Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

PowerPoint PDF: Truth Matters Slideshow
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Introduction:

Matthew 22:37 “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” NIV

1 Peter 3:15 “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,” NIV

Colossians 4:2-6 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. “Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Big Idea: Truth Matters

Genesis 2:16-17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”” NIV

Genesis 3:4-5 ““You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. ““For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”” NIV

John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” NIV

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” NIV

Satan’s strategy…lies

Love the Truth

John 8:12, 32 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life…Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”” NIV

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” NIV

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, “and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” NIV

• You’ve got to serve somebody!
• Turn to Christ confessing your need for forgiveness
• Open the door of your life to Him.

Pursue the Truth

John 14:17 “the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” NIV

John 16:13 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” NIV

1 John 2:20 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.” NIV

1 John 2:26-27 “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.” NIV

• You must know who your Teacher is!
• Walk with Christ!
• Walk in the Spirit
• TS: But you can’t do this apart from God’s Word

Study the Truth

John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” NIV

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” NIV

• Don’t be a wimp!
• Study Bible: NIV, NASV, ESV,
• Become part of a committed small group! W/C/D/S/O
• www.bible.org www.probe.org www.xenos.org

Share the Truth

1 Peter 3:15 “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,” NIV

U2 – “Grace makes beauty out of ugly things”

Question: “How can I be sure that the words in the Bible are really the words of God?”

One of the top five questions people will ask Christians or Christians will ask themselves.

“Its so old it must have changed over time.”

“Original copies of the manuscripts don’t even exist anymore. Anyone could have made it up.”

“If we knew what the original texts really said, we wouldn’t need so many different translations.” (Muslims are especially likely to be skeptical about translations because they believe only the original Arabic Qur’an is divinely inspired. Translated editions of the Qur’an can be used as study aids, but they are not holy texts.)

“Ideas have histories, and we would do well to discover what those are before swallowing them whole.” Ken Boa

Acts 17:2 “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,” NIV

Acts 17:17 “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”

Acts 18:4 “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” NIV

Acts 18:19 “They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.” NIV

Acts 19:8-9 “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. “But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.” NIV

2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” NIV

Why Address This Issue?

To see more…
PowerPoint PDF: Truth Matters Slideshow
Just click on it to open, or right click to save to your computer.

1. To engage our culture

• 89 weeks on USA Today’s top 150 list. Still #7
• Still on the NYT’s top 5 Hardcover Fiction List
• #2 on Amazon’s Top 100
• More than 17 million copies in print.
• 92 weeks on USA Today’s top 150 list. Last week #7 Now #9
• June 30, 05 still number 11 on USA Today’s top 150 list.
• Still #2 on the NYT’s top 5 Hardcover Fiction List
• #5 on Amazon’s Top 100
• More than 17 million copies in print.
• Spawned a wave of popular, quasi nonfiction books is being release that is similar to The Da Vinci Code.
• It has ignited a firestorm of discussion about
• Religion and sex

The core doctrines of Christianity

Symbols and codes

And history as we know it.

• It has spawned some 90 books
• An online Ivy League course: The Da Vinci Code Demystified: A Scholarly Perspective led by Harold Attridge, Yale Divinity Univ prof
• High school and college students are reading it. People in all walks of life are reading it. Our cultural context pushes us to know something and have an answer.

2. To Examine the Historic Credibility of the Christmas Story

• Christianity is built on the credibility of historic events:
• The birth of Christ, the events surrounding his life
• His death, burial and resurrection.
• And the historic reliability of the New Testament documents.
• Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code is decidedly anti-Christian.
• Many reviews including The Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News called his research “impeccable” and “breathtaking”. Therefore we must study it carefully.
• Need to know the history of our faith
• The new scholarship of historical revisionism.
• Even the U.S. News and World Report special edition calls the history of The Da Vinci Code “a reckless joy ride through pseudo-history. Those in possession of the actual facts will continue to present him (Dan Brown) with some hefty speeding tickets.” And we might add that Dan Brown is laughing all the way to the bank.
• The Da Vinci Code is nothing less than a conscious effort to obscure the uniqueness and vitality of the Christian faith and message.
• A good time to learn more about the history of our faith.
• The need for some basic, precise knowledge…during last month

~ “Black ice” yesterday morning

~ Car wouldn’t start, knew from last X in shop it was the battery cable

To replace it had to get under the car. Jacked up…must know

~ Hunting, tree stand, loaded guns, etc.

This message and series is my attempt to provide the basic nuts and bolts of what we need to know. If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code you must also take the time to read at least one of the written critiques of the book: Breaking the Da Vinci Code, The Da Vinci Deception, etc.

The Da Vinci Code: A Rejection of God’s Word

The bottom line: the gospels we have in the NT and the teaching of the deity of Christ is the result of a 4th century power play by Emporer Constantine and the Vatican at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.

Pp230f “The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven. The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions and revisions. History have never had a definitive version of the book.”

“…More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relatively few were chosen for inclusion – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John among them…The Bible as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great.”

p.341 Langdon says to Sophia “There’s an enormous difference between hypothetically discussing an alternate history of Christ, and presenting to the world thousands of ancient documents as scientific evidence that the New Testament is false testimony.”

“But you told me the New Testament is based on fabrications.”

Langdon smiled, “Sophie, every faith in the world is based on fabrication. That is the definition of faith – acceptance of that which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove…I’m a historian. I’m opposed to the destruction of documents, and I would love to see religious scholars have more information to ponder the exceptional life of Jesus Christ….The Bible represents a fundamental guidepost for millions of people on the planet, in much the same way the Koran, Torah, and Pali Canon offer guidance to people of other religions. If you and I could dig up documentation that contradict the holy stories of Islamic belief, Judaic belief, Buddhist belief, pagan belief, should we do that? Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that we have proof the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.”

III. Why I Have Confidence in The New Testament

1. Jesus chose 12 apostles to be His authoritative representatives and promised them…

John 14:26 ” But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” NIV

John 16:13 ” But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” NIV

2. Paul says the he and the other apostles were commissioned by Christ to preach

1 Corinthians 2:13 ” This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” NIV

3. Peter says that Paul’s writings are “scripture”

2 Peter 3:15-16 ” Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” NIV

4. All the New Testament books were written by the Apostles and their close associates and were completed by 90-100 AD.

5. The message of these 27 books have the “ring of truth”

J. B. Philips after translating the gospels

“I felt, and feel, without any shadow of doubt that close contact with the text of the Gospels builds up in the heart and mind a character of awe-inspiring stature and quality. I have read, in Greek and Latin, scores of myths but I did not find the slightest flavor of myth here. There is no bysteria, no careful working for effect and no attempt at collusion. These are not embroidered tales: the material is cut to the bone…There is an almost child-like candor and simplicity, and the total effect is tremendous. No man could ever have invented such a character as Jesus. No man could have set down such artless and vulnerable accounts as these unless some real Event lay behind them.”

6. The Word of God evidences itself in its power to change our lives.

What the Bible Can Do For You

1. Turn your unbelief into faith. Romans 10:17

2. Teach you God’s wisdom. 1 Corinthians 2:12-13

3. Give you stability and maturity. Ephesians 4:13-14

4. Give you encouragement of you can persevere when you’ve lost hope and want to through in the towel. Romans 15:4f