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Series Code: ETM
Program Code: ETM220002S
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00:20 My topic is the Irrefutable Arguments that Jesus is Divine
00:25 I'm going to share with you some amazing revelations 00:30 from history, from Archeology, from the Bible itself, 00:36 that Christ is all he claimed to be and because He is 00:41 Divine, He can change your life. 00:44 Now you already may be a Christian and recognize 00:48 that Christ is the Divine Son of God. 00:51 You might say, what value will this program has for me? 00:55 I'm going to present to you such clear, powerful arguments for 01:01 His Divinity that you'll by able to share with your friends 01:05 who may be questioning who Jesus is. 01:09 This question of who Christ is has intrigued men and women 01:11 down through the centuries. Was He a good man? 01:15 Was he simply a moral-ethical teacher? 01:17 Was He really the Divine Son of God? 01:21 Let's pray and then we'll launch right into our presentation. 01:25 Father in Heaven, How we thank you that the 01:28 evidence is clear on who Jesus is, that there need be no doubt 01:33 in our mind. And I pray that as we look at that evidence 01:36 from History, from archaeology, from the Bible itself 01:41 that our hearts will be warmed and that we will sense 01:45 the reality that Jesus is the Divine Son of God 01:48 and that His offer of Eternal Life is real. 01:52 Thank you for that evidence, we pray in Jesus' name. 01:55 Amen! 01:56 Men and women down through the centuries asked the question 02:00 was Jesus really Divine? 02:02 Was Christ everything He claimed to be? 02:04 Now the problem you have is this, Jesus claimed to be 02:07 Divine, He claimed to be the Son of God, He claimed to have 02:12 no beginning and no ending, He claimed to be eternal. 02:16 If Christ is not the Divine Son of God, then you only have 02:21 really one of two choices, either He was openly lying 02:24 because He said He was and He was simply an imposter 02:30 simply one spouting falsehoods or the other option is that 02:34 He is diluted, if somebody says something that they are not... 02:38 You know we are a people, street preaching who is saying 02:42 I am Jesus, you know and so forth and what do you say 02:45 about those people who are claiming to be Christ and 02:48 who are kind of a little bit off...Where I come from 02:53 "off their rocker", they're really crackpots. 02:57 So is Jesus, what kind of evidence do you have there? 03:01 Is He lying? Is He a crackpot? Is He diluted? 03:05 Certainly not, the evidence doesn't bear that up. 03:08 Now first I want to go to history and we want to 03:12 raise the question, what does the historical evidence say 03:17 about Christ? Now when I talk about historical evidence 03:20 of course, the Bible is a historical book but I am 03:23 using the term in this sway this frame of reference that 03:27 what kind of extra-Biblical sources, what kind of 03:33 historical sources do we have outside the accurate history 03:36 of the Bible? 03:38 Professor Carnegie Simson once said this... 03:41 A very famed professor, he said... 03:43 If the being of God is beyond your understanding, 03:46 in other words, if you can't understand God, 03:48 the fact of Christ is not, He is a fact of history. 03:53 So even people like Professor Simpson say Jesus Christ 03:59 is a fact of history. If you are going to be honest 04:02 with the facts of history, you have to say that Christ existed. 04:06 Sir J.G Frazier was the Scottish Social Anthropologist, 04:12 many believe he was an atheist, he certainly was not a believer 04:16 and he said this. 04:17 My theory assumes the historical reality of Jesus as the great 04:22 religious and moral teacher who founded Christianity 04:25 and at Jerusalem under the government ship of Pontus Pilate. 04:29 So here you have a person who is an unbeliever who has a 04:35 social theory that he says my theory assumes that Christ 04:41 was the historical figure. 04:42 So you have professors who are unbelievers that are 04:47 talking about the reality of Christ. 04:50 Now what documents existed in the Roman Empire during the 04:55 days of Rome that spoke about Jesus? 04:58 I mean really, if you have... If Christ actually existed 05:02 which He did, if He existed there must be some evidence 05:06 outside of the Bible for that existence and there is. 05:10 Tacitus was one of the most famous Roman Historians 05:15 he wrote from A.D. 55 to A.D. 120, so just shortly after 05:22 25 years after the death of Christ, Tacitus was writing. 05:27 And Tacitus describes for example, The Existence of Early 05:33 Christians. He talks about Jesus' execution by Pontius Pilate. 05:38 Now how could someone so close to these events talk about them 05:45 if they were not real? 05:47 He talks about the six-day fire of Rome, that is Tacitus does 05:54 and it was burned of course by Nero and he then talks about the 05:58 origin of Christianity and the execution of Christ. 06:02 Tacitus actually talks about that. 06:04 Now you go even further than Tacitus, there was a 06:08 Governor of Bithynia, his name was Pliny, 06:12 there were two Pliny's, this is Pliny the younger, 06:14 the governor of Bithynia and he writes in fact 06:20 to the emperor and as he is writing to the emperor 06:24 he's talking about the growth of Christianity and how 06:28 Christians are in every place throughout his province. 06:32 And he says this is what they affirmed, I'm quoting, 06:35 that the whole of their guilt or error was that they were 06:39 in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before 06:42 it was light. They sang an alternative verse, 06:45 a hymn to Christ as to God, they bound themselves to a 06:49 solemn oath not to do any wicked deeds, never to commit any fraud, 06:53 theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust 06:58 when they should be called upon to deliver it up. 07:00 So Pliny is saying, these Christians are followers of 07:04 Christ. And he's writing here from 62 A.D. to 113 A.D. 07:10 he's writing in the 1st century and he's talking about 07:16 Christians who were an eye witness of Christ and they are 07:20 meeting for worship and praising God. 07:22 Now Josephus was a Jewish Historian, now you recognize 07:28 that Josephus is not going to have any motives to talk about 07:31 Christ and Josephus says: He's again a 1st Century. 07:37 Now there was about this time a wise man if it be lawful 07:40 to call him a man for he was as doer of wonderful works 07:43 a teacher of man who received the truth with pleasure. 07:46 He drew over to him many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. 07:50 So here you have a Jewish Historian speaking about Christ 07:55 who wins many Jews and who wins many Gentiles, 08:00 there is historical evidence outside of the Bible 08:06 you can read it in Tacitus, you can read it in Pliny, 08:10 you can read it in Josephus, you can read it in Suetonius. 08:14 Here are men who have no motive to write about the Divine Christ 08:19 but they write that he did exist. 08:23 Throughout the Bible we have clear evidence that Christ 08:27 claims to be divine, you look In John chapter one verse 08:32 one to three, John verse 1:1-3. 08:36 The gospels were written in for different audiences, 08:42 if you want to know about the sermons of Christ, you'll read 08:45 the gospels of Matthew. You want to know about the parables 08:48 of Christ, you read the gospel of Luke. 08:51 You want to know about the humanity of Christ, 08:53 you read the gospel of Mark, but if you want to know about 08:56 the divinity of Christ, you read the gospel of John. 08:59 John starts in John chapter one and we are going to 09:04 read verses one to three. 09:24 So here you have very clearly outlined in the gospel of John 09:30 what John says is the word was with God and the word was God. 09:38 The word became flesh John says and dwelt among us. 09:43 The word became flesh so Christ left the glory 09:49 and splendor of heaven, tabernacled in human flesh, 09:53 and became a human being the Divine-human Christ. 09:59 Christ was Divine and he was a human, it was this combination 10:04 of this Divine-human Christ but He came and walked among us. 10:08 He walked the dusty streets of Galilee, the cobblestone 10:12 streets of Jerusalem, He touched the eyes of the blind and they 10:16 were opened and the ears of the deaf and they were unstopped. 10:18 He healed the withered man's arm and caused the lame to 10:22 jump and run again and this Christ opened His heart 10:28 to forgive sins, to deliver men and women from the guilt 10:32 and shame and condemnation of sin. 10:34 He delivered them from the power and the grip and the chains 10:38 of evil. This Jesus revealed what God was like, 10:43 He revealed the character of God here John chapter one says. 10:49 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us 10:52 so when we look at Jesus we see what God is like. 10:56 We see God's character of love but Jesus claimed to be Divine 11:00 He claimed to be equal with the Father, 11:02 you find this in the gospel of John 8:58, John:8 and we are 11:09 looking there at verses 58, and here in John 8: verse 58 11:14 the scripture puts it this way. 11:36 Now I don't want to go over this text too fast, 11:38 He said before Abraham was, I am. 11:40 Now the New Testament is written in the Greek language, 11:42 which is the expression for I am there is Ego eimi. 11:46 Can you say that? 11:48 I know you can. Ego ami. It's a Greek expression and 11:51 this is what it means. 11:52 It means the self-existed one, it means the one who has existed 11:56 from all eternity. 11:57 Remember the time that I was used Moses comes to the bush 12:02 the bush, the bush does not burn and as he's coming to 12:06 the bush he sees the fire, it's burning but it is not 12:09 consumed and the I Am speaks to him from the bush. 12:14 God and So this term I Am the self-existent one, 12:19 the one who never had a beginning or will have an 12:21 ending, this I Am is the one who Jesus claims to be. 12:28 He claims to be equal with the Father existing with Him 12:31 for all eternity. The Jews understood what Jesus meant 12:33 and as a result of that, they went to stone him. 12:37 Why? Because he claimed to be God. 12:38 So either Jesus is what He says He is or He's the liar and 12:43 imposter, the evidence certainly doesn't bear that, does it? 12:46 You know Charles Lamb, the great writer said this, 12:49 he said if Shakespeare came into the room, we would rise up 12:55 to meet him, but if Jesus walked into the room, 12:59 we would bow at His feet and cry Holy, Holy, Holy 13:02 in adoration and worship. 13:05 Now let's consider some of the prophecies in the Old Testament 13:08 that really confirms the divinity of Christ. 13:12 Prophecies that were centuries old fulfilled in Christ. 13:16 The first prophecy we're going to go to is Isaiah, 13:19 if you want to know something about somebody you look at 13:23 their birth. Where were they born, when were they born, 13:27 what was the family of their birth? 13:29 Isaiah chapter seven and we're looking here at verse 14. 13:34 Isaiah 7:14, Eternal Truths Matter, the eternal truth 13:40 that the Bible is the Word of God matters. the eternal truth 13:43 that Jesus Christ is the Divine Son of God eternal, that matters. 13:47 Isaiah 7:14, the first prophecy 13:59 What does Immanuel mean? It means God with us. 14:02 God with us. So here it says a virgin is going to bear a son 14:09 and call his name Emmanuel, God with us. 14:12 Now when you go to the New Testament and you look for 14:15 example at the gospel Luke 1: 26 and 27. 14:18 The angel comes to Mary and the angel declares to Mary 14:26 that this prophecy was fulfilled. 14:29 Luke Chapter 1 verses 26, 27, 14:47 And so the angel comes to her and He says, Mary 14:50 you are highly favored above all women, you are going to 14:53 bear a son and she's perplexed as a virgin, how am I ever 14:57 going to bear a son, I've known no man? 14:59 And, the angel says what's conceived in you is done of 15:03 the Holy Spirit, so you have Isaiah predicted that Jesus had 15:07 be born of a virgin, you have both the gospel of Luke 15:11 and the gospel of Matthew applying this prophecy. 15:14 Now also, if you are studying somebody's lineage, 15:20 you want to know where they were born. 15:22 Did you know that hundreds of years in advance, 15:25 centuries in advance the prophecies in Micah predict 15:31 that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem? 15:34 I mean really, it's quite remarkable. 15:36 Micah, the fifth chapter and the second verse. 15:40 And you'll notice how scripture puts it there 15:43 Micah chapter 5:2. 16:03 Here is the one who's going forth should have been from all 16:07 eternity, that one would be born in Bethlehem. 16:11 How did Micah know that Christ would be born in Bethlehem, 16:15 how did he know that hundreds of years in advance? 16:18 And if you want to see the fulfillment of that you go to 16:21 Luke chapter two, see Jesus is more than a good man 16:24 philosopher, He is the divine Son of God. 16:30 You have irrefutable arguments of Christ being Divine both 16:34 in History and Prophecy in His life that He lived, 16:38 Luke Chapter Two Verse four shows the fulfillment of that. 16:59 Notice what scripture says? 17:02 Being great with child. So they come to this town of 17:06 Bethlehem and Christ is born in Bethlehem. 17:09 They travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem is some 90 miles 17:13 so Mary doesn't have the baby on the way, 17:15 she's nine months pregnant, she has it the very night 17:18 that she is coming into Bethlehem. 17:20 Jesus is more than a good man. 17:23 More than an ethical philosopher, more than a moral teacher, 17:28 prophecy after prophecy reveals He is the divine Son of God. 17:33 And you know the amazing thing? Prophecy talks about His life, 17:38 that He would heal the sick, raise the dead, 17:43 deliver the demoniacs, set free the captives. 17:48 You find that throughout the book of Isiah. 17:53 but most of the prophecies that are so remarkable 17:58 so precise, so accurate come to fulfillment right around 18:03 the time of Christ's death. 18:06 Did you know that it was actually predicted hundreds 18:09 of years in advance that Jesus would be sold for 30 pieces 18:12 of silver? Isn't that the money that He was sold for, 18:16 betrayed for by Judas would be used to buy a Potter's 18:18 Field? You say, is that prophecy in the Bible? 18:22 Indeed it is. 18:23 Take your Bible and turn to Luke, rather Zachariah 11 18:30 verse 13 and 14 and we're going to pick up verse 12 as well 18:36 You're looking at Zachariah, you find that little tiny book 18:40 in the Old Testament written hundreds before the birth 18:44 of Christ and here's what Zachariah says, 18:46 get ready for this because what he says is really amazing. 18:49 Are you ready? Here we go. Zachariah 11: verse 12 and 13. 19:12 How in the world would Zachariah knows the exact 19:20 price of a slave would be 30 pieces of silver when 19:25 Christ came? And how would he know that money would be cast 19:29 in for the temple and the priest wouldn't know what to do 19:34 with is so they would take it and buy a Potter's Field? 19:37 How does Zachariah know that hundreds of years in advance? 19:41 because the Bible is divinely inspired book and Jesus is 19:44 the divine Son of God. 19:46 Now, you look at the fulfillment of that prophecy in Matthew 26 19:51 verse 15. So you can take these Old Testament Prophecies 19:54 and you can compare them to what the New Testament says 19:57 and you find that they are fulfilled exactly, minutely, 20:01 specifically. Matthew 26, we're looking there at verse 15 20:06 and you see the fulfillment of this prophecy. 20:08 The gospel of Matthew is very detailed in its records. 20:13 Why are these so accurate? 20:15 Because God wants us to know the Word of God is accurate 20:27 So here you have mentioned the thirty pieces of silver 20:29 and other gospels talk about the fact that Jesus came 20:32 that Judas came with the betrayal money that he had 20:36 from Jesus and he threw it on the floor of the temple 20:38 and the priest didn't know what to do with it, what'd they do? 20:40 they went out and bought a Potter's Field. 20:41 Prophecy is so incredibly accurate, Jesus is born 20:46 of a virgin exactly like the Bible teaches. 20:48 Jesus is born in Bethlehem exactly as the Bible teaches. 20:52 He performed the works of a Messiah, exactly like it said in 20:56 Isaiah 61 and Luke chapter 4. 20:59 Jesus Christ the Divine Son of God sold for thirty pieces 21:05 of silver, when he was taken used the Potter's Field. 21:09 Jesus indeed was crucified like Psalms predicted. 21:14 Psalm 22, Psalm 22 predicts that Jesus Christ Himself 21:21 would be crucified. You know the story and you know it well. 21:26 Psalm 22 verses 16, 17, and 18. 21:49 Here it says they pierced Christ's hands and feet 21:53 crucifixion was not introduced in the days of David. 21:59 David wrote the Psalms 1,000 years before Christ, 22:02 crucifixion was not introduced until the time of the Romans 22:05 150 years before Christ. 22:07 But yet, over 850 years in advance before crucifixion 22:13 existed...See the Jewish method of capital punishment was stoning 22:17 or hanging, you stoned them or you hung them. 22:20 But here, the Bible said they pierced my hands, 22:23 they pierced my feet and obviously, it's crucifixion 22:27 and as they parted garment they played dice 22:31 they parted my garments among them. 22:33 Such a small detail, why do we have these details 22:39 given to us? The reason we have them given to us is because 22:46 God wants us to know the Bible is not some common book 22:50 or some ordinary book... That Jesus is much more than 22:54 a good man, that there are irrefutable arguments that 22:58 Jesus Christ is divine. Here in Matthew 27 we read the 23:05 confirmation story of the crucifixion, Matthew chapter 27 23:11 and we read the confirmation story of the crucifixion 23:15 verse 5, verse 6, prophecies centuries-old for fulfilled 23:22 in the life of Christ. 23:23 That's Judas. 23:43 Confirmation of the events that took place right at 23:48 the crucifixion, you go on and you read how the nails were 23:52 driven through Christ's hands exactly as the Bible said. 23:56 Christ is different than any philosopher, certainly different 24:00 then Socrates, certainly different than Plato, 24:02 certainly different from Aristotle. 24:05 You know Socrates taught for 50 years, for 40 years, 24:10 Plato taught for 50 years, and Aristotle for 40 years. 24:14 So that's 130 years if you take Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle 24:19 but yet Christ only taught for three and a half years 24:23 yet His teachings have been more impactful in the 130 years 24:30 than the 130 years. Jesus never painted a picture... 24:34 But when you think about it the paintings of Raphael 24:38 and Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci all received their 24:42 inspiration from Him and you think about the fact that 24:45 Jesus wrote no poetry but you have Daunte and Milton, 24:49 and scores of the world's greatest poets who 24:51 are inspired by Christ. 24:55 Jesus composed no music, but you have Hayden, and Hendo, 25:01 and Beethoven, and Bach, and Mendelssohn reach their 25:04 highest perfection of melodies, and hymns, and symphonies, 25:07 and oratories in His praise. 25:09 See, every sphere of human existence has been impacted 25:14 by the living Christ and He can impact your life too. 25:20 If Jesus is divine and He is, if He is the Son of God, and He is 25:26 then His offer of eternal life is real. 25:30 And Jesus says to you and me today, if we confess our sins, 25:36 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and 25:40 cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 25:42 Are you burdened with guilt this day? 25:46 Does condemnation for your past weigh you down? 25:50 Is it like a great weight upon your shoulder that you can't 25:55 seem to get off? 25:57 Jesus speaks to you today you did not watch this telecast 26:03 by accident, you didn't tune in to Three Angels Broadcasting 26:09 just by chance. God designed that you hear this program today 26:15 and it is this within Christ, this Christ of scripture 26:20 this Christ who is divine that wants to speak to 26:25 your heart right now. Do you long for forgiveness? 26:29 Do you long for freedom of guilt? 26:31 Although it may be that you are struggling 26:34 you're struggling with some sin in your life. 26:37 You're struggling with some habit and it just appears 26:42 that you cannot in any way overcome, 26:45 you've failed on this thing again and again and again. 26:50 Jesus is there for you, He faced temptation by Satan 26:56 full force and as He did, He came off victorious. 27:02 Scripture says in all things He was tempted like we are 27:06 yet without sin. 27:10 May I pray for you right now then you will sense 27:13 His forgiveness, that you'll sense His grace? 27:17 that you'll sense His strength, that you'll sense His power, 27:21 right now, let's pray. 27:22 Father in Heaven, I thank you for those who have 27:26 turned into the broadcast today that are looking for 27:29 meaning and purpose in their life, they are looking for 27:32 only the peace that Jesus Christ can give, that are looking for 27:35 forgiveness and freedom from condemnation and new power 27:38 I just pray right now that you touch somebody 27:41 May the peace of Christ flood into their heart, 27:44 may they sense that your open arms are forgiveness 27:46 and for those struggling with habits may the power of Christ 27:50 touch them and change them now. 27:52 We pray, in the precious, wonderful name of Jesus. Amen! |
Revised 2024-06-06