not how the Bible was translated. 411 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,600 It wasn't written from one translation to the next to the 412 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,880 next to the next to the next. Translations are made like this. 413 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,560 The English standard version was, was was made in the early 414 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,640 2000s. And they did not go just go back 415 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:11,680 to the prior translation and translate from that. 416 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,960 They went back to the Greek, the Hebrew, the Aramaic manuscripts 417 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,480 themselves, which means the game actually goes like this. 418 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,880 I speak to you and tell you. I speak to you and I tell you. 419 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,200 I speak to you and I tell you I speak to you and I tell you all 420 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,600 down the line. And then I finally, after we go 421 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:32,000 through everybody talk to Terry. And then you compare what you 422 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,360 said with what you said. You know what or what you. 423 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:36,400 Heard. It's the same thing. 424 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,040 That's how translations work. And so people who want to 425 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,480 squeeze it and make it not valid because it's been translated and 426 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,920 it's been translated many times, that's not a valid argument 427 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:52,400 there. It would be, you know, if, if, 428 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,280 if you had bothered to go learn to read Greek and Hebrew and 429 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,480 Aramaic, he could do this. Be the go to the source 430 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,000 yourself. These translations, though, they 431 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,520 can be tested, but there's another claim then that people 432 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,120 come up with, and that is the documents that they're 433 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:09,240 translated from are late documents. 434 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,680 They're written way and been revised so many times. 435 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,440 These manuscripts are revised so many times that we don't know 436 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,280 what was in the earlier documents. 437 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,400 Well, I'm claiming that the Bible was written early, that 438 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,000 the New Testament was written early. 439 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,600 The New Testament is complete, was completed around the end of 440 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:31,560 the 1st century and we have very early manuscripts close to that 441 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,040 time. It's true we don't have the 442 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:37,400 original, the original paper that the apostles wrote on there 443 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,480 because of the material of those originals were written on. 444 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,640 They, they, they just have not been able to last and would not 445 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,840 last. But we do have documents that 446 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,840 date back as early as one, 2100 to 120 AD. 447 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:55,040 That's about just a few decades, a few decades after the 448 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:59,200 completion of those written accounts by the apostles there. 449 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:04,640 And not only that, but we have 6000 / 6000 manuscripts or 450 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,040 portions of manuscripts of the New Testament. 451 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,360 And when you complain that, compare that to other writings, 452 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,480 writings of ancient, of ancient form. 453 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:18,040 If you look at Aristotle's Poetics, there are less than a 454 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,280 dozen manuscripts, and the earliest is over 1000 years 455 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:26,080 after the original writing. Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars, 456 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,680 less than a dozen copies. And it's over 900 years between 457 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,120 the last writing and the first manuscript that we could put our 458 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:36,480 hands on. Homer's Iliad, we have a few 100 459 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,640 manuscripts, but the earliest one we can put our hands on is 460 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,400 written some 2100 years after the original. 461 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:48,760 Here this is 6000 manuscripts, and the earliest ones were 462 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:53,920 written just decades after our our the earliest our earliest 463 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,840 ones. Earliest manuscripts were made 464 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,520 just decades after the original was written. 465 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:02,960 So it's also a claim that there were overzealous monks during 466 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,760 the time of Constantine, Roman emperor, about three O 6 to 467 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,120 3:37, that he had some overzealous monks to come in and 468 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,640 change the manuscripts, change the things in the scripture 469 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,680 there to fit the picture that we have today. 470 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,160 Now that fails that claim. That has a problem on three 471 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:23,920 different levels. Number one, you have a 472 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,840 manuscript problem. There's 6000 Greek manuscripts 473 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,200 or portions of manuscripts. So we have these monks during 474 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,720 the time of Constantine. You're going back and they're 475 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:34,200 going to change the New Testament. 476 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,960 They would have to find 6000 Greek manuscripts and portions 477 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,240 of manuscripts. Change them all in exactly the 478 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:40,960 same way. Don't show your ink work. 479 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,280 Don't get caught. Don't ever tell anybody what you 480 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:44,800 did and put them back where you got him. 481 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:49,040 Second level, Second level problem there is Jesus said to 482 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,640 go and make disciples of every nation. 483 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:56,880 And the problem is that when people of every nation, every 484 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,520 ethnic group if you will, they speak different languages. 485 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,040 And so within the first couple of centuries, the New Testament 486 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,240 was translated into Syriac, Coptic and Latin. 487 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,640 And so now these overzealous monks, they have what they have 488 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:10,160 to do during the time of Constantine. 489 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:14,360 They have to go find the 6000 manuscripts, make them all, make 490 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:16,960 all the changes, make all the changes. 491 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,120 Don't show your ink work. Put them back where you got them 492 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:20,360 there. Don't tell anybody. 493 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,040 And then also they've got to learn how to lie in Syria. 494 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,320 Coptic and Latin as well. Change all of those, put them 495 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,160 back where they got them there. Because if you. 496 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:29,480 Don't. There's going to be a problem 497 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,120 and because now the manuscripts will match the translations. 498 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:34,720 Of the to. These other language, so you got 499 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,880 to change those. And then again, don't show your 500 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:37,880 ink work. Don't get caught. 501 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:39,800 Don't tell anybody. There's a third level. 502 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,240 And the third level is this, that the writings of the early 503 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,520 church fathers, as they're called, the early church fathers 504 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,720 had a horrible habit of quoting and writing commentaries in the 505 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,480 New Testament, so much that all if all we had. 506 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,560 Were the writings of the early Greek Fathers. 507 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:59,520 I haven't verified this this. Is what I understand that we 508 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,760 would be able to produce the New Testament, all of it except 509 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:07,200 about 11 verses. Bruce Metzger has a little more 510 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:11,880 conservative estimate. He says 95% of the New Testament 511 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,240 can be, could could be duplicated from the early church 512 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,920 father's writings there. And so now what you have is the 513 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,880 Greek manuscripts that have to be changed, the translations 514 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,000 that have to be changed. And then you have to go find all 515 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,080 the early church fathers that had those things, change them 516 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,280 all. Make sure their commentaries now 517 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:34,040 match the lies that you told in Syria, Coptic, Latin and Greek 518 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,880 and do that. It's a fantasy. 519 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:40,880 It's a fantasy that that could happen. 520 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,280 So we have a reliable collection of historical documents written 521 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,360 by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. 522 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,160 Right now all we have is a good history book. 523 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,400 Now it gets good. Now it gets good. 524 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:58,800 Verse 17 says Second Peter chapter 1. 525 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,040 For when he received honour and glory from God the Father, and 526 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,320 the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, This is my 527 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,480 beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. 528 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,400 We ourselves heard this voice born from heaven, for we were 529 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:17,960 with Him on the holy mountain. Now we have a reliable 530 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,240 collection of historical documents written by 531 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,760 eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses, and they 532 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,120 report to us supernatural events. 533 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:36,160 No, it's not superhuman events, that's Sports Center highlights, 534 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:41,000 but these are supernatural events, things like the Mount of 535 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:46,520 Transfiguration where Moses, Elijah appear and talk with 536 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,840 Jesus. Jesus is transformed, voice 537 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,400 comes from heaven. This is my beloved son whom I 538 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,640 well pleased hear him. These are supernatural events 539 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,880 that we see in the gospel that that that are claimed in the 540 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,440 gospel accounts. They claim Jesus raised people 541 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,000 from the dead, that Jesus healed lepers, people with leprosy, 542 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:06,960 that he healed people who were born blind. 543 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:11,840 He healed people that were deaf. He walked on water and Peter 544 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,200 could say I walked on water with him there for a little bit 545 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,960 there. And then there's the favorite, 546 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:23,120 the favorite. Friday dead, Sunday risen. 547 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,120 That's the greatest miracle of all there. 548 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,480 Supernatural events in the Old Testament creation, the world, 549 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,720 the part of the creation of the world, the part of the Red Sea, 550 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,400 the drowning of favours, army giving, man in the wilderness, 551 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,240 other supernatural events. These are types of things that 552 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,240 we see in the Bible there. But these are not just 553 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:44,720 supernatural events, but they are supernatural events that 554 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,560 took place in fulfilment of specific prophecies. 555 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,720 And so we have a reliable collection of historic documents 556 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,640 written by a witnesses during the lifetime of other 557 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,960 eyewitnesses, and they report supernatural events that took 558 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,640 place in fulfillment of specific prophecies. 559 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,360 Now these are not general Nostadromics. 560 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,480 Nostradamus, whatever it is how you pronounce that his name. 561 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:14,200 Nostradamus type prophecies and they're not modern day faith 562 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,400 healer prophecies. I went to see a faith healer one 563 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,000 time and he said someone over here. 564 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:19,440 Has a back. Problem. 565 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:23,080 There's five people raised their hands there and he healed them 566 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:26,640 there in the audience. Supposedly someone over here has 567 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,320 a heart problem. Somebody raises their hand 568 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,600 there. Somebody over here has lost a 569 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,520 job and you know, all this kind of thing there. 570 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,160 And finally he got down to something. 571 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:39,160 He said there's someone over here that has that has a problem 572 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,440 with their leg and nobody raised their hand. 573 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,960 Well, if you don't want to be healed, that's your business. 574 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,040 You know, if you know the human condition, you can say all kinds 575 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:51,880 of things and make all kinds of prophecies like that. 576 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,840 This is not what we find in the Scripture there. 577 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,760 I'm going to look at 1:00. I'm going to look at 1:00. 578 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:05,520 But Jesus in Scripture fulfilled at least 300 predictive 579 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:09,920 prophecies in his ministry, more than 300. 580 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:12,400 There. One we want to look at in 581 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,680 particular here. Turn back to the left, to the 582 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,520 Old Testament, to the Book of Psalms, to the first part of the 583 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:23,440 Book of Psalms, Psalm 22, and there you have. 584 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:28,800 If I wanted to turn to Psalm 22. In the 1st century, here's how I 585 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:30,640 would do it. Let's say we were Jewish people 586 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,680 and we were talking an Aramaic and I was going to say turn to 587 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:40,080 Psalm 22. Well, we didn't know what Psalm 588 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:45,720 22 was because the chapters and verses are a recent vintage in 589 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,880 scripture there. So how would identify Psalm 22 590 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,480 was, I would say the first line of the Psalm. 591 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:58,480 I would say scroll, open your scroll, turning your skull to. 592 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:03,000 Ili ili. Lama Sabachthani, does that 593 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,760 sound familiar? You're familiar with the Gospel. 594 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,280 That's what that's what Matthew 27 verse 46, Mark 15 verse 34 595 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,760 says that Jesus said on the cross, he said. 596 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,920 Ely. Ely Llama Sabachthani, which is 597 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:22,720 the first line of Psalm 22. So Jesus quotes Jesus expresses 598 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,800 his the the the the burden of his heart. 599 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,840 But in doing that, he quotes the title of a song that he right 600 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,840 before he's crucified. Now songs are interesting 601 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,720 because they speak to other parts of other things there. 602 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:43,720 What if I said some glad morning when this life is over, what 603 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:49,320 would you say? I'll fly away, right, Terry? 604 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:51,320 What if I said? What can rush away my? 605 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:55,360 Sin. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 606 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,240 That's what he said. I saw his lips move there. 607 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:07,440 So here's what's happening here. When Jesus does this, if someone 608 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,679 is about to be executed, if I were about to be executed and I 609 00:34:11,679 --> 00:34:14,719 said the first line of a song and you watched me then die, 610 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:19,760 suffer and die after that, you'd probably think about that The 611 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,040 rest of the time, that song, the rest of the time while I was 612 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:27,800 dying. These Jews at the crucifixion, 613 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,400 they knew their Old Testament, they knew the songs. 614 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:34,040 They knew the songs, perhaps they would remember that for the 615 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,840 rest of their life. Here's what Psalm 22 says. 616 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:41,040 Ili ili lamasabakthani Verse one says, My God, my God, why have 617 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,080 you forsaken me? The very words of Jesus on the 618 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:45,520 cross. Why are you so far from saving 619 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,080 me, from the words of my groaning? 620 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:51,320 Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer by by night. 621 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,360 But I find no rest. Look at verse 6. 622 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,960 I am a worm and not a man scorned by mankind and despised 623 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,480 by the people. All who see me mock me. 624 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,360 They make mouths at me, they wag their heads. 625 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,800 He trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him, Let him 626 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,440 rescue him if he delights in him. 627 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,440 These are the very things that happened that the people that 628 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,200 Jesus that witnessed the resurrection of Jesus did and 629 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:16,880 said there in the Gospel accounts. 630 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,120 Now that's why that's how he's being mocked while he's being 631 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:22,800 crucified. Go down to verse 12 and you read 632 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,160 and you read here. It says many bulls encompass me. 633 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,360 Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. 634 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,440 They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring 635 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:32,960 lion. I'm poured out like water. 636 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:34,920 All my bones are out of joint. Why? 637 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:40,000 Because he's hung on a tree. That's why all of his bones are 638 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,200 out of joint. My heart is like wax. 639 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:46,480 It is melted in my breast. Interesting that after Jesus 640 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,280 dies, they Pierce him in the side, thrusting upward, 641 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,640 thrusting inward and upward. They Pierce the pericardium in 642 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:53,840 blood and water. Rush out. 643 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,720 His heart looks like wax. What it says my verse 15. 644 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:00,720 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. 645 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:04,640 My tongue sticks to my jaws. All of that would make you say I 646 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,360 thirst words of Jesus upon the cross. 647 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:09,760 There you lay me in the dust of death. 648 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,080 For dogs encompass me. Dogs encompass me to the Jews. 649 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:14,960 That was a reference to the Gentiles. 650 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:18,000 And guess what? Roman soldiers were Gentiles who 651 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:22,320 crucified Jesus, He says further there in the Psalm, a company of 652 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:26,440 evil doers encircles me. Yes, he was crucified between 653 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,320 two of them. They have pierced my hands and 654 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,440 my feet. By the way, not everybody that 655 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:34,560 was crucified was pierced in the hands and feet. 656 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,720 Some were just tied to the cross and it took them days to hang 657 00:36:37,720 --> 00:36:40,800 there and die. He says in verse 17, I can count 658 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,280 all my bones. They break your bones in order 659 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,400 to haste your death on the cross there. 660 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:49,360 But Jesus was crucified right before a high holy day. 661 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:53,000 He, he needed to die quickly. So his body wasn't hanged on the 662 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,680 cross during the Passover, but that is so. 663 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:57,720 But they didn't have to break his bones. 664 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:01,640 He could count all of his bones because he said into my hands, I 665 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,480 commit my, I commit my spirit. And so none of his bones were 666 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,200 broken when he was crucified. He goes further. 667 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,440 We read further in verse 17. They stare and glowed over me. 668 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:14,800 They divide my garments among them for my clothing. 669 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,600 They cast lots actions which were done by the Roman soldiers 670 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:22,360 there when Jesus was crucified. All of that was written. 671 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:27,200 Psalm 22 is written over 1000 years before Jesus was ever born 672 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,760 into this world. And it was fulfilled 673 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,840 specifically there as Jesus hung up on the cross. 674 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,920 He didn't make it happen. The fulfillment that happened, 675 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:44,160 it was foretold by the wisdom of the of God through the through 676 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:47,240 the, through the psalmist there. And you know, it was written 677 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:51,240 also by a man who never once in his lifetime saw crucifixion. 678 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:54,800 How do we know? Because crucifixion had not yet 679 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:56,800 been invented. It was invented by the Romans. 680 00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,960 That's how we know. And so we have a reliable 681 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:02,600 collection of historical documents written by white 682 00:38:02,720 --> 00:38:04,880 eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. 683 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,880 They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment 684 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:12,560 of specific prophecies. And then Peter says in verse 19, 685 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:17,640 and we have a the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which 686 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:21,200 you do well to pay attention to as a lamp shining the dark place 687 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:23,920 until the day dawns and the morning star rise in your 688 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,520 hearts. He's saying, listen to these 689 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,600 fulfilled prophecies because they're important. 690 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:32,440 They validate the truths that they proclaim. 691 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:36,480 Maybe you're here, Maybe you're here and you say, well, I hear 692 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:40,080 all of that, but I still don't believe Peter would say, pay 693 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,280 attention to it, though. Pay attention to fulfilled 694 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:47,040 prophecy like a man out in the night who sees in the dark, who 695 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:49,120 sees a lamp shining off of the distance. 696 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:50,680 You ever do that? See the lamp out of it? 697 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:53,080 You look at it, it's dark everywhere. 698 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:55,680 You see that light. There he goes, that light 699 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,560 moving. Is that light coming towards me 700 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,880 or what? You sit there and watch it. 701 00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:05,000 You sit there and watch it because it's going to stand for 702 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:06,160 something, that's going to do something. 703 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:07,840 And then eventually, you know what happens? 704 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:11,240 The sun comes up, the sun comes up and you can see everything 705 00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:13,360 that happens around where that light is, right? 706 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,440 You can do that. That's what Peter is saying, and 707 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,720 that's what you are called to do, asked to do. 708 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:22,080 If you say, if you say, I'm not sure that I believe this. 709 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:25,720 We'll just keep watching that. Just keep watching that light. 710 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:29,760 Just keep watching that light and as the day dawns, it'll 711 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,280 become clearer and it can become clearer. 712 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:36,120 There's a man in a congregate in our congregation in Auburn, CA. 713 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,640 He came to church, didn't believe in the Lord, didn't 714 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,240 believe, didn't believe in God, and sat there on the bench with 715 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:46,440 his family for about 7 years to finally he came to faith in 716 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:50,240 Christ. He watched that light dimly 717 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,160 until it dawned in his heart. And that's what Peter's talking 718 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,240 about. We're talking about he is a 719 00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:57,720 faithful member of that congregation. 720 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,680 Today he said, if nothing else, you sit there long, say, well, 721 00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:04,360 I'm not convinced, that's fine. Just watch like you're watching 722 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:06,320 a light in the distance. If the day dawns, the morning 723 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,840 star arise in your hearts because that's what you need. 724 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:12,440 The need the day to dawn, you need the morning star, the faith 725 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,320 in Jesus and self to rise in your hearts. 726 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,360 That's what you need. Because the Bible says faith 727 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:19,880 comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 728 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:21,800 Don't take your eyes off of this. 729 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:24,960 But read more about it Next. The verse says in verse 20, 730 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,400 knowing this, that first of all, no prophecy of Scripture comes 731 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,360 by comes from someone's own interpretation. 732 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,240 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man that 733 00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:37,520 men spake from God as they were carried along by the Holy 734 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:40,280 Spirit. Finally, they claim that their 735 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:43,400 writings were divine rather than human in origin. 736 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:47,080 Now here's what we have. We have a reliable collection of 737 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,840 historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime 738 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,320 of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events 739 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,800 that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim 740 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:59,400 that their writings are divine rather than human in origin. 741 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:06,200 They claim that this is from God thousands of times the Bible 742 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:10,160 says and the Lord said and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, and 743 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:14,400 the Lord spoke to and the Lord said and thus saith the Lord all 744 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:19,360 over the Bible over 2600 times the Bible claims divine 745 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,760 authorship. This is God's words. 746 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:25,360 This is not man's words. They're claiming that these are 747 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,040 God's words. And by the way, when these 748 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:31,640 prophecies are filled fulfilled, it gives credibility that God is 749 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:35,280 speaking. Objection, objection there. 750 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:39,280 I just can't get there because men wrote the Bible. 751 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:42,440 Men wrote the Bible. So it's not reliable. 752 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:44,360 I can't do that. Well, men wrote that. 753 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,040 That's. I just can't believe it. 754 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,680 Then you can't believe anything written in any book because men 755 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,560 wrote it. How Can you believe your your 756 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:55,800 birth certificate? Some men wrote it, maybe some 757 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,000 woman wrote it, whatever, doesn't matter. 758 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,080 But some human wrote it there. Yeah. 759 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:02,680 Yeah. You don't believe that men wrote 760 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:07,600 the Bible because you believe that men may be fallible and you 761 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:11,160 know that you are valuable, but yet you are making your claim on 762 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:14,080 your words there. So it kind of double S back on 763 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:16,440 you there. How do you know that you own 764 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:19,160 your car? It's a document that comes that 765 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:21,040 was produced by men. How do you know that you own 766 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:22,920 your house? Men wrote that. 767 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:26,960 How do you know you know that that's that not a very good 768 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:32,560 objection there in that another objection is OK, that you know 769 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:35,880 this is a big one. Well, I am a man of science. 770 00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:40,040 Unless these types of things can be proven to me scientifically, 771 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:42,640 then I just have wait a minute there. 772 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,040 People say they believe that they are so super intelligent 773 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:50,560 that they actually demonstrating their ignorance by this. 774 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:53,120 You understand the scientific method don't you? 775 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:56,880 In the scientific method, something has to be observable, 776 00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:59,000 measurable and repeatable, right? 777 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:03,880 That is the scientific method. History is not observable, 778 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,280 measurable, or repeatable. You don't use the scientific 779 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:09,120 method to prove historical events. 780 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:13,960 You use the evidentiary method to prove historical events like 781 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,440 you would in a courtroom. You ask about reliability of 782 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:19,320 sources. You ask about corroboration of 783 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:21,640 sources. You ask about the internal and 784 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:23,800 the external evidence that supports those sources. 785 00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:25,880 These are the kinds of questions you ask. 786 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,520 Who are the witnesses? Are they reliable? 787 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:31,600 Are they trustworthy witnesses? Is this falsifiable? 788 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:34,360 Is what they say falsifiable? Are there other things that 789 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:37,640 might be contradicting this, or are there other things that are 790 00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:40,240 confirming this? These are the kind of questions 791 00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:44,800 that you ask for the evidentiary, evidentiary method 792 00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:48,280 for historical events. And when you ask these questions 793 00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:52,960 about the Bible, you come away with three continents, 3 794 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,880 languages, over 40 authors, most of whom had never met one 795 00:43:56,880 --> 00:44:01,440 another. 66 volumes, hundreds of different subjects and topics 796 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:04,840 that come together in a cohesive unit that tell one redemptive 797 00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:07,560 story written over more than 1500 years. 798 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,680 And we haven't even talked about the corroboration of of some 799 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:14,840 25,000 archaeological digs that related that relate directly to 800 00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:17,000 matters discussed of the the Bible that has confirmed 801 00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:22,440 confirmed it as written there. So therefore the intelligent man 802 00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,760 is not the one who says I simply can't believe it. 803 00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:30,280 That's the fool. But the intelligent man says I 804 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:34,000 choose to believe the Bible. That's one thing we haven't 805 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,680 talked about here because at first I said I choose to believe 806 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:42,200 the Bible because it is a reliable rest of it. 807 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:44,640 Choose to believe the Bible. That's the first part of the 808 00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:46,760 statement we haven't commented on, but let's comment on it 809 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:51,760 right now. Belief in the Bible is to a 810 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:56,640 great extent a matter of choice. It is based upon it is. 811 00:44:57,240 --> 00:45:00,040 It is a willful thing based upon faith. 812 00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:04,000 We don't pray to God, as the Mormons suggest, and get a warm 813 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:08,760 burning within the bosom you. We don't do that. 814 00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:12,080 That's not why that is. Feelings can be misleading. 815 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,560 Homer Gay once heard a sermon and got a feeling. 816 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:17,800 The preacher told him that meant that he was saved. 817 00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:20,680 He had they. Later he saw two dogs in a fight 818 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:22,960 and he got that same feeling when he saw those dogs in a 819 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:25,680 fight there. And then later he saw a woman, a 820 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:27,480 young woman. He got the same feeling He saw 821 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:29,560 that woman that later married her there. 822 00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:33,560 He realized feelings do not tell the story there. 823 00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:36,320 You can't rely on feelings. There may be emotion, there may 824 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:39,160 be overwhelming emotion when you read the Bible, when you 825 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:41,000 understand the truths that are in it there. 826 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:46,160 But belief needs deeper and stronger roots than just emotion 827 00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:49,040 there. And it is not God giving us 828 00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:51,560 belief directly like the Calvinists argue. 829 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:53,400 They say you can't believe if you wanted to. 830 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:56,840 You can only believe only if God tells you and God allows you to. 831 00:45:56,840 --> 00:45:59,680 There that belief is entirely the decision of God. 832 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:02,960 No, He appeals to us all through what he has made and what he's 833 00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:04,640 revealed. Romans 1017. 834 00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:07,160 Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. 835 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:11,000 Faith comes by hearing by the word of God, or by hearing by 836 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,120 hearing by the Word of God. We may be overwhelmingly. 837 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:17,440 Convinced by reading the Word, by hearing the word there, but 838 00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:19,520 ultimately we choose to believe it. 839 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:24,440 And so I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable 840 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:26,520 collection of historical documents written by 841 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:30,080 eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses that 842 00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:33,800 report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of 843 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:37,040 specific prophecies. And they claim that the writings 844 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:39,320 are divine rather than human in origin. 845 00:46:42,240 --> 00:46:45,480 And if you want to put some gravy on that biscuit, I tried 846 00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:49,600 it and it changed my life. That's my lesson this morning. 847 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:53,120 That's something that you can, you know, you don't have to 848 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:57,280 defend that because Peter doesn't say you have to defend 849 00:46:57,280 --> 00:47:00,400 it. He says, know what you believe, 850 00:47:00,480 --> 00:47:04,080 know why you believe it and be able ready to explain it. 851 00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:09,000 You know what that does that invites other people to also 852 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:10,440 believe it. That's what that does. 853 00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:16,680 And so folks, we need to be able to defend our faith. 854 00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:19,520 We need actually, we need to be able to explain our faith. 855 00:47:19,880 --> 00:47:22,080 That's it. And that's what we're calling 856 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:24,440 people to do. We never know the minds of those 857 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:25,880 who are here, who perhaps you're here. 858 00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:27,920 You need to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. 859 00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:32,000 Believe on Jesus, repent of your sins, confess that Jesus is the 860 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:34,560 Son of God. We'll be delighted to wash you, 861 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:37,520 to immerse you in water for the remission of your sins. 862 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:39,440 The Lord will wash you from your sins. 863 00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:42,720 That's what Jesus will do. That's the gospel, That's what 864 00:47:42,720 --> 00:47:45,040 it says, and then you live for him after that. 865 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:48,680 If you're here and you've obeyed the gospel and you strayed away 866 00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,040 from the Lord, you need to come back and make things right. 867 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,280 We'll give you that opportunity to today also as we stand and 868 00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:55,320 sing the imitation song.