WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:05.180 Well this 10 11 year olds for their class happier here with us this morning, especially if you're visiting with us. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.940 We're actually concluding a message series today talking about the genius of Jesus. 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:09.700 In the days ahead. 00:00:09.700 --> 00:00:16.780 We're going to start a new series on the core, which we'll talk about the foundation of what our church is about and the vision we have for our community in the Lord and for you 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:17.480 as an individual. 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:18.920 So it's a great series to be a part of. 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:26.020 I want to invite you to that and as we get ready into today's message, we're going to be in Mark chapter 16 so I want to invite you to that. 00:00:26.020 --> 00:00:32.000 We're going to deal with some challenging thoughts from Mark chapter 16 in fact, I'm going to get entitled today pit stains Sunday. 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:34.220 We're going to talk about the good, the bad, the ugly. 00:00:34.680 --> 00:00:35.500 In Christianity, we're not afraid of truth. 00:00:35.760 --> 00:00:39.360 We can air it all out and walk with Jesus and that is a wonderful thing. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:47.560 Hopefully throughout this series together, as we've looked at Mark, you have seen the beauty of the way the Bible ties itself together. 00:00:48.260 --> 00:00:55.500 If you're familiar with scripture, the book, the Bible for us is a masterful piece of literature that 00:00:55.500 --> 00:01:02.660 spans over 1500 years, over 40 different authors on three different continents, in three languages and 00:01:02.660 --> 00:01:04.440 one can ruin theme. 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:11.720 It is a masterful piece that the only thing that could, you could come to the conclusion on something and that 00:01:11.720 --> 00:01:18.900 literary power is that it's inspired of God to see how that from beginning to end, it paints such a beautiful picture for us 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:26.300 and we have seen that together as we've looked at the gospel of Mark down to the very detail of last week when we looked at the death of 00:01:26.300 --> 00:01:33.520 Jesus as the foreshadowing of all that Christ would fulfill how the old Testament had pictures of the temple and the law and the priests and 00:01:33.520 --> 00:01:40.600 the land in all of those where the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, down to when Jesus was crucified, the very hour 00:01:40.600 --> 00:01:46.220 he was crucified was when the perpetual sacrifice took place in the temple of the sacrifice of the lamb. 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:53.560 And when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, of which John the Baptist told us in John chapter one verse 29 that Jesus was the lamb of God 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:55.100 to take away the sins of the world. 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:56.380 Incredible. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:00.100 The way the Bible does that, I mean it is, it is inspiring to the soul. 00:02:00.380 --> 00:02:06.300 And when God created you, one of the beautiful things about the way he created you is he made you a multifaceted being. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:12.800 You have the ability to think intellectually, body, soul, mind, spirit, emotion. 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:18.240 I think when God, it provokes us to worship and we're called to worship him with our lives. 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:23.820 All of that holistically is who we are as human beings should be engaged in the beauty of who God is. 00:02:24.200 --> 00:02:31.400 And sometimes when we share messages, sometimes they may lean a little more towards the emotional part 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:34.320 of just provoking us to respond. 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:37.240 But we don't want to just neglect the intellectual part of us. 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:41.310 And when we talk about faith, I think it's very important that your faith be rooted in something. 00:02:41.720 --> 00:02:42.060 You know? 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:48.620 In our society today we tend to treat faith like it's a guessing game and I don't think that's the way God has designed us. 00:02:48.640 --> 00:02:49.160 He created. 00:02:49.160 --> 00:02:56.300 It gave you a mind for a reason and when it comes to the most important thing related to life like who you are, where you're going, why 00:02:56.300 --> 00:03:02.820 in the world you exist, we should not let those things under the rug chocolate under religion and say it's just, it's just anyone's guess. 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:08.440 I think faith is rooted in something important for us to find that which is what brings me to where I am today. 00:03:08.920 --> 00:03:15.160 Mark chapter 16 beautiful passage dealing with the resurrection of Jesus and it's also a challenging passage. 00:03:15.420 --> 00:03:22.580 One of the reasons that makes it challenging is the end of Mark starting with Mark chapter 16 verse nine and into the verse 20 that 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:29.700 section of scripture isn't in early manuscripts and so you possess a Bible and that's what that 00:03:29.700 --> 00:03:29.800 contains. 00:03:30.380 --> 00:03:37.420 A section of the scripture that you may, you don't find an early Greek manuscripts of scripture, and so that leaves us 00:03:37.420 --> 00:03:41.720 with a, with a kind of a perplexing place that that's the first time you've ever heard that. 00:03:41.720 --> 00:03:47.330 I don't want to throw you for a loop or anything today, but let me just throw a couple more out there because that's not the only place in the Bible. 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:54.150 John chapter seven verse 53 to chapter eight verse 11 and first John chapter five verse seven and eight same thing. 00:03:54.920 --> 00:03:56.160 Those portions of scripture. 00:03:56.160 --> 00:03:57.900 You can't find an early manuscripts yet. 00:03:57.900 --> 00:03:59.340 They're contained in your Bible today. 00:03:59.880 --> 00:04:06.600 Now I'm going to let the cat out of the bag and just tell you, I believe in the verbal planarian Spiration of scripture, which and chalking it all up. 00:04:06.920 --> 00:04:10.080 The very words that we possessed today, I think is God's words to us. 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:12.180 I think God's word is reliable. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:19.560 I'll tell you how I get there, but I think it's important for us to root ourselves in something as Christians and when we root ourselves in 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.720 a foundation, it helps us with the duration of life. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:29.820 Now, when we talk about the messages that we share here as a church family, provoking us holistically as a human being, it can engage different 00:04:29.960 --> 00:04:30.960 parts of our lives. 00:04:30.960 --> 00:04:34.040 It may have a more emotional connection to you on some weeks than others. 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:42.000 One of the things I want to get across today is the intentions I have behind what I want to share with us this morning is more than just a 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:47.420 simple emotional provoking and walking out of here and being fired up for your week and following after Jesus. 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:48.060 That's a good thing. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:54.980 I want you fired up following Jesus for your week, but I want to share something more that I think will help you in the duration of your relationship with Christ. 00:04:56.380 --> 00:05:03.580 When we talk about relationships, maybe you've had in your life that romantic love for 00:05:03.580 --> 00:05:05.260 someone else than today. 00:05:05.260 --> 00:05:10.360 You call your husband or your bride and you know in the beginning there is this honeymoon stage, right? 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:14.900 And then there's beyond the honeymoon stage. 00:05:15.640 --> 00:05:18.520 There's meat to that relationship there. 00:05:18.760 --> 00:05:26.540 There needs to be a foundation which it's built on, something that endures beyond that high energy, emotionally, 00:05:26.580 --> 00:05:27.930 whatever you want to call that beginning stages. 00:05:28.440 --> 00:05:35.480 I don't want to make it sound shallow, but you understand and walking with someone in life that the longer you walk, the deeper it gets. 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:40.300 And there becomes just some meat to the experience of that relationship, right? 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:47.580 Especially as you spend life together and the topic that we're going to get engage in today I think brings that type of health to 00:05:47.580 --> 00:05:49.180 your relationship to Jesus. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.230 This is something that you may not walk out this morning and just be on the top of the mountain. 00:05:55.380 --> 00:05:55.860 Maybe you will. 00:05:55.960 --> 00:05:58.300 Maybe this is the first time you've ever heard of the reliability of the Bible taught. 00:05:58.880 --> 00:06:02.800 You might not be on the top of the mountain in just the content of today for the week. 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:08.880 But as you think about what's expressed here throughout your life, I think this will gives you a foundation in walking with Jesus confidently. 00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:15.280 Because what we tend to teach in our culture today is that truth is relative. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:24.120 And we commonly make this sort of statement where we say, it's true for you but not for me, which is a contradictory statement 00:06:24.200 --> 00:06:25.200 to what true should be. 00:06:25.320 --> 00:06:27.500 Anyway, but we say it's true for you and not for me. 00:06:27.520 --> 00:06:28.400 And how in the world do you respond? 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:35.580 And then we kind of throw religions in that like you can think intellectually with science and math, but then when it comes to religion and you just 00:06:35.580 --> 00:06:40.140 sort of guessed based on what you feel like I've asked you this morning, how do you know what you believe is true? 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:43.060 And you just chalk it up to some sort of emotional experience. 00:06:43.380 --> 00:06:48.040 Like I don't doubt you following Jesus provokes that within you. 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:52.140 But so does everyone else have ever religion in the rest of the world? 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:56.200 And the people tend to believe something because there's some connection in some way. 00:06:56.680 --> 00:07:00.740 And every room, every person in every religion in the world at some point is going to claim some sort of emotional experience. 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:07.580 But that doesn't necessarily validate truth because when you compare them to one another, they don't teach the same thing. 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:11.500 And so an emotional experience doesn't necessitate that something is true. 00:07:12.320 --> 00:07:19.540 But because we've not taught our culture to think critically, we're left to the conclusion of saying, that may be true, but not for you 00:07:19.540 --> 00:07:20.140 but not for me. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:22.000 So how do you deal with that? 00:07:23.440 --> 00:07:25.020 When we make a statement like that? 00:07:25.540 --> 00:07:26.860 It's true for you, but not for me. 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:29.920 What we're claiming is that truth is relative. 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:38.240 And what we're saying about truth is that rather than discovering truth, that we are the determiners of truth. 00:07:39.100 --> 00:07:43.680 We dictate it so autonomously and myself separate from you. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:51.020 I have the authority to determine what is and is not true, which is inaccurate, but that's what we teach in 00:07:51.020 --> 00:07:52.440 our society. 00:07:52.440 --> 00:07:56.460 But let me just say truth is truth, whether you believe it or not. 00:07:58.520 --> 00:08:05.740 And what I mean by that is if we in this building today, if some of us just decided to stop 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:10.100 believing in gravity, that doesn't mean all of a sudden you're going to float away. 00:08:10.140 --> 00:08:12.280 We're going to be like, Oh, believe in some gravity. 00:08:12.280 --> 00:08:17.060 Please come back now as that doesn't happen because the reality of gravity exists. 00:08:17.440 --> 00:08:18.380 What do you believe in it or not? 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:23.440 I'm the same as true for any truth. 00:08:25.200 --> 00:08:32.380 And w what I mean by that is you're not the dictator or the determiner of truth, but rather 00:08:32.380 --> 00:08:37.440 you're in the position to discover truth and relativistic statements. 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:39.730 Like it may be true for you but not for me. 00:08:39.760 --> 00:08:44.670 When you really look at them, they become defeating within the context of their own statements. 00:08:46.760 --> 00:08:55.820 And just by way of example for you, if you just consider this for a moment, if someone says there is no such thing as truth, in 00:08:55.820 --> 00:09:02.200 order to make a statement like that, you're making a truth claim like there is no such thing as truth. 00:09:02.380 --> 00:09:05.680 That the question into that and that relevance statement, is that true? 00:09:07.020 --> 00:09:14.540 And because you're providing a foundation for truth to make a claim that there is no truth or if someone were to say everything is meaningless, 00:09:15.660 --> 00:09:16.800 it's like, well, is that statement meaningless? 00:09:19.320 --> 00:09:20.380 Relativism doesn't. 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:25.500 It doesn't work because there's a foundation and organization to the way life functions. 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:27.280 That does not make any sense. 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:30.190 Or what about this? 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:31.720 You aren't not judge. 00:09:32.540 --> 00:09:39.800 That's a popular one, says who the one judging you or judging me by saying the statement that you should not judge 00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:47.020 self-defeating. 00:09:47.020 --> 00:09:47.480 It's how do you respond. 00:09:49.800 --> 00:09:51.920 It's true for you but not for me. 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:55.660 I think you just turn the statement on self. 00:09:56.680 --> 00:09:57.820 It's true for you and not for me. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:59.460 Does that make that statement true for everyone? 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:07.700 Because if it's true for everyone, but you're telling me it's true for you and not for me, doesn't that contradict itself because how could it be true for everyone when 00:10:07.700 --> 00:10:14.960 you're telling me truth is relative and there is no solid foundation or absolute to it, the same as contradict 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:15.760 one another. 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:19.940 So how do you work through that? 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:23.980 If you just think about in this context in our society, maybe you can try this and relativistic thinking. 00:10:24.260 --> 00:10:31.260 You go to the bank, I've heard Frank turkeys this before, but you got to the bank and you go to the teller and you're like, I need to, I need to withdraw $500,000 and then tell her it looks 00:10:31.260 --> 00:10:37.180 up your account and it's like, ah, you got 50 man, I can give you five $500,000 you only have 50 bucks. 00:10:37.180 --> 00:10:39.300 And you used to be like, well that's true for you, but not for me. 00:10:40.060 --> 00:10:43.920 It's my opinion that $500,000 does that work? 00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:45.100 No, that's not going to fly. 00:10:45.100 --> 00:10:45.440 Why? 00:10:45.900 --> 00:10:49.500 Because you examine the evidence and it's been determined that that's not in the account. 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:55.180 It's like when you, when you go to write a check for more than you have in the account, it's fraudulent. 00:10:56.760 --> 00:11:00.320 And just because another faith may make another claim doesn't make it true. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:06.560 Now we respect people regardless of their opinion, but it doesn't make it true to claim something as accurate when it has no way. 00:11:06.560 --> 00:11:08.420 The evidence can be examined and it can be determined. 00:11:08.420 --> 00:11:08.930 It's not accurate. 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:12.580 That is fraudulent and truth is foundational. 00:11:13.880 --> 00:11:18.460 It is foundational to who you are, why you exist, where you came from, and where you're going. 00:11:19.780 --> 00:11:26.920 And we're not, we don't need to be ashamed of that, but pursue it with our lives and diligence because it's the very core 00:11:26.920 --> 00:11:28.740 of our identity. 00:11:31.790 --> 00:11:32.650 So what do you do with Christianity? 00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:39.170 You know, the world challenges. 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:42.380 This Christianity's claims are exclusive. 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:46.060 Jesus says, I am the way, the truth in life. 00:11:46.060 --> 00:11:53.400 No one comes to the father, but by me, that is an exclusive claim that isolates from all other statements of faith in this world because the identity is in Jesus 00:11:53.400 --> 00:11:53.500 himself. 00:11:57.900 --> 00:11:58.410 Where are your foundations? 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:00.600 Right? 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.600 Just like you think of the bank teller and relativistic terms. 00:12:03.740 --> 00:12:05.430 But he looks at the account and money's not there. 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:06.330 It's been weighed. 00:12:06.900 --> 00:12:08.200 How do you weigh the evidence of Christianity? 00:12:10.420 --> 00:12:10.700 Guessing game? 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:20.560 The Bible gives us foundations in fact, and the apostle Paul in first Corinthians, 00:12:20.580 --> 00:12:24.700 he said this, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. 00:12:26.280 --> 00:12:28.760 We are of all men most to be pitied. 00:12:30.160 --> 00:12:37.160 It's a policy saying you want a foundation for the Christian faith to examine to see if whether or not it's accurate, which by definition if it becomes true, it 00:12:37.160 --> 00:12:39.100 eliminates all other claims of truth. 00:12:40.540 --> 00:12:41.940 It's the resurrection of Jesus. 00:12:43.540 --> 00:12:45.850 Jesus going a little bit deeper said, I like this. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.240 He said, Jesus said to him are a little more broad. 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:55.380 I should say I am the way and the truth and the life, and Jesus is not just saying he has life, but he has to give her 00:12:55.380 --> 00:13:01.300 and sustainer of life and when he's talking about truth, he identifies himself as the foundation. 00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:07.800 So when it comes to Christianity, looking for the pillar of which we're built on, it's Jesus and his resurrection helps us identify the claims of who he is. 00:13:09.280 --> 00:13:14.160 Jesus himself prayed in John 17 he said, sanctify them in truth, your word is truth. 00:13:15.380 --> 00:13:17.320 That's what we look up Mark 16 those are the two past. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:19.120 The two thoughts that we're going to challenge today. 00:13:19.540 --> 00:13:25.350 If we're dealing in the March 16 the resurrection of Jesus and a passage of the Bible that's not found in early manuscripts, what do you do with that? 00:13:28.160 --> 00:13:35.140 Jesus gives us himself, and the truth of the word isn't reliable. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:45.480 I didn't know Jesus isn't a myth that the stories were about this guy that was impressive and it just sort of developed over 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:52.820 time and now all of a sudden just like Paul Bunyan or John Henry or Johnny Appleseed, whatever. 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:59.560 If Jesus is some mythological creature that's been built up just like the Greek cultures would do with all our gods, I do, you know? 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:01.410 Or how do you know the Bible hasn't been corrupt? 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:05.060 Well, you know how it goes, right? 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:12.240 You have a, you went to school as a kid and you sit around a circle and someone whispers in someone's ear and whispers in someone else's ear and whispers and you go around playing that telephone 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.440 game, you get to the end and no one really knows what was originally said. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.920 And it's funny to look at and now you've got a Bible here in the 21st century. 00:14:20.260 --> 00:14:21.750 I know that's true. 00:14:22.300 --> 00:14:25.460 And put your faith in that your entire life. 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:32.700 I mean, Jesus calls you, it says in scripture, he is savior and Lord and then that means he provides the premise for 00:14:32.700 --> 00:14:34.480 the way you choose to operate in life. 00:14:34.680 --> 00:14:35.600 Do you really believe that? 00:14:37.380 --> 00:14:43.160 Now when you don't have a foundation that's rooted in these things as to why you should really hold your faith to it, when pressure comes, you give up. 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:46.480 How can you confidently walk in that? 00:14:48.540 --> 00:14:49.720 Well, let's read Mark. 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:52.640 Mark six 16 excuse me. 00:14:52.760 --> 00:15:00.200 First one, when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and solemn may brought bought spices so 00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:08.100 they might come and anoint him talking about Jesus and barely early on, the first day of the week they came to the tomb when the sun had risen and 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:15.500 they were saying to one another who roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the to looking up, they saw that the stone had 00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:19.760 been rolled away, although it was extremely large entering the tomb. 00:15:19.760 --> 00:15:27.040 They saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe and they were amazed and he said to them, not be amazed. 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.760 You're looking for Jesus than Nazareen who has been crucified. 00:15:31.940 --> 00:15:32.480 He has risen. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:34.140 He's not here. 00:15:34.140 --> 00:15:40.570 Behold, here is the place where they laid him, but go tell his disciples, and Peter, he's going ahead of you to Galilee. 00:15:41.180 --> 00:15:43.700 And there you'll see them just as he told you. 00:15:44.560 --> 00:15:51.820 And they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped him and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. 00:15:53.380 --> 00:15:59.980 I think the reaction is like it's saying, it's the same reaction that we're afraid literally means phobia. 00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:02.200 It's like they say see a zombie. 00:16:02.540 --> 00:16:03.910 They're literally seeing a dead man walking. 00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:07.520 And if you ever wonder how you should react to that, you should have a phobia for zombies. 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:08.120 Okay. 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.560 That's the response in this passage and it makes complete sense to me. 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.780 If I see someone die, killed, tortured, and horrific way. 00:16:14.780 --> 00:16:17.090 Three days later they're walking around, I'm going to freak out. 00:16:17.280 --> 00:16:17.580 All right. 00:16:17.940 --> 00:16:19.470 And then that's the way it describes their reaction. 00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:23.370 But the, but the question then for us is how do you know the resurrection is real? 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:27.480 I mean, Islamic traditions teach like a Swoon theory. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:29.840 Jesus wasn't really dead. 00:16:31.900 --> 00:16:38.260 I think when you, when you study historically what happened around the crucifixion of Jesus, there's no doubt Jesus was dead. 00:16:38.520 --> 00:16:43.100 But when you need to deny the believability of Christ, you've got to come up with something right? 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:52.280 When you, when you think about what happened at Jesus's crucifixion, I mean it wasn't just a crucifixion and he was whipped by 00:16:52.280 --> 00:16:59.340 a whip that would have fragments of metal and bone, and the intention is when the whip would hit your body, it would grab ahold of your skin and when you 00:16:59.340 --> 00:17:03.340 pulled it away, it would rip your flesh, exposing your bones and your organs. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:11.220 Several times that happen, a person could bleed out or go through such tremendous torture against their bodily organs that they could die. 00:17:12.520 --> 00:17:13.300 Jesus went through that. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:15.560 Then Jesus was crucified. 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:19.960 He's not crucified by just anybody like Tom and Joe from down the road. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.000 He's crucified by Roman professional executioners. 00:17:23.760 --> 00:17:26.940 Their entire job for Rome is to make sure people are dead. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:29.080 And so they crucified Jesus. 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:36.700 Crucifixion alone is enough to kill someone, but as if to make sure he was actually dead, they then take a spear and they run it into his heart. 00:17:38.300 --> 00:17:45.420 And if for some reason someone might believe that that's not enough to have your Oregon's ripped to pieces and to be crucified and speared in the heart, they then 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:49.010 wrap him tightly and throw him in a tomb and leave him with no medical attention. 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:56.260 Several days, the journal of American medical 00:17:56.260 --> 00:18:03.440 association in 1986 March 21st edition said this, they gave several statements about Jesus 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:10.480 and what happened in his death, but they conclude with this accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:15.000 the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge translated. 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:18.600 You're a fool if you don't believe the skill somebody. 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:25.230 Okay, so the statement is for us to simply recognize that Jesus died. 00:18:27.620 --> 00:18:29.440 In fact, one of the things that we've seen is the beauty of that. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:35.380 The way prophecy and scripture has beautifully communicated this Jesus, his life was about his death. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:43.180 Jesus would come and give specific details about where he would be born, how he would live his life, the way he would die, when he would die. 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:47.410 We even saw the very hour he would die and then it would be resurrected. 00:18:49.560 --> 00:18:56.880 And in fact, one of the passages we looked at in the series together in Mark eight talking about the significance of this chapter as a turning point for 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:57.900 followers of Jesus. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:05.940 Jesus told this to his followers, he said he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes 00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:07.020 and be killed. 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:09.620 And after three days rise again. 00:19:11.040 --> 00:19:13.740 So Jesus is prophetically declaring his resurrection. 00:19:13.740 --> 00:19:20.860 He did it multiple times and scripture even compared himself to the sign of Jonah, Mark 1458 and Mark 16 four they would be in the, in the belly for 00:19:20.860 --> 00:19:21.930 three days and B resurrected. 00:19:24.520 --> 00:19:32.500 Not only that, when you read the end of Mark, you see that the resurrection of Jesus happened, or 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:39.620 the proof of the resurrection of Jesus started as let's say with women now in our culture, hopefully that's not that big of a deal 00:19:39.620 --> 00:19:45.520 because I think we're encouraging equality among people, right? 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:48.100 At least we want to push that way as a culture. 00:19:49.020 --> 00:19:52.780 And I'm not saying everything's perfect, but we're far better than the cultures of Jesus. 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:54.250 His time in that area. 00:19:55.340 --> 00:20:02.340 And when you studied the way women were treated during the time of Christ, there their statements would 00:20:02.340 --> 00:20:03.780 not hold up in a court of law. 00:20:04.860 --> 00:20:11.120 They weren't, they couldn't give testimony about things because there's their statements or their testimonies weren't considered valid. 00:20:12.620 --> 00:20:19.940 And so when Jesus is being crucified and resurrected, if you were to make up a story like this, you would not 00:20:19.940 --> 00:20:24.520 want the first people to encounter the resurrection of Jesus to validate this claim, to be women. 00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:29.970 That's not to say to undermine or devalue women, but it's just recognizing where that is culturally. 00:20:31.360 --> 00:20:38.360 And so you see in this story that it's the women that start to give testimony of the resurrection of Jesus and everyone is running 00:20:38.360 --> 00:20:39.380 away with a phobia. 00:20:40.300 --> 00:20:43.360 I mean, Peter's confronted by a little slave girl and he's like, I don't follow Jesus. 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:43.760 No way. 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:45.100 He curses and runs away. 00:20:46.560 --> 00:20:46.990 Number the scattered. 00:20:49.080 --> 00:20:50.730 They saw their leader crushed. 00:20:50.900 --> 00:20:57.900 And so the movement, but yet when you read first century accounts, 00:20:58.520 --> 00:21:03.340 second century accounts of Christianity, all of a sudden this momentum just explodes. 00:21:04.320 --> 00:21:08.060 So much so, but by the beginning of the fourth century, it becomes the state religion. 00:21:09.380 --> 00:21:14.020 What happened when you read about the resurrection of Jesus? 00:21:14.020 --> 00:21:17.680 You don't just have to read biblical accounts to the validity of the resurrection. 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:20.940 In fact, there are historical accounts written outside of the Bible. 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:28.360 There's church, church history leaders, and there's extra historians outside of Christianity that comments 00:21:28.360 --> 00:21:29.340 towards the resurrection. 00:21:29.340 --> 00:21:36.340 In fact, apply the wrong younger wrote to emperor Trajan talking about Christians and how he tries to bring them to 00:21:36.340 --> 00:21:43.740 reject Christianity and how they caused him to bow down to images of the emperor and to malign 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:45.280 against their Christian faith. 00:21:45.840 --> 00:21:52.860 And he writes a letter to emperor Trajan and you can even historically see the dialogue, the letter that's sent in a letter that's returned over the torture 00:21:52.860 --> 00:21:57.840 to Christians in the beginning of the second century illusion of SEM, asada. 00:21:57.840 --> 00:21:58.670 He's a Greek writer. 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:04.060 He says this about Christians, these diluted creatures you see, he's writing middle of the second century. 00:22:04.060 --> 00:22:10.240 He says, these diluted creatures you see have persuaded themselves that they are immortal and will live forever. 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:12.370 Where do they get the idea of they're immortal? 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:14.570 That's the resurrection. 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:23.600 I've seen the dead man walking and they've experienced this as promises that Jesus was, that he would overcome a crave and just like he overcome the 00:22:23.600 --> 00:22:25.890 grave, they would overcome the grade too. 00:22:26.020 --> 00:22:33.410 And so they think they're immortal and live forever and he goes on and says this, which explains the contempt of death and willing self-sacrifice. 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:34.640 So common among them. 00:22:35.600 --> 00:22:42.760 It was impressed on them by their law giver that from the moment they are converted, deny the gods of Greece and worship this 00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:44.160 crucified Sage. 00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:48.540 They're recognizing the deity of Christ in the way that they interact. 00:22:50.540 --> 00:22:57.880 Titus one 1580 he said this Nero who was the emperor in the 60s he said, this Nero fastened the guilt and 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:05.120 inflicted the most exquisite torture on a class hated for their abominations called Christians by the populous 00:23:05.120 --> 00:23:12.340 Christus from whom the name has its origin suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of their procurators 00:23:13.020 --> 00:23:15.980 Pontius pilot, and the most mischievous superstition. 00:23:18.780 --> 00:23:25.740 So you see the response of the society around them reacting to the Christians who experienced the resurrection of Jesus. 00:23:26.780 --> 00:23:34.060 In fact, these disciples that were once cowards, when they began to disperse, when they began to pursue Jesus because they saw the resurrection of Christ, 00:23:34.060 --> 00:23:35.520 they go all over the known world. 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:43.240 When you read about the disciples, the 11 Judas had been killed, the 11 remaining disciples, they go from India to Africa to 00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:45.400 Rome, spreading all over the Roman empire. 00:23:45.760 --> 00:23:46.840 What led them to do that? 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:49.380 They'd given up. 00:23:51.520 --> 00:23:57.680 In fact, when you read the letters that they're writing to the followers of Jesus, first John chapter one the opening. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:00.440 He says this, what was from the beginning, what we have heard. 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:06.600 What we've seen with our eyes, what we've looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life and the life was manifest. 00:24:07.360 --> 00:24:09.460 John's saying this was personal experience. 00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:11.140 It's not just me just giving you mythology. 00:24:11.800 --> 00:24:12.960 I've touched, I've seen it. 00:24:14.360 --> 00:24:21.700 First Peter one verse 16 for we do not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus, but 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:27.040 we were eyewitnesses of his majesty Luke and writing the gospel of Luke. 00:24:27.040 --> 00:24:34.210 He was, he was given his resources to write his gospel from a man named Theopolis, traveled with Paul. 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:41.320 This is what he says when he starts the book of Luke and again, something similar when he writes the book of acts, he says, in as much as many have undertaken 00:24:41.320 --> 00:24:49.100 to compile and account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses 00:24:49.100 --> 00:24:50.140 and servants of the word. 00:24:50.580 --> 00:24:52.060 It seemed fitting for me as well. 00:24:52.260 --> 00:24:59.720 Having investigated everything carefully from the beginning to write it out for you and consecutive order, most excellent the office so 00:24:59.740 --> 00:25:03.180 that you may know the exact truth about the things that you've been taught. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:05.160 Luke was a doctor. 00:25:07.060 --> 00:25:07.810 He went on this journey. 00:25:07.840 --> 00:25:11.200 He's saying to give us the statements of Jesus with precision. 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:17.400 Paul, who was declared enemy of Christianity. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:21.060 He said, this fried deliver it to you. 00:25:21.060 --> 00:25:28.020 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. 00:25:29.260 --> 00:25:32.740 So he's saying, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy, and Jesus did overcome the grave. 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:36.380 And then he goes on and he's saying that if you don't believe me, listen to this and that. 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:37.920 He appeared to Cephas, who's Peter? 00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:42.120 And then to the 12 after that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:46.840 So he's saying Jesus appeared to several people, 500 at one time to be exact, but many more than that. 00:25:47.320 --> 00:25:48.420 He's giving them a challenge. 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:50.700 He's saying, if you don't believe me, go ask him. 00:25:51.100 --> 00:25:51.900 There's hundreds of them. 00:25:52.360 --> 00:25:53.500 He even goes on a little further. 00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:58.140 He says 500 brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. 00:25:58.140 --> 00:25:59.100 So he's saying they're around. 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:01.600 Some have died, but they're around talk to him. 00:26:02.260 --> 00:26:09.420 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 00:26:09.420 --> 00:26:15.900 look what he says for I'm the least of the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. 00:26:16.020 --> 00:26:20.280 So what Paul is saying here is, I, I was an enemy. 00:26:22.860 --> 00:26:23.900 I was an enemy. 00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:30.080 And something in me changed where I no longer was an enemy of Christ, but I was a pursuer of him. 00:26:30.860 --> 00:26:32.010 And it's not just an ideology. 00:26:33.740 --> 00:26:35.780 It was that Saul, the resurrected Jesus. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:47.480 When you think about the early church, what led them to give their lives and pursuit 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:53.900 of Christ in our society today, people die for ideology all the time. 00:26:54.800 --> 00:26:57.930 And we're more familiar with it now since September 11th than ever before. 00:26:59.120 --> 00:27:00.740 People die for ideology all the time. 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:02.440 And Christianity has some ideology to it. 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:06.860 It talks about this kingdom that we promote, but the reason the disciples died wasn't Friday. 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:10.120 Ology, they died for a truth claim. 00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:16.540 Remember when Jesus crucified, they disperse there, they're destroyed, they don't know what ways are up. 00:27:16.540 --> 00:27:24.220 Peter denies Christ and all of a sudden they go from these cowards to these people going all over the known world proclaiming 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:24.740 Jesus. 00:27:24.780 --> 00:27:25.960 What led them to do that? 00:27:27.780 --> 00:27:30.680 Truthfully, they saw the resurrected Christ. 00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:33.240 They couldn't deny it. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:41.250 You think in your life if you're going to give your life for something, if it's just a hoax, if it's something you're building up of, it's a lie. 00:27:41.560 --> 00:27:43.320 When it really comes to the point, it's going to cost you. 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:49.140 That's where you give up and for them it wasn't just this ideology of a kingdom. 00:27:49.320 --> 00:27:55.280 It started on the basis of Jesus overcame the grave and Paul says, the foundation of the gospel is death, burial, resurrection, Jesus. 00:27:56.500 --> 00:28:02.260 And the reason the disciples are giving their lives at this point is because of the claim of Jesus overcoming the grave. 00:28:02.280 --> 00:28:05.920 And in fact, Paul says this in first Corinthians 15 to end this section. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:07.080 He says, Oh, death. 00:28:07.360 --> 00:28:08.460 Where is your victory? 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:09.460 All death. 00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:10.480 Where is your sting? 00:28:10.620 --> 00:28:16.920 The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:23.760 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. 00:28:24.760 --> 00:28:29.000 Paul's saying, the reason that we give our lives is because of this resurrection. 00:28:30.360 --> 00:28:32.800 Death holds nothing over God's people. 00:28:35.840 --> 00:28:36.220 Springs me. 00:28:36.260 --> 00:28:43.320 The next question, by the way, it's just a little bit of content of the resurrection, but if you want to read anything more at our church, if 00:28:43.320 --> 00:28:50.340 you're new here, one of the books we hand out as more than a carpenter, but if you've never read a book on the evidence of the resurrection, you think that will 00:28:50.340 --> 00:28:55.240 help you in your faith to solidify it no matter what comes your way. 00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:56.950 Josh McDowell wrote that book. 00:28:57.480 --> 00:29:02.280 He was a skeptic, turned Christian because he examined the evidence that's happened repeatedly in history, especially in America. 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:05.480 Like Simon Greenleaf wrote a book who founded Harvard law school. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:06.180 Same thing happened. 00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:08.820 Emily Strobel and the 80 same thing that happened to him. 00:29:09.060 --> 00:29:15.190 You don't like that you can watch at least triples movie the case for Christ, but if you want that book when you leave today, it's in the cabinet. 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:22.560 Say something to one of the, one of the hosts that Hans bulletins when you walk in this morning and they'll be happy to make sure you get one 00:29:22.560 --> 00:29:22.740 of those. 00:29:22.840 --> 00:29:23.890 If you want to look at it more. 00:29:25.040 --> 00:29:26.800 That's dealing with the resurrection of Jesus. 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:29.020 We also have the responsibility of God's word. 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:34.600 Those are the foundation's resurrection of Christ and the validity of God's word. 00:29:34.660 --> 00:29:35.330 How do you know it's true? 00:29:37.040 --> 00:29:42.000 What do you do with passages like Mark nine through 20 that you can't find them? 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:43.140 Early manuscripts of the Bible? 00:29:44.460 --> 00:29:45.910 How do you know the Bible wasn't corrupted? 00:29:47.900 --> 00:29:56.160 I think that's not an important question for you, but it's important question our society here because people tend to think that the Bible, the 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.780 Bible has been corrupted over time because of the telephone game, right? 00:29:59.220 --> 00:30:00.820 You whisper in the year, whisper in the year, whisper in the ear. 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:06.500 By the time it gets to the end, who knows if what you got thrive, but just roll the dice and hope by faith in that wishful thinking. 00:30:07.080 --> 00:30:11.820 It's not really what faith is, but that wistful thinking that what you hold is God's word and we'll see who's right in the end. 00:30:13.020 --> 00:30:15.140 That's the way, and here's how they typically respond. 00:30:15.640 --> 00:30:24.180 This is how you know someone's operating from that way of thinking, which is totally Kearsley inaccurate is they'll say, well, you look at all the English translations with 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:25.760 so many different versions. 00:30:26.040 --> 00:30:27.230 How do you know what's true? 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:34.800 Now when someone starts talking about English translations as versions, they're already telling you, I don't know what I'm talking about, so please help me. 00:30:35.300 --> 00:30:42.300 Because anytime you start referring to translations as versions, what it's trying to communicate or what it is communicating is that we have 00:30:42.300 --> 00:30:49.560 no idea what the early manuscripts say of the Bible and it's just been this wishful guest and then when people got it to translate it like, 00:30:49.560 --> 00:30:51.940 I don't know, let's just create our own translation. 00:30:52.280 --> 00:30:54.420 What multiple translations and maybe one of them will be right? 00:30:54.820 --> 00:30:58.620 That's what it's communicating, but what they have is lack of, by the way, these are a couple of translations. 00:30:59.280 --> 00:31:05.020 What they have is a lack of understanding of the difference between translation and transmission. 00:31:05.740 --> 00:31:09.840 Translation is how you go from one language to another, right? 00:31:09.840 --> 00:31:10.840 We're familiar with that. 00:31:10.840 --> 00:31:13.400 They have interpreters, they're doing translating work. 00:31:13.420 --> 00:31:19.220 Some of you might speak multiple languages, which are more gifted than I am, and so that's called translation, right? 00:31:19.740 --> 00:31:22.600 And then there's the transmission of scripture. 00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:29.940 Transmission is how we deal with the passing of the Bible from generation to generation. 00:31:32.040 --> 00:31:39.560 In the assumption that we play the telephone game ignores the fact that today we have over 5,000 manuscripts 00:31:39.580 --> 00:31:44.320 in the Greek language of the Bible, which total 1.3 million pages. 00:31:45.320 --> 00:31:48.960 In addition to that, we don't just have 5,000 plus Greek manuscripts. 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:52.460 We have over 19,000 other manuscripts of scripture. 00:31:53.200 --> 00:32:00.380 One of the beautiful things that happened when the Bible was written is when the early church started develop a, they experienced persecution and Rome had conquered the 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:06.380 known world and they built a great system for transportation of which we still use today, that we call roads. 00:32:06.820 --> 00:32:08.260 Some of those Roman roads still exist. 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:12.090 And what that enabled people to do was better travel than ever before. 00:32:12.260 --> 00:32:19.300 And so when the early church starts experiencing persecution and because Rome had conquered many people of different languages and tongues from different 00:32:19.300 --> 00:32:23.200 areas of the world, the church in that persecution began to spread and want to begin to spread. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:25.330 The Bible was brought into other languages. 00:32:25.620 --> 00:32:30.100 And so when you look at early manuscripts of the Bible, you see manuscripts in dead languages. 00:32:30.180 --> 00:32:37.200 Today you see manuscripts in Coptic and Syriac in Latin, in Gothic, in Georgian, all of 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:37.960 these different languages. 00:32:38.080 --> 00:32:45.290 And what that helped to do is the preservation of scripture because if someone wants to try to pervert the pages of the Bible, not only did they need to know Greek, 00:32:45.500 --> 00:32:52.220 but they need to know every known language at the time of which the Bible was spreading into and they became an impossibility to even think about doing. 00:32:55.880 --> 00:33:02.920 It's transmission and translation are important when it comes to translations of the Bible, 00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:10.340 like the few that I hold, the one that we read from on Sunday morning, when a translator translates, they have to ask the answer the question, how 00:33:10.340 --> 00:33:12.850 do I want to engage it in the language in which I'm expressing? 00:33:13.180 --> 00:33:20.300 Because what happens in some cultures or every culture, they have particular idioms or statements that relate to that culture, but don't correlate to the 00:33:20.300 --> 00:33:21.980 language that is being translated into. 00:33:23.460 --> 00:33:30.600 There could be certain phrases like in America that we might stay, I don't even, I don't even know, like it's raining cats and dogs and you translate that 00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:31.680 into another language. 00:33:31.740 --> 00:33:33.240 It's like it's an American idiom. 00:33:33.260 --> 00:33:35.560 They don't quite get the, maybe the expression and other language. 00:33:35.560 --> 00:33:42.580 So you have to answer the question, are you going to translate it exactly how it stayed in the American language or are you going to provide a, an equivalent to that language so they 00:33:42.600 --> 00:33:44.940 can better understand what was stated in this language. 00:33:45.060 --> 00:33:47.020 And so when a translator translates, they've got to answer that question. 00:33:47.780 --> 00:33:48.340 We're, how about this? 00:33:48.800 --> 00:33:55.160 In the biblical times, they use the currency of like say the word dinero when the word Dinair, what does that mean? 00:33:55.160 --> 00:33:59.300 Who knows what, when you study the idea of the narra, the Dinair, I was a day's wages. 00:33:59.880 --> 00:34:06.960 So when you're a translator translating you to answer the question, am I going to just translate the word Dinair I are inside the narrow or am I going to explain to the people 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:10.429 reading it who may have no idea what a denarii is, that it's a day's wage. 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:15.659 When you translate, that's the type of answer that you're having to conclude before you translate. 00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:22.800 A translation is only as good as the person that translates it, and so when they translate the Bible, you have the Bible in different, 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:30.219 a translation works, they're called literal dynamic, and paraphrase literal is a word for word on Sunday morning. 00:34:30.219 --> 00:34:31.480 That's what I choose to use. 00:34:31.620 --> 00:34:38.980 I love the word for word translation so that we can look at the original context and then make application to our lives, which eliminates the possibility 00:34:38.980 --> 00:34:43.060 of making more errors by just going straight to a cultural understanding. 00:34:43.600 --> 00:34:50.679 Love word for word translations, but also read dynamics, which puts idioms into our phrases today, which tells me rather than 00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:57.940 Dinair I, it's a day's wages is a dinero interpreting it dinero and interpreting day's wages one more 00:34:57.940 --> 00:34:58.680 right than the other. 00:34:58.680 --> 00:35:00.580 No, it's the same thought. 00:35:01.520 --> 00:35:04.050 And so when translators translate, they're not creating different versions. 00:35:04.260 --> 00:35:05.840 There's different styles to translation. 00:35:06.200 --> 00:35:12.420 And on top of that, when language develops over over decades and centuries, it tends to change. 00:35:12.900 --> 00:35:20.020 I can promise you first English translation of King James was in the 1611 if you picked up a 1611 today, you would have no idea what it's talking 00:35:20.020 --> 00:35:20.120 about. 00:35:20.760 --> 00:35:21.180 No idea. 00:35:21.660 --> 00:35:22.720 Because language has changed. 00:35:23.460 --> 00:35:26.640 And so that becomes the need to update the translation work because of that. 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:29.600 So when it comes to Christianity, we look at the different translations that exist. 00:35:29.780 --> 00:35:37.080 They're not versions, they're not versions because we have five points, or excuse me, 1.3 million manuscripts over thousand 00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:39.040 Greek manuscripts in existence. 00:35:39.400 --> 00:35:43.340 And so when scholars translate, they compare the manuscripts to see what was written. 00:35:43.520 --> 00:35:48.080 And when they look at the manuscripts, they're not always perfect. 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:58.180 And I don't think we should expect that because they're copied by people and 00:35:58.180 --> 00:35:58.880 people make mistakes. 00:36:00.740 --> 00:36:07.760 The most common mistakes they find in the early manuscripts is sometimes they misspell a word or sometimes they leave out a word or 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:08.960 even an entire line. 00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:13.140 Like if you copy line after line after line after line, eventually your eyes get a little tired and sometimes you might skip a line. 00:36:13.960 --> 00:36:18.410 You know how they recognize that a scribe did that because they compare 5,000 manuscripts. 00:36:19.560 --> 00:36:21.620 They had five less amaze because that's how they know. 00:36:21.740 --> 00:36:22.330 They can look at that. 00:36:22.520 --> 00:36:26.460 Oh look, this guy got a little tired, he need some coffee or whatever, and he just skipped the line. 00:36:26.520 --> 00:36:27.740 Or he misspelled a word. 00:36:27.740 --> 00:36:33.300 He needed to get a better grade and the spelling tests and when the writing you gotta consider in your mind they didn't go down to like office maximum. 00:36:33.400 --> 00:36:34.780 Like can I have your best pen and paper? 00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:35.920 I'm writing God's word today. 00:36:36.140 --> 00:36:38.380 No paper was difficult to come by. 00:36:39.180 --> 00:36:42.270 How you went to the restroom and paper was difficult to come by. 00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:45.640 And so when you, when you had paper like you're like, this is the most valuable thing I have. 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:47.140 Oh my God, this is God's word. 00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.170 I'm going to copy this and I'm going to have this. 00:36:49.520 --> 00:36:54.960 And sometimes when they would copy, they would even make their own notations on the copy because this was for them. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:02.040 They're not thinking, you know what, Jeff in the 21st century is probably going to have this and I want Jeff to read my notations, or I don't 00:37:02.040 --> 00:37:07.240 want to add any annotations because I don't want Jeff to have my notations, but scribes would write because they're thinking this is my personal copy. 00:37:07.460 --> 00:37:10.480 Then they would add some thoughts to help them understand a passage of scripture. 00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:13.010 Do you know how we know when a scribe adds thoughts? 00:37:14.240 --> 00:37:18.420 We have 5,000 manuscripts and you can look at and compare them. 00:37:18.660 --> 00:37:25.640 In fact, that's where we come to Mark chapter 16 verses nine to 20 what do you do with that passage? 00:37:27.700 --> 00:37:34.640 Well, let me say this, when it comes to God's word, we have no business declaring God's word to be more authoritative than the Bible itself declares it. 00:37:34.640 --> 00:37:36.380 Right? 00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:44.400 In Genesis chapter one when God creates it says, God said, and life began, right? 00:37:44.720 --> 00:37:46.310 In fact, it does it multiple times. 00:37:46.380 --> 00:37:54.900 Verse six verse nine verse 11 verse 14 throughout all of creation, every day of creation, God said, and it became when God speaks life, God's 00:37:54.980 --> 00:37:56.040 word has life. 00:37:57.680 --> 00:38:02.300 I think when Paul wanted to describe God's word, this was his thought in his mind. 00:38:02.560 --> 00:38:09.320 In fact, Jesus has called the word of God, I think for that same reason, but in second Timothy three 16 this how Paul chooses to describe God's word, he says this all scripture. 00:38:09.460 --> 00:38:16.680 So you see the word all, all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training 00:38:16.680 --> 00:38:20.840 in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequately equipped for every good work. 00:38:21.560 --> 00:38:24.460 So God, he's saying, he's giving you everything that you need in his word. 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:27.420 It is inspired and that word inspired literally means God-breathed. 00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:33.170 And so what Paul is saying is that when you hold God's word, you're holding the very word of God which brings life. 00:38:34.740 --> 00:38:35.260 It is powerful. 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:46.240 That's the opportunity that you have today to read those words. 00:38:48.240 --> 00:38:53.640 When you look at the old Testament, you have copies of the old Testament older than Jesus. 00:38:54.980 --> 00:38:55.710 Look at the new Testament. 00:38:56.240 --> 00:39:00.060 We have copies of the new Testament that may date as early as 90 80. 00:39:00.120 --> 00:39:07.780 I heard in the January of 2015 they actually found another manuscript from the gospel of Mark on the face of a mummy, that 00:39:07.780 --> 00:39:10.880 they think may predate a 90 80. 00:39:10.940 --> 00:39:18.440 Which means if that's true, if that manuscript is determined to be what they think it is, that manuscript would 00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:22.080 be earlier than the Bible in its completion. 00:39:24.080 --> 00:39:24.520 Unbelievable. 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:27.660 That's incredible. 00:39:27.660 --> 00:39:35.100 When you look at the attestation of scripture, I mean, when you consider all the religions of the world and the manuscripts they possess and you compare it to the Bible, I mean it's like, it's 00:39:35.100 --> 00:39:37.880 like a NFL athlete playing in the Peewee leagues. 00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:38.040 Man. 00:39:39.300 --> 00:39:41.150 It doesn't even live in worth comparing. 00:39:41.340 --> 00:39:42.910 You can't even put it in the same academic community. 00:39:44.820 --> 00:39:48.400 The value of the validation of scripture on believable. 00:39:49.860 --> 00:39:56.940 I mean, you look at the Bible prophetically, the way it proclaims manuscripts older than Jesus talking about the coming of Jesus, the exact death of Jesus and 00:39:56.940 --> 00:39:57.980 the Jesus fulfilling it. 00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:05.080 That is incredible for us to be able to have such content or the archaeological accuracy of 00:40:05.080 --> 00:40:07.540 the Bible or just the transparent honesty. 00:40:07.560 --> 00:40:11.800 When you think about when people write about themselves, when people want to share who they are with you, they don't. 00:40:11.800 --> 00:40:13.420 They're not like, let me tell you all my ugly parts. 00:40:13.420 --> 00:40:15.300 They want to put their best foot forward to really impress you. 00:40:15.660 --> 00:40:21.900 When you read about King David, Kings didn't write bad things about themselves, but David is transparent about all of his shortcomings. 00:40:22.200 --> 00:40:22.540 Why? 00:40:22.640 --> 00:40:23.460 Because he knows the point. 00:40:24.140 --> 00:40:25.390 It's not about his glorious about gods. 00:40:26.380 --> 00:40:33.600 When we read God's word and the transparency and the honesty, unbelievable early church history, even if we didn't have manuscripts of the Bible, early church history 00:40:33.600 --> 00:40:35.130 era ne is Polycarp. 00:40:35.220 --> 00:40:39.660 Ignatius first century followers of Jesus discipled by the disciples. 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:45.670 The comments they make about the scripture, the commentaries they write, the way they quote scripture in their, in their, in their writings. 00:40:46.180 --> 00:40:49.780 I mean you could see how God's word even in their lives as spoken used, shared. 00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:54.120 We have copies of church history, manuscripts and then the manuscripts themselves. 00:40:56.200 --> 00:40:58.100 1.3 million pages of just the Greek text. 00:41:01.560 --> 00:41:08.760 How do you deal with passages like Mark 16 nine to 28 John seven 53 eight to 11 first John five says for seven 00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:16.080 and eight I'm going to give you a little appreciation for your English Bible and giving you this answer, but the 00:41:16.080 --> 00:41:18.500 Bible first started to be translated into English. 00:41:19.740 --> 00:41:26.620 It was illegal when the Christians started to translate that work. 00:41:26.680 --> 00:41:33.840 Guys like John Wycliffe, who really came along first in that adventure, and then John Huss who followed right after John Wycliffe and little later William 00:41:33.840 --> 00:41:34.290 Tyndale. 00:41:35.160 --> 00:41:40.680 They were risking their lives to do it, but what they believe is that you needed the power of God's word in your hands. 00:41:40.860 --> 00:41:43.080 So they fought to translate into English. 00:41:43.560 --> 00:41:46.980 And John Haas and William Tyndale gave their lives for John. 00:41:48.180 --> 00:41:55.340 Why cliff didn't wasn't martyred for it, but they hated John Wycliffe so much that after he died, they dug up his body and burned 00:41:55.340 --> 00:41:56.220 his bones. 00:41:56.280 --> 00:42:03.660 When John Haas was burned at the stake for an English translation of the Bible, he was burned by copies 00:42:03.660 --> 00:42:10.740 of the English translation of the Bible given by his friend John Wycliffe, and that's what 00:42:10.900 --> 00:42:17.960 people fought to do to get you the Bible into English because they knew the power contained and how 00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:20.010 important it was to get it into your hands. 00:42:20.060 --> 00:42:24.720 And when they did the translation work, some of those guys didn't have access to early manuscripts. 00:42:24.860 --> 00:42:31.860 In fact, some of them use late data manuscripts and some of the, some of the guys even used translations from other translate languages, like they 00:42:31.860 --> 00:42:33.580 went from Greek to Latin into English. 00:42:35.660 --> 00:42:37.190 And so that's not always the best way to translate. 00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:44.800 You want to get as early as possible to the original language, but they did the best they could to get English in the 00:42:44.800 --> 00:42:46.380 Bible, in into your language. 00:42:46.780 --> 00:42:54.020 In fact, when the King James was translated, the King James was done as much for political reasons as anything and they rushed that translation work 00:42:54.820 --> 00:42:58.260 and they didn't give the scholars doing the translation that as much time to communicate with one another. 00:42:58.300 --> 00:43:00.770 In fact, you can see it as it plays out in the new Testament. 00:43:00.820 --> 00:43:07.960 Because when you read about the Holy spirit, you can tell when one translator translated and another translator translated because some people translate it, the Holy spirit 00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:11.700 in other parts of the S of the new Testament translated as Holy ghost. 00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:16.600 People that are ignorant to that don't realize that the Holy ghost, the Holy spirit have the same thing. 00:43:16.620 --> 00:43:20.360 And I've seen groups create entire theology is over Holy spirit in Holy ghost being two different things. 00:43:20.620 --> 00:43:21.740 But it's the same Greek word. 00:43:22.100 --> 00:43:26.010 It's the same Greek word and it all they have to do is look at the original Greek to see that. 00:43:26.080 --> 00:43:33.160 But different translators working on it had different ways that they can interpret it because spirit and goes to the same thing into our link, into our language. 00:43:33.220 --> 00:43:34.800 And so they translated it differently. 00:43:35.240 --> 00:43:38.700 And you see that in the early translations of the English Bible. 00:43:38.700 --> 00:43:45.820 And so that's what I think happened is when it comes to the gospel of Mark, especially when you end the gospel of Mark and they were all with an F with 00:43:45.820 --> 00:43:49.600 a phobia, you know the question someone's going to ask him and she goes, what else happened? 00:43:50.360 --> 00:43:52.670 Like this is the only piece of paper I have and I'm trying to go off the Mark here. 00:43:52.980 --> 00:43:56.820 And they're just ending with, they're all afraid around like what else happened? 00:43:56.820 --> 00:44:00.780 And then someone shares stories, maybe historical stories they knew that happened during that time. 00:44:00.840 --> 00:44:02.720 So describes like, that's great, I'm gonna share this with my friends. 00:44:02.720 --> 00:44:03.380 And they just write it down. 00:44:03.540 --> 00:44:06.740 It's not part of the inspiration of scripture, but they understand this event was important. 00:44:06.980 --> 00:44:07.940 And so they write it down. 00:44:08.380 --> 00:44:14.420 And so when you get the later translations of that into the early English translation, because they have limited manuscripts, they write that down. 00:44:14.420 --> 00:44:14.950 Now is it bad? 00:44:15.220 --> 00:44:16.820 No, no. 00:44:16.820 --> 00:44:19.880 It's served the church well and it doesn't change any area of theology at all. 00:44:20.620 --> 00:44:22.500 And you read those passages in the Bible that I shared with it. 00:44:22.500 --> 00:44:22.880 It doesn't change. 00:44:23.060 --> 00:44:30.220 The theology shares certain stories that the church thought was important doesn't 00:44:30.220 --> 00:44:30.740 change anything. 00:44:31.920 --> 00:44:32.930 Does that mean you don't have God's word? 00:44:33.040 --> 00:44:35.880 Do they know this mean on God's word? 00:44:36.040 --> 00:44:42.360 Today you can look at the original manuscripts and see what the early church pursued. 00:44:44.160 --> 00:44:45.200 Excuse me, the early manuscripts. 00:44:45.340 --> 00:44:55.660 It's to say and see what the church pursued and say, all this will lead to this thought when 00:44:55.660 --> 00:45:02.880 the earliest manuscripts, we have P 52 John Reiland dates as early as 90 eighties 00:45:02.880 --> 00:45:09.280 possibly as late as one 30 80 earliest manuscripts we have of the Bible, the gospel of John. 00:45:11.140 --> 00:45:18.900 When you compare that manuscript, other manuscripts to Greek, Greek, new Testament manuscript codex, Allie, 00:45:18.980 --> 00:45:25.750 Alexandra, anise in fourth century, that Greek in the first century of John, it's the same. 00:45:27.020 --> 00:45:34.480 You look at the 12th century manuscript, 1432 it's the same and when the Bible is started to be printed, when 00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:41.380 printing presses were invented and Erasmus gave the first printing of the Greek new Testament, it's exactly the same. 00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:52.340 When you think about the history of what it means to hold the English Bible the sacrifice that it 00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:59.840 plays into, it makes an incredible, the genre Island 00:45:59.840 --> 00:46:07.140 manuscript in the top left hand corner, P 52 I think in the early church, someone writing that down, 00:46:08.600 --> 00:46:09.820 it could have cost them their life. 00:46:12.880 --> 00:46:18.520 I think of John Haas and John Wycliffe and William Tyndale translating into English. 00:46:19.570 --> 00:46:21.020 It costs them their life. 00:46:22.780 --> 00:46:29.800 When I follow the momentum of that translation work in history that there became this group of people that we call pilgrims and Puritans that went to 00:46:29.800 --> 00:46:36.840 Geneva, Switzerland, and they begin translating the Bible into English and they creed created the Geneva Bible, which by the way is the Bible that founded America wasn't the King 00:46:36.840 --> 00:46:38.480 James, but the Geneva Bible. 00:46:38.640 --> 00:46:39.750 The King James is a good translation. 00:46:40.680 --> 00:46:43.380 I want to sound like I'm trying to bash it, but the Geneva Bible is what founded America. 00:46:43.460 --> 00:46:50.600 Those guys being persecuted, went to Geneva, Switzerland began to interpret the first study Bible in history, and they came to America with 00:46:50.600 --> 00:46:51.120 that Bible. 00:46:52.620 --> 00:46:53.060 Beautiful. 00:46:55.080 --> 00:47:02.220 And one of the reasons our church when we started our church, I want it with the new American standard Bible as the translation that we would use as one because it's 00:47:02.240 --> 00:47:03.260 the most wooden translation. 00:47:03.440 --> 00:47:10.480 It's the most word for word translation that you can get in English, but to the new American standard Bible has its history in the 00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:11.160 Geneva Bible. 00:47:14.120 --> 00:47:22.320 And when I hold a book like this in my mind, is the thought of history, who's 00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:29.400 people sacrificing their lives for Bible and English going to Geneva, Switzerland, and eventually coming all the way over 00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:33.520 to America so that we could have a place to open it up and read it freely. 00:47:36.040 --> 00:47:37.100 Oh, beautiful. 00:47:37.100 --> 00:47:39.920 That is, why would they do that? 00:47:41.800 --> 00:47:47.840 Because God's word is life, man. 00:47:47.840 --> 00:47:54.900 Every day you walk this earth, you have opportunity to open its pages and just read the life 00:47:54.900 --> 00:47:56.960 that can be imparted to your soul. 00:47:59.580 --> 00:48:05.320 So when it comes to the foundation of Christianity, it's not relative. 00:48:06.700 --> 00:48:07.120 It's not relativism. 00:48:07.780 --> 00:48:08.160 Excuse me. 00:48:08.200 --> 00:48:10.320 It is relative, but it's not relativism. 00:48:10.620 --> 00:48:12.160 It's not what's true for you is true for you. 00:48:12.160 --> 00:48:13.460 And what's true for me is true for me. 00:48:14.200 --> 00:48:21.280 It is the foundation, the resurrection of Jesus, and the validity of scripture in compared to 00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:27.500 any other thing in this world that doesn't even hold a candle to the foundation that's laid for you. 00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:35.840 And so when I talk about a relationship with Jesus or Marissa in the beginning, that this relationship, it can be emotional and you can have these highs with Christ 00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:40.240 just like you can think about the falling in love and all that means, but there's also some meat to it. 00:48:40.920 --> 00:48:45.460 So that builds a foundation that when things get Rocky, the consistency of what it is holds it true. 00:48:45.560 --> 00:48:50.000 And when you hold God's word, that becomes that place for you.