Untitled Sermon

1. How do you justify the final appeal/authority of Scripture without citing Scripture?

The real question is: Is the Bible God’s authoritative Word? If it is, then it’s authority needs no justification.

Two levels of answer to this question:

1. Every person who believes anything about the existence or non-existence of God begins with a presupposition. That is, a starting point that we accept but can’t prove.

· Atheists begin with there is no God and therefore no self-revelation of God, i.e. the Bible is bunk. – It can’t be proven or disproven.

· Christians begin with the presupposition that there is a God who has revealed Himself in the Bible – and that is our starting point. It can’t be proven or disproven.

· There is a faith component to accepting the Bible as God’s authoritative Word, just as there is a faith component to being an atheist.

· Now, that doesn’t mean that our belief in the Bible as the authoritative Word of God is not without compelling evidence – that takes us to the 2nd part of the answer….

2. What gives me reason to believe in the Bible as God’s authoritative Word?

· The Bible has a dual authorship – God and the men through whom God spoke – and yes the Bible declares over and over that it is the Word of God.

· It was written over a period of 1,500 years, by over 40 different authors, on 3 different continents, in 3 different languages…

o It one unified story

o It all points to Christ as the Savior

o It has one unified story, one theme, one unified plan of redemption

Only a divine author could ensure that a book with that much diversity could have one overarching story.

· Fulfilled prophecy, verification of historical events, archeological support,

· The Bible itself is an actual verifiable historical document

o Here is one the most compelling pieces of evidence to the authority of Scripture – The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

o The Bible says Jesus Rose – If he did then the Bible is authoritative and Jesus is God.

§ The Bible speaks of Jesus as an actual historical person. Was he?

· Other non-biblical historical records tell us Jesus was a real person, that he claimed to be God, and that He was crucified

o The 1st century Jewish Historian Josephus writes about the life of Jesus

o Tacitus, the 1st century Roman historian attests to the reality and existence of Jesus

o Pliny the Younger, a Roman Governor, writes in correspondence to a friend about “the man Jesus who was worshipped as a God.”

§ Did Jesus rise from the dead?

· The Jews and the Romans tried to persecute Christianity out of existence

· By the end of the 1st century there were tens of thousands of Christians – why would they believe and keep believing even under such sever persecution?

· Because…

o Jesus had shown himself alive to over 500 witness

o Neither Rome nor the Jews could produce a dead body

o Disciples who at the crucifixion were scared and hiding, were transformed into bold believers after they saw the resurrected Jesus.

o The resurrection was such a verifiable contemporary event that Christianity literally exploded onto the scene

2. What does "us and our" refer to in ?

o Elohim – Noun God Plural

o The God-head is communicating with themselves

o Trinity

o One God – 3 distinct persons – the love each other, speak to each other, and relate to each other

o Scriptures on trinity

o

o

o

3. If God knows everything, and every choice we ever make, how do we have free will?

· I would ask why does God’s omniscience invalidate your ability to make real choices?

· ILL: If I’m smart enough to know, or I know you so well, that I know when we go our to eat you are going to order fried chicken planks, does my knowledge of your actions invalidate your will and ability to choose?

· Having said that, I do understand the question and would respond like this:

o No where does the Bible say that we are pre-programed robots

o No where does the Bible say that God makes our choices for us

o The Bible calls us to make choices: Have faith, to obey God, to love our neighbor, et

o The Bible says will be held responsible for the choices we make – accountability implies that the choices are real.

o FOR EXAMPLE – – Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

§ That’s a choice we are called to make

§ We have to make it

§ We will be judged according to our choice

§ Our eternal destiny is tied to that choice

§ It’s a real choice – I have it, you have it, and we are free to make it according to our desires.

4. Why do people who call themselves Christians commit violent and hateful acts in your name? (Westboro Baptist)

The simple answer is because they are evil. The Bible says that man in his depraved condition is capable of the most heinous sins, and that would certainly include doing terrible things in God’s Name.

– Not everyone who says to me…

Not everyone who attaches themselves to the Name of God, really knows or loves God – The Bible makes this very clear.

5. Did Noah really get all those animals on the Ark?

From the perspective of biblical authority, yes.

Practically speaking: ()

· Ark was 3 stories (floors) high

· 450’ long; 75’ wide; 45’ high

· It was sectioned off into compartments

· 100,000 sq feet of floor space

· 1.5 million cubic feet

· Equal to the storage capacity of 522 railroad stock cars

· App 125,000 average sized animals could fit on the ark.

6. Why did God create the earth?

, The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains.

The first answer is that God created the world for His glory.

– The heavens declare the glory of God

– he made the earth to be inhabited by people, and made people to know him, that they might enjoy Him forever.

– All things have been created for Him – His glory and His enjoyment

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (, NASB95)

-