Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest
questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search
and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead
pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth
for the life we're searching for. Well, it's been a great morning. I'm so glad that you're
with us today. And if you will, take your Bibles and turn to 2 Peter chapter 1 today.
2 Peter chapter 1, we're in the Dear God series and we are down to the last two weeks today.
The question is, how can we know the Bible is true? Now, I hope that you have your Bible
with you today. And if you don't, there are Bibles on the bottom of some of the seats
that are around you and I hope that you take a copy of God's Word. And I also hope that
you're taking notes today because it will be an important thing to write down four statements
that I'm going to make during the course of this message that are really life-changing
statements when it comes to the subject of the Bible, the Word of God. And when it comes
to helping others know about the hope that you have in the Scriptures that have changed
your life. And so we want to be able to answer that question in 2 Peter chapter 1, verses
16 through 21. How can we know the Bible is true? Let's read the text right off of that
and start right there. Let's stand together if you would. 2 Peter chapter 1, beginning
in verse 16. This is the Apostle Peter who's writing in the midst of persecution, tribulation.
The Roman Empire was about to try to tear Christianity apart. All kinds of rumors, all
kinds of scheming is going on because after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the church
came alive through the power of the Holy Spirit. And so people were being one to Christ right
and laughed. It was just amazing what was happening in the church. But on the outside
of the church, pressure from kosher was taking place, not unlike today by the way. And Peter
is writing about the validity of the message of Jesus Christ. Here's how valid, here's
how convinced we are that Jesus is a life changer. And here's why you can be convinced
as well is what he's saying. Beginning in verse 16 it says this, for we did not follow
cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Kind of walk through that very slowly with
me. We were eyewitnesses. We saw Jesus Christ. Verse 17, for when he received honor and glory
from God the father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory.
This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance
made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. He's talking about the
transfiguration of Jesus and seeing it and hearing the voice of heaven and all of the
above. It says in verse 19, so we now have the prophetic word made more sure to which
you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns
and the morning star arises in your heart. But know this first of all that all that no
prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation for no prophecy was ever
made by an act of human will. You understand what he's saying is men did not write the
Bible. God used men to pen holy inspired writings. He said no scripture, no prophecy was ever
made by an act of human will but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. There's
a lot here to unpack. Let's pray. Father in Jesus name help us see what Peter is writing
and what it means to us today and how to give an answer for the hope inside of us to those
who wonder why do you believe the Bible? Why do you read the Bible? Father help us to walk
out of here today with an absolute confidence that the scriptures, the Bible that we hold
in our hands is your word for us forever. We ask this in Jesus name and everybody said
amen. Amen. Alright please be seated if you would. Now I know a couple of weeks ago I
asked you not to amen when I was preaching and I'm just wanting you to know that rule
is off the table now because we were dealing with a sensitive subject of transgenderism
two weeks ago and I wanted to make sure that we handle that politely and gently but today
I'm going to ask you to say amen when it's appropriate and because we're going to make
some really important points today. About 17 years ago a man named Vodi Bakim preached
a message that was on the subject of the Bible and how we could know the Bible was true.
It was a powerful message and I think even today some of what he said then reverberates
through my heart when I am on the subject of the scripture. And the world has changed
in the last 15 and 16 years since I heard that message and today we're dealing with
a very very skeptical world. Now I want you to pay attention in a different way today.
I want you to pay attention not only for your own spiritual good and for your own spiritual
confidence in the Bible but I want you to pay attention for how you will give an answer
to people that are those skeptics that wonder why do you believe the Bible? How can you
believe a book that's at least 2,000 years old and how can you say it's relevant to the
complexities of our world today? How can you do that? And I'm going to give you four answers
that you can give them today as we walk through this text. One year ago Gallup Poll did a
wide poll of Americans and compared it to one they did in 2015. And the question they
asked was about the subject of the Bible. How do people in America believe the Bible
and what level do they believe the Bible is the word of God? Now 15, 20 years ago the
answer was that 30% of our population believed that the Bible was truly inspired by God and
perfect and applicable to everything in life. It was about 50% of the population that said
well we believe it's an inspired book, it's a religious book, we believe God was involved
in writing it but we reserved the interpretation to how we want to interpret it and then only
20% said oh it's a book of fables. It's just a bunch of lies that someone assembled
with moral lessons involved in that. Well the poll that was done last year almost reversed
those numbers to no one's surprise. Today in America 30% of those polled said that they
believe that the book is a book of fables. The Bible is nothing but myths and nothing
but moral reasoning that people back in that day gave. 50% still that same 50% says well
we believe it's inspired by God in some ways, inspirational in some degree but we reserve
interpretation for ourselves and only 20% say that the Bible is the word of God. It's
innovative, it's perfect in every way, it speaks in timeless truths to everybody in
every culture. You say well that's only a 10% difference in what it was 15 years ago
but that is a dramatic shift in our nation over how people view the Bible. Today it's
estimated that one in eight people have a biblical worldview, that is they look at the
world, at culture through the lens of scripture and the rest look at the world through the
lens of culture. What they read on social media, what their friends say, what they read
in media or watch on a silver screen or a computer. That's quite a dramatic shift. If
you wonder why our world is so different than it was five years, ten years, twenty years
ago then you have your answer right now. Because what's changed is the way people view the
world whether through the lens of scripture or through the lens of culture. So why do
we hold out for the scripture being the word of God? Why do we say we ought to look at
the world through the lens of scripture instead of any other way? How can we be confident
and how can we explain to other people that we have confidence that is reasonable in the
Bible today? I want to give you four reasons how we defend our belief in the Bible and
what anchors us there and it's four reasons that you can give to others that they can
also consider and embrace the scriptures for themselves if they will. So are you ready?
Statement number one I'm going to give you out of the four statements based on the scripture
that we just read. The first one is the Bible is a collection of verified eyewitness accounts.
Verified eyewitness accounts. When someone says why do you believe the gospel of John?
You can very quickly say well it's based on eyewitness accounts of when Jesus Christ walked
on the earth. And someone might say well I don't really agree with that and the next
question is well were you there? Somebody was, somebody saw, and somebody recorded what
Jesus said and did two thousand years ago on the planet. Now Peter says this in verse
16 would you look at the verse again. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales. Nobody
was working behind the curtain trying to write things to make you believe something today
that was not true. We didn't believe those cleverly devised tales and that's not what
we're holding as our belief system but we made known to you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Here's what I want you to
know today about this eyewitness thing. Scripture is a collection of historical eyewitness accounts.
Everything you hold in this Bible is verified by people who were alive and who saw what
was said and what was done and who can verify that and we have that verification in Scripture.
Let me ask you a question. Do you value eyewitness accounts today? Do we as a culture value
eyewitness accounts? And I would say that we unequivocally value those. Few things are
considered more reliable. In a court case for example when a crime has been committed
and you have some circumstantial evidence and then you have one testimony or another
and then all of a sudden they call an eyewitness up and the eyewitness says this is what I
saw, this is where I was, this is my perspective of what went on and someone said alright that
changes the whole game. Because all of a sudden someone who saw what happened is now talking
to us and we can get to the bottom of the case and that's especially powerful when
multiple eyewitnesses say the same thing. Now that's what the Bible is. It's all about
eyewitness accounts. Now let me take you back and give you an example of that. Luke, the
author of the Gospel of Luke and also the book of Acts is one of those that goes to
painstaking detail to help us know this is based on what we saw. Look at Luke chapter
1 verses 1 through 4 and here's what it's saying. Inasmuch as many have undertaken to
complete in a cat of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to
us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses. Do you notice these words here? We're going
to give you an account. It's a historical document. It's handed down from those who
from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. It seems fitting for me as well
having investigated everything carefully. Before I wrote this down I made sure all these
eyewitnesses aligned in what they said to write it out for you in consecutive order
most excellent theopolis so that you may know the exact truth about the things that you've
been taught. I love this opening to the Gospel of Luke because it says I'm not just writing
down some stuff and I'm kind of remembering back when Jesus was here. While Jesus was
here I wrote down everything he said and did in consecutive order confirmed by other eyewitnesses
so that you might have an exact account of the life of Jesus Christ. Folks this is not
a novel. This is not a fairy tale. It is a historical document and a collection of historical
documents verified by eyewitnesses. Now Luke's not through because he writes the book of
Acts as well. And in Acts chapter 1 he does almost the same exact thing. Acts 1 verses
1 through 3. He says the first account I composed theopolis about all that Jesus began to do
and teach until the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had by the Holy Spirit
given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. To these he also presented himself alive after
his suffering and see this next slide by many convincing proofs. Everything he said we could
verify everything he did others saw appearing to them plural over a period of 40 days and
speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. So the scripture is a collection of
historical eyewitness accounts. Luke tells us in the gospel of Luke he tells us in the
book of Acts. But I want to go further because one eyewitness is good but multiple eyewitnesses
who see the same thing and say the same thing is even better. Right? If five people tell
me that I did something yesterday that I don't recall doing I might need to believe the five
people who all saw what they tell me that I did. It's a verifiable kind of thing. Notice
that as we read these verses you see the words we. We saw. We were eyewitnesses. These are
evidences of corroborating testimony. They all align in the same way. Years ago there
was a show called CSI. Crime Scene Investigation. Anybody remember that show? I mean it's still
going on today I'm sure. But it was all about getting to the scene of the crime. It was
all about finding the evidence this way or that way. Getting DNA. Interviewing eyewitnesses.
And of course the real game changer is when you saw somebody who was an eyewitness and
they gave you an account everything else lined up. All the circumstantial evidence lined
up. The DNA lined up. Everything lined up. The prize was an eyewitness account and that's
what you have here. You have the word eyewitness. Now in the scripture eyewitness is more than
just someone that saw an event. It means not just an observer but someone who was deeply
involved behind the scenes in what all was unfolding. In this case these were disciples
who followed Jesus for those three years that he was on the earth. One of those guys was
John. Not John the Baptist but John the disciple. John the apostle. And he writes in 1 John
chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 something similar to what we've read. I want you to notice what
he said and how detailed he is as an eyewitness. That verse says, What was from the beginning?
What we have heard. So first of all with the ears. What we have seen with our eyes. What
we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. And the life
was manifested and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life which
was with the father and was manifested to us. How many times does this guy need to say
it? We saw it. We heard it. We touched it. It was manifested to us. Then he said again
it was manifested to us. The word of life is manifested. I mean this guy was a convinced
witness of all that Jesus said and did. So you have not only eyewitness accounts in this
collection of verified documents but you also have eyewitness accounts verified by other
eyewitnesses. You say well those guys were fathers of Jesus so of course they all said
the same thing. But then we are introduced to a man named Saul. We know him now as Paul
because he encountered Jesus on the Damascus road. If you turn to 1 Corinthians 15 Paul
who was a skeptic until that moment said this. He said for I delivered to you as of first
importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures
that he was buried and that he was rose again the third day according to the scriptures
and then he appeared to Cephas, this is Peter, and then he appeared to the twelve, so multiple
eyewitnesses. After that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of them
who remained until now but some had fallen asleep. Now you catch what he is saying. He
is saying I want you to know that as I write this account of Jesus' resurrection that not
only am I an eyewitness, not only was the disciples, the group of disciples an eyewitness,
but I want you to know 500 people saw Jesus rise from the dead. Most of them are still
now here even as I write. So Paul is saying basically I am going to write this document
and most of the people who saw Jesus rise from the dead can validate this and verify
this so it is multiple eyewitness accounts that I am speaking about. Now most of 500,
if I say most of 500 are still remaining today, at least 300 people is what we conclude. So
300 people who saw Jesus rise from the dead are still there when Paul writes the letter
of 1 Corinthians. How do you write an account of a supernatural resurrection of Jesus Christ
unless it is true when 300 people are still alive who know all about it? What we have
in our Bible is not just some theory, some philosophy when someone says did Jesus really
rise from the dead? And you say well hundreds and hundreds of people saw Jesus rise from
the dead. Who are you to deny that He rose from the dead? Most of the people that I talk
to who deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ are so far removed from that event, from that
time, from the knowledge of those eyewitnesses. They have no real idea what they are talking
about. All they are saying is I just kind of refuse to believe it. If Paul said hundreds
and hundreds saw Him, I can validate my account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. See what
makes it into your Bible today, into the canon of scripture, is this kind of truth. No fables,
no fairy tales, no moral lessons that are just kind of out floating out there. Everything
that you have in your Bible is based on all that we have been saying over the last few
moments. Now I know there are people out there that say well you know I believe that there
are conspiracy theorists out there and people who had a conspiracy to corrupt the Bible
so that what we have today is really a product of that kind of corruption. Those who wanted
to change whatever happened in the beginning and insert their own truths, their own ideas
in there. And so I believe that is what happened some will say. For example, some conspiracy
theorists say that Jesus actually got married and had a number of children. And certain
cults say that those children are still alive today and they are the head of the cults that
they lead. That's convenient right? I mean one of Jesus' grand grandchildren. Others
today in this highly immoral culture say that Jesus was an active homosexual. They have
evidence for that they say and how convenient for them that is if it were true so that they
could support their own lifestyle and on and on and on. Conspiracy theorists try to have
an agenda and write that agenda into what we know to be the scripture that is unchangeable
and unchanged from the beginning. The truth is nobody in Jesus' day disputed the scriptures
that we have right now. Nobody in Jesus' day disputed the resurrection of Jesus. Nobody
in Jesus' day disputed the miracles. Nobody said Lazarus did not get raised from the dead
by Jesus because Lazarus stood right in front of them and said hey here I am alive after
being dead four days. Nobody disputed in that day because it was real and multiple eyewitnesses
saw what Jesus Christ did on the planet. Now others allege this. Others say well overzealous
monks over the years got together and they decided to change the words of scripture to
fit what we have today. According to Vodi Bakken there are three reasons that can't
be true. Let me give you those three reasons very quickly. First of all consider the manuscripts,
the manuscripts we have of the original document, don't have the originals we have immediate
copies of those. Those manuscripts number more than 6,000 in the New Testament alone.
6,000 manuscripts that were written just a few years after all these accounts that we're
reading about, Jesus' resurrection, Jesus walking on the planet, all the miracles he
did and so forth. We have 6,000 of them. You say well how does that compare to other historical
documents? I've got a sheet of paper with me here and it's called ancient manuscript
comparison charts. There are 6,000 that validate the New Testament that were written less than
a hundred years after the actual event. If you want to talk about Aristotle for a moment
there are only 49 documents validating his existence on the planet. They were written
1,400 years after he walked on the earth. If you want to talk about Julius Caesar only
10 documents survived and they were written 900 years after Julius Caesar walked on the
earth and in Plato only seven documents, 900 years they were written after he was on the
planet. The New Testament has 6,000 documents, 6,000 manuscripts of all that went on and
they are all in alignment. That is they all agree with each other. It's really amazing
how many manuscripts we have and the age of the manuscripts that we have. Then there are
the language issues, the language issues. By the way if it's overzealous monks wanted
to change any of the words of Luke or John or Matthew they would have to find all 6,000
of those manuscripts and somehow change them all without letting anybody else know about
it and put them back where the manuscripts go. I think that'd be kind of difficult just
a few hundred years after Christ. There's the language issues as well. Jesus said take
it to the nations and that's exactly what the New Testament church did. The different
languages that were the first languages that recorded the scripture after the Greek which
are 6,000 manuscripts of those are Syrian, Coptic, and Latin and there are 19,000 copies
of these. These monks if they wanted to change them would not only have to change the 6,000
original manuscripts and immediate copies they would have to find every one of the Syrian,
Coptic, and Latin manuscripts and change all 19,000 of them. In other words 25,000 manuscripts
would have to be changed for them to have their way in changing the scripture. Then
the early church fathers is another factor. Early church fathers are those early leaders
of the New Testament church and they wrote huge commentaries and attestations of what
the church taught and what the Bible taught. We can actually assemble 95% of the New Testament
words by looking at the early church fathers. So these overzealous monks would have to not
only change the 6,000 not only the 19,000 but they'd also have to go find all the writings
of the early fathers and change all those and make them all align in the same way to
bring some sort of corruption to the New Testament text. I do not believe that that happened.
I do not believe they could do that and no one knows about it. They never told anyone.
They never got caught during the time when every word was written by hand with no way
of communicating over distances or coordinating this massive effort. And my question is what
would a reasonable person say about overzealous monks trying to change the Bible? And I think
they're going to have to conclude that would be impossible. And on top of that this was
done during the Middle Ages which we would call the Dark Ages. That's when it was alleged
that these overzealous monks made these changes. The Dark Ages took place after the collapse
of the Roman Empire, an age of barbarianism and war and just barely able to survive. That's
what it was for those several hundred years. The worst possible environment for corrupting
a biblical text. In brief it is impossible that all these manuscripts would be changed.
We have based on our documents, on our manuscripts, on our eyewitness accounts a pure word of
God. So important for us to know that. Now that was the first point. We have a collection
of documents that involve eyewitness accounts. Number two, writing down number two, the Bible
records the miraculous indisputable transformation of people. No other book in the world details
life changed like the Bible does. No other book says this person was dead now they're
alive. This person was blind and now they see. This person was deaf and now they hear.
But the Bible details this incredible life change. And Peter writes about this amazing
change with Jesus himself on the Mount of Transfiguration, verse 17 and 18. For when
he received honor and glory, Peter said, from God the Father, such an utterance as this
was made to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased
and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy
mountain. He's talking about the fact that Jesus was transfigured. In other words these
disciples saw Jesus in glorified form during this time on the mountaintop. They saw the
visible splendor of the divine majesty they said. In Matthew chapter 17 verse 2 Matthew
he writes it this way, he was transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun
and his garments became as white as light. Notice multiple witnesses, we saw him, we
were there on the holy mountain. They all saw and they all heard the same thing of this
amazing transformation. Jesus was transfigured but people were transformed. All through the
ministry of Jesus you see people being transformed. In fact the gospel is a catalog of impossible
things that took place because of Jesus. He healed instantaneously and with a word. People
who were blind from death, blind from birth or deaf from birth, he cast out demons, in
some cases hundreds of demons and healed those with deathly illnesses. He took command over
nature. He calmed the storms. He walked on water. He raised lathers from the dead. He
raised himself from the dead. These are undeniable accounts that are historical and multiple
eyewitness verified. These are facts of what Jesus did on the planet. There is no dispute
in anybody of that era that Jesus did any of these things. And then what about Saul
of Tarsus? The most vehemient objector we have recorded in the scripture, a religious
terrorist at the very least. And he put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ and said I'm
convinced Jesus Christ rose from the dead. I will follow him until the day I die and
he did. The bible records miraculous, indisputable transformation of people. When someone says
why do you believe the bible? I would say first of all it contains multiple eyewitness
accounts that are historically factual. Number two, that it records life transformation in
different individuals' lives. They can only happen by the hand of God. And then number
three I would say the bible records prophecies given and fulfilled supernaturally over hundreds
of years. So it's not just the eyewitness accounts. It's not just the life transformation
that was recorded. It's also a prophecy given over a space of several hundred years about
Jesus and fulfilled by Jesus. This is amazing. Notice what Peter says here in verse 19. So
we have the prophetic word made more sure which you do well to pay attention as to a
lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart.
Now you know how this works. The Old Testament prophet would give a prophecy about something
that was virtually impossible to be fulfilled years and years down the road. Now the law
was, the real was, if a prophet falsely prophesied for a short term kind of event he would be
stoned. He would be put to death. So reality was only effective prophets lived very long.
Only those prophets that really spoke from God lived and were speaking much. These guys
spoke about events not only immediate but hundreds of years down the road and when they
were fulfilled in most cases by Jesus Christ then they were called the prophetic word made
more sure. A prophetic word came from a prophet. It was recorded. It was watched for or looked
for and when it came to pass it was the prophetic word made more sure. And that's exactly what
Peter is talking about here. You look at the Old Testament you see the fulfillment of Jesus
in the New Testament and you have that perfect fulfillment. Sometimes people look at the
Old Testament and say can we really trust the Old Testament? And I just wanted to let
you know that a professor named Robert Dick Wilson at Princeton University back in the
1920s and 1930s made this statement. He said I have come to the conclusion, conviction,
that no man knows enough to attack the veracity of the Old Testament. Every time when anyone
has been able to get together enough documentary proofs to undertake an investigation the biblical
facts and the original text have victoriously met the test. It's a theologian, this is an
expert who said there is no disputing the Old Testament. Now you know when Christmas
time comes along we talk about the Christmas prophecies right? We talk about how Jesus
came and he was the Messiah and we always tie those together to help you know. This
is not just a group of people saying hey let's lift this one man up. It's all about him being
God in human flesh right? We also talk about the crucifixion prophecies. Did you know
in Psalm 22 the details about the crucifixion of Jesus were foretold before crucifixion
had ever been invented by the Roman Empire. And so when Jesus was crucified he referred
back to that in Psalm 22. That's the prophetic word made more sure and the Bible records
all of these. Do you know that Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies about his coming
and some say as many as 450 prophecies regarding his coming and his messianic fulfillment.
If I'm looking at this Bible objectively and see prophecy given and then fulfilled I have
only one conclusion to make about the matter. I'm going to believe what I read in the pages
of the scripture because they're validated and verified. So number four, number four,
the Bible leads us to logically conclude that it is divine in origin. Now Peter ultimately
wasn't a theologian. Peter wasn't a much learned man. Peter was, what was Peter? Peter
was a fisherman. I mean that can be anything more practical than that right? He's a fisherman.
He needed things explained to him. Sometimes several times by Jesus, sometimes several
times by other people. But here's what Peter said at the conclusion of his text here. He
said, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of the human will but men moved by the
Holy Spirit spoke from God. That's his conclusion. By the way, Peter along with the rest of the
disciples, nearly every one of them, they died for the testimony of their faith. Now
I've not sat in Peter's shoes or John's shoes or James shoes but I would say this, that
if I was just pushing a lie, if I was pushing a false testimony and it came down to either
dying or being released upon recanting my testimony of Jesus, if it weren't true I
would recant real quick. These guys went to their grave saying it's true, I can't change
it, it's what truth is, I'm convinced, if you need to put me to death, put me to death.
So here's Peter saying this is the logical conclusion of what truth really is. And Peter
said it this way. He said I've got the prophetic word made more sure. Paul said it a different
way. He said all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness. Now I've had conversations in recent weeks
with people who want to talk about the Bible with me and one of the things that I've heard
them say is this, but the Bible was written by man and what is written by man can't be
trusted. And my response is then what do you trust? Because everything that you read is
written by man. The same people that say this to me believe everything they read on the
internet or social media. Oh I read about it on social media but I don't believe the
Bible because it was written by men. I'm saying can you believe anything then on the planet?
The textbooks you had when you were in school were written by men. All the media that we
have today were written by men and women. Everything we have in our hands is written
by somebody that was human in form. But that's what's different about the Bible. Peter said
that men moved by the Holy Spirit, not just men with an agenda, not just men with some
idea of where they wanted to steer people, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from
God. Then there are others that say I'm a scientific thinker unless you can prove it
scientifically I don't believe the Bible. And whenever you think about what science
is, science must be observable, repeatable, and measurable. And using science you can't
even prove who won the Super Bowl last year. But you will take eyewitness accounts into
consideration once you send one of yours there and they saw it. So in short, I'll
sum it up. I believe the Bible because it's comprised, excuse me not compromised, it's
comprised of verified eyewitness accounts, that's number one. Number two, miraculous
events of supernatural transformation. Number three, prophecies given about and fulfilled
by Jesus Christ. And then number four, additional evidence allowing a logical mind to conclude
divine origin rather than human origin. And Peter is one of those logical minds that concluded
that and was willing to die for his faith. One of the greatest stories of a moment of
decision was the story of a guy named Billy Graham. Billy Graham researched the Bible
in every way he could. There were a few doubts remaining in his mind about the Bible and
he got out into a field out in the country by himself. And he said, God if you're going
to use me to preach the gospel to the nations because God was already using him in a big
way, I need to know that what I'm preaching when I say the Bible says is true. I need
to know. And almost everything I've read gives me a logical conclusion that is not written
by men but it was written by inspiration of God. Men moved by the Holy Spirit wrote as
they were being led by God. I've got a few little questions that I can't seem to get
the answer to. What do you want me to do, God? And he said in that moment of prayer,
God came to him in a very convicting way and said, there are some parts of your belief
that you're just going to have to believe. You're just going to have to trust me. If
you can trust me with the other 99%, can you not trust me with the one? And Billy Graham
said, I came to the conclusion right then and there. I can trust him with the 1% that
my logical mind just can't wrap around. Billy Graham's ministry started at that moment at
that time. If you're familiar with Billy Graham, you know that he preached the gospel to hundreds
and thousands of people in stadiums all over the world and his most frequent praise was
the Bible says, the Bible says. And he preached it with power and with authority and hundreds
and thousands of people came to faith in Jesus Christ. When I'm conversing with a person,
I try to gently say this to them. If you reject the Bible, it's not because of a lack of evidence.
It's not because there's no record or corroborated eyewitness accounts. It's not because you're
too intelligent or too wise or too educated. It's because you're either unaware of all
the evidence of divine authorship of scripture or you're unwilling to consider it. It's one
of those two things. You're either unaware or you're unwilling. This is not an argument
we have with people that are not believers. It's confidence. It's not arrogance. It's
patience, not impatience. It's prayerful, not prideful. We want them to see that the
Bible has changed our lives and the truth of scripture can change their lives if they
will just put their faith and trust in the God who wrote them. If all these things are
true that I've said today, if this is so, we must embrace the Bible's superiority and
the Bible's author, which is what I ask you to do every week at the end of our service.
Embrace the truth of scripture. Embrace the author of scripture. Trust him with your life.
Today at the end of our service I want you to know we're ready to talk about these kinds
of things, these big decisions about trusting scripture and trusting Christ. Maybe you've
never trusted Christ to be your Lord and Savior. Hundreds, even thousands saw him rise from
the dead. It's undeniable that he did that. It's undeniable that he gave the offer of
eternal life. The question is, will you receive the offer of eternal life? Today at the end
of our service I invite you to three things. Number one, to the decision stations where
we have people that would love to have a conversation with you, answering any question you have,
helping you in the days ahead in any way you need. Secondly, I invite you to come to the
guest reception room right outside the center exit doors. There's a glass room across the
hallway and I would love to meet you and just welcome you to our church and thank you for
coming today. Thirdly, I'm going to ask you to invite somebody else to bring with you
next week as I talk about culture versus Christianity. It's a big deal. How do we live in a culture
that is pushing the opposite way to what we know the scripture says? How do we live that
well? I ask you to invite someone to come back with you next week. Let's stand together
and we'll close right now. Father, I am so thankful for every person in this room today
for their time, their attention. And my prayer is that as they walk out of here they will
have a higher degree of confidence in your word, the scriptures. Father, I also pray
that you will give them the ability to share with others why they believe the truth of
scripture. And Father, if it's true, help us to reach the logical conclusion that we
need to pattern our lives after you and after these words. So Father, today I pray you'll
bring a new sense of conviction that the Bible says what it says for us. Thank you Father.
I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. God bless you. Have a wonderful day.