How can I trust the Bible is reliable?

All right, no more technical difficulties. How we doing this morning? I'm great. Yeah, we made it through all the complicated Parts like me failing to check the audio this morning cuz I'm also on SoundCloud.

All of this is super important first this morning and you spare a lot of this is constant. We travel together to church. A back in 2020 and I hate that we got covid in the middle of all this but we did a year of biblical intercede and it started off with 4 weeks called. What is the Bible? So so a lot of this content was in that and it took us four weeks and some of those notes were like 1200 pages long. I went back and look those are like 52 minutes Herman because it's that key and I recognize a Sunday morning is not a seminary class. It's not designed to be done and everything that we do that the goal. I think of the preacher to go to the sermon is to Herald the gospel to the people to which he belongs to which he leaves and that's what we're trying to do. That's what I thought. We love the Bible. We believe it to be the word of God and are infallible profitable for rebuking for exhorting for calling us to live fully Into the Light by the Jesus has called us to and that's why we're Doing a series called explore. So we can ask it questions questions have the capacity to change our lives and I said it's over the last 3 or 4 weeks cuz I think it's worth reminder city-parish within city-parish. It is not enough to say that we believe in Jesus or that we believe that the Bible is true without being able to say what we believe about Jesus. Why is Jesus who he is? He is he who he claims to be last week. Is he truly God and man at the same time? Why is that important and this week specifically what do we believe the Bible teaches? But before we get into that we got to talk about like what is the Bible of the question in the Explorer gun series is how can I trust that? The Bible is reliable if you haven't thought of before then my aim is not Make you not believe in the scriptures, hopefully the opposite but I believe important questions most of you. However, it probably heard these things because it's a huge question and like all the other hand our life how we view Jesus how we view the church how would you our own lives and submissions to Jesus will spend directly with how we approach the scriptures. Okay, if we're honest, I think some of us have a weird kind of tension a weird relationship with the Bible and it is weird and it's okay to say that it's real talk about so much weirdness in in a second. For some of you that the Bible kind of like that proverbial or for some of you that literal crazy uncle, but I'm not like anybody if you don't then you seen on TV, right? It's kind of like how I understand we're related and yeah your family you're my dad's brother or my mom's brother or you married in the family. We don't know what she was thinking. You know, you're like you do when I'm around you and sometimes you can forgive but when I'm not around you I'm scratching my head. Like why are you the way that you are? I just don't understand you if I never spend another Christmas with you if I'll be okay there buddy. Tell me all like this is really specific and I have a crazy uncle. Don't think of some of us. This is our relationship with scriptures and that's okay because we have a Bible makes that has multiple sex scandals that has Global flood and we're just supposed to take it and grin and bear it and some of us have grown up in a church replace. Stop asking questions. The Bible says that you believe it enough said, but that's not enough to say that I'm going to get there stay with me we read about this book. We read this book itself and it's weird. It's strange and it is beautiful. I was confused by it and Drawn to it and not is okay some of that stems from the fact that I think we don't have a great relationship with the scriptures and understanding where they came from why they're sort of why the Lord would give us something called the Bible in the first place. We're down with Jesus. And all that other stuff, we don't really know what to do with and I'd only just asked you this question because I think it's a good question start off with that when you think about the Bible and you think about the ancient book that it is why has it become for those of you who professed Jesus? I'm assuming that it is this source of divine guidance or authority in your life.

Is responsible because someone told me to that's what I've always been taught is is a kid or is it adults or since? I've been a Christian. That's what someone told me like when you think about this like why is the Bible which is an ancient text which again it is as weird as weird gifts have some stuff that we should probably be totally not okay with why is it the authoritative source of our ethics of our understanding of what it means to be human? I eat anthropology why? Why is the defining source of who God is? The first things first this is not the first time you guys have heard this. I think it's a huge part of the problem is we have what would Tim Mackie with with Bible project? Cause a glitch in the system? Okay. So this glitch is causing a paradox the way our view of scripture. And again, I'm assuming that this is over 50% of you if I thought I was saying the way that I know you is I passed you is I love you as I do like with you I would say this is true. I'll probably more than it is not the case for but there's this Paradox that most of us have never really taken the time to think about when it comes to the Bible this glitch in the system has to do with some of our basic assumptions about what the Bible actually is, like, where did it come from? Why do we have why of all things that God give us a Bible like a week we could have easily had another codex. God could have just given us a cloud in the sky. Right and it could have just eliminated. All of his will for Scott could have been like what's the guy from Lord of the Rings like more is it more toward? That's the thing. I saw it on. I mean, honestly, he could have been that he could have chosen we can really hang out up in about what I do and you could have told us to give us Bible like any of you guys talk about that like why the scriptures Why the Bible? What are we supposed to do with it? And again, I think it creates this Paradox where we ask these questions and I want I want to just want to give you an illustration. I'm going to show you an MC Escher drawing of shown this to you before any MCS your fans in the room. Y'all don't appreciate art parently Millennials and the older Millennials actually gen-xers. I'm not talking about MC Hammer. Okay, you let him see I know that I know what that's leaking like a touch the 3rd. This is not even close to his but you see the drawing it what's happening in the drawing. So explain it to me. Aunt yeah, what's happening Hands drawing hands, right? Let's Paradox know before you think I'm a heretic and get somewhere. I'm not saying that we could weekly created God or anything like that. I'm just saying this is a picture of of how we got the scriptures. Okay, here's what he's doing. Ask her is helping us visualize a paradox. He's he's helping us visualize some realities exist as one cohesive whole it's one thing and yet his two things at the same time with me or does this a lot of his drawings? He's he's really it's basically a visual representation of the Chicken and the Egg, right which is pertinent to Petaluma sand dendrobiums and all you other Sonoma County and soak a right the chicken or the egg came first. Damn, it. It doesn't matter you can have both of the same time. You can have your cake and eat it too. Or you can eat your cake and have it to the original phrase. I think what does it help us put the language behind a paradox of how we got the scriptures something that is historically Christian and Jewish Orthodoxy that we have. The Bible is both a Divine book and a human book all at the same time. Okay. This is just hang out with me because what happens is I think we're tempted to let one you serve the other right where we we don't we're not comfortable with the attention that the Bible is equally Divine and equally written by humans.

Just saying that makes somebody squirming that's okay, but it's both. At the same time, it's paradoxical. It's a human book. It's a Divine book humans real humans wrote the Bible. Okay, real humans wrote it and it shouldn't scandalized even a little bit because even the Bible actually says quite a few times that she was wrote it most of the authors take credit for riding with their writing I would argue that Paul's when he penned the letters to Ephesus in galatia and pestle and I can all the places had no idea that his letters would be put into some things that we would later call the Bible and that's okay.

About the Bible and Jesus himself make the claim that these are human words given to us. These are human words that speak God's word to his people the profits when they are the wrote down or had scribes write down what they said. They were Gods mouthpiece to the people often times of profits would go to the people to send it. God would speak his wheels his disdain often his frustration with am not keeping Covenant and would come through if the words of the prophet and I promise you none of these prophets were thinking at the time that this would eventually be written down on animal skin and then transcribe thousands of times and make it into something called the Old Testament. Praise God it did. I don't think any of them had a clue. These are human words by which God speaks. It's not an either-or. It's a buffet and but an American and it could call it whatever evangelicalism that's a weird to be like to poo poo on now traditional fundamentalism. Another would like to have to poop on an American Church communities a lot of us have grown up and it raised in the Bible that it is essentially erased one of the hands for a second ago. Right. They let me see. It's only the Divine hand. It's only the Divine hand at the Bible and it said you like this thing to say. Yes. Yes. Yes, obviously a course of the Bible was written by people, but they're mostly incidental to the process usually comes along with this view that may be how the Bible was written as that God just like beans his thoughts down to the people into the human's brain and then and they were like in this Holy Spirit trance. Okay. I'm joking. I'm not some of y'all in this room. Like I'm looking around you like yeah, that's not how it happened. That's how I was taught of happened. That yeah. Yeah that the people wrote the Bible But ultimately was a Divine thing and they you know, they were just went into this this trance but this is totally real and is probably the most common conception of how Christians think about the process of the Bible be written as it got you teleported his his ideas down and we got into like a holy transfer. This Viewpoint is affectionately and sarcastically called the Golden tablets from Heaven Viewpoint again, I'm not making this stuff up and it usually comes along with his vision of what the Bible is for and what it is and what it isn't it's this Divine rule book, right? God wanted to be missed. Down to the people cuz it was so bad. They needed to follow the rules so that they can have some kind of behavior manual so that they wouldn't die go to the bad place where they could I go to the good place. I know I'm making a caricature here. But that's what a lot of Christians in America think I can't speak for the rest of the world cuz I haven't lived there. It's a lot of you that I grew up with the Bible. I wonder how many of you have had this kind of relationship with the scriptures are there is a new Christian in your adulthood as a as a Christian growing up in the church where it was this golden tablets falling down from heaven.

I just wanted to spell this the golden tablets from Heaven model is not Christianity. That's Mormonism.

The idea that the author would you put this Holy Spirit trance and we have someone scribe it out. That is not the Christian narrative. That is Joseph Smith's narrative and some of us are like, wait a second. What that's Mormonism that I did it is less than 200 years old. We never had that idea Jews didn't believe this historical Christians didn't believe this but here's the problem that when we believe this are we at least Zoom this some of us might not have written essay. But if we are forced to kind of talk about what we believe the scriptures to be this might be where it comes from, it's only get into the world and maybe you went to college especially if you went to college or maybe you watch the video of an expert on YouTube have I mentioned how much I hate you too for this reason if you're getting your theology from YouTube and it's not a trusted source.

Or your hair taking the room and you read Rob Bell's book. I read Robbins books to record a paper on.

Don't read the book. It's total garbage anyways, but we hear people talking about this very public very accessible very complicated history of the making of the Bible. You'll wait a second if it didn't fall Out of Heaven. and Schulman's rodents Surely it can't be a Divine word. We struggle with Paradox we struggle to geology of it the second we start putting more human authorities into the fact that humans wrote the Bible and God wrote the Bible the more we think we just got to be room for a listen to me. This golden views are this golden tablets falling from Heaven view. The Bible is totally and completely at odds with both of what the Bible teaches about itself and what historical Judaism and Christianity thought about the Bible. It's on Christian. I believe that it's all so intellectually dishonest to believe that we need a new framework in the ideas is not a new framework at all. It's just a historical framework. So someone comes to you and it said hey, how are you that you was a Christian believe the Bible is literal word of God, but it's not as intellectually inferior making it out to be I didn't come to this this idea all on my own. It's actually historically firmed and proven. I think it's the framework. I want to spend the rest of the morning kind of talking about that. It supposed to Divine word and human word that they don't cancel each other out that it's a healthy dualism it to healthy Paradox. Okay. So let's talk about the reliability of the Bible for just a second where you getting ready? So you guys have to be okay with it. There's so much that we can stay on this again. I started off with the idea. We literally spent four weeks just talking through all of these things ironically in that series. I didn't really get that much into the reliability of the Bible. We talked about the meaning of the Bible the message of the Bible the origins of the Bible all of that in 4 weeks. We didn't talk as much about these things, but go back and listen to it. You can find it on the Church website and a sermon year a Biblical literacy is divided up into mini sermon. This is the mini sermon series called. What is the Bible rights? But I understand that the Bible is not from Heaven view is it we instantly become skeptical. About the Bible we instantly become a great as Angel if there's not much juman input into the Bible that I'm not so sure that I can trust it and that's not necessarily a bad distrust. I think that's being intellectually honest, right? But there are some very practical historical. I feel a logical things that I think we can pull up then again. I'm going to going to go through this is going to be nerdy. We're going to get to the scriptures here in a second. But the first is this thousands of biblical manuscripts. So here is where in lies a lot of the cultural problems. They say hey Christians are dumb because they believe in the Bible in the reality is they don't have any of the original books. That's true. Most of of what was written in an ancient near East real or sorry the ancient near East all that often interpreted as a tinny was written down on animal skin with ink that would degrade would have been a matter of decades. So there's no chance at all that we would have any of these original books, but we do have if copies of copies you made me think you will do know that doesn't really work. But how can we trust if those are accurate but there's an overwhelming number of surviving copies of the original biblical writings? Okay. So many so 24th thousand manuscripts that we have that are copies of the copies of those are in the original biblical Greek more so Enlighten the rest in other languages, but by far it is the most attested document in all of antiquity. Like the next closest one is Homer's The Iliad where there are eighteen hundred copies and yet no one in our elementary schools are middle schools and high schools. Wherever you read The Iliad are they doubting whether or not the words that you have are actually Homer's where is it's just assumed and yet we have twenty-seven thousand copies 25,000 + more copies of the original manuscripts of the Bible tell you this this diagram of the deadly graphical test now, you probably can't see these each one of those little red dots is a red. This is from a resource that we have is a church called visual theology. Also a book makes a great coffee table book if you want to buy it and support their Ministry, but you can see right here Homer's Iliad has Seventeen hundred copies right there and down here. We have nearly twenty-four thousand copies of the New Testament manuscripts if I said $27,000 earlier, I'm sorry. And down there at the bottom. You can see how many enlightened how many Greek how many other things I just want to show you the volume of the manuscripts. We have of the scriptures versus every other ancient book. Kennedy know, how can we know that they are accurate? How can we know that they're reliable because having so many copies many of them copies of copies so many copies of Jeremiah has so many copies of the Book of Daniel still how many copies of the Gospel of Matthew allows us to cross-check them against one another from two different Geographic areas from different time periods and safe. Wow, it's remarkable how similar they are comparing. All of those amounts of manuscript is given as evidence that the New Testament alone is over 99.5% accurate meaning if we take those twenty-four thousand manuscripts of the New Testament and we compare them against each other in all of the manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew. They are 99.5% accurate. But then easiest life partner may come in and they say things like wait a second. There are over four hundred thousand plus variations and these documents and weeping. Is there are four hundred thousand plus variations in these manuscripts.

The vast vast vast vast majority of them are some of the scribes forgetting to put an eye on top or a DOT on top of an eye or crossing a t not a single one of variances has caused any theological issue and any possible way whatsoever. And even with the 400,000 that's still only accounts for 5% of all the manuscripts we have.

That right there would be enough for me to say all day. Call maze YouTube authors. Get up there YouTube creators get up there in like did you know the Bible is 400000 differences between the manuscripts and you think not the golden tablets from heaven?

I got to archaeology supports the biblical record thousands of archaeological finds have corroborated the accounts of the Bible names places events such evidence putting into allegations that the history recorded in the Bible is suspect. We we hear things like what will in the Bible doesn't line up with archaeology. One of the most recent ones was the ancient near East use of donkeys, right? They say it actually did it back way further than we think so doesn't line up with what the Bible says and then they actually came back ten years later and said, oops we are wrong. Sorry. Okay, and again, I'm not getting anti-science. You're not like anti carbon dating or anything like that. What I'm saying is more and more archaeological digs instead of negating what we know in the scripture actually confirming in the scripture cities, like 20 not 20 is nothing like 12 years ago. They actually had an ancient archaeological dig and they actually found hurns. They found basically faces and vessels that had the last name on them never before I discovered a taco glass just a made-up name in the Bible and then they find pottery from thousands of years ago that actually describe a man who was a giant This is beautiful to me that the archaeology the archaeological digs actually confirm what we know to be true and scripture No archaeological dig. No archaeological find ever in the history is ever just proved anything the Bible said if that's the address they've only gone to confirm it three the original writings that we have were Faithfully preserved some of us to the next drive to the next guy. It's like the game of telephone. It's not reliable wrong. We show you this again. This is going to be really hard for you to see Josh McDowell has built this entire Ministry and it's apologetic of faithfulness on some of these issues on some of the manuscripts we have when you look at the degree that some of these describes when it to the ridiculous lengths that they went to preserve accuracy, it will blow your mind. And again, I can send these to you guys if you want them, but the Scribe things like number seven describe how to say each word aloud as he wrote it they had to be dressed and. Tribal dress before 17 before the name of God. Yahweh was written describe would wash his entire body. They would take the pain clean it off and dip it in new ink to describe who y'all way was incredible Precision went into and when they got to the end of the document it was checked twice and if there was any air of whatsoever, they would completely disregarded and start over again some of these scribal translations two months if not years. So when I say we have twenty-four thousand manuscripts, I'm not just talking about the game a telephone or I whisper something to Brian zier at Domino's we are unreliable audible things can often be but we have in the scripture written down through scribes translated copies of copies are Are the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls the 1940s again, I'm getting super nerdy here with this stuff just just reaffirms the trustworthiness of scripture that allows Scholars to compare Old Testament manuscripts. There was some of them separated by hundreds of years of importance notes was the book of Isaiah. They found a manuscript of a copy of Isaiah which predated the most current at that time of 1940 copy of Isaiah. This copy was more than a thousand years older than the book that we had two guys with me. So 1940. We had a copy of Isaiah and then in the Dead Sea Scrolls, we found another copy. That was a thousand years older. Can you guess how many variances that were? 0 various thousand years of scribes rewriting and copying back to the original version of Isaiah and there was Zero airs over the. Of a thousand years. Even though some manuscripts have been copied thousands upon thousands of times. There's no substantial difference in any of the manuscripts and use some of this is the critics of Christianity and Judaism say you believe in a book that's been written down the copies surely there was there. And I'm willing to concede a thousand variances, but that doesn't mean 4000 errors and none of them is Creed if you like the props. Even though we don't think that's the reason the writing's I don't think that creates a problem. I think we can trust that the Lord if he was Sovereign over creation and over salvation, and he was certainly Sovereign and giving us the book of the Bible that he wanted us to have a man. For credible human authors incredibly interesting as well as his even if you're stolen the idea that the originals were copied down reliable. You might take a look at how do we know the originals were not reliable. If you're sold the manuscript and scribal tradition created an AA copies of the original how do we know the originals word accurate to begin with? How do we know that when Isaiah prophesied? Whoever wrote down his prophecies wrote it down Deuteronomy the pentateuch write the Torah. I believe Moses wrote it but there's that whole issue of Moses died and how could he be written about his own death? And we have to be okay if there are some of these extra Riders and the scripture in it and for some of us is going to go to college and we have a professor say did you know that not all of the pentateuch is written by Moses and you're like, oh no my whole face is destroyed. It's not because God is still stubborn. But how do we know that? The copies are accurate to The Originals that they're actually true. I can't go all the way to the Old Testament, but just speaking of the New Testament. I think it's important to note that the gospels are actually recorded relatively soon after the events that took place of which they're talking about at the very latest forty to sixty years after the resurrection. Some of them probably earlier attacks, Paul's letters were written far earlier than that as many as 10 to 12 years after the resurrection and Ascension of Jesus because they were so close to the events that they were writing about. We can know that they remembered the event accurately. So damn the gospels are are written right there. We know that their truth think about this. There's actually a zero motive on the behalf of any of these disciples are any of the authors to Merritt distrust of their testimonies. Mary just sharpening article for LifeWay research as she writes that she goes in his book cold-case Christianity Jim Warner Rallis a Los Angeles Cold Case homicide detective. What a cool job title. I guess not cool cuz it's about murder but you know me described how to establish a reliable witness who says when we're trying to establish a reliable witness to solve a Cold Case murder or Cold Case murder. We looking for critical errors or areas that are examined was the witness present have they been accurate and honest in the past is there additional evidence for their claims and do they have motive to lie? Right, and then they look at 3 Motors cause detective to distrust a person start the way towards his lust for power and greed. And again, when you think about the New Testament authors, there's absolutely no evidence that the authors of the New Testament had lust or power or greed. And everything to lose and nothing to gain by giving their testimony. A further the author's is it again? I'm talking Peter James Paul. Timothy Titus all these people demonstrated in these three critical errors areas. Is she reliable eyewitness testimony that they were present they were accurate in the reporting of significance and even seemingly insignificant details, and there is corroborating evidence for their claims. to the evidence that we have of whether or not these new testament authors were telling the truth is that many of them were absolutely put to death some of them put to death as with most gruesome of ways how many of you know how Peter died

not from the Bible through history. But we trust because it's been told by so many eyewitnesses many of them not Christian. The Peter did not consider himself worthy to be hung or crucified like Jesus, so he has to be crucified upside down.

Why on Earth would you make up a story that he knew that could potentially lead to his death and it's not isolated to Peter many of the church fathers died and painful ways for giving the testimony. The Jesus was the Risen Messiah everything. He said he was

we absolutely could say that these man all conspired together again. It wouldn't make any sense. Some of them never met knowingly conspired to preach what they absolutely knew was alive in real life. That's not how people practically behaved. I think about Watergate for second. I don't know if you guys have seen some of the Netflix documentaries on Watergate Road in about an hour's There Were Ten witnesses that were flipped to tell the truth because they were afraid of what might happen to them. That's human nature.

None of these authors change their story when they were presented with gruesome death lastly the early Christians considered biblical books to be authoritative. This again is so true in in in in hang with me laying in the plane and might take a little bit. We got a circle to contract with Dan Brown. If you haven't heard of Dan Brown, that's fine. Don't read his stuff. Although Tom Hanks makes a brilliant detective. I love I love The DaVinci Code books or movies rather other 21st century pseudo Scholars May argue. The Bible was not haphazardly seriously collected by a bunch of pet doctrines by the elitist patriarchy okay me to say every single word. I possibly can. Okay, this is what so many liberal theologians on YouTube are saying do you know that the Bible that you have was just put together by a bunch of white dudes who just wanted to control Power. What about all the other lost gospels and they say things like what about the Gospel of Thomas and I might have you ever read the Gospel of Thomas. Yes. I have It's My Life verse I like the part where Peter comes to Jesus as Jesus. What do we do about these females in Jesus says Peter don't worry about the females. I know they're inferior. I will figure out a way to make them male so that they can be tricky immense Gospel of Thomas. Kind of glad I didn't make it into the Bible.

But half of these liberal Scholars on YouTube around the world reading articles to say did you know that the Bible was written by a bunch of white dudes wrong and you're up wrong who put together a collection of books that they thought would screw the other thing too suspicious patent Leaf like a laughably false. If you go back to the early Christian history.

And you look at what they were saying and along with quoting is the word of God you gain a much greater confidence that what made it into the Canon that you and I have now was exactly what God intended to make it there. Mary Jo sharp against us even if we did not have the surviving copies of the biblical tax, which we do nearly the entire New Testament could be reconstructed with quotes found in the writings of the early church fathers. The rainiest you saved us all of these guys that you probably heard dead guy's not all of them white again, culture according to you can watch YouTube videos of Dan Wallace. Okay, not that I give you permission to watch YouTube or not, but he's amazing. Okay co-author of Reinventing. Jesus says, we have more than 1 million quotations of the biblical texts from their Collective works from church box. 1 million all of them direct quotations to what we know what eventually make it into the cannon. And again, I'm getting super nerdy here, but just hang with me by 115 a.d. Ignatius Bishop of Antioch assumed the four gospels as I'm fit thick again. You probably been told it was until the 4th Century the bunch of white just got together in Europe and decided to put whatever books of the Bible they wanted in the Bible That's wrong. Okay, if Nature has had already assumed the four gospels as authentic by 115 a.d. By 170 a.d. Tatian confirm their combined these four gospels and I test running again. These are words. I don't expect you to remember 188 and recognized by the rainiest Bishop of Gaul. These early church fathers are one way of knowing that we didn't lose any of the gospels. We have the gospels that were intended to make it into Cannon and they can of the New Testament biblical scholar FF Bruce stresses the importance of looking at the canonization of scripture. Hang with me. This is important write this down for what it really was. This is what kanin was not what pop culture makes it an affirmation of the text. The church already utilizes authoritative pop culture says the other The Narrative is it was a bunch of power-hungry white dude in Europe. They got together that only put the books of the Bible that we helped him raise some more power and subjugate in a press the minority's of the world is patently false. All the council's ever did was actually get together in a firm the text that the collective church had already confirmed as authoritative and we're utilizing and the daily life of the church as authoritative. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held by the way in North Africa. A hippo in the Carthage. Yes in the fourth Century, but these councils all they did was not to post something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practices of these communities.

Because I know a lot of this feels like you're sitting in the Seminary class will listen to me. We live in a world that is wild be confused about the Bible. Who said this over and over again in the year of the glitter sees that we live in the middle of a very biblically illiterate culture that is now weaponizing the Bible to attack the famed and minimize a very biblically illiterate Church.

I struggle with having patience with churches the preacher we gospel. Buy because the second they go out in a second the culture and they make these claims some of them historically true and it's done out of context. They're there the whole face disappears. It's like churches are our content going out gospel seed after gospel. See just watching it getting choked up by the culture realizing the seed of throwing out was never going to make it in the first place cuz it didn't contain the gospel.

They're not going to tell you story about Marcy on. Can you tell us a reminder Smith in assessing the Bible? I think for Christians, I think her followers of Jesus for those who received them believe the gospel. The question that we ought to be asking is what did Jesus do with the Bible? What did Jesus do with the text that he just missed him is irrelevant that he just missed them is outdated. Did he show up and say you have heard it was said but I tell you and completely twisting the gate the Old Testament. Can I come to fulfill the law not to abolish the neon hitch from the Old Testament? I'm doing he was from what he was doing and we all know know. He said this much in the scriptures we read this morning John 5, right? Jesus says 5:37 240. He's looking at the Pharisees and he says in the father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. You may not believe I am who I say I am but the father has borne witness about me his voice you have never heard his form you've never seen and you do not have his word abiding in you for you to not believe the one whom he has sent you search the scriptures because you think that in then you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness about me. Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life Luke 24 says and he said to them all foolish ones as full of hard to believe all the prophets have spoken with it. Not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory and beginning with Moses and all the prophecy interpreted them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Jesus says I am everything is scripture said I would be and I feel the scriptures. Jesus saw himself as the main character in The culmination of all of the biblical story that it was all ultimately pointing to him and fulfilled and him Jesus constantly quotes the Bible and does he said again and again and again in his teachings is it is written or have you not heard and all of his teachings. He referred not to the Divine authority of scripture to the Old Testament and we see it again. I count twenty two references IP recorded the Old Testament 78 times at least that we have recorded. That's all that made it in the Bible. I promise you he quoted scripture whole lot more Right. He quit the pentateuch in the first five books of the Old Testament 26 times. He quit from Genesis Exodus Leviticus, Deuteronomy songs, Proverbs, Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel, Daniel Hosea Amos, Jonah Micah and Malachi. He was raised in a Jewish household the game where they didn't have Bibles where they didn't have Scrolls and Indian copies of manuscript has only lived in the Tabernacle and yet he was fluent in the scriptures and you knew that he was ultimately the film with a prophecy about what they said to Jesus could recite that or like most Jewish boy could he could recite the Psalms? Things that I feel highly inadequate I haven't got my kids.

Jesus his life was immersed in Scripture.

Most of the local commentators theologians believe that Jesus was being crucified was reciting Psalms allowed. The gospels actual recording resetting Psalm 22 1 my God my God. Why have you forsaken me Psalm 31 5 into your hands? I commit my spirit.

Could be the Jesus on the cross was comforting himself with the words in the song from scripture.

In the middle of Anguish, that is unimaginable.

something that none of us however tragic our life has been could even come close to comparing to

to Jesus breathe than eight and drink the scriptures. They were the source of his comfort and his hope when Jesus was attacked in tempted by the devil in the wilderness each time. He use the scripture and submitted himself to its Authority. Mind you he wasn't the only one to quote scripture in the desert that enemy the devil also use the scripture. Jesus says man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He lived by the scriptures and they were his daily sustenance. And if it was true Jesus at Ivan's realize

Meant to say boldly you cannot have Jesus without the Bible. But it is very possible to have the Bible without Jesus.

Just look at me.

I know because we planted city-parish and a lot of you like a it will reflect the pain the plantar just it just happens. It's that's why our meeting age is probably like 35 and white. I wish exchange that we're changing it. Hopefully then text me though. I'm not even going to go there.

David Ezra, listen to the podcast She's Happy Blessed you, excuse me. I also get that I'm a nerd and that comes out. I hope no one ever comes to city-parish activity or something that we do and thanks, man. I'm not nearly enough. I don't know Bible well enough it'll fit that's that's a load of. Manure assembly Donald Trump manure manure. Okay. It's like George Bush and Trump and since I'm anyways.

What we're looking for is people who understand that the god of the universe loves them and cares for them and is calling them to find true. Joy and contentment and happiness a submitting more and more of their lives to his empowering presence in lordship calling it teaching other people to do the same. You cannot do that without eating and living in this book. Too many of us get all of our theology from podcast YouTube videos telling you one of the reasons that you're anemic and one of the reasons that you struggle is because you do not have a grasp on this book or rather. You will not allow this book to have a grasp on you.

I get it's confusing strange and it's wonderful. She cannot have Jesus without the Bible. Augustine of Hippo on the screen said this is if you believe what you like in the gospel and you reject what you do not like it is not the gospel that you believe in but yourself.

There is a way to read and study the scripture that totally misses the main character in the main point. We have to be aware of doing this.

but the same time to all of my friends who have deconstructed or consider deconstructing, you know people who would be constructing just because people have missed the point and misinterpreted the Bible should not keep us ourselves reading and truly understanding it's a zoo reveals itself to be

there are a ton of arguments out the church that would cause us to doubt the reliability of scriptures when I get it. I doubt that I've heard everyone. I think I've heard everyone that even seems logical or reasonable and I found it to be totally lacking and wanting still. I would argue that none of them actually hold their weight if you will actually explore it and what I found is that most folks who want to discredit the Bible do so because they want to be the critic and the shaper of the Bible rather than the Bible critiquing and shaping them. Come down to the store to get shoe. I like the sermon series that we did in the year of the glitter. She was the Bible and Authority not what is the Bible That's Rob Bell's book hoops.

So then the question for us is this are we willing to Humble ourselves to the scrutiny of scripture rather than just being the judges? A city Parish are we willing to submit our entire cells to the scrutiny of scriptures? Recognizing the Christ is our judge. He's already paid the penalty in the price.

three things as you approach the scriptures with all of the enormity of the questions behind and I encourage you this to think deeply think deeply about what you're reading think deeply about what it meant to the original recipients think deeply about what it means and the grand Narrative of scripture. You should have the story of God and mind when you read the scripture. How does an ultimately point to Jesus when you're reading The Book of Leviticus ask yourself. How does this point to Jesus? If you don't know get a good study Bible think about what it means for your life and following Jesus. You should express your doubt. He just honest doubts are both proud and cowardly. the show disdain and laziness not missing words this morning.

But I just don't it's just honest. Just to say what a crazy idea and then just walk away.