3ABN On the Road

Pascal's Wager

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: David Asscherick

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000799


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.


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Revised 2014-12-17