Well, if you are going to identify the aspects of who you are that matter the most, that define you at the very core of your being, what would those areas be? At least for the moment let’s take out the things about you you can’t control like your age, your family of origin, your health, your intellect.  I mean, you can’t change any of that.  We are talking about the kind of things that you can control that are most significant in defining your identity. And what would make that list? And, secondly, how important is it for you to be sure that you get those things right?  That is what we want to talk about for the next month and a half.

The title of this new series is “Getting to the Core: Six weeks to focus on things that matter the most.”  And here is the topics we would like to unpack together.  First of all, figuring out what you believe. Lord willing, that is what we are going to tackle this morning. And then figuring out why you are here and next figuring out who you are and then figuring out who you love and then figuring out what you want and, lastly, figuring out where you are going. 

Hopefully you would agree with us this morning that those are six of the most important issues a person has to think through. That really is the very core of who you are and it determines the trajectory of your life and future.

Now what about that second question? How important is it for you to be sure that you get those things right?  For example, what if you got a great education, but you never took time to draw conclusions about those six issues? Would that have been a good trade off?

So you say, “Now I have a Ph.D. in nuclear physics, but I have no idea what defines my identity.”  Ok, was that a smart use of your time?

Or what if you landed a great job and you made a boat load of money, but you never focused on these six areas. Would your priorities have been right or wrong? 

Jesus answered that very question when he said this.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”[1]

There is as sense in which that is exactly what we are talking about here, the nature and the destiny of your soul.  And that is the point of getting to the core.

Now let’s go back to our six topics for a moment, because there is a sense in which all of this is sequential.  In other words, in order to draw correct conclusions about the last five, you have to decide your approach to the first one. You have to figure out what you believe or at least how you are going to go about deciding what source of truth you are going to use to determine what you believe.  And before you can proceed on to those final five topics, philosophically now we are talking about the issue of epistemology.  Now how do you propose to know what you know and what is your source of truth?

With that in mind, let me invite you to open your Bible this morning to Isaiah chapter 40. That is on page 513 of the front section of the Bible under the chair in front of you.  So Isaiah chapter 40 this morning on page 513 of the front section, obviously, the Old Testament of the Bible under the chair in front of you.

Our church’s theme this year is building core strength. We want to be sure around here we are majoring on the majors. So we are not a mile wide and an inch deep and especially right now because the Lord is both blessing us with growth and also stretching us into all sorts of ministry directions. We want to be sure, then, that we are working at getting our spiritual roots down deep at the level of the heart at the very core of who we are both as individuals and also as a church family.

And just as a data point, we had more people here last Sunday for our Easter services than any other Sunday in our history.  Now on the one hand we are thankful for that. We see that as a trust from the Lord.  But our goal was never just to get bigger around here.  We want to be the kind of church family where any person who joins us can find the resources they need in order to grow, in order to be connected with the Lord, in order to get to the next place. And in order for that to happen we have to be strong and we have to be getting stronger in order to steward those kind of opportunities. And then, as all of these new apartments and duplexes and single family homes continue to be built just south of us and that our safe haven home comes online and then faith west comes on line, all that is good and all of it is really good if we have been busy building for strength.  And so, Lord willing, these next six weeks can be a helpful part of that process.

Now one more thing just before we dive into all of this. I understand that there will be some folks who will be with us who are brand new to studying the Bible, brand new to being in church totally and I just want you to know that we designed this particular series with you especially in mind. Now I hope there is going to be truth for everybody here. I think there will be, but we have tried to be especially considerate for the individual who might just be starting out in all of this and we are going to try to be sure that we make this as clear and understandable as we possibly can. 

So how do you figure out what you believe?  We are going to start right here in Isaiah chapter 40. And many times at this point in the message I read an extended passage. I am not going to do that right now. I wanted to think about one primary verse in the Bible and I will explain why in  moment. It is Isaiah 40 verse eight which says:

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”[2]

So here is this prophet writing 700 years before the birth of Christ answering the very question that we are posing this morning and he concluded that the way to figure out what to believe is leaning on a source that will stand forever, because it won’t wither, it won’t fade, it won’t pass away, it won’t be destroyed. There it is.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”[3]

Seven hundred years later the Messiah that book of Isaiah I just read from points to.  He made a similar statement when he said this.  This is Matthew 5:17.

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”[4]

And then he said this.

“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”[5]

See, it is reliable. It is going to stand forever.

And one of Jesus’ followers, the apostle Peter in a similar statement when he said in 1 Peter 1:22:

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ABIDES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.[6]

Now I realize you might say, “But isn’t that circular reasoning? I mean you are arguing from the Bible to support the reliability of the Bible.”

And, honestly, I suppose, in some ways it is.  And most reasoning is, in the final analysis, then, anyway. But what I am trying to right now is just point out three different segments of the history of God’s working with people in the Old Testament and the life of Christ and then life of the early church that those persons had all come to a similar conclusion, that God’s Word is the reliable source of truth to answer the core issues of life.  And I would like us to spend the rest of our time this morning talking about why you and I should draw a similar conclusion. So let’s organize it like this.  We have four steps for choosing the right source of truth. You are not going to get anything else rate, these other five topics that, Lord willing, we are going to be discussing in the remaining five weeks of this study, unless we all have the right source of truth and here is where it starts.

Determine Your Options

It starts by determining your options. And what are the options? And when it comes to answering the five questions that we are going to be posting the rest of our time in this series: Who are you?  And why are you here and where are you going and who should you love and what should you want? I mean, you have to choose a source of truth.

Well, what are the classifications? What are the actions? 

The philosophers like to talk about four possible sources of truth or four epistemological sources. And right now I am not asking you: Do we ever use any of these sources for anything?  I am asking you: Can one of these four sources be the appropriate place that you would go to answer the big questions of life? What are even your options?

Intuition

Well, one of them is your intuition where you just know something to be true. You don’t even need to think it through. You were just born with that knowledge intuitively. And I understand.  We know, all of us know certain things intuitively.

A mom places a bottle in a baby’s mouth and off it goes. If that baby is healthy there is generally not a whole lot of instruction involved.  It is not like, well, listen, we are going to have to read a book together first or we are going to watch an instructional video. No, we know intuitively eating is a really good thing. And some of us have got that intuition going on yet to this day really well. No question about that. 

So we all know certain things intuitively. But I am asking you: Can we answer the big questions of life based on our intuition? 

Reason

Another option is your reason.  This option is for people who believe that they have grey matter between their ears which is powerful enough and reliable enough and intelligent enough to answer all of life’s greatest questions. So they don’t need input from somebody else. They don’t need information for anywhere else. Ultimately their reason is a reliable, epistemological source.  It is the old Invictus poem. “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”

Well, all right.  I mean, is that what you believe about the quality of your mind?  Many people do. Aristotle taught that the human mind had the ability to bridge the gap between the natural and the supernatural. Do you believe that about your mind? Thomas Aquinas taught that the fall of sin did not completely impact the mind.  And just like within a wish... And I am not asking if we ever use our reason. I hope you use it. That is not the question.  The issue here is: Can your reason be an ultimate source of truth when attempting to answer the big question of life? 

Empiricism

Now, what is a third option? Totally different now is empiricism.  Now we are talking about tests. We are talking about data. We are talking about research.

And, by the way, if you are starting to think: You know, this doesn’t have anything to do with my life today, I mean, philosophical sources of truth, epistemology. Hello. I would disagree with you on that.  In fact, I would suggest that the approach you take to determining what is true, it is going to come out every day in the kind of choices you make. That is right. 

For example, let’s just take this. Let’s take the decision a young parent would have to make about whether he or she would ever use corporal punishment with their child.  Would you agree with me? It is really important to have a right source of truth when you make that call, because if you get that wrong a lot of things go badly. True? 

You are going to say, “I am not sure I agree with that.”

Then, that’s fine. Let’s just dismiss church. Let’s jump on some busses. Let’s go down to Walmart and let’s watch some of the kids down at the Walmart. I was down there the other day buying some night crawlers for me and my son to go fishing and I am telling you there was some kid from this community that had grabbed a bike off the rack at Walmart and was riding it around Walmart. It was all I could do not to be run over. What a terrible way to go heaven, run over by a kid on a bike at Walmart.

Have you ever had that feeling like I don’t know whose kid you are, but you need a spanking like right now and I am going to be the instrument of God’s judgment upon you? But anyway I am a little bit off my notes.  But if you just watch kids in this culture you would probably conclude that some parents didn’t make that decision as carefully or wisely as they should have. 

Well, how would a parent?  Think it is ... just take it a little further. I have to decide. Am I ever going to use corporal punishment with my child? Who would they use one of those first three choices as their epistemological source?  Well, some just use intuition. Bottom line, I don’t feel good about that. And that is the end of the discussion. I don’t need to think about it any more. I don’t need to talk to anybody else. I don’t care about studies. I don’t feel good about it intuitively and I am not going to do it, period. That is it. 

Their epistemology is showing when they make a decision in that manner.  Others, parent number two, perhaps, wouldn’t trust their intuition, so she is going to use her reason to make that choice.  So she might read a number of books, she might talk to other people, but the ultimate arbiter is going to be her own mind, because in the final analysis she truly believes that her brain can and should be the ultimate final supreme source of truth.

And so to adjust Isaiah 48 to match that view: The grass withers and the flower fades, but her own mind and the choices that she makes will stand forever in her view.

What about parent number three?  A totally different approach, not intuition, not reason, parent number three is going to look at the tests, the studies, the latest research. Studies show that parents who spank their children are 10 times more likely to wind up in prison.

That is a little joke, by the way, in case you are nervous. But that kind of a parent believes that test {?} the ultimate truth he needs to make a decision of that importance.

And in case we don’t really get back to that one, the challenge with tests... it is not that we never use them.  But the challenge with tests, many times, is what seem to be proven as true today, is often disproven tomorrow, right? Anybody here old enough to remember what they used to say was a healthy breakfast on the side of your corn flakes box? And, of course, you had to have a bowl of corn flakes in whole milk along with a couple of slices of bread with butter just kind of melting down over it along with two eggs and three strips of what? God’s meat. That is right, bacon. And that is what they said. If you possibly left your house without eating all of that there is just something, right? The tests show. You have got to have a healthy breakfast.  Well, is that what they would say today? All this tofu who ha.  I mean, who knows what it is that they say? I am for bacon, aren’t you? I am sticking with the test in the 60s that said it was bacon, for crying out loud.

But I am just simply saying that one of the problems, we all know it, and one of the problems with tests is that they so frequently change what was proven today is going to be disproven tomorrow. Ultimately, of course, we are talking about issues that can’t be subjected to the scientific method anyway.

Now what is a fourth possible source of truth? If it is not going to be intuition, if it is not going to be reason, it is not going to be empiricism, when it comes to answering the big questions of life, what is left? Here you go. 

Revelation

Revelation. The believing that there may actually be a God. And I am not even talking about which one yet, just the belief that there actually may be a God and he actually may have communicated his truth to us in some form of revelation that came from outside of us. There it is. Outside of us, that is higher that us to which we have to submit and learn. And for whatever it is worth, Jesus took this fourth position when he prayed to the Father about the matter of our growth and change and being what God wants us to be which is a subject later on in this series.

John 17:17. Sanctify them on the basis of their own intuition? Help them think it through, Lord? I hope there is some really good tests?  No.

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”[7]

And I would just turn it around to you for a moment even at this point in the discussion. When it comes to the big questions of life, to which of these four sources of truth do you tend to turn?  And what concrete evidence would you give to support your answer?

Now while you are thinking about that, let’s throw this second step on to the pile.

Face Your Limitations

After determining your options you also have to face your limitations.  And this may not sound very nice, but I have to give to you straight. There is something bad wrong with you mind. See, that didn’t sound so good. It is true and if you don’t believe me, look at Romans chapter three now.  In the New Testament that is on page 120 of the back section, the New Testament.  So Romans chapter three or page 120. We are talking now about the doctrine of total depravity.

See, what impact did the fall of sin have on your mind anyway? Here you go at Romans chapter three verse 10. 

...as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."  "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";  "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN."  "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."[8]

Verse 23.

“...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[9]

Now you are going to have to decide if you believe that this morning. I understand that.  But would you want to take the position that your mind has not been impacted by sin, that your reason is fine, your intuition is fine, your ability to interpret...? Do you really want to take the position this morning that your mind has not been impacted by sin? And in case you do, let’s have a little test. A lot of technological advances going on.  How about if we take a little cord and just kind of clip it to your ear.  And then we will clip the other side of that cord to this PowerPoint projector and we will project every thought that you have had in the last seven days. If you really want to take the position that your mind has not been impacted by sin, let’s just have a little show.  Every thought, every desire, every fantasy from your last seven days will be projected on this screen. Would you stay for the show? Because, my dear friends, all the rest of us are staying.  And I am going to sell popcorn. I mean, it is going to be a long show and people are going to want to see it again.  And I realize you might say, “I didn’t like those verses.”

Well, deep down in our core we know they are true, don’t we? And that really impacts what we are talking about this morning.  Theologically we are discussing the noetic effect of sin. You didn’t know that term. It has nothing to do with Noah, by the way.  It comes from the Greek word or mind νους (nooce) or mind. And the noetic effect of sin is speaking about sin’s effect on our ability to think and reason.

And I would just ask you. Do you believe that the noetic effect of sin has impacted your ability to know truth, your ability to answer on your own the big questions of life? 

By the way, let’s just be clear. We are not so much talking about objective truth. That is an important distinction.  We are not talking here about things that can be proven in a laboratory. We are not talking about things that can be subjected to the scientific method. Under common grace, even unbelievers can know certain truths. Two plus two equals four.  But here is the question. Can what we are talking about in this series be subjected to the scientific method?  Can we answer those questions by test, by laboratory test, by the scientific method? No.  And what means is we are completely ill equipped to derive truth about the big questions about life apart from the revelation of our God.

See, that is what is wrong with intuition and that is what is wrong with reason. Sure, we use them for some things, but our minds have been impacted by sin and we cannot know ultimate truth about the big questions of life and, yes, we can benefit from some tasks. So empiricism has its place.  But those results, as I said are constantly changing and the kind of questions we are talking about in this series cannot be subjected to the scientific method anyway.  So what does that leave?  That leaves the possibility of revelation, a truth from a being higher than ourselves. 

And you may remember the day that Jesus asked his disciples after a lot of people were walking away from him because they didn’t like the Lord’s message and Jesus said to his disciples, “What, are you going to go away as well?”

Do you remember what Peter said?  There is a great statement about epistemology.

Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.  We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."[10]

Exactly, the Word of God.

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”[11]

That is why Jesus said to Satan during the temptation:

“MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.”[12]

Now let’s kind of come up for air here.  I have said a lot. Just going to summarize what we have said so far. If we are going to figure out what we believe, we have to know the options. We have to know the possible sources of truth.  And then we have to decide how much credence we are going to give to our own minds, to our own ability to know ultimate truth by ourselves. And if our minds have been impacted by sin and what honest person this morning would say that they haven’t been, then we have a real challenge.  Because either there is a God who has revealed truth that is reliable, that will stand forever, or we are in big trouble.  And that is exactly what the Scripture claims to be. 

And, admittedly, I understand.  We are now at logically another decision point. And why should a person believe that God’s Word is a reliable source of truth? That is a fair question. And so let’s just examine the evidence. 

Examine the Evidence

Is there anything about the Bible that would cause you to agree with Isaiah or cause you to agree with Jesus or cause you to agree with Peter or with Paul or with John that the grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God will stand forever? I am asking you straight up. Is there any evidence that would cause you to believe that? I think there is. For one thing, God’s Word is reliable because of the relentless attacks upon it.  You go to any secular college campus and if a book is likely to be attacked, what book is it going to be?  Is it Homer’s Iliad?  The Koran or some other ancient text? No, it is the Bible. That’s true right here at Perdue. It is true everywhere else.  Isn't that fascinating?  And why does everybody love to attack the Bible?

Well, possibly because that has always been Satan’s method.  Genesis 3:1.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’”[13]

The very first verse in the Bible about Satan finds him doing what? Undermining and twisting the Word of God.  And three verses later he is directly attacking it.

“The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die!’”[14]

Which shows not only that he attacked it, but he attacks it with lies.  You are not going to die, which is where Genesis chapter five fits into this discussion. It is one of those chapters that we have in the Bible where so and so was born. He lived a certain number of years and he died. So and so was born, he lived  a certain number of years and he died and he died and he died.

How does Genesis five fit into this whole discussion? The answer is: Satan is a liar. Ok, he absolutely loves to attack the Word of God and he attacks it and undermines it with his lies. And, by the way, you might say this morning, well, you know, even using that example, you just hurt yourself, pastor Viars, because I am not sure I believe in a literal Adam and a literal Eve and a literal Satan and all that kind of stuff. I would prefer to listen to more intelligent people like the apostle Paul in the New Testament.

Really? Do you believe the apostle Paul did or did not believe in a literal Adam and a literal Eve and a literal Satan? See, people love to say all sorts of stuff about the Bible. They have no clue about what they are talking about.  It is amazing how many people have strong opinions about the Bible who have never read it and know very little about it. That is fascinating to me.  And for those who would say, “Well, I don’t want to believe in a literal interpretation of the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis beaus smart people like Paul didn’t believe that,” seriously? How do you explain this verse? 2 Corinthians 11:3. Paul said, “But I am afraid.”

And when a guy like the apostle Paul says he is afraid, you had better listen up.  He said:

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”[15]

Your minds who? Your minds the followers of Christ in Corinth and people like you and me. And Paul was concerned that our minds would be drawn away from our simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. And I am just asking you why would there be such attacks on the Scripture like no other book in the history of man. 

One possible answer is it really is the Word of God. 

The French philosopher Voltaire used to love to brag that Christianity would be destroyed within 100 years of his lifetime.  He used to love to say that the only place you will ever be able to find a Bible is in a museum.  And ironically 50 years after his death, guess who bought his house?  The Geneva Bible Society. That’s right.  And Voltaire owned a printing press. Anybody want to guess what the Geneva Bible Society started printing on Voltaire’s printing press?  Bibles.

See, just because you say it, don't confuse I said it therefore it must be true or I won’t believe it therefore it must be false.

I think God’s Word is also reliable because of its historic popularity. There is absolutely no other book, if you know anything about publishing stats at all, this is undeniable. There is no other book in the history of man that comes close to the circulation records of the Bible.  When you see the stats they are just staggering. 

For example, did you know that the entire Bible has been translated into 471 different languages and portions of the Bible have been translated into 2500 different languages?  In several cases languages that did not even have a written form until Bible translators came into those tribes, learned the oral language, put it into a written form, wrote the grammar rules and then the first thing that was translated in written form into that particular language was what those persons wanted to hear, wanted to read, namely the Bible, the Word of God.

Just last year in 2011 the United Bible Society reported that their network distributed 431 million copies of the Bible in the previous 12 months. If you have 431 million, in that same year the Gideons placed nearly 79 million copies of the complete Bible worldwide, 79 million, the complete Bible just or Gideons, a million copies ever five days, two copies every second.  That translates into total circulation of tens of billions.

What was it that Isaiah said again? 

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”[16]

If that is not standing forever, what is? 

It is also reliable because of the manuscript evidence.  This part of the discussion could be a series in itself.  In fact, if you would like to study this further I want to encourage you to read these document that is available in our resource center called “Reasons to Believe.”  (Booklet  |  Text of ABF series (free)  |  CD audio series) Dr. Bob Martin and pastor Dutton put this together years ago and did a fabulous series in our church and I am so glad it is recorded and so that is available in the resource center. I want to encourage you to get that and to review it, or is little book by James Macdonald, God Wrote a Book, a very good explanation of what we are talking about right now.

Let me just give you a couple of examples of the manuscript evidence that would demonstrate Isaiah nailed it when he said:

“...the word of our God stands forever.”[17]

I mentioned a moment ago Homer’s Iliad.  Homer’s Iliad was written in 800 BC.  I know you knew that, about 800 BC. If you went into an average English class at Perdue and said, “I don’t think we have an accurate version of the Iliad,” they would look at you like you had lost your mind. I mean, no one questions the accuracy of the Iliad. 

Do you realize there are only 643 manuscripts or copies of the Iliad?  All of them are partial. The oldest one is from 400 BC. And I realize I am giving you a lot of stats quickly. What that means is that there is a gap of 500 years between when it was written and earliest copies that we have.  Yet nobody questions its authenticity.  When have you ever heard anybody question the authenticity of the Iliad?

Yet compare that to the Bible. There is no comparison, 5686 ancient manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, 10,000 Latin manuscripts, 9300 early versions. The are literally 25,000 ancient manuscripts that contain some part of the Word of God.  And in the case of the New Testament some of them span only 29 years from when they were written and the date of our earliest copy.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”[18]

Now I realize you might say, “But pastor Viars, you were just talking about the New Testament. What about the Old Testament?”

That is a much easier case to make, because the Jews were so meticulous about copying the Bible. There was never any question about what books belonged in and they copied it meticulously. In fact, there was an entire discipline, an entire vocation that was all about the way you copied the Bible.

Now the challenge at one time was that while we believe the Old Testament was completed about 400 BC, that the oldest manuscript that we had from the Old Testament was AD 900.  Again, I know I am giving you a lot of math. That means that oldest copy was 1300 years removed from when we believe that it was written. And the liberals used to love to go after that, especially like the book of Isaiah.

If you took a course on Christianity in college and you are older you probably were in a class where they used to love to rip on the Bible, especially the Old Testament, especially the book of Isaiah. And they used to say it was all added to later on, blah, blah, blah by a bunch of other writers, et cetera, et cetera until 1947 and when a shepherd boy was throwing rocks into some caves in the side of a cliff and heard a crash resulting in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the documents that because of the climate in that part of the world were amazingly well preserved. Do you realize they found 100,000 fragments in the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery that eventually pieced together into more than 800 manuscripts including a complete copy of the book of Isaiah that was 1000 years older than any copy we previously had.  And the liberals were licking their chops.  I can’t wait now to see how that differs, one that is 1000 years older, now much the Dead Sea Scrolls version of Isaiah is going to differ from what these Christians said was an accurate version of the book of Isaiah. We are going to find that a bunch of people after the life of Christ added a bunch of stuff to it, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Guess what they found? When they compared those copies of the books of Isaiah, although they were removed 1000 years from one another, almost absolute agreement, practically absolute agreement.

And I know you won’t take it from some redneck pastor so here you go. Here is what the scholars said about that.  Of the 166 words in Isaiah 53—and if you know your Bible that is the chapter that especially prophesies the life and death of Christ—there are only 17 letters even in question. Ten of those letters are simply a matter of spelling which does not affect the sense. Four letters are minor stylistic changes such as conjunctions. The remaining three letters comprise the word light which is added in verse 11 and does not affect the meaning greatly. Thus in one chapter of 166 words, there is only one word, three letters in question after 1000 years of written—we are not talking about they made copies on the Xerox machine—1000 years of written transmission and this word does not significantly change the meaning of the passage.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”[19]

And when you are looking for sources of truth to determine: How are you going to answer the most important questions of life? I hope you will say I want that to be the Word of God.

Now where does all that leave us? I would encourage you to embrace the implications of what we are talking about this morning. First of all, by letting God’s reliable Word lead you to a saving knowledge of Christ.

You have to understand. The Bible is not an end in itself. The Bible is given as a means to point you to the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus.  And John said it this way at the end of his gospel.  He said:

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.[20]

And I would just encourage you this morning if you have not trusted Christ and maybe you say, “Well, I don’t feel good about that or it doesn’t make sense to me, the gospel. I don’t like to have to admit that I am a sinner.  And I don’t want to have to trust that the death of someone else in order to redeem me, blah, blah, blah.” 

Listen. You are putting too much value in the quality of your own mind. And I am trying to love you enough to help you understand that you might think you are really smart right now. That is not going to stand up very well in eternity.  That is the bottom line here. What are you trusting to get to heaven? Are you really going to trust your own intuition of that?  You are going to trust your own reason for that?   You can’t even balance your checkbook. I mean, what are you talking about?

And I know it is hard for us as Americans, but it is time for some to humble themselves and to accept the message of the biblical gospel as their only hope of eternity.  And you can trust it forever:

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”[21]

I hope you will all say that we want God’s Word to help us answer the core questions of life. If you are wondering: What is the source of truth that we are going to use for the last five weeks of this series, anybody want to guess?

Pastor Viars intuition. Let this come from some musings from him. I don’t think so.  How about revelation?  Do you think that would be a good idea? Yeah, thank you for not shouting out yes.  That is where we are coming from.  Let God’s reliable Word direct your paths.

My son, don’t forget my teachings.”[22]

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.”[23]

There went reason. There went intuition. 

Let God’s reliable Word keep you from sin.

“Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”[24]

Your smart phone can’t help you with that, do you know that?  Your television sitcoms can’t help you with that. And I hope you are thinking: Do I have the same level of value for the Word of God that it deserves? If it is really going to stand forever do my habits towards it... are they commensurate with that fact?

Maybe we need to end here. Let God’s reliable Word be your greatest treasure.   I am going to find time for that and I am going to choose to live for that just like Joey was singing earlier. I believe.

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.  They are more desirable than gold.[25]

Is that what you think about your Bible?

“...yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”[26]

Let’s stand together for prayer, shall we? 

- would you agree with me this morning that it’s important to base your decisions on a reliable source of information?...

- in other words, if you have a deficient source of truth…whatever choice you make is at least going to be flawed, and maybe even disastrous…

- we’ve all seen the unbelievable pictures of this cruise ship that wrecked off the shores of Italy…

- what an incredible miscalculation…

- 17 people lost their lives and 15 others are unaccounted for and presumed dead…

- many other passengers were injured in various ways – 2 lawsuits seeking damages of $560 million have already been filed on behalf of seven individuals with many more on the horizon…

- then there’s the loss of the vessel…which cost $570 million to construct…

- The Carnival corporation is now projecting a financial hit in the range of $375-395 to their bottom line…and they just reduced their latest financial forecast for the entire year because of what’s happened…

- it is incredible that the wrong decision of one person could have such dramatic implications on so many others…

- well, how did all of this happen?...

- the captain says that the rocks they hit were not located on any of the maps…

- and amazingly, they weren’t detected by the ship’s multi-million dollar navigation system…

- here’s the exact testimony from Captain Schettino – the so-called “chicken of the sea”… The area was safe, the water was deep enough,” he said.  “We struck a stretch of rock that was not marked on the charts.  As far as I am concerned, we were in perfectly navigable waters.  We were moving with a tourist navigation system, and as you can see by the rip (in the ship) there was a lateral rock ­projection.  On the nautical chart, it was marked just as water at 100-150 meters from the rocks and we were about 300 meters from the shore.  We shouldn’t have had this contact.”

- there it is – we shouldn’t have had this contact…

- well Mr. Captain – you did…you surely did…

- you can decide how much of the captain’s story you even believe…but there’s no question about this – it’s important to have a source of truth that’s reliable and trustworthy…and a lot can go wrong when you don’t…

- with that in mind, let me invite you to open your Bible this morning to Luke chapter 1…page 43 of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you…

- our church’s theme this year is Building Core Strength

- emphasized in verses like - Psalm 138:3 - On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul…that’s it—core strength…

- we’re emphasizing this theme in three specific areas this year…

1. Shoring up foundational areas in our walk with Christ and our church ministries that comprise the basis of godliness and effective community service.

2. Planning and praying for the construction of Faith West and the successful launch of a cluster of new ministries in West Lafayette.

3. Preparing for the next round of ministry dreaming as we embark on a new strategic planning process in 2013.

- this morning we’re talking about Basing Our Core Strength on a Reliable Source…

- we’re just going to try to work our way through the first 4 verses this morning…

- read Luke 1:1-4…

- in the time we have remaining, let’s think about 3 reasons to base your core strength on the reliability of Scripture.

I. Because of the Significant Number of Original Sources.

- Now, let’s just say…

A. A word about the author.

- there’s really not a lot that we know about Luke…

- that’s because he wasn’t interested in talking about himself---he’s interested in talking about Jesus…

- but as we survey Scripture – we pick up a few isolated details…

1. He was a physician.

- Colossians 4:14 – Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.

2. He was probably a Gentile.

- cf. “in their own language” in Acts 1:19

- also in this list of Paul’s fellow workers in Colossians 4 – his Jewish companions are spelled out as such – and Luke is mentioned after that…

- cf. Colossians 4:11 - …these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.

3. We also know he was a traveling companion to the apostle Paul on some of his missionary journeys.

- we know that because of the “we” sections in the book of Acts…

- in other words, Luke—who was also the human author of the book of Acts, was personally present during many of those events about which he was writing…

- now, all of this is very relevant to the issue of reliability that we’re talking about this morning…

- when you put the books of Luke and Acts together, both written by the same man…and incidentally, written to the same man – an individual named Theophilus…

- but those two books comprise over one-fourth of the entire NT…

- it’s significant that a relatively unknown man was used by God to author, humanly speaking, this much of our New Testaments…

- the reason that matters is because if the author was an imposter – he would have claimed to be someone well known to give his words greater credibility…but he didn’t need to do that because he was the real thing…

- that’s why writings we have that date all the way back to the second century, like the Muratorian Canon, specifically name Luke as the writer of this book…

- the same is true many of the third century church fathers, people like Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and Clement of Alexander all attributed the book to Luke…

- one commentator on the gospel of Luke, Robert Stein, said it like this…

Such unanimity in the tradition is impressive…In general such uncontested and ancient tradition should be accepted unless there is good reason to the contrary.  This is especially so when it names a minor figure in the early church and a non-apostle as the author of over one-fourth of the entire New Testament (Luke, The New American Commentary, Nashville:Broadman and Holman, 1992, p. 21).

- Luke could be the poster child for reliability…

- but thank the Lord for people who are the real thing huh, like our man Luke…

- now, before we get too much further into this, we need to also say…

B. A word about the Author.

- and you might say – PV, you repeated your point…

- no, this one has a capital “A”…

- it’s important to understand the way God used human beings to function as the human authors, so to speak, of His Word…

- 2 Peter 1:16-21 - 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….So we 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 hearts. But know this first of 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, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

- Paul explained it like this…

- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

- here’s a great summary of what we’re talking about from theologian Ron Rhoads - Biblical inspiration may be defined as God's superintending of the human authors so that, using their own individual personalities (and even their writing styles), they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original autographs. Inspiration means that the Holy Spirit of God superintended the human writers in the production of Scripture so that what they wrote was precisely what God wanted written.

- that’s a formula for reliability…now, what else can we see from this text?...

C. Luke readily acknowledges the existence of other sources.

- Luke 1:1-2 - Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us…

- and Luke is not saying that in a disparaging way at all…

- he’s glad for these original source documents and he’s learned much from studying them…

- one of the first lessons I learned about research in college was the importance of going back to the original sources…don’t just rely on what someone else said about a person’s view or experience or writing – go back and investigate what they said themselves…

- that’s why I’ve often recommended this book The Question of God by Armand Nicholli…

- Nicholli is a professor at Harvard Medical school and he wrote a theoretical debate between C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud…on the supposition that C.S. Lewis was one of the most influential thinkers in the 20^th century writing from a Christian perspective while Freud was one of the most influential thinkers in the same time period writing from an atheistic perspective…

- and while we have no evidence that the two ever met….

- what Nicholli did was juxtapose what Lewis said in his original writings with what Freud said on the same subjects…

- what’s great about that approach is – you’re not reading what other people said about Lewis, or about Freud – you’re reading what they said in their own words…in the original source documents…

- that’s what Luke did – it is likely that he had either read Matthew’s gospel and Mark’s gospel, or even had access to copies…

- and not only that…Luke knew Mark, and traveled with him…

- Philemon 23-24 - Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.

- we also know that Paul was imprisoned for two years in Caesarea…

- Acts 24:27 - But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.

- Luke very easily during that time could have interviewed Matthew, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, the other apostles, the 500 people who saw Christ resurrected, etc…

- for all of those eyewitness – the events and sayings of the life of Christ would have been incredibly vivid…

- and the point of all of this is – you have to decide what the source of your core strength is going to be…

- and I realize that some people might say – well, I’m just going to remain neutral…there is no such thing…

- philosophically, we’re talking about “epistemology” – your source of truth…how you go about knowing what you think you know…

- Cornelius Van Til was right when he spoke about the modern principle…that all facts are interpreted facts…and that there is no such thing as epistemological neutrality…

- so you have a navigational map…the question is, do you have a reliable one…

- that’s why it’s wise for followers of Jesus Christ to order their lives on the truth of Scripture recorded for us in places like the gospel of Luke…

- that’s why this church is always going to be about systematically teaching God’s Word…

- 1 Timothy 3:15 - but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

- last Sunday was a different kind of schedule for me – we had our service pastors speaking and I gave a little presentation in the middle…and then in several services I was traveling around the campus at different times than I normally do…it was wonderful to look into different classrooms and watch the Word of God being taught to people of all different ages…because we’re convinced about the reliability of the source…

- here’s a second reason that flows out of this text…

II. Because People like Luke were Meticulous in their Research

A. Eyewitness accounts

- did you see that key phrase in verse 2?...

- Luke 1:2 - just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses…

- that’s takes us back to what Peter said – we’re not following cleverly devised fables here…

- we meticulously researched the testimony of eyewitness accounts…

- 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 - For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

- and you can picture Dr. Luke carefully interviewing these eyewitnesses because he wants to be sure he gets it right for his friend…

- there’s another detail here that’s very important…

B. Of servants of the word…

Luke 1:2 - just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,

- the reason that’s important is to remind us that the people that Luke is interviewing would derive no benefit from lying…

- they are paying a significant price, and increasingly so, for being followers of Christ…yet they are willing to do so because they aren’t serving themselves, they’re serving the Word…

C. He investigated everything carefully from the beginning and wrote it out in consecutive order.

- Luke 1:3 - it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;

- Luke wanted his friend to know that this was a reliable source of truth…

D. This is why God’s Word is powerful enough to change you.

- John 17:17 - Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

- Psalm 19:7 - The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

- Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

- believing this impacts our entire mode of ministry…

- we’re convinced that God’s Word is powerful enough to help people like you and me change…

- so unless there’s some proven medical issue involved…we’re going to operate on the assumption that Scripture is a reliable source of truth to guide us into a personal relationship with God…and then into progressively becoming the kind of people God wants us to be each and every day…

- that’s why over 1700 dear servants of God are descending on Lafayette starting next Sunday evening…

- they want to hear about how to take the practical truth from Scripture and make it available to people in their communities and their churches who are hurting…

- we call it biblical counseling, or biblical discipleship…but it is based on the belief that the book we hold in our hands is reliable…it’s God’s Word to man…it can be trusted…

- I want to thank all of the men and women who are planning to serve for the BCTC…

- you might think that what you are doing is not that important in the larger scheme of things…but we cannot overestimate the value and importance of how you serve in whatever task God has called you to…

- because if what we’re saying is true – that Scripture is a reliable guide and powerful enough to help us change…then ultimately the proof is in the pudding…

- here’s the way Paul said it to Titus…Titus 2:10 - …showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

E. This is also why we sometimes have to stand for it.

- Jude 3 - Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

- when a teacher is going to refer to the Creator as “a puff of smoke magician” or a “cosmic tinkerer”, somebody better say something about it…

- I’m not suggesting that the biblical story of creation should be taught in public schools…

- I’m suggesting that scientific evidence that seems to challenge macro evolution should be put on the table as well…

III. Because God Wants Us to have the Exact Truth

- don’t you love the way Luke explained his purpose to his friend in verse 4?...

- Luke 1:4 - so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.

- isn’t that what you need when it comes to the principles necessary to navigate life effectively…

- you don’t want a map that doesn’t identify the rocks…

- you don’t want a navigational system that cost you a lot and helps you a little…

- Can I ask you this morning, have you chosen a reliable source when it comes to the issue of establishing a relationship with God?...

- later Luke will quote Jesus who said…

- Luke 24:44 - Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

- that’s a reliable Savior – have you put your trust in Him?...

- Christian friend – is there evidence that you believe God’s Word is a reliable guide for yourself and your family?...

- isn’t this also what Faith West is all about?...

- a place that is a lighthouse for God and His word…Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word…

- haven’t we also seen that God blesses those who want to live and proclaim His Word?...

- John 13:17 - If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

I. Welcome:

We’re glad you could join us for our study on Reasons to Believe.  Q:  How many of you were NOT here last week?

II. What is the series?

Our goal has been to show you compelling evidences to demonstrate why Christianity is the true religion and anything that opposes it is false.  Pastor Dutton and I teach a class that covers this material in much greater detail than we will cover here.  We’d like to invite you to participate in that class.

III.  Review

1. For this study on defending the faith or APOLOGETICS, our theme verse for us as a church family has been 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (stressing the importance of living a godly life).
2. We’ve been saying that there are two forms of belief:  Belief THAT something is true and a belief IN something. Apologetics only deals with a belief that God exists, Jesus is God, and the Bible is the Word of God. Only the Holy Spirit can bring someone to the salvation experience of believing in God, Titus 3:5.
3. Two weeks ago, you met my unbelieving friend, Sherlock, who didn’t’ believe that truth exists – which is an illogical belief because it is a truth claim that truth doesn’t exist. He introduced us to 3 of his friends that had various views on the nature of truth.   We took some time and pointed out how each of his friends were not only unbiblical in their thinking, but they were also illogical in their thinking:
1. Skepticism
2. Relativism
3. Pluralism
4. Don’t get nervous, we want to meet people where they are and lead them kindly and loving to the place they need to be -- to the cross!
1. Last week, 3 of my friends did a fabulous job helping me to present to Sherlock some compelling arguments for God’s existence and answered some very important questions often asked to a Christian.  For example:
1)  If the perfect God of the bible exists, how do you explain the existence of evil?  The answer is simple:  Evil exists because God gave man a free will to chose to obey or disobey.  You can take away evil, but you’d also have to take away man’s free will to chose!
2)  If the perfect God of the bible exists and He knew Lucifer and Adam would sin against Him, then why did He create them in the first place?  Answer:  Even though God knew Adam would sin, He still provided a way to restore the relationship between God and man – the gospel!
3)  If the perfect God of the bible exists, then what is the purpose of suffering?  Answer:  Even though we don’t always know or understand the purpose of suffering, God has a good purpose because He is an ALL-good God (we can know it by looking to His Word)
4)  If the perfect God of the bible exists, why would he send anyone to hell?  The answer:  God doesn’t want to send anyone to hell; He has made provision for man’s salvation!

IV.  Transition to tonight’s topic

1. Tonight, as usual, we face some new issues with my friend, Sherlock.  He doesn’t want to accept the historical reliability of the NT – in other words, he seriously doubts the validity of the bible!
2. For the Christian, we understand the Bible pre-supposes God's existence – Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” AND that God has spoken to us through His Word, 2 Timothy 3:16-17  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
3. While we believe that is true, tonight, we will demonstrate to Sherlock some compelling “REASONS TO BELIEVE” that the Bible is historically reliable, and is the most trustworthy book ever written – that it is THE WORD OF God!
4. Help me welcome my friend, Sherlock Holmes!

V. Sketch

-- Sherlock enters

Sherlock:  Good to see you again, Bob.  This is becoming a weekly event!

Bob:  Three down, three to go! But I’m enjoying this!

Sherlock:  Yeah! Me too!  But I’m still not convinced!

Bob:  I know, I know – but I’m glad you’re listening – and I’m glad you’re asking good questions! .

Sherlock:  Your friends really taught me something last week!  I left and told some of my friends about what Dr. Cosmo, Dr. D., and the Judge had to say.  My friends said, “Yeah, those Christians, they’re always saying things like that!”

Bob:  What did you tell them?

Sherlock: I told them that you didn’t just quote bible verses to me – although I know you do sometimes – but that what we talked about facts about the universe and human life that even my scientific friends had no answers for it!

Bob: That’s interesting!

Sherlock:  I told what you said about how all those facts add up better to your worldview as a Christian than to any other worldview.

Bob: What did your friends say then?

Sherlock:  Nothing!  They got pretty quiet – they never heard me talk like that before!

Bob:  So that means you are coming around to a different worldview?

Sherlock:  I didn’t say that – but I am thinking about what you’ve said – and thinking about those Bible verses you keep sneaking in on me!

Bob:  What are you talking about?

Sherlock:  Don’t try to deny the truth!

Bob: (excitingly) SO YOU ADMIT THAT TRUTH EXISTS?

Sherlock:  (jokingly – curled fist) Hey, do you want to go meet that God we’ve been talking about?

By the way, I’ve got some more questions – actually one BIG question!  See, you keep quoting those Bible verses to me like I can trust the Bible.  Everybody knows the bible is full of errors – it’s just another book.  There are other religions that claim to have a reliable source of truth.

Bob:  But Sherlock . . .

Sherlock:  I know, I know – they can’t ALL be true!

Bob: Sherlock, I can’t believe you said that!

Sherlock:  (jokingly) Do you want to go meet that God again?

Bob: No, no, no – but after tonight, I think you’ll be one step closer to accepting the Bible as an accurate, historical document!

Sherlock:  What do you mean by that?

Bob: I’m not asking you to believe the Bible is the Word of God, yet.  I simply want you to realize that as a piece of ancient literature, it is UNSURPASSED for it’s accuracy of transmission, it’s internal reliability (that is, it’s claims to be the truth), and the for the external evidence that points to its truthfulness!

If all this is true, then there are some pretty serious implications to all that!

Sherlock:  Sounds pretty heavy!

Bob:  Not really.  In fact, would you be willing to go to church with me?

Sherlock:  (shock) GO TO CHURCH – WITH YOU?  I like you Bob, but I don’t know about going to church! Do you guys handle snakes and stuff, or what?

Bob:  (sarcastically) Sherlock, do you want to go meet that God I’ve been talking about???

Sherlock:  OK, OK, . . . I’ll go – but, they won’t embarrass me or ask me to pray in public will they?

Bob:  No way – of course not!  These folks are just like us – normal, everyday people.  They are friendly and kind, and I promise you, nobody’s going to embarrass you.  I think you’ll like it!

And besides, he will preach so long that there won’t be time to embarrass you!!!

Seriously, my pastor just so happens to speaking tonight on this subject of the historical reliability of the NT, and I think you will learn some things if you’ll come and listen.  By the way, he’s the second best preacher at our church!

Sherlock:  Really?  Who’s the first?

Bob:  I’ll tell you later.  Come on, so we won’t be late!

[Viars teaches for 40 minutes]

- This evening I’d like to talk to you about the question, Is the Bible a Historically Accurate Document?
- If you’ve come to the place of believing that there is such a thing as truth....and I hope you have because there are reasons to believe that....
- and if you’ve come to the place of believing that God exists....and I hope you have because there are reasons to believe that as well...
- then the question becomes, where can you go to learn about God....
- it becomes a question of epistemology, what is going to be your source of truth?

- now, as unusual as this may sound, it is not my primary purpose tonight to convince you that the Bible is the Word of God....[though those of you who know me know that I believe that...but that discussion will come another time]
- It is our purpose tonight to convince you that the Bible is a historically reliable document, preserved and passed down with incredible care and precision...
- and what that means is....if a person chooses not to agree with the Bible’s message....their disagreement is not with the mode of transmission....their disagreement is with the original writers themselves.

- with the time we have remaining, I’d like to offer 4 brief but compelling reasons to believe that the Bible is a historically reliable document.

I.  The Reliability of the Bible is Demonstrated by the Number of Existing Manuscripts.

- now we all know that we have a challenge whenever we’re studying ancient literature.
- that is, there was no method available to write in such a way that perfect preservation was possible.
- they didn’t copy their words on a computer disk...
- they didn’t run off a thousand copies on a printing press or Xerox machine.
- copies were made by hand on material that could easily be damaged or destroyed.

- however, we know from secular history that people made their living copying ancient documents.
- it was both a science and an art...where meticulous attention was given to the copying task....after copying a page of the document, they would count the rows....they would count the letters....they would do their best to get it right.....
- sometimes a person would read a document to ten or more copyists at a time...it would be like a human Xerox machine...but again these people did this as an occupation.

- as a copy wore out or began to disintegrate, or when more copies were needed, additional ones were made.
- so now in our modern age, we have the ability to preserve those copies and study them.
- one of the key questions in evaluating any ancient document is, well, how many copies do we have?
- and the answer to that question doesn’t necessarily prove anything, but it is an important starting place.

- let’s answer that first from some other ancient writers....
Herodotus - 496-406 B.C. - 8
[8 copies of portions of his writings --- we’ll talk about how old they are in a minute]
Plato - 427-327 B.C. - 7
Aristotle - 384-322 B.C. - 5
Lucretius - 60 B.C. - 2
Tacitus - 100 A.D. - 20

- you probably remember some of these names from your ancient history classes.
- my guess is that your professor never questioned whether these people really lived, or whether the manuscript copies of what they wrote were reliable.
- but what I’d like you to see is that the conclusion of reliability is made in each case on the basis of a small number of ancient [not original] manuscripts.

- however, when it comes to the Bible, do you know how many ancient manuscripts we have that contain some portion of the Bible?
- over 5000.
- and those are copies of the Bible itself.
- we’re not talking yet about ancient manuscripts where the Bible in its original language was translated into a different ancient language.....
- nor are we talking about places where the Bible was quoted by other ancient writers....
- right now we’re talking about ancient manuscripts that contain portions of the Bible itself....over 5000 ancient manuscripts.

- that is why New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce said - “There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textual attestation as the New Testament.”

- J. Harold Geenlee says - “The number of available manuscripts of the New Testament is overwhelmingly greater than those of any work of ancient literature.”

- by the way, that quote raises an important issue.
- much of what I’m talking to you about tonight is referring to the NT, because that’s generally where the doubts come in.
- there is generally not near as much problem with the OT because the Jews agreed completely on what books should be in the OT, they had a natural place to keep copies of God’s Word, and they were known for meticulously copying it in ways that bordered on worship of the book itself.

- now you might say, OK Pastor Viars, I see that the Bible is unique in the number of existing ancient manuscripts....moreso than any other book.
- but what happens when you compare them?
- it doesn’t help to have a lot if when you compare them, they don’t match.
- the existence of a lot of manuscripts may actually hurt the Bible if when you compare them, the words are different.
- that’s a good point...thank you for raising it.

II.  The Reliability of the Bible is Demonstrated by the Similarity of the Existing Manuscripts.

- the fascinating thing about studying these ancient manuscripts is how similar they are to one another.
- even in a system where the possibility for mistakes was so high, as scholars compare these manuscripts, they have concluded that we can determine the original text with 99.9% assurance.
- now remember, our view of inspiration is that the original autographs were inspired of God....
- and no one has the original autograph...the original writing....if we did, people would probably have made a shrine to it and worshipped it.
- but where you would have expected to find documents riddled with errors, you find the exact opposite.

- here’s one of many examples that could be cited.
- up until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest copy of the book of Isaiah we possessed was from A.D. 900.
- now that’s still pretty old, but remember, we believe Isaiah would have originally written that book in the 600’s BC, so there was a span of 1500 years from when he wrote to the copy we possessed.

- however, when the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, a copy of the book of Isaiah was found that was dated about 100 B.C.
- now, I don’t want to lose you in the math....
- Isaiah wrote in 600 B.C.....
- our oldest copy was from 900 A.D. [a span of 1500 years]
- then we have another copy written in 100 B.C.

- the obvious task was to compare the 2 copies.....
- because now we have something a lot closer to when Isaiah originally wrote....
- and it is also a full 1000 years earlier than the oldest copy we previously possessed, so we can see all the changes and errors that had crept in over a 1000 year period of hand copies.

- you can imagine the liberals chomping at the bit to get this study going and prove the unreliability of the Bible.
- do you know what they found?
- practically complete agreement....
- a word had been left out here, one added there....nothing affecting a major doctrine....
- the words of the texts were almost in complete agreement....

- by the way, one of the verses in that book, Isaiah 40:8 says....
Isaiah 40:8 - The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

- now someone might say, well PV, that’s fine....but what about the age of the manuscripts?
- you’ve proven that we have a lot of them, much more so than any other ancient piece of literature....and you’ve proven that the texts themselves are in substantial agreement with one another.....but what if they’re all relatively recent copies.
- maybe there’s a lot of them, and maybe they agree with one another....but the reason is that hundreds and hundreds of years elapsed between when they were written and the copies we have.

- that’s an interesting point, because having a lot of manuscripts that agree with one another is not necessarily a strong case unless those documents, or at least a portion of them, were copied soon after the original writers first wrote them.
- friend, I’m happy to announce to you that....

III.  The Reliability of the Bible is Demonstrated by the Age of the Existing Manuscripts

- do you remember those ancient writers we spoke about a few minutes ago.
- there’s something else I’d like you to see about their writings....

Herodotus - 496-406 B.C. - 8 - 1300 A.D.
Plato - 427-327 B.C. - 7 - 1200 A.D.
Aristotle - 384-322 B.C. - 5 - 1400 A.D.
Lucretius - 60 B.C. - 2 - 1600 A.D.
Tacitus - 100 A.D. - 20 - 1000 A.D.

- and again, in any high school or college classroom, when you hear these writers discussed...
- there is no question about whether they really lived...
- there is no question about whether they really wrote what they wrote....
- there is no question about whether we have an accurate version of their writings, though in many cases the manuscripts of their writings are relatively recent....
- there were hundreds and in some cases thousands of years between when they wrote and the age of the copies we possess.

- what about the Bible?
- this is where this discussion gets downright enjoyable.
- because friends, we have manuscripts that date back to within a generation of when the words were first written.
- the John Ryland fragment of a portion of the Gospel of John is dated is dated at 114 A.D.
- in a group of manuscripts called the Bodmore papyri, we have copies of entire books of the Bible within 150 years of their writing.

- that’s why Harold Greenlee went on to say, “The number of available manuscripts of the New Testament is overwhelmingly greater than those of any work of ancient literature...the earliest extant manuscripts of the New Testament were written much closer to the date of the original writing.”

- now, a whole other part of this discussion that I haven’t even mentioned yet is the matter of how often and how early the Bible was quoted by other ancient writers.
- when we say that we have over 5000 existing manuscripts of portions of the Bible, we’re talking about the Bible itself.

- but we also have thousands of ancient examples of the Bible being translated into other languages.
- and there again, the studies yield the same kinds of data....
- there are a lot of manuscripts....
- there is strong textual agreement....
- and the manuscripts in many cases are very close to the originals....
- much more so that other ancient writers and writings.

- now, here’s something else about this date business....the Bible was also quoted extensively by the early church fathers.
- they wrote in the 200’s and 300’s A.D.
- and when we read their writings, we can reconstruct the entire NT except for 11 verses.

- so, a. we have a lot of manuscripts, and b.when you compare the text of the manuscripts, there is great agreement, and c. the manuscripts are very old, in some cases quite close to the time they were written.

- now someone might say --- but PV, what about the amount of time between when the original writer wrote, and when the events actually happened?
- that’s a great question too.
- take a book like I Corinthians....most scholars date that letter to have been written at 55-56 A.D.
- now how long was that from the actual resurrection of Christ?
- not long, 22-23 years.
- people who had seen those things were still alive.

- yet Paul sets forth in great detail in chapter 15 that the resurrection of Christ was a historical event, and that hundreds of people had seen the resurrected Christ....in other words, if  you believe him, go interview them.
- Paul would have been insane to writ that information that close to the actual events if they could be proven false...yet that’s exactly what they did.

- now someone might say, OK....I understand what you’re saying about amount, and date, and agreement in the actual words.....
- but here’s a question for you.....surely all these writers don’t agree on the content.
- in other words, maybe we have an accurate record of their words....but when we compare what one writer wrote with another, surely the content wouldn’t agree.
- after all, there were 39 or 40 of them....they wrote over a time span of 1500 years...
- even if we have an accurate representation of what they said...surely they contradicted one another.

- you know, that would be a good question.
- please think of it from this perspective for a moment....

- how many of you watched the presidential debate this past Tuesday evening? [hands?]
- so you were eyewitnesses, right?
- and you live at the same time....in the same place....you speak the same language....and you probably have similar core values and beliefs.....

- what would happen if we asked 10 people here to write a 2 page essay reporting the events of Tuesday night, and then compared the essays?
- you know the answer to that question already, don’t you?

- we’d be asking questions like....did these people watch the same event?
- are you sure this was the same night?
- were they listening to the same people?
- were they on the same planet?

- [develop --- that same thing happens in counseling when people are reporting their side of an event....]

- but what happens when you open the Bible....

IV.  The Reliability of the Bible is Demonstrated by the Agreement of the Bible Writers.

- What you find as you read God’s Word is that all of the writers are telling different parts of the same story.
- it’s a story about the sinfulness of man.
- it’s a story about the holiness and justice and righteousness of God.
- but it’s also a story about His love, and His mercy, and His forgiveness.
- it’s a story about redemption.
- it’s a story about His glory.
- it’s a story about how He can save, and change, and use people.
- it’s a story about the what will happen in the future.

- and we would expect documents written by 10 different people in this room, at the same time, in the same place, reporting on the same event to be substantially different.

- yet this book, written over a span of 1500 years, using 39 or 40 different authors, tells different parts of the same story.

- and I realize that the skeptic will say....but what about all the contradictions in the Bible.
- the best response to that is, please name one.
- frankly, that usually ends the discussion.
- and the fact is, most of the Bible is very understandable.
- in places that are difficult, there are principles of Bible study that often help us understand and unravel passages that are hard.
- and occasionally there are times we have to honestly say, “we don’t know.”
- but it is amazing [it fact it is miraculous], that a book written over such a long period time by so many different people would have such substantive agreement in its message.

- now, in order to stay within my allotted time frame, I’m leaving a lot of things out.
- we haven’t talked about the literally thousands of places where the Bible claims to be the Word of God.
- we haven’t talked about the nature of inspiration.
- we haven’t talked about how the church came to recognize the books of the Bible, but Pastor Dutton gave an entire message on the topic of canonicity back in October 22, 1995.

- so there’s a lot we’re leaving out for sake of time.
- but let me take one more minute to thread this together with what we’re studying in our ABF’s, and then we’ll turn it back to Dr. Martin.
- remember that Jesus told his disciples that when He returned to heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit, who would guide them in all truth.
- those men were known as apostles....and they were used as part of the foundation of the church.
- as you survey the book of Acts, the issue of apostolic authority is very prevalent.
- what they had to say was carefully followed by the early church during its transitional period.

- after the apostles died, many of them martyred for their faith, they [or their near associates] left us the inspired writings....collected into our Bibles.

- the manuscript evidence for this book is unlike any other.
- the number of manuscripts is amazing....
- the similarity of the manuscripts is astounding....
- the age of the manuscripts is unparalleled....
- and the agreement of the writers is miraculous....

- and what that means is, for any person who chooses not to believe the Bible and act on its message....their disagreement is not with the mode of transmission....their disagreement is with what the original writers themselves said.

- the message has been reliably passage down...the question for all of us is....will you believe it?

- “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”
- Where have you heard those words before?
- If you have money in a retirement fund, or if you ever look at financial magazines....
- you’ll see those words in the company’s ads, or printed somewhere on the prospectus.....
- here’s our returns over the last year....
- here’s our returns for the past five years, and ten years....BUT.....
- “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”

- now, why would a financial company have such statements in their literature?
- because they’d be the first ones to tell you, we don’t know the future.
- They’d say, “even if we did well last year, or for the past five or ten years, that wasn’t because we knew IN ADVANCE how well we’d do.
- we tried to look at the trends, we tried to look at the future....we made the best decisions we could.....and in most cases it turned out pretty well.
- but that certainly wasn’t because we knew in advance how well we’d do....
- so, please keep in mind......Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

- now the amazing thing is, for most of us, we would still consider that approach RELIABLE.
- Americans have invested billions of dollars in such companies and we consider the investments relatively safe.

- Imagine this......
- what if a company could say.....
- not only, here’s how we did last year.....but also, we predicted before the year began exactly how well we’d do, published the number, and that’s exactly how things came out.
- or, for each of the last five years, we’ve gone public with a prediction of exactly what percentage of increase our funds would see that year, and for each of the five years, we were exactly right.
- or that’s happened for the last ten years, or the last twenty years.....
- and they would even go on to make this claim.....in fact, we are so sure of our ability to do this, we can say with confidence.....
- Past performance IS A Guarantee of future results.

- would you agree with me, that would be an entirely new standard of reliability?
- any company that could truly offer that service would have everyone’s money......

- well, this morning, we’re not just talking about something as relatively insignificant as money, or whether you or I will have enough money to retire (though you know I believe tat is a very important issue.....)
- but compared to what we are talking about, retirement funds are relatively insignificant.....
- because we’re talking about what you’re going to trust in regarding what happens after retirement.....in other words, what happens one second after you die.....
- we’re also talking about what you’re going to trust regarding direction for living here and now.....
- ideas about who’s supposed to do what in your home.....
- ideas about what our priorities should be....
- truth about how you ought to conduct yourself in the workplace....
- direction for raising our children....
- what we’re going to believe in regarding change and growth.....

- if there’s ever a reason to be concerned about reliability......its on those issues.....
- having the right source of truth for matters of life and death.....that has a proven track record.....
- where we can look at those ideas with confidence and say, “Past performance does guarantee future results”.....
- I can follow this path with confidence and certainty.....

- with those thoughts in mind, I’d like to invite you to open your Bible to Daniel chapter 8.
- we’re talking this morning about “The Reliability of God’s Word.”

- let me take a moment and talk with you about the schedule.
- we’ve began studying the book of Daniel in January.
- Our plan is to be done with our series by the 4th of July.

- there are a couple of special Sundays between now and then.
1) As Pastor Dutton mentioned, Dr. Les Ollila, the president of Northland Baptist Bible College will be with us next Sunday......
2) We also have Father’s Day coming on June 20th, and we’ll take a break from Daniel that day just like we did on Mother’s Day.
3) Then on July 4th, Pastor Brad Lipiska will be with us.
- Brad is a helicopter pilot and a ________ in the ________,
- He flew a number of missions during the gulf war......

- the bottom line, that leaves today and three other Sundays in the book of Daniel.
- I appreciate the hard work that our congregation has done in seeking to understand this pivotal book.

- if you’re new with us today, let me run through a brief summary that the folks who have been with us all along could give from memory by now.....
- Daniel was a Jewish teenager who was deported to Babylon by King Nebuchanezzar.
- the book is all about how he and some of his friends were able to maintain their faithfulness for God even though they were in a situation where there was great pressure to compromise their convictions and beliefs.
- the first six chapters were an exciting historical description of Daniel’s life.....
- the last six chapters are primarily prophetic......
- this man clearly had a lifestyle that could be trusted.....
- now we’re learning what God revealed to him about the future which is also worthy of our trust......

- READ Daniel 8:1
- do you remember the timing of chapter 7?
- it occurred in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar, king of Babylon.
- so the math here is pretty simple.....chapter 8 occurs two years after chapter 7---Bible students believe this was 551 BC.
- of course this is after the “handwriting on the wall events” of chapter 5, because those happened at the end of Belshazzar’s life [539 BC]

- READ 8:1-3

- we’ve already learned that these animals represents kingdoms in the future and their rulers.....
- there’s also a hint in verse 3 that might help us already understand who’s being spoken of.....
- because in the verses we’ve read in previous weeks.....there’s this kingdom that is comprised of two nations, but one is always more dominant.....which was “Medo-Persia”
- before the chapter is over, we’ll see that’s exactly who this ram refers to.

- READ 8:4-8

- now, if you’ve been with us as we’ve worked through the previous chapters, this is becoming easy.
- we know that Belshazzar is the king of Babylon.....
- we know the kingdom that will overthrow Babylon, represented by this ram, is Medo-Persia.
- and we know that the country that will over-throw Medo-Persia, represented in this chapter by the goat, is speaking of Greece.
- and we can guess who this single horn is on the goat.....that has to be Alexander the Great.....
- and the four horns that replace him are the four generals who received parts of the empire after Alexander died.

- let’s keep reading - READ 9-27.

- in the time we have remaining, I’d like us to see three ways the Word of God is reliable.

I. God’s Promises Regarding the Past Have Proven to be Reliable.

- the number of prophecies that were literally fulfilled in this text are astounding.
- If after studying chapters like Daniel 8 in the Bible, you and I wouldn’t walk away having tremendous confidence in the Scriptures, I don't know what it would take.
- for sake of time, I’d like to review seven prophecies made to Daniel in 551BC that were fulfilled in such a way that only the God of Heaven and earth, the eternal God who knows the future, could have known in advance.
- the first one is this.....

1) The location of the citadel of Susa.
- in verse 2, this vision begins with Daniel telling us about the location.
- what’s significant about that is, Susa was a small little burg at this point in history.
- it must have shocked Daniel to see this small town transferred into the nerve center of the coming kingdom.....
- it would be like you or me seeing a vision of Dayton or Mulberry, but now its the next Washington, D.C.
- however, history tells us that this detail was precisely fulfilled.
- guess where the capital of the next kingdom, the Medo-Persian empire was located?......Susa [or Shushan, depending on what translation of the Bible you have].
- in fact, when we read this, if you studied the Bible before, you might have said....Susa, Susa, where have I heard that name before?
- the answer is --- it comes up in the book of Nehemiah.....which is a book that occurs a little later in history, where Nehemiah is serving as the King’s cupbearer.....for the King of/
- Persia......so the book of Nehemiah opens with them being in the palace at Shushan, or Susa.  ---- [You can read about that in Nehemiah 1:1].

- so here’s an example of God speaking about a city that will one day be very prominent, that at the time is a little burg, ....yet sure enough, God’s Word comes to pass exactly as He predicted.
- Past performance guarantees future results”.....

- a second fulfilled prophecy is this...
2) Description of the Ram’s horns [in verse 3].
- the verse says, now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other.
- that seems to be a strange detail, but you may remember in chapter 7 when Medo-Persia was pictured as a bear....there was a similar description that was unusual....do you remember what it was.....
- the bear was turned up on one side with one half being more dominant [cf. 7:5]
- we know from history that the Persians were stringer than the Medes, and eventually they assimilated them into their country and you don't hear about the Medes anymore.
- its also interesting in verse 4 that the Medo-Persian empire is very dominant for a time.
- David Jeremiah, in his very helpful book “Handwriting on the Wall”, states, “Cyrus the Persian and his son Cambesis II, built the largest empire the world had ever seen to that day.  It moved in every direction, and no other kingdom could stand before them.”

- of course later in the chapter [in verse 20], the angel tells Daniel clearly that this ram represents Medo-Persia.
- that’s why, by the way....when the handwriting on the wall appeared to king Belshazzar.....and they ran and got Daniel and asked him to interpret it.....
- that’s why Daniel was able to say in chapter 5, verse 28, right then and there --- “Your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and the Persians”
- How did Daniel know that?
- because God had already told him.....even when that prophecy seemed entirely possible at that point in history.....
- Daniel was convinced about this regarding his God..... - Past performance guarantees future results”.....

- here’s a third prophecy in this chapter that was literally fulfilled.....
3)  The emergence of Greece.
- one of the most significant points about the way the Grecian empire was formed was its swiftness.
- historians tell us that Alexander conquered the known world in 12 years.
- that’s exactly what verse 5 is telling us.....
- this “male goat coming from the west over the whole surface of the whole earth without touching the ground.”
- it is absolutely astounding that these details were fulfilled exactly the way the were given, even though Daniel received them hundreds of years before the fact.
- secular history tells us, by the way, that the Jewish priests of Alexander’s day actually showed his the book of Daniel, now hundreds of years old, and told him.....”you’re in here.....what is happening in this kingdom was prophesied in God’s Word.....and history says he got down on his knees and worshipped God, but he didn’t do anything to change the direction of his life which led to his untimely death.”

- a fourth fulfilled prophecy is the....
4)  Defeat of the Medo-Persian empire.
- verse 7 tells us how ruthlessly the Grecian empire destroyed the Persians.
- he struck the ram, shattered his two horns, hurled him to the ground and trampled on him.
- Dave Jeremiah says of that event.....”When Alexander decided to take the Persians down, he came with 35,000 troops from the west and defeated the Persian army.  He swept on south and took Egypt, Tyre, and Gaza, and then he retraced his steps through Syria and met an enlarged Persian army for the third time.  Then he did just what the Scripture said.  He threw them to the ground, stomped on them and the Medo-Persian empire was wiped out, just as predicted.”
- friends, - Past performance guarantees future results”.....

- here’s a fifth one.....
5) The prominence of Alexander.
- verse 8 says that the male goat magnified himself exceedingly.
- it goes on to say that he was mighty, but then after he became mighty, he was broken.
- what a perfect picture of Alexander the Great.
- you couldn’t come up with a more concise yet perfectly accurate description of the man.
- yet remember, this wasn’t a group of historians trying to tell the story in a economy of words after the fact.....this was the God of heaven and earth predicting the events before the fact.

- [could develop -- and not only did God know these things in advance, He had a purpose for them --- if time, develop “in the fullness of time” ---- the advances on language and roads that prepared the way for the coming of Christ.]

- a sixth prophecy in this chapter regards:
6) The death of Alexander.
- verse 8 tells us that when Alexander died, he would be replaced with four horns.
- we saw that exact same thing in chapter 7 verse 6, which tells about the leopard with four heads.
- after Alexander’s death, four of his generals fought for years until the kingdom was divided in four parts.

- now there’s one last one that I’d like to mention, though there are actually a number of them in this chapter that we’re skipping for sake of time.
- the seventh has to do with a man named:
7) Antiochus Epiphanes.
- you might say -- who is that?
- well, let’s start with something familiar.....how many of you have heard of Hanukkah?
- probably all of have.
- that’s a Jewish feast that is celebrated around Christmas, symbolized by the menorah.
- the menorah is a candlestick with nine branches......
- Jewish history outside the Bible says that a man named Judas Maccabees delivered the Jews in 165 BC from a terribly wicked man who had desecrated their temple.
- it was going to take eight days to cleanse the temple, but they only found enough oil to last one day, but their legend says that God allowed the oil to last all 8 days, which is why during Hanukkah a new candle is lit during each day of the feast.

- the wicked man they had been delivered from is the man spoken of in verses 9-14.....he’s known in history as Antiochus Epiphanes.
- This is the Greek ruler who took a pig into the Jewish temple [which they of course would have considered an unclean animal] , slit it and sprayed its blood all over the Jewish temple.
- we don't have time this morning to look at the ways this prophecy was fulfilled detail by detail, but it is absolutely breathtaking.
- if you would like to study it more, I would recommend pages 164-168 of David Jeremiah’s book...[I might warn you, the material on those pages is gruesome, because the way this prophecy was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes was gruesome.]
- one detail I have to mention is this number of days Antiochius would terrorize the Jewish people, according to verse 14 -- was 2300 days.
- historians tell us that Antiochus began his persecution of the Jews on Sept. 6, 171 BC and was stopped on Dec. 25, 165 BC.
- if you do the math, do you know what you come out with....2300 days.

- the point of all of this is..... I. God’s Promises Regarding the Past Have Proven to be Reliable.
- Past Performance is a Guarantee of Future Results.

- now, let’s bring this down to where you and I live.
- These last two points will attempt to bring Daniel chapter 8 into 20th century America.

II. God’s Promises Regarding Today are Reliable.

- one of the ways God would want a chapter like this one to impact His people is by our saying.....I want to look at what God has said about my life today, and evaluate whether I am following it in a way that demonstrates that I truly believe its trustworthy.

- for example.....
A. God’s Words’ radical approach to the family.
- cf. cartoon
- now, the Word of God comes alongside that and says, a man’s most important responsibility, humanly speaking, is to his wife, and his children.
- and a woman’s most important responsibility, humanly speaking, is to her husband and children.

- I was talking about this with some of my friends who pastor other churches in our town and we were reminding ourselves how we would be absolute fools in we were more concerned with the success of the church, then we were with the success of our marriages, and families.
- God created the family as the central institution of society.....
- and communities are only as strong as their families....
- and churches are only as strong as their families.....
- and husbands and wives ought to be placing great amounts of effort there.....
- and we ought to be finding great joy there......

- and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying work, or enjoying material things, or accomplishments outside the home.....
- but friends, if those things have captivated our hearts.....then God’s Word would say.....there’s something wrong with our hearts......
- and before we would think about arguing with the Word of God on that subject...let’s let Daniel chapter 8 have a say.
- Past performance guarantees future results.
- God was right about Babylon...He was right about Medo-Persia....He was right about Greece....He was right about Rome.....
- and He is right about our families and the priority they ought to be....
- and if we violate His Word on this matter, we do so at our own peril.

- if chapters like Daniel 8 don’t convince us of the reliability of the Word of God, I honestly don't know what it would take.
- see, II. God’s Promises Regarding Today are Reliable.
- let’s push this one step further.....what about.....
B. God’s Word regarding money
- God’s Word says, life consists not in the abundance of things a man possesses....
- He says --- where your treasure is, that’s where your heart is going to be....
- so don't just lay up for yourselves treasures where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal.....
- instead, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven....

- in other words, you can live a consumptive lifestyle, or you cam be a biblical steward
- you can organize your life around things, or you can organize your life around God, and others, and serving, and ministry.....

- and you and I can evaluate ourselves in that area, and make a pretty good determination of whether we believe God’s Word is reliable.

[if time, could develop God’s Word regarding relationships]

- point is --- I. God’s Promises Regarding the Past Have Proven to be Reliable....and....

III. God’s Promises Regarding Today are Reliable.....

- therefore each of us should be asking......Does the way I know and follow the Word of God demonstrate that I am convinced about its reliability?

- now, you can probably guess where this outline is heading..... --- I. God’s Promises Regarding the Past Have Proven to be Reliable....and....
II. God’s Promises Regarding Today are Reliable.....What’s next?
III. God’s Promises Regarding the Future are Reliable.
- Daniel 8 ought to put biblical confidence regarding what God has revealed concerning the future.
- when we see what God told Daniel, and how it literally came to pass....that ought to fill our hearts with hope and enthusiasm because of His promises for the future.

A. Heaven
John 14:1-6 -  "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  "And you know the way where I am going."  Thomas *said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"  Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

- develop --- Friend, are you sure you have a personal relationship with Christ?
- God’s promises regarding salvation are reliable

B.  We will be with Him immediately after we die.

- you may be, even as a believer, struggling with the idea of death.

- II Cor. 5:7 - to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

- Christ said to the thief on the cross --- This day you will be with me in paradise.

C. The future judgment

- for Christians -- Judgment Seat of Christ --- are you ready?

- for unbelievers -- the great white throne judgment

D. He will never leave us or forsake us

- Hebrews 13:5

- cf. Y2K

[be sure to hit the idea of --- even if it doesn’t seem possible today --- none of this would have seemed possible to Daniel]