Participants: David Asscherick
Series Code: EHE
Program Code: EHE000005
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00:18 Good evening everybody and welcome to another edition
00:20 of the Eleventh Hour Evidence coming to you live 00:24 from Battle Creek, Michigan. 00:25 I'm your host Pastor Jason Seiber 00:27 and I'm so glad you are joining us right now. 00:29 It's time to pull up a chair, find your pen and your paper 00:33 and sit down and get ready to think 00:35 and I think that if you will do that you will leave 00:37 believing this evenings end. I was just thinking about 00:41 how Pastor Asscherick has been sharing 00:43 and a verse came to my mind is found in 00:45 Luke chapter 12 verse 11 and 12, when they bring you 00:49 therefore before the synagogues and the rulers 00:51 and the authorities, do not worry about how 00:53 or what you are to speak in your defense 00:55 or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach 00:58 you in that very hour what you ought to say. 01:00 Eric, you know, I was just thinking about that. 01:03 Can you imagine what a mistake it would be 01:04 to bring Pastor Asscherick into a court room 01:08 and have him share in his own defense, 01:10 I mean seriously think about the poor core reporter, 01:13 you know the speed that kind of goes at and the 01:17 words he uses. You talk to him about time of trouble ha. 01:22 Anyway we are just so thankful to have Pastor 01:24 Asscherick with us tonight. And we are also thankful 01:27 to have Eric Umali he would be leading us 01:29 in a very special musical selection, thank you Eric 01:32 for sharing God bless you. 01:43 In letters of crimson, God wrote His love 01:52 On the hillside so long, long ago; 02:01 For you and for me Jesus died, 02:11 And love's greatest story was told. 02:22 I love you, I love you That's what Calvary said; 02:40 I love you, I love you, I love you, written in red. 03:08 Down through the ages, God wrote His love 03:17 With the same hands that suffered and bled; 03:26 Giving all that he had to give, 03:35 A message so easily read. 03:46 I love you, I love you, That's what Calvary said; 04:03 I love you, I love you, I love you. written in red. 04:25 Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow; 04:42 No other fount I know, nothing but the blood, 04:55 the blood of Jesus. 05:01 I love you, I love you That's what Calvary said; 05:18 I love you, I love you, I love you, written in Red. 05:57 Thank you, Eric it's so exciting to know that 05:59 Jesus Christ loves us and that is written in red. 06:02 Tonight a simple question could you imagine 06:05 what it would mean if project phoenix, 06:07 which is right now swiping the skies looking 06:10 for science of intelligent life would find that sign. 06:14 Someone thought it almost happened in 1977, 06:17 a man name Gerry Amen was scanning the skies 06:20 with the very large ray at Ohio State University, 06:24 it's a, it was called the big air to the people 06:26 who had built it an 85 foot tower and he was listening 06:30 to the night heavens in the early morning hours suddenly 06:33 he heard a signal and that signal lasted for 72 seconds. 06:37 He went and recorded that signal on his machinery 06:42 and then wrote on the graph paper that it was recorded on. 06:45 Wow! And it has become known as the Wow! 06:47 Signal. No one is ever been able to resurrect it. 06:50 No one knows exactly, where it came from. 06:52 But, what it might be a real Wow if God 06:55 had been sending signals for 5000 years. 06:58 Could you imagine it and could you imagine the impact 07:01 that would have if it turned out that the book 07:03 I'm holding right here in my hand recorded 07:06 what God had to say through that signal. 07:09 Can you believe it, can you trust it. 07:11 Pastor Asscherick will tell you tonight. 07:14 Pastor Asscherick. Amen, good evening everyone, 07:16 good evening. How was your day today, good. 07:20 Good day, good. Amen, thank you for that wonderful 07:23 introduction Jason. Did you enjoy that song? 07:26 Amen. Let me tell you the first time I ever heard 07:29 Eric sing that song was when we were conducting 07:31 an evangelistic meaning in Grand Rapids. 07:33 That was probably what three years ago Eric? 07:35 About two years ago. And Eric sang frequently 07:39 for those meetings and I was very thankful to have him 07:41 singing because when he would sing and I would 07:44 make a call the voice that God has given him 07:47 just a navel people to respond more easily to the call. 07:50 And I remember the fist time he sang that song 07:52 and when he would hit that second note there 07:54 with I love you it just, it sent chills at my spine 07:57 and it still does that. I love that song, 08:00 I love Dr. Umali. And I'm so thankful he has sang 08:03 for us tonight, amen. Amen! Alright we have lot 08:06 of information to cover tonight that's no surprise 08:08 to you is it. Amen! Now you just totally amazed 08:11 by that, they were going to be moving rapidly, 08:13 I appreciate that introduction by the way Jason. 08:16 I wasn't here, but I heard every word of it. 08:18 We have a lot of information to cover this evening 08:20 a significant amount and so what I like to do is 08:23 begin right with prayer we are going to move as rapidly 08:26 as possible. I had a dear sister say to me 08:29 one time you know Pastor Asscherick you speak too fast. 08:31 And I was tempted to say, but I withheld, 08:34 I was tempted to say well sister is not that 08:37 I speak too fast is that you listen too slow. 08:42 I think it was probably the better part of wisdom 08:43 that I didn't say it to her. Amen. So, let's begin 08:47 with the word of prayer. Father in heaven we love 08:53 that song that we have just heard it's written in red 08:55 the message of Calvary I love you. 08:59 And father as we come together tonight to study 09:01 the word of God, the Bible and not just 09:04 a subject in the Bible, but father tonight to try 09:07 and understand the Bible itself. 09:09 Father tonight this is a Herculean task to undertaken 09:13 such a short time. But, we believe that 09:15 you will be with us. We believe that you 09:17 will come and teach us and father I believe in my heart 09:21 of hearts that they are people in this auditorium as well 09:24 and especially out in the viewing audience. 09:27 How are going to hear something tonight. 09:29 That is going to speak directly to their hearts 09:32 and say the Bible can be trusted, 09:34 the Bible is the word of God, the Bible is true. 09:40 Father in heaven we pray that tonight somebody 09:42 or some group of people or some significantly 09:45 large number of people would come away with 09:48 a new or a renewed conviction that the 09:51 Bible is true and that it is your word. 09:55 Please father be with us tonight is my humble prayer 09:58 in Jesus name everyone can say, amen, amen. 10:02 Alright our message tonight is entitled is the 10:05 Bible God's word assessing the evidence, 10:09 is the Bible God's word assessing the evidence. 10:13 What we are going to do tonight is try and understand 10:16 why it is that Christian people hold the Bible 10:19 in such high regard. Just by showing of hands 10:22 as we commence this evening, I'm wondering how many 10:24 of you that are in this room tonight believe that 10:26 the Bible is in fact the inspired inherent word of God. 10:30 How many of you believe that, 10:31 go ahead and raise your hands. 10:32 So, tonight I'm preaching to the quire. Amen! 10:34 But, friends there is more, there is more people 10:37 that are watching this presentation that 10:39 are just in this room. You understand that right, 10:41 amen. Amen! To the tune of thousands 10:43 and perhaps even millions as these programs 10:45 are aired all over the globe. 10:47 Now even for those who already believe that the Bible 10:50 is the inspired word of God my experience as a Pastor 10:53 as let me to believe that even for those who already, 10:55 even for those who already to those who already 10:58 that hold that conviction there is a smaller percentage 11:02 and perhaps even a minority that really could answer 11:05 some of the tough questions about the Bible. 11:07 Where it came from, why are the 66 books, 11:10 why not the 67 and 65. What really constitutes 11:13 the Old Testament and the New Testament. 11:15 What were the criteria by which they decided, 11:17 which books were in and which books were out. 11:19 Many of us in this room say oh, I believe the Bible 11:21 the inspired word of God. But, when its comes down 11:23 to answering some of the those tougher questions, 11:25 I have found that they are fewer people then you might 11:28 think that could really answer them effectively. 11:30 Now I'm tempted to ask you, how many of you could be 11:32 willing to answer, but I don't want to embarrass you 11:33 in front of all of your friends on live television. 11:36 What we were going to do tonight is try to understand 11:38 whether or not the Bible can be trusted. Each one of us 11:41 in this room has already affirmed, 11:42 we are putting our trust in the Bible. 11:44 What I want to know tonight is not 11:46 whether you are doing it, but whether or not it is an 11:49 intelligent decision, amen, Amen! Just because everybody 11:53 is doing it doesn't mean that we should be doing it. 11:55 For example, if a bunch of lemmings go running 11:57 and jumping off of a cliff what it my mother used 11:59 to say to me. You don't do it too. Amen, amen. 12:03 Now brothers and sisters, I wanna go and record 12:05 right now was letting you know that I do affirm 12:06 the authenticity, inerrancy, and inspiration 12:09 of the scriptures. I believe the Bible is the word of God, 12:11 what I want to try to do tonight is to show you 12:14 why I believe that. Do you understand 12:16 what we were going to do tonight yes or no. Amen. 12:18 Alright, what we are going to look at tonight is, 12:20 is three very simple points. Number one is the case 12:24 for the Bible. Number two is the claims 12:27 of the Bible and that's going to be subdivided 12:28 into two points. The claims of the Bible 12:30 makes about itself and the claims of the Bible makes 12:33 about what is out word right there, the future. 12:36 And the number three the consistency of the Bible. 12:38 So, the case for the Bible, the claims for the Bible 12:41 and the consistency of the Bible. 12:44 Now in order to commence our study tonight, 12:45 let's begin in the Gospel of Luke. 12:47 What Gospel are we going to? Luke chapter 24. 12:52 Our message yesterday was on the resurrection 12:54 and so I think it would be well for us to sort of tie 12:56 this altogether and go to Luke chapter 24 in which 12:59 we find one of the post resurrection appearances 13:01 of Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 24 and to set 13:04 to context here, two of the disciples are walking 13:07 on the road to Emmaus, as they are walking 13:10 on the road they are discouraged, 13:11 they are dejected, because the very one and whom 13:14 they had put their confidence and their hopes, 13:16 the very one who they were just sure was the 13:18 promised Messiah. The promised Messiah 13:21 has been crucified unjustly under Roman rule 13:24 and authority and so they are walking and they 13:26 are dejected. Verse 13 now the hold two of the men 13:29 were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, 13:31 which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 13:33 And they talk together of these things, 13:34 which had happened. So, it was while they conversed 13:36 and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near 13:39 and went with them. Who drew near every one. 13:41 Jesus, Jesus drew near. Notice verse 16, 13:44 but their eyes were restrained, 13:46 so that they did not know him. They are so forlorned, 13:49 so dejected, so discouraged 13:51 they don't even recognize the resurrected Jesus. 13:54 And notice what happens in verse 17, 13:56 Jesus approaches them and says what kind of conversation 13:59 is this that you have with one another as you walk 14:01 and are what's the last word there, 14:04 sad what were that every one. 14:06 Sad, Jesus says why are you talking this way. 14:10 Verse 18 then the one answered whose name 14:11 was Cleopas and said to Him, "Are You only a stranger 14:14 in Jerusalem and have You not known the things 14:16 which have happened here in these days? 14:18 Verse 19 and He said to them, "What things?" 14:23 So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus 14:25 of Nazareth, who was a Prophet 14:26 mighty indeed and word before God and all the people, 14:28 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered 14:30 Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. 14:32 But, we were hoping that it was 14:33 He who was going to redeem Israel. 14:35 Indeed, besides all this today is the what day every one? 14:38 Third day, the third day since these things happened. 14:40 As soon as they said the word third day something 14:43 should have clicked in their mind. Amen, amen. 14:45 But, there was so dejected that they couldn't even bring 14:48 themselves to think rationally about the 14:49 very things that Christ told him would happen 14:51 and let us just make a parenthetical statement here. 14:53 The same is often true for us. Sometimes 14:56 we get so discouraged, so dejected and so cast down 14:59 that we forget the word of God, amen. 15:03 And we say oh it was me and oh, 15:05 why is this be fall on me. Friends listen if you have 15:08 a heavenly father and you have committed your life 15:10 to him and you are trust him, he will take care of you 15:13 and he will never leave you alone, amen, Amen! 15:16 Now we can look in, we can look in these disciples 15:18 and we can sort of laugh at them and say 15:19 ha-ha they should have know it was the third day, 15:21 but friends let this be lesson to us when we fall 15:24 into discouragement, temptation and difficult 15:26 vicissitudes let us remember that it is the word 15:28 of God that speaks to our hearts, amen. Amen. 15:31 Notice now in verse 22 it says yes and certain women 15:34 of our company, who arrived at the tomb early 15:35 astonished us. When they did not find His body, 15:38 that's we spoke about yesterday they came saying 15:40 that they had seen also a vision of angels 15:42 who said He was, what everybody, 15:44 alive, alive. We talked about that last night. 15:46 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb 15:48 and found it just as the women had said; 15:50 but Him they did not see. Now notice verse 25 15:53 then He said to them, Jesus speaking to these forlorn 15:56 dejected disciples "O foolish ones, and slow 15:59 of heart to believe in all that the Prophets 16:02 have spoken! Ought not the Christ 16:05 to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? 16:07 Notice Jesus is referencing the Bible. 16:11 What's he referencing everyone? Bible, the Bible. 16:14 He says you should believe the Prophets. 16:15 Now to the people to whom he was speaking 16:18 that term the Prophets man the writings of what you 16:22 and I call the Old Testament. Notice verse 27 16:26 And beginning at Moses, who wrote the book 16:29 of Genesis everyone. Moses, Moses, so where do we begin? 16:33 It began in the beginning in Genesis. 16:34 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets. 16:36 How many of the Prophets? All, all the Prophets 16:39 He expounded to them in all the scriptures 16:42 the things concerning what everyone? Himself, 16:46 himself. What's its saying here? 16:47 In essence the Dr. Luke is saying that Jesus 16:50 gave them a Bible study. And notice how he gave 16:54 the Bible study. He began in Moses. 16:56 He began where everyone? Moses. And then work 16:58 systematically through the entire can and the entire 17:01 record of scripture showing that there was consistency 17:05 that there was coherency and that it all pointed 17:08 to Jesus Christ divinity. And notice the same thing takes 17:11 place in verse 44, Then He said to them, 17:14 "These are the words, which I spoke to you 17:16 while I was still with you that all things must 17:18 be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, 17:21 the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. And He opened 17:26 their understanding, that they might comprehend 17:28 what everyone scriptures. Now notice Jesus here gives 17:30 three divisions, the law of Moses that would be 17:33 the first five books, the Prophets that would be 17:35 all of the Prophets major and minor and then he says 17:37 the Psalms. That would be the wisdom book Psalms, 17:40 Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and Song of Solomon. 17:43 Jesus here sub divides the Old Testament 17:45 as was common to do in his days into three compartments 17:48 and says that all of it was inspired that's what he says 17:52 by implication because he give him a Bible study 17:54 from everyone of those sections and everyone 17:57 of those books. Are you with me now, yes or no? Amen 17:59 Amen. Now here is the major point I wanna bring out. 18:01 Jesus the resurrected Jesus affirmed the authenticity 18:07 and the historicity and the validity of the 18:10 Old Testament. Could Jesus have performed 18:13 a miracle right there and there hearing. 18:16 Could Jesus have done something right there in their 18:18 immediate presence to prove that he was the Messiah, 18:20 yes or no. Yes. But, he didn't want their faith 18:23 to be in miracles friends. He didn't want their 18:26 confidence to be in some miracle work or because all 18:29 it would take as another miracle work 18:30 to come down the road and deceive them 18:32 and get them off track by the way can devil work miracles? 18:35 Amen. Absolutely think about Moses their 18:37 in Pharaohs court and Moses had thrown 18:39 down his staff and he became a? Serpent, 18:41 serpent that's right or snake and then what did the 18:43 magicians of Pharaoh do? Same thing, in fact if you 18:47 go read the first two of the 10 plagues, 18:49 Pharaohs magicians were able to even counterfeit 18:52 those incredible plagues. The blood turning, 18:54 the water turning to blood and even the plague 18:56 of the frogs. Now Jesus wants their confidence 18:59 not to be in a miracle worker, not in a sign in fact Jesus 19:03 in Matthew chapter 24 warns about signs 19:05 at the end of time. We are gonna talk about that 19:06 more in the future. Jesus wants their confidence 19:09 to be in the scriptures. In what everyone? 19:14 Scriptures. He wants them to be confident 19:16 of his messianic identity, of his reality as the son 19:20 of God not based upon what he told them 19:22 or what he showed them, but upon what the Bible said. 19:28 So, friends I want you to recognize something 19:29 very important here. Jesus affirmed, 19:33 Jesus unequivocally affirmed the authenticity 19:37 and the historicity of the Old Testament scriptures. 19:41 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 19:43 Alright so this sort of this gives us a frame right now 19:45 and we are going to begin to move forward 19:47 into our message number one the case, 19:49 number two is the claims and number three 19:51 the consistency of the Bible. Let's talk about the case 19:53 for the Bible. First of all number one, 19:55 I'm going to give you several points here 19:56 and the first one I wanna talk about is 19:58 internal coherency. Internal coherency. 20:01 In fact what we are going to do, 20:02 is we gonna to come back to that point toward the end 20:04 of this message. Let's look at number two manuscript 20:07 consistency. Manuscript consistency. 20:10 The New Testament consists of a number 20:14 of different books. 27 different books 20:15 and these books were originally written probably 20:18 in the Greek language. In what language everyone? 20:21 Greek. Greek language. Now let's just try 20:24 to understand something here. We do not have the 20:26 original writings of the Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. 20:29 What are call the autographs, 20:31 they are gone, but let me tell you what we do have. 20:34 We do have five thousand extent that would 20:38 mean existent. Five thousand extent Greek manuscripts 20:43 dating from the middle of the second century 20:46 down to modernity that, that are basically portions 20:50 of or the entire New Testament. 20:52 How many manuscripts did I tell you we have? 20:54 Five thousand, five thousand. Now that's only Greek. 20:57 That's not Latin manuscripts or syriac manuscripts 21:00 that's only Greek manuscripts. Now listen very carefully. 21:03 When scholars and intellectual critics and other they, 21:06 they take those manuscripts and put them down 21:08 and they compare them with one another. 21:11 What did they do everyone? Compare. 21:14 They compare them would you like to know 21:16 what the degree of consistency that is to say 21:20 the degree of sameness is between those five thousand 21:24 manuscripts. What you think the percentage 21:26 of consistency and agreement is. 21:30 It's between 97 and 99% consistency in five thousand 21:37 existent Greek manuscripts. And friends the differences 21:41 are not huge differences they are commas or punctuation 21:46 or of course they don't have commas in the way 21:48 we have them, but that helps you to understand 21:50 the minor points. That what kind of points? 21:52 Minor points, minor points. Now think about the 21:55 significance of that these manuscripts date for, 21:58 for over a thousand years and when you bring them 22:00 altogether the amount of agreement between them 22:03 is between 97 and 99%. Now this was before the 22:06 time of fax machines, hard drives, cell phones, 22:11 copy machines and all of that, what is it tell us? 22:13 Christ has preserved his New Testament for you and I. 22:18 Amen, now let's talk about the Old Testament 22:21 very quickly. The Old Testament is actually quite 22:23 a bit easier to understand because in the Old Testament 22:26 the Jews took very seriously the preservation 22:29 of the Old Testament Canaan. By the way how many of you 22:31 heard that word Canaan before, the Canaan of the Bible. 22:34 Do you know what the word means? 22:36 It means basically a measuring rod or a measuring tool. 22:39 Okay, so when we talk about the Canaan of scripture, 22:41 we are talking about that by which we measure 22:44 everything else. If I said you wanted to go ahead 22:46 and measure the ceiling from the floor. 22:49 And if you measure it and said, oh, 22:50 yeah Pastor Asscherick that's about 20 feet. 22:52 I said yeah you are probably about on, 22:54 but if somebody else came along and said 22:55 no that's 146 feet. What would we assume 22:59 about that person. You are thinking we do assume 23:03 that he is crazy. Probably what we assume 23:05 is he is using a different measuring standard. 23:09 Do you understand that yes or no? 23:10 See a foot is uniform. A yard is uniform 23:14 and inch is uniform that's why we can talk intelligently 23:16 about distances. When the Bible is referred 23:19 to as the Canaan what we are saying is, 23:21 is that this is the uniform measurement 23:23 by which we measure every other thing 23:26 in the human experience. Are you understanding 23:29 yes or no? So the Jews took very seriously 23:31 the preservation of the Old Testament Canaan 23:33 from Genesis to Malachi. Now several hundred 23:36 years ago actually just a few hundred years ago, 23:38 maybe only 200 years ago biblical criticism 23:42 was at an all time high. That is to say that it was, 23:45 it was considered savvy and it was considered 23:48 popular and intellectual to make fun of the Bible 23:52 and to sort of poke it and say that it couldn't be trusted, 23:54 it had been copied so many times and scribble 23:57 interpret relations, scenarios and other things. 23:59 things. Surly the Bible that we have today 24:00 could not be the Bible Jesus had. 24:03 In 1947, a young boy was going out and searching 24:09 for his father's goat. His fathers what everyone? 24:12 Goat, goat, in the area in and around the Dead Sea 24:15 and he thought that may be that goat 24:17 had gone into one of the caves the area around Dead Sea 24:19 is a limestone area and so you have many caves 24:22 and rugosity sort of in the, in the limestone 24:25 walls there. And he being a little boy 24:27 was afraid to go rushing into those caves 24:29 as you can imagine they were dark and he decided 24:31 that he would take a stone and he would throw 24:34 the stone into the cave to scare the goat out. 24:37 Right that makes good sense doesn't it. 24:39 And so he was going you know long trying to throw 24:41 this the stones into the caves hoping that some 24:44 goat would comes scampering out, 24:45 but on one occasion he picked up a stone 24:47 he threw it in their and instead of a goat scampering 24:50 out he heard a sound a sound like braking glass, 24:53 will that scared him. He wasn't used to that 24:57 and he didn't know what it might be 24:58 and he was afraid to rush in on his own so he ran 25:00 back he got the village elders they came back 25:02 with their light sources they were in there 25:03 and what they found friends? Was pots many, many pots, 25:07 dozens of pots that contain scrolls that contain 25:12 what word did I say? Scrolls, scrolls now this was back 25:14 before they had the codex form of books 25:17 that's what you called as a codex when you have 25:19 a binding in two covers. In those days, 25:21 In those days, the books were all in the form 25:22 of scrolls. And so what they had stumbled upon 25:25 was an ancient library. An ancient what everyone? 25:29 Library, library and these have come down 25:31 to be known as the Dead Sea scrolls. 25:34 Now let me just sort of walk you through 25:35 something here. Those Dead Sea scrolls 25:38 contained portions only of a Old Testament books. 25:41 There was no New Testament parchment in 25:44 any of those scrolls, which caused him to 25:45 wonder why that might be. The reason we know now 25:49 is that those scrolls are dated to 600 B.C. 25:53 that has to say 600 years before the time of Christ. 25:56 Every single book of the Old Testament with 25:58 one exception was fond in those Book or in 26:02 those scrolls that has to say portions of every 26:04 single book out of the Old Testament was 26:05 found somewhere in that library. 26:07 By the way does anybody know what 26:08 was the only book that was not found? 26:10 Esther. The book of Esther that's exactly right. 26:12 Now one of the best finds in this ancient 26:15 library was the book of Isaiah. 26:18 The book what did I say everyone? Isaiah. 26:20 Isaiah. And they, the whole scroll was there 26:23 from start to finish Isaiah and they lay out 26:26 that Isaiah scroll and when they made a 26:28 comparison friends and please listen carefully 26:30 with that ancient manuscript of Isaiah 26:33 that ancient scroll of Isaiah dating from 600 26:37 years before the time of Jesus and they lay it 26:40 side our modern day Hebrew manuscripts of Isaiah. 26:42 Would you like to guess what's the percentage of 26:45 agreement was? Better then 99% friends. 26:51 Now think about the significance of that. 26:53 Before the advent of hard drives, before the 26:55 advent of copy machines, fax machines, 26:58 telephones and all of the technological 27:00 amenities that we have today. 27:01 God over a period of 2600 years basically perfectly 27:06 preserved his book for you and I and all of 27:09 those liberal scholars, who were protesting 27:11 against the Bible and mocking the Bible in 27:13 it's authenticity were instantaneously shook shut up. 27:17 Amen, Amen! Now think about that in the 27:21 Old Testament and in the New Testament we 27:23 can have confidence in the manuscript scroll 27:25 consistency of the Bible. If somebody says to you 27:28 well how can you be sure the Bible is the Bible. 27:31 All this proves friends is not that they know 27:33 anything about the Bible and it's history, 27:35 but that they are ignorant about the facts 27:37 of the Bible and it's history manuscript consistency. 27:42 Now number two is historical reliability 27:45 and is very simple. The Bible has proven to be a 27:48 very, very reliable document when it 27:52 comes to history. What kind of a document did I say? 27:54 Reliable. Reliable. In fact you take in the 27:57 New Testament probably the, the writer 28:00 that was most marked for his version of 28:03 history was the third gospel writer Luke. 28:06 And people sort of poke on a Luke and say well 28:08 this off on this date and oh, we got that wrong 28:10 and wrong location here, but archaeological 28:13 discovery after archaeological discovery 28:15 began to indicate Luke and began to show that 28:17 Luke was not you know off in the cloud 28:19 somewhere, but that he was speaking very 28:21 intelligently about the times, places and events 28:24 of which he wrote. In fact today many modern 28:27 scholars, most modern scholars consider Luke 28:29 to be one of the best and most thorough 28:32 historians in all antiquity. Amen, Amen! 28:35 So, once again the Bible stands firm and the 28:38 liberal scholar has to go ooop! Now that leads us 28:42 into number four archaeological accuracy, 28:44 archaeological accuracy. Archaeology is the window 28:48 through which historian see the world that came before. 28:52 Have archeological discoveries by enlarge 28:55 supported what the Bible says. 28:57 The answer is absolutely yes. Let me show you a 28:59 couple of quotations to that effect here. 29:01 Notice this first one. The interval then, this is 29:05 actually a quotation does not exactly by 29:06 archeology, but it's very potent it actually talking 29:09 about the manuscripts. Notice this, the interval 29:11 then between the dates of original composition 29:14 and the earliest extant evidence becomes so 29:17 small as to in fact be negligible and the last, 29:21 at last the foundation. And the last foundation 29:24 for any doubt that the scriptures come, have 29:27 come down to us substantially as they 29:28 were written has now been removed. 29:31 Both the last authenticity and the general integrity 29:35 of the books of the New Testament maybe 29:37 regarded as finally, what is the next word? 29:40 Established. Established, that's taken 29:42 from Classic Scholar Sir Fredrick Kenyon. 29:43 In other words what he saying is, is that the 29:45 manuscript show consistency and the, the 29:48 early date with which we have many of these 29:50 manuscripts affirms that the New Testament that 29:52 you and I have in our hands is in fact the very 29:55 same New Testament that is existed from the 29:57 very time of Jesus, Amen? Amen. 30:00 Now, notice these incredible statements on 30:01 archeology. The first one, it is worth 30:06 emphasizing that in all this work no 30:09 archeological discovery has ever contraverted a 30:13 single properly understood Biblical 30:16 statement. Can you say, Amen? Amen. 30:18 Take it from Nelson Glueck, Reformed 30:20 Jewish Scholar. There has never been a single 30:22 archeological discovery that is controverted 30:24 even one point found in the Bible. 30:26 Now, I find that remarkable, amen. Amen. 30:29 Friends the Bible is a historically 30:31 reliable document. Now, notice this one. 30:34 The Bible is supported by archeological 30:36 evidence again and again. On the whole, there can 30:39 be no question that the results of excavation 30:42 have increased the respect of scholars for 30:44 the Bible as a collection of historical documents. 30:46 The confirmation is both general and specific. 30:50 The fact that the record can be so often 30:52 explained or illustrated by archeological data 30:54 shows that it fits into the framework of 30:57 history as only a genuine product of 31:00 ancient life could do. What they're saying by 31:02 that is. Is that the Bible could not have been 31:03 something written later, it must have fit into the 31:06 original ancient framework. Are you with me on 31:09 that, yes or no? Yes. He goes on in addition 31:12 to this general authentication; however, 31:14 we find the record verified repeatedly, 31:17 he goes on, at specific points. Names of places 31:20 and persons turn up at the right places and in 31:24 the right periods, periods taken from 31:26 Millar Burrows, from Yale University. 31:28 Do you understand the significance 31:30 of that, yes or no? Amen. I read an archeological 31:32 book one time and it said, that when an 31:34 archeologist goes into the area in and around 31:37 ancient Palestine, they take two books with 31:39 them. Number one is the Field Guide to 31:40 Archaeology and the other one is guess what book. 31:43 The Bible and friends they're not taking the 31:45 Bible along for devotional readings, 31:46 they're taking it along because they say that 31:48 what this book says happen is actually what happen. 31:52 Amen. Now, that tells us if the Bible can be trusted 31:55 historically, it lends itself very strongly to 31:59 be entrusted in spiritual matters as well. 32:02 Think about this for just a moment. If the Bible 32:04 was totally off, totally inconsistent and totally 32:06 inaccurate in its history and it's archeology. 32:09 Would you trust it for your eternal salvation? 32:12 It's hard to imagine that any person would take 32:13 the Bible seriously. Yeah we can see that 32:15 the historically and archaeologically accurate. 32:18 Number five is scientific compatibility 32:20 and let me just say a sentence on this 32:22 because we gonna have a whole 32:23 night dedicated to this. All true science will 32:27 support biblical teaching. Amen, amen. 32:31 Because the author of science is the same 32:34 author of the word. The author of science is the 32:37 God of the Bible and the God of science is the 32:40 author of the word of God. Amen, we comeback to 32:43 that on a further night. So, there are five reasons 32:45 now notice number six timeless personal relevancy, 32:50 that is to say that this book written beginning 32:53 almost 4000 years ago is still perfectly 32:56 calculated to be relevant to a modern day society 33:00 and culture, Amen! Now think about how 33:03 quickly things get outdated. We have new cars 33:06 every single year, right? And all they do is they 33:09 change you know the fender and they change 33:11 the light and they put a different color on it and 33:12 you oh, I've got to have the new car, right. 33:15 Cars are outdated very rapidly and computers 33:18 were out you know every two or three years 33:20 yet remarkably, in an age in which things 33:23 become obsolete so quickly the word of 33:26 God is unquestionably still relevant today in a 33:30 modern context as it was in an ancient context. 33:33 Amen! Amen. Let me tell you a little story, 33:35 let me bear my soul here a personal story. 33:40 Probably five months ago, I was trying to go 33:42 to sleep and it was very unusual for me because 33:44 when I try to go to sleep it's easy 33:45 for me to go to sleep. My wife jokes that I have 33:47 button under my arm and I just lifts it up, 33:49 push the button, I'm out. She doesn't like that 33:52 much because sometimes I fall asleep 33:54 mid conversation. Anyway, I had gone to 33:58 sleep and unusually I was woken up at 34:00 3'o clock in the morning. I try to go back to sleep 34:02 and was unable to and so I thought well may be 34:04 all just get up and spend time praying. So, I went 34:06 into my office and began to pray. 34:07 As I note down I began to pray in the spirit of 34:10 God just rushed up on me. And I just had this 34:13 sense of my failures, my inadequacies and 34:16 my short comings as a Pastor, as a Christian, 34:20 as a father, as a husband and the more I prayed I, 34:22 I just had the sense the spirit of God was giving 34:25 me the spirit of repentance. And the second strange 34:27 things started to happen not only I was up at this 34:29 time in the morning, which is unusual, 34:31 but then I started to cry and I'm not a crier 34:33 I wish I would cry more sometimes I look at 34:35 friends of mine they are crying because some 34:37 pastor tells a beautiful story and I think 34:39 I probably should be crying too. But, I just 34:40 can't bring myself to do it. Well here I'm very 34:43 unusual, I'm crying and it's very early in the morning. 34:48 I've been praying for about 20, 20 minutes 34:50 and I'm just overwhelmed with a sense of my failures 34:53 and inadequacies. And so I sit up and I said 34:55 Lord Jesus I'm gonna be crushed out here. 34:57 I'm not gonna be able to make it, I need you to 34:59 give me some encouragement from your work. 35:02 Now whenever I need encouragement I go to 35:04 the book of Psalms. Where do I go everyone? Psalms. 35:07 Go with me to Psalm chapter 34, I just open 35:09 up the Psalms just randomly. Just the first Psalm that 35:12 I came to and I said Lord I need you to 35:14 speak directly to my heart, now I don't 35:15 recommend this is the way to study the Bible 35:17 as a systematic way to study the Bible. 35:19 But, in this moment I was desperate and I said 35:21 Lord I need you to speak right to my heart, 35:23 I need some encouragement Lord. 35:25 And so I just opened up the Psalm 34, 35:27 here I was in my room, crushed, burden by 35:30 essence of my failures and inadequacies crying 35:33 tears, running down my cheeks and the very 35:35 first verse that my eyes fall on Psalm 34 35:39 in Verse 6, this poor man cried and the Lord 35:43 heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 35:49 Amen! Friends do you think, do you think that 35:51 I had a sense of the immediate nearness of 35:54 God in that room, yes or no? Friends, God 35:57 was just as real to me in that moment as you are 35:59 in this room right now. Instantaneously in a 36:02 moment, God had spoken through an ancient book 36:05 to a modern need. Can you say, Amen? Amen. 36:09 Friends if you would get up in the morning 36:10 and you will have those same kinds of 36:11 devotional exercises, I guarantee you 36:14 time and time again. You will have a sense 36:17 that God is not just a God, but he is your 36:20 personal God, your personal father, 36:22 right there tenderly, pleadingly coming over 36:26 you, bowing over you to help you and 36:28 encourage you and strengthen you for your 36:29 day and for your life, Amen! Amen! Friends 36:32 it has timeless personal relevancy. 36:36 An antiquated book speaking so powerful to modernity. 36:39 Number seven transformational potency, 36:42 the Bible is powerful to change lives. 36:45 Go with me in your Bibles to first Peter chapter 1, 36:48 New Testament first Peter chapter 1. 36:54 I want you to notice something remarkable here. 36:56 First Peter chapter 1 and I'm beginning in 36:58 Verse 22, first Peter chapter 1 in verse 22. 37:02 It says since you have purified your souls in 37:05 obeying the truth through the spirit in 37:06 sincere love of the brethren, love one 37:08 another fervently with the pure heart. 37:10 Notice verse 23, having been born again, 37:14 having been what everyone? Born again, 37:16 born again that just like what Jesus said in 37:17 Nicodemus in John 3 said you must be born again. 37:21 Now notice in this context what Peter says 37:23 though, he says having been born again not of 37:25 corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through 37:29 the what everyone? Word of God which 37:33 lives and abides forever. Is verse 23 telling 37:36 us that we are born again through the word 37:37 of God is that what is telling us? Amen. 37:39 Friends, I'm gonna tell you right now, you 37:40 cannot be born again, if you do not have an 37:43 devotional dynamic experience with God in 37:47 his word, Amen, Amen! The Bible says we can 37:50 be born again, how are we born again? 37:53 By exercising saving faith in Jesus and then 37:55 coming to his word and saying father I need you 37:58 to strengthen me today. I need to be born again 38:00 in the word. Amen, Amen. Friends transformational 38:04 potency think of the thousands and millions 38:07 of lives that have been transformed. 38:09 Drunkers have become sober and thieves have 38:11 become honest and wife and peers become 38:13 loving and kind and sweet, transformation what? 38:16 Through the word. Amen! I saw a fellow 38:20 with a T-shirt at one time that said, said 38:22 something like this Bibles that are old and 38:24 worn out and torn down usually belong to 38:27 people who are old and worn out and torn out. 38:29 Amen! Friends put that thing to use, Amen! 38:33 Turn off the TV and pick up the BIBLE. 38:36 Number eight the proof of predictive prophecy 38:39 will come back to that. Number nine Jesus' 38:42 resurrection the Bible tells about Jesus 38:43 resurrection and last night we learned that 38:45 Jesus' resurrection is historically valid. 38:47 Can somebody say Amen! Amen. And Jesus' endorsed it. 38:52 Remember we have read there in Luke 24, 38:53 Jesus gave his endorsement of the word 38:56 after his resurrection. When everyone? 38:59 After his resurrection, so those are 10 reasons 39:02 that's the case for the Bible. Now notice let's go 39:06 to the claims of the Bible, let's began by noting 39:08 some of the amazing claims that the Bible 39:10 makes about itself. You remember our message 39:12 on the messianic identity of Jesus we said, that 39:15 Jesus was one of three things because of the 39:18 claims that he made, he was either a liar or a 39:21 lunatic or the Lord. Do you remember that, 39:25 yes or no? Yes. Based on the claims that Jesus 39:27 made about himself, we must consign him to 39:29 one of those three categories listen very carefully. 39:32 Based on the claims that the Bible makes 39:34 about itself, we cannot say oh, that's good literature. 39:37 We can put a right next to Harper Lee's to Kill a 39:39 Mockingbird or Pearl S. Buck the Good Earth 39:41 and say, oh that's, that's good literature. 39:43 Friends the Bible claims to be the word of God 39:45 and because it makes that kind a far reaching 39:48 claim it must be one of three things. It's either 39:50 factual, fictitious or it is in fact friends a farce. 39:58 I tonight maintain that the Bible is factual that 40:00 it is not fictitious and it is not fairy tails or a farce. 40:04 The Bible is in fact the inspired word of God. 40:09 Amen! Now it calms to be the inspired word of 40:11 God go with me to second Timothy chapter 3. 40:14 Second Timothy chapter 3, that's right toward 40:17 the end of the New Testament Second Timothy chapter 3 40:20 and notice with me verse 16, notice this 40:22 remarkable claim that the Bible makes about itself. 40:24 Second Timothy chapter 3 and I'm reading in verse 40:28 16, actually we pick it up in verse 15. 40:30 Paul writing to Timothy says and that from 40:32 childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, 40:34 which were able to make you wise for 40:35 salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. 40:37 Verse 16, all scripture, how much scripture, 40:41 all scripture is given by inspiration of Paul, 40:45 inspiration of Mathew, inspiration of who everybody? 40:49 God, inspiration of God and is profitable for 40:53 doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 40:54 instruction in righteousness, why that the men of 40:57 God maybe complete, the king James says 40:59 perfect thoroughly equipped for every good work. 41:03 Notice that the Bible here claims to be 41:04 actually breathed by God. That's what the actual 41:07 Greek word means it's just the position of two 41:09 words, Theos and Numa, which is God breathed. 41:14 The Bible here claims to be the word of God. 41:17 Now search the whole round of so called 41:19 secret books and holy books. You can go to Hinduism 41:22 they have the Bhagavad Gita. 41:23 You can go to Islam the Quran. 41:25 You can go to Mormonism the book of Mormon. 41:27 Just search the whole spectrum of so called 41:29 Holy Books and you won't find any of the 41:31 Holy Books that make that kind of a claim that 41:34 all of it is not the word of man, but the word of God. 41:37 Amen! Friends that a remarkable claim, amen. 41:40 Now just making the claim doesn't make it 41:42 true, but it's important that it makes the claim. 41:46 Now let me show you another passage this 41:47 was taken from second Peter, still right their in 41:49 the New Testament. Second Peter chapter 1, 41:53 second Peter chapter 1 and notice what is said here. 41:58 Second Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse 19, 42:02 second Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse 19, 42:04 it says so we have the prophetic word confirmed 42:07 that you do well to take heed as a light that 42:10 shines in what kind of place everyone? 42:12 Dark, dark place until the day dawns and the 42:14 morning star rises in your hearts. 42:15 Verse 20 knowing this first, knowing this 42:19 what? First, first that no prophecy of scriptures 42:22 of any what kind of interpretation? 42:24 Private interpretation why not. Verse 21 for 42:26 prophecy never came by the will of man, 42:29 but holy men of God spoke as they were 42:32 moved by their emotions, by their feelings, 42:36 by their culture, where were they move by? 42:39 Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit. 42:41 Now friends the Quran doesn't make that claim. 42:44 The Bhagavad Gita the one of the Hindu 42:46 Holy Books does not make that claim. 42:47 The Bible here makes the claim to be in 42:50 inspired by God to be the word of God. 42:53 Amen! And notice this inspired by God the 42:56 word of God, Jesus said in John chapter 10 in 42:58 verse 35 the scriptures "Cannot be broken" 43:01 that's what Jesus said. The scriptures cannot 43:03 be broken. It is the authoritative revelation 43:05 of God, it is historically reliable we've talked 43:08 about that. It is supernaturally powerful. 43:13 In fact let me show you a verse of scripture that 43:14 is so piercing so was to almost be chilling. 43:18 Go with me in Hebrews chapter 4. 43:21 Hebrews is in the New Testament and notice 43:23 this incredible verse of scripture verse 12. 43:26 Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. 43:30 What verse we are going to look at everyone? 43:31 12, verse 12, notice this it says in verse 12 for 43:35 the word of God is the king James says quick 43:37 the new king James says living. 43:40 The word of God is, what everyone? Living, 43:42 living and powerful, and sharper then any 43:46 two-edged sword, piercing even to the 43:48 division of soul and spirit, and of joints and 43:50 marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts 43:52 and intents of the, what? Heart, heart. 43:56 What the Bible here is saying about itself is, 43:58 is that this book is supernatural. 44:01 That you can be reading this book and all the 44:02 sudden you realize that it's not just the word of 44:04 man, but you are under conviction about some 44:06 sin in your life that nobody knows about. 44:08 But, God knows about it and he speaks to you 44:11 through his world. And before you know it the 44:13 thoughts and intense of your heart have been 44:15 exposed by a supernatural book. 44:17 Amen, Amen! The problem is that you can't 44:20 have that exposure if you stay away from the book. 44:23 And don't be afraid of that sharp two-edged sword. 44:25 Because there is a big difference between a 44:26 surgeon and a butcher. A surgeon cuts to heal, 44:30 but a butcher cuts to kill. And our Lord and savior 44:33 is a surgeon not a butcher, Amen, Amen! 44:35 He cuts to heal, oh! Yes, far better to be cut 44:39 and then heal then to not be cut, Amen, Amen! 44:42 The word it says is powerful and living. 44:46 Friends you can actually have an ongoing dynamic 44:49 relationship with the limitable God of heaven 44:52 in his word, Amen. And yet many of us turn on 44:55 the television before we open the Bible, shame. 45:00 Oh, friends think it through take your 45:02 television unplug it and put the Bible on top of 45:04 your TV, so that when you go to sit down and 45:05 you are lazy boy and pick up your remote control. 45:07 Click, click, huh, huh, oh! that's right, and 45:11 plunged you have to go over and you'll have to 45:13 reach behind the television and then try 45:15 to get the plug, you see the Bible and maybe 45:18 God will speak to your heart, Amen, Amen! 45:21 Are you with me, now prayer 2 listen before 45:24 you go to bed tonight take your shoe, 45:25 I'm gonna guarantee you will have time for prayer. 45:27 Take that shoe and toss it under your bed. 45:30 Amen, whatever shoe you gonna wear them 45:32 out, toss it under your bed you gonna wake up 45:33 tomorrow, wipe the sleep out your eyes, 45:36 get ready to work and you gonna start looking 45:37 around for you shoes. Oh! Where is my other 45:39 shoe? Oh, then you remember, put it under 45:41 the bed and then you get down on your knees 45:43 to get it out from on your knees and when 45:45 you get down. Why are you down there say a prayer. 45:49 Amen, Amen! Friends we have to get serious 45:52 about this, Amen. We have to get in the word 45:55 and we have to get in the prayer. 45:57 If you believe that say Amen. Amen. 45:59 Brothers and sisters I'm preaching strongly 46:00 because we are living in dangers times and many 46:03 of us are more interested in television 46:05 then in the vision. Amen. Let us continue. 46:10 It is supernaturally powerful, it is a 46:12 revelation of God by God and nobody is 46:14 better qualified to tell us what God is like then 46:17 God himself. Amen. Amen. Not even the 46:21 words of the most eloquent Pastor. 46:23 Listen it's okay to come out and here good 46:24 preaching, but make sure you are getting it 46:26 straight from the source. Amen, Amen! 46:28 You cut the middle man out, right. 46:30 There is nothing wrong with hearing good 46:31 preaching, but let's be sure that we are not just 46:33 eating once a week, but we are eating every 46:35 morning, fresh bread from ovens of heaven. 46:37 Amen! Amazing claims of the Bible about the 46:40 future now this is incredible. Jesus says in 46:43 John chapter 14 in verse 29 see I have told you 46:46 before it comes to pass, that when it is come to 46:49 pass, you might believe. I'm telling you before, 46:54 I'm telling you what everyone? Before, 46:55 before so that when I say what's going to happen, 46:58 happens you can have confidence in everything 47:00 I've said, Amen, Amen! Now here something 47:02 incredible, go read the Quran, no prophecy. 47:06 Go read the writings of Buddha, no prophecy. 47:09 Go read the writings of Confucius, no prophecy. 47:12 The writings of Hinduism, no prophecy. 47:14 Why no prophecy because friends in order 47:17 to declare the future, in order to make a 47:19 prophetic statement about the future. 47:21 You must first know the future, Amen, Amen! 47:24 And yet remarkably 30% of the Bible is prophecy. 47:28 30% of this word is God's staking his ability 47:31 to for tale future events and has he done it with 47:34 accuracy? The answer is yes, notice this the 47:38 Rise and fall of Babylon perfectly 47:40 predicted in the book of Daniel. The Rise and 47:41 fall of Medo-Persia. The Rise and fall of Greece. 47:44 The Rise and fall of Rome. The Division of the 47:46 Roman Empire. The oncoming of the Dark Ages. 47:48 The Rise, fall, and resurgence of Papal 47:50 Rome or the Papacy. In Daniel chapter 2, 47:54 Daniel was given, Nebakanezer was given 47:56 a vision and Daniel interpreted it, there was 47:58 that metal man. And that great metal man 48:00 had a head of gold and that represented Babylon. 48:02 Chest and arms of silver, Medo-Persia, 48:03 belly and thigh of bronze was Greece, 48:05 the long legs of iron were Rome and the feet 48:07 of iron and clay were divided Rome and then 48:09 a stone smash that image to bits. 48:12 God here was giving a prophecy about future ages, 48:16 what kind of ages? Future. Friends anybody can 48:18 tell you what happen in the past, anyone of the 48:20 mere historian can do that, but God says I'll tell 48:23 you what's gonna happen in the future. 48:24 Amen, Amen! Friends let me tell you when 48:27 I was converted 8 years ago it was the prophecies of 48:29 the word that made me stop and think. 48:31 Oh, there must be something in that book. 48:35 And friends we go into, notice this from Edward 48:38 Gibbon the historian and he said the images 48:40 of the gold, silver, or brass, that might serve 48:42 to represent the nations and their kings, were 48:44 successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome. 48:46 What did the modern historian Edward 48:48 Gibbon get that imagery from. The gold, the silver, 48:50 the bronze and the iron, where did he get it from? 48:53 From the word friends. See he knows it is history, 48:56 but God knew it as prophecy and he declared it. 49:01 Notice this, also the Bible foretold the rise 49:04 of the United States. Yes you heard that right. 49:07 The Bible foretold the rise of the United States 49:09 and we are gonna talk more about that in the 49:10 future meeting. The Bible foretells the rise 49:12 of the ecumenical movement all the churches coming 49:15 together, everybody get in together. 49:16 But, they are uniting on a platform of error friends. 49:19 And we gonna talk about that as well. 49:21 The Bible foretold the rise of modern spiritualism. 49:23 The overthrow of Jerusalem and scores of 49:26 historical events were foretold in the word of 49:30 God and have come to pass with perfect 49:33 accuracy and exactitude. Amen, Amen! Friends 49:36 that's remarkable. A God that knows the 49:38 future, knows your future. Amen. And if you knows 49:42 your future, you can trust him. Amen, Amen! 49:45 I saw a bumper sticker one time it said I know 49:47 the future. God wins, Amen, Amen! 49:53 Hallelujah. Now notice this last one, but not 49:56 least the consistency of the Bible. We have looked 49:58 at the case for the Bible, the claims of the Bible 50:01 and now the consistency of the Bible. 50:03 Keep in mind that the Bible is written by 50:04 nearly 40 authors. Written on three continents. 50:08 The authors are from diverse cultures and times. 50:11 They had varying personal backgrounds. 50:14 And yet there is a remarkable unity on the 50:17 most controversial subject known to man 50:19 namely God's existence. So, Moses aggress with 50:23 Malachi. And Luke aggress with Mathew. 50:27 And Mathew aggress with Hosea. 50:29 You have unity in the Bible, you have what everybody? 50:32 Unity, unity how can it be. If you and I sat down 50:36 and I said, hey, let's write a book on food. 50:39 And we select 40 authors from this room. 50:41 We are gonna write a book on what everyone? 50:42 Food, food and we are gonna go off to 50:44 different cultures and different continents and 50:46 we're gonna be from a period of over 1500 50:49 years and we are gonna write a book on food 50:50 and then we are gonna put it altogether 50:52 in a compendium. You think that book would 50:55 make any sense. Hardly friends you will have 50:58 one person saying the best food in the world 51:00 is lasagna. And here somebody else saying, 51:02 oh, the best food in the world is tacos. 51:06 And somebody else is says oh, these guys are 51:07 all wet, the best food in the world is bananas 51:10 there been rhyme, no reason, no consistency 51:13 and that's on in an innocuous subject, a 51:15 baleen subject food. But, friends here you 51:19 have the most controversial and the 51:21 most discussed and written about subject in 51:23 all of the human experience God, 51:26 40 authors on three continents over 1500 years 51:29 sitting down to right. No collusion, no getting 51:31 together and making it up and saying well this 51:33 be fun. And you put it altogether in a compendium 51:35 and it presence a perfectly beautiful, 51:37 powerfully cohesive picture of God. 51:42 Friends that is proved that the Bible is 51:43 inspired word of God. Amen! Now I don't 51:46 want to poke fun here, but contrast that with 51:48 our dear friends the Muslims. Our friends 51:51 the Muslims have the book called the Quran 51:52 and it was revealed allegedly by the angel 51:56 to Mohammad. And that book was written 51:58 by one man. By how many man? One man. 52:01 So, the fact that you have internal 52:02 consistency in a book written by one man is 52:04 hardly impressive. All it says is was that he 52:07 agreed what he said of his at the end of his life. 52:09 As at the beginning of his life and even that is 52:10 disputable. Friends the point here is incredible. 52:15 The Bible is internally consistent, which 52:17 proves powerfully that it is the actual word of God. 52:21 Amen! We are wrapping up now, it presents a coherent 52:25 picture of God we have said that it is non-contradictory 52:29 Amen, Amen! Friends there are no contradictions 52:31 in the word. Now you might think there are 52:32 contradictions, but doesn't improve this 52:34 contradictions it just proves that you are dull. 52:37 Amen, Amen! I've people come to me and say 52:39 no, Pastor Asscherick here is the contradiction 52:41 and I said really is that a contradiction well 52:43 let's look here, let's look here and I began to 52:45 explain the actual text to them and by the 52:47 whole time it was done I said to them now 52:49 where is the contradiction and they 52:50 are, I'm not sure. It disappeared. 52:55 Friends it's not the word of man, is the word of 52:57 God, Amen, Amen! And last, but not least. 53:02 Our dear friends the Catholics and I have to 53:03 say this because my, my father is former 53:06 Catholic and not only that I have many good 53:08 friends who are Catholics and they love to say oh, 53:10 Pastor Asscherick you preach the Bible with 53:11 power, but just remember who gave you the Bible. 53:14 It was the church that wrought the Bible together. 53:16 Friends this is not an accurate 53:18 reflection of history. The canonization of the Bible. 53:23 The putting together of the Bible began in the 53:25 second century. In the middle of the second 53:28 century, when it began everyone? 53:30 Middle of second century. And bear in mind that the 53:32 Old Testament was already canonized. 53:34 The Old Testament was canonized in the day of 53:35 the Jesus. Amen! The New Testament began 53:39 to be canonize friends in the middle of the 53:40 second century and the first council of the 53:43 church that God together to establish 53:45 what books were written what books were out 53:46 didn't take place to almost the fifth century. 53:49 Friends listen very carefully the Bible is 53:51 not a collection of authoritative or it is a 53:54 collection of authoritative books not an authoritative 53:57 collection of books. Do you see the distinction, 54:00 yes or no. The authority is in the books not in 54:04 the collection. And our friends wanna say oh, 54:06 the church is assembled it and then the church 54:08 put their stamp of approval on it. 54:10 Oh, no friends these were already the 54:12 authoritative books. These were the books 54:14 that were already in circulation that the early 54:16 Christians were using and all the church 54:18 basically did is put a rubber stamp on it. 54:20 The thing was already established. 54:22 It is an authoritative co, it is a collection of 54:25 authoritative books not an authoritative 54:27 collection of books, Amen, Amen! As we 54:29 prepare to close I want you to open your Bibles 54:32 to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, as we 54:37 go to our final verse right there in the middle 54:39 of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40, I want you to notice 54:43 a powerful passage of scripture. We have just 54:45 had time to touch on the many evidences, but in 54:48 Isaiah chapter 40 I wanna read you 54:50 beginning in Verse 7 these powerful two verses. 54:53 Isaiah chapter 40 and what verse everyone? 7, 54:56 The grass withers, the flower fades, because 55:00 the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely 55:02 the people are grass. The grass withers, the 55:05 flower fades, but the word of our God stands 55:09 for how long everyone, forever. 55:12 The word of God stands for ever because it's not 55:14 the word of man, it's the word of God, Amen! 55:18 Friends I urge upon you tonight, I urge upon you 55:21 tonight the same thing that we began with the 55:23 resurrected Jesus sat down and he gave his 55:26 disciples the Bible study. Friends the resurrected 55:29 Jesus in the person of spirit wants to give you 55:31 a Bible study tonight and tomorrow morning 55:34 and the next morning and the next morning. 55:36 Friends it's not just the word of God, this is 55:38 God's love letter to you. Amen! I recommend to 55:42 you tonight, I urge upon you tonight to take 55:44 seriously this book. The claims of this book, 55:48 the consistency of this book, and the case for 55:50 this book prove that it is a supernatural book and 55:53 extraordinary book. Friends this book 55:55 should become the very centerpiece of your life. 55:57 Amen. Are you hearing me, yes or no? Amen. 55:59 The Bible is the written word and Jesus Christ 56:01 was the living word. Friends, I urge upon you 56:05 tonight and these times in which we are living 56:06 paralyze times take seriously the Bible. 56:09 Make it the very centered, the very cornerstone, 56:12 the very foundation of your life and be sure 56:14 that you are studying it daily, prayerfully, 56:17 sincerely, are you with me on this yes or no? 56:20 Amen! Brothers and sisters tonight 56:22 I recommend to you, I plead with you in the 56:24 name of Jesus. I plead with you in the name of 56:26 the living word, heed the written 56:28 word, won't you do that tonight. |
Revised 2014-12-17