1st Sunday Sermon 4-16-2023

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Liberty University *

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Religion

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Dec 6, 2023

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Why Should We Bother with the Bible? Who does Jesus think He is? Have you ever asked yourself the question, why should we bother with the Bible? I think if you’re being honest, you probably have. I mean after all, it is the oldest book ever written and if it is not true, it is the Greatest Lie Ever Told. Let me tell you guys this book has been around somewhere in the ballpark of 5000 years or more. The CONTENTS have never changed. We know this is true because of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient documents that were discovered in 1947 by a young Bedouin shepherd boy. You see, before 1947, Biblical scholars and neigh-sayers alike all claimed that the Bible was nothing more than a farce. A farce is something made up that cannot be substantiated but is put out to the weak minds of the world as if it were the truth. But you see, family in 1947, that all changed. That was the year a young Bedouin shepherd boy lost his sheep. So, he did what all good shepherds do and went on to hunt for him. Being that they were in a place called Qumran (which is a very mountainous area), he began to check every cave he could to find this sheep. Certain caves were quite a way down, so to get in them, you would need a rope to climb with. After a couple of hours, this kid reached that cave area, so he got the idea of throwing rocks in the cave to hit the sheep, which would make it neigh. Then he would have found it, but what he found instead ended up changing the course of history forever. As he was chunking these rocks into the cave openings, he came upon one and heard breaking glass. Of course, like any of us, he became very curious as to what was in the cave that sounded like glass. So, he gathered his rope, made his way into the cave, and discovered the greatest finding of the 20 th century. Because of that kid, we now possess what we have termed the “Dead Sea Scrolls” because they were found in caves near the Dead Sea in the

Middle East. Those scrolls contained portions and fragments of what we call today the Old Testament. Smithsonian Magazine says the scrolls contain the earliest version of the Ten Commandments. Most were written between 200 B.C. and the period before the failed Jewish revolt to gain political and religious independence from Rome A.D. 66 to 70, which predates the oldest previously known Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible by 8 to 11 centuries. Consequently, scholars of Judaism consider the scrolls to be a missing link between the period when religious laws were passed down orally and the Rabbinic era, beginning circa A.D. 200, when they were systematically recorded—eventually leading to the legal commentaries that became the Talmud. For Christians, the Scrolls are also important because the scrolls are a source of profound insight. Although the texts do not mention Jesus, the scrolls have “helped us better understand how Jesus’ messages represented ideas that were current in the Judaism of his time and in what ways [they were] distinctive.” One scroll, for example, mentions a messianic figure who is called both the “Son of God” and the “Son of the Most High.” Many theologians had speculated (that’s all they do is SPECULATE and then present their speculation as if it is the GOSPEL) that the phrase “Son of God” was adopted by early Christians after Jesus’ crucifixion, in contrast to the pagan worship of the Roman emperors. But the appearance of the phrase in the scrolls indicates the term was already in use when Jesus was preaching his gospel. In other words guys the Dead Sea Scrolls are PROOF that the Bible (at least the OT anyway) that we invest our lives into has merit. Those Scrolls validate the Bible we read 99.9%. Couple that with the fact that the Bible is comprised of 66 books (39 Old, 27 New) by over 40 authors all of which lived at different times and places in history. Some were kings and others

were beggars. Some lived in Jerusalem, some in Italy, some in Greece, Macedonia, Africa, and some lived in Kentucky (haha), but they ALL AGREE on one thing, the God that encapsulates the pages of the Bible! This is just one of the many things that convince me of the Bible’s Veracity! Some of the others would be the factual realities that are tangible for the world to see. Like the fact that Genesis 2:7 states that God formed man and gave him the animals to keep him company (that didn’t work); it then says He put the man to sleep and formed the woman from the man’s body. Brought the 2 of them together, then told them both that from that point forward, EVERY MAN would come from a woman's womb. Unlike evolution, this fact is a scientific principle that can be proven to this very hour. No one in this room got here without a woman’s womb! Now, we may figure out how to get around that because the Bible also states that if we could all speak the same language as they did early on that, we are CAPABLE of ACCOMPLISHING ANYTHING; check it out; turn with me to Genesis 11:1-9. Some of you may think, “Yeah, but man, He confused their speech and made them all have different languages. But I’m here to put you on high alert; the internet has brought us back to the Tower of Babel. We can communicate in any language known to man through the power of the WWW and our possession of cell phones. I promise you guys we’re back to where they once were in history. We’re now capable of accomplishing anything (Genesis 11:5-8). Remember, we are made LIKE God. And God is a Creator; therefore, through His DNA, we, too, are creators. We learned from the Ultimate Creator, and it is a Biblical fact that we all want to be like the Most-High, God. It was the reason Lucifer fell (Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14:12-14), it also captivated Eve (Genesis 3: 5-7), and the New Testament tells us to be on guard, or we will fall into that trap too! See I Timothy 3:6-7

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What makes us think the Bible is really God’s Word/s? What makes it better than the Quran, the Book of Mormon, or even the Jehovah’s Witness Watchtower tract? I mean, isn’t the Bible just another ancient book filled with stories of people who were nothing like we are today? And what makes us think we are different from any of the groups mentioned above? I mean, do you really believe that Jesus is the only way to God? What makes Him so special? What about all those people that lived before Jesus even existed? Will God really send them to hell because they didn’t know Jesus?

Does the Bible really have the capability to make life better? I Timothy 4:12-16 12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to DOCTRINE. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 MEDITATE on these things; give yourself ENTIRELY to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the DOCTRINE. Continue in them, for in doing this; you will save both yourself and THOSE WHO HEAR YOU. I Timothy 6:11-16 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and PURSUE righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

1st Sunday Sermon 4-16-2023

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