04-16-06 The DaVinci Deception-Intro

Intro: The DaVinci Deception (17 min) We are going to see a short film clip by Dr Erwin Lutzer about “The DaVinci Deception.”  This is the first in a 7 week series.  A little background about Dr Lutzer may be helpful in case you do not know who he is.  Dr Lutzer has been the senior pastor of Moody Church, in Chicago, since 1980.  He has written more than 20 books, is a national conference speaker, and is on 3 different radio programs.  He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and Loyola University.  One best seller that he is known for is called “One Minute After You Die.”  Let’s watch this clip and then I’ll continue with the message.

Within one month a major motion picture called The DaVinci Code is going to be released.  Tom Hanks will star in it and it is being produced by Ron Howard so it is expected to be a blockbuster hit.  It is based on the novel by the same name by Dan Brown.  This novel has been out for a couple of years, but because of the movie it will have a much greater impact on our society.  Let me state up front that this is a NOVEL—that is it is FICTION, not the truth.  As with all novels there may be elements of truth, but the story is still fiction.  A movie based on a novel always has a disclaimer that some things are not based on fact.  For example, this last week the classic movie “The Ten Commandments” starring Yul Brenner and Charleston Heston was on TV.  If you watched it you got a pretty good view of the story given to us in Exodus.  However, I can promise you that there was some fiction in the portrayal of the characters and how the events actually happened.  For example, do any of us really know how God opened up the Red Sea so the Hebrews could cross over on dry land?  Did He blow with His breath the wind to cause the waters to stack up?  We don’t know, but what we do know is that according to Exodus, God did it.  In the movie we get a good depiction of this, but we do not know if it happened exactly as we saw it happen.  If you watched that movie with your Bible open, you could find the errors. 

That is what we want to do in this series--to look at The DaVinci Code with our eyes open to the facts so we can discover the truth.  I want you to know that I have not read the book and do not plan to simply because I do not want to put any money into supporting this heresy—even in paperback.  Nor do I plan to see the movie for the same reason.  If I can get a copy of the book at the library or for free then I might read it. 

So you may say how can you talk about something you have not seen?   The truth is that we do not have to read or see the deception to know that it is not true.  Actually, this is not new, as we will discover in the weeks ahead this is a lie of the enemy that has been around for many centuries—it is just getting a new face and new publicity.  There have been many such deceptions that have surfaced from time to time, but all have been proven false.  The church has suffered heresy and false accusations for many hundreds of years.  So this is not anything new—the enemy has no new tricks, just the same old ones he has always used.

I have heard that federal agents who deal with counterfeit money do not study counterfeit bills.  They study the real bills so intently that they know them inside and out.  Then when they see a counterfeit is immediately apparent.  That is what we are going to do—study the truth, so that when the lie shows up, we know instantly that it is false.  It is in knowing the truth that we are able to recognize the false.

1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

I believe this verse is a primary one that we should know in our search for truth.  As Christ-followers we must be able to give people with honest questions about God the answers to their questions.  We must be able to show them who Jesus is and why His life is so important to us.  It is not enough to just invite them to church and hope that God will save them. 

Most of us probably came to know the Lord through someone else who already knew Him.  As we saw the light of God in their life, we realized there was something missing in ours.  We began to ask questions about God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation etc.  This is a natural process that God uses to prepare people for the moment when they are ready to surrender to Him.  It is in this process that we are able to “defend” our faith.  We call the study of defending our faith “apologetics.”  Which the dictionary defines as “reasoned arguments in justification of a theory or doctrine.”[i]

The truth of John 3:16, that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” must be validated in our lives before others will desire the God we serve.

It is in that light that we begin this series.  I echo what Dr Lutzer said, in that I ask you to bring your doubts and questions.  It is as we examine these issues that the truth will be revealed and the questions can be answered.  There is obviously much more than can be discussed or answered in a 30 minute message.  In fact, I’d like for us to take some time on Sunday afternoon (maybe an hour) to examine our questions as we go through this series.  This is so that when your friends, co-workers, unsaved loved ones, people you meet in the grocery store, etc who see the movie or read the book come to you with questions, you are “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 

Throughout The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown has called into question the character of Jesus and many basic truths that we believe.  Yet, if we do not know WHAT we believe, we cannot tell others and we can be deceived ourselves.  The Jesus portrayed in The DaVinci Code is one who is based on Mr. Brown’s liking or bias.  One who makes him comfortable and fits his idea of God.  Obviously, there is much that bothers him about the church and God, especially Jesus, based on what he says in the novel.   I want to make it perfectly clear that we are not against the Catholic church.  That is Mr. Brown’s bias.  One major problem that can result from this movie is that people can become anti-Catholic.  I do not believe that is what Christ-followers are to do.  We may differ in some doctrinal areas, but we are not against the Catholic church or those who attend it.

Here are some of the supposed “truths” that have been suppressed for centuries by the Catholic church:

¨     Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a little girl

¨     Their children intermarried with the French royal line

¨     The Catholic church is made up of greedy, power-hungry, male chauvinists trying to subdue women.

¨     A secret organization, called Opus Dei, is trying to keep the world from knowing the truth.

¨     The Gnostic gospels are a more accurate presentation of Jesus

¨     Jesus was not divine, but Constantine invented the deity of Christ

¨     The early church knew that sex rituals connected them to the divine, and the Catholic church did not like this, so they made sex out to be disgusting and a sinful act.

¨     The Catholic church is covering all this up to keep women subdued.

¨     Jesus was killed on the cross and did not rise again, rather Mary and her daughter went to Gaul (France) and intermarried with the French

¨     Jesus wanted Mary to found the church, not Peter—that is why Peter told everyone she was a prostitute.

¨     Leonardo DaVinci knew all this and hid details in artwork, sculptures, and other things.

Now many of these ideas may sound absolutely preposterous or ludicrous to us.  But they are ideas that will be brought out by the movie and presented as “truths.”  Our job is to know the real truth and learn how to properly respond to the heresy presented and the honest questions that people will have.  That is what this series will prepare you to do, so that you can be “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 

Many will see The DaVinci Code as a threat or challenge to our faith.  I believe it is an opportunity for the church to examine areas that are not often discussed or thought about.  I believe that as we seek the truth we will have our faith strengthened, not destroyed.  I know the enemy would like to use it to destroy the faith of many, but I don’t believe that will happen.  Instead, I believe God can use this movie to open up the hearts of many to spiritual truth.  The film is being marketed with the phrase “Seek the Truth.”  I believe that as people do Seek the Truth they will discover the truth about Jesus and in doing so discover the true Jesus who loves them and died to save them.  I think this is a golden opportunity for the church to be able to see harden hearts softened and many coming to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  This could be the spark that brings in the last great harvest before our Lord returns for us.  So look up church, your redemption draws near!

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[i]Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (2004). Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.