Participants: David Asscherick
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000799
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01:00 Good morning, Southern.
01:02 We're going to be starting with our first song, 01:06 "Jesus is coming again." 01:09 Amen. Amen. 01:10 Lift up the trumpet, Jesus is coming again. 01:24 Lift up the trumpet, and loud let it ring 01:29 Jesus is coming again 01:33 Cheer up, ye pilgrims be joyful and sing 01:39 Jesus is coming again 01:44 Coming again, coming again 01:49 Jesus is coming again 01:55 Echo it, hilltops, proclaim it, ye plains 02:00 Jesus is coming again 02:05 Coming in glory, the Lamb that was slain 02:11 Jesus is coming again 02:16 Coming again, coming again 02:21 Jesus is coming again 02:27 Heavings of earth, tell the vast, wondering throng 02:32 Jesus is coming again 02:37 Tempests and whirlwinds, the anthem prolong 02:43 Jesus is coming again 02:48 Coming again, coming again 02:53 Jesus is coming again 02:59 Nations are angry by this we do know 03:04 Jesus is coming again 03:09 Knowledge increases, men run to and fro 03:15 Jesus is coming again 03:20 Coming again, coming again 03:25 Jesus is coming again. 03:32 Amen. 03:34 Our next song is also our theme song for this weekend. 03:38 Power in the Blood. 03:39 There is tremendous power in the blood of Jesus. 03:43 Amen. 03:59 Would you be free from your burden of sin? 04:03 There's power in the blood, power in the blood 04:08 Would you o'er evil a victory win? 04:13 There's wonderful power in the blood 04:17 There is power, power, wonder working power 04:22 In the blood of the Lamb 04:27 There is power, power, wonder working power 04:32 In the precious blood of the Lamb 04:38 Would you be free from your passion and pride? 04:42 There's power in the blood, power in the blood 04:48 Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tide 04:52 There's wonderful power in the blood 04:57 There is power, power, wonder working power 05:01 In the blood of the Lamb 05:06 There is power, power, wonder working power 05:11 In the precious blood of the Lamb 05:17 Would you do service for Jesus your King? 05:21 There's power in the blood, power in the blood 05:26 Would you live daily His praises to sing? 05:31 There's wonderful power in the blood 05:35 There is power, power, wonder working power 05:40 In the blood of the Lamb 05:45 There is power, power, wonder working power 05:50 In the precious blood of the Lamb 05:57 Thank you so much. 05:59 Good morning, Southern. 06:01 On behalf of the SEYC Executive committee, 06:03 I want to welcome you again 06:05 to the 2007 South East Youth Conference. 06:07 Our theme this year is 'Transformed by His power' 06:10 taken from Romans 12: 2. 06:12 And I believe that this weekend 06:14 we can experience transformation because of three key reasons. 06:17 And number one that is you, young people and I. 06:20 Number two, working of the Holy Spirit. 06:22 Number three, prayer and Bible study. 06:24 I want to encourage you this weekend. 06:25 I know you didn't know today, 06:26 but from now on when you come bring your Bibles 06:29 because you're going to need them. 06:30 Once again welcome to SEYC. 06:33 Well, invite us to kneel 06:35 as we come before God in prayer this morning, shall we? 06:45 Father God, it's a privilege this morning 06:47 to be able to come and to bend our knees before You, 06:51 recognizing that You are Lord of our lives and savior and God 06:56 and that we are in complete need of who You are. 06:59 We need You in our heart and our life to change us, 07:01 to be transformed by You. 07:04 And so, Father, that's the reason 07:05 that we're here this morning. 07:06 And so I pray that, that in our songs, in our music, 07:09 in our preaching, in our hearts, our attitudes 07:12 may everything bring honor and glory to You this morning. 07:15 And may the soils of our heart find fertile place 07:20 for Your Spirit to implant and to be real in us. 07:24 We love You and salute You in Christ name. 07:27 Amen. 07:38 Good morning again, Southern. 07:39 Good morning. 07:41 It is my great honor 07:42 to introduce our speaker for the weekend to you. 07:45 He's the director of Arise Institute which is in Michigan. 07:48 And it is a training school for lay missions sorry. 07:56 Before he speaks though 07:58 we have a special music by Jonathan Meharry 08:02 who's friend of mine 08:04 and a graphic designer here at Southern. 08:06 The next voice you'll hear after him would be David Asscherick. 08:38 There's a call going out 08:41 To the land in every nation 08:48 A call to those who pledge allegiance 08:51 To the cross of Christ 08:57 A call to true humility 09:01 To live our lives responsibly 09:05 To deepen our devotion 09:08 to the cross at any price 09:14 Let us then be sober 09:17 Moving only in the Spirit 09:23 As aliens and strangers 09:26 In a hostile foreign land 09:32 The message we're proclaiming 09:36 Is repentance and forgiveness 09:40 The offer of salvation 09:42 To a dying race of man 09:48 To love the lord our God 09:51 Is the heartbeat of our mission 09:55 The spring from which our service overflows 10:01 Across the street or around the world 10:06 The mission's still the same 10:09 Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus name 10:27 As a candle is consumed 10:31 By the passion of the flame 10:36 Spilling light unsparingly 10:40 Into a darkened room 10:45 Let us burn to know him deeper 10:49 Then a service flaming bright 10:52 Will radiate his passions 10:56 And blaze with holy light 11:01 To love the lord our God 11:03 Is the heartbeat of our mission 11:08 The spring from which our service overflows 11:13 Across the street or around the world 11:18 The mission's still the same 11:21 Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus name 11:27 To love the lord our God 11:30 Is the heartbeat of our mission 11:34 The spring from which our service overflows 11:40 Across the street or around the world 11:44 The mission's still the same 11:47 Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus name 11:52 Well love the lord our God 11:57 is the heartbeat of our mission 12:00 The spring from which our service overflows 12:06 Across the street or around the world 12:10 The mission's still the same 12:13 Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus name 12:20 Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus name 12:26 Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus name 12:53 All right. 12:55 Good morning, every one. 12:56 Good morning. 12:58 Happy Thursday. Happy Thursday. 13:00 It seems like the protocol 13:02 that is appropriate is for me to say, good morning, Southern. 13:06 I think we've heard that like ten times this morning. 13:09 I think you need a new opening line. 13:12 It is a great privilege for me to be here. 13:14 My name is Pastor David Asscherick 13:15 and I'm looking forward to the SEYC weekend. 13:19 How many of you are planning on attending 13:21 most or all of those meetings? 13:24 Okay, good, that's what I want to see. 13:26 Hopefully by the end of this morning's presentation 13:28 you will be encouraged, 13:30 if you have not already made that decision 13:32 to attend these meetings 13:33 not because I'm going to be here, 13:35 but because I believe the Lord Jesus Christ 13:37 is going to be here this weekend. Amen. 13:39 It's not about a man, it's about the God 13:42 that speaks through man 13:43 and the God that is condescended to minister to men 13:46 and I'm looking forward to this weekend. 13:48 I've been praying about it and anticipating it 13:51 and I want you to know that my goal at the end of this weekend 13:53 is to be transformed by this power. Amen. 13:55 Amen and I hope that's your goal as well. 13:58 Our presentation this morning 13:59 is actually one of my very favorite presentations, 14:02 its entitled Pascal's Wager. 14:05 Now Blaise Pascal was a French Mathematician and Scientist. 14:09 He was born in 1623 14:12 and he died at the age of 39 in 1662. 14:16 At the age of 31, Blaise Pascal became a Christian, 14:19 that is to say, he put his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 14:22 And from that time at the age 31, 14:24 he decided that he was going to write an exhaustive treatment, 14:29 an exhaustive defense, 14:30 an apologetic of the Christian faith. 14:32 He wanted defend Christianity from the various onslaughts 14:36 and attacks of skeptics and infidels and others. 14:39 And so he began to compile together 14:41 a number of writings and essays and little things 14:44 that he would scribble even on small pieces of paper 14:46 and he would put them into his notes. 14:48 Well, of course he died 14:49 before he was ever able to complete the project. 14:50 He died young at 39. 14:52 And after he had passed away, 14:55 the various relatives and others went to his estate 14:58 and they gathered up all of these different writings 15:01 that he had then preparing sermon notes 15:03 and philosophical musings 15:04 and this thing that was going 15:06 to become this exhaustive compendium, 15:08 this defense of the Christian faith. 15:10 And they put it all together into a single book 15:13 and published it in the French language 15:15 and that volume was entitled "Pensees" 15:17 which simply means to think. 15:19 We get our English word pensive from that. 15:22 Pensees, thoughts on God 15:25 and on philosophy and on life and it's meaning. 15:28 Well, probably the most famous of those pensees, 15:32 those thoughts that Pascal, Blaise Pascal 15:34 was known for is something simply called the wager. 15:38 And he has become so well known for this, 15:40 that it is now referred to colloquially 15:43 and in philosophical circles as Pascal's Wager. 15:48 Now as we get into this wager this morning, 15:50 I'd like to begin by sort of debunking 15:52 and disabusing your minds of this canard 15:55 that goes something like this. 15:57 Religionists are not intelligent. 16:00 That is to say that when you enter the church door 16:03 you have to leave your mind, your brain at the door. 16:06 Beloved, I became a Christian nine years ago. 16:09 I was a crazy punk rocker. 16:11 I was studying medicine at the University of Wyoming, 16:13 had no interest whatsoever in the things of religion 16:16 and my perception of religious people 16:19 was generally that they were ignorant 16:21 and that they needed some sort of a crutch to get them 16:24 through the difficulties and vicissitudes of life. 16:26 Now ten years later, I can tell you that it is not at all true 16:30 that Christianity is some how naive or unintellectual. 16:34 Is there anybody that wants to say amen to that? Amen. 16:36 But there is this general perception 16:39 not just amongst those outside of the church, 16:41 but even sometimes amongst those inside of the church. 16:44 The idea is that if you're going to live the life of faith 16:47 that cannot also be a life of intelligence 16:49 and intellectual rigor. 16:51 In Hebrews 11:1, the author of the Book of Hebrews, 16:55 sort of gives us our prototypical definition of faith 16:59 and that is, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for," 17:02 and what is the next word there? 17:04 "The evidence of things not seen." 17:08 We sometimes have this idea in our mind 17:10 that faith and evidence are contradictory, 17:13 but in reality, faith and evidence are complimentary. 17:17 When you become a Christian you do not have to cease thinking. 17:21 Can someone say, amen? Amen. 17:23 In fact I have done more thinking, more critical 17:25 evaluative thinking as a Christian 17:28 than I ever did prior to my conversion to Christ. 17:30 Now notice the next presentation 17:32 or the next slide here on the projector here. 17:35 This is taken from the little book "Steps to Christ." 17:38 Okay, a marvelous, marvelous book. 17:40 I highly recommend you read that book. 17:41 In fact, I make a habit of reading 17:43 that book every single year at least once. 17:45 Now listen to this very rational, very reasonable, 17:49 very methodical definition here of faith, 17:52 and tell me if it makes sense to you. 17:53 She says, "God never" 17:56 what is that word everyone? Never. 17:58 "God never asks us to believe without giving sufficient," 18:03 what's the next word? Evidence. 18:05 Evidence upon which to base our what? Faith. 18:08 Hey, that sounds just like Hebrews 11:1. 18:11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, 18:13 the evidence of things not seen. 18:15 Here it is God never asks us to believe 18:17 without giving sufficient evidence 18:19 upon which to base our faith. 18:20 So faith is based upon evidence. 18:23 Faith is based upon what, everyone? 18:25 Evidence. Evidence. 18:26 Let's say that together. 18:28 Faith is based upon evidence and yet again, 18:31 faith is based upon evidence. 18:34 "His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, 18:39 are all established by testimony that is contrary to reason." 18:45 What does that say? You're not paying attention. 18:46 You're students, you're supposed to be learning 18:48 to think and act evaluatively and critically. 18:51 They're all established by testimony that, what? 18:53 Appeals. 18:54 Appeals to our reason and this testimony is sparse. 18:58 Abundant. 19:00 This testimony is abundant. 19:01 Our faith must rest upon what, everyone? 19:04 So that's the second time in this one quotation here 19:07 faith rests upon evidence. 19:08 Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity. 19:11 God is a gentleman He does not give us 19:13 exhaustive proof of His existence and His character. 19:16 He has to allow there to be opportunity for doubt, 19:19 while those who really desire to know the truth 19:21 will find plenty of, what's the next word? 19:23 Evidence. 19:24 Evidence, on which to rest their what? 19:26 Faith. Faith. 19:27 So three times, faith rests upon evidence. 19:30 Faith rests upon evidence. 19:31 Faith rests upon what? 19:33 Evidence. 19:34 Now this idea of being intellectually credible 19:38 and still very spiritually minded is something 19:40 that I want to try and communicate this morning. 19:42 Now when Blaise Pascal approached 19:44 the question of Christianity, 19:46 when Blaise Pascal approached the question of the origin, 19:49 meaning, morality, and destiny of the human enterprise, 19:53 he did not approach it from 19:55 what you might call a typical religious perspective. 20:00 His perspective was the perspective 20:02 of a scientist and a mathematician. 20:05 Now I would highly recommend if you find the time, 20:08 if you've not already done it to go online 20:10 and just look up Pascal's Wager 20:12 and you can actually find the translation into English. 20:15 It's about four or five pages of his wager. 20:18 But what I've done here in the interest of brevity 20:21 is taken his wager 20:22 and basically summarized it into a single paragraph. 20:25 You tell me if it makes sense to you. 20:26 Now remember, he is approaching this 20:28 from the perspective of a mathematician. 20:31 Perspective of what everyone? Mathematician. 20:33 A mathematician and a scientist. 20:34 Here we go. 20:36 This is basically a truncated version of Pascal's Wager. 20:40 God either exists or He doesn't. 20:44 So far so good everyone? 20:46 There are only two possible kinds of universes. 20:49 We ether live in a theistic universe 20:51 or we live in a non-theistic universe. 20:53 This exhausts the possibilities. 20:56 It's either or. 20:57 God either exists or He doesn't. 20:59 Very simple, very easy starting premise. 21:02 "Based on the testimony," said Pascal 21:04 "Of both general revelation" 21:06 that would be nature etcetera, 21:08 "And special revelation," 21:09 he's referring there to the scriptures. 21:11 "It is safe to assume that God does in fact exist. 21:16 It is, he summarized, abundantly fair to concede 21:20 that there is at least a 50% chance 21:23 that the Christian creator God exists." 21:25 You can see where he is going with this? 21:26 There's at least a 50% chance. 21:28 "Therefore since we stand to gain eternity, 21:32 and thus infinity," 21:33 as a mathematician of course he would have been 21:35 keenly interested in things related to infinity. 21:37 Mathematicians to this day debate 21:39 whether or nor there is such a thing is an actual infinity 21:42 or infinity is only an abstraction. 21:43 So this idea of eternal life or everlasting life 21:47 or infinite life was very interesting. 21:50 He was very keenly interested in this and so. 21:53 "Since we stand to gain eternity," 21:55 and that's why definition 21:56 "Infinity, the wise or safe choice," said Pascal 21:59 "Is to live as though God does exist. 22:03 If we are right, we gain everything," 22:05 and what do we lose? 22:07 Nothing. Nothing. 22:08 But what if we're wrong? 22:09 "If we're wrong we lose nothing and we gain," what? 22:12 Nothing. Nothing. 22:13 "Therefore, based on simple mathematics, 22:15 Pascal reasoned that only the fool 22:18 would choose to live the Godless life. 22:19 This is a simplified version of The Wager." 22:23 Now does this make sense generally, yes or no? 22:25 Yes. 22:26 Yes or no? Yes. 22:28 You can follow the basic concepts of what he's saying. 22:30 If we accept the gospel claim on its own terms 22:34 and the promise that is being made 22:35 therefore example in John 3:16, 22:37 "For God so loved the world, 22:38 that He gave his only begotten son, 22:40 that whosoever believeth in them should not," what? 22:42 "Perish," but have what? 22:44 Everlasting-- "Everlasting life." 22:46 If that claim is accepted on its own merits Pascal said, hmm. 22:51 If we put our faith in this God 22:54 and if this God turns out to be real 22:57 then we stand the potential 22:59 at least of gaining an actual infinite. 23:02 That is an infinite life or an eternal life. 23:04 And so he said lets back up here a little bit 23:06 and let's ask the more basic question, does this God exist? 23:10 Now you're going to find atheist and agnostics and skeptics 23:14 and others who will give a variety of evidences 23:17 that they believe compelling demonstrate 23:19 that God does not in fact exist. 23:21 And then on this side you would have those people, 23:24 intelligent people, reasonable people, 23:26 rational people like a Blaise Pascal, 23:28 who would give what they consider 23:29 to be compelling evidences 23:31 to the fact that God does in fact exist. 23:33 And so what he said is, okay, listen, 23:34 let's split the difference. 23:35 You think that your arguments are conclusive. 23:37 You think that your arguments are conclusive. 23:39 Let's just put it right down the middle in the interest 23:41 of absolute transparency and fairness 23:43 and let's just say 50-50 chance. 23:45 Let's just call it 50-50. 23:47 Now of course Blaise Pascal believed as I believed 23:48 that it was far better than 50% chance, 23:51 but in the interest of fairness, 23:53 he said 50% chance that the Christian creator God exists. 23:56 If he ends up existing then what we stand to gain, 24:00 if the gospel claim is true is an actual infinite 24:04 and if it's not true, have we really lost anything? 24:08 This is his whole point. 24:10 Now I'm not a gambling person 24:13 simply because I tend to lose, 24:16 but I understand the principles of gambling. 24:18 I understand what makes the mind of a gambler work 24:22 and basically you have three factors 24:24 that affect whether or not, 24:27 you would determine if a wager is a positive wager, 24:30 a potentially beneficial wager or not. 24:32 And they're basically three things, 24:34 the size of the prize, the size of the risk, 24:36 and the chances of actually gaining the promised prize. 24:39 Okay, number one, size of the prize. 24:41 Number two, size of the risk 24:43 and number three, what are the chances of actually winning it? 24:45 You can take any wager 24:47 and plug it into this threefold equation 24:50 and you can basically determine 24:51 whether or not it is a justifiable wager 24:54 or it is an absurd wager. 24:56 Take for example the purchasing of lottery tickets. 24:58 Now I've never purchased a lottery ticket 25:00 because there's one social commentator said, 25:03 "My chances of winning the lottery 25:05 not purchasing a ticket are only slightly worst 25:08 than those who do purchase the tickets." 25:13 So I don't know how much you know about 25:15 pastors and their salaries, 25:17 but I don't have even one dollar 25:19 to spare on a lottery ticket. 25:21 But we can at least understand the rationale of somebody 25:24 that would purchase a lottery ticket. 25:26 Let's plug this into our three-tiered equation here. 25:27 Number one, what is the size of the prize to be gained? 25:32 Well, I suppose it depends on the state 25:33 that you're resident of, but sometimes 25:34 the New York lottery can upwards of 25:36 dollars. 25:40 Anybody here could use that kind of money? Okay. 25:42 So the size of the prize is sufficient 25:45 to at least elicit our interest, right? 25:48 If the advertisement for the lottery said win $53. 25:54 You know, it would be like, for real, 25:55 you know, all right. 25:59 In fact I've just got to throw this in 26:01 because it just boggles my mind. 26:05 I'm not a television watcher. 26:06 I don't have any time for the television. 26:08 Life is too precious for television. 26:10 And but I have friends 26:11 that love to watch the television and onetime 26:13 I was at one of my friends house and he's one of these people 26:17 that has the television on 24/7, right. 26:19 I think he's afraid he's going to miss something. 26:20 And I'm afraid that he's missing something 26:22 and that something is called life, 26:24 but that's beside the point. 26:25 So he has the television on all the time, right? 26:27 And this show came on called Fear Factor. 26:30 You ever heard of this? Just the most ludicrous thing. 26:33 I would just like, no, this is not real. 26:36 So they these like spiders, 26:39 that were about the size of a saucer plate 26:42 and you had to eat them, right. 26:45 I mean, they were just these big like 26:46 African cave dwelling spiders. 26:49 They had them in a bucket there. 26:51 And you know there was like the mom and the son teams. 26:54 So it was like three teams, 26:55 mom and son, mom and son, mom and son 26:57 and I'm watching this thinking, no, this is not going to happen. 27:00 Spiders just these riving crab looking beasts in this bucket, 27:05 several of them in there. 27:06 And the host is just standing there as if he's saying, 27:08 you know, what's behind door number one? 27:10 Just talking totally normal, totally plain. 27:12 What you have to do is eat the spiders 27:14 and whichever team eats the most spiders 27:17 gets to move on to the next round. 27:20 That was final. No, this is, no. 27:23 This is not for real. 27:24 And sure enough to my utter astonishment and incredulity, 27:27 I could not believe it. 27:29 The buzzer goes off. 27:30 60 second timer and they start eating spider 27:34 and the legs are coming out. 27:36 And I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing, 27:38 so I'm thinking to myself that the world has gone insane. 27:41 I took seven years off of television 27:43 and the whole world falls apart. 27:46 And so then anyway I continued to watch, 27:48 to my utter amazement 27:49 and then they announced the prize, $50,000. 27:56 I thought to myself $50,000? 28:00 No, go work for a year. 28:10 I wasn't resonating with me. 28:13 I didn't--I don't know what was going on there. 28:16 I wouldn't eat that many gummy worms for $50,000. 28:20 So anyway here's the point, 28:22 you know, they put up these large numbers, 28:24 these astronomical numbers 28:25 that are designed to get your attention. 28:27 Two hundred million dollars, 28:28 hundred and seventy five million dollars 28:30 and so someone looks at the size of the prize 28:31 and they say I want the prize. 28:33 Well, then the next question is 28:35 what's the size of the risk involved? 28:36 Well, in the case of the lottery, it's a piece of cake. 28:38 It's a buck or 2 bucks, right? Right, Jim, just 2 bucks. 28:41 So, I mean, most people would say, I mean, he knows. 28:47 Most would say no problem, right? 28:50 It's a small risk. Right, it's a small risk. 28:53 There's not a person in this room 28:54 who doesn't routinely waste money, right? 28:58 And so put your--anybody like gets quiet like. 29:04 The ministerial student goes not me, anyway. 29:10 So the size of the risk is small. 29:13 But here's the rub of course when it comes to the lottery, 29:14 what are the chances of actually winning? 29:16 Well, the chances are as we've already suggested 29:17 astronomically low, right. 29:19 But at least you can understand the mentality of somebody 29:21 that would purchase a lottery ticket. 29:23 Size of the prize is enormous, size of the risk is quite small 29:26 but of course the rub is 29:27 the chances of actually winning are also quite small. 29:30 Now let's invent our own little wager here 29:32 and plug it into this three-tiered equation here. 29:34 Let's imagine that I have a coin. 29:36 I'm going to flip that coin, 29:37 it's either heads or tails, okay. 29:39 And if you call it correctly, let's say that you get $50,000. 29:44 Let's go back to our 50,000 figure. 29:45 So if we flip it correctly, you get $50,000. 29:48 If you call in correctly, you spend 2 years in prison. 29:54 Okay, so let's plug that into our equation here. 29:57 What will be the size of the prize? 29:58 Fifty thousand dollars. 30:00 Is that a reasonably large sum of money? 30:02 Yeah, not enough to cause me to eat eight of these 30:04 African cave dwelling spiders, 30:06 but it's the money, so size of the prize reasonably large. 30:09 What's the size of the risk? 30:13 Is that a risk you would be willing to take? 30:16 Not even you poor college students. 30:18 No. It's funny. 30:20 I delivered this sermon at Loma Linda University. 30:22 Same things, student convocation 30:24 and I did it for $500,000 and 5 years, right? 30:29 I said how many of you would take that wager? 30:31 No--like two or three hands go up, right. 30:33 And I'm thinking to myself 30:34 I even said, I said I can't believe more 30:36 of you wouldn't sign up for this wager. 30:37 It's only 5 years in prison. 30:39 Most of you are already in prison for 5 years right here. 30:44 And you're paying $500,000 over here. 30:50 Oh, I'm not going to get invited back, am I? 30:53 So at least you can understand the concept. 30:56 The size of the prize, say $50,000. 30:58 Size of the risk though two years in prison, 31:02 chances of winning in the coin toss would be what? 31:05 Fifty percent. 31:06 Now do you think there are people that would do that 31:08 that would sign up for that wager? Sure. 31:10 Anybody who's ever robbed a bank 31:12 would sign up for that one, right? 31:14 Because the chances of getting caught are at least 50-50 31:16 and so people would sign up for that wager. 31:18 Now I'm not signing up for that wager. 31:19 And probably the vast majority of you 31:21 who are thinking wouldn't sign up for that wager. 31:23 Any single wager that you encounter in your life, 31:27 you just ask yourself three basic questions, 31:29 what's the size of the prize, what's the size of the risk 31:31 and what are the chances of actually winning. 31:33 Are we all in the same page, yes or no? Yes. 31:35 Okay, so Blaise Pascal addresses 31:38 the question of religion from this perspective. 31:42 Now let me give you the next quotation here. 31:44 This is actually taken from Simon Singh's book 31:46 "Fermat's Enigma" Page 43. 31:48 Okay, now follow this quotation through very carefully. 31:51 Okay, it will require a little bit of thinking, 31:53 but I know you're not afraid to do that here at a university. 31:55 Here we go. 31:56 "Pascal was convinced 31:58 that he could use his probability theories," 31:59 he's basically the father 32:01 of the modern probability and statistics. 32:02 So if you want to be angry with somebody, 32:04 he would be the one. 32:06 "Pascal was convinced 32:07 that he could use his probability theories 32:08 to justify belief in God. 32:10 He stated that the excitement a gambler feels 32:14 when making a bet is equal to the amount he might win 32:18 multiplied by the probability of winning it." 32:21 That's what we've just been discussing. 32:23 "He then argued that the possible sprize 32:26 of eternal happiness has an infinite value 32:29 and the probability of entering heaven, 32:31 no mater how small, is certainly finite. 32:35 Therefore, according to Pascal's definition, 32:38 religion was a game of infinite excitement 32:41 and one worth playing, 32:42 because multiplying an infinite prize 32:45 by a finite probability results in infinity. 32:50 Is everyone following that, yes or no? Yes. 32:52 Very simple reasoning, isn't it? 32:54 Now I'm opening my Bible to Mark Chapter 10 32:57 and if you have your Bibles, 32:58 then you can just follow along, very simple. 33:01 A rich young ruler has approached Jesus 33:03 and has said good master, 33:05 what should I do to enter heaven? 33:07 What do I get to inherit eternal life? 33:09 And He said keep the commandments. 33:11 All this I've done since I was a young person 33:13 and he names up all the commandments 33:14 and He says one thing you lack 33:16 sell all that you have and give to the poor. 33:17 Well, the rich young ruler was exceedingly wealthy 33:19 and did not want to liquidate his assets 33:22 just to benefit the less fortunate 33:24 and so the Bible says 33:25 that he walked away from Jesus very sorrowful, okay. 33:29 Well, the disciples were incredulous. 33:31 I mean, they could not believe 33:32 that number one he had walked away 33:33 and then what Jesus said 33:35 next they were totally unprepared for. 33:36 Jesus says it's tough for a rich man to be saved. 33:40 And the disciples are thinking, what? 33:42 This guy is a Jew, he's automatically saved. 33:45 He's a healthy Jew, he's doubly saved. 33:47 He's a healthy, wealthy Jew, he's triply saved. 33:49 And Jesus has the temerity to say, 33:51 it's tough for a rich man to be saved. 33:55 Now what Simon Peter says next 33:56 is so insightful, verse 28 of Mark 10. 33:59 Then Simon Peter began to say to him, 34:01 "See, we have left everything and followed You." 34:05 We've left it all and followed You. 34:07 In other words, what do we get? 34:09 Right, you just say to this guy sell all 34:11 and he'll get eternal life. 34:13 Look at what we've left. 34:14 We left everything, now we didn't leave as much as he left, 34:16 but we left it at all. 34:17 What do we get? 34:19 Now listen to Jesus' answer phenomenal, phenomenal. 34:22 Now there's two tiers to Jesus' answers. 34:24 See if you can pick them both up. 34:26 Verse 29, "Jesus speaking, 34:27 'Assuredly I say to you Simon Peter 34:29 there is no one who has left house 34:31 or brothers or sisters or father or mother 34:32 or wife or children or lands 34:34 for my sake and the gospels, 34:36 who will not receive a hundred fold now in this time." 34:41 Got it? "A hundred fold now in this time 34:45 houses and brothers, and sisters, 34:47 and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions 34:48 and in the age to come eternal life. 34:56 Peter says, hey, we left it all what do we get? 34:59 Jesus says I'll tell you what you get. 35:01 Now in this time, in other words, 35:03 right here, right now, today, 35:05 I will give you a hundred fold better life 35:08 than you would otherwise have, 35:10 and in the age to come, I'll let you live forever. 35:20 Let's plug this into our three-tiered equation. 35:22 Size of the prize, size of the risk, 35:24 chances of actually winning. 35:26 What is the size of the prize to be gained 35:29 if the gospel is true? 35:31 It's eternal life, size of the prize infinite, 35:35 okay, size of the prize. 35:36 What's the size of the risk involved? 35:38 Lets just skip that one for a second, 35:40 come right back to it. 35:41 What are the chances of winning? 35:43 If we accept the gospel wager on its own terms, 35:45 what are the chances of winning? 35:48 Well, let's think through that. 35:49 "For God so loved the world 35:51 that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever," 35:53 that means every one of you, 35:54 even the most knuckleheaded among you could be saved, right? 35:58 Even the greatest sinner among you could be saved, 36:01 so far so good? 36:03 So size of the prize? Infinite. 36:04 Chances of actually winning? One hundred percent. 36:08 So then the third one is what's the size of the risk? 36:12 Well, this is where the robber meets the road. 36:15 In order to demonstrate that there was a risk 36:17 you know what you would have to demonstrate? 36:19 That the life of the Christian 36:22 was inferior in either quantity or quality 36:26 to the life of the non-Christian. 36:28 You would have to show 36:30 that you stand to have a worse life 36:32 if you accept the wager then you otherwise would? 36:36 But I'm here to tell you. 36:38 Your life will be exactly 36:39 what Jesus said if you accept the gospel wager. 36:42 One hundred fold better, right here, right now, 36:47 now in this time and bonus of bonuses, 36:53 you get to live forever. Amen. 36:55 So what's the size of the prize? 36:57 It's an infinite prize. 36:58 What's the size of the risk? 36:59 There is no risk. 37:01 In fact so far from there being a risk, 37:02 there is actually a positive benefit 37:05 to be gained by entering into the gospel wager. 37:09 Your life is better, more satisfying, 37:12 more fulfilling, more glorious. 37:14 God has a plan for you not just pie in the sky by and by, 37:18 right here right now a better life to the glory of God. 37:23 And what are your chances of winning? 37:25 You put your faith in Jesus. 37:28 Your chances of winning are 100%. 37:33 We can understand why Pascal said 37:35 only the fool would choose to live the Godless life. |
Revised 2014-12-17