Showing posts with label Finding the Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Finding the Rock. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Authority of Scripture: Outside Evidences - Chris Isaac
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The Authority of Scripture
Matt 7:24-27
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
(NIV)
Introduction
A) Finding the Rock series
1) We’ve talked about Salvation by Grace
2) Then we spent the last four Wednesdays on the Lordship of Christ
3) This week and next we will be on the Authority of Scripture
B) The Purpose of this series
1) Is not just to teach you what we believe here at New Life
2) But why we believe
3) You should know that we Believe the Bible to be the word of God
4) But why do we believe this? That’s what we want to discuss tonight
C) I’m going to approach this on two levels over the next two weeks
1) I’m going to give you both knowledge and wisdom
2) Knowledge is simple facts and information
3) Wisdom is applying that knowledge
4) Example of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream
5) Tonight I am going to give you knowledge, and next week wisdom
D) Understand that the Bible is under attack
1) The enemy is constantly attacking the Word of God
2) It began in the Garden of Eden and continues to this day.
3) But his attacks on the Bible are his most subtle of attacks, why
(a) He understands the potency of the Word of God
(b) Far more intimately than you or I
4) The Word of God is the thing Satan fears most
(a) He is not afraid of your salvation, because it can’t hurt him
(b) In our spiritual armor described in Ephesians, the Word of God is the only offensive item, all the rest are defensive
Heb 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (NIV)
5) Now we said that Satan first attacked the Word of God in the Garden, and I want to look at that attack tonight
(a) And key in on just how the enemy attacks the Authority of God’s Word
Gen 3:1-5
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (NIV)
6) Notice there were three attacks Satan made
(a) Raised doubt as to the accuracy of the word
Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
(b) Rejected the truth of the word
"You will not surely die,"
(c) Replaced the word
"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
(d) These are the same attacks, Satan is making today against the Word of God
(e) Satan’s goal in all this is to get you make your own decisions, based upon your knowledge, not God’s
7) This is the error of Noah’s generation
(a) Every man did what was right in his own eyes
(b) And this is where we are heading today
(c) How often have we heard it said what someone does in the privacy of their own home is their own affair
(d) Or what two consenting adults do in private
(e) Now I’m not saying we should be legislating morality, but in our own lives we need to not be determining right and wrong based upon what we think or feel.
I) Raised Doubt as to the accuracy of the word
A) In Today’s sophisticated society the first attack of the enemy on the Word of God is to question the accuracy of scripture
B) Inerrancy
1) Inerrancy is defined as lack of error; infallibility; the belief that the Bible is free from error in matters of science as well as those of faith.
2) The concept of inerrancy has been around since Moses first wrote the Pentateuch 3500 years ago
3) The importance of inerrancy cannot be overstated
(a) The Bible is our tangible source for understanding who God is
(b) If any part of it is inaccurate, then we are left to wonder which parts are true, and which are incorrect.
4) Today most evangelical churches support the position put forth in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.
(a) This was agreed upon by most major conservative denominations at a convention in 1978
(b) It states that the Bible is inerrant in its original manuscript.
5) This inerrancy will cover not only faith based issues, but also historical, geographical and scientific issues.
(a) History: example of the Hittites
(b) Geography: archeological discovery of the location of Sodom and Gomorrah
(c) Science: Joshua’s sun standing still recorded by the Babylonians
(d) Also consider the flood
(i) Appears in almost every major form of mythology
(ii) When they dig deep enough archeologist and geologist constantly find evidence of a cataclysmic flood in the layers of the earth.
6) Has every part of the Bible been proven true
(a) No, but they continue to be
(b) But scientist have yet to disprove anything mentioned in scripture
C) The History of the Bible
1) Canonization of Scripture
(a) The Bible was written over a span of roughly 1500 years
(i) During that time many books were written, but not all were included in the cannon of scripture
(ii) To be canonized did not make a book or letter “divinely inspired, it simply recognized the pre-established fact.
(b) To be canonized a book had to meet certain criteria
(i) It was written by a man of God
• The author was recognized by his peers
• He was confirmed by an act of God
• The author was not a false prophet
(ii) The book was divinely inspirational
• It told the truth about God
• It had the power to sanctify and edify
(iii) The book was timeless
• It had to be immediately accepted by the people of the time
• Its message had to have the same relevance 1000 years later.
(c) Let me show you how this played out in the New Testament
(i) The First century church was constantly quoting the books that would eventually form the Bible.
(ii) Why
• Because they were written by men of God
• Because they were recognized as being divinely inspired
• Because they were relevant long after the books were written.
(iii) In fact the early church quoted so much from these books, that if we were to loose every single manuscript and copy of the Bible today, we could still reconstruct the bible based solely upon the quotations made by the early church.
(iv) Every verse in the Bible is recorded in a quotation by the early church, save 11 verses.
2) The issue of inerrancy is based upon the original manuscripts
(a) The problem we have is that the original manuscripts are no longer with us
(b) This is probably a good thing
(i) since if they existed today we would probably see a lot of worshiping of the manuscripts as opposed to worshiping of God
(ii) this already takes place with things like the shroud of Turin
(iii) Was a problem in the old testament with the bronze serpent Aaron made in the wilderness
(c) The question we then have to ask is: How does the Bible we are reading today compare to the original manuscript.
3) Comparing the manuscript
(a) The last book of the Old Testament was written around 400 BC
(b) Until 1945 the earliest manuscript was dated from 900 AD
(c) This left a gap of 1300 years.
(d) This gap was the subject of much debate regarding the accuracy of the Bible.
(e) In 1946 the Dead Sea Scrolls were found
(i) These were a series of scrolls, manuscripts and letters from the Bible as well as other historical notes
(ii) They were dated as being from 100 BC to 100 AD
(f) This cut the gap from 1300 years to 200 years, big difference
4) Comparing these scrolls to our present Bible revealed a mathematical accuracy of 98.83%
5) Of these almost all differences were grammatical or spelling related, and nothing was found to change or challenge the meaning of any passage or doctrine.
D) Lets compare this to other works of history
Author Title Written Earliest Gap # Copies
Caesar Gallic Wars 74 BC 900 AD 974 10
Plato Tetralogies 410 BC 900 AD 1310 7
Tracitus History Books 100 AD 1000 AD 900 1
Herodotus History 450 BC 900 AD 1350 8
Aristotle Poetics 352 BC 1000 AD 1352 5
Pay particular attention to the number of copies. This can be compared to the 5300 Biblical manuscripts
If you walked into any secular college class on English Literature and asked the professor whether or not these classical documents are the same as the original, the reply would always be affirmative.
Yet when asked to apply the same principles for evaluation to the reliability of the Biblical documents and the response would be antagonistic and skeptical
Why…
Because the enemy wants to make you question the Word of God as his first attack.
The Authority of Scripture
Matt 7:24-27
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
(NIV)
Introduction
A) Finding the Rock series
1) We’ve talked about Salvation by Grace
2) Then we spent the last four Wednesdays on the Lordship of Christ
3) This week and next we will be on the Authority of Scripture
B) The Purpose of this series
1) Is not just to teach you what we believe here at New Life
2) But why we believe
3) You should know that we Believe the Bible to be the word of God
4) But why do we believe this? That’s what we want to discuss tonight
C) I’m going to approach this on two levels over the next two weeks
1) I’m going to give you both knowledge and wisdom
2) Knowledge is simple facts and information
3) Wisdom is applying that knowledge
4) Example of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream
5) Tonight I am going to give you knowledge, and next week wisdom
D) Understand that the Bible is under attack
1) The enemy is constantly attacking the Word of God
2) It began in the Garden of Eden and continues to this day.
3) But his attacks on the Bible are his most subtle of attacks, why
(a) He understands the potency of the Word of God
(b) Far more intimately than you or I
4) The Word of God is the thing Satan fears most
(a) He is not afraid of your salvation, because it can’t hurt him
(b) In our spiritual armor described in Ephesians, the Word of God is the only offensive item, all the rest are defensive
Heb 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (NIV)
5) Now we said that Satan first attacked the Word of God in the Garden, and I want to look at that attack tonight
(a) And key in on just how the enemy attacks the Authority of God’s Word
Gen 3:1-5
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (NIV)
6) Notice there were three attacks Satan made
(a) Raised doubt as to the accuracy of the word
Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
(b) Rejected the truth of the word
"You will not surely die,"
(c) Replaced the word
"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
(d) These are the same attacks, Satan is making today against the Word of God
(e) Satan’s goal in all this is to get you make your own decisions, based upon your knowledge, not God’s
7) This is the error of Noah’s generation
(a) Every man did what was right in his own eyes
(b) And this is where we are heading today
(c) How often have we heard it said what someone does in the privacy of their own home is their own affair
(d) Or what two consenting adults do in private
(e) Now I’m not saying we should be legislating morality, but in our own lives we need to not be determining right and wrong based upon what we think or feel.
I) Raised Doubt as to the accuracy of the word
A) In Today’s sophisticated society the first attack of the enemy on the Word of God is to question the accuracy of scripture
B) Inerrancy
1) Inerrancy is defined as lack of error; infallibility; the belief that the Bible is free from error in matters of science as well as those of faith.
2) The concept of inerrancy has been around since Moses first wrote the Pentateuch 3500 years ago
3) The importance of inerrancy cannot be overstated
(a) The Bible is our tangible source for understanding who God is
(b) If any part of it is inaccurate, then we are left to wonder which parts are true, and which are incorrect.
4) Today most evangelical churches support the position put forth in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.
(a) This was agreed upon by most major conservative denominations at a convention in 1978
(b) It states that the Bible is inerrant in its original manuscript.
5) This inerrancy will cover not only faith based issues, but also historical, geographical and scientific issues.
(a) History: example of the Hittites
(b) Geography: archeological discovery of the location of Sodom and Gomorrah
(c) Science: Joshua’s sun standing still recorded by the Babylonians
(d) Also consider the flood
(i) Appears in almost every major form of mythology
(ii) When they dig deep enough archeologist and geologist constantly find evidence of a cataclysmic flood in the layers of the earth.
6) Has every part of the Bible been proven true
(a) No, but they continue to be
(b) But scientist have yet to disprove anything mentioned in scripture
C) The History of the Bible
1) Canonization of Scripture
(a) The Bible was written over a span of roughly 1500 years
(i) During that time many books were written, but not all were included in the cannon of scripture
(ii) To be canonized did not make a book or letter “divinely inspired, it simply recognized the pre-established fact.
(b) To be canonized a book had to meet certain criteria
(i) It was written by a man of God
• The author was recognized by his peers
• He was confirmed by an act of God
• The author was not a false prophet
(ii) The book was divinely inspirational
• It told the truth about God
• It had the power to sanctify and edify
(iii) The book was timeless
• It had to be immediately accepted by the people of the time
• Its message had to have the same relevance 1000 years later.
(c) Let me show you how this played out in the New Testament
(i) The First century church was constantly quoting the books that would eventually form the Bible.
(ii) Why
• Because they were written by men of God
• Because they were recognized as being divinely inspired
• Because they were relevant long after the books were written.
(iii) In fact the early church quoted so much from these books, that if we were to loose every single manuscript and copy of the Bible today, we could still reconstruct the bible based solely upon the quotations made by the early church.
(iv) Every verse in the Bible is recorded in a quotation by the early church, save 11 verses.
2) The issue of inerrancy is based upon the original manuscripts
(a) The problem we have is that the original manuscripts are no longer with us
(b) This is probably a good thing
(i) since if they existed today we would probably see a lot of worshiping of the manuscripts as opposed to worshiping of God
(ii) this already takes place with things like the shroud of Turin
(iii) Was a problem in the old testament with the bronze serpent Aaron made in the wilderness
(c) The question we then have to ask is: How does the Bible we are reading today compare to the original manuscript.
3) Comparing the manuscript
(a) The last book of the Old Testament was written around 400 BC
(b) Until 1945 the earliest manuscript was dated from 900 AD
(c) This left a gap of 1300 years.
(d) This gap was the subject of much debate regarding the accuracy of the Bible.
(e) In 1946 the Dead Sea Scrolls were found
(i) These were a series of scrolls, manuscripts and letters from the Bible as well as other historical notes
(ii) They were dated as being from 100 BC to 100 AD
(f) This cut the gap from 1300 years to 200 years, big difference
4) Comparing these scrolls to our present Bible revealed a mathematical accuracy of 98.83%
5) Of these almost all differences were grammatical or spelling related, and nothing was found to change or challenge the meaning of any passage or doctrine.
D) Lets compare this to other works of history
Author Title Written Earliest Gap # Copies
Caesar Gallic Wars 74 BC 900 AD 974 10
Plato Tetralogies 410 BC 900 AD 1310 7
Tracitus History Books 100 AD 1000 AD 900 1
Herodotus History 450 BC 900 AD 1350 8
Aristotle Poetics 352 BC 1000 AD 1352 5
Pay particular attention to the number of copies. This can be compared to the 5300 Biblical manuscripts
If you walked into any secular college class on English Literature and asked the professor whether or not these classical documents are the same as the original, the reply would always be affirmative.
Yet when asked to apply the same principles for evaluation to the reliability of the Biblical documents and the response would be antagonistic and skeptical
Why…
Because the enemy wants to make you question the Word of God as his first attack.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Salvation by Grace - Pastor Kenneth Woolf
Download MP3 audio
Copies of the "Finding the Rock" study guide can be obtained for free from the church office. Call (409) 769-0628 for details.
